Some of your favourite or current books

[Rhettzky]

Just started The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, pretty good so far but am having a little trouble getting into it. I really liked Company and Jennifer Government by Max Barry, I am Legend and the other shorts in it by Richard Matheson plus a bunch mentioned already.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

Just started The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, pretty good so far but am having a little trouble getting into it. I really liked Company and Jennifer Government by Max Barry, I am Legend and the other shorts in it by Richard Matheson plus a bunch mentioned already.

Max Barry is fantastic. Can't wait to read Syrup and his next novel Machine Man.

[Zarathustra]

Started reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand yesterday.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

I've gone through the thousands of pages of Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson a couple of times.

I've liked Steinbeck and Hemingway a lot . . . . . but the 1930's must have been pretty depressing to produce stuff like that. "A Farewell To Arms" is the only book I've tossed across a room in disgust/anguish as I neared the end. Thanks Hemingway!!!

I haven't read the Mars trilogy yet, but I just finished Fifty Degrees Below, Robinson's 2nd novel in his trilogy about extreme climate change. Kim Stanley Robinson is the heir apparent to Michael Crichton. I really want to read his Years of Rice & Salt which is an account of the European population being completely wiped out by the Black Plague and the continent colonised by the Mongols, while the Japanese colonise the Americas and the Chinese do something cool also.

I read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises this summer before I went to the Sanfermin in Pamplona. I'm glad I did, it was a great primer and good also to see that the fiesta hasn't changed much in 85 years (i.e. copious amounts of red wine, dancing in the streets, hangovers, bulls).

I am currently finishing the 2nd knot in Solzhenitsyn's magnum opus, the Red Wheel. 1000 pages of small print in this volume, November 1916, alone. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume (which has been divided into four tomes) in French because it has never been translated into English.

For those who want a book recommendation, one of my favourite books of all time remains Alex Haley's Roots. A real page turner, heartrending but not all sad. Great for history buffs and lovers of storytelling alike.

[zuluking]

Russian classics are awesome especially Tolstoy (War and Peace, Anna Karenina) and Dostoyevsky (The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov)

Current author: Neal Stephenson is excellent. Baroque Cycle is enormous if you want to bury into something for a while. Anathema may possibly break your brain.

The latest excellent book I've read is The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. Whew!

[Chump]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Anyone here that is in to fantasy...

Wheel of Time is good, I am waiting on book 12, but compared to A Song of Fire and Ice, WOT is crap.

Fire and Ice is in a league of its own, nothing has come close it this caliber of writing in my life time, and probably won't for years to come.

Currently four books are released with the 5th of a 6? book series coming out this fall. I strongly urge anyone even remotely interested in the fantasy genre to pick this series up.

Unfortunatly it is still not done and won't come out until next year at best but I have no doubt it will be worth the wait.

Originally Posted by toonmaster

Nooooooooooooooooooo.......why did I highlight!

I'm on to book 10 of WoT, and the only reason I am continuing to read is to finish the story; it definately drags out. You could condense the books from the 700 page monsters they are into a more managable 500 page book and still have the same story arcs.

I have the Song of Fire & Ice series on my 'To Read' pile, along with the Sword Of Truth series, anyone have a review on this series?

I may take a fantasy break and tackle Tony Dungy's Uncommon, reread Angels & Demons, or tackle the Bourne Trilogy + the 3 'new' Bourne books

Sword of Truth starts out alright but goes down hill quickly as Goodkind starts to use the series to preach at you instead of telling a story. WoT is quite a bit better IMO but neither are in the same league as ASOIAF.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

Max Barry is fantastic. Can't wait to read Syrup and his next novel Machine Man.

Syrup was great, I highly recommend it if you liked his other two. Machine man is a serial. The first 43 pages are up on his site for free and the rest is being released on a page a day basis (From March 19th). Seems interesting but I just found out about it after searching based on your post so I don't know too much about it.

http://maxbarry.com/machineman/faq.html

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by Chump

Unfortunatly it is still not done and won't come out until next year at best but I have no doubt it will be worth the wait.



Sword of Truth starts out alright but goes down hill quickly as Goodkind starts to use the series to preach at you instead of telling a story. WoT is quite a bit better IMO but neither are in the same league as ASOIAF.

Right, I meant to say completed this fall, not released.

They are set for an early 2010 release, but nothing is in stone.

As for Wheel Of Time being better than SOT, I would argue against that.. but it is opinion and what you like. Just read the first book, read the first half of the first book, and see if you like it.


As for the death of Robert Jordan before he finished his last book.. honestly at this point it may have been the best thing to happen to WOT since book 6.. :/ The series needs to end, one of the reasons it has gone on so long is because he has always struggled with how he wanted it to end.. now someone is at least forced to make that decision. As a reader it will be a relief to get the last book of the series, no matter who writes it.

The Picaso reference holds no weight here, the series went from a masterpiece to just a piece in a matter of a few books.. like I said before, its over stayed its welcome and needs to be put down. I voted for CaptainCrunch to finish the series.. but I guess my voice wasn't heard..

[Bigtime]

For summertime pulp adventure you can't go wrong with Clive Cussler and his Dirk Pitt novels. I've always found them an easy, enjoyable, light read when on vacation and travelling.

I just finished reading AK-47 by Larry Kahaner, on the history of the worlds most popular weapon. A very interesting read.

