Recommend me some Books

Ultimate Houde

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Basically, I'm running out of stuff to read. I tend to collect books, reread them several times, get bored, and get me a whole bunch of new books while letting the old ones go.

So yeah, I need new books to read.

Genres, and books I like, tend to lean towards the Fantastical, and the Science Fictiony area of writing. I gravitate towards these with the most ease. Books I currenlty have and do enjoy are, The Dresden Files, Rob Thurman's books, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Sophie's Choice

So, any choices for books?
 
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Well, I'm not sure how well these fall into the Fantasy-esque/Sci-Fi genre or not, but these are some of my favorites...(Sorry if the descriptions are too long...)

Stephen King's The Stand: A superflu is unleashed upon the world, and kills 99.9% of humanity. Half the survivors, inexplicably immune, have visions beckoning them towards good, a woman who speaks to God; and the others are drawn to evil, a man (who may not be a man...) who loves chaos and fear. It's a great read for the mad scientist in you (or maybe the mad scientist that you are, Houde), and provides commentary on the fact that humanity's reliance on technology, science, etc. will cause the downfall of the species.

Neil Gaiman's American Gods: A man, locked in prison for several years, is released with nothing - no reason left to live. Then, he is thrown into a world hidden behind the veil of reality. How much do you really know about the world around you? What do you actually believe? What if all of the gods and religious icons brought over to the United States, in the minds and hearts of immigrants, were real, and migrated with them? What if, long after assimilation by the ethnicities, these deities were stuck in a meaningless existence, trying to make a life for themselves where no one believes in them?

Cormac McCarthy's The Road: When the normalcy of the world is shattered and becomes a no-man's land, you will do anything to survive. More importantly, you will do anything to make sure that your son survives. A man and his boy travel across a post-apocalyptic U.S., relying only on the will to survive, the desperate attempts to save their humanity, and on each other.
 
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Stephen King's The Stand: A superflu is unleashed upon the world, and kills 99.9% of humanity. Half the survivors, inexplicably immune, have visions beckoning them towards good, a woman who speaks to God; and the others are drawn to evil, a man (who may not be a man...) who loves chaos and fear. It's a great read for the mad scientist in you (or maybe the mad scientist that you are, Houde), and provides commentary on the fact that humanity's reliance on technology, science, etc. will cause the downfall of the species.

Neil Gaiman's American Gods: A man, locked in prison for several years, is released with nothing - no reason left to live. Then, he is thrown into a world hidden behind the veil of reality. How much do you really know about the world around you? What do you actually believe? What if all of the gods and religious icons brought over to the United States, in the minds and hearts of immigrants, were real, and migrated with them? What if, long after assimilation by the ethnicities, these deities were stuck in a meaningless existence, trying to make a life for themselves where no one believes in them?

I've read both of these. We should start a discussion on both of these books.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road: When the normalcy of the world is shattered and becomes a no-man's land, you will do anything to survive. More importantly, you will do anything to make sure that your son survives. A man and his boy travel across a post-apocalyptic U.S., relying only on the will to survive, the desperate attempts to save their humanity, and on each other.

This one I haven't read yet. I'm going to check this one out.
 
As soon as I posted, I though to myself that those two were mainstream and were well received. I figured you might have gotten your hands on them already.

The Road is wonderful. It's very movingly written, sadly beautiful prose. And it's an easy read, roughly three-hundred pages, short choppy sentences like McCarthy always writes. The dialog is plainly written, and takes up a surprising amount of the story.
 
Cormac McCarthy's The Road: When the normalcy of the world is shattered and becomes a no-man's land, you will do anything to survive. More importantly, you will do anything to make sure that your son survives. A man and his boy travel across a post-apocalyptic U.S., relying only on the will to survive, the desperate attempts to save their humanity, and on each other.

They're filming a chunk of the movie for that about a half hour south of here. Go southwestern PA and its desolate, post apocalyptic looking landscape!

Seriously it looks like hell on earth here.

I'd recommend Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels(Already Dead, No Dominion). Theres two so far and they're about a Vampire Private Detective trying to get by in New York. They're quite good, but a little brutal. Not quite the Fantastical you're looking for.
 
I'm actually re-listening to American Gods currently, and once I have a little free time from the plays i'm reading for school, i'm going to finish The Stand (which I'm over halfway through).

I bought the audiobook for The Road, and that's next in terms of what i'll listen to when i'm driving around...

Some other books I highly recommend:

- Cat's Cradle and Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Some good plays:

- Copenhagen by Michael Frayn (which is about SCIENCE!)
- The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard
- Angels in America by Tony Kushner
 
Cat's Cradle is brilliant. I've never picked up anything else by Vonnegut, which is a shame. Any other gems of his?

