Great book suggestions?

I am trying to revive my somewhat dying Book Club. I think it would be helpful for our next book to be really great (we've read some awful books). Can anyone suggest a book they have read recently that they were blown away by? Thanks so much!

The Road
Into the Wild (non-fiction)
James Salter's Last Night (short stories)
Maile Meloy's Half in Love (s.stories)
Absurdistan
Ken Kalfus' Thirst (s.stories)

I just had to pick for my book group, so I feel your pain. The tricky thing is finding a book that's not only enjoyable, but good discussion fodder. A couple of our winners:

At Swim, Two Boys - Jamie O'Neil
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Founding Brothers - Joseph Ellis (nonfiction)
The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
Atonement - Ian McEwan (I'm hesitant to rec this, as I personally hated it. But the other group members liked it - one even called it the best book he'd read in decades. And it did lead to a lively discussion. YMMV.)

The Road. Absolutely. Fantastic book.

I'd second Into the Wild and also offer up the following

The Tricky Part (Martin Moran)
The Girl In the Tangerine Scarf (Mohja Kahf)
Our Schools (non-fiction)
A Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah)
State of Fear (Michael Crichton)

MOD NOTE: This is a great thread for the Lounge, so I'm moving it over there.
The neighborhood boards are for nabe stuff. . .

Thanks for moving it to the appropriate place. I wasn't sure when I posted it actually. And thanks for all the book suggestions. Keep 'em coming. When I slow down at work, I will make my own suggestions for other people.

Subject: enjoyable books

jeffrey archer is a great author
and all his books are great
e.g.
A Matter Of Honor
First among equals
A prodigal daughter
Kane and Abel
etc etc
his short stories are good as well

Blindness - Jose Saramago...but I'm guessing many have read it

"Istanbul : Memories and the City" and "My Name is Red" by Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk - among the most beautifully written books I have ever read.

Subject: comparative read

Read McCarthy's The Road up against PestHouse by Jim Crace

Goodbye Lemon
You Shall Know Our Velocity
The Ha-Ha
God Jr.

all great reads.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

This is a novel about the Biafran War. Very good book with plenty for discussion fodder. (And doesn't have those annoying book club questions in the back! A real book, yay!)

best books i've read lately (not all new):

a river runs through it by norman maclean (WOW. i'd seen the movie and everything, but WOW. love and helplessness and fishing.)

on beauty by zadie smith

the bottom of the harbor by joseph mitchell (re'pub'd as part of "up in the old hotel" -- essays about nyc from the 40s and 50s. the notion that the real nyc is vanishing is apparently not new.)

My tops:

Hopscotch by Julio Cortizar

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Out by Natsuo Kirino

Liars in Love by Richard Yates (Maybe out of print, dunno) or Revolutionary Road (soon to be a movie)

Rats - I forget the author

Native Speaker by Chang Rae-Lee

The Road
Lipstick Jihad

Subject: Re: Great book suggestions?

mixergirl wrote: I am trying to revive my somewhat dying Book Club. I think it would be helpful for our next book to be really great (we've read some awful books). Can anyone suggest a book they have read recently that they were blown away by? Thanks so much!

Hasn't been mentioned yet, but have you looked at www.goodreads.com? Get a few friends to join with you and see if other people that you know are already on...

oh, and if you're a foodie, i also recommend
Heat (Bill Buford)
The Devil in the Kitchen (Marco Pierre White)

I liked thirteen by richard morgan a lot. but it's pretty hardcore sci fi.

re-read the spy who came in from the cold by le carre - still awesome.

Yay, hardcore scifi!!

Interface by Neal Stephenson is a good one. Entertaining and it's pretty topical, what with an election coming up.

Then one of my all-time favorites is The Wandering Jew by Stefan Haym.