Look at the works of Geraldine Brooks. First book–Nine Parts Desire (as a journalist in the Middle East she describes her experiences with Muslim women). Other books are historic fiction:
Year of Wonders (bubonic plague), March (Alcotts in Concord, MA–won a Pulitzer), People of the Book (Saravejo Haggadah),
Caleb’s Crossing (first Native American to graduate from Harvard), New book–haven’t read–The Second Chord–came out last year. She lives on Martha’s Vineyard.
But nottelling, the blog posts about hair in Americanah were extremely interesting…to me at least. I hate girly books. I think I startled members of the CC book club by sneering at the fact that a certain book that we read mentioned fingernail polish not once, but twice!
TBH it’s been so long since I read a book just for sheer enjoyment that I have a hard time articulating, other than no “suffering women” books! I am heading to my library this weekend with a lot of your suggestions and I appreciate it. I will stretch outside my comfort zone! I guess what I fear going into a Barnes & Noble is that without names of authors or titles of books to look for, I’ll wind up picking up some stupid chick-lit stuff and then be disappointed. And this is awful, but when it’s a female writer, I feel like I have no way of distinguishing between the ones who are writing quality stuff and the ones who are writing really trite stuff.
I think they gave a copy of Americanah to my daughter as part of the graduation where the author spoke, so I’ll try that route.
Gotta admit, I have never quite gotten over my disappointment with the adult/grown up section of the library in general. I voraciously consumed books as a kid (20 books a week was not uncommon for me). I was eager to dig into the grownup literature section, and was stunned at how darned boring a lot of it is. Especially modern literature. I certainly have found a lot to read that I like in the past 35 years since making that move, but… a good kid’s adventure yarn still might be my favorite.
I second Geraldine Brooks for good historical fiction and in addition to “Devil in the White City”, “Dead Wake” by Erik Larson is a really good book about the Lusitania- non fiction. Mary Doria Russell has written several good books in the historical fiction genre, “A Thread of Grace”, “Dreamers of the Day” and “Doc”. I also liked “Skeletons at the Feast” by Chris Bohjalian a novel set during the end of WW2.
"But nottelling, the blog posts about hair in Americanah were extremely interesting.
Yes, I completely agree but I’m just saying that it doesn’t seem to meet the questioner’s criteria of no “chick lit” or “women’s fiction.” I know plenty of men who loved the book but it just didnt seem to meet the brief. I agree it is a great book.
@Pizzagirl If you haven’t really read books for pleasure for a long time, check out Cutting for Stone by Verghese. It’s not a new book, came out in 2009, but a book I love and has been loved by anyone I recommend it to. I know from posts, your husband is an MD, so if you haven’t read it, I think you’d enjoy it. It’s one of those books where, in addition to telling a good story, you learn a lot about culture, history, and in this case, medicine.
@Pizzagirl – you might want to use the NY Times “notable books” of the year lists published late November each year to get a good list of 50 works of fiction. You can then read the descriptions to see what appeals to you.
Also check out the Lariat List – it’s fiction only, and some of the books ARE chick lit, so you’ll have to filter accordingly. Books on the list are chosen solely on the basis of whether they’re a “pleasure to read.”
For people trying to get back into reading fiction after a slump, I recommend Philip Roth. Have you read American Pastoral? It is soooo good. There is a lot of suffering in the book, though, a LOT of suffering – but it also has what is, in my view, the single funniest scene is all of literature. It is a very deep and moving book, and you’ll learn a lot about glove making in Newark in the 1950s (mentioned since you said you like to learn things from your fiction).
Don’t read the jacket copy before reading the book. Too many spoilers!
The Son by Philipp Meyer – A big, sprawling Texas novel, spanning generations. Among the intersecting story lines is the story of a boy kidnapped and raised by the Comanches. Has a lot of violence, though.
Good Lord Bird by James McBride – Super funny farce that reimagines the life of John Brown, the Abolitionist. The language is the appeal of this book; read a couple of pages to see if the humor appeals to you.
The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert – Well paced, fun book set in early to mid 19th century Britain, about a weathy woman who becomes a botanist. Probably less literary than the other two recommendations, but a fun read.
Another suggestion to break out of a reading slump – pick up a big juicy classic! I recommend The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope, or maybe Barchester Towers. Pure pleasure! In fact, I think it may be time for me to re-read those since I’m in a bit of a slump myself.
Pg, I’m happy to fill,you in on all the historical basis of the books I most like.
Corner…bitter and sweet… Met the author. He is Chinese, wrote about his GF in CA, and his friendship with Japanese girl. Learning each other’s cultures. Her family being interned.
19th wife. We had 3 sister wives join our meeting
A land remembered. A family history from before civil war to establishment of cities like Miami. The grandson did a presentation.
Guerney… Island off of France that was occupied by Germans, and how they kind of lived in harmony.
Boys in the boat. A must read, about UWash crew team and going to Olympics.
I second that suggestion; I found that book to be very enjoyable.
Given that I’ve found quite a bit of recent popular fiction to be disappointing, I’ve been turning more and more to the classics. I love Joseph Conrad; I have read a couple of Dostoyevskys and liked them; I enjoyed George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, and also The Magic Mountain and Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann. I’m currently reading Proust!
Other favorites among the classics:
A Passage to India, E.M. Forster.
Intruder in the Dust, William Faulkner (more accessible and more upbeat than other Faulkners).
