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September 13, 2007

Call for novels

I've been out of books for about a week now and I'm grouchy as a bear at a baiting. My similes are also suffering.

Does anyone have a book to recommend? I don't care what genre, as long as it's totally engrossing. And ideally not too gross; no Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. (Side note: it looks like Jim from The Office is writing and directing an adaptation of that. If I didn't hate the book so much I'd be really excited. I'm still kind of excited.)

Gene will be gone this weekend, and unless I have to go to an all-day immigrant rights summit I will have nothing to do but lie around and read. If only I had anything to read. Help!

Posted by didofoot at September 13, 2007 09:55 AM

Comments

I quite like Farthing, by Jo Walton. It's an English country estate mystery novel, but it's set in an alternate history 1949 where England appeased Germany and Hitler rules mainland Europe.

Posted by: MoltenBoron at September 13, 2007 10:18 AM

you could try freddy and frederika again.

Posted by: michele at September 13, 2007 10:59 AM

other suggestions:

jon ronson, "out of the ordinary". he's a british journalist and this is him writing about family life mostly and it is hilarious. i was snickering so much while reading it this summer i thought katherine was going to throw dirty baby nappies at me to make me shut up.

jane austen 'history of england'. sadly it is super short and will not engross you for long.

gail carson levine, "fairest". retold snow white story. pretty good YA fantasy.

tamora pierce, "beka cooper: terrier". you didn't read this one yet did you? it was no alanna, but still...george's great great however many greats grandmother.

natalie babbitt, "the search for delicious". cute little fantasy, probably aimed at elementary kids though. but still, cute. and you expressed interest in it before since it's by the author of "tuck everlasting"

any of my meg cabot books. i can't help it! i love the princess diaries! but there's other series and stand alone books too by her.

j. maarten troost, "the sex lives of cannibals". non-fic about living in the south pacific while his girlfriend has a job and he fishes for dinner. damn funny.

have you read ALL the christopher moores?

jacqueline carey, "banewrecker". now, admittedly, i haven't managed to read it because i started and was unimpressed. but you could try. maybe you would like it. and maybe that would galvanize me into finishing it.

you could try a haruki murakami. i've got several. there's sheep and dance and hard-boiled wonderland.

Posted by: michele at September 13, 2007 11:25 AM

did you read the last anita? or the last merry?

Posted by: michele at September 13, 2007 11:26 AM

I didn't read the last merry, did read the anita. I kind of hate the merry ones though. Not with the playful hatred I have for the anitas. With real hatred.

I might borrow it anyway though. They are engrossing, though also gross.

Do you have the Jon Ronson and can I borrow that?

Like Kelly from The Office, I like basically anything that is awesome. In case that helps anyone else who was going to suggest something.

Posted by: didofoot at September 13, 2007 11:38 AM

i DO have the jon ronson and of course you can borrow it. i've got another one by him too about men who stare at goats. it's about all these top secret US military projects on psychics. or on using psychics in war. it's both hilarious and terrifying. because, well, they try to stare to death goats (or hamsters) but the US military really tried to make something out of it. he's got another one that i haven't read called "adventures with extremists".

i don't think i actually even own that merry. i think i read nuala's library copy while i was in SB.

Posted by: michele at September 13, 2007 12:22 PM

Yea. I've gotten to the point where I'll read the merry books but not buy them....anita well I can't help it I have to have them.

I've been reading a new series called the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. The first book is the Amulet of Samarkand. They're pretty good. About an alternate reality where England is run by magicians. It's a children's series but not dummed down. And it's pretty funny. The demon Bartimaeus makes some pretty snarky comments.

Posted by: nuala at September 13, 2007 02:26 PM

I liked "The Corrections" a lot, and I second the Murakami recommendations. "Wind-Up Bird" and "Hard Boiled Wonderland" are really good. Since Michele is hyping young adult fiction, I think you might enjoy reading, or re-visiting Christopher Pike's legendary "Final Friends" series.

Posted by: sean at September 13, 2007 02:49 PM

primarily all i read is YA. i can't help it. i love my high school job.

bartimaeus is godDAMN snarky. but i didn't really like the first book much and didn't read more of them. but now that nuala is rec'ing it, maybe i should try again.

you could read "eragon" and "eldest" and be pissed. or "the named" and "the riddle" and also be pissed. stupid youth of today trying to write like tolkien. it's ridiculous. or i've actually grown to like the new mckinley. 15 year old stream of consciousness indeed. how does she maintain that shit for a whole book? i'm fascinated to find out. and i may have finished it by this weekend. i have tomorrow off, after all.

did you read "life of pi"? or i hear "the memory keeper's daughter" is fantastic and i own it. or "the history of love" is supposed to be this amazing best-seller. or "the historian" about dracula. nuala was reading that and i own it and haven't read it. or "the secret history of the pink carnation" if you want fluff set in the french revolution. or did you ever read the volsky "grand ellipse"?

Posted by: michele at September 13, 2007 03:51 PM

Ooh, Volsky would be great. I love Illusions and have read it one hundred thousand times, so a new one would be good. New to me I mean.

The Corrections also sounds good. I don't know anything about it except I see it everywhere and now Sean has recommended it. Reason enough for me.

I did read Life of Pi. I liked the part with the tiger.

Posted by: didofoot at September 13, 2007 04:09 PM

i just finished "how to talk to a widower" by jonathan tropper and it was totally wonderful. i read his first book "the book of joe" which i remember really liking but then i forgot about him till i found this book at the j's. man. SOOOOOO good! you should read it too. his writing reminds me a lot of nick hornby--at least the earlier, better books by hornby. 2 thumbs up!

Posted by: michele at September 16, 2007 09:36 PM

p.s. um, also, i read a book called (oh the shame) "vampire academy" yesterday. it's from the POV of a half vampire/half human girl who's the guardian of a vampire princess. and they attend this vampire academy in montana. oh man. the best that can be said for it is that no one in it is as irritating as edward (yet).

Posted by: michele at September 16, 2007 09:39 PM

I'm coming to this rather late, and I know the book sale is this week, but here's a few suggestions anyway:

The Secret History

Crazy

Nightwatch/Daywatch/Twighlightwatch

Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant

How I Learned to Cook and Other Musings (?) on Complex Mother-Daughter Relationships

Posted by: DrMH at September 25, 2007 05:47 PM

Nice. I will keep an eye out for these at the sale.

See you tomorrow!

Posted by: didofoot at September 26, 2007 10:33 AM

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