woo hoo book tokens

[mycats]

I got my favourite present this year, loads of book tokens lol
I have �75 to spend in Waterstones and cant wait to get in for a good rummage.
Does anyone have any suggestions what I can buy? I nearly always buy sci-fi and fantasy but have hundreds of them, i'm thinking maybe I could try and branch out a bit

[jamesy boy]

You jammy nowt, as we say round here!
I will recommend 'Carter Beats The Devil' by Glen David Gould, which is a great novel about a stage magician, similar yet different to 'The Prestige' by Christopher Priest, which I also recommend. Read 'Foucault's Pendulum' by Umberto Eco, and see where Dan Brown nicks his ideas from.
Also anything by Christopher Brookmyre (comic thrillers) and Elmore Leonard, who wrote 'Get Shorty', 'Be Cool', and loads of other crime films you didn't realise were books first.

[Joe Shmoe]

I know you want to branch out but before you do save some for the new "Torchwood" related books that are coming out soon and please do read "The portable door" by Tom Holt. I have been recommending that to people for ages. It is the first of the Paul Carpenter trilogy, very funny.
Now for something different . Try The Ruby In The Smoke by Philip Pullman. It is suitable for both adults and children.
Then try something by Maeve Binchy .She is very popular.:-D

[mycats]

Cheers jamesy boy, I am lucky I know lol I'll have a look at those
Hi Joe, I have The portable Door, it is very funny, I like Tom Holt (and I used to have all the Maeve Binchy books when i was younger lol *blush*)

[RATTER15]

You can also use Waterstones vouchers in HMV shops as well, just in case you dont find the book you want.

[Joe Shmoe]

The Ruby In The Smoke has been adapted for television Starring Billie Piper and Julie Walters. It will Be on BBC1 tomorrow night. I'm not sure what time. Perhaps if you watched it it would help you see if you would like the book.:-D

[jno]

ooh yes, I second Carter Beats the Devil, a wonderful read.

[jno]

and any of the Botswana detective stories about Precious Ramotswe; lovely, slow-paced, humorous and thoughtful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_McCall_ Smith

[Hgrove]

I am a fan of Boris Akunin; he has written a no. of detective novels set in the late 19th cent. The main character is the detective Erast Fandorin.

[shaneystar2]

If you want to branch out try the Bryant and May books by Christopher Fowler ,a couple of bumbling detectives stuck in a time warp... and a brilliant book which I have just read is Suite Fran�aise by Ir�ne N�mirovsky. All about the occupation of France during the war .
The Robicheaux books by Jame Lee Burke are good and his White Doves at Morning ,set in the American Civil War is brilliant .
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter might appeal to your sense of fantasy as well ..all about a circus performer who has wings .

[B00]

Hiya cat- did you have a good 'un?

I actually hinted....no wait I lie, I actually told Mr Boo I wanted The Hannah Hauxley autobiography..did I get it? Did I bu88ery!

[dr john]

You've probably already branched out into graphic novels, but if not, no better starting place than 'Watchmen' by Allan Moore & Dave Gibbons (the only graphic novel to win a Hugo award).

Ditto Manga, and 'Akira' by Katsuhiro Otomo (although to buy all 6 volumes you'd need your birthday tokens as well).

[BabsG]

If you want some really exciting adventure type books go for James Rollins. Beats Clive Cussler into a cocked hat.

[JK2]

I can recommend "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian" - Marina Lweycka - (not at all what the title suggests - very funny novel)

Also "the Kite Runner" - Khaled Hosseini - wonderful novel

[mycats]

OK I bought (if anyone cares lol)
"Bang - A complete history of the universe" which is a beautiful hardback book full of amazing photos of space.
"Acorna's Triumph" by Anne McCaffey
The mammoth book of extreme science fiction
Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
anmd As used on the famous nelson mandela" by Mark Thomas - its about the arms trade
I also ordered "The Vor Game" by Lois McMaster Bujold and I still have �18 worth left woo hoo lol

[JK2]

If you don't mind me saying so, you don't seem to have widened your horizons much with this selection mycats.

[mycats]

*blush* I know JK2, i tried honest, but as soon as i got near all those sci-fi and fantasy books, I couldnt help myself lol

[JK2]

Be careful - there are signs of geekyness here! Do something before it's too late.

[mycats]

Hey nothing wrong with being a sci-fi geek lol

[JK2]

I found this definition of a geek as: "a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace -- somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager's room in his parents' house."

[JK2]

Looking at wikipedia though it seems like Geek is not such a derogatory title as it used to be so if I've got you wrong I apologise..