# :?: What books do you recommend I should read:?:



## sakarisheart (Apr 10, 2005)

:?: Good books, not bad ones of course. I am 13 but read pretty advanced books sometimes. :?:


----------



## Manx (Apr 10, 2005)

What genre do you like reading?


----------



## Saponification (Apr 10, 2005)

Pfft. Genre.

Check out _The Beach_ by Alex Garland. Don't worry if you've seen the movie, it's a suck arse adaptation. I'm yet to read it, but it's sitting on my bookshelf - _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_ by Mark Haddon. It's about this kid who decides to solve the murder of next door's dog. That description sounds kinda lame, but the book itself is very good.


----------



## sakarisheart (Apr 11, 2005)

I read any kind except VERY scary ones


----------



## Marsieux (Apr 11, 2005)

If you like fantasy, try The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  He can drag and the books are way long, but he ties everything together very neatly and he's full of conflict.  His one weak point, though (and I'm not trying to offend any of the ladies), but when he writes from a girls perspective, he stinks.  He writes much better when he tells of Rand's or Perrin's perspective.  You'll like them if you like fantasy.  I read all ten volumes in three months time.


----------



## Saponification (Apr 12, 2005)

A lot of authors suck at female characters. John Marsden is pretty laughable. In parts of _Tomorrow, When the War Began_ he comes across as a pedophile.


----------



## lisajane (Apr 12, 2005)

I wouldn't say a lot of authors suck at writing female characters. What about female authors? They suck at writing female characters?

One of the hardest things of writing is to write in a character of the opposite sex - it's generally difficult for female authors to write as a male character and vice versa. My own male characters in first person I feel have strong feminine qualities.

With John Marsden being one of my most favourite authors, I think he does write in a female character brilliantly. I find I can relate to them better, and have difficulty relating to Tony from _Dear Miffy_ (Miffy, I think, is fantastic as a character). I think it suits him to write in female characters and I love how he does it.


----------



## Saponification (Apr 12, 2005)

I thought it was fairly obvious that I wasn't including female authors in that statement.


----------



## Mazzie (Apr 12, 2005)

Saponification said:
			
		

> Pfft. Genre.
> 
> Check out _The Beach_ by Alex Garland. Don't worry if you've seen the movie, it's a suck arse adaptation. I'm yet to read it, but it's sitting on my bookshelf - _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_ by Mark Haddon. It's about this kid who decides to solve the murder of next door's dog. That description sounds kinda lame, but the book itself is very good.



_The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_  is so funny, especially when it's described why the characters doesn't like certain things...  :lol:


----------



## Kane (Apr 12, 2005)

lisajane said:
			
		

> I wouldn't say a lot of authors suck at writing female characters. What about female authors? They suck at writing female characters?
> 
> One of the hardest things of writing is to write in a character of the opposite sex - it's generally difficult for female authors to write as a male character and vice versa. My own male characters in first person I feel have strong feminine qualities.
> 
> With John Marsden being one of my most favourite authors, I think he does write in a female character brilliantly. I find I can relate to them better, and have difficulty relating to Tony from _Dear Miffy_ (Miffy, I think, is fantastic as a character). I think it suits him to write in female characters and I love how he does it.



hehe yeah, just look at Anne Rice's male characters... All effeminate, all have gay tendencies, all moody as hell.  =)


----------



## PaPa (Apr 12, 2005)

Kane said:
			
		

> hehe yeah, just look at Anne Rice's male characters... All effeminate, all have gay tendencies, all moody as hell.  =)



You almost triggered me into writing a long invective concerning the appalling nature of Anne Rice's books, but I restrained myself.

Anyway, reccommended books - a near endless list can be produced, but I'll try and pick some out.  I'll get the more obvious ones out of the way first:

Anything by Douglas Adams (particularly _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_), anything by Terry Pratchett (particularly _Good Omens_), anything by Isaac Asimov (particularly the _Foundation_ trilogy).
The original _Dune_ by Frank Herbert, but don't read the rest of the series because it sucks.
_The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ by J.R.R. Tolkien

And some random books that I read recently and enjoyed:

_Taking the Devil's Advice_ by Anne Fine
_Cloud Atlas_ by some bloke.  Some of it was quite good, other bits were less so.
_To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee.  Very famous book, but try and forget the hype and read it as a stand alone piece.
_Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_ by Susannah Clarke.  Very long book, but worth it.
_Join Me_ by Danny Wallace(?).  Amusing account of the author's attempt to establish a collective.


