Can anyone suggest a good book.

T

tgw914

Joined
Aug 4, 2005
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I currently find my life absent of literature, which makes me a bit bummed out. Can anyone suggest a good book.
I don't really care about genre, as long as its not a girly romance type thing. I like a book to have some action and suspense, but I also want to think a little bit.

Some of my favorite books are A Clockwork Orange, Anthem, Dracula,and anything by Roald Dahl.

Thanks in advance.

Tom
 
I don't know why this one popped into my head, as it's been decades since I read it.... " The world according to Garp" durn fine book, better than the movie which I liked. Sorry, I cannot remember the author... but should be google-able or someone here will know.

edited to add: the author is John Irving
 
Try any of James Lee Burke's David Robicheaux police procedural novels set in and around New Orleans. Or you might want to try some of Carl Hiaasen's very funny takes on life and death in South Florida. His funniest, IMO, is Native Tongue, but it is most definitely not for kids. Also, please do not judge his books by the lousy movie that they made from his storym Strip Tease, as the book is many tiomes better than the film, even if Demi Moore doing a striptease act was fun to watch.
 
Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy: The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God.
A tad big (about 3-4k pages) but intense and varied "space opera" epic action. The author and characters are a bit obsessed about sex :cool: and the main character is a bit shallow, but the action is amazing.
From the same author, the Commonwelth Saga (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) is another winner.
 
Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure, A Really good book By Stephen Colbert
 
Gangs of New York by Peter Asbury. A very informative and entertaining history of the various street gangs that terrorized New York before La Cosa Nostra hit the shores.
 
Great suggestions. A few to add:

I just finished Andrew Vachss's latest "Burke" novel, "Mask Market"--anything of Vachh's is worth reading. Very dark noir, and very moving, almost disturbing stuff .

James Ellroy's Kennedy era novels like "American Tabloid" and "The Cold Six Thousand" entangle everyone from Hoover to JFK to Castro to Howard Hughes, Hoffa, you name it. Involved and a dense plot, a little peculiar in terms of the writing style, but very interesting twining of history and fictional conjecture.

It's technically science fiction, but "Ilium" and "Olympos" by Dan Simmons recast the Trojan War in a quantum light(read it--it'll make sense)but also has an interesting subtext about what it takes to be a hero.
 
I've read a lot this summer, and my favorite has been "Christine" by Stephen King. More impressive than the storyline is the character development and incredible realism.
 
For an awsome crime/thriller novel check out At All Costs by John Gilstrap. This is one of the books that really kept me turning pages. Great read for anyone. :thumbup:
 
Dune- Frank Herbert

American Gods- Neil Gaiman

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams

The Illuminatus Trilogy- Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea

The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

Watership Down- Richard Adams
 
Two of my recent favorites are

Church of the Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns: Kind of a murder mystery/incredably well written character study.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312977360/sr=8-1/qid=1156202259/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2235853-3518325?ie=UTF8

and

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: A non-fiction account of the 1893 Chicago world's fair and the serial killer that worked the same area at the same time. Absolutely fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...=pd_bbs_1/104-2235853-3518325?ie=UTF8&s=books


And, as noted by JohnG, any Burke novel by Andrew Vachss is great fun.:thumbup:

Oh, and the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.
 
Henry Rollins

Black Coffee Blues, Eye Scream, Solipsist.

His writing isnt like a novel. The books are mainly a collection of short stories, journal entries, dreams, social commentary, travel logs and concert experiences.

Henry pulls no punches. He says things that are shocking, butally honest and straightforward. He says things people probably wouldnt dare.
 
catch 22, the catcher in the rye,interview with a vampire. diverse but interesting. later,ahgar
 
FullerH said:
Try any of James Lee Burke's David Robicheaux police procedural novels set in and around New Orleans. Or you might want to try some of Carl Hiaasen's very funny takes on life and death in South Florida. His funniest, IMO, is Native Tongue, but it is most definitely not for kids. Also, please do not judge his books by the lousy movie that they made from his storym Strip Tease, as the book is many tiomes better than the film, even if Demi Moore doing a striptease act was fun to watch.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Burke's stuff is great. I'm currently reading Boris Akunin's series of Russian mysteries starring Erast Fandorin - great stuff again but I can't read Russian and have to wait for them to be translated to English. I've read the 4 available novels and I believe there are about 8 more to be translated. I've heard Fandorin described as the "Russian Sherlock Holmes". So far they are all taking p[lace in the 1840's - 1850's.
 
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