Do you read books? [Archive]

maelstrom218

07-21-2007, 12:08 PM

I honestly think that Neil Gaiman is overrated. Yes, the Sandman series was innovative and Morpheus was an amazing and complex character. . .but for some reason, his stuff doesn't appeal to me. I'm not sure why. American Gods was interesting since it had many of the same motifs as Sandman had, but it wasn't as great as everyone said it was.

The best book I've read is Stephen King's Wizard and Glass. Books 1-4 of the Dark Tower are pretty much unbeatable. . .I've yet to read anything as powerful and imaginative as Wizard and Glass, though Tolkien comes pretty close.

Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series (Darkly Dreaming Dexter/Dearly Devoted Dexter) is pretty high up there, too. It has an amazing sense of humor.

Black Chanler

07-21-2007, 12:13 PM

Tom Clancy
JRR Tolkien
Fred Douglass

Wolfkiller

07-21-2007, 12:19 PM

I just got done reading The Neverending Story last night. Before that was House Of Leaves and it's companion book The Whalestoe letters, both by Mark Z. Danielewski. Pretty crazy books. His sister, Poe, did a CD that tied into the book as well called Haunted. All highly recommended.

And while I shun goth losers, I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice's vampire books. It's where my online name Wolfkiller comes from.

Fight Club was awesome too, but I liked the movie ending better for the most part.

Tried to get through the Lord Of The Rings books, but I only made it halfway through The Two Towers. Guess I'm just not nerdy enough. :(

Monte

07-21-2007, 12:24 PM

Think about it, who are the 5 best writers of all time? Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl, Roald Dahl and Roald Dahl because he writes hot fiya.

Netology

07-21-2007, 12:27 PM

Autocrat, I don't know what you are trying to say, but it sounds racist.

maelstrom218, I'm actually still reading American Gods, and so far I'm enjoying it a lot.

lol Monte...

Ferdinandz

07-21-2007, 12:33 PM

George R.R. Martin - A song of Ice and Fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)

Scott Adams - God's Debris ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God's_Debris)

Charles Stross - Singularity Sky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky

goodm0urning

07-21-2007, 12:50 PM

Currently reading Off The Main Sequence, a collection of short stories by Robert A. Heinlein. It's very good.

Three random favorite books...

Rendezvous With Rama (Arthur C. Clarke)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke)
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson)
All Of My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers (Larry McMurtry)
Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)
The Autobiography Of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)

Okay, so that's six books. This is a reading thread, not a counting thread.

fjf314

07-21-2007, 01:14 PM

I'm a Neil Gaiman fan, but I actually didn't like American Gods. It was just painfully slow and I really wasn't interested in any of the characters. Neverwhere, on the other hand, is gdlk.

I have to give the nod to William Gibson as my favorite author. As far as I am concerned, it doesn't get any better than Neuromancer, although I thought that Idoru gave it a good run.

Kalypso

07-21-2007, 01:19 PM

I read a ton, but mostly nonfiction. Books on movie directing/screenplay, advanced physics, various random subjects of interest such as Germany and Egypt, etc. Fantasy tends to bore me, although a great number of the posts in this thread contain authors I've read and enjoyed. I never really sit down to think about which I like the most though.

Recently, I read Perfume- Story of a Murderer, that was quite a fine book. Don't remember who it's by, but check it out.

Netology

07-21-2007, 01:21 PM

I'm a Neil Gaiman fan, but I actually didn't like American Gods. It was just painfully slow and I really wasn't interested in any of the characters. Neverwhere, on the other hand, is gdlk.

Hrm...It is fairly slow, but I don't think I've experienced any pain yet, its a good slow -- to me.

I'll have to check out Neverwhere after.

SRKev

07-21-2007, 01:22 PM

If you don't read books, you lose at life.

Wellman

07-21-2007, 02:04 PM

Top 3 All time Favorites in no particular order are Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Allen Poe and a tie between William Shakespeare and Dr. Suess

My favorite current writers (or at least the last three authors I have been bouncing from book to book with) are Walter Mosely, Lawrence Block and Neil Gaiman

I have only read maybe three of Gaiman's novels, but I have enjoyed them all. Still need to find American Gods, but Anansi Boys was the shit and the other two (Stardust and Neverwhere) were good enough.

orochizoolander

07-21-2007, 02:13 PM

^^^Agreed with Hemingway and Suess but don't forget Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Brubaker, etc. LOL

*goes back to reading deathly hallows*

orka

07-21-2007, 02:14 PM

i do read books, but it's usually client-related for my job. right now, i'm reading several books about chronic myeloid leukemia because i have recently begun managing a media analysis account for novartis (which is a big oncology drug company) and its rivals.

granted, i actually learn a lot of information in general whenever i start working with new clients in various industries... but i kind of wish i read more non-business related shit. i was never a big book reader, but in that perspective, i probably read most novels in high school.

i probably have the time, but i just can't get my self to do it these days. it's kind of sad. :sad:

CoMpOuNd

07-21-2007, 02:19 PM

What is BOOK?

But yea I read, I'm not reading anything at the moment, only 'cause I hate harry potter and I'm too lazy to go out and buy a book, when I could just sit on my ass and turn on the T.V...

word.

Mizuki

07-21-2007, 02:20 PM

I've yet to find a book to interest me fully and finish it. I usually read a book, get bored and find another.

buyproduct

07-21-2007, 02:21 PM

Enders game by orson scott card. When I read it I thought sirlin took alot of the "playing to win" philosophy from this book. It was a fun quick read that I really enjoyed.

