Book thread

[MaceVanHoffen]

I'm kind of curious as to what books people read around here.  I tend to read quite a bit, even (gasp!) forgoing games for a weekend of nonstop reading outdoors in my backyard.  Mostly with beer and/or wine.  And homemade barbecue.  But I digress...

I mostly read fantasy and hard science fiction, but as I've gotten older my tastes have become more eclectic.  I'd love to hear recommendations and reviews from people on interesting books to fuel my own reading.  Here's what I've read recently that I thought was pretty good.  Please note that if you don't like something, my only defense is that I tend to read in an alcohol- and barbecue-soaked fugue sometimes.

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
A very strange religiously-themed novel that I got into while I was in London this past fall.  Pi is an Indian boy who survives for 272 days at sea after his ship sinks in the Pacific.  The story has a bit of a Shyamalan-esque ending, so be warned.  I liked this book enough that I will be rereading it, after ....

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
I'm rereading this now.  It's one of my favorite science fiction novels.  The title is from a poem by Keats.  It's basically similar to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  A group of pilgrims travel to the planet Hyperion to confront the Shrike, which is an ancient organic killing machine.  This Shrike guards the Time Tombs, which are ancient structures, built by some alien intelligence, moving backwards through time.  Each of the pilgrims is not what he or she appears to be.  They all have secrets, and in one or two cases they are pretty horrific secrets indeed.

The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F. Hamilton
The Brits are producing some spectacular science fiction novels right now, and these are some of them.  It's a science horror story that spans 6 books.  Humans start returning from the dimension they occupy after death, and a galactic struggle between the living and the dead (including Al Capone!) ensues.  The first half of the first book goes pretty slow, but after that the books are all real page-turners.

Angelmass, by Timothy Zahn
Just finished this book.  Ever since his 3 Star Wars sequels in the mid-80's, this man has walked on water for me.  Anglemass is about a black hole that kicks out "angels", subatomic particles that render people calm, ethical, and generally "good".  The Pax is the central human government.  The story is told mainly from the point of view of a Pax spy who infiltrates the Empyrean, which is the human offshoot faction which uses angels on all their politicians.  The Pax want to save the Empyrean from (supposedly) the threat of control by these angels, whose exact nature is revealed over the course of the novel.  Pretty good stuff.

Watership Down, by Richard Adams
This book might not be for everyone, but I love it.  Every time I read it I get more out of it.  Rabbits going on a grand adventure to find a new home is not what the story is really about.  It's an allegory for mankind's relationship with nature, something I didn't appreciate when I first read this book at 8 years old.  If you're a treehugging naturelover like me and haven't read this book, I'd recommend it.

The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm one of those nutjobs that reads Tolkiien's major works every year.  It was time last week to reread this book, and I loved it all over again.  For the uninitiated: this book is the backstory to Lord of the Rings.  It starts from the creation of the world and focuses mainly on the history of the elven race(s).  It is both sad and uplifting at the same time.  Aragorn and Arwen?  Nah ... Give me the love story of Beren and Luthien any day.

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, by Steve Coll
Long title, long book, great read.  No matter your politics, this book is a must read to get perspective on the current problems in the Middle East.  Steve Coll is a very good journalist.  Though his bias does show through in parts, it is pretty hard to see throughout the majority of the book.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
This is a wonderfully researched and thoroughly readable dissection of how and why primitive peoples have been conquered over the centuries.  I've reread this a couple of times just because I liked the author's writing.

King Rat, by China Mieville
A modern and urban twist on the old Rat King legend.  The main character (Saul) is accused of his father's murder, is put into jail, and then is freed by an exceptionally strong stranger.  A rather odd and twisted adventure ensues in which Saul discovers that he's part of (and the object of) a century's old struggle between supernatural creatures.  This was a very quirky novel that had none of the trappings of more popular fantasy novels.  This novel has more in common with Lovecraft than it does with Tolkien.  I liked it so well I'm going to be reading all of Mieville's stuff soon.

