Another book that is one of my all-time favorites (I re-read it every couple of years and fall in love with it all over again) is Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley.” That man could paint a scene with words like no one else.
Redwolf
I’d like to second the nomination for Robertson Davies. And also recommend Ian Pears. I’m in the middle of “An Instance of the Fingerpost,” about a chain of events set in Oxford, England in 1633, told from 4 viewpoints: an Italian visitor interested in science; an unstable young Englishman with a vendetta; a cryptographer hired by Charles II; and… I don’t know the last one! I’m not there yet. I’ll be finishing the Ian Pears section of the public library after this, believe me.
Hope you find some great books, Walden.
C.
If you care for classics, you could give a try to : We by Evgueny Zamiatin.
http://www.isbn.nu/author/Zamiatin,%20Evgenii%20Ivanovich/
This sci-fi novel, written in 1922 by a Soviet maverick, probably inspired both G. Orwell and A. Huxley for their subsequent best-sellers. Not that he didn’t borrow himself a bit from H.G. Wells… 
Also, whatever one thinks of the movies made of it (esp. Soderbergh’s…), Solaris by Stanislas Lem (1961) shouldn’t be overlooked.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I went into the bookstore, last week, and faced with aisle after aisle after aisle of books, I just didn’t know what to get. I’ll take these suggestions with me, when I go back, and see what of these I come across. All but Flowers for Algernon are things I’ve never read, and I only read it once, a very long time ago, and it’s probably worth a re-read.
Feel free to continue posting suggestions. I haven’t gone to the bookstore yet.
I found ‘Diary of a Nobody’ by G. & W. Grossmith highly amusing.It’s the story of a middle class Victorian,Mr. Pooter, (even the names are funny,the son is called ‘Lupin’-‘Lupin Pooter’ for Christsake! 
) with pretentions of grandeur,who moves his family into a large house,trying to prove to all that he ‘has made it’.
It’s years since I read it,but I can always remember the scene where he paints the outside steps with red lead paint,then not wanting to ‘waste’ the paint that is left over, paints the bath INSIDE and out.Then later decides to take a bath with hilarious results.
The book is’nt explosively funny,more a ‘slow burn’,but is so well written that you could go back to it again and again and still chuckle.
I MUST have a re-read! 
I thought Flower for Algernon immenesely sad!
I just read Ray Monk’s two volume biography
of Bertrand Russell. Don’t read that. Something
like 800 pages of despair, culminating in
Russell’s granddaughter, who he raised,
going to a cemetary,
dousing herself with gasoline and setting
herself alight. Russell and his second wife,
Dora, raised their children by new scientific
principles, and arranged their marriage
so as to allow for relations, and children,
with others. Don’t do it!
Flowers for Algernon isn’t sad.
spoiler space for the folks who haven’t read it but want to
Charlie is much happier in the end than when he was a super-genius, and also in many ways, much wiser. It has a sort of bittersweet ending, but it’s not just “sad.”
-George McDonald Fraser: any installment in the “Flashman” series (although starting with the first one makes sense), and his great “Quartered Safe Out Here”. Greatly entertaining stuff AND informative as well.
-If you like mysteries, the latest Dennis Lehaine book is the best I’ve read this year so far (“Shutter Island”)
-I also loved “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”, by Michael Chabon, a few years back
I can’t believe I didn’t think of that one!!! It’s one of my all-time favorite books. My wife, having heard me talk about it, bought it for me a couple of years ago. She had to suffer through my giggles and endless reading of paragraphs to her. Things like he’s driving up the Coast of Maine and remarks on the number of antiques shops. He says something to the effect of, “I seem to remember that the population of the colonies numbered about three million souls, all of whom apparently were making furniture, dolls and all manner of things to be sold in Maine two hundred years hence.”
OH WALDEN!!
If you truly have not read Angela’s Ashes-- you have to!(preferrably listen to him read it).
