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A Good Read: Book Suggestions & Recommendations

That was me! It's really good, isn't it? Loads of very strange accounts, all the more convincing because they're too weird to make up. I particularly like the mad staring woman at the car (brrr!) and the eye under the floorboards. Plus the apparent sleep paralysis where the "creature" was spotted in the bedroom the day before, slithering out of the covers!
 
i just ordered it from amazon, second hand sadly, as it was a tad pricey otherwise.
 
As long as you can get it "Very Good" condition the quality shouldn't be an issue. Enjoy it!
 
just finished three world war 1 books, sagittarius rising by cecil lewis, bloody april by peter hart and fighting on the home front the legacy of women in world war one, by the great Kate adie.


sagittarius rising i was disappointed in, lacking in detail and atmosphere, i guess because the writer admits he didn't keep a diary.


Bloody april is better, the first hand accounts are excellent but its let down by the author sticking his opinion in. If you criticise ww1 generals you are mocking the courage of the ppl that done the fighting..go figure that one out.


Best of the bunch by far was the adie book, wonderful characters and the womens football during ww1 was totally unknown to me. And to make it even better mine was signed by the great women herself, sadly it just says "to titch" not "love and saucy kisses to titch"


now its time for ghosts over britain, i think i can only read it once as the pages seem a bit fragile.
 
If you've got an e-reader, or something similar, I recommend a trip along to, the Gutenberg Project, site. At the moment, I'm reading my way through the first year's worth of Astounding Stories of Super science (1930). A real must for fans of classic science fiction, as well as Forteans with an interest in alternative science and particularly UFO related fare.

Three months in, I've already encountered cattle mutilations and alien abduction. ;)
 
Now all you need are alien/human hybrids and you have the set!
 
Apologies if this is a question that comes up regularly - but are there any recommendations for any good (or essential) Fortean non-fiction books?

I have quite specific requirements... I like my Fortean non-fiction to be on the intellectual, well researched and rigorous side. I don't like books that are obviously written BY believers FOR believers (if you know what I mean). At the same time, I don't like them to lean heavily on the side of skepticism either (sorry!)

Two good examples I loved would be the Rough Guide To Unexplained Phenomena and also David Paulide's recent Missing 411 books. Any other recommendations of books written in a similar vein?

Thank you in advance!!
 
Soul_Doubt said:
Apologies if this is a question that comes up regularly - but are there any recommendations for any good (or essential) Fortean non-fiction books?

I have quite specific requirements... I like my Fortean non-fiction to be on the intellectual, well researched and rigorous side. I don't like books that are obviously written BY believers FOR believers (if you know what I mean). At the same time, I don't like them to lean heavily on the side of skepticism either (sorry!)

Two good examples I loved would be the Rough Guide To Unexplained Phenomena and also David Paulide's recent Missing 411 books. Any other recommendations of books written in a similar vein?

Thank you in advance!!
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Borderlands By Mike Dash.

Hystories by Elaine Showalter.

The Devils Party by Colin Wilson.

Flat Earth by Christine Garwood.

A Brief History of Secret Societies by David V. Barrett.

Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti by Loren Coleman.

The Land That Never Was by David Sinclar.

Ghost Colonies by Ed Wright.

Think you might enjoy the above.
 
Soul_Doubt said:
Apologies if this is a question that comes up regularly - but are there any recommendations for any good (or essential) Fortean non-fiction books?
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Buhs - Bigfoot
http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo6407648.html

A lot of serious history and sociology in this one. It is almost an academic study. Bigfoot is seen as a social phenomenon caused by the changing male image.

Science Frontiers Sourcebooks
http://www.science-frontiers.com/thebook.htm

Might be difficult to get, but full of Forteana (often) from refereed scientific journals.

In Advance of the Landing: Folk Concepts of Outer Space
http://www.amazon.com/In-Advance-Landing-Concepts-Outer/dp/0789207087

From a folkloristic angle.

Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51
http://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-Travels-Inside-Secret-Roswell/dp/0375753850

A serious journalistic study.
 
