NationStates Jolt Archive

I tend to love whatever book I'm reading at the moment, which would currently be "The Dispossessed" By Ursula LeGuin. That would mean whatever book I've read the most is probably my favorite of all time, but I can't be bothered to keep track of stuff like that.

I've been reading a ton of Kurt Vonnegut recently, though, so I'll go with him.

What books do you love?

What are your favourite books, and what books would you reccomend reading?

One Day in the life Ivan Denisovich
Gulag Archipelag
Both by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Pretty much everything by:
Terry Pratchett
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Alan Dean Foster
L.E. Modesitt

There's more to life than the interwebz, it seems...

When I was younger I loved: Looking for Alibrandi, Idiot Pride, Kurt Cobain Journals, Life; Interrupted. Last year I read Ugly, and I loved that too. I prefer true-to-life novels, but I also enjoy the occasional biography and left-wing political rant.

I'm on a mission to read more, so...

What are your favourite books, and what books would you reccomend reading?

In no particular order:

The Stand
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Wizard of Oz
Lightning (Dean Koontz)
Jane Eyre
A Child Called "It"
1984
Shane
Most Edgar Allen Poe short stories
Most Arthur Conan Doyle short stories
Tamora Pierce novels
Dean Koontz' "Odd Thomas" series
Discworld!!!


Though they're not "books" per se

Macbeth
Hamlet
A Midsummer Night's Dream

My favorite book of all time is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Jesh... that would be a long list, especially around here given that most of us are bibliophiles.

Hmm... some good books I'd recommend would be:

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, it's a really good look at this foremost American and what it took to make him and the role he played in creating the US.

Hirohito And the Making of Modern Japan, the best biography of the Emperor Showa and a good tracing of what was going on in Japan at the time of WWII.

The Deed of Paksenarrion, if you like high fantasy, say Tolken for example, this book (Trilogy actually) is probably one of the most realistic looks at what it takes to make a hero and a paladin.

And anything by Terry Pratchett of course.

Shane
Shane! Come back! Mother needs you... (Insert any finish you'd like to that line)! :D

i've been reading Paris 1919. it explains how the US, UK, and france fucked up the entire world and created nearly every crisis that the world has had to deal with for almost a century.

I´ve so many. But today, particularly, I re-read part of Dante´s ¨The Divine Comedy¨ and I understood, again, why I fell in love with that book the very first time read it.

Into Africa is my favorite book ever. Nothing political or instructional about it, but it was definitely an epic novel. Especially if you love adventure stories. I would also recommend Siddhartha, Grendel, and Heart of Darkness. Oh, and Hamlet, if you're in a Shakesperian mood.

i've been reading Paris 1919. it explains how the US, UK, and france fucked up the entire world and created nearly every crisis that the world has had to deal with for almost a century.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.

Its just a lot of fun to read.

Terry Pratchett's books are what got me into reading, so they're pretty good if you're bored.

Then Ian Rankin's fictional murder books are pretty good (the ones featuring DI Rebus, at the moment i've got "strip jack").

For philosophy i liked "the pig that wants to be eaten" by Julian Baggini.
Too much studying for me to do to read much more than that.

Atlas Shrugged
The Afghan
Freakonomics
The Da Vinci Code
I've been reading a ton of Kurt Vonnegut recently, though, so I'll go with him.
He was my neighbor, until a few months ago, when he died. He had a nice dog.

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

'Hop on Pop' by Dr. Seuss.

The first 'Foundation' trilogy by Isaac Asimov.

:)

The Vampire Chronicles, The Sociological Method by Durkheim, Khafka, meh, they´re too many to name!!

How to Cook Humans.

A few of my favorites. Count them as "recommendations" at your own risk.

Books:
The Death Gate Cycle - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (seven books in that one)
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut (I liked this one better than Slaughterhouse-Five, but maybe my taste just sucks)
Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy
Children of the Star - Sylvia Engdahl (three books in that one)
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
As a Driven Leaf - Milton Steinberg

Plays:
The Visit - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
The Flies - Jean-Paul Sartre
No Exit - Jean-Paul Sartre
Dirty Hands - Jean-Paul Sartre
Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett
Hamlet - William Shakespeare

Short stories:
Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr - Miguel de Unanumo
The Foundations of the Earth - Randall Kenan

Terry Pratchett's books are what got me into reading, so they're pretty good if you're bored.

