Sony bookstore recommendations?

KlondikeGeoff · 01-01-2007, 01:48 PM

Is it apt to have a thread here listing books you got from Sony's store that you found especially good?

I am a bit disappointed at the fiction choices so far, as most seem to be books of not great merit. Of course, it is so damned difficult and annoying to go through the site, clicking on titles one by one just to get a description, that I haven't bothered to look through them all.

So many seem to be thrillers, detective stories, romance or classics (most of which I've read). I enjoy a good thriller as much as the next guy, but for the prices charged, I'd like to find somle better literature.

Due to the above-mention difficulty in scannng the books, I'd be interested in any posts listing books readers have found to be very good.

I'll start it off by recommending Imperium by Robert Harris. I've not finished it yet, but it strikes me as quite good; historical fiction about the life of Cicero in ancient Rome.

Any suggestions?

flumbo · 01-01-2007, 02:19 PM

I tend to enjoy "books of not great merit".

I really enjoyed "World War Z"-- A journalist interviews people involved in the "Zombie Wars". Very entertaining. Also liked the Dune prequel trilogy which is sold in a cheap bundle.

Easiest way to shop on connect is to go to Amazon, find a book you like, switch back to connect and see if it is available.

neilm2 · 01-01-2007, 02:46 PM

I'm enjoying Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk. It's an terrific memoir full of haunting black-and-white photographs of the city.

ekadish · 01-01-2007, 03:08 PM

I highly recommend Atonement by Ian McEwan. I discovered it based on Amazon feedback and I really enjoyed it. I'm now reading another of his books called Saturday but it's too early to decide if I'd recommend it yet.

RWood · 01-01-2007, 03:27 PM

For SciFi "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry is very good (price reduced to $7.96, they still have the old $12.40 price listed.) "The Elegant Solution" by Matthew May is the story of Toyota and an excellent read. "The New Geography" by Joel Kotkin is a fantastic book. Also "Weird Ideas That Work" by Robert Sutton is well worth the time, effort, and money. As you may notice, most of what I read are business books.

Hope this helps.

KlondikeGeoff · 01-01-2007, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flumbo

Easiest way to shop on connect is to go to Amazon, find a book you like, switch back to connect and see if it is available.

Now that is an excellent idea, far easier than shopping Connect. Thanks!

Thanks also for the suggestions, everybody, some good stuff.

ekadish, I will order Atonement, as he is an excellent writer and am sure will enjoy it. Last year I bought the Large Print, dead tree edition of Saturday, and it was a great read, very unusual and well done.

Keep thos posts and cards coming, folks, I'm making a list, checking it twice...

L1Wulf · 01-01-2007, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flumbo

Easiest way to shop on connect is to go to Amazon, find a book you like, switch back to connect and see if it is available.

That's exactly the way to do it. If you have an Amazon account, and you're willing to invest some time marking off books you own, as well as rating them, you can get some decent suggestions.

I agree with the OP regarding the fiction available. It seems that none of my favorite fantasy authors are available, but I've managed to find a couple new authors that (I'm hoping) will become new favorites. Additionally, I've been considering using up the last of my credit for some nonfiction, but I've got enough to read right now that I'll likely wait until the last minute before my credit expires to decide where to use it up.

There are other book sites out there that may provide additional resources for finding alternates; unfortunately, their names escape me right now. So much to do and think about now that I've got my reader piled on top of trying to read even more than I used to... What a wonderful dilemma to be in.

HarryT · 01-02-2007, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KlondikeGeoff

So many seem to be thrillers, detective stories, romance or classics (most of which I've read). I enjoy a good thriller as much as the next guy, but for the prices charged, I'd like to find somle better literature.

Geoff,

I you want "literature" rather than merely "read once and throw it away" fiction, why not check out the out-of-copyright classics at PG, ManyBooks, etc? 10s of thousands of books, and all absolutely free.

Virtually all my "top 10" list of books would be in that catagory - Dickens, Dumas, Haggard, etc.

KlondikeGeoff · 01-02-2007, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Geoff,I you want "literature" rather than merely "read once and throw it away" fiction, why not check out the out-of-copyright classics at PG, ManyBooks, etc? 10s of thousands of books, and all absolutely free.

