Book Recommendations

[Mamba]

A recent post in the Movie thread got me thinking we should have a book thread. I'm sure we actually used to have one... somewhere.

Yes, some of us do still read!-.. even in this day and age of modern technology! On that subject, I must get a Kindle so I can read on a computer...

Just kidding.

I actually love books. I have a wardrobe full.

What are you reading at the moment?

And what do you recommend that you have read already?

At the moment, I've just finished the second book in the Millennium Trilogy.. by Stieg Larsson. Now, you don't have to take my word for it, but the hype surrounding this trilogy is well deserved. I love it so much. It's brilliantly crafted, with a cast you actually care about... I finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before Christmas and I received the second one "The Girl who played with Fire" as a Christmas gift. I've finished it already!

I am an avid reader once I get going, and it's very difficult to get me to put the book down, as I just go off into my own little world......

So, your turn!!

[Josie]

The Painted Bird.

[CrAnIuM]

Yes, some of us do still read!-.. even in this day and age of modern technology! On that subject, I must get a Kindle so I can read on a computer...


Gaaaa ... don't get me started on that Kindle thingie ... Absinthe is practically fanatical about the damn thing.

[Absinthe]

Gaaaa ... don't get me started on that Kindle thingie ... Absinthe is practically fanatical about the damn thing.


Yep... I love my Kindle... yep yep...

But I do read an actual paperback right now: P.D. Martin - The Killing Hands (http://books.google.com/books?id=UFOodmRvCzIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+killing+hands+pd+martin&source=bl&ots=YCHwXwQTCL&sig=37b3UBSW5vVOvzuphkNTFTvONMM&hl=en&ei=xew0TZqZIYKdlgf00fmnDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Main character is a female FBI profiler with some psychic skills. Her job is to profile the killer of a "John Doe". John Doe's identity is determined pretty soon and a short while after interesting twists and turns start to happen. I have not finished the book yet, but I am enjoying it.

Something I have read and HIGHLY recommend: J.R. Ward - The Black Dagger Brotherhood (http://www.jrward.com/bdb/) - if you are a fan of the Vampire Genre. There are eight books so far. If you are interested, start with the first book. A lot of the characters develop through the entire story line and not just one book.

[Scabman]

Millennium Trilogy

Great books, sadly the film adaptions were pretty shit.
I'm hoping that the Hollywood production does it better.


Kindle

I'm thinking of bying one actually! They look sweet!
And every book pre 1927 is free!


Some days ago I finished reading Khaled Hosseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns, which managed to be more gripping and fucking depressing than The Kite Runner (which I loved). It's a hard book to read, yet impossible to put away once you've started it.
It's about two women in Afghanistan during the various wars and Taliban regime.


These days I got an audio book that I listen to while I jogg. Mengele Zoo by Gert Nygårdshaug, a eco crime novel written in 1989. So far it seems pretty good.
It havent been translated to english though.

I also have a copy of the first part in a swedish triology, Snabba Cash (Easy money), but I forgot it in Bergen.
The movie adaption of it was, unsurprisingly, shit.

[KommieKat]

Last book:

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"
-John Perkins

[Josie]

Some days ago I finished reading Khaled Hosseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns, which managed to be more gripping and fucking depressing than The Kite Runner (which I loved). It's a hard book to read, yet impossible to put away once you've started it. It's about two women in Afghanistan during the various wars and Taliban regime.


You've got me all kindsa interested now

[Scabman]

You've got me all kindsa interested now

Read it, it's a great book.


Btw, here is what I wrote about his first book, The Kite Runner, in the other book thread.


When a tear felled down on one page it dragged me back into reality, where I sat in a sportsbar in Copenhagen airport. I ordered another beer, checked my watch and then proceeded to read, not giving a fuck if anyone was looking.

It's a beautiful book. Read it.

http://swollencranium.com/forums/showthread.php/1959-Book-Review-Time

[Gzus]

Fraction of a whole.

Read it . . . . . . do it!

[Mamba]

The Painted Bird.

Do you think you could give some background information on it to make me want to read it (maybe like Absinthe and Scabby did?)


Great books, sadly the film adaptions were pretty shit.
I'm hoping that the Hollywood production does it better.

