Book Recommendations?

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Hey gang, you guys read anything good lately? There are a lot of interesting people in the community, so I bet there are some interesting recommendations. I like all sorts of fiction, so any recommendation will be welcome.

Really? Another thread? I would cough but we have so many to choose from, I don't know where to start.

I'm going to need more direction than that. You should check out the Goodreads thread, though.

Grenn wrote:

Really? Another thread? I would cough but we have so many to choose from, I don't know where to start.

Fair enough it seems, so I will ask a new question - why is it that the internet loves to be rude to the new guys who weren't there for the previous threads? It presumably takes longer to write out a dismissive response than it does to write the name of the last good book you read.

Thank you, sir - I will look through these lists, chastised, and dig for gold.

SallyNasty wrote:

Fair enough it seems, so I will ask a new question - why is it that the internet loves to be rude to the new guys who weren't there for the previous threads? It presumably takes longer to write out a dismissive response than it does to write the name of the last good book you read.

Because, see, Quintin is a jerk!

wordsmythe wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

Fair enough it seems, so I will ask a new question - why is it that the internet loves to be rude to the new guys who weren't there for the previous threads? It presumably takes longer to write out a dismissive response than it does to write the name of the last good book you read.

Because, see, Quintin is a jerk!

While true, it's clear that in this case it was wordsmythe who was the jerk.

Err, I mean Grenn.

I can't blame newbies for not finding these threads. Searching is infamously bad.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I can't blame newbies for not finding these threads. Searching is infamously bad.

I am not trying to be confrontational, but I just think this is far to often the response on the internet. It assumes that any person who tries to become a member of the community has to go back and read every thread on a topic in order to make sure that they don't make the mistake of asking a question that was asked before. I see it a lot on these forums and others, and it is unfortunate. If we were sitting there with a beer and I asked you if you had read anything good lately, I doubt that you would blow me off and say, "Gees, guy, we talked about this last March! Are you even paying attention!"

Well, maybe you would, see:)

SallyNasty wrote:

If we were sitting there with a beer and I asked you if you had read anything good lately, I doubt that you would blow me off and say, "Gees, guy, we talked about this last March! Are you even paying attention!"

See, if you read the Talking About Books Over a Beer Catch-All you would already know how we'd respond.

While I don't disagree with your hypothesis, (hazing for the noob) I think part of the negative reaction comes from the fact that there *is* a search function that sort of works reasonably well-ish, which could be used to find the information you're looking for.

But, hey, WELCOME! And I highly recommend (for the upteenth time here on GWJ) Glen Cook's Black Company books, especially the first three. If you're interested in some good fantasy, that is.

If you've never read Dennis Lehane, I recommend his Kenzie and Gennaro series which begins with 'A Drink Before the War.'

Glen Cook's Black Company
Dirt wrote:

'A Drink Before the War.'

Ordered from the library - thanks!

lostlobster wrote:

While I don't disagree with your hypothesis, (hazing for the noob) I think part of the negative reaction comes from the fact that there *is* a search function that sort of works reasonably well-ish, which could be used to find the information you're looking for.

But, hey, WELCOME! And I highly recommend (for the upteenth time here on GWJ) Glen

Good lord, I thought you were going to say Beck next. Almost spit water over my desk.

"All sorts of fiction" is still open to a wide variety of settings and stories. What books have you read and enjoyed, and what sort of things aren't you interested in?

I can recommend all sorts of books for you... lets see what I can do.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
A story about a fictional island just off the coast of America, whose people have deified the creator of the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Told through letters written between various inhabitants when the monument in his honour starts to fall over, and is taken as a sign from above, and the government starts to ban letters of the alphabet from being used.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Now a major motion picture! A girl is murdered, and her ghost must help her dad deal with her death and find her killer.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
A story told from the perspective of a dog about his race car driver owner.

