TBB Book Recommendation Superstation !!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > TBB Book Recommendation Superstation !!

RC and Moon Pie: May 5, 2011

KillerQueen posted:

One of my favorite genres of story is the small-town mystery that turns into a weird supernatural horror/thriller. Stephen King comes to mind, but I find his tropes really predictable and cringy. Any suggestions for some spooky summer reading?

Two Shirley Jackson recommendations: The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

# ? Jul 7, 2018 02:16

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# ? May 29, 2024 11:05

Bullet Proof: Sep 3, 2006

chernobyl kinsman posted:

Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel

This sounds great, any particular translation I should look for?

# ? Jul 7, 2018 04:10

chernobyl kinsman: Mar 18, 2007; a friend of the friendly atom; Soiled Meat

Bullet Proof posted:

This sounds great, any particular translation I should look for?

Whoever did the Penguin one, since a) it's the only one I've read and b) I think all the others are weird old public domain translations. Also, it's actually 5 novels that span one great story, so if you get bored you can stop after the first couple (the first two are the best and most famous, anyway). Most of what it's satirizing is medieval stuff, so if you like (or think you'd like) Don Quixote at all, then you'd like this.

# ? Jul 7, 2018 06:45

funkybottoms: Oct 28, 2010; Funky Bottoms is a land man

KillerQueen posted:

One of my favorite genres of story is the small-town mystery that turns into a weird supernatural horror/thriller. Stephen King comes to mind, but I find his tropes really predictable and cringy. Any suggestions for some spooky summer reading?

Let the Right One In is awesome. Dean Koontz's Fear Nothing and it's sequel Seize the Night are pretty fun despite a few eye-rolling aspects. Also, I don't recall 'Salem's Lot having many cringe-inducing moments, but it's been ages since I've read it. Oh, and Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex is rad, if maybe a little light on the mystery side.

I guess Welcome to the Night Vale would work, although it didn't really do much for me.

# ? Jul 7, 2018 11:19

AnonymousNarcotics: Aug 6, 2012; we will go far into the sea
you will take me
onto your back
never look back
never look back

I enjoyed Stephen King's newest The Outsider although it could have done without the Mr. Mercedes crossover imo

# ? Jul 7, 2018 21:26

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Hey buttholes

As some of you know, I am an esl teacher. The current curriculum has them read an adult novel in English as a part of their reading curriculum

The default novel is the alchemist but gently caress that poo poo book. I gave everyone a survey to see what they are interested in, and I got a lot of people saying they liked horror/dark fantasy stuff.

Unfortunately, I am more or less illiterate in this genre. Was hoping I could get some good recommendations.

Looking for something in the 200 page range and not YA (not my choice, curriculum requirement)

# ? Jul 8, 2018 02:45

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Mel Mudkiper posted:

The default novel is the alchemist but gently caress that poo poo book. I gave everyone a survey to see what they are interested in, and I got a lot of people saying they liked horror/dark fantasy stuff.

Unfortunately, I am more or less illiterate in this genre. Was hoping I could get some good recommendations.

Looking for something in the 200 page range and not YA (not my choice, curriculum requirement)

quote:

A Night in the Lonesome October is narrated from the point-of-view of Snuff, a dog who is Jack the Ripper's companion. The bulk of the story takes place in London and its environs, though at one point the story detours through the dream-world described by Lovecraft in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. Though never explicitly stated, various contextual clues within the story (the most obvious of which being the appearance of Sherlock Holmes or "The Great Detective") imply that it takes place during the late Victorian period.

The story reveals that once every few decades when the moon is full on the night of Halloween, the fabric of reality thins and doors may be opened between this world and the realm of the Great Old Ones. When these conditions are right, men and women with occult knowledge may gather at a specific ritual site to hold the doors closed, or to help fling them open. Should the Closers win, then the world will remain as it is until the next turning... but should the Openers succeed, then the Great Old Ones will come to Earth, to remake the world in their own image (enslaving or slaughtering the human race in the process). The Openers have never yet won. These meetings are often referred to as "The Game" or "The Great Game" by the participants, who try to keep the goings-on secret from the mundane population.

