[Closed] Recommend me a book...

James Oswald, Natural Causes. I'd been given this in a pile of books and it lay about for ages. It looked like another run of the mill detective story. Was really surprised when I started reading it, nice little spin on the norm.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Causes-Inspector-McLean-1/dp/1405913142

How long a list do you want? Apart from Rankin and Banks, there isn't much to go on, but I kind of assume you prefer SF, so I'd say Charles Stross, Tim Powers, Roger Zelazny, Kate Griffin, Claire North, (same person, different names for different styles).
Just checked for Zelazney on Kindle, and there's quite a good selection now, there didn't used to be, so the Amber series are there, plus The Last Defender Of Camelot, This Immortal, Eye Of Cat, The Doors Of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth And Other Stories, and To Die In Italbar. There are more of his books out there, but not on Kindle so far, but he's really worth reading.

I'll give those Oswald books a go. Cheers!

Travels with Charley, road trip across the U.S. With John Steinbeck and his dog Charley. Written in the 60's when race relations in the south were all coming to a head. The journey up until then is beautifully described with lots of humour.

Cannery Row, again by Steinbeck is a hugely entertaining tale of life in Monterey before the yuppies. It's usually sold with Of Mice and Men, which is a classic.

Girl with the dragon tattoo and the others in the series.

Someone recommended a book to me, which was totally outside of my usual genre of reading material. Glad I gave it a try.

The catcher in the Rye.

The other month one of my friends loaned me that Danny Baker book, Going to sea in a sieve.Prior to reading the book I wasn't a fan of his,I'd never have bought it myself but after a couple of chapters I was converted.

Banks with or without an M? His mate Ken Macleod sort of sits between the two, he generally writes near-future SF/speculative stuff, his Star Fraction is an all time favourite of mine.

Countzero's right btw, Zelazny is a genius.

anything by Jo Nesbo (the wifes recommendation)

Someone recommended a book to me, which was totally outside of my usual genre of reading material. Glad I gave it a try.

^Thumbs up! **** genres. Read great books.

Can thoroughly recommend:

Catch 22

Snow Falling On Cedars

she also says the Robert Galbraith (jk rowling) Cormoran Strike books are very(surprisingly) good

Anything by John Harvey or Stuart Mcbride

If you like Scottish detective then the Lewis Trilogy by Peter May is very good - albeit quite dark. If you are a SF fan can't help at all, don't read it at all.

If you are going foreign then I would recommend Mankell (i.e Wallender) as he is a bit more cerebral than Nesbo, although I enjoy Nesbo as well.

If you want a left field suggestion, read Raymond Carver because everyone should.

Have you done the Rivers of London series? Ben Aaronovitch? or Christopher Brookmyre (if you like your scottish authors.

Good one... I remember Brookmyre at a signing being asked if he was influenced by Banks, he said "not in my writing, but I'd never have got a book deal if it wasn't for him clearing the path for mad scottish authors" 😆

In a similar vein to the Lewis series above, try Shetland - Ann Cleeves. Enjoyable enough for a read.
FWIW I found the Lewis series a bit meh -- the characterisation just seemed a little too trite, and the story was almost uninvolving .. maybe it was just me or when I read it. Interesting enough ideas but not a full story behind it..

I tried a couple of his other books and they were worse - some stuff about Hebrides and Canadian lakes linked in some across the centuries spookiness, was a little hard to bear.

Mankell is a worthy pointer too - quite hard in some ways, and definitely darker than many.

Rivethead by Ben Hamper. Chronicle of author's life on the assembly line at General Motors in Flint, Michigan. Not the most promising subject but very entertaining.

[i]Malvern Rider - Member

^Thumbs up! **** genres. Read great books.

Can thoroughly recommend:

Catch 22

Snow Falling On Cedars
[/i]

Exactly. Thanks for the recommendations, will bookmark this thread for book titles to consider for 2016.

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Not a recommendation, but I'm currently reading:
"The gods that failed us"

Wow, thanks all

Lots to go though

Not into SF, and done the wallander books some time ago, supurb.

Biography?
This Boy, Alan Johnson
Remarkable book, from a remarkable man. Don't let politics put you off.

Oswald is a great call, I love them.
Have a look at Craig Robertson as well. Similar style of writing and his stories are set in Glasgow.

I got The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling, the adult fiction she wrote a few years ago and it's good, better than I expected

have you tried John Le Carre ? he is brilliant, he writes multi-strand stories that all converge so you need to read the opening carefully as he introduces all the characters at the same time

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Rattling through the audio book for this just now, few hours in, cracking so far. 🙂

[i]The Wasp Factory[/i]. Best book ever.

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer

Just finished The Martian, first book for a while that I've not been able to put down. Disappointed to find there weren't any other books by the same author.

Just done the kindle sample on Ready Player One and although its 50 years in the future where people spent most of their day in a virtual world online it has got my attention enough to buy the rest of the book.

Just done the kindle sample on Ready Player One and although its 50 years in the future where people spent most of their day in a virtual world online it has got my attention enough to buy the rest of the book.

Wife's currently reading and raving about Lanark by Alasdair Gray. She did marry me, so her judgement's suspect, but it does sound rather good.

spooky_b329 - Member
Just finished The Martian, first book for a while that I've not been able to put down. Disappointed to find there weren't any other books by the same author.

Just done the kindle sample on Ready Player One and although its 50 years in the future where people spent most of their day in a virtual world online it has got my attention enough to buy the rest of the book.

Really enjoyed it, though the majority of the 'pop culture'references were seeming of my generation, not so convinced by his follow up Armada (s'ok)
Can't recommend anything for the OP, as you say no SF... Boo!

I really enjoyed to kill a mockingbird, not long but a good read.
loved the hundred year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared. give it time!

I really enjoyed The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, certainly worth a read.

Currently reading "The Stand" by Stephen King. Excellent book, if a little weighty.

Some excellent suggestions already. I love Lanark, but it can be a bit of a head****. One of the first "postmodern" novels apparently. I'd also recommend "Poor Things" by him too. I really enjoyed that.

I can heartily suggest:
Post Office by Charles Bukowski (low down Americana at its finest)
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (scariest book ever written IMHO)
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (also look at Siddhartha by same author)
Pretty much anything by Haruki Murakami (The Wind up Bird Chronicle is my top pick)

Pie