need recommendations for books for my daughter

artemisblossom · 06-12-2009, 11:19 AM

I need some help finding some books for my 17 yr old daugher. She loves to reading but can rarely find something she likes reading. I am a hard core sci -fi and fantasy book reader and can't help her, and when we ask at the book store they are not much help either. My daughter likes well.... sad, depressing, tragic books that don't end happy. She read a few historical ones she really liked but I cant remember the names right now. She definately is not into vampires or anything like that. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Moejoe · 06-12-2009, 11:23 AM

Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar

Franz Kafka - The Trial

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago, Cancer Ward

Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood.

Banana Yoshimoto - Goodbye Tsugunami

DixieGal · 06-12-2009, 11:26 AM

Yikes! Try to get her interested in some humor books or something!

Also, try whatshouldireadnext.com

ahi · 06-12-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Yikes! Try to get her interested in some humor books or something!

Also, try whatshouldireadnext.com

That hardly seems to answer artemisblossom's question.

I recomend Dostoevsky's "The Idiot"--it is a wonderfully tragic tale about a penniless epileptic Prince returning from Switzerland into his native Russia, his attempts to secure himself a tolerable life, and his romantic entanglement with a beautiful but seemingly quite heartless woman that entraps both his and several of his acquaintances'/friends' hearts in ways that foreshadow little good.

Feedbooks.com has it:
http://www.feedbooks.com/book/367

----

Fateless / Fatelessness by KERTÉSZ Imre

http://www.amazon.com/Fatelessness-I.../dp/1400078636

This one is a Nobel Prize for Literature winning holocaust book, written from the perspective of a young boy, who, for much of the book, is disturbingly complacent and accepting of his lot.

- Ahi

artemisblossom · 06-12-2009, 11:42 AM

Thank you so much for the recommendations moeJoe. I will suggest those to her.

LOl Yep Dixie gal "yikes" I have tried to get her interested in other types of books and movies but she isn't interested LOL her favorite movies are the Donny Darko ones I took her to see "Twilight" and she laughed throughout the movie equating Edward's being called "Special" with being mentlly challenged. LOl her Dad and I suspect she is from another planet, she doesn't even like sunny days, just cloudy, dull, dreary looking ones LOL

artemisblossom · 06-12-2009, 11:44 AM

Thank You Ahi ! I saw your post after I replied. I am picking her up from school today and we are going to the bookstore hopefully they will have some of these titles to choose from. Thank you all again so much!!!

ruth1304 · 06-12-2009, 11:48 AM

How about:

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
Bleak House - Charles Dickens (not quite as tragic as the others.

Or if she likes more modern books, I'll try to think of some, but usually I go for more cheerful things now. When I was 17 I read lots of victorian literature including the ones above, and lots of other fairly bleak stuff (I wasn't exactly a cheerful teenager!), but it's hard to remember at the moment. If I think of any more when I've looked at my bookshelves I'll add them.

toomanybooks · 06-12-2009, 11:56 AM

One Were Warriors by Alan Duff is interesting and depresssing.

Mosherix · 06-12-2009, 11:58 AM

The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clan_of_the_Cave_Bear

DixieGal · 06-12-2009, 12:00 PM

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Victorian things. I had to take that class to graduate, then promptly tried to drown the memory in sunshine and chocolate. Put Wuthering Heights into whatshouldireadnext and see what sordid things it suggests. I'm gonna do it right now out of curiosity.

EDIT: Here are the results. I would imagine most of them are in the free ebooks here at MR.

Our Recommendations
These are our suggestions based on readers' recommendations.

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen See Amazon UK | US
My Cousin Rachel Hgr Int 3rd Edn - D DuMaurier See Amazon UK | US
The Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne See Amazon UK | US | Read Comments
Frenchmans Creek - Daphne Du Maurier See Amazon UK | US
Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence See Amazon UK | US
Middlemarch - George Eliot See Amazon UK | US
Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe See Amazon UK | US
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte See Amazon UK | US
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy See Amazon UK | US | Read Comments
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute See Amazon UK | US

libraryaddict · 06-12-2009, 12:12 PM

Pretty much anything by Thomas Hardy.

Mme Bovary by Flaubert, or the (excellent) graphic version by Posy Simmonds, Gemma Bovery.

Historical - maybe A place of greater safety by Hilary Mantel (or maybe not - on the one hand, pretty much everyone dies in the end, but on the other hand, it's very, very funny on the way)

As you're into sci-fi, perhaps you could suggest some of the more dystopian novels? 1984? TThe Handmaid's Tale?

ruth1304 · 06-12-2009, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Our Recommendations
These are our suggestions based on readers' recommendations.

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen See Amazon UK | US
My Cousin Rachel Hgr Int 3rd Edn - D DuMaurier See Amazon UK | US
The Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne See Amazon UK | US | Read Comments
Frenchmans Creek - Daphne Du Maurier See Amazon UK | US
Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence See Amazon UK | US
Middlemarch - George Eliot See Amazon UK | US
Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe See Amazon UK | US
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte See Amazon UK | US
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy See Amazon UK | US | Read Comments
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute See Amazon UK | US

Some of these might be slightly too cheerful, but I think I'd recommend all of them to a 17 yr old girl. I read all of these around that time and loved most of them.

pshrynk · 06-12-2009, 02:08 PM

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

mgrunk · 06-12-2009, 08:20 PM

These may be too mature but she's 17 and drawn to melancholic books and are recent titles -

The Secret Life of Bees
Handmaid's Tale (already mentioned)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Duma Key by Stephen King
The Road by Cormac Mccarthy
Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard
The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
Light On Snow by Anita Shreve

Again, these are all adult titles - most I'd probably let my 17 year old read - Duma Key is dark - but - I loved Stephen King when I was a teenager - and the end is dark - not a super horror book, but just dark.

