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Good fiction books

123K views 1K replies 63 participants last post by  ekim68 
#1 ·
Since the other thread got solved, he we go..

Just finished the fifth book from Naomi Novik that started with 'His Majesty's Dragon'. A series set during the Napoleon years with dragons as the Air Corp...Fun stuff, but what's cool is her knowledge of geography and history. :up: (Got me interested enough to look at some maps of the old Silk Roads and the territory they cross through...)
 
#3 ·
Maybe they all just read tech manuals, eh Paq? ;)

But, just finished the third book of the Overland series by Tad Williams...What a roller coaster ride...:up: It's about a simulation world on the net with many different scenarios. The battle of Troy sequence would make Homer proud, including a particular Trojan Horse...:cool: One more book to go and it's 1048 pages...:eek: (I'm trying to squeeze in 200 pages a day and thank goodness it's summer and I'm not so busy...:up: )
 
#4 ·
Love Kathy Reichs "Bones" series (and the tv show as well). Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta" series. Tess Gerritisen's "Rizzoli & Isles" characters- which is being turned into a tv show starting July 12 by the way. Robin Cook (especially the Jack Stapleton/Laurie Montgomery characters which all his more recent books have featured).
 
#5 ·
It does seem like many folks don't read anymore. I know books are expensive these days, but have people forgotten about their public libraries??? That's where I get all my reading material. The younger generation's reading skills are so bad - they especially need to read more. Having worked in a local high school in the recent past, I know just how bad their reading skills are.
 
#7 ·
Oh, I read. It just takes a lot for me to really recommend a book. But I'm reading all the time. Just finished Snow Falling on Cedars (liked it), am currently reading Atonement (like it) and will move next to Life of Pi. I'll let you know if I come across something that knocks my socks off! :p
 
#8 ·
I can only read about one fiction book a year in the past two years. That is all I have had time for. Last year I read Dragon Seed, by Pearl Buck. I loved her book.
This year I am reading the first two novels of Shattered Vessels: The Summer in the Street of the Prophets / A Voyage to Ur of the Chaldees, by David Shahar. For me this is a difficult read, but for some reason, I can't put it down. I love books, movies, and music that can transport me, and this one does. Too bad I don't have more time to read leisurely.
 
#10 ·
I'm a writer: therefore I read: copiously.

I read fiction to relax and escape.

Authors I like for escape: Michael Crichton: John Grisham: Michael Connolly: Clive Cussler.

Older writers: Neville Shute: I'm a huge fan of his books and of the man.

George Orwell: I also appreciate his social commentaries such as Homage to Catalonia: Down and out in Paris and London.

Steinbeck: particularly The Grapes of Wrath.

Hemmingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Old Man and The Sea:

Ian Rankin and his Rebus novels. First class characterization and plotting.

.
 
#11 ·
Hey Gabriel, have you ever read any of Tamora Pierce? She has some great women warriors....:up: I read books to lift me up...:up: :cool: (Well, not only..;) )
Hi Ekim, No, I haven't read her books. I lean more toward scifi in the past than fantasy....though I like books like Woman Who Run with Wolves, also. That would be the closest I get to female archetypal stuff.
 
#12 ·
I love to read anything by John Grisham. I love stories about the law and lawyers and the entire court system. And I love mysteries.... I also like reading about far away places like John Grisham includes in many of his novels. I recently found a new author named Ted Dekker which I like quite a bit.
 
#13 ·
Great WWII spy novel.



and

If you've read either "The Gold Coast" or "The Charm School", "Plum Island" is IMO, better then either of those...
 
#14 ·
I've also just started reading...



...in anticipation of the mini-series of the same name, starting July 23rd on Starz in the US.
 
#16 ·
Really, the only good book Follet wrote.

As with so many, he eventually became a template writer..........
Same as happened to Robert Ludlum IMO.

Anything by James Michener, Leon Uris or James Clavell. All good story tellers.
 
#19 ·
If you've read either "The Gold Coast" or "The Charm School", "Plum Island" is IMO, better then either of those...
Strange. Plum Island and Charm School did little for me where I found the Gold Coast quite good. His best IMO was "Word of Honor". Followed by (although written earlier) "Rivers of Babylon".
 
#20 ·
Same as happened to Robert Ludlum IMO.
Indeed.
Anything by James Michener, Leon Uris or James Clavell. All good story tellers.
:up: With Michener a class of his own.

Sadly all gone by now. I'll throw in Len Deighton as the poor man's Le Carré.:) And John le Carré himself of course. Especially since he's still around.
 
#21 ·
And John le Carré himself of course. Especially since he's still around.
The Night Manager.......easily in my all-time top 20 or so.......

still would have to lean towards 'The Jackal' as one of the best espionage books ever written.
 
#22 ·
I'm a writer: therefore I read: copiously.

I read fiction to relax and escape.

Authors I like for escape: Michael Crichton: John Grisham: Michael Connolly: Clive Cussler.

Older writers: Neville Shute: I'm a huge fan of his books and of the man.

George Orwell: I also appreciate his social commentaries such as Homage to Catalonia: Down and out in Paris and London.

Steinbeck: particularly The Grapes of Wrath.

Hemmingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Old Man and The Sea:

Ian Rankin and his Rebus novels. First class characterization and plotting.

.
Speaking of Spain;), if you haven't come across him already, Gerald Brennan. Once loosely linked with the Bloomsbury group, his accounts of Spanish history and first hand experience of Spanish culture are captivating (he lived here til the outbreak of the Civil War and later returned to finally die here). Much revered by Spaniards.

Currently reading "Malaga burning" by his American wife Gamel Woolsey.
 
#26 ·
The Night Manager.......easily in my all-time top 20 or so.......

still would have to lean towards 'The Jackal' as one of the best espionage books ever written.
:up:Forsyth had slipped my mind.
 
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