A recent read – Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland, made a strong impression on me. The structure, four semi-overlapping narratives of the same events (a high school massacre and its consequences), makes you think as a writer as well as a reader. Cheers, hilary

Hi all,

Just found you! My favorite author is the master of horror Stephen King.

At the moment though I do have a few books that I am supposed to be reading for "research" like Alan Bennet's Writing Home (not looked at it yet!) and others.

Also have enjoyed the Sharon Penman novels, based around the Wars of the Roses - my favorite period in history. Must pick them up sometime.

Am I the only one who didn't like The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings? I beg your forgiveness for saying that, I just couldn,t get into them at all.

Sue

Great thread, noted down a few books to add to my wanted list.

My favourite book is by a writer no one has mentioned yet (unless I missed the post, which is more than possible!). It is Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino. I also have to mention If On A Night A Winter's Traveller by him. Six Memos for the next Millenium, a series of lectures he wrote but sadly never got to deliver is also a fantastic and inspiring read. Any other Calvino fans out there?
Angela Carter is another firm favourite but I couldn't possibly single out one of her works as they are all so amazing for me. Tonight I started reading 'On Being A Fairy Godmother' by Sara Maitland. Its the first work of Sara Maitland's I've read and on the strength of this I'll definately be reading more by her.

The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan
In Every Face I Meet - Justin Cartwright
Stickleback - John McCabe
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - Alan Sillitoe
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
The Beach - Alex Garland

From childhood: The Screaming Clock - Alfred Hitchcock
Danny, The Champion Of The World - Roald Dahl
The Coral Island - R.M Ballantyne
Treasure Island - R.L. Stevenson

Shelly,

I love Calvino, too. I read Six Memos over the summer, and I couldn't stand to reach the end. I love Invisible Cities, and I have If On A Winter's Night a Traveller, although I haven't started it yet.

I am also a serious Angela Carter fan.

I think highly of your favourites list!!!

Ani



<Added>

And I read Sara Maitland's On Being a Fairy Godmother several weeks ago, and was similarly impressed. Have we been working from the same list somewhere??? LOL

I just did a top ten books amongst friends as we were listing favourite albums, songs, films, etc. Tis an impossible task, but this is what I cam up with

WInd Up Bird Chronicle (Murakami)
Dance Dance Dance (Murakami)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)
Ask the Dust (Fante)
His Dark Materials (Pullman)
Money (Amis)
The Wasp Factory (Iain Banks)
Excession (Iain M Banks)
Pattern Recognition (Gibson)
Microserfs (Coupland)

I'm just finsihing 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' now! I love that book! I read 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World' in the Summer and coulnd't wait to justify getting another one by Murakami. So Under 'holiday read' (half-term) I got it. It's just fantastic! I hadn't heard of this Murakami fellow before. I take it he's a little bit well-know? Anyways, yeah, it's great.

I'm glad you mentioned Coupland. I loved 'Girlfriend in a Coma' and 'Miss Wyoming'. I heard a rumour that the latter is about to be made into a film starring Julia Roberts.

I've got 'Microserfs'but for some reason the bright yellow cover and techie theme puts me off. At the moment I'm reading the last in Armistead Maupin's sextet 'Tales of the City' sequence and feel as if I'm saying goodbye to a lot of very dear friends.

The book which always enchants me, which i read every five years or so is 'The Hobbit'.

JB

I've just ordered the larger part of the back years of Best American Short Stories (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 -- I think). I want to see the short stories that are winning prizes! They should start trickling in -- some are keeping fromthe US.