[case thrower]

If it's terrorist themed novels, if you can find them, try Christopher Dickey's Innocent Blood and the followup The Sleeper.  First one was written pre 9/11 and the second post 9/11.

Most of what I read is mystery so for something modern out West, Craig Johnson's Longmire series is very well written.  For WWII, the Billy Boyle series by James Benn.  Also for that time period, take a look at the John Russell series by David Downing and the Bernie Gunther series by Phillip Kerr.  Other authors to consider include Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey/Maturin) and Steven Saylor (Roma Sub Rosa).

[majorvices]

forget all that spy stuff. you should read everything Douglas Adams wrote, then everything Terry Pratchett wrote, then everything Neal Gaiman wrote. If you want something more 'serious' hit Asimov up. The Foundation series has all the intrigue and spy story stuff one could want and it's effing brilliant.

Man, I hate that I can't find Douglas Adam's funny. But Hitchhiker's Guide just isn't funny to me. And I've given it a lot of shots, all the way back to the BBC broadcast in the late 70's/Early 80's. I'll grant you that it is very silly. Just not very funny. Least, not to me.  

[kmccaf]

I would also add anything by Graham Greene and anything by Cormac McCarthy.  Blood Meridian is phenomenal.  The Road bothered me for ages.  Still does.  All The Pretty Horses is great, despite the movie. 

Avoid D.H. Lawrence.  I labored for most of the summer with The Plumed Serpent.  I gave up.  Not a proud moment, but I only have so much time.

Cormac McCarthy writes books that haunt me too, but are so rewarding to read. I only got have way through the last border trilogy book because as the wife says, "ain't going to have a happy ending".

I also read all of Edward Abbey's stuff when I was knocking around the Canyons and lousy stinking desert in the 90s.

If anyone is into the Southwest, Craig Childs has some excellent books.

Blood Meridian is tough going. The violence in that book is mind boggling. I really enjoyed Sutree. I would also add anything by Flannery O'Connor is great. I reread most of Hemingway's short stories over the summer...still great. It is odd to me that Hemingway is now an underrated writer. I do enjoy reading Edward Abbey, although I haven't read too much of it. I'll have to check out Craig Childs.

[hopfenundmalz]

I would also add anything by Graham Greene and anything by Cormac McCarthy.  Blood Meridian is phenomenal.  The Road bothered me for ages.  Still does.  All The Pretty Horses is great, despite the movie. 

Avoid D.H. Lawrence.  I labored for most of the summer with The Plumed Serpent.  I gave up.  Not a proud moment, but I only have so much time.

Cormac McCarthy writes books that haunt me too, but are so rewarding to read. I only got have way through the last border trilogy book because as the wife says, "ain't going to have a happy ending".

I also read all of Edward Abbey's stuff when I was knocking around the Canyons and lousy stinking desert in the 90s.

If anyone is into the Southwest, Craig Childs has some excellent books.

Blood Meridian is tough going. The violence in that book is mind boggling. I really enjoyed Sutree. I would also add anything by Flannery O'Connor is great. I reread most of Hemingway's short stories over the summer...still great. It is odd to me that Hemingway is now an underrated writer. I do enjoy reading Edward Abbey, although I haven't read too much of it. I'll have to check out Craig Childs.

"House of Rain" by Childs is a covers the Anasazi and where they probably went. I really enjoyed that as we had been to many sites. We also stopped at the Chimney Rock site in CO which was probably built to observe the lunar stand still.

Charles Bowden is another Southwestern author I enjoy. Similar to Abbey, but a little darker and very moody.

[Joe Sr.]

Blood Meridian is tough going. The violence in that book is mind boggling. I really enjoyed Sutree.

No doubt on Blood Meridian.  It was the first McCarthy book I read, though, so it stands out to me.  Read it on the beach in Hilton Head one summer. Light summer fare.  Sutree is good.  I also enjoyed the Orchard Keeper, but for the life of me I can't recall the narrative.  I'll have to go back and re-read it.

Like Jeff said, don't expect happy endings.

I will look for Craig Childs.  I've got stack I'm working through right now.  Peter Matheissen, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and some Henning Mankell.  I only get to read for a bit after the kids go to bed, so it's slow going.

