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wheatpuppy
Apr 25, 2008

YOU HAVE MY POST!

Fallorn posted:

Can any one give me some good mind numbing/or not urban fantasy/paranormal romance since they seem to be just about the same thing these days? I've read the Sookie Stackhouse books, Kim Harrison's books, and quite a few others. What is at least an entertaining read, please help me book barn, your my only hope!

I've seen quite a few anthologies lately featuring short stories Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, etc. You might check them out to see some of the other featured authors and expand from there.

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a mysterious cloak
Apr 5, 2003

Leave me alone, dad, I'm with my friends!


KitschCraft posted:

I'm interested in books about money; fiction or non, but not how-to. Specifically, I'm looking for books about how money or the lack of money affects and influences a person's life. The book should have financial and/or class standing as a pervasive theme.

Books I've read and liked, for example: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Nickle and Dimed, The Working Poor, Random Family, No Shame in My Game on the poverty end of the spectrum, and American Psycho, Martin Amis' Money, on the affluent end. The more specific detail, the better (like the tin-can bank in Brooklyn). The book doesn't have to have much literary merit as long as it's interesting and personal.


Similarly, I'm interested in true crime where money/greed heavily influenced the criminal(s). Anything from Mob stories to crooked day-traders, to elaborate schemes to steal millions from corporations.

Fictionwise, try Easton Ellis's Glamorama. It kind of has a thread in many of the things you mentioned. New York model trying to open up a new club, gets involved in other things...

[b]Den of Thieves[b] is what I'm reading right now, about the big insider trading scandal in the 80s'. It's unbelievable what these guys did for money. Total financial black arts.

I also just finished Michael Lewis's [u]Liar's Poker[u] which is a good story about working at Salmon Brothers before their decline. I would recommend reading it if for no other reason than for the Human Piranha section. I laughed so hard at that part. Overall it was an entertaining book.

Epée
Jun 17, 2003

The Black Goat

feedmyleg posted:

I've found myself in a mood of deliberately paced, depressing drama with a slight science fiction twist after reading Let the Right One In and The Road. Does anyone have anything along these lines they'd recommend?

Oryx and Crake and Never Let Me Go.

JerryLee
Feb 4, 2005

THE RESERVED LIST! THE RESERVED LIST! I CANNOT SHUT UP ABOUT THE RESERVED LIST!
I've got a somewhat specific request: Supernatural/extradimensional horror with a scientific bent. By that I mean either or both of two things: stories where science 'invites' the horror into our world via arrogance or accident, or stories where science is attempting to quantify the nature of the horror, either attempting to integrate it into known science or creating a new field of science around it.

The perfect example of the first category, or as close to perfect as I'm aware of, is the film Event Horizon. A dimension of pure evil and unspeakable torments unlocked via starships and technobabble? Sign me up. :v: The Doom 3 story was also enjoyable for me, as far as it went, both in-game and in the novels Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom.

The second category is epitomized in my mind by Charlie Stross's The Atrocity Archives--Lovecraftian horror being engaged by scientists, complete with more supernatural technobabble. (The sequel The Jennifer Morgue wasn't nearly as engaging to me, as it veered off into the Deep Ones part of Lovecraft's mythos, which I've never found as compelling.)

Oh, and I guess I should add that it doesn't have to be modern science: Victorian, Rennaissance, and even classical science would be fine, just as long as it features learned men trying (not necessarily succeeding, of course) to quantify and understand the horrors from beyond the stars/beyond the walls of reality.

Bohemienne
May 15, 2007
Somewhat in line with JerryLee's request, I'm really wanting to start reading H. P. Lovecraft's works but I'm clueless as to where I should start. Most bibliographies I've found are lengthy lists of every single short story, novella, novel, and essay. I understand that much of his "universe" whether it's the town, supernatural beings, gods, and whatnot spreads across multiple works, but is there a definitive novel or series of novels that is considered the definitive entry point into that world?

JerryLee
Feb 4, 2005

THE RESERVED LIST! THE RESERVED LIST! I CANNOT SHUT UP ABOUT THE RESERVED LIST!

Bohemienne posted:

Somewhat in line with JerryLee's request, I'm really wanting to start reading H. P. Lovecraft's works but I'm clueless as to where I should start. Most bibliographies I've found are lengthy lists of every single short story, novella, novel, and essay. I understand that much of his "universe" whether it's the town, supernatural beings, gods, and whatnot spreads across multiple works, but is there a definitive novel or series of novels that is considered the definitive entry point into that world?