FizzyWater · 06-12-2009, 08:31 PM

Thirteen Reasons by Jay Asher
The Pact, Seventeen Minutes, or My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

06-12-2009, 11:19 AM	#1
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	need recommendations for books for my daughter I need some help finding some books for my 17 yr old daugher. She loves to reading but can rarely find something she likes reading. I am a hard core sci -fi and fantasy book reader and can't help her, and when we ask at the book store they are not much help either. My daughter likes well.... sad, depressing, tragic books that don't end happy. She read a few historical ones she really liked but I cant remember the names right now. She definately is not into vampires or anything like that. Does anyone have any suggestions?

06-12-2009, 12:00 PM	#10
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Oh yeah, I forgot about the Victorian things. I had to take that class to graduate, then promptly tried to drown the memory in sunshine and chocolate. Put Wuthering Heights into whatshouldireadnext and see what sordid things it suggests. I'm gonna do it right now out of curiosity. EDIT: Here are the results. I would imagine most of them are in the free ebooks here at MR. Our Recommendations These are our suggestions based on readers' recommendations. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen See Amazon UK \| US My Cousin Rachel Hgr Int 3rd Edn - D DuMaurier See Amazon UK \| US The Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne See Amazon UK \| US \| Read Comments Frenchmans Creek - Daphne Du Maurier See Amazon UK \| US Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence See Amazon UK \| US Middlemarch - George Eliot See Amazon UK \| US Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe See Amazon UK \| US Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte See Amazon UK \| US The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy See Amazon UK \| US \| Read Comments A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute See Amazon UK \| US Last edited by DixieGal; 06-12-2009 at 12:02 PM.

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06-12-2009, 11:23 AM	#2
Moejoe Banned Posts: 5,100 Karma: 72193 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South of the Border Device: Coffin	Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar Franz Kafka - The Trial Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago, Cancer Ward Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood. Banana Yoshimoto - Goodbye Tsugunami

06-12-2009, 11:26 AM	#3
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Yikes! Try to get her interested in some humor books or something! Also, try whatshouldireadnext.com

06-12-2009, 11:42 AM	#5
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	Thank you so much for the recommendations moeJoe. I will suggest those to her. LOl Yep Dixie gal "yikes" I have tried to get her interested in other types of books and movies but she isn't interested LOL her favorite movies are the Donny Darko ones I took her to see "Twilight" and she laughed throughout the movie equating Edward's being called "Special" with being mentlly challenged. LOl her Dad and I suspect she is from another planet, she doesn't even like sunny days, just cloudy, dull, dreary looking ones LOL

06-12-2009, 11:44 AM	#6
artemisblossom Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 482 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Device: Sony prs505	Thank You Ahi ! I saw your post after I replied. I am picking her up from school today and we are going to the bookstore hopefully they will have some of these titles to choose from. Thank you all again so much!!!

06-12-2009, 11:48 AM	#7
ruth1304 Addict Posts: 394 Karma: 1546 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bristol, UK Device: Waiting for a kindle!	How about: Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot Bleak House - Charles Dickens (not quite as tragic as the others. Or if she likes more modern books, I'll try to think of some, but usually I go for more cheerful things now. When I was 17 I read lots of victorian literature including the ones above, and lots of other fairly bleak stuff (I wasn't exactly a cheerful teenager!), but it's hard to remember at the moment. If I think of any more when I've looked at my bookshelves I'll add them.

06-12-2009, 11:56 AM	#8
toomanybooks Addict Posts: 302 Karma: 1039424 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Ipad, Ipod Touch, KIndle Fire	One Were Warriors by Alan Duff is interesting and depresssing.

06-12-2009, 11:58 AM	#9
Mosherix Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 120 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Guadalajara Mexico Device: iPod Touch, iPad, PRS 300	The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clan_of_the_Cave_Bear

06-12-2009, 12:12 PM	#11
libraryaddict Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony? convince me	Pretty much anything by Thomas Hardy. Mme Bovary by Flaubert, or the (excellent) graphic version by Posy Simmonds, Gemma Bovery. Historical - maybe A place of greater safety by Hilary Mantel (or maybe not - on the one hand, pretty much everyone dies in the end, but on the other hand, it's very, very funny on the way) As you're into sci-fi, perhaps you could suggest some of the more dystopian novels? 1984? TThe Handmaid's Tale?

06-12-2009, 02:08 PM	#13
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	The Thomas Covenant series always depresses the snot out of me, so maybe she'd like that...

06-12-2009, 08:20 PM	#14
mgrunk Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: metro Atlanta, GA Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	These may be too mature but she's 17 and drawn to melancholic books and are recent titles - The Secret Life of Bees Handmaid's Tale (already mentioned) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Duma Key by Stephen King The Road by Cormac Mccarthy Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon Light On Snow by Anita Shreve Again, these are all adult titles - most I'd probably let my 17 year old read - Duma Key is dark - but - I loved Stephen King when I was a teenager - and the end is dark - not a super horror book, but just dark.

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06-12-2009, 08:31 PM	#15
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Thirteen Reasons by Jay Asher The Pact, Seventeen Minutes, or My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold