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[nitewulf]

Can anyone recommend some good paranormal urban series? Besides Sookie I haven't run into many others that good much less decent.

 

[leroy hacker]

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Loving it so far, I like the National Treasure style stuff, anyone have suggestions for more books like National Treasure?

You should read the book that was the starting point of this entire sub-genre, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

 

[kinn]

I enjoyed the trilogy but its defo over rated.

 

[Maklershed]

Couple books.

I know people give this author/book crap sometimes, but I am not sure why. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Loving it so far, I like the National Treasure style stuff, anyone have suggestions for more books like National Treasure?

You might want to try Clive Cusslers books. They're light and simple but they're entertaining for what they are. I enjoyed Spartan Gold.

 

[chase]

I might as well start posting here. I'm trying to catch up on 15 years of not really reading much, so I'm going with some classics.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

This is really good, really enjoyable. Not sure about why it's considered so great yet, but it's definitely great.

Middlemarch

I started reading this months ago but stalled about...3, 4 weeks ago. I'm over half way through. Her style is really dense; I find myself forgetting the first sentence of a paragraph by the time its referenced again at the end of said paragraph and have to re-read a lot.

Also read some Sherlock Holmes (quite disappointed by the lack of cleverness) and Lovecraft (very samey).

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Would it be to say what our favorite book was that we read this year?

Yeah exactly. That way when everyone is looking for recommendations we have a yearly list.
We could do it by Genre, Overall, or just everyone personal pick with a little review.

What do you guys think?

 

[Dresden]

Yeah exactly. That way when everyone is looking for recommendations we have a yearly list.
We could do it by Genre, Overall, or just everyone personal pick with a little review.

What do you guys think?

Sounds good to me.

I'm going to have a hell of a time trying to choose though.

 

[Lafiel]

One Hundred Years of Solitude
This is really good, really enjoyable. Not sure about why it's considered so great yet, but it's definitely great.

I liked that book way more then i expected. Based on the first 30 or so pages i thought I'd have a really hard time enjoying it, because of the writing style and the names. However taking a quick glance at the family tree every now and then. Made it a easier and generally more engaging read. It does kinda get repetitive in the end, but the best parts of the novel make up for that.

 

[Maklershed]

Yeah exactly. That way when everyone is looking for recommendations we have a yearly list.
We could do it by Genre, Overall, or just everyone personal pick with a little review.

What do you guys think?

Yeah do it up. Sounds good. Now I just have to figure out what my favorite book of the year was. :lol

 

[Nymerio]

Finished

yesterday. Read all the books in the last 2 months and this has become one of my favourite fantasy sagas.

Spoiler

While I loved all the books the last one really got me to recognize how much more I like Croaker as the annalist. If I had to rank them I'd say Croaker > Lady > Murgen > Sleepy.

The ending wasn't really that surprising but I liked it non the less.

Next up is:

 

[Ratrat]

I'm more than half-way through Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains just after reading Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and they are both pieces of shit. I'm starting to hate fantasy, well it may be a good thing that my next book is Yahtzee's Mogworld

 

[Solideliquid]

 

[wrowa]

Yeah exactly. That way when everyone is looking for recommendations we have a yearly list.
We could do it by Genre, Overall, or just everyone personal pick with a little review.

What do you guys think?

Go for it.

 

[Infinity]

"Star Wars: The Swarm War" by Troy Denning

 

[afternoon delight]

Yeah exactly. That way when everyone is looking for recommendations we have a yearly list.
We could do it by Genre, Overall, or just everyone personal pick with a little review.

What do you guys think?

Definitely. I like the idea of "Pick Three" and everyone do a write-up of each. Found great books in these threads.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Okay the format will be:

Overall favorite book of the year followed by a nice write-up obviously spoiler anything spoilerish in the review.

And your two runner ups.

Lets just start posting them here and then Ill total them up once we get closer to the end of the month when I have enough recommendations to do the OT.

 

[wrowa]

Lets just start posting them here and then Ill total them up once we get closer to the end of the month when I have enough recommendations to do the OT.

Nah, open the thread now. It'll just become confusing when some people start to post their books of the year in this thread, while others just post the books they're currently reading. Also, if you don't make a thread most people won't even be aware of the book of the year thing.

 

[chase]

I liked that book way more then i expected. Based on the first 30 or so pages i thought I'd have a really hard time enjoying it, because of the writing style and the names. However taking a quick glance at the family tree every now and then. Made it a easier and generally more engaging read. It does kinda get repetitive in the end, but the best parts of the novel make up for that.

