Book talk

[Ananke II]

I just got a bunch of books yesterday and am generally something of a bookworm, so figured I'd start a thread about people's reading habits + I'm always looking for new recommendations for stuff to read. So got any favourite books you want to share? Or a quick word about stuff you're currently reading? I'd love to hear about it. Can be anything really, from nonfiction over novels/shortstories to comics etc.

I'm personally quite a comic geek, since I grew up on belgian/french comics like Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo, Tintin by Hergé and Thorgal by Van Hamme. Been branching out into american comics the last couple of years though. Especially the DC Vertigo line has some great series. I've become a compulsive buyer of Fables and Astro City and love anything to do with Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

But on to recent reads;

I recently got into Charlie Huston, who writes what'd probably be called noir/hard-boiled crime. I don't usually read crime fiction, but his Joe Pitt books about a vampire detective in a bleak and violent Manhatten has got me hooked.

Other than that I also finished The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ishiguro is the kind of author who both writes straight mainstream fiction, but also skirt magical realism in some of his novels. The Unconsoled is one of the last kind, somewhat like Marquez' One Hundred years of Solitude in that the characters take the somewhat weird things which happens during the story in stride. Stuff which any normal person would react to (like the main character's amnesia and locations, which at one point is shown to lie in different parts of town, ten pages later seem door to door) doesn't register with the book's characters. Was a bit weird at first, as a reader, to notice these inconsistencies, but it quickly becomes clear that they're conscious parts of the world after which it's pretty easy to just let yourself go with the flow. Not much actually happens in the book, but the easy flowing prose, character interactions and plot full of mysteries makes it a good read.

Lastly, I'm currently reading Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. It's space opera, which I tend to like and I've heard a lot of good things about the author. I'm on page 337 though and so far it hasn't really grabbed me. It's definitely decent SF, but unless the ending turns out really great I probably won't be reading any of the other books in the series.

I've also got a nonfiction book called Society without God by Phil Zuckermann on hold at the library. It's about religiousness in Denmark and Sweden by an American Sociology professor. Thought the premise sounded interesting, especially since there's such a big difference between the general view of religion in the US and Denmark/Sweden.

I can't be the only reader here, so please help me out with some decent recommendations.

[Petalumadom]

Ok... first off for light fiction reads there's GA Henty books... British guy lived at the end of the 19th century wrote 60+ books on different eras... easy reads... can be gone through in 3-4 days really.

Count of Monte Cristo has to be my favorite book ever although I read it a few years ago...

Recently finished War and Peace. Was actually not a bad book... I read it for fun and not some class so that may have made it less painful but it was good.

ummm....

hmm... I read a lot of random books and prefer the classics over most of the new stuff.

[Chronopolice]

I love reading books! As long they as the subject is interesting to me, I will read it.

I have quite a collection of books at home. Mostly sci-fi though.

[GLIII]

I would have to say some of my favorite books are from high school: A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye. I also like "The Perks of being a Wallflower" and "The Giver."

[Enigmatic]

I'm a huge scifi geek myself. I love Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, though honestly it's more from a politcal stand point than anything else. I base a lot of the Enigmatic Nation off the Terran Federation. Someday I'm going to get a full description posted somewhere. Similar to Troopers but a much more entertaining read in my opinion is Old Man's War bu John Scalzi. Some of my favorite scifi books are by Douglas Adams. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and it's sequels are some of the weirdest and best books I've ever read. Starship Titanic by Terry Pratchet is based on a single line from one of the Hitchhiker books. Though not written by Adams it has the same feel and the same greatness. The Saga of the Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson is pretty good. Currently, I'm reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I haven't finished it, but so far pretty good. Think the Cantebury Tales in space and darker and weirder.

I've also been known to read my fair share of fantasy books. My current favorites are all the book of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. I also enjoy the Narnia books and Tolkien's work.

[Ananke II]

Re: Petalumadon
I'm more of a genre reader, but have been reading some classics lately. The Great Gatsby didn't grab me at all, while Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther made me want to throw the book away in disgust. The main character really is an annoying, whiny brat. Jane Eyre by Brönte was really great though and I'm halfway through Anna Karenina at the moment.