Wolfkiller

07-21-2007, 02:26 PM

i probably have the time, but i just can't get my self to do it these days. it's kind of sad. :sad:

Read while you poop! That's where 50% or more of my reading time comes in.

orka

07-21-2007, 02:27 PM

Read while you poop! That's where 50% or more of my reading time comes in.

that'd not a bad idea. probably better than reading the morning paper i find on floor of the stall.

i poop really fast, though. i eat lots of fiber.

fjf314

07-21-2007, 02:42 PM

Hrm...It is fairly slow, but I don't think I've experienced any pain yet, its a good slow -- to me.

It really seems to depend on the person. I didn't care for American Gods, but I have a few friends who swear up and down that it's Gaiman's best novel. It just wasn't for me, though.

I have never read Anasi Boys... I need to handle that.

the_dannobot

07-21-2007, 03:07 PM

Enders game by orson scott card. When I read it I thought sirlin took alot of the "playing to win" philosophy from this book. It was a fun quick read that I really enjoyed.
If you like Ender's Game, you should really read Ender's Shadow. It's the same story told from the perspective of another character. It's really good.

EvilSamurai

07-21-2007, 03:19 PM

I read several books a month. Most of them are non-fiction (usually chess books, as I am a chess expert). I do read some fiction however. The last novels I read where American Psycho and Tristam Shandy.

DropKick Murphy

07-21-2007, 03:41 PM

DaDesiCanadian

07-21-2007, 03:50 PM

How did you like Tristram Shandy? The movie seems interesting..

ShinGouki00

07-21-2007, 04:04 PM

Anthony Bourdain!

Nightwing1990

07-21-2007, 04:22 PM

Tom Clancey - Splinter Cell series and rainbow 6
And the rest are comics but i'll save that for the comic book thread

Netology

07-21-2007, 04:26 PM

fjf314

07-21-2007, 04:41 PM

I just finished reading "From a Buick 8" by Stephen King. The week before that I read the Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore. I'm looking for the Icewind Dale Trilogy, guess I'm gonna have to order it.

I used to be a huge fan of Salvatore's work, but then after awhile I just started to get tired of it. I thought that things were great up through Passage to Dawn in the Legacy. Then I thought that the Paths of Darkness series was really wearing thin in places and it was hard for me to even finish The Hunter's Blades trilogy. I did enjoy Servant of the Shard, though, so I should try to check out the rest of The Sellswords trilogy now that the second and third books are out in paperback (I'm too cheap to buy hardcover books.)

Oh and just a recommendation, flat out skip reading Spine of the World. It's possibly one of the worst books ever. Read Wiki to fill you in on the couple of things that are actually important to the series from it and save yourself from that garbage.

How did you like Tristram Shandy? The movie seems interesting..

I don't think they're really all that related, actually. The film is about some people trying to make a movie out of the book, so it doesn't actually focus on the book all that much other than just a couple of scenes. It weighs in more heavily about the actors and their lives. The first volume of the book was written in 1759 about... I have no idea what. Since I've never read the book, though, so I could just be talking out my ass. :rofl:

UltraDavid

07-21-2007, 04:44 PM

I just read the Epic of Gilgamesh and then Beowulf. Gilgamesh was really short, didn't realize how short it was. They were way interesting.

{PFH}-Lake

07-21-2007, 05:09 PM

I only read books by
Edgar Allen Poe
J.R.R. Tolkin
C.S. lewis

dont care about anyone else.

Netology

07-21-2007, 05:49 PM

I only read books by
Edgar Allen Poe
J.R.R. Tolkin
C.S. lewis

dont care about anyone else.

Oh man, you're missing out! Thats kind of peculiar though, what made you decide to only read those authors?

If you like Poe you would probably find some stories by Lovecraft enjoyable.

J-ride

07-21-2007, 08:58 PM

I mostly read "the classics" as far as fiction goes, then I usually read 2-3 science journal articles a week. I started Watership Down yesterday, and I'm 100 pages into it, and it is interesting so far. But I really like authors who can cleverly craft a story, which is why I like Alexander Dumas so much. You read some of his novels and the end all of the subplots in his book just steamroll and become one central story and you keep wanting to read to see what is going to happen.

My friend has also sent me a few chapters from "Why Zebras don't get Ulcers" by Robert M. Sapolsky, and my initial impression is pretty positive. He writes science very well, to a degree that anyone could understand his stuff. I will read the whole book in a month or so (have a few other books in line before it) then give my impression of it.

DevilJin 01

07-21-2007, 09:10 PM

I dun reed.

Emil

07-21-2007, 09:14 PM

I like Stephen King books...

George R.R. Martin - A song of Ice and Fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)

Scott Adams - God's Debris ("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God's_Debris)

Charles Stross - Singularity Sky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky

These do sound quite interesting...especially the latter two.

BKB

07-21-2007, 09:33 PM

Homer
Ovid
Virgil

...I just finished The Golden Ass by Apuleius, it was awesome. Funny too.

Man catches younger guy banging his wife. Wife freaks out, younger guy is scared shitless. Man tells wife to leave, and says he won't savagely beat the younger guy. Then proceeds to fuck younger guy in the ass.

lol

I'd rather get my teeth knocked out.

{PFH}-Lake

07-21-2007, 09:38 PM

Oh man, you're missing out! Thats kind of peculiar though, what made you decide to only read those authors?

If you like Poe you would probably find some stories by Lovecraft enjoyable. I tried to read other books, but I get borred of them.

The only other books ive read are the magic the gathering books.

Dune and Sir gawin and the green knight.

steven king is ok, I just like Poe more his stories are more twisted.

Windlord0

07-21-2007, 11:37 PM

I've been a big fan of Palahniuk, and lullaby is the last thing on my list of his I have to finish.

Bernard Cornwell has written some fantastic historical fiction, though I haven't looked at his works in over a year. There is probably something new I need to get.