While reading through this thread making sure that my request hadn't already been made, I noticed some discussion about this towards the first few pages. Someone recommended The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, and I have to say I agree. I'd say in many ways it's Lovecraft's finest work, perhaps not in the purely literary sense, but definitely in the guilty-pleasure sense that's the reason we all read Lovecraft anyway. :v:

Once you get done with that, you'll want to read (as the poster earlier also recommended) The Silver Key and Through The Gates of the Silver Key, the latter of which is my other favorite Lovecraft story/novella. By that point you'll probably have a decent idea of his style and themes and can read everything else in whatever order.

The only downside to reading these three first is that it may spoil you, if only slightly, for all of his other work. But that's not really much of a downside, and if you want the 'quintessential Lovecraft' as it were, you can't really go wrong with these stories.

edit: It was Tuxedo Catfish who made the original recommendations, on the first page. Kudos :)

Gravy Jones
Sep 13, 2003

I am not on your side

JerryLee posted:

I've got a somewhat specific request: Supernatural/extradimensional horror with a scientific bent.

Peter F Hamilton's wrist-shattering Night's Dawn Trilogy has a fair bit of this. It's epic space opera with a supernatural threat and there is a fair bit dedicated to understanding and fighting that threat.

It's pretty trashy though, but I found it fun.

Jack Black
Nov 6, 2007
Alright, a cherries jubilee and that's it.
I recently began reading "Mind Wide Open: The Neuroscience of Everyday Life" and have find it to be an extremely enjoyable read. I was just wondering if anyone had some suggestions of some similar material I could get my hands on.

Neuroscience, perception, and internal reflection of oneself (the science of why/how we do it, not a novel about learning about yourself/coming of age) are mostly what interests me.

delicious beef
Feb 5, 2006

:allears::allears::allears::allears::allears::allears:
Two entirely unconnected requests:

1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful.

2. Has anybody got any recommendations for a book about Quantum Physics? One that explains the ideas well to a non-scientist. I don't want it overly dumbed down, but I stopped physics at A-level (age 18), and although I know about relativity I'd like to learn about Quantum properly.

The Aphasian
Mar 8, 2007

Psychotropic Hops


delicious beef posted:

1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful.
S. M. Stirling's The Emberverse Series seems to fit the bill. I haven't read it, but the first book of its sister trilogy Island in the Sea of Time was enjoyable. His sense of history (and the clashes between modern and ancient peoples and technologies) in the latter is solid, although his characterization is clumsily heavy-handed (strong black lesbian ship captain who's a master of the katana?!?). Haven't gotten any farther than the first book though.

ArgaWarga
Apr 8, 2005

dare to fail gloriously

delicious beef posted:

Two entirely unconnected requests:

1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful.

Riddley Walker! It's a personal favorite of mine, written in deconstructed English after a nuclear war has rocked all civilization (at least England) back to the middle ages. Riddley, the main character, is a young man who is the new story teller in his village, basically the person in charge of the oral history and mythology. Something happens that leads to Riddley coming into possession of something that the local governor wants, and Riddley has to hide, along with the secret, from the people who are pursuing him.

It is not an easy book to read, the language it's written in is very hard to understand at first (take a look at the first few pages on Amazon; it took me about 50 pages to get comfortable with it, and honestly if I hadn't had to read it for a class I would have given up), but the story is a wonderful meditation on the role of humanity and our pursuit of technology.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

delicious beef posted:

1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3013500

Here's a good thread on this topic we had not long ago, the thread specifies post-nuclear but it expanded to cover all post-apoc scenarios. There's about a lifetime's worth of recommendations there.

Chemmy
Feb 4, 2001

markehed posted:

Does anyone have any suggestions along the line of Blink, the Undercover economist, Freakonomics and Mumbo jumbo? Easily digested facts combined with some humour and a lot of interesting examples. A book perfect for a day in the sun and for those of us who doesn't really like fiction.

Stiff is pretty fun. It's about cadavers donated to science and is entertaining and a little gross.

Bozart
Oct 28, 2006

Give me the finger.
Coming back here for more recommendations: this time, anything like A Short History of Nearly Everything - preferably focused on mathematics (and not a Brief History of Time) or anything with a similar tone and breadth in a different subject?

freebooter
Jul 7, 2009

delicious beef posted:

1. Can anybody recommend me well-written post-apocalyptic themed stuff. I'm talking about stuff similar to The Road or I am Legend. Not so much interested in Sci-fi explanations of whatever the event is, but about people surviving in the aftermath. I really loved The Road, so something like that would be wonderful.

