Recommend me some more books, please.
- Thread starter pnj
- Start date
The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus
a people's history of the united states by howard zinn
hegemony or survival by noam chomsky
hegemony or survival by noam chomsky
If you want fantasy or science fiction suggestions, I'll give them, but i'm not familiar with those books.
And by science fiction, I don't mean Star Trek (NTTAWWT), I mean fiction that pushes the boundaries of science as we currently know it.
I'd take some of those. I just finished working my way through the Foreigner sequence by CJ Cheryh and I really like that.
gg
gimmie a list of books you've read and enjoyed. I like to keep an open mind and see where it leads me...If you want fantasy or science fiction suggestions, I'll give them, but i'm not familiar with those books.
And by science fiction, I don't mean Star Trek (NTTAWWT
altered carbon by Richard K Morgan. a good sci fi book. a hard-boiled detective novel. also Market Forces by the same author. Unfortunately his 2nd novel, Broken Angels wasn't so good. I wouldn't recommend that one.
non-fiction: Omnivore's Dilemma. a great book about food
non-fiction: Omnivore's Dilemma. a great book about food
I've been reading James A Michener recently.
Mostly sort of historical fiction type stuff- pretty decent prose, 1,000+ page lengths.
I'm working my way through Texas right now, Alaska was pretty good.
I also rather liked Iberia- a sort of rambling travel memoir of two-plus decades spent visiting Spain.
And oh yeah- if you haven't read The Zombie Survival Guide, you will not be prepared.
Mostly sort of historical fiction type stuff- pretty decent prose, 1,000+ page lengths.
I'm working my way through Texas right now, Alaska was pretty good.
I also rather liked Iberia- a sort of rambling travel memoir of two-plus decades spent visiting Spain.
And oh yeah- if you haven't read The Zombie Survival Guide, you will not be prepared.
any dan brown, deception point and angels and demons are excellent
Stranger in a Strange Land,- By Robert Heinlein
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers,-Troy Cook
The Stand, -Steven King
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers,-Troy Cook
The Stand, -Steven King
I'm commenting on authors, not individual books, cuz it takes more work to find a good book rather than a good writer.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Alistair Reynolds -- I've only read one of his books, but I got 500 pages into "Revelation Space", slammed it shut and hoped all the characters died. I may be biased now, but I won't be reading his stuff any more.
KINDA RECOMMENDED
Steve Cash -- I read "The Meq" and while it's a broad historical, well-writen adventure of discovery, within and without, he uses too much deus ex machina. The 'short stories' within the big adventure, are excellent, but the main story arc is a bit flawed. If that doesn't bother you and you love character development and the side stories within a book, then this is for you.
RECOMMENDED
But don't read more than two in a row since they're so similar in structure, character development that the third book will actually annoy you. Still, good-to-awesome reads, extremely well developed and researched, and good characters.
Robert J. Sawyer
-- I've read:
- Calculating God
Flashforward
Factoring Humanity
Hominids
Hybrids
End of an Era
Frameshift
Dan Brown -- I've read: da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Deception POint, and Digital Fortress. All very good reads, extremely well researched, and just fun adventures. He's an amazing story teller and a horrible writer. Not only does he uses the "suddenly" concept way too fvcking much, he actually used the word twice in one sentence (forgot which book). If you get annoyed by bad writing, avoid. But if you can ignore it and enjoy the story, these are for you.
Sawyer and Brown: Read any of them that sound interesting, they're all good, but mix in other authors in between.
RECOMMENDED
Somehow these authors are able to use the same environment (world, timeline, whatever) without being absurdly redundant.
FANTASY genre
Jim Butcher -- current favorite author. He has two series going
resden Files -- he's a private investigator in modern day Chicago and a wizard. He's got a good heart and sometimes more power than he's able to handle. NOTE: The first book of the Dresden Series is his first book ever. Story is very good, but not very well writen. You can see him develop as an author over the first five books, where he becomes, in my opinion, a true writer. Don't let that stop you, just sayin'...
PRIMARY STORY ARCS
- His parents aren't completely human (no more spoilers than that) and even he doesn't know the truth, yet.
His only true love of his life gets bitten by a vampire, but I can't say more.
