I've been recommended 2 books today. So, I thought I'd ask for more.

What book(s) would you recommend anyone (or me) to read? Please include WHY you recommend it and at least something brief of what it's about.

The Giver
A very good Utopian story. It centers around a boy named Jonas who is unique in a very special way. He is selected to be the next Receiver, that is, the elder who carries all the memories of humanity and, as a result, all the emotion. This is a very emotional novel with excellent writing. I had to read it last year in English, and when I sat down to read it, I got hooked and read the entire thing in one night.

Jurassic Park
No, not the movie. The book is very good, and, to be honest, makes a bit sense than the movie. Of coursem there are parts that get kind of dull, due to all the scientific stuff, but it's strangely fascinating. Interestingly, some of the characters were changed for the movie so dramatically, that the movie character is the exact opposite of the book character.

Catch-22
Really funny book, this one. It's about WW2, and involves a guy named Yossarian dealing with the fact that he is the only sane person in the world. It's a very entertaining story, though it does take a sudden turn towards the end into a much more serious tone... why? Well, read it and find out!

I am Legend
Vampire fiction like you've never seen before. This book is amazing. It centers around the last human being on earth, as the world has been over run with vampires. This book actually inspired George Romero to make Dawn of the Dead, so it can be considered the pioneer of the zombie horror genre. That alone should be more than enough reason to read it!

1984
Dude, it's 1984. The classical Utopian story of a totalitarian government, an endless war, and the end of indivual thought. Come on, it's 1984!

Good Omens.
It's about the apocalypse, but that doesn't make it great. Complete with admirable, unique characters and a plot that could knock your pants off, along with widely quotable lines and not to mention the fact that it came from the combined mind power of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, it's really a great novel. I recommend it to everyone.
They just refinished reprinting them with two of the lead characters. The hardcover has both characters, however the paperback has either one or the other. Do you prefer an angel reading a book, or a devillish man drinking wine?

I'll recommend more later. I'm running out of time.

lizard - I've read all those except I am Legend. All great books. In fact, I have 3 of the 5 on my book shelf right in front of me... great minds?

mechanical lullaby - I like Terry Pratchett, so I'll give that one a try.


One of My Recommendations to Everyone:
The Princess Bride - The actual book! It's much funnier and much, much more detailed than the movie. If you like the movie, this book is a must read and a no-brainer recommendation.

"INTELLIGENT THOUGHT: SCIENCE VERSUS THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN MOVEMENT" -NEARLY 150 years after they were first published, Darwin's theories are still under attack, this time from supporters of "intelligent design" (ID). Intelligent Thought is the counter-attack. John Brockman, the publisher and literary agent, has lined up 16 thinkers, including Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Steven Pinker, to punch holes in the concept of ID. They affirm the power of evolutionary theory and describe how the "hoax" of ID was perpetrated. The book is also a handy digest of current thinking on matters such as consciousness and the nature of science.

The Tesseract by Alex Garland
Filth by Irvine Welsh

Othello by William Shakespeare

The House of the Spirits

The first book written by Isabel Allende, the niece of deceased socialist president of Chile, Salvador Allende. This book is about Chile, although it is never explicitly stated in the novel, you can tell with various references to notable Chilean people(Pablo Neruda, Augusto Pinochet, and of course Salvador Allende), and the fact that near the end of the book the Chilean coup of 1973 happens(President Allende is killed during the violent, military coup, along with many people that dissappeared and were never found again).

The book begins as the story of the De Valle family and the Trueba family, however, due to the marriage of two very unique family members, the focus turns to the Trueba family. The book spans THREE generations of the Trueba family, with the "main" protagonist, Esteban Trueba, living through the entire thing(90 years). I bet you're thinking that this is just another book that is a "romance during crisis" kind of novel, you are VERY wrong if you are.

The main protagonist, Esteban Trueba, is a hot-headed, rage-filled, passionate and determined man. He wishes to marry Rosa "the Beautiful" De Valle, an angelic girl with green hair and golden eyes, however, he marries instead, her little sister Clara, who happens to be a powerful telekinetic and spiritual medium. The REAL story begins here, but not before you witness Clara moving glasses and flower pots across rooms, and a puppy that becomes a giant, almost mythological creature, being cared for by Clara. Clara communicates with spirits regularly, and predicts family and natural disasters before they occur. Esteban Trueba and Clara have children, who cope with Esteban's violent tantrums and ironclad ultimatums in different ways.

