Book Meme!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

I'm also bored.  So, from jill_calico:

Recommend five books for me to read. It does not matter what genre or reading level; I could honestly stand to broaden my horizons. I will make an honest and reasonable effort to read everything on your list, unless I have already read it. I hope you would do the same for my list, but there won't be a test, so I can't make you. XD Try not to fall into the habit of reccing those books EVERYONE reads (Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, etc.)

 

This probably means you will have to make a trip to the library. If your library does not have a book, you may have to actually speak to a librarian. You will be surprised at what these people will do for you. They may direct you to another library in your area, or have the book shipped in from another library in the state, or they may actually purchase the book for their collection. I know, it's crazy! This may be a good time to get a library card, if you do not already have one. Books! FOR FREE. I don't know how else to convince you!

 

Here, I’ll go first.

 

1. The Belgariad, by David Eddings. This is actually a massive five-book fantasy epic that is followed by another even more massive five-book fantasy epic, The Mallorean, and two epilogue books, Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. It’s a bit intimidating, but once you get into the series (which takes about a book) you start to realize this is a damn fine romp through the world of fantasy, with characters who know they are archetypes and just have to put up with it. The plot is secondary to the characters and the hilarious dialogue. And I promise that if you do not fangirl Silk very soon after you meet him, something is wrong with you. This series also wins for Best Author Insert Ever, in the form of David Eddings playing The Purpose Of The Universe.

 

2. Tales from Jabba’s Palace, edited by Kevin J. Anderson. Back before the Star Wars EU jumped the shark, a few anthologies were published that treated the universe the way I wanted it treated—these stories are pure sandbox play. Each of a number of science fiction authors takes one of the the many supporting characters you see throughout Jabba’s palace (in the theatrical version of RotJ) and gives you their life and narrative. It’s a wonderful way to enjoy the Star Wars universe. And my other favorite, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, is the same.

 

3. Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens. Yeah, I’m all up in the fancy literary shit now, bitch. But damn, this giant tome has everything—it may be Literature, but it’s a rollicking tale. Hypocritical rich people! Creepy stalkers! Mysterious fortunes and mistaken identities! Hilarious names! Murder! It even manages one really awesome female character (amongst some obnoxious cardboard cutout ones): Jenny Wren, the Dolls’ Dressmaker. If you don’t fall in love with her, you’re made of stone. STONE.

 

4. The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce. I haven’t read her most famous series, sadly, but the world in this one is wonderfully built.  I must admire her craft there. Even her system of magic is consistent. Also, the characters are some of the best I’ve come across in any fantasy.  It’s a tale of four orphan children who wind up fostered in a temple, where they learn to use their unusual styles of magic.  The magic manifests itself through craftsmanship, which lends a really interesting sense of realism to it as they go about becoming artisans, and since they all come from very different backgrounds you get a full sense of their world.  Pierce’s writing also starts to fill the gaping holes in other fantasy worlds: racial diversity, complex gender politics, sexuality (in a later series as the kids grow up), and class issues all get a much better treatment than your typical Dragonlancey fantasy shit.

 

… Now I need to read her other stuff.

 

5. A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  This book is … this book is the greatest fairy tale I have ever read.  It’s not a heavy read by any means, but it is warm and lovely and the prose is beautifully done.  Some may think it’s saccharine, and I don’t deny there are a few things in there that upset modern sensibilities, but by damn you cannot convince me this isn’t one of the best books ever.  Oh, and for the full effect make sure you get the version with the full-color Tasha Tudor illustrations.*

 

(The runners-up: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer, All I See Is Part Of Me by Chara M. Curtis (picture book), and Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain.  Just read ’em. You’ll thank me later.)

 

 

*And also make sure that for god’s sake you do not watch the movie they made in the ’90s, because it fails miserably.  It is the second-worst movie adaptation of a children’s book ever made, after Ella Enchanted.**

 

**And that book only fails to be on the list because everyone’s read it. 

Comments

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Got some for you, but I write lousy summaries. Just so you're warned.

1.The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin. What happens when your dreams affect reality.

2.In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman. Space opera, but lovely space opera. Technically it's about the conflict between the two main characters, but mostly it's about them and not so much the conflict.

3 & 4.Blood & Iron and the vaguely sequelesque Whiskey & Water by Elizabeth Bear. Faeries, magic, man-eating ponies, and New York City.

5.God Stalk, Dark of the Moon, Seeker's Mask, To Ride a Rathorn by P.C. Hodgell (the fifth is coming but not done yet). Um. Go here: http://sjclark.orpheusweb.co.uk/kencyr.htm for a better description than I can give.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I got pissy about the remake of A New Hope, because they changed a couple of the characters in the cantina, after I'd read the book.

HAN SHOT FIRST

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Yet more evidence that George Lucas Hates His Fans. And don't get me started on Jabba's Palace ...

One of the writers in that group I was in has a story in one of those anthologies, and when I found that out I fangirled all over him. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I still get royalties for that. I get a check for seven dollars every year!" Hee. At least the books are doing SOME good, eh?

YES HE DID

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I'm pretending that travesty didn't exist. Also, ewok village celebration.

