Y'all read?

By smokemifugottem - updated: 1 year, 5 months ago - 36 messages

Give me some book recommendations? I feel like this is a good place to get some interesting ones. I'm more of a non-fiction guy, any topic. Currently most interested in history, law, and philosophy. But again all topics. Fiction is acceptable as well. Maybe preferred only because I want to get into it more.
By user491757 - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

I haven't finished it yet but House of Leaves seems to be pretty good
By hasisfasis - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

I recommend "All Tomorrows - A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Varying Fortunes of Man" By Nemo Ramjet
Even though it is fiction it basically follows our basic understanding of evolution in a futuristic dystopia. It is not too long, but the amazing art and detail put into each species compensate this. It is truly fascinating to think that what if these events in the book were not just fiction?
You can't find a physical copy now days (at least i couldn't find one) but you can read the entire book on here
https://web.archive…
or print it like i did. :)
By smokemifugottem - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

Wow so just clicked that link and kind of scrolled through it real fast, the art that I saw looks right up my alley. Will definitely read this.
By hasisfasis - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

Glad to hear! :)
By jcas092 - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

I'm reading The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell right now and it's really interesting. It's about George Orwell living with coal miners for a few months, and right now he's talking about class distinction and what-not.
I just finished Modern Man in Search of A Soul by Carl Jung. That one was psychology and philosophy.
By galantix - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

I like to read non fictional books on self development. If you are interested in that I can give you some recomendations but not sure if you want that.
By jcas092 - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

@galantix Hit me with them!
By lwoton - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

1. B. Akunin - All Adventure of Fandorin.

If you want to read something entertaining, light, and thrilling, then read series of books about Erast Petrovitch Fandorin. From the first book (Azazel) - there are 16 of them in total - you will be delighted with the hero and world created by B. Akunin. What is interesting about the series is that the author has written books in the genre of a new detective, using different literary styles in each. Because of the fast-paced plot, readers (at least me) do not immediately recognize the instigator of the crime. Another reason why I prefer Akunin’s detective to others is that author vividly describes the heroes, their environment, and the epoch in which events unfold. I have almost completed the saga about collegiate assessors, and I can advise you not to read but listen, especially the later works of the writer, and the reason for it is the musical accompaniment and the virtuosity of the readers (voice actors). Although, the paper form has its merit in the form of an interesting illustration. Another remark: don’t expect anything like golden Russian literature, as the author criticizes for amateurism.
By lwoton - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

2. S. Dovlatov – The Suitcase, Ours, Inostranka. (These are the books that struck me the most, especially the last one.)

You will immediately feel the unique humor and manner of Dovlatov’s narration. The initial “taste” of the author’s works is light and not constrained, but the reader can feel the sad notes and irony in his humor when drills a little deeper. The original "taste" of works of authorship is light and not constrained, but if the reader delves deeper, he will catch sad notes and irony of Dovlatov's humor. His humor is tinged with tragedy, because he was a writer who was not supported by the Soviet government due to ideological reasons and could not publish freely. Later, he was not in demand as an author at first in the "country of freedom" since among those who did not survive the Soviet power, there were no readers. In his books, Sergei Dovlatov depicts the challenges of far-outer, and later after immigration, his works illustrate the difficulties of USSR emigrants.
By lwoton - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

3. H.G. Wells - The Time Machine.

If you are into science fiction, then you may be interested in the works of H.G. Wells, the forefather of sci-fi. I must admit that "The Time Machine " transformed my vision of the future. The trend along which the world moves proves Wells's vision of the end of civilization. To intrigue: think about people becoming less brute, stupider, and physically weaker with technological development. Here the question arises - what will post peak of humanity be?
Also, a fascinating book to consider is “ Roadside Picnic" (philosophical sci-fi). Even though it is my favorite book in this genre, I will not go into detail, as I have already quoted this book on this site.
By smokemifugottem - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

I'm not a huge self development book guy, but I'm definitely open to the suggestions!
By smokemifugottem - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

Great book. I had to read it for senior year of highschool. One of the few books that I actually read in school lmao.
By galantix - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

You can give Extreme Ownership a try, see if you like it.
By jcas092 - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

