What are some good books?

[php111]

Hey, sorry about that in the other thread! I agree it would be best to start my own thread.

What are some really good books fantasy and non-fantasy and true story and non-true story except horror so no horror, but maybe books that are R-rated in the categories I described? I don't even like horror movies because they scare me so reading a horror book like Stephen King would not go well with me. I do watch R-rated movies but none are horror so a horror book would not be for me. So, what are some good top line recommended books?

[Melwa]

Good books . . .
The Hunger Games series: It's been compared to stories about Roman gladiators, it's quite gripping, I think I could call it sci-fi.
Frank Peretti writes scary adult books. While I haven't dared read most of them, I do enjoy This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Very Christian.
Hmm, should I be thinking of books that are non-Christian? Because pretty much I don't read scary stories unless they're strongly Christian. What are some books that you already like or don't like?

[php111]

I did write in my OP that I don't like horror/scary of all kinds. Did you miss that part?

Well, I like fantasy, action, mafia, thriller, drama, things like that, but NO scary.

[siddharth]

.Because pretty much I don't read scary stories unless they're strongly
Christian.

I'm sorry but I can't help feeling a bit hurt if not insulted by that. A tad bit. I know, it was not intentional, Melly.

Try Frank Herbert's Dune series. It is considered a modern classic in sci fi. Especially the first book.

The Bourne books are extremely popular, but I haven't read them .

Hunger games is very good.

HP is great. Highly recommend it! And don't be fooled by the childishness of the first two books. One can't imagine how dark it gets by the last books!

Then there are the two series "Dragonriders" and "The ship..." series
both by Anne McCaffrey. Great works.

Ender's Game is also considered a sci-fi warfare classic by many, though I haven't read it.

And the GoT books by GRR Martin. Again, haven't read them.

And have you tried Tolkien's other books? Just try out Silmarillion. It's the best work by JRRT, imo. Surpasses LotR by far!

[php111]

.Because pretty much I don't read scary stories unless they're strongly
Christian.

I'm sorry but I can't help feeling a bit hurt if not insulted by that. A tad bit. I know, it was not intentional.

Try Frank Herbert's Dune series. It is considered a modern classic in

The Bourne books are extremely popular, but I haven't read them .
sci fi. Especially the first book.

Hunger games is very good.

HP is great. Highly recommend it! And don't be fooled by the childishness of the first two books. One can't imagine how dark it gets
by the last books!

Then there are the two series "Dragonriders" and "The ship..." series
both by Anne McCaffrey. Great works.

Ender's Game is also considered a sci-fi warfare classic by many, though I haven't read it.

And the GoT books by GRR Martin. Again, haven't read them.

And have you tried Tolkien's other books? Just try out Silmarillion. It's the best work by JRRT, imo. Surpasses LotR by far!

Hi siddharth,

I do agree about that remark from the poster above. And I am not Christian or religious or anything.

I didn't get back to you sooner because I didn't know you edited your reply. I just figure I'll go into my thread and than I seen you edited your post.

I'll check out everything you mentioned. And the answer to your question is no I haven't checked out all other Tolkien books. I read the whole 19 chapters of The Hobbit, and as you know from my other threads I have LOTR illustrated by Alan Lee all 6 books in one volume and I have not finish reading it yet.

[php111]

.Because pretty much I don't read scary stories unless they're strongly
Christian.

I'm sorry but I can't help feeling a bit hurt if not insulted by that. A tad bit. I know, it was not intentional, Melly.

Try Frank Herbert's Dune series. It is considered a modern classic in sci fi. Especially the first book.

The Bourne books are extremely popular, but I haven't read them .

Hunger games is very good.

HP is great. Highly recommend it! And don't be fooled by the childishness of the first two books. One can't imagine how dark it gets by the last books!

Then there are the two series "Dragonriders" and "The ship..." series
both by Anne McCaffrey. Great works.

Ender's Game is also considered a sci-fi warfare classic by many, though I haven't read it.

And the GoT books by GRR Martin. Again, haven't read them.

And have you tried Tolkien's other books? Just try out Silmarillion. It's the best work by JRRT, imo. Surpasses LotR by far!

