Books books books!

[Minxie]

Because I know a lot of us love books/reading!

I thought it might be nice to have a little thread chattering about favourite books/authors/genres, and that it might give some of us new ideas on things to read.

So, I'll start (since I've begun this thread and all...) with my current favourite book series (I'm utterly unsure what the plural of "series" is...)

First up is The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. Dresden is all about the only wizard in the Chicago phone directory (Harry Dresden), who works alongside the police department assisting in crime-solving, and generally getting himself into trouble. It's a fantastic series of books, still going, and quite long. So if you fancy sinking your teeth into something, I highly suggest this.
(It has been made into a TV series, starring two of my favourite actors, but unfortunately it isn't as good as the series, nor did it last *boohiss*)

Second up, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. Now, this isn't usually the type of book I would go for by myself, but a friend of mine lent me the first few, and once I got past the awful names, and the slightly cliché storyline, it's a surprisingly good read. BDB is about vampire society, and it's told in a very different way to what is out and about at the moment (namely Twilight). It's full of ridiculously-named characters, who (even though they nearly all have silly names) are very engaging. It's romantic, a teensy bit smutty, and all-in-all a bit of a laugh to read.
I, for one, enjoy the role reversal of men and women; ninety percent of romantic fiction has the strong, independent woman completely changing her views and becoming reliant on that one perfect man. BDB has the strong, independent man (well, vampire) becoming reliant on his one perfect woman. Imho? Perfect for the hopeless romantics!
(Just beware- the author has a weird obsession with sticking the letter 'h' in words to make them look more exotic o.O)

Third up, a completed trilogy I know Purplegirl has read: The Black Magician Trilogy, by Trudi Canavan. I wouldn't know where to start describing this trilogy, as it is by far one of the best magical-schooling fantasy books I have ever read (and those who know me know I'm a fantasy addict!). Canavan takes the idea of discovering magical ability, and rather turns it on its head: it's not amazing, to the main protagonist. It's pretty pants for her, actually. Do give it a look-see, it's spectacular!

Lastly, for now, a selection of Mercedes Lackey books. This woman is a fantasy author of epic proportions! She has done retellings of fairy tales, created entire universes, and merged fairy tales with historical events. All-in-all, she is one of my favourite authors of all time. OF ALL TIME.

I can highly recommend the following series:
The Elemental Masters series (fairy tales with elemental magic, often coinciding with historical events, such as the first world war)
The Five Hundred Kingdoms (fairy fales with a twist)
Bardic Voices (musical magic!)

Incidentally, if anyone fancies e-book versions of The Elemental Masters, Bardic Voices or Five Hundred Kingdoms, do let me know <3


Tl;dr version - Minxie lieks readin lolz

[perfectlypurple]

Oh what a thread to start! Where do I begin?!

I read mostly children's books to be honest. I am able to read adult books but I find them boring, so apologies if my recommendations are too young.

Current fav is Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. The main character is a skeleton detective which is awesome. He's really witty, the action is fast paced and the main character isn't annoying. Bonus.

One I've leant to Minxie is Maria V Snyder's Study Trilogy. I bought the first book but forgot to read it for months. When I finally did read it I had to buy the other two straight away. It's a fantasy for teens but I really like the main character. Nothing is ever too easy for her.

For anyone who ever loved the Alice in Wonderland stories you HAVE HAVE HAVE to read the Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. They are a retelling of Alice in Wonderland as if they were true. Alyss Heart is princess of Wonderland and her adventures are just beginning when her evil Aunt Redd kills her mother and chases her to the human world. It's a great, unique and fun story and worth a read if you want something entertaining.

Something I always recommend but that isn't a children's book is Danny Wallace. Start with Join Me, the story of how he started a cult; Yes Man, when he decides to live his life saying yes after saying no for so long; and Friends Like These, the story of Danny finding his 12 best friends from childhood. He's a funny writer. His writing style is chatty - it's like he's at the pub with you telling you the story over a pint. I love him so much! <3

That's mine for now! I have plenty more where they came from! ^_^

[kinosuki]

Well my favourite book of ALL time is probably Private Peaceful, its based around the war (i think it was the first war but don't hold me too it) and it follows the life of a man and his brother who join the army, its an awesome book and definitely worth a read, it made me cry all 4 times I've read it and its not stupidly long so you can read it in a day or 2 (read it in a day because I couldn't put it down) and I LOVED it.

Another one of my favourite's is a swift pure cry, its based in Ireland and it was in the Carnegie book awards about 3 or 4 years ago. it shows the life of a girl who gets pregnant and keeps it, but her friends pregnant at the same time and when the police find a dead baby in a cave they blame the main character. VERY good book.

[TenTen]

A book series I always reccommend is 'The Belgariad' series, followed by 'The Mallorean' series by David Eddings. It's a fantasy series following the boy Garion as he grows/comes of age etc. It is so easy to read... seriously... the first time I read the books I ended up reading a book a day... and there is five books in each series, plus three spin-off books too... (The Rivan Codex, Belgarath the Sorcerer, and Polgara the Sorcereress). Seriously... if you like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Eragon... or well... any fantasy based story, I'm sure you will LOVE this series by David Eddings.

Another good book that I thoroughly enjoy is 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee... yep, had to read it when I was in school and loved it so much that I bought my copy. XD XD

The book I'm currently reading at the moment is 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo... hmm... I wonder why I'm reading that?

[ssfseiyakou]

Oh, yes. David Eddings is pretty awesome. Since you like Eddings, Tenten, check out Raymond E Feist. You might like him.

Oh man, I'm a book whore. We had about 1000 books (no lie) before we moved from Florida to Colorado. I gave away as many as I could, and now we have about 500. Since our new place is pretty tiny, I'm going to donate 80% of those to the local library. ;-;

I mostly read fantasy. Of course, there are the classics, like Lord of the Rings, or modern classics, like Harry Potter. However, I'm a huge D&D geek, so the bulk of my collection is currently anything to do with Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. My favorite author is Ed Greenwood, and R.A Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books come a close 2nd. (I know he writes tons of stuff outside the Realms, but I haven't read any. I have, however, read Ed's work outside the Realms, and I have to say - it's pretty damn good.)

And I have to say, my wife is almost as big a LOTR nerd as Tenten.

Almost.

[kinosuki]

Seems like the place to put this, does anyone have any links to any good e-books / lessons (free ones please) for Japanese, I wanna improve my range of vocab, since atm its rather slim