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internet inc posted:What's a good book that combines mystery, science fiction, and police work? I know my dad likes the TV series Person of Interest and wants to get back into reading. He's an astrophysicist so it doesn't have to be dumbed down or whatever. It also has to be rather recent so I'll be sure he hasn't read it... last 5 years or so? The Yiddish Policeman's Union?
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Dec 18, 2014 23:36
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The City and the City by China Mieville?
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Dec 19, 2014 00:06
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The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds (2007) is a pretty good sf/detective story. It's part of a wider series but it's a standalone prequel so your Dad can just dive in with this one. Publishers Weekly review: quote:The seventh novel set in Reynolds's Revelation Space milieu (most recently encountered in his 2007 collection Galactic North) is a fascinating hybrid of space opera, police procedural and character study. One of the 10,000 colony habitats of the utopian Glitter Band has been destroyed, and title character Tom Dreyfus, a cop who patrols the Glitter Band beat, is assigned to learn whodunit and why. Meanwhile, his protégé, Thalia Ng, shepherds a supposedly minor series of software upgrades on several other habitats, while Dreyfus's superiors oust their leader, ostensibly for her own good. Reynolds unfolds revelations layer by onionskin layer, supplying enough detail to imply a novel's worth of unwritten backstory without ever obscuring the stakes and personalities. The high-quality characterization more than compensates for the slightly too shadowy villains. This is solid British SF adventure, evoking echoes of le Carré and Sayers with a liberal dash of Doctor Who. Reynolds is an astrophysicist too so your dad would probably appreciate the hard-sf approach in the worldbuilding.
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Dec 19, 2014 00:16
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Well, if he hasn't read it already, Asimov's Caves of Steel is pretty much a classic. In a similar vein, Bester's Demolished Man.
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Dec 19, 2014 13:14
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Ben Winters' Last Policeman trilogy, about a cop trying to solve cases while there's a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth, might be worth a try.
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Dec 19, 2014 23:40
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This thread has served me well in the past with dad book recommendations, and I'd appreciate its help again for Christmas. He's a military history/fiction nerd, but I don't want to restrict things to just that, and I'd prefer suggestions that are a little off the beaten track.
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Dec 20, 2014 02:24
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internet inc posted:What's a good book that combines mystery, science fiction, and police work? I know my dad likes the TV series Person of Interest and wants to get back into reading. He's an astrophysicist so it doesn't have to be dumbed down or whatever. It also has to be rather recent so I'll be sure he hasn't read it... last 5 years or so? Try Lock In by John Scalzi. Just came out this year and it has a lot of heavy sci fi which is directly related to the mystery plot.
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Dec 20, 2014 03:18
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internet inc posted:What's a good book that combines mystery, science fiction, and police work? I know my dad likes the TV series Person of Interest and wants to get back into reading. He's an astrophysicist so it doesn't have to be dumbed down or whatever. It also has to be rather recent so I'll be sure he hasn't read it... last 5 years or so? Altered Carbon
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Dec 20, 2014 03:50
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Darth Walrus posted:This thread has served me well in the past with dad book recommendations, and I'd appreciate its help again for Christmas. He's a military history/fiction nerd, but I don't want to restrict things to just that, and I'd prefer suggestions that are a little off the beaten track. Peter Firstbrook's A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America, Ed Offley's The Burning Shore: How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America
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Dec 20, 2014 12:25
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Does anyone have any recommendations for good history books on the period of time immediately following WWII, like 1945 to early 1950s? Either non-fiction novels on ndividual people's stories or wider overviews of the events of the period, I just want to learn more about that part of history in general. Anything outside Europe and America would be particularly interesting too, since I know even less about that than the western stuff.
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Dec 20, 2014 16:00
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After years of trying to get my brother to read, he has finally asked that I get him a book for Christmas. He's 31 and has never read a book in his entire life. I think it's a golden opportunity to get him hooked, but I'm having trouble thinking of something that's great and accessible. Maybe something like The Tiger by John Vaillant?
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Dec 20, 2014 17:17
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Red Bones posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for good history books on the period of time immediately following WWII, like 1945 to early 1950s? Either non-fiction novels on ndividual people's stories or wider overviews of the events of the period, I just want to learn more about that part of history in general. Anything outside Europe and America would be particularly interesting too, since I know even less about that than the western stuff. Tony Judt's Postwar. Its about Europe but its one of the best "modern" history books I've read in a long time.
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Dec 20, 2014 22:44
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Smeef posted:After years of trying to get my brother to read, he has finally asked that I get him a book for Christmas. He's 31 and has never read a book in his entire life. I think it's a golden opportunity to get him hooked, but I'm having trouble thinking of something that's great and accessible. Maybe something like The Tiger by John Vaillant? What type of TV shows and movies does he like to watch?