I'm really enjoying it; this is the first magical realism novel I've read so it's fun and interesting. Just saying that I don't yet (key word there) see what makes it as acclaimed as it is. Again, this is yet. I'm not even half way through it yet.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Nah, open the thread now. It'll just become confusing when some people start to post their books of the year in this thread, while others just post the books they're currently reading. Also, if you don't make a thread most people won't even be aware of the book of the year thing.

Okay good point Ill open the thread tomorrow.

 

[afternoon delight]

The Grandmaster of threads has said it, and it shall be so. (Sorry, still a little drunk this morning.)

 

[Boozeroony]

Very interesting. I love Harris' writing.

and just finished

Good read. Classic and timeless.

 

[Dresden]

Okay good point Ill open the thread tomorrow.

Nice.

And wow, I can't think of a favorite this year. :lol This might be hard.

 

[Booser]

Almost finished this, just a few pages left so Ill be finished it tonight. Probably my favourite in the Sigma Force series so far.

For the guy who liked Dan Brown I'd recommend this guy James Rollins too. Kinda similar scenarios in that new science and technology must be used to solve ancient mysteries and threats. Really looking forward to the latest The Devil Colony out next summer. Was thinking of ordering some of his earlier stuff too.

I heard Steve Berry's books are also similar. Anyone read any of his stuff?

 

[Burger]

In Finch, mysterious underground inhabitants known as the gray caps have reconquered the failed fantasy state Ambergris and put it under martial law. They have disbanded House Hoegbotton and are controlling the human inhabitants with strange addictive drugs, internment in camps, and random acts of terror. The rebel resistance is scattered, and the gray caps are using human labor to build two strange towers. Against this backdrop, John Finch, who lives alone with a cat and a lizard, must solve an impossible double murder for his gray cap masters while trying to make contact with the rebels. Nothing is as it seems as Finch and his disintegrating partner Wyte negotiate their way through a landscape of spies, rebels, and deception. Trapped by his job and the city, Finch is about to come face to face with a series of mysteries that will change him and Ambergris forever.

 

[kinn]

I'm more than half-way through Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains just after reading Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and they are both pieces of shit. I'm starting to hate fantasy, well it may be a good thing that my next book is Yahtzee's Mogworld

The Steel Remains is not Morgans best work IMHO. Dont let it put you off his other work. Although its all sci fi.

 

[evilpigking]

Picked this up after seeing the series promoted in these threads multiple times. Powered through it in a few days. The writing started off a bit questionable but the plot kept it engrossing and the pages flying. Ordered Young Miles so hopefully that will arrive soon.

Also read Gilded Latten Bones the 13th Garrett Files book by Glen Cook. Mixed bag on this one, there were some fairly significant changes in Garrett's social relationships but the overall pace and storyline felt less engaging than previous novels.

In the meantime back to A Clash of Kings

 

[zero margin]

 

[Maklershed]

Okay good point Ill open the thread tomorrow.

Excellent. Please make sure to post a link in here when you do.

 

[Ratrat]

The Steel Remains is not Morgans best work IMHO. Dont let it put you off his other work. Although its all sci fi.

I miss Altered Carbon. And that was just decent.

 

[Blackace]

Reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

Looking forward to this epic.. glad he started it in his 30s..

 

[Salazar]

Work:
Customs in Common by E.P. Thompson.
Anonymity: A Secret History of English Literature by John Mullan.

Pleasure:
Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook.
The English Prisoner by Tig Hague.

All are splendid. Hague's book, about spending seven years in a Russian prison after being comprehensively fitted-up for hashish smuggling, is just terrifying.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

Looking forward to this epic.. glad he started it in his 30s..

Just googled it. I'm there.

 

[ciD_Vain]

Just finished Palo Alto by James Franco. I surprisingly really liked it.

 

[sparky2112]

Reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

Looking forward to this epic.. glad he started it in his 30s..

Well, if he catches Martinitis, he won't finish despite his youth. All signs point, however, to Sanderson being a freakin' MACHINE.

 

[sparky2112]

Just finished Palo Alto by James Franco. I surprisingly really liked it.

I don't think Franco does anything halfway. I guess he studied under some fairly high-profile writers, so it's not some vanity project...

 

[Jugendstil]

Absolutely amazing. Definitely my book of the year and something I can see becoming a personal all time favorite. Patti Smith is a brilliant writer.

Was pretty disappointed by this - maybe because I already have heard so much about the stories in the book from other sources. But there is something weird and disjointed about the way the book is written. It did make me start listening to Ulver again, so that's good I guess.

Just started this but it's really engrossing.

 

[Nymerio]

Reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

Looking forward to this epic.. glad he started it in his 30s..

