Book recommendations (please read carefully)...

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Now, some of you might remember my book-reading blogs (the latest of which are here), but I have to admit that I need some help for one or two recommendations.

Now, I'm actually not going to ask for any old recommendations. I am actually going to try and ask for specific recommendations based on things I want to try.

For example, my first request is for an ideal introduction to Agatha Christie, specifically either her Marple books, or her Poirot books. Can anyone give me a book from either series by Christie that is an ideal introduction to them?

I never read Christie. Come to me when you want some Doyle.

Its been eons since I read Christie... but you could just see the chronological order of her book title publishing and start with the first book.

Been there, done that. I have read the first three of the four Sherlock Holmes novels. I am yet to read The Valley of Fear, though. Not in the mood for any Doyle at the moment, really...

Okay, well, besides Agatha Christie, what books by Isaac Asimov would you recommend? I have recently finished The Caves of Steel and thought it a ripping yarn.

And finally, what psychological horror books would you recommend? I'd like something in the style of House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, in other words, every day things apparently coming alive in an eerie and disturbing manner.

I'd recommend Foundation. It's engaging.

A great book in the poirot series is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

I recommend his short stories. The collections I, Robot and Tales of the Black Widowers would be good starts.



There's a book that the terminally up-themselves people who introduced me to House of Leaves were into, but I've forgotten its name. It was similarly transdimensional. Something about parchment or blood or something. Damnit... main character was a demon or something. I'll try and remember.

There's a children's book called House of Stairs by William Sleator that you might find interesting.

I recommend The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. Yes, he of The Night Land. No, it's written in English.

Ah, that was it: Vellum, the Book of all Hours, by Hal Duncan.

I recommend giving The Valley of Fear a try when you're willing to try Doyle again, because it's a bit different than the previous novels. It employs the same "investigative first half, flashback second half" technique, but the tone is very different. I've heard several people refer to it as the first hard boiled crime novel, and I see what they mean.

Also, have you just read the first three novels, or have you also read some of the short stories? Because overall, they're superior to the novels.