Book recommendations

[lolbeck]

In the near future, I'll be taking a holiday to Egypt for two weeks. We'll be in Taba, an aaaaage away from the pyramids (which we will only visit once), and there will be little to do other than lounge about the hotel resort most of the time. Thus, I choose to fill my time with reading, engrossing myself in some fictional world while I chill out in the shade.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.

I've got no idea which books to take with me. I'm pretty much open to anything. Suggest away!

[markeee]

Well, I've been reading two books - one of them I doubt you'd be interested in - it's about football and organised crime, especially in asia, chinese super league etc the other one..you may like

not fiction..but a good read

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (Paperback)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindhunter-Inside-Elite-Serial-Crime/dp/0099435675/ref=sr_1_2/280-7415921-5069869?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278555800&sr=8-2

[RABun]

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde - very very funny and a bit weird! Based on nursery rhymes but very grown up all the same. There are other books by him and they are all good but the fourth bear was the one that made me laugh the most

The Book Theif - by Markus Zusak, very nice book about a little girl growing up near munich during WW2

Another book about coping during wartime - not as depressing as it sounds, is The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale - really good non-fiction but very accessible and interesting perspective on the original detective. "This book is as much a history of Victorian social values and the emerging field of detective fiction in the nineteenth century as it is a book about a hideous country house murder in 1860"

While you're in Egypt, i've never been but a friend of mine who has, said she really enjoyed going to see the Bedouin belly dancers and dancing with them, its a very earthy form of belly dancing, more flat footed than the fancy turkish form.

[ralph250]

Everyone's reading them now, but Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire and Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) are great little pageturners.

[rabid]

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Turns out it's nothing to do with circles but a very odd story - the tale of a boy marooned on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with only a zebra, orangutan, hyena and tiger for company. Fascinating read.

[Nedson]

ANything by Harlen Coben if you like a bit of mystery

Anything by Karin Slaughter if you like a bit of gore

[TheGayTent]

Plenty of snorkelling along the coral reef to do

[philthee]

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson - great book. Sci-Fi set on Earth where earth gets enveloped by big membrane and moves out of time to the rest of the universe. Ace!

2nd Life of Pi aswell, v good.

[rabid]

Plenty of snorkelling along the coral reef to do

[elli]

I have just finished 'the Cairo Diary' by Maxim Chattam - a suspenseful gothic thriller set in both Cairo and Mont St Michel; not entirely convinced by the ending, but an intriguing book nevertheless

[rexclark]

Glue by Irvine Welsh or Kill Your Friends by John Niven. Not exactly the hardest of reads but both excellent books.

[amy246]

I sound really un-educated compared to you lot, all i read is cheesy chick lit novels!

[themuel]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Absolutely amazing book, my personal favourite. Might take you the whole holiday to read but it 100% worth it. It is based in our history but there are differences, magic is a gentlemans hobby that noone can really do, until a real wizard turns up... (no cloaks hats or wands, all very sophisticated.) Cannot recommend this book enough!

[philthee]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Absolutely amazing book, my personal favourite. Might take you the whole holiday to read but it 100% worth it. It is based in our history but there are differences, magic is a gentlemans hobby that noone can really do, until a real wizard turns up... (no cloaks hats or wands, all very sophisticated.) Cannot recommend this book enough!

[themuel]

I have this but it is dauntingly big. Tiny print and heaps of pages, ,tried couple years ago and never picked up again after a few nights, it sits and stares at me from the bookcase. I'll try again if you rate so highly.

Edited July 9, 2010 by themuel

[RABun]

Yeah... It is massive. But once it grabs you it is amazing, the footnotes at the bottom of the pages are so detailed, the world Susanna Clarke has created is so well thought out that it is completely believable, especially as it runs alongside our own real history, be it a slightly different version!

[sifi]

The House of Leaves by Danielwski is by far the best book I've read in the last decade. It's a multi-tiered story with a horror about a haunted house at it's core, and what happens to people when they read that story. The page layouts are amazing, and tie up with the story i.tself ; so for example when people are falling through space, the words on the page make you feel like you are falling too. Lots of footnotes, and footnotes on footnotes. It makes you feel a bit dizzy, but the end result is utterly breathtaking to the extent that you feel disorientated when you put the damn thing down, which you won't do too often.

Edited July 9, 2010 by sifimaster

[Alcatraz]

More of a man's book (or a cricket likers book) but Penguins Stopped Play by the late Harry Thompson (HIGNFY producer) is a great holiday read.

Currently mashing my way through Andrew Rawnsleys book, because I have a f**kload still to read

[lolbeck]

I've made a note of a few. House of Leaves, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, The Life of Pi and The Fourth Bear. I'll pop into Waterstones at some point next week and have a quick nosey at them if they're in stock, and buy the ones that appeal most.

It's also been suggested that I pick up a copy of The Green Mile, since it's my favourite film and I've not yet read the book.

[brighteyes]

Dunno if it might just be me but i really like the Harry Potter books about wizard school.

[rachbon]

what kind of books do you like?

i'd reccommend most irvine welsh books cause they make you laugh till you almost pee your pants, then other bits make you cry.. but i think if you're not scottish it could be difficult to read cause it;s written in scottish slang...

the trick is to keep breathing by janice galloway is amazing but quite mental.

[lifelessfool]

slaughterhouse five is a good read, its about a time travelling prisoner of war.

[windy_miller]

slaughterhouse five is a good read, its about a time travelling prisoner of war.

[TheGayTent]

I like Lee Child and Tom Cain books.

[minute5072]

If you're looking for something a little bit light hearted I'd recommend anything by Danny Wallace or Dave Gorman...or both

Always get me chuckling