Book Recommendations while you wait!

[HorrorGeek]

As far as horror goes, I don't have many recommendations. You might check out the Dreamhouse Kings series by Robert Liparulo I've only read the first one, but it seems to straddle the line between horror and fantasy; I'm really interested to see how the rest of the series turns out.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, check out the Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DiStefano. Only the first two are out so far, but they're really good, and I think you'd enjoy the dystopian/horror blend.

Thanks Librarian! I know horror is not the most popular of genres. I threw a tantrum the last few times I was in Borders (before they closed) and every book in the horror section was either vampires or zombies. EVERY.ONE. I like vampires and zombies, but come on, I need a little variety!

I added your suggestions, as well as the vampire ones gave ZenGwen, to my wish list.

I've actually pillaged a lot of posts here. My wish list is starting to catch up with my Netflix queue. Which is bad, because my Kindle is already worse than my Netflix queue. So many books, so little time....

[Rivanariko]

I have younger sisters, and I love YA myself.

The Summer I Turned Pretty-3 book series. Pretty good YA romance-they don't "have sex", but one guy cheated on her that way, and she ends up marrying the brother. No violence, no horror. Great beach and young love read.

The Help?

The Lying Game,

Pretty Little Liars (show does not do the books justice), not really violent.

Divergent

Trylle Triology

I also liked the Privileged/Private series, but they're a long series and can get expensive...

vampires? House of Night

some of the Sarah Dessen books. would do some research as some touch on the "sex", but they're soo good.

Thank you!

I do love YA, but I find I have so much less time for leisure reading these days... I'll see if the library has any of these to offer her. They just got book orders this week, but she's paying a lot of restitution for damages to the cottage right now, I don't think she has much money to spend...

I don't realize how insane this stuff sounds until it's written down. I really do love my job, and this kid really is delightful 80% of the time.

[Librarian of Doom]

Late to the party, as usual, but jumping in with both feet nonetheless.

1-3 books/series you've enjoyed in the past

Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Cervantes' Don Quixote, anything by Kurt Vonnegut to name my some of my all-time favorites. More recent? King's 11/22/63, Russell's Swamplandia, and Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

1-3 movies/TV shows you enjoy

Only 3? TV: Top Shot, Fringe, The Walking Dead

Movies: Cabin in the Woods (truly awe-inspiring), Drive, Tree of Life (HUGE film buff, so could easily list dozens)

1-3 books/series/authors you dislike

Twilgiht, Twilight, Twilight

Any hard limits or important preferences (i.e., no explicit sex, limited cursing, etc.)

Haven't hit any yet (someone earlier mentioned American Psycho...good book, great movie)

Have you read the Canterbury Tales? If you liked Don Quixote, you'll probably enjoy it.

I had to google every other book you listed except Vonnegut (and Twilight, of course). It seems that you enjoy the more postmodern aspects of sci-fi and realistic fiction.

You might enjoy Philip K. Dick, especially Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the novel which was the basis for Blade Runner. Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series is a little campy, but a lot of fun (and includes the phrase "as confused as a blind lesbian in a fish market" which always makes me giggle a bit).

Hmm...you might also like books by Octavia Butler or Kim Stanley Robinson. Or maybe Margaret Atwood? I'm not really a postmodern sort of gal, so I'm just free-associating here.

[Librarian of Doom]

I haven't read for a while now which is a bit crazy cause growing up I'd happily spend an entire day curled up in a chair reading. Don't have a clue where to start again, so here goes

1-3 books/series you've enjoyed in the past

I honestly can't remember the last exact book I read. I've pretty much always picked up whatever books my dad has left around and read them. I've never been too bothered about what genre the book is, as long as it's well written and exciting enough to stop not my mind from wandering off.

1-3 movies/TV shows you enjoy

TV Shows - Game of Thrones is Boss. The Walking Dead. House.

Movies - Lord of the Rings films. Nolan's Batman Films. Taken.

1-3 books/series/authors you dislike

I hate twilight. Ummm. Thats about it, pretty easy going otherwise.

Any hard limits or important preferences (i.e., no explicit sex, limited cursing, etc.)

Not phased by it at all. Infact If pulled off right, I prefer edgier books, as long as it's done in a classy/intelligent way which adds to the atmosphere.

Also If you got any recommendations for non-fiction books based on the travels of famous explorers/adventurers, that would be great

Aside from the "books of the things," namely, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Lord of the Rings, etc., I would recommend

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Excellent series, with a fun narrative voice.

