I have a library card and I'm not afraid to use it!

[snowy]

After years of being too occupied with finishing my English degree (which required a lot of reading), I finally have time to read for pleasure and self-improvement, and so I went and got a library card for my public library. I am enjoying it thus far, but I would appreciate some recommendations.

So, in a similar vein to Halx's "I Have Netflix" thread, I would like to ask the general TFP audience--what should I read? Here is a link to the library catalog, should you desire to double-check that the book in question is in fact in the collection prior to your recommendation: Library.Solution PAC - Search

I would ask that you avoid recommending 1) Ayn Rand and 2) British literature from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Pretty much anything else is fair game. Thanks in advance!

[ShaniFaye]

I didnt think I would enjoy this, but I am, a lot

Nikki Sixx's Herion Diaries....Im reading that and Tori Spellings auto biography

oh and I just finished a really good book called I, Vampire by Michael Romkey, its the first in a series and it was a fun read

[fresnelly]

Christopher Brookmyre.

If you like crackling thrillers like Snatch (but set in Scotland), he's your man.

My just-about-favourite-book of all time is Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. Each chapter describes a world where time runs differently and the effects are both strikin and poetic. Despite the premise, this is not a technical or science fiction-y book. Its real focus is on human nature and how we live our lives. It's not preachy or sappy or new-agey either.

[Willravel]

There's this little known author called J.K. Rowling. I think you might like her work.

Have you ever read Orson Scott Card's Ender series?

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Willravel

There's this little known author called J.K. Rowling. I think you might like her work.

Have you ever read Orson Scott Card's Ender series?

I've heard about it but haven't read it; I was too busy reading "girl" books growing up that I didn't even get to The Lord of the Rings until college. Consider it on the list.

And Einstein's Dreams sounds really interesting, fres. I'll have to see if we have it.

Thanks for all of the recommendations so far; they're much appreciated.

[sapiens]

Off the top of my head:

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

or

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Both are good reads.

[Derwood]

at the risk of sounding like a jerk....

We now have 3 threads about books (in the top five threads in Entertainment at the time I'm posting this). Do we need so many threads or can we consolidate them into one?

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Derwood

at the risk of sounding like a jerk....

We now have 3 threads about books (in the top five threads in Entertainment at the time I'm posting this). Do we need so many threads or can we consolidate them into one?

I don't want to know what you've read lately; I want to know what you think I should read--they're two entirely different questions/topics, and only merge together if what you've read lately is what you think I should be reading. And as I said in the OP, this is meant to be more of a counterpart to Hal's Netflix thread than any of the other book threads. Besides which, we have tons of threads about movies--far more than books. So I think the book thread thing still has room to grow, though those with similar topics should probably be consolidated.

And sapiens, thanks for the recs; I'll take a look.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by Derwood

at the risk of sounding like a jerk....

We now have 3 threads about books (in the top five threads in Entertainment at the time I'm posting this). Do we need so many threads or can we consolidate them into one?

Party pooper!

[jorgelito]

What's wrong with Ayn Rand?

Wait, you only got a library card now?

Anyways, in the "Read Any Good Books Lately" thread there are tons of great recommendations. Go check it out over there or maybe we can merge threads. I don't want to have to relist all the good reads over here.

[Willravel]

Originally Posted by jorgelito

What's wrong with Ayn Rand?

She's the Ron Paul of authors.

[Bear Cub]

Wait, so how does this library card thing work? Do you put the number into Google or something?

[snowy]

Originally Posted by jorgelito

What's wrong with Ayn Rand?

Wait, you only got a library card now?

Anyways, in the "Read Any Good Books Lately" thread there are tons of great recommendations. Go check it out over there or maybe we can merge threads. I don't want to have to relist all the good reads over here.

I live with two Ayn Rand fans, so I've had plenty of recommendations in regards to her. Any time something remotely Randish comes up, I get the "You should read [insert Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead here]." I'll get to it, really I will--but my boyfriend has to read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Living End by Stanley Elkin, and White Noise by Don DeLillo first.

As for not having a library card--I just graduated with an English degree. I haven't had a lot of spare time to read literary works for pleasure, cheap romance novels sure, but not more serious things. I had the university library when I needed it, and it's fairly comprehensive when it comes to reading the canon. But I'd like a glimpse outside of that canon. Plus, I'm a complete book whore, but now that I'm poor, I'm not able to buy books outright like I once did.

