Heya everyone,
I posted a similar thread in the Comics section, but I wasn't sure where I'd post a topic about non-comic book novels.
I'm looking to get some new reading material, but there's just so much out there. I'm hoping to get some feedback on what all of you have read and/or been reading. I'm not into romance novels or hardcore sci-fi. Other than that, I'm pretty open. A few of my favorites are Fahrenheit 451 and The Giver. I liked the Harry Potter series, too. I'm also a fan of poetry books (Silverstein) and non-fiction. If possible, I'd like to get into something that's self-contained or close to it. If you need any more info from me, feel free to ask.
Mods--if this post shouldn't be here, feel free to move it.
I've probably recommended this book before, but it's still one of my all time favorites.
"Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It's the story of the anti-christ and the coming of the Apocalypse. Oh, and it's a comedy. :) It's also got some great themes about nature vs nurture and destiny/fate vs free will as well as some very quotable sequences.
A hearty second to Glitchy's choice. I also liked Gaiman's American Gods, and Pratchett's Diskworld is supposed to be excellent--although, I admit I have yet to read it.
A personal favorite of mine is Jim Butcher's the Dresden Files, a very well written, corny, fun, hilarious series of modern fantasy detective novels. There are ten books in the series right now, and they're all excellent.
If you like Fahrenheit 451, try some other dystopian novels, like 1984, We, or Brave New World.
Thirding the Good Omens recommendation. And this is coming from somebody who just could never get into Neil Gaiman's work (comics or otherwise).
Also, you can't go wrong with the standbys... look up works by Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, or go beyond SF/fantasy fiction and go for some relatively modern (early 20th century onwards) literary classics like the ones penned by Albert Camus, George Orwell, Milan Kundera, Gabriel García Márquez and others. Those authors' works are actually quite satisfying when read for personal pleasure, as opposed to being read as course requirements or whatnot.
Really, Zulu? I find Gaiman to be incredibly accessible. He's top-tier when it comes to pulling you into his world. Even his children's books are enjoyable and imaginative, like Coraline and the Graveyard Book.
probably not the fort of many here but I have been reading "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain and really liking it.
I read the "No Reservations" book back at Christmas. "No Reservations" is mostly photographs with about a half a page on each place that the photographes are about. Oh and the captions on the pics.
Quote from: Gremlin on January 03, 2009, 07:06:25 AM
Really, Zulu? I find Gaiman to be incredibly accessible. He's top-tier when it comes to pulling you into his world. Even his children's books are enjoyable and imaginative, like Coraline and the Graveyard Book.
Nothing against his work on a craft level. I'm just not too interested in the fantasy fiction genre outside of superheroes (my tastes run more into crime novels, "hard" science-fiction, and spy/military thrillers when it comes to my escapist fiction) and since his stock in trade is mostly fantasy-themed material, there just isn't a lot of overlap between my reading preferences and his written work.
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You've probably already read the series, but if not, that is the correct answer. Greatest thing ever written. And unlike the too-often-compared-to Discworld, actually LOL funny, and not "well that's cute I suppose" funny. Also a terrible movie, don't see it if you haven't yet.
Even though I enjoy them, I don't read a lot of books, and even less books without lotsa pictures. Video games and TV feel like they're a more substantial use of my time. But I'll try to help:
EVERYONE likes HP books if they've actually read them. Fact (which someone will argue and be lying). But, there's some other cool adventury books that I read that are supposed to be for younger people, but really are just awesome and fun (who likes big words anyway?), all of these are also now terrible movies:
A Series of Unfortunate Events... It takes a while to get into the meat and potatoes of the actual story, around the 4th or 5th book.
The Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia... you probably know what this is and maybe read it. If not, it's good stuff. (And before you point out that the movies were actually very good: Remember the OLD BBC movies? Well I do.)
His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Something Something, a third one)... This is just cool, it's got giant bears with armor and other cool for the sake of cool stuff, but it's also really deep in the plot and worldsand stuff. It would've been nice if they'd actually put the actual plot in the movie.
Redwall isn't a terrible movie yet, but I'll say that that new movie about a mouse with a sword counts... I only read the first one and I liked it. It's cool and it's about rodents with tiny swords.
Holes was a great book. The movie was a faithful adaptation, so it will ruin the book if you've seen it.
Tim Burton in his infinite overratedness wrote a small poetry book called Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories, which is not bad at all and very SSish.