George R.R. Martin is the best fantasy author ever I think. I have been putting off reading Feast for Crows because it takes me so long to read his books. I like to go back and read all the previous ones so I am fresh about all the characters and events again, and I just don't have the time to do that right now.

Everything Hemmingway did was incredible, with Death in the Afternoon being my favorite. Even the biographies of him are interesting, cause he was such an ass.

Vonnegut is another one of those writers that just wrote gold. I read a lot of his works while I was in high school, and only years later did I read them again and realize how much I didn't fully understand about his writing. Excellent.

Poe never appealed to me overall, and Lovecraft's works were not as good as people make them out to be, but I still enjoyed them. Lovecraft can not be read casually I think, as brief sessions don't let you fully lose yourself and get to the real meat of being afraid. Aside from writing about scary things there is nothing to compare the two writers though.

Grimm_Demize

07-21-2007, 11:41 PM

Enders game by orson scott card. When I read it I thought sirlin took alot of the "playing to win" philosophy from this book. It was a fun quick read that I really enjoyed.

That book was god tier. Ender's Shadow was good, but the true sequel, Speaker For The Dead is even better. I actually just bought Ender's Game for my 13 year old brother, he read that shit in like a day and loved it.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Isaac Asimov. A lot of people find him to be a rather dry read, but I always loved his style and pacing. Foundation and it's sequels are must-read material.

Hoonyo

07-21-2007, 11:53 PM

I need recommendations for mysteries/thrillers.

Biolink

07-21-2007, 11:58 PM

I read on a need to basis.

Some of the stuff I do enjoy reading is from Edgar Allen Poe.

Rioting Soul

07-22-2007, 12:08 AM

The only real book I read through completely was The Hitchhiker's Omnibus.

EvilSamurai

07-22-2007, 12:16 AM

Tristam Shandy is, well, strange. It is a very good novel it is just weird in a humorous way. American Psycho is funny as hell (the movie is also excellent) but parts of it are disgusting. Anthony Bourdain's books are always fun to read.

Netology

07-22-2007, 12:17 AM

I tried to read other books, but I get borred of them.

The only other books ive read are the magic the gathering books.

Dune and Sir gawin and the green knight.

steven king is ok, I just like Poe more his stories are more twisted.

Read Lovecraft's short stories, like The Outsider, or The Color out of Space
pretty cool stuff...similar to Poe in a way, its dark

TheIlluminati

07-22-2007, 01:12 AM

I used to be a huge fan of Salvatore's work, but then after awhile I just started to get tired of it. I thought that things were great up through Passage to Dawn in the Legacy. Then I thought that the Paths of Darkness series was really wearing thin in places and it was hard for me to even finish The Hunter's Blades trilogy. I did enjoy Servant of the Shard, though, so I should try to check out the rest of The Sellswords trilogy now that the second and third books are out in paperback (I'm too cheap to buy hardcover books.)

Oh and just a recommendation, flat out skip reading Spine of the World. It's possibly one of the worst books ever. Read Wiki to fill you in on the couple of things that are actually important to the series from it and save yourself from that garbage.

The Dark Elf Trilogy > Legacy of the Drow > Icewind Dale = Paths of Darkness >>>> Hunter's Blades

I've only read the first Sellswords book, Servant of the Shard, but it's one of this best. Along with IMO the entire Dark Elf Trilogy and Starless Night.

Pablo_the_Mex

07-22-2007, 01:17 AM

I have read so much during college, that I could go without ever reading anything for the rest of my life.

Maybe once I am out of school, I can finally read something for fun.

Septimus Prime

07-22-2007, 02:03 AM

Sidney Sheldon (RIP :sad:)
James Patterson
Barry Eisler

I don't really like fantasy, sci-fi, or classic literature. It's also really hard for me to pick out three favorite books. I guess I would go with Windmills of the Gods by Sheldon, Cat & Mouse by Patterson, and Rain Fall by Eisler.

I need recommendations for mysteries/thrillers.
I got you covered. Pretty much any book by Sidney Sheldon is a great one of that genre, and James Patterson's Alex Cross series falls into it, as well. Eisler's Rain series is more of a suspense/thriller, but I think you'd like it, too.

If you come down to LA, there's a store called The Mystery Bookstore that specializes in this, and they have signed copies of tons of books.

Cowboyday

07-22-2007, 10:49 AM

My top:

F. Scott Fitzgerald - Great Gatsby, Tender Is The Night, The Beautiful and The Damned
This man writes with such passion about everything. Can't praise his stuff enough, it's such high quality.

J. D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey, Catcher In The Rye, Nine Stories
Writes very (imo) believable dialogue and all I ever do when I'm reading his stuff is say "I do that all the time!/I know someone just like that". A master at making his characters seem human through small things.

John Steinbeck - Travels With Charly in Search of America, East of Eden
Just a natural STORYteller.

People I enjoy:

H. P. Lovecraft is beastly too. Only stuff I've ever read that actually has me looking over my shoulder while I'm reading. - At The Mountains of Madness, Call of Cthulu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

Chuck Palahniuk - This dude wrote Fight Club. 'Nuff said.
Actually, that being said, everything he writes seems pretty much the same. A one trick pony, but that trick is REALLY good. - Survivor, Fight Club, Choke

Stephen King is a guilty pleasure of mine. I've read just about everything he's written but to be honest, very little of it has actually "stuck" with me. Pretty much a "pop" writer. Nothing timeless or classic, but definitely gets you wanting to keep turning those pages. - The Stand, Dark Tower, all those fucking books they turned into movies

Used to be really, really into fantasy before I got into literature. But I kind of see it as a crutch now. I mean, anyone can write a story about dragons and magic and shit and make it interesting. But you have to be genuinely good at writing to make something boring like a dinner party interesting. That said -
Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman - Dragonlance Saga
Tolkien - Lord of the Rings
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (Have yet to read Shadow of The Giant or any of his non Ender Books, which he seems to have quite a few of.)
Richard Knaak - Dragonlance Saga

Random recommendations: Watership Down by Richard Adams, Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway

Right now I'm reading Walden by Thoreau and I'm having a hard time getting into it even though I really enjoy the style.

