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I am a big fan of Jane Austen, and I'd like to read something else with a similarly wry, sharp wit. It doesn't need to be Regency era, or a love story, or even written by a woman. I would just love to read a new (to me) book with shades of Elizabeth Bennet's/Austen's sense of humour and some larger-than-life characters. Also am I the only one who finds Kvothe from The Name of the Wind to be an absolutely insufferable smug git? I am liking the overall story so far but eesh, when the characters aren't drooling into their laps about how smart and bad rear end and special Kvothe is, he's telling us himself: "Oh well you see, this really smart dude expected it would take me forever to learn his complicated shorthand but I snatched his pen away and wrote 'I am awesome' in his fancy language after 5 seconds of observation, then I said 'Hey man, correct me if I got anything wrong!'. Also I was eleven years old at the time." 
Penfold the Brave fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Jul 12, 2010 |
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Jul 12, 2010 04:39
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blue squares posted:I'm looking for a book that tells the story of a couple meeting and falling in love, but one that is geared toward men rather than women. It might be worth checking out pretty much anything by Nick Hornby. I'm not sure any of his books are explicitly about "meeting and falling in love" but there's a lot of falling in and out of love and relationship stuff in general, almost always with a man as the main protagonist and with a male pespective on the whole thing. High Fidelity and About a Boy are probably the most well known of his books and your best starting point.
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Jul 12, 2010 11:17
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Gravy Jones posted:It might be worth checking out pretty much anything by Nick Hornby. I'm not sure any of his books are explicitly about "meeting and falling in love" but there's a lot of falling in and out of love and relationship stuff in general, almost always with a man as the main protagonist and with a male pespective on the whole thing. High Fidelity and About a Boy are probably the most well known of his books and your best starting point. Thanks a lot, just threw High Fidelity onto my Kindle.
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Jul 12, 2010 12:05
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Shab posted:I'm looking for some science fiction that gives a believable account of an alien species. Something in the vein of The Mote in God's Eye. A first contact novel wouldn't be out the question as long as it presents an alien species and culture that I can really get interested in. Blindsight, by Peter Watts. His aliens are alien instead of uninspired anthropomorphized wish fulfilling masturbation machines. edit: Because they are actually alien they don't have a culture in a way that is comprehensible to us.
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Jul 12, 2010 13:34
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reflir posted:Blindsight, by Peter Watts. His aliens are alien instead of uninspired anthropomorphized wish fulfilling masturbation machines. Thanks, this looks right up my alley.
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Jul 12, 2010 14:12
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Penfold the Brave posted:I am a big fan of Jane Austen, and I'd like to read something else with a similarly wry, sharp wit. It doesn't need to be Regency era, or a love story, or even written by a woman. I would just love to read a new (to me) book with shades of Elizabeth Bennet's/Austen's sense of humour and some larger-than-life characters. Frances Burney, for sure. George Eliot, probably. Elizabeth Gaskell, maybe. Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho might be alright for you if you enjoyed Northanger Abbey. Henry Fielding and Tobias Smollett (both a bit before Austen): novels with humour and larger-than-life characters were their thing; the humour is less "refined" than Austen's, I guess, but I enjoy both far more. Start with Tom Jones and Humphrey Clinker. Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh (Victorian) is really funny and you would probably like it if you like Fielding/Smollett, but it may be too far from what you're after. Oh, Thackeray's Vanity Fair! That's probably the most obvious choice. Becky Sharpe is definitely as lively as Elizabeth Bennet. You might also like Trollope's The Way We Live Now; it's not really Austenian, but it's got broadly-drawn characters that the author comes down upon pretty viciously and sometimes humorously (plus young people romances woven into the plot). That's a pretty conventional list. You've got tons to choose from.