I've wanted to read Confederacy for so long.
 
Mother Night is brilliant, but not even remotely science fiction...

If you're looking for his Sci-Fi, I think you'll really enjoy "The Sirens of Titan"
 
I'll try to keep this brief.

No, really, I'll try.


Stop laughing, guys!


The Retrieval Artist series, by Kristine Katherine Rusch. In Earth's future, we've made contact and trade agreements with various alien races. Unfortunately, humans also sometimes make mistakes involving alien culture, some of which carry the death penalty (or worse). In the cases where innocent mistakes mean alien reprisals, humans can be made to Disappear -- receive completely new and unrelated identities on far-off worlds. Sometimes, the charges against the Disappeared are dropped, or these people need to be found for other good reasons, which is why there are Retrieval Artists, who track down Disappeared. Miles Flint, the main character, starts out as a police officer on the Moon, but eventually moves into a career as a Retrieval Artist. He has the job of both deciding whether the people who want to find the Disappeared are on the up-and-up, and if so, how to find someone who has left no traces behind. Most of the novels double as mystery as well as science fiction, and there is some exploration of alien cultures, especially in the fourth book Buried Deep. There are six books in the series: The Disappeared, Extremes,Consequences, Buried Deep, Paloma, Recovery Man.

Detective Inspector Chen series, by Liz Williams. I'm just starting the second book now, but I liked the first, Snake Agent. It's set in something of a future Earth, but includes a lot of Chinese mythology. So Heaven and Hell not only exist, but officials can visit both places. In the first novel, Inspector Chen Wei has to solve a murder and ends up kind of partnered with a demon named Zhu Irzh, who's actually pretty principled for a guy who works in the Vice Squad (promoting vice, not combatting it). Various ghosts, goddesses, and other supernatural beings are involved at various levels. The second book, The Demon and the City, has just been released in mass market paperback.

Sector General novels, by James A. White. White wrote novels and short stories in the series about an interstellar hospital with with human and alien staff members. One of his most frequently used themes was of various races or individuals trying to overcome evolved survival traits that had been useful in the past, but that got in the way of forming or maintaining a civilization or on-going contact with other races. Many of his early works have recently been re-released in Beginning Operations and Alien Emergencies. Since the series was started in the 1960s, some of the stuff is a bit dated, but overall the stories are enjoyable.

I've got more, but my reading journals are mostly at home, so I'll have to wait until I can get to them.
 
Twenty years ago, in grade 12, I was asked to choose a book from a list on the board to read for a novel study. We had a week to research and then choose.

The day of choosing came - I had not thought about it a bit.

Everyone was choosing (seemingly with confidence and information)

I had no idea what to do.

Then the guy in front of me chose a book - 'Oh no, Jim (name changed)...your parents would not approve of that book.' said the teacher. (Jim was sort of fundamentalist/religious).

Jim chose a different book.

I chose his.

Its been my favourite ever since - 'Catch-22'.

Brilliantly constructed commentary/satire. Multilayered. Clever. Laugh-out loud. Perfect.
 
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You could try out The Dark Tower series.
 
I don't know if anyone has ever read this book. I read it back in High School, loved the book but I never returned to the genre for lack of interest. It was called When True Night Falls by C.F. Friedman. I think that was the authors' name, but it's been so long, it might have also been C.S. I wanted to know if the book before and the one after were any good and if it read well as a trilogy or stand alone.

I thought the book was so good that I never though anything else i read in the genre could top it. I'm sure some would disagree so I wanted to ask if you're familiar with the book, what else would you recommend?
 
For Sci-fi, I suggest getting into the Horus Heresy series. It's written by a bunch of different authors, based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and the first 3 books especially are some of the best stuff from the Black Library in years. For those that don't know, The Horus Heresy was a major part of the history in the tabetop games, as it was when Horus (who was one of 20 genetically enhanced Primarchs created by the Emperor), the most trusted and loved 'son' of The Emperor of Man is corrupted by the daemons of Chaos. Horus, his Space Marine legion, and 7 other legions declare war on the Emperor and so erupts a massive civil war.
 
Sorry, Ourchair, the only non-fiction I've been reading lately has all dealt with spirituality and religion, and I doubt anyone here would be interested in it.

*raises hand* umm....

Edit: On that note, though, I'm in the process of reading "On God" by Norman Mailer. And sorry, Ourchair, I misunderstood your question. I thought you were looking to open up to fiction.... As for non-fiction, I read plenty, but it's hard to suggest anything without narrowing down the fields some. What are you interested in?
 
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In terms of spiritual writing, I love Anne Lamott...

"Bird by Bird" is brilliant, with a strong spiritual edge. "Traveling Mercies" is better if you want something more directly about spiritualism.
 

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