Recommend me some Books

[Seldes Katne]

*raises hand* umm....

Oh. Well, okay. See if you see anything in this list that interests you.

Bruxy Cavey's The End of Religion. The author talks about how Jesus really was pretty irreligious, in that he basically wanted to do away with a lot of rules of the Judaism being practiced at the time and bring people back to relating more directly with God. (Not a bad theme for the current day, either.) Cavey argues that faith and spirituality are the keys to salvation, and that religion, while sometimes useful, is just a set of rules and practices, but that people frequently confuse religious practices for faith. He makes some good points, I thought.

I've also been reading a lot about women in the early Christian Church, including Bruce Chilton's Mary Magdalene: a Biography, which completely dodges both the theories that Mary was Jesus' wife or that she was a repentant prostitute. A lot of the book is conjecture based on archaeological and anthropological information on women's lives in general at the time.

Also The Lost Apstle: Searching for the Truth About Junia, by Rene Prderson. Junia, sometimes spelled "Junias", is believed to be a woman, possibly evidence of actual female apostles in the early Church, which would in turn be an argument for allowing the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood (which, as long as people are confessing to things all over the rest of the site, is part of the reason I've been reading a lot of this stuff. I won't bore you with the details).

If you really want some radical thoughts on spirituality, try John Shelby Spong's book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, in which Spong really rips into people who take the Bible literally. This guy is almost too radical for me to follow, although I do agree with some of his complaints and points.

Along the same lines is Alex Sanchez's teen novel The God Box, which deals with the issue of Christians and homosexuality. The two main characters are gay teens in a school in (I believe) Texas. The one boy really has done his homework, and in the course of the novel he points out and refutes most of the Biblical passages generally used to condemn gays. The other boy is trying to come to grips with the fact that he's a Christian, but also gay, because he's been taught that homosexuality is a sin. The author of this book has actually written several books dealing with gay teens, but this is the first one that's dealt heavily with religion.

 

[Friday]

I don't know if anyone has ever read this book. I read it back in High School, loved the book but I never returned to the genre for lack of interest. It was called When True Night Falls by C.F. Friedman. I think that was the authors' name, but it's been so long, it might have also been C.S. I wanted to know if the book before and the one after were any good and if it read well as a trilogy or stand alone.

I thought the book was so good that I never though anything else i read in the genre could top it. I'm sure some would disagree so I wanted to ask if you're familiar with the book, what else would you recommend?

I've read them. They were alright. The ideas in the books were a bit better than the writing itself which I found to be a bit of a struggle getting through. The ending was of a particularly down note and while I won't spoil it you wouldn't believe what character gets the most sympathetic.

 

[Joe Kalicki]

For non-fiction I've been reading biographies of all the US Presidents. I was going to do them in order, but too much time in the Revolution Era was making me nuts, so I skipped ahead and read Truman and Eisenhower. I have about 40 pages left in James Monroe and then onto Kennedy.

I would definitely recommend anything by David McCollough (I'm probably spelling that wrong), as his 1776 is what got me into non-fiction and his Truman is probably the best book I ever read. Also, his John Adams is now an HBO mini-series starring Paul Giammatti.

 

[Mattimeo84]

Till We have Faces is a great quick read, CS Lewis

Just getting some of the great basics out there, 1984, Tolkien, Harry Potter, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Alice in Wonderland, Memoirs of a Geisha, Narnia, Redwall, if you like christian fiction then try Left Behind

 

[Ultimate Houde]

Should we have a non fiction recommendation thread as well as a fiction recommendation thread?

 

[Lynx]

I think I'm going to start the Dresden Files soon. The premise sounds very similar to a World of Darkness game, which is something I absolutely love.

Detective Inspector Chen series, by Liz Williams. I'm just starting the second book now, but I liked the first, Snake Agent. It's set in something of a future Earth, but includes a lot of Chinese mythology. So Heaven and Hell not only exist, but officials can visit both places. In the first novel, Inspector Chen Wei has to solve a murder and ends up kind of partnered with a demon named Zhu Irzh, who's actually pretty principled for a guy who works in the Vice Squad (promoting vice, not combatting it). Various ghosts, goddesses, and other supernatural beings are involved at various levels. The second book, The Demon and the City, has just been released in mass market paperback.

This. . .sounds unbelievably awesome. I'm going to start this too.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

I think I'm going to start the Dresden Files soon. The premise sounds very similar to a World of Darkness game, which is something I absolutely love.

You should, and it does.

 

[Ninja4peace]

I'm actually re-listening to American Gods currently

I'm reading Americain Gods right now. I would certainly contribute to a thread on it...or a more general thread on Gaiman, I've read Stardust and Neverwhere too, but not anansi boys.

The book i read previously was 'a short history of tractors in ukranian' by monica lewynca. It was pretty good but really british middle class sort of book. Still enjoyable and not a struggle to read at all.

I've got a couple of books by Olaf Stapleton to read next. They're supposed to be a little like Asimov with stories set over centuries or even millenia. I'll let you know how I fare them.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

I'm reading Americain Gods right now. I would certainly contribute to a thread on it...or a more general thread on Gaiman, I've read Stardust and Neverwhere too, but not anansi boys.

