General book discussion and your recommendations.

[Mukiwa]

Judging by your list I'd have no hesitation in recommending "Wizard's First Rule" by Terry Goodkind, he's just a fantastic fantasy writer.
Also I second the Terry Pratchett suggestions, definitely a must!

Edit: having a done a more in-depth read back of the thread which admittedly I should have done before posting, I realise that I've pretty much just re-iterated what Mythbavd has already said. Oops.
Also I forgot to include The Wheel Of Time series by Robert Jordan.

 

[dead_beat_slacker]

Stephen King's Dark Tower series is awesome and if you getta chance check out the comic its just as amazing.

 

[bkd69]

Some I haven't seen mentioned:

Glen Cook's Garrett PI series, a mashup of stock fantasy and noir gumshoe
Stephen Brust's To Reign in Hell
Vernor Vinge's Rainbow's End, a must read if you're at all interested in the future of gaming (and secondarily, A Deepness in the Sky, in that regard)
Just about all of Neal Stephenson's work
Bruce Sterling's Distraction
Rudy Rucker's Ware series

 

[savandicus]

Personally i'd recommend anything by David Eddings, Tamora Piece and Terry pratchet. All of them are really good and have written consistently good books. Terry pratchet has a fantastic brand of humour and the other 2 are write fantasy novels.

 

[Mr. Squirrel]

The series by George R. R. Martin called "A Song of Ice and Fire". It the best and most mature fantasy series ever made. HBO is making it into a TV series and it will kick ass because ROME kicked ass. These books are truly the best fantasy ever written IMHO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire

Really? They're making a TV-series of it. That is fucking awesome!

 

[Cahlee]

Hitchhikers guide - Douglas Adams

YES! good suggestion, that way you'll be able to get the number 42 and dolphin jokes...

It's a given! How could anyone leave it out?

 

[theklng]

a scientific reality by carlos casteneda. for a while, i experienced the touch of true madness while reading that book.

 

[Cahlee]

I'm going to suggest my favorite books, because they're my favorites!

1984 by George Orwell Dystopian totalitarian society

Animal Farm by George Orwell Excellent parody of Russian communism.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley see 1984, however there are quite a few differences

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Russian society during the Napoleonic Era (Specifically 1805, 1807, and finishing off with the War of 1812, along with its aftermath). Very long though, so make sure you have patience and time.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Just awesome, a novel about a scientist who creates a monster who torments him

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Just amazing, not sure whether to describe it, it might give some of it away, although what the main character does is obvious. It says it on the back of my copy, so I'll describe it in a spoiler below here.

Spoiler: If you want to know (Doesn't really give much away, it is pretty obvious)

It's a story about a murderer, from his point of view.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott VERY Descriptive at times, a historical novel setting in England just after the 3rd Crusade. About a knight who loves a princess, but can't marry her and must prove his worth.

They're all awesome! I especially suggest 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World

Edit: Oh and of course, anything by Tolkien and The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, as has been said above.

You're my kindof book buff. These are ALL on my reading list, minus the ones that I've already read.

Have a cookie!

 

[Arsen]

Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series.
John Milton's "Paradise Lost"
H.P. Lovecraft
Poe
Some of Neil Gaiman's work (whenever he actually writes and doesn't rest on the reader's assumption that his work is good because Sandman was good)
William Blake
Lord Byron
Robert Frost

I just named my favorites.

 

[Cahlee]

Hitchhikers guide - Douglas Adams
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Witches of Eileannan - Kate Forsyth

Good books, my friends!

Have you read "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams? He goes in search of endangered species and essentially writes his about his travels and experiences with the animals, the threats they face and the people trying to save them. Seriously good read.

I'll put it on my 'to read' list. Thankyou

 

[s0ap sudz]

Stephen King normally writes a 'best books of the year' type of article before the new year for Entertainment Weekly. You can probably read it somewhere on the internet. He makes very good picks.

 

[perfectimo]

I will only recommend 1 novel and I will recommend 1 text book.

The Outsider by Albert Camus.
MSCE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment, Enhanced by Dan DiNicolo.

I want to study physics at home because I did not study the subject while in high school.
Could someone please recommend a good book on physics starting at a Yr 11 + 12 level?

 

[PersianLlama]

Spoiler: Long quote of me

I'm going to suggest my favorite books, because they're my favorites!

1984 by George Orwell Dystopian totalitarian society

Animal Farm by George Orwell Excellent parody of Russian communism.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley see 1984, however there are quite a few differences

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Russian society during the Napoleonic Era (Specifically 1805, 1807, and finishing off with the War of 1812, along with its aftermath). Very long though, so make sure you have patience and time.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Just awesome, a novel about a scientist who creates a monster who torments him

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Just amazing, not sure whether to describe it, it might give some of it away, although what the main character does is obvious. It says it on the back of my copy, so I'll describe it in a spoiler below here.

