Need book suggestions for myself. I'm picky!

[beanma]

So, I'm great at picking out kids' books at the library, but I seem to strike out more often than not in the adult section. I'm fairly picky. I want it to be well written, but easy to read, and not depressing. I like most genres. Somehow fantasy works better for me as a kids book (liked HP once the kids got into it), but I'm open to it in an adult read.

I like Barbara Kingsolver a lot, but I've read all hers.

I liked Water for Elephants a lot, but found the next one (Ape House?) by Sara Gruen to be less than engrossing.

I read the Time Travelers wife and found it very compelling, but I ended up really not liking it. I found inconsistencies that really, really bothered me and the whole thing was too depressing for me.

I just read Outlander and the follow-up, but they didn't really do it for me, either. I did find them engrossing in parts, but they were a little too much in the bodice-ripper genre for me.

I do like some mysteries. I've enjoyed Kate Atkinson (hoping to snag her new one at the library when the 50 people in front of me get done with it). I liked some of Alexander McCall Smith's #1 Ladies Detective Agency books, but then they started getting a little samey and I got bored of them. I'm reading a Betsy Thornton Arizona mystery right now and they're okay, but not something that I really get sucked into.

I slogged through Love in the Time of Cholera and hated it. I found it pretty misogynistic. 

I just finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and thought the first half of the book moved pretty slow. The second half started getting better, but I don't feel compelled to run out and get the next one. I might get around to reading it sometime, though. I was worried it might be too grim for me. I'm okay with some violence as long as there's ultimately some sort of positive resolution.

So there—all my pickiness is laid bare. I'd like something to get really sucked into. I don't want to work at it, though. I want it to be a page turner.  I want a book that I can't put down.  Got any recommendations for me?

[hildare]

i just started grossman's the magicians.  the reviews are stellar.  it's fantasy and sort of harry potter-esque, but more adult, and i have found it awesome so far (but i'm only on page 44).  there's a sequel that just came out this month that has been a hot topic of discussion on some of the library forums i look at.

some libraries have access to a database called novelist, where you can find recommendations based on what you like-- some libraries also have a catalog that lets you see other people's recommendations.  i use novelist sometimes to pick things but most often i put things on hold that i've seen reviewed somewhere or else i browse the new/popular section and look at the reviews on the back then read the description if it seems worthwhile. 

my taste is likewise picky, and i do like and dislike some of what you mentioned.  do you like margaret atwood?  she's absolutely my favorite modern author.

neil gaiman?  his stuff is pretty good too.

[ollyoxenfree]

I like a few of the books you mention, especially Kate Atkinson. A few suggestions:

While I was gone by Sue Miller

The Weight of Water By Anita Shreve (warning, it does have a tragedy involving a child, so it is depressing)

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

Mysteries by Barbara Vine

[beanma]

This is great. I'm so glad I asked. I haven't read much Margaret Atwood. I'll have to pick up something at the library. Any suggestions?

ollyoxenfree, some of the ones you mention look good, too. I have a love/hate relationship with Anita Shreve. I really liked one of hers, Light on Snow, but was ready to murder her after The Last Time We Met. That one left me feeling really betrayed and I've shied away from her ever since.

[A&A]

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. 

[purslaine]

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane  Setterfield

[Traci mom23boys]

The Birth House- Ami McKay

One Thousand White Women- Jim Fergus

Into the Forest- Jean Hegland

The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood

Pope Joan- Donna Woolfolk Cross

Bitter Grounds-Sandra Benitz

I love YA genre too, have you read *The Hunger Games* series? Read it immediately, if you haven't already. I also enjoyed *Ship Breaker*, *The Book Thief*, The *Shiver* Trilogy, and *Birthmarked*. Barbara Kingsolver is probably my favorite author as well, hopefully some of these will grab you like they did me.

~traci

a fellow picky reader :)

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by beanma 

This is great. I'm so glad I asked. I haven't read much Margaret Atwood. I'll have to pick up something at the library. Any suggestions?

ollyoxenfree, some of the ones you mention look good, too. I have a love/hate relationship with Anita Shreve. I really liked one of hers, Light on Snow, but was ready to murder her after The Last Time We Met. That one left me feeling really betrayed and I've shied away from her ever since.

