NationStates Jolt Archive

fav book 8),,, fav books

the hobbit
l

the secret garden

The Giving Tree

or

Atlas Shrugged

also angela's ashes (even though it makes me cry)

An impossible question! I have so many favorites. :)

Just to name a few:

- His Dark Materials

- One Flew Over the Chuckoo's Nest

- Brighton Rock

- Harry Potter

- the Power and the Glory

- Gestures

- Journey to Ixtlan

- Where I'm Calling From

- the Innocent

- anything by Frederick Copleston :)

Frankenstein and the Name of the Rose. probably.

- His Dark Materials

Doh! I forgot Phillip Pullman. Excellent author.

Yes, 1 favorite book is too limiting.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Catch-22 -- Joseph Heller
Love in a Time of Cholera -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Our Ancestors -- Italo Calvino
A Distant Mirror: the calamitous 14th century -- Barbara Tuchman
The Histories -- Herodotus

SAP ABAP/4 Programming

His Dark Materials
1984
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Sharpe's

young readers: Half Magic; Five children and It

older fantasy: Phantastes; Little, Big

Sci-Fi: The Dispossessed

"serious" lit: Paradise Lost; The Inferno

Adventure: the Hornblower series

mystery: Agatha Christie's Poirot books

young readers: Half Magic; Five children and It

older fantasy: Phantastes; Little, Big

Sci-Fi: The Dispossessed

"serious" lit: Paradise Lost; The Inferno

Adventure: the Hornblower series

mystery: Agatha Christie's Poirot books
I completely agree about the Dispossessed. Le Guin wrote a masterpiece there. Excellent book

Atlas Shrugged :shock:
You live a scary life, my friend.
(Sorry--wrong smiley at first)

Too many to list a favorite, but right now I'm rereading Much Ado About Nothing and Against All Enemies. Talk about a difference in tone between the two.

Atlas Shrugged :shock:
You live a scary life, my friend.
(Sorry--wrong smiley at first)

Too many to list a favorite, but right now I'm rereading Much Ado About Nothing and Against All Enemies. Talk about a difference in tone between the two.

I said I liked it, not that I believed in it. :D

What edition of Much Ado are you reading?

fav book??? Only one? :shock:

Impossible...

Period - Jane Austen
Wilkie Collins
Anthony Trollop - Barchester books
Historical - Georgette Heyer
Crime - Agatha Christie
Scifi/fantasy - Robin Hobb
LOTR
The Hobbit
Anne McCaffrey - Pern series
Modern - Kazuo Ishiguru
Travel - William Dalrymple
Colin Thubron
Peter Mayle
William Thesiger
Thrillers - Mary Stewart
Autobiography - Gerald Durrel
Laurie Lee
Kate Adie

Books mmmmmmm...give me books....

Favourite books, well lets see....

Hitch Hikers Guide (1,2 and 3 but not 4 and 5, they're not as good) - Douglas Adams
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter (I may sound cleche, but I like them) - J.K.Rowling
The Abhorsen Trilogy - Garth Nix
The Crysallids, Chocky, The Midwich Cuckoos and that collection of short stories that I cant quite remember (thats not actually the title) - John Wyndham

There are probably more, I just cant remember them now

*waits for someone to say Jennifer Government to gain favour from Max*

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

Winnie the Pooh

Revalations
Daniel

Atlas Shrugged

Ooh, I've heard of that one, but never read it. The title sounds so cool...

I like "Watership Down" and "Ella Enchanted.

Atlas Shrugged

Boo! Ayn Rand was a selfish advocate of slavery in a new form!

-------------------------
Free your mind!

Atlas Shrugged :shock:
You live a scary life, my friend.
(Sorry--wrong smiley at first)

Too many to list a favorite, but right now I'm rereading Much Ado About Nothing and Against All Enemies. Talk about a difference in tone between the two.

I said I liked it, not that I believed in it. :D

What edition of Much Ado are you reading?I'm reading the Penguin books edition, mainly because dragging out my Wells and taylor Complete Works is a pain in the ass. I tried reading Rand once, but found the writing sere and pedantic in the extreme.

On another note, I went to a colloqium/q&a session with W. S. Merwin today. That guy is seriously sharp, even though he's in his upper 70s now, anad a very nice man as well. His translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece.

I'm reading the Penguin books edition, mainly because dragging out my Wells and taylor Complete Works is a pain in the ass. I tried reading Rand once, but found the writing sere and pedantic in the extreme.

On another note, I went to a colloqium/q&a session with W. S. Merwin today. That guy is seriously sharp, even though he's in his upper 70s now, anad a very nice man as well. His translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece.

Wow, I'm dead envious of that colloquim experience! Was he speaking on Gawain or on something else?

If you get a chance, try the Arden edition. I find they're usually superior (and more expensive).

As for the Rand, I withdraw her and substitute anything by Terry Pratchett or Greg Egan.

I'm reading the Penguin books edition, mainly because dragging out my Wells and taylor Complete Works is a pain in the ass. I tried reading Rand once, but found the writing sere and pedantic in the extreme.

