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I read this book sometime from 1996-2000. I think the cover had a woman in a chair facing a window. The book was about a woman who had given birth as a teenager, but her parents forced her to give the child up for adoption; she never even got to see it. Something like 20 years later, the records are open and she decides to search for it; the chapters alternate between her present-day search and what she went through while pregnant. I think the whole book might be a letter addressed to her child. In the end, she finds out it died a few days after birth.
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Jun 26, 2008 20:34
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Ballsworthy posted:Yeah, but how do you read a Xanth book and not know it's a Xanth book? Because I read it once, and it was almost 20 years ago when I was in Elementary School? Sorry, I might've forgotten to mention that in the re-post. I'm glad it ended up being something along the obvious lines, and I'll be sure to go pick up a copy for nostalgia's sake. Thanks!
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Jun 27, 2008 17:57
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A book I read in the early '90s, I believe it's a little older than that. It was written by a Canadian teenager, he had won an award for the novel, and it was about a teenaged boy who made life-sized dragon-men out of metal exoskeletons and rubber skins. He went to a rock concert and got a concussion, and after this his dragon-men creations started coming to life and tried to kill him. It was really loving good. Edit: answered my own, it's called Dragon Fall, by Lee J. Hindle. Ballsworthy fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jun 29, 2008 |
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Jun 29, 2008 10:09
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I saw this book at the book store last year on the new releases/popular table and I never bothered to buy it, and then forgot most things about it. Its a canadian book set in PEI or Nova Scotia, and it deals with a family that was torn apart by homosexuality and possibly incest. its a bit of a long shot but I hope some random goon knows 
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Jul 4, 2008 08:53
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I read this book ages ago when I was a around 12 or thereabouts. It was set in a town called Lund in Sweden and among the first lines is a call to the Lund Police station (This amused me a lot back then since Lund is local slang for penis). It starts off with a call about a man who is frequently seen to be taking walks at a particular time and someone appears to be concerned that he's broken the routine. The book gets pretty weird with a serial killer of pets being thrown in, a man with an incredibly nihilistic view of the world. The book freaked me out so much; i gave up really early on. I was too stupid to take notes the last time a goon was good enough to help me out with this one - it's about a guy who on reading a description of a murder is overwhelmed with remorse and goes to the cops to confess. Except the cops do a few checks on him and find he had an alibi for the time when the murder was committed. There are more murders and with every successive murder, the protagonists memories of having committed them become more vivid. It finally ends with a very graphic description after which he shows up at the police station and the inspector greets him with a weary "It's you again? Listen this has got to stop or one of us is going to go insane."
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Jul 4, 2008 09:15
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Blue_monday posted:I saw this book at the book store last year on the new releases/popular table and I never bothered to buy it, and then forgot most things about it. Well, The Shipping News has a troubled family and involves incest, but it's not Canadian. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald; however, is set on Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia and probably the one you're looking for. Ulalume fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jul 6, 2008 |
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Jul 6, 2008 03:26
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Mr. Banana Grabber posted:Ok this is a tough one but it's a short story I read in high school. It's kind of a halloween story and it takes place in the late 1800's I think. Basically, the entire town goes to a festival and the boy stays home in bed. Then the story implies that a zombie walks up the stairs to the boys room. Any ideas? This made me think of "The Emissary," by Ray Bradbury, from his short story collection "The October Country." If that's the story you're describing, it's gotten a little bit mangled through your memory... but it's a great story. Kind of heartbreaking, really.
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Jul 9, 2008 05:59
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I hope you guys can help me and my friend out. We're looking for a science fiction book that was either set in futuristic earth or another planet that's very similar to it. In the book there was a man who was running away from something (we don't remember what). And there was a rocket or some sort of spaceship that was hidden in a mountain. The aforementioned fleeing man, also managed to lift off using this hidden spaceship at the end of the book. There was also a character in the book with the title of Wizard. What he was a wizard of, we can't seem to remember.
