HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Neil Gaiman is the best if you don't mind the main characters a bit quirky. A lot of the (dark) characters in his books remind of the bogey men in the woods on a walk home from a friends at dusk. or the yellow man under the bed. He can sorta tap into your childhood fears during his few scary scenes. But he's totally not horror, just an awesome fantasy writer. I really liked American Gods too but this one is a little more awesome imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 JVoR has read ALL of them I think, lol. But he's told me not to read them because he doesn't think it's worth it. Yep, they progressively get worse as the series goes on. I would totally agree with that. The last one is especially frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Unfortunately this is book 3 in a 12 book series, don't know how it is as a stand alone but it's awesome. Agent Pendergast >>>>Sherlock Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I've read most of the Stephen King classics but tbh, this is probably my favorite of his books. Greatest "Monster" of all time imo. A little tedious and a little too long but, like Simmons', The Terror, the ending makes it worth while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 For those with a sick, twisted sense of humor...from the guy who wrote Fight Club. This or This or this all his books are good though imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I heard good things about Lullaby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I heard good things about Lullaby. It's hard to just recommend one if his books. They are all completely ****ed up but just in different ways. You'll find yourself trying to remember a lot quotes throughout. Lullaby might be best to start bc there's more characters in it to identify with. That or, Haunted. Most of his other books just follow one (****ed up) protagonist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 It's hard to just recommend one if his books. They are all completely ****ed up but just in different ways. You'll find yourself trying to remember a lot quotes throughout. Lullaby might be best to start bc there's more characters in it to identify with. That or, Haunted. Most of his other books just follow one (****ed up) protagonist. Cool, I will give it a try when i finish the book I'm in now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 I completely agree. It starts off so good and then the whole scene, when they go underground is so great. It builds itself up and then all the sudden, it's a christmas party and I don't give a sh*t about his family. I'm still hoping Drood is not who Dickens is saying he is. I'm hoping it's all a lie to cover up something. But ole Wilkie needs to pick up the pace. Anyway, keep in mind I've read a couple different Simmons books. The Terror, which was literally a terror to read, like 800 pages or something, ended up being one of my favorite books of all time...but more due to the last 200 pages than anything else. He also has an awesome book Carrion Comfort, which is about mind vampires dating back to the Nazi concentration camps. That said I checked goodreads and Drood has a lower score than most of his other, more recent, books. Let me know and I'll let you know, if or when either of us makes it through. In the end the guy has never let me down. LOL, I'm just hoping I didn't end up turning you on to the wrong book. Oh, you haven't finished reading it either? I'll make it through, the writing is excellent, as I mentioned, and I get what he's doing - he's pushing real hard on the Wilkie is jealous of Dickens things. I just hope it ends up being with purpose, otherwise why devote hundreds of pages to hammering home the idea, when it was evident within the first 10 pages? Don't worry about "turning me onto the wrong book". Reading a disappointing book is still better than not reading at all. Besides, there's more to is than just the story, there's the character development, the actual writing style, I kind of try to absorb it all. I'm a visual storyteller, with the work I do in branding, and writing is a skillset I've been working hard to fold in the past couple years. Your suggestion got a book in front of me, there's nothing but gratitude for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Also, I thought with all the nerds this thread was going to get more play. Somewhat disappointing.... Me too! Ok, so here's a good list imo: Ape, if you were to ever take my advice again on a book, PLEASE make it this one. It's a super easy read and if I had to pick out a book with a character you'd probably identify yourself with, it's Ender. LOL. Also they are turning this into a movie sometime this year or next, can't remember. FYI, the theme is Sci-fi but this is more of a military book than anything else. The Sci-fi is just a backdrop. It is now in the queue, next time I see it I'll buy it. I'm super curious to see why you think I'd identify with the title character and whether that's a veiled insult, a compliment or a complete mischaracterization of me based on my mafia play stupidity. Hahahah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Hess, I read Invisible Monsters today. Pretty insane! It started off very strong, but I felt like it got really heavy-handed toward the end. I would definitely like to read another one of his books in the future, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Dan X, on 03 Mar 2013 - 14:09, said: Hess, I read Invisible Monsters today. Pretty insane! It started off very strong, but I felt like it got really heavy-handed toward the end. I would definitely like to read another one of his books in the future, though. Oh nice! Yeah that one is from a woman's perspective. His books are so f'd up they blend in my mind but I think she's driving around Seattle, gets into an accident? All about vanity whatnot, boyfriend...best friends. So now that you've read one of his books you get the picture. Alway a f'd up main character, who, if you were more sympathetic towards, you'd feel so horrible about what happens to them, but really, you don't care, because this person isn't really all that great, so you can just sit back and enjoy all the horrors instead of feeling any apathy. LOL, something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Oh nice! Yeah that