I have recently received a $100 gift certificate to amazon.com and while there are some books I know I will get, I am looking for suggestions on books to read and review.

I am interested in two categories of books:
1. Books that were so good that you read them from start to end in one sitting, laughed, cried, enjoyed. Basically your favorite books.
2. Fairly new releases that you have seen mentioned or seen somewhere that sound like they would be interesting to pick up.

Suggestions?

I'll go with "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It is one of the best books I read in years

This would be no problem for me.

First of all I added your blog to my google reader and had a first glance at your blog.

It seems you like urban fantasy. My wife also likes urban fantasy. One of her favourite series is
THE BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD

In case you also like to read novels beyond fantasy I would recommend

the Gladdy Gold series.

It's about a gang of female private investigators and none of them is younger than 70.
It is a real smart, sassy and funny read.

I also would recommend:
The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent week. Read Mulluane's review

In case you like steampunk I would recommend The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. Please read Liviu C. Suciu's review


And I agree 100% with Dark Wolf's recommendation.


In order to give you more recomendations it is necessary that you tell me/us a bit more about your taste.

Dark Wolf,

I've got The Shadow of the Wind sitting in my wish list on amazon, so it's definitely going to be on my list of things to buy. I've read your review and and a few other and it sounds excellent.

edifanob,

Thanks for all the interesting suggestions! Out of these I have read the first book on The Night Angel Trilogy, which I have enjoyed. The second book is sitting on my bookshelf now. The rest of your recommendations sound good too, I'll be sure to pick a few of them up!

I will pick up a book in any genre with a strong recommendation, but I tend to read a lot more fantasy than science fiction. Urban fantasy is my most recent foray, while I am pretty well-read in classic epic and heroic fantasy. I got a little tired of orphan boys growing into super-powerful beings at some point, so now I tend to look for stuff that has a little extra in it .

Glad to hear you have added my blog to your reader list

Maria

Just added your blog to my reader. You aren't the only 'Hollows' fan ... just love Jenks and Ivy and still find Trent an enigma.

Out of your TBR pile I've read Shadow's Edge and Dragonfly in Amber. Can't fault Brent Weeks writing ... simply superb characters and storytelling ... unafraid to delve into taboo/uncomfortable subjects too. Gabaldon's is a time-travel romance and historical epic - really loved the first four books but found myself wading through description near the beginning of book five and have yet to pick it up again. Then again it's also an intimidating 1412 pages [yep, just checked] in very small print. Yikes!

My TBR pile has:

The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer [need to read before I see the film]
The Raven Series - James Barclay
Little Brother - Cory Doctorow [been meaning to read this for yonks]
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Nothing Urban Fantasy this month, but recently enjoyed Patricia Briggs Mercedes Thompson series starting with Moon Called and Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer series starting with Touch the Dark (one of the better vampire series out there right now as there's lots of plot). Love Robin McKinley's Sunshine; a favourite for me. L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress Legend is good; I read the first five books a while back ... they were fast paced, had unpredictable plot twists, and has an exotic latino flavour to it that I found pleasantly different.

Liked the Black Dagger Brotherhood series ... good plotting and you care for the brothers and their Shellans but expect to spend some time between the sheets with the lead characters - though nowhere near as long as Anita Blake

Anyway, great to meet your blog

wend,

I know exactly how you feel about Diana Gabaldon. I have enjoyed the first book in the series, but at the same time it's one of those reads that takes up a lot of time... The size is a little intimidating!

I am adding Sunshine to my amazon wishlist, the reviews look really good and it sounds like the sort of book I'd enjoy.

Thanks for recommendations!

Hi,

I just want to second the recomendations for Patricia Briggs and Robin McKinley's Sunshine. For Sunshine, the main character works in a bakery, and every time I read it, I have to bake something myself! Two of my friends recently read and enjoyed Sunshine but neither were afflicted with the need to bake so maybe it's just me...

As for Patricia Briggs, I just finished rereading Cry Wolf, and, despite the large TBR pile, I think I'll be rereading her books for the next week.

