I am going to need a lot of book recommendations for this summer... as I am going to be off work and out of commission for much of any outdoor activities.

In mid-1970s urban India-a chaos of wretchedness on the streets and slogans in the offices-a chain of circumstances tosses four varied individuals together in one small flat. Stubbornly independent Dina, widowed early, takes in Maneck, the college-aged son of a more prosperous childhood friend and, more reluctantly, Ishvar and Om, uncle and nephew tailors fleeing low-caste origins and astonishing hardships. The reader first learns the characters' separate, compelling histories of brief joys and abiding sorrows, then watches as barriers of class, suspicion, and politeness are gradually dissolved. Even more affecting than Mistry's depictions of squalor and grotesque injustice is his study of friendships emerging unexpectedly, naturally. The novel's coda is cruel and heart-wrenching but deeply honest. This unforgettable book from the author of Such a Long Journey (LJ 4/15/91) is highly recommended.

What is 'Blink' about? It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good.

What is 'The Tipping Point' about? It's a book about change. In particular, it's a book that presents a new way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. For example, why did crime drop so dramatically in New York City in the mid-1990's? How does a novel written by an unknown author end up as national bestseller? Why do teens smoke in greater and greater numbers, when every single person in the country knows that cigarettes kill? Why is word-of-mouth so powerful? What makes TV shows like Sesame Street so good at teaching kids how to read? I think the answer to all those questions is the same. It's that ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us.

Well, I can't believe it's been over a year, since anyone's posted here....

I'm reading Buddenbrooks now and it's awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/Buddenbrooks-Decline...1387&sr=8-1

That's because there's another, more established thread.

Danke, golfer 24! That is a great novel. Have you read anything by Fontane?

In the same vein as Mann, I would suggest the Forsyte Trilogy by John Galsworthy...another tale of the middle class in ascendancy and decline.

I've always meant to get to Forsyte. Maybe in a year or two.

And nope, I haven't read any Fontane. Effi Briest is the best place to start?

I suggest House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. It's one of the wildest rides I've ever been on but don't blame me if you end up boarding up your windows and lettting you electric bill lapse.