Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Bork Lazer
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Book Recommendations

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea - By Yukio Mishima
This is a very enrapturing novel that you will simultaneously detest and adore at the same time for the ideologies represented in the novel and the almost poetic writing. Sailor is an exploration of multiple themes that are all situated around the duality between old and modern Japanese Culture after WW2. The ending, in particular, is one of my favourite endings to a book ever because it's very subdued in how it occurs and the foreshadowing and imagery presented by Mishima during the end is appropriate for the big twist.

Dark. Twisted. Most detractors of the novel state that it's a disgusting piece of shit that purports a reprehensible ideology that seems oddly alien to mainstream culture but if you know the context behind the novel and read it with patience, Sailor will question you and do what a work of good literature is meant to do.

61 Hours - By Lee Child
Jack Reacher is ultimately a thriller novel but I solidly recommend 61 hours for anyone starting new in Jack Reacher. I think it's honestly one of his best entries in the series and there are several reasons for this. First of all, the environment portrayed in the novel is just unique compared to most of the enviroments that have been explored in the other Reacher novels. The snowy blizzards create this odd desolate cold atmosphere that is just chilling throughout the novel.

Second of all, no sex scenes. Jack Reacher is like James Bond in the fact that nearly every woman that Reacher encounters requires to be shagged but there is no shagging in this novel.

Third of all, great action for a thriller. There's a way that Lee Child just grabs you by the throat. The prose is written in such a clean and methodical manner, almost clinical, which is a idiosyncracy of Lee Child. Every word is used to its fullest potential and the description of the action scenes reflect Reacher's mindset.

Anyway, that's enough from me.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Penny
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Book Recommendation (sort of)

The Warrior's Apprentice - Louis McMaster Bujold

This book is a very mediocre space opera. It is bland and formulaic setting, the plot makes little logical sense and the characters are inconsistent and unbelievable.

I nearly didn't finish it until an odd piece of mental gymnastics totally changed the book for me. The protagonist is a young aristocrat name Miles who is conveniently a cripple for the presumable purpose of making us overlook the fact that he is a monster. Miles of course is a word derived from Latin that meant knight in the middle ages. When you look at Miles as a knight, it actually turns a rather crappy book into a masterful take down of Medieval Knighthood and the myth of the martial aristocrat. I dont think Bujold meant it this way but it made the whole exercise way more enjoyable!

Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by AlteredTundra
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If you want a good murder-mystery book, look no further than Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. It's highly-intriguing and fast-paced. I mean no wonder it's a classic.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by POOHEAD189
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Alright folks, since I am between books at the moment I decided to do a small book discussion/questionnaire.


  • 1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?
  • 2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?
  • 3. Top 5 authors?
  • 4. Worst book you've ever read?
  • 5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
  • 6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by mdk
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  • 1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?
  • 2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?
  • 3. Top 5 authors?
  • 4. Worst book you've ever read?
  • 5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
  • 6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?


1. The Bible, Quran, etc. -- okay. OKAY! Gosh. But remember that serious literature (and bland every-day society) all over the world and from all time, basically, references what's in these books. So even if the religions aren't interesting (though I recommend at least SOME of the religion, personally), academically speaking everyone should read religious texts.

Let's rewind, that sucked.

1. Everybody should read War and Peace. It's stupidly long which makes it impressive (you can totally show off!); it's educational (how much do you know about the Napoleanic wars? NOT ENOUGH!), and to my shock and amazement the prose is friggin' great. Since it's translated from Russian, the translator matters -- I've tried a couple of different versions and the one I like best (by far) is This one. Paperback recommended because footnotes/endnotes are actually worth flipping to and keeping track of. I am dog-earing the hell out of my copy and loving it.

2. Cormac McCarthy is life-changing and I could fill all five slots, but let's not -- simplify his contribution down to one choice, which I guess would be Blood Meridian. Then in no particular order, the Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle (fluff police drama, fantastic books-on-tape for car rides); the Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (he's sorta getting the McCarthy treatment here, I could fill the list again); The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky; and probably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (but not necessarily any of the rest of the series, it kinda jumped several sharks).

