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I need help picking my next book.

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southpaw211
southpaw211 Posts: 385 Member
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With a full time job and two kids, I don't get a lot of time to read. But it's summer, and I always find I have some time to sit on the swing and kick back, not to mention all the reading time whilst camping.

I've just finished Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and prior to that, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Really enjoyed them both. Thought about American Gods next, though it sounds like a bit of an undertaking. I enjoy sci-fi, but fantasy moreso. I've read everything R.A. Salvatore has written. I know some people don't care for his stuff, but I love me some Drizz't. I have of course read LoTR and The Hobbit. I looked into reading Divergent as I did enjoy the Hunger Games, but I normally don't go the teenage girl route and wasn't sure if that was directed at a similar audience.

If anyone has similar reading interests, I'd love to hear about some great books you've read. When I've got the time, I can really crank out a book - I read Neverwhere in the evenings over the span of a couple of nights this week. Thanks, Geeks! :wink:
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  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
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    I enjoyed the first few books of Card's Alvin the Maker series. If you something a bit more grim, perhaps Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun set.
  • hellokathy
    hellokathy Posts: 540 Member
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    Not sure if it's what you're looking for but the first book that came to my mind now was "The Child Thief" by Brom.
  • kelly101386
    kelly101386 Posts: 389 Member
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    Dark Tower series by Stephen King is a fantastic series. My mother in law bought me the series years ago and I read them all in one go, took a while but oh so worth it.

    Saga Of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson is a series of space opera novels, when I first got them, again the mother in law got them for me LOL she is like my dealer, I was skeptical but they're actually very well done.

    Currently on book three of Game Of Thrones, slow in places but it's pretty good so far.
  • KyleneSusan
    KyleneSusan Posts: 68 Member
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    Have you read Patrick Rothfuss' books? He has two out: Name of the Wind & A Wise Man's Fear.

    They're AMAZING.

    The only frustrating bit is waiting for the next book to be published. :)
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
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    The Child Thief by Brom is amazing, I second that. Also Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller chronicles are good. In the same vein I recommend Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man and its sequels. Also anything by Brandon Sanderson but especially The Mistborn series and The Way Of Kings.

    Or anything at all by Michael Crichton, but if you are interested at all in the gene patenting decision made by the supreme court yesterday then Next is a good way to go, or my personal favorite State Of Fear.

    Reading is the best.
  • ScottyNoHotty
    ScottyNoHotty Posts: 1,957 Member
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    If you like Salvatore, try reading Elaine Cunningham or Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms stuff.

    I also highly recommend Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series.
  • explosivedonut
    explosivedonut Posts: 419 Member
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    I have to second KyleneSusan's suggestion of Rothfuss. Fantastic books, he is writing a trilogy called "The Kingkiller Chronicles". The two he has out right now are Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear.

    Along the same vein (in terms of genre) is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Set in modern day Chicago, it's about a wizard/private investigator. Not a hard read, but absolutely entertaining, and the story he crafts is simply awesome.

    My personal favorite author is Issac Asimov. I would strongly recommend reading some of his stuff. Either his short stories (I, Robot is a fantastic little assortment of short stories) or some of his other books, such as the Foundation Trilogy.

    If you want some graphic novels/comics, Watchmen is an absolute must. The Dark Knight is a classic. If you are looking for something a little more modern, Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon is hilarious. I never really liked Hawkeye until I read that book.
  • paleopin
    paleopin Posts: 47
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    The Historian is one of my favoritesssss. It blends some historical topics like Europe's relationship with the Ottoman Empire and legends about Vlad the Impaler/Dracula. I'm a super history nerd btw :)
  • jenbit
    jenbit Posts: 4,289 Member
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    American Gods is an amazing book and It only 1 so its not to much of a commitment... Ender's game has multiple dequals which are amazing such as Speaker of the dead and Children of the mind. IF you want a series to keep you occupied try reading The Wheel of TIme however it is 14 books tohugh totally worth it in my opinion......
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
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    American Gods is an amazing book and It only 1 so its not to much of a commitment... Ender's game has multiple dequals which are amazing such as Speaker of the dead and Children of the mind. IF you want a series to keep you occupied try reading The Wheel of TIme however it is 14 books tohugh totally worth it in my opinion......

