Good Reads

[Momof4]

After taking a few months off from reading I got back into it and just finished The Hunger Games, Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo, and now finishing The Immortal Life of Henrrieta Lacks. Would anyone like to list a few of their favorites. I would love to see a few from the guys out there too. My husband is starting to read and he has a tough time choosing a book. Thanks Kathy

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

After taking a few months off from reading I got back into it and just finished The Hunger Games, Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo, and now finishing The Immortal Life of Henrrieta Lacks. Would anyone like to list a few of their favorites. I would love to see a few from the guys out there too. My husband is starting to read and he has a tough time choosing a book. Thanks Kathy

Looking forward to The Girl w/ the Dragon Tattoo (waiting for my Mom-in-law to finish it).

Big fan of Dean Koontz, Anne MacCaffery (newer writers), and Twain, Hesse, Dickens, Hugo and and Edgar Rice Burroughs ("classic" writers).

For lighter reading, I love Spider Robinson and Piers Anthony's Xanth books.

 

[Momof4]

Thanks Terry

 

[fhintz]

Dan Brown's books are fun reads. I wouldn't say they're well written in a literary sense, but they're fast paced, fairly quick reading, action novels. I would say they're vaguely similar to the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I haven't actually read The Immortal Life . . ., I just now it's an interesting true story sort of about medical break throughs. Along the vein of novelized true stories, you might try Erik Larson. "Devil in the White City" was the one I read, which is about both the Chicago Worlds Fair in the 1890s and a mass murderer (its less graphic than The Girl With . . . )

For anyone who likes video games at all and/or 1980s pop culture and/or a cute love story between two people involved in those subjects, "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline was my pick for best book of 2011.

"The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova is another book I would recommend. Its about how one woman's parents got involved with an ancient evil, and her attempts to learn about it and track it down. A little bit slow at times, but what I liked was a heroine who solves things using her intelligence and research skills rather than the usual action hero.

Another book I loved from a few years ago was "The Religion" by Tim Willocks. Its an historical fiction tale about the Siege of Malta (when the Ottoman Empire tried to conquer the island of Malta). I really enjoyed the main characters and their flawed, yet still noble, motivations. I will say that it doesn't hide the horrors of war and gets pretty brutal at times.

If you like sort of modern fairy tale type books, I recommend "The Veil of Gold" by Kim Wilkens, about a young woman who has to travel into the fairy realm of Russia to uncover the truth about a little statue of a golden bear, and learn something about herself along the way. I also liked "The Autumn Castle" by her which was a bit more whimsical, but also about the merging of the real world and the fairy realm.

For anyone who likes epic fantasy series, the best I ever read was The Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott, book 1 is "King's Dragon". It is 7 books long, though, so be forewarned that if you get into it, it'll eat up chunks of your time.

Well, that'll do for starters. Happy reading.

Frank

 

[JoesMum]

I recently read "To kill a mockingbird" (Harper Lee) followed by "The Help" (Kathryn Stockett)

Both were very good reads covering a period in modern history that I'm less familiar with... mostly because I was born as all this was happening. I'd definitely recommend reading both and in that order as The Help references Mockingbird.

 

[dmmj]

There are the classics which I enjoy, of mice and men , the grapes of wrath.
I am also a big science fiction fan and of my favorites is a book called " the first immortal" while it is science fiction it is a really good read.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I recently read "To kill a mockingbird" (Harper Lee) followed by "The Help" (Kathryn Stockett)

Both were very good reads covering a period in modern history that I'm less familiar with... mostly because I was born as all this was happening. I'd definitely recommend reading both and in that order as The Help references Mockingbird.

Two EXCELLENT books!

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Anything by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child!

I also like Dean Koonst, although his books are rather hit-and-miss with me. I've enjoyed some of the stand-alone Frank Peretti novels. I dunno...I read so fast, I'll pretty much try anything these days. My library is rather eclectic.

