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Danger Mahoney posted:You know when people in sitcoms used to talk about "trashy romance novels"? I'm looking for some of those. Not classy romance novels. Trashy ones. I am going off memory of my mother's bookshelf, so none of these are particularly recent, but you might try: Judith Krantz Jackie Collins Danielle Steel Kathleen Woodiwiss First three were all 80s glam and corporate power struggle themes, last one was weepy bodice rippers.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:04
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Offhand the only other Chinese-inspired fantasy I can think of is the Seven Brothers trilogy by Curt Benjamin. It's set in Not-Quite-China and -Tibet. It takes itself way more seriously than Bridge of Birds, but I enjoyed it.
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May 8, 2015 03:28
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citybeatnik posted:Any advice on weening myself off of my bad habit of reading mostly short-reads and articles as opposed to long-forms and novels? I used to be a voracious reader but I've fallen out of the habit hard. It's mostly been replaced by listening to podcasts and the like. You might try switching from podcasts to audiobooks. A lot of libraries have digital audiobook options now or if you sign up at audible.com you get a couple free books to start. If you start a series or lengthy book by listening it may give you incentive to continue it by reading.
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Apr 24, 2016 14:45
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ChickenHeart posted:I've been playing a bunch of Duke Nukem 3D so I'm wondering if there are any excellent science fiction novels that basically amount to 800 pages of "and then I kicked the other alien square in his space-balls and said a relevant one-liner to nobody in particular." Bonus points if it's actually readable. My friend let me introduce you to John Ringo.
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Apr 26, 2016 03:21
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paragon1 posted:Is there any military sci-fi that is both A)Good and B)Not written by an awful human being. Seconding Drake and the Slammers series. Tanya Huff's Valor series was surprisingly enjoyable, and as far as I know she's not awful. And some of Lois McMasters Bujold's Vorkosigan books may meet your criteria.
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May 25, 2016 05:11
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Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
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Jun 23, 2016 03:58
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Solitair posted:Recent things I've read online make me want to find as many sci-fi and fantasy books where queer people do cool things and don't suffer and die for being queer as I can. Bonus points if the author is themselves queer. Tanya Huff is a good source for this. She has written tons of short stories and fiction ranging from Space Marines to urban fantasy to vampire romance mysteries to High Fantasy. Lots of queer characters doing stuff and not treated any differently than non-queer folk.
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Aug 23, 2016 18:40
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Old Man Mozz posted:hey ya'll - life has been kind of crappy lately so I'm looking for any suggestions for gay wizards escapist trash books. Diane Duane's Door Into Fire series has some of those gay wizards. Not sure I'd call it escapist trash, but maybe?
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Dec 10, 2016 02:15
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deathbot posted:Does anyone have recommendations for fantasy or sci-fi that is inspired by non-Western settings/traditions? Rather than "European middle ages with dragons!" For example: Something similar to Bridge of Birds, Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit, Cixin Liu's books or Nnedi Okorafor's Binti. I liked Curt Benjamin's Seven Brothers trilogy, though I didn’t care for the follow-up novel. They're set in Not-China and Not-Tibet.
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Mar 11, 2017 09:24
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spacetoaster posted:I'm looking for a good, fun, science fiction book (or series). Empire of Man series (starts with March Upcountry) Looking Glass series (starts with Into the Looking Glass) David Drake's Hammer's Slammer Tanya Huff's Confederation series (starts with Valor's Choice)
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Jul 22, 2018 03:41
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Sindoril posted:Hello. This will be a little vague, but I'll try to be as clear as possible. I'm looking for a solid vampire book not by Anne Rice or Stephen King, having already read [and wholly enjoyed] Salem's Lot, Interview with a Vampire et all. Ideally, I'd like something romantic and genuinely so with a good overall story in it, but if the romance is really good I can overlook the amazing story. Thank you.
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Jul 24, 2018 00:49
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lordfrikk posted:Earth Abides looks very much like something I had in mind. I'm definitely looking for more of a hard sci-fi than fantasy, humorous or satirical stories. I've read Canticle for Leibowitz ages ago but that always seemed to me more philosophical than what I'm trying to find, which I would even go as far as to say could be a speculative guidebook to restoring progress/technology/civilization from the ashes, e.g. can't reuse scavenged materials or existing facilities. Imagine a guy having regular layman knowledge of the current state of technology suddenly finding himself on a pre-civilization Earth, something like that.
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Apr 16, 2019 22:13
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Kangxi posted:Any good fun sci-fi or military fiction with a woman protagonist? I'm travelling next week and need some light beach reading. I like Tanya Huff's series about Sgt. Torin Kerr, I think the first one is Valor's Choice. It starts off with a cliched Rorke's-Drift-in-space plot but overall pretty decent light reading.
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Sep 7, 2019 11:36
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I haven't read the book, but I watched a PBS program this week based on Maria Rosa Menocal's "The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain" and thought it was an interesting perspective.
