The Zombie Survival Guide -- because everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, should be prepared for when the zombie apocalypse comes. And believe me, it's coming. Details everything from classifications of outbreaks, care and feeding of your weaponry (as well as do's and don't's for choosing weapons,) what is necessary for the preparation of a proper zombie-proof shelter, and more.

Ubik is a fine piece of mind fuckery from Phillip K. Dick and it might be his best pulp novel, though if you watched any "reality bending" sci-fi flicks made in the last decade you'll notice some blatant "similarities" when reading this book from the 1960s

I know you prefer non-fiction, but regardless i feel i must recommend the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind if you haven't looked into it yet.

Before i delved into the first book, Wizard's First Rule, i was mainly a D&D Novels fanatic (Drizzt anyone? :P ) and while i still think D&D novels, especially R.A. Salvatore's works are awesome, they have nothing against Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series.
Most of the fantasy novels i had read before didn't seem very mature as far as the nature of the plot, story and writing go, as if they were holding back so as to also remain marketable to the young adult and/or teens crowd, but Wizard's First Rule changed my view on the subject.

The series is about 11 books long (including a prequel) and all i can really say is that if you even REMOTELY like Science Fiction/Fantasy books, you should at least check it out as this is, IMHO, this is one of the best (if not THE best) fantasy series i've ever read and thats speaking big considering i'am a huge fan of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books.

/end rant :)

Aaaggah! I use my copy to kill rats and impress girls. Interesting book, though, no doubt.

ANYWAY....

My recommendation:
Wind-up bird Chronicle by Murakami - Dark, kafka-esque, meditation on...what? Swirling reality, evil, loss, humanity...idk.

Let's go off on a tangent for some honorary recommendations:
Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus - What purpose does man have to go forward in an absurd universe? Why keep trying? Why not suicide? Existential despondence? Here's Camus' answer.

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho - Bits and pieces of the fragmented poetry, left by Sappho. Excellent, excellent. Interesting window into her life, and the pieces that history has left us provide a unique meditation on the permanence (or lack thereof) of our lives.

Notes from the Underground - Dostoyevsy - Duh. A rambling, pathetic, self-contradicting, bitter man. There's one in all of us. I love him.

EDIT: Sorry I'm light on justification, just wanted to throw these titles out there. Some other people put a lot more effort in. Don't pick me. I have a job.

EDIT 2: I LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEHIIIIIMm!

Several fiction series are wonderful:

The Hitchhikker's Guide to the Galaxy. Five books (although you can get all five plus a short story in one volume). Absolutely hysterical. If you want to get exotic, get the books on CD (read by Douglas Adams himself). The science fiction references are pronounced correctly then...

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Nice "Lord of the Rings"ish feel.

The Serge A. Storms series of books by Tim Dorsey, 13 in all. Serge is a Florida serial killer a la Dexter (really just kills people who are seriously asking for it). I grew up in Florida and love the references. Serge comes up with incredibly creative ways to kill idiots (like making "people jerky"). The whole cast of characters is great. Read them in chronological order (see Dorsey's website).

Finally, the 10 Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman and artsits. Wonderful integration of a variety of mythos from all over the world.

Good reading!

(Can you tell I like series...?)

what a coincidence i'm on the third book of that right now. The great thing about warcraft books is if there is something you don't understand or a character your interested in you can just go to wowwiki and get more info on them.

I'd recommend checking out La vie devant soi (or The Life Before Us) by Romain Gary.

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Before-Us-Madame-Rosa/dp/081120961X

I read it about 10 years ago, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is about a young orphan that was taken up by an aging and dying prostitute. The novel is about life in general, and it asks a lot of questions about what it is to be a human. It's a fairly grim story and it is very honest about death at times, but it's also quite inspiring and touching.

I can easily say that it changed my outlook on life after I read it. I'm thinking about reading it again in the Summer. Hopefully I'll enjoy it once again.

