I'm desperate for my next "great book"

Anybody have any good recommendations?

I tend to be a little picky with what I read and I definitely go through phases. It definitely needs to be a thriller, but I also seek something with a strong conspiratorial theme. I have tended to stick with religious or political themes, but I am open to anything.

I have been looking for a few weeks and nothing has stuck out. So the other day when my girlfriend was going to pick two books up and asked if I wanted anything, I decided that I would turn to those that I trust most before committing to anything.

So what say you?

Point me in the right direction!

Sorry buddy, but I mostly read horror. Ask Crakeur. He reads quite a bit of stuff in those categories. (Unless I'm really talking to Crakeur right now..hehehe) LOL.

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy is pretty good. This is the guy that wrote "No Country for Old Men"

It's an Oprah's Book Club choise. Not that, that means much.

If your looking for a good thriller, check out Barry Eisler's Rain series.

All about an assassin and his exploits. I don't know if they would be great books but they are page turners. I've read a few of them and I enjoyed them.

Here's his website.

[edit on 5-4-2008 by GAOTU789]

I'd recommend anything by Tom Robbins.

[edit on 5-4-2008 by GENERAL EYES]

You probably already read it but I'll throw it up in case you haven't:
Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

You might enjoy White Noise by Don DeLillo. In a very real sense, it is concerned with how consumerism is becoming the de facto religion in America. It doesn't totally fit the criterion of being of a conspiratorial nature, but the second part of the book, called The Airborne Toxic Event could be seen as an utterly hilarious take on organizations like FEMA and Homeland Security. Though I think it is important to point out that the book was first published in 1984, so it isn't directly mocking them as relative to our more recent experiences with the two organizations that I named.

One of my favorite parts is an exchange between the protagonist and an agent of SIMUVAC, which stands for simulated evacuation:

"But this evacuation isn't simulated. It's real."
"We know that. But we thought we could use it as a model."
"A form of practice? Are you saying you saw a chance to use the real event in order to rehearse the simulation?"

It's a very funny book and at the same time, rather alarming.

/tn.

Hiyah,
I have a great new one called Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. I just finished it and would recommend it to all.

I just read it, it's a thriller that concerns religion, government cover-up and a super collider that goes horribly wrong. Here's some reviews for you from Amazon

“Blasphemy takes the latest theories of physics and pits them against the ancient religious beliefs that they now threaten, in an explosive, hell-bent and finally deeply moving book that I doubt I will ever forget. It literally made me pace as I contemplated the ideas that crackle through these pages, and it gave me pause as I realized that the physics here is so close to reality that the face of God that appears in this book may soon be, in real life, before us all.” Whitley Strieber

"Preston has taken a fascinating concept and implemented it brilliantly. It's one of those books you think and talk about after you've finished it. I loved the characters. Even the sleazy ones were well-done. Science meets religion with a side order of politics. The mixture is explosive!”—Larry Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Dangerous Ground

[edit on 6-4-2008 by LateApexer313]

[edit on 6-4-2008 by LateApexer313]

Please read stephen kings seven book series the dark tower

please read it please please please i swear this is an awesome series that i think EVERYONE would love

Originally posted by AccessDenied
Ask Crakeur (Unless I'm really talking to Crakeur right now..hehehe) LOL.

Hahaha, I was just thinking the same thing!

Chissler, I wish I could help you here but, I usually only read paranormal books really, and then I forget most of what I read when I do! lol

I'm kinda thinking I have undiagnosed
ADD!

*Courtney*



[edit on 4/6/2008 by Givenmay]

"The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene.

I dunno if it's what you're looking for, but try reading some of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. A mix of old time Private Eye stories and magic, with the modern day magic hides itself approach.
also by him is a rather more fantasy series called the Codex Alera. More to do with a Roamn style empire witha bit of magic.
Much in the way of thought goees into both books. While the one deals with Crime drama, the other tends to deal more with intrigue, and the political dealings that go on in court.
A bit simple for you, I'm sure, but enjoyable.

I don't usually read this sort of thing, but pretty much anything by Robert Ludlum should do. I really like his books. (He's the guy who did the Bourne books, if you haven't heard of him, and they are totally different than the movies)

Read anything by Robert Jordan. His books are the best, if you're into Fantasy and such.

A particular series would be The Wheel of Time... If you don't read it, you'll regret it somehow..

-Will

So Chissler...

Are you going to keep us informed if you choose any of our new great book choices we've provided?

If you do pick one of the ones suggested here, we expect a review

I just got a huge shipment of books that I will be done with soon, so I will soon need a new recommendation as well and have noted the ones in this thread that I think I might like, thanks all for the suggestions!

"The Enemy", by bestselling author Lee Child....or any of his Jack Reacher series for that matter.

Check him out here:

www.leechild.com...