I'm re-reading The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddle_of_the_Sands

It's online here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2360/2360-h/2360-h.htm

It's quite detailed in the nautical stuff (and quite amusing at times too). The author's fascination with the sands and channels, and the rise and fall of the tides, and the ebb and flow of the tidal streams, reminds me of... me! (Could I be a reincarnation of E.C? Or maybe all small boat sailors grow old the same way. ;) )

But behind the 'messing about in boats' angle, there is mystery and intrigue, and the looming shadow of war to come...
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones listed The Riddle of the Sands as one of the ten classic spy novels,[5] and Robert McCrum of The Observer included it in his list of the 100 greatest novels of all time.

(wiki)
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Enjoy!
 
I've only seen the Michael York film of Riddle of the Sands, which was OK-ish, though if you like sailing footage it'll be more interesting. I only know the book by its strong reputation.
 
I like Riddle of the Sands - and also John Buchan.
 
Finished George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream, his vampire tale set on the Mississippi of the 1700s and have to admit, its strong reputation was justified, a really great vampire novel and not one hint of romance.

Seems to have inspired True Blood, too, though that is set about 250 years later. If they ever made it into a movie, John Goodman would be a fantastic Abner. Recommended, but be warned there's a bit of racial language in it befitting the times (er, the 1700s, not the 1980s when it was written).
 
gncxx said:
Finished George R.R. Martin's Fevre Dream, his vampire tale set on the Mississippi of the 1700s and have to admit, its strong reputation was justified, a really great vampire novel and not one hint of romance.

Seems to have inspired True Blood, too, though that is set about 250 years later. If they ever made it into a movie, John Goodman would be a fantastic Abner. Recommended, but be warned there's a bit of racial language in it befitting the times (er, the 1700s, not the 1980s when it was written).
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Fevre Dream is truly great but it was set in the 1800s, the riverboat era.
 
Also, True Blood is based directly on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. What influence Martin's books may or may not have had on Harris should be researchable.
 
Just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir. The story of an astronaut stranded on Mars when a mission goes wrong. It's been described as Apollo 13 meets Castaway.

Seems pretty scientifically accurate and has a good dose of humour too. Apparently Ridley Scott is thinking of filming it.
 
I've only recently read Jurassic Park for the first time, and a cracking yarn it is too. Can thoroughly recommend it.

Lots of plausible science, a spot of chaos theory, nice characters who interact convincingly, and plenty of satisfying eatings-alive of hapless goats and humans by ravenous dinosaurs.

In fact, I like it so much that I found a reading of it on Youtube and had it as my bedtime story for a while. Had to get used to the odd compsognathus leaping onto my bed to nibble on me while i was asleep and undefended though. :shock:

Or it might've been the cats. :lol:
 
[quote="escargot1"]I've only recently read Jurassic Park for the first time, and a cracking yarn it is too. Can thoroughly recommend it.

Lots of plausible science, a spot of chaos theory, nice characters who interact convincingly, and plenty of satisfying eatings-alive of hapless goats and humans by ravenous dinosaurs.

In fact, I like it so much that I found a reading of it on Youtube and had it as my bedtime story for a while. Had to get used to the odd compsognathus leaping onto my bed to nibble on me while i was asleep and undefended though. :shock:

Or it might've been the cats. :lol:[/quote]

I remember reading it for the first time and thinking "this would make a great James Cameron movie. Hope Speilberg doesn't do it..."
 
ramonmercado said:
Fevre Dream is truly great but it was set in the 1800s, the riverboat era.
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So it was! What makes it more embarrassing is that the date is at the top of every chapter!
 
PeniG said:
Also, True Blood is based directly on the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. What influence Martin's books may or may not have had on Harris should be researchable.
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What made me think of True Blood was the southern US setting and the plot that revolves around a blood substitute created to keep the vampires off human blood, then that triggers a battle between the vampires who want to stick with the real stuff and the ones who want the respectability of the substitute. It's not a total rip-off, but it is reminiscent in places.
 
bigphoot1 said:
I remember reading it for the first time and thinking "this would make a great James Cameron movie. Hope Speilberg doesn't do it..."
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It wasn't the brutal story compression and erasure of sensitivity in favour of sneezing Brachios and psychotic Raptors that annoyed me - it was the fact that virtually every character had been re-written from the ground up: Dicky was supposed to be an obnoxious arsehole, with his lawyer playing the voice of humanitarian reason, but then I guess that wouldn't have pulled in quite so many punters.....

