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Give me recommendations to read.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:05 am
by JazFusion
I am too lazy to go through posts.

Go!

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:08 am
by Savor Dam
Including those in this topic?

Being serious for the moment, do you want light reading or something that might aid you and your husband in reflection over then next week and a half?

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:13 am
by Orlion
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs.

Re: Give me recommendations to read.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:14 am
by drew
JazFusion wrote:Give me recommendations to read.
How about some sort of book??

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:32 am
by Waddley
Orlion wrote:The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs.
Seconded.

Also the Malazan series by Erickson, if you haven't yet.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:12 am
by Fist and Faith
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:Also the Malazan series by Erickson, if you haven't yet.
Oh yeah! I'm reading the 10th and final book of the series now! Malazan is as good as fantasy gets.

My other top recommendations for a series, aside from TCTC, are Le Guin's Earthsea and Zindell's Neverness.

For single books:
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Gates of Fire - Steven Pressfield
The Glass Bead Game - Hermann Hesse
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig
Illusions - Richard Bach

And Dune can go into either category. IMO, the first book is, arguably, the best book ever written. Without going on to the others, it's an extraordinary thing.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:22 am
by Waddley
Fist and Faith wrote:Oh yeah! I'm reading the 10th and final book of the series now! Malazan is as good as fantasy gets.
Shit, that's out? WHERE HAVE I BEEN??

So as not to derail: I've been on a Philip K Dick kick lately, so there's an idea. Or if you're into the horror genre, try House of Leaves.

Edit:
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:Dick kick
Heehee

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:45 am
by dANdeLION
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:
Fist and Faith wrote:Oh yeah! I'm reading the 10th and final book of the series now! Malazan is as good as fantasy gets.
Shit, that's out? WHERE HAVE I BEEN??
Holy crap, it's on Amazon. I thought it wasn't coming out for another month!

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:27 am
by Cambo
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:
Fist and Faith wrote:Oh yeah! I'm reading the 10th and final book of the series now! Malazan is as good as fantasy gets.
Shit, that's out? WHERE HAVE I BEEN??

So as not to derail: I've been on a Philip K Dick kick lately, so there's an idea. Or if you're into the horror genre, try House of Leaves.

Edit:
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:Dick kick
Heehee
Phillip K Dick is awesome. Dick kicks are not.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:28 pm
by lorin
During difficult times it is always good to go back to the basics in every aspect of life. Start with the fundamentals.......Asimov.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:51 pm
by Orlion
lorin wrote:During difficult times it is always good to go back to the basics in every aspect of life. Start with the fundamentals.......Asimov.
Yeah! Like Robot Dreams!

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:13 pm
by JazFusion
Savor Dam wrote:Including those in this topic?

Being serious for the moment, do you want light reading or something that might aid you and your husband in reflection over then next week and a half?
:lol:

Anything. Really. I used to devour books. Now when I go to the book store I just wander around, picking up a few books here and there, but never buying anything (not that I have money, either). But I need to read now. It's what kept me going through my darkest times.

I love fantasy books (obviously). Philosophy. Mythology. Anything to do with the Renaissance or medieval Europe. I love Vonnegut. And poetry.

I'm also taking a cue from my BFF and am going to read 50 books this year. I lost two months already, but I can do it.

Re: Give me recommendations to read.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:15 pm
by JazFusion
drew wrote:
JazFusion wrote:Give me recommendations to read.
How about some sort of book??
Preferably with words, yes. ;)

Oh, and single books would be nice. I love series, but right now I want a variety of things to read.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:09 pm
by aliantha
___ wrote:
Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:
Fist and Faith wrote:Oh yeah! I'm reading the 10th and final book of the series now! Malazan is as good as fantasy gets.
Shit, that's out? WHERE HAVE I BEEN??
Holy crap, it's on Amazon. I thought it wasn't coming out for another month!
Y'all aren't too far behind -- it was released yesterday. :biggrin:

Jaz, don't forget about the library. We went to the library a *lot* when we were broke.

Umm, let's see, medieval/Renaissance Europe. Have you read "Pillars of the Earth"? That one was terrific; the sequel, not so much. Also, Edward Rutherfurd's "Sarum" and "The Forest".

If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" and "American Gods," I recommend those as well.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:18 pm
by High Lord Tolkien
Civil War era regiment gets warped to another world where similar warps on earth from various different times have deposited humans.
I loved it.

William R. Forstchen, The Lost Regiment series.
It's a good read (9 books?) I have yet to read the last two.



Might be tough to find this series. I loved it though. Not too heavy (sometimes very funny)but also interesting.
Leo A. Frankowski's
The Cross-Time Engineer (Adventures of Conrad Stargard, Book 1)

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:19 pm
by I'm Murrin
Have you read any of Jeff VanderMeer's work? Finch is the third and most recent of his Ambergris books, but they all stand alone and it's probably the most accessible. It's styled like hard-boiled/detective fiction, but very much fantasy, and more about the character Finch himself than anything.

(Interesting thing with VanderMeer is that every book he writes is in a different genre, but still within weird/fantasy/SF.)

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:44 am
by Tulizar
aliantha wrote: Jaz, don't forget about the library. We went to the library a *lot* when we were broke.

Umm, let's see, medieval/Renaissance Europe. Have you read "Pillars of the Earth"? That one was terrific; the sequel, not so much. Also, Edward Rutherfurd's "Sarum" and "The Forest".

If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys" and "American Gods," I recommend those as well.
I agree/second all of the above. Great stand alone books to read. (I couldn't get through the Pillars sequel so I don't even consider it a part of a series.:)

Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash and Anathem. Both are good reads and not part of a series. Good mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

One of my favorite writers is TC Boyle. Water Music and The Road to Wellville are two well written, fun to read books loosely based on notable historic figures.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:00 am
by Fist and Faith
Oh! Who's got The Sparrow and Children of God? Still with you, lorin? Ship it off to Jaz! :D I forgot to put that in my favorite list!!

Amber, also.

Re: Give me recommendations to read.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:26 am
by drew
Not sure if you've ever read Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, I just read it a few months ago; but from what you've said, it covers all of your requirements
JazFusion wrote: I love fantasy books
Check
JazFusion wrote: Philosophy.
Check
JazFusion wrote:Mythology.
Check
JazFusion wrote:Anything to do with the Renaissance or medieval Europe.
Check.
JazFusion wrote: Oh, and single books would be nice. I love series, but right now I want a variety of things to read.
And...Check.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:51 pm
by Vraith
I'll give seconds to Fist's entire list on this page above [and Dune in its own little paragraph]
Also to Snowcrash, Jitterbug Perfume, and Almost second Sarum and The Forest...I didn't feel like I wasted time reading them, but neither did I feel enthralled.