Book Suggestions

[doversoul1]

Suggestions very welcome; comic (not necessarily light-hearted) novels, preferably modern (not necessarily set in a modern world), for a 40-something, good but not exactly highly literature-minded reader (female). It will be a bonus if it has a cat in it (must be still alive at the end) or/and with fantasy elements. Her favourite author as a child was Diana Wynne Jones.

Thank you.

[Richard Tarleton]

Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips. Modern, hilarious, fantasy, dogs rather than cats.....

A review

Oh, and a Spanish novel set in Barcelona that I read as Sin noticias de Gurb, but which is translated as No word from Gurb, by Eduardo Mendoza. Extraterrestrials at large in everyday Barcelona. Genius. I first came across it browsing in the Spanish section in Foyles, and a Spanish couple said I should read it.

[Jonathan]

I'd suggest The Rivers of London series of books by Ben Aaronovitch - no cat but there is a dog! There's also magic and fantasy elements - I believe the books are classified as urban fantasy. I started the first one on holiday a few weeks ago and found it very good. The 8th one is published fairly soon. Hope this helps.

[ardcarp]

Suggestions very welcome; comic (not necessarily light-hearted) novels, preferably modern (not necessarily set in a modern world), for a 40-something, good but not exactly highly literature-minded reader (female). It will be a bonus if it has a cat in it (must be still alive at the end) or/and with fantasy elements. Her favourite author as a child was Diana Wynne Jones.

Thank you.

Dreadfully outdated now, but have you tried the novels of Beverley Nichols? Try Merry Hall for a starter. (I shall probably be laughed off The Forum for this.)

[LMcD]

Why not try something by Carol Shields (e.g. 'Larry's Party'), Alice Munro or Jane Gardam?

[zola]

Apart from not being particularly modern, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov ticks many of your boxes, including the cat from hell, literally !

[doversoul1]

Many thanks for your suggestions. They all look promising.

ardcarp
By modern, I meant not Classics.

LMcD
Did Jane Gardam write fantasy?

zola
The cat from hell sounds the very thing. Thank you.

[LMcD]

Possibly my top recommendation: anything by the wonderful Anne Tyler, e.g. 'The Accidental Tourist'. Also worth investigating are Rose Tremain, Deborah Moggach, Penelope Lively, Kate Atkinson and Jonathan Coe.

[doversoul1]

Thank you very much everyone. When this now 40 something recipient was a child, I prided myself as an expert on fantasy literature for children until she left the land of Puffins and went up to secondary school. Yet I never managed to make the transfer to fantasy literature for adult/general readers. I seem to have been missing an awful lot.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

From your description in the OP, dovers, it does sound like the joys of Terry Pratchett are a revelation awaiting her (I was in my late 30s when I overcame my prejudice against this genre and discovered Pratchett's work); I would suggest starting with Mort, Equal Rites, or Making Money. (The Amazing Maurice & his Educated Rodents is actually about a cat - but that's one of his children's novels [although entirely enjoyed by children in their 50s ]).

[Richard Tarleton]

Possibly my top recommendation: anything by the wonderful Anne Tyler, e.g. 'The Accidental Tourist'. Also worth investigating are Rose Tremain, Deborah Moggach, Penelope Lively, Kate Atkinson and Jonathan Coe.

[LMcD]

Many thanks for your suggestions. They all look promising.

ardcarp
By modern, I meant not Classics.

LMcD
Did Jane Gardam write fantasy?

zola
The cat from hell sounds the very thing. Thank you.

Not really - but you could try 'The Stories' which will give you a good idea of her style and range of subjects.
(She still with us, by the way).

[doversoul1]

From your description in the OP, dovers, it does sound like the joys of Terry Pratchett are a revelation awaiting her (I was in my late 30s when I overcame my prejudice against this genre and discovered Pratchett's work); I would suggest starting with Mort, Equal Rites, or Making Money. (The Amazing Maurice & his Educated Rodents is actually about a cat - but that's one of his children's novels [although entirely enjoyed by children in their 50s ]).

I nearly included a line ’but not Terry Pratchett especially The Amazing Maurice’

Incidentally, if anyone is looking for a book to introduce Terry Pratchett to a very young reader (8 and under or thereabout), try The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner: And Other Stories.

[LMcD]

If your 'forty-something' likes (or would like to try) ghost stories, Susan Hill has written many fine books in this field, the most famous being 'The Woman In Black'.

[doversoul1]

If your 'forty-something' likes (or would like to try) ghost stories, Susan Hill has written many fine books in this field, the most famous being 'The Woman In Black'.

She’s read a few Susan Hill. As her life seems extremely packed and busy these days, I am looking for high quality froth (not necessarily a light relief) rather than ostensibly profound, if this makes sense.