Reccomend us some books to read

[tech-chan]

Ender's Game was a great one.

Yes, that is my favorite book of all time.
Jack Whyte is a great author too.

[Jonneh]

The best book I've read in a while was Pirates! in an adventure with scientists.
It is pretty short, and extremely funny.

[Will Wood]

Blind Mans Bluff
ghost Soldiers
1776

[FIST2CUFF]

I know that it may not fit your subject matter but I noticed that no one has mentioned a certain book. Everyone loves a book that deals with winning/coming out on top/the good guys save the day and so do I...but I have stumbled upon one that has turned out to be my very favorite. Now I really LOVE WW2 history and this one shows a side that is very interesting. The book is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. It is a very frank view of a losing army. If you want I can send you my copy. Right now my brother has it. Let me know.

[Carbon]

i read parts of mein kampf, kinda boring and whiney. Hitler was pretty emo.

I know that it may not fit your subject matter but I noticed that no one has mentioned a certain book. Everyone loves a book that deals with winning/coming out on top/the good guys save the day and so do I...but I have stumbled upon one that has turned out to be my very favorite. Now I really LOVE WW2 history and this one shows a side that is very interesting. The book is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. It is a very frank view of a losing army. If you want I can send you my copy. Right now my brother has it. Let me know.

cool, i'll have to check that one out. its available at amazon.

[91Foxtrot]

The Takeshi Kovacs trilogy by Richard K. Morgan for some Sci-Fi/cyberpunk. The first is called "Altered Carbon". IMO, the quality goes down a bit as the books progress, but they are all good.

I am also listening to "You Suck" by Christopher Moore. Hilarious. The reader is one of the best I've heard, which I'm sure is part of the reason I like it so much. I also just got finished listening to "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" also by Moore. Sacrilicious.

"Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son) was a great suspense/horror novel.

Anything by Neil Gaiman for fantasy. His book "Stardust" was made into a movie that is coming out this year. Read "American Gods" before "Anansi Boys" which is a sort-of sequel.

That covers most genres. Oh, Stephen Ambrose for military history. And "The Killer Angels" by Shaara is a must-read.

[FooTemps]

If you're into space/scifi...

Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

both have long lists of books/short stories in their series (actually Foundation/Empire is ridiculously long) and are good reads since they are some of the more well-known series I can think of. I'd recommend not reading the WHOLE foundation series since it's so tedious.

The list of series/books in Foundation I'd recommend...
1. Foundation trilogy
2. Foundation's Edge
3. Foundation and Earth

in order... If you want to expand more then go crazy, there's 10 more books/short stories that deal with the whole foundation universe.

[Kloki1971]

Demon in the freezer- about small pox
hot zone - about ebola
both by richard preston


Dies the fire series by s.m. sterling

of course the Dark Elf series by salvatore

Endurance- by Alfred Lansing (about a failed attempt at the south pole)

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (the true Moby Dick story)

[behemoth]

Arent you blonde with blue eyes?

He's the polar opposite of the master race.

[Lee]

a trilogy by John Varley:
Titan
Wizard
Demon
has sex, violence, critters and the downfall of earthly society on a world that is itself alive. don't get no better than that.
read them years ago and was enthralled.

Lucifers Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle- asteroid hits, world goes to pot. good read.

again by Larry Niven w/ Stephen Barnes and Jerry Pournelle: The Legacy of Heorot- trials and tribulations of colonizing a distant planet.

[olinar]

i realy loved chris chrutcher books as a child. back then i coulnt really understand most of the problems but they had great stories. if i get back into independent reading thatll be the first author i reach for.(after i finish the harry potter books that are most recent)

[Thordic]

Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Ack, where is the Do Not Want! dog. God Hyperion was awful, I think I left it on the train halfway through. Simmons should stick to horror.

[FooTemps]

Ack, where is the Do Not Want! dog. God Hyperion was awful, I think I left it on the train halfway through. Simmons should stick to horror.

Really? I didn't think it was too bad... then again I read it when I was a kid so maybe I didn't really care.

[Thordic]

Theres a ton of godawful scifi out there that is popular for some reason (Fantasy as well).

It usually takes me about 5 pages to realize that a book is going to be a load of crap. I won't stop there, but usually I already know.

I have a real problem with authors who don't know how to edit their writing. Its great that authors have a billion detailed ideas for their world, but we don't need to hear them all. It distracts from the book. Most of the fiction I tend to like is minimalism, books should be crafted, not crapped out onto the pages. You can spew all your ideas down onto paper, but then you need to edit it into a workable, cohesive, and well-written story.

Also, I hate when authors assume their readers are idiots. I don't need a detailed description of everything you talk about. Assume that we, as the reader, have half a brain and can figure things out on our own.

Sometimes these kinds of novels can be fun to read, but are FAR from what should be considered "good books".

Maybe I'm just a snob but there are way better scifi books out there.

[FooTemps]

Theres a ton of godawful scifi out there that is popular for some reason (Fantasy as well).

It usually takes me about 5 pages to realize that a book is going to be a load of crap. I won't stop there, but usually I already know.

I have a real problem with authors who don't know how to edit their writing. Its great that authors have a billion detailed ideas for their world, but we don't need to hear them all. It distracts from the book. Most of the fiction I tend to like is minimalism, books should be crafted, not crapped out onto the pages. You can spew all your ideas down onto paper, but then you need to edit it into a workable, cohesive, and well-written story.

Also, I hate when authors assume their readers are idiots. I don't need a detailed description of everything you talk about. Assume that we, as the reader, have half a brain and can figure things out on our own.

Sometimes these kinds of novels can be fun to read, but are FAR from what should be considered "good books".

Maybe I'm just a snob but there are way better scifi books out there.

I said good reads not good books. I just remember enjoying both series and recommended it based on that. Hell, I don't even really remember much about either series anymore since I read them in grade/middle school...