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Wurrwakh the Ass Monkey
New Member
USA
18 Posts |
 Posted - 02/05/2003 : 02:18:05
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Not a review, but a list. Here are the most depraved, disturbing, awesome books I feel like listing for the moment (not in any particular order,but numbered nonetheless):
1. All the friggin' Harry Potter books - they're popular *and* good. How rare!
2. _Santa Steps Out_ by Robert Devereaux - delightful, disturbing, depraved holiday fun that manages to make mythological sense while still being one of the sickest, funniest things I've ever read.
3. _Control Freak_ by Christa Faust - it's dirty. real dirty.
4. _Geek Love_ by Katherine Dunn - if you haven't read it, you suck.
5. _Exquisite Corpse_ by Poppy Z. Brite - homosexual serial killers in love. nuff said.
6. _SinEater_ by Elizabeth Massie - I have a soft spot for her hick characters.
7. _Nick of the Woods_ by Robert Montgomery Bird - Indian removal propaganda. Also a disturbing, early example of a psychological thriller. (Serial killer Quaker offing Indians in 18th Century Kentucky.)
8. _Tales of Pain and Wonder_ by Caitlin R. Kiernan - a paleontologist *and* one of the few noteworthy writers to come out of the dark fantasy genre in years.
9. _Threshold_ by Caitlin R. Kiernan - can you tell how much I like this stuff? Get it. Science, religion, and reality.
10. _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West_ by Gregory Maguire - A political, satirical revision of the world of Oz. Way better than it sounds.
Oh, and just about anything by Richard Laymon. Just 'cause he's fun.
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--Wurrwakh, A.M. |
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LouWags
New Member
USA
5 Posts |
 Posted - 12/11/2003 : 13:22:34 [Permalink]
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My favorites, in no particular order exept for the first two listed.
Anything Tolkien. Light years ahead of all other writers in terms of pure storytelling power.
Anything Gary Jennings is second only to Tolkein. Start with "Aztec." You won't be able to put it down, I promise. "Spangle" is even better, "The Journeyer" is better yet. "Raptor" was less well done but still exceptional in its own right.
"The Demon Haunted World," by Carl Sagan. Nice for a beginner just starting to think skeptically and question the world at large.
"The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real," edited by William Irwin (editor). A collection of essays on philosophy and serves as a hook to help a beginner understand some importan philosophical concepts. Read this in conjunction with "The Demon Haunted World," above.
Anything by Richard Feynman. You'll be surprised that a physicist can actually be funny!
"Replay," by Ken Grimwood. This went out of print for a while but I heard a rumor that it was being reprinted. Get it.
"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," by William L. Shirer. Fascinating reading without going into the dirty details of the holocaust itself. It is about Hitler and what he and his cronies did in terms of coming to power and then losing it again. It only briefly discusses the atrocities of the concentration camps. GREAT reading.
"The Day of the Jackal," by Frederick Forsyth. The ORIGINAL and still unmatched to this day.
"The Bourne Identity," by Rober Ludlum. The first of a series. The others aren't bad but THIS one kicks ass.
"A Time to Kill," by John Grisham. His first and best book ever. "A Painted House," comes close though.
"Shibumi," by Trevanian. VERY well written book and one of the better stories I've read in many years.
If you get a chance, read "Brave New World: Revisited," by Aldous Huxley. It's a non-fictional review of "Brave New World," and "1984," by Orwell. You may find it rather compelling. A great review of what social adaptations are required in order for human kind to survive and gives real world, real life examples of how this is occurring even now.
I know I'm forgetting some stuff. Enjoy!
--Wag-- |
Question everything. Resist brainwashing. Believe nothing. Learn forever. |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2003 : 15:41:42 [Permalink]
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One of my favorite books is "Tower of Babel" (The Evidence against the New Creationism), by Robert T. Pennock. The reader is warned: Have a good university-level dictionary handy! However, I strongly recommend this book. I had difficulty putting it down and read it from cover to cover.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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Huluhae
New Member
16 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2004 : 09:13:20 [Permalink]
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| Mille grazie everyone! I love to read but have a hard time finding anything that I like. I'll print this list next time I go to the library or Borders. |
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Maglev
Skeptic Friend
Canada
65 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2004 : 10:22:22 [Permalink]
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Anything by Philip K. Dick
....and you HAVE to read "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" by Cory Doctorow. It's his first book and is available free on his web site, www.craphound.com. It's brilliantly written, one of the most "realistic" description of the future i've read in a long, long time.
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Maglev
"The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."
--Douglas Adams, on evolutionary biology. |
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Huluhae
New Member
16 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2004 : 15:22:09 [Permalink]
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| Cool, Maglev. I've always liked the online books, like at classicreader.com. I'll have to check that out soon. Right now I'm reading Growing up Empty by Loretta Schwartz-Nobel which an in-depth look at the hunger epidemic in America, and how it's getting increasingly worse. Very good book, I highly recommend it. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2004 : 21:51:09 [Permalink]
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Genome, by Matt Ridley A very compelling read that looks at the human genome and some of the implications of our exploration of it. Written in language that most can easily understand and not be bored by. He presents each chapter in two parts; a story about the chromosome and specific gene he's talking about from that chromosome, and some specific science (presented in laymans terms) about the gene.
The Buying of the President 2004, by Charles Lewis and the Center for Public Integrity. A pretty good reference that looks into where the candidates are getting their money for this election. Which company will be holding the leash of the next president? Read for info! Also, it has some great info about what happened during the last presidential election, and some great background on the candidates. Good stuff!
Sci-Fi/Fantasy....
