Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum
A lot like the Da Vinci Code, but not shit. A conspiracy theorist's wet dream.
(CADmonkey rollllllllled another one, just like the other one, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:47, 7 replies)

From Hell.
The great Alan Moore's gigantic graphic novel. Very wordy, and initially appears to have been illustrated as an afterthought. A truly excellent, engrossing read, particularly the copious notes at the end, reminding you that the story is utter bullshit, and most certainly not the definitive guide to the ripper murders.

Is this really what qotw has become? "Read any good books lately?"

I'm also a big fan of Kurt Vonnegutt, having come into possession of almost all his output when my neighbour cleared off his bookshelves. Slaughterhouse 5 is a bit barmy, so Dead Eye Dick would be my recommendation for anyone new to him. Reading Slaughterhouse 5 got Heller's Catch-22 sent my way, but that really is a rubbish read (you're better of watching M*A*S*H, as it's the same thing done better).

This really could go on a bit, so I'll offer Jim Crace's Quarantine as a recommendation of a book you've probably not read (oh for the days when I could browse for hours in the book shop), and leave it at that.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:45, 4 replies)

The BFG
Best. Book. Evar.
(Frample Tromwibbler climbs an obstacle like old people fuck, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:43, 2 replies)

A
book about Deja Vu which led to this upthear.se/dejavu
( social hand grenade I was a lurker before you were a lurker, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:41, 1 reply)

I once read *book's name here* by *author's name here*.
It was good/bad(delete as appropriate).

Sorted.
( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:35, 32 replies)

The Bible
Cover to cover it took me just over a year to plod through every page. Why? So I was as clued up as any church. That and I really liked Ecclesiastes (Short version: "why do I bother getting out of bed?") and wanted to see if there were any more gems hidden amongst all that mainstream stuff like Jonah.

Goodness me bits of it are really dull (like numbers). The rest though, is occasionally sincerely fascinating, whether or not you believe in some or all or none of it. It can be seen as a sincere effort to socialise sprituality, or to communicate Monotheism to illiterate nomads, or as a history of an entire culture, or as evidence of God's evolving relationship with Man, or lotsa other good shit. Mind you, you'd have to be a bit of a twat to take any of it as unquestionable literal fact.

It's never been out of print. In fact, it had to wait a fair old while to be in print in the first place.
(CADmonkey rollllllllled another one, just like the other one, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:16, 6 replies)

I've tried
but I could not plow through anything by Margaret Atwood. The woman seems to have come by her knowledge of the human condition from second sources.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:11, 5 replies)

Nabokov
I would say Lolita but that would unleash the hounds, but lets say Pnin, it's like a borescope into the inner most thoughts of the poor man's mind.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 19:04, 15 replies)

i am still trying, often without success
to avoid being rude to adults who read teenshite like Twilight spinoffs and Harry Fucking Pity-yer. It's bad enough that you choose to ignore the millions of books that were written to give you pleasure, but then we have to endure you telling us that "It's actually very well crafted and a great story" by way of apology.
It's the literary equivalent of saying that lukewarm piss is nearly as good as wine because they are both liquids that it is possible to consume without dying.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:59, 4 replies)

The Newgate Calendar
I love old books, something about the type face, the smell and a crude woodcut picture. Marvellous.

My favourite one on my shelf is an 1826 copy of the Newgate Calendar Volume 1 I got from ebay for a tenner. It's basically an 18th century version of "Police, Camera, Action". It was intended as a book to teach children about the dastardly crimes committed by various inmates of Newgate Prison and their comeuppance (which was usually a cart-ride to dance the jig on the Tyburn gallows) as a means of keeping delicate young minds on the straight and narrow.

The reason it's one of my favourites though is that among the tales of Dick Turpin and some washer women that were hung for nicking hankies (18th century justice seemed to be a little on the harsh side) there is a detailed account of my scallywag ancestors accompanied by this charming woodcut of them throwing a frenchman overboard, tied back to back with his first mate (also of the haw-hee-haw variety), as they started what turned out to be a very short career in piracy:



Yarrrrg!!
( Draconacticus Reject shampoo. Demand real poo!, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:54, Reply)

Pterry rules
Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman is so much fun, while Small Gods by Pratchett is genius.

Iain Banks for Scifi never disappoints

A. A Attanasio's 'the last legends of the earth' redefines epic scale

Cosmic Banditos by A. C. Weisbecker combines the topics of Central American banditry, the diets of large dogs and subatomic physics. What is not to like!

Then when I am feeling a bit more like a grownup, Herman Hesse, Joseph Heller, Melville, Hemmingway, Dickens and a million other great authors are out there and I enjoy them, but...

...but I find that after a few 'grown up' books I go back and re-read a random discworld novel. Terry's books are like old friends I keep returning to whenever I want to feel good about humanity again.

