Book Recommendations for All/Fellow Zoners

[The Thin Man]

A book that I keep going back to is "The Walled Orchard" by Tom Holt. He normally writes off-beat fantasy books but this one is a historical novel set during the golden aga of Greece. It centes around a writer of Greek plays and his involvement in a doomed war. He really brings the period to life and the events he descibes actually happened so it is a good history lesson. It is also a cracking read.

[magicmonkey]

Ok, one nice little one that springs to mind is from the great Paul Auster, "Book of Illusions". Here is a synopsis from a website;

"After losing his wife and young sons in a plane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in grief. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann, and remembers how to laugh... Zimmer's obsession with Mann drives him to publish a study of his work; whereupon he receives a letter postmarked New Mexico, supposedly written by Mann's wife, and inviting him to visit the great Mann himself. Can Hector Mann be alive?"

Its a fairly light read, but fun for anyone interested in film and filmmaking.

Also, "Wonder Boys" by Michael Chabon is a great read, especially if you enjoyed the movie. Dope, dead animals and roadtrips - what more do you need.

So there you go Havoc, two novels by Hollywood screenwriters for ya.

[monorail77]

Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
The Rebel Angeals by Robertson Davies
The Invention of the World by Jack Hodgins
Tigana or The Lions of Al-Rassen by Guy Gavriel Kay

C'mon Havoc, all summer reading should be Canadian!! You should know this.

[Peven]

how about a classic? for a quick read, nothing too deep or time consuming, yet very entertaining, how about Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man"?

[Bean]

Try Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series. Great reads, goes by very fast, don't be daunted by 300 pages if you are! The books read like movies, I'd suggest checking out Atlantis Found.

[brainiac]

Ananzi Boys by Neil Gaiman

"F@t Charlie" Nancy leads a life of comfortable workaholism in London, with a stressful agenting job he doesn't much like, and a pleasant fiancée. When Charlie learns of the death of his estranged father in Florida, he attends the funeral and learns two facts that turn his well-ordered existence upside-down: that his father was a human form of Anansi, the African trickster god, and that he has a brother, Spider, who has inherited some of their father's godlike abilities."

Funny and light, this is a nice summer read if you like a touch of fantasy.

If you wanted heavier fare -- try the first book in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series "A Game of Thrones". The first book in a muligenerational saga set in a well realized world where humans of the earth-bound variety -- knights, kings, horse lords, warrior monks and commoners -- have to deal with a variety of menacing threats: the rebirth of dragons in the land, the comming of ice vampires out of the North, and various seers, shapeshifters, and living dead out for revenge. Long and dense, it's for those readers who want to lose themselves totally in this world.

Good luck! and Happy reading... 8)

[Bob Samonkey]

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pritchard's 'Good Omens' - recently reissued in hardcover, so it should be there - it's a light-hearted tale about Armageddon and the son of Satan...no, really.

Not to steal Havoc's thunder but I am always on the search for a good book and I wrote all of these down and set myself to searching them out. I went to a couple of book stores first and could fine nothing. Then I went to the library. Did you know that the library in my town only hase this book out of almost all of the other ones mentioned on this thread?

So I am halfway through it now and I gotta say it is a very funny read. I am really enjoying it.

[bamf]

I have to toss Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger in here. I went through high school not reading it, almost ten years later, this summer, I picked it up and was quite surpised in what I found. Or maybe good books find you.

[havocSchultz]

Bump.

I updated the first post and what-not...to open the thread up a bit...

[Doc Holliday]

a deadly mannequin called the Rubbermaid....does sound like something I'd like to check out eventually...

Like you haven't done that already....(I have the negatives)

[havocSchultz]

a deadly mannequin called the Rubbermaid....does sound like something I'd like to check out eventually...

Like you haven't done that already....(I have the negatives)

the video is better...

[Doc Holliday]

When will I learn....

"Ne pas de fluff le fluffeur..."