3. I'm just gonna put McCarthy and Vonnegut here, the only two authors who I've ever been like "Know what? I'm gonna go buy their entire library and read it all." Did not finish with Vonnegut, but he's great.... McCarthy though. Jebus. VERY challenging reading, like, have a dictionary standing by, he'll make you feel like you don't speak English and you don't know what humanity even is and you need some kind of existential hot chocolate and blanket. Christ he's good.

....let's get some more fun authors in here though. Lee Child writes a very enjoyable Thing; aforementioned fictional author Richard Castle writes a likewise enjoyable Thing; Michael Chrichton does a Good Thing in a very enjoyable way. Kurt Vonnegut probably belongs closer to this list, but he's got points to make too, so I'll leave him up top with Cormac.

4. Worst book, I mean, I got the cheat code because a friend picked up the second "Eragon" book on CD for a long drive once and we sat through all of it.

5. HATER OLYMPICS! I don't know what everyone likes about Ted Chiang. He starts with a premise and then doesn't go anywhere or say anything other than "Wasn't my premise clever though?"

6. Still working War and Peace. I "Got serious about it" like three years ago and I'm still pretending to be serious. More than halfway through though. Uh.... Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six" is a weird one. Every time I start reading it, something terrible happens and I don't finish. Started with just losing it; then someone crashed my car and I got distracted; then my whole campsite got stolen, along with the book; then I lost a leg. I'm, uh.... I'm probably not gonna try to find out what the next escalation is, Rainbow Six might just stay on the shelf forever now.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Penny
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Alright folks, since I am between books at the moment I decided to do a small book discussion/questionnaire.


1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?

A Distant Mirror - The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbra Tuchman - Wonderful history of the Hundred Years War period. One of my favorite history books ever.

2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?

- The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake
- The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- Magician by Raymond E Fiest
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

3. Top 5 authors?
- Kurt Vonnegut
- David Drake
- Charles Stross
- Raymond E Fiest
- Jane Austin

4. Worst book you've ever read?
Do other people keep reading books they don't like? I've probably read the first 50 pages of dozens of fairly awful books but I never feel an obligation to keep reading if they dont grab me. I did struggle through Aurthr C Clarke's Childhood's End because my boyfriend at the time was a huge fan.

5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
The Bible, poorly plotted Jehovah Fan Fic. Even the late switch to an epistolary format (which I usually love) couldn't save it for me. The dream sequence at the end was a high point, as was the early attempt at an unreliable narrator during part 2, but overall I didn't see what all the hype was about.

6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
- Amadis of Gaul
- Ceasers Commentaries (I've read bits and pieces but never sat down and read the whole thing)
- Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
- Several early accounts of the colonization of the Caribbean (My dad got me these and I've never gotten around to them)
- The various Horatio Hornblower collections by C.S Forester
Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by POOHEAD189
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1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?

I'm not usually a Stephen King fan. I don't enjoy most of his work. However I have to recommend The Stand to everybody, no matter what genre you're a fan of. It's a lengthy read, over a thousand pages. But I've read it twice and it's just a compelling, entertaining masterpiece of fiction imo.


2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?
  • Sea of Swords by R.A. Salvatore
  • I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (A brilliant piece of science fiction. I like the movie but it is no representation of the book.)
  • Gotrek & Felix: Beastslayer by William King
  • The Loch by Steve Alten
  • Swordmage by Richard Baker


3. Top 5 authors?
  • R.A. Salvatore
  • Gave Thorpe
  • Robert Jordan (for some of his work)
  • William King
  • Graham Mcneil


4. Worst book you've ever read?
I usually don't read books that don't catch my fancy, but I was sort of interested in Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk and decided to pick it up as a new book to try and get into. But honestly, while the beginning part of the book was interesting and well described, and the magic system was fairly neat, the story could have been better and the writing got worse as the book progressed. I honestly just finished it because I felt like I needed to, and the plot was just okay enough for me to finish it. I thought the protagonists, particularly the main one would be interesting. But he was just generic tbh. Every woman was hot as fuck and the hottest women wanted to sleep with the very generic main character who happened to be special. Those parts were lol worthy.

