I need help

[Antiq]

In more ways than one, but that's another story

I need book recommendations. You know those books that you're always dying to urge people to read? Those. Give me your "you MUST read this".

Bear in mind what/who I like - apart from Sir Terry, I have almost all of those.

Authors I have already read and loved.

Iain M Banks
China Mieville
Anchee Min
Kazuo Ishiguro
Tracy Chevalier
Joanna Trollope
Faye Weldon
Tolkein
Dickens
Austen
Edward Rutherfurd
Somerset Maugham
Steinbeck

Those will give you some idea, but I'm open to all suggestions, just not romantic rubbish or "summer reading", if you know what I mean

 

[Sjoerd3000]

Have you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman? (He's the guy who wrote Good Omens with Terry ) It's brilliant

And one of my favourite novels of all time The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

 

[Antiq]

Have you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman? (He's the guy who wrote Good Omens with Terry ) It's brilliant

And one of my favourite novels of all time The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Thank you, I'll add both to my list

 

[chris.ph]

the deathstalker series by simon r green is a good one i enjoyed them anyway

any of the raymond e fiest novels,terry goodkind and julian may

i could go on for a while here

 

[Antiq]

the deathstalker series by simon r green is a good one i enjoyed them anyway

any of the raymond e fiest novels,terry goodkind and julian may

i could go on for a while here

I'll have a go ta very much.

 

[Tonyblack]

Berrnard Cornwell's Warlord series (The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur).

 

[Antiq]

Berrnard Cornwell's Warlord series (The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur).

I like the sound of that

 

[Sjoerd3000]

George Martin A Song of Ice and Fire. I finished book 2 a few weeks ago, and so far it's really good 8)

 

[Antiq]

George Martin A Song of Ice and Fire. I finished book 2 a few weeks ago, and so far it's really good 8)

Ordered those from my library this morning! I've been following the TV series.

 

[meerkat]

Philip Kerr's 'Bernie Gunther' Thrillers. The stories take place before, during and after the 2nd world war.

A real eye-opener on how Germans got through the war.

 

[pip]

Try john connelly's samuel johnson vs the devil books. Brilliant and by an irishman. Full review in the book review thread.

Also try philip k dick. Man in the high castle is a brilliant book.

 

[Doughnut Jimmy]

Elizabeth Moon's "The Deed of Paksennarion" trilogy

 

[Dotsie]

If you like Dickens and Austen, have you tried the Brontes? Wuthering Heights is bloody brilliant.

 

[Pearwood]

If you like Steinbeck, you might want to give Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell a try. Brilliant book and kind of Steinbecky. The film's great too.

 

[Tonyblack]

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is excellent.

Also English Passengers by Matthew Kneale is brilliant. It's somewhat bittersweet in that parts of it are hysterically funny, but the facts that parts of it are based on are terribly tragic. There's an incredibly ironic twist in that tail/tale at the end.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr is a sort of Victorian detective story set in New York and very good indeed (although somewhat gory). Someone bought me this book because they thought it was a sci-fi with a name like The Alienist. Alienists was the original name given to psychiatrists and the main character in this is one. There is also a newspaper journalist, a couple of early forensic detectives and a street urchin. There's a follow up book in the series called Angel of Darkness that features the same team - but avoid his actual sci-fi book (Killing Time) because it's awful.

 

[Kneazle1]

Have you read any Margaret Atwood? Personally I'd recommend The Handmaids Tale, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by her. I suppose I'd call them post-apocolyptic, dystopian near future, feminist science fiction and cracking good reads.

Also I enjoy Tom Holt's writing, Who's Afraid of Beowulf is my favourite - product description from Amazon -"The last Norse king of Caithness, Hrolf Earthstar and his 12 champions are woken from a centuries-long sleep when an archaeologist finds their grave. He decides to carry on his ancient war against the Sourcerer-King, and must face such perils as BBC film crews and the Bakerloo line along the way."

 

[Dotsie]

Have you read any Margaret Atwood? Personally I'd recommend The Handmaids Tale, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by her. I suppose I'd call them post-apocolyptic, dystopian near future, feminist science fiction and cracking good reads.

Seconded

 

[pip]

The better half just finished Year of the Flood and raves about how great it is.

 

[archerinwood]

Neil gaiman's graveyard book

 

[Quatermass]

Oh! There are so many books I can recommend to you. But if we are talking a science fiction book series, may I suggest the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold? A most excellent blend of political intrigue, action, and humour.