[Samwise]

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
I'm rereading this now.  It's one of my favorite science fiction novels.  The title is from a poem by Keats.  It's basically similar to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  A group of pilgrims travel to the planet Hyperion to confront the Shrike, which is an ancient organic killing machine.  This Shrike guards the Time Tombs, which are ancient structures, built by some alien intelligence, moving backwards through time.  Each of the pilgrims is not what he or she appears to be.  They all have secrets, and in one or two cases they are pretty horrific secrets indeed.

Be sure to read all the sequels as well (Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, Rise of Endymion).  IMO the books just kept getting better and better, and the conclusion to the last one was satisfying enough that I didn't feel gypped that it was over, which is rare.

I only fairly recently started reading Neil Gaiman, having been alerted to his existence by the very entertaining Good Omens.  Neverwhere is an awesome book, with its only drawback being that I went through withdrawal after it was over, because I had fallen in love with the setting and the characters.  So I picked up American Gods, which wasn't quite as good but was still very respectable.  (I know I have to go get his graphic novels now and read them; I keep hearing how brilliant they are.)

I've also been churning through L. E. Modesitt's Saga of Recluce series, which starts with The Magic of Recluce.  I'd recommend these books to anyone who likes fantasy; all the basic elements, but the spin he puts on magic and the writing style are sufficiently unique that you probably won't have that "I've read this before" feeling that accompanies most generic fantasy novels.  Until you get about five books into the series, at which point you realize that the last few books have all been basically the same book told in different time frames; fortunately, that one book you've just read three times is a pretty damn good book, so you might not mind too much.

My most recent book purchase was The Salmon of Doubt, Douglas Adams's last book (compiled posthumously by an editor who went through all the random unfinished stuff on his hard drives after he died, kinda like those last two Beatles songs), the first half of which is random essays/commentaries/speeches by.  They vary between entertaining, insightful, and annoying.  I've only just today reached the story proper, so we'll see how that goes.

[Strazos]

Eh, I don't read nearly as much as I probably should, but anyway....

PIllars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I had to read this for a Medieval history class. At first glance I was appalled to have to read something so large, in addition to normal textbooks....but once you get into it, the book is absolutly addictive.

The Anead, Illiad, Odyssey are all good choices too, naturally.

Gosh, I don't read nearly enough.

[Signe]

I mostly gave up reading "literature" ages ago.  I just read trash now.

[SirBruce]

I'm a big Heinlein fan.  My favorite of his is probably To Sail Beyond the Sunset, partly because it wraps up his multiverse histories of his later novels (Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walked Through Walls, etc.) quite nicely, and partly because a good 1/3 to 1/2 of the novel is really about a marvelous woman growing up in early 20th century rural Missouri, which is something I can relate to.

Favorite writers also include Harlan Ellison, Peter David, Lawrence Watt-Evans, and Simon Hawke.

I have not read any new sci-fi or fantasy in many years.  Peter David's Q-Squared remains one of my favorite Trek novels.

Bruce

[stray]

I mainly read non fiction, and most of the fiction I do read is usually not current (ie classics). My favorite writers tend to be either as dead as Dostoevsky or from some other bygone era. Nowadays, most of the fiction that has gotten a reaction out of me hasn't been from books, but comic books. I enjoy the hell out of poetry, plays (read or performed) and films though, but I doubt that counts either.

That being said, some good non fiction I've read recently:

Under the Black Flag - The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates

-- speaks for itself

Please Kill Me

-- Totally hilarious. Well worth reading if you have any interest in Punk in the 70's. It chronicles the era starting with the Velvet Underground, and the few bands that followed soon after (The Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Television, Ramones, Dead Boys etc..) and ends when the British started picking up. Pretty light reading, all done in an interview format.

Hyperspace by Michio Kaku

-- Theoretical Physics and Superstring Theory for the rest of us. Kaku is one of the more entertaining science writers around imo. If you're already into reading heavy scientific texts, this may not be for you. But for anyone with just a passing interest, Kaku is a very engaging writer who can speak about these things without totally dumbing it down.

