Well, can't read fantasy all the time. I work in a book store, so I need to at least have read some of the popular/new books we sell. And of course it's nice to get some different inspiration.
So, this is a thread for recommending good books that aren't fantasy.

I'll start with The Time Traveller's Wife. I absolutely loved it! So moving and unique and loveable and, yeah... Did I mention that it's really good? Oh, and it's written in first person present. Think it works rather well, most of the time at least. It adds to the feeling of confusion and umm... presentness if I can call it that. Don't know exactly how to describe it, but it is a good thing!

What does it mean that our definition of "non-fantasy" includes time travel?

I love The Time-Traveller's Wife as well. My favorite non-fantasy book is probably Life of Pi (which arguably has fantasy/mythic elements as well ). It's about a boy who's on a ship that's transporting a bunch of zoo animals, which goes down, and he ends up adrift on a life raft with an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger.

A heart-warming book that I love is "Indigo's Star" by Hillary McKay. It's about a really off-key, odd family of artists in England, and the times and troubles of their easy-going son, Indigo. A 'new kid' named Tom moves over from the U.S. and starts shaking things up, and they take on the school bully together... Indigo and his family are all so unique and some are downright strange, but it all works together somehow, and Tom and Indy learn a couple important things through it all.

Ah, I'm not doing it justice... It's more than one of those sappy, cliche 'growing up' books, which I personally find annoying. The author's style makes it so that you feel like you actually KNOW the characters, they're just so quirky and easy to get attached to. And all the odd tidbits mixed in make for a very fun ride. It's one of those books that makes you laugh, smile, and groan in sympathy, and then when it's all over, you'll have fond memories of it. I'm extremely picky about what I read, and this is one of the few novels that earned a spot on my personal bookshelf.

WishingStar wrote:

What does it mean that our definition of "non-fantasy" includes time travel?

True!

Oh, and I have to mention The Book Thief as well. Another great book. A little different, sad, and has a "real" feel to it.