Reccommend a book. To anyone.

Sedmire

Sedmire

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My book queue is thinning out before my eyes. Once I finish reading the Harry Potter series (I'll start in on Order of the Phoenix this weekend), I have little else left. I postponed reading A Feast For Crows since I read A Storm of Swords (the book before it) years ago, and I'm wanting to read it first, but I don't think I'll get around to it, or even want to.

Was wondering if anybody might have some good book reccommendations, and then I thought that this might be a good place to just have a thread where you reccommend a book, or a few books, to anyone interested. Doesn't have to be fantasy; in fact, I'm due for a break from that.

My picks:
- A Game of Thrones (Fantasy) - George R. R. Martin
- A Million Little Pieces (Nonfiction) - James Frey
- Angels and Demons (Fiction) - Dan Brown
- On Writing (Nonfiction) - Stephen King
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']Harry Potter (to all 9 people who haven't read them)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, for a couple years I brushed them off as kids' books, but they're seriously fun to read, and a lot harder to put down than some books I would deem better. Very quick reads, very worthwhile.
If you're brushing them off as kids' books, don't.
 
Well when I was in middle school and early into high school I really enjoyed the Redwall series, a bit childish yes but I like them none the less. The series is huge, over 20 books I think.
 
[quote name='zewone']Catcher in the Rye.[/QUOTE]

I hated Holden Caufield.
Despised him. He's a whiny, petulant little brat, and not nearly clever nor interesting enough to redeem that.

That said, the book itself is worth a read.

The Great Gatsby is a rather good read as well.
 
Vampire Hunter D - Hideyuki Kikuchi

It just recently got translated into English earlier this year and is a very good read. Much, much better than the Anime based off of it. I need to pick up the sequel that came out in September. I'm not an anime fan, but the book is a very good gothic/science fiction read.
 
[quote name='mbstuff']The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (nearest book on my shelf)[/QUOTE]
It's a little weak in the second half. I'd go with Summerland if you have to read Chabon.
 
Two series of fantasy books I enjoyed were:
The Lioness series by Tamora Pierce
and
Unexpected Dragon by Mary Brown (starts with Pigs Don't Fly)

I found the heroines to be relatable and the stories to be quite fun.
 
[quote name='zewone']Holden Caufield reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.[/QUOTE]

How so?
I couldn't really associate myself with any of his character traits.
 
[quote name='zewone']Holden Caufield reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.[/QUOTE]
You and every other disaffected high schooler. Maybe college student.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']How so?
I couldn't really associate myself with any of his character traits.[/QUOTE]
A bitter asshole, who thinks he is better than everyone else.
 
anything by Robert Heinlein, one of the progenitors of modern scifi
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Simula & Simulacrum by Jean Baudrillards
The Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (none of that Lucas bullshit)
 
[quote name='zewone']A bitter asshole, who thinks he is better than everyone else.[/QUOTE]

You really see yourself as that? I would definately agree that that fit Holden to a tee, but do you actually see yourself in such a negative light?
 
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown - If you liked "Da Vinci Code", this is the preceding novel which I thought was superior.

Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie - I'm a history nut but you don't have to be one to enjoy Massie's biographies on Russian history. His books read like fiction. This is a great biography of a compelling historical figure that changed the face of the 17th-18th century. If you like this, I then would also recommend "Nicholas and Alexandra" which chronicles the Russian revolution.

Jack the Ripper: Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell - Known more for her mystery novels with a heavy forensic bent to them, this is a very interesting book in which she uses modern forensic techniques to go through all the evidenct to idenfity Jack the Ripper pretty convincingly as Walter Sickert, a famous painter 19th century painter.

The Star Wars books written by Timothy Zahn - His books continue the Star Wars universe in a very convincing way which I always thought would make good movies in their own right. Admiral Thrawn is just a badass character. No more needs to be said.

Just a few off the top of my head, I read voraciously so I'm sure more will come to mind.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']You really see yourself as that? I would definately agree that that fit Holden to a tee, but do you actually see yourself in such a negative light?[/QUOTE]
To you it's a negative, but I like myself. :D
 
Another Bullshit Night In Suck City–Besides the catchy title (you should of seen the face of the lady at Borders when I asked for it) it was a touching book. Crazy stuff, man. Very good though.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']I hated Holden Caufield.
Despised him. He's a whiny, petulant little brat, and not nearly clever nor interesting enough to redeem that.

That said, the book itself is worth a read.

The Great Gatsby is a rather good read as well.[/QUOTE]

I finally read Catcher last month, good stuff.

I never did make it through Gatsby, but as far as assigned reading goes it was near the top. :lol:

[quote name='JSweeney']You really see yourself as that? I would definately agree that that fit Holden to a tee, but do you actually see yourself in such a negative light?[/QUOTE]

Don't you? :lol:
 
Well most of my reading is work related, but I squeeze in a few for fun. Here are a few I recommend...

American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Cuckoo's Egg - Cliff Stoll

All time favorite still the original Dragonlance Trilogy...

Dragonlance Chronicles - Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

If you have tons of time to kill then the Sword of Truth Series - Terry Goodkind ongoing Series (up to 9000 pages now I think)
 
These two are phenominal:

The Dirt - Autobiography of Mötley Crüe- Hands down the best rock and roll book ever created. Hate their music? Doesn't matter - their story is fantastic.