John Wyndham's The Chrysalids. John Wyndham is a pretty great apocalyptic author overall, but Chrysalids is the only one of his books that I'd classify as purely post-apocalyptic, which seems to be what you're after.

Also the "Sloosha's Crossing" section of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, but that entire book is pure gold.

mmmjstone
Sep 22, 2004

titty whiskey

Bozart posted:

Coming back here for more recommendations: this time, anything like A Short History of Nearly Everything - preferably focused on mathematics (and not a Brief History of Time) or anything with a similar tone and breadth in a different subject?

After I read A Short History, I picked up the books Pi: A Biography of the World's Most Mysterious Number and Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. Both of these books are a little more in depth than A Short History (and much more limited in scope) but I enjoyed the history behind both numbers. Be prepared to think too much about math.

I believe there is also a similar book on irrational numbers, but I haven't read it yet.

Epée
Jun 17, 2003

The Black Goat

Bozart posted:

Coming back here for more recommendations: this time, anything like A Short History of Nearly Everything - preferably focused on mathematics (and not a Brief History of Time) or anything with a similar tone and breadth in a different subject?

If you are even slightly interested in mathematics, I can't recommend Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh enough. It is a history of mathematics, of sorts, how it all evolved to Fermat, and the further attempts in solving his famous last theorem. Not a hard book to read, and highly enjoyable.

Destroy My Sweater
Jul 24, 2009

I'm looking for some more minimalist fiction or something that reads rather quickly while still managing to be somewhat "literary." I went on a Bret Easton Ellis binge but slowed down at The Informers as it read too much like Less Than Zero and figured I need to try someone new (or old, however you want to look at it).

Also, The Stranger may very well be one of my favorites of all time (sorry if that's cliche) although I'm not what else of Camus' to tackle next. I got through The Plague but was left a bit disappointed. I tried reading The Fall a few years ago but really couldn't get into it. Any suggestions? Anything similar?

Thanks in advance.

ShutteredIn
Mar 24, 2005

El Campeon Mundial del Acordeon

Destroy My Sweater posted:

I'm looking for some more minimalist fiction or something that reads rather quickly while still managing to be somewhat "literary." I went on a Bret Easton Ellis binge but slowed down at The Informers as it read too much like Less Than Zero and figured I need to try someone new (or old, however you want to look at it).

Not totally sure what you want here, but Donald Barthelme's 60 and 40 Stories collections contain very short surrealist/absurd/post-modern stories that are really easy to get through.

Archibald Cox
Feb 11, 2005
How dare you, Mr. Agnew

ShutteredIn posted:

Not totally sure what you want here, but Donald Barthelme's 60 and 40 Stories collections contain very short surrealist/absurd/post-modern stories that are really easy to get through.

The dude asks for minimalism so you recommend Barthelme? :wtc:

ShutteredIn
Mar 24, 2005

El Campeon Mundial del Acordeon
"or something that reads rather quickly"

Barthelme writes super short fiction. It reads quickly :colbert:

Lazareth
Dec 28, 2004
haha, i'm not an '05, take that!

Bozart posted:

Coming back here for more recommendations: this time, anything like A Short History of Nearly Everything - preferably focused on mathematics (and not a Brief History of Time) or anything with a similar tone and breadth in a different subject?

Not really about Mathematics but I enjoyed How We Got Here about as much as I enjoyed Bill Brysons Book.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Got-Here-Irreverent-Technology/dp/0060840978

Pre-Cambrian Syndrome
Jan 6, 2006

I would like to hear about any and all books about time travel, specifically about travelling backwards, and preferbly ones that cover original or unexpected ideas on the subject.

To add to this very weird and specific request I'll add that books revolving around time in general might be of interest, both fiction and non-fiction.


Edit: I'll add to this that I am in no way a sci-fi enthusiast (I haven't even read Dune, to give you perspective), so even "obvious" titles are of interest.

Pre-Cambrian Syndrome fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Aug 1, 2009

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

saigon_15 posted:

I would like to hear about any and all books about time travel, specifically about travelling backwards, and preferbly ones that cover original or unexpected ideas on the subject.

To add to this very weird and specific request I'll add that books revolving around time in general might be of interest, both fiction and non-fiction.


Edit: I'll add to this that I am in no way a sci-fi enthusiast (I haven't even read Dune, to give you perspective), so even "obvious" titles are of interest.
The Time Machine by HG Wells is the obvious daddy, and still holds up really well.

Replay by Ken Grimwood is a nice take on the "going back to when you're younger" trope.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis does the "historical researcher going back in time and getting trapped" thing really well, as does Howard Waldrop's Them Bones in a different way.