The various "Players" during the Game depicted in the book are archetypal characters from Victorian Era gothic fiction � Jack the Ripper (only ever referred to as "Jack"), Dracula ("The Count"), Victor Frankenstein ("The Good Doctor"), and the Wolf Man (known as "Larry Talbot", the film character's name) all make appearances. In addition, there is a Witch ("Crazy Jill"), a Clergyman (Vicar Roberts), a Druid ("Owen"), a "Mad Monk" ("Rastov" � apparently modeled after Rasputin), and Hermetic occultists ("Morris and McCab" � often mentioned as a reference to a real hermetic of the time, MacGregor Mathers).[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Night_in_the_Lonesome_October

# ? Jul 8, 2018 04:02

chernobyl kinsman: Mar 18, 2007; a friend of the friendly atom; Soiled Meat

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Hey buttholes

As some of you know, I am an esl teacher. The current curriculum has them read an adult novel in English as a part of their reading curriculum

The default novel is the alchemist but gently caress that poo poo book. I gave everyone a survey to see what they are interested in, and I got a lot of people saying they liked horror/dark fantasy stuff.

Unfortunately, I am more or less illiterate in this genre. Was hoping I could get some good recommendations.

Looking for something in the 200 page range and not YA (not my choice, curriculum requirement)

neil gaiman's the ocean at the end of the lane

# ? Jul 8, 2018 04:51

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Hey buttholes

As some of you know, I am an esl teacher. The current curriculum has them read an adult novel in English as a part of their reading curriculum

The default novel is the alchemist but gently caress that poo poo book. I gave everyone a survey to see what they are interested in, and I got a lot of people saying they liked horror/dark fantasy stuff.

Unfortunately, I am more or less illiterate in this genre. Was hoping I could get some good recommendations.

Looking for something in the 200 page range and not YA (not my choice, curriculum requirement)

Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the right length and nicely creepy -- I like it much better than The Haunting of Hill House.

# ? Jul 8, 2018 06:26

Khizan: Jul 30, 2013

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, maybe.

Stephen King's The Running Man is also in that ballpark pagewise.

# ? Jul 8, 2018 20:14

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

thanks guys

I went with some of the recs except for alloy's because I am not giving non-native speakers a book about 300 pages of Lovecraftian metatext with a bunch of 19th century literary figures you loving nerd

# ? Jul 9, 2018 16:06

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Mel Mudkiper posted:

thanks guys

I went with some of the recs except for alloy's because I am not giving non-native speakers a book about 300 pages of Lovecraftian metatext with a bunch of 19th century literary figures you loving nerd

It's narrated by a dog, so the vocabulary is fairly straightforward, and all the literary figures are internationally famous, everyone knows sherlock and frankenstein etc :P

I made it a BOTM lo these many years ago:
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3669218&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

quote:

I am a watchdog. My name is Snuff. I live with my master Jack outside of London now. I like Soho very much at night with its smelly fogs and dark streets. It is silent then and we go for long walks. Jack is under a curse from a long time ago and must do much of his work at night to keep worse things from happening. I keep watch while he is about it. If someone comes, I howl.

quote:

I got the idea for that story in May of 1979. I didn't know what it was going to be; I just thought it would be neat to write something about Jack the Ripper's dog, and ask Gahan Wilson to illustrate it, partly because of the fact that a dog is such an unusual person. No matter who owns a dog, if that person is nice to the animal, the dog is going to love him. I thought at the time, if you take a really despicable person, a serial killer or someone like that, and tell a story from his dog's point of view it would make him look pretty good.

Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Jul 9, 2018

# ? Jul 9, 2018 17:21

MockingQuantum: Jan 20, 2012

I'm not ESL and as such am not a great judge of this, but I actually think it might be the easiest book to read of all of the titles mentioned (except maybe the Gaiman, but for all I know that was chernobyl trolling). All of them are pretty approachable though.

# ? Jul 9, 2018 17:31

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

it ended up being a four way tie between Ocean at the End of the Lane, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Brave Dragons, and West.

# ? Jul 9, 2018 18:08

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

I knew I should have spoken up earlier about how Ocean at the End of the Lane should be retitled Coraline over again, except worse. Gaiman's creative wells are running dry.

