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Just finished Middlesex; before that it was She's Come Undone. In each I adored the narrative voice from a marginal that shifts around wildly in time, relating present truths to past events, tying together story threads to create a complex character sketch. I actually feel somewhat similarly about The Gone-Away World (the first recommendation I got from this thread, and incredible!!), even though that's far more on the side of dystopian fiction than the other two. All three feature intricately descriptive first-person narration that frequently jumps around in time, describing a confluence of events that lead to an extraordinary circumstance (an intersex child, becoming a 300+ lb whale, [spoiler for The Gone-Away World] discovering you're the physical manifestation of someone's imaginary friend) More like this?
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Apr 17, 2012 18:30
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Ulio posted:Any books like Catch-22, I am nearly done with it. It's one of the few humor books I read that made me laugh out loud while reading. It's completely nonsensical but there is a lot behind the nonsense and madness. I don't mind if it's straight up comedy or satire either way. Thanks. Slaughterhouse Five, absolutely. Otherwise, are you specifically talking about satirical war novels? Or absurdist satire in general? If the latter, then A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole comes to mind. But Catch-22 is really in a class by itself.
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Apr 18, 2012 01:48
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Yakult posted:Just finished Middlesex; before that it was She's Come Undone. In each I adored the narrative voice from a marginal that shifts around wildly in time, relating present truths to past events, tying together story threads to create a complex character sketch.
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Apr 18, 2012 12:53
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Lord Sandwich posted:I've come up with my summer reading project: I'd like read as many biographies of American presidents as possible (going in order). Recommend away! Ideally, no autobiographies or anything grossly partisan. There's a reading group on shelfari doing exactly this right now. You'll have to do sine catch up, but the book recommendations are solid.
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Apr 19, 2012 00:06
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Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are actually scary? I was talking to a friend and realized I'd never been scared by a book like I have by a movie or a video game.
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Apr 20, 2012 02:11
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Nemesis Of Moles posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are actually scary? I was talking to a friend and realized I'd never been scared by a book like I have by a movie or a video game. I've never read Blood Meridian, but one of my undergraduate professors told me she had to quit teaching it because students frequently went to her office hours and told her it was giving them nightmares or was traumatic in some other way. We read All the Pretty Horses instead. I know BM isn't a horror novel, so it may not be what you're looking for. It's apparently scary to some people, though.
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Apr 20, 2012 02:33
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Nemesis Of Moles posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are actually scary? I was talking to a friend and realized I'd never been scared by a book like I have by a movie or a video game. Blindsight by Peter Watts is the scariest book I've read. Read it alone at 3am.
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Apr 20, 2012 03:54
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I feel kind of like a jerk asking this with a scary book request a mere three posts above, and this sounds kinda lame anyway, but I'm hoping someone could recommend a book that's similarly scary to the Candle Cove story (http://www.ichorfalls.com/2009/03/15/candle-cove/). I wish I could be more specific about what it was that I liked about it besides that it creeped the poo poo out of me like crazy. I think I'll check out the above-mentioned Blindsight, but any other recommendations would be cool.
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Apr 20, 2012 10:39
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Blindsight is utterly fantastic and one of my faves so I definitely second that.
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Apr 20, 2012 11:48
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I'm reading Steve Duffy's "Tragic Life Stories" at the moment (after I caught his spectacular cosmic-themed "Oram County Whoosit" in Best New Horror 20) and perhaps it's just because it's so English but there's some decent horror in there. Honestly I'm in the same boat in that the most I ever get from a book is that if it's really late and I'm alone then I get a bit jittery, but that's about it. Honestly that Candle Cove probably only had me on edge so much because I was waiting for some horrible jump-scare gif to activate at any second.
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Apr 21, 2012 20:57
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What's a good place to start with John le Carré? I saw the film version of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold with Richard Burton and I loved it. I was also a fan of the recent Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy adaptation too. But what's the best book of his to start with?
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Apr 22, 2012 03:12
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TrixRabbi posted:What's a good place to start with John le Carré? I saw the film version of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold with Richard Burton and I loved it. I was also a fan of the recent Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy adaptation too. But what's the best book of his to start with? The first few George Smiley books all just kind of throw you into the middle of things and leave you to sort out who's who, but they do build on each other a bit, so start with the first one, Call for the Dead, which is also le Carre's debut novel. The second, A Murder of Quality, has little to do with Circus, etc, and is not truly essential, but it's a nice enough book and gives us a bit of character development, so I'd say it's worth reading, too (it's also quite short). After that you've got The Spy Who..., so I think you know where to go from there.
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Apr 22, 2012 03:55
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I know I'm probably going to get mocked for these requests, but I feel safer asking here than somewhere like 4chan: Are there any (decent, not necessarily very good) novels or series that are like space operas where giant robots or mechs are used for combat? Hell, something that just takes place on Earth or another planet would be fine. The only caveat here is that I don't need 40k novels and would prefer something in the realm of science fiction. Sorry, I'm working on an idea for a future story and any material is good.
