[jaredbelch]

I thought having a place where everyone can post books they recommend would be a good idea. So, I'll start. I'm sure I'll add others later, but I'm reading this one right now. Feel free to add yours.

Lone Survivor:by Marcus Luttrell - It's a true story about a group of navy seals and a mission in Afghanistan that went horribly wrong. This is a freakin' good book! It actually made me cry; the bravery and heroism of these men is amazing.

 

[divegeek]

Here's a book of a completely different sort: "A Fire Upon the Deep", by Vernor Vinge. If you like science fiction, you've GOT to read this book. Sci-fi is all about new and interesting ideas, mixed of course with good characters and good stories, but if you read much sci-fi you know that there's relatively little new ground being broken. Except by Vinge. This book contains a dozen mind-blowing ideas, any one of which would provide the basis for a great sci-fi novel, but he packs them all into one, and then follows it up with "A Deepness in the Sky" which is, if anything, better and even more amazing. The third book in the series (they all deal with different characters and stand alone) is "Rainbows End", which I plan to pick up from the library later today.

Each of the three books won the Hugo award for the year they were published. This is like a director winning the Academy award for "Best Picture" for every film he makes.

 

[GeneticsDave]

Just got done reading Dead Heat by Joel Rosenberg. He has five books in this political thriller series, I'm renting the others (wish I would have started with the first, not the fifth!). They are really intriguing. If you like action and politics all wrapped around terrorism and end-times prophecy, these are great reads. His series is as follows:

1. The Last Jihad

2.The Last Days

3. The Ezekiel Option

4. The Copper Scroll

5. Dead Heat

 

[Nocked N Loaded]

I'd like to revive this thread, I have had more time to read lately, and would like more suggestions. I'll give some of my suggestions too, starting with

Point of Impact
by Stephen Hunter

which is the first of a series about marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, which was made into the movie Shooter.

 

[bltdonahue]

Here's a book of a completely different sort: "A Fire Upon the Deep", by Vernor Vinge. If you like science fiction, you've GOT to read this book. Sci-fi is all about new and interesting ideas, mixed of course with good characters and good stories, but if you read much sci-fi you know that there's relatively little new ground being broken. Except by Vinge. This book contains a dozen mind-blowing ideas, any one of which would provide the basis for a great sci-fi novel, but he packs them all into one, and then follows it up with "A Deepness in the Sky" which is, if anything, better and even more amazing. The third book in the series (they all deal with different characters and stand alone) is "Rainbows End", which I plan to pick up from the library later today.

Each of the three books won the Hugo award for the year they were published. This is like a director winning the Academy award for "Best Picture" for every film he makes.

I somehow missed this thread the first go-around, but I'll gladly jump onboard for it's revival!

+1 to Divegeek. "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky" were both mindblowing. "Rainbows End," however, it not really part of the series. It takes place on nearly-modern Earth. I thought the plot to "Rainbows End" was...meh. However, Vinge's vision of our near-term future I thought was very believable and just amazing.

Other things I've read lately that have been worth mentioning:

"Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death." Boy, I thought the USAF had some severe leadership and bureaucratic problems...but the US Army apparently reigns supreme in that department. This book is an excellent look at the day-to-day ugly of Iraq. Unlike other modern war-history books I've read lately, this one is actually written very well and easy to read (assuming you know a bit about Army command structure).

The entire Turtledove "South Wins The Civil War" series (called Timeline 191 by the nerds/fans). Huge, long series, and great fodder for a history buff...but not a great intellectual exercise or life-altering series. Perfect for all my business travel

"One Second After" by Wiliam Forstchen. A post EMP apocalypse book. Not bad. Excessivley pessimistic, I think, about the effects of a well-executed EMP attack, but generally a good read.

"#[email protected] My Dad Says" was a short, but hilarious book. I just admit to being a fan of grumpy, witty old men. I loved Red's character on "That 70's Show" for example.

I actually travel, and read so much as a result, I can't even recall all the stuff I've read this year. I'll have to go back and check out the bookshelves when I get home.

 

[divegeek]

+1 to Divegeek. "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky" were both mindblowing.

I need to go back and re-read them. Seriously amazing books.

"Rainbows End," however, it not really part of the series. It takes place on nearly-modern Earth. I thought the plot to "Rainbows End" was...meh. However, Vinge's vision of our near-term future I thought was very believable and just amazing.

Agreed. I posted the above before reading it. I'm not sure where I got the idea that it was part of a series; it's clearly unrelated to the other two. But really, really interesting and a really believable and thought-provoking vision of where we may be headed in the next few decades.

"Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death."

Sounds very interesting. I'll have to check that one out after the e-book price comes down to a semi-reasonable level, or when the audio version hits Audible.com.

The entire Turtledove "South Wins The Civil War" series (called Timeline 191 by the nerds/fans). Huge, long series, and great fodder for a history buff...but not a great intellectual exercise or life-altering series. Perfect for all my business travel

I have mixed feelings about Turtledove. His settings are interesting, but his characters and stories frequently leave me bored.

"One Second After" by Wiliam Forstchen. A post EMP apocalypse book. Not bad. Excessivley pessimistic, I think, about the effects of a well-executed EMP attack, but generally a good read.

That's on my iPod. Haven't gotten to it yet.

Another series that I highly recommend is the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. Child has a really unique writing style, full of short, choppy sentences, but it really works. He's a tremendous writer and the Reacher character is fascinating. Lots of great action. The books stand on their own so you don't have to read them in order, but I'd suggest starting at the beginning with "Killing Floor". Note that these books are pulp, not food for thought, and they require significant suspension of disbelief, but they're very entertaining.

