The Source by the James Michener. I love historical fiction.
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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I’ll have to check it out, it’s not a genre I’m too familiar about myself but happy to add things to my to read list at any opportunity ^^
Ordered it a couple of days ago! I'm generally interested in the ancient biblical history and archeology so it seemed like a must read
I love hitchhikers guide to the galaxy so much. Reading what if soon.
Another that’s been on my list for far too long
Addition:
At the moment I’m currently reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
I just started "Oathbreaker", the next one in the Stormlight Archives. I'm enjoying the series so far!
Oh exciting, I have the series ready to go and I scroll past and forget how much bigger they get as they go.
Yeah, this one is a pretty daunting 55 hour audiobook!
Me, very easily distracted, ADD^100: chose to READ it, it’s taking some time.
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Don't really do favourite lists but if I did Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Night Watch by Terry Pratchett would probably be very near the top.
I’ve had my eye on the night watch before, it’s part of the discworld series right, every time I come across that it looks a little daunting, is it one big series or just drop in wherever
Well it's kinda complicated lol. It's not really one giant series that has to be read in order, it's a bit of a shared world type thing with various sub-series focusing on various characters or places and some stand alone stuff. Some characters will kinda float in and out of the various sub series as well, and a lot of the books are centred around the city of Ankh-Morpork. The later books kinda got more connected with various plots about technological and social progress across the world.
Night Watch is the 5th or 6th (I forget which) Watch sub-series of books which focus on Ankh Morpork's city watch, ie coppers. It focuses mostly on their Commander Sam Vimes. I'd rate the watch books as some of the more inter connected ones, so reading the previous 4 or 5 watch books at the very least before Night Watch would most certainly enhance it a lot.
It'll probably still be quite a good read without knowing the background of the characters and city though, Pratchett's satire and social commentary would still shine through, but you'll probably miss out on a bunch of subtext.
The Discworld books are some of my favourites, started reading them in the late 90s as a teen and they've been with me through some tough times. I recently had a big re-read of almost the entire series over the past few years and I'm still finding new things, new jokes and puns and new meanings after all these years. I still haven't read the final 2 or 3 though. Kinda makes me sad thinking they there will be no more to read after those so I'll hold off for a few more years. First couple of books are a bit meh though.
GNU Terry.
Thanks for the deep dive into the series there, much appreciated and really helpful, I’ll 100% be adding them to my list, probably pick the few you mentioned before the 5th instalment Night Watch.
I do love a series that’s complicated and has a whole world built with characters that crossover, good shit right there. ^^
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Added catch 22 to my list, I’m quite intrigued by the synopsis ^^
It's bloody great. I love the absurd humour and wordplay, the weird non linear plot, the black humour and satire of bureaucracy. Then you get hit in the guy with some really dark depressive shit. It really isn't for everyone, though. There ain't nothing like it. Well Kurt Vonnegut kinda has the same vibe in some of his books, but I love his books for other reasons.
I'd probably put a Vonnegut book in my favourites list as well but I couldn't decide which one!
thats my bad there, replied to wrong comment, it does sound like a ton of fun to read
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East of Eden, hands down. That said, it’s hard to explain why (a short description of this book will always sound dull and boring)—I suppose it’s the character development. It’s truly something else.
Anna Karenina, but not because of Anna (she’s kind of a dickhead); because of Levin. So good.
East of Eden definitely has a place in my top 5. Having been forced to read grapes of wrath in highschool, I didn't touch another Steinbeck for quite a few years. I think being told to read something immediately changes your opinion about the book and author.
East of Eden was a perfect book about humans. Definitely changed the way I think and feel about Steinbeck. Worth every page.
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My all time favourite would be Blood Meridian, but very close would be A Canticle for Liebowitz, A Clockwork Orange, and Slaughterhouse 5. All brilliant books, and the last two are very short as well.
Canticle hits my post apocalypse and medieval loving brain in exactly the right spot, Clockwork is so challenging at first but the immersion is ridiculous, and Slaughterhouse is a brilliant piece of unreliable narrator fiction.
Still probably Birthday of the World, by Le Guin. Short story compilation, particularly enjoyable if you're familiar with her other work. Finishes with one of my fav generation ship stories.
Honorable mention for Kushiel's Dart being my all-time favorite piece of guilty-pleasure reading.
