Book Recommendation Thread

[Deicidae]

Book Recommendation Thread

Rule 1.) The first rule here is to not list books that are mainstream or popular. Things like, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Steven King books, etc. If there is a movie based on the book, most likely it falls under this categorization.

Rule 2.) Give a short description or a link for the book. Please state any spoiler alerts if you link a description that explains the story in-depth.






I love reading books, but it can be hard to find good ones in the mountains of available collections. This is my grassroots effort to spread our reading experiences, find new books to read, and tell us a little about ourselves (that is if you are a book-reader).



My first recommendations:

Four Lords of the Diamond (Jack L. Chalker).
Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_lords_of_the_diamond SPOILER ALERT - do not read the second section if you are interested in reading this!
This is my all-time favorite book. If you like Sci-Fi, you will probably like this one!

Wheel of Time series (Rober Jordan).
Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_jordan SPOILER ALERT - the individual book links will give more detail accounts of the book! A Fantasy series that is very detailed. You shouldn't feel shorted by it due to it being a 12 book series (tentatively 14). Simply amazing.

Dragonriders of Pern series (Anne McCaffrey).
Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern SPOILER ALERT - the individual book links will give more detail accounts of the book!
On another world, people can become telepathically linked to a dragon, which are used to destroy "thread," a silver string type thing that falls from the atmosphere and burns through living matter. This site says Copperheart Entertainment bought the rights to the series in 2006 and intend to bring it to the big screen *excited*


That's all I have for now. Post your book recommendations!

[Wisdom]

Sword of Truth series
by Terry Goodkind
Wiki page

Very good story line with very mature, adult chacters (vs teens when the story starts.) Recently became a television series called Legend of the Seeker. (Roughly based on the books.) Hope that's not too mainstream...

[inohime]

my only issue with the wheel of time series is that its unfinished....atm robert jordan is dead and ive heard his son will finish the final book. I hope its true cause i would enjoy finishing the series... another good series is.

Ender Game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%2...Ender.27s_Game

[asianblu]

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams.

[Tributary]

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski


nuff said.

[Cat]

House of Leaves is excellent. I have read most of the Pern series, and loved it as a kid, but I have been disappointed with Todd McCaffrey's additions to the series. Actually looking at all the books here, all of them are great choices. As some of you may know I am a huge reader. I love books. Started reading when I was two and graduated to chaptered novels by the time I was 6. Never got my head out of the books since.

>.< My parents would ground me from reading when I got in trouble, but I digress.

I do love a lot of Anne McCaffrey's stuff, as well as anything from Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey, and Issac Asmov. As some of you may notice... fantasy/scifi geek. I especially love a series called The Wayfarer's Redemption by an Aussie author by the name of Sara Douglass. It unfortunately is a series to complex to try to summarize, but it is six thick books long of fantastic material.

Man I have read way too many really good books so I have a hard time giving recommendations.

[Cat]

Oooh btw my mother just gave me her Kindle since she never uses it. Oh god I love this thing!

[Amentis]

Originally Posted by Deicidae

Book Recommendation Thread

Dragonriders of Pern series (Anne McCaffrey).
Description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern SPOILER ALERT - the individual book links will give more detail accounts of the book!
On another world, people can become telepathically linked to a dragon, which are used to destroy "thread," a silver string type thing that falls from the atmosphere and burns through living matter. This site says Copperheart Entertainment bought the rights to the series in 2006 and intend to bring it to the big screen *excited*


That's all I have for now. Post your book recommendations!

Dude, if you liked Dragonriders of Pern, awesome series by the by, then I think you'll like L.E. Modesitt's Saga of Recluce - my current fad!

[Fyrebird]

Wheel of Time Series is being finished by Brandon Sanderson, he was hand picked by Robert Jordans wife to finish the series. I've never heard of the guy until then so I decided to read some of his books.
-Mistborn Trilogy
-Elantris-stand alone
-Warbreaker-stand alone
-Alcatraz Series
If you enjoy reading fantasy at all, you will love these books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson
He actually did a very cool thing with Warbreaker, he's giving away the whole thing for free on his site(pdf version) he wanted to see how it will affect the sales of the book when it actually came out in hardcover, which it did a couple months ago. Give it a try =)

[Vaclav]

Anything by Vaclav Havel

I would start with a small research venture to learn who he is and a bit of his history with "To the Castle and Back".

Then go for "The Garden Party and Other Plays".
__________________________________________________ ____________
"With the Warsaw Pact's dissolution (today an almost forgotten historical step) the bipolar division of the world finally collapsed, and our civilization could begin the difficult task of finding a new and better order --- which, I must add, it has yet to find. Nor will it, as long as the political technocrats so massively outnumber the dreamers."

Page 294-295 To The Castle And Back, Vaclav Havel
__________________________________________________ _____________
"There is a sense in which we can understand what is happening around us only by being alienated from it, by not being a part of it-that is, by standing back and looking at it. But there is also a part of our lives in which we feel at home and comfortable with our surroundings. We feel a kind of certainty about our perceptions and recognize that others share the same perceptions. Therefore, we are not simply strangers without an ability to rationally conceive meaning. Havel claims that the ability to make sense of our lives, to fit in with others, and to feel at home in the world is the result of a ground common to all people. Although culture shapes our particular understanding of objects and events, we share the common experience of meaning, as expressed on our everyday experience of such attributes as love, friendship, courage, justice, and the like."

by Pontuso from " Civic Responsibility in the Postmodern Age" on the subject of identifying with "Being"
__________________________________________________ _____________
",wisdom is not imparted by a teacher to a student,
but discovered in the course of a lonely character's conflict
with a world whose reality does not match its established description."

By Peter Majer an exert on describing Vaclav Havel's art and philosophy