# Recommend Omni a Book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590 "2006-04-21T07:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/1 "2006-04-21T07:56:30Z")
Before I get down to it, lemme give a little background on me. I was the kid in school who hated reading, I have a wide collection of Cliff’s Notes for so called “literature” assigned in school. It just never took. A few years back, some of you may recall, a little movie called _Lord of the Rings_ was made by this strange hairy dude. Needless to say, I enjoyed it and was inspired to read the source material. That lead me down the road of discovering the fun in reading, though largely pop culture books Ill never enjoy that Victorian shit from school. Now, having just finished _Angels and Demons_, I’m stuck without any ideas of what to read next. I’m hoping you folks can give me suggestions on what else to read, and to give you ideas of my tastes I’ll list the books I’ve read over the last couple years and give my impressions of them. Feels free to ignore it, but as anyone who knows my posting style can tell I tend to ramble as if people care what I have to say. The books I’ve read, in order: _The Lord of The Rings_ - I don’t think there’s much need to elaborate on this. Great book, I’m thoroughly entrenched in fanboy territory now. Plowed through them all in the span of a couple months without a break or loss of interest. **Grade: A+** _The Hobbit_ - See above. **Grade: A** _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_ - Great page turner, plowed through this book quickly and enjoyed it enough to read all the rest of the books. Apparently this fantasy stuff works for me. **Grade: B** _Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets_ - Not as good as the first but still enjoyable. **Grade: B-** _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ - Best book of the series so far, IMHO. **Grade: B+** _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ - the books are getting longer and more in depth in regards to the character development and interpersonal relationships. It’s working for me. **Grade: B+** _The Silmarillon_ - Ran out of HP books at this point and being unable to decide what else to read I went back to the well, it helped that the second LOTR movie was breaking getting me back in the Tolkien mindset. Frankly, this book was a bit of a struggle to read. It’s not a cohesive story involving many characters, non-linear timelines and some of the most cumbersome language you can imagine. Still liked the genre and details, but it tried my patience to say the least. **Grade: C** _Band of Brothers_ - Finally broke out of the fantasy genre (though still stuck in the TV/movie adaptation groove) and read this book which the amazing HBO series was based on. I’d have to say it was outstanding, even better than the series. The author did an excellent job of putting you in the shoes of the soldiers and building drama without getting too bogged down in the minutiae of battle tactics and weepy melodrama. **Grade: A-** _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ - Count me as those who think Rowling’s books are improving as she goes along. This book was as dramatic as any save for the giant Deus Ex Machina at the end. **Grade: B+** _The Annotated Sherlock Holmes_ - This one was actually inspired by one of our very own Straight Dope Advisory Board members. This work was cited in a Staff Report and I went to great efforts to track it down on E-bay. I suppose this was where I decided to start digging back in to supposed “classic” books. I really enjoyed the stories, but by the end they got repetitive and more than a little contrived. **Grade: B-** _Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince_ - This was another solid effort, a quick read and an excellent continuation. Most of you have read it and know exactly what you’re getting here. **Grade: B** _The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth_ - Very much the same response as _The Silmarillon_. The stories are more self-contained, but less complete (no shock). I slightly less challenging read but the emotion and concept are less clearly developed. **Grade: B-** _The Hunt For Red October_ - I really enjoyed this book. I’m aware of it’s flaws and I have the engineering background to decipher techno-babble when I see it but I can’t say I found this story to suffer as a result of it. I’m told this is Clancy’s best novel, however I still think I’m interested in digesting more of his work. **Grade: B+** _Steven King’s The Stand_ - I didn’t know what to expect as I walked into this Complete and Uncut Edition and I decided to poll the SDMB faithful for opinions relative to the original incarnation of this book. The consensus was that the Uncut version was good in it’s own way, but that King tends to be wordy when it’s not needed. All in all, I agree but I loved it for what it was. Great book from front to back. If this is his best work, I’m sure I’d enjoy many of his other works. **Grade: A** _The Da Vinci Code_ - I knew the movie was expected to be in theaters this summer and I figured I’d better read the much discussed book before seeing the