NationStates Jolt Archive


What are some great books you have read in the last 3 years?

Emdeee
10-04-2005, 16:08
Actually make that three or four years... I would have to say some of my favourites were (in some kind of chronological order I believe):

The Deltora Quest Series :D
The Diamond Brothers Series
The Wheel of Time Series
Kane and Abel (Jeffery Archer's)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Bah! There should be WAY more... stupid library making me give books back! :headbang:
Dakini
10-04-2005, 16:10
The past three years I've been in school (uni) so most of my reading is done in the summer...

anywho

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ender's Game
The universe in a Nutshell
Rising sun

and I can't remember the rest, I know there have been more though.
Quentulus Qazgar
10-04-2005, 16:23
-The whole Galaxy-"trilogy" by Douglas Adams ( :D )
-Ilium by Dan Simmons
-The Hyperion-series by Dan Simmons (yeah, yeah so what if I like Scifi?)

Ilium was the only book I read in english and I'm not even sure if they're gonna translate it into finnish. That'd be a shame because it's almost as good as Hyperion.
Demented Hamsters
10-04-2005, 16:26
Last couple of years I've been on a Non-fiction buzz, for some reason:
"The Age of Extremes" by Eric Hobsbawm
"Chaos" and "Speed" by James Gleick
"Sync" by Steven Strogatz
"The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" and "Down Under" by Bill Bryson
"The meaning of everything" by Simon Winchester
"The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi" by Mario Livio
"The Twelve Caesars" by Suetonius
Attempted "Kant and the Platypus" by Umberto Eco, but man, it's dense reading! I sort of trudge my way through a chapter now and then.


Um they're the ones I can remember. I have read a few fiction books, like George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice & Fire" series (I bought his "Fevre Dream" last week but haven't got round to reading it yet), and lots of Jack Vance's books (I really enjoy his stuff as it's such well-written pulp sci-fi, perfect for a lazy weekend). Oh and "Shout, and other short stories", along with "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God"(for the 3rd or 4th time) by Robert Graves. The short story collection is absolutely brilliant, and highly recommended.
The Jovian Worlds
10-04-2005, 18:17
Too many to list for last 3 years, but here's a brief listing
Fiction
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds (all all successive books)
Illium - Dan Simmons
Vurt - Jeff Noon
Pollen - Jeff Noon
Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson

non-fiction:
Under the banner of heaven: A story of violent faith, Jon Krakauer
currently reading
Sparkeh
10-04-2005, 18:26
Any Crichton books, the entire Ender series, The Da Vinci code, I, Robot, Dune, Starship troopers.... Thats in the past 4 months. I can't remember any firther than that.
Theao
10-04-2005, 18:34
Far far too many to even trying to list but a few of the ones I've read in the past couple of weeks
The Legacy of the Aldenta series
Dahak series
Dune
Endors series
Hitchhikers guide
War between the Provinces series
and March series
Arribastan
10-04-2005, 18:34
The "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan
"NationStates" By Max Barry
"Syrup" By Maxx Barry
The "Magic the Gathering" book series by various authors (okay, so I'm pathetic)
"The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" trilogy (the fifth book wasn't that good)
The "Discworld" series by Terry Pratchett
The original "Star Trek" book series


That seems to be the best of them.
Mythotic Kelkia
10-04-2005, 18:35
hmm... probably loads of great books I forgot :/ ...

fiction:
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Dracula by Bram Stoker
various short stories by H.P Lovecraft
The K-PAX trilogy by Gene Brewer
Permutation City, Diaspora and Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series by... various authors :p
The Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

"non-fiction":
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
The Decline of the West (Abridged Edition) by Oswald Spengler
The Mindset
10-04-2005, 18:37
"Pandora's Star" - Peter F. Hamilton
"Iron Sunrise" - Charles Stross
"Singularity Sky" - Charles Stross
"Romeo and Juliet" - Shakespeare
"Feersum Endjinn" - Ian M. Banks
Passive Cookies
10-04-2005, 19:09
Let me think... I've read A Clockwork Orange (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0393312836.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg), Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions (http://www.fatznew.com/Pictures/Txxx/Qffsv35ler58fvTvqNVXCSvkpoOSwE3MCUfTezQisAvfATdU2tMUw38bwX72URJGz6P6OleawU.jpg), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00007ELDF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg), Life of Pi (http://www.canadacouncil.ca/canadacouncil/archives/prizes/ggla/2001/images/e-highres/ef_%20martel.jpg), and Catch 22 (http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7380000/7382217.jpg)... (Just to name a few of my favourites :))
Colodia
10-04-2005, 19:22
Syrup
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, Universe, and Everything
Mostly Harmless


I like very little books, me thinks.
Sthyxia
10-04-2005, 19:51
Some of my favourites from the last 3 or 4 years...

