Which book should I buy?

[Gudrests]

remember its the content of the book and not how shiny the binding is thats important

....i picked up enders game for the shiny...and never put it down......i read the book when i was around...10? 12....when my mom would say..you have o go read now for school...20 mins was all id have to read...when the 20 minutes was up and she walked in to tell me i could go play....she got a pillow thrown at her head and yelled at to get out im reading.....and for some reason now she thinks i like reading....NO i liked that book...what was i saying?. o yeah...ENDERS GAME...AWSOME...and apparently there are 7 in the series...Enders shadow follows the character bean instead of ender...i think all of the books follow a diffrent character...tell the same ending but follow a diffrent characters path to..well "the end"

 

[Manicotti]

remember its the content of the book and not how shiny the binding is thats important

you know, there's an axiom that's pretty common in english which says basically that, it usually doesn't mean it literally though.

Batman: The Long Halloween. Even if you're not into superheroes, this one has very little "super" activites. Its mostly just a tale about Batman and the police trying to catch a serial killer who is attacking the mob. Part crime drama, part whodunnit, part comic book.
Also, try some work from James Patterson.

This, and The Killing Joke.

Also, anything by Terry Pratchett in his Discworld arc. I recommend Going Postal (the book, I mean) particularly. Among the classics, go for A Clockwork Orange, The Art of War, and/or Brave New World.

A Clockwork Orange is really really hard to read. It doesn't warm you up to the Duckspeak like 1984 does, it just is entirely written in a fake colloquial language.. I couldn't read it, I didn't know what the heck was going on.

It's sort of like if Lord of the Rings were written where every second word was some elvish swear word.

It's really easy going by either contextual reading or with any of the million glossaries lying around. Sure, it takes a bit of practice, but it's derived from actual languages (Russian, Yiddish, and Slavic) and also uses a lot of reasonable slang terms for the referenced objects.

 

[silversnake4133]

Brent Weeks wrote a pretty awesome "Shadows" trilogy called The Night Angel Series. The books are "The Way of Shadows", "Shadow's Edge", and "Beyond the Shadows". In short, if you like ninjas or assassins you'll probably like this trilogy.

Oh, and I believe the books are available in both hardcover and paperback.

 

[Altorin]

remember its the content of the book and not how shiny the binding is thats important

you know, there's an axiom that's pretty common in english which says basically that, it usually doesn't mean it literally though.

Batman: The Long Halloween. Even if you're not into superheroes, this one has very little "super" activites. Its mostly just a tale about Batman and the police trying to catch a serial killer who is attacking the mob. Part crime drama, part whodunnit, part comic book.
Also, try some work from James Patterson.

This, and The Killing Joke.

Also, anything by Terry Pratchett in his Discworld arc. I recommend Going Postal (the book, I mean) particularly. Among the classics, go for A Clockwork Orange, The Art of War, and/or Brave New World.

A Clockwork Orange is really really hard to read. It doesn't warm you up to the Duckspeak like 1984 does, it just is entirely written in a fake colloquial language.. I couldn't read it, I didn't know what the heck was going on.

It's sort of like if Lord of the Rings were written where every second word was some elvish swear word.

It's really easy going by either contextual reading or with any of the million glossaries lying around. Sure, it takes a bit of practice, but it's derived from actual languages (Russian, Yiddish, and Slavic) and also uses a lot of reasonable slang terms for the referenced objects.

I was having trouble with the context because there were too many words in that slang talk too close together.. and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit down to read a book and have another book tell me what that book is talking about. I can read shakespeare without a guide, I'm not going to read clockwork orange with one.

and it being based on real languages doesn't help when you don't know those languages.

 

[Kuranesno7]

get the library edition since it would possibly last longer,

and for books as a rule I automatically recommend any and all works by William Gibson,

if your into dystopia, you could try a Clockwork Orange at least for the sake of learning a bit of Nadsat(combination of slavic languages/ Cockney English) and for understanding of morality and psychology after, as well as just simply buying a good fucking book.

Other classics in my book would be Ken Kesey's One flew over the cuckoo's nest, William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (not for the faint of heart!), Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, and finally both Starship troopers and The moon is a harsh mistress by Robert Heinlein.