In Urban Fantasy I suggest Ilona Andrew's Magic Bites, for a fun and frantic read try Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin, and in science fiction, I liked John Scalzi's Old Mans War and Charles Stross's Halting State.

I've got an Amazon voucher to spend myself, but most of that will be taken up with Absolute Sandman 4, so my problem is what two other books do I want the most!

You said favourite books ... well, you've probably read these already, but still: Otherland series, Dark Tower series, ASOIAF series? Out of non-series, Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover, The Terror by Dan Simmons, Orphan Tales by Catherynne M. Valente, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss ... these are all well-known and I've also read&enjoyed them all. But as said, you've probably read those ... or not? Do tell, I can think of more

Thanks for more recommendations!

madscientistnz,

I've read Cry Wolf before, but I liked it moderately. While enjoyable, I am not sure I want to pick up more of the books at this time. I am thinking of checking out more of Charles Stross. I've read a couple of his book in The Merchant Princes series and I imagine his sci-fi novels might be interesting. I am also intrigued by all the hype surrounding Scalzi, but it doesn't sound like my typical fare.


Trin,

I've read Tad Williams and George Martin. I haven't tried the Dark Tower series, but I've never been a huge fan of King's other novels I've read.

Stover and Rothfuss are among my favorites too! I've never read Dan Simmons though and perhaps I should remedy this. Also adding Orphan Tales to my Amazon wish list, I've never heard of it before but it sounds great!

Hi Maria,

I'm working my way through the Merchant Prince series at the moment, I started with The Jennifer Morgue and then Halting State (the UK cover is so cute!) and quite enjoyed them. Scalzi is not my usual type of read either, all the hype was starting to intrigue me, and then I found he's put a whole book online, Agent To The Stars, after reading that I was keen to try more.

I really loved Sandra McDonald's The Outback Stars, so much that I brought both it and the sequel in Hardcover.

I hope you let us know what books you choose to buy.

The Outback Stars is also in my list since so many people posted good reviews about it. I will be moving apartments next weekend, so I am just adding books to my wish list for now. Sometime next week, I'll make final decisions on what to get and I'll post the list here I am itching to get these books now!

seeing Scalzi mentioned: what about Old Man's War? I guess I missed the hype somehow, but I did read it and it was great. Also, if you accept sf suggestions too, you can try Ender's Game if you haven't read it yet - that is a really great book! And (also by Dan Simmons, I'm afraid) Hyperion, which is one of the first sci-fi books I liked (I used to be more into fantasy).

Also, some fantasy that is different than the usual heroics: anything Gaiman's, but especially American Gods (I hear that The Graveyard book is great too) and China Mieville's Un Lun Dun (haven't read the others yet, but this one is really sweet).

I've read Ender's Game and the rest of the books in the series (except for the one that came out last year) and I really liked it too. Also I am a huge fan of Gaiman, especially Neverwhere. I'd love to hear more recommendations along these lines

I've read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and found his writing a little difficult to get through and kind of dark. Though perhaps Un Lun Dun is not nearly as dark.

I'd second anything by Neil Gaiman as he's one of my favourite authors. I keep meaning to try some of Jonathan Carrolls books as Gaiman has said he's an influence and inspires his own writing. I did pick up a second-hand copy of "The Land of Laughs" recently but haven't read it yet.

Neil Gaiman's recommendations are rarely wrong for me.

Just to let you know, I ordered some books from Amazon this weekend. I decided to start slow and not grow my reading pile too much, so I've got The Shadow of the Wind, The Graveyard Book, and The Outback Stars. I will definitely come back to some of the other suggestions made on the thread as well (still have a good portion of my gift certificate left).

The reason I decided not to buy a lot of books at once is because back in University days I spent a lot of my time making fun of people who bought and bought and bought books and then read maybe 3 of them each year. I could not afford books back then and read 99% by borrowing from friends and libraries and was quite happy. However, now that books are within reach, I am also feeling this pull of buying up the books and filling out the shelves, but I am planning to try keeping myself in check and keep my "sitting on bookshelves waiting to be read" list under 10 or so.