This book is very complex and deep, with a heavy focus on magic realism. It's also funny, but at the same time brutally realistic. The conflict isn't Capitalist vs Socialist, as you would expect with a novel about Salvador Allende, but leans more towards Internal influences vs External influences. Of course, the horrific coup and democratically chosen socialism are big influences, but put in comparison with what the Trueba family has to go through, those are just big pains in the butt.

This book, along with Isabel Allende's other books, is nicely written, and the inclusion of magic realism makes the book much more enjoyable. Highly reccommended to anyone... above 15. Esteban Trueba goes on a peasant girl rape-rampage twice in the book, and body parts are dismembered. Still a very good book. :P

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The only coming of age book you will ever need to read if you're in High School.

100 Years of Solitude
Who knew 100 years of solitude could have so much drama?

Hmmm... I should read more.

Heart of Darkness-

Ever seen 'Apocalypse Now'?

Yeah. It's that, but about 100 years prior and in Africa rather than Vietnam.

acadia
Heart of Darkness-

Ever seen 'Apocalypse Now'?

Yeah. It's that, but about 100 years prior and in Africa rather than Vietnam.

Heart of Darkness actually inspired the movie Apocalypse Now, I think. I think A.N. is (very) loosely based on H.ofD.

LIZARD_B1TE
1984Dude, it's 1984. The classical Utopian story of a totalitarian government, an endless war, and the end of indivual thought. Come on, it's 1984!

Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Come on, how could not want to read this?

Matthew Reilly's stuff usually has a home on my shelf, cool action emphasis being the main reason, it also helps that the story doesn't drop out in the midst. Even if he does get a little cliche now and then.

www.matthewreilly.com has a list of the books (excluding Seven Ancient Wonders which I think is actually called Seven Deadly Wonders depending on where you get it) including some short stories right there on the site.

Helps to read them in order though, there are in-joke bits speckled about, and the characters are only fleshed out once.

It's mostly modern military settings, tiny streaks of sci-fi and 'sci-magic'.

The Scarecrow books (Ice Station, Area7, Scarecrow) are based around the movie esque adventures of a U.S. special forces team as they face betrayal and mutant seals in Antarctica, invasion and nuclear plots in the U.S. desert and the above orbit, as well as participate in the largest bounty hunt in human history.

Everything else is kinda along the lines of, 'typical (probably ex-military) science guy, saving the world.'

Although I haven't read Hover Car Racer or Hell Island yet.

The Moscow Club
by Joseph Finder.

I'm not a book 'connoisseur', so I'd call it a 'political spy thriller... thing'.
Liked it, well paced, too tired to think right now.
To blurb, a guy seeks out answers to this big thing about his father, same time, a conspiracy ensues, a lover, two Russian political prisoners and many old farts also feature.

The Warpath Series
All I remember is the name of the series, read them in high school, or at least the three that they had. Liked.

Zoo Event
Also liked, Horror, nice surreal aspects, gore too.

reconjsh

acadia
Heart of Darkness-

Ever seen 'Apocalypse Now'?

Yeah. It's that, but about 100 years prior and in Africa rather than Vietnam.

Heart of Darkness actually inspired the movie Apocalypse Now, I think. I think A.N. is (very) loosely based on H.ofD.

It is. The making of Apocolypse Now documentary is actually called Heart of Darkness

LIZARD_B1TE
The Giver
A very good Utopian story. It centers around a boy named Jonas who is unique in a very special way. He is selected to be the next Receiver, that is, the elder who carries all the memories of humanity and, as a result, all the emotion. This is a very emotional novel with excellent writing. I had to read it last year in English, and when I sat down to read it, I got hooked and read the entire thing in one night.

Dude, I had to read that in High School! I never got the chance to finish it though. I'm gonna have to find it on B&N. Thanks for the reminder.

As for books to read I like:

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore
&

The Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Sorry, I suck at summaries, but check them out. Great fictional series.

Priceman
The Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Sorry, I suck at summaries, but check them out. Great fictional series.

Personally I would suggest to anyone who's thinking of getting into the Anita Blake series to start from the beginning. Not because it gets confusing (although it does with the later books) but because personally, I think the earlier books were better. The earlier books were fantasy and mystery/crime all rolled into one ball with a dash of romance. I personally feel the later books were a big giant excuse to write sex scenes.