 

[Dango]

Maybe you should wait for Mogworld to come out...

 

[Tyrannowalefish_Rex]

"Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" by Haruki Murakami (sort of sounds like "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" doesn't it) and some science fiction novel by Richard Morgan. Was thinking about buying these myself. I would also recommend China Miéville's 'The Scar'. I know nothing quite like it, and it is tightly paced to boot (only with well-placed lengths). It will blow you away sooner or later, probably several times. Perhaps you can have a look at the compelling introduction paragraphs.

 

[Tyrannowalefish_Rex]

double post damn

 

[Blackality]

John Dies @ the end by David Wong


pure awesomeness

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures.

It's a wonderful and completely overlooked fantasy novel (REAL fantasy, not all these Tolkein rip-offs) with a sensibility reminiscent of the Odyssey and some truly unique and memorable things that you probably wouldn't believe if I told you about them. This a book where a giant half-grub, half-shark who gambles professionally and travels the world in search of gourmet food is a major character. It also has a mountain full of dinosaur poets in silly hats.

 

[cutecuddely]

Any book buy James Patterson. Not the Daniel X series but Alex Cross, Michale Benett and the womans murder club

 

[EatPieYes]

Something by Douglas Coupland maybe? He is the only writer who can make me laugh out loud.

 

[Guest_Star]

Use you budget on beer, get a library card and borrow whatever you like.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

You all have lost your geek cred since nobody has mentioned Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug. I mean, c'mon, the Bug was Deadpool before Liefeld drew his first pouch.

 

[Fraught]

You should get to the library.

Also, books you should read that I can remember right now are American Gods, Clockwork Orange, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Good Omens. Rest of what I'd recommend I saw in this thread multiple times.

John Dies @ the end by David Wong


pure awesomeness

Ha, you should go ask what /lit/ thinks about it.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

It's also got a prequel (sequel) in the form of Shadow Complex on the XBLA arcade if you're interested in a pretty tight retro-style Metroid shooter.. At least that's what I've heard

Nah, nothing to do with the Enderverse. It's related to a more recent Scott Card novel, Empire.


OT. A lot of good books already mentioned, I'd just like to throw in I Am Legend in there, one of my favourite books and the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy by Richard Morgan, starting with Altered Carbon.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The Necronomicon: the best weird tales of H.P Lovecraft.

Seconded. That or something either King or Pratchett (depending on your mood). I would recommend Tommyknockers or Night Watch (respectively).

 

[Yagharek]

Recommendations I'd second:

Dresden files starting with storm front.
Enders Game.
Altered Carbon.
Scar Night(though the sequels aren't as good. It's a good book, but not incredible, imo).
Terry Pratchetts Discworld Novels.
The Prince of Nothing Trilogy by R Scott bakker(starting with The Darkness that comes before).

I'd also recommend these authors, in SF terms:

China Mieville. Particularly his New Crobuzon novels, beginning with Perdido Street Station.
Steven Eriksons Malazan Books of the Fallen, starting with Gardens of the Moon(probably the weakest of the series-best to persevere)
Frank Herberts Dune.
Glen Cooks Black Company books(starting with "The black company"-can buy the first few as an omnibus).
Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space series.
Scott Lynch-The Lies of Locke Lamora.
Most books by Guy Gavriel Kay. Maybe Lions of Al-Rassan to start.

As well as these, a lot of books commonly held as classics are worth reading. Though, particularly with the much older stuff like Dickens or Austen, I'd advise you read a bit before buying. Some people find the prose rather off-putting.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with 1984, if you're just looking for a story. Orwell was an essayist, and it kind of shows at times. I also felt the book was a bit unsubtle. Orwell also seems to sacrfice the plot in order to get his point across. It's got some great concepts, and is certainly an interesting read, but if you're looking for a story, it's probably not the best thing you could choose.

In the line of the classics, I'd recommend Heart of Darkness by Conrad most strongly.

 

[Eternalsun]

SURVIVOR BY CHUCK PALAHNIUK OR FIGHT CLUB BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THESE ARE THE BEST BOOKS IVE EVER READ!