RE: Read any good books lately? Rate them here
April 23, 2015 at 10:24 pm
(This post was last modified: April 23, 2015 at 10:24 pm by thesummerqueen.)
Okay. Strap yourselves in, people.
On the topic of orgies as discussed in the "Sexual Past" thread:
Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses
If you love cooking, you need this book. I can't explain it - it is a fragrant stew of whimsy and stories of love and lust and artwork and poetry and collections of aphrodisiacs (just for fun, not that they really work) and recipes that delight all the senses and history.
Relatedly:
Chocolat
The movie with Johnny Depp is loosely based on this book, but is full of color and confection and joy, whereas the book is like dark bitter chocolate. They're both beautiful from a foodie perspective, and remain some of my favorites in both mediums.
Like Water for Chocolate
Okay, clearly I love food books. I won't apologize. Again, I just can't explain it - if you're a foodie, and you're a sucker for movies and books about food and haven't picked this up yet, you haven't lived.
Fiction
The Historian
Do you like Dracula? Do you like quiet horror? This book is fantastic. It quite accurately captures all that slow-to-gratify sort of horror that Bram made famous. No sparkly vampires here. I highly recommend the audio version of this book, as it's read by two very talented voice actors, accents and everything. I've listened to it a couple times, and reread the book a couple times, with great pleasure. I'm not sure why it gets so many bad reviews, and the only way I can explain it is "The Village" effect. "The Village" was panned by critics for being a terrible horror movie, and I'm pretty sure it's just because trailers treated it like a jump scare instead of (what I thought was) a well-done commentary on the way people react to grief and fear. The Historian is like that: it's not a slasher vampire book. Without mentioning the line, it hinges on Dracula's statement: "My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side." It is a fiction book for scholars.
The Princess Bride
You know the movie? Then you know about half of the book, because the movie literally is the book. It is the Platonic standard of how to adapt a book to screen. Except they cut out huge swathes of stuff that admittedly didn't need to be or couldn't be in the movie (like author commentary) that is HYSTERICAL. Really. It is worth reading this book. Fall in love with true love all over again, except with 100 times more sarcasm.
American Gods
This book is Neil Gaiman Does America, and it is beautiful. Oh sure, the standard for "MUST READ GAIMAN ATHEIST FICTION" is Good Omens, but this doesn't get enough lip service considering they're doing a TV show for it. You need to read this book, as an atheist, and rediscover the gods and myths that shaped America. Oh, and because it's mother fuckin' Gaiman.
Kushiel's Dart
BDSM lovers: I cannot promote these books enough. If it's possible to create a more perfect book full of all the positive elements one could want and still have compelling psycho-drama, I don't know who could do it. This book has everything: sex positivity, BDSM sex told in a glorious way, haute couture, world-spanning court intrigues, battles, sex, more sex, lots of sex, beautiful people, alternate European history, better religious values than our world, THE BEST FEMALE PROTAGONIST EVAH...no seriously, I love Phaedre the way I love Princess Leia - she is not a trained warrior, but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty and fight. She is smart - so smart, and yet a woman. This book and this character took all the dark parts of me that I was ashamed of and made them beautiful. Carey is a fucking genius of an author.
The Night Circus
I've said this elsewhere, so I'll try to repeat my raptures here:
Do you know how sometimes people compile lists of books with the best opening lines, and the lines aren't necessarily amazing on their own, but they act like portals sucking you down into that amazing experience you had when reading that book? This book is one of those.
"The circus arrives without warning.
No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night."
Oh my god this book. If there was a way to tell you why it was amazing without giving too much away, it would be this: Do you remember watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Remember Gene Wilder murmuring, "Close your eyes...make a wish...count to three." And that moment before he opened the doors to his room of "pure imagination" was pregnant with every heart-breaking child-like hope and wonder? This book is that, wrapped in a shell of chocolate and caramel sauce and the smell of popcorn and frost. It's a romance that defies defies all romance novel stereotypes. It's a book about child-abuse that somehow manages not to need a trigger warning while still tearing your heart apart. It's a book about the most amazing magic and illusion and imagination. It needs a comfy chair and hot chocolate. But it also needs the audiobook, because Jim Dale's voice acting...holy shit it's sensual and sensuous and powerful. You don't realize you need this book until you're reading it and choking on tears and swept away by its magic. This book is bigger on the inside.
The Name of the Wind
Are you looking for a new fantasy series? Get this. And get it in audiobook form, because it's fucking awesome that way. But mostly you need this because I think Rothfuss is 1) a stand up guy, constantly giving to charities, 2) a clever guy, making a new hero's journey story that makes sense and 3) fuck it, don't question me - this is a richly imagined world that slowly spins itself out over the course of the books. I can't wait for the third.
Mistborn: The Final Empire
While I'm not as impressed with the magic system in this book, I really liked it for 2 reasons. 1) It's incredibly cinematic. Sanderson writes in such a way that you imagine the fights as if all the Matrix special effects team were filming all the action. I can't believe it's not a movie yet. 2) Another strong female protagonist. Vin is funny and sharp and surly and cool.
