Book recommendations?

[pixiecrinkle]

Lately, I've not been reading as much as was normal for me about a year ago, chiefly because I have not yet mastered simultaneous reading and knitting. I used to read about 4-6 books a month. I'm good to be doing a book each month now.

Part of the problem though is that I'm not falling in love with the things I am reading. I'm wading through the things on my shelves I haven't read yet, and not feeling anything click.

So please recommend a book to me.

Some background info: I'm not big on genre fiction at all. My favorite authors are Carol Shields, A.S. Byatt, Margaret Atwood, Edith Wharton, Nick Hornby, Jeffrey Euginedes, etc. I have recently read:

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (liked it)
Elizabeth Costello by JM Coetzee (didn't quite know what to think)
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (actually felt it painful to read in spots)
Brick Lane by Monica Ali (Ok, but could have been better)
The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (was ok)
Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (loved it)

My amazon recs are failing me. Help!

Comments

[luminesque.livejournal.com]

Try the other Dan Brown books. I liked the ones I read much better than Da Vinci Code ... I've read Deception Point (not bad) and Digital Fortress (my favorite of the three)

Another of my favorites was Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson (I also read Princess Sultana's Daughters which was the sequel, but haven't gotten the third book, Princess Sultana's Circle, yet) If you like Princess, let me know. I'll loan you my copy of Sultana's Daughters

[pixiecrinkle.livejournal.com]

Are the other Dan Brown books better written though? Because I found the writing cringe-worthy in Da Vinci. I will admit to being extraordinarily picky about that.

The others sound good--I'll check them out.

[luminesque.livejournal.com]

I had problems with Da Vinci Code myself. Not so much the story line or that it goes against my beliefs like some have mentioned, but I found myself wanting to skim sections just so I could get the the next part ya know? I couldn't really put my finger on what the problem was, although I wasn't really trying either. I just wanted to get it over with so I could move on to another book.

Digital Fortress I thought was a tad more fast paced, there were fewer boring sections that I wanted to skim over, and I finished it in a weekend. I usually can't do that with books that don't flow nicely. DaVinci kind of felt like one of those "I have to write another book to complete my contract so I'll just spit one out" kind of books.

[pixiecrinkle.livejournal.com]

That was pretty much my issue with it too. The pacing was way off because the chapter breaks were terrible. I want to edit that book so badly!

So if you thought that too, I'll take your word on the other ones. ;-)