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Jul 13, 2010 03:58
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Facial Fracture posted:Frances Burney, for sure. George Eliot, probably. Elizabeth Gaskell, maybe. Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho might be alright for you if you enjoyed Northanger Abbey. Thank you! Northanger Abbey isn't my favourite (I dunno, I suppose making fun of gothic novels was hilarious at the time but maybe you had to be there) but everything else sounds delicious. Sounds like a lot of these recommendations will be available on Project Gutenberg so I'll start putting them on my e-reader. Thanks so much for taking time out to give me so many choices, I get really weary of everyone giving the I-don't-really-know answer of, "Oh, the Brontė sisters!" - yeah, the Brontės are loving hilarious dude, I almost split my sides reading Jane Eyre. Christ. 
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Jul 13, 2010 04:42
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Blue Moon posted:I've been reading a lot of Issac Asimov lately and am interested in seeing what Arthur C. Clarke is like. Any recommendations for which of Clarke's works to start with besides 2001: A Space Odyssey? I've only read a few of his books but I thought Rendezvous with Rama was really good. Basically a huge alien cylindrical ship comes into the solar system and a crew of humans land on it and start to explore it. By the way anyone know any good sci-fi books about space exploration?
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Jul 13, 2010 18:34
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My parental unit has had it rough latly and I thought I'd get her a book to cheer her up. Problem is I'm usually a BSS dude so my actual literature intake isnt what it should be as of late, and while i know a lot about what to reccomend in the realms of superheroics and over the top justice sillyness, I lack any really ability to know what I should get her. I know she's on a big fantasy kick at the moment and is enjoying both Christine Feehan and Trudi Canavan. But her and her best friend motor through books like theres no tommorow so I dont want to get a book of either of these authors out of fear she's got it or her friend does and she's already read it. So preety please can someone reccomend me what i can get her that is in a similar vein to these authors. Oh, she's not a Twilight fan either, I've no idea if the authors are similar, just trying to hit that one on the head before it starts.
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Jul 14, 2010 01:32
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I'm reading through Amis' House of Meetings. I like the overall plot, but often it seems too unfocused. Narrator will float from idea to idea and I'm left largely knowing what he's talking about but feel like I had to interpret what was said even though it's in plain English. I still enjoy the book, regardless. I fancy the time frame and subject. I'm gonna assume that it's a style of the narrator and not the author. quote:So preety please can someone reccomend me what i can get her that is in a similar vein to these authors. Lev Grossman's 'The Magicians' and James Irby's 'Labyrinths' were highly recommended to me, but I have not read them yet. Though I think The Magicians may be a bit more lighter than Labyrinths. Zuhzuhzombie!! fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jul 15, 2010 |
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Jul 15, 2010 19:18
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I'm looking for non-fiction books on American imperialism in South America and the Middle-East. Also, anything about the modern history in the Middle-East and South America as well. I'm not quite sure where to look or where to start.
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Jul 16, 2010 12:19
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Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America is something of a classic on the topic of US imperialism in South and Central America.
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Jul 16, 2010 15:03
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dokmo posted:Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America is something of a classic on the topic of US imperialism in South and Central America. Thanks a lot! Could you recommend anything on modern history of South America/Middle-East? Or even specific countries within South America/Middle-East?
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Jul 16, 2010 15:15
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i see things posted:Thanks a lot! Could you recommend anything on modern history of South America/Middle-East? Or even specific countries within South America/Middle-East? A friend recommends Lawrence Clayton's A History of Modern Latin America, which is kind of an introductory survey across all the countries. Unfortunately is looks pretty expensive, but you may be able to track it down used or at the library. Sorry, I don't know anything about the middle east. edit: Looking at my shelves now I see that I have Brian Loveman's Chile: The Legacy of Hispanic Capitalism, which I remember being terrific. I always thought that Chile's modern history was one of the more interesting among Latin countries, this book makes the case for that. dokmo fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jul 16, 2010 |
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Jul 16, 2010 17:51
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I recently read The Wrestler's Cruel Study and loved it. I'd like a recommend on books in the same vein- things that are postmodern and funny. I'm already working on Infinite Jest and Gravity's Rainbow, so books other than those would be appreciated.
