Starting reading; looking for good books from the last decade

[Random Reader]

Greetings,

I've been watching an awful lot of movies recently and decided to start reading as well. What good books could you recommend from the last decade or so? I figure I better start with something recent, and no, I really haven't done much reading previously.

Thanks!

[margaine]

any books from the past decade leaves a lot of possibilities! Do you have any genres or interests in terms of the type of books you might like to read? Or, what types of movies have you been enjoying?

[Phantom Paragrapher]

I was going to ask the same as Marg , what Interests do you have , are there any topics you want to read e.g genres ?

[Random Reader]

Thanks for the replies.
I enjoy pretty much any good movie, and I imagine I'll enjoy any good book. I've always had a thing for science-fiction, though, but narrowing my interest before exploring it seems kind of stupid!
I imagine one can speak somewhat objectively of quality of books the same as movies...? I hate to be a snob, but "good" works are usually the most rewarding to consume.

[Winifred]

We have a lot of threads with suggestions of books to read: http://www.literaturejunction.com/showthread.php?7962-Top-100-Books

As for the last decade or so, here's one pretty good set: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R3MZP0SS1VWWYI Of the ones I've read, I pretty much agree with his assessments, although they're pretty general.

You can also browse our Book Reviews thread: http://www.literaturejunction.com/showthread.php?2438-Book-Reviews or our members' Book Blogs:http://www.literaturejunction.com/forumdisplay.php?174-Book-Blogs. Here's another interesting thread: http://www.literaturejunction.com/showthread.php?15662-2008-Award-Winners. We have lots of threads, and as you get to know us, you can judge pretty well by our different tastes if you think you'd like the books yourself.

Happy hunting!

[margaine]

Some contemporary books that I'd recommend to the general reading public are

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Road, Cormac McCarthy

These are all books that I've read that "everyone talks about." And I really do think that they are worth talking about. There are plenty of others, like on the Amazon list that Winifred linked to, that I haven't read and that I can't speak to (I still haven't read The Life of Pi or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime).

I'm sorry I can't recommend any real contemporary sci-fi because the sci-fi books that I'm familiar with are part of longer series, and you probably don't want to get into something like that right now. Although I'm tempted to recommend Stephen King's Under the Dome, though I haven't read it. My boyfriend liked it though, and he is a fairly discerning reader. Say what you will about Stephen King, he is a good storyteller.

[Jez]

Last decade, or so? How far does the "or so" extend? If you like science fiction, then the following tend to be considered "must reads" in the genre:

Dune, by Frank Herbert, 1965. (Read the first three, the rest you can read or not)
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, 1954
The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury, 1950
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov, 1950
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, 1985
Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein, 1959
Neuromancer, by William Gibson, 1984
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick, 1968
2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke, 1968
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson, 1992
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton, 1990
Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1963
The Chronicles of Amber, by Roger Zelazny, 1970-1991
The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham, 1951
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, 1966
The Dispossessed, by Ursula K Le Guin, 1974
Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, 1977

Personally, I very much enjoyed Joan D. Vinge's trilogy that begins with Psion (1982). Also, any short stories by Rod Serling, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Henry Kuttner.

[Random Reader]

Thank you.
I'm pretty sure I've got plenty of material there. I guess I'll compile a list!

Happy reading.

[Phantom Paragrapher]

The Phoenix Files Series - Chris Morphew
Juno of Taris - Fleur Beale
Robin Wasserman Books
Tomorrow When the War Began Series - John Marsden
Uglies Series by Scott Westerfield

[Q-ball]

Roberto Bolano. RIP

2666 is the best novel to be published in the aughts.

[KneD]

Hmm. The biggest 'literary' authors of the past decade must be

Ian McEwan
Jonathan Franzen
Dave Eggers
Jonathan Safran Foer
Cormac McCarthy
Peter Carey
Jonathan Coe

(wow, three Jonathan's) And make sure to check last decades Man Booker winners.