Totally agree that Cameron would've done it far more justice.
 
You need to sign in to read that. :(
 
Bugger! I downloaded the link and tried to save PDF. I only tried that now. :-(
 
The Tooth Fairy by the late Graham Joyce. Before I read it I knew about the comparisons to The Wasp Factory (and there's a quote from the also late Iain Banks on the back cover), and I can see where they're coming from, it's a twisted coming of age tale too, but this had its own enigmatic supernatural side that was unsettling because you do get funny ideas at that tender age, and this conjured up some really uneasy ones.

Basically it's about a kid who catches the Tooth Fairy taking his tooth from under his pillow one night, and he/she hangs around for the rest of his troubled childhood. Difficult to categorise, to be honest. Recommended if you want a different kind of horror novel away from the usual clichés, very well written, it would be darkly funny if it wasn't so disquieting.
 
The Nazi Seance by Arthur J. Magida tells the story of Erik Jan Hanussen (Herman Stein schneider) a Jewish psychic conman who supped with the devil. A supporter of the Nazis he backed them with his chain of papers and magazines. Thinking they weren't serious about being Anti-Semitic.

He even leant his limousine to an SA leader who directed the first anti-Jewish pogrom in 1932 in Berlin. He leant money to leading Nazis thinking this would protect him. He did enter their inner councils but had a big mouth and predicted the burning of the Reichstag at a "seance" hours before it happened.

He also tried to use the Nazi IOUs for leverage and this sealed his fate - a lonely death in a forest.

He was a good conman but pushed his luck too far.

http://us.macmillan.com/thenaziseance/arthurjmagida
 
I may be recommending a writer I've never read, but this long article certainly captured my attention, and it does remind me very much of stuff I have read. I'll certainly look out for Josephine Tey next time I'm in the library.

Val McDermid: the brillliant unconventional crime novels of Josephine Tey
Val McDermid on the enigmatic writer whose dark, unsettling stories dragged the crime novel into the modern age
By Val McDermid
9:00AM GMT 15 Nov 2014

From time to time, audiences ask crime writers who we would choose if we could have a single new novel from a dead crime writer. The name that comes up most frequently is not Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle or Raymond Chandler. It’s not even one of the more recently deceased such as Reginald Hill or Elmore Leonard. No, the writers’ choice is a reclusive Scottish spinster who wrote only a handful of crime novels: Josephine Tey.

Partly that’s because of the range and quality of her work. Reading Tey for the first time is a surprise and a delight; re-reading her provokes the same response. But of equal importance is Tey’s role as a bridge between the classic detective stories of the golden age and contemporary crime fiction. She left the genre in a different place from where she found it and she cracked open a series of doors for others to walk through.

But first, a little about the woman and her work. And where the woman is concerned, it will be a little. Elizabeth Mackintosh aka Gordon Daviot aka Josephine Tey was pathologically private. She never gave interviews, posed for publicity photos only under duress and managed to keep her private life a mystery. In the last year of her life, when she knew she was dying, she avoided contact even with her closest friends because she didn’t want anyone to know. Add to that the fascination in her fiction with questions of identity and gender, and the idea of a deep dark secret is irresistible. But sadly, at this distance, if there were such a secret, it’s probably destined to remain hidden.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/book ... e-Tey.html

EDIT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Tey

EDIT_2:
One thing Val McDermid doesn't mention is that
"In 1990, The Daughter of Time was selected by the British-based Crime Writers' Association as the greatest mystery novel of all time"

And (also from Wiki):
In 2012, Peter Hitchens wrote that, "Josephine Tey's clarity of mind, and her loathing of fakes and of propaganda, are like pure, cold spring water in a weary land",
and
"what she loves above all is to show that things are very often not what they seem to be, that we are too easily fooled, that ready acceptance of conventional wisdom is not just dangerous, but a result of laziness, incuriosity and of a resistance to reason."

[A very fortean attitude!]
 
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