I'm looking for a good book...

[amyandelle]

Ya know the kind you don't want to put down? I like Romance but not the cheezy ones Any suggestions? I just finished "Sam's letters to Jennifer" (the first enjoyment book since having Elle) and now I am looking for something new.
Thanks,
Amy

[pamamidwife]

Here are a few I have enjoyed:

The Dogs of Babel
Into the Forest
The Red Tent

+ anything by David Sedaris, but especially Me Talk Pretty One Day

[Kelly71]

I second The Red Tent but emphatically vote for The Da Vinci Code.

[jempd]

Phillipa Gregory is romantic but intelligent: The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen's Fool

If you like mysteries with romantic atmospheres: Haunted Ground, Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart

Janet Evanovich novels if you like mystery, romance, and funny (and gritty) all at once. I find them both light and intelligent.

I didn't like The Red Tent so much. Found the prose rather plodding and tough going a lot of the time.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, if you like novels set in another time. Unusual and a quick read.

Catherine Cookson I think is a fine, smart romance writer. Not sure if by 'romance' you mean those bodice-ripper paperbacks on sale in the drugstore with lurid covers or just juicy novels with spirited heroines who have sex and/or love interests.

[MyBabiesCome1st]

I like the Miss Julia series by Ann Ross. The first one is Miss Julia speaks her mind.

Miss Julia, a recently bereaved and newly wealthy widow, is only slightly bemused when one Hazel Marie Puckett appears at her door with a youngster in tow and unceremoniously announces that the child is the bastard son of Miss Julia's late husband. Suddenly, this longtime church member and pillar of her small Southern community finds herself in the center of an unseemly scandal-and the guardian of a wan nine-year-old whose mere presence turns her life upside down.

Not romance, but a good easy read.

[MyBabiesCome1st]

.

[cathe]

The Time Traveler's Wife - one of the best books I have ever read.

[meco]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

+ anything by David Sedaris, but especially Me Talk Pretty One Day

YES. These are laugh out loud funny. I love the new one, Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day...

Also, I ....oh my I forgot the name of the woman...She writes about India. Off to check.....

[Katrinawitch]

Ohmigoddess, pamamidwife, I just finished "Me Talk Pretty One Day", and it was absolutely hilarious, especially the chapter when he was in French class in France, and the class was trying to describe the Easter holiday in French to someone who was unfamiliar with it. Too funny!

amyandelle, you mentioned you liked romances......my absolute favorite book is "Maia", by Richard Adams (he wrote "Watership Down", if you're familiar with that). It's not a romance in the traditional sense (like a Harlequin romance, for example), but it's more a romance/epic/adventure store all rolled into one, and I re-read it every few years. It's takes place in a mythical semi-barbaric civilization (but it's not cheezy or over-the-top), and it's about a peasant girl who's sold into slavery as a concubine, and what happens to her as a result. Truly mesmerizing! The only two negatives are that it's out of print (although I was able to find a used copy on Amazon.com), and it's very, very long! But I'd highly recommend it.

[OhMel]

Originally Posted by cathe

The Time Traveler's Wife - one of the best books I have ever read.

I agree -- and sexy too. I recommended it to some other people and they didn't like it. I'm not sure why, I thought it was delicious.

[KateMary]

Have you read Tom Robbins? Jitterbug Perfume and Skinny Legs and All are my faves. Also John Irving is great: A Prayer for Owen Meany and others (they are all good)

More recent/newer books:

Bee Season (about spelling bees)
The Hidden Life of Bees (actually about bees)