The best way to describe the Anita Blake series was a quote of a review I read in one of the books. It's like a R rated version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Vampires, werewolves, etc are not only real but they are legal citizens of the United States.

If you like the Anita Blake series though or you like something along the same vein, I highly recommend Kelley Armstrong 's The Otherworld series. It's also about paranormal characters living in the real world except in this one, nobody is suppose to know about it and each book focuses on a particular female character. The first two were about Elena the werewolf, the second two were about Paige the witch, etc etc. You can actually read some sample chapters as well as a few free short stories on her website. I would actually recommend her books more strongly then Hamilton's.

Another book I would recommend is House of Leaves [en.wikipedia.org]. Incredibly awesome book and I love the fact that it plays around with the medium as well. (The format and structure of the book is very unconventional...if you do intend to get it, get the full colour edition.) To put it veeeery simply, the book is basically about Johnny Truant discovering a manuscript about a documentary film called The Navidson Record. The Navidson Record itself is about the Navidson family and their house which is bigger inside then it is outside. It's a very creepy house.

I had to read House of Leaves for American Literature class and at 4 AM with the door open to a dark hallway, it was kind of spooky to read.

Black_Kitty
If you like the Anita Blake series though or you like something along the same vein, I highly recommend Kelley Armstrong 's The Otherworld series. It's also about paranormal characters living in the real world except in this one, nobody is suppose to know about it and each book focuses on a particular female character. The first two were about Elena the werewolf, the second two were about Paige the witch, etc etc. You can actually read some sample chapters as well as a few free short stories on her website. I would actually recommend her books more strongly then Hamilton's.

It was my wife that got me hooked on Anita, and she was raving about the otherworld series afterward. Coincidence?

Anyway, thanks, i'll definately check it out now.

The Dream And The Tomb, by Robert Payne
It's historical nonfiction, about The Crusades. If you are remotely interested in The Crusades but don't know all that much about it, this is the book to read. Despite being nonfiction, (for me) it was as exciting reading as a page-turner novel. Payne had the ability to make history come to life. I was psyched to draw comics about The Crusades after reading this book, the same way you're psyched to hit the gym after watching 300. Of course, I didn't do that (draw Crusade comics). That'd be a 20-year project.

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
If you never read this for class in high school, and you're remotely interested in the gothic romance genre, read this small novel. It is the great great grandmother of all gothic romance, and it still got it after all these years. A review once said that this book dooms any young girl who reads it to pine after their very own dark mysterious brooding destroyer. QFT. I'm a guy and this book still influenced me for life. Reading this novel is guaranteed to make the next 100 pages of your comics all dark and broody.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

It's hands down the best book I've read in the last year. It was a loaner from a friend of mine, and I didn't expect it to be particularly good, but the first night I picked it up I read the first two hundred pages in one sitting. It's a little bit magical realism, and a lot surrealism, and it's presented in a very frank, straightforward style that makes it a beautiful and touching read. It's as if the whole book is a mystery being laid out for you, piece by piece, but never being explained. I can't even properly summarize it, just because every part of it relys on other parts to make the narrative work...

Momo by Michael Ende

His best known work here in the states is The Neverending Story, and Momo has remained out of print in the US for at least twenty years (the latest english publication on Amazon is from 1985.) Momo is a beautifully grown-up fairy tale presented as a children's book. It's hard to sum up, but it centers around a little orphan girl named Momo who lives in an amphitheater. Life for Momo and her friends is sweet and slow-moving, until mysterious men in grey suits begin appearing in her town, stealing time. It seems simple enough, but it will give you something to think about for a long time after you've finished.

Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan

Another out of print book. Many of his novels have been recently reprinted in omnibus editions, and I can only hope that a new edition is on the way. In this book, three stories are told simultaneously: one, about a writer struggling through a horrible writer's block while thinking about her ex-lover and her hair; two, about his ex-girlfriend's hair as she sleeps many miles away from the writer; three, about the characters on a scrap of paper the writer has thrown in the trash, dealing with the scenario he left for them, a cold sombrero that has mysteriously appeared in the middle of the street.

Other favorite books by Brautigan: The Hawkline Monster, So the Wind Won't Blow it all Away, Willard and his Bowling Trophies. He's also my favorite poet, and many of his now out-of-print poems are available online. Some favorite poetry collections: Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork and In Watermelon Sugar. Some of his poetry is pretty vulgar and adult, just as a warning.

