Anyone Read Any Good Books Lately?

[rickc71]

"Blood Meridian evokes Homeric epic, but it's set on the US/Mexico border, circa 1849."
:thumbup:
seriously,get yourself some McCarthy,it's like nothing else.

 

[Zymologist]

I'm not a big reader but when I was in grade school I got sucked into a fantasy series. The author is David Eddings. I read the first book and didn't stop til I read probably 10-12 books. I haven't read like that in 10 years. Minus college but that wasn't necessarily for pleasure haha.

 

[wasatchdan]

How about some true classics, the John Carter of Mars series by Burroughs, the Tarzan series as well at least the first 3. Often overlooked as pulp but truly well written and the first of there kinds. In that same vein the Conan series by Robert Howard and any collections of his short stories you can find, mostly out of print but worth the search. Very well written dark fantasy. Current fun reads, The book of Riley by Mark Tufo and the Zombie fallout series by him as well, very fun and funny as well. "Confessions of a d list supervillan" is a riot by Jim Bernheimer.

The Tarzan and John Carter and Conan books have nothing to do with the semi crappy films so don't let those influence you against reading them.

Man, you said it. Everything I learned as a kid I learned from Burroughs, Howard, and Louis L'amour.

You can get omnibus collections of something like 50 stories of Burroughs and Howard for two bucks on Amazon for your Kindle, which is a great use of four bucks.

 

[amdmaxx]

Daniel Suarez - Daemon
Hunger games

 

[Mikeynyc]

I am also an avid reader, I highly recommend anything written by fyodor dostoevsky, crime and punishment was amazing, brothers karamazov, notes from the underground , the gambler, his books are very physiological and clever, also if you have yet read Sir Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes " books I highly recommend them

 

[Jayelled]

I used to be a voracious reader, though things have slowed down since starting work. But since no one has named them yet I'll list out some of my favorite books for your consideration.

1. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. It's a semi-historical account of the Battle of Thermopylae, told from the point of view of one of the Spartan squires. I think it's close to number one on my all time favorite list. Very expletive heavy and rather vivid descriptions of gore and such though, if those are deal breakers. The story is solid though. I can never put it down when I pick it up.

2. The Hero Game by J. Sydney Jones. Another bit of historical fiction set during WWII this time dealing with a secret Nazi plot to use the IRA to stir up unrest in Ireland and divide England's forces. A bit slow, but really really good.

3. Fight Club & Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. Fight Club is the book the movie is based on, I loved the movie. The book is better. Survivor is about a member of an entire cult that committed suicide and how he has to deal with being one of the ones who didn't. Both books are intensely screwed up, but so intensely good. Palahniuk's style is so stark, can't recommend him enough.

4. American Gods & Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Apparently Gaiman is a "horror" writer. But his books always give me such a feeling of surrealism. American Gods is awesome if you love mythology of pretty much any kind. Neverwhere is just incredibly surreal, it's about the people who live in the cracks of the world. That description doesn't do it justice, but I love Gaiman's writing so much.

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This is one case where I'd say the movie is better than the book, because the author also wrote the screenplay. But the book is very good. Deals with a lot of adolescent issues, but he portrays them all so well.

6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I just finished this one today. Green is a pretty hipster-y author. But his style is wonderful. Vocabulary is humbling. And this book is a tear-jerker, or at least I found it so. It could be classed as teenage fiction, but I found it a really good read. About two teenagers dying of cancer who have to deal with all that entails. It's very good.

SPECIAL MENTION:

7. The Belgariad & The Malloreon by David Eddings. If you like fantasy these two series are very LOTR-esque, minus Tolkien's rambling, acquired-taste descriptions. The Belgariad is the first followed by The Malloreon. Both series have six books in them, I think. They're rather old so finding copies in print may be a bit hard, but so worth it.

On an unrelated note, I read most of my books on my iPad these days, using the iBooks app. I find DRM free "fan transcribed" ebooks and load them up. It's a good way to sort of "pre-read" a book. If I really like it, like the ones above, I hunt down a physical copy. Or in the case of the first two, I hunted the digital copies because the hardcopies were so good I wanted them in my iPad for downtime.