Yes, I think Shreve can be really inconsistent. I haven't read Light on Snow. The character of Thomas in The Last Time We Met also appears in The Weight of Water but I'm pretty sure that The Weight of Water was written first. It's better than TLTWM. I recommended it because she writes 2 storylines, a fictional treatment of a real-life murder/tragedy in New England in the ?1800s? and a modern storyline about 2 couples on a sailboat, with one of the women researching the past tragedy. It was intriguing, especially if you like the mystery genre but want something a little different from a rote who-done-it or serial killer thriller. 

I'll be interested in hildare's response, but in the meantime, Atwood books that I've enjoyed are The Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace, and a little less is The Robber Bride.  I haven't read her most recent books, but they get great reviews. 

A few more suggestions: 

The Pianoman's Daughter by Timothy Findlay

P.D. James writes "thinking" mysteries, especially her earlier Dalgliesh stories and Innocent Blood, a standalone that explores issues of identity and parent-child relationships. 

Peter Dickinson's adult mysteries are excellent (he's also a terrific YA author). I highly recommend Some Deaths Before Dying and The Yellow Room Conspiracy. 

Maybe the Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley? I've only read the first, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, mostly because I didn't like the main character (and the plot holes), but it seems that people who like Alexander McCall Smith also like these books. 

Linwood Barclay's mysteries are very readable page-turners, probably more so than anything else I've suggested. 

 

[Altair]

What about The Game of Thrones series that is currently on HBO?  I'm hooked, there's a lot of books, create combo of historical fiction-ish and fantasy. 

[ollyoxenfree]

OT a little, but I meant to mention this before. BBC has done a television mini-series production of the Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson. Brodie is played by the actor who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. I've seen him in a few other productions and I think the casting is fairly good. I've been looking out for the series, but I don't think it's been broadcast in North America yet. 

[beanma]

These are great. I'm going to have to take this with me to the library next time I go!

[beanma]

Oh, and thanks for the BBC Kate Atkinson Lucius Malfoy tip. I'm off to google now...

[beanma]

Found it! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011whc9 . 

[hildare]

yay!  i love this thread. 

the margaret atwood-- blind assassin, alias grace, the robber bride, handmaid's tale (which if you never read it, it's a classic, not a happy book but powerful).  the new stuff is weird, and disturbing, and i love it!  oryx and crake and then the year of the flood.  oryx and crake kind of sets the stage for year of the flood, it's not a sequel per se, but some overlap of concept and character.

a prof i know used year of the flood for an english environmental lit class, so now i view it through that lens also (and he also didn't use oryx with or before it).  tbh, though, i did have to process the new stuff a little before i embraced it. 

[raksmama]

Have you read anything by Isabel Allende? I loved all her books. Some of my favourites are:

House of the Spirts

Eva Luna

Zorro

Island Beneath the Sea

Ines of my Soul

 There is a site called Literature Map http://www.literature-map.com/ where you can type in an author you like and they recommend other authors that are similar. I don’t always agree to their  choices,but it is still helpful. According to the site Isabel Allende's style a is similar to Barbara Kingsolver's.

Edited by raksmama - 8/20/11 at 2:10pm

[mommy212]

Another Island Beneath the Sea recommendation- excellent book, but has topics like rape/violence- not too graphic, but present (not for your kids lol). The Mists of Avalon by Marrion Zimmer Bradley is a really fun to read book taken from the King Arthur legend. I also love Lisa See and Amy Tan in general. I also just read Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon and really liked it- found it engrossing and a page-turner.

[raksmama]

Oh yes, Amy Tan! I love her too!

[beanma]

So many good recommendations. Y'all have got me going for the rest of the year. I lucked out today at the library and got the new Kate Atkinson (it was marked "recently returned" in the system). There are no renewals on it so I'll have to finish up the Betsy Thornton I'm reading and get cracking on Kate. Then I'll be going through this thread, marking 'em off one by one! Thanks so much!

[beanma]

Re: the Case Histories BBC series, I just got an alert from google to an article that says it will be shown on PBS in the fall.  http://www.britscene.com/2011/08/take-look-at-jason-isaacs-case-histories-coming-pbs-october/26310

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by beanma 

Re: the Case Histories BBC series, I just got an alert from google to an article that says it will be shown on PBS in the fall.  http://www.britscene.com/2011/08/take-look-at-jason-isaacs-case-histories-coming-pbs-october/26310

Great! Thanks for the tip. I'll watch out for it. Hope you are enjoying Started Early, Took My Dog.