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Thanks both of you, those sound like exactly what I need. I'll head to my local bookstore and see what I can find today.
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May 13, 2011 17:15
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I'm going to check out Andy McDermott thanks to recommendations this thread. Question: is it the sort of book which is good for Kindle (IE: just straightforward text with not much skipping around needed) or would I be better off with a physical copy (IE: if it has maps or whatever)?
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May 14, 2011 00:22
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I'm looking for true crime books, preferably available on the Nook store. I read The Cases that Haunt Us recently, and would like more like it. Stuff about unsolved cases, serial killers, etc.
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May 14, 2011 03:32
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TheJoker138 posted:I'm looking for true crime books, preferably available on the Nook store. I read The Cases that Haunt Us recently, and would like more like it. Stuff about unsolved cases, serial killers, etc. I just finished Bill James's recently released Popular Crime, 450 pages and 150 years of famous murders and serial killers in the USA.
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May 14, 2011 03:38
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TheJoker138 posted:I'm looking for true crime books, preferably available on the Nook store. I read The Cases that Haunt Us recently, and would like more like it. Stuff about unsolved cases, serial killers, etc. I read a decent bit of true crime, especially historical stuff. I'm currently reading The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, but I'm not far enough into it to make a judgment on how good it is. The Devil in the White City (Eric Larson): Two stories, the Columbian Exposition in Chicago and in the background, a whole bunch of murders by H.H. Holmes. Probably not enough about Holmes to satisfy your murderer wishes, but it's an excellent book. Larson also has Thunderstruck with dueling stories of wireless telegraphy and the Dr. Crippen/Ethel le Neve case, but it's not as good and you find yourself wanting him to shut the hell up about Marconi and get back to the Crippens. In Cold Blood (Truman Capote): In Cold Blood isn't entirely factual and there is the issue with Capote's relationship with one of the killers, but another excellent book. Brothers in Blood (Clark Howard): You won't find this on Nook as it's a bit older and obscure. In 1973, Carl Isaacs, Wayne Isaacs, Billy Isaacs and George Dungee murdered several members of the Alday family outside of tiny Donalsonville, Georgia. Pretty good book about very nasty doings. Woolfork Tragedy (Carolyn Deloach): Another obscure title and assuredly not on Nook, though there is a chance one of the newer versions is. Unsolved murder from the 1800s in Macon. Officially solved as a man was hung, but I remember the book being pretty interesting in examining the facts and how an innocent was probably convicted. Fiend: The Shocking True Story of America's Youngest Serial Killer (Harold Schlecter): Jesse Pomeroy case in 1800s. Thou Shalt Not Kill (Mary S. Ryzuk): John List murders his family in the 1970s. Very interesting case and enough psychological weirdness to keep you happy for a good while. And the Dead Shall Rise (Steve Oney): Any book about the 1913 Mary Phagan killing is going to concentrate on Leo Frank instead of theories about the murder itself. This is the most complete account I've read. Don't be a Northern Jew accused of murdering a young factory girl in the south. Just don't. Ninjaedit: Grammar.
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May 14, 2011 07:24
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Hedrigall posted:I'm going to check out Andy McDermott thanks to recommendations this thread. Question: is it the sort of book which is good for Kindle (IE: just straightforward text with not much skipping around needed) or would I be better off with a physical copy (IE: if it has maps or whatever)? Thanks for the recommendations!
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May 14, 2011 08:38
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TheJoker138 posted:I'm looking for true crime books, preferably available on the Nook store. I read The Cases that Haunt Us recently, and would like more like it. Stuff about unsolved cases, serial killers, etc. Ann Rule has written a shitload of true crime books (The I-5 Killer, The Want-Ad Killer, etc.) that are generally pretty good. She's also notable for having worked with Ted Bundy before he was exposed as a serial killer and wrote a book about it called The Stranger Beside Me (haven't read it though). Don't have a Nook myself so I can't speak to whether any of them are available, though.
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May 14, 2011 17:19
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dokmo posted:I just finished Bill James's recently released Popular Crime, 450 pages and 150 years of famous murders and serial killers in the USA. How was it? I've enjoyed his Abstracts, but I assume they're a whole different kind of book.
