If you had $200 to blow on books... (1 Viewer)

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jhakka

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If you had $200 to blow on books from a place like, say... Borders, what books would you buy? (Read: I have $200 to blow on books from Borders and need help!)

Keep in mind that a paperback is roughly $20 RRP, and I don't know what a trade paperback or hardcover would cost (since I don't usually buy them). That leaves me with 10 or so books to buy.

Suggestions? And if not suggestions for me (20 years old, male, tends to like fantasy but branches into other stuff on reccomendation), what would you get for yourself?

$200 worth of books ladies and gents.
 

Emma-Jayde

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What a big question :D
I guess this list would be a combination of books I've read, want or have been recommended to me. All of which I base suggestions to everybody on.
And not knowing exactly what you've read...
  • If you enjoy Magician, there's Silverthorn and A Darkenss at Sethanon that follow directly after it.
  • Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
  • Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Cycle
  • George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire
  • Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn and Otherland series'
  • Two books I bought my partner for Christmas looked interesting. One was History's Greatest Scandals: Shocking Stories of Powerful People by Ed Wright and the other was History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them by Stephen Weir
  • I've recently read a few Tom Holt books, which I thought were quite good. Terry Pratchett/Douglas Adams style.
  • Thomas Harris books. I don't usually read much other than fantasy, but I like these, especially the Hannibal Lecter ones.

And I know you've read others I'd normally suggest, so I won't worry with those :p

More might come to mind later. But that's it for now.
 
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jhakka

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There are a couple in there that I have actually been meaning to read for a while now (mainly the Otherland ones, but a couple of the Feist ones too). I have read Ludlum's Hannibal books and I think they are awesome. Have to wait a year for Hannibal Rising to come out in paperback, though. :(

Just for my own reference, a couple of books I'd like to look into (and have not read for some strange reason):
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Catch 22 by Joseph Heller


And a couple that are more for novelty than anything else:
  • Great Lies to Tell Small Kids by Andy Riley
  • Loads More Lies to Tell Small Kids by Andy Riley
 

aussiechica7

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Hey,
Don't buy any books you can borrow from the library unless for some reason you really want your own copy (i.e. no "to kill a mockingbird", etc.) I'd look at books that have won prizes (pulitzer, nobel, etc.) and go from there. Maybe just go in, read a few pages and see if you like it and can't get it at the library, buy it. Oh, and no chick flick trash. That stuff doesn't even deserve to exist. I am completely against totalitarianism, but if I ever got to run the place, chick flick trash would be the first thing to go.
 

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jhakka said:
Just for my own reference, a couple of books I'd like to look into (and have not read for some strange reason):
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
READ CATCH 22!! Funniest book ever!! (that, and you'll actually find out what a 'Catch-22' is - instead of having to rely on other people's crap explanations)

Also, try The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; I just read it, its really good :)

Or you could always read The Communist Manifesto - just to say you've read it, really
 

^CoSMic DoRiS^^

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jhakka said:
There are a couple in there that I have actually been meaning to read for a while now (mainly the Otherland ones, but a couple of the Feist ones too). I have read Ludlum's Hannibal books and I think they are awesome. Have to wait a year for Hannibal Rising to come out in paperback, though. :(

Just for my own reference, a couple of books I'd like to look into (and have not read for some strange reason):
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Catch 22 by Joseph Heller


And a couple that are more for novelty than anything else:
  • Great Lies to Tell Small Kids by Andy Riley
  • Loads More Lies to Tell Small Kids by Andy Riley
To Kill A Mockingbird and Catch 22 are both awesome. <3 ... although, I never did finish Catch 22. I got up to like chapter 41 and just...never finished it. Whoopsie.
 
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^CoSMic DoRiS^^ said:
To Kill A Mockingbird and Catch 22 are both awesome. <3 ... although, I never did finish Catch 22. I got up to like chapter 41 and just...never finished it. Whoopsie.
OMG I'm in the same situation as you! Never finished Catch-22...I wasn't really fully drawn into it, so I picked up a different book (I usually have 2 or 3 book interests round the same time)...The Time Traveller's Wife. It may not be your cup of tea, a bit too girly, but it's definitely fantasy-ish...it is written both from male and female perspectives.

I'm reading An Instance of the Fingerposts at the moment. It has slightly dry bits but on the whole it's really good, and it's probably more boyish.

OH and lest I forget, if you don't own any of the Harry Potter books, now would be a good time to complete your collection in time for HPDH's release :)
 

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stella8h8chang said:
OMG I'm in the same situation as you! Never finished Catch-22...I wasn't really fully drawn into it, so I picked up a different book (I usually have 2 or 3 book interests round the same time)...The Time Traveller's Wife. It may not be your cup of tea, a bit too girly, but it's definitely fantasy-ish...it is written both from male and female perspectives.

I'm reading An Instance of the Fingerposts at the moment. It has slightly dry bits but on the whole it's really good, and it's probably more boyish.

OH and lest I forget, if you don't own any of the Harry Potter books, now would be a good time to complete your collection in time for HPDH's release :)
It seems that noone can finish Catch 22 first go... I only know 2 people that have (me included) yet everyone agrees that its a really good book...:confused:
 

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the leader said:
It seems that noone can finish Catch 22 first go... I only know 2 people that have (me included) yet everyone agrees that its a really good book...:confused:
i read it in one go.
it's a brilliant book, how can you resist reading it?
 

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You could try reading the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, and if you have, try readin the Ellie Chronicles. They're pretty good to read.
 

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i would buy 20 penguin classics to line my bookshelf and flick through them occasionally.
 

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walrusbear said:
i read it in one go.
it's a brilliant book, how can you resist reading it?
lol. i remember i misplaced my copy right near the end...got distracted by another book, found catch 22 again but i'd forgotten half of what had happened before i stopped reading and i just really didnt feel like reading it allllllllll again, as awesome as it is.
hmmm this is making me want to go find it and read it again.
 

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i didnt know any1 had read the ellie chronicals, i havent even managed to get ahold of all the tomorrow books to read, vbut the first ellie book was ok
 

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I'd buy a bunch of poker books since I'm really into poker right now. But if I was to recommend anything, I'd say perhaps the Wheel of Time series or the A Song of Ice and Fire books.
 

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