Been maybe 7 years since I read a book for fun
Anyone care to reccomend some books worth reading
>>17287488
Do you have a favorite genre? Such as fantasy stories, love novels, historical novels, police stories...
>>17287494
I can't remember. I must stress how long it's been since I've read literature not assigned to me.
Realistic fiction, I guess
>>17287517
Well, that's vague... here are three off the top of my head. Two stray away to the "realistic" just a tiny bit to help you find a genre.
>The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.
One of the classics. If you haven't been assigned to read it, I recommend it; there are plenty of reasons why it has stood the test of time. The protagonist is quite the rascal.
>The Player of Games, by Ian M.Banks
I'll warn you: this is sci-fi. It kinda leans towards espionage. The story isn't too shabby, but it starts kinda slow. It talks about this alien civilization having developed a game they claim to be as complicated as life itself, to the point that they measure one's worth in gameplay. No other requirement are needed to be servant, soldier, doctor or even emperor then to win a session of the game of the corresponding difficulty. The protagonist plays the aliens on their game, unbeknownst to the fact that he's being played by both the alien government - and his own.
>God's Left Hand trilogy by Paul Hoffman.
It talks about how a teenage boy's life foretold to be the angel of death pans out. No fantasy devices of any kind are involved - no magic, no miracles, no anything; less mushy then one might expect at first glance to boot... and plays a lot on the "brutally honest" trope, which I love. Whether the "foretelling" is even believable is open to debate. Just a dark story, some teenage angst, a couple of memorable characters and lots of philosophy. Religion and places are entirely fictional. I personally found it very enjoyable.
Im in the same boat as OP however Im really interested in a series called Malazan
but I havent read in a while and heard theyre a bit difficult, is it a bad place to start?
>>17287602
I've never heard of them, so I did a quick google search. 10 volumes, "a complicated story". The bulk of it doesn't impress me - grammar and narrative pacing are the real turn downs.
For example, I love A Song Of Ice And Fire (aka Game of Thrones), but God, how I hated all those chapters in Catelyn Stark's POV.
So, to answer your question: just give the series a shot, either by downloading an e-book sample or purchasing the first book. If it speaks to you in any way, keep reading on. There are no real starters - it all comes down to how much enticing the story is.
Malazan is fucking terrible don't read it.
For epic scifi/if you like asoiaf try Dune & the Hyperion series
Realistic try War & Peace or Zola
>>17287656
Why is it fucking terrible tho?
>>17287488
Nigga, you're talking to a book fiend.
Ok, so you're out of shape, so you probably need some easy leaning into.
I recommend World War Z.
Nice and easy book. I know the Zombie meme has passed but it was published during the height.
My favourite comfort author is Stephen King. He writes simply but effective. He is a master of feel. His ends are often disappointing but he can really nail a feeling.
11.22.63 is a good one. With a good end to boot.
Go for any of his books. They read like silk.
For sci-fi, of which I am guilty of being a consumer, the Ender series by Orson Scott Card is real good.
Hyperion is real good too, but it's more like a collection of tales than anything. Real fucking good though.
I'm pretty drunk now so a lot of ideas are slipping through my fingers.
My favourite author is Kurt Vonnegut. He writes funny but depressing stories.
A lot of them are nonlinear and meta-textual.
Cat's Cradle is a real good straight forward one. Not his most popular one, but one I like nonetheless.
If you read that and enjoy the style, read all of his books. They're so good.
>>17287714
Terrible prose, plot, dialogue,everything, it's all bad. I only read the first one and it's the worst book I've ever completed.
Read at your own risk.
>>17287488
The disaster artist
>>17287602
I started reading the first book. In the prologue the author mentions him not holding the readers hand and some other pretentious bullshit, then mentions how he inspired most of the series in the Black Company series, by Glen Cook.
So I closed the book, download the entire Black Company series and read it all in like a month.
It's still one of my favorite book series ever. Highly recommend it to fans of dark fantasy.
>>17287775
Oh and thinking about The Lady still give me random boners at night.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
If you end up liking the humor, continue reading Pratchett (Colour of Magic is the first place to start). If you end up liking the more whimsical aspects, continue reading Gaiman (American Gods is a decent choice).
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera is one of my favorite books ever and the only time I actually somewhat rooted for a character whos a cheating bastard.
Things Fall Apart by Achebe is one of my favorite books about pre/post colonization Africa
I really like contemporary Japanese fiction (not even a weeb), but I've found that it goes from 0 to oh shit nigger what are you doing in the last 1/4 of the books, which can be unpleasant if you like a more gradual buildup.
The Once and Future King by White is a great fiction on the King Arthur myth
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle makes me legitimately cry from how simple and beautiful the prose is
Catch 22 is fucking magnificent satire, though it is off putting if you don't understand what satire really is or what the book is satirizing
Dragonlance is a good, extremely simple fantasy series. It may seem cliche at this point, but it's one of the reasons that the cliche exists. I read these in middle school (start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight) so good if you want a quick and easy read.