Titus Groan (part of the Ghormengast Trilogy) - mervyn peake
The Lovely Bones - alice sebold
The Elephant Vanishes- haruki murakami
Red Azalea- an chee min
The Good Women Of China - xin ran
The Female Eunuch - germaine greer
Oryx And Crake- margaret atwood
The Beauty Myth - naomi wolf
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - maya angelou
Lost Souls - poppy z brite
Jennifer Government- guess who!
Life, The Universe and Everything - douglas adams (my favourite one of the 'trilogy'!)
Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - can't remember who wrote this one
The Handmaid's Tale - margaret atwood
Lolita - vladimir nabokov


...I need to get out more :(
Ploymonotheistic Coven
10-04-2005, 21:14
In the past three to four years I've enjoyed

;) Fiction
Inca Gold
Air Frame
Eaters of the Dead
Timeline
The DaVinci Code
The DaVinci Legacy
Battlefield Earth

:cool: Non-fiction
Entanglement
The Lucifer Principle
The Long Day of Joshua and Seven Other Catastrophes

:mp5: Religious
The Holy Bible (NASB-KJV)
Lost Christianities
Lost Scriptures
The Koran

Probably need to get a life eh? :headbang:
Custodes Rana
10-04-2005, 21:15
Guns of August(since it's been 15yrs)
Royal Sunset(extremely good book)
1634
1633
1632
War of the Spider Queen series
Tluiko
10-04-2005, 21:57
The universe in a Nutshell


Quite hard a read. It goes like: "The time is shaped like a sphere and because of that..."
Whaaa???
Utracia
10-04-2005, 22:10
If you want classic novels Catcher in the Rye and Cat's Cradle are always good reads along with anything Orwell wrote.
I like David Weber and Eric Flint's sci-fi books and Harry Turtledove's alternate history also.
Rasselas
10-04-2005, 22:56
Jennifer Government....of course....
Men Like Gods - H G Wells
War of the Worlds - H G Wells
Starship Titanic - Terry Jones
Drasticated Meteor
10-04-2005, 22:57
I have read many good books over the last few years. Too many to mention really, but the highlights have been:

Saga Of The Exiles - Julian May
Lord Of The Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett
Most of the Discworld Novels by Pratchett
Adolf Hitler, My part in his downfall (and all the others) - Spike Milligan
Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling
Roots - Alex Haley
Shogun - James Clavell
1984 - George Orwell
Abarat - Clive Barker
The Language Of Stones - Robert Carter

EDIT: Forgot Catch 22
Franziskonia
10-04-2005, 23:05
John Irving - Owen Meany
Vladimir Kaminer - Russendisko
Roger Zelazny - Amber Chronicles Stuff
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time
William Gibson - Neuromancer Trilogy

And others I can't remember.
LeftoverCrackLand
10-04-2005, 23:06
Good Books,theres juss so many!hehe
Angels And Deamons-Dan Brown
Junk-Melvin Burgess
Darwinia-Robert Charles Wilson
Catch 22-Joseph Heller
The curious incident of the dog and the nighttime-Mark Haddon
:)
Weirdnessessess
10-04-2005, 23:06
YAY! Harry Potter Series!!! (I was wondering when someone was going to say that.) I've read WAY too many books in the past three years to be able to list them all but a few of my favorite books that i can remember are:

(by the way, they're all fiction cuz that's so much more fun than nonfiction)
(Chronological order from most reacent because i think from now backwards)
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Faerie Wars by Hervie Brennan
The Sisterhoon of the Traveling Pants (And The Second Summer of the Sisterhood) by Ann Brashares (i haven't gotten to the third one yet)
They're TECHNACALLY books, but the graphic novels Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki

A FEW nonfiction books that are sort of fun or really good even if they're horrible (you'll understand) are:
The Horrible Histories (i read when i was younger--- Measly Middle Ages, Angry Aztecs, Awesome Egyptians, etc.) by Terry Deary
and for English class, we had to read Night by Elie Wiesel
DuQuesnia
10-04-2005, 23:08
Get yourself over to Baen's Bar [bar.baen.com] now - you're clearly an addict. Introduec yourself in the Bar conference or Ringo's Tavern - many fellow fans to be found there. If you're already a Barfly, congratulations on your taste and commiserations re the effects on your wallet and sanity.

