this is a book post

[lirazel]

But first: curling: greatest thing ever, y/y? I'm beginning to think that it's not that I don't like sports, it's just that I don't like sports that are popular in America. Caber toss? I'm all over that nonsense. Clearly, I should move to Scotland and watch rugby and curling and other awesome sports.

Anyway, back to books.

So, as most of you know, I was an English major. I never even considered another major; I knew in elementary school what I was going to do. I've always been a big reader, and I was in college, too, though I read less books because I was reading longer, more complex ones--lots and lots of the classics. And there were some amazing books--to give you an idea, Absalom, Absalom! is my favorite book. Period. And I never would have read Madam Bovary or The End of the Affair or something on my own, but: brilliant.

But. Since graduation, I hadn't been reading much. Well, that's not true; I'd been reading lots of fic and lots of Jezebel articles and lots of essays online about race and gender and other interesting things. But I hadn't read very many books. I think I got sort of burned out? I was reading such intense, complex texts on a very analytical level for four years of college that I needed to...not do that anymore. And it made me sad, because reading is what I do. I only read 23 books last year. That's very, very low for me, and I was kind of disappointed in myself.

But in the last month or so, I've been wanting to read all the time, and I think my appetite is back. I'm so happy! It feels so good!

So this is me asking for book recs.

A couple of things:

1. Nothing too dense, please. I know I need to read Lolita and War and Peace, and I want to, so I'll get to them eventually, though probably not anytime soon. But at the same time, I am not a beach read reader. I like well-written books (read: nothing Nicholas Sparks-esque or Jodi Picoult-ian, okay?).

2. I have no interest in reading about contemporary Western people. I want to go somewhere else when I read. This means that I want:
A. Books set in some other historical period or, at the very least, somewhere else on the planet.
B. Speculative fiction. I love fantasy, and I love character-driven sci-fi, though I lean toward the former. (Also, re: fantasy: I'm over the whole "we're going on a journey through a vaguely medieval European" brand of fantasy, and I'd prefer something unique).

3. I like long books. Something meaty that I can really dig my teeth into. This isn't a must, but just something to keep in mind.

4. Character, character, character, okay?

5. Most important: I want I-love-it books. Books y'all love. That you'd read more than once. There are too many books to read to waste my time on something that's just okay. So only rec it if you love it (or if you think I might love it).

Help me out, y'all?

Comments

[pennydrdful.livejournal.com]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Both are amazing, awesome stories that I whole-heartedly recommend.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oooh! One I've heard good things about and one I haven't heard of! I'm very excited now!

[ineffort.livejournal.com]

The Shape I Gave You by Martha Bailie. I rec it to everyone to the point where I start to wonder if it means to them what it means to me, but I read it two (maybe three?) years ago and it has stuck with me ever since. There is something so delicate and intricate about the entire thing and yeah, if you do read it, I hope you have the same experience.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about that one! But if you love it, it must be awesome, and delicate and intricate are great words to use to capture my attention. Thanks, love!

[ava-leigh-fitz.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm going to go run upstairs and check my bookcase but! I know you don't want contemporary Western but I really do recommend Alice Hoffman because hai, subtle magical realism! I'm a sucker for that and so I am reccing it everywhere. The story of The Probably Future is glorious because it focuses on three generations of women and I love it but the prose for Practical Magic is wonderful.

[anythingbutgrey.livejournal.com]

HOFFMAN.

ah dammit i deleted my fuck you it's magic icon. also hi isobel.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Okay, magical realism + generations of women = awesome. And I have seriously been meaning to read Practical Magic because you love it so much and I love the premise, so I'm glad you reminded me of it!

[silverusagi]

Have you read anything by Amy Tan? (Probably...)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Actually...I haven't. Which seems strange to me. At the very least, I've always meant to read The Joy Luck Club. I should do that sometime.

[anythingbutgrey.livejournal.com]

definitely read the red tent. it's a breeze to read and also WONDERFUL and you'll love it. i also always recommend margaret atwood. lady knows her shit. if you want to know about specific books, let me know, i've read too many.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I ALWAYS need to read more Atwood. How awesome is she? And how awesome is her poetry? I have a volume of it sitting in my room right now. YES.

I remember when The Red Tent was huge. Hmmm...I'll have to check it out.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

My all-time favorite book ever: Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. ENGELS IS A CHARACTER. Chartists! Magic! Corsets! Early feminism! It's... it's just amazing.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley is a close contender. Vampires and magic and CINNAMON ROLLS. The protagonist rocks.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is the most compelling book I have read lately, although I frequently wanted to throw it at the wall out of lady outrage. So, YMMV on that one.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

YES. SUNSHINE. I am a huge, huge McKinley fan--I've read 6 books this year so far? And five of them are re-reads of McKinley favorites.