# ? Jul 9, 2018 19:39

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

I knew I should have spoken up earlier about how Ocean at the End of the Lane should be retitled Coraline over again, except worse. Gaiman's creative wells are running dry.

yeah but that still barely registers even a 2.5 on the King-o-meter

# ? Jul 9, 2018 20:10

Time Cowboy: Nov 4, 2007; But Tarzan... The strangest thing has happened! I'm as bare... as the day I was born!

Almost all of Gaiman's novels follow a nebbishy, somewhat useless British man (or boy) who falls into a fantastical underworld lurking under the British countryside, where he meets a no-nonsense woman (or girl) with far more knowledge of the fantasy underworld, who protects and guides our hero until he learns enough to fulfill his destiny and be a white male savior for the fantasy underworld. Along the way she may or may not call him "idiot" and "dunderhead," first in exasperation, later with affection. There, you've now read almost all Gaiman novels.

# ? Jul 12, 2018 20:54

Franchescanado: Feb 23, 2013; If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment; Grimey Drawer

Time Cowboy posted:

Almost all of Gaiman's novels follow a nebbishy, somewhat useless British man (or boy) who falls into a fantastical underworld lurking under the British countryside, where he meets a no-nonsense woman (or girl) with far more knowledge of the fantasy underworld, who protects and guides our hero until he learns enough to fulfill his destiny and be a white male savior for the fantasy underworld. Along the way she may or may not call him "idiot" and "dunderhead," first in exasperation, later with affection. There, you've now read almost all Gaiman novels.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the only two Gaiman books I've read, Coraline and Good Omens, do not follow this pattern.

# ? Jul 12, 2018 21:04

Time Cowboy: Nov 4, 2007; But Tarzan... The strangest thing has happened! I'm as bare... as the day I was born!

Franchescanado posted:

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the only two Gaiman books I've read, Coraline and Good Omens, do not follow this pattern.

The human characters of Good Omens are almost the exact blueprint of what I described.

Coraline is solid, though.

# ? Jul 12, 2018 21:26

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

I don't remember there being a magical girl amanuensis in Graveyard Book but that could be my own memory lapse.

# ? Jul 12, 2018 21:33

Take the plunge! Okay!: Feb 24, 2007

I don�t remember Gaiman having characters, but maybe that�s just me

# ? Jul 12, 2018 21:39

chernobyl kinsman: Mar 18, 2007; a friend of the friendly atom; Soiled Meat

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

I don't remember there being a magical girl amanuensis in Graveyard Book but that could be my own memory lapse.

there isnt one in American Gods, either

# ? Jul 12, 2018 22:54

Lawen: Aug 7, 2000

chernobyl kinsman posted:

there isnt one in American Gods, either

Dead wife, kinda but not really, I guess? That's been more true in the TV show but less so in the book. Plenty of other Gaiman works where it's not a thing; Anansi Boys or Odd and the Frost Giant or Norse Mythology or most of his short stories. It's a thing he does, sure -- Neverwhere, Stardust (kinda), Death in Sandman -- but it's definitely not the only thing he does.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 01:04

Agent355: Jul 26, 2011

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 04:49

LionYeti: Oct 12, 2008

Agent355 posted:

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

Lovecraft County: a lovecraft story but the unknowable horror is institutional racism.

Cloud Atlas : a lot of people bump this in literary fiction but it has some incredible six film ideas and themes. Also includes some Herman Melville rear end sea voyaging and the best airport thriller you�ll ever read.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 04:53

Upsidads: Jan 11, 2007; Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates

Just finished Lovecraft Country
It's a solid romp of a family fighting racisim, cults
It's great but soured a bit since reading Blackwater recently

# ? Jul 13, 2018 06:02

Lawen: Aug 7, 2000

Agent355 posted:

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

You've read Bridge of Birds, right? I mentioned it itt fairly recently but Rob Reid's Year Zero is imo underrated comedy SciFi. Blake Crouch's Dark Matter would be a good one for a plane. Ken Grimwood's Replay is a 90s scifi that I really liked and never hear mentioned. Kathrine Addison's Goblin Emperor is political, not-grim-dark fantasy. Not sure how many of these count as big name.

Also, yeah, Lovecraft Country was really good if you haven't read it.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 14:47

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Agent355 posted:

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

Presuming you've read Bridge of Birds, a few more esoteric titles:

The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans (80's genre fantasy that is far better than it has any right to be)

Harm's Way by Colin Greenland (one of the very few good wooden-ships-in-space novels I'm aware of)

As above, A Night in the Lonesome October (Roger Zelazny's most fun book, narrated by Jack the Ripper's dog!)

