need recommendations for books for my daughter

[artemisblossom]

well with so many wonderful recommendations we went to the bookstore and bought several (I already had most of the classics like wuthering heights and jane eyre but she didn't like those. We picked up several of the other suggested titles and hopefully she will like some of them thank you everyone

[eimert]

Originally Posted by artemisblossom

well with so many wonderful recommendations we went to the bookstore and bought several (I already had most of the classics like wuthering heights and jane eyre but she didn't like those. We picked up several of the other suggested titles and hopefully she will like some of them thank you everyone

Hi artemisblossom,
and you can always try http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/search
Sometimes I even get quite reasonable results with it ;-)

Cheers,
Klaus

[BlackVoid]

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut. It is tragic, but also very funny. And clever.

Start with Breakfast of Champions.

[sirbruce]

Anything *except* Slaughterhouse Five, which is vastly overrated.

Sirens of Titan is my favorite, but Breakfast of Champions is very good as well. I never read his latest stuff.

[poohbear_nc]

Neverwhere - by N. Gaiman - there's sort of a happy ending but the girl does suffer a lot during the book & loses her family.

[fiver]

I would think that at her age, the existentialists like Sartre or Camus would appeal. When I was 17, Sartre's play No Exit made a big impact on me. I, personally, never cared for Camus but if she's a Cure fan, she should readily appreciate The Stranger.

Then, of course, there are the Russians. I like both Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy (not so much Gogol); however, I find Tolstoy more readable. You could try something short like The Death of Ivan Illyich, which I really enjoyed when I was in high school.

If you can convince her to try authors that aren't so dour, I'd definitely second Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice features a strong female protagonist, has romance which she probably would enjoy but never admit to, and has dialogue that should be savored for its wit.

I'd recommend Vonnegut, although I don't have as harsh an opinion of Slaughterhouse Five as the previous poster; however, I'd highly recommend Mother Night - a highly depressing book.

If you can get her to read SF at all, try to get her to read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis - that one will leave her feeling like she's been kicked in the head by the end

And, my favorite book which is overall uplifting but has elements of tragedy and fear: Watership Down by Richard Adams. Don't let the fact it's about bunnies deter you.


Oh, and to the person who brought up Thomas Covenant, while I enjoyed the first two chronicles, I'd say The Gap series by Donaldson had more of an effect on me. I'm not sure I'd recommend Donaldson to a 17 year old girl unless she were a particularly mature reader.

Michael

[queentess]

Loving Donnie Darko and laughing at Twilight... well, that sounds like something I'd do So with that in mind, some of my fave books at 17 were:

- Pretty much anything by Stephen King, but especially the Dark Tower series and short story collections (The Mist is still one of my favorite short stories)
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
- Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (short story)
- Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandana
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- You May Plow Here by Sara Brooks (edited by Thordis Simonsen)
- Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (short story collection that I recently read)

and maybe introduce her to the movie Equilibrium - it's underrated in my opinion

Less tragic, but still beloved by me:
- Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (first in the Wheel of Time series)
- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

[robynsc]

try these:

the book thief
rebecca
the road

[hnoto]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

The Thomas Covenant series always depresses the snot out of me, so maybe she'd like that...

OH, yeah, I hated those books, but my dh loved them. I don't like books where I can't find any redeeming qualities in the main character. Very depressing indeed. (author: Stephen Donaldson)

Catcher in the Rye by Salinger is another good pick, I think.

I have found that most of the books on the old Oprah's booklists have some serious tragedy attached to them. I avoid them as I prefer the HEA endings. It sounds like she has more to choose from now.

[Laz116]

Originally Posted by hnoto

OH, yeah, I hated those books, but my dh loved them. I don't like books where I can't find any redeeming qualities in the main character. Very depressing indeed. (author: Stephen Donaldson)

Catcher in the Rye by Salinger is another good pick, I think.

I have found that most of the books on the old Oprah's booklists have some serious tragedy attached to them. I avoid them as I prefer the HEA endings. It sounds like she has more to choose from now.

Catcher

It's such a wonderful book.

[emellaich]

There is an author my wife reads: Jodi Picoult. I wouldn't say she is depressing, but her endings aren't as upbeat as I like. There is a movie "My Sister's Keeper" coming out on one of her books.

On the other hand, its sad to see someone who can't enjoy the sunny side of life. Have you thought about talking to a psychiatrist about her?

[Trekkiemelissa]

I read a lot when I was about 17. I'd stay away from all the classics that are usually required reading in high school and college. Her tastes may change later on, but most kids don't want to read what they may end up reading in school. I'd take her to the bookstore and have her point out to you what she may be interested in. When I was a teenager, I read harliquin romance. I have no idea why when Danielle is less hardcore than that unless I had ones that were not so bad compared to the one I am reading now. Its been a while. The twilight series is popular among teenagers these days.