Prince

I need some book recommendations. Mind you, the sort of topic I am thinking about may find you weirded out a bit, but that's alright...

Basically, I am, these days, hooked on books that have a sort of "coming of age" flavour to them. Fiction, typically. For some reason people's first sexual encounters and relationships fascinate me tremendously. I hesitated bringing this up because someone may think I'm some sort of a pedo...which I am not.

I guess I can't really explain too well what I am looking for. I recently read a book called Stone Garden, which is the type of book I really enjoy. Not that that helps you much, I guess.

Oh well, it's a long shot, but worth a try.

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Who is John Galt?

Strange Famous

"In Place of Fallen Leaves" - Tim Pears

Very evocative of the English country, and definitely a coming of age novel.

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

brianna

"endless love" by scott spencer is great (despite the somewhat cheesy title) but you have to be in for some tortured teenage love.

maleficent

Amazon Recommends

I would suggest:

Franny and Zooey-- JD Salinger

Catcher in the Rye-- Salinger (This is a must read for everyone)

My Darling My Hamburger - Paul Zindel (he also wrote another one, can't remember the exact title but something about the effect of gamma rays on man in the moon marigolds)

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skinnymofo

The Stand by steven King
its sort of coming of age, id recommend the uncut extended version as well you get a lttle more character developement.
i was forced to read catcher in the rye in 11th grade. Colden just came off as too much of a whiny bitch to me. but different strokes

maleficent

AForever, by Judy Blume

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wonderwench

I very much enjoyed "Gloria" by Keith Maillard.

Gloria Merriman Cotter is a smart upper-class girl caught in the restrictive social mores of late 1950s America and torn between conformity and self-realization. Maillard (Light in the Company of Women) tenderly and meticulously charts his heroine's struggle to alternately fit in, stand out and not disappoint anybody, least of all herself. Gloria spends her last summer at home, between college and graduate school, when she returns to the country club crowd of Raysburg, a small West Virginia steel town. The daughter of a self-made executive and a misplaced New England society matron, Gloria knows she's expected to marry the right sort of man. Does that mean that her dream of grad school at Columbia University to study poetry with Lionel Trilling is doomed? With insight and clarity, Maillard illuminates the confused, complex, sometimes trivial but always heartfelt thoughts of a young woman trying to fathom her place in the world. Traumatized by cruel classmates at boarding school, Gloria begins high school desperate to appear "normal," an enterprise guided by the voice in her head that she calls "secret watcher." Doggedly, she remakes herself, skillfully plotting her rise to cheerleader and then prom queen. She feels like an impostor, however, because under her carefully crafted disguise of crinolines and curled eyelashes, Gloria is a brilliant, intellectual bookworm. At Briarville College, she is torn between her sorority's finicky rules and her desire to be taken seriously as a poetry scholar. Maillard's precise prose weaves the long, meandering story together admirably, though the details, particularly of her fashion dilemmas, can be monotonous. Yet most of the subplots, notably the passage of Gloria's parents into midlife, propel the story and give context for Gloria's journey. After following Gloria through her tough coming-of-age, readers will wonder what happens to this resourceful but consummate good girl, in her high heels, girdle and kid gloves, when she enters Columbia on the cusp of the '60s.

Link

JohnnyRoyale

Catcher in the Rye. I know, there's a stigma attached to it, but you might want to have a gander.

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I'm gonna be rich and famous, as soon I invent a device that lets you stab people in the face over the internet.

Booray

Deliverance by James Dickey
Coming of age story of a group of men on a lovely river in Georgia

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Persuaded, paraded, inebriated, and down
Still aware of everything life carries on without

repeater

Youth In Revolt. I don't remember the author but it's a pretty funny story. It gets pretty stupid halfway through but it's still a decent story. Some really funny stuff in it.

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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
-Raoul Duke

brianna

it's by C.D. Payne -- i wouldn't really call it a coming of age story, the whole thing is very tongue in cheek -- interesting book though, i enjoyed it.

Trisk

I hear that Summer Sisters by Judy Blume is also like that. My friend was telling me about it and she seemed to like it but I myself never read it.

And...I know this is something of a teen/pre-teen book but there's one called "Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Luise Rennison". The name is pretty self explanitory. It's written in a journal-type format though. It might not really be what you're looking for. I never read it either but it's been reccomended to me plenty of times.

Hmm...these books are sort of set in a fantasy world but they have a lot of romance and first-time encounters and passion in them - "Daughter of the Forest" and the rest of the trilogy by Juliet Marillier. I think they're written beautifully but if you don't like fantasy settings and if you really just want a simple coming of age novel, this might not be for you.

Hmm...I know I read tons of books like what you're looking for when I was younger. If only I could remember more of them now.
I'm going to ask my friend and get back to you within a week.

zensheep

Check out The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. One of my favorite books and an amazing coming of age story.

Kostya

'Vernon God Little' by DBC Pierre was a good one.