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A Request for Recommendations

Blogs > yamato77
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yamato77
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
11589 Posts
December 16 2018 16:31 GMT
#1
Alright tl.net, it's time for you all to come together and recommend me something. In the next year, I've decided that one of the things I want to do is expand the breadth of my reading tastes, and the best way to do that is to source all of your favorite books and read them myself.

My tentative goal is fifty books read by the end of the year, which will require quite a lot of recommendations, so don't be shy about it and tell me your favorite book so I can add it to the list. If I have read it before, or if someone else has already recommended it, I'll let you know, and you can give me another one.

I don't care if you think I will like it, I don't care what genre it's in, and I especially don't care how much it costs to buy it. If it's on Kindle, amazing! If not, I'll find a way to get it. Fret not, I am resourceful and pretty relentless when it comes to finding media. I also don't care if it's in the middle of a series, or that I need to read a bunch of other stuff to really appreciate it; recommend it to me anyway, and I will make accommodations.

If you don't particularly like books, I am willing to take recommendations of graphic novels or manga in its stead. This, I realize, might lead to me reading several hundred chapters of something, but it will be worth it if it's good, and if you like it, I'm certainly willing to give it a chance.

I promise to publish the list once I have it, and I will of course annoy you all throughout the next year by posting about my progress at certain intervals and writing about some of the works that inevitably inspire me to say something myself.

The List Thus Far:

1. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
3. Arsonist by Joaquin Zihuantanejo

Writer@WriterYamato
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6924 Posts
December 16 2018 16:45 GMT
#2
Patrick Rothfuss:

- Name of the wind
- Wise mans fear

Brandon Sanderson:

-Mistborn original trilogy
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
yamato77
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
11589 Posts
December 16 2018 16:53 GMT
#3
On December 17 2018 01:45 Harris1st wrote:
Patrick Rothfuss:

- Name of the wind
- Wise mans fear

Brandon Sanderson:

-Mistborn original trilogy

I'll definitely add Kingkiller to the list, someone recommended it to me in Discord. I also discovered I already bought the Kindle version of the first book like a year ago and never read it, haha.

I just started Mistborn this past week, probably going to be done with the trilogy before the new year
Writer@WriterYamato
Julmust
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Sweden4867 Posts
December 16 2018 17:20 GMT
#4
"Sleeping Giants" by Sylvain Neuvel (Sci-Fi)
"Rivers of London" by Ben Aaronovitch (Sci-Fi-ish)
"Factfulness" by Hans Rosling (Non-fiction)
AdministratorI'm dancing in the moonlight
Nevuk
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States16280 Posts
December 16 2018 17:35 GMT
#5
Well, a few recommendations spanning a few genres:
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville(Fantasy, new weird sub genre)
Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks (SciFi)
Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky (Russian Literature)
Moby Dick (Classic lit)
V. by Thomas Pynchon (Literature - about post-colonialism)
Catharsis by Travis Bagwell (LitRPG)
Titus Groan + Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (Pre-Tolkien Fantasy)

If you don't mind somewhat expensive :
Sandman series by Neil Gaiman (Comic Book)

and generally agreed to be the most difficult novel in the english language :
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
hexhaven
Profile Joined July 2014
Finland931 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-17 13:55:53
December 16 2018 17:50 GMT
#6
In the Blink of an Eye by Murch

Rebel Without a Crew by Rodriguez

Easy Riders Raging Bulls by Biskind

Images by Bergman

Real James Dean by Stevens

Shooting to Kill by Vachon

Hope for Film by Hope

Zeroville by Erickson

Fifth Season trilogy by Jemisin

Quantum Thief trilogy by Rajaniemi

City of Miracles trilogy by Jackson Bennett

Cloud Atlas by Mitchell

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Dickinson

The Stars are Legion by Hurley

The Yellow Birds by Powers

The White Tiger by Adiga

Black Company by Cook

Shantaram by Roberts

Forever War by Haldeman

The Magus by Fowles

Roadside Picnic by Strugatsky bros.

Legion of the Damned by Hassel

No Country for Old Men by McCarthy
WriterI shoot events. | http://www.jussi.co/esports
Jerubaal
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States7684 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-16 17:57:20
December 16 2018 17:56 GMT
#7
Well, I hate to bring up basic math, but you realize that 50 books is basically one a week, right? That's probably not going to be sustainable, even with several hours of reading a night. Secondly, could you give us some more insight into why you are reading and what you have read before? Are you just trying to keep your brain active or are you trying to enrich your mind?

To reference an earlier argument in this thread, you only have so much life to read, and you should probably go in order of importance. I'm not sure the last 50 years is even worth touching until you have a thorough grounding in the stuff that's lasted for hundreds if not thousands of years.