Far far too many to even trying to list but a few of the ones I've read in the past couple of weeks
The Legacy of the Aldenta series
Dahak series
Dune
Endors series
Hitchhikers guide
War between the Provinces series
and March series
The Tribes Of Longton
10-04-2005, 23:10
Brave New World
1984
Animal Farm
His Dark Materials trilogy
Catch 22
Many many Terry Pratchet books
LotR
The Silmarillion (scary hard to read)
The Hitchhikers guide books
Farenheit 451

EDIT: Damnit, I've read too many, so I forgot - Dune

Damn tootin'.
Garabedian
11-04-2005, 02:48
Ender's Game
Davince Code
DreamCatcher
Club House
11-04-2005, 02:54
read dostoevsky's brothers karamazov even if its only the chpater: The Rebellion. great stuff wich will mess with your outlook on life
Neitzsche
11-04-2005, 03:32
I've recently been on a Mark Twain binge
-letters from the earth -MT
-#44 the misterious stranger -MT
-the innocents abroad -MT
-the hidden Mark Twain
-Christian science -MT
-what is man -MT

Other than that I have read The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine, the antichrist by Nietzsche. Fight Club, survivor, and Choke, by Chuck palanuk (sp?)
I went on a H.L Mencken spree also, starting with prejudices and "on religion", thats about all I can remember for now
Ramalac
11-04-2005, 04:05
My sister, bless her, talked me into reading my first Discworld book about nine months ago. Since then I've read one every 2-3 weeks or so, in addition to whatever else I'm reading :)

Discworld series (twentyodd of them): Terry Pratchett
To Say Nothing of the Dog: Connie Willis
Doomsday Book: Connie Willis
Harry Potter series: J. K. Rowling
Matilda: Roald Dahl (my favourite Dahl book)
Use of Weapons: Iain M Banks (violent but great story)
Taltos series: Steven Brust
Jhereg
Athyra
Yendi
Teckla
Orca
Dragon
Taltos
Phoenix
Ultimate Spider-Man series: graphic novels, dunno who writes them
Maniac Magee: Jerry Spinelli
The Lorax: Dr. Seuss (again, my particular favorite, but all Seuss' are spiffy)
The Thin Woman: Dorothy Cannell
Vorkosigan series (and related works): Lois McMaster Bujold
The Curse of Chalion: Lois M. Bujold
Paladin of Souls: Lois M. Bujold
The Black Widowers: Isaac Asimov

Three to four years?! The list is just too long. But these are highlights and/or favourites. :)
Srentia
11-04-2005, 04:17
I've read way too many in the last 3-4 years to list 'em all, but here are a couple favorites:

Nightside series - Simon R. Green
Dresden files - Jim Butcher
The Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher
Dreamer - Steven Harper
The Way of the Wolf - E.E. Knight (First of the Vampire Earth Series)
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
The Ill-made Mute - Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Anita Blake Series - Laurell K. Hamilton

And a whole lot more!
Minas Mordred
11-04-2005, 04:21
The past three years I've been in school (uni) so most of my reading is done in the summer...

anywho

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ender's Game
The universe in a Nutshell
Rising sun

and I can't remember the rest, I know there have been more though.

They are making the movie to ,A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, for May this year.