And like repetitive, absurd plots laden with propaganda. ;)

For those that have seen this list a half-dozen times, I WON'T apologize. :p If people don't want me to repeat my list, they shouldn't ask this question. ;)

Anyway, I'll copy an old list with a few of my favorites (hopefully the links are still good):

Jeremy Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375724834/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance)

Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385493002/qid=1118473483/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385333781/qid=1118473516/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0345811-1703011)

Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446672351/qid=1118473546/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684853159/qid=1118473573/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060740450/qid=1118473600/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671746723/qid=1118473640/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age : Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553380966/qid=1118473672/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (anything else by Stephenson is recommended as well, especially the System of the World series)

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus : And Other Essays (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679733736/qid=1118473724/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

I'm afraid I could go on and on and on. Books are my greatest passion.

But I'll spare you all. ;)

I will add a recommendation for F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack (http://www.repairmanjack.com/works.htm#rjseries) series, anything by Neil Gaiman, any of the "Newford" Novels by Charles De Lint (http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/newbook.htm), Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files (http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/), and any of the Burke novels (http://vachss.com/av_novels/burke_novels.html) by Andrew Vachss (download free samples here! (http://vachss.com/av_books/samples.html)).

colouring books ftw! I don't see the point to actually reading books anymore. I have youtube and tv. There the story actually moves and I don't have to think as hard.

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

'Hop on Pop' by Dr. Seuss.

The first 'Foundation' trilogy by Isaac Asimov.

:)

all 3 of those books are completely awesome

Fiction Authors:

G.A. Henty. He wrote over 100 historical fiction/adventure books in the late 1800's. Very good reading.
C.S. Lewis
J.R.R. Tolkien
Brian Jacques
Stephen R. Lawhead

Non-fiction:

I read a very wide variety, but mostly books about guns, swords, wars, technology, history, and political philosophy. I highly recommend "The Law"
by Frederic Bastiat - It's a rather short essay that concisely argues the points in favor of a free society. I also encourage you to read anything by Thomas Paine. I don't nescessarily agree with everything they believe, but on the whole, I think they are quite worthwhile. Eat the meat and spit out the bones, right?

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value." - Thomas Paine, Published on 23 December 1776

http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/index.htm

http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/library/thelaw.html

Anything by Ayn Rand or PG Wodehouse, much of Dickens' work

I don't really read books anymore...I used to when I was younger.....

Been crashing through "The Fountainhead"...definitely one of those 'blow your mind' books, though you can't let it impact you too much.
Have "Atlas Shrugged" in the roster as well.

Atlas Shrugged
The Afghan
Freakonomics
The Da Vinci Code


Been crashing through "The Fountainhead"...definitely one of those 'blow your mind' books, though you can't let it impact you too much.
Have "Atlas Shrugged" in the roster as well.

You both have a horrible taste in books.

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

'Hop on Pop' by Dr. Seuss.

The first 'Foundation' trilogy by Isaac Asimov.

:)

You, however, do not. :fluffle:

i've been reading Paris 1919. it explains how the US, UK, and france fucked up the entire world and created nearly every crisis that the world has had to deal with for almost a century.

It was published in Oz as The Peacemakers. I read it late last year. Explains a lot about the ethnic tensions around the world today. Heavy but fascinating read.

Too many to fully name but
(No particular order)
Evolution - Stephen Baxter
Manifold series - Stephen Baxter
Dark Ice - Stephen Baxter
Rama - Arther C Clarke
Richter 10 - Clarke (and someone else might be Baxter)
Lord of the ring Trilogy
Flight of the cheetah (and associated series) - Coonts
Northworld Trilogy - David Drake
Foundation series - Asimov
Robot Series - Asimov
Myst series
Dune series (at least the first 3 books) - Herbert
Shanara Series - Brooks

A tone more as well ...

