BellaOnline Forums Books and Music Literary Fiction Recommendations--what's your favorite?

Looking for some book recommendations to put on my list. I read a lot and am looking for some new ideas.

What's your favorite literary fiction book and why is it so fabulous?

Well, I'll tell you what I'm reading now that you might enjoy. I've never been much on biographies myself, but I found one this past month that's really stuck out to me so far. Jefrrey Meyer's Orwell: Wintry Conscience of a Generation has been pretty involving so far; I am discovering that I have a lot in common with the 1984 author!

On an entirely different hand, I also started a fantasy book by John Scalzi this morning, called The God Engines; very cool idea, terrific prose. You might want to check those out.

What sort of books do you like to read? Do you have a particular genre you're looking for?

My mom actually told me about these books. The first book in the series is of course the best its called Flowers In the Attic bye V.C Andrews, it's sad, but happy in a way and it shows how strong people can really be. the next few books are Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. You may have read these, but they are good for most people. _________________________________________________________________ MommaBear22m

The Mitford series by Jan Karon. I like to read it because it is calming and gentle. I don't usually read fiction, as I prefer non-fiction, but this series was really nice. Just "NICE" is the only way I can describe it.

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series! There are seven so far. They are very long (actually, I listen to them on audio during my commute to and from work) but you will love every minute of them and feel like you know the characters personally. Highly recommend.

The Outlander Series are my favorite! In fact, I'm re-reading The Outlander now, re-starting I've thought about getting them on audio, but haven't yet. Are the accents wonderful in it?

Piers Anthony is my favorite. His Xanth series is wonderful!

I met him a couple of years ago at a book signing - WOW!

I told him about how I had a job that was so awful that it made me start crying the minute I got in my car to go home....I was so happy to leave every day.

One day after work, I went to the mall bookstore and happened upon one of his novels in the Xanth series. I read it and was hooked - what a wonderful fantasy world that I could escape to. It was so easy to get involved with the characters!!

The puns are funny and every once in a while in the back of the book, he will actually "talk" to the readers.

Robin-
I love it when narrators talk to the readers while the action is happening. It's a fascinating "breaking of the 4th wall," but really hard to accomplish, I think.

Are there any other authors you all can think of who do use this technique? I'd love to add them to my list!

One of my favorite books is The People of the Mist. It is full of adventure and has a happy ending but not before many perils. I really enjoyed this book, it kept me hooked the whole time.

I agree about the Outlander series, and I, too, used it as an audiobook during my work commute. I also just finished the final book in Karen Moning's Fever series. Probably one of the best series I've ever read. Another all time favorite of mine is The Red Tent.

Enjoy your readings!

If you read a lot you've probably already read my favourite 'pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. Not sure just how many times I've read it but I never tire of it..simply beautiful story , fantastically written :)

I'm a cronic reader! I usually read 2 books at once and read just about anything in just about any genre, although I tend to read more horror/suspense novels. What type of fiction do you like? I suggested my absolute favorite; 'Lost Souls' by Poppy Z. Brite. This is a horror novel about vampires in New Orleans. I enjoyed it so much because of the 'old school' flavor of the mythical vampire that the author portrays. My second favorite book is actually a teen story called 'Stranger With My Face' by Lois Duncan. Its about a young woman who finds out from her twin that she was adopted, but in an unconventional way. I read popular authors like Stephen King (my fave is 'In The Eye of the Dragon'), Dean Koontz, and Ann Rice to hardly known writers like Karen Hall ('Dark Debts' is a great book!) Poppy Z. Brite and Diane Setterfield. Good luck with finding a great series or individual book to read, because once you start you need to read more!!

I don't have a favorite book, but one of my recent reads, which I would recommend, is S. J. Watson's debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep. It's a page-turner that kept me up most of the night and was worth the negligible sleep deficit

My favorite literary fiction would be Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It's romantic but also has an element of suspense in it. I couldn't keep it and finished it in one go.

Pride and Prejudice. Wuthering Heights. The Anne series.

I just finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. It is amazing! It is a historical-fiction type story about Jews fighting the Roman armies in 70 CE. It is based on true accounts from that time and covers the lives of the women. It is well written with strong characters. I wasn't sure if I would like it, because I don't like several of her other books. But was pleasantly surprised. Definitely recommend this!

Love books by Gena Showalter too. The ones I'm currently reading have fantasy/supernatural themes.

Destiny by Laura Deluca. If you like books about magic you'll like this one! And for a chance to win a free signed copy, go to:BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!