What's Your Rec for Good, Light Secular Fiction?

cityofgold

Mon, Jun 06 2016, 5:14 am

Connie Willis writes time-travel books, so they're science fiction/historical. I love them. Some are funny, but not HP-type funny. I do love her books.

Diana Wynne Jones is amazing, but her books aren't adult novels. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is hilarious.

I like Joshilyn Jackson. Not fantasy.

Best recommendation? GOODREADS.COM! It gives you recommendations based on books you've read. Love it.

wordsmith

Mon, Jun 06 2016, 8:25 am

If you’re looking for sci-fi or urban fantasy titles specifically, definitely try Connie Willis and Jim Butcher. (I haven’t read Codex Alera, but I’m a fan of Butcher’s Dresden Files series, which has something like 15 books or more in it at this point.)

You may also want to try John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War.

mille

Mon, Jun 06 2016, 8:28 am

Since you like Harry Potter, have you ready any other fantasy authors?

Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, George R R Martin, Mark Lawrence, to name a few contemporary authors. A lot of Sanderson's writing is easy to read fantasy with really interesting worlds and magic systems. I recommend Mistborn as an introduction to his writing. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files is a great series and similar in Harry Potter in that each book has its own story arc (vs say, A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM or Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, which are epic fantasy with a plot that spans all books). It also takes place in the real world, not a fantasy world, similar to Harry Potter.

Goodreads.com is great for book recs!

PinkFridge

Mon, Jun 06 2016, 8:34 am

amother wrote:

Are they funny?

I have NEVER read adult drama/mystery fiction that made me laugh out loud the way HP does.

Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series is pretty funny. And Dave Barry's adult books are hilarious but not clean.
I don't do fantasy. The closest I can get is Sharyn McCrumbs Zombies of the Gene Pool and Bimbos of the Death Sun, funny takes on the sci fi fanzine culture.

Alexander McCall Smith writes well and his Corduroy Mansion and 44 Scotland Street series have their humorous moments.

Another good, not heavy read is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. You might want to try Allegra Goodman for elegant writing. And totally different, chic lit, is 150 Lbs.

chickpea_salad

Wed, Sep 07 2016, 9:59 am

George RR Martin is pretty grotesque.

I second the Wrinkle in Time series, it is really good.

I really liked Ursula K LeGuin. If you take the important themes and darker plotlines of HP and remove the fun-adventure aspect, there are a lot of similarities between the two. I think UKLG is a better writer, but I think JKR is more entertaining to read. UKLG has also written a LOT of books, some are more fantasy, some are more SciFi, so if you have a strong preference for one or the other she will have books in your chosen genre. Check out the books she has won awards for and go from there.

If you want all the fun-adventure of HP without a lot of the darker themes, you should read Terry Pratchett.

Unfortunately there nothing QUITE like Harry Potter. *sob*

amother

Purple

Wed, Sep 07 2016, 3:56 pm

Amarante wrote:

The Two Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigmam

Brooklyn, 1947: In the midst of a blizzard, in a two-family brownstone, two babies are born, minutes apart. The mothers are sisters by marriage: dutiful, quiet Rose, who wants nothing more than to please her difficult husband; and warm, generous Helen, the exhausted mother of four rambunctious boys who seem to need her less and less each day. Raising their families side by side, supporting one another, Rose and Helen share an impenetrable bond forged before and during that dramatic winter night.

When the storm passes, life seems to return to normal; but as the years progress, small cracks start to appear and the once deep friendship between the two women begins to unravel. No one knows why, and no one can stop it. One misguided choice; one moment of tragedy. Heartbreak wars with happiness and almost, but not quite, wins. Moving and evocative, Lynda Cohen Loigman's debut novel The Two-Family House is a heart-wrenching, gripping multigenerational story, woven around the deepest of secrets.

I just came across this post!

sounds like a good book!

any sx scenes?

trixx

Wed, Sep 07 2016, 4:20 pm

amother wrote:

Just binged-read Diana Gabaldon's entire series (8 books at about 1,000 pages each kept me quite busy lol). Sx scenes and the occasional rape didn't bother me. Doesn't fit into one genre - it's fiction, romance, historical, bit of sci fi or fantasy because it involves time travel, some of them have some mystery.

Fun, easy chick flicks - Sophie Kinsella's books.

Are you me

Amarante

Wed, Sep 07 2016, 8:04 pm

amother wrote:

I just came across this post!

sounds like a good book!

any sx scenes?

If I say, no will you be disappointed? 😀😀

I don't recall any as this isn't really a romance but a family drama. If it happens, it's just stated but I don't recall any descriptive scenes.

amother

Purple

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:13 pm

Amarante wrote:

If I say, no will you be disappointed? 😀😀

I don't recall any as this isn't really a romance but a family drama. If it happens, it's just stated but I don't recall any descriptive scenes.

if u say no, I will definitely NOT be dissapointed!

I started reading books again recently, I love to read, I can finish a book over shabbos,
and 4/5 books have graphic rape/ sx scenes!

ill try to get it from the library today Smile

Amarante

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:26 pm

amother wrote:

The drama is the relationship between the brothers and sisters in law over the course of many years.

If there was a sx scene, I don't remember although I remember the childbirth scene vividly.

It's about a Jewish family. Not sure if that was clear from the initial synopsis.

I recall my grandparents talking about the blizzard of 1947 whenever it snowed. 😀

amother

Purple

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:51 pm

Amarante wrote:

Great!

(im not sure if u understood, I DONT want to read graphic sx scenes..)

Amarante

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:55 pm

amother wrote:

Great!

(im not sure if u understood, I DONT want to read graphic sx scenes..)

I understood - I was just joking around. Very Happy

I just don't remember any sx scenes as sx really wasn't central to the storyline except that none of the children were born from Immaculate Conception. LOL

However, I can't warrant there was not a mention of it but it just doesn't stick in my mind the way it would if a novel were racy or sx were a central theme.

watergirl

Thu, Sep 08 2016, 1:18 pm

Maya wrote:

My favorite is The Glass Lake. But I like all of them.

Yes!!! She is (one of my) favorites! Start with Circle of Friends. Some are actually sequels, pay attention. And some are novelettes. I love her!!! You truly get to know the characters, they are written to be so life like.