[nobleplatypus]

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I've already pimped it out on my LJ in vague terms, but just... gah. It is so fantastic.

2. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. It's about SATAN! It's also probably the most hilarious and entertaining Russian Literature you're ever likely to find.

3. Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. If you've never read Dostoevsky before, it's a good start, because it's short. The narrator is also hilariously unreliable and, you know, just plain nuts.

4. The Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce. That is my favorite series of hers... I still read it. It's probably my number one literary guilty pleasure. But come on! Daine can talk to animals! And turn into them! THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!

5. Watership Down by Richard Adams. An epic about bunnies. Also probably my favorite book on the planet. I've read it at least half a dozen times, and if you locked me up and only gave me this to read for a year, I'd be totally okay with that. EPIC!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Oh, those epic bunnies! I loved that book. (Never could figure out why people always compared it to the Redwall stories, because they were damn different, but I guess people were like, "... well, bunnies, after all.") For some reason my favorite bit was the concept of, "We need women in our warren! Let's go find another warren and steal THEIR women! I nominate Bigwig!" That just cracked me up. And it's very true to bunnies, as well--they've got a rep as wusses because of their herbivore McNugget status in the food chain, but they can be little brutes.

I haven't read the others, but I do like Dostoevsky! And I love Satan. Also, I am intrigued by the concept of putting "hilarious and entertaining" and "Russian Literature" together. I'll have to look at these!

How can Tamora Pierce be a guilty pleasure? She's so intelligent!

[chibicharibdys.livejournal.com]

I always adored the third book in the Immortals. Hyenas AND undead dinosaurs AND very cranky neglected goddesses! It doesn't get any better than that.

[dreams-cametrue.livejournal.com]

The Cuckoo's Egg, by Clifford Stoll. True account of a computer nerd who cracks an international spy ring while trying to reconcile a 25 cent charge on the university computer system. It's actually a fascinating read.

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The Great American Novel. Such a pity she never found her muse to write another one.

The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, a collection of essays by Tom Wolfe. Strange style, but one that Wolfe developed further as his career progressed. Some essays are stronger than others, but the whole is a great dose of that period of Americana.

Lieutenant Calley-His Own Story, as told to John Sack. A book as disturbing as the entire Vietnam Conflict was, and a look at morality and how one can lose their humanity in such a difficult situation. I learned a lot about myself by reading this book.

Lost Moon, by James Lovell (reprinted under the title "Apollo 13"). The basis for the movie, Apollo 13. Gripping.

I seem to have a disproportionate number of books from the decade of the '60's here. I never really thought about that before.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

and you still need to read "Prince of Tides" and also, if you haven't, "Alll the King's Men."

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

I don't remember Tamora Pierce's books having diverse sexuality at all, unless you mean in terms of age gaps in relationships. It's been a while since I read them, though, so maybe she wrote some books where everyone and their dog wasn't straight... :[

My recs:

1. Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling. The first book in my favorite series by my favorite fantasy author. Her characters are well-fleshed out and differ greatly in age, appearance, and personality. Nicely paced stories without too much political blather, but enough to keep her world well-described. Actual diversity in character sexualities and relationships (one of my big pet peeves in fantasy is the fact that everyone is straight or EVIL AND GAY(majority of fantasy...), or it's a book tailored for gay readers and everyone is gay, period.), and just a darn good read overall. Her other series of books is FANTASTIC, too.

2. Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold. First book in one of my other favorite fantasy series. I love the concept for these books because although it seems dumb,it's pulled off SO well. The books have a strong female protagonist, talking animals (f yeah), and VERY little romance. Her characters really change and progress throughout her books, which I value.

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I just finished this, and it was really touching and depressing. When I started it it seemed like a pretty pleasant book for the first few chapters, but then it just turned horribly depressing. I loved the realism and the fragility of the characters, and it was great for me to read a book about somewhere in the world I don't know anything about. I couldn't put it down.

4.On Parole by Akira Yoshimura. Another depressing novel. It follows the psychological state of a man as he attempts to adjust to society and life on the outside of prison after being released. This book takes such an interesting tone that it's worth checking out. It's the little details in this book and the way it treats the main character that really make it great.

5. Steven King's Dark Tower series, but everyone's read this, right? Well, if they haven't, they're crazy. It's freaking amazing. I absolutely treasure these books.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

GUESS WHO HAS NEVER READ A STEPHEN KING NOVEL? I must fix this somehow ...

I have heard many good things about The Kite Runner, but the others are new to me, and intriguing--I ain't gonna lie, especially the fantasy series.

As to your question, in The Will of the Empress, it's revealed that Rosethorn is bi (and possibly she and Lark are in a relationship), and Daja realizes she is a nisamohi--a lesbian. Hers is the only romantic subplot, and I thought it was very well done.

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

I don't like Stephen King's horror novels much, but the Dark Toewr series is, uh... part sci-fi, part fantasy, part... western. It really crosses over genres, but what I can say is that IT IS AWESOME. Crackhead and cowboy and lady with MPD in a wheelchair and other crazies time/world-traveling and KILLING GIANT ALIEN CRABS. Come on, doesn't that entice you?!