On another note, I went to a colloqium/q&a session with W. S. Merwin today. That guy is seriously sharp, even though he's in his upper 70s now, anad a very nice man as well. His translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece.

Wow, I'm dead envious of that colloquim experience! Was he speaking on Gawain or on something else?

If you get a chance, try the Arden edition. I find they're usually superior (and more expensive).

As for the Rand, I withdraw her and substitute anything by Terry Pratchett or Greg Egan.

I'm reading the Penguin books edition, mainly because dragging out my Wells and taylor Complete Works is a pain in the ass. I tried reading Rand once, but found the writing sere and pedantic in the extreme.

On another note, I went to a colloqium/q&a session with W. S. Merwin today. That guy is seriously sharp, even though he's in his upper 70s now, anad a very nice man as well. His translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a masterpiece.

Wow, I'm dead envious of that colloquim experience! Was he speaking on Gawain or on something else?

If you get a chance, try the Arden edition. I find they're usually superior (and more expensive).

As for the Rand, I withdraw her and substitute anything by Terry Pratchett or Greg Egan.

Wow, I'm dead envious of that colloquim experience! Was he speaking on Gawain or on something else?

If you get a chance, try the Arden edition. I find they're usually superior (and more expensive).

As for the Rand, I withdraw her and substitute anything by Terry Pratchett or Greg Egan.He's the Lane visiting lecturer this quarter, so he gave a reading last night and then the colloqium this morning. The latter was basically an hour long q&a session where he discussed everything from translation and his youthful contact with Ezra Pound to his more recent writing about ecological issues. The group was interesting as well, since they came from all across the community. The Creative Writing Deaprtment was there, but so were members of the biology and environmental sciences, as well as people from the surrounding community.

The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (there are 3 books so far). This author is so good that he has virtually ruined all other authors in his genre (medieval and high fantasy) for me. Very, very good stuff.

Franz Kafka, "The Trial"
Stanislaw Lem, "Peace on Earth"
Gunther Grass, "The Tin Drum"
Céline, "Journey to the End of Night"
Martin Amis, "London Fields"
Ian Rankin (Inspector Rebus series)
James Joyce, "Ulysses"
Iain Banks, "Use of Weapons"
Philip Pullman, (His Dark Materials)
Norman Dixon, "Europe"

The Giver was pretty good. definatly not a hard read, but entertaining.

Dan Brown-- The DaVinci Code

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith (I love, love, love the entire series!)

There are so many other books and authors I love as well:

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Prodigal Summer - Barabara Kingsolver

The Children - David Halberstam

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Nafisi

Jane Austen

Agatha Christie

Charles Dickens

and so many, many more!

Great topic!

the hitchhikers guide to the universe
the road to madness
american gods
good omens
don quixote
the good earth
shogun
the doom that came to sarnath
necronomicon
a confederacy of dunces
my life in action
1984
we
brave new world
i, robot
foundation series

a debt to pleasure
their eyes were watching god
on the road
lolita
crime and punishment
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
the handmaid's tale
invisible man (the one by ellison. not the invisible man by that other guy.)
one hundred years of solitude
harry potter series
wombat stew

plays:
death of a salesman
cyrano de bergerac
enemy of the people

lolita
isnt that about pedophiles or something?

lolita
isnt that about pedophiles or something?
yeah, but the writing is so fantastic you don't feel icky until it's over.

lolita
isnt that about pedophiles or something?
yeah, but the writing is so fantastic you don't feel icky until it's over. um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

their eyes were watching god
brave new world
catch-22
enemy of the people
the joy luck club
beloved

...to name a few.

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough.

perhaps if you set its praises to song, you could sing them better.

perhaps if you set its praises to song, you could sing them better.

good idea. i shall.

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough. hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough.You're right Kernlandia. Lolita is one of the greatest books written in the last century.

The Iliad.

hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.

teehee! that's my kind of hot stuff!

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough.You're right Kernlandia. Lolita is one of the greatest books written in the last century.

see? someone agrees.

hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.

teehee! that's my kind of hot stuff! are you sex crazed or something?

hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.

teehee! that's my kind of hot stuff! are you sex crazed or something?

i'm a teen, i have raging hormones. what's new?

a brave new world - aldous huxley
galapagos - kurt vonnegut (but then everything by that man is amazing)
les jeux sont faites - jean paul sartre (i've only read it in french, i think the english title may be something along the lines of "the games are done")
time machine - h.g. wells
hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy - douglas adams


and this is when i get lazy.

