So I was trawling through the movies and shows thread, where I came across more than a few comments about starting up a Books Thread. Since none was started (I did search, so if there’s already one in progress then merge away!) I thought I’d start it up.
I’m currently rereading “The Fool’s Progress” for the seventh(? Lost count, tbh) time. If you haven’t read any Edward Abbey, I’d highly recommend this book. Beautifully written with enough curmudgeonly sarcasm to wilt even the strongest of Polyannas, with a boatload of heart to float down the river of tears that ALWAYS comes when I read the damn thing.
I’m also big into speculative fiction, cyberpunk, mystery and pulp noir type stuff, so if anyone has recommendations I’m all ears. As for favorite authors, my list includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Kurt Vonnegut
William Gibson
Neal Stephenson
Neil Gaiman
John Connelly
Edward Abbey
Harlan Ellison
Theodore Sturgeon
…there’s more, but those are the ones that rise to the top of my pea soup of a brain at the moment.
My God, The Fool’s Progress was one of the most emotionally moving books I’ve read in my life. I can clearly remember the moment I read the ending and how it hit me. It was so powerful…I had to read that passage at least 5 times, crying all the while. I hadn’t realized how attached I had become to the character til that moment. I’ve never had that experience since. This was in the mid-80’s. I never reread it…I don’t think I could.
Of course, the Monkey Wrench Gang was a classic, one I read multiple times.
Thanks for bringing up this memory…I haven’t thought of it in years. Now I have to get these two books for my boys.
Jonas jonasson. I’ve read the 100 years old man who climbed out the window and dissappeared and the girl who saved the king of sweden. And still laughed when I read it again.
Good friend of mine and I were just talking about mad magazine earlier today. I’d completely forgotten about the 1st edition Spy vs Spy big book I’d bought when I was a wee lad and had saved through two moves across country and several in state. It wasn’t in the greatest of conditions but still made me giggle when I’d crack it open! Good stuff!
Ditto books by Jonas Jonasson. I recommend books by Erik Larson. He writes documentaries that read like fiction.
It appears that this forum (and this thread) is very male dominant. I welcome that, because I want to find books for men who like to read books.
A 72 y/o male, I’ve been a life long reader but I borrow 99% of what I read. The primary reason for that is because my “hit” rate is only about 10%. I only finish about 10% of the books I start. At an average of $20 for a hard cover book, it would cost me $200 to find one I like.
About 5 years ago I converted almost exclusively to e-books. But I quickly noticed a trend that still leaves me confused. The majority of e-books from all sources I’ve tried are by female authors. My sources were Oyster, Scribd, Amazon Prime, and my local library.
I counted the ratio of male vs female authors in each of these sources. The ratio ranged from 68% to 81% female. I even went as far as reviewing a sample of 50 e-books written by men and found that 72% of those had female protagonists. The few remaining books for men by men are mostly junk that appear to have been picked by a female librarian following a stereotype. My library offers every book Louis L’amour wrote.
In researching this aspect I found the following interesting stats:
78% of men prefer to read male authors.
65% of women prefer female authors.
65% of book sales are made by women.
91% of authors who hide their gender by using pseudonyms or initials are actually women.
Yet Google searches on male vs. female authors and readers leads to a lot of articles by women complaining of a strong male bias in book reviews (New York Times, et al.)
So, what’s up with that? Why the strong female bias in what’s available?
For all you adventure and action fans, try Ice Station by Matthew Reilly. Non stop and over the top, but in a very good way. The author is a master at it.
