RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (Full Version)

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Acient J -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (8/10/2010 11:28:26)

Title: The Power of One
Author(s): Bryce Courtenay
Genre: Historical Fiction
Short Summary: Young Peekay grows up as a white boy in the segregated country of South Africa during and after World War II and learns "the power of one," the ability to be independent and the joy that comes with it.
Personal Opinion: I love it! It's beautifully written and moving, although it is a bit of a long read.
Rating(Optional): [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]




DA Holder67 -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (9/6/2010 0:30:45)

Title: The Shining
Author(s): Stephen King
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Short Summary: Writer and recovering alchoholic Jack Torrance takes a job as a caretaker for the Overlook hotel. He brings along his family hoping they can spend time together and bond together again after going through some tough events. His son, Danny, has a special power called the shining which allows him to see strange images and scenes, which are shown to him by an "imaginary friend" named Tony. Little do they know the Overlook has a sinister past and dark powers, which gradually takes away Jack's sanity. Throughout the book there are flashbacks detailing Jack's past, which is full of pain and regrets.
Personal Opinion: In a word, incredible, and in my opinion Stephen King's masterpiece. Although not scary through shock or descriptions of gore or death, the book is very, very creepy in a subtle, subliminal way. It explores the human mind, sanity, the dangers of alcohol, the degrading of a family, and the inner demons we all have inside us in ways I can hardly comprehend. The book is extremly descriptive about everything, which can be negative at times but is overall a good thing. At times it can become boring, but it picks up after boring bits of diologue very quickly. The climax is insane. It's completly unexpected and that's whats so incredible about it.
Rating(Optional): [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]




MonsterMike9000 -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (10/2/2010 1:40:00)

Title: House of Leaves
Author(s): Mark z. danielewski
Genre: Horror, romance, satire
Short Summary: A man finds a book about a book about a minotaur house his friend found from a deceased elderly man in the apartment that the man now lives in.
Personal Opinion: It's romance OR horror, not both. Depends how you interpret the story.




Xplayer -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (1/5/2011 14:19:33)

This thread needs more recs!
Title: A Wrinkle in Time
Author(s): Madeleine L'Engle
Genre: Sci-Fi
Short Summary:
quote:

A Wrinkle in Time is the story of Meg Murry, a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O'Keefe to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet. At the beginning of the book, Meg is a homely, awkward, but loving girl, troubled by personal insecurities and her concern for her father, who has been missing for over a year. The plot begins with the arrival of Mrs. Whatsit at the Murry house on a dark and stormy evening. Although she looks like an eccentric tramp, she is actually a celestial creature with the ability to read Meg's thoughts. She startles Meg's mother by reassuring her of the existence of a tesseract--a sort of "wrinkle" in space and time. It is through this wrinkle that Meg and her companions will travel through the fifth dimension in search of Mr. Murry.

Stolen from Sparknotes (but I read the book! Really!)
Personal Opinion: Sci-Fi is such a general term that I hate to use it to describe this book. While it's often labeled as a "children's book," this is a work that can be enjoyed by all ages. Deep and complex, the characters and plot are well developed in the relatively short novel. It explores themes such as the nature of time and space as well as what composes of our human weakness and how that weakness can sometimes make us strong. I haven't read the rest of the series yet, but I plan to as soon as I can get my hnads on the other books. The only gripe I had was the ending, which left much to be desired in comparison to the complexity of the rest of the novel. However, it was still a very enjoyable read, and shouldn't take much time for those of us who are busy.
Rating(Optional): [:D][:D][:D][:D] out of [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]




Serenfyrr -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (1/7/2011 17:31:11)

Title: The Lightning Thief (and the rest of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series)
Author(s): Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy
Short Summary: Percy Jackson discovers that the Greek gods are real and alive today, and someone has stolen Zeus's lightning bolt. He and his friends have to go find it from the Underworld and return before the summer solstice.
Personal Opinion: It is the best book series since Harry Potter, definitely. I think it tells all of us, point blank, that all of us can be special (even troubled kids like Percy was).
Rating(Optional):[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]




Xplayer -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (4/2/2011 0:17:46)

Title: Alice in Wonderland
Author(s): Lewis Carroll
Genre: Fantasy
Short Summary: A familiar story about a girl who falls into a strange world, meets some very strange characters, and realizes that the metrics of analysis and reason are not universal.
Personal Opinion: This is a major Your Mileage May Vary work, and with such works, there will be people who absolutely adore it and those who hate it. Strangely, with polarizing works, I often find myself on the fence, saying that both the critics and the proponents have merit. This work in particular is very influential and considered the trope codifier for the "Person in a strange world" plotline. However, at times it lost all meaning entirely, which was the author's intent but makes for a very annoying read, considering that you have to separate the passages that have meaning from the passages that don't. There is disagreement about the interpretation of this book, whether it be a critique of modern mathematics or a story about the trials of adolescence. I find both interpretations equally valid, although I prefer the second one as it has more mainstream and timeless relevance. I'd call this a "must read" for any lover of classic literature, but I cannot guarantee that one will enjoy it very much.
Rating(Optional):[:D][:D][:D]




sysdragonfable -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (10/26/2011 18:05:24)