Anyone with any intrest in things Irish, or, for that matter , anyone, would enjoy this. And it’s so funny, granted it is very dark humor sometimes, but still funny, plus, sad, plus amazing.
It’s an autobiography of McCourt’s growing up in Limerick in abject poverty. It opens with—
"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed
to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood:
the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than
the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood,
and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."
from Angela’s Ashes, a memoir by Frank McCourt
A movie by the same title was also made a few years ago.
here’s some links
www.frankmccourt.org.uk
www.angelasashes.com
www.iol.ie/~avondoyl/angelas1.htm
He won a Pulitzer prize for this work.
He also wrote a follow up book called " 'Tis ".
(edited to add some info)
you realize I’m now going to have to listen to this book yet again!
Amazon has a bunch of used copies really CHEAP!
-“A Confederacy Of Dunces”- A funny tale of a spoiled, sheltered mama’s boy forced to make his own way by fed-up Mom in New Orleans. -Forced to make himself useful, a hot dog stand and a pants factory become the venues through which young Ignatius J. Reilly inflicts himself on the world. The story is funny and compassionate toward its flawed characters. It is the only book written by John Kennedy Toole, who, sadly, committed suicide in 1969. Submitted to the publisher out of his effects, it has become a huge hit.
-“Tyll Ulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” -Pre-industrial German/Flanders tales of a quick-witted jester with a talent for humbling the haughty, ripping off the rapacious and making the world a better place. “Ulenspiegel” translates as “Owl and Mirror”, the very logo of Tyll, a winking owl gripping a mirror. One always wants the cons perpetrated by Tyll to succeed.
-Mark Helprin’s “Winters Tale” - An uneven but entertaining story of an Irish burglar/safecracker in New York through several generations, his mythical white horse, insanity, sacrifice and pursuit by the “Short Tail” gang. Some fantasy, but balanced out by many other elements. Interesting for its attention to historic New York, flowering of the industrial age, and religious and existential metaphor. -A little heavy for “light reading”, but inventive and descriptive enough of place and culture to reward a reader’s attention.-This one kept me tuned in through a round-trip Seattle-Detroit train journey-purchased at a used book store no less.
-“Made in America” by Bill Bryson- A witty trip through the American lexicon, with countless diversions down side roads of American words and expressions, and a de facto history of American cultural, social, economic and industrial change.
Yes! this is an excellent book!!! I have read it several times. It is absolutely amazing! If you choose this one, be sure to read the preface where the publisher tells of how the book actually came to be published. The author is John Kennedy Toole. He only wrote two books before he died (very young). I love the filing system that Ignatious devises and refer to it with my mom on a regular basis. She read it too and we work together. 
The part where Charlie, descending again into
retardation, hears the beautiful scientist who loves him
and he loves passionately come to his door–she beats on it
desperately, trying to get in, but he won’t open it.
After a long time she goes away. If ‘sad’ isn’t
the right word, I’d substitute ‘heart rending.’
Yes, A Confederacy of Dunces is especially
delightful to those of us who lived in New Orleans.
I’ll add my name to the list of those praising “A Confederacy of Dunces.” A work of pure genius.
I also recently read “I Know this Much is True,” by Wally Lamb. I resisted this book for a long time because it was one of the Oprah’s book club selections, but a friend basically insisted that I read it. It is truly compelling.
Mostly I like historical fiction and hard boiled, noir-ish crime stuff. James Ellroy manages to combine the two in “American Tabloid” and its sequel, “The Cold Six Thousand.” Plus he writes like Raymond Chandler on meth.
John Connolly is an Irishman who somehow writes American crime fiction. He has three novels out, and they are all excellent. You need a strong stomach for it, though. His protagonist is always chasing serial killers.
You can’t go wrong with Don DeLillo (especially “White Noise”, “Libra” or “Underworld”). I also enjoy Richard Russo, who writes in a lighter vein than most of my other favorites.
Write us a review when you’re all done, Walden!