 

[UtahJarhead]

Monster Hunter International.
Monster Hunter Vendetta.

 

[Luv10mm]

If you enjoy science fiction, then I would recommend the Lensman Series by E.E. "Doc" Smith. The science is admittedly, a bit far-fetched, but fun all the same. E.E. Smith is considered to be the father of the space opera, and some of his concepts/terms were actually used by the US military. He was friends with Robert Heinlein.

 

[Zacharia]

Though my tastes vary, here is a list of some of my favorites / interesting reads that come to mind in no particular order.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Screwtape Letters
The Red Badge of Courage
David Copperfield
The Prince
The Art of War
Last of the Mohicans
The Horatio Hornblower series
White Fang
Call of the Wild
The Lord of the Rings Series
The Canterbury Tales (Sp?)
Lord of the Flies

At least a few of these are available free electronically from the kindle classics store.

If you like historical fictions and are christian/lds and/or want to learn more about them then some of these are my favorites.
1 - The Porter Rockwell Chronicles by Richard Dewey
2 - The Fire of the Covenant by Gerald Lund
3 - Faith of our Fathers series by Nancy Allen

 

[Daeyel]

Big Thumbs Up to Lee Child's Reacher series. Reacher rocks.

I've been all over the map in my reading. Stephen King, Loius L'Amour, Frederick Forsyth, John LeCarre, Robert Ludlum, Robert Jordan and so on.

Recent favorite?

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

But my all time favorite is still John LeCarre's Smiley trilogy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Honourable Schoolboy
Smiley's People

the 1st and 3rd have been made into gorgeous 6 hour miniseries by the BBC. Its just AWESOME to have 2 of your 3 favorite books treated to 6 hours each by the best TV station in the world. Starring Sir Alec Guinness no less. (You know him as Obi Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy)

 

[smo]

The Gift of Fear - http://www.amazon.com/Other-Survival-Si ... 448&sr=8-1

Protecting the Gift - http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Gift-K ... 481&sr=1-1

The Gift of Fear has a bit of an anti-gun stance, just to warn you up front, but the rest of the information in the book is very valuable.

 

[Paul]

Anything Tom Clancy.

 

[divegeek]

The Gift of Fear - http://www.amazon.com/Other-Survival-Si ... 448&sr=8-1

Protecting the Gift - http://www.amazon.com/Protecting-Gift-K ... 481&sr=1-1

His other book "Just 2 Seconds" sounds really interesting.

 

[jaredbelch]

The Dresden Files - About a Wizard who lives in Chicago

Lights Out - Halffast - A book about an EMP taking out the Grid. Started out as an E-book in PDF on survival forums, and is now in the process of being published and potentially made into a movie. You might want to download the book while it's available since I've noticed a few websites have pulled it at the authors request.
Chapter 1-10
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/ ... ut1-10.pdf
Chapter 11-20
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/ ... t11-20.pdf

 

[The Armed Female]

Lights Out - Halffast - A book about an EMP taking out the Grid. Started out as an E-book in PDF on survival forums, and is now in the process of being published and potentially made into a movie. You might want to download the book while it's available since I've noticed a few websites have pulled it at the authors request.
Chapter 1-10
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/ ... ut1-10.pdf
Chapter 11-20
http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/ ... t11-20.pdf

This is one of my fav's too. I would love for it to become a movie. :thumbsup:

 

[Mudruck]

One of my absolute favorite books...

Unintended Consequences by John Ross. A great read.

 

[jaredbelch]

Thread resurrection:

The Survivors Club: By Ben Sherwood. Non Fiction book about why some people survive disasters or life in general and why some don't. So far it's been a great read.

 

[Maniakmedic]

The thread that just won't die!

My suggestions are:

Without Warning by John Birmingham - What would happen to the world if, of the United States, all but a tiny portion of the north west corner of Washington state basically disappeared? It also has a sequel I have yet to read (After America).

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds - A hard sci-fi space opera. This book is responsible for hooking me on space operas. His other books that I have read are also really engaging. It helps that he's actually a physicist that has worked for the European Space Agency. Despite having a bunch of other books to read, I'll be reading this series again soon, as well as his book, House of Suns.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - An angel and a demon, both assigned to shadow the anti-Christ, lose him on the day he's born and accidentally start following another kid. Hilarity ensues.

The Great and Terrible series by Chris Stewart - An apocalypse series for LDS readers. I've read it twice. My only beef is that there are a couple of things that happen in the books that are never resolved by the end of the series and I've seen no indication a followup series is planned.

I've got more, but I'll post them later. These are off the top of my head.

BTW, thanks for the sci-fi suggestion, divegeek, I've been looking for another good sci-fi series so I'll give that a shot.

"#[email protected] My Dad Says" was a short, but hilarious book. I just admit to being a fan of grumpy, witty old men. I loved Red's character on "That 70's Show" for example.

That book is hilarious. If you like grumpy, witty old men and haven't watched Titus, you should; it was one of the many good shows Fox stupidly cancelled before its time.

 

[UtahCFP]

Sci-fi: I enjoyed The Lost Fleet series. Recreational reading.

Honor Harrington series was good, though the last couple of books weren't as well done as the first few.

 

[Cheyenne20]

I really liked The Passage by Justin Cronin. Also the sequel, The Twelve. It is a post apoplectic novel where a government project creates a vampire/zombie like virus. It includes scenes from the time of the outbreak to much later. I feel that it holds a high standard for fictional literature.

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