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Post by Teleram on Oct 10, 2016 14:31:16 GMT -5
This is a (mostly truncated) list of books that I've been meaning to read, planning to read, or have been putting off on finishing., very loosely ranked by priority. I actually have a quite a few more books on my to read list but these are just the highest priority at the moment. In order to ascertain which books I should move up to the top of my reading list as well as get a better sense of other people's tastes, I figured I may as well share it with you guys and hear your personal opinions on these books. Any sort of advice or tips are welcome, so even if you're going to reply with a wiseass comment like "you're probably too dumb to read like most of these books lol" please specify which books you mean. Thanks. - The Map of Time by Felix J Palma
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
- The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
- Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
- Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
- City of Thieves by Dave Benioff
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Oct 10, 2016 15:07:08 GMT -5
I'd move American Gods further up on the list. It's a good book. It's also the only one on the list I've read, so for all I know it might be just right as the last priority on the list. I'd be surprised, though. Also, there's about to be a TV series based on it, so if you like to watch adaptions of books you've read, you could try to make it in time for that.
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Post by Reba on Oct 10, 2016 16:03:59 GMT -5
Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Neil Gaiman are trash. that's a lame murakami book. Catch 22 is annoying and overrated but Joseph Heller is still kind of a good writer. move kavalier and clay to the top. don't know anything about the others so I assume they're bad
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Post by Teleram on Oct 10, 2016 18:07:44 GMT -5
Thank you both.
Bear- I think you've said you're a Murakami fan in the past and I'm just getting into his work so which book do you think I should start with?
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Post by Reba on Oct 10, 2016 18:39:00 GMT -5
read The Elephant Vanishes and see if you like the style. his short stories are basically the same as his novels, but they usually end before he has the chance to mention spaghetti or the beatles. the first story in that collection is incorporated into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which is one of two truly worthwhile murakami novels, the other being 1Q84.
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Oct 11, 2016 3:01:43 GMT -5
Teleram, I'd suggest Blind Willow Sleeping Woman, but Elephant is fine too. Or A Wild Sheep Chase if you want a novel. Neil Gaiman are trash. that's a lame murakami book. should be surprising but I guess isn't.
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Oct 11, 2016 3:34:45 GMT -5
I used Elephant to get a feeling for his style and I think it worked pretty well for that. And since you clearly need yet another suggestion for a good novel to start with, I really liked Kafka on the Shore.
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Post by Teleram on Oct 11, 2016 19:32:17 GMT -5
I'm adding a few more: - Nixonland by Rick Perlstein
- The Looming Tower by Laurence Wright
- Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L Swanson
- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
- The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
For the record, I've already moved up Kavalier & Clay and The Elephant Vanishes up to the top of the list- I plan on getting to them once I finish reading Ready Player One, which may be soon as I'm really disliking it so far.
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Post by lorelai on Oct 11, 2016 20:10:42 GMT -5
I'm putting in a vote for American Gods to at least not be taken off the list. I loved it. And to add a bit of logic to some of the snark, assuming a book is bad because you never heard 'of it would mean that none of us would be readers or fans of Lemony Snicket, since we all had to hear of him/them at some point.
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Post by Cafe SalMONAlla on Oct 12, 2016 0:46:07 GMT -5
Yes to those last two, teleram. If you like bluebear you'll have something in common with our very own bear, which tends to be an unnerving experience.
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Post by Grace on Feb 15, 2017 21:56:09 GMT -5
Catch 22 is awesome if you're into the style, which isn't un-Snickety. Read the first few chapters and if you love the style (like I do), it'll be 100% worth your time. If not, skip it.
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