5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like? The Harry Potter series. I like the movies and I know the books well enough to get some of the jokes and talks, but I always felt the books themselves were a bit too...I don't think childish is the right word. I guess light hearted for me. Every year in school the other students would read Harry Potter if it was on the summer reading list and I was too busy reading Warhammer 40k or D&D novels.

Honorable mention to Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, and any Brandon Sanderson novel.

6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
  • Eisenhorn
  • Hammer's Slammers
  • Annotated Elminster
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu (I fancy myself a pretty good military historian, and I think it's sheer stubbornness I haven't picked this up yet. Though I've seen documentaries of the work.)
  • The Terror by Dan Simmons
Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Briza
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Amanda and Her Alligator
By Mo Willems

A stuffed animal learns his worth is more than his sale's price.


Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Briza
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Saint Theophan the Recluse taught Briza that having favorites is not a wise decision, and Elder Thaddeus taught Briza that having opinions is also not a wise decision. But, Briza digresses:

1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?

Something by Mo Willems or Fyodor Dostoevsky


2. What are your top five (5) favorite books you've read?

  • Saint John Chrysostom Letters to Saint Olympia by Saint John Chrysostom
  • Christ is the Eternal Tao by Hieromonk Damascene
  • If You Love Me by Matthew the Poor
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  • A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki


3. Top five (5) authors?

  • King David
  • Saint John Chrysostom
  • Saint Athanasius of Alexandria
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Michel Evdokimov


4. Worst book(s) you've ever read?

Lolita and The Original Of Laura (Dying is Fun).

S P O I L E R A L E R T

The math is pretty simple: 1 + 1 = 0. Vladimir Nabokov could have been a pleasure of prose, and his talented literary fashion could have blossomed into something much more salvific with a much more golden and well-pleasing metamorphose of literature. Unforunately, the debauchery of Lolita against the Divine Liturgy is more akin to a cheap hack with all the references he must piggy-back in order to keep his novel afloat. ( ╭( ・ㅂ・)و ? ) The novel not only starts out as defaming the Post Communion Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, but it ends with Dolores Haze dying from labor complications on Western Nativity.

On a slightly different note, The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun), is a novel that Nabokov did not want published if he died before completing it. In fact, he requested that such an unfinished piece should be destroyed. Unfortunately, his family did not abide by his will. After his death, his son proceeded to publish the novel. Interestingly enough, the novel is essentially about a heart-broken, morbidly bese man named Philip who begins enjoyably finishing himself by cutting off his limbs, starting with his toes. He is never able to completely kill himself, as his author died before the completing the Buddhist nirvana inspired suicide. It is a beautiful scenario of which I am happy happened. Perhaps, Nabokov's son thought the same. Regardless, the book itself should never have been written even if dying is fun.

6. What five (5) books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
  • The Philokalia (I have not finished it yet.)
  • The Writings of Saint Maximos the Confessor (Ditto.)
  • The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Ditto.)
  • The Way of the Pilgrim by Author Unknown (Ditto.)
  • Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Ditto.)


Fin.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Gwynbleidd
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None of these will be picked in any specific order when it comes to listing a top five!

1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski. It's a book of short stories revolving around the witcher Geralt of Rivia. Beautiful stories, and perhaps my favorite fantasy book of all time at this current moment.

2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski - Fourth Installment in the Witcher Series
- Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson - Second in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Have not finished this series yet. It's quite long!
- All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - My time with Cormac has been limited, but I have many more of his books waiting on my shelf to be read. With that said, I have read this and The Road and the two are enough to make him one of my favorite authors. I adored this book.
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - *sigh*
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie - I just really enjoyed the hell out of this whole book. Adventure. Grit. Banter. Old and dead civilization far larger and superior to new civilization. It was full of all the things I enjoy in fantasy.

I expect this list to transform like crazy once I actually have time to get back to that reading lyfe.

