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Book people of NS: book suggestions needed

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Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,014
alright, so recently i've been getting into reading a lot more, and finally made my way around finishing the harry potter series. i am currently reading "along came a spider" by james patterson, and it is good, but i am looking for something a little less intense i guess. something more fantasy related like harry potter i guess. nothing too childish, as i am 19 haha

thanks for the help
May 28 2012 2:21AM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
I like anything action-y; I pick up books, read them, then forget about them. Go to your library's summer book sale, they'll have tons of cheap paperbacks that suck you in for three days and when you're finished you just give them away again.

On a side note, I'll recommend some Tom Clancy stuff. The Jack Ryan series is pretty entertaining and I like "The Hunt for Red October". Anything by Michael Crichton is always good; check out "Prey" if you can.

As for fantasy...I've heard good things about the "Eragon" series. Maybe look into those?
May 28 2012 2:24AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
Mystery classics
   And then there were none -Agatha Christie
   A Study in Scarlet -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Action
   Sahara -Clive Cussler
   Zodiac  -Neal Stephenson
Fiction
   The Amulet of Samarkand -Jonathon Stroud
 (the last book of the original trilogy is best, but you have to work up to it)
Other
    Freakonomics -Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
May 28 2012 2:37AM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
If you're looking in the nonfiction dept i.e. you want to become "more learned" or "more adult" and be allowed to say "learned" or "adult" with pretentious inflection you could read...

Anything by Malcolm Gladwell (namely "The Tipping Point" or "Blink").

"Hot Flat and Crowded" - Thomas Friedman

"Drive" - Daniel Pink

"My Stroke of Insight" - Jill Bolte Taylor
May 28 2012 2:45AM
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SKI.ING
Posts: 2695 - Karma: 2,535
I support this and will also recommend the greatest Science Fiction series that is Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series/quartet. Start with Ender's Game and progress how you please. Skip the "shadow" books though as they aren't nearly as good and are just replays from various viewpoints. Ender in Exile is pretty decent too.
May 28 2012 2:53AM
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sirschralpalot.
Posts: 453 - Karma: 18
Blue Moon Circus by Michael Raleigh

Dark Tower series by Stephen King
May 28 2012 3:01AM
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Rafiki
Posts: 3858 - Karma: 2,251
the magic tree house series
the magic school bus series
the very hungry caterpillar
if you give a mouse a cookie
if you give a moose a muffin
if you give a pig a pancake
if you give a cat a cupcake


those are my most checked out at the library. you should try reading some of them
May 28 2012 4:18AM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,507
Why don't you read and learn something. shock doctrine
May 28 2012 4:24AM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,507
But also eragin
May 28 2012 4:26AM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,507
I hate moble eragon
May 28 2012 4:27AM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9215 - Karma: 5,398
I hated and then there were none. But I do like Stephen king, I've read a lot of his stuff. Another one people said is good is 19Q4. Yes that's supposed to be a Q. I'm going to read it soon.
May 28 2012 7:22AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
I'd say it's essential you read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. For something a bit more spacey but still fantastical, check out the Hyperion books by Dan Simmons.
May 28 2012 7:28AM
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EL.JUANO
Posts: 420 - Karma: 70
I know it's a little old fashioned but, Fahrenheit451 is stellar.
May 28 2012 7:43AM
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Jaskittin
Posts: 5606 - Karma: 195
My only suggestion:

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May 28 2012 7:46AM
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pow_pow~
Posts: 1429 - Karma: 1,804
anything by matthew reilly, honestly some of my favourite books, he writes about spec op teams all around the world etc. strongly recommend you look into it




anything from the jack west jr series is great, with some history/conspiracy stuff

and the scarecrow series is good aswelll


the individuals are average
May 28 2012 7:47AM
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Jaskittin
Posts: 5606 - Karma: 195
Shucks, I'll try again:

[IMG]src=http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0w8efhMq01qzhm2xo1_500.jpg&size=400x1000[/IMG]
May 28 2012 7:48AM
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BChaps1209
Posts: 1350 - Karma: 2,441
The Inheritance Series (Eragon etc), Hunger Games, and Pendragon are awesome series' if you were into Harry Potter.
I've become really into books set in the Middle East/India lately... The Kite Runner is one of my absolute favorite books and Slumdog Millionaire was also fantastic.

