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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   2583 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 21, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Hey, can we get a specific book recommendation thread?

I've been reading too much politics and philosophy and history; I need some Arts and Sciences in there.

I've been going over my copy of The Art of Fermentation; which is a fairly comprehensive pass over world fermentation traditions and a recommended read of your are interested in food history; or want to try some weird ferments of your own.

I'm interested in fiction written after 1980, preferably not sci-fi/fantasy, if anyone has any weird or obscure recommendations.

Not that Iain Banks is obscure but his non-SF novels are iirc less well known but also quite good.

I'm guessing you've read them. Anyway:

My favorite's probably The Crow Road, Complicity and Wasp Factory. The others are good too. Song of Stone is relentlessly depressing and kinda pretentious, if you're squeamish or easily disturbed, give it a pass.

Alt history, but without any SF elements: I much enjoyed S.M.Stirling's 'Under the Yoke'. It's competently written, has a good post-apocalyptic in which an unholy mix of Roman Republic, Taylorism and Sparta is putting the dead European civilization out of its misery in the aftermath of a rather bleaker alternate WW2. Apart from a good dose of S&M which left me cold, It's notable for the author passing the ideological Turing test so convincingly half of the readers think he is some sort of far-right nutcase when Stirling is a garden variety classical liberal.

I’ve enjoyed my brief brush with Lindsay Davis’ “Marcus Didius Falco” series. Vespasian-era Rome as viewed by a cynical, wisecracking private eye. Genuinely hilarious.

This one is sci-fi-fantasy-ish but I highly recommend The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. It is the most unique book I've ever read.

Colleen McCullough’s Rome series might be what you’re after.

Seconded, absolutely love those novels.

Is Mason & Dixon obscure enough? It's pretty absurd, or at least I found it funny. Is Murakami too fantasy? Wild Sheep Chase is my favorite but it's 3rd in a series so maybe not the best entry, perhaps Wind Up Bird Chronicle?

Wind Up Bird Chronicle was my favorite book for years. Really resonated, and I don't know why. Really took off at Lieutenant Mamiya's story. It definitely has fantastical elements though.

After the Quake is a very good book of his short stories, if you've never read it.

Oh I'll keep my eye out for that one. I get all my Murakami at a big used book store, it's always a treat when a new title is there.

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