I'm also going to assert that Moby Dick is one of the few novels that you should not read. Listen to it on an audio book.
I'm not stupid, a marauder just shot my brain.
yamato77
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
11589 Posts
December 16 2018 17:59 GMT
#8
Don't make this complicated just recommend me something.
Writer@WriterYamato
YourGoodFriend
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2197 Posts
December 16 2018 18:19 GMT
#9
On December 17 2018 01:45 Harris1st wrote:
Patrick Rothfuss:

- Name of the wind
- Wise mans fear

Brandon Sanderson:

-Mistborn original trilogy


This, and basically anything by Sanderson (if you like sci fi his new book skyward is great)
anonymous is the most famous author that anyone can be
_fool
Profile Joined February 2011
Netherlands677 Posts
December 16 2018 21:37 GMT
#10
Lolita by Nabokov
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (on Project Gutenberg)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
"News is to the mind what sugar is to the body"
NewEyes
Profile Joined March 2012
Germany113 Posts
December 16 2018 22:23 GMT
#11
If you somehow feel like being terrible sad I'd recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Apart from that I really wanna mention The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.
georgehabadasher
Profile Joined June 2013
Taiwan23 Posts
December 17 2018 01:03 GMT
#12
The Making of the Atomic Bomb - by Richard Rhodes
Jerubaal
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States7684 Posts
December 17 2018 01:30 GMT
#13
On December 17 2018 02:59 yamato77 wrote:
Don't make this complicated just recommend me something.


But overanalysis is my specialty.

Second The Brothers Karamazov.
Madame Bovary Flaubert
The Man Who Was Thursday Chesterton
I'm not stupid, a marauder just shot my brain.
Carnivorous Sheep
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Baa?21242 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-17 02:10:39
December 17 2018 02:10 GMT
#14
On December 17 2018 02:35 Nevuk wrote:

and generally agreed to be the most difficult novel in the english language :
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon


Generally agreed by whom...? It's probably not even top 50.

On December 17 2018 02:56 Jerubaal wrote:
Well, I hate to bring up basic math, but you realize that 50 books is basically one a week, right? That's probably not going to be sustainable, even with several hours of reading a night. Secondly, could you give us some more insight into why you are reading and what you have read before? Are you just trying to keep your brain active or are you trying to enrich your mind?

To reference an earlier argument in this thread, you only have so much life to read, and you should probably go in order of importance. I'm not sure the last 50 years is even worth touching until you have a thorough grounding in the stuff that's lasted for hundreds if not thousands of years.

I'm also going to assert that Moby Dick is one of the few novels that you should not read. Listen to it on an audio book.


Bad takes: the post.
TranslatorBaa!
Jerubaal
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States7684 Posts
December 17 2018 03:45 GMT
#15
Shitposts: the post.
I'm not stupid, a marauder just shot my brain.
Jockmcplop
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom9646 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-17 09:41:05
December 17 2018 09:34 GMT
#16
Try "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" by Murakami. Its more sci-fi than his usual work, maybe with a Philip K Dick influence but done in Murakami's style. Its very good.

I would also recommend "Station 11" by Emily St. John Mandel, which is a book about a travelling Shakespeare company in a post apocalyptic world.

"#9 Dream" by David Mitchell is hallucinogenic and weird but also very cool coming of age sci-fi. I noticed someone else recommended Cloud Atlas, which is probably a superior novel in most ways, but #9 Dream has heart and is unique in a less gimmicky way (in my opinion).
RIP Meatloaf <3
hexhaven
Profile Joined July 2014
Finland931 Posts
December 17 2018 13:53 GMT
#17
On December 17 2018 18:34 Jockmcplop wrote:
"#9 Dream" by David Mitchell is hallucinogenic and weird but also very cool coming of age sci-fi. I noticed someone else recommended Cloud Atlas, which is probably a superior novel in most ways, but #9 Dream has heart and is unique in a less gimmicky way (in my opinion).


I've only read three novels by Mitchell, but I'll recommend pretty much anything and everything by him. Bone Clocks and Thousand Autumns were both good, but Cloud Atlas epic scope and ambition make it stand out.
WriterI shoot events. | http://www.jussi.co/esports
Jockmcplop
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom9646 Posts
December 17 2018 15:14 GMT
#18
On December 17 2018 22:53 hexhaven wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 17 2018 18:34 Jockmcplop wrote:
"#9 Dream" by David Mitchell is hallucinogenic and weird but also very cool coming of age sci-fi. I noticed someone else recommended Cloud Atlas, which is probably a superior novel in most ways, but #9 Dream has heart and is unique in a less gimmicky way (in my opinion).


I've only read three novels by Mitchell, but I'll recommend pretty much anything and everything by him. Bone Clocks and Thousand Autumns were both good, but Cloud Atlas epic scope and ambition make it stand out.


