Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

Books I've liked:

A Confederacy of Dunces
The Stranger
Anything by Dan Brown
Anything by John Grisham

Generally, I like books with fast moving, exciting plots and minimal clutter in the writing style.

Books I've Disliked:

"Classics" like A Tale of 2 Cities, Shakespeare, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, etc.

Generally I dislike anything we are forced to read in class.

I hate cluttered, overly descriptive writing. I want to be able to read the book and understand it completely with minimal effort.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

Also, could I get a review of See no evil? Were the blacked out parts a pain in the ass, did it ruin highlights of the book?

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

You'd like Harry Potter. I realise this might seem like I'm mocking you, "haha what an idiot who enjoys simple books with two-dimensional characters where minimal effort is needed, he should be reading children's books", but I'm not, Harry Potter is just excellent and you'll like it.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

stephen king - misery, green mile, the different seasons collection

hemmingway - old man and the sea

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

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I hate cluttered, overly descriptive writing. I want to be able to read the book and understand it completely with minimal effort.

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Hmm...have you ever read Finnegan's Wake? If not I think you'd like it.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

i dont know if youll like it, but the only novels ive really liked were those by vonnegut, only the later ones though like breakfast of champions and later. i like hocus pocus and bluebeard a lot for instance.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

I like most things by Mark Twain, I think itd be up your alley, as far as not being convoluted. Other books Im reading/re-reading, that are good
Bookie
Freakonomics
The way of the wiseguy

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

"I hate cluttered, overly descriptive writing. I want to be able to read the book and understand it completely with minimal effort. "

Me too and I've read a lot of great books, unfortunately since you said you like Dan Brown you won't be getting any suggestions.

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Me too and I've read a lot of great books, unfortunately since you said you like Dan Brown you won't be getting any suggestions.

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Wny not try and open his mind and turn him on to The Good [censored] if you hate Dan Brown all that much?

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I hate cluttered, overly descriptive writing. I want to be able to read the book and understand it completely with minimal effort.

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Hmm...have you ever read Finnegan's Wake? If not I think you'd like it.

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Really, anything by Joyce. Also Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace.

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hehe...i ordered some books today based on all these threads...blood meridian and confederacy of dunces...looking forward to them...

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

I think you would really like most Elmore Leonard books

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

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Anything by Dan Brown
Anything by John Grisham


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These books are extremely popular and mainstream. If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

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Anything by Dan Brown
Anything by John Grisham


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These books are extremely popular and mainstream. If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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There's a tone here that makes me think that you think stuff like Catch-22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is obscure, underground literature.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

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Anything by Dan Brown
Anything by John Grisham


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These books are extremely popular and mainstream. If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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There's a tone here that makes me think that you think stuff like Catch-22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is obscure, underground literature.

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Okay, I have a few issues with this.

1) I was actually giving honest advice. I think looking through the amazon.com top 100 list would probably be a pretty good idea for this person because his tastes seem to coincide with a lot of other people. If he told me he really liked something weird or obscure I would have given other advice.

2) I don't think Catch 22 and Cuckoo's Nest are obscure or underground or something. They happen to be classics that a lot of people don't enjoy. For example, based on the OP's description of what he likes, I don't think he would enjoy them. The movie The Seven Samurai is neither obscure or underground, but I woudl not recommend it to someone who said "Recommend some movies for me, I really enjoyed Titanic and Old School but I don't enjoy movies that are slow paced".

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

If you like Brown and Grisham, you will probably love Greg Iles. He is most famous for The Quiet Game, but Dead Sleep and Bloodprints are excellent as well.

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books I just read:

Dali Lama - Art of Happiness

The Master Cleanser

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

Any hemingway (since you hate long windedness or something)
Catch-22 Catcher in the Rye (since you like confederacy of dunces)
Animal Farm (since it's a good book)

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

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1) I was actually giving honest advice. I think looking through the amazon.com top 100 list would probably be a pretty good idea for this person because his tastes seem to coincide with a lot of other people. If he told me he really liked something weird or obscure I would have given other advice.

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I don't doubt that you were giving honest advice, and I actually agree with the advice you're giving (though I'll point out there are plenty of books that make bestseller lists - I'm thinking things like Middlesex, Curious Incident, etc. - that while "mainstream and popular" are nothing like Grisham or Brown)

Do you agree or disagree that there is a difference in tone between:

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These books are extremely popular and mainstream. If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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and

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If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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As mentioned in my original post, the tone is really all I was commenting on. I think I'm more attuned to it thanks to Bruiser's post which was more openly snobby earlier in the thread.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

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1) I was actually giving honest advice. I think looking through the amazon.com top 100 list would probably be a pretty good idea for this person because his tastes seem to coincide with a lot of other people. If he told me he really liked something weird or obscure I would have given other advice.

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I don't doubt that you were giving honest advice, and I actually agree with the advice you're giving (though I'll point out there are plenty of books that make bestseller lists - I'm thinking things like Middlesex, Curious Incident, etc. - that while "mainstream and popular" are nothing like Grisham or Brown)

Do you agree or disagree that there is a difference in tone between:

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These books are extremely popular and mainstream. If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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and

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If this is what you like you could probably just go over the books on bestseller lists and get plenty of ideas.