That's a shame. I heard the first one was actually pretty good... according to Amazon reviews anyway. I heard it was "authentic" because the characters were not well known, and of course being in native Swedish. But I read good reviews where they said were terrified to think what Hollywood could come up with.... hmmmm. I guess I have to see it for myself to formulate an opinion. I nearly bought it on amazon the other day.


But I do read an actual paperback right now: P.D. Martin - The Killing Hands
Main character is a female FBI profiler with some psychic skills. Her job is to profile the killer of a "John Doe". John Doe's identity is determined pretty soon and a short while after interesting twists and turns start to happen. I have not finished the book yet, but I am enjoying it.

That sounds right up my street. I love crime/investigative fiction and criminal profiling is so interesting to me.


They look sweet!
And every book pre 1927 is free!

Surely you can just download them from somewhere? Or are you paying for everying???

[Scabman]

I heard the first one was actually pretty good.

It werent THAT bad, I'll admit, but I can't imagine that anyone who havent read the books would enjoy it. I found myself filling in the gaps myself, since they obviously had to cut away vast amounts of information and backstory.
Having to share the fantasticly unpleasant rape scene with a whole cinema was good though.

Swedes tend to be great at making action flicks, so I and others were just expecting a better finished product.


Surely you can just download them from somewhere?

Well, probably. But then I would have it on my computer instead, which doesnt have e-ink and only 8 hours battery time.
Also, with kinde I could download these free books via 3G anywhere in the world for no cost!


Or are you paying for everying???

LOL!

[Mamba]

You said books pre-1927 are free with Kindle. What I MEANT to say is... they all are... surely you can just find somewhere to download them?
You can download e-books directly to a kindle.... I don't even know what you're talking about.
Grrrrr.

[Scabman]

You said books pre-1927 are free with Kindle. What I MEANT to say is... they all are... surely you can just find somewhere to download them?
Aaah, I see.
Still, have you tried to read entire books on the PDF format on a regular computer? It's pretty shit. So, I rather have the e-ink that the kindle provides.


You can download e-books directly to a kindle.... I don't even know what you're talking about.
Grrrrr.

Yeah, without the kindle being hooked into anything, through the miracle of 3G! You know, the thing that makes it possible for cellphones to communicate with each other? Yaysies!
Also, the 3G wireless is free in over 100 countries.

So, if I were to sit in a cafe in Rome, Stavanger or Malaga perhaps, and wanted to read, say, A Tale of Two Cities, then I could instantly download it without it costing me a penny!
Or, I could download Charlie Brookers The Hell of it All, and let them charge 12 bucks on my credit card.


I really want one, I realize now.

[CrAnIuM]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/pc/download ( this is an auto download link, just hit cancel on the next screen to abort it.)

^ Kindle for PC. I have it installed and works just like a kindle except its on my laptop.

[funeeman]

Aaah, I see.
Still, have you tried to read entire books on the PDF format on a regular computer? It's pretty shit. So, I rather have the e-ink that the kindle provides.



Yeah, without the kindle being hooked into anything, through the miracle of 3G! You know, the thing that makes it possible for cellphones to communicate with each other? Yaysies!
Also, the 3G wireless is free in over 100 countries.

So, if I were to sit in a cafe in Rome, Stavanger or Malaga perhaps, and wanted to read, say, A Tale of Two Cities, then I could instantly download it without it costing me a penny!
Or, I could download Charlie Brookers The Hell of it All, and let them charge 12 bucks on my credit card.


I really want one, I realize now.

I bought one for the little lady for X-mas. She loves it. Plus if you buy a book you can loan it to a friend for 14 days. You can't read it during that time but they'll have it loaded onto their kindle and then when done it will be back on yours.

[Absinthe]

Plus if you buy a book you can loan it to a friend for 14 days.

That must be a newer feature. I tried doing this with a friend a while back and it didn't work.


surely you can just find somewhere to download them?

Check this out: Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page)
You can download books in all kind of formats. Even for the Kindle... and it's free...


through the miracle of 3G

I have the first gen Kindle. No 3G. Works fine. Downloads are pretty quick. Personally, I think 3G is overkill...