I looove fantasy/sci-fi (3 out of 5 of my recs are fantasy, whoops), but I have really picky standards, unfortunately. Well, it's more like I have a couple of "must haves," and authors rarely provide them. :( I can't stand books where the author feels the urge to divulge every little political detail of the world, where it feels like I'm stuck in a government class. And I can't stand books with an overly romantic focus or books where all characters are straight and white, and anyone who isn't just has their ethnicity or sexuality tagged on to a list of "evil traits" for a cheap villain. Just those few things make it hard for me to find fantasy I like. The only author I tolerate this with is George RR Martin, and that's because he's a deity of writing, hehe. (at least tell me you've read his books! I mean, he's like... the god of fantasy. I HOPE HE LIVES FOREVER.)

NOW I'M BABBLING, SORRY. I LIKE BOOKS.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Eyes of the Dragon is good, too, in the Stephen King-iverse.

As for characters being straight and white, have you read Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books? Most of those people are brown, and there isn't a whole lot of sexuality thrown about in general.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

AS DO I.

You may recall, I'm the one who admires GRRM, and yet cannot bring myself to read read his stuff. It's just not right for me.

But I like fantasy/sci-fi too, so hey! Good recs! I have some high standards, too, which makes it tough to find good books. So I'm glad I've got a few here to look at.

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

His stuff's not for everyone, that's for sure. (As can be seen by all the people who love Harry Potter but won't give GRRM a try. This is me crying in the corner...) If you really don't like his writing, though, I hate to say it, but you might want to avoid all of my recommendations... He's the embodiment of everything that I like and look for in fiction, so chances are good that other things I like are similar in terms of range of character, scope of the world, overall tone, and things like that. Snap.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I've never read King either, but I do plan to give "Dark Tower" a try, because I've heard they're more sci-fi than horror and amazingly creative for such a popular author.

Also, Mercedes Lackey does much with the non-straight relationships! (Even if all her relationships are a tad bit on the epic and sappy side).

[http://users.livejournal.com/_wastrel/]

I still remember Momaw Nadon and Dannik Jerriko fondly. <3

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I always had a soft spot for Yarna, myself. And that poor sucker Gotal who had the one-night stand with Nightlily ...

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Maybe a bit late, but if you've got notifications on, you'll get these. In no particular order:

Magician: Apprentice, by Raymond Feist. Feist is currently one of my favorite fantasy authors. His books take a little while to get into, but if you make it a quarter of the way through this, I can pretty much guarantee that you're going to want to keep reading through A Darkness at Sethanon. Feist is pretty good at keeping his different story arcs from being too dependent on the ones before, but each series pretty much does need to be read as one unit.

The Deed of Paksennarion, by Elizabeth Moon. I was never able to get much into Moon's other stuff, but I love this one. The tale of a sheepfarmer's daughter who goes off to become a mercenary, and ends up ascending far beyond anything she'd dreamed of. Some very nicely handled religious and sexuality stuff. The title I gave is for the collected edition, because I can't remember the titles of the individual volumes. Some poking around should turn it up, though.

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson. He's gotten a lot more press for The Baroque Cycle and its prequel Cryptonomicon, but most people who have read his stuff agree that this is where he peaked. Absolutely great near-future cyberpunk, starring a Mafia Pizza Delivery Man with a pair of Samurai swords.

Lois McMaster Bujold. I can't just stick to one book here. Possibly my favorite author at the moment, skellington1 got me hooked on her stuff. She's got three main universes that she writes in. A Civil Campaign is a pretty good place to start with her SF stuff, although it's pretty late in the series chronology and does contain some spoilers for earlier books. Shards of Honor is chronologically first. The Curse of Chalion is a good start for one of her fantasy series, and Beguilement is the best starting point for The Sharing Knife series. She does a pretty good job of making them readable in any order, though.

Let's round this out with a classic one. The Count of Monte Criste, by Alexandre Dumas. Don't get scared by how hefty this book is, it's a real page turner. I finished it in about 5 days. One of the classic stories of betrayal and revenge, set in the years after Napoleon.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

I do not think I could fangirl anybody.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Unless "fangirl" gets used regardless of gender. Which is how I tend to use it.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

...There are people out there without library cards? *runs away and hides*

BTW, if you like Tamora Pierce, have you read Mercedes Lackey? I'm still struggling to get into Pierce because I was a Lackey fan first, and Pierce's style is very derivative... but I do want to check out more of her work.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

BTW, I shouldn't get started with recommendations, because, um, yeah... You know me.

But for you specifically, I must recommend two books entitled "Lost in Translation" -- one a memoir by Eva Hoffman, the other a sci-fi novel by Edward Willet. Both must-reads for language-lovers.

Also, Trudi Canavan's "Black Magician" trilogy, "Dark Lord of Derkholm" by Diana Wynne Jones, and two books about synaesthesia: "The Man Who Tasted Shapes" by Richard Cytowic (nonfiction and possibly out of print) and "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass (novel).

And Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series, just because.

OK, I'll stop there.