My wife all of a sudden reads vampire books every second of her life. If you're in to them, there's Twilight (but it definitely helps to be a girl, I threw down the book several times and barely finished), and now she reads the TrueBlood books which aren't called TrueBlood but all the books have the word Dead in the title like early Family Guy episodes. She likes those. If you don't like books about vampires, I don't blame you.
Fight Club by Chuck Pahliawscrewit is a good book, but the movie is better and you've seen it already. Same goes for Catch Me If You Can... but the book is different enough to be a good read. Frank Abagnale REALLY loves himself and is 100% certainly lying about most of it.
Stephen King can write some good books (throw 1000 darts and you'll hit a good many bullseyes): Carrie, The Shining, the second Dark Tower book (but it kinda requires you to read the first, not worth it), The Green Mile (but not if you've seen the movie of course).
Just my opinion but overall, I'd suggest TV, movies, and video games over reading 90% of the time unless there's a movie of the book that you haven't seen because as much as I hate to say it, the book IS often better.
Comic books are good because you have less of a chance of a movie coming along and forcing you to think of the book in a totally different way even if you just see a preview.
I'm going to start reading more. Like some of these books everyone else suggested since they aren't movies yet, I'm sure my sister has them.
You can be a guy and enjoy Twilight. Of course, I'm a hopeless romantic, so that's helpful.
I heartily endorse Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan Saga." There are two main series - the main one concerns the military career and political intrigues of Miles Vorkosigan, born with severe physical handicaps to a high-standing family on a world with a military ruling class. The secondary series is a two book "prequel" that features his parents, and there is also two semi-unrelated books that take place in the same universe. All the books range from very good to unbelievably excellent. (Several of her books I have reread more than a dozen times!) Bujold has won more Hugo and Nebula awards than any author save Heinlein. Start with "Warrior's Apprentice."
She also has a couple of fantasy series. "Chalion" is complete with three books, and the first two, "Curse of Chalion" and "Paladin of Souls" are in that group of her books that I've reread many times. The third book is a take-it-or-leave-it, though. The other series is awaiting the third book and is OK.
From above I also recommend "Dresden Files," they are excellent urban fantasy/detective nior. The same author has a more traditional fantasy series that I feel is very sub-par and skippable. (Which I find odd because his Dresden Files is so good.)
His Dark Materials is incredibly good, and is one of those series with a lot of interesting things to say about the world in which we live.
Both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are excellent. My favorite Gaiman book is "Neverwhere." I would love to set up an RPG in that world! There is also a surprisingly good TV mini series from the BBC from that book - production level is kind of "Doctor Who-ish," but well done for all of that. Terry Pratchett does screw ball fantasy with some pretty wicked social/political satire. My favorite of his is "The Thief of Time." - it's the source for the quote that I use for UY. :)
For my part I was kind of hoping to find something new to read from this thread, but I've already read everything everyone has suggested.
Except Twilight.
I'd recommend Terry Brook's Knight of the Word series. Actually, I like most of his stuff, but the Knight of the Word series is darker, more modern, and less derivitive than all of his other stuff.
Add me to the "Dresden Files" fan base. I've borrowed books 1-5 and am finally getting around to buying them myself. Book 1 is very VERY solid, two I found a little weak, but after that, the quality continues to rise.
I did enjoy "Neverwhere" as well, though it's been a while since I read it. Will remedy this situation as soon as I finish my current bedtime reading. (Zelazney's "Bring Me The Head of Prince Charming" which sadly I can't recommend, it's pretty weak)
Discworld was mentioned and as someone who has read just about all of them, I have to recommend these as well. Please note that while some stand well on their own, many of his later books do rely on building on what has already happened. Pratchett is a great observer on human behavior and life and the absurdities of it which is where much of the humor comes from (that and through some great dialogue).
Something a little odd, but might be worth checking out is the Oz books beyond "Wizard of Oz" if you can find 'em. They're a light but kinda fun read. There are 14 by Baum, and while I've read some of the Thompson ones that came immediately after him, there's something missing in there.
I highly recommend James M. Cain's novel "Mildred Pierce." It's a cold-eyed look at Depression-era relations between the sexes, even better than the excellent 1940s film (it eliminates the crime plot). I just discovered it this year.
I would like to heartily second the suggestion of 1984 by George Orwell. That novel changed my life.
When it comes to sci-fi/fantasy, my favorite author is a man named Piers Anthony. I would recommend the first couple of books from his Xanth series, especially A Spell For Chameleon. His other series, The Incarnations of Immortality, is excellent. It's a little heavy on concept, but thoroughly enjoyable. David Eddings' The Belgariad series is entertaining as well.
