Book recommendations

Just noticed that Urban Angel posted a book by Haruki Murakami, and I just finished a different one by the same author:

Norwegian Wood (.uk, .de)

A 37 year old business man reminisces about a lover from from his early university days in Tokyo in the years 1969-1970. A coming-of-age tale, sensuously written, and elegantly told. The protagonist Toru is an introspective young man, with a tragic connection to one girl he loves, but who is emotionally unstable; and an increasing attraction to a sexually-liberated young woman on the mend from various hardships. The characters (and supporting characters) are sympathetic, fleshed-out, and the interactions between them (such as the letters written) are described beautifully. The story is pretty erotic. I also agree with the Editors Comments on the Amazon page. This is a very popular book published in the late 80's in Japan.

I'm looking forward to also reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, another popular Murakami book. Funny enough, I'd read a sci-fi book by the same author, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, many years ago, but have forgotten it completely since. Will have to revist it someday soon.

Reading one from Murakami myself, "Kafka on the shore". Also have some of his books if anyone interested i.e. The Wind up bird, Wild sheep chase, Dance Dance Dance, Norwegian wood, Elephant vanishes (in german) and Sputnik sweetheart

Think its been mentioned before on this thread, but I'll second it.

"The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth is very good.

A hypothetical history that takes place during the period preceeding and during WW2. Charles Lindbergh is elected president and declines to enter into the european conflict and instead takes an isolationist viewpoint. Lindbergh also begins implementing certain programs that seem to many to be anti-semitic and many jews begin to wonder about the path that America is going down and whether or not they will end up in the same situation as their european counterparts.

Great and scary premise. Has some slow sections but overall highly recommended.

If anyone else likes criminal thrillers, my votes would be for:

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Angels and Demons also by Dan Brown
The Romanov Prophesy by Steve Berry (just finished this one. OMG! it was great! I couldn't put it down)

And for a little bit of a twist:
Dead Men Do tell Tales...(I forget the author, sorry). It was written by a forensic pathologist who tells all about how crimes are solved using forensic criminology...very interesting.

'Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal' by Christopher Moore

Very funny alternative to the traditional gospel. Not for anyone who is ultra-serious or easily offended.

If you need a quick read, Jean Paul Sartre's 'No Exit' I found to be an interesting look at human relations. The copy I had was also something like 48 pages, so for most people a quick read. For me, three or four weeks due to an analysis about it for an English class . An obvious one is the Hitchhicker's Guide, but I think many of the people here have read it already. I also found "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" to be great.

The Unberable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera

Tereza and Tomas, Tomas and Sabina, Sabina and Franz, Franz and Marie-Claude--four people, four relationships. Milan Kundera's masterful novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), tells the interlocking stories of these four relationships, with a primary focus on Tomas, a man torn between his love for Tereza, his wife, and his incorrigible "erotic adventures," particularly his long-time affair with the internationally noted painter, Sabina. The world of Kundera's novel is one in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and fortuitous events. It is a world in which, because everything occurs only once and then disappears into the past, existence seems to lose its substance and weight. Coping with both the consequences of their own actions and desires and the intruding demands of society and the state, Kundera's characters struggle to construct lives of individual value and lasting meaning.

@ petal : If you like Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, you should also read The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry. Another good Dan Brown book is Digital Fortress. Both are really easy reads. Similar plots, similar writing style. I've finished both recently and neither took more than a week to finish. I just couldn't put them down.

@Nicole
Immortality is another good one by Milan Kundera.

Right now I'm just about finished with the Skylark series by E. E. 'Doc' Smith. It's very clever, even if some aspects of the science and technology are a bit dated. I've really enjoyed this one, so next I'll start into the Lensman series.

St. Agnes' Stand, by Thomas Eidson

"Berlin" by Antony Beevor. Follows on from "Stalingrad" and describes the last days of the Reich from a relatively general point of view - contains some excellent witness accounts of the nastiness that took place in Spring '45 as the Russians advanced through Poland and then Eastern Germany. Very good indeed.

Two more interesting reads would:

1. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric (most complete novel which describes Balkan history. Written by Andric while being occupied by Germans) Won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
2. Small Island by Andrea Levy

I dont know if this book is in here...but its by far the best book i have ever read.
Its Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts...

Its based on a true story and tells about the authors experiance when he was in India in the 80s. Its an amazing book and i recommend everyoner giving it a go..

You can read more about it here.

Oh yeah and wat about those All Blacks!!!

