http://www.indy.com/posts/5848 en-us middlewest Seconding mbnjmtrb on all his rec's, but also: the History of Love by Nicole Krauss (sounds cheesy, but isn't); anything by Zadie Smith; Jonathan Safran Foer's books - especially Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; the short stories of Lorrie Moore; and Midnight's Children, Satanic Verses, and the Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie. I recently read The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits and liked the way it explores adolescent girlhood and strained familial relationships. For a quick, fun read, I'd also recommend An Arsonists Guide to Writers' Homes of New England. Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:23:31 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17455 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17455 jamandlib If I read a book and then find myself thinking about it long after completing it then I think that it was a book well worth reading. So, here are my recommendations (many of my other recommendations have already been listed by other people) - I loved "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon. Also loved "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb. And, by Mary Doria Russell, I loved her 1st book "The Sparrow" and the follow-up to it "Children of God". And, I still love "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. If you haven't read it, do so before the movie comes out. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:22:13 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17444 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17444 Sewer_Harpy Just to echo Caralyns recommendations... Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" is hands down the most tongue-in-cheek, blow milk out your nose as you pee yourself, hilarious book EVER written. Once you read this, you will annihilate Moore's entire portfolio in a matter of weeks if not days. and Tom Robbins "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climate's" was so funny, that I now quote lines from it more than I quote the movie "Airplane" You'll thank me... s.h. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:31:34 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17429 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17429 whitney smith Allow me to recommend "Home School," a slim, fast-moving sequel to "The Graduate." Yes, the same book that inspired the famous movie with Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin and Anne Bancroft as the nefarious Mrs. Robinson. Both are by the unbelievably droll Charles Webb, now living in England. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:00:51 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17426 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17426 baggles I am a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan, as well as all of the "classic dystopian novels" that Stellarswarm mentioned. Besides those I enjoy reading a lot about the Influenza of 1918... it had such a huge impact on history, yet is often passed over in history classes (HUGE dork, I know...). I'm currently reading The Devils Flu by Pete Davies about that. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder is amazing. And two of my favorites of all time are Angela's Ashes and Tis by Frank McCourt. ps. thanks for the heads up about the library sale!! Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:45:56 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17369 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17369 Drinky_McGee Anything by Rick Moody is good and possibly right up your alley: Garden State, The Ice Storm, The Diviners. There's a book called Lord of the Barnyard that I always have to mention. It was written by Tristan Egolf and it's brilliant. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:13:55 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17356 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17356 Marley so if any of you readers aren't aware of the Central Library Secondhand Prose booksale, you have to check it out. It's actually going on this weekend, the 1/2 price sale http://foundation.imcpl.org/about/booksales.html. I always come out of there with at least 10 new books and authors to explore for really cheap. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:49:00 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17312 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17312 lizliz Oh oh - yes I really loved Fortress of Solitude. I also thought Motherless Brooklyn was excellent. I'd not heard of You Don't Love Me Yet, but I'll have to check it out after I finish my current read. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:34:10 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17308 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17308 caralyn Never pass up a chance to pass along some favorites: Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, Nick Hornby, Dave Eggers (just finished up What is the What which was exceptional) Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:05:57 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17303 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17303 Ben Neff I really enjoy Chuck Pahlaniuk's books. I was surprised by how similar Fight Club's book and movie were. I've also read Lullaby and Invisible Monsters which were both entertaining. His dark sense of humor is truly unique. I'm also a big fan of the books of Neil Gaiman and China Miéville. They give fantasy novels a new perspective, implementing drama, politics and deep character analysis rather than just wars, robots and romance. The result is realistic and complex. Miéville's style is often called New Weird. Out of their books, I recommend Gaiman's American Gods and Miéville's Perdido Street Station. That said, I haven't been reading neeearrrly enough lately. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:43:55 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17301 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17301 mbnjmntrb i recommend any works by jonathan lethem. his early stuff is kinda absurdist sci-fi (girl falls in love with a black hole, zoo-oligcal noir detectives) but his last two are great novels that are equally as funny and engaging as the sci-fi. Fortress of Solitude is a fantastic study in friendship and art. You Dont Love Me Yet is a quiet little love story set to an indie rock backround. and if you want to stay in all summer, the Brothers Karamozov is worth it. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:41:16 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17299 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17299 StellarSwarm Well Fight Club was my gateway book with him and it's pretty much word-for-word like the movie, which I also loved. I followed it up with "Lullaby" about a guy that accidentally commits an African culling spell to memory, and inadvertently starts killing people off with it if they piss him off. I admit that most of the others are harder to read, but I seem to have an affinity for that. I don't know many people who would have stuck through the last book I read, "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien, but I quite enjoyed it. Pahlaniuk's books are all going to have that depraved sort of plot, and the dry sense of humor. And here lately, he's trying to mix up the storytelling technique, such as the series of journal entries in "Diary" and second-stories by way of interview in "Rant". Both of those were VERY hard to read. He's definitely not for everyone. I just dredged up another author from the back of my memory. Robert R. McCammon. His books "Swan Song" (which is post-apocalyptic...sorta like "The Stand) and "Gone South" were both excellent reads. The latter has the best first line of a book I've ever read. "It was hell's season, and the air smelled of burning children." It's actually a guy passing bbq joints and having flashbacks to his days napalming villages during Vietnam. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:56:46 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17289 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17289 Marley StellarSwarm, what Chuck Pahlaniuk books are your favorites? I started "Choke" and couldn't get through it. But I still would like to try some of his others. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:34:04 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17288 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17288 StellarSwarm I know it's such a cliche to mention Stephen King when mentioning good books, but if you haven't read his lesser-known "Dark Tower" series, I would highly recommend them! I can't even begin to describe the plot, but it's part western, part fantasy, but mostly it's unlike anything you've ever read before. The way he ties in characters and plots from his other novels, like The Darkman from "The Stand" and Father Callahan from "Salem's Lot" is simply masterful. The first book in the series, "The Gunslinger", is short, but can give you a good taste of the story. But it's not until the second book, "The Drawing of the Three", when he starts moving between "whens" (different planes of existence) that it really hooks you. The entire series of 7 books kept me busy and fully entertained for months. Other than that, I'm mostly a fan of classic dystopian novels such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Third Policeman, Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange,etc. I'm also a big fan of anything by Chuck Pahlaniuk, the author of "Fight Club". Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:53:11 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17285 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17285 Marley Thanks everyone. JL Kato, I have read "Devil in the White City" and absolutely loved it! I never would have thought I would have been interested in the world fair, but he made it so intriguing. I'll make sure to check out his other works. And I just finished "Dogs of Babel" last week and equally enjoyed that. I read her other book "Lost and Found" since I enjoyed Dogs of Babel so much, but thought it was pretty disappointing. "The Road" is on my shelf, so I'll have to start that now with 2 recommendations. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:05:41 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17109 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17109 mephisto I can second "The Road" ... Not sure what it was, so simply written and, as I heard someone say about it once, it's as if by continuing to read, you keep the characters alive. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:17:20 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17100 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17100 she.does.hair The last two books that really took my breath away were "The Dogs of Babel" Caroline Parkhurst "The Road" Cormac McCarthy Enjoy! Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:08:33 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17098 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17098 JL Kato Marley: In the past three years, I discovered a fantastic writer, Erik Larson. He writes nonfiction, but the way he approaches it is more akin to a novel. As historical subjects, I would have cringed at the suggestions of reading about the Chicago's World Fair or the hurricane that destroyed Galveston, but he made both topics fascinating reading. Titles: "Devil in the White City" and "Isaac's Storm," respectively. I currently have his "Thunderstruck" on my bookshelf, which is for a book-discussion group later this year. Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:05:37 -0400 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17097 http://www.indy.com/posts/5848#comment_17097