Looking for a few good books.

Okay, since many great books have been posted, I'll post my favorite bookstores in the Seattle area:

University of Washington Book Store, I believe there is a location on the east side, but the one in the U-District is the biggest store; simply the best for fiction, history, reference, kids books, just about anything. We make a point of visiting this bookstore whenever we get up to Seattle.

Half Price Books, has new and used books and nine locations in the greater Seattle area, my favorite is the one in the city on Roosevelt; also has some software, posters, general kitsch, interesting stuff.

The Elliott Bay Book Company, great bookstore in the Pioneer Square district in downtown Seattle, crammed to the gills with all sorts of stuff, has a cozy, vegetarian-friendly cafe downstairs and also rooms they allow book clubs to use for meetings.

Twice Sold Tales, a great used bookstore with three locations (the U-District location is my favorite and has three - count'em, three - store cats!) in the Seattle area, friendly people.

Oh, and right now I'm reading (and chuckling over) "Lies and The Lying Liers Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," by Al Franken. But I'm rather liberal.

Check out:

Imajica - Clive Barker
DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
Stone Butch Blues (trust me, its amazing) - Leslie Feinberg

Let us know what you get!

Neph, Chip already mentioned him, but as far as sci-fi goes, Larry Niven does a nearly impeccable job of interweaving the intricasies of future politics, human emotion, relationships, and technology. The Ringworld books and all of his Known Space novels and short stories are very worthy of a read. Even though they are somewhat dated, they really stand the test of time. If I remember correctly he won the Hugo and the Nebula in the late 60's/early 70's. Not surprising considering that Niven has been active in the space program community for many years and is an astrophysics drop out. He really makes one think what we will do if we outlive our sun and/or if the chain reaction at the core of our galaxy were to someday reach our solar system, and how we will deal with that. Dyson sphere anyone?

Fantasy writers; Piers Anthony, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin come to mind immediately. Stephen R. Donaldson's *The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever* is really well done. He inserts a modern man afflicted by leprosy and abandoned by not only his family, but also by the town he lives in into a fantasy world in which Thomas refuses to believe that this alter reality is real and tries to convince himself it's all a dream. The first trilogy is masterful, though its seemed he lost focus on the next two trilogies of the series, more for money than quality I guess...

For non-fiction I recently finished *A Brain for all Seasons: Human evolution & abrupt climate change* by William H. Calvin. Very interesting look at our brain and how it may have become what it is and why. (Glad he didnt look at my brain, pizza crusts and broken computer mice) Last fall I read *The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, voids, and the latest ideas about the origins of the universe.* by John D. Barrow in which he explores *nothing* It's hard for me to put his point across in a breif way so I am snipping a segment from the jacket liner notes; *From the zeros of mathematicians, to the void of philosophers, from Shakespeare to the null set, from the ether to the quantam vacuum, this book illustrates the fact that nothing is real* (My existence is now validated, LOL) Seriously though these two are worth a look.

Nolan, there's a new Ringworld book scheduled for release in just a couple of months in case you hadn't heard Niven is my very favorite sci-fi author. His science is fascinating, his characters are well developed, his universe is incredibly detailed, and his sense of humor is excellent You really can't go wrong with Niven.

Oh, and I was a Michael Moorcock freak in my teens. Never cared much for his sci-fi, but his fantasy novels (particularly the Elric series) grabbed hold of my imagination and didn't let go for a very long time.

Some books I have recently enjoyed with short reviews.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman. Spectacularly imaginative modern day fantasy.

Pattern Recognition - William Gibson. A thrilling present day globe-hopper.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavilier and Clay - Micheal Chambon. Pulitzer prize winner, an amazing (fictional) story of two guys, the second world war and the birth of the american comic book.

The Strange Case of the Dog in the Afternoon - Mark Haddon A murder mystery (sort of) told through the eyes of an autistic boy

Bringing Down the House - Ben Mezrich. The true story of the team of math-nerds from MIT that took the Vegas casinos for millions.

For SciFi, try The Ophiuchai Hotline or the Titan trilogy (Titan,Wizard,Demon) by John Varley. Neal Stephenson has a lot of followers here in the forums, but I prefer William Gibson for cyberpunk stuff - a little harder edged and less "comic book"ish than Stephenson's works. I also think highly of Tad Williams. His fantasy series "Thorn, Memory, and Sorry" is excellent, as is his recent scifi series "Otherland". He has a particular talent making things that are not-human really act like they have a different psychology.

For fantasy, Kathryn Kurtz' Deryni books are a must read. Also, if you are into D&D settings, R.A. Salvatore writes stuff that is just fun-action-no-heavy-thought-required.

[Edit] and to chip in (sorry) on Chip Midnight's post, Moorcock's The Warhound and the World's Pain is also an awesome book.

That is a great book. I bought it after I heard him interviewed on NPR a couple yrs. ago and am very glad i did.

Neph,

I completely agree with Chip's suggestion of Dan Simmons' Hyperion series.

It definitely should be required reading in school. The first book (Hyperion) is based on the structure of Canterbury Tales. It's a prelude to the second book (Fall of Hyperion) which may be the best Sci-Fi book I've ever read.

Great thing about the series is the first two books are a complete and separate story from the second two books. But taken all together. . . sublime.

Read it!

And of course, you can never go wrong with Orson Scott Card. If you haven't read the Ender's game series, I'd suggest that as well. He's currently publishing a series of novels that parallel the Ender books, making them even richer and more rewarding.

Although, I can't imagine that you haven't read Ender's Game already.

So yeah, definitely, Dan Simmons.

And Chip, have you read any other Simmons? His horror is simply. . . disturbing. Carrion Comfort really got to me.

Oh, and Neph, I'll be sending you an email explaining my current situation as soon as I get that figured out Please don't worry though dear.

Hope to see all of you sooner than later -

I've only read those four books of his so far, and I couldn't agree more about Hyperion. I almost wet myself with excitement why I found the two Endymion books last year

An oddball pick is by Anne Rice,

"Feast of all Saints"
Not her usual at all, but a wonderful book chronicling the "free people of color" in the New Orleans area pre Civil War.

Also, do not miss one of my very faves for a host of reasons,
Pete hamills, "Snow in August" if you haven't read it...

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Excellent Choice Shadow

you might also enjoy Tom Robbins as an author.. one of my favorites is 'Jitterbug Perfume'.. my favorite book ever, although he is one OFF the WALL writer.

Stephen Hawking 'A Brief History of Time'

Og Mandino ' The Greatest Salesman in the World' (The Ogman)

Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (trilology)

Dr Joel Wallsch 'Dead Doctors Dont Lie'


gawd....there are so many more...anyhow...make sure you lets us know what you choose....

My three favorite SF/Fantasy writers are Lois McMaster Bujold, Connie Willis and S.M. "Steve" Stirling, a fellow resident of SL.

If you want to combine great science-fiction with awesome imagination and the concision of Hemmingway, read anything and everything by Iain M. Banks:

Feersum Enjinn - my favorite
Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Consider Phlebas
and so on...

Vernor Vinge is good for his ideas. Check out:
- Marooned in Spacetime
- A Fire Across the Deep

Philip K. Dick's already been mentioned. He's pretty good, worth reading at least a few.

For some really entertaining writing, not science-fiction but more wizards and stuff, Terry Pratchett is unbeatable.

If you can read French, I enjoyed reading all of Amélie Nothomb's books, particularly "Metaphysics of Tubes", but I think that's partly cos I got a crush on her after reading the first few pages. They're sortof pseudo-autobiographical. Péplum borders on sci-fi.

War and Peace - Tolstoy. I'd call him quite "techie" on his outlook on life, compared to say Dostoievski who is more touchy-feely spiritual. Worth reading.

And of course Neil Stephenson, who's already been mentioned. Diamond Age has some very cool ideas.