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What are the best books by Agatha Christie? I'm addicted to detective stories, and while she is the most prominent author of British-style mysteries, her work can be really hit or miss. Like some of the worst books I've ever read have been by her. They only take like a day or two to read but it's pretty annoying when you get to the end and realize a book sucks. What are the agreed upon good ones? Examples of some I've really enjoyed are Hercule Poirot's Christmas, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, or And Then There Were None. I don't want to google this because I had like five endings spoiled already by doing that and the ending is the best part. edit: Books by other authors are ok too if they're very good and in the British style. I like Doyle, Grimes, and Sayers a lot. Lets Fuck Bro fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Dec 24, 2009 |
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Dec 24, 2009 04:00
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Nipple Drainage posted:Are there any novelization (?) books about the Iliad, Odyssey and Dante's Inferno / Divine Comedy? I've read the first two, but in the poetic original style. I'd like a more novel, fiction, story based style of the stories. I've tried googling and amazon, and indigo/chapters but with no luck. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl is a historical mystery that features the Divine Comedy prominently. It's not a "novelization" per se, though.
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Dec 24, 2009 05:27
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Encryptic posted:The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl is a historical mystery that features the Divine Comedy prominently. It's not a "novelization" per se, though. Better than nothing for now, thanks 
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Dec 24, 2009 08:10
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LuckySevens posted:I've been watching many great adventure shows on Discovery Channel and its affiliates, but I'd love to read about some stories as well.
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Dec 24, 2009 09:51
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I have two recommendations I need help with. The first- I'm looking for I guess two books. I want two books that give a good analysis, and historical portrayal of the events that happened in WW2. From what caused it, to what happened, down to how it ended. One book I imagine would be the European front, the other the Pacific. I have grandfathers that fought on both sides, so I would like to know what happened during this time. Maybe there is one good book that goes over both sides? Anyways, what would you all recommend? The Second- I am a huge fan of R.A. Salvatore. I have read almost everything he has done. What other authors, whether or not they are in the forgotten realms, should I check out that are similar to his writing style? I like his characterizations, world building, and graphic and fun battle sequences with lovable characters. Kind of sappy I know, but his characters are endearing. Now that I'm ending the cycle of reading all his work, I would like to expand into a new fantasy genre author. Who would you recommend similar to R.A. Salvatore?
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Dec 26, 2009 03:49
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Looking for some good historical fiction in the style and quality like that of Michael Shaara; I've read his son's stuff, which is decent but not up to par to The Killer Angels. Any historical period besides the Roman Ages would be literature I'd like to read since Collen McCullough and others have sapped my interest in that time period.
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Dec 26, 2009 10:11
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Lately I had a real hankering for books about the American Revolutionary, as well as the Civil and the Cold War. I'm not looking for something that concentrates on one aspect of either of them, id prefere Textbooks that give a broad insight, especially seeing how my knowledge of the first two are basically nill. Also, id love it if someone could reccommend some books about the Yakuza, any are fine.
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Dec 26, 2009 14:52
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Furious Lobster posted:Looking for some good historical fiction in the style and quality like that of Michael Shaara; I've read his son's stuff, which is decent but not up to par to The Killer Angels. Any historical period besides the Roman Ages would be literature I'd like to read since Collen McCullough and others have sapped my interest in that time period. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, if you're looking for another book centered around a historic battle (Thermopylae in this case).
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Dec 26, 2009 16:15
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Anyone familiar with the Myst and/or Zork pc-game series? Both of them feature fantasy settings but of an atypical variety. Is there any well-written fiction out there that features these types of fantastic but non-sterotypical settings? The only author I can name that captures the feel I'm looking for would be Jules Verne; I guess because many of his more famous stories have an exploration-heavy plot. While on the topic of games, anything that has a setting like Planescape Torment would be great as well. One final request, is there such a thing as crypto-zoological fiction? Books that feature stange and mysterious creatures such as skinwalkers or the Fear Liath? If so, are any of these written well enough to be recommended?
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Dec 27, 2009 05:46
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This is great thread; I've already picked up several books based on various recommendations. My favorite books of all-time, the go-to, on-my-bedstand books are the collected works of Robert Greene (48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduciton, 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law) and Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living). What these books have in common (other than that some might categorize them as self-help pap) is that they all consist of concise, focused stories from history whereby some sort of lesson is imparted. They're filled with bite-sized chunks of historical examples of one-thing-or-another. To some extent Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything follows this template, and that's another book I love. Anyone know of any other titles/authors that write in this manner?
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Dec 27, 2009 08:25
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petewhitley posted:What these books have in common (other than that some might categorize them as self-help pap) is that they all consist of concise, focused stories from history whereby some sort of lesson is imparted. Plutarch's Parallel Lives are the source of all historically-minded self-help pap.
