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Warning: Sanderston will look, feel and read really stupid to someone just coming from Malazan. Not saying he's bad but be prepared for much, much simpler books.
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Apr 8, 2015 22:03
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anilEhilated posted:Warning: Sanderston will look, feel and read really stupid to someone just coming from Malazan. Not saying he's bad but be prepared for much, much simpler books. This. I like his stuff a lot but it practically feels like YA after Malazan. He's a way better writer than Erikson, at least!
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Apr 9, 2015 04:40
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I'm looking for a serious/credible book on thought schools and practices of some of the many Christian-based churches in America, ideally focusing on the more conservative, fundamental, non-tolerant groups and views. Alternately - I'm basically trying to convince a friend that religious nutjobs don't live only in the Middle-East - anything on contemporary religious intolerance in the so-called civilized countries would be nice.
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Apr 9, 2015 |
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Apr 9, 2015 14:25
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anilEhilated posted:I'm looking for a serious/credible book on thought schools and practices of some of the many Christian-based churches in America, ideally focusing on the more conservative, fundamental, non-tolerant groups and views. Alternately - I'm basically trying to convince a friend that religious nutjobs don't live only in the Middle-East - anything on contemporary religious intolerance in the so-called civilized countries would be nice. Take a look at Bruce Bawer's Stealing Jesus.
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Apr 9, 2015 16:17
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I just finished Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick and I'd love some recommendations along that line of history & culture told narrative style through the eyes of its people. I'm not looking for any specific culture/country, just very interested in how other people live and see the world. Doesn't have to center around something bleak like Nothing to Envy, but dark events in history are a plus. I know this is a broad request, but I'd appreciate any help looking in the right direction!
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Apr 11, 2015 03:14
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hybriseris posted:I just finished Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick and I'd love some recommendations along that line of history & culture told narrative style through the eyes of its people. I'm not looking for any specific culture/country, just very interested in how other people live and see the world. Doesn't have to center around something bleak like Nothing to Envy, but dark events in history are a plus. That's basically Studs Terkel's entire genre, might fit the bill.
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Apr 11, 2015 03:35
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Need recommendations for Christopher Isherwood. I really liked The Berlin Stories and I want more. He has a pretty extensive bibliography so far as I can see but I hate going in blind.
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Apr 11, 2015 23:07
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Transistor Rhythm posted:This. I like his stuff a lot but it practically feels like YA after Malazan. He's a way better writer than Erikson, at least! I read three Malazan books and gave it up as a bad job. Mistborn is relatively elegant in its simplicity compared to Malazan - turns out you don't need 18 gods, 23 civilizations, and 94 dead civilizations THAT ARE RISING AGAIN to make a fantasy series engaging and good.
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Apr 11, 2015 23:49
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Any recommendations for a good, semi recent PI mystery series in the vein of the Travis Mcgee books?
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Apr 12, 2015 04:41
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Borneo Jimmy posted:Any recommendations for a good, semi recent PI mystery series in the vein of the Travis Mcgee books? I'm not familiar with that series, but after looking at a description I would think you might enjoy Tim Dorsey's Serge Storms books as well as Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender Mysteries.
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Apr 12, 2015 05:16
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Borneo Jimmy posted:Any recommendations for a good, semi recent PI mystery series in the vein of the Travis Mcgee books? Try the other McDonald - Ross McDonald. I enjoyed his Harper books a lot.
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Apr 12, 2015 17:42
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funkybottoms posted:I'm not familiar with that series, but after looking at a description I would think you might enjoy Tim Dorsey's Serge Storms books as well as Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender Mysteries. Thanks I've been looking at Dorsey's stuff and I think I'll go ahead and try them.
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Apr 12, 2015 19:33
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Borneo Jimmy posted:Any recommendations for a good, semi recent PI mystery series in the vein of the Travis Mcgee books? Ace Atkins' Quinn Colson books are my favorites of this type from the past few years. They're set in a small Mississippi town that is used very well for background & atmosphere, have some great characters and dialogue, and the author knows when and how to inject humor as well as set a cool scene to keep the pacing tight and fast.
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Apr 13, 2015 06:46
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I'm looking for a book/book series that would be sort-of an adult version of a Series of Unfortunate Events, specifically one that would focus on a large, shadowy secret organization in a noir setting. Any recs?
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Apr 17, 2015 20:03
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Gravity's Rainbow.
