I need books!
 

As you all probably know by now, I'm a major-league reading nerd, but as of right now, I basically have nothing to read. I stopped reading chick-lit cause I got tired of the same stories of the perfect girl and the perfect guy getting together in the end (hell, it's the same reason why I stopped watching romantic comedies) and I basically stopped reading Chuck Palahniuk, a favorite author of mine (he's always been strange, but his last 3 or 4 books, he went off the deep end, and his last on to come out in paperback, Pygmy, was written in such an unreadable broken English that I had to stop in the middle).

Anyways, I'm looking for any books at all. Realize that I do love classics, I'm not one for Stephen King or James Patterson, and right now, I'm looking for something along the lines of a suspense or thriller-type book, but any good modern fiction will do.

I could not finish "Pygmy" either! I'm glad to find another reader that had trouble with it. The English was too broken, and even though it makes perfect sense for the premise, it did not work for me and I had to stop like you.

I recommend Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's thriller, "Relic". John Grisham's "The Client". Bentley Little's "The Resort". Well that's what I've got at the top of my head ;)

Have you ever read 'Blindness' by Jose Saramago? It's a really good one. It's a bit bleak but thoroughly enjoyable.

I'd recommend a book but I have a certain fondness for the classics. I'm attempting to tackle the entire works of Shakespeare (bought in one super-book) so I must be a glutton for punishment. Have you ever read Primo Levi's "If This Is A Man". It's an account of his time at a Nazi concentration camp. It's an incredibly touching, "real" book that I simply adore.

Never heard of it, but I'll do a little research.

My mom used to read John Grisham, but she found him too boring after a while. The Preston/Child book sounds like it might be good.

As for Chuck Palahniuk, I still love Fight Cub and Choke, but is Tell-All any good?

I have read Elie Weisel's Night (fantastic book BTW), but I'll give that one a spin. Yeah, I dig the classics too, but got anything good for me to check out? I refuse to read Jane Austen since she is essentially old-school chick lit.

Tess Gerritsen.

I'm not sure if you like medical thrillers, but if so her's are by far the best I've read. Way better than Michael Palmer or Robin Cook. If you want a series start with The Surgeon. If not go with Harvest.

I SECOND THIS. Favorite Holocaust memoir.

As far as new literature goes, I really recommend Old School by Tobias Wolff. If you're familiar with classics, you'll appreciate the names and characters that he drops throughout.

Non-Fiction need not apply?

If Non Fiction can have a fighting chance I would suggest Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. It's basically about Musical Therapy and the link between music and memories. It's a fascinating read.

I enjoy non-fiction, mainly memoirs. I enjoy Augusten Burroughs, Jen Lancaster, and David Sedaris, but are there anyone else along those lines?

I suppose there's Jean Paul Sartre if you're into that kind of thing, or even Simone De Beauvoir if you don't mind industrial strength feminism lol.

The ones I mentioned write funny memoirs, which i was looking for, but existentialism kinda depresses me.

Oh I love that kind of thing. Anything that tries to answer the deeper questions without all the padding and guff others seem to add, as though expecting to be writing for a docile audience. I love to be challenged.

I don't know if it counts as memoirs, more like small anecdotes really. But how about The Book Of Shadows by Don Paterson. It's basically a book of small and witty anecdotes that poke fun at life's little "foibles" as well as providing long known personal truths. For some reason I always find it in the Poetry section of the local bookstore which is odd.

I totally agree; he won the Nobel Prize for this. I haven't quite gotten around to reading it yet but from what I've seen it looks really good. I saw most of the movie
and also thought it was really worthwhile checking it out. :)


The two that came to my mind when I saw the question were "Jane Eyre" - I HIGHLY recommend that one - and Bleak House by Charles Dickens, although that's kind of long. If you want something that's kind of "racy" but unique, and still considered "quality literature," then I'd suggest "The World About Us" by Claude Simon - another Nobel Prize-winner.

For non-fiction, I'd suggest "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin."

The movie follows the plot fairly well but doesn't manage to convey the emotions and themes of the book that effectively. If you liked the movie you'll be bound to like the book. That is, as long as you can get into the strange writing style where mostly the only punctuation is commas and the occasional full stop/period. Some paragraphs go on for page after page!