talkmagic.co.uk

So this could be better placed in the Doves Head but hopefully I'll get some good replies here.

I've very kindly been given a £50 voucher for Waterstones. Normally I know exactly what books I want and I they're never normally bought from Waterstones but now I have this gift card to use I was hoping for some recommendations.

Seeing as this was a surprise gift I'd like to use it to buy something I may not normally pick up, would anybody be so kind to suggest a book or two? Suggesting a magic book that waterstones carry is great but any book of any kind that you enjoy would be great to see.

Thanks

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesw ... n/6803716/

If you are into Demons and the beliefs people had. This book comes from the 17th C but a lot of the material is from the 14th C

Thank you Stephen, without a synopsis that is certainly one I would have missed.

Amazon will tell you the contents. This is a strange and dark read but well worth it. If you have a kindle then you can pick this up very cheaply.

David Rankine and Stephen Skinner released an excellent version of the lesser key, that found and added a number of new source resources, improving on the original McGregor Mathers version.

If I recall correctly it was published by Avalonia.

Heckler wrote:David Rankine and Stephen Skinner released an excellent version of the lesser key, that found and added a number of new source resources, improving on the original McGregor Mathers version.

If I recall correctly it was published by Avalonia.

Not got that version, interesting

Any of the Terry Pratchett 'Discworld' Series'. I would recommend one of the following to start with 'Guards Guards', 'Wyrd Sisters' or 'Monstrous Regiment'.

If you think you won't like it because it's sword and sorcery you're mistaken, I hate sword and sorcery books, I didn't bother finishing lord of the rings, I could barely handle starting game of thrones, it's just not my style it's always too serious with lots of people with ridiculous names all killing each other over some Macguffin.
If you do like sword and sorcery books then this is the best, it's smart, rich, detailed but unpretentious.

Discworld is funny, truly brilliant storytelling that is part spoof of sword and sorcery books and part social satire of our own world, it's easy to start reading and impossible to stop.

Also I still consider Terry Pratchett to be one of my top magic influences. He's not a magician or a mentalist he's a full on wizard.

In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I really really really like Terry Pratchett, he's just so * clever on so many levels.

I recently read a book called 'Carter Beats the Devil' by Glen David Gold, which is available from Waterstones. It's a fictionalised biography of magician Charles Carter, and has lots of magic in it. The plot sometimes seems to lose its way slightly, but it is overall a good read that I can recommend.

i couldn't get the waterstones website to work... so i've posted an amazon link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quirkology-Curi ... 229&sr=8-6

i very interesting read by a magician turned psychologist.

im reading this at the moment and finding it fascinating:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Rise-Indian ... 314&sr=1-1

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:If you think you won't like it because it's sword and sorcery you're mistaken, I hate sword and sorcery books, I didn't bother finishing lord of the rings, I could barely handle starting game of thrones, it's just not my style it's always too serious with lots of people with ridiculous names all killing each other over some Macguffin.
If you do like sword and sorcery books then this is the best, it's smart, rich, detailed but unpretentious.

You've set of my pedantometer, JER (it's like a pedometer, only far more tiring). The Discworld books are not sword and sorcery (indeed none of the things you mentioned is). Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy, usually associated with protagonists like Conan.

I do have a lot of sympathy for your views of the fantasy genre. It's often just too silly and things that should be amazingly important are somehow rendered ludicrous.

I went to a Terry Pratchett book signing some years ago and he really seemed like a lovely guy. It was a bit awkward, as I was there to get a book signed as a birthday present for a friend of mine, who's a Discworld fan, and when Terry engaged me in conversation, I had to admit that I'd never read any of his works.

And then I said one of his jokes from the book (which he was telling me about) was rather like one from a very famous Morecambe and Wise sketch. I was just making conversation (feeling a bit embarrassed at not having read any of his books) and it probably came out like I was saying he'd pinched the gag. All in all, a bit awkward.

Anyway, my book suggestion is The Big Con by David Maurer. It's about how the long con developed. If you watched Hustle or the Mission: Impossible TV series (not the films, which mistook the gimmickry for the actual story), you'll see where they came from.

Part-Timer wrote:You've set of my pedantometer, JER (it's like a pedometer, only far more tiring). The Discworld books are not sword and sorcery (indeed none of the things you mentioned is). Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy, usually associated with protagonists like Conan.

Fair point I got the genre name wrong, don't think I was being derivative, that was not my intent. I was simply trying to point out that even if you don't like fantasy books you will like Terry Pratchett.

He is a very awkward speaker but a truly wonderful writer. Chances are he alluded to the Morecambe and Wise sketch, he likes to drop in subtle and overt references to many peoples work. For example here's a paragraph from 'Wyrd sisters' in which the Duke is slowly going mad over the guilt of killing his brother the king.

"He'd scrubbed and scrubbed, but it seemed to have no effect. Eventually he'd gone down to the dungeons and borrowed one of the torturer's wire brushes, and scrubbed and scrubbed with that, too. That had no effect, either. It made it worse. The harder he scrubbed, the more blood there was. He was afraid he might go mad..."

Thats the kind of thing he does, he takes well known tropes and stories, in this case the 'Out damn spot' scene from Macbeth and turns it on it's head.

Nobody likes everything and I grudgingly accept that there probably are people out there who will read Terry Pratchett and not enjoy it, but so far everyone I've met who has read his work liked it so much that I do think it's worth trying out.

There are plenty of books and stories I've found funny but it's only with discworld books that I've actually laughed out loud.

To keep on topic and to give a fair list of options for mrz0mbie here's the BBC's top 100 books the fact that Terry Pratchett appears five times on this list is just a stroke of luck on my part.

Part-Timer wrote:You've set of my pedantometer

And that's set off mine.

Pfff... With a collection of over 1000, I always struggle recommending anything to anyone that is specific.

Just started rereading Lovecraft; only got into his stuff quite recently as I've always had a preference for 'realistic' horror. Also reading a lot of ghost stories at the moment as an offshoot of the PhD: The Woman in Black is still a favourite; anything by MR James; Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts. Or Heart-Shaped Box. Or Horns. Anything by Joe Hill, really; one of Stephen King's kids, but he can definitely hold his own; really enjoyed each of these.

Heckler wrote:

Part-Timer wrote:You've set of my pedantometer

And that's set off mine.

Not your ironiscope?

Just a typo, though.