so in the new year I am going to try and read two books a month, for pleasure and to keep myself a little more intellectually engaged. I'm looking for suggestions. Read any good books lately and would recommend? Let me know!
Books
- Thread starter Prophet
- Start date
What kind of books do you like?
Outside of like historical non fiction I'll pretty much try anything!
You might enjoy this book I read recently called Slade House:
Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents—an odd brother and sister—extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late. . . .
Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.
Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents—an odd brother and sister—extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late. . . .
Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barreling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.
Bateman
You are such the little anglophile
Ooh that sounds good! I'll definitely check it out!
Bateman
Rising Star
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The Cult Next Door: A True Story of a Suburban Manhattan New Age Cult
At 17, Elizabeth, a Swarthmore College freshman, attended a therapy session where the practitioner regaled her with prophetic visions of a glorious future, hers to claim beside him. Over the decades that followed, this master at manipulating metaphysical concepts organized a small dedicated band. Among brainwashed minds fused with New Age doctrine, Elizabeth sank into despair. From the gullibility that led her astray, to the enlightenment that freed her, you will travel an incredible journey. For anyone who has ever been trapped by a person who would not let them go, within this book lies a message of hope.
It's written somewhat elementary but it will change your views on how you see and think of cults.
(and if you are a particularly evil kind of person like... maybe me... give you something to aspire to!)
At 17, Elizabeth, a Swarthmore College freshman, attended a therapy session where the practitioner regaled her with prophetic visions of a glorious future, hers to claim beside him. Over the decades that followed, this master at manipulating metaphysical concepts organized a small dedicated band. Among brainwashed minds fused with New Age doctrine, Elizabeth sank into despair. From the gullibility that led her astray, to the enlightenment that freed her, you will travel an incredible journey. For anyone who has ever been trapped by a person who would not let them go, within this book lies a message of hope.
It's written somewhat elementary but it will change your views on how you see and think of cults.
(and if you are a particularly evil kind of person like... maybe me... give you something to aspire to!)
If you like fantasy i have some recomendations.
The Dresden Files -
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front, was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are written as a first person narrative from the perspective of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was Semiautomagic, which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction.
The Prince of Nothing -
The Prince of Nothing is a series of three fantasy novels by the Canadian author R. Scott Bakker, first published in 2004, part of a wider series known as "The Second Apocalypse". This trilogy details the emergence of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a brilliant monastic warrior, as he takes control of a holy war and the hearts and minds of its leaders. Kellhus exhibits incredible powers of prediction and persuasion, which are derived from deep knowledge of rationality, cognitive biases, and causality, as discovered by the Dûnyain, a secret monastic sect. As Kellhus goes from military leader to divine prophet, Drusas Achamian, the sorcerer who mentored Kellhus, comes to realize that his student may well be the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse.
The key feature distinguishing the Prince of Nothing series from its contemporaries is the importance of philosophy to the work. The plot, characters, setting, and metaphysics of the Prince of Nothing are intertwined with philosophical positions unique to the series.
The Malazan Book of The Fallen - The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes beginning with the novel Gardens of the Moon, published in 1999. The series was completed with the publication of The Crippled God in February 2011. Erikson's series is extremely complex with a wide scope, and presents the narratives of a large cast of characters spanning thousands of years across multiple continents.
Erikson's plotting presents a complicated series of events in the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. Each of the first five novels is relatively self-contained, in that it resolves its respective primary conflict; but many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together.
The First Law - The First Law is a fantasy series written by British author Joe Abercrombie. It consists of a trilogy, three stand-alone novels and a number of novellas set in the same world.
The Dresden Files -
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. The first novel, Storm Front, was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are written as a first person narrative from the perspective of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was Semiautomagic, which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction.
The Prince of Nothing -
The Prince of Nothing is a series of three fantasy novels by the Canadian author R. Scott Bakker, first published in 2004, part of a wider series known as "The Second Apocalypse". This trilogy details the emergence of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, a brilliant monastic warrior, as he takes control of a holy war and the hearts and minds of its leaders. Kellhus exhibits incredible powers of prediction and persuasion, which are derived from deep knowledge of rationality, cognitive biases, and causality, as discovered by the Dûnyain, a secret monastic sect. As Kellhus goes from military leader to divine prophet, Drusas Achamian, the sorcerer who mentored Kellhus, comes to realize that his student may well be the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse.
The key feature distinguishing the Prince of Nothing series from its contemporaries is the importance of philosophy to the work. The plot, characters, setting, and metaphysics of the Prince of Nothing are intertwined with philosophical positions unique to the series.
The Malazan Book of The Fallen - The Malazan Book of the Fallen is an epic fantasy series written by Canadian author Steven Erikson, published in ten volumes beginning with the novel Gardens of the Moon, published in 1999. The series was completed with the publication of The Crippled God in February 2011. Erikson's series is extremely complex with a wide scope, and presents the narratives of a large cast of characters spanning thousands of years across multiple continents.
Erikson's plotting presents a complicated series of events in the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. Each of the first five novels is relatively self-contained, in that it resolves its respective primary conflict; but many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together.
The First Law - The First Law is a fantasy series written by British author Joe Abercrombie. It consists of a trilogy, three stand-alone novels and a number of novellas set in the same world.