Master Giby

07-22-2007, 11:02 AM

The Ninja series by Eric Van Lustbader had me hooked for a while til I finished it. Still a wonderful read for people who dig ninja's(Im a pirate man myself :p) in modern(well, more like 80's-90's)times.

James Clavell's Asia saga which spreads from the mid east to the far east. and spans over 400 years. Shogun being the best of the series imo.

Lots and lots of biographies. Right ow I'm reading a Tommy Lasorda biography titled: 'The Artful Dodger: Tommy Lasorda' really good read so far.

Cowboyday - Travels With Charlie is a wonderful read. It really gives the people who weren't around in those times a picture of how this country was. I remember having to re-read it for one of my English classes, and the teacher made the book out to be a racists view of the US in the 60's, really retarded if you ask me.

And stick with Walden, Thoreau is a magnificent author and his word play is top notch. You should find yourself getting into it the more you read.

Hoonyo

07-22-2007, 11:15 AM

Sidney Sheldon (RIP :sad:)
James Patterson
Barry Eisler

I don't really like fantasy, sci-fi, or classic literature. It's also really hard for me to pick out three favorite books. I guess I would go with Windmills of the Gods by Sheldon, Cat & Mouse by Patterson, and Rain Fall by Eisler.

I got you covered. Pretty much any book by Sidney Sheldon is a great one of that genre, and James Patterson's Alex Cross series falls into it, as well. Eisler's Rain series is more of a suspense/thriller, but I think you'd like it, too.

If you come down to LA, there's a store called The Mystery Bookstore that specializes in this, and they have signed copies of tons of books.

Many thanks. I've heard about the Alex Cross series, and even read the back of a couple books at Borders, but I wanted to know someone else's opinion of them. I'll definitely check it out along with Shelon's books and the Rain series.

Larva18

07-22-2007, 11:19 AM

Favorite 3 books/author all time

Phillip K. Dick- Do Androids dream of electric sheep
Flowers for Algernon- i keep forgetting the author of this sci-fi book but sad/interesting.
Timothy Zahn- his Star Wars series really awesome. Thrawn series the best.

Currently reading:

Leviathan- Thomas Hobbes. Need to read with a dictionary nearby but awesome stuff.
Harry Potter book #7

GosBroDansFan

07-22-2007, 11:27 AM

Lots of sci fi in this thread.

Ender's Game FTW. It's a quick read and overall very entertaining.

I am a huge fan of the Dune series. I read Hunters of Dune and will probably read Sandworms of Dune. But I didn't really care for either too much. The son is just a shadow of the father.

Arthur C. Clarke can be fun to. In particular I like his short stories. I've read some of his Rama series as well but I hate Gentry Lee with a passion. He screwed that series over.

Hamlet is a personal favorite.
I've enjoyed reading through some of Ayn Rand's work. Anthem, Atlas Shrugged. Sometimes she gets a little preachy.
Everyone should read 1984.

Black Rain is also an amazing book. I suggest it to anyone interested in seeing truly great characterization and character evolution through the story.

How to Lie With Statistics is a great read.

The White Man Will Eat You is a personal favorite.

Dragon Punch

07-22-2007, 11:28 AM

I've been reading a lot of Chris Moore's stuff lately. If you havn't heard of him check out Fluke, or You Suck: A Vampire Love Story. He's prtety much the only author who's made me laugh out loud while reading.

fjf314

07-22-2007, 11:30 AM

I am a huge fan of the Dune series. I read Hunters of Dune and will probably read Sandworms of Dune. But I didn't really care for either too much. The son is just a shadow of the father.

I need to get around to reading more of the Dune series. I have all of the original books by Frank Herbert, but I've only read Dune and Dune Messiah. Both were really good, so I don't know why I haven't been motivated enough to start reading Children of Dune. One of these days...

Taichi

07-22-2007, 12:28 PM

Read a Motherfuckin' book (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1767003)

Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
RA Salvatore
JRR Tolkein
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Alexandre Dumas
Robert Louis Stevenson
Charles Dickens
Washington Irving
Lewis Carroll
James Fenimore Cooper
JM Barrie
Rudyard Kipling
The Brothers Grimm
Jules Verne
Mark Twain
Arthur Conan Doyle
L. Frank Baum
Charles Darwin
Roald Dahl
JK Rowling
Judy Blume
Beverly Cleary
Shel Silverstein
Donald J. Sobol
Louis Sachar
Lynne Reid Banks
Gregory Maguire
Chuck Pahlaniuk
Michael Chabon

Septimus Prime

07-22-2007, 03:54 PM

Many thanks. I've heard about the Alex Cross series, and even read the back of a couple books at Borders, but I wanted to know someone else's opinion of them. I'll definitely check it out along with Shelon's books and the Rain series.
Oh yeah. If you want a good standalone James Patterson novel, check out Honeymoon and Step On A Crack (although I hear this is supposedly the first of an upcoming series). There's a new one called The Quickie out, but I haven't read that yet. It's with the same co-author as Honeymoon, though (Andrew Ledgewick), so I assume it's good.

Netology

07-22-2007, 07:57 PM

on the topic of books, im just watching Finding Forrester - pretty sweet movie -

I wonder who Forrester represents in the real world...

monbaby

07-22-2007, 08:17 PM

The Bible (ecclesiastes 90% of the time)...