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May 14, 2011 21:58
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I'm glad you asked, I made a million notes as I read, intending to write a long review, but now it doesn't look like I'll get around to it. Shorter review: BJ's explicit argument in this book is that popular crime stories tell us something important about our culture, and shouldn't be regarded as tawdry sensationalism. Well, okay, but for me I came away with this thought: like all BJ books, this one is essentially about evaluating evidence. It reads an awful lot like his Historical Abstract books: although the unit of writing is a crime (or series of crimes) instead of baseball players, it's laid out the same way, a few pages on this crime here and there, and longer sections on more interesting crimes, or ones where he wants to discuss an interesting aspect of the evidence. Then an separate essay discussing more general changes in the culture as it relates to these crimes. Like the Historical Abstracts, I think his best writing is in the shorter sections, where he can focus on the narrative of the crime. The longer sections where he deals with evidence (for example, problems with the evidence that railroaded some poor stooge) is probably most like his sabrmetric work, and has its own charms. The essays describing general cultural stuff (for example, how prison reform actually encouraged crime) is more problematic -- I was not at an persuaded by many of his arguments. Sabrmetric note: BJ comes up with a classification system for crime stories (Adventure Stories, Bizarre Elements, Celebrity Elements, etc) but unfortunately he doesn't really develop it or use it much. I wish he applied this more systematically or just took it out. If you like BJ's writing, as I do, you'll probably like this book, even if you have no interest in the subject matter, as I don't.
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May 14, 2011 22:35
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re True Crime, I thought The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher was absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend it. I'm hoping that someone will be able to recommend me a book or two. I like literary fiction, and these are books I've read in the last couple of years that I've loved: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters However, there's a couple of books I've tried to get into recently that I thought would be perfect for me but just weren't: The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil In my younger years I loved Dostoevsky / Knut Hamsun etc. Hope that gives you all a decent picture - am about halfway through Freedom by Jonathan Franzen at the minute and after that I have nothing so any recommendations would be most welcome!!
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May 15, 2011 09:34
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If you haven't read anything of his yet, Raymond Carver would fit right in there. I'd recommend Where I'm Calling From, since it's a great cross section of his work. Some of Don DeLillo's work might be up your alley, too. I know I kept thinking about White Noise when I read Infinite Jest.
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May 15, 2011 16:41
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Soul_Doubt posted:re True Crime, I thought The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher was absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend it.
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May 15, 2011 18:28
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I'm looking for some light reading (usually pre-bedtime). I haven't read a book in ages. The last books I read (and enjoyed) were the Harry Potter Series, the Dan Brown books, and I read some of Tom Clancy's Net Force. I definitely do like sci-fi/fantasy although more grounded real-world fantasy like Harry Potter and not like WarCraft fantasy. I heard the Artemis Fowl series was pretty good. I also enjoyed "Tuesdays with Morrie" and am up for more inspirational(?) books like that.
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May 16, 2011 03:05
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Soul_Doubt posted:re True Crime, I thought The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher was absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend it. I'm now nearly finished with it and agree with this. Presented very well and doesn't drag at all.
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May 16, 2011 07:17
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hmmxkrazee posted:I'm looking for some light reading (usually pre-bedtime). I haven't read a book in ages. The last books I read (and enjoyed) were the Harry Potter Series, the Dan Brown books, and I read some of Tom Clancy's Net Force. I definitely do like sci-fi/fantasy although more grounded real-world fantasy like Harry Potter and not like WarCraft fantasy. I heard the Artemis Fowl series was pretty good. I also enjoyed "Tuesdays with Morrie" and am up for more inspirational(?) books like that.
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May 16, 2011 15:58
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So a friend has a birthday coming and she wants/needs books. Right now she's into...well, I guess post-apocalyptic. She just read The Hunger Games and Pretties, so that's the level of reading and setting she's into.
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May 17, 2011 01:40
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Jesus H. Christ posted:So a friend has a birthday coming and she wants/needs books. Right now she's into...well, I guess post-apocalyptic. She just read The Hunger Games and Pretties, so that's the level of reading and setting she's into. She might like Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now -- a Young Adult novel set in a future England during a time when an unnamed power invades the UK and everyone has to kick into survival mode. Or Steven Amsterdam's Things We Didn't See Coming, a collection of related short stories about the apocalypse as caused by the Y2K bug, set from New Years Eve 1999 to ~30 years into the future, following a single narrator and his family as they survive. This one's not marketed as YA, but it's basically the same writing level.