one is from a woman's perspective. His books are so f'd up they blend in my mind but I think she's driving around Seattle, gets into an accident? All about vanity whatnot, boyfriend...best friends. So now that you've read one of his books you get the picture. Alway a f'd up main character, who, if you were more sympathetic towards, you'd feel so horrible about what happens to them, but really, you don't care, because this person isn't really all that great, so you can just sit back and enjoy all the horrors instead of feeling any apathy. LOL, something like that. Yeah, lol. It's about the model who got shot in the face and birds ate what was left of her jaw. At one point it felt like there was a new twist every 10 pages. Lol I'm going to read a couple of books as buffer in between because I'm pretty squeamish, but I think I want to try Choke next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I got my Drood mojo back going... and got through a good 30-40 pages last night, re-lit my interest at about page 300. I also ordered Ender's Game, but I have a couple career-related books I need to read first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthe Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 This may come as a surprise to you but I am responding without reading the thread. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Fantastic character development, plot is a bit fantastic but more grounded than most, lovely writing style reminiscent of live storytelling) The Fault in our Stars - John Greene (Just trust me) The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman (One of the best pieces of realistic fiction that I have ever read) The Crooked Letter - Tad Williams (An odd book, somewhat eclectic, but enjoyable and unique) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 This may come as a surprise to you but I am responding without reading the thread. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Fantastic character development, plot is a bit fantastic but more grounded than most, lovely writing style reminiscent of live storytelling) The Fault in our Stars - John Greene (Just trust me) The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman (One of the best pieces of realistic fiction that I have ever read) The Crooked Letter - Tad Williams (An odd book, somewhat eclectic, but enjoyable and unique) I really liked, The Name of the Wind. I bought, The Wise Man's Fear, right when it came out...yet still haven't gotten to it. It's just another big book on my soon to must read list. In Name of the Wind, I really like his sidekick, Bast. I've always liked the cooler sidekicks in most stories for whatever reason...Doc Holiday, Tonto, Watson, Han Solo etc...lol. I hope we eventually learn more about him too....Bast that is. A few parts come out a little lame for me...when Kvothe is lost in the woods with the girl....the giant lizard thing and love story part is a little meh. And the entire...long book, is just constantly tantalizing you. It's like the guy (author) loves leaving cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. But it's a cool story...sorta reminds me of a more adult version of a cross between the Eragon and Harry Potter books...but he does spin things to make them more "realistic" and less magical...yet you're still reading fantasy...with the giant spiders and rumor of beasts whatnot....if I remember right. I really like(d) the survival parts of him as a kid/young man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthe Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I have to agree. The author wanted to feed the story in such a way that it could be told in front of a fire it seems but he ends up cutting almost everything short. That was a detractor for long reading sessions but I particularly enjoyed that aspect when I had enough time to read for 30 minutes to an hour and then had to go, it always left me guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Oh nice! Yeah that one is from a woman's perspective. His books are so f'd up they blend in my mind but I think she's driving around Seattle, gets into an accident? All about vanity whatnot, boyfriend...best friends. So now that you've read one of his books you get the picture. Alway a f'd up main character, who, if you were more sympathetic towards, you'd feel so horrible about what happens to them, but really, you don't care, because this person isn't really all that great, so you can just sit back and enjoy all the horrors instead of feeling any apathy. LOL, something like that. I finished Choke yesterday! It was pretty good. I liked Invisible Monsters better, even through it was way more disturbing, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I finished Choke yesterday! It was pretty good. I liked Invisible Monsters better, even through it was way more disturbing, lol. Choke's my favorite! It was his first book I read and the main character just makes me laugh. I started really hoping he was really Jesus lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan. Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Choke's my favorite! It was his first book I read and the main character just makes me laugh. I started really hoping he was really Jesus lol. Lol I was too! I got excited for a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaHel Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Great thread. I need some new tips. Here are some of my favourites. I´m sure you have already read most of them. Favourites are of course LotR and WoT. I like many of Paulo Coelho´s books. My favourite is The Witch of Portobello. I loved The Kite Runner but I haven´t seen the film. A thousand Splendid Suns was good too. I liked Paul Auster´s New York trilogy but I have only read the first two. One of my favourite Swedish author is Jonas Hassen Khemiri. Aparently only one of his books are translated to English - Montecore: The Silence of the Tiger. Should you only read one Swedish book in your life then this is a great choice. I read a lot of books for teenagers and young adult since I take care of the school library at the school I work in. Recently I read On the Jellicoe Road which was great. If I want to laugh I read The Hitchhiker´s Guide to the Galaxy (the first three) and the Discworld books (Mort is my favourite). Books on my to read list: Mistborn: The Hero of