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ATTN: Readers
Topic Started: Jul 2 2008, 04:20:06 AM (373 Views)
Pump Noodle
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So... Apart from a summer assignment, for which I have a list to choose from, I have no books that I plan on reading anytime soon...

So... you guys should recomment me some good books that I may pick up and read during the summer. But don't just list stuff, give a reason why I should read it? Like great characters, really believable, makes you think, etc. Even though it'd probably not help me.
just saying.
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Creepy Old Guy With a Parrot
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Credit to myself, for asking Nyck to make this. I did the real work
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Phoenix_Kensai
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I would recommend Lord of the Rings, but... I'm sure you've both heard of and considered the series by now, if not read it, so I guess there wouldn't really be a point. >_>


So, try the Discworld series instead.




EDIT: Ah, sorry, I didn't notice your request for an explanation. I'll try to get around to it soon.
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Whale


You've probably heard of these before, but more info on them:

A Song of Ice and Fire series: Fantasy/political series. GRRM is a good writer imo, in terms of not just prose but characters and plot. It's confusing when you start reading, but once you get further into it it gets quite good. It's from the viewpoint of different, often opposing, characters, from ages eight or so to maybe past forty. I found the characters to be pretty believable.

Wheel of Time: A bit of a love-or-hate. Imagine a typical fantasy epic, except made even more epick. The usual good-vs-evil, but with some added elements to take it from cliched to awesome. The magic system is one of my favorites, too. Just be warned, it drags around the ninth or so book, but it picks up again. I don't feel I did this series justice, so if you haven't already, give it a try.

Ender: You know, Ender's Game and stuff. Game in particular had practically everything I could ever want in a book: a straight Hero's Journey that was pulled off well, military tactics, action, some more emotional scenes, witty dialogue, generally funny moments, an intelligent protagonist, and (I have to admit, I'm still a sucker for this) partly a school story. Oh, and some very nice twists.

obligatory text <<
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Phoenix_Kensai
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Well, about Discworld... it's primarily a comedy series, though even if you don't usually read comedy I recommend that you give it a try.

The characters are certainly interesting, though I don't know if I would call them believable... they're certainly not what you'd call realistic or normal (really, nothing in the series is), but Terry Pratchett has a way of making both the characters and the world in general seem somehow natural once you get used to it, despite the constant strangeness. While the characters are memorable, they also don't really stand out as much as they could, because of how unusual and memorable the world itself it.

From what I've read of the series, the plots aren't particularly complicated, though they tend to be pretty far from being cliche (the book I just read involved Death getting fired from his job and going to work as a farmer, for example >_>). Despite the fact that the books are mainly comedy, they can also be somewhat deep in places if you take the time to think. The comedy itself is excellent as well, of course; that is the main focus of the books, after all.
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Pump Noodle
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LOTR: Read the Lord of the Rings three years ago. I hated Frodo and Sam.

Discworld: Sounds amusing, I may look into it.

Ender: Sounds like you seemed to really enjoy it? I'll look into these next time I get to a book store [have not been to a library in yearsss].

Wheel of Time: I may have a friend who is or was reading that series... But I don't have the money to read a 9+ book series at the moment... And once I start I'd have to finish [unless it was aweful].

A Song of Ice and Fire: I'm almost certain my friend is reading this series... maybe, maybe not interested. My friend, although he loves reading his books, has a way of making them sound as though they're aweful [he only mentions what he doesn't really like, and ignores the rest].
just saying.
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Whale


Library ftw? I own practically no books.

obligatory text <<
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raak
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... Oh crap.

I don't read many books outside my shool assignments, but I can say those that I like from the ones I read:

Nights: A memoirs on the events of the Holocaust. Is narrated from the perspective of the author as a kid. One of the few things that make me feel like crying. Not so much for the Holocaust though. I would say it makes you meditate about this kind of things.

