Favorite Fiction
What are your favorite fiction works, for any reason? I was just downstairs perusing my bookshelf and realized it's probably 75% nonfiction. I remember abhorring non-fiction when I was younger and just drinking in fiction. Anyway, here's a few to get it rolling.
- Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, nine books published with two more coming. This is a fantasy series, which would ordinarily give it pretty low ratings. I usually read swords and sorcery type stuff because it's pretty light. The first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, started out like most fantasy books do. There is a relatively average guy from a poor family who gets sucked into a big crisis and has to make a long trek to save the world. As the beginning unfolds, I was sort of rolling my eyes at how overly convenient just about everything is. I was figuring the author was just going to coddle his character all the way through and basically bore me. When I got to the explanation of the Wizard's First Rule, I decided to go ahead and at least finish that first book. The rule is: People are stupid and believe anything if they want it to be true or fear it is true. Correct and funny, that was enough for me to go on. By time I finished the first book, I was hooked. The author does anything but coddle his character. In fact, he's downright mean to him. It turns out that all the convenient things from the beginning of the book had a reason they were so convenient, even though some details don't really stand out until the later books. The nice thing about the series is that the author doesn't focus on the swords and sorcery at all. They are part of the world and that's that. He focuses on his characters and does an excellent job fleshing them out. I researched the author some later and found out that he wrote the series as a way of expressing his own worldview. In fact, at some points in the sixth book in the series, Faith of the Fallen, I felt I was reading an interesting version of Atlas Shrugged. Goodkind's worldview isn't as radical as Ayn Rand's and his setup of how the people become that way is far more believable, but it is clear that he novelized a lot of his own opinions. It's also interesting how he wants the reader to sort of personalize the experience: he never mentions or even alludes to the age of the main characters, and he's publicly stated that there is no proper or improper way to pronounce the name of the woman (it's spelled Kahlan). My recommendation: get WFR from the library and give it until about page 200. If you don't want to read anymore after that, take it back and forget I mentioned it. Otherwise, stick with the series.
- Taylor Caldwell's Captain and the Kings. Great story, if tragic. This book sobered me a bit on the realities of life.
- Star Wars expanded universe novels by Timothy Zahn. I've been a Star Wars fan for as far back as I can remember, and I don't care that the dialog sucks. I still find it funny that I, the guy who watches a movie just to be mindlessly entertained, had to explain to all the armchair film critics around me why some Jedis disappear when they die and others don't, and why, yes, Anakin truly was the chosen one and truly did fulfill the prophecy so that Luke's sissiness is not threatened, and I didn't have to look it up or even think about it very hard. George Lucas didn't hide anything, and it's not like the dialog he comes up with is chock full of double entendres and linguistic trapeze acts anyway. All that said, most of the extended universe stuff done by others is crap. However, Timothy Zahn is a very skilled writer in my opinion. I wish he'd written all the Star Wars films, or at least the prequels. Mix his writing abilities with George Lucas's grand designs, and nobody would be laughing at episodes I-III. If you like Star Wars despite its.... many... flaws, then I'd recommend giving these a try.
- Dean Koontz's By the Light of the Moon. If you like Twilightners, you might like this one. It doesn't really have the same "that was just plain cool" factor, but it does have a similar surreality to it.
- Orson Scott Card's Treason. When I was younger I was a big Card fan, which lasted into my early twenties. Then, I found out what a total asshat he is in real life. I first found an essay written by him that started off with a sentence much like "I'm sure everyone is going to call me a homophobe for this, but..." then proceeded to spill out tons of anti-gay rhetoric and climaxed the first paragraph with (this isn't a precise quote because I'm going from memory, but I assure you it is quite close): "The gays are trying to take over the Mormon Church." Well OK then, maybe people will call him homophobic because he is? But, since I liked his work so much, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I looked for more essays by him... and then, well, maybe a few more, and ... I finally accepted defeat upon reading this one (HEAVILY paraphrased, but I assure you, it's in the spirit of the original): "So I was invited to a friend's house. At some point, I was offered some green leafy substance in a plastic baggy which I can only assume was marijuana. Since I'm such a goody-two-shoes, as everyone in the world knows, I wouldn't actually know if it was marijuana or not. I politely declined. They then asked if I minded if they smoked it. Even though I'm completely perfect in every way, I had a moment where I didn't know what to do so I said yes. I later had remorse. Instead of quietly confronting this person who I call friend so we could address it like adults, or calling the police since I'm such an incredibly righteous person, I decided to run to my blog to share it with all of you so you can see how wonderful I am personally and see how much I tolerate the lesser beings of this world. Since I'm not posting that person's name, I obviously haven't breached the trust of those people who graciously hosted my presence within their home. I'm sure they'd be too high to know I was talking to the entire world about them anyway, right?" And well, you get the idea. At that point, I re-evaluated all the stuff I'd read by him and tried to determine why I liked it so much. I realized that even though I grudgingly have to admit he's got literary talent, I liked his books because the main character is always flawless. When reading, I tend to put myself in the position of the main character, and of course I want to feel flawless. The only time a main character so much as makes a tiny mistake is when it satisfies the immediate need of the plot, and that little mistake is always more than rectified later. I think this tendency peaked in Enchantment, where the main character is a genious, highly attractive, athletic, and then, get this, is a smashing success in the bedroom on his first go-round. Now all the magic and talking bears and witches and airplanes being sucked into alternate dimensions and all didn't faze me, but that little bit broke my suspension of disbelief in a major way. It was after reading all his essays that I figured out that he thinks he's perfect, so he makes his main characters perfect. ANYWAY (I just noticed how much space I wasted on that but I'm loathe to delete it), Treason actually is a pretty good read. The main character does have most of Card's typical flawlessness, but not so much more so than any other author that it presents a problem. At one point I was tempted to burn/trash all my Card books until I realized he's the type of person who would get off on knowing people were destroying his books, but I would have kept this one anyway.