Let's see, for nonfiction I will recommend John Toland's "The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945" It's pretty much exactly what the subtitle makes it sound like it is. I always felt like the history of the World War II era Japanese Empire that I had been exposed to was lacking so it was interesting to read a book focused explicitly on that perspective. It was a Pulitzer Prize winner back in the day, if you put any stock in that.

For a good single volume history of the American Revolution, I really enjoyed Robert Middlekauff's The Glorious Cause.

For fiction I'll second a few suggestions that have already been made: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is definitely my favorite fantasy series (first book is A Game of Thrones), Stephen Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen is an interesting fantasy series because of the scope of the world that is imagined. I would personally find the characters and the story of Song of Ice and Fire more compelling than Malazan but I find the Malazan world and back story more compelling. Reading the Malazan books is almost like an archeological dig if that analogy makes sense. I'll also say the Wheel of Time series but the critiques about it booking tedious in the middle books is quite true (although because it was one of the first series I read it will also have a special place in my heart).


Some good science fiction: Asimov's Foundation Trilogy (read the original 3 first, he wrote prequels and later books but the original three should be the first you read). Also Asimov's Robot trilogy is quite good, each novel is basically a detective novel set in the future. I cannot recommend Robert Heinlein highly enough. Stranger in a Strange Land is my favorite of his, but many are great. I especially enjoyed The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Farnham's Freehold, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Starship Troopers, and Time Enough for Love. Frank Herbet's Dune is another classic very worth reading (the first book can be read and enjoyed whether or not you ever read the sequels. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is another great science fiction book about children who are trained in war games to prepare for a coming war with an alien race. Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End is another great one about mankind's first encounter with an alien race.

I work in a great little charity bookshop in my village on a volunteer basis and we get some amazing stuff handed in. Most of what I would say to read is already mentioned, Game of Thrones, Dark Tower and Shogun etc etc.

A couple of my guilty pleasures are by Elizabeth Kostova and my favourite series which I constantly take flack for is[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skullduggery_Pleasant] Skullduggery_Pleasant series by Derek Landy its for teens I think but its incredibly enjoyable to read with loads of Lovecraft flavoured goodness. Plus as my basic defence when people give me a raised eyebrow when they see the cover I simply tell them "Its a skeleton detective......with a gun".

This.

Also, every book by Neal Stephenson is a must-read. Whether it's a cyberpunk novel or a "historical" novel, he writes like no one else. Read "The System of the World" and you'll see what I mean.

For those looking for some dark-1920-conspiracy themed horror fiction, I'd recommend any book by H.P.Lovecraft, the Call of Cthulhu is a novel published in 1928, written in a documentary-like style where three independent narratives are linked together by the narrator investigating the case.

There is a giant "cult" of people over the internet with knowledge about the Cthulhus and there are lots of mythos related to them, from the strange language they use to the impressive feeling of power.

Gonna paste something I found interesting about them:

"The essence of the Mythos is that the entirety of humanity is insignificant on a cosmic scale. The human world is but a fragile bubble in an infinitely vast and indifferent universe, isolated by great gulfs of both time and space. Though we consider ourselves masters of all creation, as a species our limited perceptions allow us to see only a fraction of the full range of reality. Beyond our pathetic awareness dwell vast and ancient forces, completely beyond our ability to influence in any way, whose merest thoughtless twitch would annihilate every trace of humanity.

Our seeming dominance over the world is illusory and ephemeral. We are blessed in that we do not realize what lies dormant and unknown in forgotten places on Earth and beyond. As Lovecraft famously begins his short story, The Call of Cthulhu, The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."

Its a very nice read and each story is kinda short and its separated so its easier to read from time to time. There are lots of Cthulhu games and even role playing games too! I'd totally recommend you playing these after reading the book.

Last but not forgotten is the "Necronomicron", also by HP Lovecraft, and an item on his novels, tells the story of the "Book of the dead" and how did it travel through the libraries on the world.

Seconded. Again Mieville and again amazing books.

I read this when I was a child and loved it, thanks for bringing it up Aniketos.)

I've juss started reading Bram Stoker's Dracula! It's wow already!

