What AWESOME books should I read this summer?
May 13, 2006 10:33 PM Subscribe
I want to read some awesome books this summer. Recommend!
today at the library, I checked out A Sheltered Life: The Unexpected History of the Giant Tortoise. Upon reflection, this is not awesome summer reading material at all.
My taste runs toward SF (that can be either S for Science or Speculative): Delaney, LeGuin, etc., but I'll read almost anything. I love William Vollman, and recently have been feeling Kelly Link and stuff published by the Small Beer and Jelly Ink Presses, even to the point of having a crush on her picture on the internet. I'm certainly not above decent juvenile fiction, either. I tore through The Golden Compass (and sequels) and LeGuin's Earthsea books stood up extremely well to re-reading.
That being said, I really will read anything. If you loved it, suggest it.
today at the library, I checked out A Sheltered Life: The Unexpected History of the Giant Tortoise. Upon reflection, this is not awesome summer reading material at all.
My taste runs toward SF (that can be either S for Science or Speculative): Delaney, LeGuin, etc., but I'll read almost anything. I love William Vollman, and recently have been feeling Kelly Link and stuff published by the Small Beer and Jelly Ink Presses, even to the point of having a crush on her picture on the internet. I'm certainly not above decent juvenile fiction, either. I tore through The Golden Compass (and sequels) and LeGuin's Earthsea books stood up extremely well to re-reading.
That being said, I really will read anything. If you loved it, suggest it.
um. well not knowing what you've already read is a bit of a handicap but seeing as I have the literary tastes of a fifteen year old boy... my tastes run more towards fantasy than SF but there's some good crossover stuff here.
i'm currently re-reading the original Riftwar series by Raymond Feist. I first read it as a teen in the eighties and I can't believe how well it's stood up to time. good adolescent sword-and-sorcery tho beware: it's unabashedly tolkein-derivative. the Riftwar tetrology plus the Empire trilogy that he co-wrote with Janny Wurts are my faves.
if you like this stuff, try anything Dave Duncan.
Garth Nix is amazingly intelligent fairly recent young-adult stuff. kind of a weird alterna-modern-day twist. if you liked pullman and harry potter, you have got to read these.
tad williams' 'war of the flowers' is a single doorstopper novel that beats the freaking jesus out of his 'otherworld' series, which I just couldn't seem to get through.
Lian Hearn's 'tales of the otori' trilogy is some pretty ripping swashbuckling samurai novel goodness.
okay... for real SF goodness you have GOT to read the entire 'book of the long sun' series by Gene Wolfe. assuming you haven't already.
katie waitman only ever wrote 2 novels and both are amazing. probably the most 'accessible' is the 'Divided. the 'merro tree' is (imo) her best but it deals with... erm, alternative lifestyles and might not be for everyone's tastes.
I know it's cliched to death and chick-lit and all oprah (and everything else that would make me run the other way) plus the movie sucked, but if you haven't read Memoirs of a Geisha, do it. I've even had 2 male roommates and a male friend borrow it and then rave about it. it's just that awesome. the same can be said for 'year of wonders' by Geraldine Brooks... solid enough to transcend the whole 'chick-lit' theme.
posted by lonefrontranger at 11:00 PM on May 13, 2006
i'm currently re-reading the original Riftwar series by Raymond Feist. I first read it as a teen in the eighties and I can't believe how well it's stood up to time. good adolescent sword-and-sorcery tho beware: it's unabashedly tolkein-derivative. the Riftwar tetrology plus the Empire trilogy that he co-wrote with Janny Wurts are my faves.
if you like this stuff, try anything Dave Duncan.
Garth Nix is amazingly intelligent fairly recent young-adult stuff. kind of a weird alterna-modern-day twist. if you liked pullman and harry potter, you have got to read these.
tad williams' 'war of the flowers' is a single doorstopper novel that beats the freaking jesus out of his 'otherworld' series, which I just couldn't seem to get through.
Lian Hearn's 'tales of the otori' trilogy is some pretty ripping swashbuckling samurai novel goodness.
okay... for real SF goodness you have GOT to read the entire 'book of the long sun' series by Gene Wolfe. assuming you haven't already.
katie waitman only ever wrote 2 novels and both are amazing. probably the most 'accessible' is the 'Divided. the 'merro tree' is (imo) her best but it deals with... erm, alternative lifestyles and might not be for everyone's tastes.