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Just pure awesome

Armor by John Steakley

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Deathstalker series by Simon R. Green

The Nightside series by Simon R. Green

[Librarian of Doom]

3 books I enjoyed: (first of all, I'm an atheist and I loved this book) Lamb:The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood pal by Christopher Moore (super funny fiction that fills in Christ's past, hint: he does Kung Fu), Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (probably my favorite by him, mind fuck book as usual), Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (very funny end of the world scenario).

3 movies: Mirrormask (Jim Henson company, beautiful story and effects, great for fans of The Labrynth and The Dark Crystal), Pandorum (I'm big on science fiction and space, and though this wasn't HARD CORE scifi, at least to me, It had a very profound effect on me for some reason), Sunshine (another scifi, in the future our sun dies and a team of scientist go out with hopes of restarting it, very VERY good).

3 tv series (because I want a category separate from movies): Game of Thrones (duh), Mad Men (OMG so amazed at how good this show is, characters are out of this world), Once Upon a Time (I surprised myself with this one, it's actually quite fun to follow)

3 series: The Tim Dorsey series (doesn't HAVE to be read in order, but I think it helps for character development, funny books about a serial killer/psychopath in Florida), Terry Pratchett Discworld series (If you're a nerd, you must know about it, if you don't, go out and read them!), and A Song of Fire and Ice series (if you have or haven't seen the show Game of Thrones, you will still love the books).

If you liked Good Omens, have you tried others by Pratchett and/or Gaiman? Stardust and The Graveyard Book by Gaiman are excellent, and I enjoyed Anansi Boys, although I had trouble getting into American Gods. I really adore Pratchett's Discworld series, and many of his others as well.

You might also enjoy some of Charles de Lint's fantasy novels. Jack the Giant-Killer is very good, as is The Blue Girl, but you'd probably enjoy Waifs and Strays more.

If you liked Good Omens, you'll probably enjoy the Nightside books by Simon R. Green. Very irreverent, very dry and British. Lots of fun.

[Librarian of Doom]

I could use some book recommendations for one of my residents... I work in psychiatric residential treatment with adolescent girls.

One of my girls is a voracious reader, but I'm not up on recent YA books enough to recommend too much for her. She is 11 years old, but is highly intelligent and her reading level is definitely above her age. She is absolutely against anything that is written "for little kids".

She absolutely devoured the Harry Potter books and bugged me daily for spoilers on them (which I refused to provide because i'm mean like that). She loves Goosebumps and anything by R.L. Stein, but we're trying to discourage the horror genre because she has problems with nightmares, hallucinations, and a heavy history of abuse. She refused to clean her bathroom mirror for weeks because she was sure something was going to jump out of it. I think she read the Twilight books before she was admitted and really liked them. She started Hunger Games (because her teacher got them, I tried to discourage those because of her history) but thought they were boring within a few pages and put them down. She wants to read more "grown up" books, but they need to still be appropriate for her age, so no gratuitous violence, sex, etc. ESPECIALLY sex. Seriously, nothing with sex.

As far as tv... she usually watches the Disney Channel with our other younger residents, but I think that's mostly just for companionship sake. Like I said, she's very intelligent, and I'm trying to encourage the reading habit as much as possible. She has a lot of respect for books and doesn't destroy them like she does all of her other belongings. Only book I've ever seen her throw was a dictionary, as opposed to all of the rest of her things, which regularly get flung around her room/at people or torn apart in a fit of rage.

I love Sarah Dessen, as Airen mentioned, but most of her books reference sex, although I have yet to find one where the protagonist engages in it. Keeping the Moon is excellent, as is What Happened to Goodbye, Someone Like You, and Along For the Ride. Actually, now that I think back on it, in Someone Like You, the protagonist either has sex or comes very close to it, and her best friend gets pregnant, so that one would be right out. The others should be good unless you're avoiding all mention of sex, in which case, no.

Also, try Ten Miles Past Normal, The Secret Language of Girls, and The Kind of Friends We Used To Be by Frances O'Roarke Dowell

If she liked the Harry Potter books, try her on the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane (starting with So You Want To Be a Wizard). It's better. Added bonus, the series is still ongoing. Like Harry Potter but with ethics. And more awesome (wizards can travel to other planets. Pure awesomeness)

Also, try the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. It's Greek-mythology-based urban fantasy, and the main character has ADHD and dyslexia and has been in and out of boarding schools-cum-institutions all his life. It really strikes a chord with the troubled/not necessarily high achiever kids I've dealt with in the past. Plus, it's just a fun, entertaining read.

My kids who love Harry Potter also love the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo.

The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix might also catch her interest.

You should be able to find most or all of these through a public library, if that's an option.

[Librarian of Doom]

Hi ! I teach 3-5 year olds , anything that's popular with the kiddies there ?

