Books

[junior]

I've recently gotten back into reading thanks to Stephen Chbosky's The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. Honestly a very fabulous book. Anyone who's read it would probably agree. Very relatable and definitely easy to connect with emotionally because of the themes it explores - human condition of belonging, the feeling of misunderstood and just loneliness and adolescence struggles in general.

It's just very easy to connect with. And I think it's fabulous how often they reference other great literature/songs.

The strongest points of the book is definitely the reptition of "infinite" and if you read it you'll understand what I'm talking about. The other very strong point of this book is the fact that it is an amazing book, not because of the storyline, but because of the character development. It makes you feel like you ARE part of the journey.

One of my close friends cried when he read through the last 3 pages of this book lol. I got very emotional too. And it's obviously a very highly recommended novel to read so you guys sould definitely pick it up.



Currently reading througy Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Naturally a challenging book because of the language it uses and how long winded pretty much each sentence is. Much harder to grasp. It's pretty decent though, but explores pretty dark themes. I think it's overrated though.



Also picked up Neil Gaimen's Coraline recently as well.

Other few books I'm planning to read are
- Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.



What books have you read recently, are reading now or planning to read?

 

[Birkal]

Man, I love the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I read it quite a few years ago, but I distinctly remember the impressions it gave me. Like you said, it's a book that is very easy to relate to; it's also not an overly long read. Definitely a good book.

I am really behind on my reading schedule, unfortunately. College and homework have definitely got in the way of that, which is definitely a bummer. However, I did rather recently read Markus Zusak's I Am The Messenger (apparently it is just called The Messenger in other countries). If you liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I'd highly recommend it. It's got some intense scenes and ideas, which makes it a great read on the whole. It's packed with emotional conflict and some intriguing mystery aspects. It's also a very short read, so you can knock it off in a few days if you're determined.

Thanks for making this thread; I'd love to get some more book recommendations!

 

[junior]

How good is perks of being a wallflower? One of my favourite books of all time!

yeap, I'm definitely looking for book recommendations as well! I'll check out the messenger as soon as I have the time to as well. I've added it on my list of things to feel out/books to read hehe

thanks!

 

[Midnight Show]

Neil Gaiman in general is very good, perhaps with the exception of Neverwhere, which reads like a first draft sometimes. The problem I have with Gaiman is he's devilishly funny and imaginative, but he lets me down with his endings, as was the case in American Gods and Good Omens.

I read I Am the Messenger a long time ago. I remember being confused by the ending, but the story itself was excellent. Zusak's The Book Thief is one of my favorite books ever; I highly recommend it. (I read it before it won its awards and started showing up on every reading list /bookhipster.)

I would give the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman a chance, if you haven't already. They made the first one--The Golden Compass aka Northern Lights--into a questionable movie a few years back, but the books are wonderful, especially the first one. I can honestly say I fell in the love with the characters.

As for myself, I recently read Steven King's memoir, which was quick and enjoyable. It's half his life story, half how to become a better writer. I also read some William Gibson, the father of cyberpunk and veritable technoprophet.

 

[Ace Emerald]

I am currently reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, and it is one of the best books I've read in a while. I am currently in part 2 of book 2. Aside from being an awesome science fiction book with many exciting plots, it explores and talks about the very interesting topic of evolving and changing societies, and the course of history. Very cool book series, I really recommend it.

 

[Jebus McAzn]

I have just finished reading Perks as well, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also finished reading The Hobbit a few days before, and I'm now starting on John Green's Looking for Alaska.

junior: Have you read The Remains of the Day, also by Kazuo Ishiguro? It's an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

 

[Gengan]

Read it for my Summer Reading Project. It's pretty entertaining.

 

[v]

Trainspotting is one of my favorites, but I think overall I prefer the prequel that came out last year in the UK, Skag Boys. It's about Scottish heroin addicts basically, has some gross parts but overall a good read!

 

[Mafeking]

Anybody who is a nerd for books or enjoyed Beowulf should definitely read John Gardner's Grendel as it is pretty much my favorite book of all time and is such an incredible read. It's pretty much a prequel/companion book to Beowulf, but told through the eyes of Grendel. It's full of such incredible emotion for a book told by a monster.

In the same vein of Retold Stories, Dave Eggers' The Wild Things is an amazing novelization of the Maurice Sendak picture book. Another awesome read, definitely recommend it to anyone who likes that sort of story, likes Dave Eggers, or is just a fan of the kid's book. It's more mature than a children's story too, so don't be afraid to pick it up.

@Jebus: if you like Looking for Alaska, definitely pick up John's new book, The Fault In Our Stars. It's a great story of its own right, but it tells a story of a young girl dealing with cancer and is so incredibly moving and strong in a way that only John Green seems to be able to pull off.

