Fantastic books IMO

[Dervacumen]

For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.

[HaRuMaN]

I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.

[stu33]

Any of the Malcolm Gladwell books (Blink, Outliers and The Tipping Point).  They're non-fiction, really they're just really long essays.

I'm rereading Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell right now.

[Louis Tully]

.

[Vigo]

For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.

If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).

[wp34]

I just read "The Unincorporated Man" which has a bit of a Brave New World feel to it.  It takes place 300 years in the future where society has collapsed and rebuilt itself around the concept of incorporation-- buying and selling shares of each other.  There is a sequel that I have not picked up yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Unincorporated-Man-Dani-Kollin/dp/B005DI93O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313093401&sr=8-1

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.

I've been meaning to read that again for years and years. I had a paperback copy that was my fathers and in absolute decay. Pages aged an off-red, musty smell, holes and stains. It's still out of print, right?


Here's a few other newer ones:

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764


I recently found 'the Rifter trilogy' through some opensource book listing and really enjoyed them:
http://www.rifters.com/starfish/s_main.htm
http://www.rifters.com/maelstrom/maelstrom_master.htm


http://www.rifters.com/behemoth/b_main.htm

[HaRuMaN]

I just finished reading Brave New World for the first time a few weeks ago.  Good book.  Picked it up on Paperbackswap...

One book I really liked and I reread from time to time is Macroscope by Piers Anthony.

I've been meaning to read that again for years and years. I had a paperback copy that was my fathers and in absolute decay. Pages aged an off-red, musty smell, holes and stains. It's still out of print, right?

Hmm, I thought it was out of print as well.  Looks like Amazon has them new:

http://www.amazon.com/Macroscope-Piers-Anthony/dp/097236708X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313094821&sr=8-1

[HaRuMaN]

Hell yeah, Haruman! Anthony is good. I really liked the Incarnations of Immortality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality

I just recently read through the series Bio of a Space Tyrant.  Awesome work.

[ark_ader]

On holiday I got through Orpheus Rising by Colin Bateman.

And a few volumes of Sams 24hr books on C#, Drupal and PHP.

[shmokes]

If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).

+1

Between Brave New World, Farenheit 451, and 1984, I think 1984 is in a class of its own.  That it is so frequently frequently associated with those other two books is sort of an injustice.  Not that the others are bad books.  They're just not nearly as good.

[HaRuMaN]

If you guys want a bunch of old scifi, I've got several shelves I need to clear off.     Tons of Heinlein and Dick.  Decent offer gets a box load.

Interested.

[RayB]

Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?

[Vigo]

In american schools, I don't think mandatory reading exists anymore. 

[HaRuMaN]

Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?

I read 1984 in high school, not the other two.

[Benevolance]

I've always enjoyed Old Man and the Sea. It's not sci-fi, but it's well written.

For the sci-fi fare, I recommend China Mieville's first two books: Perdido Street Station and The Scar.

[knave]

I've read 1984 and Farenheit 451 and enjoyed both overall I tend to read a little bit of everything.

Over the last year I've read 1-12 in the dresden files series, just got book 13 those are pretty fun. But if I had to pick out a few that stand out in my memory:

Relic by Douglas Preston was pretty enjoyable as was Absolute Power David Baldacci

I really enjoyed the "Game of thrones" long before the HBO series.

Deathgate Cycle is pretty good, Almost anything by Piers Anthony, Feist and Eddings...

...I recently was given "Enders Game" By Orson Scott Card...I hear that's a classic.

I will read almost like it's an addiction

[javeryh]

The Harry Potter series. 

[AtomSmasher]

Who hasn't read Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984? Aren't these all mandatory reading in high school?

I only read those in highschool because I took SciFi as an elective, otherwise I wouldn't of been required to read any of them.

[Rando]

The Harry Potter series. 

If you like the HP series you should give Golden Compass a shot.  Movie didn't do it justice so the other 2 books in the trilogy aren't being made I don't believe.  Similar to HP in that you're following a story about kids, but completely different.  And although it's a trilogy, book 2 felt very different from book 1, same for book 3.

[CCM]

If you guys want a bunch of old scifi, I've got several shelves I need to clear off.     Tons of Heinlein and Dick.  Decent offer gets a box load.

I don't want anything to do with your Dick, your box, or your load...

ahem... anyway... back on topic...



I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin.   I really enjoyed it.

[drventure]

Ender's Game is a good read.

Rendezvous with Rama is also good (but quite old).

Orson Scott Card's PastWatch was very interesting, a unique take on time travel.

Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash is cool if you like Cyberpunk.

Boneshaker has been recommended to me a couple times, I need to check it out. It's a steam punk novel. Not sure how that'd translate to fiction, but I'm curious anyway.

Completely unrelated to SciFi, but if you haven't read Freakonomics, it'll totally turn your head around about a lot of things.

[yotsuya]

Hell yeah, Haruman! Anthony is good. I really liked the Incarnations of Immortality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarnations_of_Immortality

I just recently read through the series Bio of a Space Tyrant.  Awesome work.

A friend of mine bought me that series a few years ago. It was interesting, to say the least.

