Lost Video Island

[thefilmchick]

So, here's the trick:

Recommend a book to the person above you, based on their preferences. State one book you really liked and why, and one book you really disliked and why. The next person should recommend you a book and state their like/dislike, so they can in turn get a recommendation. (In the interest of fairness, please don't post within two recommendations of your last one! Spread the love, as it were.)

Because I'm starting this off, I'll offer a general recommendation (since there's nobody above me.)

Recommendation: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, is what inspired this thread. It's science fiction for people who don't read science fiction, in the way that '1984' or 'A Clockwork Orange' are read by non-genre people. It presents a sad and terrifying world, and is brilliantly written.

Like: I like The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. It's a crime caper in fantasy clothes: Locke (no relation to Johnny boy) is a gentleman thief in an analogue of Renaissance-era Venice. Fun, tough-minded, and fairly crisp writing: It's not trying to be The Lord of the Rings, and it's all the better for it.

Dislike: Ayn Rand bores the high holy hand-grenade out of me. She's sanctimonious, but atop that, she's also a bad writer (the only book of hers I could deal with was Anthem, primarily because it's a ripoff of Zamyatin's We.) I've read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, but once was enough.
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.