Book Recommendation Thread

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Drannin
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by Drannin »

Essential reading for any household:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead. It's written as seriously as any other form of survival guide. And it's actually well-researched and well-written.

The author is either a brilliant humorist or completely insane. Possibly both.
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

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I have been recently reminded how much I enjoy reading the novels of Georgette Heyer. She more or less set the gold standard for historical romance, but in a way that leaves her work almost in a category of its own by comparison with modern works in the same genre.

I recommend The Grand Sophy, The Masqueraders, The Talisman Ring, and Devil's Cub which are some of my favorites.

^-^'
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Boss Out of Town
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

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Drannin wrote:Essential reading for any household:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead. It's written as seriously as any other form of survival guide. And it's actually well-researched and well-written.

The author is either a brilliant humorist or completely insane. Possibly both.
Max Brooks's "sequel," World War Z, is equally brillliant. It is done in the format of an "eye-witness" compilation of stories from survivors of a world-wide zombie apocalypse, with vignettes from civilians, soldiers, politicians, and survivors from a dozen or so countries. Not your usual zombie novel, lacking the relentless nihilism and constant gore-porn beloved of hard-core zombie fans, but plenty of creepy moments, violence, dramatic horror, with an undercurrent of grim faith in the human will to survive. Feel free to ignore denunciations of the book by the right-wing thought police. The occasional political needle is jabbed in here and there in an understated fashion, but nothing implausible happens.
History celebrates the battlefields whereon we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the plowed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of kings’ bastards but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. This is the way of human folly. --- Henry Fabre
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Boss Out of Town
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by Boss Out of Town »

Imp-Chan wrote:I have been recently reminded how much I enjoy reading the novels of Georgette Heyer. She more or less set the gold standard for historical romance, but in a way that leaves her work almost in a category of its own by comparison with modern works in the same genre.

I recommend The Grand Sophy, The Masqueraders, The Talisman Ring, and Devil's Cub which are some of my favorites.^-^'
Yup, nothing like a segue directly from World War II to the Zombie Survival Guide to Georgette Heyer. I've always liked her work, myself. Fluff versions of Jane Austen, of course, but nicely detailed, smart dialogue, and a fast, fun read.
History celebrates the battlefields whereon we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the plowed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of kings’ bastards but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. This is the way of human folly. --- Henry Fabre
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Drannin
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by Drannin »

Boss Out of Town wrote:
Drannin wrote:Essential reading for any household:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead. It's written as seriously as any other form of survival guide. And it's actually well-researched and well-written.

The author is either a brilliant humorist or completely insane. Possibly both.
Max Brooks's "sequel," World War Z, is equally brillliant. It is done in the format of an "eye-witness" compilation of stories from survivors of a world-wide zombie apocalypse, with vignettes from civilians, soldiers, politicians, and survivors from a dozen or so countries. Not your usual zombie novel, lacking the relentless nihilism and constant gore-porn beloved of hard-core zombie fans, but plenty of creepy moments, violence, dramatic horror, with an undercurrent of grim faith in the human will to survive. Feel free to ignore denunciations of the book by the right-wing thought police. The occasional political needle is jabbed in here and there in an understated fashion, but nothing implausible happens.
Hmmm..... Thanks for the heads-up. I'm definitely going to have to check that one out. This is a man whose books are worth reading.
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Sareth
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

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Rather a different (and potentially squicktastic for some) suggestion from me.

As some of you may know I have four daughters, the oldest of which I expect to recieve a visit from the boob fairy any day now. As such, I decided to knuckle down and find out just what I was in for. So I asked my lady friends what book they wish they had been given as pre/early teens to give them the complete scoop on that whole puberty thing. The majority recommended the same book, which surprised me.

"The 'What's Happening to My Body?' Book for Girls" by Lynda Madaras (with Area Madaras) is an excellent treatment of a subject most people would prefer to hide from. It uses plain English and a good mix of humor and straightforward talking to adress things that often are treated with a great deal of awkwardness. It presents facts as well as personal testimonials on such squicky things as menstration, tampons, hygene and zits, as well as dealing with many of the other, related issues, such as picking the right bra, dealing with peer pressure, keeping a healthy self image in the face of an unhealthy world, and dealing with the emotional and mental impact of the changes a girl is going through. It also approaches in a very non-judgemental way the issues related to sex, including masturbation,dealing with sexual desires, birth control, and orrientation (coming down neither for, nor against these, but just presenting the facts.) One chapter also answers questions girls are likely to have about the boys in their class, helping them to understand that the boys are also undergoing changes both inside and out.

Having read the book, I find that, while I still spend a great deal of time polishing shotguns and thanking GOD I have a garage to hide in, a great deal of my fears and confusion about the little hell spawn in my house have been greatly reduced, and while I'm not exactly looking forward to my little girls becoming young women, it's no longer nearly the stress it once was.

