Now that i'm in a transitional period in my life, I've found time to read. Within the past 2 weeks, I've read Dan Brown's novels: Angels and Demons, and Deception Point. Problem is...I only like to read books through recommendations from others. I'm not able to just walk through a bookstore and pick one up and hope for the best.

So, any books y'all have read that you'd like to recommend to me? Thanks!

 

[B][I]G

 

I think "The DaVinci Code" was also really good by Dan Brown, but its a LOT like Angels and Demons. I read "The DaVinci Code" beforehand and couldn't finish "Angels and Demons" because they were so alike. But "The DaVinci Code" is still a very good book.

 

i've already read the da vinci code. gonna need to read it again before the movie comes out.

 

"The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami. I don't know if you like to read translated works, but this book was really good and engaging until the very end.

 

I don't want to sound like an acedemic ass but my wife "forced" my to read DaVinci Code. It was an entertaining read but I am much more drawn to non-fiction. Davinci Code was my 1st fiction book in years. (aside from A Perfect Storm but that is non-fiction by most stds)

If you liked Davinci code but wanted more depth and factual history behind the "Great Heresy" read "Holy Blood,Holy Grail" by Baigent,Leigh,Lincoln.

Another book that sucked me in recently was "Into Thin Air" by Krakauer which I had sitting around for years until i picked it up one day. Took me only 2 evenings to read it...very hard to put down.

 

One of the best books I've read recently is a bit of historical fiction called "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. The summary always makes it sound boring, but the book is truly incredible.

 

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club)

If you like dark, apocolyptic storylines, with well-developed characters and interwoven plotlines, this is a decent read.

Freakonomics by by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Haven't read this yet, but have heard good things from everyone I know who has.

 

"Inside the Kingdom"
Carmen Bin Ladin

A telling story of how Osama Bin Laden's half sister-in-law escaped the tyranical and opressive Saudi Kingdom. A real eye-opener.


"1776"
David McCullough

The intensly human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence.

 

We did this a while ago; you might search for further recommendations.

BUT, since I'm here...

Clive Cussler's books are very entertaining and quick reads.

Robert Ludlum's stuff is good if you like spy type stuff (the Bourne series are his best).

Ender's Game is one of the BEST books I've ever read in my life. Period. I've read it about four times now I think. By Orson Scott Card. The rest of the series is also very interesting.

Robert Jordan's stuff is good if you like sci-fi/fantasy, but the series is dragging on for so long now that its almost not worth reading. I think the entire series is something like 15,000 pages long now and still going.

Dale Brown's stuff is good if you like somewhat techy, military based stories.

Jon Krakauer's books are good non-fiction/ish accounts of various aspects of life. If you haven't read Into Thin Air about the big Everest accident, its a great read. But I'm a climber, so I'm sorta biased toward it. Eiger Dreams was also good. And he wrote one about a guy in Alaska, I think it was. Can't remember the name offhand.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is the classic story of utopian society.

Catcher in the Rye is a great read. If fact, I need to pick that one up again.

Alice in Wonderland is an interesting read. We've all seen so many variations on the story, I found it very interesting to read the original. Much darker than Disney portrays it.