I really like reading Lord of The Rings.
Richard III
I Robot
The Giver
and many others
Hailowniss
11-04-2005, 04:22
Most of Micheal Chreiton's (I know the spelling is off a bit on that) books that he wrote up to Timeline are pretty good... after that Prey and I forgot the name of the other one, but they weren't that special. I believe some of his best ones are Sphere, Jurassic Park, and Timeline... though most of them are pretty good if you want a good sci-fi book...
Pantalonystan
11-04-2005, 04:25
The Harry Potter Series - J.K. Rowling
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

worst book:
Flatland - don't know, don't care

Although this book is extremely short, it is horrible to read. It's a book devoted to the lives of 2-D geometrical shapes and their government systems. Forgive me for not being intrigued by the daily life of an isosceles triangle. Don't even waste your time reading this book.
Hamburger Buns
11-04-2005, 04:35
Watership Down.
Preebles
11-04-2005, 08:40
It's a play, but
A Doll's House- Henrik Ibsen. I also got to see it performed, with Miranda Otto playing Nora!

Also:

Blackwood Farm- Anne Rice (not great in the literal sense, but great fun)
The Salmon of Doubt- Douglas Adams
The Solitaire Mystery- Jostein Gaarder

I'm sure there are more, and I will put them in as they come to me.
Helioterra
11-04-2005, 09:18
Past 3 years? Hmm...

Umberto Eco: The Foucalt thing (don't know english title)
Andre Brink: Devil's Valley
Erlen Loe: Naiv.Super.

nonfiction
Stephen Hawking: A brief history of time (I read about once in every three years, always understand it a little bit better)
Honour & Fleming: World history of Art
and some cinema books.
Helioterra
11-04-2005, 09:20
read dostoevsky's brothers karamazov even if its only the chpater: The Rebellion. great stuff wich will mess with your outlook on life
Russian literature sometimes has weird side effects...which is nice.
Helioterra
11-04-2005, 09:22
Ender's Game
Davince Code
DreamCatcher
Maybe it was just very poorly translated but IMO Da Vinci Code was horribly written.
Preebles
11-04-2005, 09:25
I forgot the Harry Potter series! :D

And I read Anna Karenina AGES ago, I was like 14... But I loved it and feel the urge to put it down on this list...
Lapse
11-04-2005, 09:51
hitchhiker series of course...
Hornblower series by C.S. Forester
The tommorow series by John Marsden

i have to say, most teh otehr books i have read in that time have been pretty bad
Tomas Katz
11-04-2005, 09:53
Maybe it was just very poorly translated but IMO Da Vinci Code was horribly written.
No it isn't the translation, it is poorly written.
Adrian Barbeau-Bot
11-04-2005, 10:07
anything (and everything) by william s. burroughs. one brilliant man

anything (and everything, again) by hunter s. thompson. another brillant man

perfume (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375725849/104-1639788-8197538?v=glance) by patrick suskind

don quixote was pretty good, but i didnt get all the way though that, so it doest count.

i read a bunch of crap, but those were by far the best books.
Madrapour
11-04-2005, 10:12
Fiction:

- Terry Pratchett's - Discworld (has anyone an idea when the next book of that series will be released)
- Wladimir Kaminer - Russendisko, Trullala, Mein deutsches Dschungelbuch (My German Junglebook) ...
- Sigfried Lenz - Deutschstunde (German Lesson)
- Jules Verne
- Graham Greene - The Quit American, The 3rd Man
- Robert Merle - Madrapour, Malevil, The Day of the Dolphin ...
- Ephraim Kishon - Funniest Man in The World ...
- Henning Mankell - Wallander Crime Stories
- John Irving - The 4th Hand, Garp

Non-Fiction:

- 1421 - The Year China Discovered America
- Emanuel Todd - After The Empire
- Jana Hensel - Zonenkinder
The Scarecrows
11-04-2005, 10:40
Dragon by Peter F Hamilton
Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton
The Skinner by Neal Asher
The Line of the Polity by Neal Asher
etc etc

I can't remember them all...
Everymen
11-04-2005, 10:42
Anything by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, George Orwell or Aldous Huxley.
Honey Badgers
11-04-2005, 10:50
Am I the only person who reads Philip K. Dick? :confused:

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Ubik
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
The Penultimate Truth
A Scanner Darkly
etc.