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Jul 17, 2010 02:40
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ChirpChirpCheep posted:I recently read The Wrestler's Cruel Study and loved it. I'd like a recommend on books in the same vein- things that are postmodern and funny. I'm already working on Infinite Jest and Gravity's Rainbow, so books other than those would be appreciated. Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius perhaps? I thought Don Delillo's White Noise was great, too, but I can see it not being everybody's cup of tea.
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Jul 17, 2010 05:38
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I'm looking for any good histories of the Diadochi, or a good history of the expansion of the early roman republic, including the Punic Wars. Any suggestions?
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Jul 17, 2010 08:00
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i see things posted:I'm looking for non-fiction books on American imperialism in South America and the Middle-East. A People's History of American Empire is kindof a lighthearted graphic novel that touches on Latin America and SW Asia. Veins sounds pretty good though, I tossed that on my library queue. The amazon reviews are full of people going "  American haters will love this book", if it's good enough to piss people off, it's good enough for me.
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Jul 17, 2010 08:14
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I'm looking for some good nonfiction on the general history of Russia - somewhere to start from, and some books concentrating purely on the foundations of it, the czarist era, the communist era, etc. Also anything about Cossacks in general. In that same vein, I'm also looking for anything on Hungary, Belarus, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Can anyone help?
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Jul 17, 2010 21:00
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I have two suggestions for you: You might be interested Black Earth: A Journey Through Russia After the Fall by Andrew Meier and Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism by Vadim Volkov. Black Earth details Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union and was written by a Times correspondent in Moscow. Violent Entrepreneurs is one that focuses on the rise of organized crime in Russia after the fall and how different crime groups came to power.
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Jul 17, 2010 21:17
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The Soviet Experiment by Ronald Suny is considered a classic history of the Soviet era. I'm also a big fan of David Hoffman's The Oligarchs, though it's a bit outdated. I'd love to find something in that vein that includes the more recent developments in the Khodorkovsky debacle.
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Jul 17, 2010 23:20
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Son of Quakerman posted:I'm looking for any good histories of the Diadochi, or a good history of the expansion of the early roman republic, including the Punic Wars. Any suggestions? I haven't read them (yet, anyway, they're sitting on my shelf), but Livy wrote a bunch of stuff on the rise of the Roman Empire and seems like a good starting point.
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Jul 17, 2010 23:55
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My new job has me driving a lot and I've come to really enjoy listening to books on tape while I'm on the road. A few months ago someone turned me on to Christopher Moore. I've really come to like his writing style, sort of the dark, humorous fiction and have gone through a few of his books now on disc. I was hoping someone might be able to recommend another author along his style to look into. It doesn't necessarily have to be about death or vampires or anything, but funny fiction seems to be my style. Amazon isn't helping me with any recommendations as it just keeps recommending me more Christopher Moore.
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Jul 19, 2010 22:14
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I just got a Kindle and I'm looking to try some new things. Traditionally, I've just read fantasy stuff (WoT, Forgetten Realms, etc) and I'm looking for some good horror novels, maybe some post-apocolyptic stuff?
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Jul 19, 2010 22:50
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I'm looking for a few good books about Canada's history. General overviews, specific eras/events, biographies of important people, anything really. Preferably not textbooks, I'd prefer least slightly engaging writing, but I'll take what I can get. Thanks in advance.
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Jul 19, 2010 23:51
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Velocirocktor posted:I'm looking for a few good books about Canada's history. General overviews, specific eras/events, biographies of important people, anything really. Preferably not textbooks, I'd prefer least slightly engaging writing, but I'll take what I can get. Thanks in advance. I don't think there are too many general histories of Canada. The only two I can think of are The Oxford Companion to Canadian History (an 800-page brick) and the slightly more modest Penguin History Of Canada. I haven't read either, but I think the former is more of a reference book, which may be what you're looking for. The latter is more of a narrative history. edit: now that I reread your request, it looks like your just asking for any good histories about Canada, not specifically general histories. In that case, I can recommend any of Pierre Berton's history books (especially Marching as to War). More narrowly specific, but Jon Latimer's 1812: War with America was a terrific read about a poorly understood war. dokmo fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Jul 20, 2010 |
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Jul 20, 2010 00:41
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Thanks for the suggestions. The Oxford Companion seems like just the thing I'd like to have sitting around for reference. The Latimer book sounds really good and I've heard of Pierre Berton a billion times and even had one of his books (The National Dream) in my Amazon Wish List for a while but didn't think of him. Definitely going to work my way through his writing. Thanks again.
