I am looking for new authors...or at least new to me. They might be pretty old to you guys!
I adore sci-fi, fantasy, action/adventure, drama, romance, mystery...basically anything fictional and well written.
I've read the classics (degree in Lit kinda demanded that I do so) so post 1950s would be great. Age appropriateness and content isn't an issue as I've passed into adulthood, and yet still love Young Adult Literature as well as the racier subject matters.
OH...please, please, please...No Stephanie Myers suggestions. I have her books and I swear by all that is good and holy that once I get over having seen her name plastered everywhere I will read them. Pinky swear, even.
Thanks for your suggestions.
2007-09-30 16:50:18 · 14 answers · asked by lkydragn 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Military Man -
What is your style...anything like Lee Child? I read the synopsis of a couple of your titles and they do seem intriguing...and good job for putting them out there. Anyone who loves to write, Should.
2007-09-30 17:08:06 · update #1
Figment -
Bookcrossing may just become my new favorite website. Thanks for the suggestion!
2007-09-30 17:08:53 · update #2
So far everyone has had some really wonderful suggestions. I've already started looking up titles and am getting more and more excited about new books!
Keep it coming guys.
2007-09-30 19:16:59 · update #3
Try some of these authors, if you haven't already:
H. Rider Haggard
Edgar Rice Burroughs
H. Beam Piper
Raymond Feist
Dennis L. McKiernan
Robert Heinlein
Frederick Pohl
Isaac Asimov
Ben Bova
Matthew Reilly
Stephen Hunter
Jack DuBrul
Paul Christopher
Stuart Woods
J.A.Jance
Tanya Huff
Ursula K. LeGuin
Mercedes Lackey
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Paul Christopher
Raymond Khoury
Jame Doss
John Dunning
Just to get you started.
2007-10-01 01:58:56 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My favorites in each category:
Sci Fi
Miller - Canticle for Leibowitz
Moon - Speed of Dark
Wolf - Book of the New Sun
Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land
Card - Ender's Game
Fantasy
Martin - Song of Fire and Ice series
Bakker - Prince of Nothing series
Goldman - The Princess Bride
Maguire - Wicked
Contemp Fiction
Martel - Life of Pi
McCarthy - The Road
McCarthy - All the Pretty Horses
Hosseini - Kite Runner
Palahniuk - Survivor
Palahniuk - Fight Club
Robbins - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Irving - Prayer for Owen Meany
Horror / Thriller
Blatty - The Exorcist
Nasaw - The Girls He Adored
Oates - Zombie
Ellis - American Psycho
Rice - Interview with the Vampire
2007-10-01 03:03:40 · answer #2 · answered by ray s 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read:- John Grisham Michael Crichton Jeffery Archer Robert Ludlum
2016-05-17 22:14:07 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a novel by Russell Greenan named "It Happened in Boston?" that would be perfect for the sci-fi/fantasy lover. It was written in the '60's and probably will be very difficult to locate. I read it shortly before I went to Vietnam (1969) and several times since. It has a cult following and an awful title but don't be put off by that. Do yourself a favor, locate it and read it. The story is told by the lead character who has the uncanny ability to go into trances and experience events that occurred in the distant past in foreign lands. He calls them "reveries". He is an artist by profession and has these reveries, which he comes in and out of, on the park bench of a Boston Common park. The novel seems light and funny at first but takes a stunning turn that makes it dark and compelling. My favorite authors are Joseph Heller (Catch 22), John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath etc.), and anything by Kurt Vonnegut. You can't go wrong reading any of the above authors (Catch 22 is incredible) but please read "It Happened in Boston?". You won't regret it.
2007-09-30 17:38:28 · answer #4 · answered by wildmanmoon 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I suggest Lionel Shriver. I started with We Need to Talk About Kevin, and have since read 5 more, I think. Her voice is unlike anything else I've read, and her characters seem so very true to me. They sort of have that "not with a bang but a whisper" feel, depicting small powerful moments. But her texts aren't really postmodernist, they have these moments of surprise traditional values. I'm not well-versed in lit crit, just an avid reader, so I think I'm not able to really explain it. I was hooked when I read a phrase in Kevin that was something like, "as if there was something suspicious in being earnest."
