Pulp Filter: I'm looking for books (fiction or non) that read like the recent Bond films: dark, thrilling, brutal, and glamorous.
posted by roger ackroyd on Nov 6, 2009 - 25 answers

I am looking for recommendations for a sequence of novels that might lead an adult fan of very trashy action to the real gold. [more inside]
posted by hifimofo on Oct 29, 2009 - 11 answers

What are some of your favorite novels under (or around) 150 pages? [more inside]
posted by ieatwords on Oct 28, 2009 - 55 answers

Novels where political extremism is an underlying theme. [more inside]
posted by thesailor on Oct 26, 2009 - 32 answers

With NaNoWriMo looming ever nearer, I would like to hear your best tips, tricks, habits, and techniques for staying chained to the keyboard. [more inside]
posted by BitterOldPunk on Oct 22, 2009 - 26 answers

BookFilter: I'm looking for a novel that I read several times in the early '90s; despite having read and enjoyed it several times, I've forgotten the title and author! [more inside]
posted by Skoloxia on Oct 21, 2009 - 9 answers

Non-religious novels about early Christians that aren't about Jesus. [more inside]
posted by empath on Oct 19, 2009 - 24 answers

Can you recommend American female novelists who've had their debut novels published within the last 3 years or so?
posted by Kattullus on Sep 26, 2009 - 30 answers

What is the name of this fantasy book that I only vaugely remember? [more inside]
posted by tylerfulltilt on Sep 18, 2009 - 2 answers

What is this book?-Filter: I read a novel some 20 years ago, and cannot remember who wrote it or the title. Please read [more inside]
posted by computech_apolloniajames on Sep 15, 2009 - 5 answers

RedGreenShowFilter: I've got a bunch of crisp paperback romance novels I've scavenged from dumpsters around town, and I'd rather turn them into something than read or try selling them. What can I build using them? I'm thinking clear box tape instead of duct, so the corny covers will still be visible. Bonus points for something handy. [more inside]
posted by Quarter Pincher on Sep 8, 2009 - 15 answers

What are some or how can one best find science-fiction novels that are good by general literary standards? [more inside]
posted by colinmarshall on Aug 18, 2009 - 74 answers

Children'sBookFilter: Please help me identify these two young reader novels which I read many years ago. [more inside]
posted by dave99 on Aug 15, 2009 - 5 answers

Recommendations for erotica [more inside]
posted by ninebelow on Aug 6, 2009 - 8 answers

My uncle recently mentioned to me that he's never read any book written by a woman. Apparently this is because he doesn't think they'll be any good - he seems to think women can only write romance novels. I find this both horrific and hard to believe, but he seemed serious. So, Hive Mind, I need your help in drafting a list of the very best books written by female authors. Help me teach him the error of his ways! [more inside]
posted by badmoonrising on Jul 29, 2009 - 92 answers

[LibraryFilter] What are your best resources for (fiction) reader's advisory (children, YA, adult)?? [more inside]
posted by tamarack on Jul 24, 2009 - 7 answers

Show me the Best Online Science Fiction book list... Not a title, but a list! [more inside]
posted by samuel1613 on Jul 13, 2009 - 12 answers

No quiero literatura: I'm looking for recommendations for genre fiction in Spanish. Help me avoid being overfaced when I arrive in the library. [more inside]
posted by itsjustanalias on Jun 14, 2009 - 8 answers

I've just finished reading Let The Galaxy Burn, a collection of Warhammer 40k short stories, and I really liked it. What are some other good Warhammer 40k books? [more inside]
posted by thewittyname on Jun 9, 2009 - 11 answers

Looking for good sexy action novels. Not really interested in porn or erotic fiction where sex is the primary conceit; rather I am interest in action, thrillers, suspense, etc., but with a healthy dose of sex. Not really interested in romance either; I tried Jacqueline Carey and Emma Holly but could not get into them. I will try any other genre though. Sex with Aliens? Yeah -- that sounds interesting. I liked the Species movies. Sex with Vampires -- sounds biting. I enjoyed True Blood. I guess I am looking for good erotic thrillers in print but something I can take to the pool without looking too much like a pervert. Bonus points if it comes in an audio version so I can listen at work. Thanks!
posted by Ennui on Jun 4, 2009 - 18 answers

Recently finished 2666. It is on a pedestal by itself, with my award for "Best Novel Ever." Now, everything I try to read seems jaded, inferior, or doesn't measure up. Help me get beyond this and find something interesting to read
posted by Xurando on Jun 2, 2009 - 36 answers

How often are the stories of a comic, novel, play, TV series, movie, or song conceived by the writer's friend, relative, acquaintance, neighbor, mailman, dog, etc? [more inside]
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing on May 28, 2009 - 14 answers

I once heard about a series of novels about WWI pilots in the vein of the Aubrey-Maturin series, or Flashman. Might have had "Hell" in the title. It was basically about a bunch of crazy guys who knew that they had a good chance of dying. IIRC, the commander of the group had to justify buying silk scarves for the pilots to keep their necks from chafing. Any ideas?
posted by nushustu on May 21, 2009 - 8 answers

I need to compile my summer reading list ASAP. Please give me some suggestions. [more inside]
posted by CrazyLemonade on May 16, 2009 - 27 answers

[BookRecommendationFilter] Looking for funny, happy books. [more inside]
posted by natalie b on May 13, 2009 - 58 answers

I want a book that I have to put into the freezer. I've read this question, which was looking for thrillers, and this post looking for short stories, but I can't seem to find a thread looking for scary, engrossing novels where supernatural is okay. [more inside]
posted by Addlepated on Mar 31, 2009 - 31 answers

What are your favorite novels from an aesthetic/writing style point of view? [more inside]
posted by archagon on Mar 17, 2009 - 90 answers

Apparently I'm a fan of graphic novels now, but I don't even know where to start. I love (LOVE!) Preacher; I liked Watchmen. What should I read next? [more inside]
posted by wonderyak on Mar 12, 2009 - 52 answers

Recommend any good Wonder Woman graphic novels/storylines? [more inside]
posted by bartleby on Mar 9, 2009 - 8 answers

Who are the new exciting, young novelists of the 21st century? I suddenly find myself with a lot more time on my hands for reading. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Mar 2, 2009 - 24 answers

Your recommendations: Historical novels about scientists [more inside]
posted by Ziggy500 on Feb 23, 2009 - 29 answers

English majors! What's that literary term? [more inside]
posted by moxiedoll on Feb 11, 2009 - 6 answers

Seeking relatively well-known, canon-caliber fictional accounts of imaginary encounters between actual, historically significant figures -- especially encounters that could well have taken place, but which we know did not or remain undocumented. Philip Levine's poem "On the Meeting of Garcia Lorca and Hart Crane" typifies what I'm looking for. Mark Twain's _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ does not (respectable evidence out there of a historical Arthur notwithstanding). The literary field is rife with examples, I know -- say, some novel casting Charles Lindbergh and Adolf Hitler into a tete-a-tete. But, ack, I'm drawing a blank. [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 5, 2009 - 31 answers

Since I began a reading life (at about age eight), I have had a problem: my mind automatically places action in just a few places familiar to me from my life: my house, the main street of my hometown. Whether the action in a novel takes place in 16th century Scotland, or the Black Forest, or under the Unisphere. Are there ways to get around this, or to learn to read fiction more actively, and, fantastically/creatively? [more inside]
posted by Tufa on Jan 29, 2009 - 30 answers

I like novels where the setting is almost as much of a star as the characters. What should I be reading? [more inside]
posted by cloudsandstars on Jan 23, 2009 - 48 answers

How does one sell a (mystery) novel? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jan 13, 2009 - 7 answers

Robinson Crusoe was originally published without reference to Defoe, seemingly pretending to be a genuine account (see the original opening page). Would the readers of that first edition have genuinely thought the story was true? How many early novels relied on this kind of blurring between reality and fiction? Was this an important element accounting for the initial success of the novel form? As a side note, does anybody know of any good and accessible written histories of the novel format?
posted by deeper red on Jan 6, 2009 - 6 answers

Can I use viral marketing techniques to get my first novel published? [more inside]
posted by letahl on Nov 29, 2008 - 39 answers

I want to read novels about pirates. I don't care about genre, I don't care about quality (much), I just want lots and lots of Age of Sail pirates. [more inside]
posted by Katemonkey on Nov 12, 2008 - 40 answers

How much of book one do I have to explain in book two, if book two is part of a series I'm writing? [more inside]
posted by Xurando on Nov 7, 2008 - 9 answers

What are some good novels set in the US of the mid-late seventies? [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Oct 21, 2008 - 17 answers

Why do publishers slap on "A Novel" to the titles and/or covers of, well, novels? [more inside]
posted by CKmtl on Oct 16, 2008 - 22 answers

Can you recommend any really good novels (or movies) that portray something in the Old or New Testament in a new way, or which add to the Old/New Testament, such that they could be considered 'modern Biblical apocrypha'? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Oct 13, 2008 - 30 answers

I would like some good, engrossing, addictive, fast-paced fiction: thrillers, conspiracies, mysteries, anything. [more inside]
posted by turgid dahlia on Oct 1, 2008 - 48 answers

What are some reasonably well-known, preferably famous, examples of novels with evil first-person narrators? All that's coming to mind is Humbert Humbert, but he's too aware of his own nastiness for my purposes. I need novels where the undiluted dastardliness of the first-person narrator affects the entire moral framework of the story, so that you might be forgiven for suspecting that the author actually sides with this monster. Cheers!
posted by Beardman on Sep 13, 2008 - 61 answers

ProseFilter: Nabokov's Lolita was once hailed as "a love letter to the English language." I'm looking for modern and contemporary authors with similar aspirations. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic on Sep 12, 2008 - 43 answers

I want to read more novels about women descending into madness and then getting well again. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by beccyjoe on Sep 2, 2008 - 44 answers

I need a longish, interesting, well-written book (fiction) to read on an upcoming trip. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by mosessis on Aug 21, 2008 - 58 answers

NovelFilter: Hive mind, I have come to the shocking realization that my to-read queue is empty. I really enjoy the surreal side of Murakami (Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, etc.), and I've recently been remembering the absolutely wonderful creations in Perdido Street Station. Help me find new novels that will send my mind to weird and fantastic places! [more inside]
posted by DoubleMark on Aug 2, 2008 - 46 answers

I'm looking for books and graphic novels that are meant to be read multiple times. [more inside]
posted by spec80 on Jul 25, 2008 - 49 answers