For read-alouds, my pre-k & kindergarteners like Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Fly/Worm/Spider books, and most of the Farmer Brown (Click Clack Moo, etc.) books, although Duck for President was a little long for them.

They also like the Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems, and they thought Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed was HILARIOUS.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

Milo Armadillo by Jan Fearnley

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and the various Polar Bear, Brown Bear, Baby Bear, etc. books by Bill Martin

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there's more. I need to start keeping a notebook or something of my read-alouds.

[Librarian of Doom]

And dammit to hell I want them to bring Bubba on the show! (readers will know what that means)

Yes!

And HorrorGeek, I thought of another recommendation for you. The Nightside series by Simon R. Green! Urban fantasy meets horror, with plenty of ghost stories

[SusieBlu]

Okay, if you liked Howl's Moving Castle, have you read other Diana Wynne Jones books? House of Many Ways also involves Howl and Sophie as secondary characters. Enchanted Glass is also very fun.

You'll probably enjoy "Sorcery and Cecilia" by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermere, and the two sequels

If you're open to reading YA, try out the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. It's got a great, snarky tone, and is a lot of adventurous fun.

As someone else mentioned in this thread, Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series is a lot of fun to read

Thanks for the recommendations. I have read all of Jim Butcher and really like him. I can't wait for Cold Day or whatever he is going to call book 14.

I recommand Name of the Wind by Pat Rothfuss for and fantasy fan. It is an amazing series.

[leadchipmunk]

The secret to this is to find a "grown up" theatre. Many of them now have 21+ only showings. It doesn't eliminate the problem (drunk college girls can be just as bad as tweens) but its far less of an issue.

I like the books better for the most part. She's not really that great of a writer, but the stories are better. Alan Ball is really messing with a lot of the storylines and they are not an improvement. However, my biggest complaint about the books are the ridiculously veiled sex scenes. Either write them, or don't. Don't "suggest" it like it's a dirty word. Clearly, anyone who has seen the show knows this is not an issue.

I only have 2 theaters within an hour of me, and at both theaters I'm pretty much always the oldest person there at 21 for the latest Twilight movie. The only older people I saw in any of the twilight movies was my brother's wife (somewhere around 6 years older), the girl I went with (4 years older) and the girl that I started dating about 2 weeks later (1 year older than me) and all three of those were for the third movie.

And I understand the distaste of veiled sex scenes. I always hated them in books and movies/tv, I don't care if they are written/shown or not, just do one or the other.

[Rivanariko]

I love Sarah Dessen, as Airen mentioned, but most of her books reference sex, although I have yet to find one where the protagonist engages in it. Keeping the Moon is excellent, as is What Happened to Goodbye, Someone Like You, and Along For the Ride. Actually, now that I think back on it, in Someone Like You, the protagonist either has sex or comes very close to it, and her best friend gets pregnant, so that one would be right out. The others should be good unless you're avoiding all mention of sex, in which case, no.

Also, try Ten Miles Past Normal, The Secret Language of Girls, and The Kind of Friends We Used To Be by Frances O'Roarke Dowell

If she liked the Harry Potter books, try her on the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane (starting with So You Want To Be a Wizard). It's better. Added bonus, the series is still ongoing. Like Harry Potter but with ethics. And more awesome (wizards can travel to other planets. Pure awesomeness)

Also, try the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. It's Greek-mythology-based urban fantasy, and the main character has ADHD and dyslexia and has been in and out of boarding schools-cum-institutions all his life. It really strikes a chord with the troubled/not necessarily high achiever kids I've dealt with in the past. Plus, it's just a fun, entertaining read.

My kids who love Harry Potter also love the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo.

The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix might also catch her interest.

You should be able to find most or all of these through a public library, if that's an option.

Excellent! Thank you so much! We're trying to figure out some way that they can check out at the public library, as the school library is somewhat limited.

[Librarian of Doom]

Excellent! Thank you so much! We're trying to figure out some way that they can check out at the public library, as the school library is somewhat limited.

I'm currently in the process of trying to find some way for my students to check out from the public library when only 4% of our parents will take them there. I think I've figured out how to convince the public library *fingers crossed*

[balloonfiasco]

I. Love. Vampires.

I realize that you've done a few other posts about them on this thread, but any other helpful suggestions you have would be amazing!! I'm a big fan of YA, as well as fantasy and especially urban fantasy type settings.

Favorite Books: His Mortal Instruments series, Kim Harrison's witch bounty hunter series, Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

TV series: True Blood, Dexter, Smash, Drop Dead Diva (Sad I know, but so funny and addicting!)