Gregory Maguire writes engaging, well-crafted novels. I've enjoyed all of his books, but Lost is my favorite. Lost is sort of fairy tale on its own, playing off of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It depicts a crisis in the life of a descendant of Scrooge, set in a creaking house in modern day London. I started reading and enjoying Dickens about a year ago (hated Two Cities in high school), so this is a great meeting of two of my favorite authors.
2007-09-30 18:38:11 · answer #5 · answered by aggylu 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm a military fiction author and have 5 books published with more on the way. My books have plenty of action with a small bit of romance with plans to increase in time.
www.lulu.com/bilka
You can purchase this books via credit, check, or debit card. However, I could work out a deal to e-mail you an electronic copy of some of the books and list it as a promotional item on my official records.
2007-09-30 16:54:33 · answer #6 · answered by adm_twister_jcom 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well if you are a literature major may I suggest the very literary, yet vastly entertaining Myla Goldberg who wrote the wonderful book Bee Season and Wickett's Remedy.
Kevin Brockmeier's book "A Brief History of the Dead" and his y/a novel Grooves are excellent
Christopher Moore, if you haven't read anything by him is a must. He's delightful
2007-09-30 16:59:13 · answer #7 · answered by Jackie Oh! 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am sure you are familiar with Robert Heinlein, but if you haven't read any of his books post-1950's, try "Friday", "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" and the expanded (re-edited) version of "Stranger In A Stange Land."
Robert Asprin & Linda Evans' "Time Scout" series is a lot of fun sci-fi. Holes have formed in the fabric of time and people can now vacation in history. The catch is you can't just walk in and disrupt the time continum-you need to dress and act the part of a normal citizen in the era you visit. Enough historical fact is mixed in to give the reader the flavor of the settings.
For military epics, I recommend Bernard Cornwell. Cornwell is best known for his "Sharpe's" series which covers the Napoleonic wars and a bit of the time leading up to Britian's fight with France. Using actual battles and events, Cornwell recreates history to find room for his characters. Fortunately, he also include extensive historical corrections at the end of each book to credit the actual heroes of the real battles.
For mysteries, I reccomend the early works by Tony Hillerman and Lawrence Block. Hillerman is best known for his stories set in the Navajo Reservation and his two detectives, tribal policemen Officer Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn. Block has two detectives as well, burglar Bernie Rhodenbar and ex-policeman (and recovering alcoholic) Matthew Scudder. Hillerman remains true to one style of writing while Block uses a heavier tone for his Scudder mysteries and very light tone for his "Burglar Who" (featuring Rhodenbar) series. I recommend "The Ghostway" by Tony Hillerman and "Eight Million Ways To Die" or "The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams" both by Lawrence Block.
Donald Westlake is a genius of comedic crime capers. His anti-hero, John Dortmunder is the best planner in crime. Too bad, Lady Luck hates him. I highly recommend the entire Dortmunder series, but among the best are "Drowned Hopes", "Why Me?" and "What's The Worst That Can Happen?"
Other recommendations:
"Cadillac Beach" by Tim Dorsey.
"The Codex" by Douglas Preston
"Touch" by Elmore Leonard
"Get Shorty" by Elmore Leonard
"Cyclops" by Clive Cussler
2007-09-30 19:04:03 · answer #8 · answered by Kevin k 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sara Gruen: water for elephants
Haven Kimmel: a girl named zippy, she got up off the couch (both really good. i have just started her fiction, she's a great writer)
david foster wallace: brief interviews with hideous men
dave eggers: a heartbreaking work of staggering genius (not fiction though), what is the what.
and i too recommend audrey niffenegger. in addition to the time traveler's wife, she has two 'artist books' that are lovely.
great question, i'm going to look into many of the suggestions, thanks.
2007-09-30 17:44:57 · answer #9 · answered by stella 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All of Betty Smith's books are wonderful - particularly A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, JUNIE MOON by Marjorie Kellogg
THE STERILE CUCKOO by John Nichols
These are all a little off the beaten path - although the first one, not so much. Maybe there is one or two you haven't read
2007-09-30 17:05:54 · answer #10 · answered by blackcat1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