Howdy

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

Hey there, just wanted to say hi and give you a clue who the new weird guy is on your Friends page. I'm Dan, as you may have figured out. I'm a pretty sporadic reader; sometimes I'll read 15 books in a month and sometimes I'll go a year without reading anything. I've been in a bit of a reading mode lately but I'm also working full-time and taking full-time graduate classes (forensic accounting), so I don't have as much time to read as I would like. Things I like to read include:

• Classics
- Most of my all-time favorites are classics (Catch 22, 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Jude the Obscure, Grapes of Wrath). I can't read them back to back to back to back because sometimes I want something a little 'lighter" but I do enjoy them.

• Sci-fi
- I enjoy sci-fi, but I read so much of it as a kid (that's what my Dad was into so that's what was around) that I'm kind of a little tired of it. I've read just about everything by Robert Heinlein, I like the Ringworld stuff, never got into Asimov. I still enjoy a bit of sci-fi but I'm kind of burned out on it.

• Murder-mystery
- This is something I got into fairly recently. I've read just about everything by Steve Martini, and I've read a few classics in the genre, but not a ton. I tried James Patterson and was not a fan.

• Fantasy
- If I'm a little burned out on sci-fi, I'm totally sick of fantasy. I know this can be said about every genre, but fantasy books really are all the same. Once you've read a dozen or so there's no need to read more. I'll read some more fantasy if it's really something amazing but other than that I'm done with it.

And hey, I'm always looking for good recommendations, so let me know if you've got an idea! Really, I'm not interested in any particular genre, I just want to read some great books. Thanks. And thanks for having me in the community.

Comments

[moredetails.livejournal.com]

Yay! Welcome, Dan. :D Great intro. And I know you're good at taking recommendations because you've read a lot of things just because I've suggested them! I hope you can get some good ideas from the community.

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Me too : )

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

As I was reading what you said about sci-fi, a thought came to mind ... have you ever read anything by Connie Willis? Some people classify her as sci-fi, some as sci-fi/fantasy, but I have a hard time labeling her books because they seem to me to be very unique. Her work varies, with some being middling-okay and some downright outstanding. My highest recommendations would be for Bellweather (more scientifically based), To Say Nothing of the Dog (sci-fi/historical but with humor the style of Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, which is where the title comes from) and Doomsday Book (sci-fi/historical). Which would appeal to you most depends on your reading personality, really; each one is so different.

The second and third both involve time travel, but in a different way than any other time travel book I've read - and I love time travel, so I read most of them. :)

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

You had me at "time travel"

I'm a huge sucker for time travel and alternate dimensions. Anything that involves those subjects is probably going to hook me : ) I will...never mind, I just did put a hold on To Say Nothing of the Dog : ) Maybe I should have waited because I have a couple books ahead of it, but there are a few holds on it before me, so it should be ok.

Thank you very much for the rec! I'll let you know what I think of it.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

*high five* A fellow time-travel enthusiast! To Say Nothing of the Dog is a bit of a mad-cap adventure; if that doesn't quite suit your taste do try Doomsday Book, which is a more serious book but involves the same sort of time travel. I won't claim it to be unique, but it's unique among all the time travel books I've read, at least. :)

On the alternate universe type books, have you read anything by Harry Turtledove? Or ... let's see, there's one called Century Rain I remember liking, although I can't remember the author.

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

*high five*

I haven't read any of those books you mentioned. I will add them to the ever-growing list. Have you read the Across Real Time books by Vernor Vinge? They have a very cool, unique take on time traveling. There are two books, the first is The Peace Wars and the second is Marooned in Real Time. They are collected in the Across Real Time release. Very good reads, especially the second one.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you joined! :)

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Never heard of those! I'll see if I can find them somewhere. And as a side note - I love The United States of Arugula. ;)

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

So I have started To Say Nothing of the Dog! I also recently joined Goodreads and while I was scrolling through there I saw Three Men in a Boat and I figured, "well it must be fate" so I reserved that too : )

I'm only 60 or 70 pages in so far, but I like it. Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I'll keep you updated : )

Hey, are you on Goodreads? I'd love to add you as a friend there! : )

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I sure do! I just friended you there. :)

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

Awesome! And I have returned the favor : ) Looks like we have pretty agreeable taste in books too!