Scalzi's The Android's Dream is probably his best book so far

Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay (A tale of Fantasy Reconquista-Era Spain and bros who find themselves divided by war and culture)

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (we did it as a BotM a while back: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3781830 )

A review of Lud-in-the-Mist:

"BravestOfTheLamps" posted:

This might be the best fantasy novel I have ever read.

Like the best of fantasy, it's about what is true. It's a story of what truth and authenticity can be found in the delusions of dreams and everyday life. It's like the Note that the protagonist fears, the dreadful reminder of the Real outside of words or thought. It's compact compared to it's descendants (such as Little, Big), but almost every note of it is painfully, achingly true. Even the overt sweetness of the ending reminds of the redeeming possibilities of fantasy.

And it's maybe the first time in years that I have been truly thrilled to read a book. This is what it was like to read a beloved book as a child.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 15:04

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Agent355 posted:

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

If you don't mind a bit of horror, have you read John Dies At The End?

# ? Jul 13, 2018 15:32

learnincurve: May 15, 2014; Smoosh

anilEhilated posted:

If you don't mind a bit of horror, have you read John Dies At The End?

Why do you hate people?

That book is dreadful.

# ? Jul 13, 2018 15:38

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

What's the best recent book about dinosaurs? I've got a hankering for 'em!

# ? Jul 13, 2018 16:41

TommyGun85: Jun 5, 2013

StrixNebulosa posted:

What's the best recent book about dinosaurs? I've got a hankering for 'em!

Billy and the Clonosaurus by Seymour Skinner

# ? Jul 13, 2018 17:37

chernobyl kinsman: Mar 18, 2007; a friend of the friendly atom; Soiled Meat

anilEhilated posted:

If you don't mind a bit of horror, have you read John Dies At The End?

do not

# ? Jul 13, 2018 19:13

Humbug Scoolbus: Apr 25, 2008; The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.; Clapping Larry

Agent355 posted:

Heading out on a flight tomorrow and need something to read. I mostly love genre stuff, science fiction and fantasy are the two big ones but I'm not terribly particular. I've read pretty much all the big name stuff, so recommend me your favorite genre sleeper.

China Mieville's Kraken.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 00:50

MockingQuantum: Jan 20, 2012

I don't hate JDATE (at least not enough to have stopped reading midway through) but I didn't think it was very good and holy lord I've never encountered a book so wildly overhyped as it was.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 01:00

Ornamented Death: Jan 25, 2006; Pew pew!

MockingQuantum posted:

I don't hate JDATE (at least not enough to have stopped reading midway through) but I didn't think it was very good and holy lord I've never encountered a book so wildly overhyped as it was.

Ahem.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 01:54

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

TommyGun85 posted:

Billy and the Clonosaurus by Seymour Skinner

# ? Jul 14, 2018 02:16

Olive Branch: May 26, 2010; There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance.

One of my favorite fantasy books is also one for kids (just like all fantasy books am I right?), but every American reader I've asked about has not heard of it. It's called "The Ogre Downstairs" by Diana Wynne Jones. I'm surprised there hasn't been a movie version of it yet.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 03:41

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Olive Branch posted:

One of my favorite fantasy books is also one for kids (just like all fantasy books am I right?), but every American reader I've asked about has not heard of it. It's called "The Ogre Downstairs" by Diana Wynne Jones. I'm surprised there hasn't been a movie version of it yet.

Everything by Dianna Wynne Jones is great

Read Howl's Moving Castle and Dark Lord of Derkholm

# ? Jul 14, 2018 03:46

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# ? May 29, 2024 11:05

MockingQuantum: Jan 20, 2012

Ornamented Death posted:

Ahem.

yeah okay you have me there, I happened to read that one before I got drowned by the hype wave so I forget about it. it did have the effect of making me wonder if I was being gaslighted (gaslit?) because surely the book everyone was talking about wasn't what I read, and was in fact another, actually good book with an identical title, right?

But seriously, I kinda feel like JDATE is the closest thing that horror has to Name of the Wind in terms of overhype, though it doesn't compare in terms of scale.

# ? Jul 14, 2018 03:47

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