Books and Authors Suggestions - April / May 2008

Hey everyone.
I wanted you to help me read some different things from different authors.
I always read the same thing (Sidney Sheldon, Stephen King, Robin Cook, Maryan Keyes,...).
Can anyone please give me good suggestions of books and other authors?

Hi marian -- I'll suggest some authors you might like --

Joanne Harris
Isabel Allende
Margaret Atwood
Barbara Kingsolver
Anita Shreve
Kazuo Ishiguro
Geraldine Brooks

of course not many of the touchstones are working, darn it. These are all contemporary authors that I'm partial to. What kind of books do you think you'd like besides the ones you listed?

Hey teelgee. Thanks for your suggestions.
I have so many books on my wish list. The ones I'd like to read this year include: The Kite Runner, Hauted (Chuck Palahniuk), Eat Pray Love, Boy in the Striped Pajamas (it's a real success here)...

The thing is I live in Brazil. New books here are really expansive. I tend to look for "Used Books Bookstores", but then I don't know what to look for.

Since I joined LT, I went back to my reading habits (they were 'on hold' for a while - if only the days lasted more than 24 hours).

I'm finishing two books now (which I bought a looooong time ago) - Zodiac and Tough Choices.

I'm going to seach on line for the authors you mentioned above. Let's see if I can find good prices.
Would you suggest any specific book from the authors?

Hello marianapdias,

Right now I am totally in love with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I mean to the point of I can't stop reading them. Really excellent books. They have been around for quite a while but I have just discovered them thanks to LT. There is fantasy, humor, love, and historical fiction all rolled into an amazing story.
Hope you get the chance to read them.

Hi marianapdias!

Do you know about http://www.bookmooch.com or http://www.greenmetropolis.com?

Bookmooch is basically a way of exchanging books with other people (based on a points system). Of course, you have to start out with books that you're willing to send to other people in order to have enough points to mooch something off someone else. Also, quite a number of people don't like to send overseas (being in the UK and a large proportion of the people on the site are in the US, I've found this several times) - but some people _are_ willing to send overseas (you get extra points) - it may be worth a look anyway.

Green Metropolis is also a second-hand book thing, although, in this case, you're buying books for a much reduced price. I'm not sure off the top of my head if they do outside the UK - I'll get back to you....

Anyway, it depends a bit on what kind of thing you like to read, but a few contemporary-ish authors I personally enjoy are (plus a couple of recommendations):

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere, or American Gods
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Margaret Atwood - (seconded!) Alias Grace
Christopher Brookmyre - One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
Paolo Coelho - The Alchemist (and he's Brazilian!)
Alex Garland - The Beach (wrong touchstone)
Hanif Kureshi - The Budah of Suburbia
Andrey Kurkov - Death and the Penguin (wrong touchstone)

Hmmm... maybe that's a starting point - hopefully that's a bit of a range. I've got a tag for 'favourite' in my profile anyway and I think a lot of other people do to - so if you see you've got similar taste to anyone, that's a good way to pick up suggestions...

Hope that's helpful!

Edit: Sorry, Green Metropolis don't do outside the UK, so that was unhelpful...

Hey MDLady, thanks a lot for your suggestion.
I read the book review here and got excited about reading it.
So, I went online to try to find it and believe: this book isn't available in Portuguese. So, I thought: OK, I'll read it in English. It costs around 50 dollars here. Can you believe?
I'm very disapointed.

$50 OMG!

Check Ebay!!!!
That's where I got it very very cheap!

Hey Flissp, thanks for the suggestions.
I'm definetly checking out the websites you mentioned above.

Regarding the books suggestions, I saw you mentioned Paulo Coelho ! He's very popular here and I've read almost all of his books and The Alchemist is one of my favorites. :)

I'm moving to Canada in a few months so hopefully I'll have more access to good prices there.

Hum... Ebay... I'm checking it out right now !

Thanks !

PS: Do you guys also have lots of unread books waiting to be read?
I'm adding and adding books to my pile.
Like I said before: if only the day lasted more than 24 hours... :)

Do you guys also have lots of unread books waiting to be read?

ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh yes!!! We call it Mount TBR (to be read) here. Lots of us talk about how out of control it is.

Re books of the authors I recommended in #2:

Joanne Harris: Chocolate, Coastliners, Five Quarters of the Orange

Isabel Allende: The House of the Spirits especially

Margaret Atwood - anything
Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible

Anita Shreve Light on Snow

Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day

Geraldine Brooks Year of Wonders

That ought to get you going!!!

You might also try www.abebooks.com, marianapdias. They feature booksellers from around the world, so you might find books that way that might be less expensive for you.

#9 - marianapdias, you should read through this thread "Mount To Be Read: how big is yours?". It's in this same group and you'll quickly find that you are not alone and not to feel too bad about the size of your TBR pile.

OMG AjaxLeRoy.... the pile just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I'm definetly joining the group discution you mentioned.
Thanks for the books suggestions and authors. I'm going to the bookstore tonight with the list on my hands. :)

A toppling Mount TBR is a side effect of LT membership. But a wonderful side effect, I have to say!!

I agree with the Ishiguro recommendation Never Let Me Go. I read it over 2 years ago and am still recommending it.

Where in Brazil are you? I went to Salvador over Christmas. It was sweltering hot there!

Do you guys also have lots of unread books waiting to be read?

Only about 400 (and that may be an underestimate). I figure that at this rate, if I keep working until I'm 70, I'll never have to buy another book during my retirement years.

(Let's just hope my eyes don't go bad!)

I second the suggestion of Year of Wonders; it was a great book.

I'll also suggest:

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuko
Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen
The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru

And now for something completely different. . .

Fledgling by Octavia Butler I'm not a reader of vampire fiction, but Butler has written a most unusual story here that's about race, family and power.
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon near future setting, an experiemntal 'cure' is found for Autism and the protagonist is offered it. Good story about what it means to be 'normal'.
Kindred by Octavia Butler Time travel without technology; a young black woman is pulled back in time whenever her white ancestor needs her help.
The Secret by Eva Hoffman - no spoilers here! features a crisis of self-identity; what does it mean to be you?
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler A strange woman appears at an Asian labor camp in the American west around the turn of the century. She is unable to communicate and shows little interest in the other people she has stumbled across. This book is all about perceptions.
The Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss The lives of utopian Quaker spacefarers . ..
The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce dark fantasy story about a young boy who is tormented throughout his life by a puckish creature. This is not the cute winged tooth fairy that leaves money under your pillow...

These are all excellent books! While I'm happy to recommend lots of literary fiction, these books are excellent for reading outside the box.