(no subject)

[kippurbird]

Book recommendations! I need good book recommendations!

Comments

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Anything by Lois McMaster Bujold. Particularly:

Fantasy: Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls. The Spirit Ring. The first two are part of her "Chalion" universe, the second is an AU historical fantasy. There's also her recent The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, but that is just the first half of a book that cut in half byu her publisher for length, so you may want to wait until July when Part Two comes out.

Sci-Fi: Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, Borders of Infinity (short stories), Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance (Hugo Winner), Memory, Cetaganda. All part of her "Vorkosigan" series, but written to work as standalones. There are later books, but they depend a lot on knowing the cahracters to appreciate the background details.

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski!

O yeah, who didn't see that one coming?

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I've read some of her stuff... what was it... gah... I can't remember now. I liked it. It was her sci-fi series. There was this woman who married the enemy guy and ... things. Um baby born with weak bones... I'm not making much sense, am I?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

One more (if you like webcomics).

Terinu, a sci-fi graphic story written and drawn by Peta Hewitt. Excellent art, and good characterization. I will admit that the title character has "Stu" written all over him, but he's saved by not being perfect, and successfully irritating his friends whe nhe acts annoying.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

What's that one about?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

You're right on. The parents are Cordelia and Aral. The book where they meet, Shards of Honor I really don't reccomend since its LMB's first novel, and it shows. The direct sequel, Barrayar is much better. Their son is Miles, star of the other books I mentioned, born with several birth defects thanks to being poisoned in the womb.

-jeriendhal, Anal Fan

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

...haha. It's difficult to say.

I wrote a review in an entry for it a while back, because it was just...o my god...words can't describe how brilliantly WEIRD this book is! You'll never read anything like it.

For my newer, revised review I fixed and posted on my site recently, you can read about it here.

Other than that.... Just about anything by Neil Gaiman is orgasmic. Very, very orgasmic.

[custardpringle.livejournal.com]

I wrote fic (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/513181.html#cutid1) for it once, if that helps you get the book-- it's due South crossover, but an extensive knowledge of either canon really isn't required.

Another way to explain it is that my LJ layout is of Leaves themed, and no one can ever figure out how the links work.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes! Cordelia's honor, is what the book I had was called. I think it was a combination of Shards of honor and Barrayer. I have no idea what I did with that book. Huh.

[custardpringle.livejournal.com]

Told you before, but it bears repeating: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Gaiman is a godsend. I've read all his books. Loved American Gods and Anasasi Boys. He's just... like the Anti Paolini.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes. I just had a discussion about that book over dinner tonight actually.

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

O.

My.

I don't think I've ever even seen a "House of Leaves" fanfic before.

Judging by the layout you have it in, you've really got it down. Amazing!

("House of Leaves" icons + Love = Win.)

[custardpringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks-- I'm so glad you liked it!

[prototypical]

This recommendation is not light reading by any stretch of the imagination - the shortest book in the set is probably over 400 pages - but it's worth the read. Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars septology. Amazingly detailed fantasy, fun with religion (which is always a plus in my books), and the characters still pop up in my dreams. I have only read the first five, but I plan on going through the entire series slowly so I remember what's going on before I get to the end.

The titles (in order) are King's Dragon, Prince of Dogs, The Burning Stone, Child of Flame, The Gathering Storm, In the Ruins, and Crown of Stars

[lccorp2.livejournal.com]

*George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series.

*The Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay.

[searchingstars.livejournal.com]

Well, I think enjoying Paolini automatically disqualifies me as being able to pass along any "good" book recommendations :P but just in case...

Anything by Terry Pratchett, except for Strata and uh, Dark Side of the Moon (or is it Sun? I don't know. I didn't enjoy it so much, so I didn't pay that much attention. :P)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Read most of Pratchett. At least all his Discworld books. They kept me sane during the earlier parts of the analysis.

[oceans-heart.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels Trilogy yet?

[liritarofrohan.livejournal.com]

I always suggest Tad Williams' Otherland series. *Grins*

[spoofmaster]

Easy or hard? I'm always trying to get people to read Crime and Punishment, but if you want something less dense...hmm...you into Jane Austen? Sorry, keep recommending the old ones. Something more modern...Lawrence Block's burglar series (The Burglar in the Rye, The Burglar who Thought he was Bogart, etc) are nice, light mystery fare with a good writing style, but they get fairly repetitive from book to book and the narrator tends to withhold clues. Going back to older books, have you read the original Phantom of the Opera? It's pretty spiffy.

[dragonwhishes.livejournal.com]

... hmmm. A group of people in a completely bugfuck house, a guy named Johnny, and holy god is it the weirdest book you will ever put your hands on.

[the7bells.livejournal.com]

Dinotopia Lost :) I just finished it.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

Ursula K. Leguin is amazing. If you haven't read any Earthsea, you MUST do so.

Also, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series is amazing (and with the first movie coming out this year, now is the time to jump on the bandwagon). The first book is The Golden Compass (Northern Lights in the U.K.).

On a completely non-fantasy note, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is an accessible, readable overview of what we know about the universe: everything from the Big Bang to the the structure of atoms, from rocks to living things. It's like a crash course in Things That Make You Look Smart At Parties. And if you've read any Bryson, you know there's plenty of his wry, Britishy humor in there as well (and if you've not read Bryson, you should. Check out A Walk in the Woods or I'm a Stranger Here Myself).

[ghostgecko.livejournal.com]

2nding Pullman. I was highly amused to find the philosophy of the Church of Satan as a children's book!

Also Le Guin, although I wasn't as impressed with Earthsea. I'd recommend any of her short story collections, for example "The Birthday of the World" or "Changing Planes".

Let's see. I haven't read much fiction lately that I liked. "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull is a great example of how to write a sue-like character who manages not to be a sue at all. George R R Martin's "Fevre Dream" was a great vampire novel. I'd heartily recommend any of the Agent Pendergast books, especially "The Cabinet of Curiosities" and "Still Lufe With Crows". They're about Aloysius Pendergast, a genius albino FBI Agent from the deep south and the slightly x-filesesque mysteries he solves.