Book Recommendations, Please!
February 19, 2015 6:15 PM Subscribe
Please help me find some new reading material!
I have a fairly new Kindle and am looking to get some new reading material for it. I've been browsing through Amazon and just can't make up my mind on what to start with. My favorite books that I've recently read have been The Help, Molokai'i, The Art of Racing in the Rain. Basically I want a book I can get lost in, but that isn't too heavy. I detest romance and don't want that, nor do I want anything too crime-filled (no gory murders or anything like that). I like both fiction and non-fiction. Any recommendations of books that fill those criteria that you just loved??
I have a fairly new Kindle and am looking to get some new reading material for it. I've been browsing through Amazon and just can't make up my mind on what to start with. My favorite books that I've recently read have been The Help, Molokai'i, The Art of Racing in the Rain. Basically I want a book I can get lost in, but that isn't too heavy. I detest romance and don't want that, nor do I want anything too crime-filled (no gory murders or anything like that). I like both fiction and non-fiction. Any recommendations of books that fill those criteria that you just loved??
Nonfiction: Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder. It's the biography of Paul Farmer and it's pretty amazing.
Fiction: Did you know that the writer of The Art of Racing in the Rain has a new one, called A Sudden Light? I haven't read it, but it might be up your alley.
posted by janey47 at 6:39 PM on February 19, 2015 [4 favorites]
Fiction: Did you know that the writer of The Art of Racing in the Rain has a new one, called A Sudden Light? I haven't read it, but it might be up your alley.
posted by janey47 at 6:39 PM on February 19, 2015 [4 favorites]
I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books for light but interesting reading.
posted by bunderful at 7:29 PM on February 19, 2015
posted by bunderful at 7:29 PM on February 19, 2015
Books I've loved, that are not romances, gory, or too heavy*:
Fiction:
Fahrenheit 451
Ender's Game
Crazy Rich Asians
Agent to the Stars (honestly, anything by John Scalzi)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ready Player One
Beneath a Marble Sky (it's a love story, but not a "Romance" novel)
Non-fiction:
The Spirit of St. Louis
Life, on the Line
American Shaolin
*At least I don't remember them being such.
posted by sazanka at 7:33 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Fiction:
Fahrenheit 451
Ender's Game
Crazy Rich Asians
Agent to the Stars (honestly, anything by John Scalzi)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Ready Player One
Beneath a Marble Sky (it's a love story, but not a "Romance" novel)
Non-fiction:
The Spirit of St. Louis
Life, on the Line
American Shaolin
*At least I don't remember them being such.
posted by sazanka at 7:33 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you know you loved a specific book (like, say, The Help,) I recommend that you go to the LibraryThing page for it; they give you a set of recommendations right there. If you keep track of your reading over time, they'll even produce customized lists of books you are almost certain to despise!
posted by SMPA at 8:57 PM on February 19, 2015
posted by SMPA at 8:57 PM on February 19, 2015
I think you would like The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:07 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:07 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
When I wanted a lot to read, I downloaded a lot of Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown stories. I like detective stories, so this might not work if you don't.
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 9:10 PM on February 19, 2015
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 9:10 PM on February 19, 2015
If you haven't read it, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Free, public domain, and still one of the funniest things I have read.
posted by fings at 9:16 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by fings at 9:16 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you so much all! Many good suggestions, and I'm looking forward to trying them out!
posted by I_love_the_rain at 12:00 AM on February 20, 2015
posted by I_love_the_rain at 12:00 AM on February 20, 2015
I really like Terry McMillan's books. She writes about really interesting women. Sure they may have romances, but it's much more about relationships, family and living life. Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got her Groove Back are the ones that everyone knows. My favorite is A Day Late and A Dollar Short.
I also recommend Dorothy L Sayers. Lord Peter is a fun detective, and it's not at all gory.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:46 AM on February 20, 2015
I also recommend Dorothy L Sayers. Lord Peter is a fun detective, and it's not at all gory.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:46 AM on February 20, 2015
The Art of Fielding, maybe?
posted by that's candlepin at 7:39 AM on February 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by that's candlepin at 7:39 AM on February 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's set in the 20s at a big manor house (think Downton Abbey) and features a group of self absorbed somewhat insufferable members of the upper class spending the summer together. I think the book is hilarious. Also, it's short, so the time investment isn't huge if it turns out not to be your cup of tea.
*I've recommended this all over metafilter, and I've gotten a handful of memails over the years from folks who've gone on to read it and love it, if that's enough of an endorsement.
posted by phunniemee at 6:35 PM on February 19, 2015 [2 favorites]