Thread: Need some good books

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Not neccessarily Halloween/Horror related.

But, I got a lot of driving coming up for Business, and I like to listen to audiobooks whilst on long drives. So, I need some suggestions for some entertaining reads.

You have any preferences? Thriller? Mystery? Western? SciFi? Fantasy? Romance? ( kidding on the last one)



Amazon.com: Good Omens CDPublisher: HarperAudio; Unabridged edition: Neil Gaiman: Books

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
By Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett

Fantasy/Dark/Humor. GREAT book.




Amazon.com: The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death (Audible Audio Edition): Charlie Huston, Paul Michael Garcia: Books

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death
Charlie Huston

Neo Noir/Hard-Boiled detective type novel. This particular one deals with a crime scene cleaning crew... very nice character development, interesting plot, and the author is pretty cool (hubby met him at a book signing). If you like the genre, then definitely check out his other titles - he's pretty amazing.




Amazon.com: Lucky At Cards (9781602832831): Lawrence Block: Books

Lucky at Cards (Hard Case Crime collection)
Lawrence Block

Great writer, and great book. Actually, if you're into the hard-boiled detective type thing, you pretty much can't go wrong with any of the Hard Case Crime books - written by lots of different authors and the books themselves all have the lovely 1930-1940s cheesecake covers just like the original pulps. (not sure if the audio books would use the same, but it stands to figure...)





Amazon.com: River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (9780312945978): Wilbur Smith: Books

River God

Amazon.com: The Seventh Scroll (A Novel of Ancient Egypt) (9780312945985): Wilbur Smith: Books

The Seventh Scroll

Both by Wilbur Smith

Both are set in Egypt or involved with archeology. River God (technically should be read first, but I didn't realize that and read the Scroll first and it's not necessary to enjoy the book) is set in ancient times, and Scroll is concerning "modern day" archeologists trying to track down the Pharoh's tomb built by the main character from River God.
They are both basically thrillers and adventure stories. I LOVED the (some inaccurate) history, and the characters are fascinating. Have re-read many, many times and still very much enjoy them.

Oh, and if you like mystery, you can't go wrong with anything by Agatha Christie or Ngaio March (she's a contemporary of Christie, and not as well known outside of mystery lover circles, but she's every bit as good as any of them out there). I'm currently working through Christie's entire library in chronological order, and with over 70 books, it's quite possible you'll run out of road before you run out of her books.

I also just finished the trilogy "His Dark Materials" - the Golden Compass, Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass. Fantasy. The movie supposedly sucked (haven't seen it) but the books were a decent read (gets kind of bogged down in parts, but overall interesting). There was a bunch of hoopla over the fact that some folks believed the plots were anti-religion (um, it's a fictional story, and there are some allegories for out of control religious fevor, but really?). The author is atheist/agnostic, so the movie and books were protested as anti-christian, since the fanatics (not to be confused with nice and normal religious folks) are always threatened and worried that things like this might give people "ideas." ~sigh~

I say the anita blake novels. it has gorey, sex, blood, volient, werewolves, vampires, zombies, and civic right laws.

I second Good Omens & Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman in general.

Gonna sound funny but I love military history. Especially when it's told novelisticly (new word). Here's two favorites:


The Hot Gates: If you've seen the movie '300' then you are familiar with the story of the Greek Spartans. This book gives you the historical account of just how amazing the Battle of Thermopylae was. One of the most pivotal 'last stands' in history: Amazon.com: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae (9780553383683): Steven Pressfield: Books



Band of Brothers: The book that the HBO series Band of Brothers was based on. The book is even better, richer. I found the little facts that weren't told in the series to be so fascinating and helped give you an understanding of what those men were going through and seeing: Amazon.com: Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest (9780743224543): Stephen E. Ambrose: Books

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

You have any preferences? Thriller? Mystery? Western? SciFi? Fantasy? Romance? ( kidding on the last one)

Not too picky, so long as it keeps me awake.

Though, my mom writes romance, and I used to be forced to proof read....there are some sentences one does not expect to hear from their mother that cannot be erased......and now I can't keep from putting my mom in those books. (we had a very 'open' upbringing...not everyone gets to go to a prostitute museum on their 16th birthday, featuring profilactic methods of the 18th century. Yes such a thing existed, scattered reports whether it still does.)


Anyone read the Pendergast novels?

I listened to Relic (book 1) on a trip a few years back and liked it. Thinking I might catch up on the other 3.

(oh, and I probably need a dozen or more books, so by no means should anyone stop suggesting. 4 months on the road...but I won't be going every week )


While I'm at it, anyone live around Flagstaff? Need a hand working on something? (since I won't be able to work on MY stuff...)