View Full Version : Gib Me Stuffz to Read
Howdy folks, I actually have some time for reading now with school on hiatus for a bit and thought I'd turn to you for reading suggestions. "Why are we so lucky oh mighty toaster?" I hear you all asking yourselves. Simple, I just finished reading The Fountainhead which was recommended to me by Sara and I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read (despite my many disagreements with the Ayn Rand Institute in the past).
I know that you intelligent folks out there have some ideas, let me hear em.
kthxggbai :)
Cheers
-Tai
P.S. If you don't give me an adequate number of suggestions I might have to do something productive on the 11 hour train ride I'm taking on Tuesday, you wouldn't put me in that position would you?
preston & child, pendergast books. I really digg em.
TheDarkSide
15-08-2008, 11:02
*pron ftw ...
:yes:
i read the second Perfect Dark novel, it was a fun read
I would suggest staying away from Clive Cussler because if the train is quiet you might be reading it and forget people are around and then when a major cliche comes up you'll say "oh GAWD" real loud
MoUsE_WiZ
15-08-2008, 11:51
Bring a laptop. (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30) <--- All the reading you'll ever need!
(I'll assume if you're into scifi you've read all my favourite suggestions, I could suggest things that aren't in my favourites, but then I'd feel silly for suggesting sub-par books... if you're not into sci-fi then I've got nothing. Or I could recommend my textbooks for the upcoming semester so as to enable you to help on my homework.)
postcount++
WingBlade
15-08-2008, 14:22
Clive Cussler is a decent write... I enjoyed the books I've read...
Sarah Johannsen is another writer I enjoy... the major players in her books are Heroines... and usually end up in bed... w/ the male lead.
For easy reading you can always go back to Dr.Suess... LAWL....
The Darkly Dreaming Dexter (or whatever), that inspired the television series is an easy but fun read.
I am a huge Dragon lance fan for just pleasure reading.
Hp_Sauce
15-08-2008, 17:00
"Then We Came to The End" by: Joshua Ferris
This ones about working in a dysfunctional office. Completely unlike the usual books I read (Sci-Fi/Fantasy). I'm glad I read it though. It starts off by being very funny, and then starts to get a bit more serious, with people being fired, losing loved ones, etc.
"The Old Man and the Sea" by: Ernest Hemingway
I just really enjoy this book, so I had to include it.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Another one that wasn't part of my normal reading. A great quick read though, and you will really find yourself rooting for the main characters. I have no time, so wont get into all the other "subtle" stuff that I can't quite remember anyway.
"The Belgariad" by: David Eddings
This ones back to my Sci-Fi/Fantasy roots, with swords and mages and saving the world. It's actually 5 books, but doesn't feel like it. Some heroes go on a journey to save the world, it sounds fairly generic, but is actually quite good. The old mage drinks too much, and the lady likes to hassle him about it, etc.
"The Sword of Truth" by: Terry Goodkind
You've seen this one on book shelves. If you haven't read it and really like the Sci-Fi/Fantasy scene, then it's worth checking out. It's like 12 decent sized books, so it will keep you busy for a long time (though there really is no need to read "Debt of Bones"). Richard must save the world, in the process (first few books) he succeeds, but makes things worse in a different way, etc.
"Chindi" by: Jack McDevitt
This ones Sci-Fi. A Strange (alian) signal is discovered and investigated, a ship is found and investigated. It's been years since I read this one, but I want to read it again (can't find it in stores though), so ya, I can't really remember what I enjoyed about it.
There are many more, but these are the ones I thought of first. They are my opinions, I hope if you decided to read one, that you enjoy it too. Now I have to go to work.
-hps
LuckyDwarf
15-08-2008, 17:12
Hey Dan, where've ya been! Anyway, Atlas Shrugged is another good Ayn Rand book. She's a good writer, even if she has horrible ideologies. Some books I recommend...
Catch-22
Something Happened
God Knows - All 3 above by Joseph Heller
Kafka short stories are great, especially "A Report to an Academy"
John Keats is great, too
Farenheit 451
Chronicles of a Death Foretold - you can finish this in a few hours, it's short and a great story.
I just turned 21, come to Philly and party.
Lucky
The redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings.
