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05/12/2008 05:41:36 PM · #26 |
| Don't forget that many of these novels are also available as audiobooks. Scott Seigler audiobooks are awesome. Go to Podiobooks.com for lists of downloadable free audiobooks. |
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05/12/2008 05:45:15 PM · #27 |
a new author I have fallen in love with is Stephanie Meyer Her books are amazing!!!
Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse also the Host |
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05/12/2008 05:45:23 PM · #28 |
Just read your profile....
You might look at the Clive Cussler books as well. Dirk Pitt is a wonderful hero, and it's amazing how many plots to overthrow the world that he stops. Not to mention the women he finds... |
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05/12/2008 05:51:50 PM · #29 |
| Oh yeah I have to second the enders game suggestion. By far my all time favorite book. The story is just incredible. besides there are other books in the series as well that are good like enders shadow which is a the story told from another characters viewpoint but really completes the subplots in enders game. |
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05/12/2008 05:58:17 PM · #30 |
| As something a bit different, I really enjoy Bill Bryson's books - mainly travel orientated but he's done others too. He has quite a gift for language. |
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05/12/2008 06:22:11 PM · #31 |
I have a, erm, disorder that affects reading and storing what I read, so I don't read a lot. In fact there are only three books I can recommend to anyone, and at that probably only old fans of the original and sequel Myst games, though others may enjoy them as well.
The Myst trilogy-
Myst: The Book of Atrus
Myst: The Book of Ti'ana
Myst: The Book of D'ni
I think they are good by themselves but some concepts expressed in the books may be hard to visulize without having seen them in Myst, however to great extent the books stand on their own and do not directly refer to events in the game.
I'm not sure of the order of the books really matters, but the above order is by publish date, so the safest bet. Ti'ana is a Prequel to Atrus and D'ni a Sequel to both.
Message edited by author 2008-05-12 18:22:24. |
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05/12/2008 08:04:30 PM · #32 |
I OWN more than 3,000 books.
Out of all the suggestions I've read in this thread I would have to agree that Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" series is great. I have two copies of it (I've owned about 8 and have given them away).
The above link goes directly to Orson Scott Card's web site and gives you a synopsis along with Chapter 1 of the book. He's been working on a screenplay for over ten years for the book (I have/had a copy of the original draft, not sure where it is right now--probably in a box), but has found it profoundly difficult to do the characters justice in screenplay format.
If you want I can mail you one of my copies to read. Just let me know at nathan[dot]wertgmail(com) |
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05/12/2008 08:13:43 PM · #33 |
Originally posted by Ecce Signum:
Unlike my father I'm not a well read person, I think he is almost up to 3,000 books and I might be at 30 (including schhol)... |
It's not about how many books you read. It's about picking out the right ones.
Shakespeare is said to have read about 30 books. Add 10 Italian tomes. I'd say he read less than forty - an education. |
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05/12/2008 08:17:21 PM · #34 |
anne of green gables
it's the 100th anniversary of the book
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05/12/2008 08:33:59 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by citymars:
Edit: Not to knock  GeneralE's suggestion, but I read Verne's Mysterious Island last year and I thought it was pretty dry stuff. I much prefer the old movie version with Joan Greenwood battling a giant chicken. ;-) |
See, and I hated the movie, even though I just bought it so my son could compare for himself (he read the book last year). :-)
Yes, the language is a bit "vintage" in its style, though the free version I linked to at Project Gutenberg is a never-before-reprinted translation which looks more like the 1909 edition I first read ...
It's full of politics and moralizing and practical engineering knowledge (devising a global positioning system using a stick and a watch, how to make nitroglycerine, etc.). I put it in there with other adventuresome "classics" such as Moby Dick, Don Quixote, A Tale of Two Cities, and so on, which "everyone wants to have read, but no one wants to read."
When I took US History in high school, our teach had us put away the textbook, and instead we read novels set in each of the periods we were to study, which we then presented to the other students and discussed. You can learn more about the people and the society that way, which is more important than memorizing what date some event happened -- that you can always look up should you need to know it someday in the future.
I was going to come back and suggest The Hitchhiker's Guide ... series too -- I think there's a dearth of (good) humor being circulated these days, which I'm sure is contributing to the worldwide increase in bellicosity and probably global warming too ...
I recommend anything by Isaac Asimov -- he spent his life clarifying and explaining complex information so that everyone can understand it and, oh yeah, wrote award-winning science fiction and mysteries (and successfully combined the two!). With about 400 books in print, you have a wide choice of subjects, from the Bible to Quasars to The Sensuous Dirty Old Man.
More humorous sci-fi can be found in the writings of Harry Harrison (The Stainless Steel Rat), Larry Niven, and Theodore Sturgeon; also, don't overlook Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (free audio version available as well as text). |
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05/12/2008 08:36:31 PM · #36 |
I was just asking Becky, since she works in a bookstore and we're all avid readers.
She suggested the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I'd forgotten about these, but I enjoyed them as an adult and my son read them at about age 10.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.