Not all of them amazing works of literature but I enjoyed them for one reason or another.

I always recommend Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, I couldn't put it down when I first read it. Or the second time I read it. Or the third...

I'll also mention The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson. It's a trilogy of books, sort of like a darker version of Tolkiens works. I would recommend the second and third chronicles too, but I haven't read them yet :p

Oh, and everything ever written by HG Wells.

Crime and Punishment (although the ending kinda fizzled out and felt tacked-on)
Ender's Game
Hyperion
Fall of Hyperion

How to Cook Humans.

I prefer To Serve Man.

On War by Carl von Clausewitz. I just recently removed the dust jacket for my old Bible and placed it over this. Clausewitz deserves it more.

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. The entire Song of Ice and Fire series is great, but this is my favorite of them thus far.

A Concise History of the Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes. I'm a Russophile. 'Nuff said.

Our Dumb World from The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/content/index). I really don't think that requires explanation.

This is a list of books that have had a big impact on me, starting from my first reader at school. I'm somewhat older than most people so the list is longish.

John and Betty – unknown
Children's Encyclopaedia - René Guillot
The Enchanted Forest – Enid Blyton
The Big Tree – Mary & Conrad Buff
Amazon Adventure – Willard Price
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Kpo the Leopard - René Guillot
King Solomon’s Mines – Rider Haggard
She – Rider Haggard
Ten Little Niggers – Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare
Seven Pillars of Wisdom – TE Lawrence
1984 – George Orwell
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Voss – Patrick White
Riders in the Chariot – Patrick White
Babel-17 – Samuel R Delaney
The Dispossessed – Ursula Le Guin
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
Narziss and Goldmund - Herman Hesse
The Whitlam Government - Gough Whitlam
Oedipus Rex - Sophocles
Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
The Ground Beneath Her Feet – Salman Rushdie
Foucalt’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco
The New Shostakovich - Ian MacDonald
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter
Requiem for Battleship Yamato - Yoshida Mitsuru
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer - Seigfried Sassoon
If This is a Man - Primo Levi
The Arrival – Shaun Tan
The Red Tree – Shaun Tan

(I'd better stop: I keep thinking of more)

I prefer To Serve Man.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Toserveman.jpg

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.In no particular order:
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
Tamora Pierce novels
Dean Koontz' "Odd Thomas" series
Discworld!!!I tend to love whatever book I'm reading at the moment, which would currently be "The Dispossessed" By Ursula LeGuin. That would mean whatever book I've read the most is probably my favorite of all time, but I can't be bothered to keep track of stuff like that.

I've been reading a ton of Kurt Vonnegut recently, though, so I'll go with him.I loved The Dispossessed. I also read Cat's Cradle not long ago; fun! :)

In addition to the above, I enjoy:

Virtually everything by Leguin. Eye of the Heron, The Left Hand of Darkness, A Wizard of Earthsea... <3
Till We Have Faces - CS Lewis. Excellent book; takes a while but it grows on you.
The obligatory Ender's Game mention! :p Ender's Shadow was a great read as well, and the other books in this series are good.
Faith of the Fallen - Terry Goodkind. My favorite from the Sword of Truth series, having read them all.
The Xanth series - Piers Anthony (comic fantasy, but if you read enough of them it's just fantasy :D )
Sabriel - my favorite fantasy book - Garth Nix. Also the other books: Lirael, Abhorsen, and the Across the Wall anthology. I don't care they're Young Adult Fiction! :D
Dune - Frank Herbert. I love complex stories and intrigue (although not TOO complex; I'm looking at you, Umberto Eco!).
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand. I liked how it emphasized self-respect, but the other stuff not so much. :D
Most everything by Tolkien, including The Silmarillion and everything else.
David Weber, especially the Honor Harrington series.
Herman Hesse - <3 Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, Demian.
The Uplift series by David Brin. Excellent.
Asimov - everything, really. I can't distinguish awesome from other awesome, so it's just a general recommendation.
Most of Poul Anderson's works, but especially Harvest the Stars and War of the Gods (a retelling of a Norse mythological story)
Douglas Adams! He's great - I'll read anything by him.
Pratchett. No more need be said.
Philosophical Investigations - Ludwig Wittgenstein. An exceptionally interesting book.

