Voracious reader seeks her next book
April 29, 2018 11:45 AM Subscribe
I’m in a bit of a reading slump and would like some help getting out of it. I really like realistic novels featuring ordinary families doing ordinary “life stuff” until they’re faced with an extraordinary situation—illness, crime, betrayal, death, etc.
(I didn’t realize this sounded so grim until I wrote it down!)
Books I’ve loved that scratch this itch for me are Every Last One by Anna Quindlen, Saying Grace and Five Fortunes by Beth Gutcheon, Dive From Claussen’s Pier by Ann Packer, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, Songs For the Missing by Stewart O’Nan ... you get the idea.
I’m not into fantasy, mystical elements, or other worldly characters or plot lines—nothing wrong with any of that, just not my preference! “Realistic” is key for me.
A suggestions welcomed! My bookshelves thank you in advance!
Books I’ve loved that scratch this itch for me are Every Last One by Anna Quindlen, Saying Grace and Five Fortunes by Beth Gutcheon, Dive From Claussen’s Pier by Ann Packer, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, Songs For the Missing by Stewart O’Nan ... you get the idea.
I’m not into fantasy, mystical elements, or other worldly characters or plot lines—nothing wrong with any of that, just not my preference! “Realistic” is key for me.
A suggestions welcomed! My bookshelves thank you in advance!
The Nest by Cythia D’Aprix Sweeney.
posted by something something at 11:51 AM on April 29, 2018
posted by something something at 11:51 AM on April 29, 2018
Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
posted by corey flood at 12:23 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by corey flood at 12:23 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Delivery Room by Sylvia Brownrigg
posted by littlecatfeet at 12:59 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by littlecatfeet at 12:59 PM on April 29, 2018
Hm. Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty might fit the bill for you.
posted by Night_owl at 1:05 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by Night_owl at 1:05 PM on April 29, 2018
2nding The Corrections, that book was messed up. In the same vein, Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance and Such a Long Journey. Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. A lot of Toni Morrison's work. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Daphe duMaurier's Rebecca. And what about Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day? Or Russian writers like Chekhov or Tolstoy ... Oooo and Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov, my goodness.
The kind of book you want to read is my favorite genre and I could recommend things allllllll day :) :)
posted by MiraK at 1:17 PM on April 29, 2018
The kind of book you want to read is my favorite genre and I could recommend things allllllll day :) :)
posted by MiraK at 1:17 PM on April 29, 2018
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
posted by topophilia at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by topophilia at 1:23 PM on April 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
It is a quiet book, but Tanizaki's The Makioka Sisters. The stresses are interpersonal and framed with the reader's knowledge of Japan's time in World War II.
posted by jadepearl at 1:53 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jadepearl at 1:53 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Swimming Lessons, by Claire Fuller
Did You Ever Have A Family, by Bill Clegg
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:54 PM on April 29, 2018
Did You Ever Have A Family, by Bill Clegg
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:54 PM on April 29, 2018
Also by Anna Quindlen, Rise and Shine. And, while I would not call the family in it 'ordinary', Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette? gets at the life-was-normal-and-then-it-all-went-smash thing.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 2:36 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 2:36 PM on April 29, 2018
Do you know Richard Russo? If not, I'd start with Nobody's Fool. Straight Man is hilarious—most of Russo's books are set in post-industrial New England towns where jobs and hope are scarce, but that one is more of a farce.
A couple other possibilities: Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter and, though it is not exactly about an ordinary family (the protagonist is John Brown, as seen through the eyes of one of his sons), Cloudsplitter.
Possibly a stretch, but if you're interested in portraits of a society, Anthony Powell's 12-volume series A Dance to the Music of Time sketches British society from the 1920s through the 1970s, and features a series of memorable characters.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:15 PM on April 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
A couple other possibilities: Russell Banks, The Sweet Hereafter and, though it is not exactly about an ordinary family (the protagonist is John Brown, as seen through the eyes of one of his sons), Cloudsplitter.
Possibly a stretch, but if you're interested in portraits of a society, Anthony Powell's 12-volume series A Dance to the Music of Time sketches British society from the 1920s through the 1970s, and features a series of memorable characters.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:15 PM on April 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm a big fan of Ethan Canin. Start with "For Kings and Planets."
posted by goatdog at 4:48 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by goatdog at 4:48 PM on April 29, 2018
Yes! I am reading this book right now!
Before You Know Kindness. by Chris Bohjalian.
I picked it up at Goodwill. It's wicked good and well within your genre.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:14 PM on April 29, 2018
Before You Know Kindness. by Chris Bohjalian.
I picked it up at Goodwill. It's wicked good and well within your genre.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:14 PM on April 29, 2018
You *have* to read The Namesake. Oh so good. So realistic.
posted by bookworm4125 at 6:27 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bookworm4125 at 6:27 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
posted by Grandysaur at 6:41 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by Grandysaur at 6:41 PM on April 29, 2018
So, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life does have a framing device that might be considered SF-ish (the main character is born, dies immediately, is born again, lives a bit longer, dies, is born again...) but otherwise fits your bill.
posted by praemunire at 8:11 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 8:11 PM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Seconding Celeste Ng, although I was thinking Little Fires Everywhere.
posted by naoko at 9:45 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by naoko at 9:45 PM on April 29, 2018
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. Just finished this. Has family. Has strife. Very good.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:28 AM on April 30, 2018
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:28 AM on April 30, 2018
Two that instantly popped to mind based on your description --
Family and Other Accidents, by Shari Goldhagen.
The Blessings, by Elise Juska.
posted by mylittlepoppet at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2018
Family and Other Accidents, by Shari Goldhagen.
The Blessings, by Elise Juska.
posted by mylittlepoppet at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2018
The World According to Garp?
posted by getawaysticks at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by getawaysticks at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mannequito at 11:48 AM on April 29, 2018