He's pissed off the White Council -- group that manages wizards -- but continues to keep their legal judgement on hold and they even sometimes come to him for his help.
THE BEST PART is, while minor, that you spend a dozen pages or so in each book watching him research and understand magic while he attempts something new. It borders on scientific.
Good and evil: he works closely with direct servants of God on occassion while juggle an evil inside of him, literally. In a later book, he gets 'possessed', but because of his enormous power, he holds off the possession.
Kage Baker -- Primary novels about "The Company" involve time travel, historical exploration, scientific explanations. My favorite of the series involve the cyborgs Joseph and Lewis.
Simon Green -- complete fluff, totally fun, similar to Dresden Files (above). Takes place in modern London UK. Kinda of books that you can read one after another, not get bored, discover new aspects of the primary characters. Just lots of fun that take little effort to read.
Along the lines of absolutely fun fluffy reading: Terry Pratchett's "Discworld Series". If it sounds interesting, read it.
Probably the most diverse author I read is Orson Scott Card. -- Might just be the best pure writer. All of his stuff is simply awesome... except for pretty much the fifth or sixth book in any series (Ender, Homecoming, Alvin). He's amazing at development (character, story, etc), but he apparently and obviously gets bored around book 5-6. The good thing is, he recognizes it and STOPS. Then starts a whole new world that is totally worth it.
Back to straight-up Science Fiction...
Jack McDevitt -- must be one of the best SCIENCE Fiction story tellers. He tries to explain stuff that we have almost no knowledge of yet. And it's completely believeable. He's also a relatively new professional, full-time author (see Butcher) and he also develops over his books. If you don't want to read all his books, go straight to "Polaris", then "Seeker"... where he really develops his art and weaves tales so far fetched that you can't believe that you believe it. I don't want to give much away, but it involves astrophysics that I didn't know was possible. He twists archaelogy and space science.
Last but not least is Neil Gaiman -- I just started reading him and have read "Good Omens" and "Neverwhere". Currently reading "American Gods". He might take over as my favorite current author as he's that good. We'll see.
The Fantasy Worlds of Peter S. Beagle
the fight club guy = chuck palahniuk
Read "Lullaby" by him. It's probably my favorite book.
some gay guy = david sedaris
"dress your family in corduroy and denim" is another collection of his essays and I found it to be a better read than "naked".
An author that I would reccomend is Ryu Murakami. Three books that he has written which I read and really enjoyed are "In the Miso Soup", "Coin Locker Babies", and "69". The is also another writer by the name Murakami(Haruki). He is more literary but also very good. Don't get confused but you wouldn't be doing too badly if you accidently picked up one of his books instead.
Read "Lullaby" by him. It's probably my favorite book.
some gay guy = david sedaris
"dress your family in corduroy and denim" is another collection of his essays and I found it to be a better read than "naked".
An author that I would reccomend is Ryu Murakami. Three books that he has written which I read and really enjoyed are "In the Miso Soup", "Coin Locker Babies", and "69". The is also another writer by the name Murakami(Haruki). He is more literary but also very good. Don't get confused but you wouldn't be doing too badly if you accidently picked up one of his books instead.
Freakonomics
Enders Game-one day read.
A Scanner Darkly-Philip K. Dick
Breath and Shadows
If Chins Could Kill-Bruce Cambell
The Brothers Karamozov-Dostoevsky
A Scanner Darkly-Philip K. Dick
Breath and Shadows
If Chins Could Kill-Bruce Cambell
The Brothers Karamozov-Dostoevsky
second that.
that is a sick book too
i like the argumentabout the rise in abortion and the drop in criminals because they were being aborted
my teamate oliver (imagine that) got me to read that
the book friday night lights about the football team is way better than the movie also
While David Sedaris is being mentioned, I might add Holidays on Ice-- just in time to ring in the holidays....
Noone mentioned Huxley's brave new world?
A little lighter than brave new world-- I really liked blue highways by william least heat-moon.
Noone mentioned Huxley's brave new world?
A little lighter than brave new world-- I really liked blue highways by william least heat-moon.
