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Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well.
Thwack! fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Jul 27, 2014 |
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Jul 27, 2014 18:38
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well. Gun, with Occasional Music by Johnatham Lethem (sp?). Near future setting, SF elements (memory manipulation).
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Jul 27, 2014 18:43
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well. The L.A Quartet series by James Ellroy is pretty good. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is good if you want an account of someone spending a year with Baltimore homicide detectives.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:50
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well. I quite liked Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane. Good modern detective novel with a nice twist on the standard "missing white child" plot and an ending that without wishing to spoil kinda got to me. It's all about how we think we want to know the truth and how little we actually do.
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Jul 27, 2014 20:03
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well. Yes. Don Winslow's Neal Carey series (Savages is great, too), Timothy Hallanan's Junior Bender Mysteries, most Daniel Woodrell, Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X, Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q series, Tarquin Hall's Vishu Puri series, Ben Winters' Last Policeman series, Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time...
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Jul 27, 2014 20:15
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pixelbaron posted:The L.A Quartet series by James Ellroy is pretty good. I'll second both these recs. Ellroy's one of the best crime writers imo, I like his Underworld USA books even more than the LA ones. David Peace has some great, well-written crime/mystery novels. There's the Red Riding series set in England, mainly about the Yorkshire Ripper, and he has two crime novels set in Japan during the American occupation post-WW2. There's a very good true crime series of yearly anthologies called The Best American Crime Writing. I think it first started in the early 2000s and it's a collection of each years best essays and articles concerning crime from various publications. http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Crime-Writing-Reporting/dp/0060815515 I read that one, along with one or two others, and enjoyed them all.
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Jul 27, 2014 22:15
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Well, looks like I got a lot of reading to do! Thanks guys.
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Jul 28, 2014 02:37
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well. George Pelecanos is good. He was one of the writers on The Wire, so it's very similar to that. Some of his I liked are What It Was, The Night Gardener, The Cut, and The Double.
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Jul 28, 2014 02:47
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Thwack! posted:Any modern crime or mystery novels worth reading? I would settle for a near future setting as well.
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Jul 28, 2014 05:42
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I'm looking for something similar to Morvern Callar. I really liked it for having a first person narrator who was just completely inscrutable, like you never really know her, not for sure at least. It felt like I was reading a mystery where the question that needed answered was who exactly is this person that is telling you all of this.
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Jul 28, 2014 13:09
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For crime novels I actually really liked J.K. Rowling's Robert Galbraith books, Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm.
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Jul 28, 2014 15:26
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On a recent road trip I was listening to the Silkworm and I enjoyed it a lot and it has a fun narrator if you go for the audio book. Any recommendations for apocalyptic books that take place during the big event rather than years later? So not post-apocalyptic but more something like that old book Lucifer's Hammer, the movie Contagion, or the "before the breakdown" chapters of World War Z. Especially good would be something centered on the movers and shakers rather than some random small town. I was reading The Passage by Cronin which I'm not done yet but is pretty mediocre so far and I was thinking how much more interesting it was before we jumped ahead a bunch of months so the author could get to his standard post apoc fu.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:30
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blakout posted:I quite liked Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane. Good modern detective novel with a nice twist on the standard "missing white child" plot and an ending that without wishing to spoil kinda got to me. It's all about how we think we want to know the truth and how little we actually do. I loved A Drink Before the War though, even thought it very much is a product of the 90s.
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Jul 29, 2014 03:55
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FuzzySlippers posted:Any recommendations for apocalyptic books that take place during the big event rather than years later? The post-apocalyptic book recommendation thread had a few recommendations for that recently.
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Jul 29, 2014 04:06
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How about a book in the style of "Eats, Shoots and Laves," i.e., about grammar, but advanced grammar. So something that teaches you the really academic stuff that no one really needs to know, and does it in a somewhat fun manner?
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Jul 29, 2014 05:24
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blue squares posted:How about a book in the style of "Eats, Shoots and Laves," i.e., about grammar, but advanced grammar. So something that teaches you the really academic stuff that no one really needs to know, and does it in a somewhat fun manner? This isn't what you asked for but might be interesting nonetheless -- Douglas Hofstadter's Le Ton Beau de Marot, which is largely about the art of translation generally and about translating a trifle of a French poem specifically, and if that description sounds boring it's only because you may not be familiar with Douglas Hofstadter. It's a fascinating book, one of my favorite works from one of my favorite authors. e: The wikipedia page describes it better than I can http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Ton_beau_de_Marot
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Jul 29, 2014 06:51
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So: I like sci-fi and have a sudden urge to read stuff by Isaac Asimov. I know little about Isaac Asimov other than recognizing titles and hearing that he was a smart dude for ahead of his time for sci-fi and science in general. What should I start with? Also, any biographies/autobiographies to recommend? I want to write more sci-fi in the future dealing with philosophical/ethics issues with robot sentience and human control over sentient robots especially; Asimov seems like a good author to read up on for that apparently. Thanks!
