Books. Yum.
Jan. 3rd, 2006 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katekatSo I just got to do something I truly love doing - made a book recommendation for a friend. And it made me want to rec books to every one! And get recomendations in return...
Anybody want to play??
Recommend 1 book to me that you think I'll like, and I'll do the same for you!
What do I usually read (other than fanfic and lj), you wonder?
Anybody want to play??
Recommend 1 book to me that you think I'll like, and I'll do the same for you!
What do I usually read (other than fanfic and lj), you wonder?
- Fantasy
- Sci Fi (including Speculative Fiction, Cyberpunk -- which i adore but have tapped out, and space opera)
- Detective Fiction (from true crime to old school noir)
- Japanese lit (duh, huh?)
- regular lit - although usually I like my authors dead before I read it
- comedy (like Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, that kind of thing)
- nonfiction (only if it's very very interesting, though, because it takes a lot to keep me going)
- Graphic novels
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:04 am (UTC)I like fantasy, sf, comedy, and the occasional odd thing... I picked up Memoirs of a Geisha on a fluke and loved it... I also loved Ishmael by Daniel Quinn coz c'mon... talking monkey!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:23 am (UTC)if you like that, have you read "The Riddle Master of Hed" series by Patricia McKillip? Not as funny, but totally worth the read!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:07 am (UTC)I was thinking about that tonight because I was watching the commentary by Joss about Serenity and what inspired it and the whole western post-civil war thing he has going. Anyway....the whole series came about in large part because of that book, and because of Star Wars. And it's a really cool book.....
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:47 am (UTC)And after reading it, then see the movie Gettysburg, based on the book and very faithful to it.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 07:44 pm (UTC)And you want a rec? HMMM.
"The Key" by Junichiro Tanizaki amazon link
It's really fucked up, but I think you'll get a kick out of it. And beautiful at the same time.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:21 am (UTC)A modern female lawyer lives out a few years of life in an ancient Roman city.
2. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
An anthropologist's theory on why Eurasian civilizations came to dominate the world.
3. The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond
A look at humans and how we're nothing more than specialized chimpanzees.
4. Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
A dimensional portal is created, bringing two Neanderthal scientists from another Earth where they were the dominant species, into our world.
5. Jupiter by Ben Bova
A scientist is assigned to a station orbiting Jupiter to spy on his colleagues but is sucked into the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
6. The Forge of God by Greg Bear
Earth is invaded by two aliens. The first claim to come in peace whereas the second warn the latter are out to destroy the world.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-05 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:51 am (UTC)"A story about a young man's struggle between the secular world of an artist, and life as a Ladover Hasidic Jew."
Brilliant, beauitful, powerful, and incredibly moving.
Me, I'm into junk food reading just at the moment. Gimme fluff. Mainstream novels, mysteries, chick lit, I don't care as long as I don't have to take it too seriously.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:53 am (UTC)As for some 'junk food' reading, have you read "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" by Christopher Moore? The title is a goofball, and so is the book, and totally worth the read. Loved it.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 05:55 am (UTC)the link to the book!
how much morbidity can you handle??
Date: 2006-01-04 06:43 am (UTC)STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach.
Re: how much morbidity can you handle??
Date: 2006-01-04 05:43 pm (UTC)Re: how much morbidity can you handle??
Date: 2006-01-04 07:49 pm (UTC)The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith. She's a brilliant writer who seems to get left out of summaries when they do the 'greats' of noir fiction, but I love every word she rights. This book has a totally subtle tone, and makes you wonder what is going on until the very end, but at the same time it's more because Highsmith creates characters that could be evil or simply stupid, and then wraps it up in a way that lets you know it's both.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 02:29 pm (UTC)In a similar vein, The Novels of the Nightside by Simon R Green rock - private detective in the "nightside" an alternative reality just behind London. The hero can find anything - absolutely anything - and that makes him both a wanted, loathed and popular gent with the strange and not so strange residents of the dimension. It's...neon noir. The thing of it all is that the books are so short!
Graphic novels: My current trends are the Hellblazer series and Sin City. But that's because I was running out of Alan Moore to read. I started on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (omg, ignore the movies - the graphic novels are SO GOOD), skipped to Watchmen (which is heavier), then Top 10, Promethea and V for Vendetta. V is AWESOME. I hope the Wachowski Bros don't screw up the movie.
The Mike Mignola Helloboy series is damned good too. If you've seen the movie, the graphic novels are pretty much just like that.
I'm also thoroughly addicted to Hellsing, a manga by Kohta Hirano. It's about a vampire that has the biggest guns on earth and a pimp hat that defies physics going out and killing ghouls and other vampires. And there's zombies, Nazis and a psycho 4th dimensional Scottish priest. It...actually makes sense when you read it. The anime series isn't so bad, but the manga is way better.
Um...that was more than one. Oh well. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-01-04 07:54 pm (UTC)I've read the League (way before it was a movie - still have yet to complete my own set, just ended up borrowing them from a friend), you skipped Watchmen?? It was great! Haven't read Top 10 or Promethea, but LOVED V for Vendetta.
Now, recs for you: Have you read Frank Miller's 300 bc? It's short, but the artwork is crap-in-your pants fantastic. And ... what about "From Hell" (Alan Moore & Jack the Ripper --- soo much better than the movie)? Or, Planetary? that's Ellis & Cassidy - if you liked League you will probably like Planetary... cuz it kicks ass for an ensemble piece.
As for bookity books, have you read any Patricia Highsmith? Because I think if you haven't, you'd like her - she's old school noir, and I got introduced to her with "The Talented Mister Ripley" (which kicks serious ASS over the movie) but her best is "The Blunderer"... try them, let me know?
no subject
Date: 2006-01-05 12:15 am (UTC)-BJ
no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 07:32 am (UTC)ah, hell...
graphic novel: Watchmen
and book: do you read any fantasy? because if you do, have you ever read anything by Tanith Lee? If you haven't, I think you might like her. Check out her "Night's Master" series. She's really lyrical, but damn good and a little twisted.
but I'm not sure if you like fantasy, so let me know if you don't and I'll rec you something else...