Thanks Terry.
(seedybee68 not involved in any rioting since 31 March 1990, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:38, 1 reply)

I don't read a lot
but the one book that I really love is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's a shame that he come's accross as a bit of a pretentious wanker in real life though, and that his other books are shite
(Dwarfsmuggler Has hogtied Snow White, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:20, 7 replies)

Book from my childhood

The Biggles Books by Captain W.E. Johns. I love the innocence, the sense of fair play, the Political Incorrectness that now has most of them banned from Libraries. I still re-read them occasionally. I have all but a handful - most picked up at car boot sales for a few pence, and some are now going for hundreds of pounds on ebay. I finally have a retirement plan :-)


ON ANOTHER NOTE: HELP!

I remember reading a set of books when I was much much younger (sometime in the early-mid 70s) called something like "Captain Crustak and the Crusticons" - a series about a secret lab, a mad professor with giant crabs (robotic possibly) that would do his bidding. Trying to remember the name, the author, the plots is driving me nuts, and I'm now at the point where I think I'm making it up.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Or is my obsession with giant robotic crabs simply a glimpse into what my retirement plan will be spent covering.

.
( gp_guineapig, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:11, 7 replies)

before I tell you about MY opinions here is someone else on the topic
www.middleclasshandbook.co.uk/journal/2012/1/4/how-to-be-middle-class-love-being-the-book-recommender-hate.html
(gearanach #wankwankwank, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:05, 3 replies)

Homeboy by Seth Morgan
Stands as one of my favorites of all time. Unfortunately it is the only book he wrote, (he died half way through writing his second book by driving his Harley into a bridge drunk and coked up).
( sutit only the crumbliest, flakiest posts, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:01, Reply)

Ferney - James Long, Engelby - Sebastian Faulks, The Magus - John Fowles, Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell, The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx

I have a couple of 1st Edition James Bonds (Thunderball & You Only Live Twice). I'm not particularly a Bond or Fleming fan but I love the Richard Chopping artwork.
( printmeister http://tinyurl.com/c8s8fd5 for titanic T's, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:55, Reply)

The Very Hungy Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf". The humble origins of the "little" egg and "tiny" caterpillar and his quest for nourishment can be seen as a metaphor for sexual growth, where desire cannot be sated until, having sampled a smörgåsbord on the Saturday comprising "one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon", he can take no more and becomes a "big, fat caterpillar". The Freudian depictions of the food - and of the caterpillar himself - reinforce the metaphor: size (and shape) is everything. Previous suggestions (Catface, 2010) that the story is a literal reading of eating-overeating-transformation can be dismissed as both reductionist and essentialist. The transformation, when it does occur, deals briefly with the liminal state as a necessary transition into full awareness and power - a phallocentric triumph.

I have read this book to my child an estimated 485 times. That's about 484 times where I've had to pretend to sound enthusiastic about a bug. Don't even start me on "We're going on a motherfucking bear hunt".
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:52, 6 replies)

Alexei Sayle
A rather pleasant surprise. Loved his short stories more than I expected to.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:47, 4 replies)

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
It's a bit of a weird one to describe without coming across as some sort of New Age Hippy but I'd recommend it to everyone without hesitation. It's a short book and if you see it in a bookshop or a library have a quick scan through and see if it floats your boat.

I've also got a soft spot for "To Kill a Mockingbird." I had to study it for English Lit but surprisingly it didn't destroy it for me. (It's also one of the few books where I'll recommend the film adaptation with Gregory Peck for those who don't read).

Others that spring to mind are "Good Omens", "Excession", "Rebecca" and "Moby Dick". An odd mix I do admit.
(azgiles, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:45, 1 reply)

Having a mind that reads diagonally... so i read the same line over and over
i find it difficult to read books, although I have been forcing myself as of lately
I am proud to say I have now read

Alien 3 - its abit like the film but in words
Bill Byrson - guide to the house (or home i forget)
and a zombie survival guide, well worth reading
( SkUG >_O i got a couple of stitches in my eyeball... ow, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:40, Reply)

I've just finished reading "A Celebration of 30 years of the Lego Minifigure"
I enjoyed that. I've got "The Lego Book" to get through yet though.
On the flip side I've read The Fellowship of the Ring and hated it. It takes too long for nothing to happen.
I want to get a copy of A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations as I've sen the films and would like to see how Dickens actually wrote them.
(TitanLX, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:36, 1 reply)

oh god, i could ramble forever about my favourite books
some perennial favourites include

all of bret easton ellis but especially glamorama
all of jeanette winterson but especially sexing the cherry
all of kazuo ishiguro but especially when we were orphans
all of jon mcgregor
all of jonathon coe but especially the house of sleep
all of margaret atwood
all of david mitchell
all of isabel allende but especially of love and shadows
if on a winter's night a traveller - calvino
eunioa - christian someone i think
the unbearable lightness of being - kundera
the aberystwith books by malcom pryce - detective fiction with a postmodern twist
audrey niffenegger's ones
the master and margarita - bulgakov
death and the penguin - kurkov

non fiction:
the art of looking - alan fletcher
watching the english - kate fox
all points north - simon armitage

um, i think i should stop now. sorry.
( evil pixie, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:32, 4 replies)

I love "The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King.
It's the idea of the world it's set in, a mixture of past/present/future and fantasy/fiction. And I love how most of his other books tie in to it in some fashion.