Redshirts
Okay. 1) You need this in audiobook. It's read by Wil Wheaton. 2) The beginning writing accurately mimics the terrible writing in Star Trek scripts. On purpose. Cleverly. It gets better. Just ride it out. 3) When it gets better, hold onto your butts. The first time Wil read out a "fuck you" I nearly fell over laughing in my chair at work. Scalzi is brilliant and it gets more and more twisted and brilliant as the book continues. You do not need to be a Trekkie to enjoy this. You only need a passable understanding of what Star Trek is.
Non-Fiction
I promise that none of my non-fiction is 'dry and boring' unless specifically stated.
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Blum has a unique ability to conjure up time and place in her writing, and if you think you like CSI, you need to try this. Prohibition era forensic chemistry never was so intellectually sexy and interesting to read.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bill Bryson is hysterical. No, seriously, the beginning of this book lists all the reasons why I wouldn't go camping, but it also is a gut-bustingly funny recounting of walking the Trail. How funny? I popped in an audio version of it (not the one on Audible) while driving up for Thanksgiving days after breaking up with my boyfriend of 2.5 years, when I was blubbering and sobbing still, and spent much of the drive laughing. That's how fucking funny he is.
Mornings on Horseback
The book that kicked off my real appreciation of Teddy Roosevelt. Do you want to know how cool Teddy is? First, you should read this book all about him and his amazing family. Second, Cracked.com dedicated their first book to him thusly: "For refusing to collapse into an earth-devouring black hole under the force of its own staggering density, we dedicate this book to Theodore Roosevelt's left testicle." Also, "Did we mention he had asthma when growing up? He did, and after he beat asthma to death, he ate asthma's raw flesh and ran a hundred straight miles off the energy it gave him." That's a man to read about.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Literally the best book to read out in public so that you laugh your ass off about the most inappropriate and interesting things regarding your genitals. I read it at the gym and had people reading over my shoulders.
Bitch In a Bonnet: Reclaiming Jane Austen From the Stiffs, the Snobs, the Simps and the Saps
If you ever wondered what all the fuss about Jane Austen was about, because you thought it was all heaving bosoms and old-timey harlequin novels without the graphic sex, you need this book. It's about as sharp as Jane is - and Jane is the last fucking word on feminine sarcasm. I aspire to Jane Austen heights. This author lays out why.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
If you have any one skeptic/atheist book, it should be this. It's a one book toolkit for secularism in the best way possible.
On the topic of orgies as discussed in the "Sexual Past" thread:
Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses
If you love cooking, you need this book. I can't explain it - it is a fragrant stew of whimsy and stories of love and lust and artwork and poetry and collections of aphrodisiacs (just for fun, not that they really work) and recipes that delight all the senses and history.
Relatedly:
Chocolat
The movie with Johnny Depp is loosely based on this book, but is full of color and confection and joy, whereas the book is like dark bitter chocolate. They're both beautiful from a foodie perspective, and remain some of my favorites in both mediums.
Like Water for Chocolate
Okay, clearly I love food books. I won't apologize. Again, I just can't explain it - if you're a foodie, and you're a sucker for movies and books about food and haven't picked this up yet, you haven't lived.
Fiction
The Historian
Do you like Dracula? Do you like quiet horror? This book is fantastic. It quite accurately captures all that slow-to-gratify sort of horror that Bram made famous. No sparkly vampires here. I highly recommend the audio version of this book, as it's read by two very talented voice actors, accents and everything. I've listened to it a couple times, and reread the book a couple times, with great pleasure. I'm not sure why it gets so many bad reviews, and the only way I can explain it is "The Village" effect. "The Village" was panned by critics for being a terrible horror movie, and I'm pretty sure it's just because trailers treated it like a jump scare instead of (what I thought was) a well-done commentary on the way people react to grief and fear. The Historian is like that: it's not a slasher vampire book. Without mentioning the line, it hinges on Dracula's statement: "My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side." It is a fiction book for scholars.
The Princess Bride
You know the movie? Then you know about half of the book, because the movie literally is the book. It is the Platonic standard of how to adapt a book to screen. Except they cut out huge swathes of stuff that admittedly didn't need to be or couldn't be in the movie (like author commentary) that is HYSTERICAL. Really. It is worth reading this book. Fall in love with true love all over again, except with 100 times more sarcasm.
American Gods
This book is Neil Gaiman Does America, and it is beautiful. Oh sure, the standard for "MUST READ GAIMAN ATHEIST FICTION" is Good Omens, but this doesn't get enough lip service considering they're doing a TV show for it. You need to read this book, as an atheist, and rediscover the gods and myths that shaped America. Oh, and because it's mother fuckin' Gaiman.
