Any book recommendations for a reader in need of a new adventure?

[Sorry!]

Well I haven't been really doing much of anything lately. Used to fill up my time with chilling with my friends over the summer but they are all back to studies :D.

I like to read though but I don't know which books are out that are good enough to go out and look for/buy.

The last book I bought that I really enjoyed was The Host by stephenie meyer... it was actually a really good book (same author as twilight series... haven't read those books).

Before that I read Oryx and Crake by Margaret atwood... i hear she's come out with a new book that goes hand in hand with this book have any of you guys read it? any thoughts on it?

Anywho yeah what books would you guys suggest :)

EDIT: Yeah I'm also thinking about that new Richard Dawkins book have any of you guys read it yet? It's kind of pricey though so I don't want to go get it if it'll be a wasteful read.

 

[lisab]

So you're looking for fiction? I don't read it much. But my mom sent me this book many years ago...https://www.amazon.com/dp/140003065X/?tag=pfamazon01-20, by Rohinton Mistry.

It's haunting.

 

[czelaya]

What types of books are you looking for in particular? Science (for general audiences), textbooks, fiction, historical, political philosophy, ect...

 

[Evo]

Have you already read the classics and are looking for newer books?

 

[Sorry!]

Have you already read the classics and are looking for newer books?

Yeah. Sorry I didn't clarify that :D. And I like books like Life of Pi, the Host, Handmaids Tale, 1984. But I'm also interested in science type of books philosophy too.

 

[206PiruBlood]

This book is extremely profound if you are into this sort of thing. The Gulag Archipelago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061253804/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[jgens]

Since you like A Handmaid's Tale and 1984 you should read Brave New World by Aldous Huxely, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, Anthem by Ayn Rand, and Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. These are all classic dystopian novels and make for really interesting reading.

Some other recommendations:
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

 

[Andre]

I would recommend an encyclopedia.

Besides that, if 1984 was impressive, you also are of course familiar with Animal Farm and probably Tolstoy's war and piece or La tulipe noir [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/965](the Black Tulip)[/url].

 

[GeorginaS]

Before that I read Oryx and Crake by Margaret atwood... i hear she's come out with a new book that goes hand in hand with this book have any of you guys read it? any thoughts on it?

Yes, I've read it, and I even attended one of Atwood's full-on performances for the book launch in Calgary last month. It was great.

Her new book is called The Year of the Flood and its storyline is contemporaneous with Oryx and Crake. Meaning that Oryx and Crake dealt with the scientific community being the elite society driving social change when a Bad Thing Happened. There were other parts of society functioning at the same time that Snowman and Crake were doing their thing, and that's the story that's told in Flood. The consequences of good intentions in scientific advancement as controlled by for-profit companies abounds in this new book as well as finishing up the "and then what happened?" from the previous book.

I recommend it.

 

[Sorry!]

Yes, I've read it, and I even attended one of Atwood's full-on performances for the book launch in Calgary last month. It was great.

Her new book is called The Year of the Flood and its storyline is contemporaneous with Oryx and Crake. Meaning that Oryx and Crake dealt with the scientific community being the elite society driving social change when a Bad Thing Happened. There were other parts of society functioning at the same time that Snowman and Crake were doing their thing, and that's the story that's told in Flood. The consequences of good intentions in scientific advancement as controlled by for-profit companies abounds in this new book as well as finishing up the "and then what happened?" from the previous book.

I recommend it.

Hey, wow that book sounds really good. I really enjoyed Oryx and Crake.

@Andre, I used to read through the Encyclopedia britanica all the time at my grandparents house lol :P and then I got it on cd :). I haven't read War and Peace but I've heard it's an extremely good book I'm just not sure if I would enjoy it.

@jgens woah thanks for that list :) I've read a couple on there already but most of them I've never even heard of. I'll go to the book store see what I can dig up.

Thanks guys :)

 

[Freddy_Turnip]

I have Richard Dawkins new book The Greatest Show On Earth. It's very good. I got mine for £10 which was half price when it was released.

 

[Monique]

You should try the books by Oliver Sacks, they are fascinating accounts on the workings of the brain.

 

[Moonbear]

I really enjoyed Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. There's a sequel to it, The Secret Speech, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first book.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain always cheers me up.

 

[magpies]

This is my fav book of all time... The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Look into it.

 

[Kronos5253]

If you're looking for fantasy, and if you happen to like things similar to J.R. Tolkien, I'm currently obsessed with 2 series..

1) The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan. It's a 12 book series, and the 12th book hasn't come out yet, but it's an excellent series, and he's been called the next Tolkien. Multiple awards for it. The series starts off slow, but as you go on, it gets really good.

Overview:
The Wheel of Time (abbreviated by fans to WoT) is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the late American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, it now consists of twelve published novels. The first volume of the final book has been published, with two more volumes to come. There is also a prequel novel and a companion book available. Rigney began writing the first volume, The Eye of the World, in 1984 and it was published in February 1990.[1] He died while working on the final volume, which will be completed by fellow fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. The final book is to be split up into three volumes, the first of which was published October 27 2009. The other two books are tentatively scheduled for release in November 2010 and November 2011.[2]

The series draws on elements of both European and Asian mythology, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Hinduism and Buddhism and the concepts of balance, duality and a respect for nature found in Daoism. It was also partly inspired by Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.[3]

The Wheel of Time is notable for its length, its detailed imaginary world, its well-developed magic system and a large cast of characters. The eighth through eleventh books each reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. As of August 12, 2008 the series has sold over 44 million copies worldwide[4] and has spawned a computer game, roleplaying game and a soundtrack album. The television and film rights to the series have been optioned several times, most recently by Universal Studios.
-From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time" )


2) The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Extremely well written! I got sucked into the book so much that I barely slept from reading it. It's supposed to be a 3 book series, but it's new, and only the first book is out so far.

Overview on the inside cover:
My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.

"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.

My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of Kvothe—from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name of the Wind is so much more—for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.

From the website (http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/books.asp" )


Also, aside from that, there's another series that I love that I got sucked into:
The Dragaeran books by Steven Brust.
It's a series of books based around the character Vlad Taltos (Pronounced tal-tosh)

These are the books in the series that are out so far:
The Vlad Taltos novels (19 are planned in this series)
Jhereg (1983)
Yendi (1984)
Teckla (1987)
Taltos (1988)
Phoenix (1990)
Athyra (1993)
Orca (1996)
Dragon (1998)
Issola (2001)
Dzur (2006)
Jhegaala (2008)

I've read up to Issola, and they're fantastically written. If you want more details, you can check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Brust" .

Hope this helps :)