Books The BOOK thread

Reading this novel called 'Quicksilver' by Neal Stephenson.

Fantastic so far.
 
Recently read "Born on a blue day" a true story about a man with aspergers syndrome (a form of autism)

And American Shaolin (about the first American to train with the Shaolin monks in the eighties. very funny)
Both very good and I would recommend them to anybody.
Non-fiction rules!
 
I'm mainly into fantasy and young adventure, hopefully one day I will be able to write for this genre as well.

My favourite novels of all time are Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Material' Trilogy:

Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

These three novels are just amazing. I have read them all at least 10-15 times each. I don't care if that makes me a loser, I just love them.
 
They've made a film of Northrn Lights (they've called it something else though) with Nicole kidman and Daniel Craig. Should be interesting.

Liked the books as well.

Armoured polar bears are cool.
 
duffer said:
They've made a film of Northrn Lights (they've called it something else though) with Nicole kidman and Daniel Craig. Should be interesting.

Liked the books as well.

Armoured polar bears are cool.
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It's amazing that you just said that.

I was watching some of the Edited post footage of it now. Looks fantastic.

It's called 'The Golden Compass', been following the film for ages now pretty much since it started being made. Can't wait.

Here's the footage:
http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/new...es/item/the-golden-compass-production-footage
 
A Confederacy Of Dunces, written by John Kennedy Toole is the most amusing book I've ever read.
 
For those of you that consider yourselves to be thinkers, I would recommend anything by Albert Camus the French existential ***********. 'The Myth of Sisyphus' and 'The Outsider' are particularly good. Read them in my teens, but they stand up as good books.
 
Simon Adebesi said:
Along with the above, stand out books I have read of late are:

100 Years Of Solitude
We Need To Talk About Kevin
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Both great reads, although We Need To Talk About Kevin is slightly slow to kick-off. Guess once you make it past the 100-150 odd page mark, the book gets gripping.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is incredible along with Love in the Time of Cholera. Think it's also on the Times list for 100 Greatest Books of All Times.
 
Yeah, 100 Years is special- better than Kevin which was good but not as good. If these books were footballers 100 Years would be Ronaldo and Kevin would be Fletcher. Kite Runner would be Rio.

Dean R Koontz would be Bramble.
 
I'm currently reading Stanley Matthew's autobiography - a cracking read.

I'd recommend anything by Hunter S Thomspon or Irvine Welsh though - those two really do spin great stories.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
For those of you that consider yourselves to be thinkers, I would recommend anything by Albert Camus the French existential ***********. 'The Myth of Sisyphus' and 'The Outsider' are particularly good. Read them in my teens, but they stand up as good books.
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He was more of a sarcastic commentator on existentialism than existentialist.

"Extreme Cuisine" by Jerry Hopkins is very good. My initial disappointment that I'd eaten about 30% of the unusual things he describes in the books was overwhelmed by my joy at discovering he not only described eating unusual things, but had packed tons of recipes in as well...

Currently reading "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - one of the best books ever written. It's a bit esoteric and will not appeal to most people, but the author really knows what he's talking about.
 
I used to read Dean Koontz when I was a kid. Liked Phantoms and the one with the talking dog.....tried reading one of his recentish and was appalled at how wank a writer he actually is

Irvine Welsh's stuff is quality humour wise and is a decent shout on pub/drug culture...his latest efforts wank mind an all

One of my favourite books is Red Ball by John Gideon - totally bizarre but it's got poker, vampires and Asians nicking legs in it. Unmissable

Haven't read anything great for a while
 
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is a great read - historical drama/thriller type saga.
 
I cba to check if this has been posted before :p It's one of my favorite books:
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Also Salmon of Doubt by the same man (well, he has written the CONTENT atleast).

I'm also a huge fan of Pratchetts Discworld series. I have almost every single book ;)

The classic Wheel of Time-series are great aswell (next book fs, NOW!).

I'm a bit of a geek. Shutup.

:D
 
Hectic if you are into fantasy and the like, you should have a read of some of Raymond E. Feist's books.

I just finished reading another fantasy novel, Betrayal by Fiono McIntosh, which was quite good as well.
 
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller is amazing, and so is Something Happened by the same author. On the Road by Kerouac is also the business.

For more lighthearted stuff anything by Danny Wallace, Dave Gorman or Tony Hawks is usually a good laugh.

One of the best sports books i've ever read is Nick Farr-Jones' autobiography, very funny too.
 
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho; really good affirmative, positive book. better than anything else he has written. I read it whenever I feel down about the world.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett; pure pure genius!!!!! More amusing if you can get random biblical and pop culture references.

Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury; set in a dytopian future where everyone's more engrossed in tv and where actual mental stimulation (books, independent thinking) is considered a crime. Considering that it was written quite some time ago, it's a scarily accurate reflection of where current culture is headed.

Some others....
Alice Walker - The Colour Purple
Vikram Seth - The Golden Gate

For sci-fi.... ANYTHING by Isaac Asimov but I particularly love his short stories

For fantasy.... Guy Gavriel Kay
 
Sci-Fi... Timothy Zahn's books in the world of Star Wars.

Great, inteligent storytelling with keeping Star Wars spirit alive.
 
Has anyone read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy? They may seem a bit more for the kids, but I've started reading Northern Lights, and I'm loving it. The first of the three films comes out in December too.
 
mehro said:
I find it hard to believe that anything by Dan Brown could be even remotely decent.
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A couple of his are entertaining page turning holiday fare.

Digital Fortress is so bad that you end up alternating between maniacal laughter and the urge to go on an axe wielding rampage. It is that bad.
 
Wibble said:
A couple of his are entertaining page turning holiday fare.

Digital Fortress is so bad that you end up alternating between maniacal laughter and the urge to go on an axe wielding rampage. It is that bad.
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Tbf I've only read The Da Vinci Code by him. Not only was is it a shit book but I didn't enjoy his style of writing at all. One of those things. I hate Ludlum too. They get too dramatic. I'd much rather read a Grisham or an Archer novel if I want something light.
 
mehro said:
Tbf I've only read The Da Vinci Code by him. Not only was is it a shit book but I didn't enjoy his style of writing at all. One of those things. I hate Ludlum too. They get too dramatic. I'd much rather read a Grisham or an Archer novel if I want something light.
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Da Vinchi Code was OK and the one after it was better (not good enough for me to remember the title mind). Ludlum was great but has dated badly although not as badly as Alistair McLean.

Although I rather read either than Grisham or Archer who I hate with a passion.

Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Michael Connelly are far far better thriller writers.
 
Carl Hiassen is a hilarious writer. Skinny Dip is a fictional farce about the excesses of life in southern Florida. Recommended.
 
goin on holiday in a few weeks, and want to read my 1st bill bryson book by the pool

any recomendations?
 
el eric said:
goin on holiday in a few weeks, and want to read my 1st bill bryson book by the pool

any recomendations?
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I enjoyed 'Notes from a Big Country' which is the only Bill Bryson book that I have completed. I started reading 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' but I misplaced the book before I really got into it. It seemed like decent book and I will start reading it again some day.

Good books that I have read recently or that I'm currently reading are:

'Waiting for the Barbarians' by J.M. Coetzee,
'Freakonomics' by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner,
'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck.
 
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