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Quick question, did that top 10 list of books go that used to be stickied in this subforum?
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Jan 28, 2010 06:27
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I'm looking for a light sci fi sort of book. Something that's fairly easy to read, not too long, and preferably part of a trilogy or short series. A fun Sci-Fi space adventure with well written characters and an engaging plot. Also, hopefully something that doesn't require prior knowledge of a franchise (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) Also, hopefully something that I can pick up for less than 10 bucks on Amazon.
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Jan 28, 2010 14:50
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Ez posted:I'm looking for a light sci fi sort of book. Something that's fairly easy to read, not too long, and preferably part of a trilogy or short series. A fun Sci-Fi space adventure with well written characters and an engaging plot. Also, hopefully something that doesn't require prior knowledge of a franchise (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, about a small-time crook with a shambolic crew who gets framed up as part of a treasonous plot. Brilliant, highly readable, great fun. The sequel comes out soon and a third is being written, so get in early! SaviourX posted:Recommend me some good mystery/detective/thriller novels. Like any genre fiction, I know 90% of it is schlock, but there's got to be some good ones out there that make excellent use of the form. Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder novels, about an alcoholic PI. Read them in order to get the best from the character. John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels starting with Every Dead Thing are spooky mysteries with a supernatiral twist, very readable.
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Jan 28, 2010 15:15
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I'm looking for interesting horror, probably something written in the last 10 years (I'm open to old stuff, but I've mostly read everything). Suggestions should take in account I'm a seasoned horror reader, so avoid the usual suspects (Lovecraft, King, Barker, Machen, Leiber, Tessier, Joyce, Masterton, Howard, Bloch, etc). Thanks!
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Jan 28, 2010 19:55
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northerain posted:I'm looking for interesting horror, probably something written in the last 10 years (I'm open to old stuff, but I've mostly read everything). You didn't mention Dan Simmons, so if you haven't read him, you might check out Song of Kali and Summer of Night, to name a couple of pretty solid horror books by him.
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Jan 28, 2010 22:51
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Blurred posted:Try Europe: A History by Norman Davies. At 1400 pages it's hardly a light read, but it's written in an engaging style and much of the detail that doesn't directly affect the narrative comes in independent boxes of text that you can skip (along with the first and last 300 pages) if you just want the broad outline of major political events from 500-1700, but it really is worth the time to read the whole thing. For a more specific period, try The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance. By necessity, it covers the late 1400s to the late 1700s, but he paints a pretty good, readable picture of Europa at the time. Not sure how complete nationwise it is, but it has almost all the elements the poster asked for.
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Jan 28, 2010 23:09
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Being as specific as I think I was, I thought I'd have an army of readers chomping at the bit to tell me what books I should get. Unfortunately, other than CommunistMojo, no one's replied to my post. I ended up choosing Boneshaker as a gift for my gf and she loves it (so much so that I'd highly suggest it to anyone who thinks a post-apocalyptic/steampunk/zombie book sounds interesting). Anyone give me some more suggestions? You have my word that, if you suggest a book she raves about and loves as much as some of her favorite works, I will buy you a beer 
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Jan 28, 2010 23:12
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Harcourt posted:Being as specific as I think I was, I thought I'd have an army of readers chomping at the bit to tell me what books I should get. Unfortunately, other than CommunistMojo, no one's replied to my post. I ended up choosing Boneshaker as a gift for my gf and she loves it (so much so that I'd highly suggest it to anyone who thinks a post-apocalyptic/steampunk/zombie book sounds interesting). Anyone give me some more suggestions? Maybe something by Charles de Lint? Should work out.
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Jan 29, 2010 01:09
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Ez posted:I'm looking for a light sci fi sort of book. Something that's fairly easy to read, not too long, and preferably part of a trilogy or short series. A fun Sci-Fi space adventure with well written characters and an engaging plot. Also, hopefully something that doesn't require prior knowledge of a franchise (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) Rendevouz with Rama by Author C. Clarke. Perfectly weighted, crafted sci-fi, dealing with the appearance of a massive, unmanned vessel of alien origin that suddenly appears in our solar system. The reaction of our species on both a macro and more personal, mico scale, is fascinating. It's that old-school sci-fi that's all about big ideas and scale. Avoid the sequels though - they're over-explained trash. Just sink into the beautiful hazy mystery of the first novel and leave it there.
