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I like to read something where to protagonist faces terrible odds but by stubborness or cleverness stills prevails in the the end. Setting can be anything, since I'd like to expand my horizon. Examples for what I liked: Dresden Files The Discworld books with Sam Vimes as the protagonist The early Codex Alera books, in which Tavi succeeded through wits and not super powers. Some scenes from ASOIAF (How Daenerys got her army; "I demand trial by combat"; That kind of stuff.)
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Sep 29, 2015 14:29
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Maybe Steelheart? It's a story of a young normal dude whose trying to kill an invincible super villian whose taken over sort of post-apocalyptic Chicago.
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Sep 29, 2015 17:11
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It's probably been brought up before but I just finished Gone Girl which I enjoyed a great deal. Like some, I was a little jarred by the ending but have gradually come to embrace it. Are Flynn's other books as good? Worth my time?
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Sep 29, 2015 19:00
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I'd check out City of Stairs. It definitely has what you're describing.
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Sep 29, 2015 20:15
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BiggerBoat posted:It's probably been brought up before but I just finished Gone Girl which I enjoyed a great deal. Like some, I was a little jarred by the ending but have gradually come to embrace it. Are Flynn's other books as good? Worth my time? I enjoyed her other books. Maybe Sharp Objects a little less than Dark Places.
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Sep 30, 2015 00:44
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cybertier posted:I like to read something where to protagonist faces terrible odds but by stubborness or cleverness stills prevails in the the end. Setting can be anything, since I'd like to expand my horizon. I've recommended them before, but Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books and Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever books might be what you're looking for. If you liked the Vimes books, have you also tried Pratchett's witch books or the Tiffany Aching books? For non-fantasy, there's always Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy; Lisbeth Salander is practically the avatar of stubborn-and-clever.
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Sep 30, 2015 14:40
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Selachian posted:If you liked the Vimes books, have you also tried Pratchett's witch books or the Tiffany Aching books? I read lots of discworld novels but not all of them. Tiffany Aching doesn't ring a bell. Selachian posted:For non-fantasy, there's always Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy; Lisbeth Salander is practically the avatar of stubborn-and-clever. How do the books compare to the movie (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)? The character's in the movie felt kinda bleak. I guess what my original post missed was that I also enjoy humor, which puts Vimes and Dresden far ahead of ASOIAF. Anyway, thanks for your recommendations, I'll research them once I'm through with the new Butcher book.
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Sep 30, 2015 15:10
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cybertier posted:How do the books compare to the movie (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)? The character's in the movie felt kinda bleak. If you felt the characters in the movie were bleak, and you're not looking for bleak, then you should avoid the books.
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Sep 30, 2015 16:33
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cybertier posted:I like to read something where to protagonist faces terrible odds but by stubborness or cleverness stills prevails in the the end. Setting can be anything, since I'd like to expand my horizon. I'm not sure if The Count of Monte Cristo counts; it could be argued that in fact he has all the odds in his favor. Nevertheless, you should read it because it's great.
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Sep 30, 2015 18:22
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I'm looking for a good book on the French Revolution. I enjoyed the scope of A People's Tragedy which starts decades before the Russian Revolution. I felt it did a good job of showing you how everything came together that allowed the revolution to happen and followed through to the death of Lenin.
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Oct 1, 2015 12:52
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Commissar Canuck posted:I'm looking for a good book on the French Revolution. I enjoyed the scope of A People's Tragedy which starts decades before the Russian Revolution. I felt it did a good job of showing you how everything came together that allowed the revolution to happen and followed through to the death of Lenin. For fiction try A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickins, and A Place of Greater Safety by Hillary Mantel. For Non-fiction there's A People's History of the French Revolution by Eric Hazan and The French Revolution: From Its Origins to 1793 by George Lefebvre. If you only read one, avoid Simon Shama et al., and read the Lefebvre.
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Oct 1, 2015 13:11
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cybertier posted:
You should check out The Chathrand Voyage series by Robert VS Reddick. It has a main character who isn't a killer warrior or magical phenom, but just a clever, never-give-up type dude that solves most of the problems he faces by figuring poo poo out, talking with friends, and running around like crazy to get things done. It has the protagonist characters get stuck in a lot of very lovely situations, but doesn't wallow in grief or misery, and also has a good amount of great humor and awesome adventure.