Hi siddharth,

In regards to the Dune series by Frank Herbert. I looked up the series first on Wikipedia. I'm assuming you mean the series from Dune in 1965-Chapterhouse: Dune in 1985, and avoid/exclude the rest starting with Hunters of Dune which the authors are Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson. Am I correct? I'll look forward for your reply. Thank you!

[Melwa]

Insulting? Oh, dear, I'm so sorry, no insult was intended.

php111, you said you wanted the gripping intense kind of story. As I don't read or watch horror stories or any R-rated shows, those gripping and intense ones are the closest I come. And all the ones I could think of at the moment were extremely Christian, such as The Cross and the Switchblade and The Hiding Place. So, I wanted to know if you would be willing to try books of that type, or not. By "extremely Christian" I mean that the core of the story which makes it gripping is bound up in details of what Christians believe, because along with the strong scary problem is the greatest hope and safety.

That sounds bad - I mean, all the books I love have morals that fit my values, or I wouldn't read them. Okay, I think I see why you were insulted now. My apologies.


Another of my favorite series is historical fiction, set during the time of the French Revolution. It is about a man who goes by the code name of The Scarlet Pimpernel, sneaks into France, and helps people escape from the guillotine.

If you enjoy Hunger Games, that same author wrote another series called the Underland Chronicles, which I have just read and enjoyed.

[siddharth]

Yes, php. Thats the one.
You can read the others too. Not as good as the original though.

I'm off the hook for some days now. So happy reading.

[php111]

Yes, php. Thats the one.
You can read the others too. Not as good as the original though.

I'm off the hook for some days now. So happy reading.

Thank you so much!

[portia]

I just finished what think was the last of the Horatio Hornblower books. There are about 1 dozen of them, published some years ago, but they all take place in the Napoleonic War time frame. Our hero is a man who ages from a young Midshipman to an Admiral, while going through a lot of suspenseful adventures, battles, raids, etc. Slightly scary, but we do know that he lives through them. They are being re-issued in "trade paperback" and my library has them all. I suggest you read them in order.

I agree with the suggestion about "The Ship who. . . ." series, but I disagree with "Dune;" a waste of papers and film, IMO.

Have you read any Hillerman books? Mysteries set in the Navajo nation, with Navajo policemen and women. He has died, but his daughter, Anne Hillerman, just brought out "Spider Woman's Daughter" with the same characters, and does a very good job.

[siddharth]

but I disagree with "Dune;" a waste of papers and film, IMO.

Really? Not saying you can't dislike it but "waste of paper" seems a bit harsh. It's afterall the world's best selling scifi till date. The first one.
What do you dislike?
But yes, the film was a massive downer.

[Melwa]

World's best selling scifi? Then how have I not heard of it?

[siddharth]

World's best selling scifi? Then how have I not heard of it?

Doubting me? check wiki.

[php111]

World's best selling scifi? Then how have I not heard of it?

Doubting me? check wiki.

Could you please provide me a link to a 7 book box set of HP to buy but nothing that is overpriced?

[siddharth]

World's best selling scifi? Then how have I not heard of it?

Doubting me? check wiki.

Could you please provide me a link to a 7 book box set of HP to buy but nothing that is overpriced?

Can't help on that. Know almost nothing about online stores.
I guess someone else would be needed here then.

[php111]

OK, thank you anyway! I was mainly looking for links to a good box set from amazon, but its fine you don't know about those stores. Again thank you!

[portia]

Re Dune:
Every thing about the book left a bad taste in my mouth. The Atredis family was distateful, and not what I would have thought would be a leadership family. The Bene Gesserit make my skin crawl. Spice is a very bad thing, that should be turned away from, but the people and rulers haven't the sense to do it. I do not think that the manoeuvres even made sense. This is based on one long ago reading, and when I finished, I in effect, threw the book across the room.

As Gungnir correctly observed, however: De gustibus non est disputandum

[Melwa]

Doubt, never! I just thought that since my dad loves scifi, I would have some clue about it.

php111 - I would suggest you try doing a "Google Shopping" search for "Harry Potter boxed set."

