I hate reading crappy books. What are your suggestions for reading certain authors and why are they your favorites? Could you inspire me?
Well, what sort of books do you like to read? Anything (themes/genres/etc) you're against or dislike? Without knowing that, I'd suggest going to Google and looking up, "1001 books to read before you die spreadsheet".
Thank you Yoshiko. This is a great list. As for my likes and dislikes, I would say that I like the fantasy genre the most and I am against erotica. That's basically it though, I'm not too picky.
Since you like fantasy, I would HIGHLY recommend reading Patrick Rothfuss, he only has two books out so far and both of them are part of a trilogy, but they are different and refreshing compared to other boring Fantasy. Rothfuss has created an engulfing world and really deep, also his characters are well made and his dialogue is wonderful and believable. R.A. Salvatore is also a great author, he just knows how to grip you in, really great. One of my favorites is Robert Jordan, he dedicated his whole life to this one series of books, check out The Wheel Of Time series, each book is over 500 pages long and its such a great fantasy world. Highly recommend.
David Gemmell's fantasy (particularly his Drenai series) is absolutely spectacular (and is filled with hints that it's Earth in the very far future or very far past, before or after great floods). Actually, the Jon Shannow/Sipstrassi series is a very good series (five books, three of which are the Jon Shannow trilogy). Also, Raymond E. Feist's fantasy is very good.
It's an interesting dilemma - to say that you like a particular genre and then people will suggest books of that genre. But I advise getting that list of 1000 books to read before you die - or at least having a go at reading the top 5 books in each genre. As a writer (or anyone interested in culture) sometimes breadth is an advantage. A certain genre will often explore the same tropes in similar styles over and over again. Branch out. I agree though - never read crappy books. Life is far too short, although sometimes when I do read one, it instantly motivates me to create something better. (Not that I ever do! But motivation is a good thing to have).
Interesting that no one has said J.R.R. Tolkien. Perhaps it's too cliche to recommend his works? Great job everyone, thank you for your insight. So reading sub-par books is a good motivator huh? That would make sense haha. I feel bad to put certain fictional publications below others, but sometimes you just have to when time is factored in. I'm sure there are buddhists and toaists somewhere out there thinking that it's horrible to judge one book better or worse than another, such is life.
If you enjoy fantasy, I would reccommend the Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve and His Dark materials by Phillip Pullman. While they are classified as teenage books, there's a lot to enjoy there for adults who like the fantasy genre.
China Miéville and Paolo Bacigalupi are great shouts. Perdido Street Station, by the former, and The Windup Girl, by the latter, are probably the two best books I've read this year. Miéville has quite a few books out there, so there's plenty to be going on with for him, whilst Bacigalupi only has the aforementioned novel and a short story collection, Pump six and other stories. For fantasy, look out for Robin Hobb and George R.R. Martin. Moving away from fantasy and into SF, Iain M. Banks and Dan Simmons.
John Grisham. I love the suspense that he can induce when reading one of his books, the characters do seem real and I get drawn in easily. My love of the law also attracts me! John Green. Looking For Alaska. Made me cry, had it signed for this.
Well if you like fantasy, no doubt you should read A game of thrones by George R.R. Martin.. Another good choice in my honest opinion is Terry goodkind.
Agreed on Terry Goodkind! Amazing writer! Also this isn't really fantasy, it's more sci fi, but a very good book nevertheless; Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
I have a couple of favorites: - Jane Jensen: You might know her as the brain behind the compute game company Sierra and games like Gabriel Knight and Grey Matter. But she's also a very talented writer I can recommend. The Gabriel Knight-books can be hard to get, but are well worth reading even if you have played the games (and definitely if you haven't.) She also wrote a book called Dante's Equation, that has so far ended up being one of my favortites of all time. I also have Millenium Rising laying around, so let's just say I have great expectations for it. - Andy McDermott: His books have names like "The hunt for Atlantis", "The tomb of Hercules" and "The secret of Excalibur", so you get the idea what it's all about. But unlike most books in this genre, his books are insane. There's so much action he spens an entire chapter on a single chase scene, and that's normal for him. Even so he still manages to write excellent stories with decent character development and a rather intriguing plot. (as a micro-spoiler, the first few books are independent, but a mystery starts building up from book five or so.) - Margit Sandemo: Put it this way: She only has one series I enjoy called "The legend of the ice people". But then again it spans 47 books. It starts with a family in the 1300s Norway and keeps on going up to modern age, and involves suchs things as demons and a family curse. Excellent stuff.
My suggestion is look for interesting items away from your favorite genre. I have always been a big fan of historical fiction, but many years ago I realized that I was really limiting myself, and so I made a determined effort to branch out to other things. Here are some of my suggestions (no fantasy here - not my thing). To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee. A Passage to India - E. M. Forster I, Robot - Isaac Asimov (nothing like the movie) Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (the only thing by Heller I'd recommend) An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu Ahab's Wife - Sena Jeter Naslund The Novel - James A. Michener Starting Out in the Evening - Brian Morton
Catch-22 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series Both are wacky and hilarious, you can't go wrong with either of them. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is very interesting. It is not a novel nor is it creative, but it can be very inspirational in creating plausible and intriguing settings.
I loved that story. The suspense I felt reading when the pendulum was swinging downwards was incredible. I actually felt jumpy.