    Technically Nansi Boys is a sequel to American Gods... sort of. It's also fun, but not as good I don't think.
  • dward59
    dward59 Posts: 731 Member
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    I would second Game of Thrones. I've just finished the entire series as it now stands for the second time, and while it does seem slow in some spots the character build by Martin is as good as any I've read.

    The second time through I picked up so much more of the foreshadowing.

    Do you have a Kindle or are you looking for hardbound? I pull down an occasional free book from Amazon for my Kindle App. One such that I enjoyed as a light Fantasy/Sci Fi was Doug Dandridge's "Refuge: The Arrival." Book one was good enough I purchased the second which I thought was a bit weaker, as though it had been rushed, but I still like the story (even if it is a theme used many times in the past by other authors.)

    Enjoy your summer of reading.
  • southpaw211
    southpaw211 Posts: 385 Member
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    Thanks for all the great ideas! I read the Dark Tower series when I was in high school, had completely forgotten about it! I also have the first Dresden Files book - I got it a couple summers ago from paperbackswap and had also completely forgotten about that. So that will definitely get onto my summer schedule.

    I had heard The Child Thief mentioned as well in other circles, so definitely looking into that!

    I read the first Games of Thrones book, before the tv series came out. I was turned off by the bleakness. I loved the Starks, and the more bad things that happened to them, the more I disliked the author. So I didn't bother with any of the following books. I did, however, read the wiki's on the others, just so I could see what happened to all of them. Probably made a good choice there, haha!

    I read on my Kindle, but I really don't lean one way or another. Free is good, so I will often trade books on paperbackswap.com or get them from the Library. We had a long drive over the weekend, so I rented the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (narrated by Stephen Fry) on audiobook for the family to listen to - the kids loved it! (I figured they might)
  • rowanwood
    rowanwood Posts: 510 Member
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    I didn't really like Divergent -- its ... well, let's just say I'm WAY too old for it.

    I second the Pat Rothfuss suggestion and I'd also add Spellwright and Spellbound by Blake Charlton and I'm really enjoying the Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jeminsin.
  • Lochlyn_D
    Lochlyn_D Posts: 492 Member
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    If you liked RA Salvatore and Drizzt, you will probably enjoy The Sword Of Truth books by Terry Goodkind.
  • kvandeman
    kvandeman Posts: 527 Member
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    If you like vampires that are not sparkly there is the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.
  • BrendarB
    BrendarB Posts: 2,770 Member
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    try some Brent Weeks - the Night Angel Triology

    The Dresden books are fun (thanks Scotty!)

    I'm enjoying the Frankenstein series by Dean Koontz
  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 775 Member
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    Just to edit down the big list I wrote,

    Niel Gaiman-- American Gods --sure, it's already been mentioned. It's worth mentioning again.
    Terry Pratchett -- Small Gods --Just to stick to the religious theme. Basically, any of Pratchett's Discworld Novels are great, but this is a good intro stand alone novel.
    Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens --because the Apocalypse has never made you laugh so hard before.
    Charles DeLint, Moonheart --urban fantasy set in Canada
    Niel Stephenson, Snow Crash--more of a tech fantasy
    Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- everyone should read it at least once, then reread it.
    S.M. Sterling, Dies the Fire-- first novel in the Change series, great freakin' read.
    Mary Doria Russell, the Sparrow --Aliens are found, so of course we must go to meet them.
  • scruffykaz
    scruffykaz Posts: 317 Member
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    Have you read 'The Dresden Files' series by Jim Butcher? I love them!!
  • Ericsawicki
    Ericsawicki Posts: 75 Member
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    game of thrones. read game of thrones.
  • ltgarrow
    ltgarrow Posts: 342 Member
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    I plug this author whenever I can. I have read everything he's done so far. Scott Sigler. Doesn't matter what, it's all amazing.
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