Forgot to add ‘The Thief of Always’ by Clive Barker. If you’ve seen the movie ‘Coraline’ you can tell it borrowed heavily from this book.
+1 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac.
The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk, Palden Gyatso.
On a lighter note:
They Shoot Canoes Don’t They, Patrick McManus.
Johnny, The Homicidal Maniac. Comic book series by Jhonen Vasquez.
Only history book I’ve enjoyed:
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn.
Heard good things about Guns, Germs, And Steel. Haven’t gotten around to it.
Gates of Fire is great, was given a copy by my Commanding General on Friday, oddly enough.
[quote]matko5 wrote:
That book sounds cool, I might pick it up.
Anyways, I’d recommend…
Starship Troopers - This is nothing like that shitty movie. It’s quick and dirty, and it touches on the warrior mentality.
[/quote]
Hey, that movie had tits!
But in all seriousness, I’ve read the book as well. Fucking incredible.
x2 on World War Z. I just finished it and I thought it was great. It wasn’t what I expected though. I wanted a lot more gore, and violence, and zombie killing. It was still a real fun read though. I read that it’s being turned into a movie. That should be interesting.
I like horror novels and fantasy mostly. The Dragonlance books got me hooked on fantasy stuff, even if you aren’t a fan of that genre, they are excellent books.
If anyone wants to read something that will gross you out and possibly make you sick to your stomach, check out Edward Lee’s ‘The Pig’. Parts of that book actually made me nauseous.
Oh yeah, I’ve started reading ‘Mein Kampf’ a couple of times, but god damn it’s a heavy read. I’ve gotten about 80 or so pages in both times and had to put it down and take a breather.
[quote]schultzie wrote:
If you like fantasy try A Game of Thrones.
The last really entertaining sci fi book was called Tomorrow and Tomorrow, its about a guy whos wife has a terminal disease, so he freezes her and himself and thaws 500 years in the future, only to find there is still no cure. so he goes back into cryo again and keeps moving forward in time through the ages. It gets really wild and the timespans become insane.[/quote]
I’m into fantasy books and can concur that the Song of ice and fire series is seriously badass. Big fan of George RR Martin
[quote]skaz05 wrote:
x2 on World War Z. I just finished it and I thought it was great. It wasn’t what I expected though. I wanted a lot more gore, and violence, and zombie killing. It was still a real fun read though. I read that it’s being turned into a movie. That should be interesting.
I like horror novels and fantasy mostly. The Dragonlance books got me hooked on fantasy stuff, even if you aren’t a fan of that genre, they are excellent books.
If anyone wants to read something that will gross you out and possibly make you sick to your stomach, check out Edward Lee’s ‘The Pig’. Parts of that book actually made me nauseous.[/quote]
Googled Lee’s ‘the Pig’. Not really my thing, but came across an interview with him where he said that his most hardcore work is ‘The Bighead’. Could be worth checking out if you’re into that sort of thing.
[quote]Petermus wrote:
I’m personally a history buff and enjoy historical fiction. [/quote]
Have you read Thomas B. Costain? His books are very vivid, you-are-there stories of fictional characters set against authentic historical events. He wrote a lot of books, but he’s best known for The Silver Chalice, The Black Rose, and Below the Salt.
Here’s some quotes from Google:
"He is best known for The Silver Chalice, a vividly rendered historical novel of early Christianity that was the top-selling novel in the United States in 1952.
The plot of The Silver Chalice centers on the Grailâ??the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. Tired of â??all the Arthurian tripe about the Holy Grail,â?? Costain imagined his own version of the story. Joseph of Arimathea hires Basil of Antioch, a lowborn artisan, to fashion a beautiful silver casing to hold the plain original cup that Jesus used. The casing is to be decorated with the faces of Jesus and the twelve apostles. To fulfill the commission, Basil travels throughout the ancient Mediterranean world to meet these men and those who knew them intimately."
The Black Rose. “Castles! Medieval college boys! Roger Bacon! Crusaders! Slave girls! Overland to China with the Mongols! True love lost and found! What more could you possibly want? Seriously, I really loved this epic novel. It covers at least 3 completely different cultures, with lots of great detail and a romancer’s touch.”
