The collaborator by Murry Davies
Fiction
Really cool fictional book about the second world war, only it's 1940 and Britain has just been conquered by the Nazi's. It's the story of POW in Europe who speaks German. He is sent home to England to Translate for the Nazi Govorner of Britain. When he returns people shun him as a collaborator but he joins the resistence and gets into all sorts of scrapes.
670 pages of small writting, finished it in 2 days. Absolutley compulsive reading, great! 🙂
The Corporation by Joel Bakan
Non-Fiction
A great book about the history of the corporation as a business model. A really essential book for anyone who wants to understand why their pension isn't doing to good or perhaps want to understand what that Enron eppisode was all about. This book is fasinating, I always knew large corporations wielded great power but this book put into a real context. It is not a 'leftish' book like, say, Michael Moore, it is fair in it's analysis and makes a mockery of a lot of accepted practices, READ IT!
I don't know if these have been mentioned as I did not read the entire thread, but to any who may be interested:
Swans Song by Robert R. McCammon (or any of his books for that matter). If you like Steven King you will love this guy.
Currently reading The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. My wife turned me on to it. She could not put it down and stayed up all night reading it. Definately a winner!
Anything by Iain (M) Banks. He writes sci-fi as Iain M. Banks and, non genre fiction as plain old Iain Banks. Either is fantastic. The non sci-fi stuff is fantastic, because he writes every book in a different style, so no two are even remotely alike.
Oh, and he's very twisted. In a good way. 'The Wasp Factory', his debut novel is probably the best example of this.
Terry Pratchett is always good for a bit of a chuckle, although his books have become more serious in recent times (although set, as they are, on a world that floats through space on the back of a giant turtle, they're never going to be that serious!).
More comedy in the form of travel writing from Bill Bryson. Bryson is great, and best described as he was in a review in a Melbourne publication:
"He arrives at his destination, finds a hotel, checks in, meanders around the neighbourhood, visits any museums or public monuments he happens to encounter, has a couple of drinks, eavesdrops on a conversation or two, then goes to bed. A year later, people on three continents are hospitalised as a result of ruptures caused by laughing so hard at his account of the experience."
Humerous accounts of madcap bets from both Dave Gorman:
Are You Dave Gorman? - an odyessy around the globe to find people who share his name
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack adventure - another worldwide trip, this time conducted while Dave is supposed to be turning sensible and writing a novel;
and from Tony Hawks, no not that Tony Hawks
Around Ireland with a Fridge - a drunken bet for £100 sees Tony hitching around Ireland with a kitchen appliance
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - another drunken bet propels Tony on an epic journey to play all eleven players of the Moldovan football team at tennis.
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is a classic and sidesplittingly funny (can you see a theme here?) account of the lunacy of war.
Robert Rankin. Yes, another funny guy, this time far more surreal humour.
Tom Holt uses surreal updates of old legends, often Norse or pagan. Also very funny.
Okay, enough with the funny. Michael Crichton writes good, near future technology novels. He's the one who wrote Jurassic Park for instance.
Another good fact based scifi writer is Stephen Baxter, who writes mostly space borne novels, although he also writes a lot about evolution.
I'm running out of steam for the moment. There are others though, and I might come back with a few later on.
Originally posted by jimmyb270I haven't read Dave Gorman's Googlewhack adventure yet, but did read the hilarious Are You Dave Gorman? a little while back. Dave Gorman and his friend Danny Wallace take it in turns to write a couple of paragraphs each - both write very entertainingly. Excellent book for just switching off and escaping the daily grind.
Anything by Iain (M) Banks. He writes sci-fi as Iain M. Banks and, non genre fiction as plain old Iain Banks. Either is fantastic. The non sci-fi stuff is fantastic, because he writes every book in a different style, so no two are even remotely alike.
Oh, and he's very twisted. In a good way. 'The Wasp Factory', his debut novel is probably the best ex ...[text shortened]... out of steam for the moment. There are others though, and I might come back with a few later on.