Happy Reading,
Jim
I’ll add a hearty second to “A Winter’s Tale” (gorgeous book!), and to ANYTHING by Bill Bryson. “Mother Tongue” is kind of a prequel to “Made in America” (it deals with the evolution of English, and is both hilarious and enlightening). Any of his travel books make for fascinating reading (and lots of laughs)…“irreverently affectionate” is how I’d describe his style.
Redwolf
Did anyone know that Danny Carnahan writes fiction? Does anyone know who Carnahan is? He’s a fiddler/ zoukist/guitarist who made some recordings with dulcimer player Robin Petrie. I’ve never read his stuff and haven’t seen it at the local bookstores. Has anyone read any of it? Here’s a link
http://www.dannycarnahan.com/writing/novels.html
Here’s what it says about his books:
“Death Dances in Jig Time and Fortune Turns the Wheel are Danny’s first two mystery novels starring San Francisco Irish fiddler Niall Sweeney (known to his friends simply as Sweeney) and his literature professor wife Rose. A third novel in the series, With His Dying Breath, is nearing completion.”
Steve
I didn’t know he wrote fiction, but I LOVE some of his music. IMO, his best work was with Chris Caswell, flute/whistle/bodhran player extraordinaire (I’m not crazy about his piping, it may be extraordinaire, too, though). I still think their two albums, only available from Chris directly now, are among the best I’ve ever heard. It’s mostly trad stuff, but they wrote a few songs, dances, and airs; I think their compositions are as traditional-sounding as Silly Wizard’s.
Carnahan and Petrie did one album that I really love (I like most of their stuff, but without a passion) on which the material sounds an awful lot like Richard and Linda Thompson (Danny wrote most of it).
Richard Farina was another musician and songwright who wrote a novel, “Been down so long it looks like up to me” (on which the Doors song was based). Not one for you, Walden, depressing, full of sex and drugs, but still hilarious and very well-written. He died on the way home from the publication party.
I’ll have to check out Danny’s books. Now, though, I’m off to listen to Caswell-Carnahan.
light, humorous fiction? you can’t do better than p. g. wodehouse (uh, oh–i hope turner doesn’t see me recommending such an english author!). the jeeves books are great, but my personal favorites are the mulliner stories and the drones club stories: try ‘young men in spats.’
James Herriott’s All Creatures Great and Small series- great stories, great humor, probably the best characterization I’ve ever read. I love these books.
Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles-Fantastic historical fiction! Really amazing. Not light reading, but oh my goodness…worth it! Serious page turners, these six books.
-PG Wodehouse is hilarious! Try him on tape, especially Jeeves and Wooster. Oh my… LOL just thinking about it.
-Cran! I adore the Blue Day Book! My children and I laugh over it all the time. So sweet. It also makes a great gift.
-Terry Pratchett and Discworld. These books were recommended to me by a dear friend, but when I saw Pratchett’s mega-shelf of flourescent colored books at the library, I thought, “This is not my thing.” Then I read the inside cover of The Hogfather and immediately thought, “This is definitely my thing.” Very clever, very funny. Here’s an excerpt from Soul Music:
“The question seldom addressed is WHERE Medusa had snakes. Underarm hair is an even more embarrassing problem when it keeps biting the top of the deoderant bottle.”
-Winter’s Tale, as mentioned above, was fascinating. Strange story, but incredibly written. It’s been a while, but I remember thinking WOW a lot.
-Anyone read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman?
Oh yes. Don’t be put off by the fact that these are ‘targeted’ at teenagers, these three (The Golden Compass(*), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) are absolutely fantastic reading, and totally gripping, and I’ve beaten every adult friend I have into reading them and they all love them.
Pullman has also written lots of shorter, lighter books for kids that are delightful.
My favorite Terry Pratchett/Discworld quote is:
He was the sort of person who stood on mountaintops during thunderstorms in wet copper armour shouting “All the Gods are b*****ds.”
'Veg
(GC was called ‘Northern Lights’ when first published in the UK).