Light and Lively Reading?

My new project, which I’m now about 8,000 words into, is something different from anything I’ve done before. It’s a light (and I hope smart) novel. I won’t say anything more about it for now, but I need some book recommendations. I’ve been reading serious literary fiction and my non-fiction has consisted of an immersion in the Stalin era, except for the current book I’m reading, a memoir about a family’s history with depression. It’s time for a change.

I have a craving for some light and lively fiction. By that I don’t necessarily mean genre: I don’t want to read crime fiction, for example. On the other hand, I would consider Momo by Emile Ajar, which is poignant and hilarious, as well as brilliant (it’s about an Arab boy raised by an elderly Jewish woman who is a holocaust survivor and ex-prostitute), quite right for the moment, except that I’ve read it. Similarly The Finkler Question, which I also found hilarious and brilliant. I’m looking for humour, truth, and if possible beauty. But I’ll do without the beauty if sufficiently engaged and amused.

Any suggestions?

Filed under: Fun, Literary Tagged: book recommendations