[Josie]

The Painted Bird. Do you think you could give some background information on it to make me want to read it (maybe like Absinthe and Scabby did?)

No.

The Painted Bird is a controversial 1965 novel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel) by Jerzy Kosiński (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kosinski) which describes the world as seen by a young boy, "considered a Gypsy or Jewish stray," who wanders about small towns scattered around Central or Eastern Europe (presumably Poland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland)) during World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II).

The book describes the wandering boy's encounters with peasants engaged in all forms of sexual and social deviance such as incest, bestiality and rape, and in a huge amount of violence exciting a form of lust.<sup id="cite_ref-PR_0-0" class="reference">[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Bird#cite_note-PR-0)</sup> The book title was drawn from an incident within its content. The boy, while in the company of a professional bird catcher, observes how the man took one of his captured birds and painted it several colors. Then he released the bird to fly in search of a flock of its kin, but when it came upon them, they saw it as an intruder and tore at the bird until it fell from the sky.

Wiesel wrote in The New York Times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times) Book Review that it was: "One of the best... Written with deep sincerity and sensitivity"


Yeah, I don't have the time, energy, or patience to write out all ^ that in my own words.

It's an awesome book. I don't re-read many books. I've read this one several times.

It is not your typical wwII type book. It focuses on something other than the plight of the jews. It's simply about the kid and his experiences.

My FAVORITE scene is (spoiler alert - ew - warning) when a group of backwoods freaks kill a big, fat woman with glass up the twat. OMG! It's one of those intense moments when human society just makes sense in a disturbing way.

[CrAnIuM]

spoiler alert


Hmmmmm.....


I need to work on an actual SPOILER alert thingy, that way you can write about a thing and hide it until clicked or whatever ...


Good Idea lady !!

[KommieKat]

There are tons of readers coming out from Chinese companies and damn cheap and awesome. I can get price checks and brand names for people next I visit up North of the border.

[Redline]

My favorite book I've read in the few years is 'I Know This Much Is True' by Wally Lamb. It's about brothers who are identical twins and one of them is a paranoid-schizophrenic who thinks he's been chosen by God to "show mankind the error of its ways," I think is how the book puts it, while it shows the struggles and sacrifices the other brother goes through to take care of him. Theres tons more, but thats the basic underlying plot. It's extremely long
(it's the longest book I've read that I can honestly say doesn't really get slow at any point) so its hard to write a synopsis that would do it justice. I will say that I picked it up on a sunday afternoon and called in sick monday so I could finish it.

[Josie]

SPOILER alert thingy

Ooh! That would be pretty sweet!

[SlimSkeeter]

I would recommend anything by Robert Heinlein...if you can stomach some rather interesting ideas about sex.

Also...Frank Herbert's Dune Saga. Do NOT, however, read the prequels by Brian Herbert.... He fails to live up to his father by SO very much.

[KommieKat]

Also...Frank Herbert's Dune Saga.

Don't bother with reading the books. Too difficult for most people. The movie did a great job anyways.

[Josie]

^ nevermind him. he's grumpy today.

[SlimSkeeter]

The movie did a great job anyways.

No the movies did not. They did a good job telling the basic story, but (like all movies) they bastardized and the concept to a varying degree, depending on the adaptation. And most of the subtle undercurrents are lost.

Read the books, and grow some grey matter.

They are less difficult to read than LotR, which is so goddamn inane and useless as a series that I cannot for the life of me figure out how so many people are obsessed with them. Same with Twilight.

"OMIGOSH!!! Did he just compare LotR with TWILIGHT?" Yes, he did. They both are only useful as kindling.

[Llamageddon]

First of all, I recommend The Dark Tower Series by Steven King.

Theses books are definitely among my favourites. Without giving too much away, it's set in an alternate world (some of the time) and on this world (in different times) and is about a man (named Roland) from this AU on a journey to find the Dark Tower. Split over 7 books, each book trails their quest to reach the Dark Tower, learning more about Roland, and his companions from our own world.

... I think I made that sound more confusing that it needs to be. It's a good read, and I heartily recommend it.
______________

I also recommend The Magician by Raymond E. Feist, this book is the beginning of The Riftwar Saga, which totals to three books (The Magician, Silverthorn and Darkness at Sethanon). As with my previous recommendation these books are set in different worlds. These novels explore the lives of those in a world called Midkemia, and later the interaction between those in Midkemia and those who come from Kelewan (another world which due to a rift in time and space has access to Midkemia).