[DennisMM]

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first book in Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series. Possibly the biggest SF concept short of E.E. Smith and Foundation. Thirty-six billion people, everyone who lived on earth for 25,000 years, are resurrected in healthy, young bodies along the banks of a million-mile-long river that twists and turns across both hemispheres of an giant but earthlike planet. Why are they there?

[havocSchultz]

To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first book in Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series. Possibly the biggest SF concept short of E.E. Smith and Foundation. Thirty-six billion people, everyone who lived on earth for 25,000 years, are resurrected in healthy, young bodies along the banks of a million-mile-long river that twists and turns across both hemispheres of an earthlike planet. Why are they there?

That actually sounds pretty cool...

What kinda tone is it?
More serious, epic and heavy?

Or is it kinda mysterious and adventurous?

Either way, both sound like they could have nice outcomes...

[DennisMM]

The first book is about adventure and discovery. There's some mystery and a little bit of spiritual material as well. The spiritual quest becomes heavier towards the end of the series, especially in book three, The Dark Design.

I forgot to mention that the male and female leads in Bodies are Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton and Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves (Lewis Carrol's young friend who inspired the Alice books). There also are a writer whose initials are P.J.F., a neanderthal and an extraterrestrial.

[havocSchultz]

The first book is about adventure and discovery. There's some mystery and a little bit of spiritual material as well. The spiritual quest becomes heavier towards the end of the series, especially in book three, The Dark Design.

I forgot to mention that the male and female leads in Bodies are Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton and Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves (Lewis Carrol's young friend who inspired the Alice books). There also are a writer whose initials are P.J.F., a neanderthal and an extraterrestrial.

See, that does sound cool. Thnx for the heads up.

I like books/stories that weave historical figures into their main plot points. Especially when it's done in a bit of a fictional and/or a fantastical sort of way.

I'll have to check my G/F's bookstore online and see if they have some copies in...

[monorail77]

Oh, yes Dennis. How could I forget thr Riverworld series? Highest possible recommendation from me. Great stuff.

[MiltonWaddams]

RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK! RICHARD DAWKINS HAS A NEW BOOK!

[Flumm]

^^

Mmm, I've not read any of the others yet, but I caught wind of the praise, which there seems to be a great deal of, and kind of got swept up in it a little, so it's sitting in my basket awaiting a grant of leave by my wallet.

Personally, I hesitated some at first, I thought perhaps maybe it was something I didn't really need to read, as in whether it was the healthiest way to approach things considering my own already present inclinations. Wondered too if the tone of it may be a little malignant or condescending, which from my perspecitve doesn't really do much for me, I loves me my spaghetti monster, but anything more serious in tone, wares me down, I have my perspectives on things, but using them as excuse to dismiss people, as apposed to exploring their faith, in anything other than jest or science, is not something I enjoy, feels like a lot of the same thing that gets thrown from the one side to another, too much like partisan politics almost, kind of gets in the way of the bits I'm interested in.

If you've digested the thing already, or are soon about to, I'd be interested to know what you make of it, Milton mate.

Might be worth raising just in time for the upcoming return of the Book Club also...

[silentbobafett]

Just finished I Am Legend. How no one has made this into a film of the book, I do not know. As good as the old ones maybe, this is a film in itself.

It just is one, fact! It is such a shame that I,Robot 2, sorry I mean I Am Legend, is going to put the true adaptation on hold for a nother decade or so

Fucking bastards!

[bamf]

I bought Enders Game on Friday night and finished it the following Saturday. My brain felt as if It had done a 1000 crunches. I have not had such a fun time reading a book in quite awhile. It has become habit to listen to classical music on Sirius satellite while reading and the music synced with the book so well at times it was serendipitous. After the climax Straus’s "On the beautiful blue Danube" (theme from 2001) came on and I couldn’t have had a bigger smile on my face. If you have yet to read this pick it up. And prepare for a ride.

