I loved the plot of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Any recommendations for similar books, shows, or movies? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Oct 28, 2009 - 10 answers

Trying to remember the title of a tragicomic Russian novel I had just begun reading 5 years ago, before it somehow disappeared. From what I remember, the main character was an older woman who refused to adapt to the post-communist societal changes in Russia. It followed her story as she faced the changing landscape, and persecution in the face of her commitment to the old ideals.
posted by thegreatfleecircus on Oct 26, 2009 - 14 answers

With NaNoWriMo looming ever nearer, I would like to hear your best tips, tricks, habits, and techniques for staying chained to the keyboard. [more inside]
posted by BitterOldPunk on Oct 22, 2009 - 26 answers

I saw a graphic novel in a store today - the sequel to an earlier work, about a female high school student's adolescence, and written by a woman. Any ideas on what it could have been? [more inside]
posted by mippy on Oct 14, 2009 - 3 answers

What well-known novels lack any character descriptions aside from names?
posted by odinsdream on Oct 9, 2009 - 17 answers

What is this quotation from? "...and tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives?" I think the beginning is something like "what are we going to do tonight..." and it might be from a young adult type novel. The person is carrying on a normal conversation and suddenly gets panicky/existential.
posted by lilbizou on Oct 7, 2009 - 9 answers

Is this a real book? All I remember is that 1 or more characters could activate some kind of special powers or transformational abilities by imagining the shape of a particular object in their mouth. [more inside]
posted by vytae on Oct 3, 2009 - 4 answers

In Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks there is a part where one of the Estodiens say to Quilan, 'I hope you have the wit to realise you past two little tests there, Major, not one'. It appears that I do not have the wit. Possible spoilers inside. [more inside]
posted by Nufkin on Sep 20, 2009 - 5 answers

Should I maintain double spacing in an agent query email? Submission guidelines ask for the first 5 pages of my manuscript. How faithful should I be to the actual document? [more inside]
posted by bobbyno on Sep 17, 2009 - 4 answers

Help me identify this novel of which the details have been lost? [more inside]
posted by malusmoriendumest on Sep 15, 2009 - 10 answers

It's time for another round of 'name that childhood story'! Please help me identify a novel about a society that (literally) lived underground... [more inside]
posted by ghost dance beat on Sep 7, 2009 - 7 answers

Someone I know named a loathsome character in his novel after me. Is this sort of not cool? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Aug 27, 2009 - 47 answers

Please help me understand aspects of the ending of the novel "The Terror" by Dan Simmons! Super spoiler-icious details inside (definitely don't read unless you've read the book, or are sure you never want to)... [more inside]
posted by taz on Aug 21, 2009 - 12 answers

ID-the-scene-source: Someone watches a neighboring woman through a window as the neighbor carefully prepares for her lover to come visit. The lover comes in, gets it done with, leaves, and she cries. [more inside]
posted by NikitaNikita on Aug 14, 2009 - 4 answers

Where The New Comics At?: In addition to my many other hats I may be getting a job reviewing new erotica/sexuality/explicit etc comics in the future. I'd get my pick of any comic/graphic novel to review as long as it includes some element or discussion of sex or sexuality or whatever. The problem is that I have no idea what the new releases are and I can't seem to find a centralized list of upcoming titles with enough description. [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Aug 11, 2009 - 8 answers

What's your favorite parallel novel and why?
posted by marsha56 on Aug 9, 2009 - 30 answers

How can I find sales stats and chart statistics for books released over the past 30 years? [more inside]
posted by arniec on Aug 4, 2009 - 4 answers

Imagine you are a suspicious foreigner in another country... [more inside]
posted by thesailor on Jul 5, 2009 - 26 answers

What are some good books (novels, preferably, but willing to look into really excellent non-fiction) to get in the mood for my trip to Sri Lanka in August?
posted by monkeygenius on Jun 22, 2009 - 13 answers

People talk about "writing the Great American Novel." What do you think are valid examples of the G.A.N.? What novels, American or otherwise, did you enjoy reading and wish you had written?
posted by Busoni on Jun 20, 2009 - 70 answers

Can you recommend any graphic novel / comic forums or groups that focus on more obscure, non Barnes and Noble titles? [more inside]
posted by sponge on Jun 8, 2009 - 3 answers

I crave a great novel that's as addictive as a popcorn movie. Please recommend me some literary page-turners. [more inside]
posted by Beardman on Jun 5, 2009 - 104 answers

What novel (possibly or probably by Haruki Murakami) contains a speech or inner monologue with the phrase "So maybe I'm not such a good person after all"? And what's the actual text of the quotation? [more inside]
posted by telegraph on Jun 2, 2009 - 9 answers