[Shockeye]

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
This is a wonderfully researched and thoroughly readable dissection of how and why primitive peoples have been conquered over the centuries.  I've reread this a couple of times just because I liked the author's writing.

That was a very good book. A couple I recommend:

The Pirate Hunter : The True Story of Captain Kidd
by Richard Zacks

One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church
by Richard Abanes

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by MICHAEL POLLAN

Foucault's Pendulum
by UMBERTO ECO

[Abagadro]

Dan Simmons has a new sci-fi book out I liked a lot called Ilium that incorporates a lot of the Illiad into it. I am looking forward to the sequal out this year.  I liked Hamilton's last one too (Pandora's Star) which is the first in a 2 parter.

Last recent series of books I really dug was Alistair Reynolds' 4 books (its a trilogy, Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap,  plus one other book in the same universe, Chasm City). 

[Festus Clamrod]

I'm currentlly in the middle of The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stevenson. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Quicksilver

The Confusion

The System of the World

Although, you might want to read Cryptonomicon first, as it is a sort of prequel (with a recurring charcter between the two.)

[schild]

If there's an abridged version out, I'd recommend getting that rather than reading The entire Baroque Cycle. It's just not interesting enough for how many pages it's put on.

Cryptonomicon however could be one of the finest books written in the last 50 years.

[Paelos]

Currently I'm reading the Count of Monte Cristo. Over the past year I've read:

The Sword of Truth Series up to the current book
The Song of Ice and Fire Series, all three books
Enders Game

[Abagadro]

After you get done reading that read Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It's a great sci-fi version and one of the great old school sci-fi books.

[Krakrok]

Hyperion is one of my favorites as well. That being said, other books I liked...


Series: #1 Warrior, #2 Wanderer, #3 Witch - Donald E. McQuinn - What isn't there to love about a book that mixes post-nuke indians, castles, and heavy assault weapons?

Series: The Last Dancer, The Long Run, Emerald Eyes - Daniel Keys Moran - France nukes everyone and takes over the world. Telepaths, time travel, hover cars, ninjas, ballistic missiles, near future setting. If Hyperion is #1 these are #2.

Treason by Orson Scott Card - Guy is a walking organ vat plant. They cut off his hands, legs, etc. to use for transplants and he re-grows them. Feels a lot like Dune. Short.

Series: The Princess Of Mars (and the other 11 books) by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Civil war vet. gets transported to Mars (pulp science fiction). Organ vats, 6 armed mobs, sword fighting, ice monters, canals (on Mars), flying ships, etc. The first 6 or so books you can get for free off Gutenburg as the copyright has expired. If you liked the Princess Bride you'll probably like these (easy reading).

Series: Homecoming Saga (#1 is The Memory of Earth I think) by Orson Scott Card - I mainly liked the technology and the reverse of our own culture in the books. The politics get a little over the top. The end books which feature human bats fighting human rats fell a little short for me.

Series: Forbidden Borders (#1 is Requiem for the Conqueror) by W. Michael Gear - Humans are stuck in a petri dish star system fighting it out between the last two great empires. The mercenary faction is the real power in the petri dish and wants to unite all factions to break out of the petri dish.

Series: Spider Trilogy (#1 is The Warriors of Spider) by W. Michael Gear - I don't even remember the story line in this series other than it was good and reminded me of the Jedi from Star Wars. In both W. Michael Gear series' the torture is a little over the top.

Series: Deathstalker (bunch of different series and books in the Deathstalker universe) by Simon R. Green - It has an empire the scope of the one in Dune except the books take place on all of the planets not just one. Somehow the writing style or actual content of the stories feels like eating McDonald's but the concepts, technology, and characters are good.


All I have time to post at the moment.

Edit: The Shattered World by Michael Reaves, Helm by Steven Gould, Destiny's Road by Larry Niven.

[schild]

Put "Childhood's End" somewhere on your list.

Also, Caleb Carr's "Alienist" and "Angel of Darkness" are superb.

