Recommend me some good girly books!

[Jonathan Bogart]

Not girlie as in girlie mags, but girly -- what girls like.

I'm coming off (http://jbogart.blogspot.com/2007/03/common-sense-and-uncommon-sentiment.html) an Anne of Green Gables jag, and I find myself longing for that kind of romantically-portrayed comedy. Headstrong young women, small-town Americana, love of natural beauty, all wrapped up in a nice neat bow at the end, doesn't insult the intelligence -- you know the kind of thing, surely. Kind of Jane Austen, perhaps a century or so later. (And not necessarily British.) What kinds of gentle, discursive romances are out there that a grumpy sentimentalist like myself could dig into?

I'm especially looking for stuff that's available on audiobook, since that's how I've been passing the time at work, but anything between two covers will do.

(The kind of thing I DON'T want: Gone With the Wind. Or anything that has any big ideas, well-executed or not.)

(And I already have a nearly-complete Georgette Heyer collection.)

I know this is probably a hopeless kind of request in this particular forum, given the stereotypical taste of the average comics geek, but I just thought I'd put it out there. And if anyone wants to argue (pro or con) the merits of romance as a genre, I'm up for that, too. Bring on the books!

[cactusmaac]

My sister really liked the Chalet School books. She's also a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and Georgette Heyer.

[Matthew E]

Try Sorcery and Cecelia, aka The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. It's an epistolary Regency romance, with small amounts of swashbuckling and magic. One of my personal favourites.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Try Sorcery and Cecelia, aka The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. It's an epistolary Regency romance, with small amounts of swashbuckling and magic. One of my personal favourites.
I forgot to mention: No sci-fi or fantasy. That's the opposite of what I'm going for.

Also, I'm in favor of atmosphere and a strong sense of place (and/or time) over plot elements (i.e., the less happens, the more I'll dig it), and I'm into authorial integrity. Which means that the Chalet School series, which appear to be the forerunner of the Babysitters Club sort of books, are not really it. But thanks.

The mention of Anne of Green Gables may have been misleading; I'm not looking for childrens' books, particularly. Those books were aimed at adults when they were first published.

[Expletive Deleted]

Laura Ingalls Wilder, maybe?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Laura Ingalls Wilder, maybe?
Yeah, that's a good one. If the audiobooks were available to download, I'd probably be listening to them right now. As it is, I'll probably just sneak them out of my sister's room this weekend...

[Athena Bast]

One of the ladies at work would recommend 'Outlander' by Diana Garbaldan.

I don't read many girlie books myself.

[K'Nort]

Betsy-Tacy?

[Slam_Bradley]

A good shot of testosterone.

[Jonathan Bogart]

A good shot of testosterone.
Oh, I'll come crawling back to Hemingway and Robert E. Howard soon enough. Just thought I'd try to take advantage of the mood while it's on me.

[Matthew E]

I forgot to mention: No sci-fi or fantasy. That's the opposite of what I'm going for.

Also, I'm in favor of atmosphere and a strong sense of place (and/or time) over plot elements (i.e., the less happens, the more I'll dig it), and I'm into authorial integrity. Which means that the Chalet School series, which appear to be the forerunner of the Babysitters Club sort of books, are not really it. But thanks.

The mention of Anne of Green Gables may have been misleading; I'm not looking for childrens' books, particularly. Those books were aimed at adults when they were first published.

Okay, well, what else have we got...

The following were/are favourites either of my wife or of my mother:

The Enchanted Barn, by Grace Livingston-Hill
A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
Mandy, by Julie Andrews-Edwards

[berk]

I think I remember you saying you've already read Daphne DuMaurier's stuff, but in case you haven't gotten to some of these, I really loved:

Jamaica Inn
Rebecca
My Cousin Rachel

And I also believe you said you disliked Mary Stewart's Arthurian novels, but can't recall if you tried any of her other books. They're usually adventure stores with a female protagonist and contemporary setting. My favourites were:

The Moonspinners
Touch Not the Cat
Airs Above the Ground

They're all pretty good, though. "Airs" in particular stands out in my memory as her most entrancing book. These might be a little plot-heavy for you, though, since they're basically romance-adventure stories. But I found the characters well-drawn and the protagonists very likeable.

I'm curious about the romance novels of Madeleine Brent (I think it is?), a pseudonym for Peter O'Donnell of Modesty Blaise fame. O'Donnell's Blaise books are full of colourful characters and inventive situations, so I'll probably try these one of these days.

[Nate C.]

Virginia Woolf- To the Lighthouse
Aldous Huxley- Crome Yellow

both read 1/2 way through by me and guaranteed to be girly and short on plot.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Virginia Woolf- To the Lighthouse
Aldous Huxley- Crome Yellow

both read 1/2 way through by me and guaranteed to be girly and short on plot.
Ah, but they have those uncomfortable things, ideas, in them.

[Nate C.]

Ah, but they have those uncomfortable things, ideas, in them.

true, true, true.

so you really are in a light romp phase, huh?

[Bouncing Boy]

My sister and Rally both really liked Little Women. To Kill a Mockingbird comes to mind too.

[berk]

That reminds me, would "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" br considered a girl's book? I liked that one.

