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Millow posted:I really like Vonnegut and Murakami and have read most of their offerings. Any other authors (and specific books) I should check out? David Mitchell gets recommended a lot for Murakami fans, I haven't been able to get into him but some people really enjoy his stuff. I'd also suggest Jonathan Lethem, specifically Amnesia Moon and As She Crawled Across the Table.
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Jun 2, 2009 17:41
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Bozart posted:Could I get a recommendation for an interesting fantasy or historical fiction like Rise of a Merchant Prince or Mistress of the Empire by Feist, or the Curse of Chalion (etc) by Lois McMaster Bujold, or The Saga of Recluse by L. E. Modesitt Jr.? Also scratch off JV Jones. Something with intrigue and fleshed out characters, but not ludicrously longwinded. I'm in the middle of The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie after a recommendation from here and it is excellent. Both good intrigue and very well done characters, great violence and a tightly-written story, I could hardly be enjoying it more.
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Jun 5, 2009 17:18
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Sodomy Non Sapiens posted:Horror authors that aren't Poe, Lovecraft or King? I crave horror stories lately and I have almost no idea what's out there. Perennial book barn recommendation: The Dark Descent, a 1000 page horror story collection. It has stories by all three of those guys, but a lot more besides; it's basically a textbook on 20th century horror stories and it's loving excellent. Here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dark+descent Here on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=pNgZxdPETK0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+dark+descent#PPP13,M1 (It says limited preview but it doesn't look that limited to me.)
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Jun 10, 2009 17:50
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AberrantBassist posted:I'm looking for really unique books that are borderline experimental. I love John Zorn when it comes to music and that atonal stuff that no one really listens to, and I'd love to find a John Zorn of fiction. I've read 'House of Leaves' and 'Only Revolutions' and I thought they were amazing. I've gone to http://www.bookarmy.com and I've searched Amazon and while they can recommend me 'similar' authors they're not similar in the a prose/experimental sense. I like Gilbert Sorrentino, Mulligan Stew is his most famous and it's pretty fun, but I think Abberation of Starlight is his best.
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Jun 14, 2009 23:58
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timeandtide posted:Still looking for recommendations on Western fiction/non-fiction, but I had a question that fits this thread: where does the line "America is not a young lad" come from? I vaguely remember it from a thread here, and I want to say it's from either Ballard or Burroughs. Try Clinton Portis, True Grit's the only one I've read but I hear his other stuff is pretty bangin, too. Also, Elmore Leonard. I don't have much use for his crime fiction, but his westerns own.
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Jun 18, 2009 16:38
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indigi posted:What are some good contemporary collections of short stories of Science Fiction? I've been burning through collections of guys like Dick, Lem, and Asimov, which I love, but I'd like to see where the general tone is nowadays as everything I've been reading lately is characterized by the Cold War, fears of nuclear accidents, civil rights struggles, and robots controlling society. Seconding Hello Pity's reccomendation, and I've also been enjoying the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, another annual collection that started in 2007. I haven't picked up this year's volume yet, but the last two have been great.
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Jul 8, 2009 23:49
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Skutter posted:Can anyone recommend any good steampunk novels? I've read Whitechapel Gods, Clockwork Heart, a few others that I can't remember right now and I'm currently working on The Court of the Air. Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air. Proto-steampunk zeppelin warfare; really good stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlord_of_the_Air As far as actual steampunk, I've been pretty disappointed in almost all the stuff I've read. J. Gregory Keyes has a sort of alchemical steampunk alternate history series called The Age of Unreason--starring Ben Franklin, Voltaire, Blackbeard, et al--that's a half-decent read, but nothing to write home about.
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Jul 21, 2009 05:33
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Looking for some WWI fiction. I just finished Dan Simmons' Lovedeath (one of the best goddamned things I've read all year, btw), and the last novella in it, The Great Lover, got me hungry for more. Already familiar with the Hemingway, and Remarque is next on my list.
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Jul 24, 2009 18:34
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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.
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Jul 28, 2009 17:26
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Archyduke posted:Anybody know of any good books about the early days of Arctic/Antarctic exploration? I ran across a little sketch of Shackleton's expeditions in another book and my curiosity is piqued. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Worst_Journey_in_the_World The Worst Journey in the World was written by a survivor of Scott's Terra Nova expedition, and it is excellent. Haven't read any others, though, so I don't have a real basis for comparison.