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Apr 23, 2012 11:05
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Dolphin Fetus posted:I know I'm probably going to get mocked for these requests, but I feel safer asking here than somewhere like 4chan: The Forever War
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Apr 23, 2012 20:55
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AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Apr 24, 2012 00:33
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Dolphin Fetus posted:I know I'm probably going to get mocked for these requests, but I feel safer asking here than somewhere like 4chan: I have only read a little bit of it so I can't particularly speak to the overall quality, but the original Mobile Suit Gundam novels were reprinted a few weeks ago. No idea if it's in brick & mortar stores but Amazon is selling a paperback omnibus that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Should do a decent job at fitting your criteria.
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Apr 24, 2012 01:18
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Anyone willing to recommend me a good love story? Or at least a book with a really decent, involving relationship thread (not even necessarily romantic love. Familial love or the love between friends would be just as good)? Disclaimer: I can't bear Pride and Prejudice. In fact one of the only books I've ever read in which I was honestly rooting for the characters to get together was Warm Bodies. Which should probably send up all kinds of red flags regarding my emotional health. EDIT: My favourite film romance was probably Secretary. Hmm. Evfedu fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 23:34
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Do Not Resuscitate posted:Armor by John Steakley Second this. Also you can try Yamato: a Rage in Heaven By Ken Kato. While it doesn't have Mechs, it does have big gently caress off space ships and space Samurai using swords and is in my opinion one of the great Space Operas penned. Be warned it is a very long two books. Defenestrategy fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 00:09
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Evfedu posted:Anyone willing to recommend me a good love story? Or at least a book with a really decent, involving relationship thread (not even necessarily romantic love. Familial love or the love between friends would be just as good)? Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Family and friendship love. Catholicism plays a major role in everything as well.
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Apr 26, 2012 00:36
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KildarX posted:Second this. Also you can try Yamato: a Rage in Heaven By Ken Kato. While it doesn't have Mechs, it does have big gently caress off space ships and space Samurai using swords and is in my opinion one of the great Space Operas penned. Be warned it is a very long two books. edit - nevermind, didn't read your whole message Dolphin Fetus fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 01:52
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Evfedu posted:Anyone willing to recommend me a good love story? Or at least a book with a really decent, involving relationship thread (not even necessarily romantic love. Familial love or the love between friends would be just as good)? Katherine Dunn's Geek Love
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Apr 26, 2012 01:54
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Any good books with bioships? In particular, I'm looking for scifi where the ship is sentient and has biological components fused with technological. Thanks!
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Apr 26, 2012 05:15
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pancreatic cancer posted:Any good books with bioships? In particular, I'm looking for scifi where the ship is sentient and has biological components fused with technological. Thanks! The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Only halfway through it myself, but it's pretty good.
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Apr 26, 2012 07:10
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pancreatic cancer posted:Any good books with bioships? In particular, I'm looking for scifi where the ship is sentient and has biological components fused with technological. Thanks! Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series, particularly in book 2, Redemption Ark (and book 3 too, I presume, although I haven't read that one yet).
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Apr 26, 2012 08:06
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Hedrigall posted:Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series, particularly in book 2, Redemption Ark (and book 3 too, I presume, although I haven't read that one yet). Well, Chasm City is actually book two in the series. It's also outside the main plot but such an awesome mix of space opera and cyberpunk thriller must be recommended, bioships or not. Go read it you nerds, you'll love it.
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Apr 26, 2012 08:25
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Evfedu posted:Anyone willing to recommend me a good love story? Or at least a book with a really decent, involving relationship thread (not even necessarily romantic love. Familial love or the love between friends would be just as good)? So, do you think that you're more interested in dark or otherwise odd romance, or specifically romance involving bondage/BDSM? I hadn't heard of Warm Bodies, but reading the description made me think of Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Also try The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Geek Love is an excellent recommendation.
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Apr 26, 2012 14:30
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Old Janx Spirit posted:
Yeah, I think Let the Right One In would be a great choice if you liked Warm Bodies.
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Apr 26, 2012 15:21
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Old Janx Spirit posted:So, do you think that you're more interested in dark or otherwise odd romance, or specifically romance involving bondage/BDSM? quote:I hadn't heard of Warm Bodies, but reading the description made me think of Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Also try The Secret History by Donna Tartt. If anyone here hasn't read Warm Bodies I'd give it a very solid 4/5 and totally recommend it. It's schmaltzy and sentimental but totally owns it in a really good way.
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Apr 26, 2012 18:16
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Old Janx Spirit posted:I hadn't heard of Warm Bodies, but reading the description made me think of Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Also try The Secret History by Donna Tartt. While I'm not sure if The Secret History is what he is looking for, I must say it is one of my favorite books I have read in the last couple of years. I only read it because of Bret Easton Ellis, and I found it to be great. That said I read a couple of other Ellis recommendations (Follower) and I was not happy.