Anyone got 'room with a view'? We could all read the same book and attend meetings to discuss what we thought?

Not my normal sort of reading material, but I got quite hooked on Laurell K.
Hamilton's "Anita Blake" series. From book 6 onwards they tend to get a bit "risque", which, whether it is my taste or not, wasn't really what I was reading them for so I gave up. I can definitely recommend the earlier ones though.

Also definitely recommended - Richard Morgan, Alastair Reynolds (both SF). The latest (at time of writing) RM book ('Something' Markets I think) isn't the same as his others though, so don't get it purely on the strength of his others.

Currently reading

A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Just re-read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' truly a classic. Love that book.

Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler J.S.P.S.
by Jeremy Leven

Wicked! Mind-bending! Crying with laughter! Nosebleeds on the Ubahn!

"We need to talk about Kevin" - Lionel Shriver
A mother. A murderous spree in a school. A dark son.
Compelling, bleak, shocking - and very very good

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is an excellent read. Highly recommend it.

Looking for a good summer read? Entertaining, well-written, but not too heavy? I highly recommend:

Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson

It's one of the best books I've read this year (and I read a lot of books.)

Another really good one:

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

Something for everyone in this book!

Kate Atkinson is excellent - I read and really enjoyed her book "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and keep meaning to reading some of her other stuff. I'm looking forward to catching up on reading this kind of stuff when I've finished studying.

Scottish Enlightenment for Germany: I wonder whether people have heard of Alexander McCall Smith's "Portuguese Irregular Verbs" over here? It should be quite popular among those on TT who still find Germans a mystery. The book is part of the trilogy "The 21/2 Pillars of Wisdom" and has sadly little to do with Portugal. In fact, it is about German University Professors and while that topic in itself is most certainly a great laugh, so are the adventures of Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld and Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer. There is much to be learnt about gossip and intrigue at the Regensburg Institute of Romance Philology, what it is like for Germans abroad, as well as why Germans find it hard to say "Du". The second part of the trilogy revolves quite literally around the finer points of sausage dogs and like all great stories had better been left unfinished. McCall Smith draws a marvellous picture of Germanic weirdness and obsession while bringing British humour and Scottish warmth into German Academe , and not too many mistakes into his book.

Half way through The Guv'nor by the late Lenny McLean and loving every page.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I don´t know if anyone else has recommended it since I haven't read the rest of the thread. (Sorry if I am repeating anyone).

... and 'Stasiland' by Anna Funder

Buddha Da by Anne Donovan

Glaswegian Painter/Decorator with a family suddenly discovers Buddhism, gives up meat, sex and, most surprisingly for a Glaswegian, alcohol to start meditating.

Light reading for the ubahn you could try

Are you dave gorman - Dave gorman
Dave Gormans googlewack adventure

Join me - Danny Wallace

All good for a laugh
and danny wallace has a new book out called "Yes Man" what would probably be well worth a look as well

Just finished that too. Top quality read.

Also just read "Merde Actually" from Stephen Clarke. It's the sequel to "A Year In The Merde". Excellent stuff.

Don't know if anyone will get this far down the list...
My recommendations are more along the obscure/fantasy/sci fi line

Haruki Murakami - "Wind-up bird chronicles"
Neil Gaiman - "American Gods"
Orson Scott Card - "Ender's Game"

Well worth it: ''the curious incident of the dog in the night-time' by Mark Haddon.
The fascinating story of an autistic 15 year old whose structured life suddenly is in danger. As the author used to work with autistic children, it's very intense, moving, funny, emotional, honest...you won't be disappointed.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Its definitely available in english paperback from hugendubel, with home delivery too. Make sure you get the first book, as the sequel has just come out.

Funke has been billed as "Germany's J.K. Rowling", if you want, have a look at all her other titles. The Thief Lord is set to come out in the movies in 2006.

Inkheart is about a little girl's father who, despite being a bookbinder and a book addict, never reads to her. He can "read" the characters out of the imaginary book world into real life, which can cause quite a bit of scary havoc. Its nice in an imaginary sort of way and it's won many book awards. I probably would have loved this book at 10 or so and i can also imagine it as a movie; however, its definitely not a suspenseful page turner since Funke makes it clear throughout that everything turns out ok in the end.