Spoiler: If you want to know (Doesn't really give much away, it is pretty obvious)

It's a story about a murderer, from his point of view.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott VERY Descriptive at times, a historical novel setting in England just after the 3rd Crusade. About a knight who loves a princess, but can't marry her and must prove his worth.

They're all awesome! I especially suggest 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World

Edit: Oh and of course, anything by Tolkien and The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, as has been said above.

You're my kindof book buff. These are ALL on my reading list, minus the ones that I've already read.

Have a cookie!

Yay! Which ones of them have you already read?

 

[Fightgarr]

I recommend almost anything by Patricia A. McKillip. In particular: A Song for the Basilisk, The Book of Atrix Wolfe, Od Magic and the Riddle Master of Hed series.

 

[Symp4thy]

Stephen King's Dark Tower Series
Orson Scott Card's Ender Saga
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs by Fake Steve Jobs

 

[darkless]

The word and the void trilogy
The black magician trilogy
The genesis of shanarra
The Night angel trilogy

All amazing fantasy trilogy's i highly reccomend

The dresden files series is another good one 11 books so far the next is out in June i think brilliant series.

 

[Cahlee]

Spoiler: Long quote of me

I'm going to suggest my favorite books, because they're my favorites!

1984 by George Orwell Dystopian totalitarian society

Animal Farm by George Orwell Excellent parody of Russian communism.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley see 1984, however there are quite a few differences

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Russian society during the Napoleonic Era (Specifically 1805, 1807, and finishing off with the War of 1812, along with its aftermath). Very long though, so make sure you have patience and time.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Just awesome, a novel about a scientist who creates a monster who torments him

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Just amazing, not sure whether to describe it, it might give some of it away, although what the main character does is obvious. It says it on the back of my copy, so I'll describe it in a spoiler below here.

Spoiler: If you want to know (Doesn't really give much away, it is pretty obvious)

It's a story about a murderer, from his point of view.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott VERY Descriptive at times, a historical novel setting in England just after the 3rd Crusade. About a knight who loves a princess, but can't marry her and must prove his worth.

They're all awesome! I especially suggest 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World

Edit: Oh and of course, anything by Tolkien and The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, as has been said above.

You're my kindof book buff. These are ALL on my reading list, minus the ones that I've already read.

Have a cookie!

Brave New World, Animal Farm and War and Peace
Yay! Which ones of them have you already read?

 

[PersianLlama]

Spoiler

Spoiler: Long quote of me

I'm going to suggest my favorite books, because they're my favorites!

1984 by George Orwell Dystopian totalitarian society

Animal Farm by George Orwell Excellent parody of Russian communism.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley see 1984, however there are quite a few differences

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Russian society during the Napoleonic Era (Specifically 1805, 1807, and finishing off with the War of 1812, along with its aftermath). Very long though, so make sure you have patience and time.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Just awesome, a novel about a scientist who creates a monster who torments him

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Just amazing, not sure whether to describe it, it might give some of it away, although what the main character does is obvious. It says it on the back of my copy, so I'll describe it in a spoiler below here.

Spoiler: If you want to know (Doesn't really give much away, it is pretty obvious)

It's a story about a murderer, from his point of view.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott VERY Descriptive at times, a historical novel setting in England just after the 3rd Crusade. About a knight who loves a princess, but can't marry her and must prove his worth.

They're all awesome! I especially suggest 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World

Edit: Oh and of course, anything by Tolkien and The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, as has been said above.

You're my kindof book buff. These are ALL on my reading list, minus the ones that I've already read.

Have a cookie!

Brave New World, Animal Farm and War and Peace
Yay! Which ones of them have you already read?

Ah, nice, I loved all of those. You should really read 1984 if you've already read Animal Farm and Brave New World .

 

[Blue Sonnet]

Ooh, lookie at all the Terry Pratchett recommendations - which I fifth, or sixth. There are so many that at least one group (the books based on the witches, the guards, etc.) will be a good introduction to the series.

I started with Wyrd Sisters, although a re-introduction several years later was nearly scuppered by reading Sourcery first (I really like it now, but it's just not a good one to start the series with).

 

[ContemporaryStudent]

I'm currently reading a book called 'Is it just me, or is Everything Shit?' By Steve Lowe and Alan Mcarthur. It's effectively an encyclopaedia of topics they consider to be ridiculous, annoying, etc. Quick example:

Cafes that refill Heinz/HP Bottles with cheaper sauce:

You're not fooling anyone.

A good read if you're generally cynical about modern life.