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Jul 20, 2010 02:17
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omnibobb posted:I just got a Kindle and I'm looking to try some new things. Traditionally, I've just read fantasy stuff (WoT, Forgetten Realms, etc) and I'm looking for some good horror novels, maybe some post-apocolyptic stuff? You should be able to find all of Lovecraft's works for free on the Kindle. For post-apocalyptic horror. . . I'd recommend William Hope Hodgson's _The Night Land_. It's got some weak spots but it was a big influence *on* lovecraft, and basically started the "dying/dead earth" genre. Apart from the frame narrative, it's set so far in the future that the Sun has gone out.
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Jul 20, 2010 03:16
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Velocirocktor posted:I'm looking for a few good books about Canada's history. General overviews, specific eras/events, biographies of important people, anything really. Preferably not textbooks, I'd prefer least slightly engaging writing, but I'll take what I can get. Thanks in advance. I read An Introduction to Canadian Labour History by Craig Heron and it was quite good! I am ignorant of Canadian history in general, actually, and I have a nascent interest in labour history, so I figured I should understand Canada's labour history. Heron does a good job showing how our labour movement is not really very much like the one in the U.S. at all (e.g. it's nowhere near as centralised nor effective, really) and explores various events which have come to shape what we've got today. He's a Marxist historian too (as I guess you'd expect for a labour historian) so there's a lot of delicious bits on class struggle and whatnot too. It also includes a fabulous bibliography organised by era for further reading! I highly recommend it if you're at all interested and ignorant as I was, haha.
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Jul 20, 2010 04:19
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Can anyone recommend a book about Napoleon that focuses on his political/social/cultural impact as much as the wars? Most of the books I've flipped through so far are entirely war-focused or entirely Egypt-focused. If it's not a chore to read prose-wise, that'd be swell, too.
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Jul 20, 2010 08:12
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indigi posted:Can anyone recommend a book about Napoleon that focuses on his political/social/cultural impact as much as the wars? Most of the books I've flipped through so far are entirely war-focused or entirely Egypt-focused. If it's not a chore to read prose-wise, that'd be swell, too. Allow me to recommend Charles Esdaile's Napoleon's Wars. I've described this book before as the inverse of a military history: there is little text spent on the wars themselves, but much spend on putting the wars into the context of the times. This is essentially a political history of Napoleon's time (as opposed to a military history), so if you're looking for a more biographical perspective you should look elsewhere.
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Jul 20, 2010 08:24
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omnibobb posted:I just got a Kindle and I'm looking to try some new things. Traditionally, I've just read fantasy stuff (WoT, Forgetten Realms, etc) and I'm looking for some good horror novels, maybe some post-apocolyptic stuff? As for post apocalyptic stuff, The Road is really cool, Canticle for Leibowitz was also good (it's got more of a sci-fi angle). I own but haven't yet read (but I hear they are good) Alas, Babylon and Childhood's End. Son of Quakerman posted:I'm looking for any good histories of the Diadochi, or a good history of the expansion of the early roman republic, including the Punic Wars. Any suggestions? I don't really have anything that deals only with the early Republic, so here's a few books about Rome that I'd recommend: Greece and Rome at War covers the early Republic and the Punic Wars, but also (obviously) covers the Greeks and the later Republic/Empire. It's got a pretty strong slant towards archaeology though, as in, pictures of swords and armor found at a particular battle site, followed by pictures and descriptions of the battlefield, and then finally the history of that particular period/battle. It makes museums way cooler though, since you can look at some random bit of armor or weaponry and know where it came from. No clue why it's suddenly unavailable from Amazon and people are selling it for 200USD  .Soldiers and Ghosts The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians You might also enjoy the Aeneid, if you've never read it.