Dear God, Have You Ever Gone Hungry?
Joseph Bau
The memoir of a Holocaust survivor. It's a really interesting collection of art, poetry, and prose that blends brutality, beauty, hope, cynicism, and sarcasm together masterfully.

The Zombie Survial Guide
Max Brooks
Complete protection from the living dead.

I don't exactly know what genre you like, but I recommend Pet semetary (with the s) by Stephen King. I really loved it and actually had to cry at some points, though, I also had nightmares after reading it.

A guy, Lious, husband and father of 2 owns a cat blablabla... The whole family moves from the big city to the middle of nowhere. At the first day of his new job a patient dies, Louis gets a nightmare and a warning. Short after that his cat dies... His neighbour shows him a way to bring that cat back to the living, but after getting the cat back people around him die, including his 2 year old son. He brings his son back, even though everyone warned him and some wicked stuff happens.

I really liked how he wrote the zombies in this book, they're really scary and that says I who usually laughs at zombies

Recently finished 'Iron Sunrise', very imaginative science fiction.
The story unfolds in many interesting parts, each good enough to stand on their own, although it didn't quite hit a thrilling climax for me.

Basics: Stuff happens, a planet explodes, then stuff happens. It's not gun play heavy (or PG), more adventure than action.

mlai
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

Yes! Oh yes, yes!
Good on Mlai :)

One of the main reasons I read it was because of Kate Bush's famous song actually... Embarrassing as that is to admit.
But it's a brilliant story. Even though it can be so bleak, arid and inhospitable like the moors or the relationship between the crazy, wilful Cathy and blunt, brutal Heathclif, it's still a delight to read for all the rising and swelling emotions- they're like gusts of wind on a stormy day: going into lulls, rising slowly, suddenly blasting you full force and then skirling away again and leaving you in a momentary calm. Hey, it's even leavened by occasional flutters of ironic humour.

And then if you need something to get over it, read Stella Gibbons's "Cold Comfort Farm".
A delightful 1920's-30's parody of all those styles of English books. It sends them up beautifully... deliberately contrasting the Luddite primitivism of the cliche doomed English rural farm family who're trapped in their own pasts with a hyper modern injection of contemporary reality in the form of Flora Post, who interferes Emma-like in the lives of all of them, forcing them out of their respective ruts and into the bright new world that she comes from!

It's interesting that "Cold Comfort Farm" is actually subtly a bit of a SciFi book in that it was written in the early 30's/late 20's but it's actually set in the 40's or 50's. Of course the world is envisaged to be much like it was at the time of writing, with the Starkadder farm set firmly back in the early 19th century, but elsewhere aspects of the "future" are there in that most people have private aeroplanes to get around in and you have easy access to air-taxis, people watch TV and communicate using TV telephones. -but not where the Starkadders live, they're deliberately insulated from the "present". The anachronistic nature of the future devices make the contrast between the worlds all the more stark.
-There's also talk of a recent great war that people have lived through... Not the first world war but a prophetic vision of the second.

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
18+!
If you're in a need for something completely different in a beautifully jarring way, get this book. Or really, any of his books. It's whimsical, it's dry, it's written with a sense of irony and content for being damned. I promise, you'll love it.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
If you have a thing for crime and noir this is your book. If you don't and you just like charming serial killers that have a key for sarcasm this is your book too. Plot twists and suspense run amok! There is one more in a series that continues with a third book in August.

If you are into serious fantasy fiction I strongly recommend The Art of Veiling by Tantz Aerine! It is a truly original take on archetypal prototypes of Elves, Dragons and others, with all the twists and turns one would expect from a truly gifted writer. And there's more: MindPower Publishing who are marketing the book have also dedicated a whole site to it, complete with forums, competitions, and all relevant background info on the Tripatria (the fantasy world). It is a 600+ page long book you WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN! That's not a usual occurence in books lately.


I already am craving book 2.

Oh wow! :kitty: Someone is so excited they are actually recommending my book so excitedly!! Yay! 8D

Oh Wow The Art of Veiling site looks awesome! I definitely will HAVE to check that one out. I love Fantasy Fiction :D

Books I recommend...that aren't mainstream. ..

I adore The Crystal Flute by AJ Kelly. It is fantasy fiction as well, but has its own set of species and magical heirarchy. I love the illustrations as well...

Id say my book but then again i cant judge how good it actually is...

Oh and for a blast from the past I've always loved A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

oh and The Scarlet Letter just because of all the symbolisms that are involved. =)