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As mentioned in my original post, the tone is really all I was commenting on. I think I'm more attuned to it thanks to Bruiser's post which was more openly snobby earlier in the thread.

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Yeah I guess the way I wrote it sounds strange, especially if you say it out loud. I will come clean and say I don't really read books like that, so maybe my inner snobbiness was shining through.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

On a related note, I think I've realized why I don't like reading books like Dan Brown or John Grisham. I thik it is because so many more movies get made that give me the same sort of experience as these books. Consequently, I choose to read fantasy/sci-fi when I need a fast paced story type of book because there aren't that many fantasy and sci-fi movies I'm really satisfied with.

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i just finished fortune's formula and gave it a 10/10. any recommendations for similar stuff?

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Based on the OP's likes, I'd recommend Let's Put The Future Behind Us by Jack Womack - a fast-paced book set in post-Soviet Russia with lots of action and good jokes. It also has the advantage that it was published in the 1990s and so can be bought for next to nothing on the Amazon Marketplace or similar.

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I like most things by Mark Twain, I think itd be up your alley, as far as not being convoluted. Other books Im reading/re-reading, that are good
Bookie
Freakonomics
The way of the wiseguy

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I really enjoyed Freakonomics, are the other two similar? Any other rec's based on me liking Freak?

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Stiff:The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach,
its quite amusing.

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[ QUOTE ]
I like most things by Mark Twain, I think itd be up your alley, as far as not being convoluted. Other books Im reading/re-reading, that are good
Bookie
Freakonomics
The way of the wiseguy

[/ QUOTE ]

I really enjoyed Freakonomics, are the other two similar? Any other rec's based on me liking Freak?

[/ QUOTE ]

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

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Are you banned, again?

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

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I like most things by Mark Twain, I think itd be up your alley, as far as not being convoluted. Other books Im reading/re-reading, that are good
Bookie
Freakonomics
The way of the wiseguy

[/ QUOTE ]

I really enjoyed Freakonomics, are the other two similar? Any other rec's based on me liking Freak?

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No, the other two are not similar, in a way you would think. Way of the Wiseguy, is similar in the fact that its a bunch of small stories, divided by chapters, that is a case study by Joe Pistone (Donnie Brasco), on day to day mob life, its somewhat interesting. Bookie is just a fluff read about how a kid (Al Talcum), gets involved in making book during the 60/70s. Bookie isnt what you would think, it shows the tamer side of what a bookie really does, its a much truer picture than a leg breaking, loansharking, neanderthal.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

I think the Elmore Leondard suggestion was really good. He's written some stuff that is a lot of fun, and good quality.

Also, try Arturo Perez Reverte (earlier works), a book called "The 8" and older stuff like books by Walter Tevis and Gregory McDonald.

Anyone who enjoys reading is good in my book, so while I probably feel a bit of snobbishness based on the whole "anything but required reading" comment, these are serious suggestions. In my opinion, you can find a sort of middle ground, looking for books that are a bit heavier but still a lot of fun.

Of those, Perez-Reverte is a lot of fun (check out The Club Dumas, later made into the awful movie with Johnny Depp, "The Ninth Gate." It's very much in the same vein as Dan Brown). Also, "The 8" is a fast-paced adventure as well.

ElSapo

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new ones
 

There are many great writers out there. It terms of classics, my favorite is Mutiny on the Bounty. Other great authors are:

Tess Gerritsen, Nelson DeMille, Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Richard North Patterson, & Patricia Cromwell.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

white,

You would like books by Michael Crichton.

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white,

You would like books by Michael Crichton.

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Agreed. This is another good writter.

Re: Here are some books I\'ve liked/disliked....Recommend me some new o
 

By The Stranger,I'm assuming you mean the book by Camus. I just finished that, and now am reading The Plague by the same author. It is good so far.

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I would recommend Elmore Leanord and Neil Gaiman. Both are minimal effort, but well written, interesting and fun.

Also, please stop reading Dan Brown. It kills brain cells.

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I really enjoyed The Long Walk by Stephen King (writing under the name Bachman)

Also, the dark tower series is good so far (i'm up to #4) - another King.

Recently, Kite Runner was solid.

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Also, please stop reading Dan Brown. It kills brain cells.


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I disagree. I adore his writing style, detailed but still fast-paced. As for someone who likes Dan Brown not liking Catcher or One Flew, it's a load of crap. You'll love them.

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Also, please stop reading Dan Brown. It kills brain cells.

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Dan Brown is a brilliant conspiracy theorist author. I have read all his books and enjoyed each one.

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I didn't say I can't see why anyone likes him. I said it is bad for you. It is worse than sniffing gas to get high.

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I suggest any of the Aubrey & Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien. The first one is Master and Commander.

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I would recommend that you register an account with Amazon then just browse around and give ratings to everything that you've ever read. Their recommendation system is usually pretty good.

Another idea is to pull up the books that you've enjoyed and then look at the other books that people who have purchased it bought, as well as the Listmanias on the bottom.