Recommended Reading

 

I strongly recommend the following novels. All are excellent, none are difficult to read, and most are in the 'cannot be put down once started' category (although I hope that is not literally true).

• The Pesthouse, by Jim Crace. Following a review in the Guardian newspaper (see the link on the left to the review online), I read this on holiday in Italy in 2008. Like several below, it was a wonderful read. Beautifully written, vivid, moving, gripping and utterly convincing. It has everything!
• Specimen Days, by Michael Cunningham. I read this on holiday in 2007, and it was a wonderful read. Three parts to the book, each an episode with the same characters but set in different times, past, present and future. Vivid and tremendously moving.
• Voices, by Ursula Le Guin. I also read this on holiday in 2007, along with several other Ursula Le Guin novels that had been written since the Earthsea trilogy and that I missed since then. The author is as good as ever. This is usually described as children's fiction; but as with Philip Pullman, it is equally good for adults.
• The Peoples Act of Love, by James Meek
• Shalimar the Clown, by Salmon Rushdie
• The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
• Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake
• The Plot against America, by Philip Roth. Fascinating reading, with a very unexpected ending that many have criticised.
• The Tin Drum, by Gunther Grass. An excerpt.   Guardian Unlimited web page
• All novels of John Irving, especially 'A Widow for One Year' and 'Cider House Rules'. One useful, unofficial, John Irving web site.
• Patricia Highsmith novels, especially the Ripley series
• Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding. This is a huge classic novel, a wonderful read and a superb, complex plot. Definitely one you cannot stop reading, so beware the late nights. I came across this by chance, after seeing the first episode of the BBC Drama television version on BBC4. (Available now on DVD, a great adaptation, wonderful acting). The version I read (there are several) is the Oxford UP one, ISBN 9-19-283497-5. Wikipedia Link. Reviews on Amazon site.
• Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky. Glorious. A beautiful novel, and a heart-breaking personal story associated with the author. You really must read this.An article on the book from the Daily Telegraph newspaper. Guardian review
• I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
• Runaway, by Alice Munro
• Hombre, by Elmore Leonard
• What I loved, by Siri Hustvedt
• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship and Marriage, by Alice Munro
• A short history of tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka
• His Dark Materials, a trilogy by Phillip Pullman, truly staggering in its breadth of imagination, consisting of three volumes:
  • Northern Lights
  • The Subtle Knife
  • The Amber Spyglass
• His Dark Materials: BBC Radio 4 Production: Listen Again
• War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy: why did I miss this one for the first 55 years of my life?
• Star of the Sea - Joseph O' Connor.
• The Violated, by Vance Bourjailly. Try all his others, too. They are hard to find. I get old, out-of-print books via second hand bookshops on the net, using Abebooks.
• Theft of Dreams - John Yount. (Another author whose full works you should explore.)
• Everything by Raymond Carver, especially 'Where I'm calling From', and 'Call me if you need me'. short time masterpieces, but be prepared for being in a sombre mood. These can be bleak.
• Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson.

• 'The Glass Bead Game', and other novels by Herman Hesse Try this site for Hesse
• The Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger

Some Non-Fiction

• Clean: An Unsanitised History of Washing - Katherine Ashenburg. I read a review of this in the Guardian newspaper (my favourite source of book ideas), and was not let down when reading it during my 2008 summer holiday.