News:

Anybody interested in joining a behind the scenes critique group, please PM Ed :smiley:

Main Menu

Book Recommendations

Started by Ed, July 18, 2008, 01:55:18 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Print
Go Down Pages1 2 3
User actions

Ed

July 18, 2008, 01:55:18 PM
I'm off on my hols soon, and I want to take a really good book with me - one that'll blow me away with its sheer brilliance, pace and originality. Can anybody recommend such a beast? :huh:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

canadian

#1
July 18, 2008, 06:11:31 PM
"Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder (or any of his other novels -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jostein_Gaarder); "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon; or "Inside" by Kenneth J. Harvey.
If people stand in a circle long enough, they will eventually begin to dance. -- George Carlin

SharonBell

#2
July 18, 2008, 11:16:03 PM
Connie Willis--The Doomsday Book and  To Say Nothing of the Dog
Ken Follett--The Pillars of the Earth (my deserted island book)
Katherine Neville--The Eight (she was Dan Brown before he was!)

Have a wonderful time!  :dance:
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

catephoenix

#3
July 19, 2008, 08:43:46 AM
Simon Kernick - Relentless (I couldn't put it down).
It is not the bang that terrifies, but the anticipation of it - Alfred Hitchcock

http://fright-fest.blogspot.com
www.strangemeninpinstripesuits.com

Geoff_N

#4
July 19, 2008, 05:35:00 PM
I've been adding book reviews here I do for noir publishers. I can honestly say that the Pit-Stop by Ben Larken I posted recently is a fascinating read and very unusuall compared to most horror and other books.

I'm still hoping to find a book that completely knocks my socks off. I've read those the others suggest and they're interesting but maybe I'm too eager to find that elusive mind-blower.

I think every writer should read Perfume by Suskind - his ability to make readers experience smells is amazing and it covers an interesting period in French revolutionary history.

Julian Barnes Arthur & George will always stay with me for his marvelous use of language, and the best humorous literary book of all time for me is Tibor Fischer's The Thought Gang, and close second, his The Collector Collector.

Literary short story collections I can recommend A.L. Kennedy - amazing talent.

Geoff

Prabe

#5
July 19, 2008, 06:11:33 PM
If Leisure has decent distro in the UK, I'd be inclined to recommend The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene or Mr. Hands by Gary Braunbeck.  I read both of those (among others) on my own holiday end of June/beginning of July, and those were two of the standouts--especially the Braunbeck.

Enjoy your trip.
pleading and needing and breeding and bleeding and feedling exceeding
where is everybody?
trying and lying defying denying crying and dying
where is everybody?

Nine Inch Nails
"Where is Everybody?"
The Fragile

Geoff_N

#6
July 20, 2008, 06:51:49 AM
Quote from: Prabe on July 19, 2008, 06:11:33 PM
If Leisure has decent distro

Excuse my ignorance, but what does this mean, please?

Geoff

Ed

#7
July 20, 2008, 08:20:09 AM
Quote from: Geoff_N on July 20, 2008, 06:51:49 AM
Quote from: Prabe on July 19, 2008, 06:11:33 PM
If Leisure has decent distro

Excuse my ignorance, but what does this mean, please?

Geoff

Leisure is an imprint of Dorchester Publishing, Geoff - they only publish horror authors, AFAIK - http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/about.cfm
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

Ed

#8
July 20, 2008, 08:29:24 AM
Thanks for all your recommendations - I'll read a few of the blurbs before making my choices. I quite often seem to buy two or three before I go, and then end up buying another at the airport. A good book can make a good holiday even better. What I really hate, though, is if I read a really good book in the first week, finish it, go through a short period of mourning, and then start reading a crap one, so it's always good to have one or two in reserve.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

SharonBell

#9
July 20, 2008, 09:49:35 AM
I go CRAZY  :cheesy: if I don' t have a good book to read on holiday. My husband even looks for books for me so I'll shut up.  :grin:
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

Geoff_N

#10
July 20, 2008, 02:25:25 PM
Quote from: SharonBell on July 20, 2008, 09:49:35 AM
I go CRAZY  :cheesy: if I don' t have a good book to read on holiday. My husband even looks for books for me so I'll shut up.  :grin:

Does it work?

Hah.

On another forum 4 years ago, a reader thought I'd like to read Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. So my daughter bought it for my birthday and I've taken it on every holiday since. I admit to enjoying the first few pages, but then I get distracted and read another scifi book. When I get back to Proust I have to start it over again! I still haven't read past page 45.

Geoff

delboy

#11
July 20, 2008, 03:35:54 PM
I've often fancied a go at Proust. I'd read great things about In Search Of Lost Time. Then I saw a copy in the shop a while back and one look at the size and weight and density of words on the page and I though hmmm, maybe I ought to tackle the copy of War and Peace I have on my shelf first.

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

SharonBell

#12
July 20, 2008, 04:32:44 PM
Quote from: Geoff_N on July 20, 2008, 02:25:25 PM
Quote from: SharonBell on July 20, 2008, 09:49:35 AM
I go CRAZY  :cheesy: if I don' t have a good book to read on holiday. My husband even looks for books for me so I'll shut up.  :grin:

Does it work?

Hah.
Geoff

Ahh, you know me too well, Geoff!  :grin: :grin:
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

delph_ambi

#13
July 21, 2008, 07:46:59 AM
I'd recommend any of the popular science/maths books by Simon Singh. Great writing, very entertaining/intriguing, and you actually learn something.

PaulH

#14
July 21, 2008, 07:19:53 PM
Quote from: delboy on July 20, 2008, 03:35:54 PM
maybe I ought to tackle the copy of War and Peace I have on my shelf first.

Derek

Having read it, I always refer to it now as Warren Piss. The best review of it I've ever read was "Too much peace, not enough war". It's like a soap opera for posh people with the occassinal skirmish thrown in to break it up a bit.

Print
Go Up Pages1 2 3
User actions