Sorry if there is already a thread for this, eh? (notice my Canuk accent there, eh?)
Yesterday I picked up "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins - recommended by Walter Chase
I quite enjoyed it and will be picking up the sequel later this week. Yep, I read that quick!
Anyway, I'm an avid reader- I read a lot (three to four books a week), mostly but not exclusively scif and fantasy, and am wondering if anyone else wants to recommend something? Give a quick description if ya like, or just throw a name out there!
I love curling up with a book and a cup of tea on a cold day (it got up to a positively balmy minus 12 degrees here in Saskatoon today!).
So, for those looking for books, what I am reading (or just read) this week and next, OTHER than "Hunger Games":
"Sailing to Sarantium" (about a mosaicist in Byzantine times, they just call it Sarantium instead - random mysticism, death, chariot races, intrigue, emperors and whores abound) by Guy Kavriel Kay - was good but took a little getting in to, finished the last 100 pages this morning before "Hunger Games"
"The Pupper Masters" by Robert A Heinlein (aboot a cover up of a UFO landing in Iowa, of all places) Heinlein's books are usually interesting, sometimes a bit odd and you put it down and go "Hmmm... did I like that? Or not? I don't know, will think about it for a week..."
"The Terminal Experiment" by Robert J Sawyer (aboot a scientist that creates three electronic simulations of his own brain... and, of course, it goes wrong. The simulations 'escape' into the internet, and one of them is a killer). Sawyer has a way of exploring the follies of advancing science and morality that can be quite thought-provoking.
And some lighter fare, so my brains don't TOTALLY melt and run out my ears:
"One Good Knight" by Mercedes Lackey (aboot a land where fairy tale 'traditions' have mystical power, and a Princess is chosen as a virgin sacrifice for a dragon. Things go very wrong from there.) This series is usually light, easy to read, and fun.
"Life, The Universe and Everything" by the incomparable Douglas Adams. I've read all his books, but don't have them all... gotta step up my game! (part of the Hitchhikers Guide series, you'll either love it or think it's lammmmme)
S, while it's gruesome, it's stuff that we need to know is happening. It's too easy to think things like that couldn't be happening now and yet...
The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb
Just started "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kenedy Toole. Awesomem book thus far!
I just Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, the novel that is now an HBO mini-series. I don't have as much time to read as I would like, but started reading the book just a couple days before the series began. I was totally awed by both the book and the series. It was the first book I read on my new Kindle!
GoT is the first in a series of five novels and I've just started the second book.
There are dozens of characters in a web of relationships, adventure, political intrigue, battles, sex, and the supernatural all rolled into a gripping epic tale. Not exactly historical fiction, but you can see those places and personalities in history that influenced the author.
This winter I read and enjoyed:
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions by Vicki Myron
An Unlikely Cat Lady: Feral Adventures in the Backyard Jungle by Nina Malkin
I will probably reread the Harry Potter series this summer before the last movie comes out.
Oooh...thanks for the warning, Lauren. Not a fan of gruesome.
S Brandon, yes, I know. I don't believe that 60 minutes told the whole truth though. The whole truth will be revealed eventually. It doesn't change the fact that the man is making the world a better place with what he really has done though and the schools he has built. Half the Sky can be really really disturbing in terms of the gruesome details it goes into, just as a heads up.
Lauren, did you know that Greg Mortenson's authenticity/accuracy has been called into question recently? I hadn't gotten to Three Cups of Tea yet, but my husband and daughter liked it. Now, it turns out he may have been making up a lot of his experiences. :-\ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/15/60minutes/main20054397.shtml
I've wanted to read Half the Sky but haven't gotten there yet (as well as many others), probably because I haven't gotten to Driven to Distraction yet! Own it, yes. Got it read? No.
I liked the curious incident of the dog in the night-time a lot. (It's actually not capitalized on the front of the book, for those who are wondering.) Unique perspective from the author.
Warning-bookworm here!!
Has anyone read Grant Achatz memoir? Warning-it requires a strong stomach to read parts of it and a sense of humor!!
