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Are there any works of fiction set in the last 15 or so years of the Mexican drug war? I'm indifferent to what side of the war the book's perspective is from; la policía, the DEA, the criminals themselves, or citizens. A dark novel with some action. I was going to write "Man On Fire in book form" but I notice the movie is actually based off a book. Dodged a bullet there.
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Jun 22, 2011 08:43
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SynthesizerKaiser posted:Are there any works of fiction set in the last 15 or so years of the Mexican drug war? I'm indifferent to what side of the war the book's perspective is from; la policía, the DEA, the criminals themselves, or citizens. A dark novel with some action. Don Winslow's Savages, which I like to think of as No Country for Nice Dreams.
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Jun 22, 2011 11:26
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I want to read the book that I THOUGHT Packing for Mars would be. I was expecting a thorough exploration of the science behind spaceflight and the difficulties of pushing farther into space than we have. I didn't realize it would be a collection of journalism-y pieces about wacky space antics. (Once I realized what the book actually was, I got into it, but I still want to find the imaginary, hard-science-y version of the book that I was expecting to read.)
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Jun 22, 2011 18:47
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I used to read a lot of classic and modern "literature" type stuff - Tolstoy, etc - but I've recently started really liking thriller/mystery stuff. The first book I read was Bad Things Happen, which I happened up randomly, opened and read the first paragraph, and was hooked. It was pretty good. So then I went to Barnes and Noble and asked for a recommendation based on that, and they told me to try Lee Child, the Reacher novels. They are pretty good also, but they are all the same formula(Reacher gets pulled into a conspiracy or some such thing, there is some sadistic torturous killer and his goons, he meets and seduces a beautiful woman, then Reacher kills everyone). Also,since it is the same I know the hero isn't going to die, and I also feel like the first 2/3s of the books are always great because the mystery builds and tensions increases, but at the end it's always a big letdown because Reacher basically just kills all the bad guys and that's that. Are there any really good, high quality books in this genre? Hard-boiled, mysterious, thrillers?
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Jun 22, 2011 20:17
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Doghouse posted:Are there any really good, high quality books in this genre? Hard-boiled, mysterious, thrillers? A good place to start is probably Richard Stark's Parker series. Stark's books are incredibly well written and are classics of the genre. The Reacher books clearly owe a lot to Parker, who doesn't have the cartoony supermanish invincibility that Reacher has. Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books are hard boiled police procedurals with plenty of thriller elements. The Poet is a standalone serial killer thriller. His books are all well written. Harlan Coben has a bunch of good innocent-man-on-the-run thrillers. Tell No One is very good. Also Dennis Lehane's Gone Baby Gone, Linwood Barclay's Never Look Away, The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin.
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Jun 23, 2011 01:36
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Doghouse posted:I used to read a lot of classic and modern "literature" type stuff - Tolstoy, etc - but I've recently started really liking thriller/mystery stuff. The first book I read was Bad Things Happen, which I happened up randomly, opened and read the first paragraph, and was hooked. It was pretty good.
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Jun 23, 2011 03:02
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Doghouse posted:I used to read a lot of classic and modern "literature" type stuff - Tolstoy, etc - but I've recently started really liking thriller/mystery stuff. The first book I read was Bad Things Happen, which I happened up randomly, opened and read the first paragraph, and was hooked. It was pretty good.
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Jun 23, 2011 03:08
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I loved Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion (Dan Simmons). If I had never read any of his other books he would be my favourite author of all time. I had to spoil it all didn't I? I really, really liked the idea of Ilium and Olympos. However the execution, although it did keep me reading, was less than satisfactory. The whole Muslims (and the French?) kill everyone by mistake with intra-dimensional monsters in the future, trying to get the Jews, was a little hard to bear. Not to mention the "Walk that way". "Why"? "Just do it" resolution of the plot arc for one of the main characters Anything else in space opera meets classical writings/poetry/philosophic thought mish mash genre? isoprenaline fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jun 24, 2011 |
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Jun 24, 2011 04:32
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A girl I'm... well lets not use a verb because I don't know which one to use... is a chronic workaholic. It's not a point of contention or anything, and we joke about it. She's about to go away for a few months and I'm looking for a book that has themes along the line of, "it's okay to strive for success but you also need to find your interests and enjoy life." I'd prefer that it wasn't self-helpey and instead fiction, or lighthearted in some way. Anybody care to recommend something to give as a gift (and also to read)?
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Jun 25, 2011 14:17
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Is there anything like The Wanting Seed mixed with American Psycho? Meaning a character like pat bateman running around a dystopia obsessing over everything and not taking itself serious?
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Jun 26, 2011 04:50
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The Gay Bean posted:A girl I'm... well lets not use a verb because I don't know which one to use... is a chronic workaholic. It's not a point of contention or anything, and we joke about it. It isn't exactly about being successful, but Apathy and Other Small Victories is a great book. I love it.
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Jun 27, 2011 00:30
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Can anyone recommend some pre-Christian, pre-Roman European literature/mythology? I'm aware of the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Sagas of Icelanders, and Beowulf kind of fits as well. Some pagan Celtic/Anglo-Saxon literature would be especially great if such things are available.