An Instance at the Fingerpost by Ian Pears...well thought out murder mystery and use of perspective is brilliant. Some dry areas, but after 3 weeks of O'Fest, who couldn't use a little airing out?

http://www.maa.org/reviews/fingerpost.html

i'm reading tom wolf's latest "i am charlotte simmons". he is a definitely a master of words. still got 300 pages to go *sigh*

Just finished 'The Second World War' by Winston Churchill - seriously heavy going in places, but also fascinating in others - if you believe everything he writes you can't help but feel that Winston was probably the most incisive and personable statesman of the 20th Century. Worth a read if you've either got a lot of time on your hands, or you're interested in the political as well as military side of WWII.

Anybody read Marabou Stork Nightmares - Irvine Welsh? If so, what did you think of it?
It was an excellent storyline, but I read a translation of it and found it extremely annoying- maybe just because Welsh's style is impossible to transpose in another language...curious to know what you think of it.

I'd definitely reccomend "Choke" C. Palahniuk.

Short and thought provoking: The old man and the sea Ernest Hemmingway

Other great faves of mine:
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver. If you've ever been to Africa, this book is long but amazing.

The book of illusions Paul Auster, or really any of his stuff, it's hypnotic.

The time traveller's wife Audrey Niffenegger, loved it.

Another vote for this one. It's short but sweet. Really unusual style of story telling - nice to read something really different for a change.


I loved this one too. One of my fave stories so far.
In fact, I might go back and read it again.

I thought this was actually quite lame. He comes across as trying too hard to be hip (as he once was the very epitome of 'hipness') also a rather feeble ending haha.

Hi,

From my last week reading:

SCIMITAR 2 - Patric Robinson - Good Thriller

A man from St. Petersberg - Ken Follet - Good - 1st World War background - Good

Paying the devil - Jack higgins - Ok

A perfect Spy - Lecarre - Weird

Regards,

(in response to Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons" which i finished reading a week or two ago)
Reading it threw me back to my own dear undergraduate time as an insecure college freshman, but we never used such language to describe an "ejaculate deposit". to me the ending was predictable, but i still like his writing style. "The Right Stuff" is still one of my all-time favorite books.

Just finished reading "The Inner Circle" by T.C. Boyle and it was his lamest book (admittedly, I only finished "The Tortilla Curtain". I struggled through "Drop City" -- too much selfishness for me). I liked the first-person narrative, just there was really no sub-plot. After page 350 or so I was just reading on just to get it over with. Incidentlally, just watched "Kinsey" last night.

Next on my list, Diana Gabaldon's latest monster. I might take a few weeks off from reading though.

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, by Tony Thorne.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

Lindbergh wins the presidency and turns the USA into an ally of Adolf Hitler, and then begins a campaign of anti-semitism...all seen through the eyes of a 10 year old Jewish boy. Very good indeed and well worth a read.

Tom Sharpe - Porterhouse Blue - Apart from being a sharp and witty period ('70s) view of Oxbridge University life, the condoms scenario is priceless British comedy and just so well written that I die every time I read it. He's not everyone's cup of tea but you could also try Indecent Exposure for a very unPC tale of South African police madness!

I have a couple of recs. As a sci-fi junky, I recently read the Philip Pullman trilogy (The Golden Compass, Suble Knife and Amber Spyglass) and really enjoyed them. Very origional.

On the...there has got to be more to this story...front. I am currently reading The Templar Revelation - Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ. Not a big fan of their writing style, as they are quite often stroking their own perceived genius, but the research and history itself is fascinating. Published before The Da Vinci Code, and it seems like he pulled a lot of themes from this. Next up on this journey will be The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Has anyone read it?

Dear Morrissey, Alcatraz, Monaco di shitty Bavaria

If this hasn't been mentioned yet: 'The Wrong Boy' by Willy Russel.

With all my love,

Didsbury's Daftest

@NativeNyer,

So did you read "stephen Coonts" sci-fi books?

SAUCER - Original, very interesting point of view

[quote name='nativeNYer' date='Oct 20 2005, 4:20 pm' post='334177']
I have a couple of recs. As a sci-fi junky, I recently read the Philip Pullman trilogy (The Golden Compass, Suble Knife and Amber Spyglass) and really enjoyed them. Very origional.

I'm by no means a big fan of sci-fi or fantasy, but I also thoroughly recommend this trilogy...

Not really a book, but a performer -- here's a tale by Kevin Kling on NPR. I loved it and want to make sure I don't forget the fellow's name. He also writes plays and performs them. See if you can tell from his accent where he's from... the end of the audio clip reveals it if you can't tell.