I'm writing a novel that's a mix of Douglas Adams-like humorous sci-fi and Tom Sharpe-like bawdiness. Am I mad? Would you be interested in such a book? Read on for more info. [more inside]
posted by deeper red on May 29, 2009 - 23 answers

I'd like to read some mindless romance novels. I'm looking for books that have the drawn-out, difficult, possibly unrequited string-you-along love of a television series. [more inside]
posted by IWoudDie4U on May 21, 2009 - 28 answers

Feminist science fiction novel written between 2001 and 2004, featuring (IIRC) women with psychic connections to their hunting mount animals. I believe the title is a combination of a few letters at the beginning, then a three- or four-digit number, like NNN-####. What is the title? [more inside]
posted by cog_nate on May 18, 2009 - 7 answers

Help me find an old spy novel (details inside) ... [more inside]
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey on May 4, 2009 - 2 answers

Would it be seen as (and is it really) exceptionally tasteless to write a fictional novel about a soldiers' experiences in Iraq? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Apr 6, 2009 - 16 answers

I have an idea for a SF novel (/screenplay?), but I have the nagging feeling that it isn't at all original. Have you read or seen this concept before? [more inside]
posted by zardoz on Apr 3, 2009 - 36 answers

Novels/ book series suggestions? [more inside]
posted by jschu on Mar 30, 2009 - 46 answers

Looking for good novels that are set in Florida [more inside]
posted by The Toad on Mar 29, 2009 - 24 answers

Is there any first contact science fiction (or other types of scifi, more generally) where the characters have actually READ first contact science fiction before? [more inside]
posted by OmieWise on Mar 24, 2009 - 23 answers

Please tell me of good novels you have read where the story all takes place in one day. [more inside]
posted by jammy on Mar 23, 2009 - 34 answers

Need help remembering the title of a line of young adult books from the 80s involving mysteries and requiring a mirror to solve. [more inside]
posted by charlesv on Mar 18, 2009 - 4 answers

Can you recommend a great novel set at a historically black American college?
posted by GaelFC on Mar 10, 2009 - 5 answers

What is a classic, perhaps philosophical, novel about individual freedom to choose? So that no matter how desperate the situation you find yourself in, you always have choices about what to do, how to feel and how to think about your situation. [more inside]
posted by zaebiz on Mar 10, 2009 - 23 answers

Dear Hivemind: Sometime during the 90s or right at the beginning of the new century, I read a novel about a Roman slave, who was trained as a physician, and a character supposed to be Jesus during his lost years. [more inside]
posted by AArtaud on Feb 28, 2009 - 4 answers

Anybody have recommendations for good historical fiction/nonfiction books set in China or Southeast Asia? [more inside]
posted by ebeeb on Feb 19, 2009 - 20 answers

Stand-alone fantasy book recommendations? [more inside]
posted by Jaybo on Feb 19, 2009 - 57 answers

How do you write a synopsis for submission to a British publishing house? [more inside]
posted by Football Bat on Feb 10, 2009 - 6 answers

Help me find this book I read as a kid. I remember a fair amount of it, but I just can't get the right Google combination to find it. [more inside]
posted by Lucinda on Feb 9, 2009 - 8 answers

Dated Young Adult Book Filter: Ad copywriter's boyfriend sleeps with a man? [more inside]
posted by Jonathan Harford on Feb 4, 2009 - 6 answers

During the late '80s or early '90s, Epic Comics, an imprint of the Marvel Comics company, printed a graphic novel about schizophrenia thinly veiled as a ghost story. [more inside]
posted by fiTs on Jan 24, 2009 - 3 answers

How do I expand my novel without adding useless verbiage? [more inside]
posted by carrot on Jan 23, 2009 - 20 answers

Young adult novel filter: A child visits a place (house? castle? other world?) and gets stuck in time there. Eventually he goes back and visits his parents, who are horrified that he has stayed the same age. [more inside]
posted by NoraReed on Jan 22, 2009 - 7 answers

Where can I find out more about the investigation techniques used by private investigators? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jan 19, 2009 - 9 answers

Help me identify a novel about a female student in Edinburgh, her boyfriend with acne scars (referred to as 'my soft-scarred angel') who used to buy her nice underwear, and some kind of traumatic event in her past (either parental or some kind of mental trauma) that kept coming back to affect her. It was printed in the '90s and googling the details I know brings up nothing! [more inside]
posted by mippy on Jan 10, 2009 - 6 answers

Do multilingual fiction writers ever translate their own work? [more inside]
posted by xetere on Jan 3, 2009 - 15 answers

software for writing (i.e., organizing) a novel on a windows machine? [more inside]
posted by gcat on Dec 29, 2008 - 8 answers

Can anyone recommend good novels about gay people? Not just genre fiction but actually literature? It seems to me there must be, but I've never been able to find any.
posted by blue shadows on Dec 14, 2008 - 57 answers