I agree that anything by Mitchell is worth a read anyway. I just remembered that I bought Bone Clocks and never even read it. Thanks for reminding me
RIP Meatloaf <3
JimmiC
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada22817 Posts
December 17 2018 16:18 GMT
#19
--- Nuked ---
NewEyes
Profile Joined March 2012
Germany113 Posts
December 17 2018 18:43 GMT
#20
I've only read three novels by Mitchell, but I'll recommend pretty much anything and everything by him. Bone Clocks and Thousand Autumns were both good, but Cloud Atlas epic scope and ambition make it stand out.


I honestly never good the hang of all the hype about Cloud Atlas. It's a neat idea and fits well with Mitchell's typical episode-like style of writing but I found it a bit too esoteric. Nevertheless it's fun but I'd for sure prefer Thousand Autumns.

How does Bone Clocks compare to the other two? Though you are right that you can't really go wrong with Mitchell anyway.
swanized
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Canada2480 Posts
December 18 2018 00:42 GMT
#21
Catch-22 Joseph Heller

Writer
Starlightsun
Profile Blog Joined June 2016
United States1405 Posts
December 18 2018 04:04 GMT
#22
I'm enjoying the hell out of Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Stories". Give the first book, "The Last Kingdom" a try. Also "Archaeology of Mind" changed the way I see the world.
Carnivorous Sheep
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Baa?21242 Posts
December 18 2018 16:25 GMT
#23
anyway read the recognitions by william gaddis
TranslatorBaa!
PhoenixVoid
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
Canada32740 Posts
December 20 2018 16:27 GMT
#24
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy (Very biblical gothic American western novel. Considered McCarthy's finest work)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace (Essay compilations ranging from reporting on awards for pornography to English grammar and how a cruise is not relaxing and fun as it seems)
I'm afraid of demented knife-wielding escaped lunatic libertarian zombie mutants
Tal
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
United Kingdom1015 Posts
December 27 2018 11:53 GMT
#25
On December 17 2018 02:56 Jerubaal wrote:
Well, I hate to bring up basic math, but you realize that 50 books is basically one a week, right? That's probably not going to be sustainable, even with several hours of reading a night. Secondly, could you give us some more insight into why you are reading and what you have read before? Are you just trying to keep your brain active or are you trying to enrich your mind?

To reference an earlier argument in this thread, you only have so much life to read, and you should probably go in order of importance. I'm not sure the last 50 years is even worth touching until you have a thorough grounding in the stuff that's lasted for hundreds if not thousands of years.

I'm also going to assert that Moby Dick is one of the few novels that you should not read. Listen to it on an audio book.


One a week is very doable for anyone with a couple of hours a day. Agree that it's generally better to focus on older stuff, but there is a lot of valuable new stuff too.

Can't imagine getting through the duller parts of Moby Dick if I couldn't skim read.

These threads are better if people give reasons for their recommendations so:

I recommend Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It's a good amble through history and the future, and while you might not agree with all of it, his way of writing and thinking makes you think.
It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.
farvacola
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States18826 Posts
December 27 2018 12:33 GMT
#26
Austerlitz by Sebald
"when the Dead Kennedys found out they had skinhead fans, they literally wrote a song titled 'Nazi Punks Fuck Off'"
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
December 27 2018 16:37 GMT
#27
I'll try to recommend books that I've found memorable. It may have been a few years since I read some of them.

Japanese Tales - Translation by Royall Tyler, a really good collection of folklore from Japan in bitesize chunks that can be read in a flash.
I Am a Cat (我輩は猫である)- Natsume Soseki; I love all his books, this was his first and it's a little goofy but it's adorable.
The Master of Go (名人)- Yasunari Kawabata; I also love all his books. I have the Seidensticker translation, and I've enjoyed his translations. This is the only book by Kawabata that isn't about a shitty person cheating on his wife.
Starting Point - Hayao Miyazaki; a collection of interviews of Miyazaki. More interesting than Turning Point IMO.
Lilith - Fantasy book that's quite neat
Solaris - sci fi book that's quite neat
Spring and All - Interesting poetry
poetry by TS Eliot - any anthology you care to pick up.
The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories - really nice collection.
Kappa - Ryuunosuke Akutagawa; My favourite book by him.
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion - Book that introduced me to Mishima

That's more than enough before I start recommending books on my shelf that were only a little interesting to me. Any of the Japanese authors would be worth looking into more if you like one book. I have found myself that I don't just read a bunch of books by various authors, but that I find an author I like that then I slowly read everything they've ever written. To me, that's the most effective way to not waste time looking for books you might not like. The other method being to get a good anthology of short stories, and look into the authors of the ones that were especially good.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
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