I need a book recommendation. Preferably something my library has...it seems like whatever I want to read they haven't got. And not that it's not in and I just have to wait - they don't own it. So, I need to widen my net - what do people like - hit me with some ideas :)
Thanks all -
Love,
The Book-starved Librarian
Fap
Tue, 10/28/2008 - 8:56pmI'm working my way through Alister Reynold's books right now. If they have Diamond Dogs/Turquoise Days (it's one book with two titles) you should get that.
Other oldies but goodies . . .
Cat's Cradle, Slapstick, Breakfast of Champions, or Bluebeard - Vonnegut
Lamb, Coyote Blue, Fluke: or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, Island of the Sequined Love Nun - Christopher Moore
Children's Hospital - Chris Adrian
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Life - Carlos Castaneda
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein
Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
--just a few of my favs that I could think of to recommend. I highly recommend all of these.
15
Wed, 10/29/2008 - 12:13amPillars of the Earth was a pretty fun read for me. It's an easy read with some fascinating insight to the time period--and it's pretty hard to put it down ( I know, that's what she said).
Narrative
Wed, 10/29/2008 - 7:59amAnything by Ursula K. LeGuin, but most especially Always Coming Home.
And if Qyn recommends Stanislaw Lem's The Cyberiad, listen to him. Amazing stuff.
Qyn
Wed, 10/29/2008 - 1:04pmAuthors whose entire bibliography I have or will eventually read:
Terry Pratchett
Neil Gaiman
Neal Stephenson
Michael Chabon
Stansilaw Lem
Haruki Murakami
Kurt Vonnegut
Carl Hiaasen
Plus tons of other one-shot good novels by random people I don't remember. As Doc noted already William Gibson is excellent, I really enjoyed Pattern Recognition but was not a fan of some of his other stuff.
Ariwyn
Wed, 10/29/2008 - 1:32pmI'm currently reading a bio of Jackie O. It's not that great so I won't reccomend it, BUT it's taught me several things about history that I didn't know. The one that saddens me is that MLK JR was a womanizer. For some reason it bothers me to think of him as a cheater cheater pumpkin eater.
docjones
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 6:45amMy tastes tend to orient over to Sci FI and Fantasy...So...anything by Heinlen is usually a good read.
Larry Niven ringworld books
Fritz Leibert - Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser series
Old Sci Fi - Doc E.E. Johnson - Lensmen series
some deep reading if you want - The Art of War - Sun Tzu, History books pre 20th century subjects are pretty good
William Gibson
Stephen R. Donaldson - The chronicles of Thomas Covenant - the first series
Just some thoughts off the top of my head
N8
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 8:46amOldies but goodies:
Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, Samuel Beckett.
Contemporary Favs:
Jonathan Lethem: Fortress of Solitude, Motherless Brooklyn
Paul Auster: Mr. Vertigo, The New York Trilogy
Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Michael Chabon: Kavalier & Clay
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Funny/Comedic Writing
John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces
David Sedaris: Me Talk Pretty One Day
For young adult/children's type stuff check out 'His Dark Materials' by Phillip Pullman.
Rambles Everroot
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 9:08amWas it Garth Nix who did the Aborshoren (Sabriel/Lyreal trilogy)?
Also Western Cannon is always interesting, although most of the Russian stuff I have read so far was pretty depressing (actually most of this stuff is, except for a few of the comic pieces: Tartuffe, Candide, and such)
And Ender's Game if you like Sci-fi
Or The Alvin Maker series (seventh son) if you like historical fantasy
Zepplock
Thu, 11/06/2008 - 2:23pmOMG there are people who read Castaneda and play WOW. Rock on!
Demonskin
Thu, 11/06/2008 - 2:56pmI was gonna post this the other day but couldn't remember the name (no pun intended :)):
Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind
I saw a good review and picked it up...and was completely blown away. It's his first novel but he spent years getting it just right, and it really paid off - easily some of the best Fantasy I've read in years.
Fazil
Fri, 11/07/2008 - 1:22amDidn't we have a books thread at some point?
I endorse Chris' recommendations, and there's a lot more that is good out there. Hmm, let's see, who are some of my favorite authors...
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I recommend you start with his short stories.
Robert Heinlein. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Friday, Stranger in a Strange Land, &c.
The Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde are definitely entertaining.
H. P. Lovecraft, for all your unnamable needs.
Spider Robinson. Choose one at random, or start with Callahan's.
Umberto Eco. Such a good writer. The Name of the Rose, Island of the Day Before.
I'm currently reading Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, and enjoying it immensely.
Claire and I are currently reading through each other's archives (it's a weird geek-bonding ritual), so I'll likely have more recommendations soon. :)
Narrative
Sat, 11/08/2008 - 10:04pmRecent additions to this thread have reminded me of a bunch of things to recommend. For instance, I almost forgot Octavia Butler. She was an amazing author. SF/Fantasy.
Ray Bradbury is classic, I most especially recommend The Martian Chronicles if you haven't read it already. My favorite story out of that one is "The Musicians."
Also, Mark Twain wrote so much. In high school, you hit Huckleberry Finn, maybe A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but he wrote so much more, and his prose mind-blowing.
Jane Yolen. She's a folklorist, and her work is rich. If you're at all social science-minded, there is a lot in them from that angle. Her trilogy
Sister Light, Sister Dark, followed by White Jenna and finishing with The One-Armed Queen is very very good.
Tannith Lee has written some thought-provoking stuff.
Kate Chopin. OMGLEE Kate Chopin. The Awakening. Heartbreaking delicious stuff, and prose to run over your tongue.
If you need quick reads in the evening, these for comic books, often available at libraries these days:
The Rabbi's Cat and The Rabbi's Cat 2 by Joann Sfar. He's amazing. Also, Vampire Loves, same artist/author.
Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi. So so so good.
Fazil
Tue, 11/11/2008 - 1:41pmIf you're going to pick up Persepolis, pick up Maus (Art Silverman) and Hicksville (Dylan Horrocks) too. :)
Falerin
Tue, 11/11/2008 - 4:58pmI recommend Bill Bryson's books (Walk in the Woods, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Notes from a Small Island, and others). I like his wit/humor.
Rambles Everroot
Wed, 11/12/2008 - 2:12pmwell for European Survey I read Six Characters in Search of an an Author by Luigi Pirandello and was pretty impressed by his psychology and portrayal--and the off-balanced exposition of the play...a pretty fun read and only 39 pages long (39 pages via this anthology, which has like size 10 font)
Rambles Everroot
Wed, 11/12/2008 - 2:12pmPlus the P.O.V based reality of the events :D