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Posted: Jun 09 2011 01:11 am

So I have this fancy little device called a Kindle, I have practically no books for it outside of a bunch of those free books that I hadn't read previously. I've gotten through a lot of them and I have barely been using the thing because I have nothing really left to read. So let's give the reading forum a bit of love, and have you guys help me find some stuff that I might enjoy.

Here is the sort of stuff I like to read normally: Steve Alten, Clive Cussler, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, stuff like that. One of my favorite book series is the Hitchhiker's Guide. I enjoy R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms stuff. Not a huge fan of Stephen King, but I do like a couple of his books. I also enjoy stuff that is based on historical events.

Mostly I don't enjoy Romance Novels. I did like the Time Traveler's Wife though, because I wanted to read the book before watching the movie since Rachel McAdams was in it. I have read a lot of the classics, Great Expectations, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, 20000 Leagues, etc. for classes or for fun.

Any ideas you can give me would be appreciated. I don't have much money right now but I have a birthday coming up in a few months and anything more than a few bucks I can probably get then. So anyone read any good books lately? Smile

Posted: Jun 09 2011 01:16 am

get Mark Twains autobiography, and let me know if its worth reading

Posted: Jun 09 2011 12:06 pm

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, H.P. Lovecraft

Herbert West: Reanimator, H.P. Lovecraft

The Call of Cthulhu, H.P. Lovecraft

Collected Works of Poe Volume 2, the Raven Edition, Edgar Allan Poe

Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories, Bram Stoker

Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

The Boats of the 'Glen-Carrig', William Hope Hodgson

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle

Neuromancer, William Gibson

The Begum's Millions, Jules Verne

I also liked David Eddings' The Elenium books (haven't yet read his others) and Ed Greenwood's Shandril's Saga books

And stay away from the Troy Denning Star Wars books/series (Fate of the Jedi, Dark Nest Trilogy, Legacy of the Force). They're terrible. Sad

Timothy Zahn's are a little silly, but enjoyable.

I don't know if these fit your taste since I haven't read Steve Alten, Clive Cussler, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child or the Hitchhiker's Guide. But I really enjoyed them. Smile

Posted: Jun 09 2011 06:09 pm

Haha yeah i forgot to mention I have all of H.P. Lovecraft's stuff. I'll definitely check out some of the other stuff though. I think I might have read Neuromancer already and I've read a lot of Poe's stuff too. Thanks for the suggestions!

Posted: Jun 10 2011 05:20 am

I am highly recommending The Century Of The Surgeon if you can find it.

Posted: Jun 11 2011 01:54 am

I'm about halfway through Lamb by Christopher Moore, and it's been really awesome and hilarious so far.

Posted: Jun 11 2011 03:17 pm

I recommend checking out Neil Gaiman's work. He's an extraordinarily diverse writer so just because you like (or hate) something of his doesn't mean you'll necessarily like/hate the rest. He's a fantastic writer though. I recommend:

If you want to read an extremely mature and dense story about the ancient gods (of the Norse, Greek and Egyptians) living in modern times, try "American Gods." (Probably his most famous novel).

If you want a lighter, adventurous romp about a man who discovers a whole invisible society build underneath London, read "Neverwhere." (Tons of fun.)

One of my personal favorites, a longer but breezy (and hilarious) read about a man who discovers that his father is actually Anansi the Spider from African mythology, "Anansi Boys."

A short fantasy story about a boy on a quest to save a girl: "Stardust."

If you don't mind reading books technically meant for someone closer to middle/high school age, both "The Graveyard Book" and especially "Coraline" are magnificent.

He also has several short story collections out there, although I'd start with one of his full length books first.

Posted: Jun 11 2011 06:55 pm

if u have the cash and a crapload of time, you can always get lost in the wheel of time books.

books 1-4 are great. books 5-10 are mediocre IMO, but then it gets better again. the final final book comes out in november

Title: Titlating Joined: Dec 17 2007 Posts: 5042

They have a collection of all the L frank baum penned wizard of oz books for about a dollar.Worth the price.

Posted: Jun 12 2011 12:51 am

Optimist With Doubts wrote:

They have a collection of all the L frank baum penned wizard of oz books for about a dollar.Worth the price.

thats a great deal

Posted: Jun 12 2011 12:56 am

Thanks for all the recommendations guys, I'll see how much all of these are and see what I can afford right now. That is one nice thing about the Kindle books they are generally cheaper than the store.

