Help me out guys...I recently lost about 20 years worth of my book collection, and I am in the process of rebuilding. I am looking for suggestions on what books I should be buying. New or classic, dark fiction or comedy...even political. I am buying a bookshelf next week and Barnes & Noble is calling my name...
Buy a Kindle.
I'd advise Sony (I'm on my second). But either way unless you want a ton of books to impress your friends I think digital is the way to go.
As to what to read... well, having no idea what you've already read or what your tastes are it's kinda tough.
If you like sci fi, work your way through the Hugo and Nebula winners.
If you like horror, do Poe then the Pan Books horror anthologies then Matheson then King.
If you like Fantasy, you might want to try Tolkien and Lieber then Hobb and Martin.
If you like the classics, Peguins got a great collection.
If you like romance. Ask somebody else.
I keep on thinking of others to add. The list is endless.
If I had to make two stand out recommendations that you might not know they would be Ian M Banks Sci Fi and Raymond Carvers shorts.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have the kindle app on my phone and I use it when I'm out and about, but I like to have traditional books at home. The act of holding a book and turning a page is relaxing to me. I'm working my way through Ketchum and next up is Clevenger so that's kind of my taste..I wanted to see what everyone else on here like and thought I should own...thanks again.
Donald Ray Pollock, Daniel Woodrell, Lidia Yuknavitch, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, Christopher Moore, Chuck Palahniuk, Craig Davidson, Amy Hempel.
No collection is complete without Ray Bradbury, especially his short stories.
If you like noir, Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
James Ellroy's LA quartet, the Lonesome Dove series, Brett Easton Ellis, what Byan said, Tim OBrien, Dennis Lehane, and let's say Cormac McCarthy would top my list were I in your shoes.
Don't forget Joyce Carol Oates. She could fit in nicely with some of the stuff you seem to like.
I was just rereading the collected stories of Amy Hempel last night. I can't recommend that enough.
Also, if you don't have the Sandman by neil gaiman, buy it. Buy it and love it.
American Gods 10th anniversary edition is only 4 bucks on kindle, by the way.
Shit yeah, I forgot "The Things They Carried." Buy that too. And study it. It's amazing.
These are books I've all bought multiple times because I keep loaning them out. They are essential to me.
Brandon. I hear you. I'd lose my shit if all my books suddenly went poof. I think if I had to start from scratch, I'd only buy the classic and thicker books as my physical books. Yeah, I know it goes against the point of an e-reader, but you'll get more staisfaction in A) displaying them, and B) reading and finishing them. Sorry, but no progress bar on earth provides the same satisfaction as actually seeing the pages move and grow thicker on the left than the right. Save all your modern stuff, or mass-published stuff for your e-reader, unless you get your hands on a first editions of some of these books.
I would definately replace my Cormac McCarthy collection as physical books. Those demand being read off paper.
if you have the money burning a hole in your pocket, why not spend it at a smaller, family owned used bookstore? you would be able to replenish your collection at a much more affordable price. barnays and nobelies will do fine without your money.
I second this, I've had increasingly maddening experiences with B&N, especially yesterday, but always have great experiences (and way too much to choose from) at indie stores and used book stores.
That's actually a great point about the smaller book stores. I love finding overlooked gems there, and as an added bonus...the used books there tend to be have a lot of damage character, and I like that
besides, the rush you feel from discovering a wanted or needed book in a used bookstore cannot be paralleled by discovering the same book at barnes and noble.
also, litreactor will not let me capitalize when posting from my phone, and all punctuation accessible through secondary keys is off limits as well. dafuq?
I bought The Village on Horseback by Jesse Ball, Notes on the Mosquito by Xi Chuan, and A Pretty Mouth by Molly Tanzer. I'm sure at least two will be good. Therefore, if you buy any two of these, at least one will be good.
I wish my area actually had any small bookstores. The closest you can get is Half-Price Books, which is a national chain. There's literally nothing that I've found in the area except for one obscure place that seems mostly to specialize in chess books. Fuck I hate Texas. I'm not sure if I've looked hard enough, and I suspect I'd have better luck in Dallas. But I fucking hate Texas anyway.
