Did you read any good books lately? Post recommendations!

[Hot2Trot]

This book can be life-changing. It's one of those books that can take a man and go "Oh, you thought you knew a thing or two? Nope." My best friend read it to help himself successfully manage his company he started and suggested it to me. I loved it! Information sponge time. So now I'll share it with you guys. I bet you'll love it.

"How To Win Friends And Influence People" Dale Carnegie. He put forth a massive, evolving effort researching how the most successful socializers easily won people over.
Here it is for free in complete audiobook form. 7 hours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4R2p9WnzAo

As a second good book I read recently... Feeling Good, by David Burns. He spent his life in the depression / brain chemistry / psychotherapy scene and here's his word.
I couldn't find an audiobook but here's his talking about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7BkL7ytzI

[Twitch]

I usually don't like fantasy, but Assassin's Apprentice and all of it's sequels have been amazing so far https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA8jFRPLY80

[Magic88889]

I will recommend this book to anyone, and that's The Book Thief. An extremely powerful book, well written, full of meaning, especially for a book lover like me. The movie didn't do it justice, but the book is hands down one of the best books I have ever read. Top 5, easy.

If you're looking for something a little lighter, look no further than Simon R. Green's Nightside series. It's dark, gruesome, extremely imaginative, highly insightful, and best of all, tons of fun! I seriously don't know another author who can pack so much action, drama, and creativity into a single book. His books are a wild roller-coaster ride that leaves you both completely satisfied and wanting more when it's over.
Been reading Tales from the Nightside, a collection of short stories set in that world, and it's awesome. I have, of course, also read the rest of the series as well.

[Main_Avvie]

I've been desperate for reading material recently. I've been scouring Amazon like a terror. Haven't turned up much of anything it seems. Barnes and Nobel is no help. My genre of choice is fantasy, but I'll delve into military science fiction as well. I like novels that can be read in short bursts. Small chapters. Rapid pace. Interesting characters and engaging plot.

I've been wanting to branch out into thriller/mystery/espionage recently. For that I've been meaning to read up on all the regular bestselling authors.

Tour of the Merrimack is a recent favorite. Unfortunately, I've exhausted it.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/41922-tour-of-the-merrimack

[tommyap]

Maybe slightly off your preference, but Firefight of Brandon Sanderson is out.

[Magic88889]

Rapid pace? Look no further than Simon R Green. Pretty much all of his work is what I would classify as a fast read. Seriously, I've had issues going back to normal paced books after reading some of his. Although you might be more interested in his Secret Histories series. They're short, extremely rapid pace, and a really good story too. On the surface, they seem like James Bond spoofs, if Bond was a Druid and had magical powers, but it is so much more than that. If you're looking for quick fantasy stuff, that would be the way to go.


I also recently got done reading the Powder Mage Trilogy, and it is quite excellent. I highly recommend it. Guns AND magic. What more could you ask for?


I'd also recommend absolutely anything by Brandon Sanderson. He has very quickly became my favorite author.

[belford]

SF/F books (or series) that I've read recently that I recommend:

_Ancillary Justice_, Ann Leckie. Won a Hugo last year, justly. About a retired soldier who served on a starship in a giant far-future empire famous for military conquest. Actually, the soldier *was* the starship, but let's not get bogged down in details.

"Shadows of the Apt", a fantasy series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is ten books long (!) but it's all finished and published now so you're not stuck with the GRRM problem.

_The Just City_, Jo Walton. The goddess Athena attempts to set up Plato's Republic with a lot of orphans and robots stolen from history. Really, that's the whole story. Sequels coming.

_The Cloud Roads_, Martha Wells. A lost boy finds his home tribe on a planet with about a million different sentient species, none of them human. (The protagonist is a shape-shifting lizard person.) Three books plus a couple of collections of short stories.

_The Goblin Emperor_, Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette). Up for a Hugo this year, justly. Unimportant goblin boy finds out that, due to an airship crash, he is suddenly the emperor of Faerie. More or less. All about politics in a court where all politics is personal.

_The March North_, Graydon Saunders (self-published --
https://books.google.com/books/about/Th ... IOAwAAQBAJ). This is a fast-paced fantasy novel about an army, but it's not like Green or Sanderson. You have to pay a little more attention. I am currently reading the sequel, which is about a school for wizards. (It's not like Harry Potter.)

[Michael2117]

The fantasy books I've really loved have been by Robin Hobb. Assassin's Apprentice trilogy & Golden Fool trilogy, has a lot of espionage going on. Chapters can be a bit long though. The assassins work for a king. All kinds of sneaky things going on.

[Baladria]

The nature of my work usually means I don't often jump into the realm of fiction, but I try to indulge when I can. This may be an odd choice to recommend, but oh well. Weirdo me prefers reading books written pre-1920s and children's books lol!!! Dr. Seuss is my hero! Last summer included getting around to Tarzan of the Apes, a reread of The Jungle Books, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It felt odd to read Jurassic Park, a book for adults that takes place in modern day with characters dressed in modern clothes and stuff. I haven't read something like that in a long time!

In October last year I finally read The Neverending Story by Ende and I was blown away. I had thought the movie covered the entire book, and so I thought I was going to enjoy a simple adventure story. Then I discovered the movie covered only the first half of the book (quite excellently imo). What began as a simple adventure story took a turn in the philosophical direction and at the end I was completely taken by surprise that I was moved to tears. I haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since. So if you haven't ever read it I highly recommend it.

[Eleri]

My tastes run to the F/SF genre, so here's my suggestions:

Anything by Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant- the woman writes like wildfire. My favorite tends to be the InCryptid books- if you like weird monsters, start there (HAIL!).

Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine- it's marketed as YA, but its a good (award winning) read. Steampunky Regency In Space.

Brandon Sanderson- Start with the Mistborn books, and the first two of the Stormlight Archive...and then realize that these, and most of his other books (like Elantris or The Emperor's Soul) all exist *in the same universe* and are actually connected. Welcome to the Cosmere, there's a whole lot going on...

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Don't let anyone tell you these are 'just' romance novels- even though the bookstores kept plopping them in with the Harlequin romances when the first few came out. There's well-researched history, time travel and causality, conspiracies and war, and a loving but very human couple at the center of it all.

C.E. Murphy's Walker Papers series. Nicely done urban fantasy, with a healthy dose of sarcasm. In the same vein is The Dresden Files from Jim Butcher- also with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Polka will never die!

Maybe this would be easier if I just took pictures of my bookshelves... o.O