Reading 50 books this year, Quick THought Reviews so far, and recommendations needed!

a reply to: DrakeINFERNO

Now there are so many books I want to read. LOL, I will be reading for the next 20 years

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Have you read Only Revolutions by Danielewski? Another mind bending tale. . .

a reply to: denybedoomed

Another very good book, not as great as House of Leaves but very, very good.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Indeed. I think I've read House of Leaves at least four times, still find something new. It is honestly almost overwhelming. . .

Another good one that explores a very different writing style is The Raw Shark Texts. Not nearly as good as H.o.L, but well worth it.

I keep hoping for a House of Leaves movie, i'm just not sure how they would do it. Would it just be the Navidson Record? or is Johnny Truant going to be in it?


On Topic
I suggest Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut, on of my favorite authors.

a reply to: Quantum12

Yea no kiddin!

Well, here's the last books I have read. Recommend them all... I read two books a month.

The Nothing Girl - Jodi Taylor
Gentlemen and Players – Joanne Harris
The Chequer Board – Nevil Shute
The End of the Affair – Graham Greene
Before They are Hanged – Joe Abercrombie
Great North Road – Peter F Hamilton
The Girl who Fell from the Sky – Simon Mawar
The Morville Hours – Katherine Swift

OP, I have a few tips on reading mass quantities in general. Pay attention to which version of certain books you are going to read.

Case in point is Ulysses since reading the Gabler edition is going to be a different read than the cheap Dover edition. Especially if you do the deep read and grab the Gifford annotated edition to know what the heck Joyce is writing about (like reading adverts while on the can in one scene that almost had the book banned as pornography!)

I also recommend to not "power read" one author's stuff (like binge watching a TV show) because authors tend to take time to get a book out. So when you finish off all of Christopher Moore there is nothing else to read.

Another hint is to vary by type (fiction, history, biography, sci-fi, classic, philosophy, science, etc) otherwise you can get burnt out (like, "I'm sick of pseudo intellectual science books by [flavor of the month]" tends to happen to me)

If you can, buy actual books! There is a visceral connection I have with Proust and Dante due to the physical weight of their tomes. PITA to store or move but great for reference!

I liked: Catapult: Harry and I Build a Seige Weapon for it's humor and historical run down of catapults!

Good luck on your admiral goal of 50 books! S+F!

There is also my all-time favorite book.

Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I am also currently working my through Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It has a nice dark fairy tale vibe going for it that is in complete contrast to her 'Temeraire' novels which are also good but have to do with dragons and the Napoleanic Wars in Europe.

Watership Down is my jam.

Started reading the Sabriel series by Garth Nix. Pretty quick and fun fantasy read

And as always the unabridged version of The Stand. I think I've read it close to a dozen times. . .

a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: DrakeINFERNO

50! That is a lot to read in one year. But Here's mine recommendation...

1. Ender's Game
2. Wool
3. The Name of the Wind
4. Foundation

a reply to: intrptr

+1 on Hyperion

a reply to: reddragon2015

red dragon was a good book!

a reply to: reddragon2015

Imentioned Uprooted? I picked up Wool to work through as soon as I finish Uprooted. Only about 150 pages to go ... I should be into Wool by the end of the week.

I got 4 or 5 on the way from amazon!

a reply to: reddragon2015

Wool is on kindle unlimted gonna check it out

a reply to: scraedtosleep

hiram key was crazy interesting, i just started listening to the Templar legacy by steven berry, they go well together!

a reply to: JaMeDoIt

13th valley was like vietnam game of thrones. that ending!

a reply to: DrakeINFERNO

I thought your post would say wow, I just finished reading all be books people listed. Lol

a reply to: Quantum12

That would be hardcore! I mixed in a couple others and also just finished 7th son but couldn't find who recommended that one. Picking my next one now.

a reply to: reddragon2015

Almost finished with Wool, probably my 1st or 2nd favorite ive read this year!