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Dec 20, 2019 06:26
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tuyop posted:I read this first as military sci fi and wrote: Kameron Hurley, Lois McMaster Bujold and Ann Leckie off the top of my head. Depending on what you think Oryx and Crake is, there’s also Margaret Atwood. Hell, I think maybe a bit of Le Guin would qualify. All the 'airport thriller' type books I can think of with woman authors are firmly in the 'romantic suspense' circle of the Venn diagram. Catherine Coulter, Iris Johansen, Suzanne Brockmann all have series with lots of derring-do by military and FBI types, but they're written for the "women's market" so there is a different kind of formula they have to follow. Which is too bad, I would like to read more Forsyth/LeCarre/Clancy-style books regardless of author gender.
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May 25, 2020 05:59
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Circutron posted:I’m looking for some fluffy sci-fi/fantasy, preferably with a gay/bi male lead? Something really escapist. Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet’s been suggested several times in this thread and it sounds like something I’m looking for. I recently started rereading Diane Duane's Middle Kingdom fantasy series (The Door into Fire, The Door into Shadow, The Door into Sunset) and you might enjoy them.
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Jul 4, 2020 16:56
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Sarern posted:My one weird trick for Clancy is to stop after Clear and Present Danger. That's still the one I like best from early Clancy, I feel it did the best job at the things he was good at
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Jul 6, 2020 02:22
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I like to watch procedural-type TV shows, especially those that feature some kind of "special consultant" working with the cops. Some examples of shows I have enjoyed: Castle, Forever, Psych, The Mentalist, The Listener, and F.B.Eye. Obviously I am not concerned about realism, I just like stories where the cops aren't (all) bastards and they work regularly with outsiders to solve crimes and theres a happy/satisfying ending. Does anything like this trope exist in book form? I have read a lot of private eye mysteries, which have a similar vibe, but in those usually the cops are either bumbling around while the PI does the work, or if they work together it's all under the table or bribing the cops to look the other way. Some of the closest examples I have found are romance thrillers, which is fine, but if there are examples where the relationship aspects aren't the main focus I think I'd prefer that. Any suggestions? Am I looking for something too specific? If so I will also gladly take recommendations for procedural-type mysteries without the "consultant" angle.
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Feb 24, 2021 00:04
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Thanks for the mystery suggestions, and yeah I should have mentioned that I have read pretty much all of Christie. I did add a few things to my read pile (Nero Wolfe has been on the list forever but I have bumped him up). To reciprocate I will mention that I recently came across MC Beaton and have enjoyed what I've seen so far of Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth.
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Feb 26, 2021 01:51
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Saul Kain posted:I read Harry Potter as a young pup. I have no desire to revisit those novels.
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Oct 29, 2021 00:18
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IBroughttheFunk posted:I'm currently looking for some historical mysteries for the winter months ahead. Also, as much as I have been enjoying the Brother Cadfael series from Ellis Peters, I'm actually particularly interested right now in historical mysteries that take place outside of Europe - for example, My Name is Red, Elsa Hart's Li Du trilogy, etc. However, if anyone has a title that they think is just too good to not recommended, then of course I'll be happy to disregard geographical setting (and a quick note in advance - The Name of the Rose is Already on my eventual to-read list). Kinda similar, any recs for historical *fantasy* mysteries? I am thinking like medieval beat cops like Simon Green's Hawk and Fisher, or PIs like Randall Garrett's Darcy. Not opposed to romances if they're decently written.
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Nov 21, 2021 21:38
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Thanks for the suggestions! I keep meaning to add Mieville to my to-read pile, dunno why I haven't yet. And yeah, I should have mentioned I've already read Discworld. I also love the Five Gods series, I have really enjoyed how LMB puts out smaller P&D novellas frequently instead of having to wait a couple years for the next book.
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Nov 23, 2021 01:04
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Ropes4u posted:Before I find this book can I get an idea of what happens? The main character thinks the whole thing is a hallucination so he rapes a woman . This was enough to make me put the book down and walk away, but others have said it's worth sticking with it, YMMV.
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Jan 9, 2022 03:05
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I like The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, which stands alone nicely but if you like it there's one sequel and a bunch of prequels.
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Feb 9, 2022 19:10
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Emelius Browne posted:This might be a hard one (or maybe something more fitting for the romance thread, idk): Check out TJ Klune for fantasy with gay characters that isn't necessarily "gay fantasy." E: Or 13-year-old me suggests the Vanyel saga (Magic's Promise, etc.) by Mercedes Lackey, but I honestly don't know how well that's held up.
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Apr 3, 2022 02:03
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Selachian posted:Kind of. The Years of Rice and Salt is set in an alt history where the Black Death was much more severe and virtually depopulated Europe, so when the Mongols show up they can just stroll in and take over. The rest of the book is examining how history developed from there. I liked Doomsday Book too, for what it's worth. I thought it gave a nice grim depiction of how the plague might have affected a small town, and I liked the counterpoint of the modern epidemic. Though I completely misunderstood the sections about bell-ringers and thought they were ringing handbells. So the rehearsals where everyone was dipping at the knees and swaying their whole bodies seemed unnecessarily dramatic.
