Completely Off Topic - Books to Read

 Along with everything else I do, I read A LOT!  I just started on The Dresden Files, I've read the 1st 2 Game of Thrones books but he lost me on book 3, I've read everything Terry Pratchett has ever written, twice. . . and oh my just so much more.  I have not read any Robert Jordan but I'm thinking of trying him soon, I'm also looking at starting the Mistborn series.  I like cheap romance books as my guilty pleasure.

So what do you read?  Anything I should definitely read?  


(please please please don't say fifty shades of grey, I much prefer Ann Rice (because she can use a thesaurus) for that sort of thing).

 Laurell K. Hamilton. - either of her two series (Anita Blake or Merry Gentry).  


The Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz - not anything near romance - but that man tells a good story.  It's what I am currently re-reading as the new 5th book comes out next month.  

I love Odd Thomas! Can't wait for the new one.

I highly recommend the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  There are seven books in the series and then there is a side series focused around a minor character in the Outlander series.  They are sooooo good.

Gabaldon's characters stick with you.  The underlying theme of the books is a love story but they are very intricate, rich in historic facts, very smart and beautifully written.  She has such a way with words and doesn't write sentences, she crafts them.  I NEVER read a book more than once but I have read all her books over and over plus listened to them on audiobook multiple times.

Also, I love Pillars of the Earth and the second book in the series. 

 

Try the Hollows series by Kim Harrison or the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Also, there is a series that is similar to the Dresden Files. It's the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka, I've only read one so far but I liked it. If you like the Dresden Files, they made it into a TV show. There was only one season, based on Storm Front, Netflix has the whole season. Hope you find something you love!

 The Hollows series is great too!  One of my other favs :P

How about 50 Shades of Grey?? LOL Pretty intense!!!

My husband LOVES the Mistborn series.  If you're interested in Young Adult at all, here are some I'd recommend:

* The Alchemyst books by Michael Scott - These are SUPER engaging and very interesting.  I have read all of them but the last one a couple of times.
* The Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer - The first book was a little harder to get through because Artemis is such a little **** and it takes the whole book to not hate him.  The rest are great after that.
* The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins - Really great, and nice to actually have a female heroine!  There aren't enough of those!
* The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling - I mean, you've probably read them, but if not, they're great.
* Rampant and Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund - It's like Buffy with killer unicorns.  I really found the premise to be interesting!

For "adult" books:

* Anything by Christopher Moore - If you appreciate irreverant, silly fiction, his books are AMAZING.  My favorites are Lamb, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, The Stupidest Angel, and A Dirty Job.  Fabulous stuff.
* The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  My husband really loved this one.  I thought it was an interesting premise, but it dragged for me.  Given his reaction (and the fact that you two read similar books), I thought I'd share it.
* The Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind.  They made a TV show based on the first book or so (Legend of the Seeker).  They are dark (a la GRRM), but sound VERY interesting.  They are on my to-read list, and my husband's read them several times.
* Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - Creepy and weird.  I read somewhere that they made a movie of it, and I bet it'd be awesome.  And, for what it's worth, Stardust (also by Gaiman) is a decent book, but I thought the movie was better.  I've also read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, which was great, but you've probably already read that one.
* Death: A Life by George Pendle - This is another humorous fiction book.  It's Death's autobiography.  Love it!
* The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (being finished by Brandon Sanderson) - Those were recommended by my husband.  I haven't read them, but I've heard they are great!
* Jen Lancaster's books - All but one of these are humorous memoirs.  The first one, Bitter is the New Black, is tough to get through at first.  You really, really hate her for most of it, but she's basically telling the story of how she was once more or less an asshole, and through several misfortunes and "learning experiences" pulled her head out.  Anyway, very funny stuff.  She also has a blog at http://www.jennsylvania.com.
* My husband says that if you like Terry Pratchett, you should read the Witch Watch by Shamus Young.  He said a lot of people draw comparisons between the two.

I'm not much on Harlequin romance-type books, but I do enjoy Maeve Binchy's books.  They usually have somewhat of a romance element, but they are often stories of Irish people's lives in 50's and 60's.  My favorites are Circle of Friends and Tara Road.  I've read some others, but those are the best.

Haha I like to read, too, clearly. :)  I don't have as much time to do so these days, as I haven't been traveling as much for work, but I enjoy it.  Next on my list is to finish the Alchemyst series.  Bittersweet!  It's been one of my favorites!

 Thanks so much what a great list.  I do want to try The Alchemyst and Artemis Fowl, I've heard great things about them.  Killer Unicorns sound FAB.  I've now had about 4 people say I need to read the Wheel of Time series so I guess it's just going to have to go on the list.

 Becky neverwhere was made into a series in the late 90's

My daughter is a huge Neil gaiman fan- we love coralline!!