Book Recommendation List

[DarthToad]

About a year ago I read this really good book called Life of Pi. It's about an Indian guy stuck on a boat with a Bengal Tiger. Even though the concept sounds unbelievable, the author (Yann Martel) makes this totally believable. Lots of interesting religious concepts too. It's exactly my cup of tea, so that's my recomendation for now.

[pythianlegume]

Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting" - but only if you can stomach dialectical Scottish. The rambling "story" is told by different characters, some of whom are lower-class heroin addicts (hence the rough speech), and some of whom are more refined, upper-class Brit-wannabes. It's a lot easier to read their narratives.

See the movie? Yeah, the book's kinda like that, but completely different.

[synchondrosis]

Songlines by Bruce Chatwin

The genre is a bit difficult to place. Considered to be a travel book/semi-autobiography, Songlines is a story of Chatwin's adventure through Australia. It tackles various subjects from anthropological theories to Australian folk tales to snippets of random conversation Chatwin gathered in his travels all over the world. It's a very hypnotic read, the words are beautifully pieced together, the descriptions are vivid and the insights are remarkable. My professor in college recommended it to me and it is one of the best books I've ever read. I think it is a very good addition to anyone's book collection.

[PoolMan]

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Basically, having been inspired by my recent viewing of Super Size Me, I decided to continue my look into the insidious world of fast food in North America. This book is freaky. But it's an intensely good read, if you're interested in learning about the darker side of Rotten Ronnie's and the industry in general.

It's also particularly interesting if you've ever worked in a McD's or similar place. I did, and it puts a very different spin on things...

[Mysterio Rockanova]

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is even better than the movie. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is also good but I haven't seen the movie so I'm not sure which one would be better.

[pythianlegume]

I read Fast Food Nation last summer. I was taking my first college class then, a night class, and I quickly got bored and started reading in class... and Fast Food Nation was usually the book I was reading. It was so...

Disgusting. Entrancing. I couldn't put the darned thing down.

[LadyGrey]

Little, Big by John Crowley. I think this was mentioned in another thread, which was what spurred me to read it. It's fantasy. I think.

As for what it's about? Well, Smoky Barnable marries Daily Alice Drinkwater, and goes to live in her house. The house, Edgewood, is bigger inside than it is outside. And there's an orrery (model of the universe) in the attic that may actually run the universe. And then the fairies steal his niece and leave a changeling. While his son Auberon goes to the City and falls in love with a girl whose nickname is Titania. Then they have a fight...

I honestly don't know how to categorize this book. It's like reading a Tim Burton movie; the same feeling of the edges of reality blurring and being different. It makes you think, and makes you dream. Go read it, and be a part of the Tale.

[Uber]

Just finished reading "Enigma" by Robert Harris. This is a historically-set, yet completely fictional mystery centered around the WWII era efforts at cracking the Enigma code. Recommended for any interested in catching a glimpse of the codebreaking life led by the people who made possible the victory of the Battle of the Atlantic. I picked it up because of my interest in the Enigma encoding/decoding device, having had a bug up my bum the last few months about cyphers and cryptology.

Oddly enough, I didn't realize this book was the basis for the movie of the same name (released in 2002 starring Kate Winslet) when I bought the book at the local Half Price Books. Next up is "Fatherland", also by Harris. Hey, they were right next to one another at the store, and looked quite cozy with each other. I thought it a sin to break up such a lovely couple, so I bought them both.

[pythianlegume]

I recommend "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung" and "Main Lines, Blood Feasts, & Bad Taste," two collections of Lester Bangs' articles, as highly as I can; they're pure manic amphetamine-fueled rock adoration. For Lester, everything was either the highest pinnacle yet reached by man or complete and utter dogs***. Sometimes he couldn't decide which.

The style is very Beat, definitely Kerouac-influenced, with lots of run-on sentences, unexpected capitalizations, and great lush vocabulary. Anyway, if you like that sort of thing or have a particular interest in rock music of the seventies and very early eighties (he ODed on Valium and Darvon in 1982), Lester Bangs is probably your cup of tea.

[duckie]

I picked up Fatherland by mistake once, thinking it was a new Thomas Harris book (they were next to each other, on the shelf). It's packed away still, but Uber, you'll have to let me know how it is, and if it's worth going through my boxes to find is anytime soon.

[mysteriorockanova]

*Johnny The Homicidal Maniac
*Squee
-By Jhonen Vasquez
(Graphic Novel)

Man do I feel dumb for recommending comic books while everyone else is recommending these high class novels. anyway, I recommend Johnny because of the surprisingly intelligent story, and Squee because it's just plain hilarious (I DON'T WANT TO EAT THE TOASTY SOULS OF THE DAMNED!) and both of them because of the incredibly detailed artwork.

[Uber]

Hey Duckie!

I just finished Fatherland (sorry for the delay, but I got interrupted when my library reservation of Bill Clinton's My Life came in). I must say that it was a very good book. I'm a fan of alternate history, and since this book is set in 1960s Nazi Germany, it definately qualifies. It's a lot less predictable than the books Turtledove has been pushing out the last 3 years or so.

It was well worth it.

[TheOogieBoogieMan]

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer

This is a collection of essays and writing that connects characters and events on The Simpsons to the teachings of Aristotle and Socrates, etc. One of my favorite essays analyzes Maggie and how different philosophers would assess her and the fact that she doesn't talk. Definitely thought provoking stuff.

[duckie]

Uber said:

Hey Duckie!

I just finished Fatherland (sorry for the delay, but I got interrupted when my library reservation of Bill Clinton's My Life came in). I must say that it was a very good book. I'm a fan of alternate history, and since this book is set in 1960s Nazi Germany, it definately qualifies. It's a lot less predictable than the books Turtledove has been pushing out the last 3 years or so.

It was well worth it.

That's cool... I'll have to dig down a little bit further in my boxes of unpacked books, and find it before my next trip. I really liked Pastwatch as well as The Years of Rice and Salt (both alt history books recommended here), and it would make a good mix from some of the recent thriller / sci-fi books I've read.

I haven't read any Turtledove, although Lissa has a few on her shelves.

[Magill]

duckie said:

I picked up Fatherland by mistake once, thinking it was a new Thomas Harris book (they were next to each other, on the shelf).

I saw a TV movie (done by I think HBO) based on that. Rutger Hauer starred in it.

My dad had a book called SS GB (the GB stood for Great Britain, so the Nazis had taken over there) but I never read it.

I recently read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (and it just came out in paperback). It's really good at exploring immigrant life and dual identities (especially in regards to names, duh).

2 other good books, both by Caroline Knapp--Drinking, a Love Story is about the author's descent into alcoholism and her recovery. Very interesting look into what can lead a person down the path to addiction. A few years later, she wrote Pack of Two about the bonds people have with their dogs (early in recovery she got a dog). Alas, she died in 2002 of lung cancer.