Necessary Roughtness: Ever watched an original Disney Movie from Disney Channel? Yeah... that. This is the story of a Chinese boy in the US. His parents imigrated to the US and he basically had a stable life in a Chinese comunity, but when they moved from their home to a small town with a population of white and blondes almost solely, he need to adapt to racial discrimination and crap. I wouldn't give it a Nobel Prize of Literature (but neither to Don Quijote, so meh), but it is easy reading if you want to get in the mood of reading and rather entertaining.

La Historia del Rey Transparente/The Story of the Transparent King:
Ok, this book is originally in Spanish. If you don't know Spanish, the experience might not be the same. If you find a English version, go ahead if you want. It takes place in medieval times. Is about a woman who, after being left alone because of war, she becomes a wandering knight. The story plays like many little story concerning her life. Something interesting is that it starts at point A and ends at point Z, if you catch my drift. It also combines a few elements of fantasy. One of the few Spanish book I had enjoyed.

Notice how most of this book are school reading (well, Necessary Roughness technically is Summer Reading while the Spanish one is Winter Reading =P), so they might be a little to scholarly. But I like them >_>
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Kenny
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Bartimaeus Trilogy, or the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
xxzomgkennyxx (11:54:19 PM): *hides rusty razor in shoe*
xxzomgkennyxx (11:54:21 PM): What >_>
WindDragon91 (11:55:01 PM): !
WindDragon91 (11:55:06 PM): That's where I hide mine, too!
WindDragon91 (11:55:07 PM): <3
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Wirtjr
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Dresden Files, Codex Alera, Diablo: Sin Wars
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Wirt.
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Pump Noodle
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I was planning on looking for Diablo Sin Wars actually...

Dark Tower series is long... and my other friend loves/d it... but he's obsessed with Stephen King... Like his idol or something.

Nights: I dunno... I don't feel like reading depressing Holocaust much at the moment...

Necessary Roughness: Sounds interesting. I may actually go to the library some day...

The Story of the Transparent King: If I could get it in english, I could give it a go.

Raak: I have nuhzing against school reading... One of my all time favorites was part of my english 11 course.
just saying.
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Kenny
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Jul 2 2008, 03:48:24 PM
Dark Tower series is long... and my other friend loves/d it... but he's obsessed with Stephen King... Like his idol or something.

The Dark Tower series could be considered long, And I'm not obsessed with Stephen King, but I found these books all to have memoriable characters, and a very nice plot and the ending is absolutely ridiculous so
xxzomgkennyxx (11:54:19 PM): *hides rusty razor in shoe*
xxzomgkennyxx (11:54:21 PM): What >_>
WindDragon91 (11:55:01 PM): !
WindDragon91 (11:55:06 PM): That's where I hide mine, too!
WindDragon91 (11:55:07 PM): <3
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Mad-cow-burger
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1984 by George Orwell. It just happens to be my favorite book. It's a classic that has shaped the world's view of politics. It's based in Great Britain in the future. When it is ruled by a single party, represented by the omnius Big Brother, only interested in keeping power. There is no privacy. Everything is monitored by machinces called telescreens. The story is of a man who decides to rebel against the party and what happens to him.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It is a distopic science fiction book, like 1984, but makes a slightly different point. Rather than the a dicatorship controlling people through fear, it controlls people through joy and euphoria by means of forced druging. Powerful, depressing stuff.

Blindness by Jose Saramago. A city is hit by an epidemic where thousand see only a milky shade of white. In a panic, the government put all who are striken with the disease into an abandonned mental asylum. Read it now, before the movie comes out in september!

Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. The classic tale from seventeenth century Spain, when chivaliry has died and knights have become only legends and the books. An execntric, old, man reads so many books about knights in shining armour that and decides to become one himself. He leaves his village of La Mancha and goes on a quest, going wherever his steed Rocinante will take him, despite everyone he meets thinking he's insane. It's the feel good book of the second milenium, common era.
I'm reading the book myself and it is very good, even if it is long (1000+ pages). It was named the best book ever by nobel institute. And the way I see it, if it's 400 years old and folks are still reading it, it's gotta be good.

