Books/Author recommendations

[Surf_Nazis_Must_Die 8958]

What are all you cerbite's into in a literary sense?

 

I'll throw out a few to start:

 

John Scalzi - I have huge man-crush on this author! He has one of the oldest and longest running blogs on the internet as well called whatever. Crazy bastard once taped bacon to his cat and posted it on his blog. I recommend ALL of his books.

 

http://whatever.scalzi.com/

 

 

Douglas Adams - Mandatory reading for connoisseurs of absurdity

 

Chris Moore - Absurd material mixed with lots of heart. Recommend: A Dirty Job, Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck (a love story), Lamb, The stupidest angel (a tale of Christmas terror), ah hell, all of his output is great in some way!

 

American Gods - A Neil Gaiman book I'm almost finished reading. Recommended by a friend and it is great!

[Mister T 45020]

Adams and Gaiman, good choices. William S Burroughs would be a fave of mine.

 

Burroughs is considered one of the fathers of the Beat generation. Naked Lunch and Junky are two faves of mine.

 

Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X and J-Pod would be another. I'll put some more as think of them.... Maybe after a few coffes...

[scribbles 6031]

Give Gregory Maguire a try. Start with "Wicked," and you'll be hooked.

[J Galt 337]

After work I'll tear into this thread. Book some time off work for reading.

[Guest S**a*Q]

I used to read Stephen King and Anne Rice.

Now I"m more into pretty much anything that will keep me interested.

[Guest s******ecan****]

If you love good prose I suggest reading anything by Mark Helprin.

 

A Winter's Tale, and Soldier of the Great War are wonderful.

 

Memoir From Antproof Case is a tour de force, poignant and hilarious.

 

Don Delillo is also a favourite of mine though his work can be a bit cold and detached.

[Surf_Nazis_Must_Die 8958]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, keep 'em coming! My appetite for books is nothing short of voracious!

[Mister T 45020]

For the french readers, Putain , from Nelly Arcand, is a good read. Not sure if it is translated in English though. She touches on elements of being an escort.

 

On a lighter read, i like pulp fiction books. Robert E. Howard, for his works on Conan the Barbarian, among others, to Lester Dent (under the name Kenneth Robeson) for his Doc Savage series (written in the 30's). Henri Vernes, a french author, wrote Bob Morane (the series started in the 50's).

 

Also, Howard Phillip Lovecraft (died 1937) is the last i can think of. He is an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction. Lovecraft's themes and ideas have had a profound effect on culture and literature in general, and have embedded themselves into the foundation that is used for horror associated with the strange.

[J Galt 337]

Fiction(to some extent)

 

Atlas Shrugged(absolutely mandatory or don't be surprised when the world leaves you behind someday)

 

Obviously 1984, Brave New World and such

 

Crime and Punishment

 

World War Z (it sounds cheesey but it's amazingly brilliant)

 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy OF COURSE

 

Nonfiction:

 

Leviathan

 

Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War

 

Guns, Germs, and Steel

 

Babylon's Ark(the incredible wartime rescue of the Baghdad Zoo)

 

Ecotourists Save the World

 

The Prince

 

The Art of War

 

Tragedy and Hope

[Guest s******ecan****]

Fiction(to some extent)

 

Atlas Shrugged(absolutely mandatory or don't be surprised when the world leaves you behind someday)

 

 

I've often wondered from your handle if you were a Rand fan. You're aware she rec'vd social security in old age....no?

[Guest Ou**or**n]

I've often wondered from your handle if you were a Rand fan. You're aware she rec'vd social security in old age....no?

 

At university we used to call the members of the Objectivist Society - 'Randroids'. Ahhh, to be 20 again.... Of course then I discovered Hunter S. Thompson - ahhh to be 21 again...

 

Of course I always felt The Fountainhead was her best work.

[Cleo Catra 178382]

I lovelovelove Ayn Rand and am not ashamed. And I don't give a crap what she stood for or what she did in old age - I've actually had people see her books on my shelf and try to get me into political debates, which I decline. I just looooove her writing. The first time I read The Fountainhead I lay in bed reading for 9 hours straight without realizing it. LOVE. Atlas Shrugged is my fave though.

 

Also a big fan of Christopher Moore (yay A Dirty Job!), and a few other favourites are

 

Bret Easton Ellis - Less Than Zero

Alexandre Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo (another one I can read for hours and hours on end)

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces (absolutely hilarious, a must read!)

[5IVESTAR 105]

I just finished reading " Templars in America : From the Crusades to the New World" by Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins

 

History read about the Kelts/Vikings and there meetings with North America In particular the east coast of Canada in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick down into Main in the U.S.