Hmmmmm......

Non-Fiction:

"The Wealthy Barber" by David Chilton - This book is about learning how to save your money. I read it years ago b/c my prof in college wanted us to do so, forgot most of it, but that's OK b/c I remember when I was reading, it was juss stuff that my parents had already taught me! But I recommend it anyways, especially for those folk who may be in the bad habit of spending money on stuff yall dont care about!

But if you already have good money habits, and want something cooler & more exciting, then may I recommend "The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus" by Ned Halley. B/c Nostradamus is cool, predicted alot of insane things that came true, and some beautiful things which may indeed come true - Personally I think they will!

Fiction:

*Stephen King's "The Stand: Complete & Uncut"* B/c it's my favourite book. The made for TV movie was nice, but the book is 10x better. Put it this way: You see how Fallout 1 & 2 are known as the best non-fantasy cRPG's? Well this book here is every bit as good in the same respect.

"Dark Warrior Rising" by Ed Greenwood is one of my favourite books. Ed is the creator of the Forgotten Realms (which is the setting for the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, Neverwinter Nights games, and the books are most known for RA Salvatore's Drizzt Do'urden books), but this isn't a FR book, and he wasn't limited by Wizards of the Coast in writing it. The book is about a human who was taken as a slave by the drow, into the Underdark when he was a young boy, and the adventure he goes on when he becomes a young adult. I loved reading it, and it has a sequel ("Dark Vengeance" IIRC) which I haven't yet managed to get my hands on. But the book here I'm recommending was an awsome read for me.


Mix of non-fiction & fiction:

johnny got his gun by Dalton Trumbo. If you or anyone seeks to read this, I'll let you know there isn't one happy moment in it. That's b/c this book is about a soldier for the American army who has lost his legs, arms, mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. This book is scary, horrifying, and extremely heart-wrenching to the point of madness.

If it's not your cup of tea in terms of reading, you can get a similar sense in the movie of the same name from back in the day (starring Donald Sutherland), or from watching Metallica's video for One.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw

@ Orcishgamer

I LOL'd at your description of Robert Jordan's writing! You're so bang on! Ughh!!! I began reading the 1st book in the Wheel of Time series like a week after I finished reading Stephen King's The Stand. What a letdown! I didn't bother reading past pg 120. I should've stopped at the end of page 10!

Non-fiction: Out Of Control - Kevin Kelly

This is one of the most interesting and thought-provoking books I've ever read, and I've read it a number of times. It's about the rules and behaviors governing complex systems, any complex systems, and so the scope of the book is huge. It concerns, among other things, ecosystems, artificial intelligence, economics, cryptography, anthills and much much more. It can be read for free online at the author's homepage. To give you an idea of how much I like the book, I wrote a script to download the individual pages from the site, combine them into an XML file, then transform the XML back into a single HTML page for offline reading. And I also bought the book on Amazon.

Fiction: 1632 - Eric Flint

If you like non-fiction, then you might like alternate history. The concept of 1632 is that, due to a cosmic accident, an entire American midwestern mining town from around the turn of the millennium, is transported in time and space back to central Germany in the year 1632, in the middle of the Thirty Years War. Seeing how a slice of modern society deal with 17th-century European culture and conflict is both interesting and entertaining. The book and its first sequel, 1633 (the series, called Ring of Fire, is long and still growing) can be gotten for free as ebooks at the Baen Free Library.

I just heard about Adam Hochschild's new book, To End All Wars. It is about WWI and the review on the NYTimes makes it sound very interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/books/review/book-review-to-end-all-wars-by-adam-hochschild.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

If you aren't interested in WWI I would suggest King Leopold's Ghost (which I've read, and loved, about the Belgian Congo) or Bury the Chains (which I have not read, but am planning on reading soon; about ending slavery in the British Empire).

Hochschild is a fantastic writer who is very good at getting into a topic and telling interesting stories while still conveying the important parts and facts of history. His work definitely is a good way to make history not "boring".