I haven't read Kage Baker's Company stories or Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife, but other people think they're good.

criptozoid
Jan 3, 2005

saigon_15 posted:

I would like to hear about any and all books about time travel, specifically about travelling backwards, and preferbly ones that cover original or unexpected ideas on the subject.

To add to this very weird and specific request I'll add that books revolving around time in general might be of interest, both fiction and non-fiction.

Robert Heinlein's short story All of you, zombies.

R. A. Lafferty's short story Rainbird, about an inventor who invents himself out of existence.

David Gerrold's The Man who Folded Himself.

Barrington Bailey's The Fall of Chronopolis.

Metajo Cum Dumpster
Mar 20, 2005
I need to delve into a good space "opera" epic, a book series like Babylon5, something that is epic in breadth but doesn't slouch in the middle just to pad out a few more books. Like ASoIaF, but in space! Recommendations? No Ender, though.

Gravy Jones
Sep 13, 2003

I am not on your side
Time Travel: By His Bootstraps is another great Heinlein short story.

Space Opera: There's a Space Opera thread somewhere on the front page that will probably have plenty of material. Common recommendations would be.

Peter F Hamilton: His Nights Dawn series is epic in every sense of the word, but it's a bit love it or hate it as it's a bit all over the place and qualitywise a lot of people have (justified issues). The next one The Commonwealth Saga, is a lot better in terms of quality and pretty epic as well. I read it recently an enjoyed it. He's got a new trilogy set in same universe out at the moment so there's more to go on with.

Alistair Reynolds: Solid inventive space opera. It's not an ongoing series as such but it's all set in the same universe and individual books are parts of a bigger picture. There's plenty of them and there's going to be plenty more.

Iain M Banks: Again many of his books are set in the same shared universe. Individual books are not epic in the sense you're talking about here. But worth a mention.

fritz
Jul 26, 2003

Metajo Cum Dumpster posted:

I need to delve into a good space "opera" epic, a book series like Babylon5, something that is epic in breadth but doesn't slouch in the middle just to pad out a few more books. Like ASoIaF, but in space! Recommendations? No Ender, though.


You may as well go to the source and read Lensman.

dohminator
Oct 5, 2004

They can take our dignity. They can take all the hot women. But they will NOT take our jobs. And they will NEVER take our store!
I'm curious if there are any books that deal with what would happen to a basically super powered character that has something akin to God like powers. However, I wouldn't want it to be some stupid self-insertion, but an actual exploration of what it would be like to be more powerful than anyone that has ever existed. What would happen if we could make all of our fantasies a reality, and what downside this could have as instant gratification can lead to boredom. What could go wrong if we tried to save the world and make it a utopia? How would someone that was an ordinary person struggle with being given these powers and allowed to make these choices? What would it do to that person?

Is there anything like this?

appropriatemetaphor
Jan 26, 2006

I've really enjoyed most of Umberto Eco's books, are there other authors who have a similar style?

Encryptic
May 3, 2007

appropriatemetaphor posted:

I've really enjoyed most of Umberto Eco's books, are there other authors who have a similar style?

I haven't read anybody quite like Eco, but you might dig Arturo Perez-Reverte's stuff. He's a Spanish writer who's gotten a reputation for writing "literary thrillers". I've read a lot of his stuff and it reminds me a lot of Eco at times since he's not afraid to write characters with a lot of depth or venture into philosophical meandering, rather than just writing a page-turner.

The Club Dumas is a good read and gave me a similar feeling to The Name of the Rose. I also liked The Painter of Battles - it's pretty heavy on the philosophical side.

His other books like The Nautical Chart, The Seville Communion and the Captain Alatriste series are also good, but perhaps not quite what you're after. Still, if you like the first two, then I'd recommend reading anything else by him.

nominal
Oct 13, 2007

I've never tried dried apples.
What are they?
Pork Pro
I am a huge fan of Derek Robinson's novels. I've read about everything I can find except Goshawk Squadron, which just showed up in the mail today. Piece Of Cake is probably my favorite so far and is one of the best books I've ever read. I am interesting in reading more war stories that also have a good sense of humor. Obviously Catch-22 may be the first thing that comes to mind but I have already read that several times over now. I prefer WWI and II but will read just about anything that has a bunch of dudes cracking wise for a few hundred pages and then either killing people or dying horribly themselves.

ShutteredIn
Mar 24, 2005

El Campeon Mundial del Acordeon

appropriatemetaphor posted:

I've really enjoyed most of Umberto Eco's books, are there other authors who have a similar style?