Okay, I'll make a thread for it then,

 

[J. Agamemnon]

I've read them. They were alright. The ideas in the books were a bit better than the writing itself which I found to be a bit of a struggle getting through. The ending was of a particularly down note and while I won't spoil it you wouldn't believe what character gets the most sympathetic.

I think the concept is what I enjoyed the most. I was sick of every other story having hobbits and orcs or some equivalent. This particular book had none. The whole mana stream was a cool concept. and the cuss words. I could totally tell someone to vulk off.

I have a feeling i think i might know which character you speak of and that saddens me.

 

[Friday]

I think the concept is what I enjoyed the most. I was sick of every other story having hobbits and orcs or some equivalent. This particular book had none. The whole mana stream was a cool concept. and the cuss words. I could totally tell someone to vulk off.

I have a feeling i think i might know which character you speak of and that saddens me.

Honestly I don't think you do. Looking back on it it was a real turn around on the authors part to do what they did. Not so much the characters actions but the portrayal of them. If you were a fan of the concepts I'd say read the other two, but don't expect smooth, wonderful writing. Just good ideas.

 

[Frapalino]

My absolute favorite book is Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett. It's a short read.
My favorite non-fiction book and second favorite book is A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins

Those two books have inspired me the last few years of my life.

 

[ProjectX2]

I really enjoy Battle Royale. It's about a bunch of kids who are dumped on an island, given a weapon, and told to kill each other. Really intense, graphic stuff.

 

[Friday]

I really enjoy Battle Royale. It's about a bunch of kids who are dumped on an island, given a weapon, and told to kill each other. Really intense, graphic stuff.

I've heard alot of good things about that. I'd like to get the book, but I also want to get the movie. Gotta see Gogo kick some more ***.

 

[Ninja4peace]

There's a load of authors people keep recommending. There's so many books I feel stupidly overwhelmed. Can someone advise me what the 'seminal' piece(s) of work by the following authors:

Phillip K Dick
H P Lovecraft
Arthur C Clark
Terry Brooks
John Grisham
Tom Clancy
Any other authors you want to recommend with the seminal work listed.

 

[Entropy]

Phillip K Dick

Ubik; Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said; The Man in the High Castle; and VALIS are probably Dick's biggest works, and I consider Ubik his personal best. Personal favorites of mine include A Maze of Death, The Zap Gun, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Dr. Bloodmoney. Confessions of a Crap Artist is interesting since it's Dick writing a more straightforward "literary" story, and, of course, there are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and A Scanner Darkly.

H P Lovecraft

I'd just go pick up a few of those Lovecraft anthologies and go to town. I think Del Ray has some in paperback that only cost like ten bucks apiece and have most of his major stuff. Stories I strongly recommend though are, "The Whisperer in Darkness", "Herbert West: Reanimator", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Haunter of the Dark", and "The Rats in the Walls". Also, definitely read "Supernatural Horror in Literature", a terrific essay on his craft and peers.

Arthur C Clark

2001, and Rendezvous with Rama are his two most well known. My personal favorite by Clarke is Childhood's End.

Terry Brooks
John Grisham
Tom Clancy
Any other authors you want to recommend with the seminal work listed.

I have no opinion about the last three authors. I'll recommend some other writers later.

 

[Lynx]

There's a load of authors people keep recommending. There's so many books I feel stupidly overwhelmed. Can someone advise me what the 'seminal' piece(s) of work by the following authors:

Tom Clancy

The only works by Tom Clancy that are really worth a damn are the Jack Ryan books. And if you read those, you have to read them in order, starting with The Hunt for the Red October.

 

[Friday]

H P Lovecraft

I've found with Lovecraft the shorter the story the better. His longer works don't read nearly as well and never seem to have any sort of natural breaks for you to stop at.

 

[Entropy]

I've found with Lovecraft the shorter the story the better. His longer works don't read nearly as well and never seem to have any sort of natural breaks for you to stop at.

They generally tend to act as a skeleton, I think, to whichever mythos he is writing in at the time, with the shorter stories filling in the muscles. The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath and At the Mountains of Madness both pretty much take you through every major event of their respective cycles. Nowhere near as good a read as his short stuff, but giving you an excellent key to place things in context to each other.

Truth be told, I am actually quite fond of Mountains because

Spoiler

of its entirely deconstructivist nature. Lovecraft takes his own grand Mythos, puts it under a microscope, and slashes it to ribbons (the dissection scenes are huge hints to the overall nature of the plot). It's a pity he couldn't have maybe condensed it more, but I also enjoy it for how it builds up slowly, almost playfully, so that we fully experience the awe and terror once the plane flies over the mountains.

 

[Friday]

They generally tend to act as a skeleton, I think, to whichever mythos he is writing in at the time, with the shorter stories filling in the muscles. The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath and At the Mountains of Madness both pretty much take you through every major event of their respective cycles. Nowhere near as good a read as his short stuff, but giving you an excellent key to place things in context to each other.

Truth be told, I am actually quite fond of Mountains because

Spoiler

of its entirely deconstructivist nature. Lovecraft takes his own grand Mythos, puts it under a microscope, and slashes it to ribbons (the dissection scenes are huge hints to the overall nature of the plot). It's a pity he couldn't have maybe condensed it more, but I also enjoy it for how it builds up slowly, almost playfully, so that we fully experience the awe and terror once the plane flies over the mountains.

I can't wait for the Del Torro adaptation.