If you're interested in history, law, and philosophy, I'd highly recommend The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It's a three-volume tome about the rise of Marxism in the Soviet Union.
By addabon - posted: 2 years, 7 months ago

Some non-fiction books I really loved within the realm of history/philosophy:

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
It's an epic of a book, but it's a great look at world history that focuses more on the Middle East and Far East. I think it ends sometime in the 1980s, so it reaches up farther in history than you would expect.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
This was a great book focused on chronicling Genghis Khan's entire life and the after-effects of his empire. I found it fascinating because it focuses on a lot of political and legislative innovations in government that happened during his reign that are taken for granted today.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
I think this is a great insight into why politics/religion are so personal and controversial. A great read overall.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
This focuses on a lot of early human history that I had no idea about. A lovely book with a lot to say about human civilizations.

"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
This is a fascinating look at America's involvement (from bystander to adjacently involved power) in many of the genocides taking place during the 20th century.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
This is a great, but very sad book. Frankl survived a concentration camp during WWII, and this book is his processing of his time there and how to make meaning from such tragedy. Very worth the read, and very philosophical.

Some fiction I really enjoy:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
I'm in the middle of rereading this one. It's historical fiction, charting the lives of a white missionary family in modern day Congo. It's a great read, with a lot to say about religion, colonialism, grief, and family.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig
Since you mentioned you like philosophy, this is a great fictional book that takes on a lot of philosophical topics and theory. It's been awhile since I read it, but I remember being very blown away by it.

And any book by John Steinbeck (particularly East of Eden) or Kurt Vonnegut (especially Slaughter-House Five).
Updated 2 years, 7 months ago
By smokemifugottem - posted: 2 years, 6 months ago

Hey thanks! I've heard of sapiens, and have planned to read or listen to it. I'll have to look into the rest as well :)
By user567589 - posted: 2 years, 6 months ago

If you like detective books you may like the Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
By zhang - posted: 2 years, 6 months ago

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera is awesome
By skave - posted: 2 years, 5 months ago

The Royal Assassin is excellent, you should give it a try
Updated 2 years, 5 months ago
By elombitakola - posted: 2 years, 5 months ago

I came here to suggest Sapiens and A man's search for meaning, my work is done.
By urmytype - posted: 2 years, 5 months ago

I'm mostly a sci-fi and fantasy person, but a nonfiction book I recently read and loved is Stiff by Mary Roach. The book is about cadavers and dead people, which sounds very boring, but her writing was so entertaining. She clearly had done so much research in the topic and chose the most interesting things to write about.

A fiction book I really liked was Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's definitely a quick read, but very engaging. You could also look at it in a historical context, like thinking about how this story was influential on young people's perception of oceanic exploration/navigation in the late 19th century. The language used and Stevenson's life + inspiration for the book are also cool to look at.
By gem___ - posted: 2 years, 3 months ago

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker was really interesting to me, and all of the Hunger Games books (you've probably read them but they're amazing)
By flurri8 - posted: 2 years, 3 months ago

You should try War Stories. It is a historical fiction book, I'm sure you'll like it
By jcas092 - posted: 2 years, 3 months ago

I'm reading Man And His Symbols by Carl Jung. It's about dream analysis and symbolism. It's quite good.
By user728125 - posted: 2 years, 2 months ago

I can recomend some books, I read that you like History, lay and philosophy, and you accept fiction in some point as well; in that case i will recomend you a graphic nobel, called, V for Vendetta, I don't know if you like graphic novels (A.K.A. comics), but this one is very quite good, there is a movie of this one, but is not even close to the original comic. V for Vendetta, is more like a critic to the british goverment of the time that that novel was wrote, and is very good, is not about superheros and villans, and is not your clasic comic for kids/young audiences, so thats the first book i recomend. And originaly it acctualy was published on the news paper, but now you can buy the book with all the comic in order and complete.

