Hi friends! I finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" today - I loved it and I'm heartbroken. I've spent a good part of tonight reading the posts related to it in this group and am happy to have all of your opinions to mull over.

But after having my summer reading list all laid out before me - and now, completed - I don't know what's next. I think maybe a mystery? No romance, not too heavy.

I would love suggestions. What would you read to completely change the sad and weepy state-of-mind that "TTTW" has left me with?

Thank you for your thoughts!

Kristin,

Recommendations from my 2009 reads would include:

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill if you like horror stories.
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. Some romance but definitely not sad or weepy.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Mostly mystery but also some non-sad romance.
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella. I gave this one five stars but I love baseball.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. A little warped but very funny.

If I'm totally off-base on what you like, just pretend you never saw this. :-)

Hi Dan. LOL - I will not pretend I never saw this. I haven't heard of several of your suggestions, but I will consider them all. The Woman in White is a definite possibility and I should so read H.S. Thompson one of these days. Thank you! I'll let you know which direction I end up heading.

Just thought of another one: If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino. This one was a lot of fun. I'll be interested to see which way you go from TTTW...even if it's not one of my recs.

Kristen, some other recommendations would be:

Outlander - this is the first of an 8 book series (7 of which have been published). It has some time travel, some romance but is basically a family saga with mystery, adventure and intrigue.

A Prayer for Owen Meany - poignant, funny and just a plain good story

Child 44 - murder mystery

The Sparrow

Another good book by Wilkie Collins is The Moonstone. Also, Nevil Shute's Pied Piper and On the Beach were also good.

Heart-Shaped Box is VERY good, I second that one.

If you're looking for something light-hearted and fun to get you out of a funk, you could try The Princess Bride or Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, both of which are hilarious and fun books, but not necessarily mysteries.

Fun mysteries: Sookie Stackhouse series starting with Dead Until Dark. Amelia Peabody series starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank, or the Harry Potter series. :)

Then there's always a standby classic like Jane Eyre, if you've never read it, which is a bit of a gothic mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. :)

And finally, The Thirteenth Tale, which is a gothic mystery for book lovers, very little romance. Very good book too.

Outlander just about broke my heart! It was very good, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't want to read that one coming off of an emotional roller-coaster like what the original poster mentioned.

Maybe save that one for later. (But definitely read it, it is very good.)

And, I will say that The Sparrow isn't an easy read either, but it is also pretty good. :)

Becky, "The Thirteenth Tale" and "Harry Potter (#2)" were both on my list of possibilities. I do want to stray from where I've just been, if you know what I mean. I was even thinking of something in the vein of Dan Brown, to really shake up my normal routine.

I have to go check out this "Heart-Shaped Box" you're all mentioning. And I've heard the name Sookie Stackhouse mentioned on GR enough times that I think I should take a look. Should I look at "Rebecca" right now?

Can't thank you all enough for the suggestions! Have you ever just felt like you will not sleep until you know you have a plan...???

Hi Kristin.

I looked at my 5 star list and would like to recommend the following books that would be a good antidote to the emotional detritus TTTW has left you with:

Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner (a memoir of her childhood and quite humorous!)
Straight Man: A Novel by Richard Russo

I would also second The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Good fun!

Absolutely. I generally try to read something as far away from the last genre I just read as possible, although lately I've been in a fantasy mood. :)

"Rebecca" is good, kind of gothicy as well, but I was a little disappointed with it overall. I thought it was predictable.

Dan Brown would be a good choice for kind of mindless mystery. Very fast-paced and interesting.

Heart-Shaped Box is a kind of like a rock-n-roll ghost story. I loved it, but then I love Stephen King, so it's pretty much a given that I'd love Joe Hill. ;)

Is Joe Hill really Stephen King in disguise?

Sigh... there are SO many good books in this world. I want something to just grab me and say "take me home." And though I'm looking for "mindless" in a way, I also don't want to waste my time.

"The Princess Bride," huh? Interesting thought... Or Nick Hornby, maybe??? I haven't read him at all yet - which would you start with?

Mmmm...Nick Hornby!!! :D

I would suggest High Fidelity as a first Hornby.

Kristin wrote: "Is Joe Hill really Stephen King in disguise?"


No, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. :)

Becky, I should have known!

OK friends - my most sincere thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm feeling refreshed and looking forward to tomorrow - cracking the spine on something light and fun. I think it'll be "High Fidelity" - (it's been on my list for quite some time, Jennifer - thanks for reminding me).

But then again, I will surely change my mind 20 times in the next few hours.

Happy reading to all of you and thanks again!

You're welcome! :)

I don't think I've ever seen someone request non-romance before!

These books may not be your thing, but if you want to read something really different you might like to try...

Scar Night (It wont lighten your mood, but it's good for a change of pace)
Punk Land (Bizarro, so it's weird. Just really funny in a low brow sort of way and everyone in the book is already dead, so no heartbreak there)
Overqualified (Reading about someone who is more effed up than me always lightens my mood)
Doctors and Nurses A Novel (This empowered me as a woman...And I laughed at all the poop jokes.)

