I read a lot, mostly fluff, but some nonfiction as well. Here's some of the fiction I've gone through:
The Poisonwood Bible. Barbera Kingsolver. Amazing book about a preacher who takes his family to the Congo. Politics, psychology, seriously mucked up people trying to make correct decisions in a seriously mucked up place. Read it - it really is that good.
Ramses. Christian Jacq. The author has a doctorate in Egyptian Studies from the Sorbonne, and these books are his fictionalized account of the life of Ramses II. Good stuff, made even more interesting by inclusion of elements of... one could say fantasy, but because this period of time is also biblical in nature, I'm hesitant to call it that. Let's just say some of the events depicted do not make complete sense in our frame of reference. 5 books, great story. I haven't done the background research to find out how accurate the account is, but it's a good read regardless.
Jesus and the Adman. Rhidian Brook. An ad exec is thrown into turmoil when he creates an ad about life after death while attending his father's funeral. Not a great book, but an interesting one. I personally think it could have been executed to hit harder.
England, England. Julian Barnes. Interesting book about building a theme park of England. Explores love, sex, tourism, nationalism, and ideas of home. No, really. Booker Prize finalist, and definitely a good read. I'm going to need to read it again to digest everything - there was an awful lot going on, on many levels, that I think I missed.
Birdsong. Sebastian Faulks. Parallel story about a soldier and his descendant. Lots of WWI scenes which really make you feel the futility. A very good book, but I'm not sure I would call it a happy book. Part of a pseudo-trilogy. One of the other books associated with this... ah, book cycle is Charlotte Gray, which was also an excellent read, and was in fact a touch more upbeat. I am now in the hunt for the other book.
In addition to fiction, I have a penchant for books about history and politics. These are currently kept on a separate page
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