[Closed] Recommend a good read

Grapes of Wrath

Or on a lighter note, the summons by john Grisham

Alistair Reynolds Revelation Space
if you like dark twisted sci-fi

I am just starting Aberystwyth Mon Amour by someone Pryce
it seems really quite good

"Krakatoa, the day the world exploded" by Simon Winchester.

Really fascinating read, about the eruption, of course, but also about the social/cultural/political impact as well. Very much recommended.

Travel, two wheels, humour and drugs?
You need "These are the days that must happen to you" by Dan Walsh.
More "Jupiter's Travels" (Ted Simon) than "Long Way Up Myself" (Ewan and Charlie, Dahhhhling) and all the better for it.

If you don't require the drugs, but need a bit of inspiration, then try "The wind in my wheels" by Josie Dew.

John Connolly, The Black Angel

Neil Gaimon, American Gods.

half asleep in frog pyjamas...tom robbins

anything by Iain banks.. complicity/waspfactory/dead babies are my favourites

white spider

into the wild

spike milligan's war stories had me in stitches

the miracle life of edgar mint

the dice man is a good read also

"Black Man" by Richard Morgan. Bad-ass sci fi thriller that isn't too trashy.

Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Alistair MacLeod - Island

2nd "The Road"
The Seven Days of Peter Crumb - Jonny Glynn
Great Apes and/or Junk Mail - Will Self

Haruki Murakami

Neil Gaimen

Douglas Coupland

Pretty much anything by the above.

[i]Posted by twohats

Neil Gaiman, American Gods. [/i]

I was just about to recommend that book as well.

If you've ever had the slightest interest in comics, try 'Watchmen' by Alan Moore. Well worth reading before the inevitably awful film is released.
It's a graphic novel, but one of the must read books of the 80's.

3rd The Road
The Kite Runner

anything by Iain banks.. complicity/waspfactory/dead babies are my favourites

Dead Babies is by Martin Amis, think you mean Dead Air - which is Banks' worst work IMHO...

In that vein...

Ian Banks - Complicity, Crow Road, Steep Approach to Garbadale
Will Self - Great Apes
Neil Gaiman - American Gods

Crow Road has the best opening line of any novel, ever, you can keep your truths universally acknowledged and best of times worst of times... 😉

In a different vein but still a must read for all humans...

Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials (trilogy - pity the film of the first part was pants)

Thanks for all the recommendations, I went with "American Gods" as sounds very interesting. Also purchased "A Simple Act of Violence" which i discovered on the Waterstones website.

Here are some recommendations from me to you:

1. "World War Z"
2. "The Road" - as recommended above, terrifying and brilliant
3. "No Country For Old Men" - if you liked the film the book is even better
4. "Layer Cake"
5. "Chart Throb" great satire on pop star reality TV shows
6. "Catch 22" - one of my all time favs
7. "Filth" - classic Irvine Welsh

Happy reading!

ah martin amis, yes thats roight....'money' was pretty good by him too

filth was ace didnt put it down (although had a very long flight to read it)

I say it every time - Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry. Favourite. Book. Ever.

I'm re-reading Grapes of Wrath at the moment, it's excellent.

Shadow of the Winds by Carlos Ruis Z.... (Sorry can't spell in English so don't stand a chance in Spanish) Anyway best book I've read for a couple of years

I don't know why you all bothered replying - after all Geoffj got it right straight off with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. The one truly astounding fictional book I have read.

Iain Pears "instance at the fingerpost"
Crumbs I could go on since I read about 2 books a week! am great at recommending books to people, the only think I don't read is chick lit! What pap ...

[i]Shadow of the Winds by Carlos Ruis Z.... (Sorry can't spell in English so don't stand a chance in Spanish) Anyway best book I've read for a couple of years [/i]

Really? I thought it was a bit dull.

Gravitys Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon (or the Crying of Lot 49 if you fancy something a bit 'lighter').
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Underwolrd - Don DeLillo
Psychovertical - Andy Kirkpatrick
Bad Blood - Jeremy Whittle

Bad Blood by Jeremy Whittle.

To remind me why I ride bikes ,anything by Charles Bukowski . Ham on Rye is my fave.
The armstrong books are good ,but the Flying Scotsman is kablaaam!
Yea. All them murakami's are good. I liked Norwegian Wood ,but in the 'Wind Up Bird...' ,which I really enjoyed ,he didnt finish the story . he just stopped writing one day....
If you want blood and guts Gary Numan's biog is good. The bit where he has his first hair transplant gets you 'down there' ,you know ?
Every cyclist should read Paul Chek's 'how to eat,move,and be healthy'.
And 'Glory road ' by Robert Heinlein,oh and 'Stranger in a strange land'. Hippy BS ,you'll love it.
Glory road is a bit like LOTR (an abbreviation which I'm sure all you nerds understand),but for people who dont want to waste 2 yrs of their life .
Everything by the HH Dalai lama.Ommmmmmm
Brett Easton Ellis . All of.The one with Robert Downey Jr is good
Steven King . None of
Ok ,there's one or two.

If you work for a living you should have your eyelids cut off and be drip fed coffe and coke 'til you have read 'The ragged trousered philanthropists' ,by Tressell.
It changed my life .
Said Ricky Martin.
Hang on , Ricky Tomlinson.

I like a nice hard Dick.
'Do Androids dream of electric sheep ?', got me thinking.
I know I do?If sheep were electric ,would they shit batteries. Mr Crud wouldnt have been half as successful in the early 90s.Mind you ,they'd have only been invented in the future.
Samuri told me he likes Dick too.

A scanner darkly ,I enjoyed .Bizarrely also with Robert Downey Jr, With Keanu Reeves on bass.Out of the Matrix . And Bill and Ted.
'Ted ' went on to be a music vid producer/director .
He directed 'Knock me down' by the Red hot Chili peppers.
Anthony Keidis had a bit part in 'Point Break',Starring Keanu Reeves.Out of the matrix.
Keidis' Biog 'scar Tissue ' is quite good ,apparently ,although I havent read it.I'll let you know . It's under a fiver in Asda.

Have you noticed how the crime/thriller /gangster section in Asda is bigger than the Fairtrade aisle ?
The Chopper book is good . Starring the Hulk.
"good ol' chop chop"

Did I ever tell you about that time I met the Chili's ?
Or 'The peppers ' as they prefer to be called.....

What happened was....

And a Piepers Tale by Allan Pieper, just to remind yourself how hard it was/is to be a professional cyclist.

Ian Fleming - James Bond books
Duncan Falconer - very good read
Ken Follett - Jackdaws or Countdown To Zero in fact anything he's written

Dull to say it again but Grapes of Wrath is a masterpiece.

And I'm also going to say Chickenhawk as it comes up on every forum everywhere when someone asks this question and it is a great read.

I Claudius is another fantastic book and goes down as the book I only picked up because I found it lying around and now would be my Desert Island Discs book.

[b]but in the 'Wind Up Bird...' ,which I really enjoyed ,he didnt finish the story . he just stopped writing one day....[/b]

Ironic. I'm 100 pages from the end. Have been for about two months, I just stopped reading it one day. I think it was starting to take too long to get where it was heading - he obviously thought the same.

Surprised so many reckon American Gods. Still don't know what I thought of that, although at least I finished it!

His book with Terry Pratchet, Good Omens, was a good read for a bit of a lighthearted escape...

No one mentioned Chuck Palahniuk? Too mainstream?