Got any good crazy reads?

[Chelsea]

I'm kinda tired of this vampire kick. I want to read soemthing from an author that isn't riding on Meyers' coattails to popularity.

So any good books on emotionally scarred charcters, potentially insane or mentally unstable? Or just an addciting book! No specific genre (preferably not sci-fi). Thanks!

[Stirling]

"The Liar's Diary" by Patry Francis. Check it out. It's a book that sneaks up on you. It's about a quiet little community that is so normal on the surface, and underneath ... well, you'll see. The character(s) will definitely stay with you.

[James]

Chelsea wrote:
So any good books on emotionally scarred charcters, potentiall..."

Don't know how good it is, but one of my short stories might entertain you for a few minutes:

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/9...

I warn you, it has all that you asked for, but is not for the faint of heart ;) !

[Hilda]

Well for dysfunctional humor go with David Sedaris - I recommend "Me Talk Pretty One Day" as the least messed up. Or for the holidays you can read "Holidays on Ice" - a collection of holiday related stories including the phenomenal "Santaland Diaries" (or something like that).

For an "unreliable narrator" story, that while a bit long will suck you in you can try "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield.

Enjoy!

[M.L.]

Well, you could try any of mine--the Implausible Hero, Miracle the novel, or Threads, A Blaine Horney Mystery (writing as Kris Karrel)--for addicting funny semi-sane or not characters in the paranormal realm and good tight plots, or you can try my friend, Stirling Davenport's The Nightwing's Quest for fantasy.

Any one of them are exceptional, if I do say so myself...LOL

Mari

[Chelsea]

thx for the reccomendation
(i may have spelled that wrong lol)

[Jim]

My daughter gave me Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped for Xmas. Definitely a crazy read, but interesting & well done. The author compiled a bunch of zany, historical facts, legends & gossip & then looked into them. I think it's well researched & while it debunks some myths, it supports others & adds a bunch I'd never heard of.

- Where is Napoleon's penis? (I hadn't realized it wasn't with him!)
- Were champagne glasses really made from Marie Antionette's breasts?
- Was Cleopatra really a knock-out?
- Did Victorians really cover even the curvy legs of furniture to preserve their purity?
- Sex museums of the ancient world.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through. It's fun reading. I don't think I'm learning anything I couldn't live without, but I'm enjoying it.

[Barb]

Cluck by Eric D. Knapp Believe me- zombie chickens make for a very different story line! And it is very funny and very well written.

[Kristen]

I'm a big classic fan, so you could always look into The Invisable Man by H.G. Wells, or 1984 by George Orwell. Both are pretty messed up. Cool, though.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Chelsea, Try Jassy by Norah Lofts or join us on Fans of Norah Lofts for The Haunting of Gad's Hall. IMO neither of these books will bore you.
Jassy is very emotionally scarred but The Haunting of Gad's Hall is even worse about pure evil if you can hack it.

[Joanne]

If you want material that defies genre, try The Black Room at Longwood, written by a journalist who was held hostage by terrorists a few decades before it became vogue. It is part history about Napoleon, part travel memoir, and a somewhat starkly original way to find closure. I found it quite moving, and not a book easily tagged.

More readily crazy is The Third Policeman, by O'Brien, which defied both my intelligence and education. It is one of my books I took the time to review, thus far, in my list.

[Carmen]

Hi Chelsea,

If you like Fantasy try:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbol

These are some of my favorite books.

You can also check a list of Fantasy books at
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...

[Chloe]

the absolutely true diary of a part time indian - sherman Alexie

it has great reviews and is one of my favorite books (so far!)

[lidwit]

Chelsea wrote: "...So any good books on emotionally scarred charcters, potentiall..."

And now for something completely different. The best book I've read recently in terms of characterisation would have to be Two Caravans by M Lewycka. It's such a quirky book with some cracking characters that don't necessarily make sense at first. It's also very funny.

[Paul]

Try The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.

The protagonist is an emotionally unstable rooster, who becomes emotionally scarred some way into the book. The antagonists are really creepy. Add a dash of Celtic mythology and away you go!

[Bill]

Try The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace. I don't think it's his best book, but certainly out of the ordinary.

[Davis]

Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. My all time favorite book.

[Liz]

Finding Cassie Crazy by Jaclyn Moriarty. (YA) It's the companion to Feeling Sorry For Celia, but you don't need it. I read it after FCC and was sorely disappointed.

Cassie's kinda emotionally scarred because her dad died, and part of the book is about her dealing with that, and also a school-project-enforced-penfriend who's not who he seems to be. Despite what the blurb tells you, she's not dealing with a mental illness.
But the things she and her friends Emily and Lydia and their school-project-enforced-penfriends Charlie and Seb get up to... especially Lydia's secret assignments and Charlie and Emily's Date with a Girl project... well, they just crack me up. Also, the showdown at the end is awesome. The way it's written is very suspenseful.

Also try Chinese Cinderella (YA) aka Falling Leaves (Adult) by Adeline Yen Mah. True story of an unwanted girl. Very sad but uplifting.

[Ivy]

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker