Non-fantasy/SF recommendations thread (literary, non-fic etc)

[Devaki Khanna]

The Flavia de Luce series, by Alan Bradley

1. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
   
2. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
   
3. A Red Herring without Mustard
   
4. I am Half-Sick of Shadows
   

Precocious Flavia, the eleven-year-old chemist, has a great interest in poisons, probably fuelled by her troubled relationship with her sisters. Her father, Colonel de Luce, is a distant presence in her life; her mother, the bright, beautiful Harriet, died when Flavia was a year old. The only person for whom she shows some affection is Dogger, the major domo of Buckshaw, the de Luces' ancestral home. Flavia is thrust into the world of murder investigations when her father is accused of killing an ex-classmate, whose dead body is found in Buckshaw's cucumber patch. And the series gets better and better as Canadian Alan Bradley evokes village life in 1950s Britain, with German prisoners of war, travelling puppeteers, Gypsies and the Ealing Studios, as well as Colonel de Luce's battle with the telephone and the television.

[The Answer]

Or this one?

http://www.bol.com/n...01004001349530/

This is the exact copy I have. I really hope you read it.

There is a lot of depth to the novel, much like asoiaf.

Endless characters and even more aliases. Best if you take notes to comprehend to the fullest extent!

[ShadowRaven]

This is the exact copy I have. I really hope you read it.

There is a lot of depth to the novel, much like asoiaf.

Endless characters and even more aliases. Best if you take notes to comprehend to the fullest extent!

And you're sure me having watched the movie (I think it was released in 1995 ish?) three times won't affect the reading pleasure since I know what's going to happen anyways?

[RedEyedGhost]

And you're sure me having watched the movie (I think it was released in 1995 ish?) three times won't affect the reading pleasure since I know what's going to happen anyways?

Reading the book will just make you realize how terrible the movie is, not the other way around.

[The Answer]

And you're sure me having watched the movie (I think it was released in 1995 ish?) three times won't affect the reading pleasure since I know what's going to happen anyways?

Reading the book will just make you realize how terrible the movie is, not the other way around.

Trust me the movie and novel are entirely different. I bet you don't even know who characters like Franz, Caderousse, and Haydee are correct?

It's a 1400+ page set into a 2 hr movie. It's comical to think they would even attempt to do the novel justice! ha!

[James Arryn]

10 quick recommends:

1) The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco

2) A Coffin For Demetrios, Eric Ambler

3) The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro

4) The King Hereafter, Dorothy Dunnett

5) Flashman, George M. Fraser

6) Very Good, Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse

7) The Skin of the Lion, M. Ondaatje

8) Master and Commander, Patrick O'Brian

9) L.A. Confidential, James Ellroy

10) The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Roberto Calasso

[gougef]

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson; A gripping thriller masterpiece interwoven with social commentary and a fascinatingly flawed female lead set in gloomy* Sweden.

Just want to cast a vote. A very informative and educational novel even though it is fictional.

[Isalie]

The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin, this is probably the best book I've read in recent years, I laughed and cried, however, the blurb says it better than me:

'This is the most astonishing piece of writing, lyrical in its emotion and spare in its construction ...Toibin has crafted an unmissable read' Sunday Herald In Blackwater in the early 1990s, three women -- Dora Devereux, her daughter Lily and her granddaughter Helen -- have come together after years of strife and reached an uneasy truce. Helen's adored brother Declan is dying. Two friends join him and the women in a crumbling old house by the sea, where the six of them, from different generations and with different beliefs, must listen and come to terms with one another. 'It is in his emotional choreography that Toibin shows himself to be an exceptional writer. Helen is estranged from both her mother and grandmother ...Toibin helps them make peace -- and he does it beautifully' Sunday Telegraph 'He writes in spare, powerful prose and he is truly perceptive about family relationships which, at times, makes reading his stories incredibly painful. But this is a beautiful novel' Belfast News 'We shall be reading and living with The Blackwater Lightship in twenty years' Independent on Sunday

[Devaki Khanna]

I wonder if John Le Carre is one of GRRM's favourites? I was just listening to The Night Manager and I couldn't help but notice that Le Carre's flawed but human characters, the internecine intrigues in Whitehall and Washington, and the problems that arise when these characters fight what they see as evil is very similar to the ASOIAF universe. The Game of Thrones is not so different from the turf wars in Le Carre's universe. The Russia House, A Perfect Spy, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Smiley's People and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold are my favourites. Also include A Murder of Quality--George Smiley solves a murder in an English public school, riven by class divides and bursting with all sorts of secrets.

