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Recommendations!

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RobbieOC:
*ahem*

I'm going to stick to books, because I feel more qualified to talk about those.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon. The story of a Jewish escape artist smuggling himself out of Nazi-occupied Prague in the same crate as the Golem and traveling his way to NYC where he and his cousin become the creators of The Escapist, greatest superhero of his time. It roughly tells the story of all those old comic book creators and how a lot of them got screwed over in the early days. But Chabon's writing style is amazing. Also, Dark Horse has published some comics about The Escapist, written by Chabon himself, if this book doesn't give you enough, and the graphic novel The Escapists, written by Brian K. Vaughan is set in the same cosmology. I will recommend basically anything of Chabon's, including his earlier novels (including Wonderboys, which was made into a movie starring Tobey Macguire and Kirk Douglas) and his newer stuff like Gentlemen of the Road. Oh, this one also won the Pulitzer, which you may have heard of...

Ham on Rye - Charles Bukowski. He's most well known for his poetry, but his prose is amazing also. This book is more or less a memoir telling about his life from childhood until he finally moves out of his parents house and starts earning his own keep. It's all about growing up in LA during the depression and the characters he writes and the stories he tells are just incredibly interesting. I haven't read any of his other novels, but I can't wait to now that I've read this one.

The Life of David - Robert Pinsky. This is, as the title implies, the story of the life of David, King of the Jews. It's really well researched and tells the story from a perspective not often told. It's way different than the David you'll hear about from Christians and Jews, and it's beautifully written. I had a chance to read this book and then listen to Pinsky talk about it when he visited my school (I was actually asked to give a presentation over the book at a luncheon, and there are very few things more distressing than analyzing a book with the author eating pie only ten feet away from you) and Pinsky is not only a great writer but a great speaker and just a really engaging personality.

Gilead - Marilynne Robinson. Another author I was able to meet, Robinson has only put out two novels, the other is titled Housekeeping, but they are both exceptional. Gilead is the story of a preacher in Gilead, Iowa and is told as if you are reading a series of notes he has left to his son, who he had late in his life and hasn't had the chance to get to know as well as he would like. It's a really good story of family and faith and the struggles that people go through. A lot of people like her other book more, but Gilead won the Pulitzer, so I recommended it... neither is a bad choice.

Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn. This isn't exactly high-literature, but if you want something fun and easy to read, this follow-up to the Star Wars movies is about as good as it gets. Zahn is incredibly good at what he does, and his writing is fun and unpretentious. It's Star Wars, so there's a certain amount of cheese that comes with it, but as far as Star Wars books go, you can't go wrong with Zahn. Only real complaint: not enough Lando.

Other authors: Raymond Chandler, Cormac McCarthy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ursula K LeGuin, Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Joseph Heller

Edit: Typos aplenty!

Shreazla:
Ok, here's some completely random, and, by most people, unheard of series that are quite good.

Series: Anne of Green Gables - A good read for someone who just wants to read a story; no particular genre here, no sex-filled fantasys, or bloddy duels to the death, but rather a simple story-teller weaving an amazing story of the life of an orphan girl as she grows up from a wide-eyed inquisitve child into a mature lady - I have never been captivated by a story like I have been with these, and I can't put my finger on the reason why, but it's still good.

Series: Misty of Chincotuge (spellcheck) - Another one of those series where it's just a good overall read; story is about two kids growing up who end up getting a horse from the annual Chincotuge run  of horses, and growing up with her - once again, just a series to read, though there's no particular plot.

Series: The Sword of Shannara; Terry Brooks - A great fantasy series, part J.R.R. Tolkien, part C.S. Lewis, and part original; a great mix.  The series is huge now, numbering well over 20 books, I believe.  It chronicles the history of the Shannara lineage, as they fight to save the land from evil - he's also tied in another series as of late, but I shall not ruin that part for you.... however, Brooks also has two other series which are quite good as well - Magical kingdom of Landover, and Knight of the Word.

Book: Pride and Prejudice - Yes, I am a male, and Yes, I am recommending this book; this book is a classic, even though it's not a book a guy would typically pick up - the main male protagonist is the epitome of what every guy should attempt to be - a complete jerk on the surface, yet a true gentleman - he pulls it off perfectly, and, if for no other reason, the insults that are bandied around in the book are more than enough reason to read it - a perfect lesson in how to completely offend a gorgeous and perfect woman, only to pick her up afterwards ;)

So many more that I'll think of later... I'll leave the mainstream stuff for you guys to advise.

mrjoegangles:

--- Quote from: Shreazla on 18 Feb 2008, 15:06 ---Ok, here's some completely random, and, by most people, unheard of series that are quite good.

Series: Anne of Green Gables
Book: Pride and Prejudice
--- End quote ---

Unheard of!  Are you for real?

I challenge you to find a girl who hasn't read Anne of Green Gables.  I think thats a requirment for puberty.
And Pride and Prejudice?  Honestly.   Pride and fucking Prejudice is unheard of.  You have got to be shitting me.

Well then I got some great "unheard" of books for you:

Sense and Sensibility
A Tale of Two Cities
The Illiad
The Bible

And I appoligize if I sound rude and boorish but to hear two great works of English Literature insulted by having someone imply that they arn't staples of any gradeschoolers education is insulting to me and anyone else who actually graduated from their 6th grade English Class.

thehollow:

--- Quote from: Shreazla on 18 Feb 2008, 15:06 ---Series: Misty of Chincotuge (spellcheck)

--- End quote ---

It's chincoteague. And pretty much all of that is rather mainstream.


So I know I'm very behind the times in saying this, but I recently watched the first 4 seasons of The Wire, and it's goddamn amazing. Easily one of the best shows I've ever seen.

In book-related news, I just finished reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. It was an incredibly interesting read, offering a lot of insight into the history of human development. His arguments aren't void of criticism, but one has to admire him for even attempting to address an issue with the scale of this one. Definitely one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read.

TheFuriousWombat:
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