Virtually all my "top 10" list of books would be in that catagory - Dickens, Dumas, Haggard, etc.

Thanks, Harry, but as I noted in my OP, "classics (most of which I've read)" by which I meant to convey just what you suggested.

Starting years ago with my Rocket eBook, been reading and re-reading all those wonderful old boks, mostly from Gutenberg, but from other sites too. I just recently got a couple more for the Reader from manybooks. There are some at Sony bookstore, but why buy then they are available free?

I guess we may be getting into semantics, but my definition of "literature" includes modern time good works too. So far, not too much in that category on the Sony site, but hope springs eternal, eh?

Actually, re-reading Dickens, Conrad, Dumas et al has been a wonderful experience, so many of them still hold up so well. For those I still plan to get, however, I will continue to use the Rocket eBook, as it enables me to load any typeface and point size, which large type, incidently, can be read in either the vertical or horizontal size, unlike the Reader.

Laurens · 01-02-2007, 02:52 PM

I really enjoyed Steven Johnson's - Everything Bad is Good for You and Mind Wide Open.

rfw · 01-03-2007, 12:48 PM

I just finished reading Nick Hornby's _A Long Way Down_. Not great literature by any means but usually clever, occasionally insightful, and almost always darkly funny. If you liked _High Fidelity_ or _How to Be Good_, you'll probably like this one as well.

Leaping Gnome · 01-03-2007, 02:40 PM

Another Amazon browser/Connect buyer here. This thread has piqued my interest in a couple of the titles mentioned.

Off the top of my head, a few books I liked from the Connect store:

- Anansi Boys : Neil Gaiman
- Darwin's Radio : Greg Bear (part of a two book bundle)
- Freakonomics : Levitt & Dubner
- Summon the Thunder : Star Trek (a good sequel to the included Vanguard book)
- Next : Michael Crichton (his typical easy reading fiction)
- Ilium : Dan Simmons

JohnB · 01-04-2007, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KlondikeGeoff

...
Any suggestions?

Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs is amazing. I bought it, based on a tip in this forum, when it was (mistakenly?) offered for $2.00, but I'd say it's still worth buying. It's T.C. Boyle meets John Irving meets David Sidaris, and is (allegedly), an autobiography.

L1Wulf · 01-04-2007, 01:55 PM

I bought the pbook of Running With Scissors for my girlfriend and she really loved it. Unfortunately, our reading tastes rarely overlap, but if you're comparing it to Boyle and Irving... I'll have to give it a try.

I also just noticed that they have a Dan Brown bundle (but not special priced) and thought to myself how, if I was nice, I would get the bundle for the same girlfriend; then I realized that that would mean less Reader time for me and came back to my senses.

Sometimes I get tempted to watch/read the hugely popular mainstream books and movies that never really caught my attention, then I change my mind and read/watch something else. I still haven't seen Titanic or read The Da Vinci Code--Running With Scissors may have fallen in that category, but perhaps now it won't...

edit:
Can anyone advise on the Bill Bryson books (eg. A Short History of Nearly Everything)? I've seen the reviews and never remember to look them up at the bookstore, I suspect this title will be one to help use up what is left of my $50 credit before the end of the month.

Bob Russell · 01-04-2007, 03:15 PM

I read Bryson's Short History... I really enjoyed it. It has been a while, but I think it was sort of a survey of some areas of science with lots of fun story telling in it. It did seem to drag on towards the end, like so many books do, but I really enjoyed it.

Don't know about the formatting of the Connect version, though, if that's what you were asking.

01-01-2007, 01:48 PM	#1
KlondikeGeoff Wombat Aficionado Posts: 481 Karma: 733 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Arizona Device: Fire, Kindle1, Sony PRS-500 Reader, Rocket 1100 eBook	Sony bookstore recommendations? Is it apt to have a thread here listing books you got from Sony's store that you found especially good? I am a bit disappointed at the fiction choices so far, as most seem to be books of not great merit. Of course, it is so damned difficult and annoying to go through the site, clicking on titles one by one just to get a description, that I haven't bothered to look through them all. So many seem to be thrillers, detective stories, romance or classics (most of which I've read). I enjoy a good thriller as much as the next guy, but for the prices charged, I'd like to find somle better literature. Due to the above-mention difficulty in scannng the books, I'd be interested in any posts listing books readers have found to be very good. I'll start it off by recommending Imperium by Robert Harris. I've not finished it yet, but it strikes me as quite good; historical fiction about the life of Cicero in ancient Rome. Any suggestions?

