Almost Jaded
12-10-2011, 09:38 PM
I'm a fiction reader. All fiction. Lately discovered Brandon Sanderson, a new fantasy writer. AMAZING. Elantris is quite good, Warbreaker is his worst and as good as most authors better stuff, the Mistborn trilogy is simply awesome and it's offshoot (just released a month ago) Alloy of Law was fantastic, and The Way of Kings is quite possibly the best book I've ever read, can't wait for the sequels...
William Folds
12-16-2011, 11:04 PM
If you like the Sookie Stackhouse books, check out the Mercy Thompson seires by Patricia Briggs. It's a similar type of urban fantasy world, but set in the U.S. NW. Mercy a little more badass than Sookie, too.
And of course, I can't recommend "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman enough. I just loved that book.
yes, haha... i love the mercy thompson series--such a great guilty pleasure. much better than that silly twilight crap. not that i've read twilight. cuz i'm a dude.
...
I'm an English teacher; you're in for it now lol
The Poisonwood Bible: Barbara Kingsolver
The Hunger Games (and the following two books in the trilogy): Suzanne Collins
Anything by Jodi Picoult is EXCELLENT. She takes real issues and examines them from the POV's of the characters. My Sister's Keeper is a movie based off one of her novels.
If you like crime novels and thrillers, James Patterson is a decent author to check out. Some of his novels also deal with environmental problems.
Here are a few I think EVERYONE should read:
Brave new world: Aldous Huxley
1984: George Orwell
Slaughterhouse 5: Kurt Vonnegut
Heart of Darkness: Joseph Conrad
Caliphate: Tom Kratman
Lord of the Flies: William Golding
Lolita: Vladimir Nabokov
Catch-22: Joseph Heller
A clockwork orange: Anthony Burgess
One flew over the cuckoo's nest: Ken Kesey
On a lighter note:
anything by L.J. Smith, C.S. Freidman, Lisa See, Kristin Hannah, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, and Patricia Briggs.
interesting. what level do you teach? i have pretty good exposure to english lit and your list always reminds me of the debate on "canon" in lit and whatnot, not to mention genre vs. lit, and the inclusion/exclusion of "other" voices.
Do you like dystopian novels at all?
Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, The Handmaid's Tale (Margarete Atwood)
Mira Grants' Newsflash Trilogy is alot of fun.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer was awesome!...I know it is geared towards YA, but man, that was such an interesting concept!
World Was Z by Max Brooks was actually really good, and quite scary.
Oh! Wool by Hugh Howey. It is super short but WOW!
As for novels that aren't about zombies or the end of the world:
Neil Gaiman: American Gods and Anansi Boys
The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair
and, of course, Room by Emma Donahuge
...have you ever been to goodreads.com? I love that community. It is a great way to find new books=)
world war z is so much fun... don't think much of max brooks' stuff post WWZ, though. also, the movie sounds like it's going to be a trainwreck. :'(
If you enjoy crime/underworld type stories, definitely check out the Stieg Larsson books! The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I couldn't put any of those down, they were so good.
I recently read Bossypants by Tina Fey on a plane flight and it was funny, light reading.
Memoirs of a Geisha was a great book.. They made it into a movie a while back.
yesssssss... i can't believe nobody else brought up these books, considering OP's preference for crime/underworld.
i got so into the first two books that i couldn't wait for the stateside release of the third one and had to get it off UK amazon. not sure if it's significantly different from the first two, but there are serious editing/content issues with it... but loved it regardless. can't wait for the US version of dragon tattoo film later this month.
i'm just gonna mention Harry Potter since nobody else has that i can see... ;D
shasta
12-17-2011, 12:26 AM
True crime + Aussie = Shantaram
papillonluvr
12-17-2011, 07:23 PM
William, I taught sixth grade and seniors.
I always try to include non-english authors, but most schools don't include them on their Canon and students have to wait for college for world literature.
FiendishGyrator
12-18-2011, 02:02 AM
I'm about to start The French Lieutenant's woman, and reading the reviews on amazon
someone compared it to The English Patient's Diary which I think
deserves to be on the list. I haven't read it in awhile but damn,
I feel like I visited a place in the real wold when I think back on reading it--
The author did a fantastic job balancing tension, and painting a world that's
sensuality is strongly tied in with that tension.
I'm looking forward to TFLW and if it's that good, I'll probably go back and
reread TEPD.