Storytellers
The review of this book "The Hakawati" (Hakawati=Storyteller in Lebanese) made it sound so good.
"We hear antic accounts of familiar characters like Adam, Lilith, and Eve; Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Ishmael. But we also follow the mythical exploits of heroines less known in the West, such as Fatima, the Egyptian slave who moves freely among earth, hell, and sky, and Layla, the "luscious dove" who is the clever and lusty engineer of the slave king Baybars's storied political and military triumphs. In the best tradition of magical realism, these tales commingle the fabulous with the mundane, the grandiose with laugh-out-loud wit.
Woven into this colorful cloth of fable and myth are threads of the history of Armenians and Turks, Sunnis and Shiites, Syrians and Lebanese, Palestinians and Falangists...
This novel is essentially a collection of stories about great hakawatis, mythical and real, and the stories they tell. But as it journeys effortlessly back and forth between centuries, it is also a saga of families, tribes, and nations that are like families - sprawling, bound by birth and passion, combative, destructive, and essential."
Thr3e
I've been fighting my way through a Bible commentary for the last few weeks and needed a break. A friend of mine had recommended Ted Dekker, who writes Christian novels. Most Christian fiction I've read has been pretty lacking but I tried this one out anyway. I'm glad I did.
When the book opens, the protagonist (Kevin Parson) gets a call on his cell phone: "You have three minutes to call the newspaper and confess your sin or I'm going to blow up the car you're driving in." That's the end of the call, and unfortunately for Kevin, he doesn't have any more idea what sin the caller is talking about than you, as the reader, do. The book starts there and barely stops for a breath.
I guessed at the ending a fair bit before I got to it, because Dekker leaves plenty of clues and a even few really hard nudges, but he also places enough clues to cast doubt that you're left in question right up to the end. For Christian fiction, there's really not a great deal of God involvement and no preaching at all. Kevin Parson is a seminary student, but he could just as easily be Joe Anybody living a McLife.
The book is a great psychological thriller, not overly scary (as a certified wuss that avoids the "horror" genre at nearly any cost, you can take my word for it). The plot twist makes for some interesting coffee shop discussions among those who've finished the book.
My latest reads
Last night I actually read two complete books from cover to cover! I normally don't have time for reading but I decided to start a book with the hope of finishing it later in the week. My wife was teaching last night so I had the baby and decided to read the book out loud and surprisingly the baby seemed to enjoy them! (Of course at 8 months old he enjoys fart noises so I wouldn't put a lot of stock in his literary tastes!) Any way the first book was so good that I immediately started reading the second in the series and couldn't put it down until I was through the whole book!
It's a story of a couple of kids who trust a somewhat mischievous stranger. To their horror, his outlandish fashions are surpassed only by his propensity towards chaos. The two bairns have to find a way to prevent the stranger from destroying their home and wreaking havoc in their lives. It's not long before they learn that his plans for them are much larger than they thought! He soon brings in other members of his gang and the depths of his sinister plans begin to unfold! In the second book the same children find that the stranger they fought off has managed to find them again and this time he intends to clean up the mess he missed the first time!!
The story is told through a first person narrative that really makes the story exciting. Written by a Doctor, the story moves at a very quick pace with parts that will make you laugh and others that will make your heart pound!! I am really looking forward to reading both books again and I definately recommend them to pretty much anyone. In fact Jaz you might consider teaching these two books in one of your classes - they are really THAT good!!
So anyway back to the topic at hand.... I think in another year my son will really enjoy "The Cat in the Hat!" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back!" Maybe someday soon I can actually find time to read for myself again!! Oh I also recommend "Goodnight Moon" and "Corduroy".
