Any book recommendations?

Okay, the title pretty much says it all. Any book recommendations? Maybe some classics? Or non-fiction.

Can't help you much with non-fiction... I've never really read any, though I should probably get around to that.

I can help you with classics though My personal favorites are A Tale of Two Cities (I must have read that book at least three times) by Charles Dickens, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Oh, and A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Also, if you don't mind something really ancient, I highly recommend Oedipus the King and Antigone by Sophocles. They're both plays, actually, but still wonderful.

One of my favourites but I'm not sure it will appeal to you but - The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown. It's a thriller It's got lots of quite interesting facts and it's got a LOT on Freemasonry. Just in case you wondered what they do.

There's also North Child (or East outside Britain and Down Under) by Edith Pattou. The complete opposite of the above - it's a romance but she only realises she likes him at the very end. It's really interesting. Here's a summary cos it's long.

Eugenia's family believe that which ever direction you were born in influences your personality and life. (They're very superstitious). Eugenia herself wants 7 kids for every point of the compass except North because a fortune teller predicted that if she had a child that was a North-born would die in an avalanche of snow and ice.

Anyway, a white bear one day goes to a family who are now peasants (Eugenia's). He asks for their youngest daughter and they will be out of poverty. The youngest Daughter, Rose, goes with him, much against the rest of her family's wishes.

Long story short, every night, when she sleeps (at the castle of the white bear where she is taken), there is a stranger who comes every night. She comments that there is a spell that stops her from seeing the stranger. Eventually she does and realises it's the white bear but that leads to terrible consequences, meaning she has to cross seas and continents to find the white bear and correct what she did wrong.

It's a really good book. I hope I didn't make it sound like Garbage!

Thanks , guys. It doesn't have to be a classic or non-fiction, though.

LadyCobweb wrote:I can help you with classics though My personal favorites are A Tale of Two Cities (I must have read that book at least three times) by Charles Dickens.

I can't believe I still haven't read this. My to-read list is way too long.

Mac wrote:One of my favourites but I'm not sure it will appeal to you but - The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown. It's a thriller It's got lots of quite interesting facts and it's got a LOT on Freemasonry. Just in case you wondered what they do.

Really? Freemasonry? I'll have to read it.

Umm... what's freemasonary?

Maris - yeah, it's got a lot on it.

Joce - d'you know the illuminati - the devil worshippers who are 'trying to take over the world' and who Hosni Mubarak was being controlled by and are the reason for many conspiracy theories - The freemasons are usually called those people in disguise or whatever. According to the people in my school anyway.

They're an organisation where people discuss things. They have to believe in a creator and have all sorts of strange rituals like drinking wine out of a skull. They also have a lot of 'secrets' according to Dan Brown. I don't know what they DO though.

Joce wrote:Umm... what's freemasonary?

It's a very complex topic. I could talk about it for hours but I don't want to bore you to death. Basically, conspiracy theorists say that Freemasons secretly rule the world. If you try to find more information though, you'll come across a lot of different versions when it comes to details about who they are, what they do, what's their origin and their connection to Illuminati. David Icke is well-known for his theories so you can start with that if you're interested.

Oh, I've heard of Icke. He has that lizard theory, right? Or maybe not a lizard, but some sort of reptile at least. I've been meaning to check him out.

Mac wrote:One of my favourites but I'm not sure it will appeal to you but - The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown. It's a thriller It's got lots of quite interesting facts and it's got a LOT on Freemasonry. Just in case you wondered what they do.

Huh, I just might read it too. I liked the DaVinci Code well enough, and it's by the same author.

LadyCobweb wrote:Oh, I've heard of Icke. He has that lizard theory, right? Or maybe not a lizard, but some sort of reptile at least. I've been meaning to check him out.

That's right. He says the Illuminati are reptiles and he's developed a very elaborate theory of their origin, among other things. I think he explains the Freemasons as human servants of the Illuminati.

Never mind, I just finished Angels and Demons. (Yes, by Dan Brown).

No wait, I'm only a chapter or two to the end.

Anybody read these books:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (the one The Golden Compass was based on)
Magyk by Angie Sage

I'm thinking of getting them for New Year. If anybody read at least one, tell me if they're worth it or if I would just be throwing my money away. Just don't give anything away, pleeeeeeeeease!

I read half of the graveyard book and I didn't like it that much. Not my thing personally, though it won the carneigie (Dunno how to spell it) medal which had some great books (like Chaos walking) competing. Some people obviously liked it. But not me

Mac wrote:I read half of the graveyard book and I didn't like it that much. Not my thing personally, though it won the carneigie (Dunno how to spell it) medal which had some great books (like Chaos walking) competing. Some people obviously liked it. But not me

Hmm... They say it's Gaiman's best work, and I am a fan. If it's anything like Stardust, I'm fine with it.