Hrrmmm.... can't make a list here, it would probably take up 3 or 4 pages :P Some of the stuff I have read recently....
Steven Brust (just grab any book by him, you'll be impressed)
S.M Stirling, Conquistador
Trudi Canavan, (the current trilogy of hers just had the second book published, good stuff)
Mathew Woodring Stover, Heros Die and Blade of Tyshalle. A truly unique approach to a fantasy/sci-fi novel and a very original set of books. Prob the best two books I have read in the last few years.
Laurel K Hamilton, all her books are heavy on the action and heavy on the sex! All her works are set in a current day earth where the supernatural is fact and the public is well aware. She has two series of books she is writing, and both are very entertaining.
And.... just about any book by Carl Sagan. Science or fiction. Allthough, I do prefer his science over his fiction.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2004 : 22:11:43 [Permalink]
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George R.R. Martin - Almost anything he has ever written although his A Song of Fire and Ice series is a definate must read even if fantasy is not your favorite genre.
Robert A Heinlein - Job: A comedy of Justice,Stranger in a Strange Land
Dan Simmons - The Hyperion series
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Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law!
Sportsbettingacumen.com: The science of sports betting |
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Maverick
Skeptic Friend
Sweden
385 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 06:13:16 [Permalink]
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A few good books:
The entire Rama-trilogy (quadrology?), Rendezvous With Rama, Rama II, Garden of Rama and Rama Revealed by Arthur C Clarke. Fantastic sci-fi about a first contact.
The Odyssey books 2001, 2010 and 2061 by Arthur C Clarke. (Yes, I know there's a book called 3001. It's not included in my list though.)
Contact by Carl Sagan. Read it for the first time in -92 or -93 I think, and I've read it countless of times ever since.
Rymdväktaren and the sequel Nyaga by Peter Nilson. Strange but fascinating sci-fi novels written by the late Swedish astronomer. No idea if they were ever translated into English. |
"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." -- Carl Sagan |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 07:08:47 [Permalink]
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Being somewhat bloody-minded.......
The Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, and Hannible. The last was a little disappointing, but not a bad read. -- Thomas Harris
By Reason of Insanity -- Shane Sevens
Any and all of John D. McDonald's Travis McGee series.
Any and all of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helme series.
Anything by Mickey Spillane.
Anything by Douglas Adams
Lucifer's Hammer -- Larry Niven
The Devil's Dictionary -- Ambrose Bierce
The Red Dwarf series -- Grant/Naylor
The Pelican Brief, The Runaway Jury, et al. -- John Gresham
Rattlesnake, Portrate of a Predator -- Manny Rubio
Navy Diver -- I've forgotten the author, but it's WW II nonfiction.
The Gaea Trilogy -- John Varley (This guy is way out there!)
I'll stop now, though there are many more.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 12:21:48 [Permalink]
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A Brief History of Time - Steven Hawking
Our Cosmic Origin - Armand Delsemme
Fiction:
The Foundation (series) - Isaac Asimov. I made two attempts to read it before I was in the right state of mine to enjoy it. I only got a few chapters before I quit the first times. But once I "got it" I lost much sleep reading the book until 3am on ordinary schooldays.
Strata - Terry Pratchet (sci-fi)
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2004 : 09:23:56 [Permalink]
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Full House
Wonderful Life, Stevie J Gould
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
Six Not-So-Easy Peices, R. Feinman
Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond
Anything by James Randi
Fiction
Dune vol. 1-6
The Dosodi Experiment, Frank Herbert
Ishmael, Daniel Quinn
Thank You For Smoking
Little Green Men, Christopher Buckley
and on and on
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"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2004 : 15:15:46 [Permalink]
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Ok, here's my list of favorites.
<b>ULTIMATE</b> favorite must be the Rama quartet... that Maverick so kindly pointed out. I mean, come on. Octospiders are the most creative life form I've ever read about.
Anything Isaac Asimov (especially The Gods Themselves and Foundation, although Nightfall ruled, too).
Anything Carl Sagan.
Anything Arthur C. Clarke, too (in special the 2001 series... what to say, I'm fond of the classics).
I actually enjoy Stephen King's insanity.
The Universe in a Nutshell - my birthday gift from my mamma! How nice. It's amazing how a man in his condition can make fun of himself. Only a true genius has Stephen Hawking's high spirit.
Anne Rice greatly disappointed me in The Witching Hour. Don't mix terror fantasy with science. It makes me laugh. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 13:38:06 [Permalink]
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| Anything by Ayn Rand, but Atlas Shrugged is my personal favorite. I recently discovered Neal Stephenson and he looks promising. |
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 15:43:09 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Maverick
A few good books:
The entire Rama-trilogy (quadrology?), Rendezvous With Rama, Rama II, Garden of Rama and Rama Revealed by Arthur C Clarke. Fantastic sci-fi about a first contact.
The Odyssey books 2001, 2010 and 2061 by Arthur C Clarke. (Yes, I know there's a book called 3001. It's not included in my list though.)
Contact by Carl Sagan. Read it for the first time in -92 or -93 I think, and I've read it countless of times ever since.
Ooh, glad to know somebody else enjoyed Rama as I did! I especially loved the third-to-fourth one, when he describes the octospider society and such. I also adored Contact (and anything Carl Sagan, really). |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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walt fristoe
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 18:12:45 [Permalink]
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I've just finished reading Niven and Pournelle's Inferno  . What a blast! It's basically a rewrite of Dante's Inferno, including some sins Dante could never have imagined.
As soon as I finished it, I turned right around and read it again - to a friend of mine. |
"If God chose George Bus of all the people in the world, how good could God be?"
Bill Maher |
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