For comedy, the books of David Sedaris are nothing short of funny and brilliant. I'd recommend Me Talk Pretty One Day.. it's a collection of autobiographical stories that will have you laughing out loud.
For horror, Stephen King's Carrie is excellent. It's not as verbose as his later books and it's written surprisingly well. His Richard Bachman books are also really good. I'm also an avid fan of Clive Barker, particularly his Books of Blood.
For literature, I enjoy The Great Gatsby... perhaps my favorite novel of all time. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is beautifully written. It's a true joy to read those words and experience such wit.
Speaking of Stephen King, Misery is amazing. I'm hard to scare, and that book horrified me.
"Pride and Prejudice" is an almost perfect novel. Interesting that it was written relatively early in the history of novels. Sir Walter Scott said, "It depends not on any of the common resources of novel writers, no drownings, no conflagrations, nor runaway horses, nor lap-dogs and parrots, nor chambermaids and milliners, nor rencontres [duels] and disguises. I really think it is the most probable I have ever read. It is not a crying book, but the interest is very strong, especially for Mr. Darcy. The characters which are not amiable are diverting, and all of them are consistently supported."
On a funnier level, Robert Mayer's 1977 novel "Super-Folks" is excellent. He really anticipated several of the developments in the super hero genre that would come along 10 or 20 years later.
You're about my age, FF, so Douglas Coupland's Generation X will speak to you, even if it's really written for people a bit older than us, although I'd avoid JPod as it's a bit too self-assured of it's brilliance for its own good. I'd recommend more but actually, but any one of those "greatest books you've never read" lists will do you very well. And as someone who loves James Joyce, I'm physically incapable of answering this question without mentioning Dubliners as a fairly accessible way in to the man's work.
Screw it, a huge list of names: Angela Carter, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Don DeLillo, Jane Austen (yes, Pride and Prejudice actually is the perfect novel, you heard it here second), Charles Dickens, Neil Gaiman's prose is fine, if a bit like reading the same story multiple times, George Eliot, Samuel Beckett, To Kill a Mockingbird, Thomas Hardy, Chuck Palahniuk, Margaret Atwood, Iain M. Banks, Sarah Waters; I could go on and on... Honestly, read whatever anyone recommends to you. If you love it, you love it and that's wonderful. If you hate it, then that's fine too, at least you know now that you hate it. All that's important is that you read.
Well, coming from a family where Disney is considered purely awesome, i suggest "The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark", and "The Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney at Dawn" by Ridley Pearson. They are well written books that cross the magic of Disney world and its creations with some interesting science fiction. This is not a long book, it is a good fantasy thriller novel directed for young readers(but that didn't stop me from buying "The Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney at Dawn" as soon as i found out it was hitting stores :lol: ). Part one can be read as a stand alone if that is what you are looking for.
Like i said a good book, with good sequels to follow.
Nearly anything by Louis Lamour is good. He's written some non-Western stories if you aren't into the whole 'Sackett' and 'How The West Was Won' stuff. I would especially recommend 'The Last of the Breed' if you can find it. It's the story of an American pilot secretly captured in a Cold War Soviet plot; the pilot escapes into the wilds of Siberia... and I'll say no more lest I spoil anything.
I would also recommend Patrick McManus for some of the funniest collections of short stories ever printed. Nevermind that many of his stories are about Outdoorsman-type activities. His best material comes from the pseudo-anecdotal tales of when he was growing up, and I can't imagine that you wouldn't find at least some of his stories funny enough to burst out laughing... just don't read them in church or in the bathroom unless you really want to be embarrassed.
Whoo, someone else who's read McManus! I'd forgotten about him until now. I used to have his first four books, though one has disappeared over time.
"Poof, No Eyebrows" is still one of my all time favorite pieces by him.
A few quick reads that are brilliant: Candide, Of Mice and Men, The Plague, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World - I'd say these are must reads.
I recently got into Jose Saramago, started reading his stuff when I heard what Blindness was about (big Don McKellar and Julianne Moore fan) I really love his style. Reminds me a lot of Camus' work - Things happen quickly, but there are no specific characters with names. It's weird then, because you think that you can't identify with what the people are going through, but in fact its the opposite, the anonymity of it all gives the material much more depth and you can relate with them more.