[Shockeye]

Put "Childhood's End" somewhere on your list.

Also, Caleb Carr's "Alienist" and "Angel of Darkness" are superb.

I was going to recommend anything Carr wrote, but I figured I'd already listed enough.

[Viin]

Since I don't actually read anything intelligent, the only books I have to add are:

Exiles series - Melanie Rawn - very good fantasy series, focuses on politics mostly and has a unique magic system.

Bifrost Guardians series - Mickey Zucker Reichert - time travel (vietnam to fantasy land), light read but fun.

Dark Heart - Margaret Weis & David Baldwin - modern day mystery with fantasy elements thrown in.

If you like vampire erotica, my girlfriend loves all the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books by Laurell K. Hamilton.

I also second the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin, probably my favoritest fantasy series.

If this thread doesn't have enough books for you to read please let us know .. I have another 20 or so to recommend. :) Though, if someone is looking for specific genre's I'm sure everyone can chip in more.

[Krakrok]

I couldn't remember the name of this series last night.

Series: Mageworlds (#1 is Price of the Stars) by Debra Doyle, James D. MacDonald - Space opera with magic ala the force. Borrows some from Star Wars (like Wookies).

[jpark]

I am sure to post more on this thread...

The Selfish Gene.  Richard Dawkins.  If you have advanced high school biology you can read this book, it is very lay friendly.  Despite being lay friendly, it is a classic among scientists concerned with behavior, evolution and anthropology.  Very simply written, it brings a whole new way of looking at social systems as a product of the unit of selection in evolution - the single gene.  Some of this may sound "old hat" to some of you, but this book is 25 years old now and was monumental in building this point of view today.  There is a great discussion here on the "battle of the sexes" and how the risks of reproduction are not shared across species, and how that leads to gender specific behaviors etc.

The First Three Minutes.  Steven Weinberg.  Weinberg received the Nobel prize for his work in physics and this book is approachable by those with a good lay understanding of physics and cosmology (early undergraduate physics).  The book is only 150 pages long or and is widely hailed as classic.  It was the first work to marshal available evidence around the "Big Bang" theory as a "good theory" rather than "the best we have at the moment".  With each chapter in the book, it describes the decreasing temperatures of the universe as it expands.  With each major shift in the temperature of the universe, larger particles appear and unitary forces fracture into larger groups we describe today.  The early universe that is so dense it is comprised of "liquid light" was fascinating - if not impossible to imagine.

Black Athena.  Martin Bernal (Volume 1).    This is the first in a 4 volume series that is a serious scholarly work.  I read the first volume.  It is a fascinating argument, espoused by the leading proponent of this view, that much of what we ascribe to classical Greece was taken from Egypt (gods, belief systems etc.).  Despite the professional scope of the book for those in the field, I found it approachable as a lay person to the field.  The book offers other insights along the way.  For example, some societies in Ancient times were far more cosmopolitan than we imagined.  His speculations on racism are also of great interest.  Bernal points out how our notions of Greek culture and its contributions to the Western world were formed during the height of colonialism, and as such our vision of history during Ancient times needs to be revisited given clear bias during the inception of this period in our acadmic systems.  The author also makes an intriguing claim, that racism was not really a phenomena until colonialism.  Not endorsing all the views in the book, but it certainly makes one think.

Manufacturing Consent.  Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman.   Chomsky received the nobel prize for his work in linguistics providing evidence for the biological basis of grammatical structures that are culturally invariant.  Not content to stop there, the past 30 years of his life have built a substantial reputation (largely unpopular) of US bias in looking at the rest of the world (he is focused on the US but these problems apply elsewhwere as well).  The first chapter in this book does a great job explaining his model.  Chomsky is not arguing that there is high level conspiracy, but proceeds to explain through issues such as corporate ownership and the mechanics of the media, how we never receive any real information about events in the world other than the standard view despite existing in a democratic society.  

