I am in the market......

[theREALsun]

for some new reading.....
i have been reading quite a bit of drama
i.e: Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, etc.

granted they are all great works, they are tragedies :(
and they are required for my american lit class.....

so, i want to read something for fun, i love memoirs.....
surely, i can find something on my own
but would take a suggestion?

i just finished the sequel to Running with Scissors, which is called Dry


so any suggestions?
thanks ;)

[BandAide]

It sounds as though you may be looking for something entertaining but good and contemporary. That's what I was always looking for when I was in college.

If you're into reading plays, read something by Harold Pinter. He's so interesting to me.

For books, I actually really loved both of Wally Lamb's books. She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True were both really fantastic.

Now, I'll give you titles, but I'm TERRIBLE with authors names:

Memoirs of a Geisha, Little Miss Strange, Wickid, Bitch, Election and Jemima J and Fast Food Nation.

These are all relatively girly, light (with the exception of Bitch and FFN) and just for entertainment value. They're page turners and are fun. Outside of school, I only read for fun.

I hope you enjoy.

[theREALsun]

thanks, Bandaide!
i just printed that so i can look into them.....
i appreciate the suggestions.....
i read She's Come Undone a few years back when i was loving Oprah's Book Club :o :)

i am going to check them out.
i REALLY love nonfiction, but i do enjoy a good bit of fiction now and again.

tanks again :)

[RockyJay]

Memoirs of A Geisha-Arthur Golden, that book is really good.
Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl
War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars.

Don't know if you'd like John Grisham, Anne Rice books, but I find them interesting. Currently reading a book by Kahlil Gibran-The Broken Wings, so far it's alright.

And the females I know like the Twisted series of books by Jessica Zafra.

Hope you like some of these.
RockyJay

[delta9]

Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl
The new one with the lesbian pages in it? :p

If you're into fantasy, read Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber, ten books, best first person I've ever read (and I've read many times over, I love that series).

David (and Leigh) Eddings is also a good fantasy author.

[dragonflywings]

She's come undone by Wally Lamb is one of my favourites too.
Right now I am reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, not exactly cheerful but really good. If you want some suspense you should try Whisper's and Lies by Joy Fielding. :o

[treehugger]

This is a good book if you want something escapist along the line of watership down or maybe lord of the rings.

It's about birds...a robin being one of the heroes..and the villans of the book being...I think it was magpies.

Anyway, I highly recommend it for something escapist. It has a great moral and good versus evil...

[Icarus]

Absolutely anything by Ray Bradbury, Edward Abbey, Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway and Robert Heinlein for adventure combined with wonderful word paintings....if you feel like something a little heavier and with more of a political bent I highly recommend Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn as well. Hope this helps.

[mountain_mama]

I really enjoyed The Red Tent by Anita Diamant...but it might just be my life stage of having babies ect..

Lately I have been addicted to T.C Boyle. His writing blows my mind. I strongly suggest reading Drop City, Budding Prospects and The Tortilla Curtain (in that order). Fantastic works but especially Drop City. I have re-read it three times already and keep finding more to appreciate...

When I want something that makes me feel good about being human books by Barbara Kingsolver always do the trick. I LOOOOOOVVVVVEd Prodgical Summer and Animal Dreams. Poisonwood Bible was hard for me to get into but it was worth it once I fell into the story a bit more.

For awhile I was big into writings by my Latin American sisters. Check out Julia Alvarez. I enjoyed How the Garcia Girls Lost Thier Accents and In the Time of Butterflies although I did mot care so much for In the Name of Salome.

For good coming of age as a girl blah blah blah.....type of book check out The Liars Club and Cherry by Mary Karr.

I have read everything by Chuck Palahniuck. His work is good for a mind fuck. Check out Invisible Monsters, Lullaby, Choke and Survivor. I didn't enjoy Diary as much for some reason and I watched the movie Fight Club too much for me to really get into the book..

I like to read The Monkeywrench Gang by Edward Abbey when I'm feeling radical. Works by Hunter S. Thompson also suit me when I am in this mood...

I always turn to my favorites by John Steinbeck when I'm feeling fickle. You just can't go wrong with any of his work except maybe Travels with Charlie which I found a bit dry but I think I have almost nubbed through my worn out copies of The Red Pony, The Pearl, Cannery Row and Tortilla Flats..those are my top favorites by him and feel just like old friends.