Dear God, what's happened to me?!?!?!
Lost Connection?
It's always about Lost with you isn't it?
re: It's always about Lost with you isn't it?
HAHAHAHA! That was so awesome. And YES, you're right!! I mean, she started an "everything goes back to Lost" thread! 
But really dude... it's almost like a conspiracy... a really cool, inconceivable conspiracy.
Oh... if Ben is the Cat, doesn't that make the Hat the Island? 
Yes, it's all about Lost...with me, with you, with us all brutha
Gods Behaving Badly
Review of this book by Marie Phillips made it sound right up my alley. Thought some of you might want to check it out as well.My Favorite Thanksgiving book
Yes, a children's book again - but that makes it short but sweet:
Favorite Fiction
Almost every book in my collection is fiction, when I want non-fiction I've got Wikipedia and my local library.
Currently my favorite author is John Scalzi hands down, no contest. His writing is easy to read but still has good flavor to it. Note: Mr. Scalzi for some insane reason uses MoveableType to power his website/blog and worse he likes to upgrade MT every time they release a new version. The inevitable side affect of this is his blog is not functioning correctly at this time and he's taking a break from it. You can still follow his current writings via By The Way, Ficlets and/or the Whatever (in Exile).
A few old favorites would include: Robert A. Heinlein, Susan Cooper (her Dark is Rising series is a great one for kids), J.R.R. Tolkien, Issac Asimov, and Frank Herbert (mostly for his non Dune stuff).
As for graphic novel series: Gunsmith Cats by Kenichi Sonada and Fables by Bill Willingham are both excellent.
I like to keep it simple
...and I am serious. One of my favorite books to ponder is The Monster at the End of This Book (it's true Jaz)
It takes a relatively simplistic approach to a rather deep topic - of how do we as human beings respond to fear; how we as human beings more often create our own fears; and reflects on the fall out of how we respond to direct evidence that our fears are unfounded.
It can be an excellent springboard for some pretty heavy discussions.
The Monster at the End of this Book
And you could even throw in the thing we fear is only a version of ourselves. That book is great on so many levels. I really like the way it make you reflect on the process of telling a story. And it is so much fun to read to your kids too. Favourite Fiction
I was a little afraid to begin 'cause I thought this response will either be too short or too long. Generally I'd say my reading is about 50/50 nonfiction to fiction with fiction maybe dominating 'cause that's what I'm teaching. Sometimes I find myself reading a bit more non-fiction in my "off-hours" maybe as a way to switch gears. There's a lot of fiction that I like though so I'll try and stick to recent stuff.
Wow, I was very disappointed to read what you said about Orson Scott Card. I really liked "Enders Game." Other Sci-fi: Samuel Delaney, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, the "Women of Wonder" series edited by Pamela Sargent. I read the classic sci-fi works as a teen--Verne & Wells, Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Harlan Ellison--maybe worth going back for a reread soon.
Fantasy: Patricia Briggs--particularly her "Raven" series, Marion Zimmer Bradley-"The Shattered Chain" and "Renunciates of Darkover," Anne Bishop, I don't like all the Ann Rice vampire books, but I really like "The Vampire Lestat." The series by Jim Butcher called the Dresden Chronicles is great. Neil Gaiman, oh and there's a very funny parody series called "Chicks in Chain Mail," "Chicks and Chained Males," "The Chick is in the Mail" etc.
Books that I teach over and over 'cause I really like them: "Pride & Prejudice," "Jane Eyre," "Gaudy Night," "Precious Bane," "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit," "My Year of Meats," "White Teeth," "I Capture the Castle," "Wise Children," "Last Standing Woman."
Magic Realism: Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Like Water for Chocolate"
Old Stuff: "Gawain & the Green Knight," "The Faerie Queen" most of Shakespeare's comedies, but especially "As You Like It," "Much Ado About Nothing," and "12th Night."
ETA--if any of you read graphic novels/comic books--my favourite series is "Love & Rockets" by the Hernandez Bros. which is kind of a combination of sci-fi, punk rock, barrio life, and magic realism.
Re: Fiction
Yeah, nearly all the books on my shelf are non-fiction as well. When I want fiction, I prefer films.
But when it comes to fiction I've mostly been a fan of Asimov. I know, not terribly original, but there it is.
New Children's Books
Review of some forthcoming children's books in the paper today. The biography of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (creators of Superman) sounded especially good to me--both because of the focus on boys who were shy, not good at sports or at talking to girls, and dealing with difficulties at home. Then also in looking at the way in which the industry treated them the book shows the realities of the American Dream instead of just being a "boys make good" story.
Superman, born in Cleveland