Come On - Help Needed, I need a really good novel. Options

[lottie]

As it says on the tin.. I've been reading far to many academic books/papers recently and need a novel to lose myself in. (I've just tried Asterix, Tintin and The Simpsons comic and they're just over too quickly!)

Suggestions please.

BUT, no war books, no 'period drama/family saga' stuff please. No blood and gore although a good murder mystery might be helpful. No abused kids stories or biographies of celebrities for obvious disgusting cash-related exploitaton[ism].

Something about Artists or musicians would be brilliant.

What was the last book you are keen to read again? I'm not sleeping well and need something to chill-out with....... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Read any modern classics/thrillers lately?????

[sarah123]

Does 'Catch 22' count as a modern classic? I've just started reading it and the first 100 pages have definitely been good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Have you read the Dan Brown books? I think they probably count as thrillers. In my opinion, the Davinci Code and Angels and Demons are better than his other two.

I can't think of anything about artists or musicians off the top of my head.

If you want a murder mystery, you could do worse than Agatha Christie. (Sorry if that's a bit obvious!)

[stetenorve]

Anything by Bill Bryson is very light and readable, with the odd fact thrown in for entertainment. Not exactly novels, but a great escape from academic reading. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[hello_cello]

The phantom of the opera - Gaston Leroux
It is a great book, and is very little like the film/opera, its so interesting, ive read it thrice.

[skylark]

Something about Artists or musicians would be brilliant.

Try having a look at this thread - What music-related book are you reading? There are quite a number of recommendations for novels.

[all ears]

I like to read in the bath...by that time of teh day and this time of my life, I just want to read IN ENGLISH, and nothing that confronts me with more reality than I already have to deal with! Here's some stuff that is either light or just plain interesting.

* Ann Patchett "Bel Canto"
REcommended in the other thread, and really is a very nicely put together book.

* Andrea Camilleri (Italian author, translations recently popular) has a music-related mystery BUT I'd avoid that one, it's one of the more bloodthirsty ones. The Snack Thief is quite funny.

* An old Japanese favourite has been translated into English recently..."The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi".

* Indivisible by Four, by Steinhardt about the Guarneri Quartet, was a very interesting and also entertaining read. It isn't just puff, it has interesting things to say about the rise in popularity of quartets, and the particular interests and challenges of quartet music.

* Kage Baker "The Company" series...I find this semi-parody sci-fi alternative history a funny read. Parodies sometimes lack story, and stories sometimes take themselves too seriously, but Baker manages to keep everything in the air with a grin and a wink to spare.

* Aubrey/Maturin...the first book (Master and Commander), starts with a musical encounter. There is a lot more depth in the characterisation, and considerable humour, which (from memory) are not as evident in the more straight-faced "adventure" approach of the movie.

* Ann Cleeves. I have only read one of her contemporary mysteries - "Raven Black", from her Shetland Island Quartet (I think the next one comes out very soon), but what I read was enough to make me keep an eye out for new books by her. But this is one author you may well have read already.

* Kim Todd's "Chrysalis" about 17th century Dutch woman artist Merian and her insect and flower paintings. Must have been quite some lady...simply upped stakes and trotted off to Surinam in search of more insects to paint, after breeding insects herself and recording that they did not breed spontaneously from putrefaction but had a 4-stage life-cycle.

* Orhan Pamuk "My Name is Red" is a historical mystery, but it concerns a miniaturist. For anybody who is interested in art, especially in the links between eastern and western traditional painting, this is a much more satisfying read than his "Snow", or even his maunderings about the Istanbul of his childhood.

[lottie]

Thank you - this is great (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Misti]

I'm slightly embaressed to be admitting to this but...

I do quite enjoy reading some Nora Roberts in small doses. Okay, so they are essentially romances with a bit of some other genre mixed in. One of my particular favourites is "The Three Fates".

My only resentment is that, as with most authors who churn out too many books too fast, her writing is samey and repetative. Its like she no longer has time to develop the plots and explore her character too deeply. That's why I have to stick to small doses, otherwise I just get irritated.

[petrat]

Michelle Magorian always tells a good story! I would opt for "In Deep Water", a collection of short stories that won't take you away from your music making or art work for too long at a time. My favourite book of short stories has to be "No Come-Backs", Frederick Forsyth. Don't read it if you have snake phobia though! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Digby]

Ok so I can't stand the man, but his writing has improved dramatically since his prison stint - try Jeffery Archer's False Impression (mystery thriller about fake paintings in the art world and a woman presumed dead in the 9/11 attacks), or A prisoner of Birth (man falsely accused of murder and how he clears his name) both very readable.

I have just been reading Conn Iggulden' Gengis Kahn series which is fascinating and I couldn't put them down but probably doesn't come under your 'no gore' requirement.

[Solari]

May or may not be your cup of tea, but I went through a phase of reading Dean Koontz stuff which I quite liked.

Odd Thomas and Coldfire are two outstanding ones that spring to mind.

Have you read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman? I had meant to read this years ago but bought it a while ago and absolutely loved it. Nice bit of escapism!

The Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen books by Garth Nix are excellent too if you like that sort of stuff.

[Misterioso]

OK, it is a biography, but it's totally brilliant; I read it last year and coudn't put it down:

A Genuis in the Family, about Jacqueline du Pré, written by her sister and brother, Hilary and Piers du Pré.

It's out of print, but I managed to get a hold of a second-hand copy from Amazon. It also includes some photographs.

[Miss Ross]

It's probably not what you're looking for, but I'm hooked on reading 'Before I Die' by Jenny Downham at the moment...

[Listener]

'Still Life' by Louise Penny - artists (painters, poets) although as far as I remember no musicians. Canadian writer. Runner up in the Crime Writer's Association 'Debut Dagger' competition a few years ago and has been winning awards ever since (and writing more books).

Also, Alexander McCall Smith's 'Isobel Dalhousie' books include a bassoonist (although for what it's worth I prefer the Mma Ramotswe ones).

[buffy]

I've just read 'Twilight' and 'New moon' which are the first two books by Stephenie Meyer from the 'Twilight saga' - total 4 books. Although they are aimed at 'young adults' and are a bit silly I absolutely loved them. (I'll be forty this year.) It's a vampire romance but very little blood and gore considering the subject.