----------



## Pawn (Apr 12, 2005)

PaPa said:
			
		

> Anything by Douglas Adams (particularly The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), anything by Terry Pratchett (particularly Good Omens), anything by Isaac Asimov (particularly the Foundation trilogy).
> The original Dune by Frank Herbert, but don't read the rest of the series because it sucks.
> The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien


PaPa: he say it like it is.


----------



## sakarisheart (Apr 21, 2005)

I just started _Inkheart_ which was recommended here (maybe) :?:  or it may have been Young Writers Guild. Well anyway(s) its good so far :!:  :sunny:  :read:  :book:  :thumbl:


----------



## sammisan (May 5, 2005)

I was reading advance books at your age too, sakari.  Try Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (I read that in fifth grade) or The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.  If you find yourself bored by "young adult" fiction, they should keep your attention.  Though, on the young adult side, Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, Eion Colfer, and Herbie Brennan are definitely great authors worth reading.  Be careful though...the authors I mentioned are highly addictive and you may find yourself doing nothing but reading them.


----------



## holdyoualways (May 12, 2005)

sakarisheart said:
			
		

> :?: Good books, not bad ones of course. I am 13 but read pretty advanced books sometimes. :?:



speak by laurie halse anderson
lightning by dean koontz
warning signs by stephen white


----------



## lisajane (May 12, 2005)

holdyoualways said:
			
		

> speak by laurie halse anderson



Also by Laurie Halse Anderson - _Fever, 1793_. Loved the book, and I rarely like reading anything set in this time period.


----------



## Banana_Brother (May 14, 2005)

"The Soul Catcher" by Alex Kava

Great mystery book, gets you thinking sometimes.


----------



## creational (Jun 12, 2005)

dune is the best in the series!?!?!
the dune series starts well and gets better dune messiah, children of dune and god emperor of dune are excellent have you no taste? but sadly the fizzles out at the end eg. last book, but the last book is good but the final installment was never finished and so the last written book finishes with more to come and sadly it didnt come due to the death of f h but do read the series, herberts style and intelligence is second to none.
jrr tolkien, ac clarke, ursula le guin, anne rice, peter hamilton, anne mccaffrey,


----------



## colvin11 (Jun 29, 2005)

Dune is a good book but the rest suck. As far as I'm concerned Terry Prattchett can do no wrong (excepting 'wee free men' and 'hat full of sky')


----------



## Burnz (Jun 29, 2005)

Personally, I like John Steinbeck.  Of Mice and Men  was a great book.  Also Grapes of Wrath  J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye was brilliant also.  Still can't believe they banned Catcher in the rye from my high school library.  Of course, they were pretty conservative there.


----------



## hiddenwisdom (Jul 2, 2005)

Just some off the top of my head:

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
any of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett
the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (if you like fantasy, these are pretty long, but really good!)

Maybe I can come up with some more later. Not all of these are young adult books but you said you read advanced books. I think most of these I read when I was 13 or younger.


----------



## Penelope (Nov 27, 2005)

Two of the best authors I've come across to write from a woman's perspective were men.  I'm still wondering why.


----------



## VinrAlfakyn (Dec 12, 2005)

sakarisheart said:
			
		

> I just started _Inkheart_ which was recommended here (maybe) :?:  or it may have been Young Writers Guild. Well anyway(s) its good so far



Inkheart is VERY good........


----------



## Cady (Dec 12, 2005)

what is inkheart about?


----------



## VinrAlfakyn (Dec 12, 2005)

It's about a girl whose father can read people and things out of books when he reads aloud. On a night when reading aloud to his wife and little girl, an evil villain and his minions come out of the book, as well as a few other characters. Her father never told her about it, and she was too little to remember, but years later a man shows up at their house wanting her father's help. He wants to return to his story. The whole book deals with her father being kidnapped to read more people/things out of the book, and his daughter and a family member, as well as a few others, trying to save him and send everyone back to their story. There is also a sequel that just came out, called Inkspell. I think there is also supposed to be a third one, but I'm not sure.........


----------



## Cady (Dec 12, 2005)

ooooh, Sounds good. Is it long? I like long books because I finish short ones within a day or two. Long= over 1000 pages.


----------



## rbradley_80 (Dec 12, 2005)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is probably the best science fiction book I have ever read.  Thats a great book for people of all ages.


----------



## VinrAlfakyn (Dec 12, 2005)

Cady said:
			
		

> ooooh, Sounds good. Is it long? I like long books because I finish short ones within a day or two. Long= over 1000 pages.



Well, it's not that long, but it's 534 pages. I have the paperback version, so it's nice and thick. :grin: Something else neat about it is the author puts a quote or saying from another book at the beginning of each chapter.

Btw, I checked and it is book #1 of of the Inkheart Trilogy.

It also says it's to be made into a movie.


----------

