I am bored.
I need a new book to read, but cannot seem to find anything, that a. I haven't already read, b. sounds horrible, c. have been told it's horrible by trusted sources, d. have been told it's "AWESOME" by illiterate morons who also enjoy American Idol. So... what are your suggestions?
I don't want to read an old classic, I don't want to read a romance, or a book adapted to a movie, or vise versa. I don't want to read something mind numbing, or overly long. I definitely do not want to read anything written by one of the Bronte sisters, or even anything in that style. I need an interesting, page turner.. actually, I need several. So, bring on the suggestions.
A.
1 comment:
I read this book in its entirety yesterday and it is completely and totally moving and awesome.
The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman. It is, simply put, unlike anything you've picked up and it is refreshing, funny, touching, whimsical.
My favorite tough novel of all time Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett rocks the house brutal style. It's plotted like mad and is gangland mob versus gangland mob. Brilliant.
Charles Burns disturbing, funny graphic novel Black Hole is another good fast read. Thick, but uncanny.
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier is good stuff.
Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War.
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead takes elevator installation and maintenance to a philosophical profundity, wraps it up in a murder mystery, and truly blows your mind.
I know it's super duper long but The Count of Monte Cristo doesn't read like a long book at all. It's a pulse-pounding page turner of revenge and it's delicious every step of the way.
If you've never actually read any Agatha Christie, you'll find them more entertaining than you'd believe if you only can think of it as some fusty old lady mysteries.
The Plot Against America proves while Philip Roth is an irreplaceable American classic.
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home is hands down the best book I read in all of 2006. Seriously. If you ever thought graphic novels were for kid's, how about the story of a young girl's budding realization that she's a lesbian, that her father, school-teacher and part-time mortician, is closetedly gay? Completely and utterly transcendent.
Gilead is a gently told, homey story that'll make you think of the very best old person you ever knew in your life. It's so good, for a book that is fundamentally often about religion, that even this atheist liked it.
I don't know how many times I can recommend Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware. Amazing is too small a word.
Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides like another mentioned book, is big, but doesn't read like a big book and it reaffirmed my faith in what novels can accomplish even today.
The Observations, by Jane Harris is funny as hell, and interesting.
Scott Smith's A Simple Plan is so calculatedly cruel that I can't recommend it enough. Vicious in a way that makes you actually sympathize with an amazing number of very bad decisions.
Patricia Highsmith's novels, including Strangers on a Train and the Ripley novels are just as fun as can be. Dark, humorous, elegantly plotted. Fine stuff.
Wodehouse, Wodehouse, Wodehouse. If your joie de vivre is hurting, nothing is better than a cuppa tea and anything by P.G. Wodehouse. My personal recommendation is "Uncle Fred Flits By," conceivably the best short story ever written in the history of man (or woman) kind.
My ex-professor Dan Chaon wrote a crackerjack of a novel called You Remind Me of Me which is amazing in too many ways to quite count.
Finally, as a last resort, might I recommend reading something you truly and deeply know you're going to loathe? Sometimes, getting out of your usual rut of "reading books you like" can have a real salutatory effect. I often use the Left Behind books, which I thought were the bottom of the barrel until I read some of the spin-offs which make these turds look almost Shakespearian. Consider picking up the trashiest, super-awful paperback romance or a hokey ol' Western or even a sci-fi/fantasy novel with some scantily clad jumbo-tittied green woman on the cover.
It can't all be filet mignon. Sometimes, a Ding-Dong clears the palate best. It makes you appreciate what's out there.
Needless to say, most of the books above are reviewed in more depth at my site, so if anything above sounds interesting, you know where to look.
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