THE RETURN OF BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

[tricia868]

I am somewhat tempted to tell people that all I want for my birthday this year is books.  I doubt my family will buy me volumes of Bleach, but regular books are a very common thing for me to want, so...


I'm asking for must-reads.  I'm a bookworm who will read just about anything, but I have a soft spot for fantasy.

Comments

[theguindo]

EVERYONE SHOULD READ CATCH-22 BY JOSEPH HELLER.

EVERYONE.

[bouncy-erbear.livejournal.com]

THE PENDRAGON ADVENTURES by D.J. MacHale. Its a series of 10 books, first one is The Merchant of Death. I'm not sure what to classify it as....perhaps a little more sci-fi than fantasy. Take away all the Disney and keyblade stuff from Kingdom Hearts and replace it with a 14 year old boy who has no special powers going to unknown worlds to change the fate of the entire universe and you have a good summary of this book series.

But even that doesn't do it justice.

And I don't think I have to mention that you should read The Dresden Files.

Another series I've been really eating up is Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. The first one for this series is The Lightning Thief. This series takes all your favorite Greek myths, gods, and stories and places them in the modern world. Percy is our hero and finds out he's the son of one of the Greek gods and is sent to a camp to learn how to be a hero/demi-god. It's really neat and a great page turner. Plus, if you like Greek mythology, it's fun to see the modern spin they put on some of the stuff. I haven't finished this series yet but I'm fairly certain there's only five books.

[if-iweretherain.livejournal.com]

Oh yay, thanks for suggesting books my brother owns (apart from Dresden Files, of which I have the first book), so that I don't have to spend money! His tastes in books are becoming remarkably similar to mine lately, so I should consider raiding his bookshelves, now that you mention it...

<3

[goldenskyking.livejournal.com]

LOL, well, there ya go. You don't even need to spend money to read them 8D

MY HTML WILL CONVINCE YOU

[knackster.livejournal.com]

OTHERLAND
volume 1: City of Golden Shadow
volume 2: River of Blue Fire
volume 3: Mountain of Black Glass
volume 4: Sea of Silver Light

Super cheap and SUPER DUPER LONG.
LONGGGGG.
Like 800 pages a pop. I'm halfway through the last book and it's around 1000 pages.

[bamboozle.livejournal.com]

Oh, his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series is really awesome as well!

TRI, ALSO GET THESE:

The Dragonbone Chair
The Stone of Farewell
To Greenangel Tower (this last one I think is divided into two smaller books, now - TGA: Storm & TGA: Siege)

[hibiofthesky.livejournal.com]

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert...I just finished this one the other day. :3

It's about a young girl whose family discovers the telltale signs of leprosy on her body and are forced to give her up to be exiled to the leper colony on Moloka'i. It's actually amazingly beautiful and life-affirming. It's set in Hawaii, with all the lush gorgeousness that entails.

For fantasy read WICKED and HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE if you have not already. Howl's Moving Castle is unusual and adorable and makes you happy. (It's much different from the movie, but the movie /is/ based on the book) Wicked is fun and dark and fascinating and engrossing~

[if-iweretherain.livejournal.com]

I do love Hawaii! (Here's where I could say "and leprosy", but since that's vastly untrue and also in poor taste, perhaps I shouldn't.) I will look into that one.

I'll be picking up a musical version of Elphaba at DC again this app period, actually. XD I love the books just as much, but the stage version's fun to play. And Howl's a favorite. I could never quite like the movie the same way I loved the book.

[hibiofthesky.livejournal.com]

LOL I would tag Elphaba's mun with "Read Wicked!"

[if-iweretherain.livejournal.com]

'sokay, shows you have good taste in books? XD

[bamboozle.livejournal.com]

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen

I am not even kidding. They are two of my favourites.

House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski (just freaking head trip, but so amazing)

And I have heard amazing things about the Howl's Moving Castle books, which I have yet to read but I am saving for... I will add more later :D

[deltashade.livejournal.com]

I have been pushing Danielewski on her for ages. She still has my copy of Only Revolutions, actually.

