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[Nezumi]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics. I'm more or less open to anything but please no overly depressing stuff (terminal illness, dementia, to much talk about death in general) I don't mind if a book moves me or produces the occasional lump in my throat, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

Some books I enjoyed for reference:
Life of Pi
Books by Murakami
Shadow of the Wind
If on a winter's night a traveler...
The Plague
Catcher in the Rye
Pillars of the Earth

No need to recommend Memoirs of an imaginary Friend, I already downloaded it.

I also got the The Thousand autumns of Jakob de Zoet because I thought it sounded pretty good but apart from that I'm rather clueless.

 

[ShaneB]

@Tragicomedy No need to recommend Memoirs of an imaginary Friend, I already downloaded it.

I'm usually the one to recommend that And I think I have bugged Tragicomedy to read it asap as well!

I started Retribution Falls last night. Just a chapter in and it already feels like I've got thrown into the middle of a action packed rollercoaster ride.

 

[Nezumi]

I'm usually the one to recommend that And I think I have bugged Tragicomedy to read it asap as well!

I started Retribution Falls last night. Just a chapter in and it already feels like I've got thrown into the middle of a action packed rollercoaster ride.

Argh! Totally got you two confused (._.)" And no chance to edit it because you quoted me...

I'll do it anyway

 

[Onionkid]

Just finished:

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. Pretty fun little read and I can certainly appreciate a smaller, ~200 page book after a couple 1000+ pagers. Starts off simple enough but gets fairly out there by the end. The overall story itself was entertaining and had some interesting topics to touch on, but the individual characters felt pretty underdeveloped. That's not terribly bad though, as the lack of diving too much into each individual kept the pace fairly brisk.

Next up, The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester.

 

[Guileless]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics.

The Son by Phillip Meyer
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

 

[TheKaeptain]

Finished The Last Unicorn
Fell in love with the first beautiful paragraphs someone posted on GAF and enjoyed the first chapters. Going into King Haggard's castle the story fell flat for me. Didn't enjoy it that much, to be honest.

I started reading it to my son last night. He loves the cartoon and so far he seems to like the book.

 

[ЯAW]

Has anyone read Roberto Savino's latest book ZeroZeroZero? I was such a huge fan of Gomorra that I need this new book in my vains! Won't be out until 2014 here so I would love to hear opinions about it if you have read it.

 

[Piecake]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics. I'm more or less open to anything but please no overly depressing stuff (terminal illness, dementia, to much talk about death in general) I don't mind if a book moves me or produces the occasional lump in my throat, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

Some books I enjoyed for reference:
Life of Pi
Books by Murakami
Shadow of the Wind
If on a winter's night a traveler...
The Plague
Catcher in the Rye
Pillars of the Earth

No need to recommend Memoirs of an imaginary Friend, I already downloaded it.

I also got the The Thousand autumns of Jakob de Zoet because I thought it sounded pretty good but apart from that I'm rather clueless.

The Master and Margarita (Burgin Translation)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

 

[Tragicomedy]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics. I'm more or less open to anything but please no overly depressing stuff (terminal illness, dementia, to much talk about death in general) I don't mind if a book moves me or produces the occasional lump in my throat, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Joseph Heller - Catch-22
Kurt Vonnegut - A Man Without a Country
Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals
Lawrence Thornton - Imagining Argentina (likely too sad, based on your qualifier)
Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Jon Krakauer - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Joe Simpson - Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
R.J. Palacio - Wonder

I haven't read Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, so I can't recommend it yet.

 

[Nezumi]

Ben Fountain - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Joseph Heller - Catch-22
Kurt Vonnegut - A Man Without a Country
Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals
Lawrence Thornton - Imagining Argentina (likely too sad, based on your qualifier)
Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Jon Krakauer - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Joe Simpson - Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
R.J. Palacio - Wonder

I haven't read Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, so I can't recommend it yet.