I prefer Stephen Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" over Lord of the Rings.

And most books by Jeffery Deaver: Bone Collector, Coffin Dancer, Empty Chair (Lincoln Rhyme series), and newer stuff like Burning Wire and Roadside Crosses. He's written the new James Bond novel Carte blanche, can't decide if it's worth a read or not yet.

Oh and the Lensman series by E.E Doc Smith, took me ages to find them all.
( Maffers I flow kinda strange like Spina Bifida footprints, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:32, 9 replies)

Books through the ages..
Books wot I have read : When I was young, anything Moomins by Tove Jansen. Also the Orlando series by Kathleen Hale. Bizarre but great. I have wonderful memories of my grandpa taking me to the local library on a Saturday to pick up one of these and then on to the Co-op caff for a hot chocolate.

A bit older it was Narnia by CS Lewis. Then on to Tolkien (naturally). Teens were mostly Agatha Christie & then I discovered Margery Allingham - great detective novels I think a step up from AC. I also discovered Robert Heinlein who bizarrely enough helped shape my philosophy of the world. Stephen King's The Stand gets a thumbs up for me.

One book that really made me fall in love was Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. It's an amazing story of (cue Frankie Goes to Hollywood) the power of love. Sounds trite, but it's amazing. It's beautifully written and made me lose my breath (but obv not enough to kill me). I've re-read it a zillion and one times, and it never gets old.

I've got a zillion other authors that I love, but the above are my faves. Oh, and I hate Dan Brown - well done for chucking it out of that train window.
( parttimebabe is almost there..., Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:27, 5 replies)

Fiesta Readers Letters: Number 45
Anyone read it? I can't find any reviews on Amazon.
(Woodlouse say it with flowers. Send her a Triffid, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:18, Reply)

Catch 22
by Joseph Heller. I just picked it up and started reading it without really knowing what it was about, took a little while to get my head into it, but its one of the funniest, darkest books you'll ever read. I highly recomment it.

I've also really enjoyed the ASOIAF books, which I only started reading after the tv show came out. Am on a bit of a popular science binge at the moment, a short history of nearly everything was brilliant.
(petrol, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:01, Reply)

One that I laughed at heartily throughout:
'e' by Matt Beaumont. Nothing to do with massive drugs, the entire novel is made up of e-mails sent within an advertising company. It's very clever (probably a bit too clever and knowing) and contains several character types you'll recognise if you've ever worked in an office.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:53, Reply)

Edmund: A Butler's Tale - By Gertrude Perkins
A huge rollercoaster of a novel crammed with sizzling gypsies.
(BinDipper, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:52, 7 replies)

Good books, and I heartily recommend them all. . .
I'm not going to yammer on too much about any of these, but give them a go. Especially the ones near the top of the list . . .

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Obviously.

John Dies at the End - David Wong - Never have I read a book as funny as this (I was crying with laughter on the tube, many times) while simultaneously being genuinely terrifying (I was seeing things in the shadows for the week or so I was reading this). So funny, you’ll ruin the front of your underpants. So scary, you’ll ruin the back of them.

Slaughterhouse Five / The Sirens of Titan / Galapagos / Cats Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut.

Choke / Invisible Monsters / Lullaby / Diary / Survivor / Rant - Chuck Palahniuk. Chuck Palahniuk and Kurt Vonnegut have such a lovely way of telling stories.

Kiss Me Judas - Will Christopher Baer - Excellent ‘detective’ noir, a gritty and psychedelic decent into love’s chaos. And what love. And what chaos!

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - Awesome literature. Great story. Fantastically written.

World War Z - Max Brooks - Cool. Zombies!

The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in a Dickensian fantasy world. Magic.

One of Us - Michael Marshall Smith - To anyone who likes Douglas Adams’ HHGttG, this is the next best thing. Hilarious and brilliantly surreal sci-fi detective story.

The Algebraist / Transition - Iain Banks - Beautifully written, it’s like reading gorgeous art.

A Chemical Fire - Brian Martinez - The best ‘twist’ in literature I have ever read. A junky struggles in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Cows - Matthew Stokoe - infantile, but just SO sick and twisted. Car crash literature.

Apeshit - Carlton Mellick - Reads a bit like a screenplay, but WHAT fun. A ‘cabin in the woods with over-sexed teenagers’ tale. Gorenography.
(SigourneysBeaver took off and nuked the entire site from orbit on, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:47, 3 replies)

Fuck you Jeanette Winterson
Yeah, that's right.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:47, Reply)