For those who want some herp-related literature, try Bryan Christy's The Lizard King or Stolen World by Jennie Erin Smith. Both books give an interesting, if not slanted depiction of reptile sumgglers back in the day, but pretty good reads, nonetheless.

 

[Momof4]

Wow! Thanks everyone. I have read a few of them and looking forward to a few new recommendations.
I miss my book club because I was forced to read books I would never choose and ended up liking most of them.

 

[ShadowRancher]

Omg, where to start I'm a total bibliophile and lit nerd. Are you looking for classics? Modern novels? Nonfiction or scifi / fantasy? So many recs in all those categories

To kill a mocking bird is one of my all time favorites so I'll second that.

Wait one more question, do you like complex plot/politics? I love some good political intrigue but it just not some people's cup of tea. My best friend, who has her BFA in eniglish lit, will hand me things sometimes with a book mark half way through and tell me "read this, you'll eat it up, then you can explain twisty bastard to me" I think she's so used to looking for subtleties in the writing that she missed the plot

The one modern novel that I flat out tell everyone I meet that mentions books to read is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. He's hands down my favorite current fiction writer (except possibly RR Martin but I count him with the epic fantasy writers for the
70s and 80s like Tanith lee and Anne mccaffery). He is sometimes a bit of an acquired taste his humor can be dark and there are a few graphic scenes in the way independent movies can have graphic scenes but it is totally worth it. No one weaves a tale like he does at the moment IMHO. I also love his children's books, he wrote the books that sparked the movies Stardust, MirrorMask and Coraline.

Sorry, that may have been mo than you asked but I love books and I love sharing the ones I love even more.

---

Ha somehow I skipped that you'd read dragon tattoo in the OP, Gaimans graphic scenes have nothing on that

 

[Madkins007]

To add to the great recommendations...

Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. Ex-MP officer just wants to see the America he did not grow up in (military brat) without being tied to a boss, a job, or belongings. He travels to visit places like the Blues Highway and other places he learned about overseas. But, Jack attracts trouble. Always has. He also has a personal code for dealing with things.

Repairman Jack books by F. Paul Wilson. This Jack is living off the grid and 'fixing' things for people. A completely unremarkable man who tries hard to be socially invisible, he discovers that there is more to this world than most can see. Not quite a Dresden Files sort of 'vampires and humans co-existing', more an eternal struggle between two incomprehensible forces in which our world is barely even a pawn.

For non-fiction- Stiff, Parasite Rex and Freakonomics all touch on topics most of us would avoid but leave you fascinated by the subjects.

 

[Heliopteryx]

Stiff (by Mary Roach) that Madkins007 mentioned is a very good book!

I recommend the Hyperion cantos (not actually poetry, it's just called that instead of "series") by Dan Simmons. In chronological order, the books are Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion. It's kind of on the weirder end of science fiction, though.

 

[jkingler]

I am seconding and adding the following:

American Gods (and Sandman) and roughly half of Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman. Extremely witty and intelligent fantasy.

Small Gods (Chelonian deity = must read ), Night's Watch, The Truth, Mort, and the rest of Good Omens (among others), by Terry Pratchett. Insightful, relevant, and often uproarious comedies.

Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. Thoughtful sci-fi with intelligent child protagonists.

The Dresden Files books, by Jim Butcher (not to be confused with the poorly adapted TV series of the same name). Excellent action-packed and belly-laugh filled yarns, particularly the most recent books.

A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords (and Fevre Dream ), by George R.R. Martin. Political intrigue, infighting, and epic storylines and character development in a medieval setting. Except Fevre Dream - that's about river boats and vampires.

The Hyperion Cantos (of which I have still only read Hyperion and the second book in the series), by Dan Simmons. Sci-fi of the galactic variety, with the unforgettable Shrike.

Dune, by Frank Herbert... Just do it.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen, by Steven Erikson, is amazing if you like High Fantasy with extremely dense world building, tons of characters and lots of character development (with maaaany grizzled veterans, haha). If you don't like the sound of it, you may just hate it, but it's a personal favorite of mine.

