I want to read something amazing

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know this is SF and I know you said not to suggest SF, but I am going to anyway.

I've read the first two books in the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.

1. Hyperion
2. The Fall of Hyperion
3. Endymion
4. The Rise of Endymion

They are very good. Well worth reading SF for.

I am surprised nobody has commented on the Hyperion series. It's a true classic.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I am surprised nobody has commented on the Hyperion series. It's a true classic.

Possibly it's because the OP said that she was not interested in Science Fiction?

[JaneD]

Originally Posted by kiwidude

I just finished reading that this morning. And proof positive that not all books are for everyone's taste . I really struggled with this book. Historical accuracy it has in spades - to the point of page after page describing incomprehensible (to land-lubbers like me) nautical jargon and sail setups.

I felt the same way about Master and Commander, and I love historical fiction. I really wanted to love it, but it was tough going.

Based on the list OP provided, I'd recommend:

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.

March by Geraldine Brooks. (This won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2006.)

[jktreads]

Hi -
I first bought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel a few years ago because I heard good things about it, but the book was too large and intimidating. Now I have it electronically and I find that I'm stuck about 150 epages in. Do I keep reading? How far do I read before I give up and wonder why this book makes so many readers lists?

I enjoy fantasy, time travel, paranormal, historical, etc books...so this should be my cup of tea.

[jktreads]

There are two books that I recommend to other readers:
Crashers by Dana Haynes and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

Are they amazing? I thought so, the stories took me to places that I had never been before. Crashers by getting into the heads of accident investigators and Replay by providng fresh insight into living our lives over again. Would we do it better the second time around? I'd like to think so, but after reading this story, I'm not so sure.

Crashers description: When a passenger plane, a Vermeer One Eleven, slams into the ground outside Portland, Oregon, a team--the "crashers"-- is quickly assembled to investigate the cause. Usually the team has months to determine the cause of a crash. But this time it's different. This time, the plane was brought down deliberately, without leaving a trace, and this was only a trial run.

This one was quite a thrill ride! And fascinating as to how the "Crash Team" studies accidents.

Replay description:
In 1988 43-year-old Jeff Winston died of a heart attack. But then he awoke, and it was 1963; Jeff was 18 all over again, his memory of the next two decades intact. This time around Jeff would gain all the power and wealth he never had before. This time around he'd know how to do it right.

Good books, maybe even amazing, do yourself a favor and add them to your TBR lists!

[Belfaborac]

I'll add my favourite historical novel to the mix; Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire. At heart a re-telling of the Battle of Thermopylae, it also provides a little (and quite accurate, based on what we know) insight into life in Spartan society at the time. The book is extremely well written in my opinion and does not require any advance knowledge of, or even interest in, the period, but of course either would make it all the better.

There's also Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, a masterfully concocted mystery set in a late medieval monastery. Without shadow of a doubt one of the best books I have ever read, regardless of genre.

Eco's Focault's Pendulum is equally good, but a much heavier proposition. It deals with a trio of friends who set out to create an occult hoax, but end up turning into believers themselves. It is often called "the thinking man's Da Vinci Code" and certainly require far more of the reader than that particular piece of pulp fiction.

Of the few non-SFF books I've read relatively recently, Shantaram is a wonderfully entertaining modern adventure yarn by Gregory David Roberts, while Ildefonso Falcones' Cathedral of the Sea is another historical drama, set in late medieval Barcelona and with the construction of the Santa Maria del Mar as a backdrop. An engrossing story, well told.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by jktreads

There are two books that I recommend to other readers:
Crashers by Dana Haynes and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

Are they amazing? I thought so, the stories took me to places that I had never been before. Crashers by getting into the heads of accident investigators and Replay by providng fresh insight into living our lives over again. Would we do it better the second time around? I'd like to think so, but after reading this story, I'm not so sure.

Crashers description: When a passenger plane, a Vermeer One Eleven, slams into the ground outside Portland, Oregon, a team--the "crashers"-- is quickly assembled to investigate the cause. Usually the team has months to determine the cause of a crash. But this time it's different. This time, the plane was brought down deliberately, without leaving a trace, and this was only a trial run.

This one was quite a thrill ride! And fascinating as to how the "Crash Team" studies accidents.

Replay description:
In 1988 43-year-old Jeff Winston died of a heart attack. But then he awoke, and it was 1963; Jeff was 18 all over again, his memory of the next two decades intact. This time around Jeff would gain all the power and wealth he never had before. This time around he'd know how to do it right.