May 28 2012 7:49AM
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Jaskittin
Posts: 5606 - Karma: 195
God Dammit. Ok. Goosebumps by RL Stein. Brilliant literature. But in all honesty, try some Phillip K Dick. Great sci fi.

Last try:

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May 28 2012 7:51AM
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Mr.LemonPie
Posts: 4100 - Karma: 1,625
Can't believe it hasn't been said yet, but if you like Harry Potter may as well go with the greatest fantasy series of all time, A Song of Ice and Fire. It is the series that A Game of Thrones is based off of and is amazing. George R.R. Martin has been called the American Tolken but I think he is better.

Eragon is okay, but the series gets worse as you go. The writing just isn't at the same level as ASoIaF or even Harry Potter.

Ender's Game is also amazing as was already stated. For other Sci Fi the Hunger Games is very good.

For non scifi/fantasy I really like the Millennium Series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). It is a detective novel and Steig Larrsson(sp) does an amazing job.

My favorite book is The Book Thief, by Marcus Zussack. It is about a girl living in Nazi Germany. The narrator is death and it is one of the most engaging reads ever. Hard to put that book down.

For nonfiction I would recommend The Tipping Point, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and Out of Africa.
May 28 2012 9:00AM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
don't reae anything until you have completed all of the hardy boys
May 28 2012 9:38AM
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Errl
Posts: 2082 - Karma: 451
came here to post this. possibly the best series i have ever read. (and the closest i've ever come to crying from a book)
May 28 2012 10:03AM
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EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 254
The Hobbit/LOTR
May 28 2012 10:14AM
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CashmereCat
Posts: 2211 - Karma: 2,394
Read the book Black Hawk Down. It's great.
May 28 2012 10:23AM
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EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 254
So is the movie
May 28 2012 10:29AM
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ZMILLZ
Posts: 147 - Karma: 248
Imaginations End- Christopher Stanchek\
He was my english teacher

May 28 2012 10:31AM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
His Dark Materials, Eragon (technically The Inheritance Cycle)

Hands down two of my favourite series of all time.
May 28 2012 10:34AM
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Stickity
Posts: 7750 - Karma: 769
bartimaeus trilogy
eragon
deception point by dan brown
May 28 2012 10:38AM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
Oh man, how could I forget that! Read that one OP, it is amazing!
May 28 2012 10:40AM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
I recently finished up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and now I'm onto Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Both fantastic (although I'm only halfway through Abe).

I highly recommend both.
May 28 2012 10:42AM
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Spinoza
Posts: 12763 - Karma: 3,846
Everyone should read ANGELA'S ASHES cause it will make you laugh and cry and I don't give a Fiddler's fart if you think it sounds boring cause it's not
May 28 2012 10:47AM
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.Hugo.
Posts: 17360 - Karma: 28,485
Heard nothing but good thing about A Song of Fire and Ice and Enders Game. Been meaning to read them myself when I get the time.
May 28 2012 10:50AM
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FLBP
Posts: 1794 - Karma: 310

The Sigma Force series by James Rollins is really badass.  There's like 8 or 9 in the series so it'll keep you going for a while. 

Lone Survivor by Marcus Latrell.  It's a true story about a SEAL team that gets jumped by hundreds of Taliban and does a damn good job of fighting them off, but the author is the only one that makes it out, he was badly injured and crawled for days in the desert before coming to a town  that risked pretty much everything they had to hide him.

I just finished Ender's Game a few weeks ago, it was a really good read.

