Book Recommendations

CalvinAndHobo

I searched and couldn't find any book recommendation threads. It's one of my favorite things to do while smoking and I'm looking to find some new ones to read. I prefer reading fiction books about various thriller related things. For instance, my favorite book of all time is easily The Godfather. I've read all 15 or so of Vince Flynn's books before he died and loved those. I've read like half of Tom Clancy's books. What else should I consider, either in the crime related sub category or the CIA/special forces sub category for thrillers?

deadman

Clive Cussler or James Rollins

Yakster

Have to check out Prime Reading on Amazon, free books and magazines.

CalvinAndHobo

Meh, the library here is one of the largest in the country, and also free. I don't like reading on a screen all that much. @Yakster

90+_Irishman

I read probably a minimum of 4hrs a day and up to 8-10hrs a day. I read for a few minutes between calls at work, read when I’m on hold working on a customer issue. And when I’m off work it’s what I do 75% of the time when I’m not with my wife or son. Strangely though over the years I have moved away from books and now almost all of what I read is online and amateur stories. Yes they are tougher in terms of editing but it’s all free and I find some of the most enjoyable stories that way that are off the wall mew ideas. I read on my phone almost exclusively and destroy a brand new battery in a phone within a few months I read so much b

First_Warrior

Any thing by James Lee Burke or Randy Wayne White.

First_Warrior

I would like to add C. J. Box and Lee Child to my list of must read authors.

Usaf06

https://www.amazon.com/Stained-Mud-Khe-Sanh-1966-1967/dp/0786472154

This book ^^^^
From our very own @First_Warrior. Its excellent and honored as always Roger that you spend your time with us.

CalvinAndHobo

Usaf06 said:

https://www.amazon.com/Stained-Mud-Khe-Sanh-1966-1967/dp/0786472154

This book ^^^^
From our very own @First_Warrior. Its excellent and honored as always Roger that you spend your time with us.

Awesome, definitely going to check that out. I've read about half of the authors mentioned above, I'll check out the other half. Thanks everyone. 

Guitarded

Steven King. The Dark Tower series. I am halfway through the 7th out of the 8 book series. 
Tom Clancy, the Jack Ryan series. Start with The Cardinal in the Kremlin, and just keep going. No Remorse was my favorite. Great series until he starts co-writing with others. I think Rainbow Six was the last one I read.

CalvinAndHobo

I've read most of the Jack Ryan ones, I haven't read anything written by Steven King. I'll have to fix that just to avoid the *eye roll* "kids these days" comments, but also I'm sure they're great. 

YankeeMan

+1 on Clive Cussler.  I like Lee Child, John Sanford, Robert Parker, just about any mystery or true crime.  I too, read a lot while I am smoking.  I usually go through about two books a week.  I do more during the summer when I am teaching fewer classes.

twistedstem

ive been reading Stuart MacBride, Pretty good police crime series

Trish

I'm not a huge fiction fan but when I do partake my go to author has always been Dean Koontz ... and there's an app/website hoopla you use your library card to download books for free as well.

CalvinAndHobo

Dean Koontz is solid I've read a few of his books. And yeah I just hate reading books on a screen compared to holding a book. Our library setup is great though you can get any book for free if it's in the network of libraries in Chicago. They'll deliver it to whatever library you want for you to pick up. I've yet to find a book that I didn't have access to unless it's something self published. 

Alucore56

Right now im reading the aftermath trilogy of star wars pretty good reads. Cant think of the author off of the top of my head but he wrote a sci fi series that started with enders game i read all of those way back when i was in highschool and they were awesome... another great read is jericho by clive barker 

CalvinAndHobo

Alucore56 said:

Right now im reading the aftermath trilogy of star wars pretty good reads. Cant think of the author off of the top of my head but he wrote a sci fi series that started with enders game i read all of those way back when i was in highschool and they were awesome... another great read is jericho by clive barker 

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite books, I read that whole series. Haven't read Jericho I'll check that out. 

