Post a book that you enjoyed recently, along with a small summary of why you liked it. (there may already be a thread like this, but fresh starts are good too) Mr. Untouchable, by Leroy (Nicky) Barnes Written by the man himself, this Harlem drug lord tells the story of his rise to power. I enjoyed this book because it was a true story that reminded me that if you are focused, ambitious, and act with class, you can do anything.
The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy Pretty good storyline and well written, you're in the know of both sides' moves but not all their knowledge so it keeps you guessing, and it cuts about a lot so you don't get too bored. Way better than the film, and with the second half completely different.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Very interesting take on the whole sci-fi genre by training/involving child soldiers in a save-the-world space-based military operation. Thought the psychology that was explored during the book was also great, not to mention how you might think in zero-grav Definitely get the Audible version - it works incredibly well as an audiobook (probably because, as Card says in the post-book interview, he started off as a bare-stage playwright).
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman I picked this up not knowing that Austin was one of the lead designers on Deus Ex, which made this witty and funny tale of super heroes all the more funny. The characters are all more or less rips of the classic DC and Marvel heroes and villains, but with the equivalent of Superman apparently missing when the Lex Luthor-alike escapes it falls to the new kids to capture him before he becomes invincible.
Deception Point by Dan Brown Didn't really think you could write a thriller about NASA, but it turned out to be pretty good. The plot was quite straight forward and perhaps a bit predictable but not to the point where I'd put it down. It was full of suspense and had enough twists and tense situations to keep me turning pages. I think it'd make a good movie too.
Cities in Flight by James Blish Hardback edition with all 4 books in one read. Excellent example of a well thought out epic space opera. Real good as a re-read. Plots spanning the galaxy and all time. Well delivered characters. john
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Two novels in one: World War Two cryptography and espionage, and modern-day business skullduggery, cryptography, and treasure hunting. And it's by Neal Stephenson, which should be enough of a reason in its own right. (Same guy who wrote Snow Crash, which I would recommend, but I haven't read it recently.)
Crime never pays (Oxford University): A collection of short mystery stories written by big writers like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! It was small and pleasant! The reason I liked it was because I didnt have to wait a whole book the reach the killer.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Gives numerous statistical and example situations where people whom we normally think of as being geniuses are a product of luck. It was interesting to see the way that things you would not normally notice can contribute to the success of a person. It was a pretty good book, but got a bit boring to read by the end. I've read Cryptonomicon and Ender's Game. They are two top-notch books. I think I'll try reading Cities in the Sky when I get home from vacation, as I haven't read any good sci-fi lately.
The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams Been meaning to read this book for a while. I enjoy the randomness and adventure. the movie is quite good too. i just started the second book in the series, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
I recently finished The Road to Middle-earth, by Tom Shippey. Next up is his book, J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, after a few assorted diversions. It was a very insightful read, expanding my appreciation of both Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium as well as his lesser-known academic pursuits. I keep hearing good things about Ender's Game. I just might have to check it out. -monkey
Ooh, just got the audiobook of that... must get going. Still haven't listen to Gladwell's The Tipping Point though which is also supposed to be good
Reread that one recently, along with the others in the series (speaker for the dead, and some others I can't recall at the moment) A favorite book (since I haven't read anything to recommend recently) is "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtney. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_One Another one but a serious investment in time is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Recently he published the last book in the series (after like 20years!) and it's being published also in comic book form which I've seen a few episodes of. Trippy alternate worlds morality tale and mysticism ... kinda like a fantasy novel. Not horror related at all.
I'm currently working my way through all 15 books of the Dune Series again. Legends of Dune 1. The Butlerian Jihad 2. Dune The Machine Crusade 3. The Battle of Corrin Prelude to Dune 1. House Atreides 2. House Harkonnen 3. House Corrino Dune 1. Dune 2. Paul of Dune 3 .Dune Messiah 4. Children of Dune 5. God Emperor of Dune 6. Heretics of Dune 7. Chapter House Dune 8. Hunters of Dune 9. Sandworms of Dune Paul of Dune, Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune were all written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J.Anderson based on Manuscripts and the written layout that were discovered after Frank Herbert's Death so whilst being written in a slightly different way they do stay true to the idea that the original author had and are still worth reading. The Legends of Dune tells the tale of huw the suk doctors, the bene Gessit etc came to exist The Prelude of Dune tells the history of the three Major houses. But all 15 are worth reading.
Larry Niven's Ringworld. Excellent and thought provoking. Will start the rest of the series soon, but today I need to go buy the latest Alastair Reynolds novel; The house of suns.
Currently reading Nation by Terry Pratchett, it's a nice change of my normal reading materials (spec/data sheets)
But more seriously, has anyone read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami? That book is so good that every book you read afterwards will seem bad in comparison.
read that a couple of weeks back, hought it was pretty good, especially the authors notes page at the back. I'm currently working my way through the Dresden Files and re-reading the Discworld series again.
I'm working my way through the Legend of Drizzt series now by R.A. Salvatore. I've been reading a lot of "fantasy" lately and had the series recommended to me after finishing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I started in what is technically a prequel trilogy(Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn) but wouldn't say that I lost anything starting there. It starts from the day the main character is born and paints the picture of his race's society(that he rejects) very well. One thing I like a lot about it is the authors depiction of fights or battles - very detailed down to how the characters swing/parry/dodge... Another thing I like is hard to explain. During the normal chapters, some explanation of the main character's (Drizzt) reactions/thoughts/feelings toward what is going on around him are left out. The author adds sections between some chapters labeled as Part 1, Part 2, etc... These sections are written like journal entries directly from Drizzt's point of view about what has recently happened and what is to come.