Hi. new to the thread and the book board in general but saw this thread title and decided to check. Ordered Ready Player One about a month ago and gonna take a break from ASOIAF to read it. Excited that nearly everyone has good reviews for it on here. Lonesome Dove is long as fuck but was the only school-assigned reading material that I carried around everywhere with me and read any amount I could even if I had very little time. Favorite book by far. Two others that I found really hard to put down and were great reads IMO: The Basketball Diaries and DaVinci Code. Hate that both the movies adaptations sucked dick.
Honestly, The DaVinci Code was a fun read. Dan Brown takes a healthy ration of shit for his books (and deservedly so for some, especially that last thing about overpopulation and shit), but The DaVinci Code was cool. Welcome.
Just to try and get a gauge are there classics that you're real in to? I've said it before but outside of Dune I've never found sci-fi shit appealing. On the previous page you said Name of the Wind is a top 10 book. I'm trying to figure out if I can take that seriously enough to give it a shot.
The Name of the Wind is fantasy, not science fiction and yeah it's pretty awesome. Rothfuss's prose is fantastic.
The Name of the Wind is really good. Rothfuss has a way of writing that is prosaic but not pretentious. I would highly recommend it. As far as classics that I enjoy... I'm kinda weird there. The things I consider classics that I enjoy would be H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Robert Howard, Tolkien... I like The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice & Men, most Shakespeare...
I read far more fantasy than I do classics, but my favorites in no particular order (Outside of classic fantasy) War and Peace Steinbeck (oM&M, EoE, GoW) Catch-22 Don Quixote To Kill a Mockingbird A Tale of Two Cities The Count of Monte Cristo among others
It's a little off-putting realizing it's all video log entries but you quickly learn that it suits that book. It reads so fucking well.
I just finished it over the course of a few days and thought it was pretty good. It's really straightforward/easy to read and reminded me a lot of the TV series Black Mirror. It's being turned into a movie with Tom Hanks and Emma Watson involved.
For some quick easy fantasy reads David Gemmell is great. I have mentioned him a few times on here with no responses. You fantasy guys need to give it a shot I need some reassurance that his books are as good as I think they are.
Well his first and most popular is Legend which is really good but kind of rough around the edges. Sword in the Storm and Lion of Macedon are really good. Really, if you like any of them you will like all of them.
Just got through Part Two of this, don't have the time to fly through, but it's been incredible so far.
dove into The Martian last night around 9. Next thing I know it's midnight and I'm on page 90. Excellent book so far and can't wait to do absolutely nothing but lay in the recliner and read tonight
So I'll probably be done with The Martian by the end of the weekend. Ready Player One up next and already waiting for me on the night stand What should the next one be? I like ordering them in advance and since the GF studies a lot on the week nights I think I'm gonna be reading a lot this semester while she studies.
Read Shantaram after seeing this post. Couldn't fly through it, but only bc iI had a wedding, then moved, then football season started. But I really really enjoyed this book. Thanks
Been really out of it on books lately, and have only listened to a fraction of the amount I was listening to from 2010-2015. It's a complete and total bummer. I really need a few books that really force me back into the game. Stephen Kings The Institute was a good start, though a bit slow early. Most things King are great. Would y'all put The First Law Trilogy on this list?
First Law is great. Not sure if I would put it in the cannot put down list but it would be close I guess.
Impulsively bought the first one today. We shall see how it goes. I have a few books on ice in my audio library that I just haven't brought myself to listen to yet, has anyone read any of these or are at least familiar with the authors? The Border by Don Winslow (Probably should just wrap up this trilogy first) Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell, John Bruning Strange Angel by George Pendel (Why do I even have this book?) A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling And then these I started, but just didn't finish or make it too far. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (The book I blame for actually pulling me out of wanting to listen to books anymore) Circe by Madeline Miller The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (Probably won't finish, got halfway through already) The Green Hills of Africa by Hemingway (MEH) Golden Lion by Wilbur Smith
I don't think I could have listened to Gardens of the Moon on audiobook the first time through. You're so lost and playing catch up at the beginning that it would be easy for my mind to wander. That said, Malazan is my favorite series of all time, and next time through will probably be on audiobook.
It's very tough. I knew it would get good once it caught on, I just never made it that far in 3 attempts at listening. The GF made it like 60% thru (maybe more) and was still lost, so that's when I kind of gave up as well.
Just finished Dune and Lonesome Dove for the first time, couldn’t put down either. I think Pillars of the Earth is up next, but also considering Shantaram, Leviathan Wakes, The Luminaries and The Earth is Weeping.
Solo Faces - James Salter The Hunters - James Salter Wildlife - Richard Ford End Zone - Don DeLillo Running Dog - Don DeLillo Libra - Don DeLillo The Moviegoer - Walker Percy Wise Blood - Flannery O'Connor Ironweed - William Kennedy for a variety of reasons I found those books especially easy to breeze through in one or two sittings
End Zone and Solo Faces would be really easy introductions to their worlds End Zone would be hugely popular here if more widely read
war and peace sounds like it would be difficult to get through if "large sections are philosophical discussions"
Neither of these are difficult reads in my opinion. LeonardWashington does wax philosophical in War and Peace but it works. I never felt bogged down.
Don Quixote is an easy read and the only book I’ve ever finished and immediately became depressed that it was over. War and Peace is boring as hell, but I’m a Dostoevsky>>>>>Tolstoy kinda guy
If you like gaiman, try neverwhere. I loved it. Story progresses much faster than American gods. American gods was intentionally meandering
Shantaram coming as a TV series and Charlie Hunnam is playing Lin. Can’t wait. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429087/ https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.476820480919623&type=3&mibextid=kchjpu