I need help picking my next book.

southpaw211

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!

ScatteredThoughts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you liked RA Salvatore and Drizzt, you will probably enjoy The Sword Of Truth books by Terry Goodkind.

kvandeman

If you like vampires that are not sparkly there is the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.

BrendarB

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

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

Have you read 'The Dresden Files' series by Jim Butcher? I love them!!

Ericsawicki

game of thrones. read game of thrones.

ltgarrow

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.
The Galactic football series--
The Rookie
The Starter
The All Pro
The MVP
Infected
Contageous
Earthcore
Ancestor
The Crypt

bregalad5

I have very similar taste in books, and was skeptical when my manager told me I needed to read this book and then proceeded to put it on for me (on Audible) at work, but... Ready Player One is hilarious and really fun. I've put it down as a must read for all geeks. I stopped in the middle because he moved on to another job and I didn't have an Audible account, or the book, but have finally gotten it and am now re-immersed and re-addicted. I have it on my phone and listen on my way to work and home (I take the bus/walk) and whenever I'm out and about.

spud_chick

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)

Just started that recently (after having forgotten a lot about the books over the years apparently). Fry is a fantastic reader.

iconnor

Just finished Neverwhere and loved it! Reading Good Omens now. I also liked Stardust if you want something less dark. Terry Prachett's Hogfather has a great rendition of Death and somehow successfully ties it into to the holidays.

I also second Game of Thrones. I hope that with the huge hype over the Red Wedding episode on HBO that people will start to read the books, and then just read books in general (it's a shame how many people don't read anymore).