Master Zap
15-08-2008, 19:21
Glad you liked the Fountainhead, it's one of my favorite books. Dont tell anyone, but 10 years ago when I was HS I had this book assigned as reading. I liked the book so much I kept it. ( I feel so badarse!) I think this is Rand's best book.
I actually agree with many of the philosophies Rand speaks of.
Last two books I've read are Ron Paul , Revolution and Scott McClellan's book , What happened (inside the Bush whitehouse).
If you like fantasy sci-fi then my favorites there would be
Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan , R.A. Salvatore, Terry Goodkind are all staples in this genre. Since all these authors have series you can expect to be busy with them for a long time.
Chuck Palahniuk is an excellent, maybe try Fear and Loathing or Fight Club as intended.
One of my other all time favorites is the Earth People series by Jean M Auel, Starting with "The Clan of the Cave Bear". These books are great at painting life in the prehistoric era of man. This would be my top pick for you to read next. Remember , In Sara we trust :girly:
Valar-Wrath
15-08-2008, 20:23
The Wheel of Time-Robert Jordan
For all your fantasy needs.
AgentMarth
15-08-2008, 22:57
Reading is overrated.
It so is, I had a hard time even reading that sentence.
I don't really have anything to recommend atm, but I saw someone list Fahrenheit 451, and I know that's something I have wanted to check out for a while.
That and read the original Count of Monte Cristo.
Count of Monte Cristo.
It's a long story, but good.
I mean, from looking at it, and feeling the numerous pages. The front also had a nice cover, that was the good part.
Dracula I heard was good.
Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dunbar http://www.freakonomicsbook.com/
Exposed: The toxic chemistry of everyday products and what's at stake for American power, Mark Schapiro http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/projects/exposed
I'll have to read a Rand book even though I'm thoroughly convinced that 'free' market is a myth and those that tout it are simply the modern capitalists who hold the capital to take part in the economic system where gain is privatized while risk is socialized. Or they're just rich and have little care for others.
ThomasJohnsen
16-08-2008, 02:20
Whatever you do, never read Umberto Eco: The Island of Yesterday (L'isola del giorno prima) - it must be the most boring book, I've ever read.
I enjoyed Melville's Moby Dick, but you guys have probably all read that in High School though, I imagine.
Or The Knight's Templar (Tempelriddaren) by Jan Guillou (if this has been translated into english). Great movie too.
Master Zap
16-08-2008, 02:52
Whatever you do, never read Umberto Eco: The Island of Yesterday (L'isola del giorno prima) - it must be the most boring book, I've ever read.
I enjoyed Melville's Moby Dick, but you guys have probably all read that in High School though, I imagine.
Or The Knight's Templar (Tempelriddaren) by Jan Guillou (if this has been translated into english). Great movie too.
I'll have to remember to pass on that Eco book :thumbup:
If you like fiction loosely based on Knight's Templars and Masons, Try the Adept series by Katherine Kurtz. Fun quick reads that delve into the spiritual just enough to keep it interesting, but not to the point where it's unbelievable.
So I actually have a few of those in my house at the moment, though I've yet to read them. Currently have Catch-22 and some Pulitzer prize winning satire Sam recommended packed for my trip (this happened before Jason's post, though now I'm fairly certain Catch will stay packed). Will have a laptop with me Mouse, but I'm relatively certain Sam will castrate me if I spend 12 hours on a laptop surfing gaming sites next to her on our trip.
Valar, Sara and HP. I respected you guys before you suggested Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan to me without any qualifying clauses, for shame. The first books in each series are great, don't get me wrong, but after Temple of Winds I couldn't force myself to continue with Goodkind and Winter's Heart was as far as I could drag my *** along the Wheel of Time. They both seem to be going down the George Martin path of dragging the plot out indefinitely (especially with Jordan's death - I love the irony). Me and my cousin used to claim that "friends don't let friends read Jordan", I guess I know what's up now... Wingblade at least recommended good stuff in Seuss :)
Thanks for the list thus far guys, I'm copying it all into a doc so I can keep my eyes peeled for these works (even those recommended by the aforementioned traitors :))
Perhaps I should specify a bit more about what I'm specifically looking for at this time. The most recent books that have really tickled me were The Fountainhead, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and 1984 (finally got around to that, ashamed it took so long). I am a big fantasy reader, which makes up the majority of my collection - but lately they haven't appealed to me so much unless truly exemplary (Check out Laura Resnick's "In Legend Born").