I've read some of her Hainish Cycle and some from the Earthsea series, also LHoD and Omelas and some of her non-fiction. But didn't know about Birthday of the World until this! More Le Guin is always good. Thank you.
You're in for a treat. lol For fans, it's imo the cherry on top of her entire career. Kinda the sweet treat that ties the whole thing together and puts a bow on it. It's all refined riffs and dives into some of her seemingly favorite kinds of concept material.
Four Ways To Forgiveness is also really good. Her later short story work is, in general, my favorite of her entire catalogue. She's just kinda done with fucking around and has finally arrived at exactly the kinds of things she wants to say, and she fires them like a ping pong ball machine gun.
My my my. You definitely know how to rile someone up! Will look up both. Thanks again. Did/Have you read Always Coming Home? I couldn't get through it the first time, but images from reading it still linger in my mind.
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Travel:
Into the Heart of Borneo - Redmond O'Hanlon. He was a pasty, British, natural history book REVIEWER, until his editor had the brilliant idea to torture him by packing him up and sending him to Borneo for a month.
In Trouble Again - Redmond O'Hanlon. Freshly surviving Borneo, his editor sends him to the Amazon for TWICE as long.
These two books are bright, funny, and immensely readable. You will be tempted to follow them with his 3rd book "No Mercy: A Journey to the Heart of the Congo." Be aware this one is neither bright, nor funny. He and his crew barely survived, it's an amazing story, but a super tough read.
Road Fever - Tim Cahill. Hired by General Motors for a promotional stunt, Cahill and his co-pilot/co-driver Garry Sowerby drive a show-truck from the tip of Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, as fast as possible.
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The book that made me fall in love with reading was "City of The Beasts" from Isabel Allende. I picked it up because my dad had left it lying around, and I completely fell in love. Not only with Isabel Allende, but with reading.
And my favorite book is "One Hundred Years Of Solitud". The first time I read it, was pre internet, so I would write down the name of the characters, to keep track of the family tree. It was just so beautiful, and it really opened me up to fantasy.
Awesome, I just bought a used copy of "one hundred years.." Looking forward to reading it!
@DuskLoaf
Lord Of The Rings series, Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series and the Harry Potter series I re-read a lot still.
Every now and then I consider reading the HP series, I get a little ways in and then drop, not from bad writing or anything just cause my brains jumping to the plot points since I’m familiar enough w the movies, a curse really.
I loved the Murderbot series it was amazing
- The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
- The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
l'etranger by Camus. I relate sometimes too much with the main character im starting to worry
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Having a little difficulty opening links in the memmy app it seems but I’ll check the list out in a moment
Lord of the Rings (although I would lump any Tolkein under this), Count of Monte Cristo, Rendezvous with Rama, one of Thomas Hardy's (can't decide which but maybe Return of the Native, Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
80% of these are gonna be Lord of the Rings lmao
I just finished Endurance, a pretty fun classic nonfiction about a dangerous trans-Antarctica trip. I think it’s pretty well known but I hadn’t heard of it until I read it.
Mine is "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. A poetic and brutal read, the language is really fascinating and it always gives me a lot to think about.
Blood Meridian for sure, so dark but such beautiful imagery juxtaposed against the brutality. Love that book.
Oh, I’ve had that on my to read for a very long time, perhaps this year I may actually start it.
Just about any William Faulkner if I'm being serious. Just about any Ian Banks, both his Culture books and his fiction. Just about any Neal Asher for Science Fiction. Lamb by Christopher Moore for laughs. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer started a lot of conversations with friends who also read it. This is really an impossible task, there are so, so many fantastic books and I'll never be able to get through them all.
Beyond the Sky and Earth - Jamie Zeppa The Hobbit/LOTR - JRR Tolkien Harry Potter series - JK Rowling Outlander series - Diana Gabaldon A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman (honestly anything by him) Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Ender's game is a book I can always pick up and read through in one or two sittings. The rest of the serieses maybe not as much.
Also anything Jonathan safran foer.
Edit: foundation and anathem are also gems.
The Spy who came in from the Cold by John Le Carre
Perfect Spy is also up there
Spy who came in from the cold By John Le Carre
Non-fiction: The Demon-Haunted world by Carl Sagan. A must-read for anyone.
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