I need some mental sorbet. A palette cleanser. Any good book suggestions? I’ve had my head stuck in manuals, technical papers, forums, and work-related stuff for 15 years. My brain needs a reality break. Fiction preferred. I like tech but not really into sci-fi.
Also, if you did read a book, any book, and think your fellow Lame Artists would enjoy it, you are welcome to share it here.
I usually read non-fiction and autobiographies, but before it became a bloated Spielberg film, I read Ready Player One which ended up being a great palette cleanser for someone of our generation.
Another movie related idea…The Martian by Andy Weir. Fantastic read that is way ahead of the excellent film. More science than sci-fi.
But avoid his follow-up “Artemis”…its bloody awful!
If you like Jack Reacher kind of thrillers, then theres a whole series of great books by an author called Vince Flynn…forget the main characters name but the books are great escapist stuff. Now i think of it…one of these was made into a movie…American Assassin…although nowhere near as good as the book.
I enjoyed David Chang’s Eat A Peach very much. In a year where maintaining focus for an entire 15 minute video tutorial is often impossible, I burned through that book.
Also, it’s great food for thought (ugh) where management and business strategy are concerned. Plus it’s pretty funny.
Slide back to the '70’s with some tech savvy hipsters who try to game Vegas. Non-Fiction. The Eudaemonic Pie
Definitely on my read list.
I feel like a bigass internet snob for writing this, but Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is fucking great. Hilarious, tragic, magical. The first 200-ish pages are harder work than most books, but by the time you get to the rise and fall of video calling it really hits a stride.
Nothing to Envy - Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, is basically 1984 in non-fiction form and fascinating.
Most anything by Haruki Murakami is a good time. I’m especially fond of Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and 1Q84
And even though you don’t want Sci-Fi, Philip K Dick’s Ubik is really quite something.
I know @randy said he didn’t so much want sci-fi, but Nick Harkaway’s Gone Away World is as weird and funny and enjoyable as a dystopian post-apocalyptic nightmare can really hope to be. Bonus, it’s written by a former agency creative, which may help with your general opinion of that class of person, if that’s a thing you’re looking for.
And I can’t believe I didn’t think of these first, but John Hodgman’s Vacationland and the follow up Medallion Status are super funny and incredibly diverting while also being quite thoughtful and thought-provoking. And they will probably save you a trip to Maine!
Im warning up to sci-fi, I’m just nowhere near where most of y’all are probably so as long as you are gentle and or @andy_dill from his teenage years then I have a shot at liking your reccos. 
This is 2/3 earnest and 1/3 sick burn but have you read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
hahaha. I have not yet. Sounds like I should though!
I’m sure @andy_dill read it in the womb, but I just re-read it last year and it holds up. I think you would really like it. Plus it’s one of those foundational pieces of culture where all of a sudden there will be references where you’re like “ohhhhh, I get that now.”
It also teases the British in a way you will probably appreciate, given your professional history.
fwiw I’d read Infinite Jest twice before I got around to HHGTG–I think I was working on the title sequence when I finally picked up the book. But yeah, it’s good.
hahaha! totally!!!
Shantanaram
You live in Chi-town right? “Devil in the white city” seems an obvious choice.
…Great book, but it takes time. It’s worth it though.
Here are my pics for my favorite books in the last few years.
SCI-FI. Recursion. Blake Crouch
Kiln People. David Brin
Self Help. The subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Mark Manson
You are a Badass. Jen Sincero
History Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. David Grann
In the Hurrican’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
FUNNY. A Confederacy of Dunces. John Kennedy Toole
Based on a True Story. Norm Macdonald
Bad Monkey. Carl Hiaasen
Murder Mystery. The 7 1/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Stuart Turton
Heart Warming Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home Pauls Toutonghi
Magic. The Magicians. Lev Grossman
Fiction History? A Falcon Flies. Wilbur Smith
WORTH MENTIONING
Favorite Adventure book as a kid. Moonfleet. John Meade Falkner
Must read if you travel to India Serpentine Thomas Thompson
Shantaram. Gregory David Roberts
A long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Ishmael Beah
The Alchemist. Paulo Coelho
Page turner. The Martian. Andy Weir
Western. Sudden: The Marshal of Lawless
Tenth of December by George Saunders is a great book. A collection of short stories (he writes mostly short stories) is great for these hard-to-focus times. The stories are quite dark but also hilarious and heartfelt. Also, he’s wonderful to listen to when he’s reading his own stuff, so the audiobook is solid as well.
His book Lincoln In the Bardo is a whole other bag of beans but also great - it’s his only work that is not a short story.
Happy reading!