This is a great thread. Wish I'd started it long ago.
Count me in as a fan of the Dark Tower Series. The Drawing of The Three is my favorite. It's an amazing story. And, don't forget, the Turtle is one of the Gaurdians of the Beam.
Stephenson wrote "Snow Crash", I believe and I enjoyed that a great deal.
Melissa Scott wrote a great cyberpunk-like book called "Trouble and Her Friends" which was excellent.
Originally posted by turtlexGosh, it has been years since I've read the Gunslinger series. It might have been when book 4 was fairly new. I can't wait to get back into it with the rest of the series in my hand, but at the moment I am more excited about re-reading The Wheel of Time. So much stuff I have to figure out before the next book comes out!!
This is a great thread. Wish I'd started it long ago.
Count me in as a fan of the Dark Tower Series. The Drawing of The Three is my favorite. It's an amazing story. And, don't forget, the Turtle is one of the Gaurdians of the Beam.
Stephenson wrote "Snow Crash", I believe and I enjoyed that a great deal.
Melissa Scott wrote a great cyberpunk-like book called "Trouble and Her Friends" which was excellent.
The one big part I remember in the Gunslinger series, that really stands out, is the train ride with, was it "Charlie"? I can't remember the train's name. But the riddles was such a great part of the books- I think that's my favorite part.
ncrosby🙂
Originally posted by mmanuelIMHO, Crypto is by far Stephenson's best work -- his earlier stuff is a bit 'immature' and I didn't really like the Baroque Cycle (the first 500 pages of 'Quicksilver' were enough).
Am reading Cryptonomicon at the moment.
Would highly recommend 'Jennifer Government' or 'Syrup' by Max Barry - v amusing and satirical.
Or any James Ellroy novel
How are you finding it?
You might be interested to know that much of the plot of Crypto is built on anecdotes from Andrew Hodges' biography of Alan Turing, which is also quite good.
Originally posted by royalchickenIs Cryptonicom a stand-alone book or is it advisable to read any of the ones that came before it?
IMHO, Crypto is by far Stephenson's best work -- his earlier stuff is a bit 'immature' and I didn't really like the Baroque Cycle (the first 500 pages of 'Quicksilver' were enough).
How are you finding it?
You might be interested to know that much of the plot of Crypto is built on anecdotes from Andrew Hodges' biography of Alan Turing, which is also quite good.
Originally posted by T1000Cryptonomicon is stand-alone. The subsequent Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World) feature the ancestors of the characters of Crypto, and relate to it in some ways. Crypto can be read by itself, but the BC can't really be read without Crypto.
Is Cryptonicom a stand-alone book or is it advisable to read any of the ones that came before it?
His earlier books are ''The Big U'', ''Snow Crash'', ''The Diamond Age'' and ''Zodiac''.
Originally posted by ncrosby
Gosh, it has been years since I've read the Gunslinger series. It might have been when book 4 was fairly new. I can't wait to get back into it with the rest of the series in my hand, but at the moment I am more excited about re-reading The Wheel of Time. So much stuff I have to figure out before the next book comes out!!
The one big part I remember ...[text shortened]... t the riddles was such a great part of the books- I think that's my favorite part.
ncrosby🙂
The riddling train - was Blaine the Mono!
That's a great book, but I was not thrilled with the ending.
Originally posted by turtlexGoodness, I can't believe I got it that wrong! What a memory I have. Was the children's book that Jake had about the train about "Charlie" or was it called Blaine? I'm wondering where the heck I got "Charlie".
The riddling train - was Blaine the Mono!
That's a great book, but I was not thrilled with the ending.
Besides the riddles and the conversations between Blaine and the passengers, I loved the imagery. I could picture in my head what they were seeing when Blaine turned the train transparent and they could look down and see the ground underneath them and everything around. Excellent.
Sorry for semi-hijacking the thread Turtlex, since you are looking for NEW books to read, but now that the subject is on my mind these great scenes are coming back to me! 😀
ncrosby🙂