May 28 2012 10:56AM
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TheSteezyKoala
Posts: 352 - Karma: 198
Those books are great. Eragon, Hunger Games and pendragon are all good. Stephen king has some pretty nice books.
May 28 2012 12:10PM
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TimRiley
Posts: 1873 - Karma: 1,327
The girl with the dragon tattoo. By Steig Larsson
May 28 2012 12:15PM
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midget.
Posts: 839 - Karma: 101
Anal in the Bathtub by Matthew Semens is a great novel I just finished it and it taught me a lot.
May 28 2012 12:18PM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
Interesting; I'll look into those.

And whoever mentioned Ender's Game: that whole series is fucking incredible. READ THEM ALL you'll love them. Sci-fi/fantasy woven into one. Maybe I'll go reread those now...
May 28 2012 12:29PM
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bangarangmules
Posts: 5065 - Karma: 84
Read "The Road" by Cormac Mccarthy. Everybody that I have suggested it to loved it.
May 28 2012 12:35PM
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jblaski
Posts: 5566 - Karma: 1,078
It's been probably a decade since I read them, but I remember really liking Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park).
May 28 2012 12:36PM
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bjobe
Posts: 343 - Karma: 26
Dr, seuss is the best
May 28 2012 12:38PM
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[hamnuts]
Posts: 2356 - Karma: 439
The best book you will read of ALL time: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Other great books that I absolutely adore include the Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and Fall of Giants all by Ken Follet. If you're into history, the new Catherom the Great biography is amazing as well.
May 28 2012 12:45PM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
My ex-girlfriend loved Ken Follet. If you ask me, his books are a bit more directed at the female demographic...
May 28 2012 12:46PM
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bigbromskier
Posts: 1175 - Karma: 330
good nonfiction: the omnivore's dilemma and in defense of food by michael pollan are very interesting. I second malcolm gladwell, too.

Fiction: cutting for stone by Abraham Verghese is really really good and Howard Frank Mosher is a Vermont author who I really think is one of the best story tellers around--check out Disappearances or Stranger in the Kingdom, his two best books.
May 28 2012 12:46PM
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king.tubby
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 122
for fantasy, if you havent read the lord of the rings trilogy, you need to. like, right away. whoever said ferenheit 451, great idea. great book. on that note, 1984 and brave new world are both must-reads. a bit more childish, but still badass, is the chronicles of narnia. you probably know of the three movies, but there are seven books , all good. hunger games?
May 28 2012 12:55PM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,507
That book was so fucking stupid do not read
May 28 2012 12:56PM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,945
More sci-fi than fantasy, but still a great book. It's quite the chilling outlook.
May 28 2012 1:00PM
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whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,103
fifty shades of gray, i read the whole trilogy. it's so good!
May 28 2012 1:00PM
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Corin
Posts: 1665 - Karma: 524
If you haven't read the Hunger Games, you should. So amazing, and also incredibly easy to read.

Eragon is good, at least the two first books in the series, then it gets a bit boring to say the least.

All Hemingways books are essentially must-reads, and The Great Gatsby is too apparently. Haven't gotten around to that yet.

Narnia is actually a good series as well, maybe a bit childish though.

To me, nothing really beats Harry Potter though. They are so full of little details that you can read them over and over again, and think of the story and the way it's written in different ways every time.
May 28 2012 1:08PM
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Big5hifty
Posts: 3243 - Karma: 1,253
IT by stephen king is my favorite book of all time. Very creepy and I couldn't put it down. I really want to read Dark Tower and the Game of Thrones books as mentioned above.
May 28 2012 1:09PM
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J_Christoph
Posts: 2519 - Karma: 8,752
you could check out the pendragon series, i enjoyed them
May 28 2012 1:15PM
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Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,014
thanks for the suggestions guys, was a little worried i'd just get shit on for this thread haha
May 28 2012 2:17PM
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ironic
Posts: 735 - Karma: 104
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May 28 2012 2:21PM
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