Good books, maybe even amazing, do yourself a favor and add them to your TBR lists!

I have read replay a couple of times over the years. It is good and makes you think. Also he lived his life over and over and made mistakes each time.
Apache

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jktreads

Hi -
I first bought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel a few years ago because I heard good things about it, but the book was too large and intimidating. Now I have it electronically and I find that I'm stuck about 150 epages in. Do I keep reading? How far do I read before I give up and wonder why this book makes so many readers lists?

I enjoy fantasy, time travel, paranormal, historical, etc books...so this should be my cup of tea.

Yes, do keep reading. It's a book that it does take a while to get into, but stick with it; you won't be sorry.

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by jktreads

Hi -
I first bought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel a few years ago because I heard good things about it, but the book was too large and intimidating. Now I have it electronically and I find that I'm stuck about 150 epages in. Do I keep reading? How far do I read before I give up and wonder why this book makes so many readers lists?

I enjoy fantasy, time travel, paranormal, historical, etc books...so this should be my cup of tea.

It's certainly not a book for everyone, but one of my favorites. Reading it is like driving the scenic route, stopping at every turn out and antique store along the way. Don't worry about reaching your destination, just enjoy the drive.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by jktreads

There are two books that I recommend to other readers:
Crashers by Dana Haynes and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

To tie it into other recommendations in the thread, there's a heck of a lot of the vibe of Replay that Mr. King recycled in 11/22/63 (he also added a dash of "It's a Wonderful Life").

[Elfwreck]

The Binder of Shame presents: The RPG.net rants is dazzling... if you were an RPG gamer in the 80's. I can't speak for its appeal to other people (although my older daughter thinks it's hilarious, and she wasn't gaming back then).

The formatting's glitchy and inconsistent. There are typos. It's missing a lot of commas. If you know and loved gaming from the 80's (or gamers from the 80's), you'll be too busy laughing hysterically to care. More detailed review.

Sing My Name by Ellen O'Connell is a historical romance that blew me away; the author went on my "just buy EVERYTHING she puts out" list (and her other books haven't changed that decision a bit). The characters are richly developed, including plenty of people aside from the main couple; the heroine is strong-willed and awesome, and doesn't put up with anybody's attempts to keep her apart from her love--including his.

Serial, by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn, is a short-story thriller (that was later expanded into a novel, which I haven't read, because this was quite creepy enough for me) with a delightful punch. The premise:
Remember the twin golden rules of hitchhiking? #1-Don't go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy. #2-Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be raving nutcase. So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2...

Two of those are free; the romance is not but has a substantial free sample.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Serial, by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn, is a short-story thriller (that was later expanded into a novel, which I haven't read, because this was quite creepy enough for me) with a delightful punch. The premise:
Remember the twin golden rules of hitchhiking? #1-Don't go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy. #2-Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be raving nutcase. So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2...

Oh my.. Serial.. One of the first ebooks I got (it was free at the time). Took me a couple days to read the short story, because I had to just put it down multiple times. One creepy novel and delightfully twisted ending.

[Polarpenguin]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Serial, by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn, is a short-story thriller (that was later expanded into a novel, which I haven't read, because this was quite creepy enough for me) with a delightful punch. The premise:
Remember the twin golden rules of hitchhiking? #1-Don't go hitchhiking, because the driver who picks you up could be certifiably crazy. #2-Don't pick up hitchhikers, because the traveler you pick up could be raving nutcase. So what if, on some dark, isolated road, Crazy #1 offered a ride to Nutcase #2...

for the rec. This is right up my street & free to boot.

[BreezyDay]

How about this amazing read: Giants in the Earth: a Saga of the Prairie by O.E. Rolvaag. It's about city folks who head to the Dakota territory,their arduous journey, and the psychological effect of early prairie life. Rolvaag's writing is very visceral and it was a totally engrossing and fascinating read. The characters he created are so real that you feel like you're right there with them.

Or, maybe check out this amazing non-fiction book: The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat: and other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks (professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine). It's filled with the stories of people who are afflicted with strange neurological disorders and describes each patient's unique way of coping and adapting.

[John A. A. Logan]

I second Fahrenheit 451, and Kafka's novels.

Also:

Hunger - Knut Hamsun
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Idiot - Dostoyevsky
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Cain's Book - Alexander Trocchi
The Joke - Milan Kundera