Book Recommendations!

Okay, I don't know if I'm the only bookworm here or not, but I figured I might as well investigate. What are some of your guys' favourite books? Genres? Authours? Anyone looking for a good book? General suggestions?

Here are mine:

Well, I'm a huge SciFi/Fantasy fan. I also really like classics. And mystery. And really, really good realistic fiction that is not about romance. I despise 'chick flick' books. I think you know which ones I'm talking about.

Title (Authour) (Genre, Original Language)

Currently reading:

Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) (Classic, Russian)
Gone (Can't recall the authour- it's a guy, though) (Young Adult Fantasy/SciFi, English)

Big, major recommendations:

The Shadow of the Wind(Carlos Ruiz Zafon) (Gothic Mystery, Spanish)
Dark, gothic, so-real-you-can-feel-it mystery. Takes place circa the 1950s in Barcelona. Daniel, the main character, is the son of an antique bookseller. He finds a book called 'The Shadow of the Wind,' and it all kinda explodes into the most realistic mystery story I've ever read.

Leviathan (Scott Westereld) (Steampunk (ohmygoshfinally), English)
C'mon, it's steampunk. What's not to love? But seriously. This... is amazing. Follows Alek, an Austrian prince on the run from Germans after the beginning of WWI, and Deryn, a Scottish girl who disguises herself as a boy and joins the air force. And this air force consists of things such as giant flying whales, while the Germans are fighting with 'walkers,' similar to mecha robots.

Anyone else?

I suggest the Warriors Series. 8D Warriors, by Erin Hunter.

Oooo thank you for this topic! I've been wanting to start reading actual books (not just manga) for a while. 8D I'll have to check these out~

hmm I recommend Night. the author's name is Eli....*is blanking out on the last name* I'll go find it later but this book is good.

@Oz: Any particular type of book you have in mind? I read waaayyyy too much for my own good, so I'm quite sure I have plenty of recommendations.

Oh, and guys- could you just include a basic description with your rec? So we know what it's about?

And then I'll make a nice, long list~!!!!

....the only books i read are light novels that are based off of Anime and or Manga (or even video games) so i dont know if i would be able to help you out much D=

@Elliot *flails* GAAAWWWKKK! How do you people live without books?!

Hmmm. Well, maybe you'll find it useful anyways? If you want something less dense and that reads like an action movie (I'm not kidding) Try Maximum Ride and series by James Patterson. The man is a god, I say. His books are, in general, quite good. Especially the Max Ride series and his mystery novels.

Ahem.

Moving on.

Yeah, if anyone wants to *ask* for recommendations, this is the place to do that, too!!

@ Will: Eli Weisel. Marvellous book, even though I was forced to read it for school.
Dark, vaguely depressing, true story about Mr. Weisel's experience during the Holocaust.
He's a famous Holocaust survivor. He came and spoke at my middle school a couple times... we had a two-month-long unit on the Holocaust every year. (1/2 my town is Jewish. I'm not exaggerating, either. One out of every two people is Jewish) so I suppose you could say Holocaust interest was high? Yes.
And then he went to speak at the opening of the Holocaust museum, and there were Neo-Nazis with obnoxious signs protesting...

Anyway... any other suggestions?

Kk, I'll explain Warriors here.

This is a long series about feral cats who live in the forest. This series gives the cats personification, so you can understand the cats in what they do. These cats live in four clans in the forest - Thunderclan, Windclan, Riverclan, and Shadowclan - and there have been four clans for a LONG time.

The first series follows a house cat, AKA a kitty-pet to the Clan cats. called Rusty, as he joins Thunderclan.

Second series follows a cat in Thunderclan named Bramblepaw/Brambleclaw as he leads the Clans to a new forest, because humans, known as Twolegs by the Clan Cats, are tearing their forest down.

Third series follows three Thunderclan cats - Lionpaw, Jaypaw, and Hollypaw - as they try to understand who they are.

Fourth series (still underway) is about two Thunderclan cats - Dovepaw and Ivypaw - as they take sides in a battle between Starclan and the Dark Forest.

