I am in need of some summer reading. Not too light but not too heavy.
If it helps, I just finished, and enjoyed, Lush Life by Richard Price. Not spectacular, but solid. Teju Cole’s Open City was also excellent. I was bored to tears by Peter Carey’s Parrot and Olivier. I got my sci-fi/fantasy fix for the summer with the new Patrick Rothfuss book, and believe I have scratched that itch.
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To the End of the Land by David Grossman
I strongly suggest you check out Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom.”
It’s not just an incredible read – it’s an important book.
China Mieville – The City and The City …. sci-fi crime novel which has a lot of interesting takes on ethnic identity/politics and urban politics
If you’re interested in fantasy I highly recommend the Game of Throne series by George R. R. Martin.
If you’re interested in sci-fi I highly recommend the Ender’s Game Series.
Anything by Colm Toibon, especially Brooklyn.
Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – It’s fiction, but reads like nonfiction. A page-turner book story about the the woman behind HELA cells and their use.
correction – it’s nonfiction, but reads like fiction.
gah, someone beat me to Cutting for Stone and was wondering if you already read it. If not, I think you’d like it.
‘Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel. (Feb.) ‘
No offense, but if you consider sci-fi and fantasy to be complements you’re not reading the best of either.
Chris, I haven’t got any suggestions for you (your plate should be pretty full anyway judging from the length of your comments section), but I’m wondering whether you read eBooks, print copies, or something else.
I started reading on the Kindle a few months ago, loved it at first, and lately I’ve begun to doubt my Kindle. Thoughts?
I’ve been on a Vonnegut binge lately. If you haven’t read it already, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is as entertaining and meaningful a book as the man has written.
I suggest you stay away from Game of Thrones. Martin has put together a very good story, but the weak writing is a distraction. You don’t want to end up in my position, dying to find out what happens next, but disheartened at the prospect of reading thousands of pages of that writing.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.
Czech Literature!
The Good Soldier Svejk – Jaroslav Hasek
Dancing Lessons for an Advanced Age – Bohumil Hrabal
Tales from Two Pockets – Karel Capek
Outside the Czech Republic:
If you haven’t read Flannery O’Conner, you should read all of it.
Nadja – Andre Breton
Also, I’ve been recommending this everywhere, and it’s not fiction, but Thomas Carlyle’s “The French Revolution” is amazing.
Have you read any Richard Powers? I recommend The Gold Bug Variations in particular to you in part because you like xkcd; imagine the same spirit of intellectual playfulness and nerd romance in a respectable, well-written literary novel.
+1 for Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell
Historical fiction of the dutch colony in closed Japan. From the author of the fantastic novel – the cloud atlas – which if you haven’t read is another suggestion.
Savage Detectives – Roberto Bolano
Funny, vivid, and visceral novel stories, sort of, of young Mexican artists in the 60s, colliding with life, corruption, and each other.
A visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan
Best novel I’ve read this year. A set of connected stories that gets stronger as you go in.
Vagrants – Yiyun Li
Bleak, gripping multi-facteed novel about village life in post-cultural revolution China. Tells the story of a few days post 1979.
Sea of Poppies – Amitav Gosh – start of a historical fiction trilogy set in Indian/China opium trade. – Starts slow but then gets going – dense, rich and exciting – and its got some economics.
plus some other good books
Any Human Heart – William Boyd [a British 20th century life w/ humour]
Motherless Brooklyn – J Lethem [fanastic and fun]
Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel [stinky sweaty -politics in times of henry viii]
And I’d second Factory Girls – fantastic book – its not a novel but its great and quite novelistic, and Junot Diaz’s Brief wonderous life of Oscar Wao.
I would recommend The Great Altruist by Z.D. Robinson. Good sci-fi/fantasy story about time-travel that is heavy on characters and light on techno-speak. Not fluffy like Time-Traveler’s Wife, but has its sweet moments. Good protagonist and solid dialogue.
Anything by Mary Doria Russell. She has some space/ fantasy/ religious stuff and some amazing historical fiction. I am not kidding. She’s the real deal. I can’t say enough about her work.
If you haven’t read it yet, I’d recommend Factory Girls by Leslie Chang. Not fiction, but mostly narrative accounts of particular persons, so it reads pleasantly enough.
I found it insightful, and it fits leisurely summer reading while still inviting reflection. There are plenty of reviews and endorsements around, so have a look.
I’m just rereading the George RR Martin Fire and Ice series (in preparation for publication of book 5) – and, despite your comment that you’ve satiated your desire for fantasy, I’d suggest you pick up the first book (Game of Thrones) and give it a shot.
If you are going for “regular” fiction, I second the vote for Bel Canto.
John Connolly — The Reapers; it’s a good Charlie Parker novel. Mindless, and perfect new dad brain candy.
You;ve probably read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy? If not, well worth it.
Isabel Allende, House of the Spirits – the story of a family in Chile that lives through its turbulent 20th century history
Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex – “…the mesmerizing saga of a near-mythic Greek American family and the “roller-coaster ride of a single gene through time.” The odd but utterly believable story of Cal Stephanides, and how this 41-year-old hermaphrodite was raised as Calliope…” (Pulitzer Prize winner)
Have you read Junot Diaz?
It may represent a doubly-scratched itch in light of your Price and Rothfuss readings, but China Mieville’s The City and the City is very good. I guess it’s technically Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but the fantastical elements are pretty light, and its detective story is really engaging, not overwhelmed by the obvious but well-developed allegory of the setting.
Henry Farrell does a nice job presenting it in a recent Boston Review: http://bostonreview.net/BR36.2/henry_farrell_china_mieville.php
Patrick Rothfuss — The Name Of The Wind, and The Wise Man’s Fear.
Life & Fate by Grossman. I’m told that Rorty argued that literature is better philosophy than most philosophy, if he’s right, then it’s reached it’s zenith with this piece of fiction. Not only is is deep, it is one of the most moving works of fiction I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend it strongly enough.
Oh and Birds Without Wings or The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether-Parts (1st book of a loosely-linked trilogy) by Louis de Berniers. Good if you like magical realism and/or historical novels.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchet:
http://www.annpatchett.com/belcanto.html
“In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. His hosts hope that Mr. Hosokawa can be persuaded to build a factory in their Third World backwater. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favorite soap opera. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry.”
Despite the description, quite a light read (no deep socio-political analysis here) and beautifully written (though not necessarily very realistic!)
Kazuo Isiguru’s When We Were Orphans
The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urea
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, it’s the best book I’ve read in a while.
I am finishing Cloud Atlas in the moment, quality fiction, not too light not too heavy
a fine balance, a visit from the goon squad, drown
“Catch 22” by Joseph Heller, a beautiful satire about war and specifically about bureaucracy in the military.
“Measuring the World”, a fictional account of explorer Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. Beautifully written, funny.
If you have a bit more time, “Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann should be very rewarding.
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry is the best I’ve read in awhile – it was a gift/recommendation from Drew. It is very slow-going and low on plot, but the characters are priceless. the writing is excellent.
Also, when I told a friend our second son was to be named Gus, he demanded that I read Lonesome Dove. It’s the only western I’ve ever read, but it was a delight from start to finish. It takes about 50-100 pages to get moving, but once it does, the characters have been firmly established and the story flies along.
Why not solar, of Ian McEwan? I lide it a lot.
http://www.ianmcewan.com/bib/books/solar.html