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Jul 30, 2014 01:51
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Does anyone know of a good book on Ephesus or more generally what life would have been like in similar Classical cities?
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Jul 30, 2014 03:19
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So I've breezed through all of Robert Graves and Mary Renault and Gore Vidal...any other names you guys would recommend for top tier historical fiction (preferably classical/ancient setting or at least pre-Renaissance)?
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Jul 30, 2014 05:00
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TheFallenEvincar posted:So I've breezed through all of Robert Graves and Mary Renault and Gore Vidal...any other names you guys would recommend for top tier historical fiction (preferably classical/ancient setting or at least pre-Renaissance)? Those are the big names for classical era. I tend to alternate between Renault and Patrick O'Brian, but he's Napoleonic Era of course.
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Jul 30, 2014 05:55
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TheRamblingSoul posted:So: I like sci-fi and have a sudden urge to read stuff by Isaac Asimov. I know little about Isaac Asimov other than recognizing titles and hearing that he was a smart dude for ahead of his time for sci-fi and science in general. The Foundation novels are his masterpiece imo, with the caveat of the prequels being bad and also undermining one of the core conceits of the initial trilogy. And opinions differ on the two sequels to the original trilogy; I love them, some don't. There are two ways to read the Foundation series. The short and sweet version is: Foundation Foundation and Empire Second Foundation Foundation's Edge Foundation and Earth But Asimov did something really interesting by having callbacks to another big series of his, and interleaving those novels in appropriate places lends some thematic strengths. In that case, your reading order is: Foundation Foundation and Empire Second Foundation The Caves of Steel The Naked Sun Foundation's Edge The Robots of Dawn Foundation and Earth He's also known for his short fiction. His most famous stories are The Last Question and Nightfall, and they're both really good, but my personal favorite is The Dead Past. The deal with Asimov is, clever ideas and good execution of examinations into those ideas (for example, you're probably familiar with his famous Three Laws of Robotics, but the majority of his robot short stories are about how those laws aren't as robust as they seem and different loopholes or ways they can be exploited, in a very clever fashion) but his characters are the barest outlines; his works are much more about ideas then they are about characters or dialogue. TheFallenEvincar posted:So I've breezed through all of Robert Graves and Mary Renault and Gore Vidal...any other names you guys would recommend for top tier historical fiction (preferably classical/ancient setting or at least pre-Renaissance)? James Clavell if you're open to Asian historical fiction. Shogun is a fantastic read, really top tier entertainment that I reread every couple years. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Jul 30, 2014 |
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Jul 30, 2014 06:23
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regulargonzalez posted:The Last Question... Just read this (its free, google it). How have I not read that before?! 
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Jul 30, 2014 14:06
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TheRamblingSoul posted:So: I like sci-fi and have a sudden urge to read stuff by Isaac Asimov. I know little about Isaac Asimov other than recognizing titles and hearing that he was a smart dude for ahead of his time for sci-fi and science in general. Asimov's books tend to be about people standing around and talking and talking and talking. He doesn't go in much for emotion or action. That said, you should at least take a stab at the Foundation Trilogy. The first book is dull, and it took me two tries to get through it, but it picks up after that. If you're interested in his robot stories, I, Robot is probably the best starting point -- it's an easy read and it will help give you a feel for his approach to the subject. If you want a biography, you could do worse than to read his autobiographies, In Memory Yet Green, In Joy Still Felt, and I, Asimov. The first two can be dry, the third is a bit more personal. Selachian fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Jul 30, 2014 |
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Jul 30, 2014 14:28
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jax posted:Just read this (its free, google it). How have I not read that before?! The best short story. Everyone go read it.
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Jul 30, 2014 14:37
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Anything on modern North American etiquette? Built around a story would be good or a protagonist who is serious about etiquette rules, something like that. I'd love to learn without having to read a checklist of things to do, etc. 
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Jul 30, 2014 15:17
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TheFallenEvincar posted:So I've breezed through all of Robert Graves and Mary Renault and Gore Vidal...any other names you guys would recommend for top tier historical fiction (preferably classical/ancient setting or at least pre-Renaissance)? I'm reading Alan Massie's Augustus right now and it's great. It's one of the Emperors series that he wrote set in Rome. I read his Caesar already, which was also really good and told from the POV of one of Caesar's less famous assassins. The other two books in the series are Tiberius and Caligula. Mika Waltari has some good historical fiction set in the ancient world too. Off the top of my head I can remember him having one set in Ancient Egypt and a couple others set in Rome.
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Jul 30, 2014 20:15
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Two of my favorite novels are Confessions of a Mask (Yukio Mishima) and Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin) -- introspective stories about queer people grappling with their sexuality. Any recommendations based on that? Doesn't necessarily have to center on gay men.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:46
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No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai and The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa springs to mind.
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Jul 31, 2014 10:36
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Best books that explain Marx and Marxism?
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Jul 31, 2014 11:51
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Das Kapital.