The Fionavar Tapestry series by Guy Gavriel Key (The Summer Tree is book one)
The Xanth series are great fun if you like puns :)
One I read recently that really got me thinking was "The I Chong; Tales from the Joint"
by Tommy Chong.
For bedtime, I like relatively "escapist" books; Stephen King thrillers,
James Patterson's FBI agent Alex Cross in various titles, Patricia D. Cornwell's ME Kay Scarpetta series, etc. (Books that keep me turning the page until my eyelids fall yet don't keep my mind pondering into the wee hours.)
John Grisham. Most of his books involve some facet of law and lawyers but have a great variety of approaches to it. "The Painted House" is very different from most of his work but is my favourite.
eta after reading the rest of the posts;
I agree with Hitchiker's guide and Mark Twain, and Beck really enjoyed Grapes of Wrath. (It's one I still haven't gotten to YET)
Message edited by author 2008-05-12 20:38:43. |
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05/12/2008 08:58:15 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
More humorous sci-fi can be found in the writings of Harry Harrison (The Stainless Steel Rat), Larry Niven, and Theodore Sturgeon; also, don't overlook Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (free audio version available as well as text). |
And for heaven's sake, don't forget L Sprague de Camp who wrote funny non-fiction books on architecture and science as well as sci-fi and fantasy. The bio referenced here was written a while back, 'cause I don't think he's still with us, but (and you have to remind yourself to read in the past tense) it's still a great source. |
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05/12/2008 09:12:01 PM · #38 |
My nice, long post disappeared. Sigh.
Continuing in the easy-to-read fantasy genre, I recommend a series called Percy and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. My daughter and I are reading them now (we both enjoyed the whole Potter series). The premise is the gods of Olympus are real and still around, and still having half-blood kids with people. The first book is "The Lightning Thief."
For a complex, richly developed world, try the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov.
Hitchhiker's, Dark Materials, Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit), and Ender's Game are all some of the most fun I've had reading, and they all have multiple books in the series.
Piers Anthony wrote three series I've really enjoyed. First is Xanth, a goofy, punny, fun group of books about a fantasy land where everyone has one magic talent (first book is A Spell for Chameleon). His Adept series envisions a parallel universe to ours, with gateways between if I'm remembering correctly (first book: Split Infinity).
Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality envisions Death, Fate, Time, War, Gaia, Satan, and even God are basically job that people take on through various means. For example, you become Death by killing the incumbent. But Death only visits people whose souls are split closely between good and evil, to apply more careful weighing devices, so by definition, the person serving as Death is neither good nor evil. First book is "On a Pale Horse."
For murder mysteries, I've read or listened to a few Kay Scarpetta stories. I've also really enjoyed the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr. Pigeon is a US park ranger around whom people are constantly getting murdered, and she has to solve the crimes.
There's also Sherlock Holmes. A friend gave me the complete collection, and I've found it surprisingly engaging and amusing. You can read the several novels or any of the dozens of short stories.
What fun it's been reading other people's recommendations and finding out how much in common my list has with theirs! :)
Message edited by author 2008-05-12 21:13:46.
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05/12/2008 09:23:03 PM · #39 |
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - trilogy
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - trilogy
The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - tetralogy, but only two books have been released so far
Authored by Stephen R. Donaldson
Read these years ago and loved them all. I think there's a movie planed for these books too. I hope they make three movies like LoTR.
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05/12/2008 09:25:33 PM · #40 |
Originally posted by levyj413:
There's also Sherlock Holmes. A friend gave me the complete collection, and I've found it surprisingly engaging and amusing. You can read the several novels or any of the dozens of short stories.
What fun it's been reading other people's recommendations and finding out how much in common my list has with theirs! :) |
Two of my son's sisters are (distant) relatives of A. Conan Doyle -- I just gave the younger a facsimile edition of an early version of the complete works for her eighteenth birthday. :-)
It's also hard to go wrong with other classic British mysteries, such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers ...
For some sci-fi with more serious political themes try Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers (pretend the movie doesn't exist!) by Robert A. Heinlein. |
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05/12/2008 09:34:15 PM · #41 |
Originally posted by alans_world:
I, like your father have quite a few Titles behind me, Judging from your like of the Potter world, my first 2 authors are similar in entertainment and writing styles. The last suggestion is only because it̢۪s just plane fun to read them.
Terry brooks
Anne McCaffrey Especially the dragonriders of Pern series.
Piers Anthony The Xanth series is just plane fun. |
Urm - i stayed away from recommending Terry Brooks based on the fact that they guy is almost as verbose as Tolkien and not exactly for the faint hearted (although from memory and imo less of a bore than Tolkien). I remember picking up the Sword Trilogy and thinking "wow, this guy really likes descriptions" - i mean it takes two pages for the protagonist to be introduced and walk maybe 100m along a path...(just checked it). Not saying it is not a really good read i did enjoy it, but it is a world away from Potter imo...