Nonfiction choices
Fast Food Nation - bretty ghoul look at the development of fast food culture in the US. Pretty dense with the statistics, but if my 9th graders can read it, you'll be fine.
Nickel and Dimed is an account of stunt/investigative journalism where a middle class woman challenges herself to work low class jobs (like $6) to see how well she gets by. More anecdotal but it has some interesting statistics.
Stiff is about corpses and why they're important to us. Biology stuff that's kind of cool.
The Outliers is about the successes of people on the fringe. My incoming AP Lang kids are reading this one.
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth is about the loser kids in high school, why they're losers, and why they'll be more successful as adults. Really love this book. Author has another called The Overachievers, which Im going to read next.
The Year of Living Biblically - as the title suggests, guy lives according to biblical rules to the T (minus stoning adulterers and the like). Kind of pretentious, but if you're in the "fuck you mom I won't go to church" mental state you might like it.
Friday Night Lights is about a town where football is literally all they have. Seems like a cheesy sport story on the surface but it actually is a scathing review of the ridiculous sport culture of high school and how kids essentially use up their worth before they even graduate.
In Cold Blood is about some violent murders. It's incredibly graphic.
These are all high school reading books, so the level isn't too advanced but they are still kind of interesting.
blood meridian by cormac McCarthy. Changed my life
>>17287962
>Changed my life
You learned that everything is shitty and life is a non-stop rollercoaster down hill?
>>17287488
The 48 Laws of Power
Try Sword in The Stone by Nolan White. You may have seen the Disney movie adaption of the same name but the book has a lot of wisdom one can draw from.
If that doesn't suit you and you want a book that you can just look peruse through look for Man and Modern Society. Very good book.
>>17287974
Through hedonism, evil will ultimately consume those without what we deam to be righteous ideals. However, those who live in the name of righteousness and it's trailing ideals are at fault for consumating the enivitabile byproduct of war, which in itself, at least to Judge Holden, "is God" . So basically, yes your comment is correct
So yeah, basically
>>17287488
Kurt Vonnegut writes pretty accessible stuff. A bit lefty, though.
Bukowski is a good drunk read. Especially Women.
Try "Walden". That is some profound shit.
"Blithedale Romance" by Hawthorne is great, especially now in our societally-turbulent time.
"Anna Karenina" for unbelievable descriptions of social dynamics.
Classics are where it's at IMO... Not that there isn't great contemporary writing. But start with the time-tested great stuff, that way you have a basis for knowing whether the current stuff you're reading is worthwhile or not. Do that and you'll be ahead of the game compared to 90% of other people in their teens and 20s.
>2016
>reading
>>17287517
Realistic fiction? Anything Russian. Man, the Russians were fucking masters of this genre. Great characterization, wonderful descriptions. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn, Chekhov. It's too bad that you likely won't read this in Russian (or some other Slavic language) because English translations are so flavorless in comparison.
>>17287488
The Satanic Bible
>>17288147
I haven't even read the regular Bible.
>>17287488
My favourite authors are boris vian, pascal bruckner and alberto moravia, pick up something by them if interested
>>17288154
Satanic Bible is shorter.
I remember loving reading "the hatchet" when I was really young, it's a great casual book. "Z for Zachariah" will leave you in a nice and depressed mood. "1984" is a really good book to get you thinking about society and government and such. "City of Ember" is a really nice post apocalyptic story. The "Tunnels" series I found exceptionally good. "The giver" is also a crazy good utopia novel. These are a few of the really memorable books which have been the reason why I got into literature before and during my teenage years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to insult you by suggesting my childhood books, I'm just pointing out the ones which I remember to be intriguing and would consider to be fairly light and easy book to get into.
On a side note, I have always heard that "a brave new world" and "Fahrenheit 451" and really good books similar to 1984, yet somehow I haven't gotten around to them still, are they similar to 1984 and are they just as good? Also, I'm reading war and peace 1-4 right now and additionally some book filled with short stories from Gogol, with "idiot", "crime and punishment", and "quiet don" being in my summer lineup of reading, what other russian, or really anything should I also consider reading? Either russian literature (I read in russian, mind you), or dystopian story novels similar to 1984 or the giver. Suggestions?
>>17288294
Really liked brave new world even though the ending isnt very good, havent read 1984 yet, have had it in the shelf for a year, just so tired of the dystopian theme, more into more surrealist stuff lately desu
>>17287488
Confederacy of Dunces
written like 'proper' literature, but fucking hilarious and pants-on-head crazy. so much insane shit happens, honestly i'm a big reader and, never happens to me, but once i started i had to finish it in one sitting. chapters are each at like 6 - 12 pages long. fantastic fucking book, could never recommend it enough
>>17287962
>>17287974
>>17288071
damn dudes. it's a good book about human natures inclivity to war and the constant state of wilderness violence at the edge of our psyches, but it's not overarching to the point of demolishing mankind, chill out
What books in high school did you enjoy? JD Salinger and F Scott Fitzgerald are some authors that would fit under realistic
>>17289012
Fucking gross
Even in highschool I wouldn't have read them (and didn't have to, but chose to)
Read Joseph Campbell instead bruh