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Dec 20, 2014 23:02
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Stravinsky posted:What type of TV shows and movies does he like to watch? He watches all the premium cable shows. I considered Game of Thrones, but (1) aside from the HBO series he's shown zero interest in fantasy, and (2) regardless of how easy of a read it is, the size of the book is likely to turn him off.
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Dec 20, 2014 23:05
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Smeef posted:He watches all the premium cable shows. I considered Game of Thrones, but (1) aside from the HBO series he's shown zero interest in fantasy, and (2) regardless of how easy of a read it is, the size of the book is likely to turn him off. That's always hard. Maybe Harry Potter? Maybe The Hobbit? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? The Maltese Falcon maybe. I'll keep thinking.
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Dec 20, 2014 23:13
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Smeef posted:He watches all the premium cable shows. I considered Game of Thrones, but (1) aside from the HBO series he's shown zero interest in fantasy, and (2) regardless of how easy of a read it is, the size of the book is likely to turn him off. Discworld, maybe?
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Dec 20, 2014 23:45
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Yeah let's suggest fantasy when the guy says he has no interest in fantasy.
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Dec 21, 2014 00:19
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It could be non-fiction, too. This is a 30-something man who likes golf and hunting. Harry Potter, Hitchhiker's Guide, etc., are probably going to alienate him from reading more than get him started. Something picaresque might work. I was considering a James Clavell book, but they're all thick as hell and in tiny print. I think something in the vein of Michael Lewis could keep him interested, but he's not into finance and has probably seen the movie adaptations of Michael Lewis' sports books.
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Dec 21, 2014 00:48
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Here are some ideas off the top of my head Closer to the kind of nonfiction true story thing your going for: Storm of steel- its a memoir of a german's experience of ww1. It is interesting due to the fact he thought war was a good thing and that it was good for people and the nation. He is also a realist so its not some raving mad bloodthirsty guy but a look at a common mindset of the people at the time. Imperial Life in the Emerald City- I don't know if your brother watched generation kill, but this is kind of in the same vein of the book that it was based on. Just after the war in Iraq, it covers the actions of several reoccurring people and their efforts and failings to make iraq into a functioning capitalist republic in the lines of the US. Bringing Down the House or Busting Vegas- both about mit students cardcounting in vegas and the problems they got into due to it and trying to get out of those problems. The first one was made into a movie. I will admit that this stuff is not really in my wheelhouse so I hope someone comes in and has more suggestions. Fiction for grown ups that probably wont seem to long and I could see being adapted to hbo or something: The man who was thursday No longer Human Norwegian Wood
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Dec 21, 2014 01:27
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LionYeti posted:Tony Judt's Postwar. Its about Europe but its one of the best "modern" history books I've read in a long time. Thanks, I'll check it out.
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Dec 21, 2014 02:52
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Stravinsky posted:Here are some ideas off the top of my head Bringing Down the House might work. How about The Night of the Gun? (I haven't read either.)
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Dec 21, 2014 03:17
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Smeef posted:It could be non-fiction, too. This is a 30-something man who likes golf and hunting. Carl Hiaasen, start with Double Whammy. No doubt. Danger Mahoney fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 04:20
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The Ghosts of Cannae by Robert OConnell is a great military history. Another great non-fiction book is People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry. It's a true crime one about a murder but avoids being all sensationalist and sleazy, and instead delves deep into it's characters and themes in an excellent way. As far as fiction goes, Theodore Judson wrote two novels I like a lot where he takes a very famous military figure/story from history and re-imagines em in a future apocalyptic scifi type setting. The scifi elements aren't all that heavy, the author's more focused on telling the characters' stories and he does a good job of it in these. Fitzpatrick's War is Alexander the Great and his companions rise and fall; and The Martian General's Daughter is Marcus Aurelius, his insane son Commodus and the declining empire. Don't know if your father'd be willing to give anything scifi a read but since you mentioned off the beaten path
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Dec 21, 2014 04:33
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Going on a cruise tomorrow and want something humorous to read. Real light poo poo that can be read while drunk. Preferably nonfiction musings or stories. I liked Pen Jillette's books if that helps at all. It probably doesn't though. I just want funny stories 
Bum the Sad fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 05:19
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Bum the Sad posted:Going on a cruise tomorrow and want something humorous to read. Real light poo poo that can be read while drunk. Preferably nonfiction musings or stories. I liked Pen Jillette's books if that helps at all. It probably doesn't though. I just want funny stories Dave Barry. His book about his visit to Japan is particularly good.
