For the Love of Books!: Looking for a good read?

[Lythium]

It's Bokononism, but yes, it will.

Probably my favourite Vonnegut book, it's so good.

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

And that's really what starts killing the books, especially with the third one.

Could you please elaborate without spoiling anything? Does the theme line become Anvilicious or could it have been done better?

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

Could you please elaborate without spoiling anything? Does the theme line become Anvilicious or could it have been done better?

The message becomes very, very anvilicious to the point where it's a very difficult read.

It's Bokononism, but yes, it will.
Probably my favourite Vonnegut book, it's so good.

I blame peer pressure.

Also my favorite Vonnegut has to be Slaughterhouse Five, followed closely by Sirens of Titan. The ending for that is so great.

 

[Deleted member]

I am looking forward to reading books about Japan and am starting with its history.

I have decided to get two books for studying Japan history with The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen for modern history. For older history, I am thinking about George Sansom's History of Japan (first two volumes). For older history, would this be the best choice or are there better choices that have come out that won't force me to pay an insane amount of money?

Thanks.

 

[TimeSmash]

Super Smash Bros. Fan, I really am trying to think of good Japanese history books of the top of my head, and all that is there is Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and I don't even think he was Japanese! There is this excellent alebit somewhat moody collection of Japanese-tinged of short stories and poems called Melancholy of a Mechagirl by Cathryn (sp?) M. Valente, which I enjoyed.

Has anyone read Ready Player One? That book is AMAZING

 

[Deleted member]

Super Smash Bros. Fan, I really am trying to think of good Japanese history books of the top of my head, and all that is there is Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and I don't even think he was Japanese! There is this excellent alebit somewhat moody collection of Japanese-tinged of short stories and poems called Melancholy of a Mechagirl by Cathryn (sp?) M. Valente, which I enjoyed.

Has anyone read Ready Player One? That book is AMAZING

Not quite what I'm looking for. I'll keep looking to see if there are any better alternatives.

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

If someone was asking for books on Japanese history, why would recommend them a book of chinese military philosophy?

Also, I got David Byrne's How Music Works for christmas. Really fascinating read so far.

 

[nessokman]

Ready player one is incredible

 

[9bit]

I just finished Horns by Joe Hill. Really good book. It gripped me right away and held on for the duration, which I can't say about a lot of books I've read. I highly recommend it.

I'm trudging through The Lost World Jurassic Park right now, basically just to get it over with. I loved the original so much and I wanted to see how he handled the sequel that he didn't ever really intend to write. Well, I think that shows. So far it's incredibly boring and pointless. I'm about 55% through it, so here's hoping it picks up soon.

 

[Pega-pony Princess]

I recommend reading the Seven Realms novels. There's four books in the series. The story is set in a mid-evil setting and is full of wizards, magic, and more. When I first starting reading them, I was immediately entranced by the author's writing style and really got familiar with the characters. To put the series in simple terms? It's about a thief with secrets not even he knows about, a strong headed princess, wolves, and numerous kingdoms in turmoil.

 

[Jackson]

I would suggest "The Paladin Prophecy". I doubt all of you guys are into the young adult genre, but I thought it was a good read.

 

[young grasshopper]

I recommend The Peleg Chronicles, it's an amazing trilogy with swordfights, crossbow duels, a well strung plot, hilarious comedy, and a great message.

 

[LilSassy]

I'm recommending The Black Company by Glen Cook. I've just finished the fourth book in the series and I'm worried it might be peetering out but if your a fan of the fantasy genre then the first 3 books are a must read, I think,

 

[Grey Belnades]

So I stopped at my local library recently and I had just gotten done turning in a book. As I was heading to the exit, there was a shelf of books the library was giving away. A blue book caught my eye. I turned it over to read the title. "Devil May Cry" it read. After reading the summary on the back, I thought "Oh neat. This looks like a really neat book." So I took it home and read it. I'm about half way to the end. I can now safely say that I may have picked up a weirdly erotic pre-Twilight novel with a fetish for black leather and pop culture/Gothic band references. If there's one thing I learned, it is that I should never pick up a book by the title, no matter how awesome sounding the title may be.

 

[Jiggsbomb]

1984 and Ulysses.
Those two are some of my favourite books off all time.

 

[JenDarknight]

This isn't quite a 'book' as far as a novel, but I've had to read stories out of The Weird -- a recent anthology compiled by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer -- for my Weird Fantasy course and it's been a pretty good cornucopia of weird fiction through a multitude of time periods. I am depressed that the Barker story they picked was a lackluster one from his first Books of Blood anthology...

(Also, if you like weird horror, and you find a copy of the Books of Blood, read that, too. It's a really great collection of stories.)