Okay, Freedom & Necessity sounds amazing. It really does. LIST!

I'm interested in hearing more about your lady outrage, if you're interested in sharing. There are some things I can overlook and some things I probably can't, you know?

[snickfic]

You've already got my preliminary spec fic list. Did you say you'd picked up Tam Lin, or was that my imagination?

Otherwise, something else I've been reccing the heck out of to all and sundry: Cotillion, Georgette Heyer. Regency romance? So not my thing, yo, but I like Heyer and I loved this one. The characters rock and there's lots of funny and the central couple is so adorable that they had me the non-shipper shipping them.

And you didn't say anything about non-fiction, but Venetia Murray's An Elegant Madness makes a nice companion to the above - a frothy yet well-written and -supported account of life in the uppermost classes during Regency England.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Yay for your preliminary list! I have some China Mieville (sp?) on hold at the library, which I'm super excited about.

I had the weirdest experience with Tam Lin. I picked it up and I would read part of it and enjoy it (even though it read unlike any other book I've ever read--literary discussions FTW!), but I didn't feel compelled to pick it up when I put it down. So I didn't get very far into it, and then I had to take it back to the library. I'm not sure if this is because I knew a bit about the legend and I was expecting it to show up? Like, I was chapters into it and the actual plot (I'm mostly familiar with the Fairport Convention song) didn't seem to have started yet. Usually I'm very patient with those sorts of things; maybe it was because I hadn't gotten my reading-need back yet? I'm going to give it another try sometime soon, because I trust your opinion. And then I'll get back to you.

I love romances when it's not...overwhelming romantic? The characters have to have agency and want things beyond just being together, which is my main problem with most romances: they make me roll my eyes. And I have been told that Heyer is great. Definitely one I'll check out.

I'm very, very picky about non-fiction, but that sounds right up my alley.

Thanks for sharing!

By the way, I'm totally going to reply to your email, hopefully sometime soon. Just wanted to let you know that I got it.

[alwaysjbj.livejournal.com]

My favourite historical fiction writer is Sharon Penman - I would rec Here be Dragons as a good starting point. It is about Llewelyn the great and King John. http://www.sharonkaypenman.com/uk_books/herebedragons_uk.htm

My Favourite Fantasy authors are:

Raymond E Feist - His series is HUGE, so I would suggest the chronological reading order http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/reading-order/chronological. He has wonderful, well-developed characters and fabulous in depth plot lines.

Anne McCaffrey - Again, she is prolific and has many books/series to choose from, I personally prefer the Dragon Riders of Pern books. http://www.annemccaffrey.org/index.php?page_id=30

ETA: Also another fabulous series that combines history and fantasy/myth is Jack Whyte's fabulous Camulod series which is a unique look at the story of Merlin. http://www.jackwhyte.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3&Itemid=34

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Here Be Dragons is just a fabulous name, first of all, and looks historically awesome. And yay for fantasy writers!

Okay, I love Arthurian legend, and Mary Stewart's Merlin books are some of my favorites. I've read some interesting reviews of Jack Whyte's books; I definitely want to check them out.

Thanks!

[deird1]

I'm going to go with the Temeraire series.

They're set in England during the Napoleonic wars - but with dragons. Official, "airforce" dragons, where there are "midwingmen" instead of midshipmen, and flight drills, and so forth. They're excellent.

The first one is called "His Majesty's Dragon" (or "Temeraire" in Britain). It starts slowly, but is definitely worthwhile.




(Also, I second snickfic's Heyer rec. Her regency novels are excellent - especially "Faro's Daughter" - and her murder mysteries are extremely fun - especially "Death in the Stocks".)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have heard of those! I may have even started one? Possibly? I'm glad you say that about being slow to start; I'm willing to give things a try if I know they'll get captivating later on.

Also: dragons. There can never be too many dragons.

I don't know why I haven't checked out Heyer before. I looove historical fiction.

Thanks!

[prophecygirrl.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendations for The Red Tent and Margaret Atwood, and the one for Alice Hoffman, above.

Two other books I've loved that meet your critera in the last few years have been The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, and The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfiled.

Here are some genre-specific recs:

SciFi: anything by Ursula Le Guin

Fantasy: Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley. (Anything else by her is UNREADABLE, but this was wonderful. Weird.)