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Jul 20, 2010 11:27
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:You should be able to find all of Lovecraft's works for free on the Kindle. For post-apocalyptic horror. . . I'd recommend William Hope Hodgson's _The Night Land_. It's got some weak spots but it was a big influence *on* lovecraft, and basically started the "dying/dead earth" genre. Apart from the frame narrative, it's set so far in the future that the Sun has gone out. The Night Land is a good book, but be prepared for some really, really awkward language.
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Jul 20, 2010 14:03
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I have never read any fantasy series other than LOTR but I'm looking to catch up on what I've been missing. I've seen a few different series mentioned in TBB: A Song of Ice and Fire, Malazan, Chalion, Wheel of Time, Black Company, Dragonriders of Pern, First Law, etc. and I'm trying to figure out how to tackle them. Would any of these series make a better starting point than the others for someone that's new to the genre? Should I pick a few series and read the first book of each and then read the books that follow the one I like best? Right now I'm leaning towards starting ASOIAF because I'd like to read the books before watching the upcoming TV series.
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Jul 20, 2010 15:06
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Parker Lewis posted:I have never read any fantasy series other than LOTR but I'm looking to catch up on what I've been missing. ASOIAF is my favorite series. However, it isn't finished, so be aware of that. Also, avoid spoilers like crazy for that one. First Law was good, and is finished, so there's that. I haven't read the other series, so I can't provide an opinion on them. I tried to start Malazan, though, and couldn't do it. I'd happily recommend either ASOIAF or First Law for someone trying to get into fantasy.
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Jul 20, 2010 15:43
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Son of Quakerman posted:I'm looking for any good histories of the Diadochi, or a good history of the expansion of the early roman republic, including the Punic Wars. Any suggestions? Fergus Millar's Rome and the Ancient World is a series of three books of essays on the title topic. The first deals mostly with the Roman republic; I've read two of the essays from it and both were interesting. The third book deals with Greeks, Jews, and Eastern peoples, but I don't know if there's anything specifically on post-Alexander Hellenism so I won't recommend it. I also like the Cambridge Companion to... series. I've read essays from the one on the Aegean Bronze age. They've got a Hellenistic World volume. Cambridge also has a Translated Documents of Greece and Rome series in which you can read snippets from primary sources, maybe to get a feel for one you'd like to read more from. It probably covers the period you're looking at.
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Jul 20, 2010 16:22
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dokmo posted:Allow me to recommend Charles Esdaile's Napoleon's Wars. I've described this book before as the inverse of a military history: there is little text spent on the wars themselves, but much spend on putting the wars into the context of the times. This is essentially a political history of Napoleon's time (as opposed to a military history), so if you're looking for a more biographical perspective you should look elsewhere. Brilliant, this is exactly the kind of book I was looking for.
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Jul 20, 2010 17:40
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Wiley360 posted:I have two suggestions for you: This is fantastic, thanks a bunch. Bohemienne posted:The Soviet Experiment by Ronald Suny is considered a classic history of the Soviet era. I'm also a big fan of David Hoffman's The Oligarchs, though it's a bit outdated. I'd love to find something in that vein that includes the more recent developments in the Khodorkovsky debacle. This too, now I have somewhere to go with a book on the Soviet Union.
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Jul 20, 2010 20:01
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Parker Lewis posted:I've seen a few different series mentioned in TBB: A Song of Ice and Fire, Malazan, Chalion, Wheel of Time, Black Company, Dragonriders of Pern, First Law, etc. and I'm trying to figure out how to tackle them. I just started the First Law and I'm really loving it so far. Really great swords and sorcery type fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously, probably a good place to start since it's fairly light and quick reading. I've also read and enjoyed the first Malazan book, but that's a lot more dense and doesn't have as much humor.
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Jul 20, 2010 20:04
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I'm a huge Tom Clancy fan, and I'm picking up the second and third Jason Bourne books today. Anything else in the politcal thriller/spy fiction genre I should be looking for? EDIT: Just realized I've always wanted to read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Gonna grab that, too. Cheezymadman fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jul 20, 2010 |
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Jul 20, 2010 21:22
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