I know it's cliched to death and chick-lit and all oprah (and everything else that would make me run the other way) plus the movie sucked, but if you haven't read Memoirs of a Geisha, do it. I've even had 2 male roommates and a male friend borrow it and then rave about it. it's just that awesome. the same can be said for 'year of wonders' by Geraldine Brooks... solid enough to transcend the whole 'chick-lit' theme.
posted by lonefrontranger at 11:00 PM on May 13, 2006
Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I'm betting you'll love it.
posted by boombot at 11:06 PM on May 13, 2006
posted by boombot at 11:06 PM on May 13, 2006
The Peace War by Vernor Vinge (but anything by him is good!)
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (any of his newer stuff is good)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (can never go wrong with her - amazing author)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
posted by j at 11:10 PM on May 13, 2006
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (any of his newer stuff is good)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (can never go wrong with her - amazing author)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
posted by j at 11:10 PM on May 13, 2006
Alfred Bester and Philip K. Dick are great if you're looking into SF, particularly Bester's short story, "The Pi Man" and the longer "The Demolished Man".
Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" is also highly recommended, and provides a insight into just why we find science fiction so enthralling.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:14 PM on May 13, 2006
Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" is also highly recommended, and provides a insight into just why we find science fiction so enthralling.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:14 PM on May 13, 2006
Oh, I forgot to mention Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and now J has beaten me to it.
Also: Number9Dream
These threads might be helpful:
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/28909
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/19646
posted by beautifulstuff at 11:22 PM on May 13, 2006
Also: Number9Dream
These threads might be helpful:
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/28909
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/19646
posted by beautifulstuff at 11:22 PM on May 13, 2006
Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" ("Shadow of the Torturer "and "Claw of the Conciliator" have been republished in a single volume hiply entitled "Shadow and Claw" and the subsequent two volumes similarly)
The four "Hyperion" novels by Dan Simmons
Old-skool: Fritz Leiber's Fafhyrd and the Grey Mouser stories
New old-skool: Roger Zelazny's Amber novels
New new old-skool: Eh, you've read it already
Old new-skool: Joan Vinge's "The Snow Queen" and "The Summer Queen"
Old old new-skool: You've read this stuff, too
New skool: I've completely forgotten what we're talking about
anyway, read at least one good long Russian novel, because then you'll have the wherewithal to tell your future teenager that Anna Karenina throws herself beneath the train thereby poisoning that well the way my MOTHER poisoned my own and allowing me to extract some slight future revenge for a wrong now long-forgotten
but seriously read Dostoevesky, it'll make you a better human being.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:35 PM on May 13, 2006
The four "Hyperion" novels by Dan Simmons
Old-skool: Fritz Leiber's Fafhyrd and the Grey Mouser stories
New old-skool: Roger Zelazny's Amber novels
New new old-skool: Eh, you've read it already
Old new-skool: Joan Vinge's "The Snow Queen" and "The Summer Queen"
Old old new-skool: You've read this stuff, too
New skool: I've completely forgotten what we're talking about
anyway, read at least one good long Russian novel, because then you'll have the wherewithal to tell your future teenager that Anna Karenina throws herself beneath the train thereby poisoning that well the way my MOTHER poisoned my own and allowing me to extract some slight future revenge for a wrong now long-forgotten
but seriously read Dostoevesky, it'll make you a better human being.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:35 PM on May 13, 2006
I just want everyone to know that my previous post resulted in me looking up "Venn Diagram" in Wikipedia.
Even though I never referenced a Venn diagram.
I think I should go to bed now.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:37 PM on May 13, 2006
Even though I never referenced a Venn diagram.
I think I should go to bed now.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:37 PM on May 13, 2006
Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow
You may very well like Jeff Noon's stuff and if you haven't yet read the Neal Stephenson trilogy it would be right up your alley.
posted by Ms Snit at 1:42 AM on May 14, 2006
You may very well like Jeff Noon's stuff and if you haven't yet read the Neal Stephenson trilogy it would be right up your alley.
posted by Ms Snit at 1:42 AM on May 14, 2006
If you haven't read them already, you can't go wrong with Dune (and sequels) by Frank Herbert, and Asimov's Foundation series.
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:58 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:58 AM on May 14, 2006
If you've not yet explored them, don't forget the classics - Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Wells, Wyndam... pretty much timeless and always worth a visit.
posted by normy at 2:26 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by normy at 2:26 AM on May 14, 2006
I second the "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clark
and also suggest "The shadows of the wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
The Pendragon books by Stephen Lawhead are really good, as is "The Dark is Rising" novels by Susan Cooper.
