I need something to read for vacations

[Borek]

I am leaving in a few days, and I want something to read for my Kindle. Preferably something free (in a legal way), but not necessarily. Fiction, science fiction, popular science, generally anything, as long as it is a good read.

I already bought The Player of Games by Banks, I also have some Polish crime fiction, Russian fiction (including Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment - somehow I never read it before) and Russian science fiction (Monday Begins on Saturday - I read it in Polish many times and love the book,). Last year I read Darwin's On the Origin of Species. That's not to show off, more like to explain what I mean by "generally anything"

 

[HayleySarg]

Have you read Nick Sagan's "Idlewild" series? They're very good. Sci-fi related.

Pygmalion is probably free. It's a great read as a play. It was later adapted as "My Fair Lady" but it's much darker in it's original form.

 

[zoobyshoe]

If you like crime fiction I must recommend the novels of Lee Child.

Try his first book, The Killing Floor. In it you meet Jack Reacher, ex military brat and ex army M.P., who wanders the U.S. with only the clothes on his back, trying to get to know the country he served in dozens of overseas military bases, a personal journey interrupted time and time again throughout the books when he runs into horrendous injustices that need righting, a thing he's willing to do, using his physical strength and police training in a completely vigilante way.

The author calls his books, "justice fantasies". Very apt characterization. The bad guys are usually very twisted, violent sociopaths, and you can't help rooting for Reacher despite the fact he operates by his own law.

 

[FlexGunship]

I am leaving in a few days, and I want something to read for my Kindle. Preferably something free (in a legal way), but not necessarily. Fiction, science fiction, popular science, generally anything, as long as it is a good read.

I already bought The Player of Games by Banks, I also have some Polish crime fiction, Russian fiction (including Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment - somehow I never read it before) and Russian science fiction (Monday Begins on Saturday - I read it in Polish many times and love the book,). Last year I read Darwin's On the Origin of Species. That's not to show off, more like to explain what I mean by "generally anything"

I just finished The City and The City by China Mieville. It's a "weird fiction" crime story set in the fictional twin cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma. The twist is that the cities occupy the same physical space with only slight architecture cues to indicate which city a particular building is in. Suffice it to say the story is very compelling.

 

[turbo]

I recently learned of Orson Scott Card's homophobia, and don't want to put any money in his pocket, but Ender's Game is a good read.

 

[Borek]

Have you read Nick Sagan's "Idlewild" series? They're very good. Sci-fi related.

Noted.

The Killing Floor

I like the language of the sample, pretty simple English, at the same time powerful.

I just finished The City and The City by China Mieville.

Noted.

Ender's Game is a good read.

I already have it both in Polish and in English.

 

[lisab]

I liked "Life of Pi". Not a heavy story, but it's a pleasant vacation book.

 

[DiracPool]

I just mentioned this in another thread, "2010: Odyssey 2" is a great summer vacation read. I used to read a chapter a day last summer at my local bohemian coffee house which had it in their lavish sci-fi library. Clarke also came out with a third in the series "2061: Odyssey 3" (how imaginative). I only got about into the second chapter of that book until it mysteriously disappeared from the coffee shop. Perhaps you could give me a report on it when you get back?

 

[StevieTNZ]

"My Beloved World" by Sonia Sotomayor :P

Or for QM discussion - "Sneaking a Look at God's Cards" by GianCarlo Ghirardi

"Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone" by Sophocles

 

[HayleySarg]

If you chose to read Idlewild (and the sequels, Edenborn and Everfree), the less you look into the book before you read it, the more enjoyable it will be.

In fact, reading about it beforehand may spoil it entirely. It's one of those books.

 

[jim hardy]

"Mutant Message Down Under" is one of those strange little books that leaves you feeling somehow changed...

I love classic sea stories
"Two Years before the Mast" dana
"Moby Dick" Melville
"Typhoon" , "Heart of Darkness" Conrad (latter morphed into movie "Apocalypse Now" )..
...see also http://conrad-centre.w.interia.pl/pages/home_en.html
"Cruise of the Cachalot" bullen
"Sailing Alone around the World" slocum

 

[lisab]

Oh, on a camping trip once I read Harry Potter . Nice book to plow through, sitting in a hammock on a warm day, with nothing better to do.

 

[ProgressNation]

Hello! Have you read about Nikola Tesla? Have you ever heard about him? Read his biography, he's a wonderful inventor! And I'm recently reading his biography via reading a book called "Wizard: Nikola Tesla, Biography of a genius" by an admirable writer "Marc J. Seifer". It is just incredibly awesome! I really advise you to buy that stunning book. Or read his biography on any website. Good luck!

 

[lisab]

Hello! Have you read about Nikola Tesla? Have you ever heard about him?

Nah, I'm pretty sure Borek has never heard of Tesla.

 

[ProgressNation]

Nah, I'm pretty sure Borek has never heard of Tesla.

Lol... Did you read about him? Did you read the book?

 

[lisab]

Lol... Did you read about him? Did you read the book?

Yes I know of him, he was really amazing. Maybe I'll read the book now, on your recommendation!

It's a good bet that *everyone* on this site knows about Tesla.

But let's not hijack Borek's thread .

 

[zoobyshoe]

I like the language of the sample, pretty simple English, at the same time powerful.

He's a very clean, clear writer, which makes the books an easy read. The plots are also extremely exiting. Together they make exactly what you asked for: a good read. I got sucked into them and read all 17 Reacher novels in about 6 months.

 

[ProgressNation]

Yes I know of him, he was really amazing. Maybe I'll read the book now, on your recommendation!

It's a good bet that *everyone* on this site knows about Tesla.

But let's not hijack Borek's thread .

Yes go for it and read the book! I just ordered it from the amazon. And yes Tesla is surely amazing, he's the one who invented the AC current! I just enjoy reading this book! Good luck!

 

[marcusl]

I really enjoyed Pettersen, Out Stealing Horses, and Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I think of both of them as good summer reads.

 

[lisab]

I liked "A Fine Balance," although it's depressing as hell.

 

[Bacle2]

I liked "Shutting out the Sun" , by Michael Zielenzinger, about post 90's Japan, when it sort-of imploded. The book explores Japanese society from the perspective of the social phenomenon of the "Hikikomori"; children who live at home (they literally stay at home, even for years at a time; their parents feed them under the door of their room) for years, even into their early thirties. Postwar Japan was expected to surpass the US economically during the 80's, but somehow its economy ultimately fizzled during the 90's. The author of the book explores the reason for this thru the lense of the Hikikomori and contrasts Japan's implosion with South Korea's vitality.

I found it interesting, but I , and many people who know way more than me about the topic, believe the book only/mostly depicts negative aspects of Japanese society.

 

[Chronos]

I kinda liked Carlos Casteneda, but, then again I also like Douglas Adams.

 

[Borek]

If you like crime fiction I must recommend the novels of Lee Child.

Try his first book, The Killing Floor.

Definitely good read, thanks. One thing (apart from a huge hole in the plot) that I didn't like in the end was the language. Short phrases that looked good on the first few pages, where they made the action/narration fast, became boring and irritating later. Luckily, they became boring for the author too, so he started to use complex-compound sentences and the narration became fluent (instead of chopped).

After that I have also read King's On Writing and then started to fight my way through Crime and Punishment in Russian - that was a killer move, turned out I was too slow to finish it before getting back, so I have not read anything else.