01-01-2007, 02:46 PM	#3
neilm2 Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 12 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader	I'm enjoying Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk. It's an terrific memoir full of haunting black-and-white photographs of the city. Last edited by neilm2; 01-01-2007 at 08:17 PM.

01-04-2007, 01:55 PM	#14
L1Wulf Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 27 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Denver, CO Device: nook	I bought the pbook of Running With Scissors for my girlfriend and she really loved it. Unfortunately, our reading tastes rarely overlap, but if you're comparing it to Boyle and Irving... I'll have to give it a try. I also just noticed that they have a Dan Brown bundle (but not special priced) and thought to myself how, if I was nice, I would get the bundle for the same girlfriend; then I realized that that would mean less Reader time for me and came back to my senses. Sometimes I get tempted to watch/read the hugely popular mainstream books and movies that never really caught my attention, then I change my mind and read/watch something else. I still haven't seen Titanic or read The Da Vinci Code--Running With Scissors may have fallen in that category, but perhaps now it won't... edit: Can anyone advise on the Bill Bryson books (eg. A Short History of Nearly Everything)? I've seen the reviews and never remember to look them up at the bookstore, I suspect this title will be one to help use up what is left of my $50 credit before the end of the month. Last edited by L1Wulf; 01-04-2007 at 02:04 PM.

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01-01-2007, 02:19 PM	#2
flumbo I got nothin... Posts: 127 Karma: 302 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Hawaii	I tend to enjoy "books of not great merit". I really enjoyed "World War Z"-- A journalist interviews people involved in the "Zombie Wars". Very entertaining. Also liked the Dune prequel trilogy which is sold in a cheap bundle. Easiest way to shop on connect is to go to Amazon, find a book you like, switch back to connect and see if it is available.

01-01-2007, 03:08 PM	#4
ekadish Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Device: Sony eReader	I highly recommend Atonement by Ian McEwan. I discovered it based on Amazon feedback and I really enjoyed it. I'm now reading another of his books called Saturday but it's too early to decide if I'd recommend it yet.

01-01-2007, 03:27 PM	#5
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	For SciFi "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry is very good (price reduced to $7.96, they still have the old $12.40 price listed.) "The Elegant Solution" by Matthew May is the story of Toyota and an excellent read. "The New Geography" by Joel Kotkin is a fantastic book. Also "Weird Ideas That Work" by Robert Sutton is well worth the time, effort, and money. As you may notice, most of what I read are business books. Hope this helps.

01-02-2007, 02:52 PM	#10
Laurens Jah Blessed Posts: 1,295 Karma: 1373 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: The Netherlands Device: iPod Touch	I really enjoyed Steven Johnson's - Everything Bad is Good for You and Mind Wide Open.

01-03-2007, 12:48 PM	#11
rfw Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brooklyn Device: PRS-500, TH55	I just finished reading Nick Hornby's _A Long Way Down_. Not great literature by any means but usually clever, occasionally insightful, and almost always darkly funny. If you liked _High Fidelity_ or _How to Be Good_, you'll probably like this one as well.

01-03-2007, 02:40 PM	#12
Leaping Gnome Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1641 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Louisville Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	Another Amazon browser/Connect buyer here. This thread has piqued my interest in a couple of the titles mentioned. Off the top of my head, a few books I liked from the Connect store: - Anansi Boys : Neil Gaiman - Darwin's Radio : Greg Bear (part of a two book bundle) - Freakonomics : Levitt & Dubner - Summon the Thunder : Star Trek (a good sequel to the included Vanguard book) - Next : Michael Crichton (his typical easy reading fiction) - Ilium : Dan Simmons

01-04-2007, 03:15 PM	#15
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I read Bryson's Short History... I really enjoyed it. It has been a while, but I think it was sort of a survey of some areas of science with lots of fun story telling in it. It did seem to drag on towards the end, like so many books do, but I really enjoyed it. Don't know about the formatting of the Connect version, though, if that's what you were asking.

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