Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 10692 Location: Hoosier Nation
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:47 am Post subject: Book Recommendations
We have threads on TV, Movies, Politics, etc.... For you readers out there, what books are your favorites, and what books are on your list? I'll start:
Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Archives is a 6 book series. I'm on book 2, Words of Radiance. If you like fantasy and haven't explored Sanderson's work you need to put this series on your list. _________________ Not a legend
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 63194 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:12 am Post subject:
Giovanni's Room (1956) James Baldwin
To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) Harper Lee
The Carpetbaggers (1961) Harold Robbins _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 11242 Location: Bay Area
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:22 pm Post subject:
Right now I’m reading The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis and Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain.
Favorites would be anything by Joan Didion, Cormac McCarthy, Orwell, Vonnegut, Michael Chabon, Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Borges, and Faulkner.
Some recent reads would be The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, anything by Ottessa Moshfeg (especially Death in Her Hands), Eimear McBride, and Colson Whitehead
Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 6263 Location: Allupinya
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:39 pm Post subject:
At the moment I'm reading "Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm" by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's a fast read.
I'm also reading "Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It" by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz. Ugh. It's a book that was recommended to me by someone at work. As someone who negotiates for a living, I don't buy it. _________________ You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously. - Richard Feynman
At the moment I'm reading "Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm" by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's a fast read.
I'm also reading "Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It" by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz. Ugh. It's a book that was recommended to me by someone at work. As someone who negotiates for a living, I don't buy it.
Well what book/writer about negotiation do you like?
Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 10692 Location: Hoosier Nation
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:20 am Post subject:
Cutheon wrote:
Right now I’m reading The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis and Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain.
Favorites would be anything by Joan Didion, Cormac McCarthy, Orwell, Vonnegut, Michael Chabon, Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Borges, and Faulkner.
Some recent reads would be The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, anything by Ottessa Moshfeg (especially Death in Her Hands), Eimear McBride, and Colson Whitehead
Have you read anything by Carl Hiaasen? _________________ Not a legend
Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 6263 Location: Allupinya
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:32 pm Post subject:
focus wrote:
Heartburn wrote:
At the moment I'm reading "Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm" by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's a fast read.
I'm also reading "Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It" by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz. Ugh. It's a book that was recommended to me by someone at work. As someone who negotiates for a living, I don't buy it.
Well what book/writer about negotiation do you like?
I really don't like them at all. I find building a rapport with people and being as forthright and honest as possible makes for a good negotiation. Research also goes a long way. You have to do your homework.
There are always people who try to game the system, but they get exposed. _________________ You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously. - Richard Feynman
Joined: 14 Apr 2001 Posts: 142953 Location: The Gold Coast
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:36 pm Post subject:
I’m reading The HAB Theory, fiction about what happens when Earth has a magnetic reversal and how nations have to work together to survive. _________________ If you’ve got a dream, chase it, cause a dream won’t chase you back.
Joined: 10 Jul 2009 Posts: 11242 Location: Bay Area
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:37 pm Post subject:
ElginBaylor wrote:
Cutheon wrote:
Right now I’m reading The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis and Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain.
Favorites would be anything by Joan Didion, Cormac McCarthy, Orwell, Vonnegut, Michael Chabon, Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Borges, and Faulkner.
Some recent reads would be The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, anything by Ottessa Moshfeg (especially Death in Her Hands), Eimear McBride, and Colson Whitehead
Have you read anything by Carl Hiaasen?
I haven't! Any recommendations? I checked him out and see he does both adult and YA, I'd prefer the former but always open to anything!
BTW, on fantasy, I really like Sanderson, and read the first three of the stormlight. Need to catch up on the rest, just haven't been in a fantasy mood lately.
That said, if you are looking for fantasy recommendations, Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles is a good read, albeit he's a bit like George RR Martin in that he's a slow writer and it's unclear if this (expected) trilogy will ever finish--but the first two books and a companion novella exploring an interesting tertiary character are pretty good!
(He's also a popular rec, and my guess is you've probably already read it or are aware, but figured I'd give him a shout out anyway.)
I'll try and think of some other fantasy reccs - i got a stack somewhere
Joined: 14 Apr 2001 Posts: 142953 Location: The Gold Coast
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:52 pm Post subject:
Cutheon wrote:
venturalakersfan wrote:
I’m reading The HAB Theory, fiction about what happens when Earth has a magnetic reversal and how nations have to work together to survive.
Any good? What would happen? I'm assuming game over for mankind
It’s good, I’m getting to the point where the US is trying to convince the rest of the world about the dangers. Not from the book but what actually happens is that magnetic north moves, some theorize that it’s caused by the ice caps moving and affecting the rotation of the earth. In real life, reversals haven’t resulted in mass damage. _________________ If you’ve got a dream, chase it, cause a dream won’t chase you back.
Great thread. Have always been a non-fiction guy. The last 2 I've read are Justinian's Flea (about the bubonic plague during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian)and The Great Betrayal (about the sack of Constantinople during the 4th crusade).
But this year I've decide to revisit my favorite classics. I just finished Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment and now reading Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Enjoying every page. _________________ “Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov
I'm in the middle of "Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build" by Gilet & Gore, but this is obviously of little interest for all but a very narrow audience.
Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 10692 Location: Hoosier Nation
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:25 am Post subject:
Cutheon wrote:
ElginBaylor wrote:
Cutheon wrote:
Right now I’m reading The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis and Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain.