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Jan 29, 2010 01:14
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Harcourt posted:Anyone give me some more suggestions? Dracula - Bram Stoker (maybe not?) I Am Legend - Rishard Matheson Let The Right One In - JA Lindqvist It's really difficult to keep track of which requests have been answered and which haven't in this thread 
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Jan 29, 2010 01:14
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I'm looking for a book on how our human DNA is polluted by gene fragments from other species (non-fiction obviously, not alien fanfiction). When the human genome project was concluded Nature had a special issue on how diseases, especially auto immune diseases, might originate from retrovirus and other microbial fragments in our DNA. Any good reads here? Also zoomorphology and evolution in mammals, written as Stephen Jay Gould would - or maybe did?
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Jan 29, 2010 17:14
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This popped in my head after a post I just wrote in CineD. This may be more of a CC question, but I'm going for it... Are there any books out there that teach aspiring storytellers how to work themes, motifs, and symbols into their stories? Not books on finding them in existing works—like How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, which I loved but isn't what I'm looking for—but books on how to enrich one's own fiction with such things. I know it's really a fundamental part of writing, but in all the books on writing I've seen, I've never really seen anything that hit this idea hard.
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Jan 30, 2010 03:44
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I was looking into reading don quixote and saw that there are several different translations of it. Is there translation that is more recommended then the others or are they all fairly accurate?
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Jan 30, 2010 05:09
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Blurred posted:Try Europe: A History by Norman Davies. At 1400 pages it's hardly a light read, but it's written in an engaging style and much of the detail that doesn't directly affect the narrative comes in independent boxes of text that you can skip (along with the first and last 300 pages) if you just want the broad outline of major political events from 500-1700, but it really is worth the time to read the whole thing. dokmo posted:I want to second this. One of the great things in the book is its balanced approach to easter europe (I think the author is Polish), which goes to show how biased standard European histories are balanced towards the western states. Thanks! I saw this recommendation a way back (in this thread, I think), and will check it out. SaviourX posted:For a more specific period, try The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance.
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Jan 30, 2010 17:41
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I'm trying to write a sci-fi/fantasy war epic about a World War II/Cold War style showdown between magical societies and scientific societies, from the perspective of a tiny hybrid nation caught between the competing blocs. I know that science versus magic has been done before, but I want to explore in excruciating detail why wizards and scientists (and their subsequent societies) are hostile to each other, not just the what. I've been doing some reading (The Dresden Files, Harry Potter, Hell's Gate, Flight of Dragons), but so far none of the books where magic and science come into conflict have ever really talked about the "why," other than "humans are dicks by nature". What are the best books that cover magic/science conflicts? I'd like to read as many as I possibly can before I try creating something even close to "new" or "different".
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Jan 30, 2010 21:22
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hot pants posted:I was looking into reading don quixote and saw that there are several different translations of it. Is there translation that is more recommended then the others or are they all fairly accurate? John Rutherford's translation for Penguin Classics retains the wit and energy and humor beautifully, in my opinion. I'd recommend that one.
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Jan 30, 2010 22:27
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cool, thanks! Penguin classics it is then!
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Jan 30, 2010 23:49
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THE HORSES rear end posted:What are the best books that cover magic/science conflicts? I'd like to read as many as I possibly can before I try creating something even close to "new" or "different". Try to find a short novel by Jack Vance titled "The Miracle Workers".  It is about a society in which a tradition of sympathetic magic is beginning to lose ground to the scientific method. The story could almost be interpreted as a fantasy/sci-fi version of a Kuhnian "paradigm shift".