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Jul 10, 2008 08:36
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My sophomore year of high school I read Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius, and in the book there was a short section about a book that Jaco and a friend of his used to read on his roof. All I remember was that while they were reading it they were convinced the world was going to be taken over by aliens. I'm pretty sure the book started with a U. I've always wanted to read it. I'm hoping someone knows the book I'm talking about before I try to find my copy of the book and then search through it.
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Jul 10, 2008 22:30
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I haven't read this, it was recommended and I can't remember the title. Non-fiction book (fairly recent) that hypothesizes what would happen if humans disappeared. That is, how long it would take for the plants to overgrow the cities and so on. (I guess there's some similarities to the opening sequence of I Am Legend here, if you need more visuals). It's a long shot but I appreciate any insight.
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Jul 11, 2008 07:32
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onceling posted:I haven't read this, it was recommended and I can't remember the title.
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Jul 11, 2008 09:01
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I Am Hydrogen posted:My sophomore year of high school I read Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius, and in the book there was a short section about a book that Jaco and a friend of his used to read on his roof. All I remember was that while they were reading it they were convinced the world was going to be taken over by aliens. I'm pretty sure the book started with a U. It's this.
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Jul 11, 2008 16:06
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I was directed here from Ask/Tell  This has been driving me crazy for YEARS and I'm almost sure I won't get an answer, but here I go. I used to love this young adult science fiction book, and this was probably...15-16 years ago now. It was paperback, and the cover was white and purple I believe. The story was about some girl on a strange planet, she had a poodle for a companion, and I remember the book mentioning "prefab" housing quite a bit. She ate some kind of rations that I can't remember what they were made of. I think that's all I can remember, and I've tried googling it over the years to no avail. Does anyone know what book this is?
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Jul 11, 2008 22:36
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I read this book, which I think is pretty recent, about two years ago about a man who raised a single daughter in a lighthouse he was caring for. It turns out that she's actually the daughter of God, and she ends up dealing with Satan and a religious nut who wants to turn (I think it was) New Jersey into a center for his cult against the United States. Her best friend's a lesbian, and the main character goes to hell with the devil, meets Jesus, comes back to the surface, is murdered by the cult (which has taken over New Jersey/whatever other state), rises again and escapes without her God powers. I can't remember the title or author.
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Jul 13, 2008 18:59
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Rodney the Piper posted:I read this book, which I think is pretty recent, about two years ago about a man who raised a single daughter in a lighthouse he was caring for. It turns out that she's actually the daughter of God, and she ends up dealing with Satan and a religious nut who wants to turn (I think it was) New Jersey into a center for his cult against the United States. Her best friend's a lesbian, and the main character goes to hell with the devil, meets Jesus, comes back to the surface, is murdered by the cult (which has taken over New Jersey/whatever other state), rises again and escapes without her God powers. I can't remember the title or author. Sounds like Only Begotten Daughter, by James Morrow
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Jul 13, 2008 19:45
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That's it! Thank you.
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Jul 13, 2008 21:14
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The book was about a guy that collected and dealed rare first edition books. I don't remember much of the plot except that it like a mystery. The main part was that he dealt in first edition books and such. Sorry for being so vague but that's all I remember.
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Jul 14, 2008 21:34
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Fedaykin posted:The book was about a guy that collected and dealed rare first edition books. I don't remember much of the plot except that it like a mystery. The main part was that he dealt in first edition books and such. Sorry for being so vague but that's all I remember.
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Jul 14, 2008 21:53
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Fedaykin posted:The book was about a guy that collected and dealed rare first edition books. I don't remember much of the plot except that it like a mystery. The main part was that he dealt in first edition books and such. Sorry for being so vague but that's all I remember. Ex Libris?