Also, the Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a rip-roaring read.
posted by jonathanstrange at 5:06 AM on May 14, 2006
and also suggest "The shadows of the wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
The Pendragon books by Stephen Lawhead are really good, as is "The Dark is Rising" novels by Susan Cooper.
Also, the Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a rip-roaring read.
posted by jonathanstrange at 5:06 AM on May 14, 2006
I bet that giant tortoise book is pretty interesting. Science fiction is great stuff, but good nonfiction is not to be scoffed at. You should probably read Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel too.
posted by zadcat at 7:00 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by zadcat at 7:00 AM on May 14, 2006
If you like Kelly Link, then you'll love Jeffrey Ford. Try his latest for a fun, quick (<300 pages) read.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:20 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 7:20 AM on May 14, 2006
What zadcat said. I love short micro-histories where an author really goes after a small subject, like Mark Kurlansky's Cod, or Michael Capuzzo's Close to Shore, a great book about the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks (that also touches on lots of other fascinating subjects, like the origin of the U.S. fascination with beachgoing and why cops started patrolling beaches with rulers to measure ladies' bathing suit hemlines).
posted by mediareport at 7:56 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by mediareport at 7:56 AM on May 14, 2006
Recent books I enjoyed:
Pillars of the earth
Lonesome Dove
Truman
posted by growabrain at 8:30 AM on May 14, 2006
Pillars of the earth
Lonesome Dove
Truman
posted by growabrain at 8:30 AM on May 14, 2006
Towing Jehovah and Blameless in Abaddon, by James Morrow.
posted by The Castle at 8:33 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by The Castle at 8:33 AM on May 14, 2006
Good Omens : The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Hilarious parody of the end of the world and the coming of the Antichrist. Excellent read.
posted by eatdonuts at 8:42 AM on May 14, 2006
Hilarious parody of the end of the world and the coming of the Antichrist. Excellent read.
posted by eatdonuts at 8:42 AM on May 14, 2006
I've listed most of what I've read since the first of the year here. It skews heavily towards genre fiction but might give you a starting off point.
(And a second for Good Omens. I reread that one once a year, I love it so.)
posted by sugarfish at 8:49 AM on May 14, 2006
(And a second for Good Omens. I reread that one once a year, I love it so.)
posted by sugarfish at 8:49 AM on May 14, 2006
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die might give you some good ideas.
posted by booksprite at 9:56 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by booksprite at 9:56 AM on May 14, 2006
If you like Science Fiction, 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson is AMAZING!!!
posted by Mrs.Doyle at 10:25 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by Mrs.Doyle at 10:25 AM on May 14, 2006
Currently the most popular article on the New York Times website: What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?
["This feature will appear in the May 21 issue of the print edition of the Book Review."]
posted by cribcage at 10:41 AM on May 14, 2006
["This feature will appear in the May 21 issue of the print edition of the Book Review."]
posted by cribcage at 10:41 AM on May 14, 2006
Guy Gavriel Kay.
He started out with standard fantasy with The Fionavar Tapestry. It's decent if you like good vs. evil, wizards and warriors, etc.
Where he really shines, imo is with his recent works like A Song for Arbonne or The Lions of Al-Rassan. The latter is to be made into a film so read it now before it's trendy.
These later books read more like historical fiction than fantasy. Though sometimes (as in Al-Rassan) it's clearly a fictional world. Very interesting stuff regardless. Check it out.
posted by ODiV at 10:41 AM on May 14, 2006
He started out with standard fantasy with The Fionavar Tapestry. It's decent if you like good vs. evil, wizards and warriors, etc.
Where he really shines, imo is with his recent works like A Song for Arbonne or The Lions of Al-Rassan. The latter is to be made into a film so read it now before it's trendy.
These later books read more like historical fiction than fantasy. Though sometimes (as in Al-Rassan) it's clearly a fictional world. Very interesting stuff regardless. Check it out.
posted by ODiV at 10:41 AM on May 14, 2006
Well I'm an idiot. Apparently The Lions of Al-Rassan is one of the most historical books of his and is just thinly disguised with name changes and two moons instead of one. Consider me schooled.
posted by ODiV at 11:04 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by ODiV at 11:04 AM on May 14, 2006
I just read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and adored it. I'm also making my way slowly & happily through Iain Banks' books. Other awesomeness (you will have to google on your own): Tim Powers. John Crowley. China Mieville. Steven Brust. And, perhaps not the best written things in the world, but for pure can't-put-it-downness I recommend Robin Hobb or John Varley.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:56 AM on May 14, 2006
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:56 AM on May 14, 2006
Tim Powers's Last Call, the mystic history of Las Vegas, which neatly combines poker, mathematics, Bugsy Seigel and the real reason that there are so many Elvis impersonators in Vegas. Also have a look at his On Stranger Tides; pirates and voodo, me hearties!