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Jun 28, 2011 20:33
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Jive One, I recommend the Mythology thread for you! It should only be a few pages down in the book barn. Oh no, it's in archives. But if you have 'em... http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3381055&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 Are there any good fantasy novels about gypsies and traveling musicians? The only "good" series I read was Mercedes Lackey's Bardic Voices, but now can't stand because, well... Mercedes Lackey. kreyla fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Jun 28, 2011 |
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Jun 28, 2011 21:48
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Can someone recommend some good magical realist novels? Something similar to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez would be great.
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Jun 28, 2011 21:51
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Jive One posted:Can anyone recommend some pre-Christian, pre-Roman European literature/mythology? I'm aware of the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Sagas of Icelanders, and Beowulf kind of fits as well. Some pagan Celtic/Anglo-Saxon literature would be especially great if such things are available. The Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Welsh tales and this Penguin collection of Irish/Celtic lore might be up your alley.
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Jun 28, 2011 22:10
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Friends Are Evil posted:Can someone recommend some good magical realist novels? Something similar to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez would be great.
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Jun 28, 2011 22:26
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Salman Rushdie's most famous books, The Satanic Verses and Midnight's Children, are great examples of magic realism. And great books. Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big are also pretty good books with magic realism elements.
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Jun 29, 2011 01:08
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kreyla posted:Jive One, I recommend the Mythology thread for you! It should only be a few pages down in the book barn. barkingclam posted:The Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Welsh tales and this Penguin collection of Irish/Celtic lore might be up your alley. Perfect, thanks for the suggestions!
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Jun 29, 2011 20:20
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Can someone recommend me a novel or author similar to Don DeLillo, Graham Greene or John Steinbeck? Also, any good post-apocalyptic world novels? I have read The Road (only one I can think of at the moment). Thanks
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Jun 29, 2011 23:06
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Can of Cloud posted:Also, any good post-apocalyptic world novels? I have read The Road (only one I can think of at the moment). Scroll through the last few weeks of Sci-Fi/Fantasy Thread- this question pops up frequently over there. My personal favorite is George Stewart's [b]Earth Abides[b].
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Jun 29, 2011 23:20
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What's a good book about how stars collapse? Like electron degeneracy, neutron degeneracy, the hydrogen to iron cycle thing, all that jazz.
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Jun 30, 2011 01:51
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I just finished off The Last Victim and I'm looking for more good true crime/serial killer books. Anyone have some suggestions?
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Jun 30, 2011 02:50
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appropriatemetaphor posted:What's a good book about how stars collapse? Like electron degeneracy, neutron degeneracy, the hydrogen to iron cycle thing, all that jazz. I really liked Death From the Skies. It's about lots if different ways the universe could destroy the earth, including stars going supernova, gamma ray bursts, asteroids/comets, black holes, the eventual heat death of the universe, and more. It may not be as detailed specifically about a star's life cycle as you're looking for, since that's just one section, but it has good, easy to understand scientific explanations of lots of cool space stuff.
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Jun 30, 2011 03:27
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fallin1 posted:I just finished off The Last Victim and I'm looking for more good true crime/serial killer books. Anyone have some suggestions? I posted some a few pages ago and have a couple of additions. The true crime I read is almost exclusively historical: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (Kate Summerscale): Murder in Road, England, in the 1800s. Good build and then the last chapter will just knock your socks off. For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago (Simon Baatz): You're probably familiar with at least of the details, but it's pretty engaging. RC and Moon Pie fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Jun 30, 2011 |
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Jun 30, 2011 03:29
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I'm interested in books about the FBI/CIA/intelligence/national security. The more accurate, the better. I've literally read nothing on this subject, and I've deliberately kept it broad. Any ideas?
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Jul 1, 2011 15:24
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Blakkout posted:I'm interested in books about the FBI/CIA/intelligence/national security. The more accurate, the better. I've literally read nothing on this subject, and I've deliberately kept it broad. Any ideas? It's not much in terms of history/general overview of the agencies, but The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State by Shane Harris is a pretty interesting look at, well, America's surveillance state. It starts in the 80s with John Poindexter and gets deep into the NSA Total Information Awareness data-mining project and all the complicated legal, social, and political issues surrounding it. It's an easy read and far more enjoyable and dramatic than my description might sound.
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Jul 1, 2011 17:02
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Blakkout posted:I'm interested in books about the FBI/CIA/intelligence/national security. The more accurate, the better. I've literally read nothing on this subject, and I've deliberately kept it broad. Any ideas?
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Jul 1, 2011 20:25
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funkybottoms posted:It's not much in terms of history/general overview of the agencies, but The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State by Shane Harris is a pretty interesting look at, well, America's surveillance state. It starts in the 80s with John Poindexter and gets deep into the NSA Total Information Awareness data-mining project and all the complicated legal, social, and political issues surrounding it. It's an easy read and far more enjoyable and dramatic than my description might sound. Payndz posted:Body Of Secrets by James Bamford is a really good book about the history and workings of the NSA. (He's done a follow-up, The Shadow Factory, but I haven't read it yet.) Thanks. Just scooped up both of these on the cheap from Amazon. I'd welcome any additional suggestions as well.