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Apr 17, 2015 23:09
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There's Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy and David Peace's Red Riding series. Both fit the noir, and secret, shadowy organizations/institutions. I'm not familiar with Series of Unfortunate Events though, so I don't know if they'd match it tone or theme, etc wise
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Apr 18, 2015 01:35
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There's also the Illuminatus! Trilogy, although that's more gonzo than noir, and it's very much a thing of the '70s.
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Apr 18, 2015 01:55
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Mr. Squishy posted:Gravity's Rainbow. I'm reading that now  Really good stuff.savinhill posted:There's Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy and David Peace's Red Riding series. Both fit the noir, and secret, shadowy organizations/institutions. I'm not familiar with Series of Unfortunate Events though, so I don't know if they'd match it tone or theme, etc wise I do love me some historical fiction. I'll check these out. Selachian posted:There's also the Illuminatus! Trilogy, although that's more gonzo than noir, and it's very much a thing of the '70s. I keep running into references to Illuminatus! I'll add it to my list. Thanks! (And of course, if anyone else has suggestions, feel free to suggest)
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Apr 18, 2015 02:30
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I was listening to the Revolutions podcast, its 250th ep, and the host recommended illuminatus as his favorite fiction. Also the blogger of slate star codex compares it to Infinite Jest, so I plan to read one after the other.
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Apr 18, 2015 06:26
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has anyone read The Mortal Engines trilogy?
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Apr 20, 2015 03:03
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TommyGun85 posted:has anyone read The Mortal Engines trilogy? It's a quartet. I've only read the first but it was pretty good YA. My best friend has read them all and she absolutely loves them and raves about how they get better and better. I need to read the rest one of these days. There's also a poster here who's obsessed with them, and I'm sure he'll tell you way more if he's still around. The setting is kinda post-apocalyptic diesel/steampunk. If you like Railsea by China Miéville or Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds, I can recommend it. And vice versa!
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Apr 20, 2015 04:56
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TommyGun85 posted:has anyone read The Mortal Engines trilogy?
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Apr 21, 2015 05:25
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Anyone know any good zombie books available on kindle? Preferably devoid of long winded, right-wing rants about how immigrants are at the root of all of America's ills. 
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Apr 22, 2015 00:12
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Klaus88 posted:Anyone know any good zombie books available on kindle? Preferably devoid of long winded, right-wing rants about how immigrants are at the root of all of America's ills. World War Z is really good. The Girl With All the Gifts is an interesting take on the genre.
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Apr 22, 2015 00:19
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Zone One by Colson Whitehead is a good one too.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:34
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I'm getting back into reading after 6 or 7 years of not being able to focus due to various circumstances, and I'd appreciate some general ideas on where to start/continue. I love me some Pratchett and Adams, got a bit into RR Martin, never turn down some King, on the literary side I'm into Dostoevsky, Sartre and Hesse, and when it somes to genre fiction in general I love character-based sci-fi and all types of fantasy. There's a bunch more but I thought I'd generalize heavily and list some stuff everyone knows. I speak german fluently so anything goes there, too. Just throw some of your favorites my way, I'm open to anything.
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Apr 22, 2015 09:28
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Klaus88 posted:Anyone know any good zombie books available on kindle? Preferably devoid of long winded, right-wing rants about how immigrants are at the root of all of America's ills. WWZ and AGWATG are both good. I liked Warm Bodies well enough and had customers who really enjoyed The Reapers are the Angels and Feed.
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Apr 22, 2015 10:55
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Schurik posted:I'm getting back into reading after 6 or 7 years of not being able to focus due to various circumstances, and I'd appreciate some general ideas on where to start/continue. I love me some Pratchett and Adams, got a bit into RR Martin, never turn down some King, on the literary side I'm into Dostoevsky, Sartre and Hesse, and when it somes to genre fiction in general I love character-based sci-fi and all types of fantasy. There's a bunch more but I thought I'd generalize heavily and list some stuff everyone knows. I speak german fluently so anything goes there, too. Just throw some of your favorites my way, I'm open to anything. A fairly "literary" book that I recommend whenever someone wants basically "a good book" is John Fowles - The Magus. Not fantasy, despite how the title sounds. A bit of a slow beginning but once the real story begins (100-150ish pages in?) it's un-put-downable. e: and if you're fluent in German, I think it'd be cool to read Kafka in the original. Start with The Metamorphosis if you haven't already read it.
