I just finished reading The Catcher in the Rye and Running with scissors, and have moved on to Where's Waldo. I like any book as long as it is funny or really deep. I'm trying to find a new author to read, but don't know of any. So please help. does anyone here know of a really good book that I can continue with? My favorite authors are Carl Hassian and Christopher Moore, but I've read all of their books. (The Blood Sucking Fiends books by Christopher Moore are by far my favorite) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

And please leave The Lord of The Rings and the Twilight series out of suggestions. I have no intentions of reading that garbage. lol

CB, have you read "The Great Gatsby" or "The Beautiful and Damned" by F. Scott Fitzgerald? I read Gatsby at least once every couple of years and didn't read "Beautiful" until a few years ago, not sure how I missed that gem all these years!

You might also like the "Rabbit" series by John Updike ("Rabbit, Run" is the first one, then there's "Rabbit is Rich" and "Rabbit at Rest", and finally "Rabbit, Redux").

For funny, you might try Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series and see if you like them. "The Colour of Magic" is the first one, followed by "The Light Fantastic", "Equal Rites", "Mort", and on and on. There are (I think) 38 total. If you can get the original British versions of the original 26 novels, they have the most amazing cover art. Used book stores are a good source for Pratchett paperbacks with the original art. I've just completed the series (after 5 years of on and off working my way through all of them) and they can't be beat for laugh-out-loud funny. Enjoy!

I'm actually thinking about reading the great gatsby, but haven't yet because it really hasn't seemed to attract me. that's the same reason i never read the catcher in the rye, but that turned out to be a pretty decent book if you're into the whole rich emo kid running away to new york thing... lol
I've never heard of "Discworld" but I just ordered the colour of magic on Amazon, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks! (although the title for some reason reminds me of the movie Tron.. I'm such the nerd. lol)

C.S. Lewis "The Screwtape Letters" - kind of funny and thought provoking at the same time.

do you like sci fi? Isaac Asimov is excellent.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I just read the pre-quel to ^^^ that one, Dawn of the Dreadfuls. It's absolutely hilarious!

If you like Bloodsucking Fiends, try A Martinez' "Gil's All Fright Diner." Hysterical!

Harlan Coben, James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, John Connolly, David Silva, David Baldacci, Steven Berry

I would second the recommendation of reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels, and also John Updike's Rabbit Angstrom tetralogy. What I particularly enjoy about the Rabbit series is that each book is set in a different decade (50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s), and is reflective of what was happening in the United States during that decade.

I would also recommend Ernest Hemingway's novels, particularly A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and especially For Whom The Bell Tolls.

I'll second the recommendations for DiscWorld - I am working my way through those as well. Just the puns alone make it worth reading; the pop culture references are great too. I always hear Eric Idle in my head when I'm reading them too. I think Pyramids has been my favorite so far.

I take great offense to comparing LOTR to the trash that is Twilight! "The Hobbit" (my personal favorite) and "The Lord of the Rings" are great in their own way - but you have to like that stuff. But the writing and imagination of Tolkien are amazing - comparing his works to Stephenie Meyer is insulting, IMO.

On that note, there are several books that I would recommend:

1. K2 - Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain; by Ed Viesturs

Even if you're not into reading about mountaineering, this is a great book with lots of stories about climbing, accidents, drama, tragedy, triumph, controversy, etc. Quite interesting.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; by Stieg Larsson (very interesting book, first in a series)

3. Twisted; by Jonathan Kellerman (very good thriller/murder mystery and quick read!)

I liked LOTR too.

If you happen to like epic fantasy novels, I would *strongly* recommend George RR Martin's "A Game of Thrones" and subsequent books in that series. They are absorbing and well written. And long. Really, really long. I think they run between 900 and 1200 pages each. There are 4 out, and he's working on the 5th. AGOT is being made into an HBO series too, which will probably air early 2011.

If you haven't already, you may want to try Piers Anthony's Xanth series - talk about puns! Be warned, though, they're addictive, and there's at least 30 books in the series....

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books are always good, too.

EGB - is it high fantasy? I've been looking for a good high fantasy series recently. Seems like so much of it is LOTR knock-off crapola....

I agree - I love them! I read them again every 3-4 years and I still laugh out loud.

You say you like funny .....read "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton. Classic baseball book about life on the 1969 Seattle Pilots (yes, an actual major league team...for one season...they became the Milwaukee Brewers). Very controversial for its time....he's open about the use of drugs and alcohol by major leaguers, for example. Just a really funny, informative, cool book...if you like sports. You don't have to "love" sports to like the book though....

As for really deep.....i think an all-time classic novel is "Native Son" by Richard Wright. One of the 5 best books i've ever read.

I've read some of Piers Anthony. For some reason I stopped, I may have to try them again.

GRRM is classified as High Fantasy. It is not happy-go-lucky elves and fairies, that's for darn sure. It is dark and bloody and he has no problem getting rid of major characters. But boy is it good.

Hitchkers is good, except for the latest, written by that other guy (Eoin Colter, maybe?). I didn't like that one very much.

If you enjoyed Running With Scissors you would probably like some of David Sedaris' books.

Nifty. I actually prefer the darker stuff to the fairies & rainbows set.

Have some fun, read Butcher's Dresden Files books. They are about a wizard of the modern day who advertises in the yellow pages. Snarky and fun to read.

Already read them. I think 3 or 4 times now, and did a twice-through on the latest one because the ending threw me.

I'm a wee bit obsessive about books.

A couple that will make you think: "Born to Run" and "Three Cups of Tea"

Clown Boy - you must read Mykle Hansen's "Help, a bear is eating me". Hands down one of the funniest books I've read. PM me your address & I'll mail it to you or if you're still planning on visiting your old stopming grounds, pick it up when you're here.

thanks all for the great recommendations. looks like i already have my reading list for the summer. you guys are awesome!