Good books thread

[Kroms]

H'okay, so I searched the forums and there's no book thread. Considering that a large part of adventure games' appeal lies in the writing, and that I'm assuming a lot of you like adventure games, it's not unreasonable to conclude that some of you like books.

So, got any good ones? Both fiction and non-fiction count; if it's fiction, a good story is a must, and good prose, dialogue and characters earn you an extra virtual pat on the back.

The last two books I read that I put down thinking were spectacular were The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, and Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I'll stick to The Big Sleep, just to give you a good first impression of this thread by keeping it short.

Although convoluted, the story's good and the mystery's interesting enough to keep you plowing, but the style and atmosphere of the thing are excellent. The characters and dialogue deserve a special shout-out as well. This book largely influenced Tim Schafer when working on Grim Fandango, and for good reason. And it's funny - very funny. Here's the first paragraph:

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.

Read a bit here.

[Toothless Gibbon]

Cheers Kroms, might give it a go. Not read a good book for ages.

[StarEye]

Just about anything by Anne Rice is excellent. My favourites are The Vampire Lestat, Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, Servant of the Bones and her later Christ: The Lord series.

Waiting for Angel Time to fall into my mailbox. Currently reading Blackwood Farm. Her attention to detail and her way of writing and storytelling is so magnificent.

Also, another book I just recently read: Kafka on the Shore. Fantastic book, perhaps my favourite book so far. I'm not such an avid reader, and I was surprised I read through it. But I read more and more, and so far Anne Rice and Murakami (Kafka OTS) are my favourite writers. Anyone know what else Murakami has written that's well worth reading? Anything quite as good as Kafka?

[Kroms]

I read A Wild Sheep Chase, which was bizarre but interesting, and most of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which I unfortunately had to quit because of exams, and never got back into. It's been enough time for me to re-try. Based on what I've heard, Kafka is the worst book he's written, so: anything else, really! I know Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World is a tough read, so you might want to leave that one till later

[BlankCanvasDJ]

Love The Big Sleep. And most Raymond Chandler books for that matter. Dashiell Hammet, too.

Of recent books, I highly recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, about a little girl living in Germany during WWII. It's an incredibly moving story the struggle of life and the power of words. It's bound to make you cry by the end, but it's not as bleakly depressing as you might expect from the subject matter.

[doodo!]

LoL, I thought the title was "Good Looks thread"

[MalkyTop]

Well, I love Terry Pratchett. So, uh, go read his books. Or something.

I tend to like reading books 'bout random information, so I think both Book of General Ignorance and Book of Animal Ignorance are good, and Why Do Men Have Nipples? was interesting.

The Hunger Games is cool, Dave Barry is funny, Bill Bryson is funny and a traveler, but he's written some science-y and English-y stuff. (A Brief History of the World is interesting, and nice to look at if it's the special one with images and stuff and god I'm horrible with words.) You've probably heard of Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers books/radio/TV/movie, but he's also written Last Chance to See, which is basically about endangered species around the world (better than it sounds, I swear). If you find it, read The Meaning of Liff and tell me how it is.

[corruptbiggins]

I am a voracious reader and I state what I'm currently reading in my sig.

There's a hell of a lot of authors whose stuff I've not read, and I can't say I've read many 'classics' but I read for my enjoyment and if that is found in some old kids book which I've loved since I was a child then what's wrong with that.

[doodo!]

Since last semester my sister has read 166 books.

[GozzoMan]

Do you know http://www.anobii.com/?

It's a social network about books, here's my library:

http://www.anobii.com/gozzoman/

(You can choose to see only English books, selecting the proper option in the left column.)

Cheers

[Molokov]

Originally Posted by MalkyTop

Well, I love Terry Pratchett. So, uh, go read his books. Or something.

What MalkyTop said. x40.

[Secret Fawful]

Within the past week I have read the following:

The Maltese Falcon
To Kill A Mockingbird
White Fang
Rendezvous With Rama

And am currently on three other books:
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Shogun by James Clavell

My favorite book is The Brothers Karamazov, and I also recommend the Space Odyssey series, the Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child collaborations, anything by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and classics from any era.

Next I plan to tear into Crime and Punishment and The Old Curiosity Shop.

I also like reading old pulp novels like the Shadow and Doc Savage.

[foncho]

Originally Posted by Kroms

H'okay, so I searched the forums and there's no book thread. Considering that a large part of adventure games' appeal lies in the writing, and that I'm assuming a lot of you like adventure games, it's not unreasonable to conclude that some of you like books.

So, got any good ones? Both fiction and non-fiction count; if it's fiction, a good story is a must, and good prose, dialogue and characters earn you an extra virtual pat on the back.

The last two books I read that I put down thinking were spectacular were The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, and Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I'll stick to The Big Sleep, just to give you a good first impression of this thread by keeping it short.

Although convoluted, the story's good and the mystery's interesting enough to keep you plowing, but the style and atmosphere of the thing are excellent. The characters and dialogue deserve a special shout-out as well. This book largely influenced Tim Schafer when working on Grim Fandango, and for good reason. And it's funny - very funny. Here's the first paragraph:

Read a bit here.

I'm reading the James Bond series by the creator, Ian Fleming. Bond is a lot more interesting in the books than in the films, you really get inside his head and get to know him (or want to be like him). Be warned though they are very different in pacing than the movies, but more rewarding, in my opinion.

There's actually a famous quote by Chandler from a review he did of the first bond novel Casino Royale:

"Bond is what every man would like to be and what every woman would like to have between her sheets."

[puzzlebox]

Originally Posted by MalkyTop

You've probably heard of Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers books/radio/TV/movie, but he's also written Last Chance to See, which is basically about endangered species around the world (better than it sounds, I swear).

Last Chance to See is one of my most favourite books ever. Adams has a wonderful style. It's amazing how funny that book is while at the same time being beautifully poignant.

[Lena_P]

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. Atmospheric psychological study where the heroine/narrator is never given a first name, and her husband's dead first wife is just as much of a character as any of the living ones, more so in a way. Movie not as a good as the book.

[Ray-The-Sun]

Originally Posted by MalkyTop

Well, I love Terry Pratchett. So, uh, go read his books. Or something.

This. To the maaaaaax.

The last book I read that wasn't Pratchett was probably "The Hobbit". Very good read, that.

[Gman5852]

The Alex Rider series. It is about a boy who's parents died in a plane accedent and his uncle recently died in a car crash, that seemed a little too supicious. Althogh that is the plot for the first book,Stormbreaker and the real plot behind the series is him becoming a British spy(which you would figure out how all that happens in Stormbreaker) It is still a key part in the story. It is a really good series.

[Ribs]

Ngehhem, I recently finished reading High Time to Kill (available in The Union Trilogy), and I must say it is my favorite Bond adventure ever. I've read all the Fleming ones and Gardener ones but the sense of suspense and action is absolutely astonishing. I'm rereading Doubleshot now, and I already miss the expedition up Kangch.

[JedExodus]

I don't read that much. I like Pratchett and Adams like every other nerd on Earth. Besides reading The Times everyday and whatever's on the net the last thing I read was The Republic by Plato. I can't wait til he finishes his next book!!!

[Falanca]

Reading is my kryptonite. The last book I've read (and one of the only three books I forced myself to finish) is İmprobable by Adam Fawer, and I think it's a cheap action book with full of clichés, and some things related to maths, psychology and probability theorems thrown at random parts of it. Normally, I like maths and psychology, but if there is also mafia and big explosions and shit involved... Well, not my case.

The only book I'd willingly read one day is the Alphabet of Manliness, by Maddox.