I am a bookworm. I should probably get a t-shirt made up saying as such, but then to look at me it's pretty obvious; I'm a nerd, and there's always a novel sticking out of my bag. A discussion with my bestie earlier brought us to mention our TBR lists, to be read lists, of which mine seems to get longer by the day. This is not helped by Amazon frequently showing me offers on really neat looking literature. So, I'm going to pass on the annoyingness, and try to add to other people's TBR lists, just because I'm in that sort of mood today.
I'm gonna start of by recommending people go read my favourite novel ever; Alexandre Dumas (Pere)'s "The Three Musketeers. Don't look at me like that, it really is my favourite book ever.
Not to be confused with the Three Mouseketeers. Disney has a lot to answer for.
I'm not entirely sure why I love this novel so much. It's written in rather archaic terms, but that's purely for its time. I think I love it because it never tries to be anything it's not, and it has some of the best characters I have come across in literature. Indeed, my own Eva is loosely based on my favourite of all; Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds. Porthos for those of you who can't be bothered looking it up. It is a classic, and it has long been my favourite, so I do recommend you read it.
Now for something a little more modern.
Lord Sykes, as he is to be known, or Sam on occasion, is one of the most fun writers I've come across in a long while (@SamSykesSwears on Twitter, he is good fun to follow). His first novel, Tome of the Undergates, reads a lot like someone took a transcript of my mates and I trying and failing to play a tabletop game; bickering, name-calling, one big-ass fight, and lots to laugh at. And it has this accompanying map:
The characters are fun, and likeable in their own weird ways; they're the good kind of frustrating, the ones you want to shout at, but like too much to do so. The basic plot is an adventure fetch quest and, while interesting, takes a backseat to these characters, and for me at least, this works really well. Characterisation is Sam's strong point. The second book, Black Halo, picks up where TotU leaves off, though with a slightly more introverted lean, which is no less interesting. The third installment, Skyward Sword, is out in the near future (or the distant, depending what mood Amazon is in).
Another author I've fallen in love with lately is the lovely Mark Charan Newton (@MarkCN on the Twittersphere). His name and indeed books were brought to my attention when the awesome folks at Fantasy-faction.com announced they were going to be the read for the September Book Club. The description had me hooked, so I picked up all three (so far) of the series, The Legends of the Red Sun.
The story in the first novel, Nights of Villajamur, really throws you headlong into this mysterious and intriguing city, and it's not-so-charming-at-times inhabitants. I don't want to spoiler it too much, as this novel, plus its sequels, are well, well worth your time reading. Mark very cleverly makes you like certain characters, and want to hate others, all against a gorgeous backdrop of an empire facing an ice age, it's just...I can't think of words to describe how much I love this serious, go get it.
And last, but certainly by no means least, the ever-so-charming Penmonkey in Chief Chuck Wendig. His blog, Terribleminds (http://terribleminds.com/ramble/) is a must read if you have any interest at all about writing, or even if you don't, as it is funny, at times profane, but always incredibly informative. He's a sweet Penmonkey. He's also on Twitter, @ChuckWendig, well worth a follow.
He writes books too. Double Dead, about a vampire having to keep his human food supply alive during the zombie apocalypse, which looks absolutely amazing, is out next month. Cannot. Wait.
I recently bought and devoured his novella, "Shotgun Gravy" too. And I loved it; it's snappy, in your face, and totally what you could imagine teenagers doing. I highly recommend it. Go get it. Now. No procrastinating.
The Penmonkey series and "250 Things You Should Know About Writing" (which actually contains 275 things, either someone was trying to be cool or someone just can't count) are really good fun reads too. I have them on my Android Kindle and amuse myself by reading through parts of them on my breaks at the cleaning job. I think I accidentally learnt something too. Ta dude.
So yeah, those are my recommendations, for the moment at least. I might come back to this in a little while and add to the list, but first, I need to get cracking and read the heck out of the pile I have. Feel free to tell me off if any of these don't live up to your expectations. I might listen, but chances are I won't. :)
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