[margaine]

heh, I was just looking through this thread again. not because there was a new post in it, though. but because I'm thinking of a book gift to get for someone (THE teacher I work with). Your list is pretty good, KneD, though unfortunately I haven't read most of the authors on there (!) - too many books in the world, too little time! And I'd like to get him something I've actually read. One of his favorite authors seems to be Philip Roth, another author who I've read very little of. He didn't like The World According to Garp, and though his English is excellent, it's not strong enough to get through Salman Rushdie (Iriving and Rushdie are two of my favorites). So I've gotten the impression that he likes good, solid, literary fiction but not things that are too strange, perhaps.

I am leaning towards Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker, perhaps because it reminds me a little bit of the book he lent me - The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears. Both are partially about immigrants in the US who are to some extent haunted by violent political events in their countries of origin. Both stories are complex, emotional, and somewhat mysterious (what really happened in the country of origin is revealed as the story goes on). Of course, given that topic, The Brief Wondrous Life . . . seems to be the obvious possibility, but I'm afraid that it might be too strange for his tastes. I'm also thinking of Aidichie, because she is a good solid storyteller too. I'd really rather limit the gift to something I've read, or at least an author I'm fairly familiar with. So that does reduce my options, but just thinking about different books may lead me to something else I haven't thought of . . .

Edit: the reason this thread was drawing me to it was because I'd like to get something contemporary. If not within the last decade, perhaps within the last fifteen years or so. Hoping to introduce him to something good that he may not have heard of or may not have read, since he's based in France - rather than an old classic that he's sure to know. No sci-fi though - that's the only difference from the original poster's request.

[KneD]

I hadn't seen it is an old topic :)

Anyway, if he likes Roth, from the list I mentioned McEwan and Franzen are in the same league. All are true story tellers, generally use long-term narrative. And manage to illustrate a certain 'time/era'. Neither are too weird. Murakami is always a winner, but definitely weird at times. Although, Norwegian wood is pretty normal, and one of his best.

Just thinking about these books is great, thx ;)

[margaine]

I hadn't seen it is an old topic :)

Anyway, if he likes Roth, from the list I mentioned McEwan and Franzen are in the same league. All are true story tellers, generally use long-term narrative. And manage to illustrate a certain 'time/era'. Neither are too weird. Murakami is always a winner, but definitely weird at times. Although, Norwegian wood is pretty normal, and one of his best.

Just thinking about these books is great, thx ;)

As a side note - thanks for mentioning Norwegian Wood - I was just trying to decide between that and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle for myself. I went with Wind-Up Bird, and I'm glad I did because I'm sure you are right that Norwegian Wood is good, but I am still in the mood for strange if I read Murakami (I've only read Kafka on the Shore so far). I'll read Norwegian Wood later (such a good book title!!)

I really wish I'd read something of McEwan's before, but because he's British, he is a less appealing gift because my giftee is very well-acquainted with all things British. Maybe I will look into Franzen some though. He's one of those authors that everyone always purchased when I worked in a bookstore in 2004, and I never got around to reading him.

[KneD]

As a side note - thanks for mentioning Norwegian Wood - I was just trying to decide between that and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle for myself. I went with Wind-Up Bird, and I'm glad I did because I'm sure you are right that Norwegian Wood is good, but I am still in the mood for strange if I read Murakami (I've only read Kafka on the Shore so far). I'll read Norwegian Wood later (such a good book title!!)

I really wish I'd read something of McEwan's before, but because he's British, he is a less appealing gift because my giftee is very well-acquainted with all things British. Maybe I will look into Franzen some though. He's one of those authors that everyone always purchased when I worked in a bookstore in 2004, and I never got around to reading him.

When I said Norwegian wood is one of his best I meant that the Wind-up bird chronicle is his actual best :)
Norwegian wood was my first Murakami, because of the title. Enjoy your read!

Franzen is great, Freedom comes with an Oprah book-club sticker at the moment, so worth a purchase ;)

[Heather H]

You might consider a collection of short stories. I'm sure there are many available. In a creative writing class I am taking right now, we have been reading some stories from "The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories", edited by Ben Marcus. There are some good ones in this anthology. So far, one of my favorites from this book has been "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned" by Wells Tower, which humorously depicts the disturbing actions of a Viking raiding party in a way that makes it sound like a contemporary workplace satire.

Another possibility is to look for literary magazines or science fiction magazines. Major book stores will usually have a few in the magazine racks, and maybe your local university publishes a literary journal that features short stories in each issue.

Heather