Plus everything by Jane Austen, she's great,

and

The Inquisition by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.
Asengard
11-04-2005, 11:02
I seem to have a lot in common with other readers out there: -

Fiction

Night's Dawn Trilogy - Peter Hamilton
Revelation Space and others - Alastair Reynolds
Discworld stuff (read 'em all now reading Going Postal) - Terry Pratchett
Puckoon - Spike Milligan
The last Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant: Runes of the Earth - Stephen Donaldson
The Gap Series - Stephen Donaldson
Sorrow and Thorns Series - Tad Hamilton
Ben Elton's entire range
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night - Christopher Brookmyre
All the Harry Potters - J K Rowling
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and others - Philip K Dick
Various SF short story collections
Last Chance To See - Douglas Adams
Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams (posthumous)

Non Fiction

The essential Spike Milligan - Biography of his works
Peter Cook, Unfortunately I was an Only Twin - Biography of his works
The Extended Phenotype - Richard Dawkins

That's just in the past few years. In the past I've read: -

LOTR and The Hobbit
All the Hitchhikers
First Two of Wheel of Times (Pulp, not very good)
All Stephen Donaldson (Thomas Covenant, Mordant's Need, Short stories etc.)
A couple of other Richard Dawkins.
Dune and Dune Messiah
All Julian May's Saga of the Exiles.
Riftwar Saga and Serpentwar Saga - Raymond E Feist
And a lot more I can't even think of...
Gir is Great
11-04-2005, 11:03
Umm...

Jennifer Government
Sabriel - Gareth Nix
Lirael - "
Abhorsen - "
Universal Soldier - Robert Tine (?)
I'm reading...
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Asengard
11-04-2005, 11:18
Am I the only person who reads Philip K. Dick? :confused:

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Ubik
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
The Penultimate Truth
A Scanner Darkly
etc.
.
No You're not, but I've only read a collection of his short stories (Wub, Blobbel etc.) and Do Androids dream... I'd like to know if the others are worth reading. There's an animation film of A Scanner Darkly out soon starring Keanu Reeves.
Helioterra
11-04-2005, 11:32
snip
oh yes, Ben Elton. He's a new and pleasant acquaintance, like Henning Mankell.
Honey Badgers
11-04-2005, 11:33
No You're not, but I've only read a collection of his short stories (Wub, Blobbel etc.) and Do Androids dream... I'd like to know if the others are worth reading. There's an animation film of A Scanner Darkly out soon starring Keanu Reeves.

Yes, they are. My favourites are The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Ubik and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. And also the autobiographical The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. You have lots to look forward to! ;)
Wamkudsloppsky
11-04-2005, 11:44
I love anything by M.T. Anderson, he is a genius, so I've read all his novels...and I've read "Neverwhere" and "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman (and now I'm in the middle of Stardust), anything by Francesca Lia Block, any Harry Potter book...
Asengard
11-04-2005, 12:51
Yes, they are. My favourites are The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Ubik and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. And also the autobiographical The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. You have lots to look forward to! ;)

Thanks for the reply, I'll definitely be reading them sometime soon.
Tomas Katz
11-04-2005, 13:54
Am I the only person who reads Philip K. Dick? :confused:

:fluffle: (I apologise, I try not to use that thing)

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

This is my favorite one personally
A Scanner Darkly

The film doesn't look too bad either imo

The Inquisition by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.

*sigh* :(. Personally I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.
Honey Badgers
11-04-2005, 15:38
:

*sigh* :(. Personally I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.

Why? I thought that book was really good! :)
The Cat-Tribe
11-04-2005, 19:26
I can never list enough books ... here is a sampling:

Neal Stephenson, The Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver (Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1)), The Confusion (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060523867/qid=1113242485/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), The System of the World (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060523875/qid=1113242656/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846).

Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375724834/qid=1113242711/sr=8-6/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files 1-6 (e.g., Storm Front (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451457811/103-0345811-1703011?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance))

Augusten Burroughs, Dry : A Memoir (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312423799/qid=1113243181/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)

Steven Erickson, Deadhouse Gates : Book Two of The Malazan Book of the Fallen (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765310023/qid=1113242873/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/103-0345811-1703011)

Walter Mosely, Bad Boy Brawly Brown (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446612316/qid=1113243250/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/103-0345811-1703011)

Stephen R. Donaldson, The Runes of the Earth (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 1) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399152326/qid=1113243054/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0345811-1703011)

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1582344167/103-0345811-1703011?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1583913580/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance) (great plot and characters ;) )

James Lee Burke, Last Car to Elysian Fields (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743245423/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance)

China Mieville, Perdido Street Station (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345459407/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance)