When I want junk food for my brain and I want to read just the trashiest of the trash I read the Prey series by John Sandford, although I think the last two books were written by a ghost writer and are not as good as the earlier ones, I think they are pretty good for thrillers. Many a night I have stayed up way past my bedtime just to find out whodunnit. :o
I also like the Earths Children series by Jean M. Auel (clan of the cave bear....) for junk reading....if you can get past the less than stellar writing and poorly illustrated sex scenes the concept she is trying to communicate is ultra entertaining and one I have reflected upon many times.

I could go one forever....I hope you find what you are looking for. When all else fails grab a mocha and just wander through the stacks picking up books and reading the first few pages...I have stumbled upon some great stories that way! ;)

[Herbmama]

Anything by Louise Edrich...
The Beet Queen
Love Medicine
Bingo Palace
The Anelope Wife
Tracks
I have never been disapointed in any of her books...she just straight up rocks.
Lets see..Harry Potter is always fun
I'm also loving The Southern Vampire Books by Charline Harris...I mean A burnt-out vampiric Elvis...how can you not love that?
Possessing The Secret of Joy, and In the Temple of My Familiar both by Alice Waker
Non fiction...
Well right now I'm reading
The Web That Has No Weaver, which is about Traditional Chinese Medicine
Hands of Light, about energy work
And The Bhagavad Gita (As It Is)...don't know if you'd consider it fiction or non-fiction a little of both really

[RockyJay]

100 Years Of Solitude-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

How about reading those books that turned into movies? Sometimes the book is more enjoyable than the movie because you'd be able to understand the story more.


The new one with the lesbian pages in it? :p

Haha. :p

[freakyfairy]

i haven't read a good book for ages... i'v been so bogged down with my set reading list for my exams that i haven't had time to read much... although i have been dipping into a book on spells, curses and rituals in my free time....it's really intersting...

[theREALsun]

well, now i don't know where to start
thanks all

i will throw a few of my recent favs out there

The Wheel of Life- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
A Million Little Pieces- James Frey
Left Behind Series :o
Running With Scissors- Augusten Burroughs
The Woman Warrior- Maxine Hong Kingston
Brown- Richard Rodriquez
and i am sure there are many more.....
i love to read poetry...... ooohhh..... and i love to recite poetry
(and prose) :o
i love confessional poetry and i love beat

anyone read the DaVinci Code? or Angels and Demons?
they are definitely worth a read..... the symbolism is crazy, the writing is not my favorite.

I did also read The Red Tent..... liked it
and i too, mountain mama, like to grab some tea and browse around for new books.... wish i could do it everyday, wouldn't that be dreamy?
thanks for all of your suggestions
I have also read the Bhagavd Gita, isn't that almost considered a sacred text?
or no?

i guess i could go on and on, too. he he
thanks all! :)

[freakyfairy]

when i finally get through my reading list i want to read the da vinci code.... is it any good anybody?

[mountain_mama]

Both my husband and brother are reading the da vinci code and they seem to be enjoying it...

I just love this thread...I have so many new books now that I want to rush out and get. If I had a zillion dollars I would build a fortress out of books ;)

RealSun, I think it sounds dreamy also to be able to wander at leisure and browse for books everyday (sigh....)

[Sunnydaydreams]

ive read da vinci code & its a good read. the woman warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is REALLY good. i read that in a class last year & i liked it a lot. i dont want to give any of the story away, but i think you would like it too :)

peace & love

[gill066]

I checked through most of this thread to come to a startling conclusion: Kerouac's missing! Yes, while Ken Kesey may have been an inspirational author for the Love Generation, one of his chief inspirations was Jack Kerouac. I mean, Neal Cassady was even given the main role in On The Road, as Dean Moriarty.

On The Road is the book to read. I'm working on it right now.

[BandAide]

My husband loves Jack Kerouac. I, personally, find Ginsberg a bit more accessible to me. Admittedly, I only read The Dharma Bums and On The Road. So, my knowledge is minimal. Once, I met a boy who took me to the apartment in NYC where the beat generation began snapping instead of clapping. That was a nice day.