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Jul 15, 2008 04:09
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Okay, so there's a book I'm looking for. I'm pretty sure I read it back in year 7 after reading a similar book (Number the Stars). This book was also about the holocaust, and I'm pretty sure it had a chick in it calld Lise. It also had her and maybe a sibling that had cyanide capsules, although I think they accidentally dissolved or something. I thought the name of the book was in fact "Lise" but I couldn't find anything anywhere. Furthermore, there was a character in Number the Stars CALLED Lise, so I'm not 100% sure I didn' fabricate the entire book in my mind/memory. Anyway - any ideas would be grandly appreciated. This has been driving me nuts for YEARS now.
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Jul 15, 2008 05:36
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I read a short story ages ago about an astronaut going to the moon, and finding what appeared to be an old couple and their house. They took him in an made him dinner and stuff. They'd been living on the moon for years and had met all the previous astronauts who'd been up, but noone else was aware of them. I think it turned out that they were aliens (duh) who just got bored of their own world and were visiting. Anyone got a title or author name?
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Jul 15, 2008 08:25
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This one has been bothering me for a while now but my recollection is rather vague. I read a series in middle school so it was probably published in the eighties or very early nineties that was about a boy who could talk to animals. I think he was supposed to be some sort of wizard and I think they referred to his mother as a brown witch, although she ran away from his family right after he was born leaving his father to die alone and miserable in his rocking chair. I remember all his siblings took after his blonde father but he took after his darker mother and I think he was picked on for it. The only part of the plot I really remember was when his village somehow came across a ton of gold and eventually decided it was worthless since it made piss poor frying pans. I think the main character's name started with a 'G' and I also think his name was the first book's title and may have been in all of the other books' titles. I'm sorry that I can't remember more, but I've been trying to remember these books for years.
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Jul 18, 2008 15:00
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For some reason, this book keeps popping into my head and I can't 100% remember what it was called or who wrote it. I only read part of it back in the 80s and it probably would suck if I read it now, but I figured I'd score a used copy off Half.com and try it if I can figure out what book it was. Anyway - I'm almost positive the book was called Obelisk and some checking around seems to suggest that it was by Ehren Ehly and came out in 1988 - but I can't be sure. All I remember was this guy and his girlfriend were in Egypt when he stumbles on an ancient mummy's tomb and gets cursed or something and turns into this flesh-eating mummy. I remember the cover was pretty distinctive - it was a paperback and the cover was stylized to look like a sarcophagus or a tomb. Edit: After some more searching - I did confirm that is the book after finding a site that had a picture of the cover. Encryptic fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jul 20, 2008 |
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Jul 20, 2008 13:44
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I got about 1/2 way through a science fiction book before leaving it on a train in europe and forgetting the title. I remember very little of the book: Somehow, man creates intelligence, but it quickly realizes it is smarter than man, and transports all of humanity out into the galaxy. Each settlement is given a machine that can make anything, if fed resources, and a large diamond pyramid with a set of rules carved into it. Also, and forgive me if I've asked this before (darn search!). I read a short story about some astronauts that land on a planet and find an abandoned city. They search the city, and near the end of the story, the city kills them and replaces their internal organs with machines, then sends them home to spy on earth. O.o Thanks a ton
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Jul 20, 2008 23:11
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Dead Alice posted:I read a short story ages ago about an astronaut going to the moon, and finding what appeared to be an old couple and their house. They took him in an made him dinner and stuff. They'd been living on the moon for years and had met all the previous astronauts who'd been up, but noone else was aware of them. I'd be tempted to guess Ray Bradbury, but I'm not sure. Runoir posted:I got about 1/2 way through a science fiction book before leaving it on a train in europe and forgetting the title. I remember very little of the book: Somehow, man creates intelligence, but it quickly realizes it is smarter than man, and transports all of humanity out into the galaxy. Each settlement is given a machine that can make anything, if fed resources, and a large diamond pyramid with a set of rules carved into it. This sounds like the Rings of the Master series, by Jack L. Chalker. The computer was actually given the instruction to defend humanity, and it decided that the best way to do this was scatter everyone out among the stars (so that a single star going nova or something couldn't wipe everyone at once, and also at primitive tech levels so they couldn't travel between the stars on their own and wipe themselves out with advanced weapons. The plot is that a group of primitives from earth find out what's going on, steal one of the giant spaceships the computer used to transport people and travel around to various "colonies" finding rings which each contain part of the override code so they can get control back from the computer. It was pretty awesome.