F. Paul Wilson, Crisscross : A Repairman Jack Novel (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765306913/qid=1113243594/sr=2-3/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)

David Guterson, Our Lady of the Forest (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375726578/qid=1113243727/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)

Charles de Lint, Spirits in the Wires (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312873980/qid=1113243799/sr=1-14/ref=sr_1_14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)

Jasper Fforde, Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next Novels) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0142004030/qid=1113243848/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)

Lian Hearn, Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori, Book 3) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573222704/qid=1113243920/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Whispering Legs
11-04-2005, 19:36
Stephen R. Donaldson, The Runes of the Earth (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 1) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399152326/qid=1113243054/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0345811-1703011)
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Ye Gods! I got SOOOOO tired of Thomas Covenant...

"A Small Colonial War" and "Fire In A Faraway Place" by Robert Frezza

"Arslan" by M.J. Engh
Pikistan
11-04-2005, 19:42
Let's see...

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Antigone by Sophocles

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Parts of Plato's Republic, Crito and Sophist.

Now I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and I plan on reading Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin.

There are many more to add to the list, but I can't remember them all!
Swimmingpool
11-04-2005, 19:47
The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

are the best of the past 3 years.
Frangland
11-04-2005, 19:50
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Candide - Voltaire
The Covenant - James Mitchener (sp?)
War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk
Sophie's choice - William Styron

currently reading "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe
Kejott
11-04-2005, 19:52
Fiction

Journey To The Center Of The Earth-Jules Verne

From The Earth To The Moon-Jules Verne

Around The World 80 Days-Jules Verne

War Of The Worlds-H.G. Wells

The Time Machine-H.G. Wells


Non-Fiction

The Elegant Universe-Brian Greene

Critiques Of God-Peter Angeles(and various other writers)
Whispering Legs
11-04-2005, 19:52
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Candide - Voltaire
The Covenant - James Mitchener (sp?)
War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk
Sophie's choice - William Styron

currently reading "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe


Oooh, I have first printings (a matched set) of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Utracia
11-04-2005, 19:53
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Candide - Voltaire
The Covenant - James Mitchener (sp?)
War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk
Sophie's choice - William Styron

currently reading "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe

Sorry, Jane Eyre has to be one of the most boring books ever written. Almost as bad as Gone With the Wind. The Three Musketeers has some real adventure it though!
Kievan-Prussia
11-04-2005, 19:58
The Da Vinci Code
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Ashmoria
11-04-2005, 19:59
Sorry, Jane Eyre has to be one of the most boring books ever written. Almost as bad as Gone With the Wind. The Three Musketeers has some real adventure it though!
when you consider the following those books have had over quite a long length of time, do you ever think it might just be YOU?
Hirgizstan
11-04-2005, 20:00
Legion of the Damned-Sven Hassel
Edgar Allen Poe-The Fall of the House of Usher (ok, so its a short story)
The Cage-Tom Abraham
In the Company of Heroes-Michael J. Durant
Archangel-Robert Harris
Fatherland-Robert Harris
Eutrusca
11-04-2005, 20:00
Last three years, eh? Hmmm.

"Undaunted Courage," a great read about the Lewis and Clark Expedition

"Healing Beyond the Body," by Larry Dossey, who was our Battalion Surgeon for one of the units with which I served in Vietnam. Larry has become one of the foremost experts on proving via the scientific method that prayer and meditation does indeed speed healing for living things.

"Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge," by Edward O. Wilson.

"A General Theory of Love," by Thomas Lewis and Fari Amini, both of whom are physicians.
Whispering Legs
11-04-2005, 20:04
when you consider the following those books have had over quite a long length of time, do you ever think it might just be YOU?
Especially considering what I paid for a matched set of Bronte books.
Powerhungry Chipmunks
11-04-2005, 20:06
Parts of Plato's Republic, Crito and Sophist.


In recent studies, I've been investigating differences between Plato's and Aristotle's interpretations of rhetoric, and their words on the matter--mainly on Plato's apparent disgust with it and Aristotle's acceptance and codification of it.

Do you know where I can find good translations of those works by Plato?