Re: The Enigmatic Minister
Nice, I read Starship Troopers last year too and really liked it. It was interesting, since every time the talk falls on Heinlein and Starship Troopers you get all these people yelling fascist, so I started reading it fully thinking I'd dislike it, but I really don't see why some people dislike it so much. I just took the premise as an interesting idea, worth considering. Doesn't mean I agree with the political 'worldview' argued for in the book, but getting up in arms over it and calling Heinlein a fascist (especially considering the stuff he gets up to in Stranger in a Strange Land ) seems like a waste of time. Besides it was a really easy, quick read with a good story, which made you think.

Anyway, if you like Starship Troopers and Scalzi's stuff (which I like too. They're nice, fun, quick reads) you should try reading The Forever War by Joe Haldeman sometime. It's the same kind of writing style, but builds on the opposite view of war than Starship Troopers. It's a nice contrast and great military sci-fi in it's own right.

Addams is really funny too. Have you read his Dirk Gently books as well btw?

[Enigmatic]

I keep meaning to read The Forever War but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The same goes for Dirk Gently. Too many books and not enough time to get through them all.

I ran out of time for my post last night, but as a student of history I also read a good many historical books. A lot of accurate titles, but I also get into some historical fiction

In the realm of fiction my favorite is a book called Manse. It's about a man named Manson "Manse" Jolly who became a folk hero in my area following the Civil War. It's complete fiction really aside from the names and places, but it's a good introduction to his myth and really got me interested in the man. I even did a paper on him. The Quiet American is a fiction book set in 50s Vietnam. It was written in the 50s and I recommend it because it does an amazing job of predicting a lot of what happens over the course of the following two decades.

If you're looking for something more accurate there are a few things I could recommend. Killer Angels is a fantastic civil war book. I recently read With the Old Breed which is a first hand account of the Battles of Peliliu and Okinawa. It's a great read, very easy to get into. They Marched Into Sunlight is a book about Vietnam. It looks not only at American soldiers, but also at the Vietnamese, and American protesters. It really examines the time and the people. It goes into a lot of detail too. I wouldn't call it a quick read, but it's certainly a good one.

[Inquirius]

So...because nobody has mentioned the Dune series yet, I guess I will. That is the only science fiction I have read in a while, and I can't remember the last time I was so engrossed. The deep philosophical meditations, along with palace intrigue and optimistic quasi-transhumanist visions of human civilization just astonished me. If you haven't read it, I would recommend the original six books of the series. The last two of the original six, in particular, are a fantastically rewarding read. However, at least read the first one. It's iconic.

I really tried to like Neil Gaiman. I stopped trying after fighting my way through American Gods.

A Clockwork Orange = magnificent

[Ananke II]

American Gods really seem to part the waters. People either love or really dislike it (I'm in the first cathegory).

If you read any kind of comics and aren't totally opposed to reading anything else by Neil Gaiman you should try his Sandman graphic novels. It's imo the best writing he's ever done and it's recognised as one of the best newer american comic series. It really hits it's stride with The Sound of Her Wings, which is the last issue in the first collection Preludes and Nocturnes. Other than that he also really shines in some of his shortstories. Smoke and Mirrors have a lot of good stories, especially Murder Mysteries.

[Chronopolice]

Apr 14, 2009 5:45:34 GMT -5 Ananke II said:

Re: Petalumadon
I'm more of a genre reader, but have been reading some classics lately. The Great Gatsby didn't grab me at all, while Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther made me want to throw the book away in disgust. The main character really is an annoying, whiny brat. Jane Eyre by Brönte was really great though and I'm halfway through Anna Karenina at the moment.

Re: The Enigmatic Minister
Nice, I read Starship Troopers last year too and really liked it. It was interesting, since every time the talk falls on Heinlein and Starship Troopers you get all these people yelling fascist, so I started reading it fully thinking I'd dislike it, but I really don't see why some people dislike it so much. I just took the premise as an interesting idea, worth considering. Doesn't mean I agree with the political 'worldview' argued for in the book, but getting up in arms over it and calling Heinlein a fascist (especially considering the stuff he gets up to in Stranger in a Strange Land ) seems like a waste of time. Besides it was a really easy, quick read with a good story, which made you think.