Title: Titlating Joined: Dec 17 2007 Posts: 5042

Stupid html not working
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Wizard-Collection-Contents-ebook/dp/B003TU29GQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307857615&sr=8-2

Posted: Jun 12 2011 02:18 am

i ended getting this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00188AP4O/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Posted: Jun 13 2011 04:48 am

Seriously, if you have the cash track down a copy of The Century Of The Surgeon, not only is it an interesting and well written read, but it's got a unique method of drawing you in to the subject matter, to shamelessly quote someone else on Amazon who likes it too:

Some Guy or something wrote:

Thorwald used an interesting tool in this novel about the evolution of medical knowledge in the 1800's: he created a fictional doctor and then placed him in the right places at the right times to witness many of medicine's biggest strides forward. Thorwald, a proficient writer, is deft in his imaginative set-ups that serve to explain exactly how it was his main character happened to be nearby when ethyr was first used in an operation, when X-rays were initially exhibited at a medical conference, and then tells a tale that pulls you in. You come away from The Century of the Surgeon well-versed in medical history and filled with appreciation of the tremendous leap forward from bloodletting and patent medicines to modern notions of sterile operating fields, pain killers and hospital protocol that all came about in the short space of less than 100 years.

Whoever that was explained it much better than I.

Posted: Jun 28 2011 10:32 pm

My most favorite book ever is "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque.

Posted: Jun 28 2011 10:36 pm

My favorite book was TMNT the movie, It had pictures of stills from the movie in it that weren't used in the final cut. Like the turtles climbing the Channel 5 news building with suction cups.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

I'm going to suggest popular stuff that never made its way into truly popular culture because of bad publicity. Or other stuff.

The entire Dark Tower series by Stephen King, simply because it is of the epic genre and in its own way puts Lord of the Rings series to shame. I'm sure most will disagree, but they both have their good and bad points. The Dark Tower is simply easier to read than Lord of the Rings... most of the time.

Also, the His Dark Materials trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass) by Phillip Pullman. Sure, the movie was terrible. I agree. But the books are beyond fantastic. They're the first thing I can remember actually reading on my own, and a lot of the ideas they've put forth have become keystones of the way I think. In a general sense... er. Just read it.

Title: Naunie Joined: Dec 07 2008 Posts: 1026

Maus(If you can read it one of those things), and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Posted: Jul 10 2011 11:45 am

Free Radical by Shamus Young
A novelization of the System Shock story. I had always meant to read it and a power outage a couple weeks ago gave me the opportunity to do just that. Very entertaining for being tied to an already-existing plot. Some of the language seems anachronistic to the time period and it drags a bit nearing the end, but I enjoyed it.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling
I'm not too far into this one yet (just started) but, so far, it is really enjoyable.

A summary excerpt:
"Kim (Kimball O'Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor white mother who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India under British rule in the late 19th century, Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He occasionally works for Mahbub Ali, a Pathan horse trader who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. Kim is so immersed in the local culture, few realise he is a white child, though he carries a packet of documents from his father entrusted to him by an Indian woman who cared for him.
Kim befriends an aged Tibetan Lama who is on a quest to free himself from the Wheel of Life by finding the legendary 'River of the Arrow'. Kim becomes his chela, or disciple, and accompanies him on his journey"

Some reviewers knock it for the British Imperialist attitudes but I guess I'm disassociated enough that it doesn't bother me.

Posted: Jul 10 2011 03:07 pm

Etch wrote:

Free Radical by Shamus Young
A novelization of the System Shock story. I had always meant to read it and a power outage a couple weeks ago gave me the opportunity to do just that. Very entertaining for being tied to an already-existing plot. Some of the language seems anachronistic to the time period and it drags a bit nearing the end, but I enjoyed it.

Oh my god it's so weird you should say that. I've been a fan of his site for years but--since I've never been able to play either SS--had never read his book. I finally got around to it, and was blown away. I've paid actual money for stories and writing that were far, FAR inferior. Extraordinarily well done. I've never donated to a site before just for the sake of donating, but I dropped Shamus $10 just for the effort he put into that.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

You have no reason to not play System Shock. Works just fine in DOSBox and it's dirt cheap.

Posted: Jul 10 2011 04:15 pm

joshwoodzy wrote:

You have no reason to not play System Shock. Works just fine in DOSBox and it's dirt cheap.

you're dirt cheap

Posted: Jul 10 2011 04:19 pm

joshwoodzy wrote:

You have no reason to not play System Shock. Works just fine in DOSBox and it's dirt cheap.

Actually, I have tried. Miracle of miracles, I actually got DOSbox to play it, but the interface was so atrocious I couldn't stand more than an hour of it. If it ever comes out on Steam (along with 2, please!) I'd give it another go on general principle though.

Joined: Jan 14 2011 Posts: 107

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Joined: Jul 06 2008 Posts: 142

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is suppose to be good i never read it myself though