Battle Royale - From Japan, its about a group of 42 school kids who are dropped on an island and in 3 days must kill each other off untill only one remains, or they all die. Lord of the Flies, 21 century. Excellent, violent, captivating, and even more excellent.

Everybody should read these.
 
I second A Game of Thrones (Fantasy) - George R. R. Martin

i recommend Zeno and the Tortoise: How to Think Like a Philosopher - Nicholas Fearn
 
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett is a great book from a great series if you haven't read it already.

For something a little less known you could try the Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson. It's also the start of a series, though he didn't start writing sequels until about 20 years after the original.
 
1984 or Burmese Days (Orwell). 1984 really messes you up. I also reccommend reading it while listening to Rage Against the Machine late at night.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (none of that Lucas bullshit)[/QUOTE]

Was that the "Heir to the Empire/Dark Force Rising/Whatever the fuck" trilogy? I remember those being very good, and I despise Sci-Fi.

I just finished Johnny Cash's autobiography, Cash, and it was an okay read. It's very introspective philosophically, but disorganized chronologically, and deals more with people he knows and places he's been, and not so much with his music.

I also read the twelfth book in the "Series of Unfortunate Events," but that was pretty sloppily written and far less enjoyable than the previous eleven. They are children's books, so perhaps I shouldn't be so critical, but it poorly tried to bring in two-dimensional chracters from the previous books; characters so thin that it's hard to sumpathize or dislike any of them. Also, trying to flesh out the main characters by making their actions morally questionable was a pretty stupid thing to do in terms of literature; the final half of this book did nothing to make the protagonists deeper characters, and did more to erode the sympathy the readers brought with them from book one. I'm glad there is only one more, and I hope it's better than that drivel.

I've started Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, which I've been meaning to read for years now.

I'd also recommend The Dark Tower series. Simply fantastic, and I am very tired of King's books.
 
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
The 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Each one of those is a 3 book epic fantasy, similar to LOTR but only in length,
both series are very good reads,

there's a 3rd and final chronicles currently being released, but I havent actually read any of them
 
The Jungle -- Upton Sinclair, if you have any interest in immigrant life in America before labor regulations were put into place.

Lynch on Lynch -- if you like David Lynch movies and wanna hear what he has to say about them and where he's coming from (he's a moralist...whoda thunk.)

My Education -- William Burrough's dream journal. Can it get any more fucked up and surreal than this? ;-)

Adolf -- Osamu Tezuka. 5 part manga about WWII. out of print but cheap on amazon. Not like other manga at all, an interesting take on historical events (though not entirely accurate. Hitler wasn't a jew for christ's sake and people need to stop perpetuating that rumor. It works well for the story though :lol:)
 
Moneyball by Michael Lewis. If you follow baseball...even casually... I'd read it. Will likely completely change the way you evaluate a player's stats...

Where the Wild Things Are by some children's author. I don't know if it's a good story or not, but I do know that the illustrations are really cool.
 
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
1984 by George Orwell
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
 
The Zombie Survival Guide, cause we all know it's going to happen sooner or later (Or has it already begun..). No seriously, it's a funny book to read. Link
 
[quote name='dopa345']
Jack the Ripper: Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell - Known more for her mystery novels with a heavy forensic bent to them, this is a very interesting book in which she uses modern forensic techniques to go through all the evidenct to idenfity Jack the Ripper pretty convincingly as Walter Sickert, a famous painter 19th century painter.[/QUOTE]

I agree that this is a good book but I'll warn you, you have to have a strong stomach. Some of the descriptions of the murders are graphic (especially if you have a vivid imagination).

I recommend you read The Testament. Its an excellent book by Grisham. Its about a lawyer's struggle with sobriety and nature as he makes his way through the Amazon to deliver a message to an heir of an extremely wealthy man.

I also recommend you read Cold Mountain. Hopefully you didnt see the movie yet because the book is much better and you can create your own images of the action. At the time I remember how excited I was to hear a movie was coming out based on the book but I was rather disappointed when I saw it and now when I try to read through it again I have the images of Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, and Jude Law stuck in my head.
 
Most of the books I want to recommend were said already- Harry Potter, the Redwall series, Battle Royale (my favorite), Cryptonomicon.

Chronicles of Narnia - Buy the one with all 7 books abridged together (in the order of how CS Lewis wants you to read them). Since it's really easy to read, you can finish it in less than a week if you have the time. The movie is also coming out in a couple of weeks for those too lazy to read the first book.
 
My favorite book of all time has to be: The Quality Analects Of Mr. Funny Guy (Collection of Essays) - Tim Rogers. It's great stuff, GREAT!
 
[quote name='beerguy961']Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe[/QUOTE]

How could I forget?!! Two of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors .. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Hell's Angels" by Hunter S. Thompson.
 
No mention of To Kill a Mocking Bird or The Outsiders so far? Great books, both simple, yet great. I hated Catcher in the Rye, I'm not sure why but I got really sick of Holden bitching about everything, it does do a god job of symbolizing alot of events in adolescence though.

BTW, Beerguy you have the greatest sig EVAR.
 
anything by David Mitchell- Cloud Atlas, Number9Dream, Ghostwritten
1421- should be standard history reading for the american student
anything by g. garcia marquez, 100 years of solitude at least
golden bough- comic book/fantasy/sci-fi fans, this is the intellectual highmark
calvin and hobbes collection- high art
crying of lot 49 then v.
the magic mountain- this book is a beast to get through, but still awesome
 
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