TheNewGuy's Booklist

By TheNewGuy · Jul 26, 2010 ·
  1. Hello everyone!

    I am bored and it's the middle of the night, so I thought I'd complie a list of books that I've read recently/or am still enchanted by. Tell me if you like any of these books, or if you would like to know more about them! You wont find Harry Potter on this list (though it is referenced many times) or Tolkien, or any other classics. These are (mostly) modern works.

    Also, if you would like, you could help me decide what to read next. See below.

    Fantasy
    I'm real big into fantasy. I like anything to do with magic and swords. But I like well-written stuff, and modern as well. A good amount of violence, gore, profanity and sexuality doesn't hurt either, though there are a few books without these things that I like.

    1. The Name of the Windby Patrick Rothfuss. Pat is a great new writer. I would keep my eye on him if I were you. If you love fantasy, then you'll love this book. I dub it Harry Potter for adults (or smart people!) It's fun, unique, and dark (to a point) but also light-hearted at times. Five stars! Can't wait for the sequel. Not as "adult" as the other books on this list, to be sure. Good for anyone :)
    2. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (and its sequels). This awesome incomplete series is for adults! It has a great plot, and many characters. I like to use him as a role model (and indeed, many of the writers on this list did too, or were even read by him!). HBO is making this series into a TV show! It's VERY good! Suffice to say I've sort of lost my way with the fourth volume, and have yet to pick it back up.
    3. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (and its series, including Best Served Cold) Joe Abercrombie has a way of making even the most despicable characters seem likable. The writing style is so fast-paced yet eloquent, it's often what I strive to achieve in my own writing. These are the most recent books I've read, and I've read all 4 of them this year. I havent been this excited about a book since Harry Potter (and how young I was then...). Beware, he may have gone too far in his fourth book, you may even be morally disgusted. You've been warned. Probably my favorite series so far.
    4. The Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg. Don't get his name confused with the guy who wrote some other books, this series is OLD. It's about a group of college students that get together and play D&D (or some other roleplaying game) and their professor (who happens to have some kind of power) transports them to the game world. They have really cool adventures, and eventually (in the other novels) they stay in this fantasy world, using their college education to bring firearms and other technology into this world. It's a very nerdy type of awesomeness. It was my bridge between Harry Potter and Name of the Wind. (Warning, adult language/themes, but not as bad as 3)

    End of the World (as we know it♫)
    I love the apocolypse. These are some books that I enjoyed reading/didn't read.
    1. The Postman by David Brin. Excellent movie, but the book was just as good, if not better. The author's some kind of nuclear physicist give him some props!
    2. World War Z by Max Brooks. ZOMBIES! Apparently it's very well written. This is a style that I have almost never seen before, so it's odd that it has come with so much success. Also, being made into a movie.
    3. The Stand by Stephen King. I never read it (because I don't really like his style...too wordy) but the miniseries was great. I love the story and how he can make every character so unique and meaningful.
    4. Day by Day Armageddon (author forgotten, google it) A zombie book written in the form of a day by day (almost) diary. Pretty unique style, written by a soldier in Iraq I believe. Very good.
    5. Dying to Live (author unknown, for good reason) I liked this book, SORTA. Zombies, again. It seemed a little contrived, but still, a good look at humanity, and the opening chapters are well written. The second book was horrible. I put it down shortly after picking it up. Like the author decided to slip into a coma and the editor was too high on caffeine pills to clean it up a little before publishing.

    line break for awesomeness:
    6. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. This author is amazing, which makes myself really dissappointed in myself for not being able to make it through his sequel(s). Dies the Fire was an awesome, awesome book about the end of the world. Something happens where gasoline stops burning like it should, gunpowder doesn't work anymore, electricity doesn't work anymore...it totally destroys the world almost overnight. It's such a good book. The second one just...bored me. I suppose if you're a serious reader you can get through it; I've tried on 3 separate occasions, starting over again! But I've read the first one at least 4 times, it's so very good!

    Thats all for apocolypses. For NOW. MUHAHAHA.

    Children/Young Adult
    Books that I enjoyed as a kid/growing up, that made an impact but I probably won't read again:

    1. The Chronicles of Narniaby you know who. Get the BBC audio plays if you ever get the chance; they are unabridged and filled with awesomeness!
    2. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
    3. The City of Ember (who is this by..?)
    4. Harry Potter ok fine its on the dang list.
    5. Star Wars books (its been a while, but when you're invested in a world it's cool to see what people can do using it to tell a story.)
    6. The Hobbit Okay, this too. Never read the Lord of the Rings though; I think The Hobbit is more modern; noone practical writes exactly like Tolkien nowadays anyway.
    7. Ranger's Apprentice I haven't read more than the first 4. Now, they seem childish, but then, they were cool!

    can't think of anymore. Though, I was quite a bookworm as a kid. I've slowed down now.

    Okay, I was going to post what I'm trying to decide to read now, but I think noone will care after reading this ridiculously long list. So goodnight, WritingForums. Hope you enjoyed my list.

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