The Lucifer Principle
I'd also recommend The Stranger from Camus. Incredibly intriguing book (pretty short, maybe 125pages) that makes you question moral values and your place in society.
I'll second that. After reading it last year I'd say it's my favorite book. Haha, I'm even writing my college essay about Raskolnikov.
What about Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars trilogy? (Blue Mars, Green Mars) It's a great combonation of science, politics and characters. I also really liked the Three Californias trilogy by the same author - Wild Shore, Pacific Edge, Gold Coast - three different Californias of the future.
His new trilogy on global warming is a little lukewarm, I'm sorry to say.
His new trilogy on global warming is a little lukewarm, I'm sorry to say.
The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order by Samuell P Huntington.
Its really heavy but its a revelation in understanding world politics and the future of man kind regarding to how civilizations will interact with eachother in the future.
Said to be the most or at least one of the most important books written after the cold war...
Its really heavy but its a revelation in understanding world politics and the future of man kind regarding to how civilizations will interact with eachother in the future.
Said to be the most or at least one of the most important books written after the cold war...
Meh, I didn't think it was all that great. Interesting in some ways, but not something I'd recommend too highly.
In no particular order:
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Diamond Age and Snowcrash- Neal Stephenson
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk
The Tipping Point and Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
The Promise of Sleep - William C. Dement
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard P. Feynman
I spend a lot of time in my car, so I download books from Audible.com and put them on my iPod. It really makes sitting in traffic more bearable.
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Diamond Age and Snowcrash- Neal Stephenson
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk
The Tipping Point and Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
The Promise of Sleep - William C. Dement
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard P. Feynman
I spend a lot of time in my car, so I download books from Audible.com and put them on my iPod. It really makes sitting in traffic more bearable.
The Hot Chick Who Was Totally Italian, Or Maybe Some Kind Of Spanish- Peter Griffin
And The Plague, same author...
... and Kafka on the Shore by Murakami Haruki...
...and Franz K. himself, The Metamorphosis, The Trial...
What's this one about, roughly? Sounds like one I might like. Thanks
I really enjoyed Dante's "Divine Comedy", written in the 14th century. I got The Portable Dante, translated and edited by Mark Musa, published by Penguin Classics.
Roughly 580 pages but a very fast read. I couldn't put it down. Reading the foot notes regarding the translations, and associated history really helps. If that wasn't provided, most of it would not have made sense to me.
I was also very pleased with "Walden; or, Life In The Woods", written in 1854 by Henry David Thoreau. Not long, but packed with detail and concise. A collection of his observations about life, society, government, human existence and other topics during his 2 year stay in a cabin built with his own hands in the woods near a shore on Walden Pond, located outside Concord Massachusetts. It was an eye opener since all that Thoreau wrote about then, still holds true in today's society.
I've been reading a bit of late. Just finished Easy Prey by John Sanford - not a bad book, I just wish he'd do a bit more with character development. I like the Lucas Davenport character (who is in all of the Prey books), but he doesn't develop the character as much as he should, at least not in this book.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is my all-time favorite book. Just started the sequel to it today, called My Ishmael. So far it's along very similar lines to the first one, so I'm liking it.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is my all-time favorite book. Just started the sequel to it today, called My Ishmael. So far it's along very similar lines to the first one, so I'm liking it.
The prophet....D
ender's game has been suggested, but i will second it.
the dark tower series by stephen king- alot of people dont like king, but this series is probably one of the best stories i have ever read.
the dark tower series by stephen king- alot of people dont like king, but this series is probably one of the best stories i have ever read.
If you like fantasy I am reading the riftwar saga series right now by Raymond E. Feist and am enjoying that a good deal.
-Stardust: Neil Gaiman (fantasy)
-A Sand County Almanac: Aldo Leopold (I guess nature/philosophy?)
-Song for the Blue Ocean: Carl Safina (nature, talks about salmon in the PNW and a couple other things. But its by no means a boring read)
-Stardust: Neil Gaiman (fantasy)
-A Sand County Almanac: Aldo Leopold (I guess nature/philosophy?)
-Song for the Blue Ocean: Carl Safina (nature, talks about salmon in the PNW and a couple other things. But its by no means a boring read)
Another bull**** night in suck city - great read