Bah, my sister stopped me from buying the book; I had too many books to buy, apparently.

I'd go for Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens Of Titans, Cat's Cradle, and Slaughterhouse Five. It gives a good nasty aftertaste when you read it.

edited 7th Mar '12 12:02:47 AM by Trollkastel

Any recommendations for books or scholarly essays on analyzing literature and/or film/TV? Also, textbook recommendations on film or literary analysis are cool too.

Anyone know of any good books for learning Danish?

@Cosmic Chinchilla

If you have some knowledge in Danish then I recommend the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. They are free somewhere on the web.

edited 17th Mar '12 7:44:22 PM by Foringinn

Well, I'm more an absolute beginner but I'll be sure to check them out. That said, I do have some basic knowledge of German so I don't know if that helps...

I'm looking for a good fantasy/sci-fi novel/series to get into. I've already read Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, anything by Diana Wynne Jones and Tamora Pierce, the Percy Jackson series, The Mortal Instrument, etc., etc.

Basically, if someone could rec me something that I haven't read already, I will love that person forever.

The Dresden Files, Codex Alera, Brandon Sanderson's stuff, Discworld.

War book? All of Sven Hassel's stuff. And I mean all of it. May have dubious "historical" accuracy but his characters are the best written depiction of what soldiers are like in extremis in all literature in my opinion. And since I like books on war, in fiction and non-fiction, I say that with some knowledge on the subject.

Man, Discworld is my favourite series ever! I owe most of what I write to Pterry and Neil Gaiman. I knew I forgot something in that list... This is what happens when 70% of your books are fantasy novels.

I'll have to see about getting my hands on some of the series that have been recced.

I don't really know what I'm looking for in a book... I want something that isn't just "heroes got on quest, stop bad guy". I'm thinking books with characters that get development and that aren't blatant archetypes, world-building, and mentioning day-to-day life. I just don't like stories that gloss over everything that isn't focused on the "quest"

tl;dr, I'm looking for something different than the average, cookie-cutter, fantasy book, and I suck at articulating it.

Then the stuff I recc'd should be to your liking.

Do you guys know any good Steampunk books?

How about The Iron Duke [1]?

On second thought, looking at one review, it says the heroine falls in love with her rapist.

edited 20th Mar '12 2:55:49 AM by TenTailsBeast

The Difference Engine, The Anubis Gates, Perdido Street Station, and Mainspring. There's also a good anthology called Steampunk.

Heh, I'm reading the Steampunk! anthology. It's really good!

I also have The Difference Engine, but haven't had time to read it yet.

I will definitely check out the other books. Thanks for the recommendation!

Well, that sounds... disturbing.

Looking for fascism. Pro-Fascist fiction and philosophy. Better if it's written in the interwar period. Is there any utopian fascist scifi?

It's not interwar (written in 1978), but I know a lot of far-right groups (as in militias, Aryan Nations, etc.) have quoted The Turner Diaries as an inspiration.

(And I'm actually surprised there's a trope page for that. There Is No Such Thing As Notability and all, but...brrrr.)

edited 31st Mar '12 12:17:58 PM by BokhuraBurnes

There's The Iron Dream, a parody take on the concept. Also, I believe that Hitler was a (misaimed) fan of Metropolis, and I can see how you could get fascist sentiments out of it- it's about uniting business and labor and there's an ambiguously non-aryan mad scientist/sorcerer who is a bad guy

Can I get recommendations for historical/reference/non-fiction/fiction books about people living in boats, whether docked or at sea? Blogs and website recommendations would be useful as well.

I'd like a few YA novels to review for my blog. Already have Graceling in the lineup.

Definitely The First Part Last. Postcards From No Mans Land and Walter Dean Myers' Monster are good too.

Okay, I've spent the last 9 months or so going through all of Brandon Sanderson and Jim Butcher's stuff, but now I've run out and I need more. Can someone recommend me books similar to the ones those authors put out?

Similar in what ways? The only things that really come to mind are Gentleman Bastard and Something From The Nightside.

Anarchy: What, like Wooden Ships and Iron Men...?

edited 14th Apr '12 5:24:12 PM by Noaqiyeum

Seconding Gentleman Bastard.

@Moth: Have you read The Wheel of Time, which Sanderson is currently working on? Other suggestions:

• The Farseer trilogies by Robin Hobb
• Crown of Stars by Kate Eliot (this reads like historical fantasy, without actually being historical)
• The Belgariad by David Eddings
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Edit: Whoops, responding to the wrong person. Serves me right for only looking at the avatar.

edited 14th Apr '12 6:18:19 PM by Yuanchosaan