[bamboozle.livejournal.com]

Ah, I need to get that one. Leaves rocked my world but for some reason I hadn't gotten around to getting the other yet >:

HEY TRI. YOU SHOULD ALSO GET POE'S HAUNTED ALBUM TO LISTEN TO WHILE YOU READ HOUSE. YOU MIND WILL BE BLOWN.

[deltashade.livejournal.com]

It's soooo good. It's like a Joycian love story but everything is symbolic aaaagh I love it.

SECONDING THIS SO HARD

[bamboozle.livejournal.com]

jvfjf As soon as I get my next paycheck I am ordering me some books online 8D
And a new copy of Leaves, because mine is in Australia ;___;

SEE? IF COLIN SAYS IT, IT MUST BE TRUTH. DO NOT DENY HIS WISDOM.

[reverie-shadow.livejournal.com]

Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.

And if you really want something soul-shattering, then The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams.

[umi-mikazuki.livejournal.com]

I SECOND DRESDEN FILES.

DRAGONLANCE (obv)
Death Gate Cycle - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Witches of Eileannan - Kate Forsyth
Contact - Carl Sagan
Cast in Shadow - Michelle Sagara

[geekofthegate.livejournal.com]

Dude, read anything in the Tales of Redwall series by Brian Jacques! I especially recommend Sunflash the Mace, Lord Brocktree, and Rakkety Tam, but there are seriously about 20 in the series and the early ones are the best. =D Basically, imagine a fantasy world setting, minus magic, and all of the characters are animals instead of humans, but they act just like humans. And they have wars and swordfighting mice and badger lords and it is incredibly awesome. I would call them a must-read for any fantasy lover. ^^

The Gil Beckman Mysteries are also amazing - they are about a security gaurd at an amusement park who used to be a policeman and who solves these mysteries that show up at the amusement park (which in itself provides a lot of fascinating settings and scenarios). There are four books in the series that progress into each other. It's a Christian series, but honest to goodness, the humor rivals Harry Dresden's. I am so serious. And the writer makes it seem really realistic. =D

[theguindo]

If you're gonna read Redwall, Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, and Marlfox are the ones you want.

Especially Marlfox.

[geekofthegate.livejournal.com]

The man is right. Marlfox IS indeed amazing. The first one I ever read was Outcast of Redwall, so that one is good as an introduction to the series.

I actually don't recommend reading Redwall (the book) first. While it IS the first one ever written, it is really very different from the rest of the series (he changed a lot of stuff after that book), and it wasn't a favorite of mine. But it is good, too. =)

[theguindo]

Yeah Mossflower's the first one I read and I recommend starting there since it gives you a better perspective on Redwall.

[geekofthegate.livejournal.com]

It IS good since it's like the start of Redwall, so that's true. =) I like Outcast of Redwall because it gives a good feel for Redwall Abbey as it appears in most of the books, plus it has some good adventure in it. =D Most of the early ones are good starters, really. You shouldn't read Lord Brocktree or Legend of Luke or Martin the Warrior first because they are both set way early, and you will appreciate them a lot more if you read the books that talk about those characters. They are reaccuring names throughout the series, and those books talk about the actual characters and their pasts before the abbey was built. Excellent books, though.

[tricia868]

XD I own everything in that series up through... Triss, I believe? I haven't read them in years, maybe I should do some rereading.

[geekofthegate.livejournal.com]

I used to reread those books so many times...XD I once bragged that I had read every single one of them at least 3-5 times. That doesn't stand anymore, as I haven't read the new ones quite as much, but still.

My bros and I collected a lot of the books, but my cousin down the street has the ENTIRE collection. In hardback. 8D

[spiritsshadow.livejournal.com]

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman~

[sarcatstically.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind me replying with my character journal, I recommend The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. Fantasy-wise, also try to get the three books from the Twelve Kingdoms series by Fuyumi Ono that are currently out. Yes, they're the novels the anime is based on, but they're very, very good, well-translated, and worth reading. You might also try the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander; they're classic.

Umm... as for real books, try The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I'm sure it's sequel is just as good. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is is another good one.