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Aug 12, 2009 21:20
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SaviourX posted:I'm trying to stretch my genre boundaries here, and want to know some of the better authors in Mystery/Thriller books. James Muthafuckin Crumley, a Montana cowboy poet that wrote the best goddamn PI novels in existence, imo, particularly The Last Good Kiss and Dancing Bear. More country-fried than your standard mysteries, but sure not formulaic. His prose reflects his poetry background, and there's a wistful, regretful theme running through all his stuff that really makes it stand out.
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Sep 4, 2009 21:03
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Irish Revenge posted:This is somewhat off-topic but I just finished "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss, which was recommended in this thread. Is there a thread for it in Book Barn? I checked the first 6 pages, but since search is still down I can't look for it that easily. Bam: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3108939
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Sep 29, 2009 01:02
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On the horror tip, anyone read any WH Pugmire? He's got a new book that just came out, and I've never heard of him before, but this new release caught my eye for two reasons. A: Set in a fictionalized Snoqualmie valley, and as I'm PNW born-n-bred I'm a sucker for stuff set here; and B: I'm a fan of the author that did the introduction, Jeffrey Thomas.
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Sep 30, 2009 16:38
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Enormo posted:I am looking for a sci-fi and/or fantasy film noir type detective novel. I enjoyed Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. Something similar would work, but I am not picky. Jonathan Lethem's Gun, With Occasional Music. Not-too-distant future Oakland, CA, everyone's on drugs, questions are illegal unless you're police or private eye (like our hero), and talking animals roam the streets.
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Oct 3, 2009 21:16
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TremendousMajestic posted:Let's say I wanted to look into reading some modern fantasy. In big book stores, all the covers and titles kind of blend together for me...you know, there's a sexy elf lady wizard and it's called something like 'The Shores of Moonstone' or somesuch. Gonna go ahead and pimp Joe Abercrombie. His first four books came in out within in just over three years and he's working hard on number 5 so you ain't getting into no GRRM situation. He's got a trilogy with a standalone novel in the same world that continues the major conflict of the trilogy, the new novel following that same pattern. It's gritty and funny and violent and the characters are loving awesome.
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Oct 20, 2009 07:05
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prinneh posted:How similar? I haven't read any of it, but there are people continuously writing within the Lovecraft-mythos. I can't remember the names of these spin-off authors, but I do know that they write short stories in a very similar vain. Personally though, I'd stick to Lovecraft. Maybe, just maybe, you should pick up the Maltese Falcon trilogy by Dashiell Hammett or anything by Raymond Chandler? Their gritty, dark detectives might just do the trick. The prose is very different, of course. Maltese Falcon trilogy?
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Nov 5, 2009 16:43
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Dr. Pwn posted:Hello, I would like to read books about serial killing and home invasion, preferably from the POV of the serial killer or home invader, that are not part of the Dexter series. Killer on the Road, by James Ellroy. Prepare for some serious head-fuckery. It's the fictional memoir of a serial killer, and it's absolutely ghastly. In a good way.
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Nov 10, 2009 16:39
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isoprenaline posted:Anyone? I think there are actually more HPL anthologies than there are HPL stories, you really can just pick one at random, but I always thought this one was pretty decent for starters: http://www.amazon.com/Best-H-P-Lovecraft-Bloodcurdling/dp/0345350804/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258830734&sr=8-4
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Nov 21, 2009 20:15
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Doublehex posted:Okay now guys, I need some help. Y'see, my personal library is essentially made up of one genre: fantasy. A good 98% of it is made up of stories about elves and dwarves and made up places and evil that needs to be vanquished, blah blah blah... Like I said read some of the other pages in this thread and find some books that look interesting and then read them. "Not fantasy" doesn't really give us anything to work with.
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Dec 1, 2009 00:45
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poronty posted:Please recommend me fiction/semi-fiction books about cats, narrated by a cat or something of that sort. I don't really have any point of reference other than I Am A Cat by Natsume Souseki, but I was thinking of something that is more contemporary and lighter, yet still reasonably intelligent and not nauseatingly cutesy or infantile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae_%28novel%29 I didn't know it was a series until just now, actually, but I read the first one and thought it was alright.