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Apr 22, 2015 12:26
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regulargonzalez posted:e: and if you're fluent in German, I think it'd be cool to read Kafka in the original. Start with The Metamorphosis if you haven't already read it. Or The Tin Drum.
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Apr 22, 2015 13:49
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U can buy the entire collected works of Kafka in German for £10 on amazon so do that
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Apr 22, 2015 13:59
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Schurik posted:I'm getting back into reading after 6 or 7 years of not being able to focus due to various circumstances, and I'd appreciate some general ideas on where to start/continue. I love me some Pratchett and Adams, got a bit into RR Martin, never turn down some King, on the literary side I'm into Dostoevsky, Sartre and Hesse, and when it somes to genre fiction in general I love character-based sci-fi and all types of fantasy. There's a bunch more but I thought I'd generalize heavily and list some stuff everyone knows. I speak german fluently so anything goes there, too. Just throw some of your favorites my way, I'm open to anything. For something literary, given those picks, I'd say Camus, maybe The Plague. Since you like Pratchett make sure to read Gaiman if you haven't -- his best books are Stardust and Neverwhere (also Sandman series but it's expensive to get the whole thing). If you've read Gaiman already and liked him, I'd suggest Roger Zelazny, esp. Lord of Light and Isle of the Dead. Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan. If you want something pulpier the Dresden Files are a good pick for a fun junk-food read. The current hot recommendation in fantasy is probably Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London books -- fantasy police procedurals -- but they're VERY british. On the sci-fi side, if you haven't read Old Man's War that's probably the best place to start out of recent titles, esp. if you want character-driven with some humor. Same author wrote The Android's Dream which is heavily influenced by Douglas Adams style wacky SF. If you want something that's just good my off-the-beaten-path recommendation is Harm's Way by Colin Greenland, and of course Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
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Apr 22, 2015 14:03
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CestMoi posted:U can buy the entire collected works of Kafka in German for £10 on amazon so do that I say don't do that but instead support your local book store.
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Apr 22, 2015 15:22
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All of Kafka and Brecht are on the shelf, but thanks for reminding me of them  And thanks for the other ones, I'll be sure to check them all out. Schurik fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 15:25
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Mr. Squishy posted:I say don't do that but instead support your local book store. wELL support your local bookstore for sure but also you can get all of Kafka's work, in German, for £10 on amazon and it will also be delivered free if you have Prime.
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Apr 22, 2015 16:38
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:and of course Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. Goddamn I love that book so much and never see it mentioned anywhere. The two sequels are solid too but not quite as good and pretty hard to find.
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Apr 22, 2015 19:21
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I'm having kind of a hard time articulating the type of book I'm looking for. Basically if you are familiar with the depressive-suicidal black metal genre of music, something like that in a book. Depression, suicide, self-destruction, grief, loss, mental illness- in a narrative/story. Not like a "I went to a mental hospital and this is my experience" type thing...more of a work of fiction. An exploration of themes I listed before in a narrative/novel. I'm not even sure if something like this exists.
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Apr 23, 2015 05:48
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Kvlt! posted:I'm having kind of a hard time articulating the type of book I'm looking for. Are... are you okay? 
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Apr 23, 2015 07:52
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Kvlt! posted:Depression, suicide, self-destruction, grief, loss, mental illness- in a narrative/story. Not like a "I went to a mental hospital and this is my experience" type thing...more of a work of fiction. An exploration of themes I listed before in a narrative/novel. I'm not even sure if something like this exists. Maybe John Darnielle's Wolf in White Van? It hits on a lot of those themes and, while it's not really a big part of the book, the author, who is a musician and all-around smart dude, is waaaay into black metal and does reference some bands in the story. The other fiction that comes to mind is Stewart ONan's Songs for the Missing, Leni Zumas' The Listeners, and Ron Currie, Jr's Everything Matters!, although I could in no way tie these back to black metal as that's not at all my cup of tea.
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Apr 23, 2015 12:26
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Kvlt! posted:I'm having kind of a hard time articulating the type of book I'm looking for. How about books that are depressing? Because good lord I will never read Farewell to Arms or The End of the Affair ever again
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Apr 23, 2015 13:09
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Hedrigall posted:Are... are you okay? I'm all good man Thank you though!And thank you all for the suggestions, looks like I've got some book shopping to do!
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Apr 23, 2015 13:18
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