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May 17, 2022 00:34
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Captain Monkey posted:Personally I had about a year of the abridged children's version of classics (I forget what they're called) and weird stuff like Tom swift and hardy boys between those. Yeah in that age range I pretty much wore the covers off the Bobbsey twins, Tom Sawyer, Heidi, and The Swiss Family Robinson.
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Jun 13, 2022 16:50
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ahobday posted:I'm coming to the end of the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, and I'd like more of it (sci-fi, to be clear). But I don't really know how to describe what I like about it. The earlier books maybe, but the further you go in the series, the more bloated they get with multiple character viewpoints and long drawn-out political infighting. I like the Lt Leary series by David Drake for some decent swashbuckling. I don't think he's got the same character skills that Bujold has, but he can write a good battle.
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Sep 24, 2022 22:03
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evilpicard posted:My town used to have short story vending machines! Mine too! He sat in the end booth of the VA hospital cafeteria. You gave him a dollar for a slice of pie, he'd give you a handful of wartime anecdotes.
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Oct 19, 2022 21:27
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I'd also suggest Robin McKinley, specifically The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. Deerskin is set in the same world but I'd say it's too adult/heavy for a young reader, as it features incestual rape and resulting trauma (spoiler for tw).
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Oct 26, 2022 20:54
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Good-Natured Filth posted:I'm looking for a recommendation for my wife. What she reads today is mostly autobiographies or self-help / self-help-adjacent books, but she wants to try to get back into fiction. The last fiction series she read and really enjoyed was Harry Potter nearly two decades ago. So this may be a challenge. I've recently been rereading the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold so I will throw my rec in for that. You don't really see any romance in the first few books but they're short, fun, but with some occasional serious undertones. For more modern UF style- maybe the Riley Thorn series by Lucy Score. Contemporary mystery romance with supernatural elements (psychics and ghosts).
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Jan 23, 2023 19:28
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StrixNebulosa posted:I'm back with another request! Tad Williams's Dragonbone Chair series might scratch that itch for you.
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Mar 14, 2023 04:42
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sbaldrick posted:So I’m really tired of the grim dark, rapey turn fantasy has taken recently (GRRM, Abercrombie, the Malazan books, I’m currently reading the most recent Kagen book and if he talks about rape in the creepy way he has again I’m going to throw my phone across the room). Have you heard the gospel of Bridge of Birds? I like the 5 Gods series Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with The Curse of Chalion. She's also got The Sharing Knife quartet, which is a different vibe but has some great worldbuilding underpinning a romantic storyline.
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May 3, 2023 02:44
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boquiabierta posted:Looking for historical fiction about healthcare providers, preferably nurses and even more preferably nurse-midwives or other repro health providers. One that I loved was The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. My first thought was Call the Midwife. It is a memoir, not fiction, though.
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Jun 13, 2023 17:17
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regulargonzalez posted:Is it worth reading if I already have the reveal spoiled for me? I would say yeah. The first time I read it, I got to the end and immediately flipped back to the beginning to re-read, and really enjoyed looking for any clues that foreshadowed the twist.
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Jun 25, 2023 17:06
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wheatpuppy posted:Have you heard the gospel of Bridge of Birds?
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Jun 29, 2023 04:53
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Leraika posted:The Young Wizards series is pretty good if you're looking for a more sci-fi take on magic. The series started in 1983, last book was published in 2016 (+ short stories published later), but the author's gone back and updated the first few books (edit: all the books published at the time) around 2012 iirc. Honestly a lot of older "YA" books are probably a good bet for someone easing back into reading. Most of Diana Wynne Jones's catalog would fit the prompt (though Homeward Bounders is, imo, a real downer). Or The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. They aren't really modern, but I feel like they are kinda timeless?
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Jun 29, 2023 05:37
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Skippy McPants posted:Just looking to read the texts as they are, as much as possible, to absorb the source material. I'm not opposed to a bit of additional context, but I'm not looking for commentary, philosophy, or wider considerations. And no, I won't be adopting any faith unless I stumble upon a coupon for billion-dollar bills that give blowjobs. I haven't read the Quran, but from my experience reading the Bible, you may absorb the source material a lot better if you choose an annotated text or something like Gnoman suggested. Otherwise it's real easy to get bogged down in all the begats and miss out on the underlying cultural context.
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Jun 29, 2023 21:08
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Tom Tucker posted:
She did a couple: New Watson Likes Jam Gay Watson
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Jul 6, 2023 02:28
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Fat Jesus posted:You know how some people seemingly get stuck reading just the one author? The Aged Parent (87) reads nothing but books by some woman named Danielle Steel. She has every single one and I suspect they're all the same book with the names changed. Everything else I've bought her, like Patrick White and Peter Carey she don't like, and other books I bought 2nd hand for her look just like those Steel books to me, but are too saucy or something. Who else is there that writes similar drivel without excessive boot knocking? Maybe Jackie Collins or Janet Dailey? My own AP had a few books by all three so I would assume they are similar. Nora Roberts is similarly prolific (in fact, now that I think on it, Janet Dailey may have plagiarized her?) but does tend to have frequent sex scenes.
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Jul 14, 2023 03:01
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