<p>What’s a good book to read?</p>
<p>A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood</p>
<p>Child of Morning by Pauline Gedge. Her writing is absolutely gorgeous</p>
<p>"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, the most incredible book I have ever read.</p>
<p>Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Or if you are looking for a long-term reading project, Dostoyevsky's Brother's Karamazov. You can't go wrong with the Russians.</p>
<p>what type of book are you looking for? serious, light, nonfiction, fiction? and i hate to ask but are you male or female?</p>
<p>davann, lol i'm a male </p>
<p>I'm looking for something with a mixture of seriousness/comedy, fiction or nonfiction...anything that'll keep me flipping the pages. I was in the middle of Crime and Punishment but I can't find the book right now...</p>
<p>What was the BEST book you've read?</p>
<p>As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. It's short and mixes humor and seriousness.</p>
<p>New Rules by Bill Maher</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Truth(With Jokes) by Al Franken</p>
<p>Oh - ok - not what I was expecting. Crime and Punishment and Faulkner (not my favorite - except for some of the short stories) - mmm - have to think now. Was thinking on the lighter side - I'm a mom - not into the serious "school" stuff anymore.</p>
<p>Ragtime by E L Doctorow</p>
<p>Mein Kampft by a certain special someone</p>
<p>3 babies born in the 1990's were given the following names: ****head (shuh-TEED), OrangeJello (orahnj-zhello), and YellowJello</p>
<p>a child is one-hundred times more likely to be killed by a swimming pool than by a gun</p>
<p>1 in 12 members of dating service sites admit being married</p>
<p>The single greatest factor in the crime drop of the 90's was the amazing increase in abortions after Roe v. Wade</p>
<p>in connecticut, you can receive 35 weeks work compensation for losing your *****, 36 weeks for losing one finger, and 54 weeks for losing your off-hand thumb</p>
<p>and finally, somebody living in housing projects on the south side of chicago is 25 times more likely to die than a Texas death-row inmate</p>
<p>If any of this interested you, read Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, it only takes a couple hours to read and it is FASCINATING.</p>
<p>1776, Wicked, and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana are all good too.</p>
<p>Equus- a modern play by an author whose name i cant remember</p>
<p>obasan by joy kogawa
its a pretty interesting book</p>
<p>grapes of wrath by steinbeck
the bell jar by sylvia plath
the count of monte cristo by alexander dumas
the princess bride by william goldman</p>
<p>if you're looking for something easy, i recommend fight club or invisible monsters by chuck palahniuk. his writing is pretty mediocre but the things he writes about are pretty... um, interesting, haha. he's pretty funny, too.</p>
<p>dress your family in corduroy and denim by david sedaris</p>
<p>it's nonfiction, its about his family, and its hilarious</p>
<p>There was a great thread on this topic in parents forum... </p>
<p>For the OPs request of a combo of seriousness & comedy:</p>
<p>"Moo" by Jane Smiley
...a damn fine book with a compelling story and lots of sly humor. Story of a bunch of screwed up people in the setting of a Big State U.</p>
<p>"The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
...do not even <em>think</em> about the piece of sh** film that was done of this book... This story is beyond great, and I laughed until my stomach hurt. Story of some down-trodden dirt farmers in New Mexico, and what happens when a corporate bastard ticks off the wrong scoundrel.</p>
<p>"Portnoy's Complaint" by Philip Roth
a laugh riot if you are a shikse! ;)</p>
<p>PS agree about Kite Runner & Freakonomics being very good books!</p>
<p>so many books, where to start... Tried to think of more off the beaten track, older things you perhaps haven't read that would be different from what you are reading now - so here's an odd little assortment:<br>
Graham Greene - everything from Our Man in Havana (very funny) to The End of The Affair, Honorary Consul etc.
The Magus by John Fowles
Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
My Secret History by Donna Tartt</p>
<p>If you feel up to a long arduous maze of puns and allusions with passion to boot, Nabakov's Lolita is an amazing read.</p>