Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

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Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby johnrogers » Sun Sep 09, 2012 2:41 pm

Can anyone recommend a really good book to read.I have just breezed thru several novels and not one of them left me satisfied.Any suggestion I would really appreciate it.
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby Nefer » Sun Sep 09, 2012 2:59 pm

I posted the same appeal on facebook, and a friend recommended Guy Gavriel Kay. His books are fantasy-ish. It took me a while to get into his writing style, about 1/4 way through the first book; and now I'm a fan!

Here's the reading order my friend suggested:

Start with Tigana, and then A Song for Arbonne (those are his two stand alone fantasies).

Then, his historical fantasies are best read in this order: Sailing to Sarantium, Lord of Emperors (a duology), then The Lions of Al-Rassan, and then Last Light of the Sun. (This is their "historical chronology", although not in the order he wrote them.)

His contemporary fantasies must be read in this order: The Fionavar Tapestry (which is: The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Longest Road), and then Ysabel.

His newest novel is Under Heaven, and I would read that last.

All his novels are amazing!!! As in, get completely engrossed in the characters (good and bad, they are all incredibly developed) and the story, laugh and cry, and get angry. Read over and over. :-)


I also really enjoyed Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. The first book had its issues, and Insurgent is much better as the author's writing style shows great improvement. Both are YA novels, here's the good reads blurb:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.


Hope these prove helpful John :)
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby johnrogers » Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:04 pm

Nefer wrote:I posted the same appeal on facebook, and a friend recommended Guy Gavriel Kay. His books are fantasy-ish. It took me a while to get into his writing style, about 1/4 way through the first book; and now I'm a fan!

Here's the reading order my friend suggested:

Start with Tigana, and then A Song for Arbonne (those are his two stand alone fantasies).

Then, his historical fantasies are best read in this order: Sailing to Sarantium, Lord of Emperors (a duology), then The Lions of Al-Rassan, and then Last Light of the Sun. (This is their "historical chronology", although not in the order he wrote them.)

His contemporary fantasies must be read in this order: The Fionavar Tapestry (which is: The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Longest Road), and then Ysabel.

His newest novel is Under Heaven, and I would read that last.

All his novels are amazing!!! As in, get completely engrossed in the characters (good and bad, they are all incredibly developed) and the story, laugh and cry, and get angry. Read over and over. :-)


I also really enjoyed Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth. The first book had its issues, and Insurgent is much better as the author's writing style shows great improvement. Both are YA novels, here's the good reads blurb:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.


Hope these prove helpful John :)


Thanks Nefer,I have downloaded Tigana on my kindle ebook cost was $13.77 (expensive).I am not a great fan of fantasy however I will give it a try,much appreciate your help.

[b7] Nefer did you buy a home in Vancouver this summer ? ( now thats really expensive :lol: )
Learn to appreciate what you have and quit worrying about what you don't - Remember to think before you speak,people judge you by what you say about others
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby Nefer » Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:06 pm

I'm borrowing the books from the library, it takes a while to get ebooks but certainly worth it; seeing as how they're free! I'm thinking about buying a few hardcopies, want to support him as he's a Canadian author.

I ended up not buying; I wasn't too thrilled with the offerings in the area I was looking at. So I'm going to wait a bit, apparently the bubble will crash soon in Vancouver, and then maybe... maybe... I'll think about diving in!
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby tedd » Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:21 pm

Hi Nefer - when the novels I'm reading are beginning to pall I find changing the genre beneficial - I usually get stuck into a biography or a true travel book or two, something with a bit of excitement and makes you think about the real things that have happened in life - I also like the animal books like Jill Wylie's Call of the Marsh and Fitzpatrick's Jock of the Bushveld. After a spell of reality I can pick up a novel again.
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby johnrogers » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:29 pm

tedd wrote:Hi Nefer - when the novels I'm reading are beginning to pall I find changing the genre beneficial - I usually get stuck into a biography or a true travel book or two, something with a bit of excitement and makes you think about the real things that have happened in life - I also like the animal books like Jill Wylie's Call of the Marsh and Fitzpatrick's Jock of the Bushveld. After a spell of reality I can pick up a novel again.

Hi Tedd
I read your take on things to Nefer.Yes I agree with you 100% regarding changing genres in reading material,now I have tried that but I seem to be stuck on the genre similar to Wilbur Smith,Conn Iggulden,Jeffery Whitman style of story telling.This genre written tends to take be right in to the story,as such at times I really feel that I am walking beside the main characters in the book.My main problem is as much as I enjoy other types of books,and am willing to give all authors a chance with a very open mind,and without any prejudgment they still come short of the mark I am looking for.I don't like romance in a book and I don't like to much eroticism in a story.I am not a fan of fantasy or horror but as I say I am willing to give anything a chance in hopes I may glamor on to it.

Tedd can you suggest anything that I can read that is along the lines of Wilbur,Conn,or Jeff - something that is quality,worthwhile,and mesmerizing

johnrogers
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Re: Help - I Need A Really Good Book To Read

Postby tedd » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:01 pm

I always think I've got a bit of a nerve telling others what to read - we all are so different in our likes (and dislikes). However I CAN recommend :- Keith Meadows - Between Sunlight and Thunder ALSO Sand in the Wind. He also wrote some non-fiction books but died prematurely in Afghanistan so failed to consolidate himself as a writer of novels. I was impressed with the little that he did manage to write.
For non-fiction try Selous's Travel and Adventure in SE Africa - you can see some of the incidents in WS's books spring from Selous true life story.
However, I have to add two thoughts that influence my reading and collecting 1) I am so much an Africana fan that nearly all the books I read whether fact or fiction are about Africa. 2) that although I read and enjoy fiction including non-African, very few fiction authors and titles remain in my memory or on my shelves. I have most of WS's books in 1st edns, most signed by him, and I have Jeff's Sons of Africa in my computer (which I might try to print out one day and bind into hardback). Apart from that I still promote Lee Child and Michael Connelly as good crime authors although at the moment I'm reading Sherlock Holmes (don't laugh)
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