Actually, I recommend the whole series.

... I also recommend Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Just 'cause.

[CrAnIuM]

The Riftwar Saga


I have em. The originals and his reworked versions.

Outstanding reads, also tried out the Krondor/Rift War Legacy series and found them to be lacking and not up to the original Rift War adventure.

[Llamageddon]

I also recommend Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, both of which are by Sebastian Faulks. The former, tells the tale of a man called Stephen Wraysford at different points in his life (these being before and during the First World War). The latter is a novel about a young woman from Scotland who gets involved in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

I can't really give more information about the books, as I don't want to give too much away.

[Mamba]

BUMP

Any of our new members read anything good recently?

[SlimSkeeter]

I'm not new, per say, unless you ask one of the Founders here. BUUUUUT, Llama pointed me to a set of books that are really excellent, especially considering this is the authors (Patrick Rothfuss) first published novel. Book one is The Name of the Wind (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp) the second (which literally JUST came out) is called The Wise Man's Fear (http://www.graspingforthewind.com/2011/03/01/book-review-the-wise-mans-fear-by-patrick-rothfuss/)

[Mamba]

I am currently reading Imagica by Clive Barker. Recommend also Weaveworld and The Great and Secret Show by the same author.

[Firestorm]

The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I recommend reading the book before you see the movie. There are a few parts I seriously doubt will make the big screen.

[Zeabot]

I have been reading the Ender series. It is a sci-fi series designed for ~15 year old boys, but it is awesome.

[Mamba]

The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I recommend reading the book before you see the movie. There are a few parts I seriously doubt will make the big screen.

I read the whole trilogy, it's awesome!!

[Firestorm]

I read the whole trilogy, it's awesome!!

I just finished the first book. Kind of a twist for me with all the Swedish names and places, but overall worth the time. I'll have to look for the others.

[Absinthe]

Imagica by Clive Barker

Read this one many many moons ago...

Just finished the last one of the Greywalker series: Link (http://katrichardson.com/?page_id=5)

Next on my list is "The Hunger Games"

[Zeabot]

"The Hunger Games"
For some strange reason, I could not put them down.

[Mamba]

I just finished the first book. Kind of a twist for me with all the Swedish names and places, but overall worth the time. I'll have to look for the others.

I know what you mean. I found the prelude unbearably boring as well. I gave up on it about 4 times, but I was urged to get through it- and discovered I loved it, with a capital L!


Read this one many many moons ago...

Just finished the last one of the Greywalker series: Link (http://katrichardson.com/?page_id=5)

Ooooh that does looks pretty good!


Next on my list is "The Hunger Games"

Mmm. Not sure about that one. Let me know how it goes, though...

[Deadly_Toxin]

At the moment I'm reading the Freedom series by Anne McCaffrey. It's sci-fi, about this woman who was taken from Earth, with many other humans, when it was invaded by aliens for slavery. She ends up getting dropped on a mysterious planet with a large group of other slaves, who turn out to all be parts of different rebellions. And the book is about them being monitered to basically see how habitable the planet is. If they survive, more get dropped, if they die then the planet is considered inhospitable. And they start finding strange and mysterious things on the planet to suggest that it's not as uninhabited as they had originally thought.

I like Sci - Fi.

[Deadly_Toxin]

Oh, as for recommendations, I like Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One followed by it's sequel Tandia, or the Solomon series.

I'd consider most of his books as 'heavy reading', and often I need to read something lighter before continuing with his books, but I do highly recommend him.

Also, I see that some people have kindles. I actually got a Nook for christmas, and so far I like it. Minus the fact that I'm Canadian and therefor apparently can't buy anything online from Barnes and Noble. So I have to go spend my money at a different site. On that note though, I heard the Kobo was better than the Kindle, though I haven't gotten to play with it yet. I know I can put PDF format books on my Nook no problem, so I have well over 70 books on it so far, and I've only paid for one. Ahaha.

[Absinthe]

Ooooh that does looks pretty good!