Animal Thinking.  David Griffin.  This book haunts me to this day and I have my phd in neuroscience.  Completely lay friendly, Griffin leaps to the defense of the animal world and argues that almost all life is capable of sentient thought or consciousness.  This includes insects.  A large part of this book points to tool use behaviors by various animals and some intriguing experiments with chimpanzees involving mirrors to illustrate self awareness.  He argues that the fact smaller animals or insects "appear dumb or robotic" is a anthropromorphic bias.  It is our inability to relate to such creatures with biology so different than our own we impose unrealistic standards on what consitutes "intelligent" behavior.  We fail to recognize what intelligent behavior might be by the standards of living creatures that deal with environments very different than our own.  He also makes some simplistic arguments how the underlying neural underpinnings in even insects may support higher level functions we reserve for larger life forms, including humans.  Delightful and disturbing read for meat eaters.

Biophilia.  Edward O. Wilson.  Absolutely one of the greatest biologist living in our time and one of our greatest scientists living in our time.  Biophilia - "love of life".  To put this in perspective, his career started with a monumental work on Insect Societies in which he discovered "phermones" (chemical signals ants use to coordinate activities), now included in perfumes (since it was discovered phermones can be sexual attractants) and practically a household concept today.  Lay friendly and very short, this is an emotional book by a prolific scientist about the value of biodiversity to our society as a whole and its impact on our cognitive development as we mature.  In the last 15 years Wilson has become the leading authority on placing estimates on biodiversity and briefly refers to his publications in this area to give the reader a feel for the uncharted magnitude of this task, what threatens it and how that might impact society.

Genetic Takeover and the Mineral Origins of Life.  Cairns Smith.  This book is not lay friendly and requires advanced knowledge of geology and evolution.  You should have basic undergraduate level chemistry and molecular biology under your belt. This book is interdisciplinary in some regards.  The argument is one of the most audacious and fascinating ideas I have seen:  the first systems that were life like on our planet were silcon based, not carbon, and were derived from the repilicative properties of clay.  In other words, the first replicative systems were not nucleic acid based, but relied on a precursor system of clay.  The stone age versio of a gun was not a gun of stone, but a stone itself.  In looking at life today we try to imagine simplified forms of it in  the early phases of evolution, rather than thinking of entirely new systems that may have been scaffholding to what we see today.  The audacity of this outrageous idea is matched only by the rigor of the book in going through mechanics and possible history of this event.  You don't have to "agree" with the author, but he does an exquisite job in marshalling disparate areas of research to support his theory.

The Histories.  Herodotus.   I have been reading this damn thing for years - it is taking me forever to get through it.  It is a really tough read for me.  Written in about 250 BC or so - Herodotus is regarded has man's first true "historian".  He is also referred to as the "Father of Lies" since he writes of things in first hand account he could not have possibly have had any knowledge of.  This is actually 9 books putting at about 700 pages or so.  The book is hard read unless you really have a solid grasp of Greek politics in Ancient times in addition to the pantheons surrounding the culture.  But reading such an account gives some neat little insights.  For example, Herodotus mentions that men of earlier times were shorter than they are now.  Very interesting - since we say that now too - but with a lot more at our disposal to support it.  His accolades to Egypt as the spiritual center of the world is also interesting - and have been cited by Martin Bernal (above - Black Athena) in talking about the cultura exchange between Egypt and Greece.  For the dungeons and dragons fans - Herodotus takes time to describe in detail something that has always dumbfounded archeologists:  winged serpents in Egypt.  Nobody has any idea what the hell he is talking about there.  Tough read, for me, but a fascinating account by possiblly our earliest historian ever.

From Beirut to Jerusalem.  Thomas Friedman.   The premise of this book is at first dubious - an American Jew providing an objective account of affairs in the Middle East.  He won me over after the first few chapters.  Mr. Friedman does a wonderful job not only displaying an even handed approach to the problems of the region, but in making its complex history manageable to lay readers that are completely unfamiliar with what the hell is going on (this was my first introduction to the problems of the region).  If I recall - the author talks about his journeys in the area during the 1980's when he was working as a journalist for the New York Times.  The book has been udpated with additional chapters.  He has some great cultural anecdotes in the book and really gives you a deeper sense of the political landscape in the area.  This book was written shortly after the Isreali invasion of Lebenanon - so there is a lot of discussion around Lebonese politics.  While Lebonese politics may seem less relevant to today's affairs, his description of the various factions is quite illustrative of the problems that pervade thinking in the region.

