The Good Book Thread

[ziggy]

If you have a good book that you'd like to recommend then toss it into this thread.

Currently I'm reading "Intensity" by Dean Koontz ( I have about 80 pages left ) and it is really, really good. It puts you in the mind of a serial killer and the woman thats trying to escape him.

[spectre]

As I mentioned in the other thread "The Golden Compass" trilogy, also known as "His Dark Materials". I'm a sucker for unique plots and I haven't read another like this one with the possible exception of "Memnoch The Devil" by Ann Rice (another good read, NOT about vampires).

[TheBeagle]

You don't know the Pandora's Box you just opened up here, Ziggy!!!

So much good stuff to recommend, so little time....

For those of you who don't mind putting in a little work and like to be challenged and be thoroughly, thoroughly rewarded for it....none other than Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses. I'm currently re-reading it, and it's incredible how each reading uncovers more and more meaning. There's a reason it's considered one of the greatest works ever written in English.

For something not nearly as challenging but entertaining, how's about George Singleton's short story collection, The Half-Mammals of Dixie. They're all good, but the highlights are "This Itches, Y'all," "How to collect fishing lures," "Impurities," and the great "Deer Gone." All stories are set in a fictional small South Carolina town and are by and large humorous, with zany characters in a zany world all looking for a way to survive.

[amour217]

Hey Ziggy, you beat me to it! I was gonna make a thread about books yesterday but I fell asleep lol

right now I'm reading "The Man in White" by Johnny Cash, it's a novel about the Apostle Paul and it's really good.

Other books I recommend:
- Anything by Michael Connelly
- "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
- "Under and Alone" by William Queen (ATF agent goes undercover with the Mongols motorcycle gang..crazy book)

I read A LOT, so I'm sure I'll contribute to this thread often

[tamburello]

I'm a man of classical books. I love Russian literature and my favorite book is "Anna Karenina" of Leo Tolstoy. I modestly would recommend "A Clockwork Orange" of Anthony Burgess.

[ziggy]

If you're in the mood for something weird then I recommend "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War".
It gives accounts of the fictional Zombie War from people in different locations around the globe from the common man to people in the highest level of government.

Its a good and surprisingly realistic read.

[ziggy]

2 more books just popped into my mind, both by John Ridley
"Everybody Smokes in Hell" & "The Drift" both of these are a little bit comedy, a little bit crime novel with a touch of Elmore Leonard thrown in.

[dnbman]

If you're in the mood for something weird then I recommend "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War".
It gives accounts of the fictional Zombie War from people in different locations around the globe from the common man to people in the highest level of government.

Its a good and surprisingly realistic read.

On a similar note, the Zombie Survival Guide is hysterical. Highly recommended.

Although, that book might be better to pick up off the shelf and read in the store than to take home with you.

[TheBeagle]

Hell, if we're on a zombie kick, I'm going to offer up an incredible, unflinching comic book called The Walking Dead, written by Robert Kirkman and art by Charlie Adlard. As with most comics, the single issues are collected in a graphic novel series which I think gives it credence to being a book.

The story picks up after the country has been hit by some sort of zombie plague (it's yet to be revealed what caused it), follows a small town policeman who is trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse. A little summary doesn't do the ongoing series justice. Great drama, nice suspense, great dialogue and characterization. I've never been a zombie fan at all, never seen any of the movies of that ilk, but this is just great stuff. Really, the zombies are secondary.

Don't fear comics; there's some great great stuff out there, and I'll recommend more in time.

[Alex]

I've been trying to finish Crime and Punishment for what seems like a year now. I just can't motivate myself to do it haha