[crashwg]

I'd like to start with stating that I am not a reader.  In the past 10 years I think I've read 3 books.  Those books were the Night Angel Trilogy.  I highly recommend them.

[danny_galaga]

Sci Fi- Timescape by Gregory Benford

non-fiction- On the origin of Species by Charles Darwin

[Donkbaca]

Neuoromancer by William Gibson. Invented the cyber punk genre. Man, I thought you nerds would be all over that

[Donkbaca]

The book was published in 1984. Weren't most books written on typewritters then?
I think it's pretty good. I enjoyed his other books, but this one is his best

[GibsonRiddler]

Starship Troopers was good. The movie didn't do it justice.

[Vigo]

American Gods (though it fizzles about 2/3s through) and Illium. 

Neil Gaiman is an excellent author. Funny thing is, a few years back when I was in Wisconsin, I lived in the same podunk town as he did (Menomonie, WI.) If you knew what he looked like, you would see him pop up from time to time. I once saw him in Walmart looking blender and small appliances.

[shmokes]

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too! 

That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time. 

[HaRuMaN]

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too! 

That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time. 

You are out of your mind...

[Blanka]

More on topic:
1001 Video Games you must play before you die

I'm not into fiction.

Some interesting Non-Fiction I read during the holiday:
Alain de Botton - Status Anxiety
Alain de Botton - Architecture of happiness
Richard Florida - Rise of the creative class

[Mikezilla]

I am currently on Volume 5 of the Complete Clone Saga Epic. It covers the complete clone saga that ran in the early-mid 90's when Spider Man's clone came back and ruined the continuity of the comics.

As you all know, I recently attended the comic con, and I got all of em for 25 bucks! 

Not exactly in the same vein as what you guys are talking about, but hey. Im reading. 

[Donkbaca]

Why buy comics when you can download them for free?

[Rando]

Why buy comics when you can download them for free?

I would much much much rather read a comic in printed form than online.  I understand the digital media push, but I have zero interest in reading a comic on my screen.  Maybe on an iPad relaxing on my couch, but even then I'd much much rather pull an unread book from my shelf and flip the pages.  Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but holding the book makes it much more real for me and allows me to invest my interest.  Anything on the screen (except for YOU guys of course) is a much more temporary thing to me and doesn't draw me in like that.

PC is for porn & sports.  Movies & TV belong on my wide-screen, and comix in issue or collected volume format PLEASE! 

[Blux]

I'm currently reading the entire 33 (34?) book Xanth series by Piers Anthony, then I'm going to follow it up with the entire Ender Game saga, then probably lead into the Shannara series.

All of these books are great.  And the Enders Game saga is truly amazing also.

[Mikezilla]

Why buy comics when you can download them for free?

I would much much much rather read a comic in printed form than online.  I understand the digital media push, but I have zero interest in reading a comic on my screen.  Maybe on an iPad relaxing on my couch, but even then I'd much much rather pull an unread book from my shelf and flip the pages.  Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but holding the book makes it much more real for me and allows me to invest my interest.  Anything on the screen (except for YOU guys of course) is a much more temporary thing to me and doesn't draw me in like that.

PC is for porn & sports.  Movies & TV belong on my wide-screen, and comix in issue or collected volume format PLEASE! 

Rando. Thats EXACTLY how I feel. Down to the last syllable. I only like to read little factoids on my phone/computer. Im old school in the sense that I like something tangible to posess. You will never find me buying a kindle or any other type of device to read something like a book or even a comic. Thats no fun at all. Good form man. 

[shmokes]

I did finally pick up a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land that doesn't appear to have been vandalized, so I'll get to read his anti-christian book in its entirety, too!  

That book is garbage.  Just total crap.  And that's coming from an anti-christian.  Unless you just have a powerful curiosity about it that must be sated, don't waste your time.  

You are out of your mind...

I read that, and wondered, "Am I out of my mind?"  So I googled it.  And Wikipedia suggests that I'm not (or at least not alone) via a summary of the New York Times Book Review:

Writing in The New York Times, Orville Prescott received the novel caustically, describing it as a "disastrous mishmash of science fiction, laborious humor, dreary social satire and cheap eroticism"; he characterized Stranger as "puerile and ludicrous," saying "when a non-stop orgy is combined with a lot of preposterous chatter, it becomes unendurable, an affront to the patience and intelligence of readers.

That's more or less how I feel.  Although I hope that in the full review he had a chance to disparage the absurd, cardboard characters Heinlein created for the book, most notably Jubal Harshaw.

[Donkbaca]

To each his own, I prefer to read the stuff for free rather than buy something that I will stuff in a box in my garage

[Dervacumen]

For some reason I decided to re-read a few books that to me seemed to be fantastic.  Do you have any I should read?  I don't care about ratings or critically acclaimed.  It's all about what you really liked or identified with for whatever reason.   For me, there are a few on which I ponder on occasion so I'll start with two of my favorites.  Right now I'm reading Brave New World again.  I's tattered and torn, and the cover is falling off so I have to be careful.  There's something grounding about reading a tattered book now-a-days...


Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger.

If you dig dystopians like Brave New World, you should try 1984 (if you haven't already).

Yes, I enjoyed 1984 as well.  I read it the first time in, uh 1984.  Nice call.