If I have studied the entrails of this pelican correctly, and if scholars are correct in that the Seal of Baal-Ashtoreth has finally split in twain, that means it is my birthday. I am, by all reports, “no longer young,” but also, “not quite old,” which means I’m “middle-aged.”
I’ll buy my sports car next year.
For this year, I’ll buy myself a book.
Because books and birthdays go together like chocolate and more chocolate.
So: recommend to me a book you liked that you read recently.
Please do not recommend your own books because this is not that time.
Paul Baughman says:
Happy Day!
recent, fantasy: A Turn of Light by Julie Czerneda. I reviewed it here: http://pbaughman.com/blog/?p=142
not so recent, Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Katie MacAlister
April 22, 2013 — 7:33 AM
Karen Rought says:
Happy birthday!
I’m currently reading 17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma and it’s fantastic. Very creepy, wonderful mystery, and superb writing. Hope you’ll check it out!
April 22, 2013 — 7:40 AM
JD Savage says:
Orcs by Stan Winston. The whole series. Good pacing, nice treatment of violent action, great story telling from the Orcs’ point of view.
April 22, 2013 — 7:47 AM
Leifthesailor says:
Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut was good.
April 22, 2013 — 7:52 AM
shakyground says:
Happy birthday. I think “Spooner” by Pete Dexter packs quite a whallop. Enjoy.
April 22, 2013 — 7:55 AM
Oz says:
“The Last Werewolf” by Glen Duncan. Well-written werewolf stories with an ass-kicking plot are hard to come by; this is one of the shining few.
April 22, 2013 — 7:56 AM
Zee says:
Happy Birthday! i just finished Amped by Daniel H Wilson. quite good!
April 22, 2013 — 7:58 AM
mark matthews says:
I’m halfway through with ‘Pain Cage’, by Paul Kane, and it’s highly recomended. I’m suspcious Paul Kane is your alternate pen name.
April 22, 2013 — 8:01 AM
Matt Billock says:
Neal Stephenson – Anathem. It’s an interesting play on language, as his books usually are, but also engrossing despite being obtuse in some places
April 22, 2013 — 8:14 AM
Laith Shriam says:
Happy Birthday. I just finished The Darkening Dream. It’s a really cool vampire story mixed with lots of how magic might work if it was based off of real world beliefs. The plot comes together very neatly as well.
April 22, 2013 — 8:18 AM
Tymber Dalton says:
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson. It’s the first of the Walt Longmire series that the TV show is based on. Warning: they’re more addictive than potato chips. I’m up to book 6 now. The TV series is full of awesome, and the books are like dark-chocolate-covered bacon-infused awesome.
April 22, 2013 — 8:24 AM
Tymber Dalton says:
Oh, and happy birthday, of course. 🙂
April 22, 2013 — 8:25 AM
Kathy Holzapfel says:
Sleeping With Schubert by Bonnie Marson. Modern-day New York lawyer finds herself inhabited by composer Franz Schubert. Funny, haunting, brilliant. (Even as I type, Ave Maria plays in my head.)
April 22, 2013 — 8:25 AM
Axl T says:
A Canadian classic: Timothy Findlay’s Not Wanted on the Voyage.
On my list of books I’d like to see adapted to a screenplay.
April 22, 2013 — 8:26 AM
Belly Peterson says:
For your birthday, I’d recommend The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle. Lazy cops drop guy off at mental wing of a hospital because it’s less paperwork. A series of mishaps make it so the guy gets trapped there for quite some time. Also, there is a bison-headed old man terrorizing the inmates.
April 22, 2013 — 8:30 AM
Bill Griggs says:
I suggest “Prince of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence. It’s gritty, nasty, and imho really brings something different to the Fantasy Genre. Pretty rough, but that’s a lot of what I like about it!
April 22, 2013 — 8:37 AM
mae says:
The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom.
April 22, 2013 — 8:48 AM
brittney williams says:
Happy Birthday!
I would recommend I Hunt Killers and its sequel Game by. Barry Lyga. Great YA Mystery/Murder Thriller novel.
April 22, 2013 — 8:52 AM
Kait Nolan says:
Short and sweet if you like steampunk, Lindsay Buroker’s Flashgold Chronicles are a delightful romp. Happy birthday!
April 22, 2013 — 8:56 AM
afterretirement says:
Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes is an excellent book which might be age appropriate although I am not sure exactly what middle age means in the US. Hope you enjoy if you choose to read it.
April 22, 2013 — 9:02 AM
Shawn Raiford says:
Sup Chuck! Feliz cumpleanos!
The Straw Men by Michael Marshall, first of three.
April 22, 2013 — 9:03 AM
Cat York says:
Happy Birthday!! Welcome to the middle ages. Pick your creaky body part at the door.
My kids and I all read “Wonder” this month. It’s an MG book that is really a for anyone book. I cried about 7 different times. I dare you to try to make it though without getting misty. It’s a quick read, so you should buy it along with anything else you buy. 😉
(and save it for when Bdub goes to middle school)
April 22, 2013 — 9:04 AM
Patrick Regan says:
Happy birthday, another celebration of the slow, unstoppable slide towards entropy that we all face.
Try the Quantum Thief! Excellent Sci-fi, drops you RIGHT in the middle of an excellent space heist (although it could use a glossary).
April 22, 2013 — 9:04 AM
writeontex says:
If you’re looking for something a little literary set in post human, post deluge New Orleans I’d suggest The Not Yet by Moira Crone.
April 22, 2013 — 9:09 AM
Mlinn says:
Happy birthday, good sir! May your glass be ever full of that whiskey lifeblood goodness.