[Redliner]

Anything Clive Cussler is a pretty safe bet if you're just looking to kill time. His new(er) novel Arctic Drift is pretty good, and set mostly in Canada.

Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is a decent, but different, read. There was a lot of hype around this one (thanks Oprah) but I didn't really see what the big deal was. Some interesting ideas in there but it didn't make my list of favourites.

Just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and all I can say is wow. One of the most depressing yet moving things I have read in a long time. Read it at your own risk - you might find yourself wanting to jump off a bridge after you finish it. I haven't seen the movie yet and am not sure I want to - if it's at all faithful to the book it will be pretty grim.

Probably my all-time favourite book is A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I little dry at times, but so many passages in there just really hit home.

[RockOnRoberts]

I am currently nearing the middle of Asimov's Foundation (book 1) and it is interesting for me. Recommended to any sci-fi fans.

Any war aficionados would like Donald Burgett. Any of his books with the subtitle "A screaming Eagle in ..." are highly recommended.

Have to throw Theo Fleury's book out there. It was definitely one of my all-time favorites.

Albert Camus' The Stranger is also an interesting book to read. It really gets you thinking about the meaning/point of life and its value.

Finally, I want to recommend Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. It is an enjoyable read and keeps the reader interested the entire way through.

[flip]

I'm really enjoying Imperium by Robert Harris.

It is about Cicero's life in Roman politics. It is one of those based on historical events types books, so it has a lot of historical events and facts that have been dramatized. At times though it almost feels like I am reading a biography.

There is a second book out and it will be a trilogy. I can't wait to get to the assassination of Caesar which should be in the second or third book.

[coaster]

Originally Posted by flip

I'm really enjoying Imperium by Robert Harris.

It is about Cicero's life in Roman politics. It is one of those based on historical events types books, so it has a lot of historical events and facts that have been dramatized. At times though it almost feels like I am reading a biography.

There is a second book out and it will be a trilogy. I can't wait to get to the assassination of Caesar which should be in the second or third book.

That's funny, got it for Xmas and finished it today. Very good read. I am about to start Pompeii by the same author.

Somebody has already mentioned "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and I will ditto that.

There are 2 books by David James Duncan that I really enjoyed.
"The Brothers K" might be my all time favorite.
If you are a fisherman(or even if you're not) try "The River Why"

Lastly a Nobel winner by Canadian born author Saul Bellow called "Humboldt's Gift"

[peter12]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthey is amazing. I also love returning to Plato's Republic time and time again.

My absolute favourite is Saul Bellow with Ravelstein and Herzog being my all-time favourites.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by Redliner

Anything Clive Cussler is a pretty safe bet if you're just looking to kill time. His new(er) novel Arctic Drift is pretty good, and set mostly in Canada.

Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is a decent, but different, read. There was a lot of hype around this one (thanks Oprah) but I didn't really see what the big deal was. Some interesting ideas in there but it didn't make my list of favourites.

Just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and all I can say is wow. One of the most depressing yet moving things I have read in a long time. Read it at your own risk - you might find yourself wanting to jump off a bridge after you finish it. I haven't seen the movie yet and am not sure I want to - if it's at all faithful to the book it will be pretty grim.

Probably my all-time favourite book is A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I little dry at times, but so many passages in there just really hit home.

I just finished The Road as well. Very well written and unlike anything Ive read before....very unusual style. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Dion]

Tuesdays with Morrie.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=1nSg...ed=0CDMQ6AEwDA

[Devils'Advocate]

I got "Scroogenomics" by Joel Waldfogel from my brother for Festivus. I'm only reading it when I'm on the bus, but I've been so enthralled that I've almost missed my stop twice now. If you hate Christmas as much as I do, you will love this book. I have nothing against the religious holiday.... I don't like the wasteful spending. And the book takes a look at the economics of Christmas and as someone who thought he knew all the angles to the Christmas gluttony, this book has brought up some interesting points that I hadn't thought of before.

[Antithesis]

I really enjoyed The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro. Good vampire story.

World War Z was a great zombie read.

Waiting on my turn to come up at the Library for Superfreakonomics.

Just read Under The Dome by Stephen King, and it definitely seems to follow his normal pattern of a fantastic first 95% of the book set back by a bizarre - and a real let-down - ending. A good book, one of his better efforts in years (by far actually) ... but the ending!!

[kipperiggy]

I love John Grisham's novels. My favourite has to be his first novel, A Time to Kill, and I also really enjoyed The Pelican Brief and Runaway Jury. He has a new book out called The Associate that I've yet to read, and I just received two more Grisham books for Christmas so I'm going to be busy methinks!

I too enjoyed the Harry Potter series and Dan Brown's books. My mother says she just can't get through The Lost Symbol though, so I haven't decided if I should read it. I have tried a few times to read Fellowship of the Ring, but I have yet to finish it. I have read The Hobbit and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just finished reading Howie Mandel's new biography: Here's the Deal, Don't Touch Me. It was an interesting read for sure. I was hoping he would address his mental health issues a bit more, but just the fact that he has publicly talked about these issues is a fact to applaud.

I'm considering ordering Theo's book off Amazon but haven't got around to it yet. It's half the price on Amazon though so if you haven't picked it up either I suggest you go through Amazon!

[Oil Stain]

A Long Way Gone:Memoirs of a Child Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Recounts the tale of a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Highlights both the remarkable and the horrible aspects of humanity. Great story.