The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It might seem old school, but for a book 100 years old or so it covers pot smoking, torture, piracy, lesbianism, kidnapping, revenge, life in prison, sword fighting, fighting, manipulating others by appealing to their vanity, world travel, sticking up for the weak and trampled, use of disguise, poisoning/chemistry, and ultimately being man enough to let go.
Plus, Dumas was rumored to be some kind occult head game artist.
Kay, finished Grendel (Amazing book, very existential, entertaining, and just flat out good, I especially enjoy the pictures it paints in my head, and the growth and changes in the character, also his taunting of Unferth, and encounters with goats)
Kay, I'm going to move on to some other book now, but highly recommend Grendel (by John Gardner)
Uhh.. Probably gonna get some book dealing with knightly stuff now
Oh man, Da Vinci Code was awful. It's a book written for idiots to make them think they're intelligent. Digital Fortress, too. I've not read Angels & Demons, but I can't see it being much better
Talon + 1. Terrible, terrible books. Nasty. I read Da Vinci code on a plane once and I wish I'd stuck with the safety card. Prolix! Prolix! Nothing A Pair Of Scissors Can't Fix
Right now I'm reading 'Your Inner Fish' by Neil Shubin. It's about how the idiosyncracies of the evolutionary development of our own bodies can be enlightened by experiments and research into animal (particularly fish) anatomy, embryonic development and fossils. This is written by the same guy who found Tiktaalik in the Canadian Arctic a couple years ago. Awesome book so far! Really fun to read, though I wish the illustrations were better.
I just finished reading 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard Feynman a week or so ago. It was great fun -- just silly stories about a very interesting guy who won the nobel prize in physics.
Also reading Made In America by Bill Bryson. The book is supposed to be about the evolution of the English language in the USA, but unfortunately I've found it a bit heavy going so far -- he's expounding on early American history a tad too much for my taste (though I guess I can see how the two things are linked). I've never been very interested in American history, but it'll probably pick up later. I really like Bryson's work overall.
I also picked up 'Trick or Treatment' about general quackery and specious medicine. I'll probably read it on holiday.
'Evil Genes: How Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole my Mother's Boyfriend' is next on my list, however. Barbara Oakley (who used to be a translator on Soviety nuclear submarines, no less!) wrote the book about her theory that psychopathy and sociopathy is a trait that's largely determined genetically, and at least isn't the fault of poor parenting. I'm not sure I'll agree, but that's why I'm reading the book!
I've been wanting to get back into fiction for a while, but durnit--there's so much interesting non-fiction to read. Can't seem to force myself... fiction can be so crappy, so often.
LOL, oh jeez. Seeing this book mentioned here brings back memories. A suggestion, though, to anyone reading it and feeling inspired: read it all from cover to cover before acting on any sudden impulses :poly124:
Talon, I recently finished "I, Lucifer", thoroughly enjoyed it, and it makes my suggestion list. Looking through this thread again for my next book. This thread rocks!
Anything by H.P. Lovecraft is amazing.
The "divine comedy" ain't bad either.
Fahrenheit 451 is great too.
the whole "Sabriel" series by Garth Nix is great too.
Lovecraft is my favorite though, and most of his stories deal with isolation (mental or physical, depending on how he felt, I guess)
Been reading "World War Z" by Max Brooks. If you're a real man who likes zombies and not a little girl who likes pirates, you'll enjoy it.
Did you read the Zombie Survival Guide yet Gav? Both are really great. Audiobooked both of them while out driving.
Right now I'm on book 4 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, called House of Chains by Steven Erickson. Best fantasy series out there so far imo and I've read a lot of them.
nope haven't read the Survival Guide yet, though it is on my list. To be honest I usually only read boring biographies...but this wa s agood recommendation from my zombie fanatic tattoo artist :P
Gibraltar Earth by Michael McCollum - pretty good, enjoyed it, but plot way too predictable. One of those books where you realise what's going from the start, but have to be dragged along the entire story anyway, and you keep considering just skipping to the end to get it confirmed so you can move on. Okay, so maybe I don't recommend this one a whole lot...
Protector by Larry Niven. Solid science fiction. Niven isn't one of my favourite authors, but he writes sci fi that I can enjoy without too much strain.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy. Consumed this one as an audiobook. Very entertaining? Yeah. Believable? Perhaps. I guess as with something like statstics, you can prove or disprove all the statements Murphy has, but they do make you think long and hard about the current economic unstability and e.g. the impact bailouts have.