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Dec 27, 2009 09:28
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WE RIDE posted:Hey, I'm interested in reading some kind of guide to the political machinations with regard to the West and the Middle East in recent world history (last 20 years or so, I guess?). This is a vast subject, I know: I'm interested in the history of countries like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India; and how the West has interacted with these events. I'm a fan of writers like Christopher Hitchens, and I'm not looking for a textbook, but something more journalistic. Any ideas? Robert Fisk - The great war for civlization!
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Dec 27, 2009 13:46
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petewhitley posted:they all consist of concise, focused stories from history whereby some sort of lesson is imparted. A bit too obvious, but Machiavelli's "The Prince".
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Dec 27, 2009 15:45
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rasser posted:Robert Fisk - The great war for civlization!
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Dec 27, 2009 16:57
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Jive One posted:Anyone familiar with the Myst and/or Zork pc-game series? Both of them feature fantasy settings but of an atypical variety. Is there any well-written fiction out there that features these types of fantastic but non-sterotypical settings? The only author I can name that captures the feel I'm looking for would be Jules Verne; I guess because many of his more famous stories have an exploration-heavy plot. You never mentioned if you know about it or not, but the creator/writer for the Myst series wrote a trilogy of novels directly impacting the Myst universe. It's about Atrus and all those other questions that were raised during the games. I recommend checking it out. It's called The Myst Reader
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Dec 27, 2009 18:43
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WE RIDE posted:This looks great, thanks! Was about to recommend that too. It's a huge book but really is worth it and I think it covers most of what you require.
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Dec 28, 2009 04:50
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inktvis posted:Plutarch's Parallel Lives are the source of all historically-minded self-help pap. Embarassingly enough, I had no idea that even existed. Picked up a free version (of at least part of it) off the Kindle store. If you know of a definitive, paid translation I'd be interested in taking a look. The Prince was a good suggestion as well, even though I already have it. It often seems like Robert Greene pulls a good 25% of his material out of that.
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Dec 28, 2009 08:02
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The Modern Library edition of the Dryden translation is one of the few that preserve the parallel format, which seems to be the whole thrust of the book, so I'd go with that. Might find it's what you've already downloaded though, since it's common domain.
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Dec 28, 2009 10:00
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Can anyone recommend some books about the history and development of literature? As in, how literature first emerged, what forms it takes and how it has changed down the years? I'm particularly interested in the study of ancient and classical literature, but any book along even vaguely similar lines would probably interest me.
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Dec 28, 2009 14:24
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Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable.
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Dec 28, 2009 14:36
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Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable. One that I found to be excellent was The Oxford Handbook of Modern Science Writing.
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Dec 28, 2009 15:51
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Looking for two different types of books 1. Biographies of J. Edgar Hoover or Presidents from around that time 2. Fiction or Non/fiction books about the Devil Getting ready to make a big Amazon purchase.  E: Also, if I hated Catcher in the Rye, will I hate Franny and Zooey? Dancingthroughlife fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Dec 29, 2009 |
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Dec 28, 2009 22:29
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Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable.
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Dec 29, 2009 05:50
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Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable. David Foster Wallace - Consider the Lobster
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Dec 29, 2009 06:21
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Dancingthroughlife posted:2. Fiction or Non/fiction books about the Devil Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable. Answering both of these with Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth, a collection of essays consisting of letters from the exiled angel Lucifer to his old buddies Mike and Gabe. Online here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/letearth.htm The published book version has some other essays and short stories as well, all of which are excellent.
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Dec 29, 2009 18:34
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I'm looking for a good and thought-provoking study about sociopathy.
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Dec 29, 2009 22:02
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Dancingthroughlife posted:Looking for two different types of books You've probably read or were going to read the Screwtape Letters but even if you have you should definitely check out the audio book version as it is read by John Cleese and is absolutely worth your time even if you've read the book. Also seconding Ballsworthy's rec on the Twain essays. e: how appropriate that this is the 666th reply and we're talking about the devil!  Dancingthroughlife posted:Also, if I hated Catcher in the Rye, will I hate Franny and Zooey? I would say probably depending of course on why you hated Catcher in the Rye. Franny and Zooey is still a story about overly sensitive, "misunderstood", and troubled young people, this time ivy league college undergraduates rather than rich prep school kids. I liked Franny and Zoey better, particularly the Franny portion of the book because I think I could identify with the way she felt( i.e., having a crisis of faith, dealing with pretentious and fake classmates) better than I could with any of the characters in Catcher in the Rye. colonelsandy fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Dec 30, 2009 |
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Dec 30, 2009 02:53
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^^ Thank you that, looks great!
