Book Recommendations: Wanted!

[rebness]

So... um. Number three in my New Year resolution list is to read more, and by reading more I mean discounting the back of cereal boxes, teletext, anything on the internets unless it's an e-text of a book and newspapers. My book count for 2005 was pitiful and composed of too many re-readings.

Now, well-read flist, any recommendations? I'm something of a literary snob, so I likely won't go for chicklit, and I'm not the biggest fan of science fiction. Feel free to recommend any nonfiction works or biographies, too. I need to put these Waterstones' vouchers to sensible use.

For what it's worth, here's what I can remember of (Am ashamed.):


The Aeneid, Virgil
Short Stories, Anton Chekov
Death in Venice, Thomas Mann (re-read)
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Farcia Marquez (almost slung against the wall in frustration)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S Thompson (re-read)
Marie Antoinette, Antonia Fraser (unfinished)
Venice: Tales of the City, edited by Michelle Lovric
Short Stories Guy de Maupassant (French version)
Casanova: My Life, Giacomo Casanova (unfinished)
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air, Diana Wynne Jones
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling
Night Letters, Robert Dessaix (re-read)
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy (poetry), Tim Burton
Farenheit 451, Raymond Bradbury (unfinished)
Pleasures and Days, Marcel Proust (unfinished)
The Firebrand, Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto "Che" Guavera
Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones
The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke (still reading)

... There are more novels, but I can't remember them. They must have left such a lasting impression upon me.



As you can see, I need help. >:

Comments

[gairid.livejournal.com]

As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann.

I can't recommend this highly enough!

[peregrinuscanus.livejournal.com]

Okay. I read 102 books last year (about 50% were Young Adult books that can be read in an evening). Some of the notables were -

Port Mungo - Patrick McGrath (in fact any Patrick McGrath book is v.v.v.good)
Small Island - Andrea Levy 5*
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 5* as well
Old School - Tobias Wolff (he wrote This Boy's Life as well)
Some Martin Amis - Money and Night Train being the ones I enjoyed most
Lolita - Nabokov
The Cider House Rules - John Irving

and for Young Adult books

The Lives of Christopher Chant/Conrad's Fate/Witch Week - Diana Wynne Jones (I defy you not to love Chrestomanci even more, and want Richard E Grant to play him in the film).
also -
Surrender - Sonya Hartnett (all her books are v. good)
Useful Idiots - Jan Mark (excellent and thought-provoking)

[wiebke.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend Mary Renault: Fire From Heaven, Persian Boy, etc. Brilliant stuff!

Other favs, old and recent reads:

Night's Master - Tanith Lee
Parable of the Sower - by Octavia Butler
Affinity - by Sarah Waters
Kushiel's Dart - by Jacqueline Carey
Lilith's Brood (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago) - Octavia E. Butler
Tom Jones - Henry Fielding
A Room With a View - E.M. Forster
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. Le Guin

I'd also recommend just about all of Storm Constantine's books. Which ones depends on what you like. The first book in her Grigori series, Stalking Tender Prey, is a modern version of a gothic horror novel, set in an isolated English village, and might appeal to you, esp. if you've had to read "straight" gothic horror.

[ladydaydream.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite books is A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth. It takes a little while to get to grips with all the characters but once you're drawn into the story it's hard to put it down. I also enjoyed On The Road - Jack Kerouac and Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote is nice quick read.

I really disliked One Hundred Years of Solitude when I read it.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Bugger. I posted and got an error and it disappeared. Um. New Palahniuk, Haunted. Haven't read it yet, but it must be good, surely.

Read and liked this past year:

Nick Hornby: A Long Way Down
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
Terry Pratchett: Thud! and Going Postal
Patrick Marber: Closer (play)

[fadedacolyte.livejournal.com]

Read The Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra. That's an order, not a suggestion. >:|

And I can't think of anymore at the moment but I promise I'll be back.

[londonesque.livejournal.com]

Bel Canto is a beatifully written book so I'd recommend that :)

[kiraelf.livejournal.com]

I've just finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I read it becaue I've heard nothing but rave reviews for it, and against my will almost I have to admit it was an excellent book. Don't let the fact that it was Richard & Judy's read of the year put you off!

You say you don't much like sci-fi, and this does go into the future but things come full circle and it's about people's lives so I think you'd like. If you read the blurb about you'll know it's a series of 6 interconnecting short stories (some more loosly interconnected than others), with reincarnation and humanities capacitiy to destroy ourselves through our knowledge as recurent themes. Each story is set in a different time and the language he uses reflects that, it is very clever. I could go on and on but I won't. This is my recommendation.

Also Wicked by Gregory McGuire was good.

[coconutswirl.livejournal.com]

if you are into fantastic literature (not sci-fi), Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is hard to beat. Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake deals with the future but it is a literary novel rather than straightforward sci-fi. It's also a chilling read.

If you like novels set in the past (as your list suggests), how about Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy set during WW1? It has a queer aspect to it and it delves into the history of psychology too.

I really like AS Byatt: Possession won the Booker back in 1990. It is a rich, beautiful tapestry of literary styles and deals with the nature of love and how much we can really know about the past. Note: the novel contains poetry. Everybody skips the poems. You won't lose a thing.

Alasdair Gray, gosh he is great. Terse and very Scottish. The best introduction to him is Poor Things which is a FABULOUS feminist take on Frankenstein set in Victorian Glasgow. The characters are as mad as hatters and the novel is extremely entertaining and good.

Another favourite author of mine is Jonathan Coe. The House of Sleep is a great novel dealing with narcolepsy, ambiguous sexualities and how much the past can influence the present.

[jaffacakequeen.livejournal.com]

literary snob. ahem Harry Potter! lmao

well you havnt finished Casanova which was one of favs read of this year.

I recommend you read some John Wyndham, short books that make you think. Day of the Triffids followed by the Chrysalids, then Midwich cuckoos. (there are not science fiction :-p, its more about the breakdown of society faced with different challenges)

I also recommend Alice Hoffman because they dont go over the top with descriptions of opening an envelope but have a good narrative and characterisation that keeps you involved and throws in a bit of surreal not quite there of the real world stuff in for good measure. A good starting point is the The River King and Practical Magic (nothing like the film, although i did enjoy the film) there are not chick lit books. Closer to Margaret Atwood than Zadie Smith.

[saffronlie.livejournal.com]

I recommend to you like ten books every day, and do you listen?

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

Read the TEAL list. Aww, we both read Leroux, The Firebrand, and Potter. Two books on your list that I'm going to read this year are The Aeneid and the really long title by Susanna Clarke (do audio books count?!).

OMG! I just spent $80 on cds. Kill me now, kthxbye.

[pandorasblog]

The Birth of Venus! :p

And SANDMAN!!! Because I can almost guarantee you'll become obsessed and end up weeping over it. Which is a good thing, honest! Begins with Preludes and Noctures (gets better later, but really needs to be read in order), and would recommend Hy Bender's Sandman Companion for maximum enjoyment.

The Crow Road by Iain Banks, which is this wonderfully funny and moving story of a large Scottish family, told by the youngest (?) son.