100 Books Recommended by Friends

Sep 07, 2010 18:21

Feel free to comment and add more for me to look to!

Read more... )

dayzeroproject, to do lists, to do, books

Leave a comment

Comments 19

elissa_carey September 7 2010, 23:41:04 UTC
Correction: Ayn, not Anne (Rand). :)

1. William Gibson, "Pattern Recognition"
2. William Gibson, "Spook Country"

I'm falling down on thinking of other books to recommend; I don't know what you've already read, or whether you'd care for the sort of stuff I read. (Though if you follow suggestions like Mieville's "The Scar," and like it, then there's a good chance you might.) I reread what I'd read of the Dune series up to "God Emperor" this summer, and then plowed on and read the rest (of Frank's original work, not his son's). I've been flitting from this to that since, like Richard Adams's "Maia" (finished), Ronald Hutton's "The Triumph of the Moon" (not finished), and a book on the history of Irish nationalism (also not finished).

Reply

guipago September 7 2010, 23:42:52 UTC
Lol, this is me asking for anything YOU like, or YOU think I should read.

You'll note that every book on here isn't the same genre, or necessarily fiction. I'm looking for all kinds of things. I want to know what you like and what you want to share.

Fiction, non-fiction, etc :)

Reply

elissa_carey September 7 2010, 23:51:06 UTC
Ah! Well in that case... shit. There's a lot I really like and would recommend. Like, *all* of Gibson's stuff. matociquala's and yuki_onna's work. All Neil Gaiman's stuff. Half of the Dune series (it falls off, for me, about halfway through). All of China Mieville's work. Richard Adams. Cecilia Dart-Thornton. Charles de Lint. And on and on and...

I'd probably do better to just chime in on other's recommendations. :)

Reply

guipago September 7 2010, 23:54:43 UTC
Lol. I've read as much of Liz Bear's as I've gotten my grubby little hands on. And Cat Valente's. Neil Gaiman I'm a little behind on, but good. I've read the impt Dune books (at least to me).

I haven't delved into Mieville yet, or Cecilia Dart-Thornton. Titles?

Reply


mastadge September 7 2010, 23:44:06 UTC
It's hard to comment on such a diverse list!

Life of Pi is by Yann Martel, not Geraldine Brooks.

I'd skip the Ayn Rand.

Abnormalities of Personality sounds interesting but I think I'd need a more basic intro to psychology -- that looks like it's written as an academic work for people familiar with the literature. Same with Nanomaterials: I think I'd need at least a basic grounding in physics before delving into that, fascinating as it sounds!

Reply

guipago September 7 2010, 23:46:53 UTC
Ah ha! I'll fix that (and the Ayn Rand bit) :P

As for the in psychology, I've actually got a fair grounding in it (General, Abnormal, etc)

And physics? That one I'm looking forward to, the geek in me is screaming to get it first :P

Comments! Give me comments! I want more books! (library is going to hate me)

Reply

mastadge September 7 2010, 23:57:16 UTC
How can anyone have a fair grounding in abnormal when they change the DSM every other week?!

Reply

guipago September 7 2010, 23:58:25 UTC
Lol, i say grounding as in base. Meaning the terminology won't phase me and the basic theories won't have me in knots :P

As for changing the DSM every other week? Dude, they're psychologists... whaddya expect? *hides*

Reply


lizblackdog September 8 2010, 00:02:54 UTC
Rachel Pollack's Unquenchable Fire and Temporary Agency. Anything at all by Ursula LeGuin. I have a massive yearning to reread LeGuin's Always Coming Home right now and do not have a copy. Gnarrr.

Reply


g33kgrrl September 8 2010, 02:43:33 UTC
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Anything ever by Sarah Monette. She has this amazing short story collection called The Bone Key and then a four-novel series too. She's also truepenny and you can find links to some of her short stories for free through her lj.

Kelly Link's two short story collections are mind-blowing.

For physics, read anything by Feynman. The man can write.

Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. I can't describe it well but it changed my life when I was 16. (non-fiction. cognitive science, mathematics, genius.)
And anything else by Hofstadter. Le Ton Beau de Marot is especially lovely.

Ditto the China Mieville, all of it (King Rat wasn't as good, though - it's early) and Scott Pilgrim and Bone and William Gibson for sure.

Cherie Priest's Boneshaker was quite enjoyable.

Have you read Margaret Atwood? The Robber Bride is fantastic, so is The Blind Assassin, and of course Oryx and Crake and the follow-up Year of the Flood and The Handmaid's Tale is the scariest book I ( ... )

Reply


diachrony September 8 2010, 04:13:46 UTC
I'll recommend two nonfiction books that I believe *everyone* should read: The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker, and The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith.

Fiction - everything by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Catherynne Valente, Charles de Lint.

For something completely different, I love (and re-read often) the essay collections by David Sedaris.

I just finished David Foster Wallace's essay collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, which I enjoyed and was a new & different reading experience for me.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up