Yes, they are!



Mmm. Not sure about that one. Let me know how it goes, though...

Read all three and I think they were pretty good. Actually, the first one was interesting enough to buy/rent the second. To my surprise the second (and the third as well) were better than the first. Good read!

[Bunnee]

I have been reading the Ender series. It is a sci-fi series designed for ~15 year old boys, but it is awesome.


yep I agree. Skeeter sent me the set, I ended up loving them so much I gave him cash to buy a new set! haha

[Bunnee]

Also do NOT get excited for the last Eragon book.

it's fucking dismal, and I was saddened that the book was clearly written by someone else. Paolini would never write such dribble and nonsense.

[Zeabot]

sent me the set
I'm almost done with the Ender side of town. I have only read Ender's Shadow on the other side, though. I am looking forward to finishing them all!

[Boner]

I'm almost done with the Ender side of town. I have only read Ender's Shadow on the other side, though. I am looking forward to finishing them all!
I liked the Ender books. I'm reading O. S. C.'s "Earth" series now.

[Mamba]

I am currently reading Imagica by Clive Barker.

Still reading this. But I keep putting it down and picking it up at a later date. I tend to keep books on a rotation cycle.

In the interim, I read one of James Patterson's newest. (in two days) "Toys" Nothing like anything I've ever read before by this author, but the pages turn themselves. Pretty good!

[Zeabot]

putting it down and picking it up at a later date
I've done that with Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov a thousand times. And each time, I forget what happened in the first ~100 pages when I reread it.

[Bunnee]

I'm almost done with the Ender side of town. I have only read Ender's Shadow on the other side, though. I am looking forward to finishing them all!

It's got a really suprising twist, but it all blends in nicely in the end. :) You'll definately like them all I believe.


I liked the Ender books. I'm reading O. S. C.'s "Earth" series now.

Ooooh.. never heard of them. Are they any good? Are they like the Ender series?

[Zeabot]

I've finished Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. I took a break after Speaker for the Dead to read Ender's Shadow. Right now, I am starting Ender in Exile.

I really enjoyed Xenocide, but I thought the end got really weird... and that weirdness just continued into Children of the Mind. I would have to say Speaker for the Dead is my favorite so far.

[Mamba]

I've done that with Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov a thousand times. And each time, I forget what happened in the first ~100 pages when I reread it.

Haha! Sounds like it could be boring?

I put down "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" about 5 times when I had just started it. People told me it was awesome, so I stuck with it. It's just the prologue part that was boring - the rest of it is AWESOME!!

[Zeabot]

Sounds like it could be boring?
It is very deep and entertaining (as much as 19th century Russian literature can be.) The problem is, it is SO DEEP. There are a thousand characters and Russians love their nick-names that have nothing to do with each other. And the pages are so dense, it is easy to forget small parts. Don't get me wrong, that was a huge exaggeration, but if I did want to start reading it again, I would probably have to start over.

[Bunnee]

I've finished Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. I took a break after Speaker for the Dead to read Ender's Shadow. Right now, I am starting Ender in Exile.

I really enjoyed Xenocide, but I thought the end got really weird... and that weirdness just continued into Children of the Mind. I would have to say Speaker for the Dead is my favorite so far.


Speaker for the Dead was my favourite too!

I actually liked the weirdness, it was an unexpected ending to what i thought, and I quite liked it. You know, you really make me wanna re-read the entire set!

[Dirty Hippie]

I tend to go through phases where I read a few fiction books, then switch it up and read a few non-fiction. Right now I'm struggling to make it through one of Noam Chomsky's books on anarchism. I REALLY want to finish this thing because I think Chomsky is a brilliant thinker, so I figure he has the best chance of demonstrating any redeeming factors of anarchy. Up until now the only anarchists I've known have had serious flaws in their reasoning and generally keep this implausible utopian vision of an anarchist society that makes no sense.

But I'll be damned if this book doesn't put me straight to sleep after a page or two.

[KommieKat]

Noam Chomsky's books

I have a few of his books on my shelf.


Now:
"Speak Chinese with Millions"
"Cantonese for Everyone"
"The Complete Idiots Guide: Chinese"
"Speed Up Chinese"
"100 Putonghua Situations"