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Jul 21, 2008 00:31
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You know those pulpy "men's" western series? (i.e Longarm, Trailsman, Spur, Buckskin, etc.) There was one series I was reading in the early to mid-ninties, the difference was the main character was a female bounty hunter, and for the life, I cannot remember the title. The only thing I can remember was the main character on the covers had red hair. I'm not interested in reading them anymore (I'm sure they're not in print anymore), but the fact I can't remember the title is driving me mad.
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Jul 21, 2008 01:48
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Runoir posted:I got about 1/2 way through a science fiction book before leaving it on a train in europe and forgetting the title. I remember very little of the book: Somehow, man creates intelligence, but it quickly realizes it is smarter than man, and transports all of humanity out into the galaxy. Each settlement is given a machine that can make anything, if fed resources, and a large diamond pyramid with a set of rules carved into it. 'Singularity Sky', by Charlie Stross. There's a semi-sequel, too; 'Iron Sunrise'.
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Jul 22, 2008 11:22
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Davros1 posted:You know those pulpy "men's" western series? (i.e Longarm, Trailsman, Spur, Buckskin, etc.) I believe you're looking for the "Lone Star" series by Wesley Ellis. They are out of print but you can still buy them used on Amazon for a couple bucks each. You can GIS the covers to see if that's what you're thinking of.
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Jul 22, 2008 17:14
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100 Years in Iraq posted:I believe you're looking for the "Lone Star" series by Wesley Ellis. They are out of print but you can still buy them used on Amazon for a couple bucks each. You can GIS the covers to see if that's what you're thinking of. Thanks, I had forgotten about those, but those weren't the ones I was looking for. Found it. The "Head Hunter" series by E.J. Hunter. I gotta remember to right this lest I forget again. Davros1 fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jul 22, 2008 |
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Jul 22, 2008 21:19
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Over twenty years ago when I was about ten I remember reading what seemed to me at the time a really awesome science fiction book. It was a collection of short stories that told the story of the empire of mankind from it's rise to it's utter destruction. The little me was really impressed with the idea of human kind going from nothing to being (quite evil) galactic overlords and on to extinction. Anyway I obviously don't remember the name or the book or the author, but I do remember a few things about some of the stories including: * one involving a human vs aliens Olympic event that was meant to prove human superiority over all aliens (we cheated) * avoiding an interplanetary diplomatic incident by surgically removing the head of an important alien (it grows back) * coming to the aid of an underwater species of alien in some war (we reserved the right to destroy them if our aid was improperly unappreciated) * finally, the violent deaths of the last few humans in a cave somewhere Unless my young mind was overly impressed by a crappy book no one else liked, I have to imagine someone else is familiar with this book. Ring a bell?
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Jul 26, 2008 01:14
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Tmavomodry posted:Over twenty years ago when I was about ten I remember reading what seemed to me at the time a really awesome science fiction book. It was a collection of short stories that told the story of the empire of mankind from it's rise to it's utter destruction. The little me was really impressed with the idea of human kind going from nothing to being (quite evil) galactic overlords and on to extinction. Anyway I obviously don't remember the name or the book or the author, but I do remember a few things about some of the stories including: All of that makes me think of the Uplift series by David Brin and the Ringworld stuff from Larry Niven. pazetihutih fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Jul 26, 2008 |
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Jul 26, 2008 03:45
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Tmavomodry posted:Over twenty years ago when I was about ten I remember reading what seemed to me at the time a really awesome science fiction book. It was a collection of short stories that told the story of the empire of mankind from it's rise to it's utter destruction. The little me was really impressed with the idea of human kind going from nothing to being (quite evil) galactic overlords and on to extinction. Anyway I obviously don't remember the name or the book or the author, but I do remember a few things about some of the stories including: That general theme seems to follow Mike Resnick's book Birthright: The Book of Man. The details don't quite fit, though, so I'm probably wrong.