Kushiel's Dart
BDSM lovers: I cannot promote these books enough. If it's possible to create a more perfect book full of all the positive elements one could want and still have compelling psycho-drama, I don't know who could do it. This book has everything: sex positivity, BDSM sex told in a glorious way, haute couture, world-spanning court intrigues, battles, sex, more sex, lots of sex, beautiful people, alternate European history, better religious values than our world, THE BEST FEMALE PROTAGONIST EVAH...no seriously, I love Phaedre the way I love Princess Leia - she is not a trained warrior, but she's not afraid to get her hands dirty and fight. She is smart - so smart, and yet a woman. This book and this character took all the dark parts of me that I was ashamed of and made them beautiful. Carey is a fucking genius of an author.
The Night Circus
I've said this elsewhere, so I'll try to repeat my raptures here:
Do you know how sometimes people compile lists of books with the best opening lines, and the lines aren't necessarily amazing on their own, but they act like portals sucking you down into that amazing experience you had when reading that book? This book is one of those.
"The circus arrives without warning.
No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night."
Oh my god this book. If there was a way to tell you why it was amazing without giving too much away, it would be this: Do you remember watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Remember Gene Wilder murmuring, "Close your eyes...make a wish...count to three." And that moment before he opened the doors to his room of "pure imagination" was pregnant with every heart-breaking child-like hope and wonder? This book is that, wrapped in a shell of chocolate and caramel sauce and the smell of popcorn and frost. It's a romance that defies defies all romance novel stereotypes. It's a book about child-abuse that somehow manages not to need a trigger warning while still tearing your heart apart. It's a book about the most amazing magic and illusion and imagination. It needs a comfy chair and hot chocolate. But it also needs the audiobook, because Jim Dale's voice acting...holy shit it's sensual and sensuous and powerful. You don't realize you need this book until you're reading it and choking on tears and swept away by its magic. This book is bigger on the inside.
The Name of the Wind
Are you looking for a new fantasy series? Get this. And get it in audiobook form, because it's fucking awesome that way. But mostly you need this because I think Rothfuss is 1) a stand up guy, constantly giving to charities, 2) a clever guy, making a new hero's journey story that makes sense and 3) fuck it, don't question me - this is a richly imagined world that slowly spins itself out over the course of the books. I can't wait for the third.
Mistborn: The Final Empire
While I'm not as impressed with the magic system in this book, I really liked it for 2 reasons. 1) It's incredibly cinematic. Sanderson writes in such a way that you imagine the fights as if all the Matrix special effects team were filming all the action. I can't believe it's not a movie yet. 2) Another strong female protagonist. Vin is funny and sharp and surly and cool.
Redshirts
Okay. 1) You need this in audiobook. It's read by Wil Wheaton. 2) The beginning writing accurately mimics the terrible writing in Star Trek scripts. On purpose. Cleverly. It gets better. Just ride it out. 3) When it gets better, hold onto your butts. The first time Wil read out a "fuck you" I nearly fell over laughing in my chair at work. Scalzi is brilliant and it gets more and more twisted and brilliant as the book continues. You do not need to be a Trekkie to enjoy this. You only need a passable understanding of what Star Trek is.
Non-Fiction
I promise that none of my non-fiction is 'dry and boring' unless specifically stated.
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Blum has a unique ability to conjure up time and place in her writing, and if you think you like CSI, you need to try this. Prohibition era forensic chemistry never was so intellectually sexy and interesting to read.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bill Bryson is hysterical. No, seriously, the beginning of this book lists all the reasons why I wouldn't go camping, but it also is a gut-bustingly funny recounting of walking the Trail. How funny? I popped in an audio version of it (not the one on Audible) while driving up for Thanksgiving days after breaking up with my boyfriend of 2.5 years, when I was blubbering and sobbing still, and spent much of the drive laughing. That's how fucking funny he is.
Mornings on Horseback
The book that kicked off my real appreciation of Teddy Roosevelt. Do you want to know how cool Teddy is? First, you should read this book all about him and his amazing family. Second, Cracked.com dedicated their first book to him thusly: "For refusing to collapse into an earth-devouring black hole under the force of its own staggering density, we dedicate this book to Theodore Roosevelt's left testicle." Also, "Did we mention he had asthma when growing up? He did, and after he beat asthma to death, he ate asthma's raw flesh and ran a hundred straight miles off the energy it gave him." That's a man to read about.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Literally the best book to read out in public so that you laugh your ass off about the most inappropriate and interesting things regarding your genitals. I read it at the gym and had people reading over my shoulders.
Bitch In a Bonnet: Reclaiming Jane Austen From the Stiffs, the Snobs, the Simps and the Saps
If you ever wondered what all the fuss about Jane Austen was about, because you thought it was all heaving bosoms and old-timey harlequin novels without the graphic sex, you need this book. It's about as sharp as Jane is - and Jane is the last fucking word on feminine sarcasm. I aspire to Jane Austen heights. This author lays out why.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
If you have any one skeptic/atheist book, it should be this. It's a one book toolkit for secularism in the best way possible.
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