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Author Topic: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!  (Read 170168 times)

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funkyducky

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The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« on: November 30, 2011, 11:03:58 pm »
+8
After a trip to the library yesterday to stock up on holiday reading material, I realised just how difficult it is to sift through books and make a decision on what to read when you're faced with thousands of (mostly mediocre) options. So this thread is a place to make recommendations, reviews, ratings - in short, to make the choice easier. Also, discussion of novels is welcome. In fact not just novels - plays, short stories, comics, manga, web fiction, whatever.

I'll start off:

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro Sci Fi. I hesitate to call it dystopian because it's set in the 'real' world, with one catch that makes it all very eerie. Told through the eyes of a woman, Kathy who talks about her life and explains things to the reader through flashbacks. The secrets in this novel are let out slowly, like a puzzle being put together bit by bit. There's a feeling that something is not quite right, but like Kathy and her friends, we're "told but not told".

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ShortBlackChick

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2011, 11:20:46 pm »
+5
Matthew Reilly: ALL OF HIS BOOKS!!!!
He's an action/ adventure writer, with some sci-fi added in every now and then. He has some very Indiana Jones (but a younger and hotter version) novels in the Jack West series, and some military (but-lets-still-save-the-world) series, like the Scarecrow.
His new release is called Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, its amazing!!

And then I read some weird shit, like romances, but no one cares about them, so I wont ramble on about the hundreds of books I've read by authors who can describe sex very...graphically?
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Camo

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2011, 11:29:09 pm »
+2
1984.

Classic from George Orwell, explores the concept of a totalitarian Government, and quite an interesting read into rebellion, and ideas such as Big Brother, thoughtcrime, doublespeak, etc...

Z for Zachiriah.

Read from an early age, I love this book, simply for the fact it brought to my attention nuclear war, and is presented in a diary form. Interesting side note about the novel is its author died writing the final chapter, and his family finished it.

Noughts & Crosses (series).

Exploration into racism and could be shown as a comparison to the segregation's in America. Quite an interesting read, my girlfriend got me onto the series and she still nags about the fact her first copy is ruined today. Mostly a story of society, and how people may accept others, or reject them due to social norms. One of the most beautiful yet saddening novels I've ever read.

Also you may have noticed that these novels are based on dystopian societies, just my thing.
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- William James.

xdecay

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2011, 12:34:32 am »
+4
oh where can i begin! since the OP recommended a japanese author, i may as well start of with one:

norwegian wood by haruki murakami.
a farewell to arms by ernest hemingway (yes, i did it as an english text this year and i learnt to appreciate it so much).
nausea by jean-paul sartre.
the beach by alex garland.
the plague by albert camus.
one flew over the cuckoo's nest by ken kesey.
breakfast of champions by kurt vonnegut.
the age of reason by jean-paul sartre.
cat's cradle by kurt vonnegut.

it's my goal this holiday to complete all novels by ernest hemingway. studying his work for vce esl has given me the chance to appreciate his unique writing style.

ps. i may give 'never let me go' a try as i've read 'a pale view of the hills' by the same author and enjoyed it!
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cyrus_atlantis

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2011, 11:58:08 pm »
+3
Matthew Reilly: ALL OF HIS BOOKS!!!!
He's an action/ adventure writer, with some sci-fi added in every now and then. He has some very Indiana Jones (but a younger and hotter version) novels in the Jack West series, and some military (but-lets-still-save-the-world) series, like the Scarecrow.
His new release is called Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, its amazing!!
And then I read some weird shit, like romances, but no one cares about them, so I wont ramble on about the hundreds of books I've read by authors who can describe sex very...graphically?

Like!

All his books will make sure that you're watching a movie filled with ongoing action and puzzles. The plot always turn completely unexpected and you will not be able to stop once you start. A must read! Suggest Hover Car Racer too!
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ninwa

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2011, 01:29:41 am »
+1
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE - GEORGE R R MARTIN

read it or be square

also it's about 37289374839274839 times better than the TV series
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funkyducky

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2011, 01:25:31 pm »
0
^ Avoided the tv series because I heard it was crap and would thus ruin my reading experience. I got about halfway through the second book before VCE got too busy...I will have to pick up again where I left off (hopefully I can remember/keep track of all the complex storyarcs)
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paulsterio

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2011, 02:30:56 pm »
+2
Gifted Hands - The Ben Carson Story

It's an autobiography of Ben Carson, an American neurosurgeon (one of the best in the world) - it's an amazing book!

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2011, 04:03:16 pm »
+2
"The Lies of Locke Lamora"
This book almost single-handedly screwed over my exam chances
(that's right, I stupidly read it during the exam period  :o)


I think this review does it justice:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/85637389

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ninwa

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2011, 12:03:44 pm »
0
Noughts & Crosses (series).

Exploration into racism and could be shown as a comparison to the segregation's in America. Quite an interesting read, my girlfriend got me onto the series and she still nags about the fact her first copy is ruined today. Mostly a story of society, and how people may accept others, or reject them due to social norms. One of the most beautiful yet saddening novels I've ever read.

OMG I loved those books, but I could never find the third book in the series :(
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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2011, 12:37:06 pm »
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"The Lies of Locke Lamora"

The problem with reading this is that you will inevitably read the sequel, which is subpar and then you'll wait for the third book and realise that Scott Lynch is never publishing anything, ever :(

Great book though.


Camo

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2011, 12:58:22 pm »
0
Noughts & Crosses (series).

Exploration into racism and could be shown as a comparison to the segregation's in America. Quite an interesting read, my girlfriend got me onto the series and she still nags about the fact her first copy is ruined today. Mostly a story of society, and how people may accept others, or reject them due to social norms. One of the most beautiful yet saddening novels I've ever read.

OMG I loved those books, but I could never find the third book in the series :(

Its the only copy our school library had. :P
‎"We divert our attention from disease and death as much as we can; and the slaughter-houses and indecencies without end on which our life is founded are huddled out of sight and never mentioned, so that the world we recognize officially in literature and in society is a poetic fiction far handsomer and cleaner and better than the world that really is."
- William James.

karenn

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2011, 01:35:16 pm »
+1
Stolen - Lucy Christopher &
Looking for Alaska - John Green :)

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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #13 on: December 04, 2011, 04:45:35 pm »
+2
You might find some good ones here: Recommend me a good book to read

I personally prefer books like:
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
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Re: The Good Books Thread/ATARnotes Book Club!
« Reply #14 on: December 04, 2011, 06:53:44 pm »
0
the sherlock holmes series is fanastic
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