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Oct 2, 2015 18:21
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Looking for: - 21st century science fiction that follows the feel of the New Wave Science Fiction movement - Marxist Fiction written after the 1980's - Anthologies of Marxist theory that aren't written by Noam Chomsky
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Oct 5, 2015 20:27
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I've got a couple things I'd be interested in reading about, but I don't know what's good: First would be a book about conspiracy theories. I gather that this would be a broad topic, I'm mostly interested in secret society type stuff; Illuminati or Freemasons running the world behind the scenes, etc. Not so much lizardmen from Mars or whatever. Something non-fiction (as in Joe Nickell-style skeptical overview) would be great. Just kind of an overview of what people believe, what evidence they have for it, and so on. I don't believe in this stuff but I think it's fascinating to read about (which is basically how I feel about paranormal stuff and why I read Nickell and used him as an example). If there's really well-done fiction that would be cool too but I'm leaning more towards non-fiction. Second, if there are any good books by attack helicopter pilots. I'd prefer something from non-Middle Eastern conflicts just because most of the military non-fiction I read is from Iraq/Afghanistan if it's not WWII (I'd imagine Vietnam led to a lot of helicopter memoirs) but that's not necessary if there are good ones from the Iraq War or whatever. Again, non-fiction would be preferred, especially memoirs, but I'd appreciate good fiction too if it's done by someone very knowledgeable, like when Stephen Coonts wrote his novel about Vietnam fighter pilots.
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Oct 5, 2015 21:12
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:If there's really well-done fiction that would be cool too but I'm leaning more towards non-fiction.
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Oct 5, 2015 21:16
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Anyone have a non fiction book that explains in lamense terms, and in a somewhat entertaining way, how BIG infrastructure and buildings get built? Or got built throughout history? I know the answer is SLAVES across the board, but would be interested in something that explained how they built the Brooklyn bridge or empire state building with the technology at the times. Or also things that aren't in new york. Or how those things are built now. I don't know: whenever I walk by something giant being constructed, I think, man, that is mind boggling, where do they even start?
xian fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Oct 6, 2015 |
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Oct 6, 2015 01:30
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:Looking for: Check out M. John Harrison's Kefahuchi trilogy (Light, Nova Swing, Empty Space).
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Oct 6, 2015 01:55
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A really good book about the Iraq War from ground level. I'm basically looking for "Dispatches", but Iraq.
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Oct 6, 2015 02:02
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cybertier posted:I like to read something where to protagonist faces terrible odds but by stubborness or cleverness stills prevails in the the end. Setting can be anything, since I'd like to expand my horizon. You definitely want to read The Lies of Locke Lamora
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Oct 6, 2015 02:49
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:Second, if there are any good books by attack helicopter pilots. I'd prefer something from non-Middle Eastern conflicts just because most of the military non-fiction I read is from Iraq/Afghanistan if it's not WWII (I'd imagine Vietnam led to a lot of helicopter memoirs) but that's not necessary if there are good ones from the Iraq War or whatever. Again, non-fiction would be preferred, especially memoirs, but I'd appreciate good fiction too if it's done by someone very knowledgeable, like when Stephen Coonts wrote his novel about Vietnam fighter pilots. Not quite attack helicopter, but Robert Mason's Chickenhawk was an interesting memoir of his training and time in Vietnam as a Huey pilot
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Oct 6, 2015 15:42
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:I've got a couple things I'd be interested in reading about, but I don't know what's good: I would also be interested in some non-fiction books on this subject.
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Oct 6, 2015 20:35
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anilEhilated posted:Foucault's Pendulum. Amazing book, fiction but given the premise it also works as a pretty good crash course in historical conspiracy nutjobs. Commissar Canuck posted:Not quite attack helicopter, but Robert Mason's Chickenhawk was an interesting memoir of his training and time in Vietnam as a Huey pilot These both sound perfect, thanks!
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Oct 6, 2015 21:42
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:I've got a couple things I'd be interested in reading about, but I don't know what's good: Franchescanado posted:I would also be interested in some non-fiction books on this subject. There's The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies by Jon E. Lewis and The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories by James McConnachie to start off with. They're both overviews, so half a dozen pages (more or less, the wackier the conspiracy theory, the fewer pages devoted to it generally) per conspiracy, but they both give a good idea about the various subjects, and certainly scratched my conspiracy theory itch satisfactorily! You can just pick them up and open them anywhere and dive in. In addition to the aforementioned Foucault's Pendulum, you could also read The Prague Cemetery also by Umberto Eco. Be careful though, once you start with conspiracy theories, this way madness lies.