I need to get started on that too. I've bought it a few month ago, but I could't bring myself to start it yet. Not because I think it's bad, but because I really like Sanderson and I already dread the wait for the next book after I've finished this

 

[Deleted member 1235]

I'm reading the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

I.... like it, but it's not grabbing me by the balls like enders game did, the book I read previously.

 

[Melchiah]

Reading the 11-part series through for the 2nd time.

 

[Xater]

Well Martin got me after all. I finished the first book yesterday and started reading the next one immediately.

 

[naib]

As a boy, Deng is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia, referred to as murahaleen (which is Arabic for traveller), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai. He flees on foot with a group of other young boys, (the "Lost Boys"), encountering great danger and terrible hardship along the way to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Their inflated expectations are shattered by the conditions at the camp, and eventually they are forced to flee to another refugee camp in Kakuma, after the Ethiopian dictator is overthrown and soldiers open fire on them. They make it to Kenya and finally, years later, he moves to the United States. The story is told in parallel to subsequent hardships in the United States.

A little LTTP, but I loved A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Dave Eggers can write.

Really enjoying it so far.

 

[Blackace]

.

.

Great book. I love the fact that I have been or have spun in a lot of the areas in the book...

 

[FnordChan]

Can anyone recommend some good paranormal urban series? Besides Sookie I haven't run into many others that good much less decent.

On the off chance you aren't already aware of it, I'd recommend Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, the saga of Harry Dresden, wizard detective and his adventures dealing with the full spectrum of paranormal weirdness in contemporary Chicago. If you're looking for a series, the Dresden Files are set to keep you entertained for a while to come, with a dozen books in the series proper and a short story collection already out, and another ten or so books planned before the series wraps up. The early novels in the series set up different factions (vampires, werewolves, and so forth) but once everyone's in place Butcher winds it all up and lets things run wild, with major long-term story arcs developing with each novel. Butcher has a knack for fast paced action, snarky dialogue, and some terrific characters, and while his early (read: first) novels are a tad rough around the edges, once things get rolling, woo boy. Also, the series is firmly on the supernatural noir side of the street, as opposed to the more erotic paranormal romance urban fantasies. Start with Storm Front.

I have another recommendation that may not be your thing, as you mentioned that you were looking to get away from the more erotic urban fantasies. Well, you're going to find Eileen Wilks' World of the Lupi series over in the romance section, with all the romantic yearning and hot lovin' that entails. That said, I've enjoyed the series quite a bit and have been impressed that the characters are so busy with the plot in some books of the series that they don't even have time for sex. The setup is that she's a Chinese-American psychic detective living in San Francisco and he's a werewolf prince living in a world where werewolves recently came out to the general public. Cue supernatural adventure and the aforementioned hot lovin'. I don't think the latter part of the series is particularly overwhelming, so I'm recommending it despite your caveat. The series starts with Tempting Danger.

FnordChan

 

[Ashes]

Year end, so I'll be finishing a lot of the books I'm reading...
Children's lit:

Really not interested in this one. I'm definitely going to finish it though,
Edu lit:
What I used to know in school, eng lang
eats, shoots and leaves,
+Philosophy book (can't remember the name at the moment)
+sixty seconds (recommended)
+emotional intelligence (meh)
Fiction

+a short story collection book, standard compilation, can't remember the actual title.
+catch 22
+naked and the dead
+A week in december
+A james paterson book, can't remember the title, but I've noted it down here, so I will set time to finish that off.

edit+atlas shrugged. Finished that before, finishing again... I found it in my rucksack on a long journey, I might as finish it while I'm at it.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Well Martin got me after all. I finished the first book yesterday and started reading the next one immediately.

I finished this a couple of minutes ago, can't wait for the third book.

 

[Adam Blade]

I'm more than half-way through Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains just after reading Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and they are both pieces of shit. I'm starting to hate fantasy, well it may be a good thing that my next book is Yahtzee's Mogworld

Yep. Garbage from iffy authors.

Reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

Looking forward to this epic.. glad he started it in his 30s..

The first book is a tad bit unnecessarily long, in my opinion...

 

[Xater]

I finished this a couple of minutes ago, can't wait for the third book.

BTW I was so down on this series on my first time and now I shat bricks when

Spoiler

the dragons hatched.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Hey guys the 2010 Books of The Year OT is up.

 

[BanShunsaku]

Currently reading:

 

[Blackace]

The first book is a tad bit unnecessarily long, in my opinion...

Not really doing any power reading these days... Because trying my hand at writing myself.

But I think he is doing a good job of showing you his new world.. without using too many cliche ways of doing it..