EXPLAINATIONS (spoilers, if you need clarifying, I don't reccomend reading these unless you're very confused by these descriptions):

1st Series

Spoiler:

2nd Series

Spoiler:

3rd Series

Spoiler:

4th Series

Spoiler:

@Alice: ya that was the book! had to read it for school as well >_<
hmmm I know a lot more books just that they're not poppin in my head >_<

I had to read that book (night) for school as well, it was rly good and rly touching. I suggest the Hunger Games.

I'm srry but I REALLY don't feel like explaining right now. But it was in the future when this new power took over the us and split it into divisions. Every four years there's something called the Hunger Games (by the way PLS tell me if I'm getting this wrong, cause I dont remember the specific details cause I read it like a year and a half ago? I think....), which is when two kids (a girl and a boy) are selected from every division) and they are sent into a life or death battle against one another. Theres other details so other ppl who know it pls elaborate *cough Alice*cough*.

I second the Hunger Games recommendation! The third book came out recently, and it was AMAAAAZING!!!!


And of course- everyone loves Harry Potter. So you guys could look into those, yes? The books are better than the movies, I promise.

I feel the need to revive this thread!!!!!!!

So yeah. I got, like, thirty books read over the winter break (not kidding, I'm a fast reader) and I have a ton of books I'd like to recommend.

Un Lun Dun (An easier book) and any other books by China Mieville~

Anything by Connie Willis, my current sci-fi authour of obsession. She has the coolest time-travel series. But not kiddie time travel, no! Deep, scarily plausible, superbly epic time travel :3

AND HAS ANYONE ELSE HERE READ THE LEVIATHAN SERIES BY SCOTT WESTERFELD?!?! I'M OBSESSED AND NEED SOMEONE TO FANGIRL WITH HERE!!!!!

@Alice: Scott Westerfield sounds REALLY familiar....but I don't know for sure...

oh another book recommendation:
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Cinderella
Here is the summary. Its so good

doo doo doo...

*thinks hard*

Hrm... I like odd books... I have to recommend andthing and everything by Christopher Moore (the man is a comic genius) which basically is comprised of a whole lot of adult humor. This guy is hilarious.. Be prepared for nudity and coital affairs in all his work. It just happens. Usually in some extremely funny manner. (seriously, even the smut parts are funny. This guy is a god)
Specifically: The Stupidest Angel (Christmastime zombies and a seriously moronic seraph)
Fluke (Whale hilarity)
A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper and Demons)
LAMB: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (self explanatory)

I also really like the Outsiders (greasers dealing with the suck that is their life, but still pretty happy about it)... great, timeless book there. hrm... Lord of the Flies (kids stranded on an island go feral)...

If you're looking for a dense read, try Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (original version) or Le Fantome de l'Opera (any translation other than the de Mattos one, which sucks)

hmmm... easier reads I enjoyed were Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause (teen werewolves, much better than the stupid stuff spinning off the Twilight craze)


And my all-time favorite book is a literary masterpiece called Pat the Bunny, written by Dorothy Kunhardt. I kid you not, this is a fantastic read that should be enjoyed at least once by everyone.

@Will: Oooh, I love that book!! A friend recommended it to me a while ago, and it was very good. Sad, but good

Oh- and Scott Westerfeld is the author of :
1- the Uglies, Pretties, Specials series
2- The Midnighters Series
3- Peeps
4- Leviathan~!!!
5- Probably some other things as well... I forget.

I didn't really like the Uglies/Pretties/etc series all that much, actually. Tally annoyed the heck out of me, but I read them all because my friends talked about them all the time... I LOVE the Midnighters series (again, I disliked the main character, but she was bearable. The concept and the plot and the side characters were just so cool~!). I like Peeps, too. And I LOVE Leviathan. Too much to express. Awesome main characters, awesome... just general awesomeness~!!!

Scott Westerfeld is absolutely amazing at world-building. All of his series take place in these amazingly creative worlds; it's ridiculously impressive. And they're all so very squee-worthy~!

