Books you've read and would recommend?

[THRILLHO]

A Fortunate Life - AB Facey. Probably my favourite book. I recommend it to everyone because it's a fantastic, inspiring story that is incredibly easy to read. Written by an illiterate man who never went to school and taught himself to read and write, it chronicles his life from the turn of the 20th century through to his death in 1987. From being whipped as a boy, to being shipped away to another family to work as a child, to landing at Gallipoli, to his post-war life in WA, to a heart breaking ending (I've teared up four times when re-reading that ending), it's told in a classical Australian manner of understatement and "she'll be right" attitude. If I remember rightly, it was on the English curriculum for awhile back in the 90s and has sold over 250 000 copies (John Howard's political autobiography is heralded as one of the best selling autobiographies and its only sold a tick over 100 000).

I've got two copies. I'll send you one of them if you want.

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole. One of the funniest books I've ever read. The first 300 pages are solid rolled gold. The last quarter of the book is still fantastic but I thought there was a discernible drop-off as it does get slightly bogged down as a resolution isn't really forthcoming. Still, the last quarter is better than 99.9% of literature out there. It was his first book he ever wrote and he died while finishing the manuscript. Couldn't begin to imagine what we missed out on.

And yeah, what other people have mentioned. Game of Thrones, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gatsby (I don't feel the love on that one, but its been awhile since I read it).

 

[A Swallow]

My favourite book <3

Would also recommend the Kite Runner and a THousand Splendid Suns.

Yep. Zusak is f*cking brilliant.

 

[sixteenstraws]

Netherland - Joseph O'Neill.

A Dutchman living in post-9/11 New York takes up cricket when his British wife takes their young son back to London.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Gravitys Rainbow (insert maniacal laughter)

 

[raven echo]

If you liked that, you should check out Malazan Book of the Fallen. Start with the first book Gardens of the Moon.

Sweet, I'll have to check it out

Almost finished my re-read of 'A Song of Ice and Fire', so I'm gonna need something new to read.

 

[Caesar]

John Buchan's Richard Hannay books are excellent boys-own adventures. The first one (The Thirty-Nine Steps) is probably the best - the Hitchcock movie North By Northwest with Cary Grant is loosely based on it.

Some of my favourite books of all time - paperback thrillers written with the eloquence of quality literature.

 

[TheSituation23]

well done, those men
author: barry heard

one of the best books i ever come across, talks about his time in the vietnam war and how it changed his life afterwards and also a big emphasis on how they were treated by the public on return.

 

[volcboy]

Part biography, part sports book - Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Best account of being a tragic supporter (of Arsenal in Nick's case) that I've read.

 

[Dewy006]

Amazing, amazing read, was put onto it by a friend

Plot rundown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi

 

[Crows4Flag]

Im trying to get through the Popular Penguins series. Google it. Have enjoyed all so far

 

[Dewy006]

The whole Zombie apocalypse thing is prob a tab overplayed at the moment, but this is still a terrific read, presented in a really intesting style, a collection of accounts from individuals before/during/after a zombie war.

Plot rundown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z

 

[Poseidon]

Keep it up brahs, loading up most of these suggestions onto the ol' Kindle Good thread.

 

[checkraiseulite]

these are both very interesting books if you're at all interested in how people think/rationality.

 

[grizzlym]

these are both very interesting books if you're at all interested in how people think/rationality.

Agreed. Interesting reads.

Have you read 'Black Swans'? Another good read.

 

[checkraiseulite]

Agreed. Interesting reads.

Have you read 'Black Swans'? Another good read.

i've got the book (if you're referring to the followup of fbr) but i haven't started reading it yet.

looking forward to starting it though when i finish off some of the books that i'm reading now.

 

[grizzlym]

I've just read Richard Ford's Canada. Terrific book. A very fine writer. I wasn't a huge fan of Independence Day or the others from the series, but Canada is a great book.

If you've never read any Murakami, particularly Wind Up Bird Chronicle, get into it. Great writer.

I love Hunter S Thompson, but more his letters and non-fiction, than his quest for writing the great American novel. After all, The Great Gatsby holds that honour. Love that book.

I'm also reading Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Really interesting, well written book.

 

[grizzlym]

i've got the book (if you're referring to the followup of fbr) but i haven't started reading it yet.

looking forward to starting it though when i finish off some of the books that i'm reading now.

That's the one. Probably about 200 pages too long and he's a little self-consumed, but an interesting man with some interesting ideas.

 

[grizzlym]

Oh yeah, been on a few flights the last couple of weeks and have been nursing 'Octopus: Sam Israel, the secret market and Wall Street's wildest con'. Entertaining read. True story of a hedge fund trader who gets on the wrong side of the ledger and delves into the 'secret market'. Almost surreal.

 

[Richo is God]

Where's wally

 

[jonoman89]

I'd recommend James Ellroy for crime/historical fiction. He wrote LA Confidential (which later became a fantastic movie - see it) and has a very unique writing style with lots of graphic, brutal detail.

The 1960s/70s series he has (American Tabloid, Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover) is really, really dark and mixes fictional and real characters to re-tell events like the JFK assassination, Vietnam War, Nixon Campaign etc.

Really good if you dig historical stuff mixed with crime.

A Fortunate Life - AB Facey. Probably my favourite book. I recommend it to everyone because it's a fantastic, inspiring story that is incredibly easy to read. Written by an illiterate man who never went to school and taught himself to read and write, it chronicles his life from the turn of the 20th century through to his death in 1987. From being whipped as a boy, to being shipped away to another family to work as a child, to landing at Gallipoli, to his post-war life in WA, to a heart breaking ending (I've teared up four times when re-reading that ending), it's told in a classical Australian manner of understatement and "she'll be right" attitude. If I remember rightly, it was on the English curriculum for awhile back in the 90s and has sold over 250 000 copies (John Howard's political autobiography is heralded as one of the best selling autobiographies and its only sold a tick over 100 000).

Great book.

Biggest reality check I've ever read. No one's life could possibly be as hard as his, nor anyone be as humble.

 

[Miqar_Baqfhied]

Read this. And you'll never look at life the same way again.

Its a true story about a guy breaking out of a modern day concentration camp in North Korea. Just unbelievable that this stuff can still happen in this day and age.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Misspent youth.

A real mind blower.

Peter F. Hamilton is my favourite author and only a few even get close.

Obviously there are greats like Asimov that I'd like to read more of but don't have the time.

I'm just not going to read any fiction that isn't sci-fi.

I really liked Mr Nice by Howard Marks, incredible career as a drug smuggler.

 

[placebo]

My tastes are far superior to everyone and therefore I cannot give a recommendation.

 

[LANGFORDandSON]

The Winter Of Frankie Machine- Don Winslow
The Power Of The Dog – Don Winslow
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Go Ask Alice is immense.

And faked.