[R33K]

james ellroy has already had a mention but american tabloid is excellent,fiction rooted in a time in american history think it invoves the Kennedys,Cuban crisis etc sorry about vague description but read it 15 years ago

Anything you can pick up by George Pelecanos I've read a few they are top quality crime thrillers, the guy also wrote episodes of The Wire he has a real feel for realistic plotting and characterisation dunno why me typing has changed but there you go

I dont know if Irvine Welsh has had a mention but Trainspotting(nothing like the piss poor film)gives those unaqquainted with the misery of addiction a taste of its highs and lows.Marabou stork nightmares is is also,well nightmarish

[Larry of the Lawn]

Inherent Vice- by Thomas Pynchon. If you're like me and you've struggled trying to read Pynchon, Inherent Vice is a nice change of pace. It's readable.

It's a hilarious psychedlic L.A. noire set in the early seventies - think of a combination of The Big Lebowski and Chinatown. The novel follow pot-smoking private eye Doc Sportello as he tries to get a handle on the shadowy forces and factions that run Los Angeles. This detective story has an complex and intricate plot, but it's also a comical and fascinating take on 20th century America.

[Palas]

White Fang and The Last of the Mohicans for those who haven't read them. Tip: don't much expect what appears in the movies, because you'll get something one hundred times better.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

Not sure if this is the right place but should I read the Flashman papers in order of publication or chronological order?

[James Arryn]

Not sure if this is the right place but should I read the Flashman papers in order of publication or chronological order?

Publication.

[Old-Growth]

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet. It's one of the classic noir detective stories with all the requisite manly detectives, beautiful dames, double crossings and a whole host of shenanigans.

The movie was pretty good as well :-)

[Quoth]

I've been on a non-fiction kick lately. I highly rec these two from the political sphere. Mind you, I'm not normally overly political nor overly liberal or conservative. But these two works were serious eye openers.

1) "Drift" by Rachel Maddow. The sub title, "The Unmooring of the American Military", should not put you off. Although she is a leading liberal talking head on MSNBC, it was not a "why the hell do we have troops in *fill in the blank* " diatribe. Maddow is very well educated and I found this to be a very well spoken, cogent discussion of the odd and dangerous position we find ourselves in militarily.

2) "Patriot Acts" by Catherine Crier. I thought there was so much common sense thinking here that a law should be passed requiring every politico, in both parties, to commit this book, word for word, to memory. And, concerning some of the topics, I'd have bet serious money that I'd never say something like that.

[TrackerNeil]

I read an excellent book last summer, entitled "Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll" by Joe Oestreich. We've all heard the story of a band goes from fame to flameout, but this book is about one of those bands that never even got to step one. Oestreitch's prose is crisp, light, and gracefully spans the wryly humorous and poignantly personal. "Hitless Wonder" is a delightful read that I recommend in the strongest terms.

[Reposado]

Not sure if this is the right place but should I read the Flashman papers in order of publication or chronological order?

ideally publication but it really doesn't matter. i read them pretty much randomly, depending on what was available. there's an omnibus that has the first third and fifth, i believe, which is a pretty good place to start.

[Vafler]

Hey, i just watched all of the movies in Hannibal triology (didnt count hannibal rising), and now i am looking for a good stand alone book or a series similar to that one.

I tried to find some on goodreads but they i didnt find any that looked really good. Every suggestion would hugely appreciated :)

[Lux Starkgaryen]

Just finished "Herbes et Golems" by Manuela Draeger. Not my favorite, I absolutely adored "Onze rêves de suie". Her name is actually a pseudonym used by french author Antoine Volodine. Volodine is his main pseudo (we don't know his real name), he's published a lot under this name, and also uses Draeger, or Lutz Bassmann, etc etc I couldn't recommand his works enough - sadly I'm not sure he's translated in many languages, some of his books have been translated into english, in your tongue you should check out; but for thos who read French do not hesitate, he's a master, using language in such a great way; full of dark humor, inspired by the big catastrophies of the XXth century, the wars, the camps, the failed revolutions.. His characters are often "story-tellers" themselves, be it in their insane minds, during a "torture interrogation", or for their fellow inmates in highly guarded prisons, after all their dreams of armed revolutions are long past a possible realization. It's really well written, sometimes hard to follow at first but so worth it, it's so poetic and great and gosh just read Volodine, you won't regret it!

eta: if you want some titles for recommandation just ask me, I'd be delighted to help you go through his books!