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May 17, 2011 19:25
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I want to read a biography/autobiography on Nikola Tesla, any recommendations? Seems like there are a lot of books out there, want to make sure I get the quality one.
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May 17, 2011 22:50
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ZeroStar posted:I want to read a biography/autobiography on Nikola Tesla, any recommendations? Seems like there are a lot of books out there, want to make sure I get the quality one. http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Nikola-Biography-Genius-Citadel/dp/0806519606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305674041&sr=8-1 This was recommended to me last year and I will recommend it to you. It's extremely well written, interesting, and informative.
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May 18, 2011 00:14
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Looking for a book involving aliens visiting earth in modern time or in historical fiction like a first encounter. Also I'm getting on the zombie craze a little late but are there any zombie books considered pretty well written.
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May 18, 2011 00:38
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The Duran posted:Looking for a book involving aliens visiting earth in modern time or in historical fiction like a first encounter.
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May 18, 2011 00:49
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I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I've been on a mystery kick lately and I am looking for what I can only describe as "dark" or "spooky" mysteries. Sci-Fi mysteries would be okay as well, but I just don't want something that will have completely unrealistic technology or computer geniuses that solve everything in seconds. Also, I want a book that centers around a single detective/protagonist. For example, I just picked up Henning Mankell's Faceless Killers, and it has those elements of being rather dark and a good protagonist, but the whole underlying theme of problems in Swedish society can be distracting.
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May 18, 2011 01:08
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modo posted:I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I've been on a mystery kick lately and I am looking for what I can only describe as "dark" or "spooky" mysteries. Sci-Fi mysteries would be okay as well, but I just don't want something that will have completely unrealistic technology or computer geniuses that solve everything in seconds. Also, I want a book that centers around a single detective/protagonist. Jo Nesbo's unfortunately-named detective Harry Hole sounds like your man. There are a number of books in the series, but not all of them are available in English and I do not believe those that have been translated were released in order, so be warned. Good, though, and I don't read much in the genre. Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen has a series featuring a detective named Carl Morck that is somewhat similar, with a few more set to hit the States in the near future. If you're willing to deal with ghosts and zombies, Mike Carey's Felix Castor books are really good, too, mainly because the use of fantastic elements is well handled.
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May 18, 2011 01:51
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I've read up on all of those suggestions and I think I'll check them out! Mike Carey sounds pretty neat, so I may go that route first, thanks a lot.
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May 18, 2011 02:08
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I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. They were amazing and I kinda wish I hadn't waited so long to read them, except for the fact that now I want more and it's indefinite whether there's going to be another one. Does anyone have any recommendations in the same vein?
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May 19, 2011 03:58
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Has anyone read Joseph Franks Dostoevsky? I hear it's good and I'd love to spend the summer reading both this and the works being discussed. The only thing I'm confused on is the order. Is A Writer in His Time all five volumes together in one book? Or do I have to buy all the individual volumes? Edit: ah. A writer...is the abridged version. I'm kind of a sucker for depth, and though I doubt anyone here has read all 5 volumes AND the abridged version, I'd still like an opinion on one, the other, or both. meanolmrcloud fucked around with this message at 20:27 on May 19, 2011 |
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May 19, 2011 20:25
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funkybottoms posted:Toby Barlow's Sharp Teeth- it's a free-verse novel set in modern LA featuring gangs of shape-shifting werewolves with a surprisingly affecting love story. it's also way less ridiculous than it sounds. Ok I know this is from forever ago, but I'm just popping in to thank you for the recommendation. I just finished this book and it was so awesome. I wish more books about werewolves were like this, instead of all that horrid Twilight/furry dreck.
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May 19, 2011 22:33
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Fame Throwa posted:Ok I know this is from forever ago, but I'm just popping in to thank you for the recommendation. I just finished this book and it was so awesome. I wish more books about werewolves were like this, instead of all that horrid Twilight/furry dreck. That's great, I'm so glad you liked it. As stated, the premise can make it kind of a tough sell, but I was totally hooked in the first ten or twelve pages.
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May 19, 2011 22:46
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I just finished the newest book in Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles, and I want to learn more about Egyptian mythology. I used to read a lot of Smithsonian books when I was in middle school (instead of having a dinosaur phase) but I don't really remember that much. What are good books to learn about the different gods and myths? History of Egypt would be cool, too, as long as it is before and up to Cleopatra. If they're available on the Nook, that would be awesome!