[dorkgirl]

If you enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables series (and if you didn't read the whole series, you should - great stuff there), L.M. Montgomery's other works are also wonderful. The Emily series and The Blue Castle are two of my favorite re-reads when I'm in the mood you're in.

Not sure if this one qualifies as girly, but I'd recommend Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones to anyone. Hope those are some help!

[Matthew E]

Oh, here's one for you. I am reliably assured that this is one of the girly books of all time:

Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. (Relax; not fantasy.)

[Jonathan Bogart]

Oh, here's one for you. I am reliably assured that this is one of the girly books of all time:

Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. (Relax; not fantasy.)
Yup. Got it under my belt earlier this year.

[Nate C.]

If you can get past the science fiction trappings (and they're minimal), the Thursday next novels are fun girlish reads. (and literate)

[Jonathan Bogart]

If you can get past the science fiction trappings (and they're minimal), the Thursday next novels are fun girlish reads. (and literate)
Not minimal enough. I've got the set on my shelves, and they're pretty donnish.

[Athena Bast]

Island of the Blue Dolphins

[Santanico]

I'd definitely recommend the YA fiction of Francesca Lia Block, here. Though her books do lean towards magic realism, they're not really fantasy (with a couple of exceptions, such as I Was a Teenage Fairy), they're beautifully written, have a very strong sense of place (almost all of them are set in an intensely romantic vision of LA), are relatively light on plot, are all short enough to read in an afternoon, and I'm almost positive that no one with a Y chromosome has ever read them. I'd recommend starting with Violet and Claire, her short story collection Girl Goddess #9, or the Weetzie Bat books. (But do yourself a favor and don't bother with The Hanged Man - it's pretty wretched, and unless you're a teenage anorexic incest victim who enjoys threesomes with creepy older men, you won't be able to relate in the slightest.)

[Roquefort Raider]

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Is that perchance a Harlequin book?

We had to read a novel with just that title back in college, just to show us what that type of literature was like.

[Athena Bast]

Is that perchance a Harlequin book?

We had to read a novel with just that title back in college, just to show us what that type of literature was like.

Nope.. you can find it in the youth section of a bookstore... it's kinda like Whale Rider in a way.

[berk]

How about Frances Hodgson Burnett? I remember liking The Secret Garden when our teacher read it to us at school one year.

[K'Nort]

How about Frances Hodgson Burnett? I remember liking The Secret Garden when our teacher read it to us at school one year.

Also A Little Pricess.

[Jonathan Bogart]

How about Frances Hodgson Burnett? I remember liking The Secret Garden when our teacher read it to us at school one year.Also A Little Pricess.
I just re-read both of them last week. A Little Princess is awful, treacly tripe, a Shirley Temple movie without musical numbers to make up for the plot. A Secret Garden, with its ill-tempered, uncivilized children and thematic focus on the lost Eden of the title, is a nearly perfect book of its kind.

[K'Nort]

I just re-read both of them last week. A Little Princess is awful, treacly tripe, a Shirley Temple movie without musical numbers to make up for the plot. A Secret Garden, with its ill-tempered, uncivilized children and thematic focus on the lost Eden of the title, is a nearly perfect book of its kind.

I definitely remember preferring Secret Garden to Little Princess, but it's been about 25 years since I've read either.

Did you look into the Betsy-Tacy series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy-Tacy)?

[berk]

Anyone ever read Mary Hayley Bell's Whistle Down the Wind? I haven't, but the title has always attracted me for some reason. Not sure if it'd be considered a girl's book or not.

[K'Nort]

I still haven't read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but it may work.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, and her Irish-American family struggling against poverty in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The novel is set in the first and second decades of the 20th century.

[Corrina]

Since you mentioned Georgette Heyer...I have a recommendation for you.

It's a young adult/kid book, about the level of the first Harry Potter book:

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos.

Back cover copy:
Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo—and only Theo—who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. When Theo’s mother returns from her latest archaeological dig bearing the Heart of Egypt—a legendary amulet belonging to an ancient tomb—Theo learns that it comes inscribed with a curse so black and vile that it threatens to crumble the British Empire from within and start a war too terrible to imagine. Intent on returning the malevolent artifact to its rightful place, Theo devises a daring plan to put things right. But even with the help of her younger brother, a wily street urchin, and the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, it won’t be easy . . . she quickly finds herself pursued down dark alleys, across an ocean, through the bustling crowds of Cairo, and straight into the heart of an ancient mystery. Theo will have to call upon everything she’s ever learned in order to prevent the rising chaos from destroying her country—and herself!
********************

I have to confess, this is written by a very good friend of mine but I also just love the damn book. I guess if I was going high concept to describe it, think a younger Amelia Peabody in the British Museum. A really fun book. And I'd re-read it again if I could pry it from my son's grubby paws. :)

[stealthwise]

American Psycho

[saintsaucey]

American Psycho

i do know girls who have read that.

my suggestions are

the princess diarys series
the sister hood of the traveling pants series
confessions of a teenage drama queen and my perfect life
and
starting at square 2 and carrie pillby
of and the nanny diaries

[Jonathan Bogart]

i do know girls who have read that.

my suggestions are

the princess diarys series
the sister hood of the traveling pants series
confessions of a teenage drama queen and my perfect life
and
starting at square 2 and carrie pillby
of and the nanny diaries
Jesus.

Maybe it's time to note that I'm long out of this mood?