His books aren't too heady either (like a pynchon, borges or eco) since they are translated nicely from Portugese.
oh and if Anthony Boursain's books are anything like his shows, i just know i'd love them.,
Hey, FF. You can just check my Facebook profile for whatever it is I enjoy reading, but I think you'd like Kurt Vonnegut (if you haven't already read any). Start with Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle.
Vonnegut was from the Midwest and had a quirky artistic streak, so I think you'll get something out of his stuff. :D
Also forgot Hatchet and Brian's Winter(The "What If?" Sequel to hatchet) by Gary Paulsen, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson,Mississippi Trial 1955 by Chris Crowe. All Great books. More as i think of them.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez "One Hundred Years Of Solitude". Its a long book but worth the read.
Check out his short stories in "No One Writes The Colonel Anymore and Other Stories"
Harry Turtledove "How Few Remains". Its an Alternative History of what is the South Won the Civil War
Mark Waid wrote the novelization for "Kingdom Come" which was pretty good.
Quote from: danhagen on January 04, 2009, 04:57:42 PM
On a funnier level, Robert Mayer's 1977 novel "Super-Folks" is excellent. He really anticipated several of the developments in the super hero genre that would come along 10 or 20 years later.
That has been out of print for a long time. If you find it, let me know where you got it.
Another good series is Fletch by Gregory McDonald. He had another character called Flynn that is interesting.
Copies of "Superfolks" are available on Amazon for $12.
I just finished reading the "night angel" trilogy by brent weeks, it's a pretty gripping dark fantasy trilogy with lots of unexpected twists, but when I say dark I do mean dark, the main character is a young "guild rat" looking for a way out of the slums and his oppressive guild tleader who enjoys abusing, beating and even killing the guild rats, his escape leads to apprenticing to a "wetboy" (assassins have targets because they sometimes miss, wetboys have deaders, cos they always end up dead), the trilogy follows a whole set of characters in their individual but ultimately intertwined tales of personal injusticeacross a period of 20 or so years.
another trilogy, a little gory but no-where near as dark, would be stan hichol's "orc" trilogy, a wist on the usual stereotypical orc, a noble band of warriors enslaved by an evil megalomaniacal half-orc queen, when a recovery mission goes awry due to a kobold ambush, the queen grows impatient and declares the band traitors, now being hunted, they find a new hope in the legend of a homeland of peaceful orc tribes, in a place unreachable by the queen.
the first book of a second trilogy has just come out so may be something to watch out for it it strikes your interest.
to agree with a previous suggestion, phillip pullman's "his dark materials" trilogy has always been a good read, tho now somewhat overshadowed by "the golden compass" >_>
a slightly silly suggestion, robert rankin's "the hollow chocolate bunnies of the apocalypse", there's murder afoot in toytown, and it's upto a young man from the outside, and his new found alcoholic.. erm.. i mean friend detective teddy >_> to find the culprit (silly but so twistedly funny)
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman is a great book. It's self- contained, and is based on comic book stories, but does not give off a satirical or campy vibe. Really good read.
As for non- fiction, I'm currently reading A Year At The Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey by Kevin Murphy (of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame). It is funny, insightful, and a really light read.
Agreed, Soon I Will Be Invincible is awesome! There are so few good super hero genre' fiction books out there! Btw, I e-mailed Austin Grossman and he said that he is actually working on the second book/sequel right now. And it may or may not star the infintecimal seven. Ha!
I have greatly enjoyed the Wild Cards mosaic novels over the decades. They form an alternate history with super-powered beings, from Jetboy's heroic sacrifice just after WWII (leading to the release of an alien power virus on Earth) to super hero "reality shows" on TV now.
I wanted to thank everyone for contributing their suggestions :)
I borrowed "Slapstick" by Kurt Vonnegut from my friend, and I'm picking up the first Sandman trade soon.
What book should I read first by McManus, by the way?
I just finished the most recent Garret, P.I. book by Glen Cook: "Cruel Zinc Melodies". It's not the best in the series, but not the worst, either. If you don't know what it is, it's a hardboiled mystery series set in a fantasy universe. There are homages to Hammet, Chandler, Stout, Parker, Spillane, and other mystery writers. I think "Cold Copper Tears" is the best; it's a fantasy version of "The Big Sleep".
I'm reading "War Games", a collection of stories by Christopher Anvil. Not a name to conjure with any more, he was quite popular in the 1960s. So far, the stories have been entertaining and enjoyable. Nothing that strikes me as "great", but no losers.
General info: read anything and everything by Eric Frank Russel.