I need help discovering incredible books.

[AndrewH]

That reminds me, three classics that I love are Frankenstein, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Dracula.

[Stormchild]

For humorous SciFi you want Simon Haynes. You can get the first in the Hal SpaceJock series free here http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Stormchild

For humorous SciFi you want Simon Haynes. You can get the first in the Hal SpaceJock series free here http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html

Good call! I will admit, though, that I enjoyed the 2nd one, more than the first.

[elemenoP]

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut!

eP

[RobertLCollins]

Let me throw out a website: Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

They've been making public domain books available for e-reading for years. Recently I've read through "Princess of Mars" and "Captain Blood." All the books are free. Slowly but steadily I'm reading classics I never had the chance to.

[DarkScribe]

Books, like music and taste in food, do not fit into the "one size fits all" category. We all have different tastes and most people will make differing choices as their mood changes. It is effectively impossible to advise as to what YOU might like to read. All anyone can do is share what they like to read.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

Books, like music and taste in food, do not fit into the "one size fits all" category. We all have different tastes and most people will make differing choices as their mood changes. It is effectively impossible to advise as to what YOU might like to read. All anyone can do is share what they like to read.

Well, that was helpful. I think everyone knows this, the O.P. is asking for suggestions. Do you have any?

[elemenoP]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

Books, like music and taste in food, do not fit into the "one size fits all" category. We all have different tastes and most people will make differing choices as their mood changes. It is effectively impossible to advise as to what YOU might like to read. All anyone can do is share what they like to read.

Perhaps the "Reading Recommendations" forum is not the right place for you?



eP

[kumaryu]

Humourous SciFi...

Jasper Fforde (as previously mentioned, Thursday Next series starting with "Eyre Affair")
Douglas Adams (Hitch Hiker's series)
Charles Stross (Laundry Files)

[rhadin]

To me, "incredible" books are those that I can recall years after having last read them. For example, I consider the historical fiction by Shayne Parkinson that begins with Sentence of Marriage (free and available at Smashwords among other places) to be incredible because more than 2 years after having read it, not only can I recall the story in detail but my wife, myself, and several friends still talk about the book. Same is true of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, which I last read in the 1960s.

My initial recommendation for the incredible ebook read remains Shayne Parkinson's quintet of historical fiction. To those I would add the mysteries of Vicki Tyley. Also excellent and approaching incredible but not quite there are the science fiction/fantasy stories of Michael Hicks and Tracy Falbe.

Another outstanding series of books are David Weber's Honor Harrington series. These waver between incredible and nearly so. As with most series, some volumes are better than others, but many are in the incredible category. Many of the books are available for free from the Fifth Emperium on the Mission of Honor CD.

(BTW, I do not interpret incredible to mean of great literary value or likely to be literary classics 50 years from now. I equate incredible with incredible read.)

[Santos]

Originally Posted by PapaNer

Hello all,

The majority of my life I have neglected reading books and was more focused on learning about computers and playing video games and such. In my junior year of high school, I was introduced to Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, and now I read it once a year. This was good as it got me into reading, but for a long time I could find nothing to compare it to.

Skipping forward a touch, I got a Kindle last Christmas, and started spending all of my free time at work reading. I got through various silly things, such as World War Z and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Then I moved on and finally read the entire Harry Potter series, Hitch Hikers Guide series, Lord of the Rings series, and am starting on Game of Thrones (Which is the first book that I saw a TV show stick so close to, that's awesome).

In short, I like a variety of book types. From comedy science fiction (like Tom Holt's work) to some of the grittier mind-blowing thrillers like House of Leaves. I guess I just want to find more books that excite me. Books that make me feel emotion. Most of all, I want a well thought out, well written and interesting set of books to venture into.

Any suggestions would be very appreciated, and if it's on Kindle, if I read it I promise that if I ever meet any of you, I will personally give you the best High-Five of your life.

Thank you for your time.

Since you're a computer geek and video gamer like myself, I would recommend some emotobooks.. I was never a big reader either until the mid 90's, then I started picking up the habit. I read for enjoyment and to learn. I do keep my eye out for new things and emotobooks really seemed right up my alley. Check em out and lemme know

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Well, that was helpful. I think everyone knows this, the O.P. is asking for suggestions. Do you have any?

al

Yes. Either provide a lot more background as to the genre, style, author etc., or look for him/herself. It is impossible for another person who does not know you to make a worthwhile suggestion. I could not possibly suggest a book that you might like, nor you me.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Perhaps the "Reading Recommendations" forum is not the right place for you?



eP

When someone wants to have "incredible" books recommended - yes, you are right. Maybe some people have much lower "incredibility" thresholds than I.

[WillAdams]

Some books which haven't been mentioned yet:

- Vernor Vinge _True Names and Other Dangers_ --- titular story is an early examination of the nature of the net and privacy

- Susan Cooper _The Dark is Rising_ pentalogy (first book _Over Sea and Under Stone_ is optional)

- H. Beam Piper's _Little Fuzzy_ (available in HarryT's nifty Terro-Human Future Omnibus here)

- Barry Hughart's _Bridge of Birds_ --- LOL funny, witty and w/ something to say about the nature of love

- Jack Vance _Lyonesse_ trilogy - masterwork of high fantasy

- Poul Anderson _The Broken Sword and _The Merman's Children_ --- historical fantasy

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by Santos

... I would recommend some emotobooks..

I'm going to assume you have some special interest here. You sure do seem to recommend them a lot.