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Jul 26, 2008 04:03
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Captain Equinox posted:That general theme seems to follow Mike Resnick's book Birthright: The Book of Man. The details don't quite fit, though, so I'm probably wrong. That's the one exactly. Thank you! As I said, it's been a log time since I read it so I'm sure some of the details are wrong. I'll definitely have to go back and reread it.
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Jul 26, 2008 17:54
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I cant believe I'm doing this but I need help finding the title of a book. I noticed it was on one of those tables soon as you walk into borders the cover looked nothing like this http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/3985/44444fz5.jpg FOR THE LOVE OF GOD just copy paste the link, the drat thing wont show up. It looked like a humor book, I doubt this is any help at all but I've searched high and low for this book.
Jsquared fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 27, 2008 |
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Jul 27, 2008 04:23
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Jsquared posted:FOR THE LOVE OF GOD just copy paste the link, the drat thing wont show up. I cannot help you with your book title (the yellow is making my brain think of the Dummies book series, and now that's ALL I can think of). But FYI, imageshack doesn't work on the forums anymore. There was a big hullaballoo a while back because the owner of the service (a goon, or at least a former goon) decided to ban hotlinks from SA. Many people use Waffle Images now. Edit: Here's the story on the SAclopedia. http://forums.somethingawful.com/dictionary.php?act=3&topicid=608 BaseballChica03 fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Jul 27, 2008 |
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Jul 27, 2008 05:01
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Nah it wasnt a dummies book. I just remember it had a yellow top and some fatguy in a plaid sweatshirt with a funny looking brown hat. The back round was blue and I think it was a city and I know there was like a white dove on the front as well .
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Jul 27, 2008 05:05
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I've been trying to find a book I read maybe fifteen years ago. It was fantasy, possibly young adult. One of the opening scenes involved the main character, a girl, getting her period for the first time and wading into the sea. Then a woman, possibly a relative, comes to take her away to be trained in magic or something similar. Her mundane relatives didn't want to let her go. I think it was one of those "one girl in every generation must go" sort of plots, and I think time moved differently for the magical women (they didn't age as quickly, perhaps). The thing that sticks out most in my mind from the book was that those women all had a pair of diamond-shaped earrings, and that the girl eventually got a pair of her own when her training was finished. I hope this book isn't too obscure...
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Jul 27, 2008 16:01
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Jsquared posted:Nah it wasnt a dummies book. I just remember it had a yellow top and some fatguy in a plaid sweatshirt with a funny looking brown hat. The back round was blue and I think it was a city and I know there was like a white dove on the front as well Humor, fat guy in a funny hat sounds like a Confederacy of Dunces. In fact, I think it's this version: http://www.amazon.com/Confederacy-Dunces-Evergreen-Book/dp/0802130208 edit: check the customer uploaded images, 2nd from the left is dead on
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Jul 27, 2008 21:43
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100 Years in Iraq posted:Humor, fat guy in a funny hat sounds like a Confederacy of Dunces. In fact, I think it's this version: Yea that's it, I found it in the bookstore today after searching for about a Hour, turns out it was in the literature section, while I was looking in humor. I'll be honest the only reason I bought this book is because it had a interesting cover, and said humor. I need something to read.
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Jul 28, 2008 00:42
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I'm looking for a historical fiction book...it's written along the lines of Wouk, Uris and that general generation. It's about a Jewish business that may or may not have been an orphan and his rise to power during the first half of the 20th century. I'm pretty sure at one point he ends up in a concentration camp where he is tortured but freed because he's American and it is before the War. Any help would be much appreciated.
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Jul 28, 2008 04:03
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