Yippee! I need book (novels) suggestions. My dad traded in airmiles

[applegrove]

and got gift cards from the local book chain. I now have to buy $300 worth of books in the next year (he reads mostly newspapers).

What are some new books that are great? What is the best book you have read in the last 6 months?

[gmoney]

1. "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow

It's technically "Teen Fiction" but it was a very good read (recommended by another DUer) that takes an interesting look at hacking and our "Big Brother" state and such. It was a real page turner, and has a big endorsement from Neil Gaiman, so it can't be all bad. Worth checking out.

[Dr Morbius]

2. I recommend anything by the great Sir Terry Pratchett. (nt)

[mix]

3. .

[pitohui]

4. what type of book do you like?

"little bird of heaven" by joyce carol oates is a recent release that's really good

with $300 to spend i would prob. try to fill in all the holes and find any ian banks or peter hamilton i'd not yet read if i was a space opera buff (which actually, hey, come to think of it, i am!)

i see there is a ruth rendell/barbara vine novel out with a bondage image on the cover -- "the birthday present" -- i'd definitely get that one, in fact, i will anyway and no one is giving me $300 to buy books...

for pop fiction "under the dome" by stephen king is surprisingly readable and will keep you turning the pages

to be honest i usu. read a book at the library and then decide if i like it enough to buy but if your time is limited before the gift card runs out this suggestion may not be practical

for "mainstream" fiction "the women" by tc boyle is well worth the read, quite a chilling ending and based on a true story (life of frank lloyd wright)!!!!! if you don't like this book, you're just not on my wavelength i think it's fantastic and well written too, it's just stunning...altho if you hadn't said "new" books his best of all is prob. "water music," if that don't knock your socks off give up reading

[clyrc]

5. A few recs from me

I'm reading, and loving, The Woman Behind the New Deal by Kirstin Downey. It's about Frances Perkins, and I had never heard of her before I bought the book. This one is nonfiction, but most books I read are fiction. I recently enjoyed a novel called Cockroach by Rawi Hage. It's about a Lebanese immigrant to Canada, and sad but fascinating. I love anything by Lionel Shriver, and the historical novels of Dorothy Dunnett, and I highly recommend them. Last year I loved the books Amenable Women by Mavis Cheek, The Brief, Wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif, The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt, and Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, a book recommended by a fellow DUer.

[pitohui]

6. oh christ the post-birthday world by lionel shriver

since you mentioned her, what a wonderful book -- maybe not really a new release though, i'm looking for the release date even as we type...

also, as warning, there is no happy ending in either alternative universe, i've not read anything by this author where she expects a woman to end happily...this is a dark story

[clyrc]

8. It's a few years old, I think

I've enjoyed every book I read by her, but We Need to Talk About Kevin is my favorite. I missed it when it first came out, but last year I found a bookstore with many of her books and I bought them all.
I think she is an amazing writer.

[yellowdogintexas]

10. I second the Dorothy Dunnett! I love her stuff.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. Some of my favorites:

.
"The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett (the sequel "World Without End" is ALMOST as good)
.
"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck (the sequel "Sweet Thursday" is ALMOST as good)
.
"Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole (published 11 years after his suicide -- I had
read that he was despondent over not being able to get it published -- for which he posthumously
received a Pulitzer Prize -- Wikipedia states it is said to have been Bill Hicks' favorite book)
.
"Still Life with Woodpecker"
"Jitterbug Perfume"
"Skinny Legs and All" -- all by Tom Robbins
.

[hippywife]

9. Always good suggestions in the DU Books Forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=208

[BlueIris]

11. Valerie Martin's "The Confessions of Edward Day."

About theater life in the '70s in NYC. Male protagonist, if that matters to your dad. Very engrossing (I read it in one four hour hour sitting.)

[yellowdogintexas]

12. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was just awesome

when I finished it I wanted to turn it over and read it again.

I have been enjoying Alexander McCall Smith's books quite a lot, he wrote 'The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series and several others. I have liked them all.

George R R Martin's vast series " A Song of Ice and Fire"; four volumes are in print we still await #5. Kind of historical fantasy fiction of an interesting world

Terry Pratchett.

James Clavell's Asian Saga is awesome; start with Shogun and work your way forward

Ragtime by E L Doctorow, a marvelous book

silly Stephanie Plum series

new author for me that I have liked so far: Alan Furst, great WWII intrigue stories.

The Joyous Season and Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. Hilarious

another excellent fantasy writer is Guy Gavriel Kaye. I have loved everything of his that I have read.

Two new mystery authors for me: I J Parker and Laura Joh Rowland. Both write samurai detective fiction. Parker in medieval Japan and Rowland about 300 years later.

[Mopar151]

13. Anything by William Gibson

The newest 2 are the most accesible (Spook Country and Pattern Recognition). They are nominally Science Fiction, but the newest ones are set in the present day. The short story collection (Burning Chrome) is very good - If you like Tom Clancy, the story "Red Star, Winter Orbit" will stay with you forever.

[Flaxbee]

14. OK, you may think I'm crazy, but save the $$ for book gifts, and

go to the library instead for your books.

I am a new library convert, however, and tend to be annoying about it.

The only books I buy now tend to be instructional art books that I want to be able to really use, but not fiction or nonfiction. Library library library!

[BethCA66]

15. The Sound and the Fury, Infinite Jest and Black Elk Speaks (not new, sorry) edited

Well, Black Elk Speaks isn't a novel, but it's damned good.