film. I was aware of the criticism before reading it, and frankly that’s what slowed my interest. I found all those critique’s accurate and well put. The story was interesting with decent characters bur Dan Brown is just a crappy author who needs and editor. The facts are pretty loose and the story suffers from a lot of artistic license. Still, it was a decent read if you treat it as a garbage writing. Call it the guy version of a romance novel. **Grade: C** _Angels and Demons_ - Clearly for all of the previous book’s flaws it was good enough to get me to investigate it’s predecessor. The same flaws are apparent in this book, but frankly the loopholes might be a little less gaping in this book. I found the characters just a little bit better in this one and the story was more predictable, so on balance it was just as mediocre as the first. **Grade: C** So, there we have it. I’m leaning towards reading _The Watchmen_ next just out of interest in the Alan Moore buzz following the _V for Vendetta_ movie (which I loved). I presume if the graphic novel format works for me I’ll try that book as well. Also, I’ve recently gotten a bit of a fetish for the _Myst_ games and might indulge in the books based of that storyline. Of course, I’ve only scratched the surface of the Steven King and Tom Clancy libraries, but I’ve been told that the ones I chose are the best of the list. Follow up reads are requested. I’m still interested in the fantasy genre, but I know nothing about the lesser names. I’m not snotty about “high” literature versus disposable page turners, clearly I can find enjoyment in all types of book. Anything you folks can suggest would be welcome. There certainly are entire genres I’ve not even scratched the surface of so I’m hoping you guys will flood me with suggestions of you favorite books keeping me busy for the next year or so. Feel free to offer anything you found compelling regardless of if it fits with the profile I’ve laid out. Still, the books I’ve chosen so far have all been as good or better than expected so I feel comfortable with each authors mentioned. I’ll be eagerly awaiting your suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/2 "2006-04-21T12:30:51Z")
Ooh, a blank slate. I recommend digging into Tim Powers or Neil Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/3 "2006-04-21T13:02:58Z")
C.S. Lewis _The Chronicles of Narnia_ (Start with The Lion…) also by Lewis but totally different _Till We Have Faces_ and the Space Trilogy- _Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength_ ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/4 "2006-04-21T13:10:04Z")
Get a newer translation of The Count of Monte Cristo. It sounds to me like you’re ready for some greater woppers than has hit in the last 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/5 "2006-04-21T13:13:30Z")
[Bride Of The Rat God](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345381017/sr=1-1/qid=1145625117/ref=sr_1_1/104-9607823-9818313?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) --a fun little Pulp Adventure/Dark Fantasy tale about Silent Era Hollywood. Quite well written, really. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/6 "2006-04-21T13:22:44Z")
Is there some reason that you’ve only books that are made into films? I ask because, in general, I don’t think that this is a good system for choosing which books to read. Great books don’t tend to make great movies. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/7 "2006-04-21T13:23:56Z")
“you’ve only books” should be “you’ve only read books”. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/8 "2006-04-21T13:24:03Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > Ooh, a blank slate. I recommend digging into Tim Powers or Neil Gaiman. Geeze, why not just drown **Omniscience** in dark beer! That’s very good stuff, but a trifle heavy. Perhaps he’d enjoy [Astra and Flondrix](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394733398/102-8637772-0692925?v=glance&n=283155)? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/9 "2006-04-21T13:25:22Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Geeze, why not just drown **Omniscience** in dark beer! That’s very good stuff, but a trifle heavy. > Perhaps he’d enjoy [Astra and Flondrix](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394733398/102-8637772-0692925?v=glance&n=283155)? Ah, yes. We must only recommend that he read light things such as the Silmarillion. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/10 "2006-04-21T13:38:43Z")