Title The Vanished Man
Author Jeffery Deaver
Genre Mystery/Crime/Suspense
Short Summary A story about a magician who leads police in a gripping cat and mouse game. With each minute they do not catch the magician, known as The Conjurer, he is planning his next victim in his magic display of death.
Personal Opinion This author actually had inspired me into writing as he is by far the master of suspense thrillers. I spent nights reading his books because I was caught in that, "Whats going to happen next!" mode and I just could not shake it off. Reason why I love "The Vanished Man" is because of the unique characters that are in the story. Lets not forget the plot twist and unexpected scenerios that both shock and intrigue the reader better than any author I have ever read before! If you like a good mystery, good plot, great characters, unexpected plot twist, illusionists, smart mouth comedy, crippled people*, suspense that makes your heart race and a author that looks surprisingly like Mr. Burns of the Simpsons then you need to get this book.
Rating 5/5

*The crippled guy is the main character of the story.




Argeus the Paladin -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (10/28/2011 0:25:40)

A suggestion that is a bit... unconventional. Here I am suggesting a story posted online rather than a conventionally published novel.

Title and link: Me, Floris
Author(s): Monnikje
Genre: This is a bit hard to explain. This story is an AAR, essentially a novelization of a (admittedly very skilled) player's Mount and Blade game. In that sense, it bears the same genre as that of the original game, which is medieval European low fantasy.
Short Summary: An impoverished and shipwrecked noble by the name of Floris, hailing from the European country of Netherland, landed on the coast of the continent of Calradia one day. From that point, he embarked on an epic quest to carve for himself a name in this new land.
Personal Opinion: This AAR, in my opinion, did two things absolutely right. The first is the larger-than-life nature of the will of one man aspiring to greatness against all odds, and the second is the madness that the excess of power would do to a man. Do not let the fact that the story is based on a game lower your opinion of it - behind the apparently derivative nature is an especially exciting tale that encompasses the sense of grandeur seen in any worthwhile historical epic. As at present, the story is still ongoing strong at 55 chapters, and I don't fancy it ending any time soon. Definitely worth checking out for anyone interested in historical fiction, even though the term "historical" is quite loosely applied.
Rating(Optional): 4/5




Faerdin -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (12/20/2011 9:38:58)

Title: Unwind
Author(s): Neal Shusterman
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror.
Short Summary: Many years have passed since the Heartland War, in which the Bill of Life had been passed in the United States. This prevented the human life from being touched until the age of thirteen, at which the parent can choose to retroactively abort their child through the process of "unwinding." This thrilling tale follows three young individuals: Connor Lassiter, a troubled youth; Risa Ward, a ward-of-the-state; and Levi Calder, a "tithe" who was raised to believe that being unwound was his destiny.
Personal Opinion: The moment I picked up this book, I simply couldn't stop reading it, which is the first time a book has done that to me in a very long time. Its story is compelling and many of the characters are likable and remarkably dynamic. The book also forces you to ask yourself some intriguing questions, as well as confront the horror of undergoing a process such as being unwound. Though some parts of it are refreshingly light-hearted, the majority of the book was rather chilling.
Rating(Optional):[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]




3 Vandoren -> RE: =L&L Community= "Recommended Reading" (12/20/2011 11:35:02)

Title: The Sword of Shannara
Author(s): Terry Brooks
Genre: Fantasy
Short Summary: Well, I can't remember all much, but I know that the entire series was just amazing, fantastic, wonderful, any other word I can think of... The Sword of Shannara's events take place 2000 years after an apocalypse has occurred: nuclear holocaust has wiped out most of the planet. During this time, Mankind mutated into several distinct races: Men, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Trolls, all named after creatures from age-old myths. Also, the Elves begin to emerge after having been in seclusion and hiding for centuries. The warring that caused the holocaust is referred to as the Great Wars throughout the novel. These wars rearranged the planet's geographical attributes and wiped out most life forms on Earth. As a result of the Great Wars, most advanced technology has been lost, thus most of the events in the Shannara series take place in a medieval setting. However, magic is also back into the world, rediscovered after the loss of technology.
Personal Opinion: I think every last book in this series topped ever other book I've ever read... The characters were well developed, if not a little Lord of the Rings-y, and the writing was superb.
Rating(Optional): [:)] [:)] [:)] [:)] [:)]




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