I stay as far away from romance novels as possible!!!
When I see a bare shoulder on a cover, unless it's on a road, I'm out of that aisle!!!

How come?

Suzanne wrote: "I stay as far away from romance novels as possible!!!
When I see a bare shoulder on a cover, unless it's on a road, I'm out of that aisle!!!"

Me too! I don't like romance books but not adverse to some romancey kinda films.

Hmmmmmmmm.....

A mystery I'd say ANYTHING by Andrew Taylor maybe - The Four Last Things (Roth trilogy) or An Unpardonable Crime/An American Boy(UK title)? Although both quite darkish...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson which is absolutely brilliant page turning mystery and not too heavy at all. It'll rip you out of that weepy mood.

Shogun by James Clavell, okay so it's over 1000 pages long but it's a good catch - it looks long but you can read it faster then you would expect.

Prodigal Summer A Novel which is beautifully written by Barbara Kingsolver and a really beautiful story packed full of natural life. Oh I would read this again if I owned it...

Fiona, "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is high on my list. I tried to grab it this morning but it was checked out at my library! I'm anxious to get my hands on it.

You guys have all been so great - trying to help me break out of my sappy-ness. :-) Tonight I'm just going to watch the campy and indulgent "Dancing with the Stars" while sending my resume all over New Jersey from my couch. Then tomorrow, I will start "High Fidelity" and try to move on with my life! I love having a list of books ahead of me - thank you!!

Exactly! I am always intrigued by love, romance, and sexuality ... but not those sort of mass produced, heavy breathers!!

You guys don't know what your missing...It's like having a soap opera at your fingertips.

I quit watching soap operas too! Sorry, everyone has their personal tastes...

Quit soaps?! Why!!!

Well because she'd already started, of course, and you can't quit what you've never started!;)

Unlike me, who has never watched a full episode of any of them.

It's a sad day when I'm the most girlie person...

Hehe... I can be girly, although it is pretty rare. But it's the drama level that just makes me gag with those shows.

Female character #1 walks into the room.

"I just saw Jane. She was wearing red. Again."

*Ominous music, while camera lingers on a close-up of her worried face* O_o

What if the red was BLOOD from her BROTHER who is also her FATHER and whos evil twin she is MARRIED TO.

Christy wrote: "What if the red was BLOOD from her BROTHER who is also her FATHER and whos evil twin she is MARRIED TO."

It probably was... Blood that she got on herself after killing him the SECOND time, because the first time he miraculously didn't stay dead. Again.

Because he had amnesia and does not remember throwing himself off the bridge after sleeping with the wife of his identical twin who thought he was her husband because they are identical.

Dun dun dunnnnnnn....

Dan wrote: "Just thought of another one: If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino. This one was a lot of fun. I'll be interested to see which way you go from TTTW...even if it's not one of my recs."

I second this suggestion. I fell in love with this book.

Kristin wrote: "Because he had amnesia and does not remember throwing himself off the bridge after sleeping with the wife of his identical twin who thought he was her husband because they are identical.

Dun dun dunnnnnnn...."

Exactly.

Becky wrote: "Kristin wrote: "Because he had amnesia and does not remember throwing himself off the bridge after sleeping with the wife of his identical twin who thought he was her husband because they are ident..."

HAHA, that is awesome. It reminds me of telling someone about my favorite guilty pleasure TV show, "One Tree Hill" ... the one where the dad kills his brother because the brother slept with the dad's wife, etc,etc!!!

The Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is a great book. It's chortly funny with a sad edge but with the light relief.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2nd on Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Course you could re-read all the grade school books such as Judy Blume, Ralph S. Mouse, Amelia Bedlia.

I adore The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but it has a touch of romance. To me it was more about friendships and connections. I plan to re-read this one next year :)

Kristin wrote: "Because he had amnesia and does not remember throwing himself off the bridge after sleeping with the wife of his identical twin who thought he was her husband because they are identical.

Dun du..."

Tune in next time, when Marlena is possessed by the Devil!!!

Susanna wrote: "Tune in next time, when Marlena is possessed by the Devil!!!"

...And pregnant with quadruplets, all by different fathers!

One of them's an alien, too!

And they will all grow up to marry Erica Kane!

Marlena and the Exorcist *giggles at the imagery*

Hi Kristin.

I know you have a ton of recommendations already, but I am reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett right now and it is amazing! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it to you, and everyone, for that matter.

:)

Something completely off topic to what you have just read: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. It's excellent and a fast read.

Brenda wrote: "Something completely off topic to what you have just read: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. It's excellent and a fast read."

Hi Brenda.

I just read that book last weekend and really enjoyed it. However, last month I read A Case of Exploding Mangoes and enjoyed it more than The White Tiger. I would totally recommend both books.

Thanks for the recommendation, Jennifer. I'm going to the bookstore tonight and will pick this one up. I'm just about finished The Birth of Venus, which I also enjoyed.