Wylaff

I've always enjoyed the Dirk Pit series by Clive Cussler when I need a dash of adventure. I'm currently reading the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. It's fantastic, but he is years behind finishing it, and I know that's a braking point for a lot of people. 

Alucore56

CalvinAndHobo said:

Alucore56 said:

Right now im reading the aftermath trilogy of star wars pretty good reads. Cant think of the author off of the top of my head but he wrote a sci fi series that started with enders game i read all of those way back when i was in highschool and they were awesome... another great read is jericho by clive barker 

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite books, I read that whole series. Haven't read Jericho I'll check that out. 

Orson scott card yes he is a great author he also did other series called wildcard or somethin that are really really good 

First_Warrior

Anything by Robert Crais or James Patterson.

CalvinAndHobo

Wylaff said:

I've always enjoyed the Dirk Pit series by Clive Cussler when I need a dash of adventure. I'm currently reading the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. It's fantastic, but he is years behind finishing it, and I know that's a braking point for a lot of people. 

The Kingkiller Chronicles was great, I'm waiting on the third one to come out. It lost a lot of it's appeal when I realized he was just ripping off Harry Potter though lol.  

CalvinAndHobo

First_Warrior said:

Anything by Robert Crais or James Patterson.

The Alex Cross books are pretty good, the couple of books James Patterson has his name on, that are co-written (read: written) by other people I haven't been a fan of.

First_Warrior

Yeh, I go for vintage author books written by the authors themselves not the ghost authors.

Wylaff

CalvinAndHobo said:

Wylaff said:

I've always enjoyed the Dirk Pit series by Clive Cussler when I need a dash of adventure. I'm currently reading the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. It's fantastic, but he is years behind finishing it, and I know that's a braking point for a lot of people. 

The Kingkiller Chronicles was great, I'm waiting on the third one to come out. It lost a lot of it's appeal when I realized he was just ripping off Harry Potter though lol.  

The only similarity I see between the Kingkiller Chronicles and Harry Potter was that the main character went to school. Is there something I'm missing?

CalvinAndHobo

Wylaff said:

CalvinAndHobo said:

Wylaff said:

I've always enjoyed the Dirk Pit series by Clive Cussler when I need a dash of adventure. I'm currently reading the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. It's fantastic, but he is years behind finishing it, and I know that's a braking point for a lot of people. 

The Kingkiller Chronicles was great, I'm waiting on the third one to come out. It lost a lot of it's appeal when I realized he was just ripping off Harry Potter though lol.  

The only similarity I see between the Kingkiller Chronicles and Harry Potter was that the main character went to school. Is there something I'm missing?

SPOILER ALERT:

Orphan who rebels in magic school. Has a professor who hates him. Vastly gifted. No one believes him about what killed his parents being out there. Restricted library access to materials about it. Trade quidditch for music. moaning myrtle/the homeless girl he gives food to(I think her name is Elsa?). I mean it's not a copyright but it's quite similar. That doesn't mean it wasn't worth reading I definitely enjoyed it and will be reading the next one when it comes out. 

Wylaff

I don't remember Harry running away to a nearby bar to play quidditch, or using it as a tool in his abandonment to help him come to terms with the harsh realities of life. Was it not just a distraction?

And (only because I love to argue) over the scheme of thousands of pages, the similarities that are there seem relatively fleeting.

jgibv

CalvinAndHobo said:

I searched and couldn't find any book recommendation threads. It's one of my favorite things to do while smoking and I'm looking to find some new ones to read. I prefer reading fiction books about various thriller related things. For instance, my favorite book of all time is easily The Godfather. I've read all 15 or so of Vince Flynn's books before he died and loved those. I've read like half of Tom Clancy's books. What else should I consider, either in the crime related sub category or the CIA/special forces sub category for thrillers?