Favorites would be anything by Joan Didion, Cormac McCarthy, Orwell, Vonnegut, Michael Chabon, Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Borges, and Faulkner.
Some recent reads would be The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, anything by Ottessa Moshfeg (especially Death in Her Hands), Eimear McBride, and Colson Whitehead
Have you read anything by Carl Hiaasen?
I haven't! Any recommendations? I checked him out and see he does both adult and YA, I'd prefer the former but always open to anything!
BTW, on fantasy, I really like Sanderson, and read the first three of the stormlight. Need to catch up on the rest, just haven't been in a fantasy mood lately.
That said, if you are looking for fantasy recommendations, Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles is a good read, albeit he's a bit like George RR Martin in that he's a slow writer and it's unclear if this (expected) trilogy will ever finish--but the first two books and a companion novella exploring an interesting tertiary character are pretty good!
(He's also a popular rec, and my guess is you've probably already read it or are aware, but figured I'd give him a shout out anyway.)
I'll try and think of some other fantasy reccs - i got a stack somewhere
A lot of fantasy just feels like the same old tropes, but thanks for the recommendations. That's why I like Sanderson. He's redefined the genre.
As far as Hiassen, Stormy Weather and Lucky You are the two that I recall really enjoying. _________________ Not a legend
Recent fascination with ancient Greece, just finished a book on Thermopylae and ordered a book on Alexander the Great from eBay.. _________________ “Always remember... Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.”
Recent fascination with ancient Greece, just finished a book on Thermopylae and ordered a book on Alexander the Great from eBay..
You may also like Tom Holland's (not Spidey Tom Holland) Persian Fire, a well-written account of the Greek-Persian wars in the 5th centrury B.C.
And of course the classic History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides. _________________ “Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2023 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Book Recommendations
ElginBaylor wrote:
We have threads on TV, Movies, Politics, etc.... For you readers out there, what books are your favorites, and what books are on your list? I'll start:
Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Archives is a 6 book series. I'm on book 2, Words of Radiance. If you like fantasy and haven't explored Sanderson's work you need to put this series on your list.
Another Sanderson fan here. I smashed through his bibliography when I first discovered him about 10 y ears ago. I would forget to eat sometimes lol. In the middle of The Lost Metal at the moment. All of the different worlds and series he's created are all connected and I think the Archives are going to wrap things up when it's all said and done. Stormlight Archives is eventually going to be 10 core books I believe.
You should check out the Mistborn series and the followup Wax and Wayne series. They're really quick reads. _________________ KOBE
I really loved Stephen Kings “The Institute”. The way he builds the separate story arcs and has them collide is quite fantastic. I heard they were turning it in to a Tv show. There is no way the show will be nearly as good.
Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 10692 Location: Hoosier Nation
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 4:15 am Post subject: Re: Book Recommendations
jonnybravo wrote:
ElginBaylor wrote:
We have threads on TV, Movies, Politics, etc.... For you readers out there, what books are your favorites, and what books are on your list? I'll start:
Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Archives is a 6 book series. I'm on book 2, Words of Radiance. If you like fantasy and haven't explored Sanderson's work you need to put this series on your list.
Another Sanderson fan here. I smashed through his bibliography when I first discovered him about 10 y ears ago. I would forget to eat sometimes lol. In the middle of The Lost Metal at the moment. All of the different worlds and series he's created are all connected and I think the Archives are going to wrap things up when it's all said and done. Stormlight Archives is eventually going to be 10 core books I believe.
You should check out the Mistborn series and the followup Wax and Wayne series. They're really quick reads.
I've read the original Mistborn trilogy. Bought a copy of Alloy of Law around Christmas but haven't gotten to it yet. Yeah, there's connections between all of these worlds. _________________ Not a legend
Not high art, but recently read the book "Wolfen" that was adapted to film in 1981. I picked up the original hardcover cheap years ago, but never read til Feb. I had seen the movie a few times ever since the 80s. The movie itself was good for that kinda subject matter and had Albert Finney, EJ Olmos, and Greg Hines. The budget was limited on special FX and it faded in reflection with the other werewolf flicks of that year that are still lauded for their practical FX. As a result, the Wolfen people had to make the flick into a suspense thriller with good acting. They made them telepathic wolves instead of FX critters, but the film didn't suffer a great deal. Other than that, it was close to the book plot-wise and most of the scenes in common were well-constructed on film/screen.
The mystical Native American trope was used, tho the mystical POC of all kinds are a movie/industry staple. Scatman in Shining, e.g. The black Robert Johnson/Devil mythos in Crossroads w/ Macchio, Billy in Predator, Ruben Blades the mystical Latino in pt 2, etc. Wolfen the film also is the first movie w/ the 1st person creature vision that I can think of. Predator chise used it later, but Wolfen's treatment was spookier looking/sounding.
Joined: 04 Oct 2001 Posts: 6263 Location: Allupinya
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 12:00 pm Post subject:
dont_be_a_wuss wrote:
I really loved Stephen Kings “The Institute”. The way he builds the separate story arcs and has them collide is quite fantastic. I heard they were turning it in to a Tv show. There is no way the show will be nearly as good.
Yes. David E. Kelley wrote the script. _________________ You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously. - Richard Feynman
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