Neural Darwinism.  Gerald Edelman.   Well, I can put one book in here from my specialty.  Edelman recieved the Nobel prize for his work in immunology and then shifted his research interests to neural modelling.  He has written a series of books now on his views of brain function, and I think this is his best work.  You would need advanced undergraduate biology for this read.  His vision for brain function has captured the imagination of many.  He uses concepts from evolution, such as group selection, to describe how the brain can organize itself into functional neuronal groups that compete for input in the course of learning.  When amputation occurs (e.g. you lose an arm), these neuronal groups compete for input from other sensory regions - giving rise the "phantom limb" sensation.  This is the report by amputees that they can still "feel" their missing arm.  He then talks about how the competition between these neural groups can occur at multiple levels of the nervous system through feedback loops.  Shameless plug:  I tested this second aspect of his model and published several papers on it as my phd thesis.  His ideas appeared to be correct - input from higher levels of the nervous system is critical for enabling learning at lower levels of the nervous system. 

Demon Haunted World.  Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.  Sagan's last book, he is well known for his promotion of science to the public with an emphasis on astronomy.  The central thesis of this this book is a lot of fun:  the reports of alien spaceships by people in the media is the product of a mass hallucination in our society.  This sounds just as preposteros as the claim of alien citings - but Sagan and Druyan do a great job explaining how this works.  I howled as Sagan compared the descriptions of Aliens involved in abductions and landings in the US and compared those to reports in Europe.  Apparently, completely different alien species visit the two geographic regions.  Sagan also discusses the rampant reports of Angel visitations several hundred years ago, and how that has been supplanted by alien visitations today.  Nice light read with some great critical insight.

The Culture of Contentment.  John Kenneth Galbraith.   Galbraith is one of the most revered economists in the world.  This book is very short and a light read.  He focuses on the US electoral process.  His argument is that only those groups of people well served by the policies of elected administrations over the past several decades both to vote.  They are the "contented".  Those not content are voting less over time.  He ties this back to the paucity of political candidates representing a broader spectrum of opinions and vision.  In his view, democracy is failing those increasingly marginalized by our society.  The absence of clear political choices (barring our the last election) exaceberates this problem further.

[Johny Cee]

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
This is a wonderfully researched and thoroughly readable dissection of how and why primitive peoples have been conquered over the centuries.  I've reread this a couple of times just because I liked the author's writing.

A very interesting read.  For a conflicting viewpoint,  try "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" by David Landes.

Basically,  Diamond argues that geography and distribution of natural resources (including domesticatable plant and animal species) led to increased historical development.  Landes argues for societal/cultural make-up,  along with political organization, accelerated some societies. 

For a classic:  "Mutiny on the Bounty"  Great read.  If you find yourself very interested by the premise of the story,  check out "The Bounty",  a look at the history behind the actual event.  Basically tries to sync up historical record with the fictional account.  I bogged down in the last 1/3 of the book, but he first half was engrossing.

Also you could try "Into Thin Air".  A journalist's first hand account of the deaths/disaster on Everest a few years ago.  Lays some blame on guide Anatoli Boukreev (sp?),  who responded with his own account "The Climb" (had a ghost writer).

[Fabricated]

The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm one of those nutjobs that reads Tolkiien's major works every year. It was time last week to reread this book, and I loved it all over again. For the uninitiated: this book is the backstory to Lord of the Rings. It starts from the creation of the world and focuses mainly on the history of the elven race(s). It is both sad and uplifting at the same time. Aragorn and Arwen? Nah ... Give me the love story of Beren and Luthien any day.

I've tried reading that damn book at least a half dozen times. It's like elven C-SPAN.