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. Pretty good. Listened to it as an audiobook which was probably a mistake as the narrator, Jim Hoge, doesn't really do it for me. Not a very engaging voice and rhythm to his narration, so my mind wanders. As for the contents of the book. What I can remember from it, it was pretty interesting.
Jimmies, Grendel is one of my favorite books of all time. Had to read it in high school of all places for an assignment (my lit teacher kicked ass) and totally fell in love.
I tried to scan the thread to make sure I don't repeat anyone but here's a few of my favorite series:
First I have to second the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, fucking LOVE those books. I would hug the man if I ever met him in person. I kind of went through a lull in my reading and he really reignited my interest in it and renwed my faith in literature.
Jim Butcher: Have read about 5 books into the Dresden Files series and really dig em, they're light, fun books. Don't judge them by the short lived series on Sci Fi channel, they really fucked it up.
Recently started the Codex Alera series, I'm about 75% through the third book. If you like fantasy books like GRRM writes or Robert Jordan type stuff, strongly suggest these. They're lighter but the battles are epic and exciting and you really grow to care about the characters.
S.M. Sterling: He does a lot of alternate history/post apocalyptic/ fantasy/sci fi kind of things. Strongly reccomend the Dies The Fire series and the Nantuckett series. The two series somewhat correlate through a mysterious happening that essentially throws things into the past. One of the main characters in the Dies The Fire series, Mike Havel, alone is worth reading for.
Planning on getting on to the Wheel of Time books soon since they've been reccomended to me so many times.
First I have to second the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, fucking LOVE those books. I would hug the man if I ever met him in person. I kind of went through a lull in my reading and he really reignited my interest in it and renwed my faith in literature.
He needs to release the next (*&@#@ set of books.. FFS, he's already broken it into to two seperate books so he's said, my wife sent an email to him and he said he just writes when he feels like it and he's been taking vacations and relaxing. LOL
At first I hated his writing style, as you'd just get to like a character WHAM, chop off their heads.. Lot's of strings all over the place, hope he can finish them all up before he passes away... O_o
kite: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell sounds cool, I'll cue that up.
Sectaurs: Moorcock? *snickers*
Joopson: I read Sabriel and its series a while ago and I really loved the concept of the Abhorsen. Love the bells and everything, what a great character concept. Nix is apparently adding to the series in 2010.
I've been enjoying The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.
East: I'd go with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land and the completely-not-at-all-like-the-movie Starship Troopers. All good and good representations of his work.
Best book I have ever read is "Anastasia" by Vladamir Megre, but they only sell it online. Totally worth it though, for the whole series. Plus, its supposedly a true story. I highly suggest it! http://www.ringingcedars.com/
Hmm. I recently read Angela's Ashes and it was really good. Recently as in half a year ago, because I so rarely read books. Enjoyed a bit of Foucalt's Pendulum so far this month, but haven't gotten into reading it too much because the copy I've got is HTML. There are just so many distractions when sitting in a browser.
Replies
Plus, Dumas was rumored to be some kind occult head game artist.
Chuck Palahniuk: Lullabye, Invisible Monsters
Neil Gaiman: Anansi Boys, The entire Sandman Series (comics)
Robert Jordan (R.I.P.): The Wheel of Time Series (notably the first 3 books). Shame he died before he could finish.
Dalai Lama: The Art of Happiness
Kay, I'm going to move on to some other book now, but highly recommend Grendel (by John Gardner)
Uhh.. Probably gonna get some book dealing with knightly stuff now
thx for the recs
Talon + 1. Terrible, terrible books. Nasty. I read Da Vinci code on a plane once and I wish I'd stuck with the safety card. Prolix! Prolix! Nothing A Pair Of Scissors Can't Fix
I just finished reading 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard Feynman a week or so ago. It was great fun -- just silly stories about a very interesting guy who won the nobel prize in physics.
Also reading Made In America by Bill Bryson. The book is supposed to be about the evolution of the English language in the USA, but unfortunately I've found it a bit heavy going so far -- he's expounding on early American history a tad too much for my taste (though I guess I can see how the two things are linked). I've never been very interested in American history, but it'll probably pick up later. I really like Bryson's work overall.
I also picked up 'Trick or Treatment' about general quackery and specious medicine. I'll probably read it on holiday.
