a plea for help

[fearlesstemp]

I need help! See, my grandmother's birthday is coming up (actually, it's today, but I won't see her until next Monday) and I'm trekking out to the bookstore to get her present tonight and I'm looking for recommendations. She was always a big reader, but ever since my grandfather died she hasn't really been able to get into anything and she's been going on and on lately about how she misses really looking forward to reading a book and I'd love to get her a few books that would help her do that. I've got a few ideas myself, but if anyone out there has any ideas, I would SO appreciate it. There are a few qualifications, which is what's making the book search so challenging:

(1) I have to give it to my grandmother so, you know. I would feel weird giving her a book of erotica or something.

(2) It can't be too sad. The books she's read since my grandfather's death have all been sad and part of what's turned her off reading ( I still can't figure out what whoever recommended The Lovely Bones to her mere weeks after the funeral was thinking.). So, happy books. Funny books. Uplifting books.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Nana needs a good read! Rally to the cause! I mean, if you want to. No pressure.

And now I must go back to work.

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

What kind of books does your grandmother like in general? Mystery, romance, literary fiction, sf? Who are her favorite writers?

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Ah, what kind of books she likes -- meant to mention that! That's what I get for stealth LJ-ing at work -- one tends to forget important details like that when one is rushed due to fear of one's non-work activities being discovered by bosses or coworkers. Such behavior is why, I suspect, I was never Temp of the Month.

On to the topic at hand! She loves mysteries, I know, and burned through them pretty quickly back in the day. Am freezing up to think of her other favorite genres/authors! I remember her liking Maeve Binchy a lot -- her family was from Ireland and also, she digs those kind of long, family-centered novels.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Dryly witty mysteries: Sarah Caudwell. (But check first to make sure it will match your grandmother's sense of humor.) Um. General mysteries I like: Dorothy Sayers, Gaudy Night. Josephine Tey. Raymond Chandler. Elizabeth Peters is fun.

Random rec: Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees. Because I think it's a pretty happy-making book over all.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! These are fabulous, for Nana and also maybe because many of these may fall into the Books for Jess category as well. :)

Also, I love that icon. The cuteness!

[clarinetkate.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose Dan Savage's The Kid would be up her alley, huh? ;) (though I found it hilarious and touching)

or Margaret Cho's book. heheh

Maybe David Sedaris isn't too racy, though?

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you! Excellent recs! Am jotting them down now. May end up buying one for myself, actually, like the Margaret Cho book, which I meant to look for a while ago but forgot about. Thanks for reminding me!

[popgurlie.livejournal.com]

hmm. perhaps paolo coehlo's the alchemist, or by the river piedra, i sat down and wept. (the latter has a bit of a religious undertone, but a rather comforting one. but it's also a bit of a love story. hmm.)

the holy man is actually not terribly religious. but it's upbeat and not too long.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

You are fabulous! Thank you so much, man. Those sound great. Almost too great, such that I seriously fear that this will turn into a Books for Jess Buying Expedition as Books for Nana Buying Expedition. Which also makes me happy, for I love having books to read. Thanks bunches!

At the risk of overloading you with suggestions...

[emluv.livejournal.com]

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde has finally been released in paperback in the U.S. (Actually, today, I believe) It's the ultimate reader's mystery, set in an alternate version of 1985, where time travel and cloning exist, and people can actually enter their favorite books. Detective Thursday Next has to hunt down a villain who is kidnapping characters from works of literature, including Jane Eyre.

And if you've already gotten something for your grandmother, it can always go on the "For Jess" list. heh. Happy shopping

Re: At the risk of overloading you with suggestions...

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

The Eyre Affair sounds so fabulous! Ooh, that's on my To-Buy list next time I'm at the store for sure. Woo! There are few things more exciting than knowing a good book is in one's future. :)