Help! What Should I Read Next?

By Shirley Li

What should I choose to read next? I'm halfway through The Bourne Identity and feel I need a change in genre, perhaps to one I don't usually read. A mystery sounds good even though I was never a huge fan of the Nancy Drew series or any of those detective books. On the other hand, there's hundreds of genres that I haven't had the chance to read much from yet.

My point is this - I want to move away from the typical types of books that I usually slide off of the shelves. Any suggestions? Whether they are autobiographies or "light", easy and quick to read novels, I would really appreciate some suggestions. Following Bourne's character around makes my head swim with facts and subtle details that I have to struggle keep up with, Everyone Worth Knowing bored me, and 1984 was just plain confusing until the end, so a lighter read sounds good.

It's not just the genre that I'm interested in, though. I'm big on how real the characters feel to me and should stress the fact that they should continue to develop throughout the story. Not only that, but the plot should be understandable yet unpredictable and interesting. The books that I tend to read more than once, often fulfill these expectations.

Also, as I have said before, I need to stray away from the action/thriller, chick-lit, classic, and "On the New York Times Bestseller list for..." books I've been reading the past few months... any suggestions?