Other books I recomend are:

· The art of war - by Sun Tzu (it's not a joke, acctualy is a very good book that can be intrepeted for alot of differents aspects in life, for example: business, economics, love, make long terms plans, and etc.
· The book's series of Frey & McGray by Oscar de Muriel, these books are good, and they have a little bit of fiction, but it have like history estereggs and is inspire by history and music too, and is about some detectives in scotland, at the victorian era, so you can say is a little bit inspire by law.
· And for last, Don Quijote de la Mancha - by Miguel de Cervantes, acctualy I havent read this one, but is a classic, and alot of people have told me to read it, and its in my list of books (acctualy is the next one), also, some persons have told me that this novel acctualy have live lessons.

Hope this has been of help,

A random person of the internet, lol.

P.S.

Sorry for any ortografical/gramar level, english is not my first language, and I havent practiced that much, lately.
By smokemifugottem - posted: 2 years, 2 months ago

Hey thanks! I've had The Art Of War recommended to me a lot.

I'm currently listening to Sapiens on audiobook but once I finish that I'll definitely refer to this thread, including your comment, for what I choose next.

Thanks a lot for your comment and for what it's worth I think your English seems very good. Very slight errors in grammar if anything, and honestly nothing that I as a native speaker can say I never mess up on from time to time!
By jcas092 - posted: 2 years, 2 months ago

Don Quixote will keep you occupied for a while. lol
By middle_earth - posted: 2 years, 2 months ago

Hello!

Non-fiction
• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
While I have yet to read "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (just bought my copy and am anxiously waiting for it to arrive :D) I have heard so many great comments and recommendations on this novel. It is based on the Napoleonic period in Russia and while many of the events and characters in this novel are based on true events others are not, which in my opinion provides a good balance of non-fiction and fiction. Many reviews of this book have stated that it is history and philosophy driven so I think you might be interested in reading it. I know it is a long read but hopefully it is worth every page :)

Fiction
• The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J.R.R. Tolkien
Not sure if you are interested in fantasy, but if you want to explore this genre I would highly recommend these books. I know some view these books as childish/geeky but they are seriously so good! Tolkien's writing style transports you directly to middle-earth and you get so attached to all the characters and the plot that it makes the book series one of those that you just can't seem to put down.

I hope you give these books a try! :D
By martharose - posted: 1 year, 8 months ago

Not much of a reader, but I am enjoying The Eye of Minds by James Dashner. I really like it! It has a Ready Player One feel!
By jcas092 - posted: 1 year, 8 months ago

My favorite fiction series of all time is The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan. Highly recommend. Be warned though, it's LONG. 15 books total, most of which are 800+ pages. Jordan loves his descriptions, so they're very wordy. I'd recommend the audio books if you drive a lot.
By gabrielleferia1 - posted: 1 year, 7 months ago

Literally any book from Victoria Holt, Handle with Care by Jodi Piocult, The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, Benny and Babe by Eoin Colfer
By smokemifugottem - posted: 1 year, 7 months ago

Surprised this thread lasted so long lol
By _kookie - posted: 1 year, 6 months ago

The newspaper. :)
By doughth - posted: 1 year, 6 months ago

The Rising of Shield Hero is a really good book; it's also an anime, and if you enjoy anime you should watch the first season and then start at book six. It gives so much to think about, predict, and the characters aren't just tropy/figure placeholders, they're people. The books are interesting to read, (you get to see the thoughts of the mc which makes it that way), and can be complex depending onto how much you want it to be/think into it. So far the only problem is the occasional wrong spelling, (it's translated).
Another is the Gulag-Archipeligo. I haven't read too far into it and it's heavy but is also an insight into some of the psychology behind the cold war, (according to Jordan Peterson).
By user722560 - posted: 1 year, 5 months ago

God I was so happy to find this comment! I also recommend All Tomorrows! What a book. There's a full audiobook reading with an actual guy voicing it on Youtube too. if anyone just wants to listen
By smokemifugottem - posted: 1 year, 5 months ago

Happen to have a link to that? Having trouble finding it.

Book definitely peaks my interest. I tried to get into reading reading lol, but I've come to the conclusion that i'm not wired for it. I process information better audibly, and I have an issue with forcing myself to sit down and do just one thing.

My reading speed, and reading comprehension isn't bad at all. But I can only force myself to sit down and read for like 15 minutes. So reading a book takes like 5 times as long as it should based solely off my reading ability lmao.

Anyway sorry for the ramble. Got a link? I'd greatly appreciate it.