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Dec 21, 2014 06:01
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Bill Bryson. In a Sunburned Country, and A Walk in the Woods.
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Dec 21, 2014 06:13
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Smeef posted:It could be non-fiction, too. This is a 30-something man who likes golf and hunting. Something by Gary Paulsen? 
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Dec 21, 2014 06:21
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Bum the Sad posted:Going on a cruise tomorrow and want something humorous to read. Real light poo poo that can be read while drunk. Preferably nonfiction musings or stories. I liked Pen Jillette's books if that helps at all. It probably doesn't though. I just want funny stories David Sedaris's books are all humorous essays that are incredibly funny. He's not afraid of showing his mean/selfish/flawed side, which I think is great to read when you're drinking.
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Dec 21, 2014 12:11
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elbow posted:David Sedaris's books are all humorous essays that are incredibly funny. He's not afraid of showing his mean/selfish/flawed side, which I think is great to read when you're drinking. Thanks for the advice guys. Ended up buying "Me talk pretty one day."
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Dec 21, 2014 16:45
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What are the other emblematic works of New Journalism besides Capote's In Cold Blood? I've been on a Joan Didion kick lately and really, really enjoy her style but I feel like branching out in the genre.
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Dec 22, 2014 00:01
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moot the hopple posted:What are the other emblematic works of New Journalism besides Capote's In Cold Blood? I've been on a Joan Didion kick lately and really, really enjoy her style but I feel like branching out in the genre. When I think of New Journalism, as far as books go, I think of Mailer's Armies of the Night and Thompson's Fear and Loathing, maybe the most well-known books in the genre. My favorite, though, is Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest.
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Dec 22, 2014 00:21
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Bum the Sad posted:Going on a cruise tomorrow and want something humorous to read. Real light poo poo that can be read while drunk. Preferably nonfiction musings or stories. I liked Pen Jillette's books if that helps at all. It probably doesn't though. I just want funny stories For a cruise, I'd recommend James Michener's Rascals in Paradise. Nonfiction shorts about pirates, mutineers, freebooters, and rapscallions in the south pacific.
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Dec 22, 2014 07:07
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my FIANCE just finished that book Wild and now is looking for something similar, but not Bill Bryson. Any ideas?
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Dec 22, 2014 12:18
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JohnnyDangerously posted:my FIANCE just finished that book Wild and now is looking for something similar, but not Bill Bryson. Any ideas? The Cactus Eaters by Dan White is most similar -- creepy personal drama on the PCT. Almost Somewhere by Suzanne Roberts has lovely descriptions of hiking the John Muir Trail but is marred by "all women are like this, all men are like this" generalizations as like her major theme.
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Dec 22, 2014 13:54
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moot the hopple posted:What are the other emblematic works of New Journalism besides Capote's In Cold Blood? I've been on a Joan Didion kick lately and really, really enjoy her style but I feel like branching out in the genre. I really like A Fire on the Moon by Norman Mailer, it's less abstract/idiosyncratic than the 'emblematic' works, meanders between personal introspection and more direct interviews with the astronauts and personnel at NASA at the time of the moon landing, but it's the only work I've read that considers the landing from a societal rather than a strictly scientific perspective. Favourite quote: The horror of the twentieth century was the size of each new event, and the paucity of its reverberation.
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Dec 22, 2014 19:26
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I'm going to be working several long, boring shifts over the holidays and want some ideas for good page-turners. Preferably something relatively light and fun, but mostly just something that constantly keeps me wanting to know what happens next. A few examples of things I've enjoyed recently would be The Dresden Files, The LightBringer series, The Laundry Files, and most of Brandon Sanderson's stuff. It definitely doesn't have to be fantasy/sci-fi, but I like fiction with a bit of mystery and the supernatural.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:15
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Theli posted:I'm going to be working several long, boring shifts over the holidays and want some ideas for good page-turners. Preferably something relatively light and fun, but mostly just something that constantly keeps me wanting to know what happens next. the third book comes out in Feb I think
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Dec 22, 2014 23:19
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bowmore posted:Promise of Blood by Brian Mclellan followed by The Crimson Campaign I've read those, but good suggestion, definitely along the lines of what I'm looking for. I might actually need something outside of fantasy, I've read so many of them that most recommendations in that genre would probably be repeats for me.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:26
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Theli posted:I've read those, but good suggestion, definitely along the lines of what I'm looking for. Maybe read John le Carré's books
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Dec 22, 2014 23:32
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bowmore posted:Do you like spy fiction? Haven't read any, but I'll look into that. Any particular one you'd recommend starting with?
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Dec 23, 2014 00:11
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