Regarding books for your birthday, I turn to Robin Hobb’s Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies when treating myself. I find returning to the novels at different stages in my life fulfilling in that I bring different life experiences to the book at hand and leave with meaning that is enhanced and/or different from what I’d taken from it previously. This is likey true with any novel you pick up, but I find her work particularly suited for this type of introspection.
April 22, 2013 — 9:19 AM
Travis Cole says:
The Devil’s Cape, Rob Rogers. The dark super hero book is awash in amazing imagery.
April 22, 2013 — 9:30 AM
Terri Herrington says:
Happy Birthday! I haven’t read any of these obscure fantasy/sci fi novels yet but there are a few I’m going to try to track down.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2013/04/the_top_ten_fantasy_sci-fi_or_horror_novels_youve.php
April 22, 2013 — 9:30 AM
Randy Brooks says:
The Devil All the Time. Great great characters. Nuff said.
April 22, 2013 — 9:32 AM
Laura Libricz says:
Happy birthday! I mentioned this writer here once before and I have since had the pleasure of meeting him in Amsterdam: Martyn Halm. He writes the Amsterdam Assassin Series, suspense novels featuring free-lance assassin Katla Sieltjes. http://amsterdamassassin.wordpress.com/
April 22, 2013 — 9:34 AM
adstarrling says:
Perfection Unleashed by Jade Kerrion. Oh and Happy Burp Day man!
April 22, 2013 — 9:39 AM
Johann Thorsson says:
Well…. if you have not read Daniel Woodrell’s Bayou Trilogy you need to do so now.
Also: Alden Bell’s The Reapers Are The Angels sounds like it might be the sort of thing you’d like.
Have a happy birthday, you foul-mouthed writer-demon.
April 22, 2013 — 9:40 AM
deadlyeverafter says:
Simon R. Green’s Drood series. Do this thing. Thank me later.
–Julie
April 22, 2013 — 9:41 AM
LMcCJ says:
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff — read it with cake and coffee.
April 22, 2013 — 9:42 AM
Lisa (@EffingRainbow) says:
Happy birthday! My recommendation would be Gemsigns, by Stephanie Saulter. Thoroughly interesting and stunningly good sci-fi debut. I reviewed it here: http://overtheeffingrainbow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/gemsigns-evolution-1_1.html
April 22, 2013 — 9:42 AM
crossedstars says:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. You may not have read this, and if you haven’t you should. If you have, then you should read it again. 🙂
April 22, 2013 — 9:42 AM
Misa Buckley says:
Um, last book I read was “It’s Not Rocket Science” by Ben Miller. It’s worth a shot if you’re hankering for a little light-hearted non-fiction.
Currently reading “The Good, the Bad and the Infernal” by Guy Adams. Yes, my bookshelves are somewhat eclectic…
April 22, 2013 — 9:43 AM
Shannon says:
Nameless by Lili St.Crow
April 22, 2013 — 9:43 AM
grimgorothRob Hall says:
Soulless by Gail Carriger. A very steam punky, Victorian, Urban Fantasy book with a strong female protagonist. Vampire, Werewolves, and proper British Society, what isn’t to love!
April 22, 2013 — 9:44 AM
Ruth Ross says:
I’ve been reading science fiction and fantasy for more than 45 years. Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, has the best, most beguiling first chapters I have ever read. So far, he is on a par with Game of Thrones, and those first chapters are even better than Thrones. And, if you haven’t read Lois McMaster Bujold’s treatise on leadership in the form of Miles Vorkosigan, have a look. Applied intelligence has never been this enjoyable.
Best wishes for your birthday.
April 22, 2013 — 9:45 AM
rebeccadouglass says:
Those first chapters were great, but by the middle I was bored to tears and never finish the book. People seem to either love it or say “Meh” though, so it’s hard to say
April 22, 2013 — 10:48 AM
LaMinda says:
Happy Birthday! “Parasite Rex” by Carl Zimmer. Because PARASITES.
April 22, 2013 — 9:46 AM
Diana Sousa (@DianaSousaBooks) says:
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. Great story and amazing writing.
April 22, 2013 — 9:47 AM
freda johnson says:
Just readThe Zero by Jess Walter and it blew me away. Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great day and there’s cake. 🙂
April 22, 2013 — 9:48 AM
Renee Martin says:
If you have not read it, I recommend The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper. It’s horror and so very good. i had to stop reading it once it got dark because it scared me witless.
April 22, 2013 — 9:48 AM
Paula says:
Happy birthday! I’d recommend The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen. Just writing the title makes me want to read it again. Also anything by Walter Mosley or Dashiell Hammett.
April 22, 2013 — 9:48 AM
mmtz says:
Another year another age spot. Happy Birthday! I just finished reading Paul Cornell’s _London Falling_ which is a gut churning police procedural with one foot in a very different London underworld.
April 22, 2013 — 9:51 AM
Cassandra Neace says:
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is my current favorite. It was completely unexpected and completely lovely – in a kind of gruesome everyone dies in an air raid over and over again kind of way.
It’s pretty awesome.
Also happy birthday. Where were you on mine?
April 22, 2013 — 9:52 AM
Karen Klink says:
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. “It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured.” Not dark fantasy, but the real thing.
April 22, 2013 — 9:53 AM
Adrian Smith says:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
Happy Birthday Chuck!
April 22, 2013 — 9:53 AM
partlowspool says:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, because so many people hated the ending but I think you’re twisted enough to appreciate it. Also her first, Sharp Objects, which has stuck with me years after I read it. I heard her second book is also wonderful, but haven’t read that one. Yet. Just bought it yesterday.
April 22, 2013 — 9:58 AM
Luke Matthews says:
Recent(ish): I enjoyed Nick Harkaway’s The Gone Away World.
Not-At-All-Recent: I grew up on Eddings’s The Belgariad. Still some of my favorite fantasy.
April 22, 2013 — 10:00 AM