Well, that's a few of the books I like. :D

Let's see

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
The Gadfly
Fahrenheit 451
Nineteen Eighty-four
The Metamorphosis
A Confederacy of Dunces

Stuff like that is good.

Ooh! Ooh! Wait! I fail!
I forgot to mention Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, along with all the sequels.

The Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy..thing.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning

To the OP: Do you mean fiction only, or fiction and non-fiction?

I note someone's put down War & Peace.

Lies.

No one in the history of mankind has read that book, even Tolstoy himself couldn't be bothered and you'll find the middle chapters are simply copy and paste from the first bunch of chapters - he assumed no one would notice and the fact that no one has proves that no one's read it.

I only know because I have an auction-bought letter from him to his father where he writes:

"Dear Dad,

How are you? I hope you are well. I am fine.

I've finished writing 'War, what is it good for?'. I got really bored of this book, I've just lost interest in the whole thing so I copied the first part, shoved it in the middle and wrote a quick ending to finish it off. I bet no one notices anyway. I might change the title though.

Thanks for the herring, Pyotr came over yesterday and we enjoyed eating it.

Send my love to mother,

Love

Leo"

The Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy..thing.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning

Oh, I remember those.

Good, but The Death Gate Cycle is much better. Their best work, I think.

Far too many to list. Several years ago I donated some 3,000+ books to a local library (due to an interstate relocation), and have slowly been rebuilding my collection.

About the only books I won't read are westerns and romance novels.

Oh, I remember those.

Good, but The Death Gate Cycle is much better. Their best work, I think.

I'll have to check it out.

Ooh! Ooh! Wait! I fail!
I forgot to mention Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, along with all the sequels.

I'd say THGTTG is too obvious to need a mention.

In no particular order

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Great Gatby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Sequels by Douglass Adams
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carrol
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Oh, man. Okay:

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson
Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
Emily of New Moon, L.M. Montgomery
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabakov
The Prometheus Deception, Robert Ludlum
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathon Safran Foer
History of Love, Nicole Krauss
Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood

Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
The Powerbook, Jeannette Winterson
Bidget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

Dragonlance, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
A Handful of Time, Kit Pearson
Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
The Bayou, Nora Roberts (shut up. it's my trash, okay?)

Funny, I can't think of a 25th book off the top of my head... I'll leave it at that. A various collection of books that I have loved thus far in my life.

The Great Gatby by F. Scott FitzgeraldI tried to read Gatsby, and I did finish it, but I'm not sure of the, er, cultural value of the book. :D

Haha, I'm gonna have too much to say at this.

Some of my favorite books of all time are the Harry Potter series and Ender's Saga (though I've hit a block at those :/ I'll finish them when time allows for me to have a life again..) They're amazing and lots of action.

I feel that Carrie (King) should be required reading for high school students. While it is a scary book, there are a lot of lessons to be learned about bullying in it- and it's just fantastic. Also a big King fan, anyway- I'm slowly working through The Dark Tower series, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was GREAT. I've seen The Shining and now I absolutely MUST read it.

In an online book-trade I did last year, someone sent me The Secret History, which was phenomenal. It took a little getting used to with the sort of language used, but it was well worth it.

I'm currently reading Son of a Witch (Maguire), sequel to Wicked. While I've never read The Wizard of Oz, both books add so many layers to the story I know from the movie. It's amazing.

I love Neil Gaiman. I've read Neverwhere, American Gods, and Anansi Boys- but that's all I've read so far because I was only introduced to him last year. I'm eager to read more, his work is amazing.

A trilogy that I think gets too much negative publicity for being written by an atheist is His Dark Materials (Pullman). Love them, and while some Christians get offended I think the overall story is about love.

One book I started but got distracted from (damn school) was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm eagerly looking forward to having the proper time and concentration to put in to it- it won't be a light read for me, as what I got to read made me think a lot.