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May 20, 2011 04:38
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Are there any books similar to "A Confederacy of Dunces?" I've read that book 3 times and now I think its time to move on. I like a wide range of books, my tops of all time are. 1. A Confederacy of Dunces 2. Devil in the White City 3. A Death in Belmont 4. The Great Gatsby I like books that make you say "Wow this really happened?! (Devil in the White City, A Death in Belmont) or "Wow this book really exposes how hosed up life can be" (Confederacy, Gatsby) Is Shades of Grey a decent book? Guru Yaekob fucked around with this message at 21:00 on May 20, 2011 |
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May 20, 2011 20:57
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Yolkz posted:Are there any books similar to "A Confederacy of Dunces?" I've read that book 3 times and now I think its time to move on. I like a wide range of books, my tops of all time are. Shades of Grey is excellent- it seems kind of silly at first, but it's got some teeth, not to mention an interestingly ambiguous setting. No idea when the next book is due out, as there's no information on Fforde's (terrible) website.
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May 20, 2011 21:25
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Yolkz posted:
For the latter, I recommend Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. Perhaps you have to be from a small town like Gopher Prairie in the book, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Also, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey) if you haven't read that. I don't really have any specific suggestions on "this really happened," but something on Huey P. Long. Louisiana corruption is not only unbelievable at times, but highly entertaining.
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May 21, 2011 00:28
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RC and Moon Pie posted:For the latter, I recommend Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. Perhaps you have to be from a small town like Gopher Prairie in the book, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Also, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey) if you haven't read that. It's not completely based on (or about) Long, but I really enjoyed Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men. AJ Liebling wrote a good book on Long's brother, too. Can anybody recommend a translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses? I'm leaning towards Oxford's since I want a poetic version, but I'm willing to be swayed.
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May 21, 2011 03:20
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Anyone have any suggestions for a good history of the Mafia? I'd like something thats very big in scope and also very well written/entertaining.
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May 23, 2011 15:14
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Old Janx Spirit posted:Anyone have any suggestions for a good history of the Mafia? I'd like something thats very big in scope and also very well written/entertaining. If you have an Audible account, (I recently posted that same question in this thread too), I found the title The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder and the birth of the American Mafia was pretty drat good. The book gives good detail on the roots of the Mafia's beginnings (primarily in Sicily, but also Naples) then follows the early 'Mustache Petes' of America as they left Sicily and settled in New York and in New Orleans. Uncomfortable and gruesome historical details are there for all to see. One of the other posters here also recommended The Outfit, which I got but have not read yet.
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May 23, 2011 17:59
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IceNiner posted:If you have an Audible account, (I recently posted that same question in this thread too), I found the title The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder and the birth of the American Mafia was pretty drat good. The book gives good detail on the roots of the Mafia's beginnings (primarily in Sicily, but also Naples) then follows the early 'Mustache Petes' of America as they left Sicily and settled in New York and in New Orleans. Uncomfortable and gruesome historical details are there for all to see. Excellent, thanks.
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May 23, 2011 18:20
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Old Janx Spirit posted:Anyone have any suggestions for a good history of the Mafia? I'd like something thats very big in scope and also very well written/entertaining. Gay Talese wrote a really great book on the mob called Honor Thy Father. It's going for under six bucks on Amazon, too.
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May 24, 2011 01:25
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barkingclam posted:Gay Talese wrote a really great book on the mob called Honor Thy Father. It's going for under six bucks on Amazon, too. That one I do have! Thanks though. Edit: to be more specific, does anyone know of a good book that traces the history of the Mafia in Italy? The first one recommended looks like it does that. Any others? Old Janx Spirit fucked around with this message at 02:21 on May 24, 2011 |
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May 24, 2011 02:09
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Are there any good books about Turkey? I'd prefer fiction, but good, readable nonfiction would be cool too. I don't care if it's modern or in the Ottoman period or whatever, either, just any good books about Turkey would be appreciated, thanks 
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May 24, 2011 02:19
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Old Janx Spirit posted:Edit: to be more specific, does anyone know of a good book that traces the history of the Mafia in Italy? The first one recommended looks like it does that. Any others? I have not read these, but they appear on bibliographies of Mafia-related websites: Mafioso: A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day - Gaia Servadio Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia - John Dickie Mafia and Mafiosi: Origin, Power, and Myth - Henner Hess
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May 24, 2011 02:45
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