[Illegal Aliens](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587157969/ref=sr_11_1/104-9607823-9818313?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Foglio & Pollatta, is a funny tale about Alien Contact. > [@](#): > > Best-Selling author Nick Pollotta and Hugo award winning illustrator Phil Foglio have packed this one-of-a-kind science fiction comedy full of thrilling combat, nuclear agents, planetary blockades, Omega Gas, the galactic police, Russian-doll-style Dyson spheres, a giant flying refrigerator, big juju, a high-stakes game of poker, space battles, warobots, the trail of the millennium, bar fights, naughty lingerie, lost civilizations, the United Nations Space Marines, lost civilizations, group sex, and delicious fried chicken. [How To Tell Your Friends From The Apes](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156792297X/sr=1-4/qid=1145626582/ref=sr_1_4/104-9607823-9818313?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) by Will Cuppy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/11 "2006-04-21T14:02:54Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor\[How To Tell Your Friends From The Apes](#): > > ([http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156792297X/sr=1-4/qid=1145626582/ref=sr\_1\_4/104-9607823-9818313?\_encoding=UTF8&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156792297X/sr=1-4/qid=1145626582/ref=sr_1_4/104-9607823-9818313?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)) by Will Cuppy. Another Cuppy fan? I thought I might be the last one. I’d recommend How to Attract the Wombat, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, and How to Become Extinct first, then the rest, then digging through ancient microfilm for his book reviews. Cuppy was a rare combination: he was naturally funny, _and_ he worked like hell at it. He’d have been Benchley and Thurber combined, if he hadn’t been so damned depressed. Eventually committed suicide, God rest his soul. Back to the topic. **Omni** , read everything you’ve been told to, but I think right now it’s time for a trip to the non-fiction section. Pick a subject and go. I won’t prescribe for you but I might suggest: for natural history, read Stephen J. Gould; for mathematics, Lancelot Hogben; for civil war history, Bruce Catton; for contemporary journalism, collections of columns by Hiassen or Ivins or whomever you like. Every year a book containing most of the Pulitzer Prize-winners (journalism) comes out: read that. Go to the library and start reading back issues of whatever magazines appeal to you. Make a list of your personal “five coolest people in history” and read their biographies. Have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/12 "2006-04-21T14:27:45Z")
Read The Shining! Read the Shining! In conclusion, read The Shining, by Stephen King. I’m sure you’re going to get overwhelmed by recommendations from everyone, so I’m just going to limit myself to one pick. And that would be The Shining. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/13 "2006-04-21T14:38:42Z")
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Starts with “The Gunslinger”. There are seven books. Wonderful reading. Keep going after book four “Wizard and Glass”. This one kinda drags for me. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/14 "2006-04-21T16:11:26Z")
Why not join our Discworld Reading Club? 😉 Alternately, pick up a copy of Douglas Adam’s _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ trilogy in five parts. I second Neil Gaiman, especially _American Gods_ and _Anansi Boys_, and Guy Gavriel Kay is very good–in the style of LOTR-ish books. _Tigana_ and _A Song for Arbonne_ are my favourites. Alternately, if you’re getting bored with fantasy, take a look at some of the most recent novels to come out. _Memoirs of a Geisha_, _The Kite Runner_, _State of Fear_, _The Five People You Meet in Heaven_, _Seeing_ by Jose Saramago… ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/15 "2006-04-21T16:29:01Z")
I think you should try something a little meatier, like Dumas mentioned abouve (I liked **The Three Musketeers** myself). A recent translation would be eminently readable, and they are great tales. I’ll also suggest **Water Music** by TC Boyle, some historical fiction about the explorer Mungo Park (and others). **Budding Prospects** is also good, and not historical (well somewhat: it’s kind of an artifact from the 70s). For lighter stuff, Carl Hiaasen, Jim Thompson and Elmore Leonard are always fun (crime novels), and if you can find an old copy of **Ninety Two in the Shade** by Thomas McGuane, it is definitely worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/16 "2006-04-21T16:35:52Z")
Omni - How wonderful that you’re enjoying reading!! Keep us updated on your reading adventures. My recommendation: The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle. An absolutely fantastic one-volume fantasy. I’m close to positive that you’ll love it too. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/17 "2006-04-21T16:53:19Z")
If Tolkien’s your idea of a good read, you should be able to find some good recommendations in this [thread on epic fantasies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343945). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/18 "2006-04-21T17:16:51Z")
