book recs, and also requesting some recs
Can anyone recommend something for me to read? I graduated from college in May, and since then I've been doing my best to avoid reading any Serious Literature, lest I have a nervous breakdown. (My thesis was stressful, to say the least.) I've been reading all the books I haven't had a chance to read because I've had schoolwork, and watching all the trash on TV that I neglected. But now that I've gone through the first wave of my Post-Collegiate Anti-Literate Book List, I'm not sure what to read next.
What I've been reading recently:
Laurie R. King: Her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series is quite entertaining and decently written. I'd love to find a similar mystery series. To be honest, I wish there was a bit more mush in these books, and yet every time there is mush, it's totally unbelievable because it's so antithetical to the essence of Holmes. So I've always thought that this basic contradiction weakens the premise of the series, but whatever. I do my damnedest to ignore it. Three cheers for Wedlock Holmes! Another reason I really like Laurie R. King's stuff is because it's a mystery novel with a little bit of romance, and yet it's definitely not a "romance novel". Not that I object to romance novels, I've read plenty of them, but I like that King's characters are fleshed out enough that they seem like genuine people, and the mushy stuff is just a small part of a larger plot.
Jasper Fforde: I know I'm not the only Fforde fan around here (I LOVE HIM AND I KNOW THERE ARE OTHERS LIKE ME), so tell me guys: What do you read while waiting for the next book? I love his Nursery Crime series, actually to be honest a bit more than the Thursday Next books (blasphemy?), and I'm really looking forward to the third installment. But until then, I need somethin'.
Philip Pullman: Always a favorite. I just re-read the entire HDM trilogy, so I'm going to have to put that aside for a while.
Shannon Hale: I really liked Goose Girl and Princess Academy, so I started reading the next book in the GG series, called Enna Burning, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Her books tend to start slowly, and not pick up until about a third of the way through, and I have difficulty keeping myself going. Not sure I'm going to finish reading Enna Burning right now. I think I might return it to the library for now.
Megan Whalen Turner: Her Thief series is absolutely amazing. So wonderful, exciting, charming, funny, and romantic. Her plots are so clever, above all, and she's a really great writer, which is always a relief. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you go get yourself a copy of the first book in the series immediately.
One I didn't like: Dorothy L. Sayers: I started reading Strong Poison, which is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, and I didn't like it at all. So many people seem to love these books. Am I missing something? Maybe it's my fault for trying to come into a series halfway through, but it seemed to me that she doesn't spend any time fleshing out her characters. It's bizarre, actually. Nor is there any sense of setting, time period or surroundings. I suppose it's an aesthetic choice, but it doesn't work for me in this particular instance. They're talking cardboard cutouts. Maybe this is different in the first book of the series. But I really was not impressed by her writing at all. I quit halfway through the book.
So, that's what I've been reading the last two weeks, and now I've ground to a halt because I don't know where to go next. I'd like stuff that's smart and literary, but also humorous and plot-driven. I like clever exchanges and absurd situations or vast Scottish estates and stiff formal tea parties with glittering wit. Or anything at all, really.
From the list above, which hopefully gives you a little bit of an idea of what I might like in my current reading mood, does anyone have any suggestions? Or any suggestions unrelated to the above list but of a book I just need to read?
If you like, I promise to let you know if I will read what you recommend, and then tell you what I thought of it. So you will not be making suggestions into a vacuum, if that helps any.
EEEEEEEEK I'M DESPERATE FOR BOOKS HELP.
What I've been reading recently:
Laurie R. King: Her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series is quite entertaining and decently written. I'd love to find a similar mystery series. To be honest, I wish there was a bit more mush in these books, and yet every time there is mush, it's totally unbelievable because it's so antithetical to the essence of Holmes. So I've always thought that this basic contradiction weakens the premise of the series, but whatever. I do my damnedest to ignore it. Three cheers for Wedlock Holmes! Another reason I really like Laurie R. King's stuff is because it's a mystery novel with a little bit of romance, and yet it's definitely not a "romance novel". Not that I object to romance novels, I've read plenty of them, but I like that King's characters are fleshed out enough that they seem like genuine people, and the mushy stuff is just a small part of a larger plot.
Jasper Fforde: I know I'm not the only Fforde fan around here (I LOVE HIM AND I KNOW THERE ARE OTHERS LIKE ME), so tell me guys: What do you read while waiting for the next book? I love his Nursery Crime series, actually to be honest a bit more than the Thursday Next books (blasphemy?), and I'm really looking forward to the third installment. But until then, I need somethin'.
Philip Pullman: Always a favorite. I just re-read the entire HDM trilogy, so I'm going to have to put that aside for a while.
Shannon Hale: I really liked Goose Girl and Princess Academy, so I started reading the next book in the GG series, called Enna Burning, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Her books tend to start slowly, and not pick up until about a third of the way through, and I have difficulty keeping myself going. Not sure I'm going to finish reading Enna Burning right now. I think I might return it to the library for now.
Megan Whalen Turner: Her Thief series is absolutely amazing. So wonderful, exciting, charming, funny, and romantic. Her plots are so clever, above all, and she's a really great writer, which is always a relief. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you go get yourself a copy of the first book in the series immediately.
One I didn't like: Dorothy L. Sayers: I started reading Strong Poison, which is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, and I didn't like it at all. So many people seem to love these books. Am I missing something? Maybe it's my fault for trying to come into a series halfway through, but it seemed to me that she doesn't spend any time fleshing out her characters. It's bizarre, actually. Nor is there any sense of setting, time period or surroundings. I suppose it's an aesthetic choice, but it doesn't work for me in this particular instance. They're talking cardboard cutouts. Maybe this is different in the first book of the series. But I really was not impressed by her writing at all. I quit halfway through the book.
So, that's what I've been reading the last two weeks, and now I've ground to a halt because I don't know where to go next. I'd like stuff that's smart and literary, but also humorous and plot-driven. I like clever exchanges and absurd situations or vast Scottish estates and stiff formal tea parties with glittering wit. Or anything at all, really.
From the list above, which hopefully gives you a little bit of an idea of what I might like in my current reading mood, does anyone have any suggestions? Or any suggestions unrelated to the above list but of a book I just need to read?
If you like, I promise to let you know if I will read what you recommend, and then tell you what I thought of it. So you will not be making suggestions into a vacuum, if that helps any.
EEEEEEEEK I'M DESPERATE FOR BOOKS HELP.