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I can recommend the following books but this is all based on personal preference:

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - Great book about the secret world beneath London.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore - Very funny story about a single parent who becomes a grim reaper while trying to raise his daughter.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - Really suspenseful story in the Hannibal Lecter series.

... I could go on forever.

All the recent books from Dan Brown... my favorite!

what about the long one...The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follet...it was a page turner for me despite its 1000 pages. I loved it even though i thought i would hate it! I had never read ken follet before but it is quite easy to find abroad.

i like your book club idea!

Another great book (in every ways, content and pages) is "2666" from Roberto Bolaño.

carlos, can you just tell us a bit about what it is about? this helps in trying to choose books! thanks for the suggestions

Ok, I'll try to explain the best I can what "2666" has to offer:
Four european germanists connected by their interest in a german autor called Benno Von Archimboldi. Connected to this, the story of a afro-american jornalist covering a box fight in Mexico. Several stories and live destinies incredibly connected to each other.
A realy great book!
Just some reactions from the worldpress:

With "2666" Bolaño joined the imortal autors.(Washington Post)

"2666" is like a resonance chamber of human anguish.(The New York Times Book Review)

Bolaño the outlaw of the latin-american literature.(The Observer)

A misterious work with a overwhelming ambition.(The Economist)

The TS Eliot or Virginia Wolf from the latin-american literature.(The Sunday Times)

The whole human life in this burning pages.(The Independent)

By the way: 1030 pages!

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson-  Can't recommend strongly enough!!
The Other Hand by Chris Cleave- I wasn't crazy about this but a lot of people in my book club liked it and it spawned some interesting discussion
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert- will probably appeal more to women
Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo- nonfiction, short fast read great for a group that has a social consciousness and interest in current events/ global affairs
Anything by Paulo Coelho, especially The Alchemist and Veronika Decides to Die

Hope this helps. I would be interested to know what books you end up using, so keep us posted!

My personal openion is
'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen
An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932,

Invader_Stu wrote:

...

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

...

You have extremely good taste sir!

i recomend Rhapsody of Harvest by John isaiah. it's very inspirational.

Nicholas Spark's novels!

David Lodge's novels

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The chain of Books written by Jodi Picoult....good book club material!

Sounds like a great idea to recommend books. But sometimes it's either expensive or almost impossible to get them in Baires.
Some musts:

The secret history - Donna Tart
100 anos de soledad - Garcia Marquez
The Beach - Alex Garland
The revenge of the middle-aged woman - Elizabeth Buchan

No comments sorry, google them pls!

What a random post!  But I need to respond to a few random posts before I can e-mail, and I am an avid reader, so this will be perfect!

I love to read, but my recommendations depend on what kind of books you like to read.  Here are a few suggestions with a small description of each that will NOT ruin the story!  And for a point of reference, I am American, so most books reflect American culture, but anyone who can read English will likely enjoy them.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - a story about a young girl whose sister has Leukemia, and who is suing her parents for rights to make her own decisions about how much her own body is being used to save her sister's.  (very good!)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon - an unusual book, as it is written from the perspective of a boy with autism.  The young boy is researching a "crime" in his neighborhood - a dead dog, but the story is much more about the boy and how autism affects his life.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - a classic, in the US acknowledged as one of the best books of all time.  A love story about a couple who met a few years before the story begun.  They both move on with their lives, and Gatsy is in a very unhappy marriage and starts to have an affair when he runs into his old love.  Disasterous consequences ensue.  In the US, I think ever kid reads this story in high school.  Good book, when you're not forced to read it.

*If you liked that one, read 'The Double Bind' by Chris Bohjalian.  It is a completely seperate story, but it *largely* involved the story from the Great Gatsby.  A psychological thriller involving a crime, and one of my favorite books of all time.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian - told from the perspective of the daughter, a midwife is charged with murder when the mother of a child she helps deliver dies during childbirth.  There are lots of twists, but I can't tell you more without ruining the story!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - story about a school shooting in which a good kid (sort of) goes sort of crazy and goes into his school and shoots I think 28 kids within 19 minutes.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult (again) - two high school kids have a pact to kill themselves.  The girl kills herself, and the boy tries but misses, injuring but not killing himself, and then finds himself on trial for murder.

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult - a prosecutor finds out someone has sexually abused her child and takes the law into her own hands.  Fantastic read!

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver - a young girl heads out across the country to see who she will end up being, and ends up a mother of a 3-year-old girl who was abandoned and abused.  (This book has a sequel called Pigs in Heaven that is ever better, but read the Bean Trees first.)

---

I hope this helps.  And by the way, I would love to participate in a book club when I re-locate in February to Quito (if that is even where you are!).  I am 29 years old, living in the US - born and raised - and coming to Ecuador to live for 3 months, but won't be able to work and will have a LOT of free time on my hands.  Hope you liked the recommendations, and keep in touch!  My email is LehnertM1980@gmail.com if you want to contact me directly.

Hello Rere

Try any novel by Paulo Coelho:

1. The Alchemist

2. The Warrior

3. The Zahir

4. By the River Piedra, i sat down and wept

Greetings,
Sheetul