[silentbobafett]

Bamf, with that review (and the music inclusion) I'm going to try and get that book this week! Another book I've been waiting for the film of, but it seems stuck! Such a cool name!

For those who are even remotly fucking bothered, I have just started an I AM LEGEND book to film thread

[bamf]

Should probably start a thread if it is not there yet, but after you read it, I sure you will find it difficult to bring Enders Game to the screen. Dont want to spoil it though, but what would have to be done for translation would lose the essence of the story. Youll see what I mean. Perhaps I am wrong.

[silentbobafett]

Okay, is it long? I guess not if you read it in 24 hours, I'll try to do the same and get some word out there! I know there are lots of sequels and it has a big cult following!

Unfilmable books being brought to the big screen excite me! Cos they can, given the chance, be done right! Ala Lord of the Rings

[MiltonWaddams]

^^

Mmm, I've not read any of the others yet, but I caught wind of the praise, which there seems to be a great deal of, and kind of got swept up in it a little, so it's sitting in my basket awaiting a grant of leave by my wallet.

Personally, I hesitated some at first, I thought perhaps maybe it was something I didn't really need to read, as in whether it was the healthiest way to approach things considering my own already present inclinations. Wondered too if the tone of it may be a little malignant or condescending, which from my perspecitve doesn't really do much for me, I loves me my spaghetti monster, but anything more serious in tone, wares me down, I have my perspectives on things, but using them as excuse to dismiss people, as apposed to exploring their faith, in anything other than jest or science, is not something I enjoy, feels like a lot of the same thing that gets thrown from the one side to another, too much like partisan politics almost, kind of gets in the way of the bits I'm interested in.

If you've digested the thing already, or are soon about to, I'd be interested to know what you make of it, Milton mate.

Might be worth raising just in time for the upcoming return of the Book Club also...

I feel the same way, honestly. I went from a closet atheist to someone that was proud and knowledgable about not only my absence of religion, but other religions. I read "The End of Faith" and that shit was a big kick in the nuts, it's depressing and real (maybe, still debating a lot of stuff in my mind) and just awful. I've always adored the way that Dawkins writes, so I'm hoping he can bring some light into such a bleak and emotional subject.

Dawkins is the only person writing on such a subject that I can even stomach.

I ordered it as soon as I found out it existed, so I'll give you a review when it arrives and I finish it.

[banthafodderUK]

Read the new Irvine Welsh Novel - THE BEDROOM SECRETS OF THE MASTER CHEFS

Very funny and disturbing

[bamf]

Okay, is it long? I guess not if you read it in 24 hours, I'll try to do the same and get some word out there! I know there are lots of sequels and it has a big cult following!

Unfilmable books being brought to the big screen excite me! Cos they can, given the chance, be done right! Ala Lord of the Rings

Its not very long (a little over 300 hundred pages) but it is a ultra fast read. The chapters build steam and flow effortlessly. Reading it in under 24 hours had me feeling like Ender felt in the end, exausted, yet satisfied. So cool.

EDIT* its the age of the characters that make this hard to translate to the screen, thats all Ill say.

[silentbobafett]

I went to get it yesterday and the book shop didn't have it and would have to order it! So gonna get it off net... cheers dude

[bamf]

Boba I went on google and did a search for used book stores. The first one that popped up I went to and had to put down titles because I was going overboard. Walked out with Brave New World, Epictetus Discourses and Enders Game. All for half what I would have payed elsewhere. Go visit your local thrift store, assuming they have those in England. Christ, Im sure we stole the idea.

[Peven]

ok, as some of you know, my favorite author is Stephen R Donaldson. he has written both fantasy and science fiction. last year he published the first book in a series that is a continuation of two earlier trilogies, The Thomas Covenant Chronicles. well, since Donaldson hasn't published anything in the fantasy genre in about 10 years, this latest book underperformed despite getting well-deserved good reviews. since i am such a big fan of his, and a member of a board where many people are fantasy fans i feel somewhat obligated to spread the word about his work. these are a few reviews of his latest book.



