can someone rec. some books for me - some along the lines of..

sporina

ok so i always struggle to find books I like.

So I am looking for some help.

So here are some of the books I have read that I really loved..

Sophies Choice - William Styron
Dancer - Colum McCann
The Good Earth - Pearl S Buck
Let the great world spin - Colum McCann
Brooklyn - Colin Tobin
The kite Runner - ?
Too great a lady - ?
The Russian Concubine - Kate Furnivall

In general, I love books that have great characters - character's that draw you in and make you empathize or sympathize with them.
Books that help you to understand how the lives of people were affected by events ie war, poverty, stigma etc.
Also, books that are well written.

Books perhaps that are based on a period of time - like from historical events - but not necessarily non fiction - I think saga is the phrase? Or Memoir?

I do not know the category - perhaps drama?

Good recommendations are greatly appreciated.

x_Ellie_x

I think you might like these:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (the same author as The Kite Runner)

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

randomguy

The following are decent literary novels with readability, good writing and a historical setting or a sense of history.

The Siege of Krishnapur - JG Farrell
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Birds Without Wings - Louis de Bernieres
In The Skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje
Strumpet City - James Plunkett
A Star Called Henry - Roddy Doyle
The Untouchable - John Banville
Earthly Powers - Anthony Burgess
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
Underworld - Don deLillo (modern but very good)
The Corrections - Franzen (modern but great)
Netherland - Joseph O'Neill (but might lack narrative for you, ditto The Reluctant Fundamentalist)

And I tell everyone to try Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, since it is great, but only the wise follow my advice...

If you've an opinion on a few of these, let me know and I'll recommend a few more...

Paddy Samurai

sporina wrote: »

In general, I love books that have great characters - character's that draw you in and make you empathize or sympathize with them.
Books that help you to understand how the lives of people were affected by events ie war, poverty, stigma etc.
Also, books that are well written.

Try Speaks the nighbird by Robert McCammon

Top notch read IMO.

After a ten-year absence from publishing, McCammon (Boy's Life) returns with this historical novel of colonial Carolina. In 1699, legal clerk Matthew Corbett accompanies magistrate Isaac Woodward to Fount Royal, where he has been summoned to decide whether a witch is living in the newly established settlement. The two are immediately thrown into danger, even before they reach the town. And once there, they must deal with the inhabitants, some of whom stand to gain if Rachel, the accused, is executed. Soon it becomes obvious to Matthew that everyone has secrets, even the magistrate. In the end, he alone must try to unravel the mysteries. While many of McCammon's prior novels dealt with the supernatural, his latest contains horrors that are more real. McCammon also provides extensive historical detail, re-creating the legal procedures, medical practices, and everyday existence of the time. The language and situations are often disturbing, especially because many of the accusations against Rachel are sexual in nature, but McCammon tells a compelling story that should find a wide readership. Highly recommended for popular fiction collections

bullpost

William Kennedy's Albany Trilogy would be perfect for you I think.

http://www.amazon.ca/Albany-Trilogy-William-Kennedy/dp/0140257861

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

sporina

x_Ellie_x wrote: »

I think you might like these:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (the same author as The Kite Runner)

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

thanks for that - i have actually read the 1st two..