For the Love of Reading [Book Discussions/Recommendations]

[Bombadil]

1. A book that takes place in the "great wide open"
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
2. A book about the end of the world as we know it
Someone's already mentioned The Three-Body Problem trilogy by Cixin Liu but I couldn't recommend it enough
3. A book featuring fishing or fishermen
Cannot really think of any beyond the obvious already mentioned
4. A book that features a popular Summer sport
An odd one but Following On by Emma John, a teenage girl equating her life to the useless England Cricket team of the 80's, very funny
5. A book that features letters [like pen-pal letters] or journal entries
We Need to talk about Kevin by.. I forget, but amazing EDIT: Lionel Shriver
6. A book that features a father [as a main character]
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, again forget the author - EDIT: Robert Pirsig
7. A book that "scares the bejesus out of you" [give me scary books]
Really can't remember but it involved werewolves that could climb walls
8. A book that takes place on the water
I'll go with A life of Pi by Yann Martell, also already mentioned
9. A book that is becoming a movie this year
I guess Artemis Fowl
10. A book by an author of color
Between the World and Me by.. Tahesi N'Coates - I think that's how his name is spelled

One other book that I think people should read, and doesn't really fit here, is The Magus by John Fowles, and I'd also throw in another bone for Vanity Fair

[Deus Regem]

The Song of Ice and Fire book series By George R.R. Martin ( The T.V series, The Game of Thrones, is based on)

[The Rich Port]

Maybe you guys can help me out here. I remember reading a play in college but for the life of me I cannot remember the name. It was a very strange play written by a black man for black audiences. The plot was simple: it was about a black man and a white "liberal" college woman who flirt on a subway train. It's a one-scene, one-setting play type. At the end of the play the black man rejects the white woman, who doesn't take it well. The ending especially was very very weird, but I cannot remember the ending either. Quite the conundrum I know -3-

If anybody remembers the title I would be very grateful. I'd like to show this play to my friends and maybe film an adaptation of it

If I am thinking of the right thing, this sounds quite similar to Dutchman. I believe it ends with the murder of the black man, but I can't confidently recall one way or the other.

Son of a heccin' heck you got it XD

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutchman_(play)

It's hilarious to me that this play kinda weirded out even other African-Americans in my class and even in my friends group.

I think it's cuz it's very symbolic and surreal.

[Anollasia]

For a fun epic, the Bone series by Jeff Smith
For something deep and philosophical, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
If you want a personal and touching story of coping with the loss of a parent, The Last Invisible Boy by Evan Kuhlman
For a story about a girl growing up before/during/after the Iranian Revolution, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
For a tale about a mouse who defies all odds, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
If you're interested in human factors/ergonomics gone wrong, The Atomic Chef by Steven Casey

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

In the light of the recent pandemic I suggest The Plague by Albert Camus. Great book, and has been a big influence on me.

For a book about fishermen try Trawl by B S Johnson.

[State of Turelisa]

The Institutes of Biblical Law by Rousas J Rushdoony.
In three volumes, and covering over three-thousand pages, this is an immense and comprehensive work which with the use of systematic theology and the author's deep familiarity and understanding of the Bible makes a controversial exposition of Christian ethics based not on dogma but on Scriptural authority. This exposition forms the premise from which our modern, liberal, statist society and the misnotion of natural laws which it is based on, are criticised and contemned*, and sets out, in juxtaposition with these, a pragmatic alternative of a society governed by Biblical law where statism is limited and the divine sovereignty over everything within it is acknowledged.






[*contemned - treated with contempt]

[Andsed]

Any of the books written by Onision. They are so fucking terrible they are fun to read.

[Giovenith]

Any of the books written by Onision. They are so fucking terrible they are fun to read.

Oh my god, I thought I was the only one here who made myself suffer through those things.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Any of the books written by Onision. They are so fucking terrible they are fun to read.

Never heard of them, but now I know what not to read.

For those who liked The Things They Carried, I would recommend Platoon by Dale Dye.

[Andsed]

Any of the books written by Onision. They are so fucking terrible they are fun to read.

Oh my god, I thought I was the only one here who made myself suffer through those things.

Nope. I also like torturing myself with books somehow written worse than an RP between two 13 year olds in a Youtube comment section.

[The Cosmic Mainframe]

Which of these should I read first?
1. Contact by Carl Sagan
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
3. Neuromancer by William Gibson
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
5. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

[Pax Nerdvana]

Which of these should I read first?
1. Contact by Carl Sagan
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
3. Neuromancer by William Gibson
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
5. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

4. It's an awesome series.

[Rightonrighton]

Kannap wrote:
1. A book that takes place in the "great wide open"
2. A book about the end of the world as we know it
3. A book featuring fishing or fishermen
4. A book that features a popular Summer sport
5. A book that features letters [like pen-pal letters] or journal entries
6. A book that features a father [as a main character]
7. A book that "scares the bejesus out of you" [give me scary books]
8. A book that takes place on the water
9. A book that is becoming a movie this year
10. A book by an author of color

1. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
2. Karl Marx, The Civil War in France
3. Les Claypool, South of the Pumphouse
4. John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
5. Bram Stoker, Dracula
6. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus
7. Koji Suzuki, Ring
8. Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
9. Got nothing. But another of my favorites is Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
10. Miguel Angel Asturias, The President

[Chan Island]

Been reading Gulliver's Travels. So far he's in Luggnagg and i am getting a dawning feeling that Swift put the most fun place (Lilliput) first in the book. Which is a bit of a pity. Still fun though.

[Giovenith]

Back in the day, I assigned songs by one of my favorite bands, Paramore, to The Hunger Games books. "The Hunger Games" was "Fences," "Catching Fire" was "Let The Flames Begin," and "Mockingjay" was "We Are Broken."

I think now that "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" has come out, I'd give it "26." It sounds like something Lucy Gray would sing to me.

[The Pirotian Republic]

Can anyone recommend some dystopians that I may enjoy? Here are my thoughts on other dystopians to help make recommendations:

Lord of the Flies- I utterly despised this book and only finished it because I was required to way back in school. The first 150 pages could probably be shortened down to 50 or so pages, the author was overly descriptive of the scenery and other useless stuff (he wasted two lines describing manure at one point and that played no role in the story), and the ending drove me insane because

on one page Ralph is running for his life and on the next everyone is being rescued by the US Navy

.

Nineteen Eighty Four- Phenomenal novel and definitely my favourite of all time. So well written you could feel the atmosphere of the world surrounding Winston. Orwell made sure that everything written had a purpose either then or for later on in the story, his messages of totalitarianism were conveyed highly effectively.

Brave New World- I wasn’t a fan of the writing style so much, so I chose to stop halfway through. Definitely an interesting plot, I’ll give it that. I may finish it off on one distant day.

A Clockwork Orange- Just started that, so far is looking good and definitely an interesting writing style with using Nadsat.

Fahrenheit 451 and Animal Farm are going to be read next once I pick up a copy of them.

[Mississippi River Country]

JG Ballard is good at short, tightly written, urban dystopia. Can't go wrong with his short stories. Sometimes he goes really hard on psychoanalysis but most of the stories avoid being all about it. Some of the novels are very psychological. Dude studied psychiatry in the 50s.

You might like William Gibson for atmosphere. Burning Chrome is a safer bet than Neuromancer. If you really like what he's doing in BC then maybe try Neuromancer at your peril. Lot of people read Neuromancer and come away disappointed because it's thick as molasses and a bit stupid.

Both Canadians. Kinda similar to Cronenberg and Paul Verhoeven Cronenberg doing action movies.

[Names Are Too Hard]

Reading “The Day of Battle” by Rick Atkinson. Really interesting book that makes me hate Patton even more.

[Rightonrighton]

If any of you were tempted to give Max Barry a try, I quite liked the 2 books of his I read (Jennifer Government and Company).

[Mauritania Romana]

If any of you were tempted to give Max Barry a try, I quite liked the 2 books of his I read (Jennifer Government and Company).

I enjoyed Lexicon

[Pax Nerdvana]

If you liked Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy or The Mandalorian, you might like Santiago: A Myth Of the Far Future by Mike Resnick. It's a space western, of sorts, with a very dry sense of humor.