Book Recommendation

Guys, I need a book recommendation. Something not overly complex (because my brain still is in a million different places) but not quite trashy. Whaddoyathink?

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Permalink Reply by naturegeek on October 13, 2009 at 5:10pm: Hmmm- an entertaining and fun while you are readingit but really entirely forgettable read is Water for Elephants, if you haven't read it yet. Also, I went on a Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamist Cult binge this summer - I think this has been mentioned before. Escape by Carolyn Jessup is riveting - not terribly well-written but not poorly written - just a fascinating true first person account of life in a polygamist cult and escape from it. I also read Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, which was very good, with lots of interesting history. Oh, I really really enjoyed The Glass Castle and highly recommend it! hmmm... what else have I read lately - not much... I don't really READ books any more. It's sad! I very much enjoyed The Last Season by Eric Behm, not only because it has people I know in it and takes place in the high country right next to us - I could day hike to some of the places described - but it is also extremely well-written and a wonderful account of a full and complicated life, warts and all.

JeninLB is a voracious reader and has a great Shelfari which she keeps up to date - mine lags a bit, but then again so does my reading!

I'm sure you'll get much better advice from the other, more literate, sages, but that's what I've got for you!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evangeline on October 14, 2009 at 8:54am: When I need an distracting, but not complex book, I usually go for kid's fantasy lit. I love the escapism. Pure pleasure and comfort reading for me. So I would recommend something like Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy (Deb recommended this to me last year and I loved it!), Harry Potter, The Hobbit (Oh yes, my precious, you saw that coming right?), Chronicles of Narnia or maybe The Graveyard Book or Coraline by Neil Gaiman. For something a little more grown up-ish that is still within the realm of easy and fantastical there is "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke.

Or how about something funny, like anything by PG Wodehouse ("Aunts Aren't gentlemen" is a particular favourite of mine) or Anita Loos' "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"?

Graphic novels are also great for me when I can't wrap my head around anything overly complex. "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi is fascinating (depicts the author's childhood in Iran during and after the revolution). "Blankets" by Craig Thompson and "Maus" by Art Spiegelman are all time favourites too.

Let's see, lately I've been reading some autobiographies..."Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's" by John Elder Robison and "I Am Hutterite" by Mary-Ann Kirkby (the first was really good and the 2nd just OK). Something like that may do the trick too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mel on October 14, 2009 at 4:57pm: I loved Water for Elephants, The Graveyard book and the Hunger Games. all entertaining, character driven stories, and the last two, ya, so not too complex, quick, satisfying. Enjoy. Let us know what you choose!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LAly on October 14, 2009 at 5:36pm: OK, I just got Water for Elephants and the Bartimaeus Trilogy on Amazon.

Ya know, I guess I could read Harry Potter. I already have that, and I'm sure I'm one of the few NFs who hasn't read it. Hmmmm.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mel on October 14, 2009 at 6:07pm: happy reading. True confession, I stopped reading HP after the first book, but I've seen all but the last movie - does that count?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evangeline on October 14, 2009 at 6:12pm: I am just going to pretend I didn't read that.

*closes eyes and runs away humming "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs" determinedly to self*

;); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LAly on October 14, 2009 at 7:34pm: My problem was I saw the first movie before I even knew there WERE books and then ... then there was hype.... darn you hype. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evangeline on October 14, 2009 at 7:43pm: I agree the hype is ridiculous. I watched the first and second movies first. I thought they were kinda cute, but meh. What caught my interest was this 11-ish year old girl we knew then and how head over heels, madly passionate she was about the books. I just had to read them. I thought the first two books were nicely imagined and written, and worth reading, but still didn't quite get the crazy enthusiasm...and then I read the third, and fell in love. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by naturegeek on October 14, 2009 at 8:13pm: I read the first... three? Maybe four... I was reading them as they came out (before there were movies), enjoyed them, and how each one got a bit darker and more "adult" along with the characters - but the problem with me reading books as they come out is pretty soon there will be too long of a wait for the next book and my ADD kicks in and I just lose interest. I still do INTEND to read the rest... And I've resisted seeing the movies because I want to READ them. Will I ever do it? Your guess is as good as mine, most likely. Another series I did this with was the AWESOME Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R. R. Martin - they are amazing! But I had to wait too long for the fourth, and now I feel like I need to re-read the first three, but I loaned them to a guy I was dating before I met Devin, and I got busy doing other things. I even have a signed copy of the 4th book, that I took with us on our year-long travels, and still didn't read it! It just hasn't been fantasy epic time for a long time now. But maybe it will be again, someday.

PS - warning - if you start the Song of Ice and Fire series, the last book is not due out until 2010... and the author has a history of long delays - of course, I'd rather that than a rush job and less than well-written/well-imagined books, but fans who became addicted are very disappointed. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evangeline on October 15, 2009 at 11:49am: The Song of Ice and Fire Series has been on my reading list for ages! Thanks for jogging my memory, just put in a request from the library for it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Deb S on October 15, 2009 at 8:08am: Yah, I was gonna say Bartimeus and Harry Potter. Can't beat 'em. Beware Elephants has cruelty. Look Me In The Eye was interesting. Not fun tho. Did you know he's the brother of the guy that wrote Running With Scissors? How those boys survived.... I'd go with Bartimeus, LAly. I think you'd feel a kinship with a smart-ass demon. I sure did.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evangeline on October 15, 2009 at 11:51am: I agree, Bartimaeus might be just perfect (or of course HP!). I am actually reading the first one to the little NFs right now, "The Amulet of Samarkand".; ▶ Reply to This