Book Suggestions

[GuessWhosBack]

As my CTB date draws ever nearer, I would like to spend more time reading.
Reading was my first hobby. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, so please don't hesitate to recommend anything you think is good.
I tend to prefer books that touch on trauma, horror, and the human condition.

Edit: I will be keeping a status post on my profile with my reading progress.

 

[cepcepcep]

I'd recommend Books from Haruki Murakami if you enjoy surrealism. The first Book I read of his was a short story collection called "The Elephant Vanishes" and i like his other works as well.

 

[CatLvr]

I don't know that I have read a book I didn't like but my absolute fav is The Art of War. Really.

 

[GuessWhosBack]

I don't know that I have read a book I didn't like but my absolute fav is The Art of War. Really.

Which version please?

---

So far I have been sent a couple of books, some via DMs:

• Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
• The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
• The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• The Art Of War by Sun Tzu (version unclear - will go with Lionel GIles)
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

 

[yellowjester]

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Not saying you shouldn't read it, but I really hated this book. I feel like the only reason it's popular is brcause he's a holocaust aurvivor. It has almost no redeeming qualities.

 

[GuessWhosBack]

Not saying you shouldn't read it, but I really hated this book. I feel like the only reason it's popular is brcause he's a holocaust aurvivor. It has almost no redeeming qualities.

I'll read everything that's suggested anyway, so long as it's not too silly.

 

[Blurry_Buildings]

On the Blue Comet
It's been 10 years since I read it but its probably still my favorite book. Probably also the only thing that'll ever mention Cairo since the town has been dying for a long time. It should be like $5 online but you could probably pirate it as well if you feel like reading it.
Synopsis:
Oscar Ogilvie, 11, lives with his dad in Cairo, IL. They share a love for model trains, particularly exact replicas of existing trains. After the Crash of 1929, Oscar's dad loses his job and their house, including the model trains, and leaves for California to look for work. Lonely and sad, Oliver is left in the care of his dour Aunt Carmen. Pining for the trains and the connection to his father that they represent, he visits the Blue Comet in the basement of the First National Bank on Christmas Eve. Harold Applegate, a homeless man Oscar has befriended, is the night watchman. He explains the theory of negative velocity, or time pockets, to Oscar. When armed robbers break into the bank, Harold tells Oscar to jump into the model train set, and the boy is catapulted into an adventure that carries him from coast to coast and across time from 1931 to 1941 as he searches for his dad.

edit: actually I just found it you can get it for free if you make an internet archive account: https://archive.org/details/onbluecomet0000well/page/n3/mode/2up

 

[mikuhappy]

I've only read harry potter

 

[CatLvr]

Which version please?

Lionel Giles is good. I've read James Trapp's translation also. Been wanting to pick up Samuel B. Griffith's version.

Yeah, when I read translated texts I like to read a LOT of them and compare. You should see how many versions of The Bible I have.

You have a VERY interesting list started. I may have to read/reread your list along with you. Great thread!!

 

[GuessWhosBack]

Lionel Giles is good. I've read James Trapp's translation also. Been wanting to pick up Samuel B. Griffith's version.

Yeah, when I read translated texts I like to read a LOT of them and compare. You should see how many versions of The Bible I have.

You have a VERY interesting list started. I may have to read/reread your list along with you. Great thread!!

Thank you :) I'll be updating this thread with my progress every now and then.

 

[Lady Laudanum]

You're welcome for the suggestions I gave you (have fun figuring out which ones they were, for people who can't hack into our DMs)

 

[rih]

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion - Yukio Mishima, a lot of his work is inspiring.
Usually struggle with books not natively written in english but the prose is magnificent, the story is cathartic.

I'd recommend reading about the author too, such a colourful life, "openly" gay man. Who tried to overthrow the government and in protest committed Seppuku in 1970. A true samurai spirit/Family. Inspired me to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite of it all. He's a crazy individual, just my kind of crazy.

The book on the other hand is up there in my favourites.

I'd recommend Books from Haruki Murakami if you enjoy surrealism. The first Book I read of his was a short story collection called "The Elephant Vanishes" and i like his other works as well.

I loved Norwegian Woods, despite Murakami himself being baffled why it was so well received ha

 

[Plentiful_Despair]

Benatars antinatalism book "Better to have never been" is nice

 

[hawkshorizon]

Anything from Margaret Atwood, my favorites being "The Blind Assassin" and the "Oryx and Crake" trilogy. Smart sci fi with complex storylines and well developed characters.

 

[lamargue]

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño is a great read

 

[banger12]

Fiction or non-fiction?

 

[sugarb]

As my CTB date draws ever nearer, I would like to spend more time reading.
Reading was my first hobby. I enjoy a wide variety of genres, so please don't hesitate to recommend anything you think is good.
I tend to prefer books that touch on trauma, horror, and the human condition.

Edit: I will be keeping a status post on my profile with my reading progress.

My taste is generally sci-fi/fantasy so you might not be down for these but they're all quite good:

Hitchhiker's Guide series, Discworld series, Dinotopia series by James Gurney (goated + beautiful pictures), The Never-Ending Story (particularly part 2), Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, Exhalation by Tim Chiang, Ender's Game + Speaker of the Dead, Jurassic Park, Bone (graphic novel though)

Unfortunately I did most of my reading before highschool and didn't think to record 99% of the books I'd read and enjoyed so these are just the most memorable ones

I do have a giant list of movies/TV series I've enjoyed but that's not books so

 

[GuessWhosBack]

Fiction or non-fiction?

Go nuts!

 

[Lady Laudanum]

Go nuts!

Deez nuts

 

[GuessWhosBack]

Deez nuts

You stun me sometimes.

 

[Lady Laudanum]

You stun me sometimes.

Deez nuts

 

[creirwy]

My absolute favorite book ever is "The Sea, the Sea" by Iris Murdoch.
It's about unhealthy obsession and toxic relationships as well as unrealistic expectations. I love this book so much and some scenes are so beautiful!

 

[GuessWhosBack]

I have finished the first book and expressed my opinions on it on my profile.

 

[mikuhappy]

my favourite book is harry potter, the third one

 

[GuessWhosBack]

my favourite book is harry potter, the third one

I'll add it to the list :)

 

[Adûnâi]

I cannot recommend HPMOR enough!

I'd recommend Books from Haruki Murakami if you enjoy surrealism. The first Book I read of his was a short story collection called "The Elephant Vanishes" and i like his other works as well.

Do you mean like "magic realism"? The term I heard in connection with Gabriel García Márquez. But currently I would apply it hugely to Viktor Pelevin. Right now reading The Prince of Gosplan, it's video game combined with reality in absurd ways.

Magical realism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GuessWhosBack]

I cannot recommend HPMOR enough!



Do you mean like "magic realism"? The term I heard in connection with Gabriel García Márquez. But currently I would apply it hugely to Viktor Pelevin. Right now reading The Prince of Gosplan, it's video game combined with reality in absurd ways.

Magical realism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

122 chapters, 660k words. Lmao, I'm never dying at this rate.

 

[kinderbueno]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is pretty good

 

[GuessWhosBack]

my favourite book is harry potter, the third one

You know what, I'll add the entire HP series to the list. I think it's a shame that I've never read the series

 

[Lady Laudanum]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is pretty good

Fuck yes, let's entertain ourselves to death

122 chapters, 660k words. Lmao, I'm never dying at this rate.

You also gotta finish all 143 levels and find all possible endings in the Japanese game I showed you