The Holy Qur'an...

A whole lot of black revolution literature... (Alex Haley, W.E.B. dubois, na'im akbar, etc...)

Encyclopedias...

The Dictionary...

High School and College Text Books...

I hate Fiction...

EDIT: I take that back I do read Berserk and Comics Occasionaly... Only fiction with pictures... This harry potter shit got me interested in reading fiction too... Only time will tell if i start reading that foolishnesss...

Slªde

07-22-2007, 08:28 PM

Dune

EvilSamurai

07-22-2007, 08:29 PM

I am a huge fan of the Dune series. I read Hunters of Dune and will probably read Sandworms of Dune. But I didn't really care for either too much. The son is just a shadow of the father.

I personally think the son fucked around with it too much. One thing I hated was the terminator style war with the machines. WTF? Wasn't the Butlerian Jihad supposed to be mankind had basically built paradise with the power of computers/robots and then religious fanatics got angry, declared "thinking machines" to be abominations, destroyed civilization, and sent the world into a new dark age? I also think herbert should have ended it for good after god emperor of dune. Like keep the series centered around muad dib and his son, the two god emperors of the known universe.

platinum_pinoy

07-22-2007, 09:14 PM

Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
George Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
Aldous Huxley - A Brave New World
John Steinbeck - East of Eden
Haruki Murakami - Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood
Martel Yann - Life of Pi

Dan Brown's Davinci Code (and Angels and Demons) and Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club (and Choke) are overrated.

I hear Ender's Game is good, but I haven't read it yet.

SwmmrManShen

07-22-2007, 09:19 PM

enders game is a great read.

my favorite books off the top of my head are fight club, the watchmen (ya its a graphic novel, its still lit), The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and Harry Potter of course

margalis

07-22-2007, 09:28 PM

Phillip K. Dick is one of my favorites, and I love Clive Barker's earlier stuff. Anyone who likes horror should pick up the Books of Blood compendiums.

Netology

07-22-2007, 10:24 PM

Grits'N'Gravy

07-22-2007, 11:20 PM

Ayn Rand: Objectivism, baby!

Besides that I did read a lot of poker books. Phil Hellmuth was good for a laugh, Phil Gordon was good for advice.

Black Chanler

07-22-2007, 11:36 PM

Well considering you read the bible and quran frequently, I would say you are a big fan of fiction. :wink:

lollercoasters your going to hell:rofl:

nah but foreal though, why are you knocking him for trying to understand other beliefs?

Netology

07-22-2007, 11:41 PM

lollercoasters your going to hell:rofl:

nah but foreal though, why are you knocking him for trying to understand other beliefs?

just jokin with him:looney:

Grimm_Demize

07-22-2007, 11:41 PM

Well considering you read the bible and quran frequently, I would say you are a big fan of fiction. :wink:

Nah, if you want a real good science fiction read, you'd go straight to the Book of Mormon. I was raised on the shit, and even as a little kid it had my LOL'ing.

:rofl:

Grits'N'Gravy

07-22-2007, 11:43 PM

Nah, if you want a real good science fiction read, you'd go straight to the Book of Mormon. I was raised on the shit, and even as a little kid it had my LOL'ing.

:rofl:

Bwa bwa bwa bwa bwaaaaa TRUE SHIT.

A life without weed, booze, and caffeine is science-fiction enough for me, regardless of what's in the book.

axeman61

07-23-2007, 12:15 AM

I was going to make a separate topic about this, but it seems SRK has a few mind-readers... you poor souls...

I was wondering: How do you guys shop for books? Most of my trips to the bookstore last more than 2 hours and I still end up with just a cafe treat or walking out. The low price of online and the availability of E-Books screws me up when bookstore time comes around. I've resolved to search extensively on Amazon (which is my main "store) and compile a list before going to the store. That may or may not work, but I need to know 2 things:
1.) Is there a book review site that's more reliable than Amazon?
2.) Is there a better site for book shopping than Amazon (beside abebooks.com)?

Sirlin

07-23-2007, 12:21 AM

I recommend these books (http://www.sirlin.net/recommended-books).

--Sirlin

Grimm_Demize

07-23-2007, 12:33 AM

SNIP

Well, I can't offer much help in the realm of book reviews, but on the topic of buying books, I loooooove second hand stores. I prefer books paperback, and well-read by any previous owners. I enjoy used books so much so, in fact, that whenever I somehow come into possession of a new book (I never buy them new), I'll lend it so somebody else so that they can read them first.

I've had quite a few new books stolen in my day because of this. :rofl:

shinkibigami9

07-23-2007, 12:38 AM

WasFemto

07-23-2007, 12:38 AM

Currently reading
A People's History of The United States by Howard Zinn

All time faves: Wayside Stories From Wayside School(both of 'em), Battle Royale

Dr.Suess is always a good time as is Shel Silverstein. I need to get into more poems.

Mostly stick with Japanese manga tho'.

Pinion

07-23-2007, 12:47 AM

If you do, who are your top 3 authors or top 3 books?

I read frequently, but have been slipping as of late (only read 4-6 books these past 2 months).

With that said, my 3 favorite books are:

1.) Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
2.) Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
3.) UBIK - Philip K. Dick

As for 3 top authors, that's a very hard choice and I honestly can't select just 3 as my personal creme of the crop. I will say this however, Vladimir Nabokov is tops on my list.

jae hoon

07-23-2007, 12:48 AM

I like Terry Brooks myself, big fan of the Shannara series.

Z!M

07-23-2007, 02:31 AM

Chine Mieville- any of his books are good but the bag-las books are great reads for sci-fi readers. more steam punk then anything else would be the words
i would use to describe them.

