2011 Summer reading list

[Ramsus]

I'm making a summer reading list for myself, so I'm looking for suggestions. This summer I'm looking for good fiction suggestions to add to the list, since the last novel I read was over 3 years ago. I'll be updating this first post with suggestions, both from forum members and from outside sources.

I'd also like to challenge other members of the forums to participate by reading either the same list or their own list.

As it stands, the current reading list is:

Fiction:

• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Moribito: Guardian of Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi
• Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.
• Insomnia by Steven King
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• Flowers for Algernon
• American Gods
• Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
• The Lightning Thief
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Táin
• Good Omens
• Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
• Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Hitch-hiker's guide by Douglas Adams
• Shogun, by James Clavell

Non-fiction:

• The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo
• The Woman Behind the New Deal, by Kirstin Downey
• Outliers: The Story of Success
• The Printing Press as an Agent of Change
• Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
• Richard Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves

[FaustWolf]

Non-fiction: The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. This might interest a lot of people here given some of the recent discussion lately. Its premise is essentially unsettling, but one we would all do well to entertain I think.

Fiction: Moribito: Guardian of Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi. I guess this would fall into the category of young adult fiction, but I feel I still owe it to myself since I enjoyed the Serie no Moribito anime so much. Moreover, I'm interested in seeing how a female author handles a tough female character in a medieval fantasy setting -- who better to learn from when it comes to writing feminist-positive fiction?

[Manly Man]

Only because I love it so much, and for some reason, I don't know many people who have read it, "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch."

Hell, see if you can plow through the entire Discworld series while you're at it. It's one of the few things I still read anymore.

[Samopoznanie]

Good idea for a topic, keen to see others' suggestions.  

Fiction:

Kangaroo by Yuz Aleshkovsky.

Fan Fanych receives a call to report to the KGB. They've matched his profile to an unsolved crime, and plan to find him guilty in a showtrial as a means of diverting public attention from political realities. The crime? The rape and murder of a kangaroo named Gemma, in a St Petersburg zoo, known only to have taken place somewhere between the years 1789 and 1905 (i.e. the French and [first] Russian Revolutions). Sort of like a warped film noir satire, with hilariously crude language.

Death And the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov

Black humour at its finest, with a few touching scenes and phrases to make you half-grimace, half-smile. Viktor is a failed short story writer who lives with his adopted king penguin, Misha, in the chaotic scene of mid 1990s Ukraine. He gets a job writing obituaries for a newspaper and becomes unwittingly involved with the Mob.

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje.

At the time I read this, I had spent the previous two years working at hospitals and old folks homes. The poetic language and themes of nameless victims of war [patients], and the main character's struggle to give a face to Sailor, a single casualty in a nation of ghosts and dying men really struck me.

Jitterbug Perfume, and Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins.

One of my favourite authors. I don't think I'd ever had such a vivid sense of colour and scents from a novel as Jitterbug Perfume.  Roadside Attraction is my favourite of the two. Playful and philosophical, quotable... kind of like post-Beatnik adventure stuff. Hard to describe quickly.

Non-Fiction:

Richard Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves

This is a great biography of Nixon – for me, one of the most interesting Presidents of the 20th century. Well-written. What makes it unique is that all of Nixon’s dialogue is taken straight from the White House Tapes. Every word he says in this book is straight from his own mouth.

Battlecry of Freedom by James M. Mcpherson

The title may make you wince, but give the author a break - this was written in the days before Bush turned ‘freedom’ into a bad word. This is a great, captivating history of the US Civil War. It reads like a novel. It’s something like 900-pages, but you can blaze through it.

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

I experienced a depression that lasted about two years in my late teens / early twenties... This memoir by a psychologist, reflecting on her experience with bi-polar was like a wakeup call. Thoughtful and interesting.

 

[tushantin]

This'll be an awesome thread with people's best suggestions on literature! I'll have to keep all of those in mind too once I get the hell outta the institute.

Currently, I purchased a copy of Red Leech, second book from the series Young Sherlock Holmes. Should be a good read, not only because it stays consistent with the original stories canon, but it's also written by a former Doctor Who writer. Seriously, it's like the Crimson Echoes of Sherlock Holmes!

I haven't read many works of Colin Dexter, but I do plan to read that. And also, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne.

Not sure if you're a fan of fantasy-political-historical literature, but another notable mention would be fictional series Bartimaeus Trilogy and Bartimaeus: Ring of Solomon. Reason: it's dang awesome! It's basically Chrono Trigger/Radical Dreamers, minus the time travelling.

[Ramsus]

Just a note: mention as many good books as you want, but each person here only gets one addition to the main 2011 summer reading list, so pick and choose wisely and then make it clear which one you want on the list. Ideally, it should be your favorite book that you think others should read.

[ZeaLitY]

Shogun, by James Clavell. Had a lot of good quotes. Alternatively, you can watch the mini-series, but of course it's not the same.

[Mr Bekkler]

Hitch-hiker's guide by Douglas Adams. Simply hilarious, wonderful continuity, and the attention to detail is impeccable.

[GenesisOne]

Shogun, by James Clavell. Had a lot of good quotes. Alternatively, you can watch the mini-series, but of course it's not the same.

I've read that before, and believe me. It is QUITE the read.

I credit this book for being the root of my current interests in everything historical in Japan.

Oh, and a suggestion...

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

Oddly enough, it's being made into a movie trilogy. The first part is being released on April 15, the day that everybody files for their taxes.

[Samopoznanie]

^^^ Sorry about that, Ramsus -- didn't realize!  I can blab for ages about books...

Of the ones I mentioned,  I'd suggest Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins for fiction, and Richard Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves for non-fiction. 

[Syna]

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy. His best book and, IMHO, the most recent unquestionable addition to the Western Canon. It is one of the most frightening things I've ever read, and by far the goriest, though it all resonates with a mythic sort of purpose. Additionally, his descriptive ability is unique and reliably mindblowing.

Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche is... important. By the end section, I can't help but feel the intensity of Nietzsche's pitch and be vitalized by it.

So, take your pick: fiction or philosophical poetry! Whatever you're in the mood for.

[Manly Man]

Shogun, by James Clavell.

YES. That book is my favorite read that isn't meant to be silly, and even then it's got some funny moments.

Again, I suggest Good Omens for the fiction, unless you're not all that fond of what is essentially a parody of the Bible. If that wouldn't suit your tastes very well, then I suggest Hogsfather by Terry Pratchett. Damn, I love that man.

[yoshie]

Shogun, by James Clavell. Had a lot of good quotes. Alternatively, you can watch the mini-series, but of course it's not the same.

not to mention you get lost in the mini series, but i loved the book can even pick up a few tips on learning the language.
and if  you want a ok read and are short on time try reading the crossed comic, gory as hell so you'll need a strong stomic. or try reading the vampire hunter D novels, they're not much like the movies, kind of reminds me of the old detective novels, only he never speaks.

[tushantin]

kind of reminds me of the old detective novels, only he never speaks.

O_O Silent protagonists in novels?!

[Lord J Esq]

I will recommend, as I often do, The Táin.