'Evil Genes: How Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole my Mother's Boyfriend' is next on my list, however. Barbara Oakley (who used to be a translator on Soviety nuclear submarines, no less!) wrote the book about her theory that psychopathy and sociopathy is a trait that's largely determined genetically, and at least isn't the fault of poor parenting. I'm not sure I'll agree, but that's why I'm reading the book!
I've been wanting to get back into fiction for a while, but durnit--there's so much interesting non-fiction to read. Can't seem to force myself... fiction can be so crappy, so often.
The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart
I don't think it fits any of the OP's prerequisites - if anything it goes out of it's way to go against them - but it's a solid read.
The "divine comedy" ain't bad either.
Fahrenheit 451 is great too.
the whole "Sabriel" series by Garth Nix is great too.
Lovecraft is my favorite though, and most of his stories deal with isolation (mental or physical, depending on how he felt, I guess)
Did you read the Zombie Survival Guide yet Gav? Both are really great. Audiobooked both of them while out driving.
Right now I'm on book 4 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, called House of Chains by Steven Erickson. Best fantasy series out there so far imo and I've read a lot of them.
nope haven't read the Survival Guide yet, though it is on my list. To be honest I usually only read boring biographies...but this wa s agood recommendation from my zombie fanatic tattoo artist :P
Gibraltar Earth by Michael McCollum - pretty good, enjoyed it, but plot way too predictable. One of those books where you realise what's going from the start, but have to be dragged along the entire story anyway, and you keep considering just skipping to the end to get it confirmed so you can move on. Okay, so maybe I don't recommend this one a whole lot...
Protector by Larry Niven. Solid science fiction. Niven isn't one of my favourite authors, but he writes sci fi that I can enjoy without too much strain.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy. Consumed this one as an audiobook. Very entertaining? Yeah. Believable? Perhaps. I guess as with something like statstics, you can prove or disprove all the statements Murphy has, but they do make you think long and hard about the current economic unstability and e.g. the impact bailouts have.
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. Pretty good. Listened to it as an audiobook which was probably a mistake as the narrator, Jim Hoge, doesn't really do it for me. Not a very engaging voice and rhythm to his narration, so my mind wanders. As for the contents of the book. What I can remember from it, it was pretty interesting.
I tried to scan the thread to make sure I don't repeat anyone but here's a few of my favorite series:
First I have to second the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, fucking LOVE those books. I would hug the man if I ever met him in person. I kind of went through a lull in my reading and he really reignited my interest in it and renwed my faith in literature.
Jim Butcher: Have read about 5 books into the Dresden Files series and really dig em, they're light, fun books. Don't judge them by the short lived series on Sci Fi channel, they really fucked it up.
Recently started the Codex Alera series, I'm about 75% through the third book. If you like fantasy books like GRRM writes or Robert Jordan type stuff, strongly suggest these. They're lighter but the battles are epic and exciting and you really grow to care about the characters.
S.M. Sterling: He does a lot of alternate history/post apocalyptic/ fantasy/sci fi kind of things. Strongly reccomend the Dies The Fire series and the Nantuckett series. The two series somewhat correlate through a mysterious happening that essentially throws things into the past. One of the main characters in the Dies The Fire series, Mike Havel, alone is worth reading for.
Planning on getting on to the Wheel of Time books soon since they've been reccomended to me so many times.
He needs to release the next (*&@#@ set of books.. FFS, he's already broken it into to two seperate books so he's said, my wife sent an email to him and he said he just writes when he feels like it and he's been taking vacations and relaxing. LOL
At first I hated his writing style, as you'd just get to like a character WHAM, chop off their heads..
Sectaurs: Moorcock? *snickers*
Joopson: I read Sabriel and its series a while ago and I really loved the concept of the Abhorsen. Love the bells and everything, what a great character concept. Nix is apparently adding to the series in 2010.
I've been enjoying The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.
...agree with the George r r martin comments...maybe if he didn't watch so much nfl...
Any other good cyberpunk books people could recommend? Already read Snow Crash and a fair amount of Gibson's work...
anywho. any recommendations on art books? and also tank related books. with lots of cool pics and shit
http://www.ringingcedars.com/
Thats the name of the series, the ringing cedars.
"The Ringing Cedars Series is neither fiction nor non-fiction, but something else entirely."
learned it the other day
All of them. Going through about 1 a week. Read a bunch waaayy back in JR High but now I'm picking up the rest.