As for my reading over the past three years, I've mostly been reading according to study, so the list (to my memory) starts out something like this:

Principles of Orchestration By Rimsky-Korsakov

Tonal Harmony, fourth edition By Kostka, Payne

Der Ring des Nibelungen Wagner (translated by Jameson--yes I was actually reading it...along with listening)

Veil By Woodward

And would seem to get more dull as it goes along. It's been a while since I picked up a series of novels and gone with it. I've been about to follow Jeffrey Shaara or Patrick O'Brien (I'm a sucker for historical fiction) for a few years, but've never gathered up the necessary time to invest in such adventures. I have started Ender's Game by Card in the past year (I saw him mentioned earlier), but never got a chance to finish. I think he's an good author and that book has been on my list of books to finish or complete.
Utracia
11-04-2005, 20:07
when you consider the following those books have had over quite a long length of time, do you ever think it might just be YOU?

Nope. I even had to see the PBS movie Jane Eyre in an English class and it wasn't much better.
Caladonn
11-04-2005, 20:08
The Da Vinci Code
Dune
Ringworld
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Bartimaeus Trilogy
Hornblower Series
Foundation Series
Battle Cry of Freedom
Eragon
Caladonn
11-04-2005, 20:09
Sorry I don't remember all of the authors.
Whispering Legs
11-04-2005, 20:09
Nope. I even had to see the PBS movie Jane Eyre in an English class and it wasn't much better.

I guess you have to be into depressing Dickensian darkness (especially with those severe woodcuts that are in the first printing). But, that's what I like!
Leliopolis
11-04-2005, 20:16
Im surprised no one said it, that i saw, but Jennifer Government is great! Its the best book I've read all year. I love Max Barry's tone and synical attitude in his books, so they're probably all good and his new book, Company, which is coming out this summer, is probably going to be great too. I also love anything Anne Rice, so pick up one of her books.
Whispering Legs
11-04-2005, 20:17
Im surprised no one said it, that i saw, but Jennifer Government is great! Its the best book I've read all year. I love Max Barry's tone and synical attitude in his books, so they're probably all good and his new book, Company, which is coming out this summer, is probably going to be great too. I also love anything Anne Rice, so pick up one of her books.

Cheeser
Frangland
11-04-2005, 20:23
Actually, I liked Jane Eyre... it takes a while to get used to the writing styles of yore, but once said acclimation has taken place it is (imo) a good read.

It is a great love story, like the Big One her sister wrote, Wuthering Heights.

Jane and Mr. Rochester
Frangland
11-04-2005, 20:24
Oooh, I have first printings (a matched set) of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

Take them to the Antiques Roadshow!

hehe
Loveliness and hope2
11-04-2005, 20:30
The brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
100 years of solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
His Dark materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
The Illiad - Homer
Julius caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the shrew and many more - William Shakespeare.
1984 - George Orwell

Those were my main favourites I can think of.
Utracia
11-04-2005, 20:37
I guess you have to be into depressing Dickensian darkness (especially with those severe woodcuts that are in the first printing). But, that's what I like!

Edgar Allen Poe is my guy.
Farfel
11-04-2005, 20:38
Here's a great book: [[http://www.freewebs.com/thebookofpoo/]]
Farfel
11-04-2005, 20:39
Sorry, it's this: http://www.freewebs.com/thebookofpoo/
I hope that is a link
New Granada
11-04-2005, 22:56
Great books:
The First Circle by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

Steppenwolf
Siddhartha
Narcissus and Goldmund
The Glass Bead Game, all by Hermann Hesse
Chronicle of a death foretold

The General in his Labyrinth
One Hundred Years of Solitude
News of a Kidnapping, all by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Candide by Arouet de Voltaire

The Works of Friedrich Nietzsche

Don't Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Harlot's Ghost by Normal Mailer

Guerillas by V.S. Naipaul

Great nonfiction:
The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman

British Sea Power by David Howarth

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

A History of Warfare
Intelligence in War
The Mask of Command
Churchill, all by John Keegan

The Miracle of Language by Charlton Laird

Currently reading:
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples by The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG &c.
Pantalonystan
16-04-2005, 05:04
Let's see...

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Antigone by Sophocles

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Parts of Plato's Republic, Crito and Sophist.

Now I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and I plan on reading Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin.

There are many more to add to the list, but I can't remember them all!