Historical Fiction: The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon

The TIme Traveler's Wife was also wonderful, but maybe too contemporary for you.

LOL - I have very eclectic taste! I hope you like one of these. I'm enjoying reading other's recommendations!

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, Thirteenth Tale! That one was weird and cool! I've always wanted to read it again because of the big revelation at the end that changes everything.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: That is just a flat-out awesome title. Hee!

I love LeGuin. Love her.

Okay, true story: I hated Mists of Avalon. And I'm the only one I know who did. I'm a huge Arthurian legend fan, but I found everyone in that book--literally everyone--either annoying or hateful, and I especially disliked Morgaine, which made me dislike the book as a whole (I think I remember it being well-written, though). Of course, I read it before I figured out how to enjoy books without characters I can love, so it might be different if I read it now.

I've always meant to read at least the first Outlander book. Thanks for reminding me of it.

Time Traveler's Wife is one of those books you either love or hate, apparently, and I read a really interesting, in-depth article on it that led me to believe I'd be one who didn't like it.

Hey, I have super eclectic taste, too! But ours clearly overlap in some areas, if not in others, so I'll be excited to check out some of these! Thanks!

[dollsome.livejournal.com]

Iiii ... should probably be embarrassed by how giddy this post made me. I will never get over my love of talkin' books! Also: it makes me tremendously happy to hear that someone else has experienced the Burned Out English Major Phenomenon, because God, I just want to finish school and read WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT TO for awhile. I love me some reading, but I'm also a peskily slow reader, so when school is on, I basically only have time to read school stuff, and God, the list of non-school stuff I want to read has become ... formidable. Especially considering when you're an English major, you're learning about all these books that sound AWESOME but then you have no time to actually read them and okay, this is pretty much just rambling now.

BOOKS I LOVE
+ Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle Trilogy, which I do not know if you've read! They're young adult and a bit on the melodramatic side of things, I guess, but they are also Victorian and epic and AMAZING with great, great characterization, and therefore they will always be my first rec to just about everybody.

+ Because I am in total Sarah Waters mode lately: anything by Sarah Waters! My favourites are Fingersmith and The Little Stranger. Fingersmith is like this total AWESOME throwback Wilkie Collins sensationalist novel with like a zillion epic plot twists and such an overwhelming atmosphere of Victorian dramarama -- it's just wonderful, I cannot recommend it enough. Such a fun, dark, delightful book. And then The Little Stranger, which I am, okay, kinda biased towards because I'm doing my thesis on it, but it is this incredibly quiet, elegantly drawn haunted house story with wonderful characters and a plot that is so intricately constructed and basically, no one has read it and I yearn to discuss it with people! My motives here are wildly selfish.

+ Anything by Eva Ibbotson. I have not read nearly enough by her, but one day, I will read everything! I think Which Witch? might be one of the most perfect books I have ever read.

+ Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu is a lot of fun. Suck it, Stoker, he busted out the vampires before you! And, okay, my love of Victorian Gothic crazytimes is becoming insanely apparent.

+ In terms of speculative fiction, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is incredibly subtle and sad and wonderful. I took a contemporary lit class a few semesters ago, and we read this first, and it was pretty much the only book that I loved. It was all downhill from here!

+ Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. And, okay. It is moody and Victorian, again. But at least this time it's set in Canada instead of England! See, I can branch out! But I think this book is just friggin' exceptional. It's about this true murder trial from the 1850s where a housemaid was accused of killing her employer and his mistress, and it's so good. The atmosphere is just unreal in its awesomeness.

And okay, now that I have rambled about roughly one thousand tales of creepy Victorians, I will silence myself. :D

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OH YAY! I was hoping you'd have some awesome, awesome recs for me! I figured anything you would like, I would like.

Your rambling reflects my experience, so ramble away. I actually read very fast, which was a boon in college, but I know what you mean about never having enough time to read all I want to.

I read the first Gemma Doyle book! Back before the others came out! I should revisit. Because I liked it, but then I forgot about it.

Okay, I love Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White? AWESOME. So that was a great comparison to catch my attention. And I love Victoriana. Love. It.

I have always meant to read Carmilla! I love Gothic fiction--I took a class on it and became totally enthralled by the history of it and the requirements of it, and it is awesome.

Dude: I have a copy of Never Let Me Go in hardback that I paid one dollar for on my shelf. I WIN. I am glad to know you like it, as I haven't read it yet!

OH ATWOOD. I haven't read that one. Yay yay yay!