Something for the Pain by Dr. Paul Austin. A great book about life in and out of the ER from the perspective of an ER doc.
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide by husband and wife duo Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Three Cups of Tea and the sequel-Greg Mortenson
In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy with Sally Jenkins
There's a book by Michelle Alexander, called The New Jim Crow that's absolutely amazing.
Currently, it's March, by Geraldine Brooks. It's from the father's perspective of the girls/women in Little Women.
Harry Potter series-who does not want JK Rowling's way with words? She just amazes me., Me Talk Pretty One Day, Little Women, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Bridging the Gap: Raising a Child with Nonverbal Learning Disability, The Natural, Fast Food Nation, What to Drink With What You Eat, The Language Police, Oh the Places You'll Go!, The Cat in the Hat, Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, the Giving Tree, To Kill a Mockingbird, Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood, Answers to Distraction, Pride & Prejudice, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, just about anything by Dr. Seuss or Shell Silverstein, Johnny Got His Gun, Mohandas Gandhi: Essential Writtings, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, The Last Lecture, From Baghdad: With Love, From Baghdad to America: Life Lessons from a Dog Named Lava, Always Looking Up, Ender's Game, just to name a few.
Lots of the so called "banned" books.
The Blind Side (the book that inspired the movie)
A little off the beaten path here, but I really like Alexander McCall Smith. I totally ate up his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I also really like Lisa Scottoline. Her last book, Look Again was *very* hard to put down & hugely emotional. I can't wait to read Save Me. Her series about the female lawyers at Rosato & Associates is awesome. Suspense & comedy are two of my favorite combinations in a good plot! For a different kind of read I would recommend The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The book is written from the vantage point of a teen-aged autistic boy about the death of his neighbor's dog. Couldn't put it down. Hunger Games is definitely on my list!
Have you read anything by Terry Pratchett? He's an English novelist who writes what I defiantly call fantasy and is most know for his comical work. You might be interested in his Discworld series. The order you read them in is interesting because the books have about 7 storylines, following different groups or main characters that dont necessarily interact but they all living in this one book universe (The Discworld, "a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle."). And if the book youre reading is focus on one character, you might see characters from another storyline pop up. I think my favorite of his are the Tiffany Aching books.
His books are crazy, genuinely funny, and yet, somehow, they still manage to make you think.
Thanks for the list of your own books! I love fantasy and I'm always after new titles to read.
just finished "Sing You Home" by Jodi Picoult. excellent book that also came with a cd of orginal music written by the author. The CD ties into the book. Made for a new reading experience.
@racer8and9 - was just going to recommend that series. Loved it! I'm also loving Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series (she's Canadian!) - I think the first book is called Bitten.
@ racer8 - haven't read those, will add to list!
@ Cailin - read 'em all up to date
@ Cindy - done Terry Brooks, shudder at Twilight...
Okay I had to really pinch myself because reading this was like hearing myself lol. I had a discussion here that I had "Books wjat's your poison". Like you i read three boooks a week and like you nothing like a pot of tea... my critters and a good book. I read a wide variety but give me an epic fantasy and I am a "happy camper" I would strongly encourage any and all "Terry Brooks" books. He started the Shannara series back in the late 70's and it if a strong 20 plus books now. i'll read anyhting as long as it is not a "Romance" novel.
Happy reading to everyone.
Ohhh yes I guess I could let you know my most recent reads lol. If you enjoyed the twighlight books then I wuold suggest "Hush Hush and Crescendo". I just reread Dante's Inferno and I also just reread the entire "Left Behind" series.
I love to read and really need to make more time for it in my day. One of my favorite series is Outlander by Diana Galadon. So far it is a seven book series, the first book is Outlander. It is about a woman from the 1940's who travels back in time to the 1740's Highland Scotland.
@Djinnyeh- have you read the Mortal Instrument Series (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass) by Cassandra Claire? They are young adult Sci-fi...they are lighter reads, but totally sucked me in. She is also still working on this series so there will be new books in the future.
I am also an avid reader and am always looking for good book suggestions. I will check out some of the ones you listed above...they sound great!
~Megan