Also...maybe the first five or so books from The Wheel of Time, and last few, since Sanderson took over.

I could go on, but that's already an onerous list, so I'll go back to reading A Dance with Dragons and check on this thread later. =) /obviously prefers Fantasy and Sci-Fi, in that order

 

[Turtleswagg]

im sure non of u will read this but ive read the percy jackson series n im startin the heros of olympis, great books n rick riordan is an amazing author

 

[ShadowRancher]

Dune...Just do it, for the win! I dont usually rec it right off the bat bc people find it overwhelming? I guess, buut totally my favorite ever. It the book I was dancing around with my political intrigue disclaimer

Also, turtleswagg a friend gave me the first Percy Jackson and totally got hooked...have a tee shirt signed by Riordan

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Anything by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child!

Huge fan of Preston and Child!

I also like Dean Koonst, although his books are rather hit-and-miss with me.

About the only Koontz I couldn't get into was "Demon Seed"...that was DEFINITELY a miss!

For those who want some herp-related literature, try Bryan Christy's The Lizard King or Stolen World by Jennie Erin Smith. Both books give an interesting, if not slanted depiction of reptile sumgglers back in the day, but pretty good reads, nonetheless.

Looking for both books.

 

[Madkins007]

I am seconding and adding the following:

American Gods (and Sandman) and roughly half of Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman. Extremely witty and intelligent fantasy.

Small Gods (Chelonian deity = must read ), Night's Watch, The Truth, Mort, and the rest of Good Omens (among others), by Terry Pratchett. Insightful, relevant, and often uproarious comedies.

Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. Thoughtful sci-fi with intelligent child protagonists.

The Dresden Files books, by Jim Butcher (not to be confused with the poorly adapted TV series of the same name). Excellent action-packed and belly-laugh filled yarns, particularly the most recent books.

(SNIP)

Small Gods is a lot of fun, especially if you have read any other Discworld books (not only the tort in Small Gods, but the entire planet is resting on the back of elephants standing on a giant 'star turtle'!)

There are other books with turtles and tortoises as a main character or theme- fiction and non-fiction- (working from memory here, forgive me...)
- Timothy, Tales of an Abject Tortoise
- Esio Trot by Roald Dahl
- Swampwalker's Journal or Self Portrait with Turtles by David Carroll
- Lonesome George (I would recommend this to any tortoise person- multi-faceted account of the plight of many animals)
- ... dang, I know I am missing some, but too tired to think...

I love Orson Scott Card, with my favorite story being the short 'Unfinished Sonata'.

I also enjoy the Dresden Files books, and even the series. Did you catch either The Color of Magic or the Hogfather movies about Discworld? Typical mix of not bad and eh, but I thought they were worth the watch- available on Netflix streaming.

 

[jkingler]

Yeah, gotta love Pratchett's cheloni-centric cosmology.

Timothy sounds awesome! Added that and the others to my Amazon Wishlist!

Amazon also recommends me Stolen World, The Last Tortoise, Life in a Shell, and A Sheltered Life. The last two in particular are of interest to me. Any of those among the names you couldn't bring to mind?

I have not read Unfinished Sonata. How is it? I did actually read Pastwatch, which was interesting, thoroughly enjoyable, and memorable, even though I couldn't say it was a great book.

The series was OK, and I accept it for what it is, but it doesn't come close to the books. I haven't seen those Pratchett adaptations, and honestly had no idea they existed. Recommended, or just something to watch for completion's sake?

 

[Turtleswagg]

Dune...Just do it, for the win! I dont usually rec it right off the bat bc people find it overwhelming? I guess, buut totally my favorite ever. It the book I was dancing around with my political intrigue disclaimer

Also, turtleswagg a friend gave me the first Percy Jackson and totally got hooked...have a tee shirt signed by Riordan

lol awesome, im in the middle of the lost hero n its a lil wierd how the chapters work, but its a really good book, if u like the percy jacksons ull love this book