All of these sound epically awesome and I love creepy Victorians, and I am so excited!

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Ok, can't help you with this I love fantasy, and I love character-driven sci-fi, though I lean toward the former 'cause I don't read it...
however... if you want historical fiction or just want to root around in my Shelfari account , you're welcome to.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I'm excited about checking out your historical fiction recs! Thank you! I love them so!

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I despair, I really do, because these are the two books I always recommend to people, and they almost never read them. But, on the rare occasions that they actually do, they always gush about how they weren't at all what they expected and they loved them. So my powers of persuasion are clearly lacking.

1. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. This is speculative fiction of the kind that makes me wriggle with joy. Strong female characters, fascinating ideas about identity and technology, and a smattering of socio-international politics. If you like this, you'll probably also like his sprawling 3,000 page System of the World trilogy, which turns the Enlightenment, and the rise of scientific method & monetary systems into a ripping yarn.

2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos. Written in 1925, and considered by those in the know to be the real, true Great American Novel, and perhaps the greatest philosophical work by an American author. However, it's also a hoot, and takes you on a journey through prohibition-era New York and on a tour of the Continent with the most charming traveling companions I can imagine. If you like the movie, Some Like It Hot, this is the book for you. It's a breezy, multi-dimensional exploration of social mores and is the most striking example I've ever seen of an exceptional writer breaking every rule of good writing and coming out a winner. You will get through this slim volume in an afternoon, and then start again at the beginning, I guarantee.

Bonus: Lieutenant Hornblower by C.S. Forester. A look at the Napoleonic Wars from the naval side, with a terrific protagonist, who is ingenious, noble, intuitive, and warm. In some ways, it's "Sherlock Holmes" on the high seas, but at the same time more intimate and worldly. Any Hornblower book is fun, but this is nice introduction point. If you like it, you've got six or so more to go on with, so it can satisfy the itch for something long and satisfying. One caveat: since he's in the navy, women enter in more in the later books. Still the characterization and emotion is really wonderful, even without girls and romance.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, those actually do sound really good! You certainly know how to sell them to me!

And I'm fond of the Hornblower series with Ioan Gruffud (how the heck do you spell his name, anyway?), but I haven't read any of them.

Thanks so much!

[molly_may]

You already have a lot of great recs here! I'm going to second a few of them:

Graceling, by Kristen Cashore - Really good, unique YA fantasy about a kickass girl escaping from under the thumb of her uncle, the king.

Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman - I've read this at least half a dozen times. Love it.

Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters - Oh man, I think you might really like this. It's kind of like if Charles Dickens had written books with lesbians and Victorian porn. It has a plot twist that made me literally say out loud "HOLY SHIT". I would recommend not reading the reviews at Amazon because they might ruin the twists.

I recently read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke and I really enjoyed it. It's set in an alternate historical England where magic is real. It's a nice long read, and the tone is kind of like if Jane Austen and Neil Gaiman wrote a book together.

(If you have never read Neil Gaiman, then I would recommend anything by him. Maybe Anansi Boys, which is steeped in African folktales and has an incredibly lovable protagonist.)

And, changing things up completely, since you enjoy reading Jezebel and articles about gender, you might like Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, or for something a little denser, Backlash by Susan Faludi. A little Feminism 101.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I actually have a copy of Jonathan Strange... sitting on my bookshelf. I started it, but was too busy with school reading to finish it. And yes, I love Gaiman! I haven't read Anansi Boys, but I've read loads of his other stuff.

I have Backlash in my bedroom right now! There can never be too much Feminism 101. And I've always meant to read Female Chauvinist Pigs, because I really hate raunch culture and I think that it's being used to control women now in more subtle, insidious ways.

Thanks!

[redsilverchains.livejournal.com]

Seconding Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell! By the time I finished it, I was half-convinced that England’s history is rooted in ancient faery roads and enchantment and rivalry between magicians :D

Also seconding the Gemma Doyle Trilogy! Elegant and deliciously spooky writing + strong female characters = it’s fabulous!

The Book Thief is one of the most beautiful novels I’ve read lately. It’s set in Germany during World War 2, and, in the author’s words: I thought of Hitler destroying people with words, and now I had a girl who was stealing them back, as she read books with the young Jewish man in her basement, and calmed people down in the bomb shelters. She writes her own story- and it’s a beautiful story- through the ugliness of the world that surrounds her

The whole story manages to be tragic and absolutely beautiful at the same time.
And it is told by Death- yes, that Death!- who makes for a sympathetic and fantastic narrator. I’ve never seen anything written quite like it.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OH I LOVE THE BOOK THIEF. What a positively perfect book! And Death as the narrator! OH I LOVE LOVELOVE IT!

