What to read next?

Did you read The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach? That was really good.

I'm just finishing up a book that is beautifully written (though I had a bit of trouble getting started with it)--Arcadia by Lauren Groff.

I have not read The Art of Fielding. I read the previous book by Lauren Groff, i didnt know she had another.

Reamde by Neal Stephenson is a modern cyber-thriller, a fun read. Highly recommended as "summer novel" escapist fiction.

My favorite recent fiction reads have been:
Let the Great World Spin
Super Sad True Love Story
The Imperfectionists

Was "Super Sad True Love Story" as good as its reputation? I've been trying to decide if it's worth the read...

I think it was amazing. I read it when it first came out ( two years, or so, ago) and recommend it constantly. I believe it was n the Top Ten list for NYT book of the year in 2010.

I liked both Super Sad and The Imperfectionists. I started Stephensons Baroque Cycle but lost interest after Book 2. Is Reamde more quicker moving, or do you think I would get bogged down.

Did you read The Russian Debutantes Club? Or whatever the first shteynGart book was called. It kind of reminded me of a literary version of a Borat movie. Hilarious.

I haven't yet. I read his second, Absurdistan. Soooo funny, like a 21st century Catch-22.

I really enjoyed A Sense of an Ending, which had my book group talking for days. Just started on The Starboard Sea, which I may have to interrupt with the script of Venus in Fur, which knocked me out when I saw the play.

Do you read nonfiction? The Swerve is in my pile.

I read mostly non-fiction. What is The Swerve?

I read lots of non fiction as well. I have not heard of the Swerve.

bookgirl -- yes The Art of Fielding was good -- took me by surprise about five times. But it doesn't seem like the kind of book that the other contributors to this thread would like. But for you: If you haven't read them, American Pastorale (Philip Roth), Shalimar the Clown (Salman Rushdie), The Poorhouse Fair (john Updike, an old one), Losing Battles (Eudora Welty)

oops, and Run (Ann Patchett)

The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt recently won the Pulitzer for nonfiction (and the National Book Award last year).

From the Times review:
"The book relates the story of Poggio Bracciolini, the former apostolic secretary to several popes, who became perhaps the greatest book hunter of the Renaissance. His most significant find, located in a German monastery, was a copy of Lucretius’ “On the Nature of Things,” which had been lost to history for more than a thousand years. Its survival and re-emergence into the world, Mr. Greenblatt suggests, was a kind of secular miracle."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/books/the-swerve-how-the-world-became-modern-by-stephen-greenblatt-review.html

I just finished "The Lost Wife, by Alyson Richman courtesy of the Maplewood Library. Kind of in the "Sarah's Key" vein. Really well-written, romantic story of survival and survival of love.

Recently enjoyed The Expats by Chris Pavone - American couples living in Paris, intrigue, CIA, hedge fund fraud, etc. Very exciting, although the author's story telling technique takes getting use to.

Defending Jacob by William Landay. Only read this if you do not have a kid in middle school in a upscale suburb! It's a page turner and bound to be picked up by Hollywood.

Death Comes To Pemberly by PD James -what happened mr & Mrs Darcy and Mr Wickham! Loved it.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - top of my list , about writers in pre WW2 NYC.

Currently reading Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd. Set in pre WW1 Europe. Very well written - book was reviewed in last Sunday's NYT Book Review.

Thanks, Debby - it's now high on my list!

Let the Great World Spin was a beautiful book. All the way through I felt like I was in the confident hands of a great writer.

Just finished A Visit From The Goon Squad. I almost put it down at first, but after the first 30 pages it was astonishingly good. Egan is an awesome writer and I plan to read her other books soon.

If you want something a bit nihilist in an Elmore Leonardish vein with a strong does of James Cain (Postman Always Rings Twice), pick up The Walkaway by Scott Phillips, or Ice Harvest. Darned good writer, very dark vision of humanity but done with a light, almost comic touch somehow.

Recently read What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank--avoid this at all costs. Given the rousing reviews I was expecting a masterpiece. What I found was recycled ideas, limp prose, lazy character development, and just an ick voice.

To nonfiction readers, I recommend Barbara Demick's NOTHING TO ENVY, about the lives of ordinary people in North Korea. I had no personal interest in the subject, but was told it was good so picked it up -- it's a great, if disturbing, portrait of a horribly repressed, dysfunctional society.

Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson is one of the finest novels I've ever read.
I think it's one of the greatest works of the 20th cen.

I'm reading "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene (circa 1951.) It's so beautifully written, I'm trying to make it last as long as possible.

Go with an overlooked or forgotten classic:

The Tartar Steppe
Zuleika Dobson
Faithful Ruslan

The Tartar Steppe
Zuleika Dobson
Faithful Ruslan

Too many good books, so little time. There was a great quote in an obit (forgot whose) I read recently along the lines of: reading IS doing something, and not reading can damage the heart. So often we feel guilty reading instead of "doing" something!
Of course we still have to earn a living, take care of loved ones, the house, etc. :-D

I am reading "The Language of Flowers," and I'm loving it. The author's voice is so well and quickly established. The story line and characters are thoroughly and evocatively drawn from the first page. Amazing that this is a first novel.

I Knew You'd Be Lovely, Alethea Black. (short stories)

I loved and would also suggest The Art of Fielding. I'm not sure ways someone above said it wouldn't be for this crowd. I think it's for anyone. It was really good.

Art of Fielding is a great suggestion. But also have a look at Richard Ford's "Canada." It's a great American novel.

I just finished My Father's Paradise by Ariel Sabar (2008) and loved it. Winner of the National Book Critics Autobiography Circle Award. Beautifully written, lots of themes -- history, language, father/son relationship, immigration to a new land, immaculately crafted into one hellova tale.

Catherine The Great by Robert Massie is fascinating, a real page turner.