As far as novels go? Don Quixote is a really good read if you can sit through it (specifically the Grossman translation), and I love Stephen R. Donaldson's Mordant's Need Duology (A Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through).

 

[Wojo]

I read through Siddhartha in three hours and was amazed every second. It examines hindi and buddhist philosophy while analyzing the concept of teaching (specifically instructing others how to live their lifes) in general. A blissful read.

 

[Twewy]

I picked up the first Discworld book and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea over the weekend and I'm ready to give them a good reading.

 

[Plunder]

Treasure Island

 

[Bairbie]

This thread needs a revival!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is probably my favorite book of all time. It's so wonderful and so tragic. It's one of those books that I feel EVERYONE needs to read.
Anything by him is lovely, honestly. His writing style is so unique and his use of imagery and personification is vivid and second to none. Imo, at least.

 

[Cyn]

There is also a group called "hooked on books".

 

[Kitty-chan]

I recommend Another nya! (currently reading it myself nya) It's a japanese horror novel nya! It's pretty unsettlingly, but is very good nya.

 

[2004Zilla]

No praise for Jurassic Park? Blasfemur!

Jurassic Park is one of Michael Crichton's best novels IMO. Though the second one... pretty mediocre compared to its predecessor. It has gut-wrenchingly awesome deaths and a good villain though.

For more dinosaur fiction I also like Raptor Red by Robert Bakker.

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

I recently finished Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. What an absolutely crazy book.

 

[ZafKiel]

I recently finished Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. What an absolutely crazy book.

How did you like it? I recently have been getting into Murakami and I've recently finished South of the Border, West of the Sun and have started Sputnik Sweetheart. Both well done IMO

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

How did you like it? I recently have been getting into Murakami and I've recently finished South of the Border, West of the Sun and have started Sputnik Sweetheart. Both well done IMO

It was amazing. Might even be one of my favorite books ever.

 

[Rapidkirby3k]

Do graphic novels count, too?

Ever since I bought the first one at Barnes & Noble a few years ago, I got myself hooked on the 'Amulet' series by Kazu Kibuishi. It's an interesting read with a good art and story, plus there's a seventh book coming out in a couple days or so.

 

[Darkpit54]

The Lunar Chronicles books are amazing!!! They are a great twist on the fairy tales we all know and love

 

[Deleted member]

Norwegian Wood <3

 

[Darkpit54]

Currently reading The Golden Compass. Pretty good so far.

 

[Deleted member]

Redwall series

 

[KingofPhantoms]

I personally enjoy the two-book series Malice by Chris Wooding, consisting of the first book (Malice) and it's sequel (Havoc).

It's target demographic is young adults and teens, so I'm not sure how much older readers would enjoy it, but I would definitely recommend giving the first book a try, at least. Both entries are actually half-book and half-novel, so every now and then between some standards pages, there will be a few black and white comic pages.

 

[Hat N' Clogs]

Anything by Agatha Christie is good, mainly because I adore mystery/thriller. And Then There Were None is her best book, in my opinion. Right now though, if I had a book I'd like to continue reading, it's 1984 by George Orwell. I haven't foud time to get past chapter 6 though (which is sad, because it's AMAZING so far).

 

[Grey Belnades]

Most recent book finished was Trust Me I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday. It's a great insight to how the chain of media manipulation goes from blogs to your top news sites like the New York Times, and how bad in some cases the extent of manipulation of the news has gone.

 

[lady_sky skipper]

I recently finished Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. What an absolutely crazy book.

If you liked those books, you should read his nonfiction book Underground The Japanese Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. He interviews people affected by the 1995 Tokyo Subway Gas attack and former members of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult that did the attack.

 

[SaikaGaleforce]

i would recommend most of diana wynne jones's body of work to pretty much anyone, especially howl's moving castle and fire and hemlock. i also generally would recommend the mistborn trilogy, which is written by brandon sanderson. it is one of the best reads i have had in the past year or so. it is three books - the final empire, the well of ascension, and the hero of ages.

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

I grew up watching Scooby-Doo so I am partial to adult mystery. I recently read a few of Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mystery series. Some of the ones I recently read were The Teaberry Strangler and Dragonwell Dead. But I also do adult science fiction (ie. Star Wars series) and fictional novels by African-American authors.

 

[lady_sky skipper]

If you guys like adult mystery you should read Ruth Rendell, she's great at psychological suspense.

 

[SaikaGaleforce]

if you like lgbt-themed sci-fi, i am currently reading (and falling in love with) ammonite by nicola griffith

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

I'm currently reading a book that was published earlier this year named The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve. It is based on a true story of the largest fire that broke out along the coast of Maine in late 1947. A young woman is left on her own to provide for herself and her kids whilst her husband is missing.