Dan simmons- the ilium, a retake of the illiad by homer but involving time travel, space robots that love to read the work of proust and shakesspear, post-humans, nanomachines, zeus and giant brains.

Septimus Prime

07-23-2007, 03:49 AM

Oh, btw, I was totally wrong about Ledgewick. Michael Ledgewick (if you'll recall, I said Andrew) co-authored Step On A Crack with James Patterson. Howard Roughan co-authored Honeymoon.

As for buying books, I usually browse bookstores on new release days and head straight for my preferred authors or friend recommendations. After I check out what's new, if anything, I'll browse around for a little while and maybe pick up something that would likely interest me. Sometimes, though, I'll write down a book's ISBN (in a little notebook I carry in my pocket; it's really handy) and then check Amazon.com when I get home. I hate that Amazon screws publishers and authors, but I will admit that I love its low, low prices.

Mixah

07-23-2007, 04:41 AM

hitchhikers guide (all five)
harry potter
dan brown's books
timothy freke
peter gandy
that's all i read.

Septimus Prime

07-23-2007, 04:56 AM

Oh yeah. After you read a bunch of Sidney Sheldon and James Patterson books (and Mary Higgins Clark writes good mystery/suspense, too, but her books have a real feminist slant that I got tired of after a while), you'll start to latch onto minor details and be able to guess with great accuracy the endings of a lot of less well-written mystery novels (and, truth be told, good ones, too). This makes reading Dan Brown's books a pain in the ass, so I suggest you read his books first, if you have an interest there (although after reading any one of his books, you'll be able to figure out his others, as they're all the same).

Pinion

07-23-2007, 06:21 AM

Sometimes, though, I'll write down a book's ISBN (in a little notebook I carry in my pocket; it's really handy) and then check Amazon.com when I get home. I hate that Amazon screws publishers and authors, but I will admit that I love its low, low prices.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who does this.

And God Bless Amazon, that place has saved me so much money and their customer service is tops in my opinion. Plus I enjoy buying books straight from a warehouse as opposed to pulling it off of a shelf only to find it's been pawed by 100+ people with coffee stains already in it. :bluu:

The Epidemic

07-23-2007, 06:45 AM

i read storys by aesop...

Netology

07-23-2007, 09:14 AM

I'm kind of surprised, I don't think anyones mentioned Terry Pratchett yet...

monbaby

07-23-2007, 04:01 PM

Well considering you read the bible and quran frequently, I would say you are a big fan of fiction. :wink:

Eh...

Thats why i read ecclesiastes...

It's prolly the only book in the bible that i can agree with 100%...

Proverbs and Songs of Solomon as well...

In fact i realy despise the new testiment...

Paul is prolly the biggest hustler of all time...

As far as the qur'an goes...

Real shit is in that book, simple shit like how to live a normal life...

Nothing really superspiritial to me...

I have a book called the heart of buddhism as well...

Just practical shit is the only stuff i care about...

And destroying the white man...:wink:

HeaT

07-23-2007, 04:20 PM

i finished The Stranger by albert camus couple of weeks ago...what a rediculous good book...everyone should take a stab at it very short, 120pages but powerful tenfold...simply amazing...won the nobel prize in literature some year i forget which...

now im reading hemingways accross the river and into the trees...

im outi

Roberth

{PFH}-Lake

07-23-2007, 06:16 PM

Eh...

Thats why i read ecclesiastes...

It's prolly the only book in the bible that i can agree with 100%...

Proverbs and Songs of Solomon as well...

In fact i realy despise the new testiment...

Paul is prolly the biggest hustler of all time...

As far as the qur'an goes...

Real shit is in that book, simple shit like how to live a normal life...

Nothing really superspiritial to me...

I have a book called the heart of buddhism as well...

Just practical shit is the only stuff i care about...

And destroying the white man...:wink: how come you dont like the new testiment? is it cause you cant understand it?

Septimus Prime

07-23-2007, 06:28 PM

I also recommend The Cleaner by Brett Battles.

monbaby

07-23-2007, 06:30 PM

I think its a buch of crap...

Say for instance in the old testimat it says specifically that pork is unclean for you...

Then in romans paul says people with weak faith do works to try to please God such as not eating certain types of foods...

My thing is when you 40 and your gonna die from heart failure from eating pork your gonna wish your faith was weak and followed the old testament law...

It's stupid...

Is 4 accounts of Jesus really necessary?...

In my opinion and what I get from when i read the new testimant is a bunch of bullshit...

Ecclesiastes, proverbs, and songs of Solomon are the only good books in the bible in My opinion...

And thats all i have to say about that...

Septimus Prime

07-23-2007, 06:41 PM

Hey, religious discussion guys, if I see one more related post from any one of you, I'm going to go through this thread and ban you all. Don't think I'm serious? Try it.

Netology

07-24-2007, 12:43 AM

Hey, religious discussion guys, if I see one more related post from any one of you, I'm going to go through this thread and ban you all. Don't think I'm serious? Try it.

amen.

Back on topic now, I started Catcher in the Rye, its a pretty decent book so far, got me laughing a couple of times, although I'm still not sure what the title really means...

anyone explain?

StuartHayden

07-24-2007, 12:51 AM

amen.

Back on topic now, I started Catcher in the Rye, its a pretty decent book so far, got me laughing a couple of times, although I'm still not sure what the title really means...

anyone explain?

Catcher in the Rye fucking changed my life. No joke. That book had a huge impact on me. I've read it atleast 20 times. I love J.D. Salinger, I've read/owned all his books. Banana Fish along with Franny&Zoey are also really good books. Catcher in the Rye was his best work though I think. Dude is also my favorite author. Ever.