And I maintain that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Kesey) is one of the best books of all time. The movie is great, but the book had me floored. I loved it. I actually may have stolen it from an ex... :x But oh my God it is fantastic.

I feel like I should mention a childhood favorite series of mine was Animorphs, haha. I was quite the dork.

Well, I'll have a go at this

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

and if graphic novels count, V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, and any of the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.

and if graphic novels count, V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, and any of the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.

Oh mans, if we're counting graphic novels- Maus (Spiegelman) still gets me every time.

M. T. Anderson, Feed
Robert Asprin, Another Fine Myth
Jean Auel, The Clan of the Cave Bear
Kage Baker, In the Garden of Iden
Kage Baker, Mendoza in Hollywood
Kage Baker, The Graveyard Game
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game
Carolyn Cushman, Witch and Wombat
Olena Kalytiak Davis, And Her Soul Out of Nothing
Neil Gaiman, American Gods
Neil Gaiman, Sandman
Jean Craighead George, Julie of the Wolves
Simon Green, Blue Moon Rising
Robert Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Tanya Huff, Sing the Four Quarters
Tanya Huff, Summon the Keeper
John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Chip Kidd, The Cheese Monkeys
John Knowles, A Separate Peace
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, The Twelfth of October
Shirley Meier, The Cage
Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife
Alex Shakar, The Savage Girl
Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Too many to fully name but
(No particular order)
Evolution - Stephen Baxter
Manifold series - Stephen Baxter
Dark Ice - Stephen Baxter
Rama - Arther C Clarke
Richter 10 - Clarke (and someone else might be Baxter)
Lord of the ring Trilogy
Flight of the cheetah (and associated series) - Coonts
Northworld Trilogy - David Drake
Foundation series - Asimov
Robot Series - Asimov
Myst series
Dune series (at least the first 3 books) - Herbert
Shanara Series - Brooks

A tone more as well ...

Not all of them amazing works of literature but I enjoyed them for one reason or another.
As a geologist, even the title of Richter 10 makes me wince. The rest of those are good fun, mind.
Oh mans, if we're counting graphic novels- Maus (Spiegelman) still gets me every time.
Have you read 'In the Shadow of No Towers'? It's hard to get hold of, but still...

Anyway, for me.
Anything by Kim Stanley Robinson, Terry Pratchett, and Al Reynolds.
Tales from The White Hart, Arthur C Clarke
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Eh, there're probably many others that I don't have with me at the minute.

As a geologist, even the title of Richter 10 makes me wince. The rest of those are good fun, mind.
Snip

I agree ... and for clarke the science is a bit "out there" but the development of a psycho that is willing to bet the fate of the entire world on the off chance that he can find a "Cure" for earthquakes is pretty interesting to me.

right now, i'm reading mccaffery's ship who searched, and i'd have to say it's right up there with the best of them.

hienline's strainger in a stainge land
kalil gebran's the prophet
a couple of r.a. lafferty's short story collections (long out of print appearantly)
i.e. strainge doings and
900 grandmothers espcieally.

i've got a lot of other 'favorites' though.

much as i prefered asamov's perspectives and politics to those of hienline

niether asamov nor clark were as readable to me as say
mccaffery or jo clayton, kieth laumer, ron goulart,
or even carol cherreh's chenaure series and other stores that dovetail into it

leguine i love both (what i think is) her politics AND (most of) her writing
(although earthsea didn't do it for me other then the first book of it, but always comming home i can completely relate to, along with lath of heavin, left hand of darkness, and world for world is forrest)

most of the writers who appeared in analog from the late 60s through the early 80s were great.

though many, like lafferty, i prefer their shorter works.

other KINDS of books;

well i like catalogues of industrial and tecnological fiddly bits.
very rarely can i actually afford to order any, but i love the catalogs and what i like to think i learn from them.

texts, treatuses, and tutorials on anything i can both get my hands on and use creatively myself also of course.

i think those two catigories are my main favorites, how to make the most best creative use of what i can get my own hands on, and other worldly speculative story telling. espcecially with really well and believably constructed alien ways of life.

something a little more different then tweeking one or two what ifs of familiar ambient assumptions.

there's also a very rare subcatigory of harmoniously integrating nature and tecnology, that i'm really really interested in, green mars, ecotopian things, even swan's "yv88" (yes, thats actually the title of a book, that's a bit more optomistic about capitolism then i am, but i like the intentions of what he had in mind).