Spoiler:

1. I tried reading the Phantom of the Opera when I was younger. It scared me to death (I was somewhere around the age of eight or nine, I think) and I have not even had the courage to touch the book again since. I don't even remember what was so scary, only that it was frickin' creepy.

2. Blood and Chocolate I recommend, even though I didn't love it as much as most of the people I know do.

3. YES!!!!! <3 <3 <3

I have another recommendation:

ANYTHING BY NEIL GAIMAN!!!!!

I want to stalk him down, squee, give him a hug, then run away very fast. Because I would be too nervous to hold a proper conversation with such an AMAZING author. <3~

@Alice: ohhhh no wonder that name sounded familiar! I ALWAYS saw those book (Uglies) at the library

@Will: Yep, those are his
I love Scott Westerfeld's worlds soooo much~ He's just so creative, even if he tends to have annoyingly normal teenage girls as his main characters. I've only read, um, one book that played that right. The rest of them all blend into each other... all the teenage everygirls kinda become one. It's obnoxious. But at least with Leviathan, he's broken that pattern. The main characters are not 'teenage everygirls' in the least; Deryn's a freaking soldier, and Alek's a guy.

(I really, really want Leviathan to be made into a movie; Westerfeld said that he wants MIYAZAKI to make it, because he drew so much of his inspiration off mangas~ I knew I loved you for a reason, Scott-la!!!!)

@ InsaneEmily: Warrior Cats are actural books?, (I have heard about it before but thought it was a fan-made thing on Flipnote Hatena) Hmmmm I don't like books that much but I might try reading them sometime. Thanks! =D

I love reading but I've been running out of books recently, thanks for bringing this topic. ^^ And I don't have much to suggest since most of the books I've read aren't big thing. Believe it or not, I've never heard neither the names nor the authors of teh books you guys are listing, I guess Brazil is really behind schedule huh? I've decided I'll try all of them (if I don't end up writing most of the time and forgetting to finish the book x.x)

This is another book we read in English....this one made me cry. TWICE!
"Tuesdays with Morrie"
its a very deep book. READ IT! xD;;;

ooh, Vincent and I had to read that for our seminar (kind of a failure of a "life skills" class... it's got health, sex ed, stuff like that)
but I'd already read it, and we hated our teacher, so neither of us got anything from it. I kind of thought it was overrated, but that was probably the teacher's fault.
Everyone who goes to our school: ignore Elliot's last comment. IT WILL MAKE YOUR JUNIOR SEMINAR MISERABLE
Everyone else: I fully agree with Elliot. go read it.

Gizele12 wrote:

I love reading but I've been running out of books recently, thanks for bringing this topic. ^^ And I don't have much to suggest since most of the books I've read aren't big thing. Believe it or not, I've never heard neither the names nor the authors of teh books you guys are listing, I guess Brazil is really behind schedule huh? I've decided I'll try all of them (if I don't end up writing most of the time and forgetting to finish the book x.x)

YAYYYY!!!! Another person who loves reading. ^.^ I thought Chessie and I were the only ones ^.^
Any books you'd like to recommend??

Oh yeah: And I'd like to add any books by Isabel Allende onto the list. I like her mystery novels and her young-adult series (City of the Beasts is the first book).

Annndddd... I had another author to add... oh yeah! Connie Willis. She has an awesometastic sci fi universe :3

Elliot Nightray wrote:

This is another book we read in English....this one made me cry. TWICE!
"Tuesdays with Morrie"
its a very deep book. READ IT! xD;;;

I've never cryed while reading books (my mother and sister cryed, and many times) but since this one made you cry twice, I'll give it a try. ^^

@Alice: I love books, they help me not to get bored when I don't have a notebook and a pencil around. XD I can't remember any names now, but I'll take a look at my shelf and them post them,

Maybe it will be sound like childish, but....
"A Diary of A Wimpy Kid" it's a perfect book for you the one who like to read a simple book