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). Those at the top of the list are the ones I have read most recently.

• Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel. What more is there to say about this book than many others have already done? It is truly wonderful. The opening few pages form the most stunning start of any book I can remember reading. I also recommend her other books, especially Beyond Black. I am reading her sequel to Wolf Hall just now.
• Sacred Hearts , by Sarah Dunnant. Beautiful, poignant, and a wonderful tale.
• The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick de Witt. Nearly won the Booker Prize recently. My son Joe- who is hard to impress with reading recommendations -loved it.
• Jamrach's Menagerie, by Carol Birch. Also nearly won the Booker Prize recently. My son Joe was not impressed by this one. He thinks it is too similar to Life of Pi, which he also did not like.
• Charles Dickens, by Claire Tomalin. A biographical masterpiece. But be prepared to hear some harsh indictments of Charles as a man; he was (and remains) great, but flawed.
• Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding. I have seen TV or film versions. But nothing compares to reading the original text; the wit is venonmous.
• 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.