If you like, I'd be more than happy to email you the iPhone/iPad friendly ebooks of some/all the books I mentioned so you can give them a look. I'm something of a literature-phile.

 

[brandonnash]

I have read all the Stuart Woods series involving Stone Barrington. Its a good very easy to read fictional series about a guy who started as a cop and because of being shot while on duty he fell back on his law degree and worked his way up through grunt work at a law firm to becoming a very well off partner. This is over the course of nearly 20 years that these books have been written. They are pretty standard crime stories but they have a good twist always. And they are more aimed at men. The main character has his fair share of "encounters".

 

[Stump Buster]

Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles

 

[Padre Thomaso]

I recently read the original Dune by Frank Herbert. I read it years ago and loved it, so I took the adventure again. I love the classic sci fi authors. They set the standard for everything sci fi we know today. Another was Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series. Just awesome.

Edit - and the H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus books. Full of black horrors and delicious ancient evils. soooo good.

Dune is by far my favorite book! Unfortunately I dont like the following books in that series.
Recently I have read a lot of Terry Pratchett's books. I realy like his Tiffany Aching tales, starting with the book "The wee free men".
/Thomas

 

[Moses_3]

Some Favourites:
- Jeffery Deaver - Lincoln Rhyme Series
- Robert Ludlum & Eric Von Lustbader - Jason Bourne Series
- Tom Clancy - Jack Ryan Series
- Max Brooks World War Z (LOVE this book!)
- Jim Butcher - The Dresden Files

Looks like there will be some reading ahead for all of us!

 

[Aias]

I am also an avid reader, I highly recommend anything written by fyodor dostoevsky, crime and punishment was amazing, brothers karamazov, notes from the underground , the gambler, his books are very physiological and clever, also if you have yet read Sir Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes " books I highly recommend them

:thumbup:

 

[lozdesign7]

The Painter Man By Peter V. Brett
and the other two following on from that: The Desert Spear and The Daylight Wars.....

Epic,

Great thread Lora..... Now I have lots of ideas, Thanks a bunch!

Lawrie

 

[PEU]

Daemon by Daniel Suarez if you like techno thrillers, its a very good one.


Pablo

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

some to read-
A Song of Ice and Fire- George R.R. Martin (game of thrones series)
Dexter series- Jeff Lindsay
Christopher Moore
Terry Pratchett- Discworld novels.
Clive Cussler
David Baldacci
Stephen Hunter

 

[rickc71]

I also enjoy Richard Marchinko's Rogue Warrior series. Kind of military thriller/comedy. He has a unique style and a lot of real world experience that he draws from for his plots. He was the first commander of SEAL Team 6 and built it from the ground up. Great action with shots of comedic dialog. My Grandfather got me hooked on the Ian Fleming James Bond series when I was young,and I still return to them for a quick action read and enjoy all the subsequent authors. John Gardener who took over after Fleming writes excellent spy thrillers outside the Bond series as well. Also Frederick Forsyth's books,The Dogs of War & The Day of the Jackal are particularly good. Also recommend the Sherlock Holmes series as well.

 

[Torm]

Full Throttle Aristotle.

 

[Longknife3]

I know I'm late to the game......but I started the series
GAME OF THRONES
greatest thing I've read

^^ This!! I am just about to start the 2nd book

 

[Lora7]

Read the classics. They are that way for a reason. Most people who say they read them are probably lying to you; they were assigned them in school, read the cliff's notes, and then remember themselves as actually reading them.

I couldn't agree more. The books that I was assigned to read in school I did read, and have reread for pleasure since I've graduated; The Scarlet Letter, The Giver, Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatspy, The Lord of the Flies, The Bluest Eye, and a few more. I don't know why I like the classics so, but I do. I don't stick to strictly classics though, I really do enjoy reading a lot of newer books as well.

There are so many great recommendations here, thanks everyone. Keep them coming! :thumbup:

 

[galactorrhea]

Can't go wrong with one of the all time masters of scifi... Philip K Dick. Recently finished reading The Man In The High Castle. Interesting story and characters -- the novel is set in an alternative history in which Japan and Germany won WWII and split the United States between them.

 

[crazyengineer]

I don't have much time to read, so I listen to a lot of audio books. I just listened to 1632 by eric flint, awesome book, and a good read