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Recommended reading...

OK I apologize if threads like this have appeared before (and I strongly suspect they have) but I was wondering if anyone could suggest any good books for me to read during the remainder of my summer.

I appreciate 'good' is a bit vague. Errrm what Im looking for are books that Im not going to read and then just forget about like the zillion 'psychological thrillers' I've read over the last few months. Also, preferably not horribly cliched romantic comedies.

Also can anyone suggest any science books that don't take a massive amount of research to actually understand the book themselves!

I AM OPEN TO ALL SUGGESTIONS

Tanks =]

Reply 1

Ferret_messiah

8

John D Barrow does some good science books that are fairly accessible. Check Impossibility, The Constants of Nature, or The Infinite Book for good examples.

Alternately, The Elegant Universe by Brain Greene, Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, or Critical Mass by Philip Ball are all quite good.

Reply 2

kitty_koo

12

The time traveller's wife by Audrey Niffenegger, that is a great book

Reply 3

Excalibur

15

kitty_koo

The time traveller's wife by Audrey Niffenegger, that is a great book

Seconded.

It will help if you tell us what kind of genre you're interested in. Off the top of my head, I can recommend:

- Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
- His Dark Materials trilogy (Philip Pullman)
- The Other Boleyn Girl (Phillipa Gregory ~ a little bit on the trashy side!)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
- Noughts & Crosses (Malorie Blackman)
- Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
- Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
- The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
- A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
- The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon ~ although this might be a little bit on the "zillion pscyhological thrillers" side!)

As for popular science books, how about "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes? It is so easy to read, yet it is still scientific. Also I enjoyed Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything".

:smile:

Reply 4

aMasterPieceOfDNA

OP

Excalibur

It will help if you tell us what kind of genre you're interested in.

Thrillers and the sort...I like James Patterson, Stephen King (OK thats horror) and John Grisham. Like I said Im looking for books that you remember such as 'His Dark Materials' and 'Lord Of The Flies' which are, incidentally, on your list so I'll probably check out some of the other books you've mentioned =]

Reply 5

FadeToBlackout

15

"The Great Gatsby", F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Reply 6

aMasterPieceOfDNA

OP

FadeToBlackout

"The Great Gatsby", F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Oh my your signature actually made me laugh out loud!

Reply 7

Excalibur

15

Duck à Lauren

A brilliant book to read is the island by victoria hislop and its just come out. its a fab book describing the leper colony on an island called spinalonga, greece. i decided to choose it because it was reviewed on Richard and Judy and the comments were really positive!

Newcastle 2006 Modern Languages hopefully!

Oooh, I was contempolating whether to buy it or not off amazon... it was no 1, but then, a lot of new releases are, even if some aren't so good.

Reply 8

apple tree

Darkness Visible by William Golding
On the lighter side of things, 'Just Six Numbers' by Martin Rees or perhaps 'Six Easy Pieces' by Feynman

Reply 9

Leigh

15

Not exactly science, but a good non-fiction read nonetheless that's very accessible is The Code Book by Simon Singh, I really enjoyed that.

Fiction wise, I caught mention of Stephen King further up (ok, I skimmed, so shoot me), can't go wrong with The Stand, if you can be doing with long books like that.

The Seer King trilogy is my favourite set of books ever, and I'll recommend them to anyone who'll listen, appropriate or not!

Reply 10

Jehode

Try "The Dice Man" - can't remember who wrote it (anyone help please?) but it's one of the best and weirdest books I've read.
Lots of people said it changed their lives - I wouldn't go that far, but it'svery thought provoking and a damn good read.

Reply 11

Happy1

14

If you havent read it before, To Kill A Mockingbird is a must!

Reply 12

andy5788

14

Science Books:

A Short History of nearly everything - Bill Bryson

Non-science books:

Having just discovered Hunter S Thompson I would have to highly reccomend Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. If you're looking for something different they're definitely worth reading.

Reply 13

Human Being

Kurt Vonnegut might be good.. Slaughterhouse 5, Breakfast of Champions.. he's got more sci-fi-ish books too, like Slapstick and The Sirens of Titan. So yes Kurt Vonnegut is good :smile:

.

Reply 14

Banana Blossom

if you like thrillers and the like my mum really recomends a writer called Micheal Prescott and his book Last Breath she read it in France and thought it would be rubbish but supposedly it's fantastic! She's trying to get me to read it now! :smile:

Reply 15

Excalibur

15

andy5788

Science Books:

A Short History of nearly everything - Bill Bryson

Non-science books:

Having just discovered Hunter S Thompson I would have to highly reccomend Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. If you're looking for something different they're definitely worth reading.

Ooooh, I second that. My Bio teacher recommended it to me a year ago, and it was the first science book I've read - and it's very comprehensive. A good start to all genres, and of course, Bryson's style is very entertaining. :smile:

Reply 16

Lottie

9

I must recommend Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides as it is a truly wonderful novel.