Post your recommendations here.

[Patient O.T.]

Duff, you should also read Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven, also by Jon Krakauer. His research is amazing, and even though you know how the stories will end, his writing and narrative sense create tremendous suspense.

I've read both of these books and they're great. Under the Banner of Heaven is half true-crime drama a la In Cold Blood while the other half details the history of the Mormon church and how the rift between the modern church and the fundamentalist sect came about, giving a great back story to the murders.

I almost bought Into Thin Air this weekend, but instead bought And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, a previously unreleased collaboration between Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, in which the two write of the murder of one of their friends by another friend in alternating chapters. I'm about halfway through (it's a short read) and it is excellent so far.

[biggrthngibbons]

It's not literature, but "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn is a book generally enjoyed by arrogant, pretentious college kids who, for some reason, are interested in socialism, and have never actually read the book, but claim to have done so in order to look down on others.

Fixed that for ya...

Put down the hackey sack and frisbee and read Atlas Shrugged.

[Lucky Jim]

Fixed that for ya...

Put down the hackey sack and frisbee and read Atlas Shrugged.

I remember a great quote I read about the poet and critic Yvor Winters: "he was egalitarian in the way that only the supremely self-confident can be".

Rand - and too many of her acolytes - are the opposite.

[biggrthngibbons]

I remember a great quote I read about the poet and critic Yvor Winters: "he was egalitarian in the way that only the supremely self-confident can be".

Rand - and too many of her acolytes - are the opposite.

Egalitarian or self-confident? Either way, I vigorously disagree.

[OrangeJerseys]

I just recently read "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove. It's historical fiction about the Civil War, with a bit of a twist.

[NewMarketSean]

I am reading "Samaritan" by Richard Price. One of The Wire guys, and of all the big 3 (Lehane, Pelacanos and Price) Price is the best so far.

If you are a fan of The Wire you need to be reading these guys... especially Price.

[backwardsk]

I've gotten into Dennis Lehane's work. He wrote Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. Both were adapted into excellant movies. Gone Baby Gone is one story in a 5 part series that features the same detective team. I've read Prayers For Rain, which is part of the series, and Shutter Island. Shutter Island will be in theatres this time next year with Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead.

[YaBoyTopher]

I have currently been reading Conn Iggulden He writes historical fiction.

The Emperor series is excellent I recommend all 4 books to anyone remotely interested in Roman history, very very good historical fiction. Even if you have never read historical fiction before (I hadn't before reading this series) you should give them a shot.

Now I have moved onto his new series based on Genghis Khan, the first book in the series was very good, I havent read the others yet however.

I am also a big fan of the late Michael Crichton, Timeline being my favorite of his (not a fan of the movie however).

And I am a fan of the Ender series by Orson Scott Card Enders Game the first book being the best followed by Enders Shadow, the other books in the series are just kinda meh.

[SteveA]

I just recently read "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove. It's historical fiction about the Civil War, with a bit of a twist.

I've read a bunch of Turtledove's stuff (basically most of his alternate history that doesn't involve magic/dragons/etc but is more towards the sci-fi or straight AH type of reads). If you are intersted in reading some more Turtledove let me know and I'll post a few reviews, recommendations. He writes at such a prodigious volume that a lot of his characters tend to re-use a lot of the same phraises and stylisms, but the ideas and concepts in his books usually make it worthwhile to me.

Another author in whom I have never been disappointed: Martin Cruz Smith.

[Flip217]

Anyone ever read "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett? It's one of my favorites. I've not read any of his other stuff but I understand this was sort of a departure from his regular material.

It's basically the story of the building of a cathedral in the 12th century (I think), and the various characters that are involved -- the builder, his family, the prior, noblemen, etc. There's a decent love story and some good action, but to me the most interesting aspect is the development of what became Gothic architecture. The story moves fairly quickly but encompasses years and years. In many ways, it reminded me of Shogun -- a big story with many characters, tracing their trials and tribulations, set against a backdrop of men vying for power, political intrigue, that sort of thing.

I think if you're a fan of really accurate historical fiction, you may find some things to quibble with here, especially with the language used (or so say some of the reviews I've read). But it's a really good story, definitely worth checking out.

[vatech1994]

I remember a great quote I read about the poet and critic Yvor Winters: "he was egalitarian in the way that only the supremely self-confident can be".

Rand - and too many of her acolytes - are the opposite.

Easy there fella

We're not all a$$holes

I'm not a fan of Rand as a person, but I truly respect what she brought to the world via her philosophies on life.

[Mad Mark]

While--to some degree--he's a poor man's Carl Hiaasen, I've enjoyed the novels of Tim Dorsey. He's a little erratic from book to book (some are considerably funnier than others), but following Serge A Storms through 10 (soon to read the 11th) books has been fun.
And, for the most part, the hardbacks are available cheap on half.com or Amazon marketplace.

[Capn Vivi]

I thoroughly recommend A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth. The latter is recommended more for the not-easily-offended crowd, as it's brutally honest vulgarity can still be considered controversial (originally published: 1969).

Just having read the beginning of "A People's History..." it's clear that it is unabashedly liberal, but I'd rather read several sources of U.S. History than just one.

In that same vein, I recommend All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer. That book introduced me to my liberal arts education with a punch in the mouth.

[Lucky Jim]

Egalitarian or self-confident? Either way, I vigorously disagree.

Easy there fella

We're not all a$$holes

I'm not a fan of Rand as a person, but I truly respect what she brought to the world via her philosophies on life.

What did she bring to the world, exactly? Seriously. I can't think of anything.

[JamesI]

As for fantasy/sci-fi, I was always into the Dragonlance books. The Legend Of Huma, Kaz The Minotaur, 5th Age, The Dhamon Saga, etc.

The authors other than Weis/Hickman could never keep the details straight and kept screwing things up that Weis/Hickman got stuck with.

And the whole 5th age never sat well with me. Took everything I loved about Dragonlance and tossed it out. I stopped reading then.