Thanks again for all the input, I don't find the information I find online to be useful at all as I don't know anything about the people recommending the book.
Jas, have been doing real-life stuff lately. Sam's been stressed as hell so can't justify getting into gaming much at the expense of being there for her. I will certainly look you up in Philly sometime soon. Sam and I may head down to Penn to see a couple friends of hers so if we do expect me to hit you up. If not, a large portion of my family is moving down in that area so I'll be around in the near future again.
Oh, and Cats Cradle is also a good Vonnegut title.
Hp_Sauce
16-08-2008, 03:40
...
Valar, Sara and HP. I respected you guys before you suggested Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan to me without any qualifying clauses, for shame. The first books in each series are great, don't get me wrong, but after Temple of Winds I couldn't force myself to continue with Goodkind
...
I was actually struggling to write something about this, this moring, but was short on time and wasn't really sure how much you'd care. Now that work is done...
...I have to agree with you somewhat on the Goodkind series.
I was given the first 7 as a Christmas present a few years ago, and I powered through the first few but when I hit #5 I really stumbled, and set the series aside for about 1.5 years.
The first few books were centered around Richard saving the world from Darken Rahl, but once he accomplished this the series did not end, and I'd have to agree, it seems he was just making crap up to extend the series (and sell more books).
My father actually refers to Richard Rahl as "larger then life", and I'd have to agree with him. He gets into some pretty far fetched situations, and does some even more far fetched things, over, and over, and over again to get out of these situations. I guess this comes with the territory when you're the protagonist (and hero) of 11 books.
However, I did eventually pick the series back up again and continued from where I'd left off. It improved greatly with Faith of the Fallen (imo), stumbled a bit again with the next 2 books, and then finished off well with Chainfire, Phantom, and Confessor. Basically in the process of saving the world from Darken Rahl he inadvertently unleashed a much worse problem on the world.
Anyway, it wont win any Pulitzer prizes, but it's a fun read if you like to use your imagination while you read.
---
I would also like to vouch for Fahrenheit 451, which I didn't mention, but someone else did. It's a good short little read.
And I realized I left out Isaac Asimov this morning. Anything by him is generally a good read. Certainly check out the first few books in the Foundation series. It's based in the future, so far so that Earth has become a mythical place, rumored to be where humans first came from, but nobody knows. We've spread so far across the galaxy that the political system breaks down and is replaced with chaos and war across 10,000 galaxies. The books are unique because they take place over the next 50,000 years (or something like that), and tell the story of putting the universe back together. You get a new set of characters, location, era in each book.
Prelude to Foundation is the "first" book in the series, but was written last, about 37 years after the "third" book Foundation was written, which was the first at one time. So you even have a choice, you can read them in the order the author finally placed them in, or you can read them in the order he originally wrote them in. I read Prelude to Foundation first, and it is series changing really... I can't imagine reading that book last, it must have been so exciting to have read (and been a fan) of the series back when they first came out, and then 37 years later to finally get to see the beginning!
Anyway, I'm clearly rambling now. You can go back to disrespecting me because I read the Goodkind series, but I will continue to use you too make my toast in the morning...
-hps
I love the Fountainhead definitely one of my fav books. If you really liked it and looking for more of its goodness u can try and read Atlas Shrugged, another very good Rand book, some ppl like it more than the Fountainhead.
Also Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials is an amazing series that will wrap you up and not let go. First book The Golden Compass. Note if you have seen the movie the book is roughly 1000x better literally.
Another one of my favorite series is A song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. An amazing story that continues to get more in depth with his unique writing style and point of view. First book A Game of Thrones.
And if you are really looking for a challenge I'm currently reading The Three Kingdoms. One of the four classic Chinese novels. That book has more plot changes than I thought was possible. A book full of war and politics. A very fun read if not a little confusing.
Any of these books will be a great choice.
