# Book Advice - need answer moderately fast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943 "2008-07-28T17:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943/21 "2008-08-03T04:54:58Z")
I just finished _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ by Audrey Niffenegger, and really enjoyed it. A time travel romance/drama; very powerful and thought-provoking. My two favorite Stephen King books are _Salem’s Lot_ (vampires in a small Maine town) and _Misery_ (a famous author is held captive by his unhinged and deeply scary “number one fan”). Both very different but very readable. Other than his _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series, my favorite George R.R. Martin book is _Tuf Voyaging_, a collection of interrelated short stories about a down-at-his-heels space merchant who unexpectedly finds himself master of an extremely powerful military starship, and decides to go into business solving planetary crises - usually on his own terms. A wonderful mix of satire, SF, political commentary and ecological cautionary tales. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943/22 "2008-08-03T08:44:34Z")
_The Swarm_ by Frank Schätzing should keep you from wanting to make a crash dive in the ocean . . . (Thick tome, at the same time interesting, creepy and hilarious) The Dark Tower by Stephen King should keep you fed with words for a few months. If you need something Sci-Fi, there’s always Peter F. Hamilton’s Pandora’s Star / Judas Unchained books. Well worth reading - great, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943/23 "2008-08-04T12:46:16Z")
My local bookstore had a somewhat limited selection, and seems to have a positive aversion to getting the first book of the series, or the first book an author writes. After reading blurbs and weighing the available choices, I wound up getting Bartimaeus and a Robert Littell. I read them both on the flight (It makes you realize how big Canada is, when you can read two books, a magazine, watch a movie and have a nap while crossing it. ) and enjoyed them both very much. Now that I’m in a bigger city, with more bookstores, I’ll keep the rest of the suggestions for later. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943/24 "2008-08-04T12:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Attack from the 3rd dimension] After reading blurbs and weighing the available choices, I wound up getting Bartimaeus and a Robert Littell. [/QUOTE] Glad you got something to keep you going. It sucks when you are stuck on a flight with nothing to read - that’s why I pretty much weigh the book, check the margin size, font size etc. before making a decision. Out of curiousity - which Littell did you get? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943/25 "2008-08-04T14:06:06Z")
[QUOTE=Surok] Glad you got something to keep you going. It sucks when you are stuck on a flight with nothing to read - that’s why I pretty much weigh the book, check the margin size, font size etc. before making a decision. Out of curiousity - which Littell did you get? [/QUOTE] The only one they had was Walking Back the Cat which sounds like a Dopername. I’m going to go by the library soon, since my kids tell me it looks like a greek temple, so I may get The Company then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-advice-need-answer-moderately-fast/457943.md?page=1)