I am an English major and am forced to read the most horrendous books from the 1700's, so not much time for pleasure reading anymore; but anything by James Patterson is absolutely amazing. I never really enjoyed Michener..

 

My son is also. He finishes his Ph.D. at the University of Washington this year; is on a fellowship this final year. His "genre" is postmodern literature; particularly British.

 

I tease him that he chose postmodern because since it's new, there probably isn't as much of it to plow through.

Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown.

My favorite of his. Much better than The Da Vinci Code.

Pillars of the Earth-excellent; Kite Runner-excellent; A Thousand Splendid Suns-VERY Good;

Just started Loving Frank last night. It sucked me in pretty quickly.

For laugh out loud funny, anything from Janet Evanovich.

I like Grisham, Patterson, and Baldacci, too. Hard to imagine that alot of these are fiction. In my mind, they have to have some basis in truth and fact. Sometimes, it's a scary prospect.

To echo some of the other posts, Patterson books are a good read. I normally do 1 a year. They are quick reading and fun.

 

I just bought a book at Wal-Mart called Quicksand by Iris Johansen. Probably will read most of it on vacation this weekend.

I've just started No Logo, by Naomi Klein. It's about consumers, corporations, brands, marketing and the global economy.

 

I've also read her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which deals largely with Milton Friedman, Chicago School Economics and "free-markets". I would recommend that one to everyone.

 

My list has been a bit heavy on the non-fiction side lately. Can someone recommend some really good fiction that isn't violent, depressing or mysterious?

On our recent vacation trip, we listened to the last 4 of James Patterson's "Women's Murder Club" novels.

 

4th of July

The 5th Horseman

The 6th Target

7th Heaven

Sounds very interesting. I love religous nonfiction books.

He is a Professor at OSU and is considered an expert on the Amish and rural crime .

I haven't read any books since I finished Vincent Bugliosi's massive "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy". I completed it about 4 months ago.

 

That one was 1,612 pages written in small print, and took me several months to read ( reading about 30 minutes to an hour each night before bedtime.)

I have just about finished "Wizards First Rule" by Terry Goodkind and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

 

I'm about ready for a re-read of Asimov's 'Foundation Series' as well

The Eyes of the Dragon- Stephen King

My list has been a bit heavy on the non-fiction side lately. Can someone recommend some really good fiction that isn't violent, depressing or mysterious?

Anything by Christopher Moore. Hysterically funny.

Here is what I have read in the last week or so.

 

Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson - This has a lot of classic Gonzo writing it. The parts about his "Cuba trip" are some of his best work.

 

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore - Another great on by him. Kept me laughing throughout the whole book.

 

Brass by Helen Walsh - If you are a fan of Irvine Welsh you will love her. Sometimes the story can be a little hard to read due to English slang, but nonetheless this is a really good book.

 

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris - This is the first book of the Sookie Stackhouse series. These are the books that the HBO show True Blood is based on. They aren't bad at all.

 

My neighbor gave me Twilight and I am going to start it this morning. I'm interested to see how it compares to Dead Until Dark.

Here is what I have read in the last week or so.

 

Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson - This has a lot of classic Gonzo writing it. The parts about his "Cuba trip" are some of his best work.

 

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore - Another great on by him. Kept me laughing throughout the whole book.

 

Brass by Helen Walsh - If you are a fan of Irvine Welsh you will love her. Sometimes the story can be a little hard to read due to English slang, but nonetheless this is a really good book.

 

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris - This is the first book of the Sookie Stackhouse series. These are the books that the HBO show True Blood is based on. They aren't bad at all.

 

My neighbor gave me Twilight and I am going to start it this morning. I'm interested to see how it compares to Dead Until Dark.

 

Not bad, if you understand going in that we're talking about a book that is pretty much geared to the "young adult" demographic. I read the second book in the series, "New Moon", in one day.

I'm heading to the book store in a few minutes to pick up a copy of " The Everlasting Stream" by Walt Harrington.

Not bad, if you understand going in that we're talking about a book that is pretty much geared to the "young adult" demographic. I read the second book in the series, "New Moon", in one day.

Yea, that's what my Mother told me. My neighbor gave me a copy and I'm pretty obligated to read it.