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Jan 31, 2010 01:59
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CloseFriend posted:I know it's really a fundamental part of writing, but in all the books on writing I've seen, I've never really seen anything that hit this idea hard. Yeah, try asking in CC; someone will have a pet book I'm sure. quote:That one seems a bit culture-fixated for my tastes, though? Ah well, no harm no foul.
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Jan 31, 2010 12:03
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Anyone know of any fantasy written from a first-person point of view? I'm tinkering with a story myself, but the main character is an amnesiac, and that's just so much easier if it's first-person. But fantasy in first-person seems... wrong, somehow.
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Jan 31, 2010 14:49
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freebooter posted:Anyone know of any fantasy written from a first-person point of view? I'm tinkering with a story myself, but the main character is an amnesiac, and that's just so much easier if it's first-person. But fantasy in first-person seems... wrong, somehow. Book of the New Sun, despite actually being good, is a fantasy series written in the first person. Wolfe has literary influences instead of the usual pulp ones, and it shows in the quality of his language.
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Jan 31, 2010 17:42
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freebooter posted:Anyone know of any fantasy written from a first-person point of view? I'm tinkering with a story myself, but the main character is an amnesiac, and that's just so much easier if it's first-person. But fantasy in first-person seems... wrong, somehow. The Double Shadow by Clark Ashton Smith. Also much of Lovecraft's work.
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Jan 31, 2010 17:59
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freebooter posted:Anyone know of any fantasy written from a first-person point of view? I'm tinkering with a story myself, but the main character is an amnesiac, and that's just so much easier if it's first-person. But fantasy in first-person seems... wrong, somehow. A fantasy story with an amnesiac as the main character? I have never heard of such a thing before in my life... You should read Latro in the Mist though, also by Gene Wolfe! The main character has anterograde memory loss, it's written in the first person, and it's the best memory loss protagonist novel I've ever read.
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Jan 31, 2010 20:34
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The Wizard Knight (also by Wolfe!) is another first-person fantasy read. It's not his best stuff ever, but it's Wolfe, so it's not bad either.
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Feb 1, 2010 00:58
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I just finished reading God's Problem: How the Bible fails to answer our most important question-- why we suffer. It really opened my eyes to what I've been calling faith and is really just not looking too closely at anything that might contradict that faith. http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Problem-Answer-Important-Question-Why/dp/0061173924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265008150&sr=8-1 Besides Bart Ehrman's other books, can anyone rec any books in a similar vein?
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Feb 1, 2010 08:17
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I looked around and this seems to be the best place to ask this question. I'm sure I'll be told otherwise though. I'm just getting into the Dexter TV series, and I'm only halfway through the first season. Are the books the same exact stories as the series? I didn't want to look for the info myself out of fear for spoilers. And are the books recommended either way?
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Feb 1, 2010 21:42
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hot pants posted:I was looking into reading don quixote and saw that there are several different translations of it. Is there translation that is more recommended then the others or are they all fairly accurate? It might be too late to chime in, but I really enjoyed the most recent translation by Edith Grossman. I thought she did a nice job of making the book extremely readable and enjoyable. I was bummed when it was over.
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Feb 1, 2010 22:30
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nWoCHRISnWo posted:I looked around and this seems to be the best place to ask this question. I'm sure I'll be told otherwise though. The first two books are decent but the show is better (and I fucken hate most all television so that means some poo poo coming from me), the first season is an expanded version of the first book but after that they go their separate ways. Haven't read the third book but I heard it's crap.
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Feb 1, 2010 23:41
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Does anyone have any suggestions for contemporary detective stories? I just finished Dennis Lehane's Kenzie/Gennaro series and I'd like more stuff in that vein if possible.
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Feb 2, 2010 00:36
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One of my favorite books growing up was The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and I'd love to find something similar but not geared at middle-schoolers. Basically the premise of the book is that a boy is stranded in the Canadian wilderness and has to survive with only a hatchet. I saw earlier in the thread people were talking about non-fiction survival books but I'm more in the mood for some interesting fiction based around survival. Any ideas goons?
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Feb 2, 2010 00:43
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Horn posted:Survival in the wilderness books. I'm pretty sure that was Jack London's thing--White Fang, Call of the Wild, The Sea-Wolf.