As for the title, it's your first read through, so I won't tell you, but, you find out what it means with in the last 4 chapters of the book.

EvilSamurai

07-24-2007, 01:07 AM

Mark David Chapman alert!!!

defcon

07-24-2007, 01:24 AM

Neil Gaiman is too good. Chuck Pahlanuk (sp?) is overrated, if anything. Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, and Choke were enjoyable... and that's it. Kurt Vonnegut is bomb deezy, and so is what little I've read of Hunter S. Thompson.

Right now I'm multi-tasking between a lot of random shit: Neverwhere, Once and Future King (got bored, put it down for months, picked it up again until it got interesting, now bored again), Generation Kill (Evan Wright was embedded with 1st Recon Bn during the initial invasion of iraq in 03) and because i got it last night, Watchmen.

I noticed Tolstoy's War & Peace at the BX over here (Constance Garnett translation), and I've been meaning to read that book for so long. I just did a quick google and people seem to be preferring the Maude translation, then the Penguin books, and THEN Garnett (which sucks b/c thats the one they sell here). Does anyone have insight to shed on the matter?

Netology

07-24-2007, 01:39 AM

Catcher in the Rye fucking changed my life. No joke. That book had a huge impact on me. I've read it atleast 20 times. I love J.D. Salinger, I've read/owned all his books. Banana Fish along with Franny&Zoey are also really good books. Catcher in the Rye was his best work though I think. Dude is also my favorite author. Ever.

As for the title, it's your first read through, so I won't tell you, but, you find out what it means with in the last 4 chapters of the book.

Oohh, sounds interesting, I won't inquire about the title then.

Ya, I like his writing style too, I'll probably check out his other books after I'm done this one.

Aizen

07-24-2007, 03:31 AM

George R.R. Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire series is the only fiction I bother with -- everything else is nonfiction.

monbaby

07-24-2007, 10:44 AM

Hey, religious discussion guys, if I see one more related post from any one of you, I'm going to go through this thread and ban you all. Don't think I'm serious? Try it.

ROOOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!...:mad:

ROOOAAAARRRR!!!!...:mad:

ROOOOAAARRR!!!!...:mad:

*melts like the wicked witch of the west*...:wasted:

Netology

07-24-2007, 01:04 PM

Anyone recommend a good Salman Rushdie book? I'm thinking of getting satanic verses or maybe shalamar the clown

terracotta

07-24-2007, 09:51 PM

yes, but i never liked reading. i always research the book (check reviews, plot summary, etc) before starting, to see if i'd be wasting my time.

DanD

07-24-2007, 11:17 PM

I just finished Isaac Asimov's - "The Robots of Dawn"

I liked it a lot. Asimov is teh brilliance.

Gonna read Cormac McCarthy's - "The Road" on the plane flight home in about a week. A friend of mine recommended it... Said it was probably the best book he's ever read.

ytwojay

07-25-2007, 12:13 AM

Does anyone have any Marvel novels they can recommend? The last one I read was X-Men: Smoke and Mirrors by Eluki Bes Shahar.

StuartHayden

07-25-2007, 12:58 AM

Carnage in New York was really good.

bear

10-09-2007, 02:56 PM

I'm a big reader. I'll take books over television and movies anyday. Over most games too. I mostly read fiction, though, and I like a lot of the "weird" authors, or speculative fiction guys.

Some favorites:

Jonathan Carroll - The Wooden Sea, Bones of the Moon, White Apples
Jeffrey Ford - The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque
China Meiville - Perdido Street Station, The Scar, King Rat
Phillip Pullman - The "His Dark Materials" Trilogy
Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game, Enchantment
Neil Gaiman - American Gods, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys
Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy
Gene Wolfe - Book of the New Sun (series), Book of the Long Sun (series)
Vikas Swarup - Q & A
Dennis Lehane - A Drink before the War, Sacred, Shutter Island
Roger Zelazny - A Night in the Lonesome October
Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn, Giant Bones, The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche
Micheal Ende - The Neverending Story
Corey Doctorow - Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore, Wild Sheep Chase
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - The Little Prince
Shel Silverstein - The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends
Robert B. Parker - The "Spenser" Series
Jeff Vandermeer - The City of Saints and Madmen, Veniss Underground

Lots of classic authors I love. Steinbeck is a big one, though. East of Eden is one of my favorite books ever written. But Hemmingway, Cervantes, Vonnegut, Heller, Harper Lee, Bradbury, Orwell, Kesey, Shelley, and London are all excellent as well.

And so far this year, my favorite book has been "The Facts of Life" by Graham Joyce. It was really excellent on every level. I wish more people had read it.

Grimm_Demize

10-09-2007, 03:02 PM

William Gibson's Neuromancer is something I was just recently introduced to, and I fell absolutely in love with that book. I just finished reading it for the third time.

Anyone know if Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive are as good? I'm considering putting in an Amazon order for the both of them.

bear

10-09-2007, 03:08 PM

Neuromancer was awesome. I haven't read anything else from Gibson, though. But there's plenty of good Cyberpunk out there too.

You might want to try some Meiville at some point along the road. Perdido Street Station is a good place to start with him. Really creative and fascinating book. Pretty grim and violent as well, but that's the call of the day with a lot of cyberpunk.

DaDesiCanadian

10-09-2007, 03:19 PM

Wow, I think this is the first Book thread not dominated by discussion of books that are

a.) Science Fiction
b.) Some author whom people are reading just because they have an Asian name.

Anyone recommend a good Salman Rushdie book? I'm thinking of getting satanic verses or maybe shalamar the clown

This is completely off his regular recommendations, but try Haroun and The Sea of Stories. It's a children's book by Rushdie, but most of it is a satirical look at society and bureaucracy, and archetypes. And even if you ignore all that, it's a fun read. I suggest you look at the names of the chars online though, as a lot of them are puns in Urdu.