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Dec 30, 2009 04:38
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I've got a buddy who is a big fan of Chomsky's writings. I haven't read much Chomsky and want to get him something he probably hasn't read yet for Christmas. Anyone have any good Chomsky recommendations for me?
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Dec 30, 2009 08:26
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What's a good book about the French Revolution? Preferably in the layman's more readable category, like say, David McCullough style.
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Dec 30, 2009 21:52
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Umbriago posted:Could anybody recommend any good collections of essays? I wish to read them partly for enjoyment but mainly to improve my own writing for university. I already own George Orwell's Essays and several volumes of work by Bertrand Russell. It doesn't matter what subject they concern as long as they are well-written and enjoyable. Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs comes to mind - it's my favourite collections of essays. You can't go wrong with a collection of stuff by either AJ Liebling or David Foster Wallace, either. You could always check out the Best American series. There's an annual volume for essays and the Nonrequired Reading series usually has a few too.
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Dec 31, 2009 04:50
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I'm looking for a book, preferably something with a medieval historical/fantasy setting, that is somewhat dark or even horrific and really focuses on the characters. I'm fascinated by the darker sides to human nature like betrayal and torture and while I have no problems with it being necessarily violent or vulgar, I would prefer if it was at least somewhat intellectual yet entertaining. Some books/series I've read that I feel are relevant would be Blood Meridian, The Road, ASoIaF and Pillars of the Earth. I love McCarthy so I'm looking at getting into Child of God and the Border Trilogy next, but wanted something a little more fantasy-ish at the same time.
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Dec 31, 2009 09:41
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MissSheGrrl posted:I'm looking for a book, preferably something with a medieval historical/fantasy setting, that is somewhat dark or even horrific and really focuses on the characters. I'm fascinated by the darker sides to human nature like betrayal and torture and while I have no problems with it being necessarily violent or vulgar, I would prefer if it was at least somewhat intellectual yet entertaining. Some books/series I've read that I feel are relevant would be Blood Meridian, The Road, ASoIaF and Pillars of the Earth. I love McCarthy so I'm looking at getting into Child of God and the Border Trilogy next, but wanted something a little more fantasy-ish at the same time. Joe Abercrombie's books would seem to fit the criteria you're looking for. Fantasy setting, pretty drat dark and grim and very character driven. There's a trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and The Last Argument of Kings) followed by a standalone novel (Best Served Cold) which, whilst standalone, does continue the "bigger" story from the first trilogy.
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Dec 31, 2009 10:56
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MissSheGrrl posted:I'm looking for a book, preferably something with a medieval historical/fantasy setting, that is somewhat dark or even horrific and really focuses on the characters. I'm fascinated by the darker sides to human nature like betrayal and torture and while I have no problems with it being necessarily violent or vulgar, I would prefer if it was at least somewhat intellectual yet entertaining.
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Dec 31, 2009 11:10
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Those both sound like great suggestions, thanks guys
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Dec 31, 2009 19:03
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Any good books about traveling, specifically something kind of similar to WorldWalk? Personal accounts of traveling around the world.
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Jan 1, 2010 00:25
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Does anyone have any recommendations for a book on mythology? Ideally I'd like one massive tome (doesn't actually have to be massive) that covers a ton of stuff authoritatively to serve as either the last book I'll need on the subject or a great primer. I'm not looking for any particular focus geographically or culturally, though a mix of the most recycled mythology along with some interesting obscure stuff would be nice.
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Jan 1, 2010 05:43
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LuckySevens posted:I've been watching many great adventure shows on Discovery Channel and its affiliates, but I'd love to read about some stories as well. While not modern, The Lost City of Z by David Grann is a book about early 20th century exploration, specifically about hunting for a lost city in the Amazon. It does weave in the modern day expedition the author took to try and find the city himself.
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Jan 1, 2010 19:16
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theradiostillsucks posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for a book on mythology? Ideally I'd like one massive tome (doesn't actually have to be massive) that covers a ton of stuff authoritatively to serve as either the last book I'll need on the subject or a great primer. I'm not looking for any particular focus geographically or culturally, though a mix of the most recycled mythology along with some interesting obscure stuff would be nice. Oops, I didn't read exactly what you wanted the first time... anyway, those books are the closest I can think about it, they're not massive at all but they touch a lot of different cultures and stories. Talas fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Jan 2, 2010 |
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Jan 2, 2010 04:12
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Does anyone know of a book that focuses on arena combat in the style of Rome's colosseum? Or is a large influence on the story? I would prefer historical fiction. Non-fiction is okay as well.
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Jan 2, 2010 10:28
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