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Jul 31, 2014 11:55
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism
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Jul 31, 2014 12:32
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Sir John Feelgood posted:Best books that explain Marx and Marxism? David Harvey's A Companion to Marx's Capital is really helpful when reading Capital. The lectures are also all available for free on Youtube.
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Aug 2, 2014 17:08
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I just got to the beach on vacation with my folks, and I was wondering if there are some highly recommended fantasy novels I haven't read (I'm sure there are). Since fantasy and sci-fi novels are a dime a dozen at bookstores, it's hard to find something that really piques my interest and keeps me reading, especially if I'm going to be reading it on vacation time - the most valuable type of leisure time. I've read all the staple stuff: G.R.R.M., literally everything with Brandon Sanderson on it, also literally everything with Patrick Rothfuss on it (which isn't a lot), R.A. Salvatore, some Karen Miller stuff, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, Glen Cook's Black Company, and others. I know a bunch of this is probably considered entry level, and that's why I'm asking for recommendations for similar things, because finding something on your own can be really daunting. Really high fantasy stuff like Salvatore kind of turns me off (looking at you, Drizzt) and even his Highwayman series left something to be desired. I wasn't particularly blown away by Karen Miller either. I love most of Sanderson's work and Rothfuss' series is good but not entirely great and he's been spending all of his time not writing the third book. I especially love unqiue world-building and fleshed out magic systems or something similar (think Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn... which I realize are all Sanderson), but I'd rather not spend my week re-reading The Way of Kings just so I can spend the next week reading Words of Radiance.
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Aug 4, 2014 00:31
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The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie, if you haven't read it yet
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Aug 4, 2014 01:16
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ParliamentOfDogs posted:I'm looking for something similar to Morvern Callar. I really liked it for having a first person narrator who was just completely inscrutable, like you never really know her, not for sure at least. It felt like I was reading a mystery where the question that needed answered was who exactly is this person that is telling you all of this. Cool, I have never met another person who's read this book. Have you read Filth (or pretty much anything) by Irvine Welsh? Or anything by Bret Easton Ellis?
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Aug 4, 2014 03:25
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Sir John Feelgood posted:Best books that explain Marx and Marxism? It depends upon what strain of marxism you want to learn about. As far as I know there isn't a single volume that adequately explains marxism from left-coms to tankies. Maybe Leszek Kolakowski's Main Currents of Marxism, but that's like 1200 pages if you read the 3-volumes-in-1 version. I assume you want to start at the beginning of marxism. If you feel comfortable enough to read Marx himself, I'd say start with Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology & Social Philosophy. Does anyone know a good history of early gnostic Christian sects? Or a general history of gnosticism? gatz fucked around with this message at 08:00 on Aug 4, 2014 |
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Aug 4, 2014 07:56
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gatz posted:Does anyone know a good history of early gnostic Christian sects? Or a general history of gnosticism? Princeton Religion Professor Elaine Pagels has a book called "The Gnostic Gospels" which is a popular press book that might be a good starting place for this. I've heard good things but never read it myself.
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Aug 5, 2014 11:36
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Barlow posted:Princeton Religion Professor Elaine Pagels has a book called "The Gnostic Gospels" which is a popular press book that might be a good starting place for this. I've heard good things but never read it myself. I read it recently, it's pretty interesting. It's mostly an in-depth analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls, what they tell us about early Christian gnosticism, and how the political rifts in the early church shaped both gnostic movements and the modern orthodoxy.
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Aug 5, 2014 13:18
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I've been reading some fairly dense, depressing books lately- Germinal, Johnny Got His Gun, Last Exit to Brooklyn -and I need a break. I would like to read something humorous and light, but not overly saccharine. The closest book I can think of in line with what I'm looking for is James Hynes' The Lecturer's Tale, here's a synopsis if you're not familiar, or looking for a good book yourself: quote:Nelson Humboldt is a visiting adjunct English lecturer at prestigious Midwest University, until he is unceremoniously fired one autumn morning. Minutes after the axe falls, his right index finger is severed in a freak accident. Doctors manage to reattach the finger, but when the bandages come off, Nelson realizes that he has acquired a strange power—he can force his will onto others with a touch of his finger. And so he obtains an extension on the lease of his university-owned townhouse and picks up two sections of freshman composition, saving his career from utter ruin. But soon these victories seem inconsequential, and Nelson's finger burns for even greater glory. Now the Midas of academia wonders if he can attain what every struggling assistant professor and visiting lecturer covets—tenure. The Lecturer's Tale is a pitch-perfect blend of satire and horror.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:54
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Barlow posted:Princeton Religion Professor Elaine Pagels has a book called "The Gnostic Gospels" which is a popular press book that might be a good starting place for this. I've heard good things but never read it myself. Hieronymous Alloy posted:I read it recently, it's pretty interesting. It's mostly an in-depth analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls, what they tell us about early Christian gnosticism, and how the political rifts in the early church shaped both gnostic movements and the modern orthodoxy. Sounds good. Coincidentally, I found this book today at a local thrift store. Thanks, both of you.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:43
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