Catcher in the Rye fucking changed my life. No joke. That book had a huge impact on me. I've read it atleast 20 times. I love J.D. Salinger, I've read/owned all his books. Banana Fish along with Franny&Zoey are also really good books. Catcher in the Rye was his best work though I think. Dude is also my favorite author. Ever.

As for the title, it's your first read through, so I won't tell you, but, you find out what it means with in the last 4 chapters of the book.

You liked Franny and Zooey? I could never get through it, I should give it another try.

I really recommend Jasper Ffordes stuff to everyone. These books are the most hilarious/entertaining books i've read in a long long time. His most famous works are the adventures of Thursday Next, and in order, they're:

The Eyre Affair
Lost in A Good Book
The Well Of Lost Plots
Something Rotten

They will mostly work however if you're decently versed in classic literature, and British lit.i like Dickens, SHakespeare, P.G. Wodehouse. The books literally defy genres, there is no way to describe them. They take place halfway between an alternate 1985, and IN the world of books. Seriously, SOMEONE else here has had to have read them..

wez

10-09-2007, 03:20 PM

1. Michael Crichton
2. Gary Soto
3. ? (thinking about it)

DaDesiCanadian

10-09-2007, 03:24 PM

Yay, another Crichton fan. I've read all his books multiple times. In fact, I just re-read the Lost World yesterday. Such a great book.

wez

10-09-2007, 03:28 PM

Yay, another Crichton fan. I've read all his books multiple times. In fact, I just re-read the Lost World yesterday. Such a great book.

I really really enjoyed reading Timeline. Such a great book:lovin:

but the movie sucked hard!!!:annoy::annoy:

Crichton is great.

DaDesiCanadian

10-09-2007, 03:32 PM

I really really enjoyed reading Timeline. Such a great book:lovin:

but the movie sucked hard!!!:annoy::annoy:

Crichton is great.

The funniest part about the movie is that it basically did everything the entire book was preaching against. I don't know how Crichton ever signed off on it. All the stuff about Historians looking down upon history, the intricacies of life back then, the social dynamics, the mistakes Historians make when trying to analyze history, basically the movie was everything wrong that the book was trying to fix.

Sigh.

wez

10-09-2007, 03:40 PM

The funniest part about the movie is that it basically did everything the entire book was preaching against. I don't know how Crichton ever signed off on it. All the stuff about Historians looking down upon history, the intricacies of life back then, the social dynamics, the mistakes Historians make when trying to analyze history, basically the movie was everything wrong that the book was trying to fix.

Sigh.

How could this happen?! The movie was depressing, seriously.

Not only did they do the opposite of what the book focused,

but the acting was HORRIBLE!

There were scenes that made me cry at night!

I would ask myself, "Why? Why Crichton?"

For shame film makers....

bear

10-09-2007, 05:08 PM

This is completely off his regular recommendations, but try Haroun and The Sea of Stories. It's a children's book by Rushdie, but most of it is a satirical look at society and bureaucracy, and archetypes. And even if you ignore all that, it's a fun read. I suggest you look at the names of the chars online though, as a lot of them are puns in Urdu.

I liked Haroun quite a bit. But Midnight's Children is probably my favorite from him.

I really recommend Jasper Ffordes stuff to everyone. These books are the most hilarious/entertaining books i've read in a long long time. His most famous works are the adventures of Thursday Next, and in order, they're:

The Eyre Affair
Lost in A Good Book
The Well Of Lost Plots
Something Rotten

They will mostly work however if you're decently versed in classic literature, and British lit.i like Dickens, SHakespeare, P.G. Wodehouse. The books literally defy genres, there is no way to describe them. They take place halfway between an alternate 1985, and IN the world of books. Seriously, SOMEONE else here has had to have read them..

My sister bought the first two of this series for me recently. But my to-read pile is pretty hefty, so it'll be a couple months before I get to them. I'll chime in whenever I read them, though.

Lebowsk1

01-18-2008, 08:02 PM

I've been rediscovering the pleasure of reading about a bunch of events that never happened. And so I'm bumping this, the biggest thread on the subject I can find.

A Quiet Belief In Angels, RJ Ellory
As a fan of Jonathan Coe, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book, set in the south of America, was written in the English midlands. This is essentially a genre novel (crime), although it doesnt really become apparent until towards the end of the book. The writing focuses more on emotions than most in this genre would, but this works for two reasons: firstly it is written from the first-person perspective, and secondly the majority of murders in this book are of young girls and are therefore obviously very highly emotionally charged. And the writer is talented enough not to make this kind of prose seem insubstantial. The expected showdown at the end of the book is also perfectly written, including the protagonists exposition of the villain's exploits and deceptions.

The Reality Dysfunction, Peter F Hamilton
Again, a genre piece, but like in the previous case, there are things about it that elevate it beyond the usual. Calling this sci-fi isnt really enough, it is too big for that. I'd call this a space opera. I'm only 400 pages in (although, of course due to genre conventions this would have been enough to be nearing the climax of Quiet Belief. As it stands, I'm about a third through Dysfunction) but so far this has been exactly the kind of science fiction I have been searching so long for. There are many plot strands, but you can tell the author has planned it all meticulously. One strand deals with settlers arriving on a newly discovered habitable planet. All I can say is the events that take place make Lost look really very pathetic indeed. Another strand follows a Cowboy Bebop-esque spaceship captain. The way he does his courier work reminds me of the fantasies I've often indulged in regarding how my job could be in the far future (I'm a driver).

Both of these books come very highly recommended from me.