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Oct 6, 2015 22:25
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:I've got a couple things I'd be interested in reading about, but I don't know what's good: If you want it in comic book form, there's The Big Book of Conspiracies.
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Oct 6, 2015 22:53
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Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? I read and did enjoy: The Martian by Andy Weir Shogun by James Clavell Unbroken by Hillenbrand Magellania by Jules Verne A dream in a polar fog by Yuri Rytkheu Tunnel in the sky by Heinlein The Physician by Gordon Thank you!
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Oct 8, 2015 20:30
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Ryoji posted:Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? I've been into reading about Arctic exploration, so In the Land of White Death by Valerian Albanov was terrific, and so was Dancing on Ice by Jeremy Scott
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Oct 8, 2015 20:39
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Tochiazuma posted:I've been into reading about Arctic exploration, so Elisha Kent Kane's Arctic Explorations is also a pretty good read.
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Oct 9, 2015 04:42
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I'm planning on seeing the film adaptation of Andy Weir's The Martian this weekend and I'm curious if the book is worth reading.
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Oct 9, 2015 19:40
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worlds_best_author posted:I'm planning on seeing the film adaptation of Andy Weir's The Martian this weekend and I'm curious if the book is worth reading. I enjoyed reading it, but there's not much in the book that isn't in the movie so there's marginal value to reading it after the movie. I don't regret reading it before the movie, but the movie would have been a lot better if I hadn't read the book first.
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Oct 10, 2015 01:41
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Ryoji posted:Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? To Start a Fire by Jack London (short story, but a good one) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
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Oct 10, 2015 02:28
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Ryoji posted:Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? check out this book called Voss by a dude named Patrick White. it's all about this cool german guy with a god complex going on a doomed expedition to cross the Australian continent.
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Oct 10, 2015 03:35
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A A 2 3 5 8 K posted:I enjoyed reading it, but there's not much in the book that isn't in the movie so there's marginal value to reading it after the movie. I don't regret reading it before the movie, but the movie would have been a lot better if I hadn't read the book first.
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Oct 10, 2015 22:23
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Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian.
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Oct 11, 2015 03:31
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Ryoji posted:Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? I quite liked Alive, which is a non-fiction account by Paul Piers Read of the 1970s Andes plane crash. What everybody knows about it is that the survivors turned to cannibalism, but it was a huge long ordeal with so many more aspects to it than that. Also since you mentioned Tunnel in the Sky, I also loved Chris Beckett's Dark Eden which is about the 500+ inbred descendants of a pair of astronauts who crashed on a rogue planet of eternal night with geothermal trees and horrible alien wildlife.
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Oct 11, 2015 11:23
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Ryoji posted:Any good books about a human against nature or maybe about a man/woman trying to survive in a foreign environment? To The White Sea by James Dickey, the guy who wrote Deliverance. About a tailgunner who gets shot down over wwii Tokyo and has to make his way through the chaos of wartime Japan to safety without getting caught. He is resourceful and psychotic.
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Oct 11, 2015 13:43
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Thanks for the answers, guys! There are some interesting titles!
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Oct 11, 2015 20:43
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Can anyone recommend some good crime/horror books? Like a detective novel but with more horror/dark elements. Can be supernatural or not.
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Oct 11, 2015 23:02
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Kvlt! posted:Can anyone recommend some good crime/horror books? Like a detective novel but with more horror/dark elements. Can be supernatural or not. You want John Connolly' Charlie Parker books, starting with Every Dead Thing.
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Oct 11, 2015 23:39
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My daughter's 12th birthday is coming up and I want to get her a book that I can read aloud for her. The goal of the exercise is to have fun, but also to improve her English (not our first language). I need something that is engaging, age appropriate and likely to be available in our local foreign language bookstore. And we've already done Harry Potter. Thanks goons, I know you won't let me down.
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Oct 12, 2015 10:54
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In terms of books I enjoyed as a kid and would like to read to my own kid one day, I loved The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. (Yes, they made a series of increasingly poo poo movies about it, but the book is solid.) Anything by Philip Reeve is also good, particularly the Mortal Engines series. And I think I was around 12 or 13 when I first read and loved Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (may be called The Golden Compass in some countries.) And age 12 is definitely about the right time to start getting into Terry Pratchett. The Johnny books are YA ones he wrote in the '90s, but more modern ones you'll be likely to find in a store are the Tiffany Aching series - haven't read them myself yet, but people I trust rave about them. (And if you can find them, I absolutely adored the YA Bromeliad trilogy - Truckers, Diggers and Wings.)
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Oct 12, 2015 17:01
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