[Gungnir]

Could you please provide me a link to a 7 book box set of HP to buy but nothing that is overpriced?

Try THIS

[Gungnir]

Oh and BTW, I found that 'Dune' was the only book apart from LOTR which actually gave me the feeling of reading about an actual, real world.

The first book in the series is almost unsurpassed in science fiction - Frank Herbert's sequels decline in quality as they go on. The Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson. sequels (read : "cash-ins") are horrendously awful.

[siddharth]

Melly - Then you could recommend him this one.

Could you please provide me a link to a 7 book box set of HP to buy but nothing that is overpriced?

Try THIS

Gugnir, what was that? I clicked on it and it led to Google where it typed by itself "7 book set of harry potter" and then search? That freaked me out right there.

[Gungnir]

Psychic Google.

Actually it's a secret thing that only people who work in IT know about and we aren't allowed to tell anyone else. And if we do, we turn back into normal people.

[Melwa]

That link is extremely cool, Gungnir!

[Gungnir]

Melwa, on the subject of Frank Herbert's Dune, yes, it is probably the most highly regarded and best-selling Science Fiction novel of all time.

When Star Wars was released in 1977 there was talk of a lawsuit by Frank Herbert as some of the story, along with the desert locations, etc. were considered to be very close to Dune.

There was a big budget film adaptation made in 1984 which was good in parts - certainly some of the visual design was outstanding.

The Sy-Fy channel (back when it was still called the Sci-Fi Channel) made a very well regarded adaptation of Dune about (I think) 15 years ago and then the two sequels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were also filmed as one mini-series

The first part of the Sci-Fi adaptation is on Youtube (along with the rest) - Here

(Mods - I've linked to this as it's been on Youtube, which is an ostensibly legal site, for nearly 2 years without it being challenged by the copyright owners. If you want to edit this post to remove the link, fine)

[php111]

I didn't post back because that google link by typing it in for me was not helpful at all. That's my honest answer, but it would be really nice and like I have been asking and hoping for is having someone to post "their recommended" HP 7 book hardcover box set with a link to it from Amazon.com. I will accept that answer. I am very sorry and please don't take this reply seriously.

[Gungnir]

I didn't post back because that google link by typing it in for me was not helpful at all. That's my honest answer, but it would be really nice and like I have been asking and hoping for is having someone to post "their recommended" HP 7 book hardcover box set with a link to it from Amazon.com. I will accept that answer. I am very sorry and please don't take this reply seriously.

TBH, the text of the books is the same in every edition. It's easy enough to look at Amazon.com and search for Harry Potter boxed sets, I'm just a bit puzzled why you would need someone to recommend a box set when there are only about 3 or for of them on the U.S. Amazon website. Just pick the covers you like the best.

Unless I'm missing something obvious.

[solicitr]

On Dune: The original book is outstanding. The next two decline in quality but still constitute a readable trilogy. After that, it seems that Herbert lost his way and started derping around almost as aimlessly as Robert Jordan- certainly he made the mistake Tolkien warned of and allowed some of his narrative-device "machines" - especially facedancers and ghola-clones - to get out of control.

Of course, a great deal of the Dune universe consists of politics, scheming and conspiracies, and if that's not your cup of tea then it isn't the sort of book you will like.

The film made in the mid-80s (David Lynch) contained some truly remarkable visuals, but messed around with the story a LOT, and in many places went way over the Lynchweird top (esp. the Harkonnen scenes). It is also, in its studio-cut theatrical release, incoherent (I understand that there's a four-hour director's cut, but I've never seen it.)

[portia]

Well, OK, I will agree that some visuals in the movie are very good. Especially the worms, as they move along. Also, the first time I ever saw Patrick Stewart.

[Frelga]

Well, OK, I will agree that some visuals in the movie are very good. Especially the worms, as they move along. Also, the first time I ever saw Patrick Stewart.

Eh? Patrick Stewart is in it? Who does he play?

I'm kinda with you on Dune, portia. It is a well written book, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.

[Gungnir]

Eh? Patrick Stewart is in it? Who does he play?

Gurney Halleck