I’ll bet you’d like Christopher Moore. I haven’t read his more recent stuff but I loved his early books – horror laced with sly humor – Coyote Blue, Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story. If you want to stick with fantasy, you might like Robin Hobb and Lynn Flewelling. They’re good starting points, and then you can move on to George R. R. Martin, Steven Erikson, R. Scott Bakker, etc. – the dark and violent stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/19 "2006-04-21T17:25:10Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > C.S. Lewis _The Chronicles of Narnia_ (Start with The Lion…) > also by Lewis but totally different _Till We Have Faces_ and > the Space Trilogy- _Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength_ I don’t know how I overlooked it (probably the fact that I stopped halfway through that post to go drinking) but I did indeed read the _Chronicles of Narnia_ just before _The Hunt for Red October_. Liked it quite a lot. No where near the quality and scope of Tolkien, but redeeming in it’s own way. FTR, I also read a good chunk of the _9/11 Commission Report_. Not exactly the same ballpark as any of the others mentioned and I can’t say it was a engrossing read. Finally, I also read _Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN’s Sports Guy Found Salvation, With a Little Help From Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank and the 2004 Red Sox_. A non-fiction work that I really enjoyed. Probably doesn’t provide much insight into my tastes since I’m a big fan of his columns, but worth mentioning here for completeness. Geez, get a few beers in me and my memory goes to shit! > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > ``` > Is there some reason that you've only books that are made into films? I ask because, in general, I don't think that this is a good system for choosing which books to read. Great books don't tend to make great movies. > > ``` It’s not a goal of mine or anything, but it certainly works out that way. I’ve got a couple theories as to why it’s been the case. First, I’m just not that well informed about what literature is out there. After 24 years of totally ignoring and avoiding books like a communicable disease you could say my dowsing rod for quality literature leaves quite a lot to be desired. As a result choosing books made into movies provides a pretty easy and failsafe method for choosing books considered popular and which have found a wide audience. I realize good books don’t always make good movies (and vice versa), but I’m pretty good about separating the two works and seeing each for what it is. Secondly, reading books adapted into movies is a quick and easy way get a primer on the content and style of the plot without investing tons of time and effort into reading half of it before discovering it’s not for me. Certainly I don’t expect to maintain the trend, but I also don’t see it as a bad thing either. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590/20 "2006-04-21T17:57:29Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Alternately, pick up a copy of Douglas Adam’s _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ trilogy in five parts. Man, I really screwed the pooch on that OP. I read this one too, inspired by the announcement it was being adapted to film of course. Loved the first couple books, by the end I’d lost interest and the randomness of the comedy got to be a little bit numbing. The movie just didn’t work, naturally, but this is a good example where a movie adaptation led me to a good book. (Not that this book was unknown to me beforehand though, I played the text-based computer games on the old Apple IIe) **The King of Soup** , great suggestion about the non-fiction. I certainly had an inkling to investigate some of that stuff in the past. After reading _Band of Brothers_ I was tempted to find a good, compelling history of WWII. Additionally, I’ve seen recommendations here for a variety of “History of the World” type books that can be quite a fun read, unlike your typical textbook. Any suggestions along these lines would be welcome for certain. **Dung Beetle** and **FilmGeek** , I’m definitely going to dip into more Steven King at some point, considering how much I enjoyed _The Stand_, and there’s certainly _tons_ of choices there. _Dark Tower_ was one of the first to come to mind (though the serial nature is a bit daunting and I’ve heard the ending is a big letdown). _The Shining_ wasn’t one that would normally have been high on my list, granted this could just be because I never really found the movie that interesting. I’ll certainly take a closer look. While at the bookstore yesterday I was scanning the jackets of his books and _Salem’s Lot_ seemed to catch my eye, any opinions on it? To the folks who have mentioned Dumas, I think that’s an excellent suggestion. It’s certainly true that I should probably indulge in some more substantial, classic literature to balance out all the Clancy, King and Brown books I read. _The Count of Monte Cristo_ is going into the queue, care to recommend me a good translation? More than one of you have suggested Neil Gaiman, a name I’ve heard before but know nothing about, so I think I need to track down his section and see what to expect. To everyone who replied, thanks. I’ve already got some excellent suggestions. Incidentally, I bought _The Watchmen_ yesterday out of impatience. It’ll be my first attempt at the graphic novel style and as a kid who never owned a comic book it could go either way. Will probably be a comparatively quick read anyways. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-omni-a-book/353590.md?page=2)