China Mieville's The Scar, a sort of "planetary romance" in a very unromantic world.
posted by SPrintF at 11:58 AM on May 14, 2006
China Mieville's The Scar, a sort of "planetary romance" in a very unromantic world.
posted by SPrintF at 11:58 AM on May 14, 2006
For a SF fan, you've got to read Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. I read it as an adult, although the gifted kids I teach love it. There are a couple sequels too.
posted by true at 2:26 PM on May 14, 2006
posted by true at 2:26 PM on May 14, 2006
Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a kick right now, and re-reading Blood Meridian, which is one of the creepiest (and I think most violent) books ever. Yet, he has a beautifully lyrical writing style. It would be like if Virginia Woolf wrote about Apache massacres and pillaging and destroying border towns instead of English garden parties. Child of God by the same author was great as well.
They are westerns, but McCarthy's writing style is so ethereal and the subject matter is so beyond the scope of what normal human beings encounter in life that they come across as completely otherworldly.
posted by jennyb at 2:49 PM on May 14, 2006
They are westerns, but McCarthy's writing style is so ethereal and the subject matter is so beyond the scope of what normal human beings encounter in life that they come across as completely otherworldly.
posted by jennyb at 2:49 PM on May 14, 2006
Based on previous AskMe's I've read Meiville's King Rat (really good), Jonathan Letham's Fortress of Solitude (very good), and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt (also really good). Any book recommended here will have a zillion holds at the Seattle Public Library.
I'd also recommend Tim Powers' Last Call trilogy, but I tell people to read them out of order. Read Expiration Date, then Earthquake Weather, then Last Call last instead of first. You can thank me later. Powers' Declare and The Stress of Her Regard are also really good.
Also try Jeff Noon's Vurt trilogy (Vurt, Pollen, Nymphomation). Just try not to think too hard about how it all works and just go with it. Noon's Needle in the Groove is, I think, one of the best books ever, but you may be put off by the slightly experimental presentation.
Oh, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is boring, boring, BORING! There, I said it.
posted by sevenless at 7:38 PM on May 14, 2006 [1 favorite]
I'd also recommend Tim Powers' Last Call trilogy, but I tell people to read them out of order. Read Expiration Date, then Earthquake Weather, then Last Call last instead of first. You can thank me later. Powers' Declare and The Stress of Her Regard are also really good.
Also try Jeff Noon's Vurt trilogy (Vurt, Pollen, Nymphomation). Just try not to think too hard about how it all works and just go with it. Noon's Needle in the Groove is, I think, one of the best books ever, but you may be put off by the slightly experimental presentation.
Oh, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is boring, boring, BORING! There, I said it.
posted by sevenless at 7:38 PM on May 14, 2006 [1 favorite]
I'd recommend:
-Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
-Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip
-The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle
-The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
-The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman
-Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
-Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
-Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
-Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
-Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (or, frankly, anything else he's written)
These are either fantasy or science fiction. Except for Lizard, which is more surreal or magical realism, in a Japanese way.
posted by Margalo Epps at 5:18 PM on May 15, 2006
-Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
-Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip
-The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle
-The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
-The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman
-Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
-Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
-Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
-Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
-Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (or, frankly, anything else he's written)
These are either fantasy or science fiction. Except for Lizard, which is more surreal or magical realism, in a Japanese way.
posted by Margalo Epps at 5:18 PM on May 15, 2006
Well, anything by Neil Stephenson is good... but so is anything by John Varley. If you've not read the Gaia trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon), please do. Within the last year I read both his Red Thunder and Red Lightning, two very good stories in the vein of Heinlein's juvenile novels, though they are NOT juveniles. Also read his collected short stories recently, VERY good.
posted by lhauser at 8:01 PM on May 15, 2006
posted by lhauser at 8:01 PM on May 15, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
There's a book that I bought in hard back. Despite the fact that it's 800 pages, I've read it six times. I think it's fantastic, outstanding -- but I bet you'd hate it.
Fire in the Sky by Eric M. Bergerud
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:49 PM on May 13, 2006 [1 favorite]