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Feb 5, 2010 05:45
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fadam posted:Does anyone have any suggestions for contemporary detective stories? I just finished Dennis Lehane's Kenzie/Gennaro series and I'd like more stuff in that vein if possible. Check out George Pelecanos and Joe R. Lansdale Pelecanos' novels are usually located in in Washington DC, while Lansdale's are located in rural east Texas. If you specifically want buddy detective teams Pelecanos' "Derek Strange and Terry Quinn" Series might fit the bill. And Joe R. Lansdale's "Hap and Leonard" series which I highly recommend. Both series features salt and pepper crime fighting buddy's.
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Feb 5, 2010 22:02
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I'm looking for books that deal with 1990's culture. Either nonfiction or fiction. Or anything that would be really good for studying it. For fiction, maybe something along the lines of Generation X, but it doesn't necessarily have to deal with the slacker culture. Does anyone have any good books for someone who is really interested in the 90s?
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Feb 5, 2010 23:10
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Dancingthroughlife posted:I just finished reading God's Problem: How the Bible fails to answer our most important question-- why we suffer. I couldn't tell exactly what it is you're looking for (something eye-opening but not contrary?), but perhaps John Shelby Spong is the kind of author you're after? He writes on a wide variety of topics within the Christian faith, so I'm sure there'd be something there to appeal to you.
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Feb 6, 2010 05:11
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I'm looking for a fictional book about a guy in his 20's or 30's dealing with normal issues for a guy in his 20's or 30's. (Relationships problems, work, friends, etc.) David Eddie's Chump Change is one example of this type of book... Any ideas? It seems like there is a lot of books out there with this topic for women, but not many for men.
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Feb 6, 2010 19:22
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a bear posted:I'm looking for books that deal with 1990's culture. Either nonfiction or fiction. Or anything that would be really good for studying it. For fiction, maybe something along the lines of Generation X, but it doesn't necessarily have to deal with the slacker culture. Does anyone have any good books for someone who is really interested in the 90s? Douglas Coupland would be a good start.
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Feb 7, 2010 01:00
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I am looking for any light history book. I tend to prefer ones where they describe in detail the people involved, ie what type of person they were, why they made the decisions they did, etc. I am definitely going to check out the Europe book posted recently but thought there may be some others out there. Subject matter can be anything but I tend to like big events so I already have a general idea of what it is about and then gain new insight on the people involved and the lesser known events surrounding it. The last two books I read recently were Battle Cry for Freedom (Civil War) and Agincourt.
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Feb 8, 2010 06:24
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Hand Row posted:I am looking for any light history book. I tend to prefer ones where they describe in detail the people involved, ie what type of person they were, why they made the decisions they did, etc. That is a pretty vague request. Three random selections from my library that fit that description. Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson review here Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel review here If A Pirate I Must Be: The True Story Of Bartholomew Roberts, King Of The Caribbean by Richard Sanders review
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Feb 8, 2010 18:49
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Thanks for the suggestions, sorry I know it was vague but if I knew directly what I was interested in I simply would have done research on it and found some books on it. Basically I am looking for topics I wouldn't have considered before.
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Feb 9, 2010 04:11
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I have everything from The Kite Runner to Vonnegut books to Tucker Max on my Kindle. I'm a huge fan of the Bill Bryson, David Sedaris, Jeremy Clarkson style of humorous travel anecdotes as well. Right now I'm in the middle of The Gamble and I have Too Big to Fail and Fiasco queued up. I'm leaving for Afghanistan in about a week for a year and I'd really like to add 5 or 6 more books before I head out. Any ideas? edit Horn posted:One of my favorite books growing up was The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and I'd love to find something similar but not geared at middle-schoolers. Basically the premise of the book is that a boy is stranded in the Canadian wilderness and has to survive with only a hatchet. Crazy for the Storm is pretty good, it's non-fiction about a kid and a plane crash with a lot of flashbacks. Pudgygiant fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Feb 9, 2010 |
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Feb 9, 2010 20:53
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