Sounds like we may have a similar tastes in books. 
Some of my favorite series from the past year or so are listed below. 
These authors / series are either "love it or hate it". 
For each series I read the first book, got "hooked," and couldn't stop reading until I finished the entire series. 

Hope you find something you like: 

• David Rollins - the "Vin Cooper" Series (Special Agent/Special Forces, Thriller, Mystery)
  

• Don Winslow - The Power of The Dog, The Cartel, The Force (DEA, Cartel, NYPD, Thriller, Crime)
  

• Timothy Hallinan - the "Junior Bender" series, and the "Poke Rafferty" series (Private Investigator, Crime, Thriller)
  

• Richard Kadrey - the "Sandman Slim" series (Fantasy, Noir, Thriller)
  

• Richard Stark - the "Parker" series (Mystery, Crime)
  

• Joe R. Lansdale - the "Hap & Leonard" series (Myster, Thriller, Crime)

• Johnny Shaw - the "Jimmy Veeder" series (Mystery, Crime, Thriller)

CalvinAndHobo

jgibv said:

CalvinAndHobo said:

I searched and couldn't find any book recommendation threads. It's one of my favorite things to do while smoking and I'm looking to find some new ones to read. I prefer reading fiction books about various thriller related things. For instance, my favorite book of all time is easily The Godfather. I've read all 15 or so of Vince Flynn's books before he died and loved those. I've read like half of Tom Clancy's books. What else should I consider, either in the crime related sub category or the CIA/special forces sub category for thrillers?

Sounds like we may have a similar tastes in books. 
Some of my favorite series from the past year or so are listed below. 
These authors / series are either "love it or hate it". 
For each series I read the first book, got "hooked," and couldn't stop reading until I finished the entire series. 

Hope you find something you like: 

• David Rollins - the "Vin Cooper" Series (Special Agent/Special Forces, Thriller, Mystery)
  

• Don Winslow - The Power of The Dog, The Cartel, The Force (DEA, Cartel, NYPD, Thriller, Crime)
  

• Timothy Hallinan - the "Junior Bender" series, and the "Poke Rafferty" series (Private Investigator, Crime, Thriller)
  

• Richard Kadrey - the "Sandman Slim" series (Fantasy, Noir, Thriller)
  

• Richard Stark - the "Parker" series (Mystery, Crime)
  

• Joe R. Lansdale - the "Hap & Leonard" series (Myster, Thriller, Crime)

• Johnny Shaw - the "Jimmy Veeder" series (Mystery, Crime, Thriller)

*commenting purely to save this list in my comments, thanks*

CalvinAndHobo

@Wylaff said:

I don't remember Harry running away to a nearby bar to play quidditch, or using it as a tool in his abandonment to help him come to terms with the harsh realities of life. Was it not just a distraction?

And (only because I love to argue) over the scheme of thousands of pages, the similarities that are there seem relatively fleeting.

Respectful back and forth discussion/argument is one of my favorite things to do as well. One of the underrated issues with people my age is the inability to have a discussion with someone who disagrees with you. It helps you think and it usually helps you solidify your positions and beliefs due to hearing the other side, even if it doesn't change your mind. 

If we want to get philosophical about it, are distractions not tools to help people come to terms with the harsh realities of life? 

I feel like the whole orphan in a magic school thing is not relatively fleeting, but if that can be over looked then I do see your point about there being other major differences. With all that said, they're great books and anyone who likes fantasy should read them. 

0patience

Piers Anthony Xanth novels
Piers Anthony Adept series
Terry Brooks Landover Kingdom series; Kingdom for Sale
Terry Brooks Shannara series

Wylaff

Orphans are fairly common tropes in fantasy in general. Magic schools are a bit less common, but still can be found quite a bit. I think the only reason I have a hard time drawing a parallel is the drastically different natures of magic and the schools themselves. If Kvothe wiggled a wand, I would see them as a lot more similar.