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Apr 26, 2012 21:14
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nate fisher posted:While I'm not sure if The Secret History is what he is looking for Well, he said romance could mean friends as well, so I think it fits there. Plus it certainly is Romantic. But anyway, it's a great book. As for Brideshead Revisited, it's more traditional than the other books mentioned, but certainly darker than Jane Austin or the other sappy romances you mentioned. Plus it's one of my all time favorite books, so totally worth a read. Edit: As far as odd/dark romances go, how about French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles, The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber and the classic dark/sick romance, Lolita by Vladimer Nabokov? Old Janx Spirit fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Apr 26, 2012 |
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Apr 26, 2012 21:33
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funkybottoms posted:Katherine Dunn's Geek Love I second this. I also really enjoyed Marguerite Duras' The Lover.
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Apr 26, 2012 22:13
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Where is the best place to start with Haruki Murakami? From what I can tell Norwegian Wood might be the best place after reading Amazon reviews.
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Apr 29, 2012 22:05
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I started with some of Murakami's stort stories - Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, specifically - but that's as good a starting place as any.
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Apr 30, 2012 00:48
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nate fisher posted:Where is the best place to start with Haruki Murakami? From what I can tell Norwegian Wood might be the best place after reading Amazon reviews. Norwegian Wood is to Japan what The Catcher in the Rye is to North America and it is quite excellent, but I don't think it's all that representative of his general body of work. I started with Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and really liked that one. The other one that people generally rave about is Wild Sheep's Chase but I didn't like that one very much.
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Apr 30, 2012 05:44
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What are some good books about Wall Street? For the past few months I've been educating myself on the 2008 financial crisis, but I find myself still unsure what certain concepts, financial mechanisms and Wall Street Jargon mean. Do you guys know of any good, comprehensive introductions to Wall Street and Investing? Something that explains how Derivatives, Hedge Funds and other aspects of the street work?
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Apr 30, 2012 14:44
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Can anyone recommend a book along the lines of A World Lit Only by Fire ? I really enjoyed the broad overview of life in the European Middle Ages, especially the fun facts that get left out of high school history classes like Popes eating dinner while watching torture and execution and Martin Luthor claiming to have poo poo fights with the Devil.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:12
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DotyManX posted:Can anyone recommend a book along the lines of A World Lit Only by Fire ? The default response would be Tuchman's A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. Life in a Medieval City by Francis and Joseph Gies is also very good. They also wrote Life in a Medieval Village, but I haven't read it so I don't know whether it's any good.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:20
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DotyManX posted:Can anyone recommend a book along the lines of A World Lit Only by Fire ? http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Jones-Medieval-Lives/dp/0563522755 Terry Jones' Medieval Lives. It has one or two kooky theories, and disagrees pretty strongly with some of the analysis in A World Lit Only by Fire , but overall they're pretty similar books.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:30
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I'd like something which will introduce me to Sociology please. I'm not looking for textbook-style prose, but something easy(ish) to read which can get me into the topic 
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May 1, 2012 19:19
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So here it is, I am in a reading slump. I absolutely ate through everything Michael Crichton (Andromeda strain and I think one or two of his non-fictions I have left), and loved them all. I am currently reading Micro, but I can't get into it, I know it's not M.C and mostly some other dude, but I'm just struggling with it and don't care. I bought my first Tom Clancy book Net Force and enjoyed ALL of those, I loved how it kept the characters and introduced new ones, i'm no book snob or anything but they were pretty good easy-reads with some techy gun bits in (I even watched the lovely movie version). Rainbow six was great too. I read an Op Center (didn't realise it was a series) and didn't really like it, also The hunt for Red October wasn't a page turner for me. I would have to say Sphere was my favourite read from M.C, I read that in one go. Close second Jurassic park and The Lost World, but i'm a JP fan boy so no wonder. I don't want to say I like 'military stories' which IS true, but i'm open to thriller type books, some sci-fi perhaps, and bio-engineeing (PREY by Crichton was good too) I am going to google some books but I know it will be a fools errand and i don't really know many 'GUD BUKS'. Even a broad author reccomendation will help triangulate my searching. Thanks goons. I need to give my kindle a thrashing like I did with M.C's books. I have enjoyed a couple of wrestling auto-biographies, and short of googling my favourite actors/TV people/inspirational people I like, i'm coming up short on book choices.  footnote: If it helps, I like easy going reading, I normally fire up my Kindle when I want a screen break from the PC/Console, or literally if it's near bed time and need a good de-stimulant, or a break on my lunch hour.. If it gets too heady, i'll thing ugh and just dump it. Also, if you don't hate me already from this post, you will now....... I bought DUNE and absolutely hated it. Sevalar fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 1, 2012 |
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May 1, 2012 20:04
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