Yeah, like I said, had little mix-up in my head there.
Thanks for the recommendations. Totally forgot to put Slaugtherhouse 5 with my references, so thanks for the reminder that I was quite fond of Vonnegut's style.
A lot of interesting looking stuff in there.

The Master and Margarita (Burgin Translation)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

Oh, Master and Margarita will definitly go on my list. Now my only trouble is that I have to find out if maybe one of the German translations might be even better than the English one you recommened.

The Son by Phillip Meyer
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

Those sound really nice, too. especially The Son and Sweet Tooth.

 

[Verdre]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics. I'm more or less open to anything but please no overly depressing stuff (terminal illness, dementia, to much talk about death in general) I don't mind if a book moves me or produces the occasional lump in my throat, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

I'd recommend Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It's actually a satire of a sort of dead genre, but it stands alone quite well as an amusing little book.

Edit: And Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini about a doctor turned slave turned pirate. This is public domain, though, so no reason to spend money on it.

 

[Nezumi]

I'd recommend Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It's actually a satire of a sort of dead genre, but it stands alone quite well as an amusing little book.

Edit: And Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini about a doctor turned slave turned pirate. This is public domain, though, so no reason to spend money on it.

Thank you. Those sound good as well

I will be doing a January book club. Book TBA.

I'll make sure I still have some credit left then

 

[Jarlaxle]

I have bonerspren all around me right now.

Thanks. Now I look like an insane person just sitting here laughing by myself at my desk.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I will be doing a January book club. Book TBA.

Jorge Luis Borges - Labyrinths

Pros: Yes, please!
Cons: No e-book version? Either paperback or some hunting required.

 

[Jintor]

The Unfolding Of Language by Guy Deutscher

I'll have to reread this again at some point, but I'm very convinced by the author's arguments re: destruction/recreation of language being based on those three pillars, and although it gets very theoretical and indeed (because it's a general kind of study) occasionally somewhat vague, it still remains immensely readable considering the complexity of the ideas involved. A great read.


Hellboy, Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola

Beautiful art, kinda pulpy story but hey, whatever. Lotta people dyin'.

 

[hythloday]

OK, in anticipation of all the amazon gift certificates I'll get for christmas I'm looking for book recommendations that are not Fantasy or SciFi or Classics. I'm more or less open to anything but please no overly depressing stuff (terminal illness, dementia, to much talk about death in general) I don't mind if a book moves me or produces the occasional lump in my throat, but it shouldn't be the main focus.

If you liked Pillars of the Earth, check out Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones. It has a lot of similar themes, but I found it just as enjoyable. There's also the actual sequel to Pillars called World Without End, but I personally found it a little lacking compared to the first book. It was still a good read though.

 

[X-Frame]

I finished the first 4 Mistborn books, so now it's time for me to dive into the rest of the Cosmere, starting with:

I am excited! I plan to save The Way of Kings for last, so that I have the shortest wait possible before the Stormlight 2 book. Hopefully that is a good plan!

 

[Error]

The Unfolding Of Language by Guy Deutscher

I'll have to reread this again at some point, but I'm very convinced by the author's arguments re: destruction/recreation of language being based on those three pillars, and although it gets very theoretical and indeed (because it's a general kind of study) occasionally somewhat vague, it still remains immensely readable considering the complexity of the ideas involved. A great read.


Hellboy, Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola

Beautiful art, kinda pulpy story but hey, whatever. Lotta people dyin'.

love the art in the hellboy graphic novels.

 

[Vyer]

Ronson investigates the strange things we’re willing to believe in, from lifelike robots programmed with our loved ones’ personalities to indigo children to hypersuccessful spiritual healers to the Insane Clown Posse’s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives, for instance a pop singer whose life’s greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, and the scientist designated to greet those aliens when they arrive. Ronson throws himself into the stories—in a tour de force piece, he splits himself into multiple Ronsons (Happy, Paul, and Titch, among others) to get to the bottom of credit card companies’ predatory tactics and the murky, fabulously wealthy companies behind those tactics. Amateur nuclear physicists, assisted-suicide practitioners, the town of North Pole, Alaska’s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot: Ronson explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, and suddenly, mid-read, they are stories not about the fringe of society or about people far removed from our own experience, but about all of us.