I loved the Giver! I read it about 3 years ago. The only thing that bothered me about the book was the lack of explanation of what happened in the ending. I still want to find out what happens next!
Lashie
16-04-2005, 07:14
The past three years I've been in school (uni) so most of my reading is done in the summer...

anywho

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ender's Game
The universe in a Nutshell
Rising sun

and I can't remember the rest, I know there have been more though.

I love Enders Game... YAY!!! :fluffle: hardly anyone else knows it so you can have a fluffle...

EDIT: Wait... i was sposed to put other books i loved too wasn't i... these are in no order...

Bridge to Terabithia
Seven little Australians
Chain Reaction

i don't know... i read so many books its difficult to pick favourites
Chellis
16-04-2005, 07:37
3 years ago, I started high school, so I get to give a very good list. Lets hope I get many of them.

Enders game(All of them but speaker of the dead, dont ask me why, but I'm going to re-read them all, in order, already did enders game)
Nationstates, of course
And no birds sang- Farley Moway
Cats Cradle- Vonnegut
God bless you, Dr. kevorkian- Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse 5- Vonnegut
Jailbird- Vonnegut
1984- Orwell
Animal Farm- Orwell
The Communist Manifesto- Marx
The girl with the pearl earring- Dont remember
The catcher in the rye- J.D. Salinger(right?)
Candide- Voltaire
Some of the harry potters(some were in middle school)
Others, im sure, but I forget.
Potaria
16-04-2005, 07:48
Hmm... Some dictionaries and encyclopedias. That's pretty much it.
New Granada
16-04-2005, 08:01
I cannot believe I forgot all of vonneguts books. They belong next to the nobel laureates mentioned above, and vonnegut deserves the nobel prize.
Chellis
16-04-2005, 08:04
I cannot believe I forgot all of vonneguts books. They belong next to the nobel laureates mentioned above, and vonnegut deserves the nobel prize.

Agreed. 1984 is my favorite book, but overall, Vonnegut is my favorite writer.
Cannot think of a name
16-04-2005, 08:30
The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
An Auster character (someone who loses something dear to him in an act of chance, it's a common tool for him) discovers the work of a silent film star that vanished and was presumed dead, and then discovers the silent film star. Deals with the need for audience/author interaction. Questions the need for an audience, and resolves that there is one.

Skeptism, Inc by Bo Fowler
Man starts taking bets on who has the 'one true religion.' Becomes the richest man in the world. Told by the first shopping trolley to climb Mt. Everst(sp).

How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce
Autobiography of landmark comic, social commentary and the nature of free speech. This is only in as a technicality(sp) because I re-read it in the last three years.

Mythologies by Roland Barthes
I was drawn in on the asthetic essay on the new Citreon. Critiques go all around the spectrum, its great.

Buttload of essays because I was studying film and media. Some fantastic, some sucked.
Pepe Dominguez
16-04-2005, 09:11
I love Enders Game... YAY!!! :fluffle: hardly anyone else knows it so you can have a fluffle...


Whaa? Ender's Game is pretty popular.. I think it's sold millions.. not entirely sure, though..

Anyway, if I hadn't mentioned it, some of my favorite novels:

The Sienkiewicz Trilogy (esp. The Deluge).

"Quo Vadis?" and "The Teutonic Knights" (Yes, both Sienkiewicz again).

"The Castle" and "The Trial" (Kafka).

"Der Name der Rose" (Ecco)

All good! :) To name a few.
Yammo
16-04-2005, 10:49
Here a just a few titles that I've enjoyed over the last few months (years would be too many books)


Jenifer Government (of course)

Dean Koontz Life expetancy

Douglas Adams Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (only read the first one)

Talon of the Silver Hawk Raymond Feist

The Gunslinger series (esp. no. 2 I think it was)- Stephen King
Khudros
16-04-2005, 11:43
1984
2 + 2 = 5
LazyHippies
16-04-2005, 12:06
Whaa? Ender's Game is pretty popular.. I think it's sold millions.. not entirely sure, though..


Yeah, everybody knows Ender's Game. Heck, the movie is in production already.

Good stuff Ive read in the last 3 years:

The Harry Potter Saga by J.K. Rowling
The Dune Saga by Frank Herbert
Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (havent gotten to the other Ender books and I dont consider the Bean books any good).
The New Testament by various authors (probably read it more than once)
Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra (very little resemblance to the crappy hollywood movie)