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Dec 6, 2009 18:43
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Dancingthroughlife posted:2. Fiction or Non/fiction books about the Devil Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable. Answering both of these with Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth, a collection of essays consisting of letters from the exiled angel Lucifer to his old buddies Mike and Gabe. Online here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/letearth.htm The published book version has some other essays and short stories as well, all of which are excellent.
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Dec 29, 2009 18:34
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Ghost Boner posted:I know this a probably a long shot, but I'm a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino and I was wondering if there were any good books that have the same kind of feel as his films, particularly Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. I know Pulp Fiction is a homage to the old-school pulp tales, so suggestions from this genre would also be great. Try Richard Stark. A pseudonym of Donald Westlake, he wrote a twenty novel series about a professional thief; one of the novels was adapted for film twice, once as Point Blank starring Lee Marvin, and a second time as Payback starring Mel Gibson. I like Westlake, but I loooove the poo poo he wrote under Stark. Jim Thompson was the king of the old-style caper story, particularly in terms of the aftermath. Reservoir Dogs owes a lot to him. Finally James Crumley. He's a little more country-fried than QT, but the poo poo that goes down in his novels makes QT's (early) films seem sedate. The Last Good Kiss is my very favorite crime novel, and is even on my short list for favorite novel period.
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Jan 3, 2010 19:29
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General Washington posted:Hey goons, I was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for any books containing a mixture of mythology and science fiction. I hate to make the comparison but if anyone is a fan of the show "Lost", then that is what I'm interested in. Any books or novels(or even comic books)with a combination of sci-fi, random ancient mythology and maybe even time travel I'd be heavily interested in. I don't watch Lost so I might be way off base, but Samuel Delaney's The Einstein Intersection is probably the ultimate in sf/mythology. It's set on Earth populated by aliens that came here long after we were gone and it's chock-full of Greek mythology, the Orpheus myth in particular.
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Jan 4, 2010 08:15
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BigRed0427 posted:I feel like reading a Sci-Fi, Space Opera. Something with epic starship battles, gun fights or some cloak and dagger storytelling. And suggestions? My perennial SF recommendation, Neal Asher, he's got all those things in spades, plus kick-rear end alien monsters and more. Gridlinked or Spatterjay would be the best places to start. Edit: I was just reminded that the name of the book is The Skinner, not Spatterjay (which is the name of the planet it is set on). Ballsworthy fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jan 6, 2010 |
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Jan 5, 2010 19:40
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anaaki posted:I'm a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan and have been looking for more books in that same category. Mainly, YA fantasy fiction, but really well written so that it appeals to adults. Her books are like Harry Potter (except BETTER, believe me). I enjoy her Chrestomanci series and Howl's Moving Castle set as well. The Dark is Rising by Susan Goddamned Cooper. The first book, Over Sea, Under Stone, was written years before the rest and is for younger audiences, a la The Hobbit. When I was a kid the first book wasn't even considered part of the series. I'm not saying it's not good, because it sure as hell is, but there's a marked difference in tone, and for my money the real gold starts with the second book, The Dark is Rising. It's your classic good vs evil set in mid-late 20th century Britain, mostly Cornwall and Wales, with a Lewisian cast of child protagonists, and draws a lot from the associated folklores; specifically the Arthurian. And it kicks mega-rear end.
