Good Books
 

So..I want to start reading books. I'm just not sure what's good.

Things that interest me are..

True Stories/Documentary's (Murder, Mafia..That type of thing)
War
Suspense

Any suggestions are appreciated, Thanks.

Well if you like true stories and war, then Band Of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose would be a good place to start

If you like war stories - -Jeffrey and Michael Shaara have a series of books written on pretty much every war...

On the civil war, he's got Gods and Generals (movie was based on this book and they must have read a different book), The Killer Angels (gettysburg was based on this book), The Last Full Measure
Gone for Soliers was the Mexcan War
The Glorious Cause and Rise to Rebellion were on the Revolutiinary war
To The Last Man was on WW1 and absolutely brilliant

His books are great, historically accurate, great characters... and just wonderfully written

Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer.

Stephen Ambrose is a good read, just be aware he's not the world's best historian.

As for your enjoyment of murder--go to your local used bookstore and look in their true crime section. Ann Rule writes great books about serial killers on the West Coast. She wrote a great one called The Stranger Beside Me which is all about Ted Bundy. She also came out with a book about the Green River Killer about a year ago called Green River, Running Red. The true crime section should be full of books that appeal to you :)

If you like history and war, I urge you to explore historical fiction as a genre you might enjoy. As I usually read historical fiction about women, I won't make any recommendations, but I did recently read one called Push Not the River that used the annexation of Poland by Russia as its backdrop. Very interesting.

Hope that helps.

Cecelia Holland, Dorothy Dunnet, Mary Stewart, C.S. Forrester for your historical fiction - they all write wonderfully. A good quick read in the form of a modern mystery is John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series - they have a colour in the title such as The Green Ripper or The Quick Red Fox.

You should definitely check out Tim O'Brien since you like war books. Pretty much everything he writes is related to his experience fighting in Vietnam (even the books that aren't necessarily about war). If I Die in a Combat Zone is the actual memoir, but The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato are excellent fictional accounts. My personal favorites are the ones with soldiers/vets as main characters, but not set during the war, particularly Northern Lights and [i]In the Lake of the Woods[i].

I just read Master and Commander. If you are into naval battles, etc. it is an awesome book.

"Lies My Teacher Told Me"
it's about the messed up documentation of American history.

for documentary stuff, try Michael Moore... but he's more political.

when i need a really good suspense/murder novel, i head for Patricia Cornwall's stuff.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. Great read if you want "true" stories.

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer - A well-known and entertaining fictional book about WWII.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - a humorous fictional book about WWII, far less serious than The Naked and the Dead

This book was way better than the movie, as so many books are. Also any of Wilbur Smith's book's are wonderful, esp. the Hal Courtney series about priveteers from England, in South Africa. (Ha Ha- beat you to the punch, dearest yournamehere!)

The "da Vinci Code" was kinda fun. A quick easy read too. The movie might be better if it's handled well......

Thanks for the suggestions..I'm gonna try to check out as many as i can..But Tim O'brien..Is at the top of my list i think.

Wiseguys- book based on Henry Hill's life in the mafia later made into the movie "Goodfellas."



Fear and loathing in Las Vegas- Hunter S. Thompson's book of drugs and paranoia in 1960's Las Vegas.

Sven Hassel, and his novels about his motley crew in WW2. Part history, part fiction, but such a realistic version of Nazi Germany it hurts.

From True Crime ...

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote was chilling... the visuals from the book dont leave you anytime soon

Joe McGinniss is another great true crimer writer... Fatal Vision was one about the green beret doctor who murdered his wife and two daugthers... It was a made for tv movie that didn't do the book justice. Cruel Doubt was another good one - about a couple who was murdered (carried out during a game of dungeons and dragons) BLind Faith was another of his husband killed the wife murder mysteries... They are pretty good beach reads - they go quick and are interesting stories.

There is a very interesting book about Billy Mulligan. I think it might be called the Mind of Billy Mulligan or something like that. Anyway, it is about a guy who lived in Ohio. He had many multiple personalities and committed many crimes. The first half of the books is about his therapy and meeting the personalities. The second half deals with the trial. Very interesting and thought provoking.