I recently read Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, which is a semi-autobiography about his time in Paris. Great read for anyone who likes classics; the chapters are pretty short and always interesting too, so it's not a hard read or anything, but definitely insightful. He meets a lot of famous people while he's there, too, so it's cool to see that side of the story unfold.

I love books.

 

[Philip7086]

Wtf, jritos still remembers Smogon?

The last book I read was Freakonomics, and it was a great read. Quite thought-provoking as well. I will probably read Super Freakonomics soon.

For fiction, I've been wanting to read the Game of Thrones books for a while, but the fact that there are a few more to go before the story is finished is a turn off for me.

 

[Eagle4]

I've just read Animal Farm, it's a great 2-hour read (obvious arrogance intended).

It's about this farm which is run by animals, and chaos ensues it in the shape of the fight for authority. I won't say much more, but it's a definite classic. Do you think Lord Of The Flies is worth a read?

 

[Wikey]

I haven't read much at all since I graduated high school. And almost all of what I have read since then has been Stephen King. Just finished 'Salem's Lot and now working on Under the Dome.

I of course read and loved The Catcher in the Rye (probably my favorite book) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower in high school.

Non-King books I've read since hs and would recommend are The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, Coming Up for Air by George Orwell and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (read it before the Hanks movie, tHanks.) by Jonathan Safran Foer. All books where the main character is dealing with emotional and/or mental health issues but also where the main character is very unique and intriguing.

I also went on a binge where I read every book by Chuck Palahniuk the author of Fight Club. All very good books if you like his style. None of his books are good for the faint of heart but Haunted is particularly...haunting.

 

[Hipmonlee]

I thought Never Let You Go was just weird and kind of a huge disappointment after remains of the day. Same with A Pale View of the Hills, so I stopped reading his other books..

 

[More Cowbell]

Some may have seen me mention Toushun Takami's Battle Royale before, but it really is worth the read. Imagine the Hunger Games, but a lot more cruel, and with more gore, too. 42 kids are placed on an island, and are forced to fight until only one remains alive, as part of a morbid government plan. It's not exactly a happy book, but I loved comparing myself to the 42 students, imagining what I'd do in their place. If you like action, and don't mind things getting bloody, this is an excellent novel (there's a movie and a manga too, both of which I enjoyed as well).

 

[Shinryu]

I find it hard to read these days, but currently reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, loved Outliers and I am enjoying this one (when I have the time to read it anyways :( ).

 

[jumpluff]

Never Let Me Go is one of my favourite books, and I reread it recently. I'm a massive Kazuo Ishiguro fan, and while Never Let Me Go bears some stylistic dissimilarity to his other works, I think it's actually right at home thematically. Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day are my favourite Ishiguro books, although the latter is definitely not for everyone, with its prose style and pacing. :3 I read it before seeking out his books, and I can see why someone who began with The Remains of the Day would have Hip's opinion, but to be honest I found Never Let Me Go truly heartbreaking on a profound level. The way Ishiguro writes, letting you have just enough information here and there to understand, full of fragments of memory and a sensation of transience and mono no aware, is really beautiful in my opinion, but what I found most enchanting about Never Let Me Go was Kath's voice. And to me Never Let Me Go is partly like The Remains of the Day in that one of their main driving strengths is the perfect character portrait, although Kath's is primarily a character portrait of everyone around her -- I enjoy how telling the things you are not told are -- and Stevens's is a portrait of himself (and others to a much lesser extent).

Super Murakami fangirl too, although Norwegian Wood isn't one of my favourites... if you haven't read them already, I'd recommend The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, and/or 1Q84, his newest novel. Sputnik Sweetheart is one of the lesser-loved Murakami works, but to be honest, jr, I think you'd really enjoy it if you haven't checked it out yet. I adored it and I continue to be enchanted by it to this day.

Catcher in the Rye is amazing, I'm glad you're reading it! I think it will be mostly relevant to teenagers -- since it's pretty much 'teenage experience' encapsulated -- and so it's about the right time to read it. :) Tangerine once said it really resonated with him when he was a teenager and then in his twenties he didn't like it nearly as much -- I'm really curious to see how growing up and getting more experiences will shape my opinion of the book and plan to reread it when that happens.

Also mentioned: Battle Royale, another of my favourite books! I've seen the film adaptation and read the manga but nothing compares to the book. Battle Royale just pushes all my buttons as far as things I like to read goes, and the storyline is really, really riveting. Not to mention the relationships that develop between the characters under massive duress. And The Hobbit, one of my all-time favourites (I have about 10-11 'favourite books' and maybe 1-3 'most favourites'). And I love The Perks of Being a Wallflower:3 Not much to say about those right now, just excited to see them mentioned.

