I have lots of suggestions.  Read anything by W. Somerset Maugham .... The Razors Edge, Of Human Bondage are my favorites.  Have you read all of Steinbeck e.i. The Grapes of Wrath?  EVERYTHING he has written is wonderful.  These were my favorite authors as a young woman and I still remember the impact they made on me.  I'm no longer considered young (but feel so, in my heart!) 

 I've just finished The Children of Men - which was nothing like the movie.  It was pretty good.  I have read everything by Anne Tyler but would only recommend her old stuff - like The Accidental Tourist.  The World According to Garp is great.  These suggestions are not new but I would consider them timeless in the writing talent and the stories told.    The Kite Flyer is a must for any serious reader ..... the best recent work in my opinion.  A couple more is Birds Without Wings and Corelli's Mandolin, by the same author. 

My last suggestions are, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Year of Magical Thinking and Protect and Defend (which is a court drama on abortion so maybe decide on that one knowing it is controversial).

Good luck and let me know what you think if you read any of these suggestions.

It's nice to know there are other readers out there. Remember the episode of Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith playing a meek little bank clerk who loves to read? He's in the bank vault when the bomb hits and he is the only human left, he makes his way to the city library and promptly breaks his coke-bottle lens glasses. THAT would be my version of hell for sure!

gillfish, if crime novels bore you, maybe you haven't read the really good authors. I don't care for the Sandra Brown, "oh someone was murdered, save me, f**k me, murder solved" genre. I'm talking about Jeffrey Deaver, Dennis Lehane, Harlan Coban, Lisa Gardner and Jonathan Kellerman.

Middlesex, White Oleander, Deep End of the Ocean, Vinegar Hill - all wonderful. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (the hero is a 15 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome), The Abduction.

Gregory Maguire's takes on fairy tales are awesome: Wicked; Son of a Witch; Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister; Mirror Mirror.

I also love anything by F.Paul Wilson, Graham Masterton, James Herbert (supernatural themes).

My all time favorite - Gone With The Wind. I also just read Rhett Butler's People, his side of the story - excellent.

I'm like awsmom, I could fill a page! I always prefer books over movies. My favorite store in T'pi is of course, Books and Crannies.

Joty- You reminded me of a book my sister told me about called Wide Sargasso Sea, which apparently is like a prequel to Jane Eyre.  Anyone read it?  How is it?

And White Oleander was definitely one of my favorites too.  I'm not sure what it is about that novel that makes it stand out so much.  Maybe that it's just a great, well-written story with fantastic supporting characters (my favorite was the Russian lady).  I'm going to have to reread it now!

I have read a bunch of Somerset Maughams books. My fav is his East/West short stories. They are great. Jack London has a book of short stories that is really good. I saw the movie "Children of Men" and liked it but I will read the book. The Accidental Tourist, Kite Runner, Grapes of Wrath,One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest-all  were really good.  It seems I go for dark stories mostly.

I have read an old version of Jane Eyre so many times I have lost count. I love the old versions as you get a better feel for the era. White Oleander is pretty dark but like I said -I go for dark books. Speaking of dark-I just finished"Dark Shadows" the early years CD. It is so good! Cheesy bad acting, actors flubbingg lines and I swear a fly buzzing around and landing on the actors in three episodes.

Thank you for giving me new books to look up and the kids book sounds perfect for my nephew who is seven (if its not too babyish).

I used to rush home from school to catch 'General Hospital' and 'Dark Shadows', both in black and white and both 1/2 hour long and yes, both cheesy.

I also really like all four of Dan Brown's books which include Angels and Demons and of course, The DaVinci Code. That movie SUCKED btw... It took me forever to decide to read D-Code. I thought it was some kind of spy thriller, lol, and I'm not into those.

I am currently waiting for the last in the Eldest Trilogy, due out I think this summer.

One book that bored me so much I couldn't finish it-Love in the time of Cholera. My sister just told me she was trying to get through it and I told her to not feel pressured-chuck it. I feel internally obligated to finish a book but that one was beyond my endurance to finish.

My girlfriend and I used to go to her house and watch Dark Shadows faithfully. Mary Coyne where are you?

Dark Shadows ......  BORING........Burke Devlin is was creepy, Victoria, come on no one is that innocently stupid........ BORING

I cannot finish Crime and Punishment for anything.  I have seriously tried 5 times.  Also couldn't finish Les Miserables, but I got pretty far before I got too distracted by other things.  Is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? (Hmm... is that what his name is?)  I have 100 Years of Solitude that I've been meaning to read- it's just so hard to concentrate on any book these days!  My mom says that having kids made her read the crappy novels because they didn't require any concentration.  I hope I don't end up like that :(

Charley...you're obviously applying adult thinking to Dark Shadows. lol, as a 14 year old girl, I was mad for Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins) and the whole vampire/ghost/witch genre. I tried watching reruns on SciFi channel about a year ago and just couldn't believe I'd ever been so hooked...

Yes it's by him. Another snoozer-Moby Dick. I have read (I am a bit embarrassed to say) a bunch of trash novels, Harlequins and general fluff. When you have kids it really is hard to concentrate, your so tired all the time. And CharleyBird-I will continue to watch the rest of the series-Burk Devlin does look like a worm and he is supposedly the dark & handsome one in the show.I need the next in the collection.

I absolutely love used book stores. It's very rare for me to actually buy a full price book. I used to spend hours sorting through old books, long discarded, well loved and well read.........I'd find all kinds of treasures like Sylvia Plath, Leonard Cohen etc.  I found by visiting the used book stores I found so many things I would never have came across any other way. There is alot of interesting reading out there. I prefer to read non-fiction books about strange things, like Jack the Ripper and other notorious killers. I think my favourite book growing up was  I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.   I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is the story of a sixteen-year-old who retreats from reality into the bondage of a lushly imagined but threatening kingdom, and her slow and painful journey back to sanity. It is an autobiographical novel by Joanne Greenberg, written under the pen name of Hannah Green. It was made into a film in 1977 and a play in 2004.

Didn't they make a movie about the 16 year old? I read the Bell Jar. Sam mentioned "the Jungle" by Upton Sinclair-that was a great read about the meat packing industry of the 20's. (Better then it sounds). I have read all books in the "Wicked" series. Madkow did you watch the after party of The Real Housewives of OC last night? They are giving Jo her own Bravo show.

Another great true story about a "highly functional" autistic woman .... "Songs of the Gorilla Nation."  Beautifully written.

I haven't read Gone with the Wind in years but, yup, just love that story.  I married a "Rhett" type individual.  Most the time, I still love him!!!!