Anyway, if you like Starship Troopers and Scalzi's stuff (which I like too. They're nice, fun, quick reads) you should try reading The Forever War by Joe Haldeman sometime. It's the same kind of writing style, but builds on the opposite view of war than Starship Troopers. It's a nice contrast and great military sci-fi in it's own right.

Addams is really funny too. Have you read his Dirk Gently books as well btw?

Starship Troopers is fascist!!!!

Just playing around. ;D

Of course it is not.

I think some readers got carried away from the brutal training regime that they impose on the recruits. But if they really read the book, they should also see the reason why.

Oh, I also like alternate history novels. It's fun to see the what-if scenarios authors would come up with. I also subscribe to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

[Anime Daisuki]

I don't read fiction, or rather, very seldom do... The last one I did was one of the Tolkien books, The Simarillion, about a year and half ago. During which time I read about 20 times more manga.

I read non-fiction pretty often though. I just picked up one yesterday, The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, by Paul Krugman. I haven't started reading but I'm interested to know what Krugman has to say.

[Assassins and Bandits]

Hmm... i mainly read Mandarin books... i prefer history and culture related.

English language, i would say i more read on law related articles, journals and books for the purposes i may pass I assignments and presentations .

[Biblical Importance]

I have just finished Max Barry's Jennifer Government. Has anyone read this or any of his other books?

[Ananke II]

I've read both Jennifer Government and Syrup. Jennifer Government is pretty good, but I actually liked Syrup better. Think it was the writing style which just grabbed me more. It's been 4 or so years, since I read them though, so I'm a bit hazy on the details. Anyone read Company yet?

[Ananke II]

So I finished Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks and really don't see why get so much love from some people. The writing and worldbuilding was decent, but I didn't find the plot interesting and never cared for any of the characters at all. Might try out some of his mainstream books at one point (The Wasp Factory should be good), but I doubt I'll read any more of his Culture books.

I also read Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds, which was a really good read. A nice story, somewhat fairytale-ish and amusing. Especially the interaction between the main characters Li Kao and Number Ten Ox were funny. Definitely recommended.

Lastly, I bought Neil Gaiman's new 'book' Blueberry Girl, which is a poem illustrated by Charles Vess. I really liked it; sweet and whimsical. Anyone interested can hear Gaiman himself read it in this video:

[Inquirius]

Speaking of Gaiman...yeah I just finished Preludes and Nocturnes. I am 21 years old and I just enjoyed a comic book. What?!?!

Buying these comic books really breaks the bank. I gotta wait until my library gets the next ones. $20 U.S. each. Crazy.

I have also finished reading several more textbooks. I won't list them here because college forced me to read them so they don't count. Grr.

[Chronopolice]

Reading textbooks ain't that bad. I read what they assigned me to do and then some. Pulling off an intellectual blitzkrieg on my teachers is funny as hell. ;D

[Ananke II]

May 5, 2009 0:20:09 GMT -5 Inquirius said:

I am 21 years old and I just enjoyed a comic book. What?!?!

Hey, don't diss comics! There's lots of great graphic novels out there, even literary/mainstream ones, like Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis about her childhood's Iran and Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman, which won a Pulitzer and made me all teary-eyed when I read it.

But yeah, the Sandman is a bit expensive. Just be happy you're not Danish. Books and graphic novels are even more expensive here, so I always stack up on reading materials when I visit the UK.

[Ananke II]

Bumped, because people are chatting about books at the RMB and someone mentioned taking it to the forum + I feel like writing about some of the books I read recently.

First up; World War Z by Max Brooks. I'm not usually interested in zombie stories at all, but this one has gotten a lot of buzz and it really is worth a read. Instead of focusing on the zombies this book is written as a series of interviews with people all over the world talking about the zombie infestation and how it almost destroys civilization. A very compelling story which can be read as a methaphor for how the world might react to an all-embracing catastrophe, here shown as part world war against a new enemy, part fight against a big pandemic.

