I'm looking for recommendations of REALLY ESSENTIAL READING. It can be any genre, but give me 3-5 books you recommend I read.
To give examples of my usual reading habits, I have read the entire Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, I'm currently reading 'System of the World' by Neal Stephenson, I've read most Heinlein and in the mystery realm I grew up reading Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham. I of course love Douglas Adams, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle. I've never read a Stephen King book. I've read 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and love it. I've also read the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I love Anne of Green Gables and the Tao of Pooh.
There, there's a big chunk of my bookshelves. Suggest away. Anything.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Book Bleg
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15 comments:
I recommend Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen.
Not sure if this is your cup of tea or not, but I just read "Angels and Demons" and "The Di Vinci Code", both by Dan Brown.
They were both really good reads, if you haven't read them.
'Neverwhere' is on my nightstand. I need to read that thing. I read 'American Gods' and loved it and Gaiman is just cool.
Thanks Joe and HG for the other suggestions!
If you do want to try a Stephen King novel, give The Stand a go, end of world type scenario, with mystery and science. One of my fav's of SK's.
cheers
Dave.
If you liked Discworld you will probably love Good Omens and the Myth Inc. novels.
For other recommendations check out my blog entry here. I am sure you have read many on the list so I will add Superstud by Paul Feig, The Football Factory by John King, and True Notebooks by Mark Salzman since those are some of the recent "non-genre"/memoir books I have read recently.
The Stand is truly great, as is On Writing, also by King.
I would also add The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (by far my favorite book of the past year) the Kite Runner, Dogs of Babel, Memoirs of a Geisha (avoid the film) - The Portable Dorothy Parker, the Jungle Books & Captains Courageous (by Kipling) The Hook by Donald Westlake and last but not least, The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan.
There's some for ya to play with.
Chuck Palahniuk got me interested in fiction again, a good start is Lullaby or Survivor but don't start with his new one and work backwards
I haven't read any Stephen King either. Might have to look into the Stand now. I've always loved Watership Down, so worth a look if you haven't read it already. Also The Book of the Dun Cow. Short read.
If you have never read King, then I agree THE STAND would be good. For something shorter that I think you would like, try THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON.
Guyot
I'm halfway through Lamb by Christopher Moore. If you're not too uptight about religion and can laugh at what others may deem "blasphemy" it's a hilarious read. I really embarrassed myself on the subway laughing at the angel who decided he wanted to be spiderman. :)
Oh and Perfume by Patrick Suskind is also a great read (one of my favourites) and is 98% blasphemy free.
Enjoy!
This may not be the best place to start in the King pantheon, but I found DESPERATION to be truly terrifying in every sense of the word. If you'd rather dip a toe in to the King pool instead of leaping in to the deep end, give GERALD'S GAME (terribly underrated) or IT a try. (IT is a nice gateway into his work because it's kind of a King's Greatest Hits funhouse of a novel...he began with the kitchen sink and tossed everything in after that!).
Hope that helps!
"Darwin's Radio" by Greg Bear
"Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West " by Gregory Maguire
"The Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was" by Barry Hughart
"Dragon's Egg" by Robert L. Forward
"Thrice Upon a Time" by James P. Hogan
Damn! Jacqueline took mine! I was going to recommend Perfume as well. It's one of those books that not so many people have read, but that ANYONE you meet who has read it loves it. Truly unique.
Try the "Emily" series by L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Greene Gables. Emily, the heroine, is a writer, and mirrors (I think) a lot of L.M's own experiences. These books were very influential to me as a child--made me want to write.
Bee
From the list of books, I feel pretty safe in suggesting Alastair Reynolds' "Revelation Space" and it's sequels. All of them are engrossing, well-written epic space opera. I highly recommend them.
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