[Soukyan]

The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm one of those nutjobs that reads Tolkiien's major works every year. It was time last week to reread this book, and I loved it all over again. For the uninitiated: this book is the backstory to Lord of the Rings. It starts from the creation of the world and focuses mainly on the history of the elven race(s). It is both sad and uplifting at the same time. Aragorn and Arwen? Nah ... Give me the love story of Beren and Luthien any day.

I've tried reading that damn book at least a half dozen times. It's like elven C-SPAN.

/agree

I just cannot do it. I can read tome after dry tome on the French Revolution, but I start to snore when I open the Silmarillion.

[stray]

I start to snore when I open the Lord of the Rings.

[Roac]

I've gotten away from fiction lately.  Maybe I'm burned out on it for now, since one of my two bookshelves is filled top to bottom with it, and the other is making a serious effort to compete.  Right now I'm "reading" several books for work (programming stuffs), and for leisure, a book on the history of assassins and templars.  This one is fairly decent - the last I read was on the same period, but was so terribly boring even for me that I've yet to finish it.  This one is good enough that I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the period.

I've tried reading that damn book at least a half dozen times. It's like elven C-SPAN.

Well, that was sort of the point.  Silmarillion was never intended to be for publication or general consumtion.  Tolkien wanted to create something that was more or less on par with the ancient epics, like Beowulf.  Mixed in with that however was a desire to represent the history that he'd been working over - a roadmap to how things got to where we were in LotR.  That's why there are a ton of references to things in LotR that you really don't know anything about unless you read Silmarillion, and a large part of what makes the trillogy so culture-rich. 

It's a book that's only really enjoyable to people that enjoy that type of book, or people who dearly love Tolkien / LotR.  It's not a "good" book in the sense that most people would hate it.  It is a good book in the sense that it is a fantastic companion to anyone who loves Tolkien or what he worked on. 

[Jayce]

/agree

I just cannot do it. I can read tome after dry tome on the French Revolution, but I start to snore when I open the Silmarillion.

It took me multiple tries, but I finally got through it.  It was well worth it though.

A big part of it is knowing what all the terms mean.  I think a big reason it's dry is that you keep expecting him to explain what a Vala or Maia or petty-dwarf is.  If you really do want to read it, I recommend looking up the terms (good reference) as they occur.

Re: Life of Pi.  I started listening to this on audiobook because I had nothing else at the moment.  It gripped me so well that I listened to the whole thing.  Amazing book IMO.

[Roac]

Oh, that reminds me, I am "reading" some books on CD.  Just listen to them on the way to/from work.  At present listening to High Country, by Nevada Barr.  It's the third I've gotten ahold of so far (Flashback and Deep South being the others).  They're starting to sound a bit formulaic, but better than the same recycled music on the radio.

[Polysorbate80]

Series: Deathstalker (bunch of different series and books in the Deathstalker universe) by Simon R. Green - It has an empire the scope of the one in Dune except the books take place on all of the planets not just one. Somehow the writing style or actual content of the stories feels like eating McDonald's but the concepts, technology, and characters are good.

They're cheesy as hell, but I admit to a certain guilty pleasure in reading them...until the end of the last book, when it felt like the author didn't know where to go with it and just copped out on the ending.  That wrecked it for me; I've never had the desire to go look at them again.

[sinij]

Recently finished Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. If you liked Alchemist this one is a must read.

[Fargull]

Also you could try "Into Thin Air".  A journalist's first hand account of the deaths/disaster on Everest a few years ago.  Lays some blame on guide Anatoli Boukreev (sp?),  who responded with his own account "The Climb" (had a ghost writer).

Good book.  I really liked Shadow Divers for a good non-fiction read.  I also just finished To Hell and Back.

I am currently in a Lovecraft phase with my fiction, so I am delving into his writings right now.

[MaceVanHoffen]

I'm probably wierd, but I enjoyed The Silmarillion on its own merits, apart from Tolkien's other works.  The style of writing is reminiscent of more classic literature, though a bit disjointed.  There's something about reading grand history that moves me, even if its fictional.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread.  Amazon and my credit card company love me now.