Ages, American Gods (I started it but put it away and for some reason never picked it up again) and Snow by Orhan Pamuk. I started to read Snow many years ago and it was an amazing book. It´s a complicated book and I needed total concentration to read it. I put it down for a week and then I had forgotten a lot of details which made it impossible to continue reading. One day I will read it again, when I know I have a lot of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I got my Drood mojo back going... and got through a good 30-40 pages last night, re-lit my interest at about page 300. I also ordered Ender's Game, but I have a couple career-related books I need to read first. I finished it! I finally finished it! Once again, I feel very satisfied after reading one of Simmons' never ending stories. I don't love this one like, The Terror. It's about 200 pages too long. Some parts were so boring I dropped the book for a couple weeks before coming back. (Christmas dinner scenes, etc). But all in all, a means to an end, the boringess also flushes out the characters so much more. And I loved the ending. Very different in style. You can make what you want of it. (Like, Your conclusion and my conclusion might be completely different from the same book, very cool) Also, I think Del Toro is making this into a movie. My guess is it will be pure awesome. A good enough reason to finish it IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallia Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I adore The Clan of the Cave Bear series. My favorite (Next to Wheel of Time of course!) And the Hunger Games books were pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWWombat Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Patrick Rothfuss is amazing. Can't wait for the third book to come out. My favorite scene is where Kvothe plays for his pipes at the Eolian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 I finished it! I finally finished it! Once again, I feel very satisfied after reading one of Simmons' never ending stories. I don't love this one like, The Terror. It's about 200 pages too long. Some parts were so boring I dropped the book for a couple weeks before coming back. (Christmas dinner scenes, etc). But all in all, a means to an end, the boringess also flushes out the characters so much more. And I loved the ending. Very different in style. You can make what you want of it. (Like, Your conclusion and my conclusion might be completely different from the same book, very cool) Also, I think Del Toro is making this into a movie. My guess is it will be pure awesome. A good enough reason to finish it IMO. I need to pick it back up - I've been working non-stop on the home purchase, move, home improvements, freelance work and my day job. Eventually, I do plan to finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWWombat Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Ender is awesome btw. His "real" name is also Andrew. I prefer Bean but that's cuz I'm a huge nerd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I need to pick it back up - I've been working non-stop on the home purchase, move, home improvements, freelance work and my day job. Eventually, I do plan to finish it. Yeah you need to read Ender's Game. Coming out as movie this fall. Quick, fun read. The other books in series, not so much. Although I liked them, the series gets ultra confusing and sci fi weird. But Ender's Game is more universal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWWombat Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Yeah, the sequels are kinda meh. Sorta like the Dune sequels. That being said, the "parallel novels" that tell Bean's story (Ender's Shadow etc.) are pretty good imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Yeah, the sequels are kinda meh. Sorta like the Dune sequels. That being said, the "parallel novels" that tell Bean's story (Ender's Shadow etc.) are pretty good imo. Bean's a little prick in Ender's though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWWombat Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 He just doesn't want anyone to think less of him imo. Ender does some of that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I will say Speaker for the Dead, second Ender book, was really good too IMO flushes the story out more. Then sh*t hits the fan and we're world jumping in different times and space and realities and that stupid bitch and her family from whatever the world is called. Good series but really, Ender's Game, is the hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacmule Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Nerds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthe Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I just finished The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle and it was wonderful. Highly recommending it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthe Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I still like Bean more. Ender is clueless as to how good Bean really is and when you read Enders shadow you finally get how uppity a c*nt Ender really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HessStation Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I still like Bean more. Ender is clueless as to how good Bean really is and when you read Enders shadow you finally get how uppity a c*nt Ender really is. Ender slowly fades into a beaten man in the Ender series. What's weird though is, in hindsight, I didn't like what happened to him as I read the books but now that i think about it, it was actually more of a realistic human portrayal, given all that happens to him. I guess that's part of what's so good about it all. At the time I was like, WTF Ender, come on, you're the hero of the story. But really, the books weren't made for kids. This is what really probably happens to kid geniuses with lost childhoods, lack of any real love and isolation throughout their lives. Something to be said for the real ness of it. I didn't read te Shadow series but read some of the cliff notes for more scale into that world. Bean in Enders Game is in fact the stronger of the two. Harder, more self aware and isn't littered with monumental guilt. Maybe not as brilliant...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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