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Jul 2, 2011 00:35
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Is The Psychopath Test any good? I've been on the fence about getting it; I read the sample on my Kindle, but it didn't really seem to have much to do with what the description said it was about, so I'm not sure if it's really representative of the book's quality.
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Jul 2, 2011 02:01
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Jigsaw posted:Is The Psychopath Test any good? I've been on the fence about getting it; I read the sample on my Kindle, but it didn't really seem to have much to do with what the description said it was about, so I'm not sure if it's really representative of the book's quality. I liked it a lot. Jon Ronson's style is that he starts with a question and takes the reader on his journey for an answer. The sample was the very first part where he explains how he got curious about psychopaths. I thought it was an entertaining ride.
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Jul 2, 2011 04:16
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Robopocalypse... That's all that really needs to be said, simply greatly written, great subject matter. Just wow.
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Jul 2, 2011 06:27
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Day Man posted:I really liked Death From the Skies. It's about lots if different ways the universe could destroy the earth, including stars going supernova, gamma ray bursts, asteroids/comets, black holes, the eventual heat death of the universe, and more. It may not be as detailed specifically about a star's life cycle as you're looking for, since that's just one section, but it has good, easy to understand scientific explanations of lots of cool space stuff. Yeah Phil Plait is cool, I'll probably snag that one eventually, but right now I'm looking for some real hardcore star poo poo.
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Jul 2, 2011 08:18
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Since I recently finished them, I'm going to recommend them, Sci-Fi 'Tours des Forces' The Forever War and Neuromancer (not related). Easily some of the best sci-fi books every written, and Neuromancer, aside from being now one of my favorite books ever, actually surprised me a lot by being almost prose-y at times. I'll go ahead and recommend The Strain Trilogy as well, but on the caveat that it is in fact about vampires (which is apparently all the rage) who are kinda like zombies (which is also all the rage?). Smart, relatively scientific, and a nice page turner.
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Jul 2, 2011 11:49
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Lately, I've been watching Deadwood, and just before that, playing Red Dead Redemption, while this may see some people rolling their eyes at what will come next, I'm an Australian, so some of the places and locations are lost on me, but the whole setting and mythology surrounding it is really cool so I'd like some recommendations on books so I can learn more around the circumstances surrounding the push west. Fact over fiction too. Also, any good biographies on David Bowie?
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Jul 2, 2011 14:57
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I'm a huge horror fan, but I've never really gotten into reading horror novels. I mean, aside from a few Stephen Kings and the classics like Frankenstein, Dracula and Lovecraft, et al.. I've got a hankering for some really dark, supernatural stuff. Ghost stories and such. But preferrably in a more modern vein (and by that I mean writing style, not setting). I'm not looking for anything dense, just some good, really creepy, surreal fiction. There must be hundreds of short story collections and the like out there, but I have no idea where to begin if I want something of quality. I don't mean to say I only want to read short stories, but it seems like the obvious place to start. Or maybe not? Any recommendations?
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Jul 2, 2011 17:42
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Hakkesshu posted:I'm a huge horror fan, but I've never really gotten into reading horror novels. I mean, aside from a few Stephen Kings and the classics like Frankenstein, Dracula and Lovecraft, et al.. Stephen Jones' annual Mammoth Book of Best New Horror collections and/or Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year collections are the best places to start with horror short fiction. If you want specific authors, I highly recommend Simon Strantzas, Richard Gavin, Laird Barron, and goon-favorite Thomas Ligotti.
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Jul 2, 2011 22:51
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Hello everyone I didn't want to make a thread for this so here's a question: Which translation of War and Peace is best I was gonna grab a copy last week but they had like four translations and I got paralyzed by false choices. If anyone knows which translation is generally considered the most reputable please let me know. Thanks.
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Jul 3, 2011 03:16
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My favorite book is The Hobbit (don't laugh) and I'm looking for more books where the story focuses on the journey/traveling. I also really like the lighthearted, storybook feel of The Hobbit, but that's not as important. I just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and I enjoyed it, but it's not exactly what I was looking for. I've hardly read any fantasy, so any suggestions are welcome. Thanks  e: I'd prefer fantasy, if that wasn't clear. Snoring fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Jul 3, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 05:41
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Keven. Just. Keven posted:Hello everyone I didn't want to make a thread for this so here's a question: Which translation of War and Peace is best I was gonna grab a copy last week but they had like four translations and I got paralyzed by false choices. If anyone knows which translation is generally considered the most reputable please let me know. Thanks. The Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations are well respected. I haven't read their version of War and Peace, but their Brothers K is great and if I were snagging War and Peace I'd definitely get their translation. Edit: What's a good history of the French Revolution?
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Jul 3, 2011 06:10
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Alright, so I just finished Iron Coffins, and I am looking for more about the Battle of the Atlantic and the convoys/merchant marine in general. I already own and have read The Cruel Sea, and it is probably my all time favorite novel. I am leaning more towards fiction, as I find straight non fiction to be kind of dull and dry sometimes. Any help would be much appreciated.
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Jul 3, 2011 17:12
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