[Soukyan]

I'm probably wierd, but I enjoyed The Silmarillion on its own merits, apart from Tolkien's other works.  The style of writing is reminiscent of more classic literature, though a bit disjointed.  There's something about reading grand history that moves me, even if its fictional.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread.  Amazon and my credit card company love me now.

I love grand history. I love high fantasy. For some reason, I cannot get through the Silmarillion. Perhaps I'll try it again this year. I'll make it a New Year's resolution (have kept all of them thus far so I need at least one to break ;).

Currently reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Short read and quite interesting.

[Sky]

I haven't been reading much the last few years, but I'm a fairly avid reader otherwise. And I do work in a library.

Hyperion was good, so was the Rucluse series. I also like Ray Feist's work, including the stuff with Janny Wurts (one librarian argues that's his best), excepting the Krondor: trilogy (I think there were three of them, thin and bland).

My favorite fantasy series is probably the Black Company by Glen Cook. Epic global war between undead wizards told from the point of view of a medic in a mercenary company. Goblin, One-Eye and Silent - some of the best wizards ever. I gotta go back and read these again, I've heard he's been writing some new ones.

I am currently in a Lovecraft phase with my fiction,

Lovecraft pwns me, my favorite overall author. One thing I really miss is my rare full set of thin hardcovers with painted covers, had all his printed works at the time, I think it was done in the early 60s.

[schild]

Lovecraft pwns me, my favorite overall author. One thing I really miss is my rare full set of thin hardcovers with painted covers, had all his printed works at the time, I think it was done in the early 60s.

Christ almight, what happened to [the set]?

[Rasix]

My favorite fantasy series is probably the Black Company by Glen Cook. Epic global war between undead wizards told from the point of view of a medic in a mercenary company. Goblin, One-Eye and Silent - some of the best wizards ever. I gotta go back and read these again, I've heard he's been writing some new ones.

I am currently in a Lovecraft phase with my fiction,

Lovecraft pwns me, my favorite overall author. One thing I really miss is my rare full set of thin hardcovers with painted covers, had all his printed works at the time, I think it was done in the early 60s.

Due to your earlier recommendation, I picked up the first book in the Black Company series.  Early on, I really really didn't like it much.  It was kind of like my early impression A Song of Fire and Ice.   Farther in though, it's just golden.  One of the best and most unique pieces of fantasy literature I've ever read.  I really should go back and pickup some more of his works but currently I'm stumbling through the rest of the Dark Tower series by King.  These books (Dark Tower) have a way of losing momentum very quickly. 

As for Lovecraft, I think it took me playing "Eternal Darkness" to finally appreciate his writing.  Before it felt like reading stereo instructions.  Perhaps now I can go back and read the Silmarillion.  I think last time I tried, it felt like one of the most boring, plodding works I've ever attempted.  The early part of Les Miserables was more digestable than that.  Made Neal Stephenson read like Harry Potter.  (I really didn't like Snowcrash that much.  The heady linguistics crap just didn't resonate with me at all and bored the piss out of me at times. )

[Fargull]

As for Lovecraft, I think it took me playing "Enternal Darkness" to finally appreciate his writing.  Before it felt like reading stereo instructions.  Perhaps now I can go back and read the Silmarillion.  I think last time I tried, it felt like one of the most boring, plodding works I've ever attempted.  The early part of Les Miserables was more digestable than that.  Made Neal Stephenson read like Harry Potter.  (I really didn't like Snowcrash that much.  The heady linguistics crap just didn't resonate with me at all and bored the piss out of me at times. )

Hehe.  Reading Tolken to me is like reading a chemistry book upside down, a practice I left in Highschool and have no desire to ever return too.

Nice thing about Lovecraft is when you look at Robert E Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs you can see the interconnection these arthors had with each other.

[Ardent]

Because of the great recommendations in this thread, amazon.com and my Mastercard company are going to shit when they see my next order.