Book Recommendations

hey all, hoping you could help out with some book recommendations…

non-fiction: i'm looking for stuff that doesn't have anything to do with current events/politics … i love history, but am open to really anything that's well-written and interesting (something in the vein of "salt" or "guns germs and steel" would be cool) … i'm reading "the death and life of great american cities" right now and loving it

fiction: suggestions for graphic novels would be great, reading "preacher" right now on a friend's recommendation and it's awesome

thanks!

middlesex by jeffrey eugenides. it's fiction but such an awesome book. one of my favs…also, don't be fooled by the oprah's book club recc. i hate chick lit and this book is such a winner. so well-written and such an interesting story.

graphic novels: if you like history, i'd suggest maus by art spiegalman (the complete was just released, it was previously maus I and II)

y: the last man by bryan k. vaughan. this 50 issue comic just wrapped up earlier this year and is one of the best fucking stories i've read in a looooong time. seriously. every male creature on the face of the earth has been killed save yorick and his pet monkey ampersand…he's trying to get to the girlfriend who was studying in austrailia at the time of the 'plague' and at the same time is the last hope for humanity. lots of awesomeness ensues.

the scott pilgrim series by bryan lee o'malley. its funny, easy to read and a lot of fun, especially if you''re in your mid to late 20s. lots and lots of pop culture refs - you know, if you're into that sort of thing.

neil gaiman's sandman series is also worth a read. good times, graphic shit and well-written myths.

and finally, if i need to tell you to read watchmen…it would come accompanied by a smack to the back of the head.

does anyone use audible.com?

I recommend you stop reading glorified comic books.

I second the Middlesex nod. Others I have enjoyed recently are Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

Only Revolutions (Danielewski) gets unfairly panned because its not as good as House Of Leaves, but its a really great read if you want to invest the time and get over the book's steep learning curve.

Also:

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
I recommend you stop reading glorified comic books.

This.

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
does anyone use audible.com?

First off…congrats.

Now. I use Audible. What do you need to know?

I obviously can't recommend any book because I only read non-fiction and you want nothing about current events.

Smackette is reading "A Winter in Kandahar" and then she will be reading "Snow" for her book club. That's about all I can offer.

<img src="http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/large_images/058/33928058.jpg" alt=" - " />

I just finished this and it was fascinating. Kind of a mix of U.S. history and a murder mystery. Very well-written, interesting as hell, and provides a solid perspective on what life was like in the 1890s.

Geek Love

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
and finally, if i need to tell you to read watchmen…it would come accompanied by a smack to the back of the head.

just saw the trailer for the movie (out on 3.06.09!) in imax… looked amazing.

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
does anyone use audible.com?

I use audible and love it, especially when I had a long commute.

I liked this in terms of non-fiction:


:D :

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Any of Paul Auster's books (New York Trilogy, Brooklyn Follies, Oracle Night, and really any)
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
Lamb or Fluke by Christopher Moore (more funny than serious unlike the others mentioned)

for non-fiction, i'd recommend stuff like "the united states of arugula" by david kamp, any of the ruhlman books on the american chef and cookery and "heat" by bill buford.

i also enjoyed the biography of alexander hamilton by ron chernow.

for fiction- i've recently enjoyed "american pastoral" and "the human stain" by philip roth. if you like cormac mccarthy, i'd second "the road" and also "blood meridian."

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
any of the ruhlman books on the american chef and cookery

i second these

George Pelecanos has a new book out, The Turnaround. I haven't read it yet, but I like all his others and have seen a couple of positive reviews. I remember the 1972 incident he bases the plot on since I lived in the Ken-Gar area at the time and it really freaked my parents out.

kosmette recommends you checkout librarything.com for getting book recommendations and then start using bookmooch.com to trade books.

the new david sedaris (in addition to any old david sedaris.) is laugh out loud hilarious.

in addition to middlesex, eugenides's first novel, the virgin suicides, is fantastic.

just read neil postman's "amusing ourselves to death," it was very, very interesting.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
does anyone use audible.com?

First off…congrats.

Now. I use Audible. What do you need to know?

I obviously can't recommend any book because I only read non-fiction and you want nothing about current events.

Smackette is reading "A Winter in Kandahar" and then she will be reading "Snow" for her book club. That's about all I can offer.

tip o' the hat, feels good to be done

do you feel like you get your money's worth with audible? seems like a pretty good service

i basically have only read non-fiction for the last few years (pretty sad for an english major), but i'm trying to read more history and keep my current events stuff to the internet and magazines

i love quirky history stuff like Changes in the Land … looking for more of that

Originally posted by kosmo:
kosmette recommends you checkout librarything.com for getting book recommendations

this looks cool, thanks

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
for non-fiction, i'd recommend stuff like "the united states of arugula" by david kamp

this looks awesome

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
do you feel like you get your money's worth with audible? seems like a pretty good service

Totally. Especially when it's split in the household between the two of us. Like Pollard, we use it for long commutes when we can agree on a book, otherwise, we just download a book a month. They let you carry up to 6 credits over month to month (ahem, eMusic, a subscription service lets you carry over you credits, a novel concept), but if you can't find a new book in 6 months…well, then a book service just isn't for you.

Their selection is solid and you don't have to be a current subscriber to listen to your books. Once you buy them, they are yours to keep. We pay around $10 a book - even for new releases - hard to beat that.

They are DRM, so have a strategy for listening devices. We use the iTunes/iPod model.