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough. hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.Actually, it's been made into a movie twice, most recently with Jeremy Irons in the role of Humbert Humbert. It came out about 10 years ago if memory serves. And the producers had to be very careful about the scenes between Irons and his teenaged co-start so as not to run afoul of any child porn laws--again, nothing graphic, but contact between adults and minors is very closely monitored.

hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.

teehee! that's my kind of hot stuff! are you sex crazed or something?

i'm a teen, i have raging hormones. what's new? damn it all to hell! you're under age, you shouldnt be reading stuff like that!

he's talking about the other book, not lolita.

um, no thanks. the gay sex scene in american gods was racy enough for me :shock: (if you forget about that its a great book)

hey, that sounds hot. i'm on it.

actually, lolita is worth the read. i'm serious. there's nothing graphic or explicit. and the language is superb-i can't even sing its praises enough. hah, be warned its a very bizarre book. (you dont know whats going on until about page 120) the language and explicit sexual content would probably get it a xxx rating if were ever made into a movie.Actually, it's been made into a movie twice, most recently with Jeremy Irons in the role of Humbert Humbert. It came out about 10 years ago if memory serves. And the producers had to be very careful about the scenes between Irons and his teenaged co-start so as not to run afoul of any child porn laws--again, nothing graphic, but contact between adults and minors is very closely monitored. i was talking about american gods

i've seen one of the films, it was actually really good

damn it all to hell! you're under age, you shouldnt be reading stuff like that!

i'll read what i want to! i've read youth in revolt, that's fairly explicit, and funny as hell, too.

damn it all to hell! you're under age, you shouldnt be reading stuff like that!

i'll read what i want to! i've read youth in revolt, that's fairly explicit, and funny as hell, too. yes. quite the interesting perspective. and comedic, of course

damn it all to hell! you're under age, you shouldnt be reading stuff like that!

i'll read what i want to! i've read youth in revolt, that's fairly explicit, and funny as hell, too. yes. quite the interesting perspective. and comedic, of course

mine disappeared...i lent it to someone like 2 years ago and it never made it back.

House of Leaves- that's one creepy-ass book.

House of Leaves- that's one creepy-ass book. more creepy than lovecraft? whats it about?

Atlas Shrugged

Boo! Ayn Rand was a selfish advocate of slavery in a new form!

-------------------------
Free your mind!
Sigh...
So, do you not read, or what?

My favorite books are the Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky...If I could think I'd also write a bunch of other things....hmm...what's the last thing I read... I think it was Atlas Shrugged actually, for the second time...So that's my favorite book.
Right now I'm reading Neuromancer, which is looking pretty good.

House of Leaves- that's one creepy-ass book. more creepy than lovecraft? whats it about?

not MORE creepy than lovecraft, and not less creepy. Just a different kind.

It's about a house in which there is a door that leads to a room that shouldn't exist....

Impossible to list only one. But heres a list of my some of my favourite authors.

JRR Tolkein
James Michner
Stephen King
George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman series
Chaucer
Anglo-Saxon poetry (yes it's an entire genre but I love almost all of it)
Michael Moorcock

neil gaiman is good.........

neil gaiman is good.........

I like him but sometimes he gets a bit on my nerves- not really his fault it's just the whole goth/I'm-so-cool-and-dark-and-painful thing some of his fans have going.

He's an excellent writer though.

BTW I can't believe I forgot to mention Terry Pratchett, God among Men!

Have you read Good Omens where Gaiman and Pratchett collaborated? Fantastic book.

neil gaiman is good.........

I like him but sometimes he gets a bit on my nerves- not really his fault it's just the whole goth/I'm-so-cool-and-dark-and-painful thing some of his fans have going.

He's an excellent writer though.

BTW I can't believe I forgot to mention Terry Pratchett, God among Men!

Have you read Good Omens where Gaiman and Pratchett collaborated? Fantastic book.YES! i just finished reading it and loved it! funniest book ever written! as for gaiman, screw most of his fans. also have you read american gods? amazing book

Revalations
Daniel

and not matthew?

robert rankin
daniel defoe: a journal of the plague year
mike davis: city of quartz
daniil charms
arto paasilinna

Atlas Shrugged

Boo! Ayn Rand was a selfish advocate of slavery in a new form!

-------------------------
Free your mind!
Sigh...
So, do you not read, or what?

My favorite books are the Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky...If I could think I'd also write a bunch of other things....hmm...what's the last thing I read... I think it was Atlas Shrugged actually, for the second time...So that's my favorite book.
Right now I'm reading Neuromancer, which is looking pretty good.

Exactly! I've read Atlas Shrugged 3 times and The Fountainhead twice and We The Living once, so Atlas Shrugged won my favorite book by default. The prose is gawdawful, but he ideas are interesting. Her straight philosophy books are also fascinating.

Neuromancer is very good, if you're referring to the William Gibson book.

Black Lotus - Laura Joh Rowland
Mother Ocean, Daughter Sea - Diana Marcellas
The Assassins of Tamurin - S.D. Tower

Er, some listed here, not a comprehensive list:

The Bridge - Iain Banks
Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks
Mars Trilogy - Kim Stanley Robinson
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
1984 - George Orwell
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Titus Andronicus - William Shakespeare (OK, not a novel, but people have mentoned Much Ado - which I can't stand!)
Death & the Maiden - Ariel Dorfman (since we're doing plays)
Adult Child, Dead Child - Claire Dowie