"Dreamwatch, November 2004

Lord Foul is up to his old tricks, abducting the adopted son of Dr. Linden Avery. Returning to the Land, a dream-like realm, Avery faces huge perils - without the help of the late Thomas Covenant. Except... that'll be the cue for a new trilogy then....



We live in an era when fantasy, from poorly written sword-and-sorcery nonsense to the spate of children's books that have followed in the wake of J.K. Rowling, threatens to crowd other genres out of local bookshops. It wasn't always so. Back in 1977, when the first of Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books was published, Tolkien-influenced fantasy was still a comparative novelty.

The novels told the story of a modern-day leper, Covenant, drawn into a magical land where he wields immense power. The six books in the sequence sold 10 million copies and concluded, or so it seemed, with Covenant's demise. Nothing Donaldson has written since has enjoyed the same degree of success (although the author's underrated Gap SF sequence is certainly due for reappraisal) so it's hard not to approach Runes with some cynicism.

Such trepidation, it turns out, is misplaced. Morally complex and rich in detail, this is a novel that reminds you that fantasy needn't equate to lowest common denominator simplicity, whatever the best efforts of David Eddings might suggest. Instead, for a parallel, think of Stephen King's Dark Tower sequence and an older, wiser novelist returning to familiar characters and themes with new vigor.

Jonathan Wright"




Publishers Weekly, September 27, 2004


The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Stephen R. Donaldson. Putnam, $26.95 (496p) ISBN 0-399-15232-6

"Six fantasy novels featuring Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever appeared between 1977 and 1983, but Donaldson shows that his epic series still has the power to surprise in this richly imagined start of a final quartet. Covenant died at the end of White Gold Wielder (1983), and at this novel's outset so does his lover, Linden Avery, in a violent confrontation with Joan and Roger Covenant as they kidnap her son, Jeremiah. Linden awakens once again in the Land, where she finds Lord Foul scheming to escape the Arch of Time with the help of Joan and Roger while using Jeremiah as a pawn. The 10 years since Linden's last visit have been centuries by Land time, and in that interval Anele, with whom she teams, has lost the Staff of Law, plunging the world into chaos. Linden's only hope for saving the Land and reclaiming Jeremiah is to gather a crew from the Land's numerous races and surf a caesure, or time rift, to retrieve the Staff. Nevertheless, she can't shake her fear that all this has been plotted by Foul as part of his malignant design. Donaldson's saga has transformed tremendously since initial volumes offered startlingly original antiheroic fantasy resonating with echoes of both Tolkien and Philip K. Dick, but the engaging humanity of his characters still compels attention. A new generation of readers may find this episode's midstream plunge into the saga bracing, while fans of Covenant's past chronicles will welcome a return to the land. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Oct 13)

Forecast: Despite the long gap since the last in the series, this one should hit many bestseller lists. The Michael Whelan dust jacket is going to have a lot of fantasy fans drooling."







by Roland Green in Booklist, September 1, 2004

"Donaldson, Stephen R. The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Oct. 2004. 496p. Putnam, $26.95 (O-399- 15232-6).

Donaldson returns, with the intent of saying farewell to his most successful creation, Thomas Covenant, in four volumes, of which this large, generally impressive novel is the first. It is 10 years since Thomas Covenant's death, and Linden Avery runs the small mental hospital in which Covenant's widow, Joan, is confined. Roger Covenant, newly turned 21, visits Avery and tries to get his mother released. Failing at that. he kidnaps Joan as well as Avery's adopted son, then commits several murders and flees to the Land, the other world of Covenant sagas. Roger is clearly doing Lord Foul's bidding, and Avery has no choice but to follow him. She discovers that in the Land three and a half millennia have passed. The Haruchai are now called the Masters and distrust Earthpower, and an old man, Anete, who is full of Earthpower, is key to finding the lost and essential Staff of Law. Thus is engendered a quest of formidable complexity, ranging across the Land to end at the seat of the Masters at Revelstone Keep, presently menaced by a host of Demondim, against which, however, the Staff of Law, wielded by battle-worn Avery, no longer offers the only hope. Filled with splendid inventions (occasionally described to the point of prolixity), this book promises extremely well for the future of the end of the Covenant chronicles. Expect readers to swarm. "