Lizzie wrote:The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (the one The Golden Compass was based on)
Magyk by Angie Sage

I've read these three, and they're all great. The Golden Compass especially. It's a really well-thought out book, and you can tell the author put a lot of effort into writing it. It's also the book that inspired me to write my own story. If you're a firm believer in Christianity, though, you might not like book 2 and 3. Pullman really challenges the Church and puts his own ideas about Heaven and the afterlife out there. Homosexual angels even show up in the 3rd book XD I don't mind it, and I think he has an amazing imagination along with a unique plot, but if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, don't read it. Also, his characters are very realistic - Lyra's my favorite female lead character ever, actually.

I liked the Graveyard book I'm also a Gaiman fan, and that's the book that got me interested in him, the reason I bought his other books. I loved the idea of a dead boy being raised by ghosts, and I liked how he never really explains anything, how he doesn't spell it out for us. He just drops subtle hints and you have to figure things out by yourself, make your own connections. I think you should definitely get it.

Magyk and the rest of the Septimus Heap series is a good series. It's pretty funny in places, has nice, well-rounded and believable character and a fun plot with tons of magic. Don't get me wrong, it's a good series and I like it, but it's targeted to a slightly younger audience. My brother adores the series, for example, and he's 12. I used to like it more than I do now, and I think it's because I've outgrown it. I've just gotten used to a bit more serious books. Think Harry Potter book 1 writing style, just not as good, 'cause, well, nothing's as good as Harry Potter XD

Tia wrote:I've read these three, and they're all great. The Golden Compass especially. It's a really well-thought out book, and you can tell the author put a lot of effort into writing it. It's also the book that inspired me to write my own story. If you're a firm believer in Christianity, though, you might not like book 2 and 3. Pullman really challenges the Church and puts his own ideas about Heaven and the afterlife out there. Homosexual angels even show up in the 3rd book XD I don't mind it, and I think he has an amazing imagination along with a unique plot, but if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, don't read it. Also, his characters are very realistic - Lyra's my favorite female lead character ever, actually.

I'm not sensitive about that at all. In fact, it only makes me look forward to reading it even more. I love it how some authors forget the rules and don't care what will someone think or say about their work. Especially if the criticism is based on prejudice. Homosexual angels sound awesome to me.

Tia wrote:I liked the Graveyard book I'm also a Gaiman fan, and that's the book that got me interested in him, the reason I bought his other books. I loved the idea of a dead boy being raised by ghosts, and I liked how he never really explains anything, how he doesn't spell it out for us. He just drops subtle hints and you have to figure things out by yourself, make your own connections. I think you should definitely get it.

Yes, Neil really is a fantastic author. I only read Stardust, because those two books are the only ones translated in Serbian, and I'm really looking forward to reading The Graveyard Book. He has a very unique writing style that you can either find utterly boring, or incredibly entertaining.

Tia wrote:Magyk and the rest of the Septimus Heap series is a good series. It's pretty funny in places, has nice, well-rounded and believable character and a fun plot with tons of magic. Don't get me wrong, it's a good series and I like it, but it's targeted to a slightly younger audience. My brother adores the series, for example, and he's 12. I used to like it more than I do now, and I think it's because I've outgrown it. I've just gotten used to a bit more serious books. Think Harry Potter book 1 writing style, just not as good, 'cause, well, nothing's as good as Harry Potter XD

Hmmm... Well, I might rethink that one then. It did seem a bit childish when I read the summary, but I just thought it might be a fun read. Maybe I can find something better to replace it.

What about The Hunger Games? Anybody read those?

Yes! Really good took me a while to get into them but when I did I fell in love!
Only thing is I don't want the movie to be released

dotandscribble wrote:Yes! Really good took me a while to get into them but when I did I fell in love!
Only thing is I don't want the movie to be released

I heard good things about them, too. All praise. Too bad I can't get to them for another four or five months, maybe more.
Why don't you want the movie to be released?

The hunger Games - I've heard about them so many times on Yahoo.

I agree with Kelly - usually,the movies don't live up to the books. I had a book that was talking about it. According to him, they don't turn out well as the plot was initially designed for a book - what works for a novel doesn't always for a movie. There was a quote actually:

some dude wrote:Only a bad novel can be turned into a good movie.

I can think of exceptions though. HP7 was really good for example. It actually had everything XD

I know it can be a disappointment to the ones who already read the book, but it also might get some who haven't read it to get into it.
I once read a quote: "NEVER judge a book by it's movie"

I totally agree. Especially YA ones. I feel like sometimes they tried to make it too child-friendly as well... despite the fact that 99.9% of my class have watched a movie that was a higher age rating and the same amount have played Grand Theft Auto/Call of Duty or some other violent/inappropriate game.

Only 99.9%???

Yes. Well maybe 98% as I know 2 people who most certainly haven't done either because one watches cricket all day and the other's parents would never let him XD