Below the Salt. “Taken from the back of the book: A swashbuckling tale of dark deeds and derring-do, of plumed knights and their ladies, of medieval intigue and pageantry in the early thirteenth century. Mr. Costain again demonstrates his talent for vivid, imaginative storytelling.”
He also wrote a 4-book (I think) series on the Plantagenet Kings.
Another couple votes for World War Z, Starship Troopers and the Dark Tower Series
Along the vein of Sailing Alone Around the World is a book called Bone Games, which references that story. It’s about the superhuman feats that have been accomplished when humans enter stressful situations, and about how shamans around the world have attempted to harness that energy. Everything about that book is pretty badass.
Another great book is Satanic Verses, which is completely different than any of the other books I’ve read. It’s non sci-fi fiction, but mixes issues on religion, social theory and human psychology in such a way as to leave you feeling like your brain has had its ass kicked in a dark alley.
And, as always, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Funniest sci-fi social critique ever.
[quote]LUEshi wrote:
“The Good War”, Studs Terkel. An oral history of WWII by those who lived it, civilian and military.[/quote]
“Hard Times” by Studs Turkel is also pretty damn good. One of his books was just turned into a graphic novel, too. I dunno if you’re into those, but I was impressed.
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
The Art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
“In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex” by Nathaniel Philbrick. The true life account of the sinking by a whale of the whaling ship Essex in 1820, and the harrowing 90 days adrift at sea the men endured. This event later became Melville’s inspiration for “Moby Dick”
“Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe” by Laurence Bergreen. The story you never learned in school! Awesome account of Magellan’s voyage around the world.
" Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick. Extremely detailed account of the Mayflower, its occupants on the journey, and life in the new world. It highlights the importance of the Native Americans to the pilgrims’ survival that first harsh winter in Plymouth, and subsequent Indian wars brought on by the next generations of colonists to rid the colonies of the natives.
Conn Iggulden Emperor Series…really good books if you enjoy historical fiction. He also has one about Genghis Khan.
Ceaser was a bad ass.
Just finished reading Diary of a Recovering Skinhead, American History X is loosely based on this guys life (Frank Meeink)
New Jack by Ted Conover…awesome portrayal of a journalist who becomes a guard Sing Sing State prison in upstate NY
Monster Rain by Jim Norton, I have never laughed this much reading a book, fucking guy is hilarious, his second book was good too
Oh and anything Chuck Closterman writes I have all of em, and all of em are great reads
JOHN DIES AT THE END
one of the best books you will ever read, i’m on my third time through.
American Psycho–Bret Easton Ellis
+1 World War Z-(written by Mel Brooks’ son)
Time traveler’s wife-the movie blew; read the book
Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
The Sandman(Tales of Hoffmann)–ETW Hoffmann
House of Leaves–M. Danielewski
anything by JD Salinger
Criers and Kibitzers…–Stanley Elkin
I am Legend–Richard Matheson
Best novel of all time: Lolita–Vladimir Nabokov. I can re-read this book 4 times a year and find something new every time. I own a first edition and an annotated copy. Seriously, read this one.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Awesome read that explores how different societies evolved at different speeds. It also also puts a little writing on the wall about our current society and the way our “adaptations” may influence our future. [/quote]
Seconded.
If you want to learn about some of the insights of modern physics/theoretical physics check these books out:
The Elegant Universe
Fabric of the Cosmos
both by Brian Greene
They are dumbed down enough for the average Joe to understand. Some of the stuff in these books will blow your brain off if you don’t know much about physics.
I’m in the middle of “1941: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus”, it’s a pretty fascinating read. Recently read “Cryptonomicon” by Neal Stephenson, if you’re up for a long one, it’s really awesome. Some of my other favorites include:
All Quiet on the Western Front
Anything by Salman Rushdie
Anything by Hemingway
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
Twilight
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Things They Carried - Tim O’Brien
Okay, just kidding about Twilight. My wife has read the whole series 4 or 5 times - I picked up the first book while I was on the john once and after 3 pages I was angry at myself for even picking it up. That writing is barely better that R.L. Stein’s Goosebumps books.
No love for Robert E. Howard’s Conan Series?
The original 12 books were awesome.