summer reading

Nicola Barker is a writer I like a lot. Not all her books have been published in the US (she's English), but here's a web site with info about her. She's funny (with a dark sense of humor). I've liked the three novels and one book of stories that I've read of hers!

http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth14

Never Let Me Go
If you liked the Handmaid's Tale, you must read Kazuo Ishiguro's latest book, Never Let Me Go. Narrated in the present day of a world that took a different track in the 50's, it is a frightening look at the possible consequences of medical advances, but, as is his Remains of the Day, it is foremost an ineffably sad tale of personal loss. Beautifully written and disquieting.

If you read the Da Vinci Code, you'll probably find Angels and Demons to be more of the same. A good book, yes, but the plot is as follows: one man must work in a race against the clock and an ancient evil organization to solve an intricate series of puzzles that have existed, unsolved, for years, in order to save the world...
It becomes rather predictable. After then reading Digital Fortress by Brown, it became pretty obvious that he was a one-trick pony.

This summer, I'm planning on finishing Plato's Republic, the War of the Spider Queen series, the Hunter's Blades Trilogy, the Five People you Meet in Heaven, and Asimov's Robot Visions.

Its a short read but I will always recomend Arthur Schnitzlers Traummenovelle(Eyes Wide Shut)

John Grisham
grisham is a good writer i've read several of his books and if you like law then they are more than "all right".....you should try on runaway jury for size....it has been made in to a movie and i still think the book's better it's about the civil law case against tobacco company (i don't know if you were interested when it happened in real life though i doubt you might have been alive) and the owner that is getting sued is tryin to find out how the vote is going to be cast.....he is being "helped" by one of the jurors but it takes on a wild end and it keeps you thinking i can ruin it for you so by telling you more sooo....good readin

John Grisham
grisham is a good writer i've read several of his books and if you like law then they are more than "all right".....you should try on runaway jury for size....it has been made in to a movie and i still think the book's better it's about the civil law case against tobacco company (i don't know if you were interested when it happened in real life though i doubt you might have been alive) and the owner that is getting sued is tryin to find out how the vote is going to be cast.....he is being "helped" by one of the jurors but it takes on a wild end and it keeps you thinking i can ruin it for you so by telling you more sooo....good readin

Amanda2113: Are you looking for just entertainment or for books that are also on the Smarty Pants Club's reading list?

I would, however, agree with Francisco on Plato's Republic--it's just one of those classic works that everyone should read.

I didn't think I would ever find someone who knew Arthur Schnitzler! I am actually going to act in one of his plays next saturday ("At the Green Parrot" (?) ("Au perroquet vert" in French)).
Good to see that this writter is not totally forgotten, and that there are still people to read him! :wink:

Hmm, well, I can't give specifics, but I can give you links to some good lists...I find them very helpful, since everytime I ask a friend for recommendations I always end up with the names of some annoying warrior princess fantasy novels.

For-fun: (BBC's The Big Read) http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

Essential/ Classics: (Observer's list)
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1061037,00.html
and
Modern Library's list:
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

Hope that helps. Anyways, during the summer, I love reading some nice happy fun literature, like Doyle, or Amy Tan (her stuff is really good-- very fast to read, and has that mythic-y quality to it.)...and I'm also waiting for the 6th Harry Potter book. They're just fun and simple. If you liked Handmaiden, then try the author's other books, like The Edible Woman or something. (I personally didn't like it that much, but I don't like any of Atwood's books)

And one book that you JUST HAVE TO READ NO MATTER WHAT is 'The Brothers Karamazov' (DOSTOEVSKY). It's just one of those books that you must read in your lifetime. Read it! It's so AWESOME! *goes to get asthma medicine*

Read The Brothers Karamazov only if you're suffering from insomnia that isn't responding well to strong drugs. Since there are more literary classics than one can expect to read in a lifetime, this is one you can safely put on the 'pass' list (unless, of course, you change your major to Russian literature).

I am currently indulged in "Better Off," by Eric Brende.

It recounts his and his wife's experience living in an Amish (well, an 'Old Order' type of Amish branch he refers to as the "Mininites") community for one year. Fed up with technology and humanity's reliance upon it, they search out a life without means of electricity, running water, or major machinery. I am about half-way in, and loving it.

I've got a strong urge to move out to Penn. though, and trade my blue jeans in for a hand-sewn bonnet :wink:

Mills, stop taking possible members away from the Dostoyevsky cult. It's a very nice place, and you all are welcome to join! Now I want all of you to enjoy your cake -- so, enjoy. *goes to fetch asthma medicine*

Sanctuary: could you give up deoderant? I once spent three hours on a bus filled with Amish folks--I respect their way of life, but damn!

Bakku: just say 'neit'! :wink:

Haha, yes, Brothers Karamazov is long, but it is an amazing book. Having read it, The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, and Notes from the Underground, I might qualify as a member of the cult. Dostoevsky is up there with Shakespeare and Faulkner when it comes to literary genius. I agree that BK is defintely something everyone ought to read.

can anyone give a short account of what it's about?

I tried to write my own synopsis but kept getting a bit too excited, which didn't help, so here's the amazon description:

"In 1880 Dostoevsky completed The Brothers Karamazov, the literary effort for which he had been preparing all his life. Compelling, profound, complex, it is the story of a patricide and of the four sons who each had a motive for murder: Dmitry, the sensualist, Ivan, the intellectual; Alyosha, the mystic; and twisted, cunning Smerdyakov, the bastard child. Frequently lurid, nightmarish, always brilliant, the novel plunges the reader into a sordid love triangle, a pathological obsession, and a gripping courtroom drama. But throughout the whole, Dostoevsky searhes for the truth--about man, about life, about the existence of God. A terrifying answer to man's eternal questions, this monumental work remains the crowning achievement of perhaps the finest novelist of all time."

Note to anyone who is thinking of starting it: the first 50 pages or so are, well, really boring. Just get past that and then it gets NICE AND HAPPY!!! Lalalaaala! *goddammit, need my asthma medicine again*

hehe thank you...i guess it is something like lord of the rings with all of the books he goes into somekind of explination trance and not untill the 70th or so page you get to the good stuff

Whaddaya talkin' 'bout? It's all good stuff in The Lord of the Rings!

I was disturbed by how mad and misguided Ras was in Crime and Punishment. It was a well written book though, but that Ras is a madman.

BTW, was Dostoevsky an existentialist (in a camp similar to Kierdegaard)?