I've only read the first two articles - his Insane Clown Posse interview and his interviews with several 'AI's/robots, but it's been a good read so far.

 

[nakedsushi]

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann

This was great. It was like watching The West Wing, except all the people are real. The writing was iffy at times with how hard it was trying to use "smart words" -- to the point of distraction, but if you can overlook that, you're in for a treat.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Jose Saramago's "Death with Interruptions" is an Amazon daily deal for $1.99.

The description sounds good:

Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's brilliant new novel poses the question -- what happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death?

On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration—flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots.

Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Jose Saramago's "Death with Interruptions" is an Amazon daily deal for $1.99.

The description sounds good:

Does sound interesting. Bought.

 

[Osorio]

Jose Saramago's "Death with Interruptions" is an Amazon daily deal for $1.99.

The description sounds good:

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[TheKaeptain]

What's good from this page

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav...d_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630568642&pf_rd_i=3441883011

 

[aidan]

What's good from this page

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav...d_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630568642&pf_rd_i=3441883011

Neil Gaiman's Stardust is a modern classic and one of my top ten favourite novels.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Neil Gaiman's Stardust is a modern classic and one of my top ten favourite novels.

Own it. Same thing with the If on a winter's night a traveler. Is "Waiting for Sunrise" any good?

 

[Osorio]

Can't go wrong with Paul Bowles

 

[BorkBork]

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Spent the month rereading it for a couple of essays I'm working on. Just completed the first, if other fans of the book want to delve into it a bit more:

Ekostories - Winter's Tale: The Left Hand of Darkness

 

[Salazar]

Finished James Dugan's The Great Mutiny. Exceptional book. Much recommended for anybody who even faintly enjoys Hornblower, Master and Commander etc. Beautifully wry, thorough naval history. Some pockets of extreme moral repulsiveness to do with Georgian politics and military justice. Fascinating stuff, generally speaking.

Also read Adam Nicolson's book on Nelson and Trafalgar, and how the emphatically individual, quasi-Homeric nature of Nelsonian heroism came through on the cusp of 18th century ideals of company deportment and explicitly sociable virtue: the idea of a nautical British Alexander was a bit suddenly, almost awkwardly Romantic. It's a tremendous book.

Started on Alan Moorehead's trilogy about the tank fighting in North Africa.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Still reading Clancy's Without Remorse.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit but still have 300 pages to go. :-(

Hope to finish before the January thread is up.

 

[Guileless]

What's good from this page

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_dnav...d_t=101&pf_rd_p=1630568642&pf_rd_i=3441883011

The only thing I've read on that page is Underworld, which is good. I bought that William Boyd novel in this sale but haven't started it yet.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

Great book.

 

[Empty]

currently reading

really loved the story about soldiers discussing their perfect first meal back on returning from ww2.

Spent the month rereading it for a couple of essays I'm working on. Just completed the first, if other fans of the book want to delve into it a bit more:

Ekostories - Winter's Tale: The Left Hand of Darkness

enjoyed reading this. look forward to your other essays.

i really need to read more le guin actually. i read the left hand of darkness right at the start of this year and liked it, but never got round to exploring her other stuff.

 

[fakefaker]

Happily finished up The Purloined Number by Jenn Thorson. It was a fun, quirky ride into space and stolen numbers.

Gonna keep the deep space theme going with Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

 

[BorkBork]

enjoyed reading this. look forward to your other essays.

i really need to read more le guin actually. i read the left hand of darkness right at the start of this year and liked it, but never got round to exploring her other stuff.

Thanks for reading! I find Left Hand is one of those that takes a few reads to fully appreciate.

I find it difficult to offer suggestions for Le Guin. She dabbles in so many genres that you could easily love something and hate the next. I would stick to the classics (Earthsea first trilogy for fantasy, The Dispossessed for sci-fi, The Real and the Unreal for short stories, Lavinia for historical fiction) and go from there.