Dislikes: Twilight (Though only because its been ruined by the generation), Not a huge fan of the House of Night series, but it wasn't too bad.

No restrictions on sex or violence or anything. I will honestly like most books that are not non-fiction or overly descriptive like LOTR.

Amazing idea for a thread, you are my new hero!! Can't wait to hear what you have for me!

[Librarian of Doom]

I. Love. Vampires.

I realize that you've done a few other posts about them on this thread, but any other helpful suggestions you have would be amazing!! I'm a big fan of YA, as well as fantasy and especially urban fantasy type settings.

Favorite Books: His Mortal Instruments series, Kim Harrison's witch bounty hunter series, Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.

TV series: True Blood, Dexter, Smash, Drop Dead Diva (Sad I know, but so funny and addicting!)

Dislikes: Twilight (Though only because its been ruined by the generation), Not a huge fan of the House of Night series, but it wasn't too bad.

No restrictions on sex or violence or anything. I will honestly like most books that are not non-fiction or overly descriptive like LOTR.

Amazing idea for a thread, you are my new hero!! Can't wait to hear what you have for me!

Moar vampires, eh? Okay, let's see. In addition to what I recommended elsewhere...

The Rachel Morgan books by Kim Harrison, which I mentioned elsewhere in this thread have several prominent vampire characters.

Evernight by Claudia Gray is a neat little star-crossed lovers story including vampires.

The Parasol Protectorate series, starting with Soulless by Gail Carriger is a fun steampunk series with vampires and werewolves, oh my!

Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series is one I enjoyed reading a lot back when I had access to a library system with ebooks for checkout (sad face )

Full Moon Rising and sequels by Keri Arthur. Not stunningly wonderful or original, but fun.

Omigod. Have you read the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by J.R. Ward? Because if you haven't...well...they're cracktastic. The writing is pedestrian at best, the dialogue is stilted, and it doesn't matter. I've read almost all of them, and it's only ALMOST because of the aforementioned no-ebooks-in-the-current-library-system situation. I don't know if I should be responsible for addicting another person to them. You have been warned.

If you like vampires...have you read Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels series (original trilogy and followups)? It's a lovely, original, gothic fantasy world.

More later if I can think of them

[balloonfiasco]

Wow thank you so much!! I've only read the Rachel Morgan books, but everything else has just been added to my "Must Read Now!" list!! I'm all about super addicting book series, as well as anything urban fantasy. I'm not really sure what steampunk is or what it entails, but since it's been mentioned quite a few times now I think it might be time for an exciting foray into the genre!

Woot thanks again!

[SusieBlu]

Wow thank you so much!! I've only read the Rachel Morgan books, but everything else has just been added to my "Must Read Now!" list!! I'm all about super addicting book series, as well as anything urban fantasy. I'm not really sure what steampunk is or what it entails, but since it's been mentioned quite a few times now I think it might be time for an exciting foray into the genre!

Woot thanks again!

I am a huge steampunk fan. If you like alternate reality you would most likely enjoy steampunk. It is my favorite genre so if you are interested in learning more check out http://www.steampunk.com/what-is-steampunk/ because it has an really good defination on what steampunk is and how it can be seen in main stream genres. Also for any book recommendation and reviews within the steampunk genre try http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/. He is writing a dissertation on steampunk so it is a very good resource on steampunk. If anyone is interested in getting into the genre I suggest Cherie Priest Clockwork Century series becasue it is more character driven than tech driven but it still has a steampunk feel to it.

[Rivanariko]

I'm currently in the process of trying to find some way for my students to check out from the public library when only 4% of our parents will take them there. I think I've figured out how to convince the public library *fingers crossed*

The main issue is that the public library won't issue a library card to an organization, it has to be in a specific individual's name, and none of us are sure we want the risk of putting books for the kids on our personal cards. Granted, any damages or late fees would theoretically come out of their restitution money, but it still makes me nervous.

[Librarian of Doom]

The main issue is that the public library won't issue a library card to an organization, it has to be in a specific individual's name, and none of us are sure we want the risk of putting books for the kids on our personal cards. Granted, any damages or late fees would theoretically come out of their restitution money, but it still makes me nervous.

What I'm going to try to set up is a system whereby the card is in the kids' name, and the parents give me permission to access their information, i.e., check out books in their name. Then I can help the kids place holds in the public library system, and then go over to the library once a week and pick up said holds. I don't know what your situation is like, but it's obviously different from mine, so you'd need some other solution. Wish I could be more help

[sarahmay]

who has time for reading?

[HorrorGeek]

I. Love. Vampires.

I realize that you've done a few other posts about them on this thread, but any other helpful suggestions you have would be amazing!! I'm a big fan of YA, as well as fantasy and especially urban fantasy type settings.