So I recommend this book to anyone who is facing the sudden appearance of teenaged girls in their life, either as a parent or a pre-teen girl.
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TaleraRis
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by TaleraRis »

Imp-Chan wrote:I have been recently reminded how much I enjoy reading the novels of Georgette Heyer. She more or less set the gold standard for historical romance, but in a way that leaves her work almost in a category of its own by comparison with modern works in the same genre.

I recommend The Grand Sophy, The Masqueraders, The Talisman Ring, and Devil's Cub which are some of my favorites.

^-^'
I've lurked around here for a while but never registered, but I had to respond. It's very rare to find someone else who has experienced the joy that is a Georgette Heyer novel. I'm an avid reader of the Regency romance genre and even though there are good Regency genre authors these days, they can't compare to the vitality and intrigue Heyer put into her novels. I love how even secondary characters are vibrant and alive.

My favorite is The Corinithian. Pen is just adorable.

The unfortunate thing is that many have been out of print and very hard to find, although from recent poking around on Amazon, it seems some may have been re-released recently. I've been trying to get my hands on Faro's Daughter for years.

You mentioned Lackey earlier. Have you read the Elemental Masters series? They're all loosely based off fairly tales and center around people who have a talent in a single element. I've delved into Valdemar, but I find her writing in these little one-offs (she did a retelling of Swan Lake called The Black Swan that's unrelated as well) far superior to the sometimes convoluted Valdemar novels.
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by TaleraRis »

Boss Out of Town wrote:
Drannin wrote:Essential reading for any household:

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead. It's written as seriously as any other form of survival guide. And it's actually well-researched and well-written.

The author is either a brilliant humorist or completely insane. Possibly both.
Max Brooks's "sequel," World War Z, is equally brillliant. It is done in the format of an "eye-witness" compilation of stories from survivors of a world-wide zombie apocalypse, with vignettes from civilians, soldiers, politicians, and survivors from a dozen or so countries. Not your usual zombie novel, lacking the relentless nihilism and constant gore-porn beloved of hard-core zombie fans, but plenty of creepy moments, violence, dramatic horror, with an undercurrent of grim faith in the human will to survive. Feel free to ignore denunciations of the book by the right-wing thought police. The occasional political needle is jabbed in here and there in an understated fashion, but nothing implausible happens.
My boyfriend loves that book so much he listens to the audio version at work. He says the people they chose for the voices are spot on to the impression he got from the novel. Those books are his therapy, because he's got a fear of zombies.
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

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TaleraRis wrote:The unfortunate thing is that many have been out of print and very hard to find, although from recent poking around on Amazon, it seems some may have been re-released recently. I've been trying to get my hands on Faro's Daughter for years.
Yes, I remember that one... something about a woman who is too old and "common" for some silly youngling to marry. My mother has an old copy that I occasionally borrow. Actually, there was an entire shelf of Heyer in our library growing up, so I kinda lucked out in getting to read most of them... unfortunately, they're all disintegrating with age now, so I'm slowly buying up all the reprints for my own collection.
You mentioned Lackey earlier. Have you read the Elemental Masters series? They're all loosely based off fairly tales and center around people who have a talent in a single element. I've delved into Valdemar, but I find her writing in these little one-offs (she did a retelling of Swan Lake called The Black Swan that's unrelated as well) far superior to the sometimes convoluted Valdemar novels.
At one time I read a lot of Lackey, but generally I find her best work is in partnership with other authors. Left to her own devices she gets a little too sparkly and idealistic for the older and more cynical me to appreciate the way I did when I first read her stuff like the Valdemar novels. I liked her books set more or less in the present day best... the elves driving race cars, and the bardic magic stuff was a lot of fun.

^-^'
Because scary little devil girls have to stick together.
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Re: Book Recommendation Thread

Post by dubioso »

Susan Whitfield - Life Along the Silk Road

I found this book mentioned in a CD leaflet of Loreena McKennit and bought it out of curiosity. It describes the lifes of 10 fictitious persons living somewhere around the eastern part of the silk road from about 750 to 1000 AD. It is written in a biography style, with a lot of descriptions and little to no dialogue. Through the "experiences" of the characters, you get a glimpse at everyday life as well as the big changes in China during that period. There are few interconnections to glue the stories together into a book, which works better towards the end when the characters are living around the same time.

The author has a background in history, working at the British Museum. The fictitious characters are "composed" from historical records about events at the time. It is fascinating how many details can be learned by archeology, like some little family feud that made it into court records that happened to be preserved and recovered. The focus of the book is to present the facts known about that time. So it talks about clothing, living conditions, work, the political situation, and so on. The characters themselves do not develop much of a personality, but the book is an interesting read nevertheless.

btw: I just ordered the Zombie Survival Guide. Birthday present for a friend. Thanks for the tip :D
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