Bryan made some great suggestions. Danielewski's House of Leaves is a must-have, and Joe Connelly's Bringing Out the Dead, which still may be my favorite book. Chabon, Roth, Burroughs, Ballard. Umberto Eco, Harlan Ellison.
I forgot to say buy LAMB by Christopher Moore in the Bible Edition
Same thing with HHGTTG
Those are two books you need on your shelf, and a bible edition will make you look classy!
I love Half-Price Books. I don't care if they are a national chain. I get a ton of books there, especially on clearance.
Definitely check out your small indie and/or used bookshops--rebuilding a collection is something I hope I never have to do, but buying used will enable you to do it much faster and for much less cash.
In which case, I reccomend digging, flipping through, sneezing, and finding some stuff that speaks to you.
Lamb is one of those books that I have purchased at least four times in my life and it always leaves me. I agree with the post that an e-reader serves a purpose, and I have one on my phone. Its mainly for my "vacations" from reading...like if you read dark or transgressive fiction or the classics for six months straight, a nice break to a Dan Brown " I don't need to think that much" book is just what the doctor ordered.
Lamb is one of those books that I have purchased at least four times in my life and it always leaves me. I agree with the post that an e-reader serves a purpose, and I have one on my phone. Its mainly for my "vacations" from reading...like if you read dark or transgressive fiction or the classics for six months straight, a nice break to a Dan Brown " I don't need to think that much" book is just what the doctor ordered.
I think I've bought Still Life With Woodpecker (Tom Robbins) at least a half dozen times. It's my favourite (one of many, of course).
Still Life is my favorite by Tom Robbins, too.
Damn, that reminds me, that's another I've been meaning to read.
And I agree, Half-Price Books is a great place, especially for a chain. Their flagship store is in Dallas, and going there periodically has been one of the highlights of living here. I've snagged a number of cheap first editions and that's where I picked up both of Craig Clevenger's books. I think it's supposed to be the third largest bookstore in the US? Place is like a friggin Costco. It's wonderful.
Sounds worth the four hour drive. Actually, I'll be there in March...
When spring comes around you might want to hit the garage sales a bit. I found a 1st Edition Confederacy of Dunces at a garage sale. Mostly you'll find a lot of Clancy and Grisham type stuff, but you never know. Also, if you have kids, garage sales and eBay are great places to find books. We buy books on eBay from retiring teachers and get bundles for almost nothing. We probably have over 400 kids books in my house. Oh, and libraries have sales all the time. Thrift stores too.
I have a Kindle and can't get into using it. I've had it for over a year.
Thrift stores are the tops. Now, thank god for Goodreads, I have so many names in my head that I never have to carry like a wanted book list anywhere, and even at the little redneck thrifty shops I usually find a couple great snags. It's like digging for records except you don't blow money on things that turn out to be unlistenable/unreadable (well, based on the physical quality. Writing quality is still suspect.) I've read through a lot of required reading lists for MFA courses and usually get all of those at thrift stores. My last one or two trips I scored:
Toni Morrison - Beloved
Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections
O. Henry Prize Stories 2001 (a good find because it contains William Gay's "The Paperhanger" as well as the long version of George Saunder's "Pastoralia")
Aimee Bender - Willful Creatures
Italo Calvino - Six Memos for the Next Millenium
Those are all, like, smart people books I got in hardcover for like $5. Plus I picked up a bunch of Dennis Lehane and Lee Child books. Just cuz they're mass-market paperbacks doesn't mean they're not some true gritty shit.
Other stuff I've been reading lately, that might be of interest to a Ketchum/Clevenger fan, is: Don DeLillo, Dennis Cooper, Mat Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Tom Franklin, James Crumley. Maybe some Stewart O'Nan. Oh, Tom Piccirilli most definitely.
Get on Goodreads and organize what stuff you'd be interested in. It's really invaluable.
I've never had much luck with indie bookstores. They usually carry bullshit or overpriced first editions of old books no one cares about. Everyone there is miserable. In B&N I'm usually the only one there who is noticibly miserable. And I've gotten excited seeing books by Paul Tremblay or Stephen Graham Jones or similar sorta "underground" guy I know of at B&N. Never seen their books personally in indie bookstores, and I don't think it would be as exciting as seeing them in one of "the bigs."
