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There exists a certain category of books that fits somewhere between 'light or 'escapist' reading and 'anxiously profound'. These are the types of books I enjoy reading on a rainy weekend day with a large pot of peppermint or Earl Grey tea beside me.

My favourites include:
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins
Rebel Angels - Robinson Davies
The World According to Garp - John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

Other suggestions?

I rarely read literature that is not in some way connected to computers/IT/programming.
The last book of such I read and just finished, was a prosaic retelling (in danish) of Dante's Commedia.
Strange, but intriguing, piece of work that one

Finally a book corner here at SYM

Great books I like:
- Raymond Feist, The Riftwars saga
- Robin Hobb, The Farseer Trilogy
- JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (d'uh)
- Frank Herbert, Dune (the first book, the rest is a bit dull)

I like fantasy, big surprise.

The Sword of Shanara by Terry Brooks
October Sky by Homer Hickam
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

@Rob-hin


I like some fantasy books myself actually, LOTR and The Hobbit. I also have read read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series which I enjoyed.
If we're speaking lighter fare, I particularly like crime fiction. Ian Rankin and Michael Dibdin both weave a great tale, and are skilled writers

The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson
Survivor - Chuck Paliahauk (Fight club author)
Salamandrastron - Heh Im a dork

For me..the perfect rainy day book is the perfect mystery. favorite authors include:

patricia cornwell
michael connelly
james patterson
jan burke
sue grafton

I tend to read fantasy novels. I've read quite a few of Terry Brooks's Shannara books, as well as a few books by Mercedes Lackey. LOTR and The Hobbit are both among my favorites. And I've read just about all of Tamora Pierce's books, too.

Originally posted by dragon wench
@Rob-hin


I like some fantasy books myself actually, LOTR and The Hobbit. I also have read read Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series which I enjoyed.
If we're speaking lighter fare, I particularly like crime fiction. Ian Rankin and Michael Dibdin both weave a great tale, and are skilled writers

The hobbit wsa fun too indeed.
My friends are also entousiastic about the Wheel of time, when I finish with The Snakewars by Raymond Feist I think I'll start with those.

So far I mostly read fantasy books, perhaps I'll try crime fiction later. Which one of Ian Rankin and Michael Dibdin do you recommend?

Originally posted by dragon wench

The World According to Garp - John Irving

Great one

I am very partial to the LoTR trilogy in connection with rain; I read it for the first time over five rainy April days on a mountain retreat when I was 13.

Some other favorites for a rainy afterrnoon are:

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole :
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami Haruki;
Great Expectations by Charles D_ickens;
The Three-Cornered World (Pillow of Grass) by Natsume Soseki.

-kaitsuburi

@Rob-hin,
It's really hard to recommend any one in particular they are all very good, but Ian Rankin's Rebus series is probably a great place to start, here is a description: http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/books/rebus_features.htm

Here is an interview with Michael Dibdin:
http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/dibdin.html
Much as is the case with Ian Rankin, I would suggest reading Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series in the order they are written, Ratking and Vendetta are his first two Aurelio Zen novels.. I especially enjoyed Vendetta, but all of them are great.

What I like with both writers (especially Dibdin) is that the prose is wonderful, this is a rare thing with a genre like crime fiction.

@Kaitsuburi,
I really enjoyed Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, the combination of the fantastic and gritty reality were incredibly refreshing. If you like Murakami you may also want to check out The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Here is a review: http://www.enotes.com/house-spirits/5206
Very different to Murakami, but there are some similar elements.

It seems these days, all I ever read are books to my kids... Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, Ramona the Pest, etc...

I've picked up Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, which is supposed to be quite good, but I haven't done more than crack it open. I think all the French-sounding words are scaring me...

Originally posted by dragon wench
If you like Murakami you may also want to check out The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Here is a review: http://www.enotes.com/house-spirits/5206
Very different to Murakami, but there are some similar elements.

I keep hearing good things about that book, but I never get around to reading it !! I'll push it up to the top of my reading list

Has anyone here attempted reading Thomas Pynchon? That would be an anti- relaxing Sunday afternoon reading experience LOL. His books are really confusing; very dense and complex with occasional gems of brilliance interspersed throughout. I like V. and Gravity's Rainbow, though I can't say I can make too much out of either of them. I guess I am still too young for them or something...

-kaitsuburi

Originally posted by werebeargoddess
And I've read just about all of Tamora Pierce's books, too.

I read a few of those when I was a teenager, from what I recall they were pretty good.

I decided about a year ago to read a bit wider (than just Tolkien) in the fantasy genre. One of the things I notice is that fantasy authors just hate writing single books... how many trilogys etc there are! Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is up to ten books now, isn't it? One of the things that has put me off starting it, really. I read all five books of David Eddings' Belgariad, which was quite nice light-hearted fantasy. But I found when I started another of his series that he seemed to fall into the same pattern of stock characters, which put me off a bit.

I managed to find second-hand copies of a couple of books recommended by Fable in various threads round here - The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany, and The Worm Ouroborus by ER Eddison, both of which I would recommend although the style is a bit archaic, especially the latter.

One I really liked was the first volume of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson. I like that the main character is something of an anti-hero, a leper who is transported to a fantasy land when he is knocked unconscious, and is never really convinced that the following events aren't all just in his head. I haven't got around to reading the second one yet though.

At the moment, I'm reading the latest Harry Potter.

Hmm...I read mostly sci-fi and nonfiction. One book from my youth that I often re-read (about once a year) is "Watership Down". I never seem to tire of the book and it inspires me every time I read it.

Originally posted by der Moench
Speaking of reading on a rainy Sunday afternoon ... when else would one read? If it's sunny, get out!

If it's sunny, I like to go and lie on the green in the sun and read

I enjoy JK Rowling's books, but I don't think they have much re-read value for me.

Originally posted by Georgi

At the moment, I'm reading the latest Harry Potter.

I loved all five of the Harry Potter books. I started reading them in 3rd grade, and by 4th grade, I had read the first four. It's funny, because one of my friends and I had both gotten the 5th Harry Potter book at the same bookstore on the same day and close to the same time. We were just talking and stuff while aur moms waited in line to buy them And what's funny is that I finished the book within two or three days, yet my friend, as far as I know, is still reading it.