Book recommendations

[misterx]

Please recommend me something to read, and tell me why you like it. I've gotten out of the habit of reading anything but how-to books, and I don't know where to start.

I'm going to add the stuff that interests me to my amazon wish list.

Comments

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart - Kind of an ancient-China version of an Indiana Jones movie :-) Picks up pace hilariously by chapter 3.

[yshaloo]

that book is amazing!

[palmir.livejournal.com]

Fiction For Dummies

*nods sagely*

[prizmdonna.livejournal.com]

I really loved Confederacy of Dunces. One of my favorites. However, I must note that when I've recommended it to people, I've gotten mixed feedback. Most of the people LOVED IT and thought it was SO brilliant, but there were a number that didn't enjoy it much at all.

[tastelikechickn.livejournal.com]

It's a lot funnier if you've ever lived in New Orleans.

[rathgrith.livejournal.com]

The Man in the High Tower by Philip K. Dick is excellent.

I am personally fond of just about anything by Asimov or Heinlein. Stranger in a Strange Land is over-rated, though, IMHO. I much prefer Job: A Comedy of Justice or I Will Fear No Evil by Heinlein. Very funny, especially the second one.

What sorts of stories do you like? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? Political Fiction? Romance, mystery, westerns? I have a ton of books I'm getting rid of - if they fit in with what you like, I'd be happy to send some your way.

[tlc71076.livejournal.com]

Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" and David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day" are a few of my recent favorites. Brown's books are so smart and so engaging that you can't help but think while you read them. Books that can capture me as hard as his have are rare. And Sedaris is just a funny bastard. So quick with the wit. Very acerbic tone. If you have any respect for sarcasm, this is your guy.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

Steven Brust- To Reign In Hell or Jhereg. Jhereg is the first in a series, the style is like a detective novel, set in a fantasy setting, with an assassin instead of a detective, if that makes any sense at all. To Reign In Hell is a standalone about a bunch of angels, before they made Earth.

David Weber- On Basilisk Station. Hard military sci-fi space opera. It's almost like he wrote it on a dare, combining elements that should be aweful into a workable whole. The series is like 9 books long and still good.

Steven Perry- The Man Who Never Missed. Sci-fi rebels figting the evil empire. Some elements of kung-fu, mysticism, and some philosophy about non-violence and revoloution and stuff. Excellent for character development across the series. I once got into a bidding war for the second book in the series, in papaerback, and bowed out at $35. For a used paperback. The whole series has finally been reprinted.

Let me know if you actually read any of them :)

[shirokarasu.livejournal.com]

I would recommend The Sword of truth series by Terry Goodkind. They are a very well balanced work of art. It has elements of every genre of fiction. NOt only that Book six Faith of the Fallen was the book that really gave me the insight that I was missing that made me have all the issue I used to have with giving up on life. I hope you decide to read it.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

Let's see--here are some of my favorite books, old and new. All novels. All very well written.

a couple by Margaret Atwood:
Cat's Eye--She uses a lot of visual imagery in her narrative, which should appeal to the photographer. A great story as well.

Oryx and Crake--her most recent book. A cautionary tale that seems closer and closer.

Yan Martel--Life of Pi--another great story, about a 16 year-old boy who spends time in a lifeboat with a tiger.

John Irving--A Prayer for Owen Meany. One of my top five favorite books.

[thisisnotmyname.livejournal.com]

fingerprints of the gods by graham hancock

[lilith17.livejournal.com]

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. Characterizations are great, the plot is amazing, but not predictable at all. It's long-ish, but Wally Lamb is one of my favorite authors and I can gush about him for a while. He also wrote, She's Come Undone, in which he writes in first person as a woman and it's completely believable. I read this before I Know This Much is True, and was wondering if "Wally" was a pseudonym.

[yshaloo]

any of the Future Past series from Robert Heinlein. the books are fun and if you pay attention, just slightly enlightening. RH has warped my little mind quite nicely.

Joe R. Lansdale is good for a fun read. He writes "weird west" stuff.

"The Basic Eight" by Daniel Handler is great. I really liked it because there's a plot twist at the end that i never saw coming. I've reread it several times, and it still sneaks up on me.

the things i've read lately that i'd recommend:

Lovely Bones - it completely wrung me out emotionally. i like when an author can do that to me.

Eragon - it may be a "kid's" book, but it's well written and a great story. plus it's one you could probably share with the girls.

that's all i can think of for now.