The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre
Father Duncan MacAskill has spent most of his priesthood as the "Exorcist" - an enforcer employed by his bishop to discipline wayward priests and suppress potential scandal. He knows all the devious ways that lonely priests persuade themselves that their needs trump their vows, but he's about to be sorely tested himself. While sequestered by his bishop in a small rural parish to avoid an impending public controversy, Duncan must confront the consequences of past cover-ups and the suppression of his own human needs. Pushed to the breaking point by loneliness, tragedy and sudden self-knowledge, Duncan discovers how hidden obsessions and guilty secrets either find their way to the light of understanding, or poison any chance we have for love and spiritual peace. (copied from the publisher)

The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs
One man's quest to become the smartest man in the world by reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. Not a work of fiction, but still an entertaining and fun read.

A Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
The same man's new quest to live a year according to the bible, as literally as possible. Again, not fiction, but an insightful read and look inside various extremist interpretations.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
A delightful tale about Armageddon and the Anti-Christ. With a cast of Angels, Demons, Witches, Tibetans, Aliens, Americans, Atlanteans and other rare and strange Creatures of the Last Days.

That's a few for you to start to look at.

While I didn't mean to be too snarky, I noticed you were tagged as an intern which led me to believe you were around for the last time a book reccomendation thread popped up which wasn't too long ago. I usually err on the side of sarcasm. Hence, the "Really?" And the last good book I read was Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay. Not as good as the first two installments, but 100x better than the last.

Strewth wrote:

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
A story told from the perspective of a dog about his race car driver owner.

I read about 20 pages of this and just couldn't go on. Was he trying to write like a dog would - meaning very simple, no descriptions of color/setting/etc just statements of facts? If not it was just poorly written, if he was then it might have been cool but I couldn't stand it.

wordsmythe wrote:

I thought you were going to say Beck next. Almost spit water over my desk.

My reaction as well. Glenn Beck is the devil. Read synopsis of books, and am excited to read them.

Strewth wrote:

That's a few for you to start to look at.

Great list, some good stuff on there.
I am coming off of a detective bent (read a lot of Ian Rankin lately) and some sci-fi (which I always love), and just finished House of Leaves (sorry, but not a fan). I really will read just about anything. Favorite book of all time - Demons(formerly, and incorrectly, translated as The Possessed), by Dostoevsky.

I have read Good Omens - that was a great one. Basically anything with Neil Gaiman's name attached to it is WIN.

Grenn wrote:

While I didn't mean to be too snarky, I noticed you were tagged as an intern which led me to believe you were around for the last time a book reccomendation thread popped up which wasn't too long ago. I usually err on the side of sarcasm. Hence, the "Really?" And the last good book I read was Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay. Not as good as the first two installments, but 100x better than the last.

No harm, no foul. I really should have utilized that function. That said - I read the first 3 Dexter books in the series, and the twist in the last book may have turned me off for all time to the author (seriously, goddam demons!!!). The Showtime series is soooooo good! Might have to give Lindsay a second chance.

Our fierce overlords also have a habit of consolidating threads, so we try to help and direct people to established threads when possible.

Highly recommend George RR Martin if you haven't read him. He gets a lot of attention around here.

Bullion Cube wrote:

Highly recommend George RR Martin if you haven't read him. He gets a lot of attention around here.

AHHHH!!!!! When is the next book coming out! They are so good! I am so excited for this!

Bullion Cube wrote:

Highly recommend George RR Martin if you haven't read him.

I haven't read any of his novels, but his short stories are excellent. "Sandkings" and "Meathouse Man" are personal favorites.

I also finished Christopher Priest's The Prestige recently. I'd seen the movie first, so I knew the story, more or less...but the novel was still a compelling read.

SallyNasty wrote:

AHHHH!!!!! When is the next book coming out!

Um, probably never.

I'm reading David Peace's Red Riding quartet of crime novels (1974, 1977, 1980, 1983) in anticipation of the movies being released. Very, very grim. Highly recommended.

There are too many books I could recommend so I will stick with what I believe to be one of the best series about Mars.

Red Mars
Green Mars
Blue Mars
- Kim Stanley Robinson

They chronicle the 300+ yr colonization and terraforming of Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_tr...

If I had my way, you'd all hear Zap Brannighan saying what I'm posting. It'd solve so many problems.

