Books reading/read
Currently reading:
George R R Martin – A Game of Thrones
To be read:
Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind
Brandon Sanderson – Mistborn: The Fallen Empire
Neil Gaiman – Good Omens
Robert Jordan – The Path of Daggers
Ursula K Le Guin – The Other Wind
Finished:
C S Lewis – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
C S Lewis – Prince Caspian
C S Lewis - The Silver Chair
C S Lewis – The Magician’s Nephew
C S Lewis – The Last Battle
Holly Lisle – Create a Character Clinic
Holly Lisle – Create a Culture Clinic
Holly Lisle – Create a Language Clinic
Holly Lisle – Mugging the Muse
Jack Kerouac – On the Road
John Steinbeck – Of Mice and Men
JRR Tolkien – The Hobbit
JRR Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring
JRR Tolkien – The Two Towers
JRR Tolkien – The Return of the King
Madeleine L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time
Paul Auster – City of Glass
Orson Scott Card – How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
Piers Anthony – A Spell for Chameleon
Richard Adams – Watership Down
Robert Jordan – Eye of the World
Robert Jordan – The Great Hunt
Robert Jordan – The Dragon Reborn
Robert Jordan – The Fires of Heaven
Robert Jordan – Lord of Chaos
Robert Jordan – A Crown of Swords
Terry Goodkind – Wizard’s First Rule
Victoria Lynn Schmidt – Story Structure Architect
William Golding – Lord of the Flies
Read any of these books or have suggestions on what else I might want to check out?
No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty is a terrific book on writing a novel. The author is best known for founding the National Novel Writing Month Contest, and the book covers the process of getting that novel to print. (Not just in November).
I love Fantasy as well. Check out the SwordSinger series by Jennifer Robertson, or anything by Elaine Cunningham. I love her style of writing. She masters the art of metaphor and colorful description.
So that’s what NaNoWriMo stands for … *smacks head*
I’ll definitely have to check out No Plot? No Problem. I hear about that book almost as much as On Writing by Stephen King.
I couldn’t remember which series my co-workers at my last job recommended I read until you mentioned it again here: Swordsinger.
So thank you!
I enjoyed Robert Jordan although the books seemed to run out of momentum after book eight – or maybe I did.
Obviously I loved LOTR, because it was brilliant, and possibly the best work of high fantasy in existence ever.
I haven’t had a go at the specific Terry Goodkind you mentioned, but I tried some of his other books and couldn’t get my teeth into them. Can’t explain why, just didn’t.
You would be well served by reading everything else Ursula K. Le Guin has written – she’s genius at worldbuilding.
Try reading Neverwhere or Stardust by Neil Gaiman, I think you’ll find he has quite a different tone when he’s not writing with Terry Pratchett.
On that note, read anything by Terry Pratchett, especially the later Discworld novels. They’re a great way to see how humour can be added to a really deep story without losing any of the depth. Also, a functioning world that makes no sense – because it’s really a lot like our own world…
And finally, please forgive me if you didn’t want a response from random strangers – especially not more than three months after the post was written – I’ve never been able to resist recommending my favourite books to all and sundry.
Is City of Glass any good?
The more random and stranger the random stranger, the better. It makes my day when people drop by this website and share their thoughts. So if you feel like it, comment. Please.
I guess WOT’s book 8 is supposed to have a good ending, 9 and 10 are slow and hard to get through. But 11, Knife of Dreams, is supposed to be the greatest book of the series. And I want to find out what the glorius ending is, that Jordan claims to have envisioned perfectly before he typed even the first word of Eye of the World. So I’ll press on to find out. But right now I’m distracted by other shiny things (George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire)
Terry Goodkind is not recommended—at least not Wizard’s First Rule (I’m sure for many of the same reasons you couldn’t get into his other books). I won’t be trying him again.
I would definitely like to get my hands on more of Le Guin’s Earthsea novels.
For Neil Gaiman, I have at least read most of Sandman, so I’m a bit familiar with his writing style. I intend to read more Neil when I need him (kudos if you know the reference I just made).
For Terry Pratchett. Hm. I guess comedy isn’t my bag. I prefer epic-dramatic-life-or-death-serious-high-fantasy. But I’ve read and enjoyed Piers Anthony so I should at least give him a try since I hear his name tossed about a lot. Also, what I’ve heard of Discworld and its complexities intrigues me.
But I’m one of those people that feel our world kind of does make sense – That’s actually what Five Rings is all about. ;)
Paul Auster’s stuff is good in my opinion. I’m sure it’s a love/hate kind of thing, though. His books are extremely deep and existential, often depressing, but have interesting discoveries and are laden with mystery and wonder that really draw you in.
The best way to describe his writing is by describing an actual situation from City of Glass, if you don’t mind-> A detective starts trailing a bum that looks exactly like him, only homeless and old. After awhile, the detective gets obsessed with his only lead and starts drawing the paths the bum walks through the city each day on a map. He starts to realize the old man has been spelling out words with his paths one letter at a time to communicate. Only, by that time, he missed just enough of the first letters that he can’t seem to figure out what the message was supposed to be. If that sounds interesting to you, you’ll probably like anything Paul Auster has written.
Good Omens was written with Terry Pratchett, so the writing style of that book isn’t exactly Gaiman’s own. Gaiman’s own books aren’t quite so funny, and when they are, it is a dark and morbid sort of humor. If you want to read more Neil, I would recommend his short story collections as good starting points (Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors are the titles). From there I’d go to American Gods and Anansi Boys. I’ve enjoyed reading your posts. Good luck with the book.
Thanks for the luck-wish!
I’ve been thinking about giving American Gods a try. But lately I’ve been writing more than reading, which is making A Game of Thrones take an unnaturally long time to get through.
I intend to read Patrick Rothfuss’ In the Name of the Wind, too. Soon, if I can help it.
I guess it’ll be awhile ’til I get past the books I’ve already got queued up.
I would like to suggest a couple of books for you:
1. Black
2. Red
3. White by Ted Dekker
It’s three books that make up the “Circle Trilogy”. AMAZING. I suck a summaries and what not, so if you ever have time, just google them or something. :D I hope you enjoy.
Thanks, Latrina! I checked out the reviews. Part of me is so glad there’s so much out there for me to read. But part of me is sad there’s so much I could have been reading the past fifteen years, too. At the moment I’m still plugging away at Game of Thrones. Writing sure does take away a lot of reading time.
I feel the exact same. I just recently started reading frequently last year and now I feel as though all the years before have been wasted, sorta. :P So many books I could have been reading! But, then again, it’s better to start now than never.
My fiancee is working towards getting his teaching degree (English) and in one of his classes he is required to read 35 novels in two months so I have books everywhere! They are all adolescent literature though, but surprisingly, the ones I have read so far, are really good. :) Easy to read but all great stories. If I come across any I think you’d be interested in, I’d be sure to let you know. And vice versa, I hope!
I am planning to read some of the books on your “Books reading/read” page once I get the time. I have a mental list of the books I’m wanting to read, it’s huge and is constantly expanding – I wonder if I’ll even get the time to read them all. :D
I absolutely love being a nerd.