[fresnelly]

I still have my hometown library card that I got while in elementary school.

[noodle]

How I Became Stupid by Martin Page
PopCo by Scarlett Thomas
and I recently enjoyed Booty Nomad and The Big Happy by Scott Mebus for bathtub reading.
I doing The Full Cleveland now.
I only do library books. I'll keep up my list.

[guthmund]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Have you ever read Orson Scott Card's Ender series?

Good start. Just kind of avoid everything else. Pseudonyms included.

I always recommend Dune. I've been told the series as a whole is a bit of an acquired taste, but the first book, I believe, is solid enough for just about anyone. It's no Ayn Rand, but then again.....

[Willravel]

Ah, Dune, of course. I find that it's best people stop at Chapterhouse Dune, but stopping at Children of Dune would probably be fine.

All non-Frank Herbert Dune is heresy.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by fresnelly

I still have my hometown library card that I got while in elementary school.

I do too, actually. Unfortunately that's two towns ago now. I have mine from teenagerhood somewhere as well.

And please do, noodle.

I am amassing quite a list.

[jorgelito]

Try the Alchemist. It;s a wonderful book. You will love it. Highly recommended.

[Fremen]

We live outside the city limits, so no library card for me.

But, I have a lovely book recommendation for you, Snowy. The Name of the Wind

It's the first of a trilogy.

[ShaniFaye]

Snowy, if you want to read some really good romance books I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend Lynn Kurland, she rights scottish time travel books (not as deep as the outlander books but very entertaining and not as predictable as you normally get with romance books) I really cant say enough good things about her stuff

[Poppinjay]

After I graduated, I read almost everything at my branch library. I still hit it up regularly.

I strongly back up Sapiens' Confederacy of Dunces recommend. Until you've read that, you haven't read American lit. Not to sound condescending, but wow. What a book.

Also, Tropic of Cancer, Canticle for Liebowitz, everything Sinclair Lewis wrote but especially Babbit, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Jude the Obscure is a definite, Crime and Punishment, graphic novelist Peter Bagge would be in line with your region - he's great, also Will Eisner - a former Disney GA who drew the most amazing graphic novels about the development of ethnic life in NYC - Dropsie Avenue is stunning, and Maus I and II.

From more recent times, Richard Russo is very good at describing the current climate on upstate New York. With him though, he tends to write the same book over and over, but the details are good.

Yeah, I don't get out much.

edit: Persepolis I and II. Marjane Satrapi rocks my world.

[Redlemon]

How about Harry Potter Light?

Seriously, I just read the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events books. It had a very Potter feel to them, in that they are self-contained books, but contain a narrative arc that covers the whole 13 book series, and get more complex as they go on (no magic, however). They are easy reads, but the author has a lot of fun with language nonetheless.

Great books to get from the library, because it would cost a lot to get all of them, you can finish each one in a couple of hours, and you probably wouldn't read them a second time.

[guthmund]

Originally Posted by Willravel

Ah, Dune, of course. I find that it's best people stop at Chapterhouse Dune, but stopping at Children of Dune would probably be fine.

All non-Frank Herbert Dune is heresy.

So say we all.




I'm picking up the third book in Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy this afternoon. The first two were a bit plodding in places, but were still a pretty enjoyable read.

Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason is pretty good as well, although you can certainly get bogged down in the details, especially when she starts talking history.

For lighter reading, I just finished Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller for the second time. Mostly fluff, but full of that dry British wit that he and Stephen Fry do so well.

[fresnelly]

Another great read that I recommend is Patrick Suskind's Perfume. Perhaps you saw the movie adaptation with Alan Rickman in the cast.

It's set in 18th century France and follows the life of a man with a freakishly heightened sense of smell. The effect of this is not what you might expect.

At the very least, I recommend the movie.

[jorgelito]

Originally Posted by fresnelly

Another great read that I recommend is Patrick Suskind's Perfume. Perhaps you saw the movie adaptation with Alan Rickman in the cast.

It's set in 18th century France and follows the life of a man with a freakishly heightened sense of smell. The effect of this is not what you might expect.

At the very least, I recommend the movie.

Second recommendation for Perfume. I haven't seen the movie, didn't even know they had one, but the book is great.