Design was a return to form for Lindsay. Only one or two mentions of the ridiculous nature of the last book and those are quck. I'd say get it from the library if you aren't sure. Because while I love Dexter, I'm stuck owning Dexter in the Dark.

I'm enjoying re-reading Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, a really intelligent take on the same source material that inspired Dan Brown.

I also just finished China Mieville's The City and the City (which is a royal pain to find in a library catalog by keyword search). I thought it was a much tighter read than his earlier Bas-Lag books; he's really grown as an author in a short time.

Edit: and I just became a consultant!

It really doesn't have anything to do with noob-hazing; tagged members with years of experience get coughed regularly too.

I can't really recommend much at the moment, as I seem to be stuck in a rut of reading Stephen King books for the eleventy-billionth time, and wondering why for the eleventy-billionth time. I have also been reading Charlie Brooker's collected columns, but they won't mean much unless you are a) British, and b) watch far more TV than is good for you. Luckily, I fit into both categories, because they are hilarious.

SallyNasty wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

I can't blame newbies for not finding these threads. Searching is infamously bad.

I am not trying to be confrontational, but I just think this is far to often the response on the internet. It assumes that any person who tries to become a member of the community has to go back and read every thread on a topic in order to make sure that they don't make the mistake of asking a question that was asked before. I see it a lot on these forums and others, and it is unfortunate. If we were sitting there with a beer and I asked you if you had read anything good lately, I doubt that you would blow me off and say, "Gees, guy, we talked about this last March! Are you even paying attention!"

Well, maybe you would, see:)

What? Act online the same way we would in real life?

Don't you understand, haven't you heard, on the internet...THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES!!!

Tanglebones wrote:

I'm enjoying re-reading Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, a really intelligent take on the same source material that inspired Dan Brown.

I didn't get this book I just... what happened exactly? The book had no answers for me in the end. I'm pretty sure none of was real, I guess, except for the stuff that was.
It was long, wordy and confusing but an absolutely enjoyable, wonderfull read anyways. Not good for anyone who can't stand ambiguity.

tagg wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

I'm enjoying re-reading Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, a really intelligent take on the same source material that inspired Dan Brown.

I didn't get this book I just... what happened exactly? The book had no answers for me in the end. I'm pretty sure none of was real, I guess, except for the stuff that was.
It was long, wordy and confusing but an absolutely enjoyable, wonderfull read anyways. Not good for anyone who can't stand ambiguity. :D

It seemed to me like Eco is trying to

Spoiler:

show that conspiracy theories are bunk. Here, the only conspiracy is the one that was created in response to the protagonists looking for it. In the end, it's an anti-conspiracy novel.

MikeSands wrote:
tagg wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

I'm enjoying re-reading Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, a really intelligent take on the same source material that inspired Dan Brown.

I didn't get this book I just... what happened exactly? The book had no answers for me in the end. I'm pretty sure none of was real, I guess, except for the stuff that was.
It was long, wordy and confusing but an absolutely enjoyable, wonderfull read anyways. Not good for anyone who can't stand ambiguity. :D

It seemed to me like Eco is trying to

Spoiler:

show that conspiracy theories are bunk. Here, the only conspiracy is the one that was created in response to the protagonists looking for it. In the end, it's an anti-conspiracy novel.

Spoiler:

Except there's still magic and mystical shenanigans... or is there? I do agree that the point was to ridicule conspiracy theories, but I didn't really understand the ending.

I read it a while ago, so I may not be remembering it right, but I'm fairly confident that the ending was left open in certain ways. I guess I just enjoy concrete endings and that was completely not the point of this book.

As for a book recomondation; the Dark Tower series if you haven't read it.

Spoiler:

Of course you have, silly me.

Apparently, Eco says that the first 50-100 pages is where he weeds out readers that are not the "right" kind of readers.
I've restarted Foucault's Pendulum 4 times now, but he makes Tolkien look terse and in need of a thesaurus.

I'll eventually get through it, but for the love of all that is fun to read, someone should chop the first 50 pages of every Eco book in the world.
Ha!

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