*giggles*
Yes do it...
*grimaces*
no don't
*smiles*
oh alright then... Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time series. There, I said it... behemoth of a series (put it this way, you have one main protagonist throughout the 12 books and it is a continuous storyline and the books are 700pg each) and insanely addictive (well i was anyway). It is very magic/wizard orientated and your fairly standard Medieval culture- and land-scape fantasy genre (not to say the books are "standard" tho). Shame he only has written 11 of the 12. (so far and it aint looking good on the 12th - he recently got diagnosed with a terminal illness)
Message edited by author 2008-05-12 21:39:23. |
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05/12/2008 09:42:08 PM · #42 |
Originally posted by inshaala:
...the guy is almost as verbose as Tolkien and not exactly for the faint hearted (although from memory and imo less of a bore than Tolkien). |
That reminds me -- if you do read Tolkien, make sure you round out your experience with Bored of the Rings by the editors of the Harvard Lampoon. |
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05/12/2008 10:25:13 PM · #43 |
Originally posted by Jac:
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - trilogy
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - trilogy
The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - tetralogy, but only two books have been released so far
Authored by Stephen R. Donaldson
Read these years ago and loved them all. I think there's a movie planed for these books too. I hope they make three movies like LoTR. |
Omg, I'd forgotten about those, read them when they came out, more than 25 years ago.
I really enjoyed the first two, but by the end of the third I was about ready to slap him upside the head and tell him to quit his bloody whining! :) |
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05/12/2008 10:30:48 PM · #44 |
The Chronicles of Narnia are great, and an easy read but with many levels.
Some of my all time favorites. |
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05/12/2008 10:32:03 PM · #45 |
Originally posted by BeeCee:
Originally posted by Jac:
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - trilogy
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - trilogy
The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - tetralogy, but only two books have been released so far
Authored by Stephen R. Donaldson
Read these years ago and loved them all. I think there's a movie planed for these books too. I hope they make three movies like LoTR. |
Omg, I'd forgotten about those, read them when they came out, more than 25 years ago.
I really enjoyed the first two, but by the end of the third I was about ready to slap him upside the head and tell him to quit his bloody whining! :) |
Heh. I felt the same way halfway through the second book. I was also tired of slogging through what felt like paragraph after paragraph of detailed descriptions when I just wanted to get on to the next bit of plot. Could've been related to my teenage years; I wonder if I'd enjoy them more now, 25 years later. I'm glad Jac brought them up!
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05/12/2008 10:33:14 PM · #46 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Two of my son's sisters ... |
Do you mean your daughters? *scratches head* Stepdaughters? Or did you mean something like "cousins on my wife's side"?
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05/12/2008 10:39:12 PM · #47 |
| For anyone interested in historical-based novels, I'm currently reading "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's over 700 pages of small print, taking a fictional and somewhat supernatural look at what happened to the Franklin expedition. Reviews have been mixed, but I'm enjoying it thoroughly! (AND learning a lot) |
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05/12/2008 10:49:10 PM · #48 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
...
I recommend anything by Isaac Asimov -- he spent his life clarifying and explaining complex information so that everyone can understand it and, oh yeah, wrote award-winning science fiction and mysteries (and successfully combined the two!). With about 400 books in print, you have a wide choice of subjects, from the Bible to Quasars to The Sensuous Dirty Old Man.
... |
Agreed! While it doesn't seem to get much press, I would particularly recommend Asimov's Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation) - a very engaging series with enough complexity to keep it intriguing yet not so much as to Tolkein-ize you. I didn't care for the Foundation sequel/prequels as much, but the original trilogy (written in the early 50's) is good stuff. |
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05/12/2008 10:51:34 PM · #49 |
Originally posted by BeeCee:
For anyone interested in historical-based novels, I'm currently reading "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. It's over 700 pages of small print, taking a fictional and somewhat supernatural look at what happened to the Franklin expedition. Reviews have been mixed, but I'm enjoying it thoroughly! (AND learning a lot) |
If you really want heavyweight reading, try Dan Simmons' Hyperion/Endymion saga :)
Actually, thinking about it more, I also definitely recommend anything by Richard Morgan (especially the Takeshi Kovacs books), and all of Neil Stephenson's works (start off with Snow Crash or Diamond Age before tackling Cryptnomicon or the epic Baroque Cycle trilogy).
EDIT: Oh, and put me down as another recommendation for the Ender series, really good stuff.
Message edited by author 2008-05-12 22:53:46. |
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05/12/2008 11:07:07 PM · #50 |
Ah, Piers Anthony. I keep forgetting about that author. I read almost every one of the Xanth series, I think. I don't know where the tipping point came, but suddenly there came a time when I just couldn't touch another of his books. But, oh yes, they were entertaining up to that point.
Maybe it was when he said so many people wrote in with puns, that he couldn't use any more in his books so "please stop" or something like that.
A kid would love them and certainly some of us allegedly grown-up people, as I see here, also enjoy them. |
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