3. Top 5 authors?

- Ernest Hemingway
- Cormac McCarthy
- Andrzej Sapkowski
- Steven Erikson
- Mark Twain

4. Worst book you've ever read?

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe

It's a classic. It's taught in high school. I hated this book with every fiber of my being. I did not finish it. I willingly failed a test on this subject matter because I could not endure this text. The experience was the equivalent of having sandpaper roughly ground into my eyeballs. Perhaps, one day, when I'm feeling especially masochistic I will subject myself to reading this one more time.

5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?

Hunger Games - It's meh.

6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?

- Suttree - Cormac McCarthy
- Blade Runner - Philip K. Dick
- The Black Company - Glen Cook
- War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
- KJV Bible
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Aeolian
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Hello.

Aeolian here.

An avid reader and literature enthusiast.

Mind if I join in?



1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?

"Perfect Peace" by Daniel Black. It is a story that revolves around a mother who has many sons, but is desperate for a daughter. She decides to give it one more go, but again, ends up having another son. Desperate for a daughter, she lies to her entire family and pretends that her newborn son, is actually a daughter, and goes about raising him as such. It's an incredibly nuanced coming of age story about the son growing up and finding himself in a false world that his mother cultivated because of her own selfish desires for a daughter.

2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?

- "Perfect Peace" by Daniel Black.
- "The Amulet of Samarkand" by Johnathan Stroud; Magic is involved, which is always a treat for me.
- "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen; This book brings back childhood memories for me. I feel like everyone was required to read this in elementary school.
- "Midnighters, The Secret Hour" by Scott Westerfield; A story about a group of teens who get superpowers when the clock strikes 12, while everyone else in the world is frozen in time. I adore this concept and the characters.
- "Left to Tell" by immaculee ilibagiza; This book really hurt my heart, but was so inspiring. It's a biography about the author herself, and how she survived the Rwandan Holocaust. Truly a gut-wrenching life she lived.

Bonus

- "A Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer; Another biography similar to Left to Tell. However, this time, the author retells his life about the absolutely unfathomable abuse he survived through, done to him by the hands of his own ghastly mother. This book left me in pieces, but I've never been able to forget it.

Most of my top 5 authors didn't make my top 5 book list. I mainly like these authors for their writing stytle.

3. Top 5 authors?
- JK Rowling; Even-though none of the Harry Potter books made my top 5, I really like her writing style. However I felt the books had too many Deux Machina moments.
- Harper Lee
- Daniel Black
- Dean Koontz
- Erin Morgenstern

4. Worst book you've ever read?

Can't recall at this present moment.

5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?

"Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer; Too sappy and the vampires are bullocks. Also, Bella was an incredibly boring character.

6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?

- Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
- The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques
- Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
- Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

Cheers!
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by POOHEAD189
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So I am debating on whether I should read the Ulster Cycles or Julius Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, and I cannot decide which to read next.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Arya10108909
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@Aeolian The last two on your want to read list are AWESOME, just saying


I guess while I'm here, I'll do the questionnaire.


1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?
Probably Flight of the Horse by Larry Niven. It's a collection of sci-fi short stories. The main stories are about this man who gets sent sent back in time to look for animals as a gift for the Emperor, who is mentally about five.
2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?
In no particular order:
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Makenzi Lee
The Dream Theives by Maggie Stiefvater (book two in The Raven Cycle)
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (it's heisty and a bit magical and definitely morally grey.)
Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir Author Conan Doyle
The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern, abridged by William Goldman

3. Top 5 authors?( In parentheses are the books of theirs that I've read)
- Marie Lu (Legend Trilogy, The Young Elites Trilogy, Warcross, Batman: Nightwalker)
- Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows duology, Grisha trilogy, Wonder Woman: Warbringer)
- Victoria/ V.E. Schwab (The Monsters of Verity duology, Shades of Magic series, The Archived series)
- Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Cycle, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Books of Faerie, Spirit Animals Book 2: Hunted, All the Crooked Saints)
- Patricia C. Wrede (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles)

4. Worst book you've ever read?
Not sure. I've probably blocked it out of my head.
5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
I read the first Shadowhunters book, and honestly, it was meh.
6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?
- Gone With the Wind
- Anna Karenia by Leo Tolstoy
- The Three-Body Problem
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- War and Peace


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