The Revolution Business is the fifth installment in Charles Stross' Merchant Princes series, which is basically about a clan/family of world walkers and a modern women who finally finds herself involved with her kin from this clan, who's part medieval aristocrats, part hard-hitting mafia/security service people. Lots of politics and intrigue, not to mention plenty of female characters able to take care of themselves, without it seeming overdone. I'm not sure why, but I tear through these books in hours. It just hits my sweet spot, I suppose.

I also bought Wireless recently, which is a compilation of shortstories by Charles Stross. Was a very good collection, with only a couple of stories I didn't care for. The rest were typical Stross stories filled with great ideas and interesting plots.

The City and the City by China Mieville was a move away his usual new weird vibe and showed another side to his writing talent. It's a murder mystery taking place in two twin cities, which day to day life are intwined in a peculiar way. Nice story, written in a more sparse prose than his other books, which suited the book. Seen as a methaphor on the real world's devided cities like e.g. Jerusalem it was a sombering read, which definitely left me with stuff to think about afterward.

Last, but not least (at least in this post ) I read The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. Took me a while to really get into it, but after 100 pages or so I was hooked. He spins an interesting alternative history tale of how the US might've acted in WW2 if Roosewelt had lost his last president run. I always find books dealing with WW2 sombering and this was no exception. Well worth a read though.

[Enigmatic]

Plot Against America certainly sounds interesting. I love alternate histories, that one of the reasons I started studying history.

I agree with your comments about World War Z. It's s very interesting read. Quite intriguing to see how people and governments might react to that situation.

[morlago]

I am only 13, so my taste might be different to yours. I quite like Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. I, Robot seems to be nice too and I'm hoping to start soon.

[Sir Lans]

Aug 11, 2009 11:09:31 GMT -5 @morlago said:

I am only 13, so my taste might be different to yours. I quite like Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. I, Robot seems to be nice too and I'm hoping to start soon.

The robots of dawn also by asimov is a great read. After I read that I discovered where all of gene roddenberrys ideas for Data came from lol

[Petalumadom]

Well I recently read

A biography on John Paul Jones (very interesting)

The Omnivore's Dilemma--ok read... presents some interesting ideas

"The Answer"-- a weird book someone gave me...

And I'm currenlt 800 pages into Les Miserable and I think it's great... very hard to put it down... still about 600 pages to go though

Big book.

[oronin]

I've been rereading The White Goddess by Robert Graves.

Great book.

[Chronopolice]

I've read the Federalist Papers again.

[Ananke II]

@ Enigmatic:
It is very interesting. I liked how the author centered the story on a jewish family, without forgetting to tell the bigger story about how the US could've turned towards nazism. Admittedly, I don't know much about US history, but to me it seemed like a plausible premise and his description of how easy it is to turn people against a minority in their midst hit pretty close to home.

@ Oronin:
Robert Graves is one of those writers I've been wanting to read for years. Something just always come in between and then I forget about it for a while. I've especially heard good things about I, Claudius.

I just finished the novel Green by Jay Lake. I've wanted to read something by him for a while. Was actually thinking of getting a paperback of one of his older novels, but the cover artwork really grabbed me. I'm not usually one to buy books based on their covers, but for some reason I just couldn't keep from buying it in hardcover when I saw it in the store.

Anyway, I don't regret getting it. The plot was somewhat thin and I think he rushed the story several places. The different sections could've fitted better together. However the first section where Green (the female protagonist) is bought and trained as a concubine + the middle section when she's training as a Lily Blade (a kind of religious warrior/executioner) were well done I thought and since the meat of the book is in Green's development through her life and that easily kept me captivated, I didn't mind the thin plot. The author's writing was pretty smooth, so with a bit more plot to fill the pages I'm sure he could write some really good books.

So a good book, worth a read, as long as you're prepared to overlook a somewhat thin plot in favour of characterization.

[Enigmatic]

Aug 15, 2009 5:43:54 GMT -5 Ananke II said:

@ Enigmatic:
It is very interesting. I liked how the author centered the story on a jewish family, without forgetting to tell the bigger story about how the US could've turned towards nazism. Admittedly, I don't know much about US history, but to me it seemed like a plausible premise and his description of how easy it is to turn people against a minority in their midst hit pretty close to home.