[morticaixavier]

forget all that spy stuff. you should read everything Douglas Adams wrote, then everything Terry Pratchett wrote, then everything Neal Gaiman wrote. If you want something more 'serious' hit Asimov up. The Foundation series has all the intrigue and spy story stuff one could want and it's effing brilliant.

Man, I hate that I can't find Douglas Adam's funny. But Hitchhiker's Guide just isn't funny to me. And I've given it a lot of shots, all the way back to the BBC broadcast in the late 70's/Early 80's. I'll grant you that it is very silly. Just not very funny. Least, not to me.

oh those radio and early BBC tv versions were super tacky. DA is one of those love em or hate em types of authors for sure.

[majorvices]

Yeah, I read the books too. On fact, I read it one in early 20s and once in late 30s when someone convinced me to give it another shot. I think I liked the radio show much better. But then again I was 10.

[pete b]

I don't read a lot of fiction. The last few years I've been into biographies. I love history but don't always want to read a straight up history book (although I often do, I'm reading a book about how the Renaissance evolved out of the Dark Ages right now. Boy, the Popes sure liked their orgies back then). Biographies give a really good account of the time the people lived in but are usually lighter reading than a history book. Only problem is you always know how they will end.
Lately I've read biographies or autobiographies about Jimi Hendrix, William S. Borroughs, Neil Young, Ghengis Khan, Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, Hunter S. Thomson, Marco Polo, John Adams, Keith Richards, Jack Kerouac, Jacob Riis and a few others. They always give me unexpected insights into another time and place but are fun reads usually. Also, if you have never read Angela's Ashes its amazing how something so sad can be told with such good humour.
My favorite reading strictly for entertainment is anything by P.G. Wodehouse, but especially the Jeeves and Bertie Wooster stories.
 

[Slowbrew]

If you are looking for something a bit different, I have to recommend the "Solar Clipper" series by Nathan Lowell.  It looks like a space opera at first glance, but really has very little to do with actually talking about space.  It's basically a memoir of a guy who loses his Mom as a kid and ends up taking a job to get off the planet he's on.  The story is basically "Ismael gets a bad deal and a lucky break".  You see him grow up, find out about himself and become a man with all the failings and insecurities and little everyone goes through.  No big heroes, no super powers, not a tractor beam or transporter in sight.

Very light read but my oldest daughter and I fell in love the books. 

Paul

[case thrower]

It struck me that in all the responses to weasletoe's terrorist novel request, there was not one instance where beer and/or brewing figures into those plots.  After all, this is a brewing forum.  Well, it ain't terrorism, but Tim Powers' The Drawing Of The Dark does have a connection to beer and brewing.  A fantasy novel set in 1529 Vienna, it draws on the Fisher King, King Arthur and Merlin along with several other mythological characters as well as beer to tell a tale about the saving of Western Civilization.  While it is a fantasy novel, the history contained is correct.  In 1529, Vienna was where the advance of Suleiman The Magnificent into Europe was stopped.

[weazletoe]

Looks like this hoopy frood  has some reading to do. As soon as I find my towel, that is.

[morticaixavier]

Looks like this hoopy frood  has some reading to do. As soon as I find my towel, that is.

so not a DNA virgin then eh?

if you haven't already discovered them I think you'll enjoy Pratchett and Gaimen

[yugamrap]

Looks like this hoopy frood  has some reading to do. As soon as I find my towel, that is.

Don't overlook the two Dirk Gently books Adams wrote - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency; and The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul.  I actually like them more than the 5-book Hitchhiker's trilogy.

[jeffy]

Did anybody get a chance to hear "Neverwhere" on BBC radio yet?  The first episode was Monday and it is supposed to be available to download for a week.  I need to figure out how to do that.

[69franx]

Looks like this hoopy frood  has some reading to do. As soon as I find my towel, that is.

Don't overlook the two Dirk Gently books Adams wrote - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency; and The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul.  I actually like them more than the 5-book Hitchhiker's trilogy.

Just picking up on your name. I spent 15 years between lakewood and Rocky River and always felt like there was no good way to get to Parma easily. Really thought thus might be the year the Clowns could do something, obviously I was wrong. Stuck watching Bengals games down here, feel like a traitor but no Cleveland  coverage. Maybe next year