Marie H

P G Wodehouse always cheers me up, especially the Jeeves and Wooster novels. Clive James' Unreliable Memoirs always have me in fits of laughter

I need silence to read, otherwise it's impossible to take anything in, and retain it as well. It's always like that for me, being an a only child, it was so peaceful, all the time. Sibling rivalry would have been a hell!

Thanks Peacefield, I am including American authors, especially new novels with quirky-ish themes. I have heard of Katherine Howe's The House of Velvet and Glass, but not read it yet. The Physic Book of Deliverance Dane seems to have the quirkiness for me, so it will be on my 'to read' list. ​ Another 'find' in the public library website! I have read American classics (Twain, Steinbeck and Kerouac, for examples) but I am lost for female American authors of their time and genre. Any authors like that you think of would be appreciated. Thanks.

That's a marvellous TBR list you've got BShultz! Life of Pi and Persuasion are in the top five of best ever reads, for me. And I am another of the many, who buy more books than I read. But when you find a book that you have looked for so long, then you find them in a second hand bookshop for a few pounds, the thrill is wonderful! Happy reading

Thanks very much for all your welcomes, I do appreciate them. frankie, thanks for your recommendation. I found Purge by Sofi Oksanen on the website of my local public library. Their copy is on loan at the moment, so at least someone else is trying Finnish fiction too. I will try Purge when it comes back to the library.Thanks.

Hi Roy. I hope you are still trying philosophy, so here are my recommendations. The first book I read on the subject was The Consolation of Philosophy by Alain de Botton. It takes the subjects in everyday life (loneliness, lack of money,unpopularity) with different philosophers. It inspired me to read more on western philosophy, with Seneca, Epicurus and the Stoics. I agree with Snowla, Eastern and especially Chinese philosophy are enjoyable to read, and I found Taoist philosophy quite enlightening. Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu (his quirky sense of humour is a breath of fresh air when so many philosophies are dull) are very good. I do hope you carry on with reading philosophy. Sometimes philosophy can be a consolation with life's struggles.

My mp3 player My solar charger thingy (to keep my mp3 player going) Huge amounts of very good red wine!

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez Persuasion – Jane Austen L'Assommoir – Emile Zola

Wicked Game - Chris Isaak at the moment

Hello everyone, I'm Marie. 40something, living in semi-rural Shropshire. I love reading, as I'm sure most of the members do, that's why we are here! I mostly read fiction, especially speculative fiction with a hint of magical realism, but I am also interested in non-fiction - art, philosophy and psychology, at the moment. I am trying to expand my library into The World Outside of British Literature. I am a huge fan of Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, and now I want to find more great novels, both old and new, by international authors. Camus, Kafka and Zola are the style I enjoy, but I don't seem to have many female international authors. Anyone have any recommendations?