Recommend a book

Kazujo

Can anyone recommend a book I've just finished the Da Vinci Code and throughly enjoyed it but I dont think I'll bother with the other books in the series. I'm thinkin of Catch 22 or maybe The Lony Way Round.

Anyotehr suggestions?

nesf

"The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks
"Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco (warning heavy but fantastic)
"Stupid White Men" by Micheal Moore, (warning, heavily biased american politics drivel, amusing tho)

bcKay

I heard Foucault's Pendulum was fantastic...it's on my "one day I'll..." list, as is "Da Vinci Code"

Timothy Findley "The Pilgram" is a good read.

luckat

James Stephens' Irish Fairy Tales was one of my favourite books when I was a kid. It's now online:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ift/

(My favourite story is The Birth of Bran)

Now, for nonline books, have you read The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K Dick? Slow to start, but it's an extraordinary book.

(PKD's books and stories were the foundation of a bunch of films, of which Bladerunner (from his story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) is the only one I can bring to mind at the moment; the guy who made Slackers is currently making another film, on which I think Brad Pitt, Woody Harrelson and other stars are working for minimum union rates, based on another of his books.)

Cactus Col

The Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt

from amazon: This is a very important book about a horrific crime which took place in West Memphis in the early 90s - three eight-year-old boys were brutally murdered in a terrifying attack, and subsequent events led to the imprisonment of three teenagers for the crime, and yet there appears to be a dearth of evidence to actually link these suspects to the murders. These three suspects were convicted & are currently in jail (one is on Death Row), but there is a massive movement of people who subscribe to the view that the arrest was wrongful and that there are certain other suspects still at large who appear to have been inadequately investigated by the police. It's a tangled web, and one that is harrowing, intense, and quite likely to have you in tears. And it's still not over; there have now been two books about this, two films, and a new major movie is in production now about the events - read this book and make up your own mind. Considering the 'evidence' in this case, it's good that the author maintains as much objectivity as can be expected - there are times when reading this that you may feel, as I did, like banging your fists on the floor in exasperation at the incredibly inept investigation into this case, and it's then, on reflection, that you sometimes wonder about the reasons behind that apparently lax police work, and you hope that the hints here and there of hidden agendas are wrong, because therein lies the spectre of sinister goings-on behind the scenes. Let's hope the truth will finally be uncovered by the attention this book and the movie will bring to this case once again, and that justice can be done and the poor victims can finally be allowed to rest in peace.

QC

Foucault's Pendulum is brilliant ... if heavy.
The Name of the Rose is v good, and a good introduction to Eco, it's very easy to get into.
If you want a good conspiracy based read, try the Illuminatus trilogy, by Shea and Wilson. Quite hard to get into, and very very weird, but worth it. Those books and Foucault's Pendulum put the DaVinci code into the shade.
Fnord.

GeorgeBailey

I liked 'Hey Nostrodamus' by Douglas Coupland

Vikings

I have to say that "Resurresction Day" by Brendan DuBois is a superb piece of writing.

From Barnes and Noble . com :

Mystery novelist Brendan DuBois makes a foray into the alternate timeline realm and gives us a gripping and chilling dark tale featuring Boston Globe reporter Carl Landry, who is on the trail of a government conspiracy. Somewhere between the gritty work of Andrew Vachss, the hard-boiled detective novels of Dennis Lehane, and the alternate history arena usually ruled by the likes of Harry Turtledove, Brendan DuBois has wedged himself firmly into the highest ranks of fine suspense writers and mined a fantasy noir niche all his own.

The time is 1972, ten years after the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated into World War III. Russia has been all but obliterated, and many U.S. cities are no more than crater-strewn radioactive ruins. The U.S. relies on Great Britain for medical aid and food, and now exists in a state of martial law, with the government censoring all media. Kennedy and Johnson are presumed dead, although there's an underground of "true believers" who conclude that Kennedy is recovering from injury in a secret spot of safety and will soon rise to take command of a floundering America. The spray-painted words "he lives" can be found all across sides of buildings wherever one walks, but controlling the fate of America is the somewhat fascist General Curtis, who still wields military might.

Carl Landry, a former soldier who survived the worst of the war, is now a reporter with the Boston Globe. He's doing a story on murdered veteran Merl Sawson, a possibly unhinged man who swears he has an incredible story to tell Landry. Sawson gives only the vaguest suggestion that he's awareofthe true events that started the war back in '62. When Sawson is found with a couple of bullets in the back of his head, and Landry's editor at the Globe immediately spikes his story for "lack of space," Landry begins to suspect that perhaps Sawson actually did know something big. Soon he meets Sandra Price, a London Times reporter who is eager to do a story on America's present course, but who also oddly romanticizes the state of the country. Landry, who sees nothing romantic in the millions of dead and the U.S.'s weakened position in the world, freely speaks his belief that it's time that America stands or falls on its own, without European aid in any way. Together the two stumble deeper and deeper into various plots meant to keep their articles from print, and eventually they discover more bits and pieces of Sawson's conspiracy theories, which may not be so strange after all.

DuBois's attention to the seamy side of a bleak Boston is an irresistible draw; its ugly, perverse, yet sultry aspects bring new life to this war-torn city. As a soldier and a reporter who has seen it all, Landry knows the streets but still manages to hold to a particular code of honesty and good intent. Landry refuses to judge those around him, as he knows how difficult an existence this harsh life can be, and his willingness to give others the benefit of the doubt makes him something of a benefactor no matter what his official capacity is. The other primary characters, even those whose identities we aren't sure of at first, are all well developed and infused with their own idiosyncrasies.

DuBois knows how to build and nurture suspense, and the author refuses to allow any easy answers to come. The narrative passes and the mystery grows ever more convoluted and tangled, with secrets and conspiracies that reach to the upper echelons of world government.Resurrection Day keeps to a perfect blend of fact and fiction, giving us an alternate timeline that is readily believable and never falls into easy stock humor or retrospection. It would have been simple for DuBois to have made many 1970s fashion, music, or other social jokes to leaven the darkness inherent in the tale being told, but the author refuses to give in to such temptation. DuBois proves here that he is capable of turning out not only an excellent mystery novel but also a fantastic story that transcends the crime/spy/suspense/fantasy genres and works as a powerhouse novel that will leave the reader awestruck and panting for breath.

An excellent read.

Orizio

Catch-22 is a brilliant book,well worth a read...

But first i suggest reading Tom Barry's Guerrila Days In Ireland and Ernie O'Malleys On Another Mans Wound and The Singing Flame.Three books no Irish person should go on without reading.

Geranium

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is one of my all time favorites plus it's neither too heavy or too stupid.

eclectichoney

yup love the secret history - real page turner but not trashy either. perfect combination for a post/during xmas read.

or anything by paul auster...very underrated american author with great storylines and usually very funny too. my fave book ever is by him - moon palace.

violent*sky

the necroscope series by brian lumley

amazing books that have me capivated from cover to cover....right now im on book thirteen out of thirteen and dont want to finish it....coz then theres no more!!!