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What 5 books MUST I borrow/buy?

DarkPhill

DarkPhill

New Member
Hi, well, this is my first post, with hopefully many more to come. Ive just started going to my local library due to a lack of funds for my obsession with amazon.co.uk. Now the basic question is this: When I go, what books should I borrow? I really need some ideas guys, as I would love to find some great authors, but at the moment I'm stuck with the medriocrity of Gemmel and co.
To explain a bit, I'm 16 in less than two weeks, and I've just finished my GCSE's (unsure what the foreign equivalents are), and now I have little to do with my spare time. Therefore I read. A lot. Mainly fantasy (and im sure there will be some groans when I tell you what I end up reading): Gemmel(bit crap), Jordan(let himself go lately), Feist (please lets not have another book about grain(the Merchant Prince one) but otherwise youre good), Barclay and quite a few more. But the thing is, I need some better authors to read. I must have only about a hundred books, and am desperate to find some new authors and series. I'm not only tied down to fantasy, will try pretty much any fiction (although I cant say I will read the classics), and am a rather fast reader, reading a Gemmel in about a day, that is a couple of hundred words at a time when the buzz takes me.
Woah this has been a long post. Sorry about that. Any ideas guys(and all you gals of course)?
 
I can suggest a few books, though I'm not sure if you'll be able to find them.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - is a book about magicians and magic, it's fairly big so even if you are a fast reader it should last you a while. I'm actually reading this one at the moment and it seems fairly ok, but I'm only just upto the 4th chapter. It's worth a read.

Michael Crichton is an author that I've read and they're talking about on these forums. Again he's worth a read, he was also the person who wrote Jurasic park and the lost world.

Darren Shan - A series of books about a guy called Darren Shan who becomes a vampire. I read a few of these a while ago and they're pretty good.

Michael Asher - Anything by this guy is pretty good, all of the books I've read of his are based in egypt. Some pretty good stuff.

These are probably the best books or Authors I can think of reading when there's nothing else to look at.

Hope you like one of 'em

Cheers
 
  • Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
    In an examination in the subject of survival, students are teleported to an unknown place and their skills to survive will be put to the test. The book has been called a science fiction version of 'Lord of the Flies' but don't let the genre or comparison frighten you, it doesn't focus much at all on the science bit and in my humble opinion it's more of a pleasure to read than 'Lord of the Flies' (I still like it though).

  • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
    A student refuses to obey the secret society of students and is exposed to the cruelty of their power. Read the book even if my description is crappy, it's not the usual high school book.

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
    You've probably heard of this if you haven't read it. It's about a supposedly autistic kid that finds his neighbour's dog penetrated by a garden fork and it leads to that a lot of secrets are exposed.

  • His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
    Great fantasy series that brings up topics such as religion.

  • The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J.T. LeRoy
    Like the author's other book 'Sarah' this is supposedly partly auto biographical about a young boy who has a mother that is a truck stop prostitute and sometimes dresses him like a girl. He then becomes interested to try his mother profession as a girl.
 
His Dark Materials are ok I suppose. I enjoyed the religious overtones, and found it a rather good read. My only gripe would be that, well, its too short. And the one I had was in rather large print, 'especially for teens'. Patronisation is not something I respond particularly well to. Anyway, I digress. Cheers for the suggestions guys. When I went I actually ended getting some Steven King, JM Auel, and David Robbins, among others. Unfortunately I went before I could read your ideas! Anywho, those books will be going on my TBR list. Keep your suggestions coming in please!
 
Try Orson Scott Card. His books aren't huge but they come in series. Start with Ender's Game, and then follow up with Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide. There is a parallel series too about Ender's classmate Bean, starting with Ender's Shadow.

As a fan of Robert Jordan you might also like George R. R. Martin. His books are quite lengthy and they're very involved, intricate fantasy with lots of characters and subplots. His Song of Fire and Ice series is a good place to start, the first book is called A Game of Thrones.

If you've read these already let us know and I'll try to think of more :)
 
Hey those books sound good. I'd been meaning to try the Song of Fire and Ice series for a while, just was unsure who wrote it. After my half dozen I borrowed today, I'll be sure to give yours a try guys! Thanks
 
How about "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon? If you like comic books (or even if you don't), this is a fictionalized account of the golden years of the comic book. Chabon is an awesome writer - you might like his "Wonder Boys" too.

"Angels and Insects" by A. S. Byatt. Victorian explorer loses everything in a shipwreck and ends up lodging with a wealthy family in England, where he falls hopelessly in love with the totally unattainable daughter. To his amazement the family agrees to let him marry her, which he does, whereupon he find outs that things are not what he thinks they are and that there are some very dark secrets being kept from him. The character of Maddie, the family governess, is one of my favorites in literature, and this book is well worth a look if you are at all interested in science and/or Victorian England.

I love the library. People at work wonder where it is that I disappear to at lunch so often - I don't think they believe me when I tell them that I'm going to the library. There is no way that I could afford to buy all the books that I want to read, so it's wonderful that it's there. I was amazed to find out that even if your branch doesn't have what you want you can order pretty much anything that's in print and they get it for you, and all you have to is go in and pick it up!!
 
i can't think of 5 right now, it's late. but you definitely should read Blindness by Jose Saramago. everyone i have recommended it to has loved it.
 
I thought of another, since you like fantasy...what about the Gormenghast triology by Mervyn Peake? One of my favorites when I was your age, and still is now, lo these many years later. If you like language these books are wonderful, at times more poetry than prose. If not, then you might just feel like they are too wordy, but they're certainly classics and worth a mention.
 
I think that if you like Gemmell and Barclay you would like the following:

The Runelords by David Farland - Book 1 is titled The Sum of All Men

The Dragoncrown War by Michael A. Stackpole - Book 1 is titled Fortress Draconis

The King's Blades by Dave Duncan - Book 1 is titled The Gilded Chain

The Banned and the Banished by James Clemens - Book 1 is titled Wit'ch Fire

The Black Company by Glen Cook - Book 1 is titled The Black Company
 
Jenem said:
i can't think of 5 right now, it's late. but you definitely should read Blindness by Jose Saramago. everyone i have recommended it to has loved it.
Click to expand...

Agree with Jenem, I don't know anyone (yet!) who has not enjoyed Jose Saramago's 'Blindness'
Word of warning DON'T LEND IT!!!!!! You won't get it back :eek:
My copy is still doing the rounds :(


My 5 Books :)

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

Little, Big ~ John Crowley

London ~ Edward Rutherford

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell ~ Susanna Clarke

The Eyre Affair ~ Jasper FForde
 
US vs. UK?

Hi
I'm new to the forum. Found a comfortable home though..Here's my first question. I read often (actually more than often; it's more like obsessively..) Anyhow, why are the titles you're suggesting so unfamiliar to me? are the publications in the UK that foreign to American readers?? Many of the books I recommend are on forum reading lists, but many of the books as are the ones in this thread, are completely unrecognizable to me... is there really a great big world of difference between US and UK publications. Does a book have to meet an incredible number of print productions for it to cross the Atlantic??
sorry for the rant
Shari
 
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