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Jan 7, 2010 03:46
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Jive One posted:I recently read the Herman Melville short story Benito Cereno and really enjoyed the tense and suspicious atmosphere of it. Can anyone recommend short stories or novels that have a similar "something isn't right here" feel to them? Perhaps those with a macabre theme a la Twilight Zone or Hitchcock. John Collier wrote some of my favorite short stories, his collection Fancies and Goodnights is excellent. I haven't read that Melville story, but I'm recommending him because he also wrote for both The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
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Jan 8, 2010 17:42
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Syle187 posted:I'm looking for suggestions on a mystery series to read. I've watched a couple of TV series lately (Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars, The X-Files) that have piqued my interest in the genre. I've most stuck to epic fantasy and science fiction in the past, so I haven't read anything in the genre aside of Sherlock Holmes. Not . . . exactly. There are tons of character-based mystery series, but not so much with the overarching plot. Usually each book is an individual story, because the whole point of a mystery is that it gets solved, and then the detective goes on to the next case. Of course I've got some recommendations anyway. Old school: Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels. Pretty much required reading for the genre, for every fictional detective inspired by Holmes there are at least a hundred inspired by Marlowe. Ditto Dashiel Hammett for most of that, he's just not so character based. Newer stuff: For brutal, frenetic writing check out James Ellroy. The Big Nowhere/LA Confidential/White Jazz have a contiguous villain (and lots of other bad guys along the way) with a series of protagonists butting their heads against him. And they are so loving good that sometimes I just can't stand it. For something 180 degrees from the insanity that is Ellroy, I really can't say enough about Kate Atkinson's last three books, starting with Case Histories. They're about a middle-aged private eye in the UK, are extremely well-written, and have some pretty interesting and complex stories.
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Jan 13, 2010 04:02
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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. This thread makes me feel like a broken record sometimes. Dashiel Hammett and Raymond Chandler, any/all of their stuff. James Ellroy, The Big Nowhere is as good of a place to start as any. James Crumley, The Last Good Kiss. All his stuff is good but nothing comes close to that one, I just re-read it and it's loving gorgeous. Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me, The Grifters, The Getaway, or pretty much any other one you pick up. I've posted about all these guys in this thread before so check my old posts here for more info.
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Jan 21, 2010 18:22
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Blurred posted:I'm sure this would have already been asked somewhere in this thread, but I've been keeping a copy of Sherlock Holmes and a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories by my bed lately and have found myself getting into the habit of going to bed, reading a story and then falling asleep (which is much healthier than my normal pattern of staying on the internet / watching dvds until my eyes start hurting enough for me to pass out). So basically I'm looking for good collections of short stories (preferably in the mystery / horror genre, but I'm open to all suggestions) that might be good to go to bed with. Try John Collier's Fancies and Goodnights, very Twilight Zone/Hitchcock with a killer sense of humor. For straight horror, The Dark Descent is a massive anthology that has the best of the best of the 20th century horror stories and is a very worthwhile purchase.
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Jan 25, 2010 18:14
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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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Pudgygiant posted: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? Best travel humor: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. It's about a trip he took to Europe and the Middle East with some religious pilgrims, iirc it's the first book he published and is a large part of why he was famous in his time, and for good reason because it is goddamned hilarious.
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Feb 9, 2010 22:43
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Electric Pez posted:Bio of a Space Tyrant by Piers Anthony is a wonderful light Sci-Fi series that is five books long. Six if you consider the one added to the series much later on, but I don't. You aren't serious.
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Feb 11, 2010 03:55
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Encryptic posted:What else did Hemingway write that's good besides Old Man and the Sea? I've read For Whom The Bell Tolls, A Farewell To Arms and The Sun Also Rises so far and liked them all to varying degrees, especially FWTBT. Seconding the short story recommendation, I'm a big fan of A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. 3 pages of gold.
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Mar 13, 2010 07:30
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OregonDonor posted:Could someone recommend me a good collection to start with of Philip K. Dick's short stories? I've read most of his major novels (sans Ubik and Flow My Tears) and I'd like to see how his short stories hold up next to them, but I really have no idea where to begin with. Thanks in advance. Here's a big collection: http://www.amazon.com/Philip-K-Dick-Reader/dp/0806518561/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272500375&sr=1-5 It's not all of them by a long shot but it's probably the most comprehensive single volume Here's a smaller, more selective collection with a kickass foreword by Jonathan Lethem: http://www.amazon.com/Selected-Stories-Philip-K-Dick/dp/0375421513/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272500375&sr=1-4
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Apr 29, 2010 01:22
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Telemarchitect posted:'Sup TBB. I just found out about Samuel Delany, but I can't figure out which one of his novels to pick. Dhalgren is supposedly his masterpiece but I hear it's a tough read. Nova also looks interesting. The Einstein Intersection for sure.
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Jun 1, 2010 19:38
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