What a coincidence, that I have Patrick Leigh Fermor’s "A Time of Gifts" on my wishlist, waiting for a gift card to appear, so that I can give it to my younger son (we both enjoyed the travel books by Robert D. Kaplan, where Fermor was quoted and, I think, there was even meeting with old Fermor described at some point?)
But, yes, the matchmaking part can be hard - my sister, who is not escaping to fiction person (and, may-be that is why she found God in 1990s, that were terribly unsafe time to live without place to escape), is the failure that saddened me much - my 10 year self would have liked to share and could not understand how come, if I have the wonderful book at hands, I cannot share the wonder with my own sister?
She won't read fiction at all? There are a great many truly wonderful works that are deeply Christian. Like Lord of the Rings. But of course I don't know if she would like fantasy, or for that matter, if you like that book.
I do hope you can find things to share! My sister and I have only liked the same book maybe once, we're just so different.
Tangent--Fermor is like that, I guess! I've dipped into his first, which was pressed upon me by a reading friend on the stern condition that I not resell/regift the paperback. (In that case he wanted to give it to someone else. And I do mean to return to it; during this season, a precious paperback would be ruined by morning mist, since I read mostly during my commute.)
You know, I don't have a strong memory of my recommendations being either brilliant successes or terrible disasters, though that may be a matter of my own imperceptiveness more than the absence of such reactions. Though I did give one of my players A Companion to Wolves for last year's Cthulhumas, and that was a big hit for her, so I think maybe I can count that one.
I have a memory from the other side, of a friend recommending John Scalzi to me. I read a lot of military sf and fantasy-Bujold, Moon, and Stirling, for example, and I totally loved Tschaikovsky's Guns of the Dawn. But I could not get even halfway through Scalzi, and the attempt was so tedious that I have no desire to look at anything else he writes, ever. I suppose "It's like Starship Troopers, but without the philosophical discussions" might have warned me; but I hadn't realized that I liked the philosophical discussions a lot more than the combat scenes.
Yeah, I have to admit that I can't read Scalzi anymore. It's like he doesn't get edited. I really liked his first Old Man's War as a decent space opera adventure. I wanted to like one of the recent ones, said to be kind of an homage to Galaxy Quest, but I never made it past the first twenty pages, which I felt ought to have been tightened down to two. But then he sells more in a day than I will in ten years, so what do I know.
The one of his I bounced off of was the one right after OMW, so I think I can say that I've disliked him from the start of his career. On one hand if he's not being edited now, I dread to think what he may be like, but on the other, I'm not sure if his being edited would have anything effect on whatever it is that I don't like about him-I assume his second book still was edited! But whatever it is that I read fiction for just wasn't there. It's a mystery. . . .
I failed big-time suggesting books to my daughter: she ended up getting into reading (for a time) through the Twilight series. *sigh*. At least now she says one of her favorite books is Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and J.D. Salinger. My son is more hit-and-miss. He liked the Percy Jackson series, but not the Egyptian based series, and seems to like the new Norse mythology series. But other than that, I let him pick'em.
On the other hand, the biggest WTF moment for me was my boyfriend's friend (back in the 1980s) handing me "Dhalgren" and asking me every two days if I liked the damned thing. Just to make him happy, I read the book twice. Never again. One of the most frustrating books ever.
lol! you just never know. My kids both loathed Of Mice and Men with intensity--my son didn't want to read after that assignment, nor did they care for Salinger. (My daughter doesn't read much fiction at all. Son prefers sf and f.)
Dhalgren! I know people who adore that book, but I had trouble getting through it, and finally abandoned itt.
I know who wrote it, what his orientation and gender is, and all that, BUT thinking back on it, to a twenty-something year old me, it was just about a guy going through this confusing life going after sex, and no matter what, I couldn't identify with it at all.
Yeah--100% male gaze, in humorless, difficult prose in an unpleasant world (or at least, so I remember--admittedly I haven't tried it again for decades)
Toby and I are getting better at finding books for his dad, who likes Tom Clancy-like suspense thrillers, especially if they have roots in the Cold War. His mother doesn't read at all, and is puzzled by my Amazon wishlist having so many books on it, because to her books are so far off the radar that they're not presents. (I have succeeded in giving her gifts by finding a new thing each year I on which I can slap photographs of her children, extended family, or the eagles that nest near their house. We got a circular from Yankee Candle in the mail this weekend advertising personalized candles, which should be a slam dunk this year as she also loves candles.)
I have discovered that if I can hand Toby a book and say either "It's written in first/third person smartass," or "It's a heist novel," or, better yet, both, then Toby will probably like it. The Dragaera and Locke Lamora series were both hits.
I'm not sure! A couple of years back, I know he talked about planning to read a Stross book, but I don't know which one or if he even read it. I'll mention those to him, thanks!
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But, yes, the matchmaking part can be hard - my sister, who is not escaping to fiction person (and, may-be that is why she found God in 1990s, that were terribly unsafe time to live without place to escape), is the failure that saddened me much - my 10 year self would have liked to share and could not understand how come, if I have the wonderful book at hands, I cannot share the wonder with my own sister?
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I do hope you can find things to share! My sister and I have only liked the same book maybe once, we're just so different.
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I have a memory from the other side, of a friend recommending John Scalzi to me. I read a lot of military sf and fantasy-Bujold, Moon, and Stirling, for example, and I totally loved Tschaikovsky's Guns of the Dawn. But I could not get even halfway through Scalzi, and the attempt was so tedious that I have no desire to look at anything else he writes, ever. I suppose "It's like Starship Troopers, but without the philosophical discussions" might have warned me; but I hadn't realized that I liked the philosophical discussions a lot more than the combat scenes.
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On the other hand, the biggest WTF moment for me was my boyfriend's friend (back in the 1980s) handing me "Dhalgren" and asking me every two days if I liked the damned thing. Just to make him happy, I read the book twice. Never again. One of the most frustrating books ever.
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Dhalgren! I know people who adore that book, but I had trouble getting through it, and finally abandoned itt.
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I have discovered that if I can hand Toby a book and say either "It's written in first/third person smartass," or "It's a heist novel," or, better yet, both, then Toby will probably like it. The Dragaera and Locke Lamora series were both hits.
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