Glad to hear your experiences with Goodkind were similar to mine. I might check out Fahrenheit 451 as you and Jason have both recommended it now. I guess since you have explained your actions I shall continue to make your toast correctly (I was secretly planning to burn it, but I'll keep that one in the chamber for later)
I second freakonomics. That book is amazing.
You have to read I hope they serve beer in hell as well if you haven't.
Quite funny.
MoUsE_WiZ
16-08-2008, 07:29
1984 (finally got around to that, ashamed it took so long)
...
I'm sorry, but given that piece of information, I am going to be forced to recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
WingBlade
16-08-2008, 08:42
...
I'm sorry, but given that piece of information, I am going to be forced to recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Thx 4 all the FisH....
LuckyDwarf
16-08-2008, 14:52
I'll have to read a Rand book even though I'm thoroughly convinced that 'free' market is a myth and those that tout it are simply the modern capitalists who hold the capital to take part in the economic system where gain is privatized while risk is socialized. Or they're just rich and have little care for others.
You're certainly right that there is no such thing as a free market; nothing like a free market has ever existed for anything more than a very short period of time, since it would collapse incredibly fast. Say your neighbor decided to take your land one day. There are no documents proving you own your land and with a shotgun to your head, he would probably take it. There are no courts to take your claim to in hopes of getting your land back. Government provides a currency and a set of laws for corporations to follow to ensure that the system remains stable.
Those modern capitalists that call for extreme de-regulation are those that do it for personal profit (not a bad thing, in and of itself), rather than for the benefit of others and it's that same de-regulation that allows things such as the subprime mortgage crisis to happen. Oddly enough, those same people, when in power, give failing corporations hand outs to keep them afloat, especially if they've received campaign contributions, golf trips, et cetera from said corporations. Then, they argue semantics in a press conference, swearing that what they did wasn't a bail out.
Not that the idea of a free market is bad, it just isn't possible. I like the idea that people are heroic beings that, as buyers and sellers, do not coerce or mislead each other, but that just simply won't happen. Interestingly enough, after reading a bulk of Adam Smith, I've realized that most of what's quoted from him, among others, is misread or has the intent to mislead by the quoter to back up exaggerated claims about free market economics.
You'll enjoy her writing, though.
Lucky
drinkturps
17-08-2008, 13:48
My two bob would be Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Can't wait for Stalker: Clear Sky!
and another thought provoking book is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.
Oddly enough I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged and again it's thought provoking.
Chin chin
I'm more into fantasy now than sci-fi but (starting sci-fi and working to fantasy_:
The Blackcollar series by Timothy Zahn - not Star Wars
The Coba series by Timothy Zahn - I've had the these two since the mid 80's. Love them.
Belgariad and the following series by David Eddings goes without saying - although I am not a huge fan of the ones co-written by his wife
Magican and the series by Raymond E Feist - huge first book but worthwhile
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon - set of three which I'm finishing at the moment
The Liveship Traders and Farseer Series by Robin Hobb
The Renshai Triology by Mickey Zucher Reichert
Kings Blades Series by Dave Duncan
Seer King Triology by Chris Bunch
Most books by Robert Aspirin, Craig Shaw Gardner, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams although I would say the earlier stuff by all of them is better
I've recently read Shadowkeep by Alan Dean Foster and I remember his stuff from when I was younger. Very light reading.
If you fancy some autobiographies, I enjoyed those by:
Kate Adie - journalist - a look behind the news to the guys and gals in the field
John Simpson - journalist - a trip around the world
Murray Walker - sports commentator - amusing read
Don't touch anything by Jeremy Clarkson with a 10ft pole. It's amusing on TV in small rants but gets very wearing on the page.
Finally, Dante's Inferno was interesting as was The Bacchae by Euripides.
Enjoy your trip. :)
Valar-Wrath
17-08-2008, 19:47
Valar, Sara and HP. I respected you guys before you suggested Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan to me without any qualifying clauses, for shame.
Alright, ***.
A Clockwork Orange-Anthony Burgess if it hasn't been mentioned and if you haven't already read it.
Alright Valar, you've redeemed yourself. Read "A Clockwork Orange" earlier this year and despite it taking a while to get the lingo down it was thoroughly enjoyable.
And you know I love you :)
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