Book recommendations

[shoeless.db]

I’m in a rut.

What’s your list of must-reads?

[jleddy]

My theoretical nightstand usually has one (or two) of the following on it at all times:

• anything Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly

• anything pop culture by Chuck Klosterman (I'm surprised people from North Dakota can read, let alone write)

• anything by Michael Lewis

• anything by Tom Perrotta

• anything by Neil LaBute

• anything by David Mamet

• Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster from current or previous year

[RonCo]

What kinds of things do you tend to like?

[jleddy]

I'd recommend this but I'm sure you have several dog-eared copies already.

[Fat Nige]

I recommend Ben Aaronovitch’s rivers of London series. Seven books and counting at the moment, it’s a sort of crime mixed with magic with a touch of fantasy. I’ve got them all on audiobook and have listened a couple of times or so.
Has to be audiobooks most of the time for me these days. My eyes get weary if I spend too long reading although I still love physical books and buy a lot of hardbacks (mostly unread now) so I find I can just sit quietly on the sofa or long train journeys and drift away

[shoeless.db]

Thanks for the responses so far, outside of Joe's Kent "the cheater" Hrbek's piece...

What kinds of things do you tend to like?

I'm pretty much the town whore when it comes to reading. I'm willing to give just about anything a go. The only author I've ever quit reading due to disliking the writing style is Dan Brown.

A sampling of books I particularly enjoyed (in no particular order):

Zorba the Greek
A Confederacy of Dunces
Walden
The Prince of Nothing Series (Bakker)
The Graveyard Book (Gaiman)

I'm currently reading "Life of Pi". I never saw the movie and the book was in my library's Dollar Per Pound sale this winter.

[jleddy]

You finished Confederacy? That's more difficult than winning a Landis!

[JimBob2232]

Try console wars. It’s about the Sega/Nintendo battle of the 80s. Strong business bent to the book, and I found it fascinating.

I like business books, but not “self help” type books. Another favorite of mine is “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight, founder of Nike.

And one other one- “the boys in the boat” about the 1936 Olympic crew team. Fascinating story.

[GoldenOne]

NEPTUNE'S INFERNO by James D. Hornfischer
ON KILLING: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COST OF LEARNING TO KILL IN WAR AND SOCIETY by Dave Grossman
AFTER THE PROPHET : THE EPIC STORY OF THE SHIA-SUNNI SPLIT IN ISLAM by Lesley Hazleton
THE BLITZKRIEG LEGEND by Karl-Heinz Frieser
STORMING THE CITY by Alec Wahlman
CHESTY by Jon T. Hoffman
THE LAST STAND OF FOX COMPANY: A TRUE STORY OF U.S. MARINES IN COMBAT by Bob Drury

[RonCo]

Life of Pi, like almost everything else, is a gazillion times better than the movie.

Try:

- Kiriyaga - Mike Resnick (technically this is a novel comprised of 10 short stories...but it works...and most of them won awards)
- Epitaph - Mary Doria Russel (it's a western, really well researched...technically, anything by her is great...I just finished her "Threads of Grace" which is amazing, but may be hard reading, since it's focus is a tough period of WWII)
- Binti - Nnedi Okorafor (one might guess where a current BBA custom ammy came from)
- For great idea SF, try Canadian writer Robert J. Sawyer. He does a bunch of work, so google him and select whatever looks good. (he wrote the book that turned into the FlashForward TV series).
- If you're up for an interesting collection of short stories, I just finished N.K. Jemison's "How Long 'TIl Black Future Month?" and can highly recommend it.

[Fat Nige]

I liked the TV series FlashForward but did they canctit before it finished? I don’t seem to remember seeing the end of it?

[RonCo]

Yes, the cancelled it after one season for ... reasons. I liked both the book and the series, though to me it's only in the middle of my rankings of his works. Rob spends a LOT of research time with his books. (disclosure, I know Sawyer, and knew Resnick (he recently passed). Both blurrbed one of my own books, and Resnick wrote an introduction to my short story collection - so I admit I'm biased).

[indiansfan]

Bernard Cornwall for historical fiction
Steve Berry for thrillers with historical topics
Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files books, wizard detective

[drummerJ99]

Need a book to make you feel like a saint? The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band - Neil Strauss

Want a hockey book? Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard - John Branch

Wrestling? A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex - Chris Jericho

A book about only year they have ever stopped the Indianapolis 500? Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500 - Art Garner

A look into the sickness that was Jeffrey Epstein? - Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales

A story about a small town Indiana college basketball program coming back from a plane crash that killed the whole team? We Will Rise: A True Story of Tragedy and Resurrection in the American Heartland - Steve Beaven

A true CIA book that features alot of redactions? Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture - Mark Fallon

As you can tell most of my books are the non fiction type. LOL

[Clayman]

Searching for Heroes quest of a Yankee bat boy is a nice read. Discworld books by Terry Pratchett although if you like them be warned there are over 40 of them, I mostly like them all but the ones about the city watch are my favourites. That's one good thing about them as there like a spiders web, you dont need to read them all.

[RonCo]

Terry Pratchett. All the yes.