*hairflip* Registered Member #232
Joined: 11:20:46 am GMT 08/30/04
Posts: 5359
The point of this thread is to recommend books that you have enjoyed. Please make one post and then edit if if you wish to add a book title.
Talla's Books:
The Hobbit - One of my all time favorite books. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the story so I won't bore you with details.
World War Z - This is supposed to be a book that was written after the "Zombie War". The book itself is well written and makes you feel as if you were there.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries Also known as the Sookie Stackhouse or True Blood series. The books, in my opinion, are much better than the show.
Harper Connelly Mysteries - Another set of books by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Books). These books were an easy read and I enjoyed the paranormal mystery in them.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (creepy old pictures in the book)
Any of the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs
Rubicon by Tom Holland is a historical book describing the fall of the Roman Republic. It goes into great detail explaining the social trends and norms of the time, and how they changed as military and political events took place over the centuries. The politicians of the late republic, such as Caesar and Pompey, and particularly Cicero, are described in a nuanced way. Good book for history buffs.
Just finished Kate Taylor's A Man in Uniform. Go look up the (terminally boring-looking) cover + try to guess what it's about.
Guessed yet?
It's actually a ripping, pell-mell spy story.
I'm convinced someone in marketing screwed up, and this is actually supposed to be in the "airplane novels" section, with inch-tall metallic letters proclaiming "Kate Taylor's latest is more gripping than Jock Hardwood!" (or whoever the latest big name in spy thrillers is). And the jacket would be black with some kind of military crest on it.
Based on true events. Germany and France are at war, and there's a spy, and rampant infidelity, and an undercover agent, and at least one murder... It's actually -better- than any of the modern spy thrillers I've read. Sorry, Ian Fleming.
Next is Spanish Fly by Will Ferguson. The co-author of the snot-ejectingly funny How To Be A Canadian also wrote a grittier Depression-era story than The Grapes of Wrath and a more interesting gangster story than anything I've read by Elmore Leonard. Tons of brilliant lines, but the one that won me was "Virgil could turn a profit on an empty bucket." As magical and evocative as the cover photograph -- oh hell they've done away with the brilliant original cover, the bastards! (I'll forever regret not buying the autographed edition -- with the real cover featuring a badass guy in a sharp suit and a fedora. That's a real dude, and Mr. Ferguson writes about it, in the original afterword.)
Also Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett. I'm fully expecting to hear that this was ghost-written by somebody else, because it's so different from his other work (in that it's actually good). I'm convinced that this and the first half of A Monstrous Regiment were ghost-written by his wife, when Mr. Pratchett started going totally mad but still had to fulfill contractual obligations.
And no mention of worthwhile books would be complete without Bloody Jack, by LA Meyer. You've probably heard of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi, whose books have won enough literary medals to bow his spine were he to try to wear them. Well, if Confessions is a sea shanty played by a trained classical master, with all the naughty words taken out and a line of pretty step-dancers going through their paces, then Bloody Jack is the same sea shanty only it's played by the Pogues and you've been drinking rum and there are no step-dancers but people are moshing and spilling things on each other.
I put this up as my Staff Pick when I worked at the bookstore, and it sold out. Though classed as Junior Fiction, it's really the best High Seas Adventure since Two Years Before the Mast. (Try to find the original edition, though -- it has a pirate on the cover instead of what looks like a bad NWN portrait pic. Or order directly from the author -- some editions included paintings done by him!)
(Thanks, Talla! Now I feel like I should start a thread in which we list Books To Be Avoided, too. )
edit: How could I forget! If Chins Could Kill, Bruce Campbell's biography. I started reading this at work on a slow day, laying on a counter in the hub waiting for trips, and I laughed so hard in the first 50 pages that I pulled some muscles in my stomach and the dispatcher asked what was wrong with me.
And another: Burn Collector, Stories One Through Nine (though they're all pretty good). Al Burian writes about riding the Greyhound, metal, HP Lovecraft, religion, crummy jobs, people, music, art, and angst. Poignant, funny, and out of print. If you ever see one in a used bookstore somewhere for under $50, grab it and I will buy it from you.
Registered Member #920
Joined: 10:53:31 pm GMT 11/21/06
Posts: 940
For new science fiction and fantasy, I have two recommendations I've recently read:
The Psalms of Isaac series by Ken Scholes (currently comprised of Lamentation, Canticle, and Antiphon). This is one of the most unique fantasy worlds I've seen in a long time. I'd highly recommend this to somebody looking for something a little different.
Peter V. Brett's Demon series, including The Warded Man and The Desert Spear. This is dark, post-apocalyptic fantasy entailing humanity surviving nightly attacks by demons.
Tempting as it was, I decided not to go round hitting people with a crowbar. Registered Member #650
Joined: 1:17:12 pm GMT 11/20/05
Posts: 8758
I know it's supposed to be suggest books, but these are all series of books and you have to start at the beginning to really follow them.
First and foremost:
The" >-Clickedy- Discworld by Sir Terry Pratchett - These are by far my most favourite books. I can suggest these for any Fantasy fan.
Secondly: " >-Clickedy- The Riftwar Cucle by Ramyond E Feist - A more "serious" fantasy novel. Spanning over many generations in the realm of Midkima.
Lastly:
The" >-Clickedy- Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb - Recently started on the first trilogy. They were rather well written. Going to see about the other two trilogies.
[ The Island of Thain ]
Books!