Oh it's completely plausible. Well, maybe not the way the book described and probably not Nazism specifically, but certainly fascism. Before war broke out, fascism was all the rage here in the States. Mussolini was a celebrity and there were quite a few people who called on FDR to become a fascist dictator. People felt that democracy had run its course. It's not really surprising considering how fascism rose elsewhere in the world. This was during the height of the Great Depression. Everyone was suffering and everyone wanted something better for themselves and for their families. Mussolini and Hitler gave answers and hope (and someone to blame) to their people. By the late thirties they seemed to have succeeded. Now once war broke out and we sided with Britain and France that feeling began to subside. By 1944 with the war going well in both theaters and the Great Depression in the US pretty much over, that feeling was all but gone, of course there were still fascists in the US, among them a Nazi party, and there was certainly still racism.

So a Nazi America in 1944 as the book described may or may not work depending on what he changes and how he goes about changing things. I could make a few speculations and offer a few notes, but since I haven't read the book it would only amount to a bunch of if statements about the plot. I guess I'll just have to read it. ;D

[Ananke II]

Ah, didn't know all that stuff. Do you know of any good non fiction books, which tells about that period of US history, in particular how people were interested in fascism?

[Enigmatic]

Hmmmm.....no, I don't think I do. I haven't studied the culture of the US leading in to World War Two at any great length. The bit about fascism comes from the History Channel and a couple rabbit trail lectures. In a week or so I can ask one of my professors. I'm actually taking a class on WW2 this semester so it's possible one of the books for that class will have something of merit.

[pinata]

Hmm... been doing a lot of reading lately, so long post coming up.

My favorite books of all time:

The X-Wing Series. Some of the best military fiction ever, set in the Star Wars universe for maximum awesomeness. But it's written by two authors and one of them is noticeably better.

The Belgariad. David Eddings is made of win.

It. Because no list of this nature would be complete without Stephen King.

The Silmarillion. Tolkien also just generally needs to be included, plus it made me cry.

The Catcher in the Rye. I don't go for the classics very much, but this one was definitely a pleasant surprise. Also a nice shift from the genre stuff I usually read.

Watchmen. Although it scares me how much of myself I see in Rorschach...

Currently reading:

Legacy of the Force series. More Star Wars expanded universe stuff. Good reading so far, but I only just started the second book.

The Eyes of the Dragon. So far, the best Stephen King book I've read. Will have to wait till the end to see if I still feel the same way then, though.

The Dark Tower. Yes, I really like Stephen King.

The Sword of Truth. Objectivism aside, Terry Goodkind's talent as a writer is undeniable. Though the quality of the books in the series does vary, and even the best ones could be helped by a little more brevity (I'm in the 7th book... so far, the shortest one in the series is 622 pages).

The Elenium and The Malloreon. Again, I very strongly recommend David Eddings.

Children of Hurin. More Tolkien. Insert headbanging smiley here.

The Lurking Fear and Other Tales by H.P. Lovecraft. First time reading him. Wish I would've started earlier.

Clive Barker's Books of Blood. Again, never read him before. So far, I'm impressed. And deeply disturbed.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Never read him before either. He's not quite as good as Lovecraft or Barker, but the short chapters are much appreciated and the story flows well enough.

Mutation by Robin Cook. Weirdass medical thriller with sci-fi overtones (genetic engineering is involved... keep in mind this book was written in the '80s). So far, not as good as Godplayer (the other "Cook Book" I've read), but not bad either.

The Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan's good, but I've read better fantasy novels. To be fair to Robert Jordan -- who as I mentioned is quite good -- the fantasy genre tends to attract a rather extreme level of talent, though.

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. It takes a while to get used to the fact that the Gandalf-type character is a jerkass, but once you get into it it's pretty good.

His Dark Materials. Just finished The Golden Compass, and I was not expecting that ending...

Dave Barry Talks Back. Obligatory bit of nonfiction. Well, sort of...

Twilight. Yes, I know... but so far I like it.

Yes, I'm really reading that many books at the same time. Yes, I know you all think I'm crazy.