here is a link to his official site, where among other things you can see a list of all he has published, all of which i have read and highly recommend.

http://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/index.php

[ONeillSG1]

The Screw Tape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

Or as I call it: The Dark Side of Narnia.

Amazon Linky Poo. I don't do a commission like Herc though.

[thebostonlocksmith]

I know that i keep on pimpin' this mother but i think that a lot of people would get a lot of satisfaction from reading it;

The shadow of the wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Don't be put off by the pretentious title it's really fantastic. The blurb according to Amazon...

Synopsis
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.


It's the best book that i've read for the last couple of years....

If it helps i'm a big fan of Heller, Ballard (j.g), Coe, Ellroy, Palanhuick etc. (In case that may give you some clearer idea as to what i enjoy, not obviously exclusive to these authors)

You could always just read the time travelers wife, which is also very good

[Moriarty]

I know we've got ads for it on the site now, but I picked it up and read it before the ads appeared and I can't say enough good about it:

IT'S SUPERMAN by Tom De Haven.

Yep, it's a novel about Superman, but it's written with the same complexity and depth as CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL or THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY. This is no simple adaptation of a comic to book form. This is (in my mind) the definitive reinterpretation of the character.

If Singer had made IT'S SUPERMAN, I would have seen it 20 times in a theater this summer. Ahhh... if only.

[Ribbons]

IT'S SUPERMAN and its goodness was also bandied about here, I think. I was reluctant to buy the book back then because it was still only available in hardcover, but now that it's been released in paperback form, I might have to pick it up. Even though I ain't much of a Superman fan, literary comic book-type deals always seem interesting. Like classy fan-fics, as ign'ant and/or un-phosisticated that might sound.

[ONeillSG1]

If Singer had made IT'S SUPERMAN, I would have seen it 20 times in a theater this summer. Ahhh... if only.

A man can dream, can't he?

[Peven]

bump


ok, aside from the great books by Stephen R Donaldson, a trilogy that is a real treat without being overly complex is the Riddlemaster trilogy, by Patrica McKillip. the individual books are out of print, but they recently published a compilation of all three-in-one.
a synopsis from "the spirited review",

"In Riddle-Master, McKillip creates a world and its law: land-rule. Land-rule takes different forms across the realm, but consistently it is a force that binds one man or woman to a geographical place, such that he or she joins intimately with that earth and with its peoples. Morgon is the land-ruler of Hed, a gentle and obscure backwater island that holds no stock in war or in prestige. Morgon is also a man with a passion for riddles and a uncomprehended destiny on his forehead, and as that destiny begins to wreak its way through Morgon's life and across the realm, a confrontation approaches that will define the human relationship to nature for the next long era. In order for the balance to be forged, Morgon will have to gain a knowledge that once permeated the human world: "[When]... our faces changed with every season; we took knowledge from all things: from the silence of the backlands to the burning ice sweeping across the northern wastes," and he will have to face the reckless destruction that is made possible by such an understanding.

