# a challenge



## moderan (Apr 13, 2010)

Here you go...recommend books to me. No fantasy or romance please. I won't read them. Same with YA. Otherwise I read most genres. If it's science fiction or horror, I've probably read it, but give it a shot.
Tell me why you like it, what's good about it, and why I should spend money on it. Or steal it, or whatever.


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## RomanticRose (Apr 13, 2010)

_Sibs_, by F. Paul Wilson.

Starts with a blonde picking up two brothers in a bar shortly before she takes a header out a twelve story window.  Hijinks ensue.  A twist from hell, and the writer actually manages to use first, second and third all in the same book, and somehow it works.  Not a literary masterpiece, but a fun read.


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## moderan (Apr 13, 2010)

By the author of _The Keep_ and a horde of YA novels. I'll keep an eye out-I haven't read that one. Thanks!


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## Sam (Apr 13, 2010)

_Blackout_, by John J. Nance. 

Quite simply one of the most page-turning books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Just don't take it with you on a plane. 

_The Book with No Name, _by Anonymous. 

Everyone who reads _The Book with No Name _dies when they finish it. This self-published Internet sensation is actually one hell of a read, though. Funny and interesting from the intro to the denouement. 

_The Day After Tomorrow_, by Allan Folsom. No, not that shit thing about the weather. This was written well before it and has one of the most jaw-dropping final twists you will ever read. Literally, it will leave you with your mouth hanging open. 

_Shutter Island_, by Denis Lehane. A tough book to get through, but the last five chapters are among the best I've ever read, with a twist that you will never see coming. 

_The Vanished Man, _by Jeffery Deaver. Page-turning suspense at its best, from the king of the psychological thriller. 

That enough for you, Mod?


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## moderan (Apr 13, 2010)

I have the second one bookmarked-BBWNN
The others I'll look for. Isn't Dennis LeHane one of the co-authors of those ridiculous Left Behind books?


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## BitofanInkling (Apr 13, 2010)

What genres do you actually like and haven't read all of?


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## moderan (Apr 14, 2010)

Mysteries. Mainstream fiction. Litfic. Historical fiction. Anything except romance, fantasy, YA anything. I'm omnivorous.


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## Leyline (Apr 14, 2010)

moderan said:


> By the author of _The Keep_ and a horde of YA novels. I'll keep an eye out-I haven't read that one. Thanks!



If you go for a Wilson book, I'd reccomend his space opera trilogy _An Enemy Of The State_, _Healer_ and _Wheels Within Wheels_.


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## moderan (Apr 14, 2010)

Read those, but thanks


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## BitofanInkling (Apr 14, 2010)

By romance do you mean anything with a romantic plot? Or Romance, as in the genre where everything is the same as the next book?


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## Sam (Apr 15, 2010)

moderan said:


> I have the second one bookmarked-BBWNN
> The others I'll look for. Isn't Dennis LeHane one of the co-authors of those ridiculous Left Behind books?



I think that was Tim LaHaye.


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## NathanBrazil (Apr 15, 2010)

I assuming you've read all three of these.  No point in tryin' to sell it, if you've already read it.

_The Winds of War_ and _War and Remembrance_, by Herman Wouk.

_Walkers_, by Graham Masterton.


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## ppsage (Apr 16, 2010)

moderan said:


> Here you go...recommend books to me. No fantasy or romance please. I won't read them. Same with YA. Otherwise I read most genres. If it's science fiction or horror, I've probably read it, but give it a shot.
> Tell me why you like it, what's good about it, and why I should spend money on it. Or steal it, or whatever.


 
Hi Mod. The sort of challenge I can't refuse. 

In mainstream, the most engaging thing I've read in a decade or two is DFWallace's _Infinite Jest._ It's pretty fat, so you might get caught if you try to steal it. I cadged it pristine off some unsuspecting yuppies, who buy all the best sellers but didn't need it for their display anymore. If I suspected you of being a _literal minded_ reader I would not suggest this. It takes someone willing to be a bit at sea all the time, but the writing style distills _modern_ into freshness and exciting. Maybe not _distills. _Probably Wallace never really distills anything. 

In sort of the same vein, I recently checked out Barth's first novel from the library. This is a good library book, old enough that they always have it and easy enough to finish in the allotted time. And it's fun to read a hardcover sometimes. It's called _The Floating Opera. _Remarkable first effort, doubt anyone would publish it today. Suicide angst with the clever metafiction which Barth does so perfectly.

I'll try you on a SF just for fun. _The Dazzle of Day,_ by Molly Gloss. Molly is a country western pony girl writer who I subsequently saw speaking at the library. She wouldn't talk about _Dazzle, _seemed to consider it some sort of abberation. Very nice structurally, with 3person ancient and future bookends around multiple 1person present accounts. About pastoral concensus anarchy on a life raft spaceship which is approaching possible planetfall and decides to go for it. She sort of reminded me of the way Gary Will must have felt, right after writing _Nixon Agonistes,_ but on her the conversion didn't take.

That's three. I got a million though. pp


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## moderan (Apr 17, 2010)

NathanBrazil said:


> I assuming you've read all three of these. No point in tryin' to sell it, if you've already read it.
> 
> _The Winds of War_ and _War and Remembrance_, by Herman Wouk.
> 
> _Walkers_, by Graham Masterton.


 
Yes. 


Sam W said:


> I think that was Tim LaHaye.


Yeah. My bad.



BitofanInkling said:


> By romance do you mean anything with a romantic plot? Or Romance, as in the genre where everything is the same as the next book?


Genre. I've even read a few, but they don't make it for me. I can deal with a gothic ( a real one, like, say Tom Tryon's Crowned Heads) but bodice-rippers are not for me.


ppsage said:


> Hi Mod. The sort of challenge I can't refuse.
> 
> In mainstream, the most engaging thing I've read in a decade or two is DFWallace's _Infinite Jest._ It's pretty fat, so you might get caught if you try to steal it. I cadged it pristine off some unsuspecting yuppies, who buy all the best sellers but didn't need it for their display anymore. If I suspected you of being a _literal minded_ reader I would not suggest this. It takes someone willing to be a bit at sea all the time, but the writing style distills _modern_ into freshness and exciting. Maybe not _distills. _Probably Wallace never really distills anything.
> 
> ...


 
I'll keep on the lookout. If my internet connection gets blown up again I'll have more time for reading.


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## NathanBrazil (Apr 17, 2010)

Moderan- I'm curious.  Did you enjoy Walkers?


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## moderan (Apr 17, 2010)

I did. I'm a fan of Graham Masterton's work in general. I've read a good deal of it.


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## NathanBrazil (Apr 17, 2010)

Did anyone ever attempt to make a movie out of that one?  

I'm so sick of retreads like Clash of the Titans and Nightmare on Elm Street.  Not to mention all the sequels.  Talk about squeezing blood out of a stone.

I can see why _Walkers_ wasn't made into a movie back in the day but with state of the art graphics, this could make a hell of a movie.


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## moderan (Apr 17, 2010)

Not that I know of...they made a b-movie out of the Manitou, his first book, and the first of a series. That's the only one I've heard tell of so far, though there's rumors of a second.


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