If you truly have no restrictions on what you read, there is a good vampire book called Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. It's a vampire book. I haven't read it in 15 years or so, but I remember really liking it.

But seriously - you really have to be open to anything. ANYTHING. It is graphic in many, many ways.

[balloonfiasco]

If you truly have no restrictions on what you read, there is a good vampire book called Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. It's a vampire book. I haven't read it in 15 years or so, but I remember really liking it.

But seriously - you really have to be open to anything. ANYTHING. It is graphic in many, many ways.

Hmmm...I am now intrigued...I see how this may have to happen now. I'm a pretty open-minded type of person, so it should be interesting!

[HorrorGeek]

Hmmm...I am now intrigued...I see how this may have to happen now. I'm a pretty open-minded type of person, so it should be interesting!

I'm rarely offended by anything, but I'm never really sure where other people's boundaries are, so I always include a warning with that recommendation. She also has a book called "Exquisite Corpse" which is probably one of the best serial killer books I have ever read - but it comes with the same warning. Open minded, no boundaries a must.

If you read Lost Souls, I will be very interested to know what you thought of it.

[Maj. Bloodnok]

I don't realize how insane this stuff sounds until it's written down. I really do love my job, and this kid really is delightful 80% of the time.

She might enjoy Scott Westfield's "Leviathan" trilogy: "Leviathan", "Behemoth", and "Goliath". Alternate World War I story where the world is divided between the Clankers (mechanical engineers who use steam-powered war machines) and the Darwinists (genetic engineers who use heavily-modified organisms). Add in a teenage girl in disguise, a prince in hiding, and lots and lots of adventure (though little actual violence and no sex) and you've got a winner. His other big series, "Uglies", "Pretties", and "Specials" is also good, though "Specials" does reference cutting which could be triggering for her.

She might enjoy some classic SF, like Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles". Ursula K. LeGuin has written some good YA novels in recent years; The Earthsea stories are classics, but the "Annals of the Western Shore" series is good too. And if you can score some R. A. Lafferty, get it. He was a major influence on Neil Gaiman.

[ZenGwen]

Hey, out of interest, is anyone here on BookCrossing? I'm ZenGwen on there too.

It would be really cool to get some book swaps going!

Librarian of Doom, just realized I didn't reply to your post for me, my apologies. Some really good suggestions! It was hilarious/spooky that you suggested the Morganville Vampires books. I listen to audiobooks at work (I do admin) and was listening to a collection of vampire short stories at the time... and, yep, I was right in the middle of listening to one based in the Morganville universe. It sounded like a cool setting!

This is the collection I was listening to, if anyone's interested, but really, I can't recommend it over all. The problem with vampire short stories is that most of them go like this (or have at least three of these qualities):

1. Starts in media res, probably with a human being chased around/in pain/in the middle of encountering something weird

2. Spends some time explaining how REAL VAMPIRES are different from STUPID POP CULTURE VAMPIRES in this particular universe. Do they actually love Italian food with lots of garlic? Is the sun a big deal? Do they use fangs or some kind of bony protuberance under their tongue? Do I care?

3. A human is changed into a vampire, and angsts about whether to change their family members to save them from life-threatening conditions, or grow old and eternal and watch everyone die around them. OR, a vampire angsts about this having happened. OR, everyone angsts about vampires being cold and numb both physically and emotionally and therefore UNABLE TO LOVE SOB SOB SOB.

4. We have a scene focusing on the vampire discussing the ramifications of being so long-lived, and having flashbacks to another time, or a human who is now very old having flashbacks to encountering an ageless vampire when they were a child.

5. Incredibly sudden ending, leaving me to poke at my iPod and see if I had reached a place where the audiobook was broken into smaller files - but no, it actually just ended there. And this audiobook is set up so that another story starts immediately, no pause or music or introduction of the next author to give you time to digest the story.

6. Or the story will be narrated by the lady with the breathy posh English accent who can only inflect sentences one of two ways, and appears entirely unable to read context, and thus will be very hard or impossible to listen to.

Ahem. There are a couple of good ones in there, though.

[NukeTheUnicorns]

I'm looking for a book for my mom for mother's day.

My mom is into interesting non-fiction. She really likes books with a sociological focus, too. She also really likes books about dog/cats/pets/animals in general, like Marley and Me and what-not.

A few books I know she's read and liked are Angela's Ashes, Sarah's Key, and Rats: Observations On The History And Habitat Of The City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants.

I know this is kind of all over the place but if you have any recommendations I'd totally appreciate it.