My sister turned me on to this author X-mas of '06. In 2007 I read all 11 of his books. Not the most complicated stuff, but damn good reads that always leave you wanting more Jack Reacher.

Here is an excerpt from Lee's 12th in the Reacher series, due 6/3, "Nothing to Lose"........

Reacher sat and waited. The room was silent. No talking. No sounds at all, except for the quiet metallic clash of silverware on plates and the smack of people chewing and the ceramic click of cups being lowered carefully into saucers and the wooden creak of chair legs under shifting bodies. Those tiny noises rose up and echoed around the vast tiled space until they seemed overwhelmingly loud.

Nothing happened for close to ten minutes.

Then an old crew-cab pick-up truck slid to a stop on the curb outside the door. There was a second's pause and four guys climbed out and stood together on the sidewalk outside the restaurant's door. They grouped themselves into a tight little formation and paused another beat and came inside. They paused again and scanned the room and found their target. They headed straight for Reacher's table. Three of them sat down in the empty chairs and the fourth stood at the head of the table, blocking Reacher's exit.

The four guys were each a useful size. The shortest was probably an inch under six feet and the lightest was maybe an ounce over two hundred pounds. They all had walnut knuckles and thick wrists and knotted forearms. Two of them had broken noses and none of them had all their teeth. They all looked pale and vaguely unhealthy. They were all grimy, with ingrained gray dirt in the folds of their skin that glittered and shone like metal. They were all dressed in canvas work shirts with their sleeves rolled to their elbows. They were all somewhere between thirty and forty. And they all looked like trouble.

"I don't want company," Reacher said. "I prefer to eat alone."

The guy standing at the head of the table was the biggest of the four, by maybe an inch and ten pounds. He said, "You're not going to eat at all."

Reacher said, "I'm not?"

"Not here, anyway."

"I heard this was the only show in town."

"It is."

"Well, then."

"You need to get going."

"Going?"

"Out of here."

"Out of where?"

"Out of this restaurant."

"You want to tell me why?"

"We don't like strangers."

"Me either," Reacher said. "But I need to eat somewhere. Otherwise I'll get all wasted and skinny like you four."

"Funny man."

"Just calling it like it is," Reacher said. He put his forearms on the table. He had thirty pounds and three inches on the big guy, and more than that on the other three. And he was willing to bet he had a little more experience and a little less inhibition than any one of them. Or than all of them put together. But ultimately, if it came to it, it was going to be his two hundred and fifty pounds against their cumulative nine hundred. Not great odds. But Reacher hated turning back.

The guy that was standing said, "We don't want you here."

Reacher said, "You're confusing me with someone who gives a # what you want."

"You won't get served in here."

"Won't I?"

"Not a hope."

"You could order for me."

"And then what?"

"Then I could eat your lunch."

© Lee Child

[edit on 4/8/2008 by Kaiser Sohse]

K here goes.

It's all I've got.

riply's believe it or not. No... wait...
Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (magic elves live in the telly).

I'm also going to recommend
Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler, one of the great novelists of our time.

This is a great book.

Solomon Gursky Was Here is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published Viking Canada in 1989. It tells of several generations of the fictional Gursky family, said to have been inspired by the Bronfmans, who are connected to several disparate events in the history of Canada, including the Franklin Expedition and rum-running.

Some fans and critics have cited this as Mordecai Richler's best book, and in terms of scope and style it is unmatched by his other works. The tale centres around Moses Berger, an alcoholic failed writer who is obsessed with Solomon Gursky, the brother of Bernard and Morrie and absent from the family empire after a fatal plane crash. Perhaps it was his disappointment with his own father that put him on the trail of Solomon, a character as strong-willed as he was mysterious.

en.wikipedia.org...



[edit on 8-4-2008 by TheComte]

I've done a quick peak at a few of the titles mentioned, and unless I've grossly overlooked one.. the following two are sticking out a bit.

Foucault's Pendulum

Blasphemy

I was looking to buy one today, but I held off because I wanted to review this thread first. I jotted a few of the titles down on a piece of paper and I'll be surely buying at least one tomorrow.

I just finished up my final year of classes, so I can finally get back into reading for leisure. And I'm flying to Montreal this week and Calgary in two weeks after that, so I'll have ample opportunity to do plenty of reading.

I appreciate the help guys and I'll keep you all updated to what I select and offer any reviews.

This thread will be the kick in the butt I need to make sure I make time to get down to the book store and buy some tomorrow.

I know you've made your choices already but I'm sure someone else is looking for recommendations also, so...

Valis by Philip K. Dick en.wikipedia.org...

Flow my Tears the Policman Said en.wikipedia.org...

A Dweller on Two Planets en.wikipedia.org...

I just noticed there's a deffinate theme running within these books that correlate how odd, I didn't it intend to be that way. Check them out great self philosphy with some unorthodox conspiracy themes intertwined.