(My all-time favourites are The Hobbit, Anna Karenina, and Fahrenheit 451.)

ETA: Did not see Lolita mention, but my opinion is that pretty much anyone who enjoys reading very much, likes words, and is open-minded about literature should read it at least to have experienced the notorious and wonderful book that it is.

 

[Precipice]

My favourite book of all time is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

It's just an incredibly powerful recollection of the author's story when travelling to Mumbai. Only, he isn't travelling to Mumbai on holiday - he's a prison inmate and heroin addict convicted of armed robbery in Australia, sentenced to nineteen years before he escapes and flees to India for ten years. Best of all - it's a true story. I'd highly recommend the read.

The blurb reads: "Shantaram" is a novel based on the life of the author, Gregory David Roberts. In July 1980 he escaped from Victoria's maximum-security prison in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia's most wanted men for what turned out to be the next ten years. For most of this period, after an interlude in New Zealand, he lived in Bombay. He set up a free health clinic in the slums, acted in Bollywood movies, worked for the Bombay mafia as a forger, counterfeiter, and smuggler and, as a gunrunner, resupplied a unit of mujaheddin guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan. This is the setting of "Shantaram". It is a compelling tale of a hunted man who had lost everything - his home, his family, and his soul - and came to find his humanity while living at the wildest edge of experience."

Light readers beware, this book is 900 pages long. But they were the best 900 pages of my life.

 

[TheStarRapper]

A Thousand Splendid Suns definitely brings me back. I was a little to young to pick up on all the meaning, but what I got was the interaction between compassion and empowerment in a world that is otherwise random in doling out portions of fate. It's dark, but there's some light on the horizon.

If you like Sci-Fi: World War Z. Not just another Zombie book, but a full and unique exploration into how the world would survive post-apocalypse. Blood and gore is kept to a minimum, the focus is instead directed towards agriculture (alongside other topics) and decision making in an unsafe and barren world.

 

[blarajan]

Wtf, jritos still remembers Smogon?

The last book I read was Freakonomics, and it was a great read. Quite thought-provoking as well. I will probably read Super Freakonomics soon.

For fiction, I've been wanting to read the Game of Thrones books for a while, but the fact that there are a few more to go before the story is finished is a turn off for me.

Super freak fucking sucks

 

[ButteredToast]

Anyone read The Road by Cormac McCarthy? I'm told it is a modern classic that might stand the test of time, but I'm also told that the first 30-odd pages are the author solely describing a road. Wanted to know if it was worth the read or not.

Try not to spoil it though if you can. I've avoided the reviews, the movie, and my classmates who read it. xD

 

[LR2K]

Anyone read The Road by Cormac McCarthy? I'm told it is a modern classic that might stand the test of time, but I'm also told that the first 30-odd pages are the author solely describing a road. Wanted to know if it was worth the read or not.

Try not to spoil it though if you can. I've avoided the reviews, the movie, and my classmates who read it. xD

I actually just recently read The Road, and I would definitely recommend it. It does not really live up to his title as "the next William Faulker", with there being not enough super intense literary things (metaphors in metaphors, stream of consciousness only) and its "statement on the human condition" is not that profound, but that would only matter if you are looking for a super literary book. As something that will not insult your intelligence while providing a very unique and emotionally compelling take on its genre, I would recommend. Also, his "modern classics" are more Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men, but do not disregard The Road because of that.

Also: Despite the gratuitous sex happening all the time, Game of Thrones is so good. Definitely recommend to the person in this thread that asked about it. Plus, if you are concerned about wanting to marathon an unfinished series, you have the show to fall back on and relive the experience.

 

[Jebus McAzn]

@Jebus: if you like Looking for Alaska, definitely pick up John's new book, The Fault In Our Stars. It's a great story of its own right, but it tells a story of a young girl dealing with cancer and is so incredibly moving and strong in a way that only John Green seems to be able to pull off.

I've actually already read TFioS and loved it; I'm actually reading Looking for Alaska simply because many others recommended it as another John Green book to read.

@others: Battle Royale is great. I've read the manga and watched the movie, but have yet to read the book; from what I've seen, though, they're really excellent and affected me a lot more than The Hunger Games.

 

[Stratos]

Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air was one of the best books i've ever read.

of course, that's probably mostly because reading it coincided so perfectly with a slew of personal issues that it helped me to resolve, but i'd absolutely recommend to anyone. Krakauer's writing style is refreshingly direct.

 

[Metal Bagon]

Anything written by Lee Child is generally a gift to the thriller genre

 

[Philip7086]

Super freak fucking sucks

Really? That's rather disappointing. Did you read/enjoy Freakonomics, or do you just not like those types of books in general?