Sound familiar? "We did not realize, until it was too late, that the power inherent in every stone, every movement of water, holds both existence and destruction... We razed our own cities. We destroyed one another. We destroyed our children, d r e w the power even out of them..." In the language of epic fantasy, McKillip has created a world as it exists after the shock of reckless consumption and greed, a world that is saturated with the beauty of its own existence, a world that will be brought back to the moment that gave it natural definition, so that the choice can be made again, so that the land can still rule. Her story is soaked by intimacies with earth, with wild winds and marshes, with piney mountains and sleepy orchards -- and her rich, impassioned descriptions form an idea of land-love that goes beyond imaginative speculation, and an argument for binding soul to space and mind to place in a joining that is both absolute and of peace. "





if you like something more sci-fi, check out the Chanur series by C.J. Cherryh, beginning with The Pride of Chanur.

"Pride is pure space opera of the old school, embellished with Cherryh's imaginative trademarks: an elaborate interstellar culture populated by more bizarre and exotic aliens than the Mos Eisley cantina sees on a busy Friday night when the band is really cooking. The story is set in the Compact, a loose confederacy of alien races bound by trade. Pyanfar Chanur is the lionine hani captain of the titular vessel. Docked at Meetpoint Station, a central trading post in neutral space, Pyanfar's routine is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of Tully, an alien belonging to a heretofore unknown species: human."

[ONeillSG1]

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged

[bastard_robo]

As i mentioned in another post...


THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF FANBOY AND GOTH GIRL!

[silentbobafett]

SOunds good Robo... what is it? Fiction book? Has it got loads cool geek stuff going on? Fanboy as in us kinda fanboy?

[Lord Voldemoo]

This thread has been dead nearly a year, so I'll just convert it for my purposes...

I'm almost done with my current book. I've decided to let the Zone choose my next read.

Tell me what I should read and why? I'll take a few that sound interesting and create a poll and you guys can select my next book for me.

I typically read either sci-fi/fantasy/horror fiction or nonfiction (generally history). I'm not limiting the choices to those, I'm looking to expand my horizons here.

I've already read "Everybody Poops" so that's off the list, sorry guys.

Anybody suggesting any books that have anything to do with cows will be banned.

So what should I read folks?

[Adam Balm]

So what should I read folks?

Too soon?

[Lord Voldemoo]

this was a horrible idea...

[doglips]

Notes On a Scandal Get in there before Dench wins some awards. It's a gripping book and not too long. So you can finish it even if you don't like it.

[Adam Balm]

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Kicking-Sacred-Cow-Impermissible-Thoughts/dp/1416520732/sr=1-3/qid=1170200782/ref=sr_1_3/103-5479090-7191817?ie=UTF8&s=books]Kicking the Sacred Cow: Heresy and Impermissible Thoughts in Science (Mass Market Paperback)
by James P. Hogan[/url]

[cap]

This is not meant to start a political conversation. They are books that I enjoyed. And unfortunately relevent in todays world.....

The Last Jihad and The Last Days. A two book series by Joel Rosenberg.

Very good, very entertaining and very well written.

[papalazeru]

I highly recommend

Live from Golgotha by Gore Vidal

and

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

[Vegeta]

World War Z is a pretty awesome book, not in you're pysics/string theaory department... but pretty good none the less. Also, if I remember correctly, there is very little cow action

[Lord Voldemoo]

Thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of cross-section I was looking for...keep it rolling!

[Fievel]

World War Z is a pretty awesome book, not in you're pysics/string theaory department... but pretty good none the less. Also, if I remember correctly, there is very little cow action

Agreed. Great book.

I'd like to add something I reviewed in another post, Orson Scott Card's Empire. Very little cow action, but still entertaining and somewhat thought-proviking (in that don't think too hard kind of way). The only science related part is the new technolgy in weapons that is used.

[Nachokoolaid]

Does it still have to be non-fiction? If not, read AMERICAN GODS, by Neil Gaiman. If that interests you, you can pick up the non-fiction (what I consider the companion piece) GOD AND MYTHS OF NORTHERN EUROPE. Sorry, but I forgot the author on that one.

And if this is strictly non-fiction. Try BRAIN DONORS by G. Carlin. It systematically breaks down the brains fuctions into laymans terms that all can understand and enjoy. Seriously.