 

A real insight to the truth about our country's discovery

 

Ill be sure to check some of the books mentioned by others also

[rdymango 673]

Fiction:

- Anything written by Carol Shields

- "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time"

- "The Book Thief"

- "The Dark Tower Series" by Stephen King

- "American Psycho"

 

 

Non-Fiction

- Anything written by Bill Bryson

- "Into the Wild"

[Surf_Nazis_Must_Die 8958]

Fiction(to some extent)

 

Atlas Shrugged(absolutely mandatory or don't be surprised when the world leaves you behind someday)

 

Obviously 1984, Brave New World and such

 

Crime and Punishment

 

World War Z (it sounds cheesey but it's amazingly brilliant)

 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy OF COURSE

 

Nonfiction:

 

Leviathan

 

Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War

 

Guns, Germs, and Steel

 

Babylon's Ark(the incredible wartime rescue of the Baghdad Zoo)

 

Ecotourists Save the World

 

The Prince

 

The Art of War

 

Tragedy and Hope

 

 

How Could I have forgotten World War Z?? If you haven't heard it yet, find the audiobook. It's got a great cast which includes (among others): Henry Rollins (of Black Flag fame) Mark Hamill (don't make me say where he's famous from, lol) and Alan freakin' Alda!

 

And if I may go completely nerdy for a moment...

 

Joe Schreiber - Death Troopers, as one reviewer put it: "This book combines two of my favorite things on earth: the Star Wars universe and the undead."

[Reuben Sandwich 13841]

Loved Cormac McCarthy's The Road so went back to his Border Trilogy. Crossing back and forth over the US -Mexico border, in the 30's , 40's and 50's with dialogue as sparse as the landscape. Dangerous times then as they are even more so now.

[Angeltbay 612]

Any Harlequin Romance novel :)

 

Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies by John Hogue

[mrrnice2 157005]

Well for a REAL change of pace from many titles suggested her, how about the Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum series. Every single title has caused me to laugh out loud, and the SP's here might particularly enjoy the character of Lulu.

 

http://www.evanovich.com/novels/novel

 

Very light easy reading with a good laugh guaranteed.

[Malika Fantasy 144625]

For the french readers, Putain , from Nelly Arcand, is a good read. Not sure if it is translated in English though. She touches on elements of being an escort.

 

On a lighter read, i like pulp fiction books. Robert E. Howard, for his works on Conan the Barbarian, among others, to Lester Dent (under the name Kenneth Robeson) for his Doc Savage series (written in the 30's). Henri Vernes, a french author, wrote Bob Morane (the series started in the 50's).

 

Also, Howard Phillip Lovecraft (died 1937) is the last i can think of. He is an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction. Lovecraft's themes and ideas have had a profound effect on culture and literature in general, and have embedded themselves into the foundation that is used for horror associated with the strange.

 

 

I forgot Nelly Arcand! Also don't forget, Folle, A ciel ouvert and Paradis,clé en main from her.

 

Putain is a brutal book to read, you need to have the guts, it's a hard book,almost gross at some point. Folle is the following she stop being an escort, but still talk about prostitution

 

The 2 others are fiction

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

I will pretty much read anything I get my hands on! Once I start reading a book, I will finish it whether I am enjoying it or not. I have been know to have a couple of books on the go at the same time!

Right now, I am reading Killshot by Elmore Leonard. I am only a few pages into it but I think it may just be quite entertaining.

[Reddog2402 2218]

If you like historical fiction, try Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth and World Without End are some good reads. They take a while though!

 

Another good one on the non-fiction front is Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything is an entertaining take on science and the history of science. He takes some complex areas and makes it relatively easy to undersand, and keeps it entertaining.

 

If you're into economics, Why Your World is About to get a Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin is a good read.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Yo yo,

 

check out this previous thread on this topic!

 

http://cerb.ca/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15580&highlight=reading%2C+days

[Surf_Nazis_Must_Die 8958]

Holy crap! I hadn't realized there was already 17 pages dedicated to this topic on another thread.

 

I fail, oops.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Holy crap! I hadn't realized there was already 17 pages dedicated to this topic on another thread.

 

I fail, oops.

 

 

haha no worries! More posts=more books to read!

 

Currently I've got the following on the go:

 

Bitchfest (Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine)

Sister Outsider-A collection of essays by Audre Lorde

Human Diastrophism-A Love and Rockets book by Gilbert Hernandez

[Surf_Nazis_Must_Die 8958]

Thanks for understanding Berlin!

 

If I may toss out a few more:

 

Preacher - A graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.

Thoroughly enjoyed this series! The main story arc focuses on Jesse Custer, A preacher who's lost his faith embarking on a mission with his estranged love, Tulip, and his Irish Vampire buddy Cassidy to find god and bring him to account for his actions. One of the side story arcs includes a direct blood relative of christ who's portrayal made me laugh out loud!

 

Robert Kirkman - Amazing comic book author! His works include: Invincible, The Walking Dead (was adapted into a tv show for AMC), and Marvel, Zombies

 

Michael Crichton - A few favorites when I was a kid: Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Congo, The Eaters Of The Dead