Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Looking for a good read. Suggestions?

This is topic Looking for a good read. Suggestions? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by UnheardOf (Member # 2022) on :

I'm looking for something entertaining to read--a novel, I mean. I am very hard to please, though, and not because I'm so wise and discerning. More because I'm lazy and impatient. I'm not stuck on one genre, but I don't care for romance unless it's really different.

Here are some criteria:

It should be easy to read, meaning that it should flow well. As mentioned in other posts, I am easily confused. If I have to go back and re-read to understand what going on, I drop it.

It should be intelligent, but does not have to be serious or pound you over the head with morals or deep, thought provoking, earth-shaking questions. Actually, for my purposes, I'd rather it didn't.

The main characters should be well developed

It should not begin with a description of the weather or a person waking up (unless said character is coming out of a coma or back to life).

It should incorporate at least some humor. More is better.

It should not have a dark tone.

It should have few or no fight or battle scenes--unless they are funny or absolutely essential to the plot. (Even then, they should be short.)

It should have a happy ending, but not sappy or contrived.

It should be free of anachronisms, unless that is the setting for the story. (For instance, a man goes back in time or enters and alternate universe.)

If it doesn't have a good deal of dialogue, it should have an entertaining narrative style.

It should have very little and preferably no crude language, profanities or crude humor. No graphic sex or violence. I don't mind if it's a fantasy or sci-fi and the characters have their own slang profanities, completely different from our own.

I prefer non-formula plots (hence one of the reasons I don't care for romance novels). But if the rest of the book is well done, I can live with a formula.

Let's see. Anything else? You probably think I'm bonkers. This is for reading before I go to sleep at night, to unwind. I do actually read things that are meaty and profound, as well-it's just not what I'm looking for now.

I'm really looking for a novel, but short stories would be okay, too.

So, does anything come to mind?

Posted by Nick Vend (Member # 1816) on :

I completely and wholeheartedly recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It's easy to read and without crude language etc (it was sort of originally written for young teens, I think, but completely transcends targeted audience categories), yet intelligent (it was inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost and incorporates some references to quantum physics). It was recently voted the second most beloved literary outputs by British readers. The books are called Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I'm fairly certain they are available in the US because I just did a quick check on amazon.com and found one or two of the books listed there.

Read them! They are great!

[This message has been edited by Nick Vend (edited May 17, 2004).]

Posted by Phanto (Member # 1619) on :

Umm....

Yes, my reaction was, "this guy's bonkers!"

Really, your list is far too specific. What floats one person's boat will sink another's.

And so on.

Posted by Gen (Member # 1868) on :

Gee, if I knew how to work out all of that I'd be published by now.

I read a lot of the darker stuff, but some lighter things I've enjoyed that you might consider:

Anne McCaffrey, the first two (NOT the third, from the looks of your list) of the Harperhall Trilogy (and just the Harperhall Trilogy, if you have sketchiness limitations).
Diana Wynne Jones, the Chrestomanci Chronicles.
Some earlier Heinlein, although not his later stuff. I'd recommend "Double Star" (political, about an actor), "Farmer in the Sky" (exactly what it sounds like) and "Time for the Stars" (an exploration of the twin paradox) as being minimally sketchy and having minimal violence.
Diane Duane, the Young Wizards series (they get darker as they go along, so I'd say start at the beginning).

All of which contain interesting characters with a minimum of profanity, battle violence, and sketchy situations.

To be honest, I'm not sure about the whole "deep book" versus "not deep book" schism. Seemingly simple books can be deceptively difficult to write and contain a great deal more than they seem to on the surface.

Posted by UnheardOf (Member # 2022) on :

Nick--thank you! I'll definitely search them out.

Phanto--in this case I'm only worried about my boat. Selfish, I know.

Gen--thanks. I agree about the simple books. It kind of depends where your mind is at as to how far deep they take you.

[This message has been edited by UnheardOf (edited May 14, 2004).]

Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :

Once in a while I like to just pick up anything off the shelf and read it. If it's garbage--all the better. It teaches me how NOT to write and gives me hope that I might be published someday if publishers are willing to pay money for this kind of trash. If it's surprisingly good then I have a new author to learn how TO write from, and a new source of ideas.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

Pretty much anything by L.M. Bujold. She's written both very original fantasy and light SF. The Vorkosigan series is indicated. Some books do begin with people waking up, but they are waking up from comas and/or death about half the time. The endings are all (mostly) happy, and never contrived (okay, once or twice I thought she pulled a fox out of a mousehole, but that's just my opinion). She loves battle scenes, but they are always completely relevent to the plot.