Italo Calvino's work is a little more out there and fantastical at times but shares a lot of the same themes as Eco's books.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound

dohminator posted:

I'm curious if there are any books that deal with what would happen to a basically super powered character that has something akin to God like powers. However, I wouldn't want it to be some stupid self-insertion, but an actual exploration of what it would be like to be more powerful than anyone that has ever existed. What would happen if we could make all of our fantasies a reality, and what downside this could have as instant gratification can lead to boredom. What could go wrong if we tried to save the world and make it a utopia? How would someone that was an ordinary person struggle with being given these powers and allowed to make these choices? What would it do to that person?

Is there anything like this?

Yes. Alan Moore & Neil Gaiman's _Miracleman_ series explored what it would actually be like if the real world got hit with someone who had the powers attributed to golden-age comic book superheroes. It's absolutely brilliant and a better work in many ways that Alan Moore's _Watchmen_ (which also fits your criteria to an extent).

Unfortunately it's the subject of a copyright dispute and thus very hard to find in print.

Philip Wylie's _Gladiator_ was an early exploration of the theme, but is a huge downer.

appropriatemetaphor
Jan 26, 2006

Encryptic posted:

I haven't read anybody quite like Eco, but you might dig Arturo Perez-Reverte's stuff. He's a Spanish writer who's gotten a reputation for writing "literary thrillers". I've read a lot of his stuff and it reminds me a lot of Eco at times since he's not afraid to write characters with a lot of depth or venture into philosophical meandering, rather than just writing a page-turner.

The Club Dumas is a good read and gave me a similar feeling to The Name of the Rose. I also liked The Painter of Battles - it's pretty heavy on the philosophical side.

His other books like The Nautical Chart, The Seville Communion and the Captain Alatriste series are also good, but perhaps not quite what you're after. Still, if you like the first two, then I'd recommend reading anything else by him.

The Club Dumas sounds pretty interesting, I'll snag that one. I suppose literary thrillers or "like the Da Vinci Code but not stupid" describes what I was looking for a little better.

ShutteredIn posted:

Italo Calvino's work is a little more out there and fantastical at times but shares a lot of the same themes as Eco's books.

I've already read a couple of his books actually; If on a winter's night a traveler and The Nonexistent Knight/The Cloven Viscount. Are any of his other books or collections especially good? Invisible Cities is the only other I've seen mentioned with any regularity.

ShutteredIn
Mar 24, 2005

El Campeon Mundial del Acordeon
Invisible Cities is incredible. It's less of a novel and more of a love story to cities. Cosmicomics is also one of my favorites, it's a short series of related fairy tales and fantasies. Think Borges, not wizards and dragons. Actually there might be a wizard or two in there but that's not the point.

The Mechanical Hand
May 21, 2007

as this blessed evening falls don't forget the alcohol
Hey pals. I read Wiliam Gibson's Neuromancer and I decided that this sort of cyberpunk is a kind that I enjoy very much. I picked up Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive but I don't want to restrict myself to just Gibson's work. Does anybody know of anything similiar in style? I like the world and characters he crafted.

Similarly I'm looking for good sci fi in general along those lines. I'm not huge on anything super outlandish with intergalactic wars or outrageous campy poo poo. I know it comes with the territory but I guess I'm lookign more for stuff alogn the lines of the above. I also know it's a different kind of media but I was also a big fan of the storyline that ran through the Cowboy Bebop series (Trigun as well if you want to coutn that as a sort of "sci-fi") - I'm not looking for manga, I'm just citing the kind of stories/feels I'm into.

I also read Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" and that was pretty cool too.

Anyone?

Minotaurus Rex
Feb 25, 2007

if this accounts a rockin'
don't come a knockin'
I'm looking for any books similar to Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, any leads?

Captain Frigate
Apr 30, 2007

you cant have it, you dont have nuff teef to chew it

appropriatemetaphor posted:

I've really enjoyed most of Umberto Eco's books, are there other authors who have a similar style?

I actually have a similar request, but perhaps something that also smacks of Borges. I'll check out the other recommendations, but I thought I'd add mine.

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Schistosity
May 15, 2009

appropriatemetaphor posted:

I've already read a couple of his books actually; If on a winter's night a traveler and The Nonexistent Knight/The Cloven Viscount. Are any of his other books or collections especially good? Invisible Cities is the only other I've seen mentioned with any regularity.

"Cosmicomics" and "The baron in the Tree" are both really good with Calvino.


I'm looking personally for an author that's similar to Mikhail Bulgakov. I really liked "The Master and Margarita" and "Heart of a Dog." It doesn't even have to be another Russian author, but I really like his style of writing.

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