 

[Error]

Holy shit, it just hit me.

Shift Book 2 spoilers

Spoiler

the uprising happening on Silo 18 being detailed here is the one that was aluded to during Wool, forgot Wool takes place IN Silo 18

Also...

Spoilers book 2 of Shift

Spoiler

The evidence was gone, but the message lingered vividly in his mind. The hasty scrawl, the shadowy scratch the edge of a coin or a spoon had made as it was dragged across paper, two words barely legible from his friend who never needed anybody or asked for anything
Help me
And that was all

shiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeettttt

 

[hamchan]

Finished the Wool omnibus, books 1-5.

Fantastic.

5/5.

Now to move onto Shift.

 

[Denzar]

I just started reading Lovecraft. Ordered this through Amazon.

I'm not a native english speaker and some words seem archaic which makes it somewhat more difficult to read. Still enjoying this immensly.

 

[MarkusRJR]

Bought a Kobo Aura to get back into reading. Anyone have a good mystery novel that unwinds throughout the book? Sounds like an easy request, but in the last two mystery novels I read the writer essentially revealed everything over the last 15 pages with basically no build up.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished the real book 6 of The Black Company two days ago and started book 7 - She is the Darkness


She is the Darkness by Glen Cook

 

[Paganmoon]

Just finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler:

Really different from the books I usually read, but I quite enjoyed it. Can't help but think I missed lots of subtleties in the text due to not usually reading literary books. But it was great read nonetheless, a good little break from Sci-fi/fantasy/science books, but it's time to get back to "my roots".

Next up is The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.

 

[ЯAW]

I watched Apocalypse Now and after it I decided go straight to source material. Local book store didn't have english edition of Heart of Darkness but this will do. I'll probably read it tonight since it's such a short book. Kinda interesting how such short novel has inspired so many people, from film directors to other writers. Hopefully it's good!

 

[King Mac of Furry Frog]

 

[Kuraudo]

Loved this. An editor could have trimmed it down to one of my favourite books ever, but as it stands it's a solid four out of five star read. Maintaining a first person narrative voice for 1000 pages is an achievement itself and I thought the ending was pretty great.

 

[ShaneB]

About 30% into Retribution Falls, and I don't think it's clicking, which kinda sucks, would've nice to plow through those books over the holidays. Trying to decide here at the airport if I'll keep forging on, or wonder what I would move on to.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

About 30% into Retribution Falls, and I don't think it's clicking, which kinda sucks, would've nice to plow through those books over the holidays. Trying to decide here at the airport if I'll keep forging on, or wonder what I would move on to.

A Dog's Purpose is great. Really loved it. Read it in like 2 sittings.

 

[ShaneB]

A Dog's Purpose is great. Really loved it. Read it in like 2 sittings.

It's been on the list for a while ever since DagsJT first recommended it I was hoping to avoid something emotionally heavy handed over the holidays, and something more light hearted. Retribution Falls just hasn't hit that yet point where I care about what happens =/

 

[British Monsoon]

Got my copies of the first set of books from Gollancz's Discworld Collector's Library;

Started with Mort - I haven't read this one in years and it was a real struggle to not just jump straight into Reaper Man, which is one of my all-time Discworld favourites, but I forgot that Mort was the point where Pratchett really kicked his writing into gear and I've been enjoying it immensely so far.

 

[SolKane]

It's been a while since I've read any Vonnegut, and had a B&N gift card so went and picked this up.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Got my copies of the first set of books from Gollancz's Discworld Collector's Library;

Started with Mort - I haven't read this one in years and it was a real struggle to not just jump straight into Reaper Man, which is one of my all-time Discworld favourites, but I forgot that Mort was the point where Pratchett really kicked his writing into gear and I've been enjoying it immensely so far.

Yeah, I saw those in the Discworld thread. They're absolutely beautiful. Signed by Pratchett or are those just auto-stamp signatures?