Yes, you're bonkers.

Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :

Hi bonkers, I've got a book for you. (actually it's the one I sugested for the book Clup.) "The Siege of Mt. Nevermind" by Furgus Ryan. it fit's your criteria, (at least I think it doesn't start with waking up.) it's light and has only one battle scene that I can remember and it is funny.

(And on your 'deep' journey I recomend "Ferenheight 451" it's me favorite.)

Posted by srhowen (Member # 462) on :

Lillian Jackson Braun Any of the Cat Who . . . books--you said light and didn't say what genre. These are mystery.

Shawn

Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :

Ok, these are funny books that probably cover the majority of your requirements (I read and enjoyed them enough to recommend them, and don't remember anything objectionable about them).

Have you read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams? It has sequels. Only read if you are prepared to wrap your arms around your stomach to keep your guts from pouring out due to laughing (drink a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and you won't care if you have guts any more...).

How about the 'Phule' books and the 'Myth' books by Robert L. Asprin?

Piers Anthony's 'Xanth' books might be right up your alley. Also his 'Apprentice Adept' series is quite good, and would be enjoyable by your standards. He also has an 'Incarnations of Immortality' set that is wonderful, but have some serious stuff too (but not anything that would break your head).

I'm just mentioning really good books that I would consider light reading without things you would object to. They are all in the sf/f genre.

Posted by October (Member # 2012) on :

The best book I've read this year is Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life. I read it based on an OSC review. It is wonderful.

You'll find it in the "horror" section, but it is NOT a horror novel. McCammon started out as a horror writer, so that's where they put his non-horror novels.

It's a fantasy of sorts. But the dramatic question that unites the novel would make is a mystery. But really the novel is about boyhood, and growing up, and how to keep a sense of innocence and a believe in magic.

[This message has been edited by October (edited May 15, 2004).]

Posted by Braden Ellis (Member # 2021) on :

Well, when I read your post, I immediately thought of Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series, which deftly blends science fiction and fantasy in a very interesting way. You'll love reading about the amazingly creative "games" system that the society has. A couple words of warning, though:
1. It starts off right in the middle of a "games" session and it was (at least for me) a little hard to get into because I was so lost for the first several pages.
2. Depending on your definition of sketchy, this book might not be for you. Some of the people in Anthony's society are serfs and as a sign of serfship (serfhood? serfness? serficity?) they do not wear clothes, so you will encounter descriptions of nudity and several moderately descriptive sexual passages (although he usually just describes the lead-ups to it and lets the actual sex be implied).

All in all, however it is a very interesting and entertaining series. You get swept into the crisis that they main character must solve without feeling like you have to solve it yourself, and the creativity that Anthony displays in both the science-fiction as well as the fantasy aspects of the series is impressive. The first book is great, the second really good, and the third finishes the series (i.e. you have to read it, but it isn't nearly as compelling). Anything after the original trilogy is great... for kindling.

So I thought I would be original by telling you to read The Apprentice Adept books (in order: Split Infinity, Blue Adept, and Juxtaposition), but I see that I am a few hours late and a few thousand dollars short (anyone have any cash I can borrow?)

-Braden-

Oh, and of course, I would recommend just about anything by our friend Mr. Card (of course, I guess that if you have found your way to this site, it is likely because you are already an OSC fan), most particularly the Ender/Bean books or for interesting religiously themed books, try The Women of Genesis series or Folk of the Fringe. (Orson, if you read this, I really liked the first four sections of FotF, but the last one was just a little out there for me. Just one man's opinion).

Posted by teddyrux (Member # 1595) on :

When I want something to read that'll put me to sleep, I start with the dictionary, then move on to the US Tax Code. If that doesn't work, I read an Microsoft user's manual.

I recommend the following for light reading:
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistess" Robert A. Heinlein

Posted by UnheardOf (Member # 2022) on :

Thanks everybody!!

I've made a note of those I haven't read yet--which is most. This should keep me going for quite some time.