I'm so excited by all the book love in this post!

[madcap-shiny.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm still on vaca right now, but when I get home with my entire bookshelves to go through I am slamming this post with recs.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I AM SO EXCITED!

I hope you're enjoying your vacation!

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Okay I haven't read all the comments yet, but have you ever read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern? It's fantasy sci-fi novel and pretty much a classic. I'd say it fits the bill for fantasy and focus on character and taking you to another world. Plus it's a series so there's lots to dig into. And I love these books. I've been meaning to re-read the first book actually as it's been on my mind recently.

Oh, and...

Lauren! How are you? :)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

You know, I haven't ever read those. I don't know why. I will definitely add them to my list, though. Digging in sounds lovely.

Emmie! I'm...okay. Work's been kind of sucky and life in general has been pretty blah BUT THE WEATHER. GORGEOUS. I washed my truck yesterday (it was disgusting, with all the salt and snow stains) and spent Friday night and most of yesterday and lunch with my family, which was awesome. And watching curling. So that's been good. But I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow.

How're you? Have you managed to shake your funk?

Also...I might be emailing you soon. I want to do some brainstorming for seasonal_spuffy. I want to do something really unique. So...expect that, if you're not too emotionally worn out.

[queenofdenile.livejournal.com]

Okay, this falls into the fantasy, long book, character character character, AND I-LOVE-IT categories.

George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

It takes place in a country that strongly resembles medieval England and it's all about kings and lords competing for thrones and power, and the queens and ladies joining in but in more subtle ways.

The main selling points:
- It's fantasy and the writer uses a lot of humor.
- The first book, A Game of Thrones, is written in EIGHT different character's perspectives. Plus, some of them are on completely opposite sides in the escalating feud, meaning you find yourself totally sympathizing with one character, and then sympathizing with one on the opposite side of the war, and realizing they can't BOTH win.
- You want strong female characters? This series has some of my favorites, such as the one in my icon.

This series will hook you but good.

I also highly, highly recommend The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. One of my favorite books ever.

[dollsome.livejournal.com]

I JUST FINISHED "A GAME OF THRONES" AFTER MANY MANY MONTHS OF READING IT (oh, ridiculously long book! Oh, sweet distraction from my school reading material!), AND MAY I JUST SAY THAT WORD. LOVED IT SO MUCH. I'm so happy there are so many more of them, and that they're all so gigantic!

[gingerwall.livejournal.com]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman was amazing - exquisitely researched and mythology heavy if you like that stuff.

My favorite character-based SciFi is the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster-Bujold. The main lead is absolutely hilarious, but it's kind of like Ender's Game in that the whole ensemble works really well and the series spans a large amount of time following different characters in different books (though unlike the Ender books, the quality remains consistent throughout).

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende is another one of my favorite books and pretty epic is in its scope. It follows three generations of women through the modernization of Chile (I wanna say late 1880's to 1950's). The history and political/economic development is fascinating, and is done so that it adds to the story rather than distracting you from the characters. The language itself is not the most poetic since it's translated from Spanish, but the story more than makes up for it.

If you somehow managed to miss The Poisenwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 8 years ago or whenever everyone was reading it, it's definitely worth a read as well. Missionary family in Africa. Vivid characters and awesome descriptions are what really drive the book, but by the end you realize how awesome her plot and thematic development is as well. I just finished it this past summer and made me reconsider my strategy of just avoiding everything on the NYT bestseller list.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time or energy for big books nows, so I mostly read short fiction, and non-fiction science-y/travel-y/politic-y stuff. If you ever get a craving for the best of that, let me know.

[eldritchowl.livejournal.com]

I second the Isabel Allende recommendation. Epic magical realism at it's besttt. :D

[eldritchowl.livejournal.com]

one of my favorite books from last year that's stuck with me ever since is the last good kiss by james crumley. it's a detective story set in a post-vietnam west and it's grungy and seedy but it just wraps itself around your head completely and the writing is ridiculously beautiful.

my favorite book of all time is the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay and it spans a decade or so of two cousins and there's comic-booking and world war two-ing and stage escapology. i just love the characters so much and the prose reads easily, like talking to a good friend. i don't know. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR THIS BOOK I COULD GO ON BUT I WON'T

p.s. do you ever venture into graphic novels?