What books if any do you read? I have been reading Fantasy as of late including Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks. I highly recommend Terry Goodkind, since i just finished the last of the series that have come out (Pillars of Creation,) and can tell you they just get better after each book. Mainly because of character development among other things. Also, what other authors would you recommend for me?
You want character development just read Stephen King, no one brings them to life like the master. Try It, the Talisman, the Long Walk, or the Dark Tower Series.
Actually if you read the DARK TOWER series stop at number 3. The rest suck. I always pictured a Young Clint Eastwood (like rowdy yates young) as the character of Roland...
I wish I was the reader that my wife was. She can finish off a book in a week. I'm currently reading The Girl That Loved Tom Gordon
2 books right now: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellision (read it about 10 years ago and decided it was time to revisit) 20th Century Poetry Collection (decided that if I ever want to write good lyrics to my music, I should have a basic understanding of what has come before me).
The last few books I have read have been about WWII. Stephen Ambrose "Band of Brothers" and "Citizen Soldiers". Also read Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation". All good reads. I want to start reading more. When I was a teenager I liked reading Grisham and Crichton. I thought "The Lost World" was such a good book, but what a horrible movie. Speaking of King, I only read one of his books "The Stand". Wow that was long.
I read a book in two nights when I'm at work. One night if it's a good book, and it's a slow night. I'm bummed because I just finished the all the books by Michael Connelly. I can't wait until Lost Light comes out next week. I love detective - murder mystery books. Anybody have any suggestions? I read all of Connelly, John Sandford, as well as some Patricia Cornwell.
My brother gave me Wizards First Rule and I thought it was interesting, I usualy like fantasy. But his writing style was rather poor - does that aspect improve in the later books? I'm currently struggling through James Joyce's Ulysses for a book club. I don't recommend it.
Am currently reading two books about Napoleon, Die Hard! by Haythornthwaite, and Swords Around A Throne, by Elting, Bleak House by Dickens, and, as always, have some Classics on the re-read go, this time Plutarch and Tacitus, as well as a mystery or historical fiction...in this case I am reading one ( A Murder in Macedonia, by Apostolou, not too good so far) which qualifies on both respects, and am about to read a mystery that one of my students loaned my, Death of an Englishman, by Nabb... Yes...I know...I have a problem...
Sci Fi and Fantasy. Currenty, I've been reading a lot about robots. I, Robot by Asimov and Do Androids dream electric sheep?.
Right now I am reading War of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. As for recommendations, there are so many good things in Fantasy. If you like Tolkein's stories, Dennis L. McKeirnan writes some stuff in the same vein but has a bit faster paced style. Check out Into the Forge/Into the Fire, the Iron Tower Trilogy, and the Silver Call Duology. Also, Caverns of Socrates is pretty interesting. If you want something a little more light-hearted, check out the myth-adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, a series by Robert Asprin or the Doom Brigade by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin. The Death Gate Cycle was very good, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I also liked the Icewind Dale trilogy and most of the series written as an extension to that, although the Drizzt Du'urden character gets a little tiresome. I liked the Dragon's Disciple but the sequal hasn't come out yet. That is a modern day fantasy.
If you like fantasy, and want something written well, with actual complex characters and situations, read George R.R. Martin's books. The Song of Ice and Fire series that currently has 3 books out, with a 4th on the way, is amazing. Even people who don't normally like Fantasy because of formulaic writing and predictablity that have read these books love them. I'm currently reading The Virginian by Owen Wister. I'm also reading the Black Dhalia because I'm on my way to moving to LA and want to read some LA noire to get me into the mood. Normally I read a lot of classics too. Especially lesser known things by Dumas. If you want a great read start with the Three Musketeers(don't be mislead by any of the bad movies.) Then read Twenty Years After, The Viscount de Bragelone, Ten Years Later, and finish off with the Man in the Iron Mask. They are all in the same series, and unless you read all of them, The Man in the Iron Mask loses a lot. Chicot the Jester is also one of the greatest books. It's good to read Queen Margot first, because a few of the characters are the same, and it's maybe my second favorite Dumas book. If you haven't read the Beautiful and Damned by Fitzgerald it's my favorite book by him. I liked it more than Gatsby. One of my favorite Biographies ever is My Wicked Wicked Ways by Errol Flynn. The stuff before Hollywood is fascinating. Next on my list is a Zane Grey book, Last of the Duanes.
I'm in the middle of 'Shadow of the Hegemon' by Orson Scott Card. It started out great, but it's starting to drag a bit in the middle. It's still better than most of the other sequels. I'd rate them like this: 1. Ender's Game 2. Ender's Shadow 3. Children of the Mind 4. Shadow of the Hegemon (so far) 5. Xenocide 6. Speaker for the Dead
Devil in the White City. The Life of Pi. I'm getting back to the Robert Jordan books. Time for him to bring that story to an end. I used to look forward to each volume, but 7000-ish pages is a little too much. The Corrections.
For a murder-mystery series that is different and superbly written, try Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series about Gordianus the Finder. It takes place during the last years of the Roman Republic and the civil war that led to it's ultimate demise. Peopled with charactors from history brought to vivid life and a wonderful sense of what Rome was like at the time, warts and all, I can't recommend it highly enough. Anyone who loves a good mystery and has a love of history will end up reading them all. They cover a span of years that include Pompey and Caesar, among others, from their youth to the many events that later take place... seen through the eyes of a man who makes his living solving mysteries for the aristocracy. He is a "Finder"... the finder of the truth (a detective, in other words), which often has surprising results. A fellow on the edge of the Roman "middle class", who becomes known to the aristocracy and used by them, sometimes abused by them... for a fee, of course. Deep and complex, as the series evolves, the first book is "Roman Blood". Check it out. (there is a book of short stories that gives valuable background to how Gordianus became who he is... the name escapes me and my books are currently being moved about , so I can't locate it. Read it after "Roman Blood", but it's not necessary)