The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. When Planet Earth explodes only one earthman is alive, lovable loser Arthur Dent. He learns his friend, Ford Prefect, who saved him is an alien, who is a co-writter for the univer's most popular book, The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy, an encyclopedia of everything worth knowing about. Ford and Arthur go on a wild adventure, while researching for the second edition of the book. This is a classic of Eggheaded British humour. Eithier you'll think it's hilarious or not get it at all.

This is the internet. How can people not know stuff?
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Pump Noodle
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1984 - I probably won't read it.
Brave New World - possibly, but probably not.
Blindness - again, not grabbing my attention.
Don Quizote - Looks good, I'll definately look into it.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - absoutely refuse to read this...
just saying.
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Fishin4pigeon
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/Tom Sawyer: There's a pretty good chance you've read these already, but if not, do so. They're both classic works of literature that are amusing and provide an interesting look at America's past. Err, now that I remember you're Canadian, you might not have read them (they're pretty much standard reading in most American schools).

Eragon: Solid fantasy series with swords, dragons, magic, the works. Pretty popular.

Artemis Fowl: Series about a 13-year old genius who uses his intellect for money-making schemes, and the race of underground fairies that try to stop him. It does a good job of combining two different quirks and being entertaining at the same time.
[size=2]Shadow [/size]of the Emblem. Srsly.

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Today in school we were watching a movie about risk and alcohol and drugs. On of the things was gross and i fainted.

Jackytf the member
Nov 15 2007, 12:45:13 AM
Great. Now your trainer has to go all the way back to the Pokemon Center. Do you know when he saved last? I sure hope you're happy.
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Luneth
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The Legend of Drizzt:

R. A. Salvatore is a genius. This series (currently 12 books, but actually 4 trilogies) is fantastic. End of story. The characters could be considered generic, but that's because they were the ones to set the trends. The series revolves around Drizzt Do'urden, a Dark Elven renegade, and his search for meaning. The series covers his entire life (as far as I know, I just finished book 9) and his adventures in the Forgotten Realms world.

The best part is, you could stop reading after a set of three books!
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raak
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... Oh crap.

BTW, if you're going to read Don Quixote, be prepare to interpret a lot. This book is famous mainly because its message makes an impact even today. Also, like the Transparent King, each chapter is like a mini story.

Personally, I couldn't get into it and my grandma gave up after the first tome (the novel is composed of two tomes). Is very, very didactic and pretty hard to read.

Another book I recommend is the famous French novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I had only read an abridged version for school that cuts the many historical references, but even then the book feels very complete.

Is the story about Jean Valjean, a convict in 1800s France and his many lives. I can't really give a good explanation, but I can say I loved the book because of the themes the authors explores and the emotions it produces. Read it when you have time to spare.
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Mad-cow-burger
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To add to raak's point, Don Quixote can be a dificult read. The language is quite colourful and the vocabulary is large. However, If you smart enough, and have a very good imagination, it is a very rewarding read, even if many of the jokes are four hundred years out of date.
You may also consider that there are around thirteen translations of the book. Try to read a more modern (aka 1880's and past) version as older additions are a bit more inacurate. Back then you could be a bit more liberal with your translations, you could cut out sentances and even whole paragraphs and add your own stuff. Plus the mesage is diferent form version to version. In some he's a romantic hero, in others he's a lunatic (He's realy both, which is kinda odd).
The version I'm reading is by John Rutherford, a recent translation that uses slightly more modern english and has a very useful appendix at the back. He won an award for it.
This is the internet. How can people not know stuff?
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Pump Noodle
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Alright, so I don't need anymore suggestions. Yesterday, my mom bought be a bunch of books [I was reading a series a while back, but couldn't find any of the others in this area, but she was away] for a grading present. I will still look into some of these books though.

Thanks for all teh suggestions.
just saying.
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Jackytf the member the admin
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What feenix and Kenny said.


And kenny, remember, the book did warn you against reading the ending. It could even be considered non-canon, just written to shut people up.

Also, if you do read the Dark Tower series, skip the fourth book. It sucks.
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Danoh
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Wirtjr
Jul 2 2008, 11:06:12 AM
Dresden Files

This.

I love the Dresden Files. :>

Artemis Fowl books're good too.
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