=^^=
.../\...

My favorite book of all time is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Mine too. :)

In fiction books, I love JRR Tolkien, Isaac Asimov and Douglas Adams. And many others too ;)

In half-political books, Orwell is great. Jennifer Government was quite good too ;)

I also tend to read a lot of "political" and sociological books, usually leftist of course ;) Marx is "must read", but he's not alone. Most others that I read are french and not well known.

The First Circle by Solzhenitsyn
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez
Steppenwolf by Hesse
Guns, Germs and Steel by Diamond
All of Tuchman's history books.

Anything that any kind people want to lend/give me.

Military history/theory - I currently have five books on armoured warfare :(

Sci-fi - used to be really into the Star Wars novels, then the Vong came along and it all went crap. Now I'm ploughing through the Deathstalker saga...ah good stuff :D

I'm not a big fan of 'clever' fiction, I like mine to be dumb and shooty :D

I've been reading a lot more non-fiction these days.

"Diary of an Economic Hitman" is good.

Naomi Klein's "No Logo" is great. John Staubers "Toxic Sludge is good for you" is amazing. Darwins "The God Delusion" is entertaining, as is his stuff on evolution.

For fiction, Brust's series starting with "Jhereg" is very cool. David Brin's Uplift series is brilliant with the best being "Startide Rising".

Darwins "The God Delusion" is entertaining, as is his stuff on evolution.


Dawkins - I have just bought a few of his books and am enjoying them.

Anything by David Weber
The Belgariad and Malorian series' by David Eddings
Anything by Terry Pratchet

Catch 22 is favourite book. Other books I like include:

Trainspotting - Welsh
Brave New World - Huxley
1984 - Orwell
The 'His Dark Materials' Trilogy by Pullman

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
In no particular order, huh? =P

Dinotopia and My Secret Garden were the two I could come up with off the top of my head.

The Fellowship of the Ring/The Two Towers/The Return of the King
The Winds of War/War and Remembrance
How Green Was My Valley
The Killer Angels
The Old Man and the Sea
To Kill A Mockingbird

1. The Bible

The rest isn't so much a list of books I love, as it is a list of authors whose books I love(and this is by no means an exhaustive list, but merely pulled off the top of my head.) I wouldn't normally make the distinction, but I've noticed people on the Internet tend to be pedantic about the oddest things.

2. Shakespeare

3. Andrew Vachss

4. M. Stanton Evans

5. Terry Pratchett

6. Mark Steyn

7. Oriana Fallaci

8. Milton Friedman

9. John Piper

10. Mark Driscoll

1. The Anne of Green Gables Series.

2. The Swallows and Amazons Series.

3. The Children of the New Forest.

4. Bridget Jones's Diary 1&2.

5. The Bad Mother's Handbook.

6. Roman Mysteries Series (Especially the Sirens of Surrentum!)

7.The Etiquette of Love and Courtship.

8. Anything 19th Centruy Romantic (soppy sort)

In no particular order:

The Stand
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Wizard of Oz
Lightning (Dean Koontz)
Jane Eyre
A Child Called "It"
1984
Shane
Most Edgar Allen Poe short stories
Most Arthur Conan Doyle short stories
Tamora Pierce novels
Dean Koontz' "Odd Thomas" series
Discworld!!!


Though they're not "books" per se

Macbeth
Hamlet
A Midsummer Night's Dream


Bold = for the win.


Mine:
Dracula
Frankenstien
The Shining
The Things They Carried
Any of Poe's works
The Scarlet Letter (and most of Hawthorne's short stories)
The Crucible (a play, but still)
Lovecraft's short stories (most)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
Warriors of God
The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
Confederates in the Attic

Just off the top of me head.

The Dying Earth series, by Jack Vance. It can found collected in Tales of the Dying Earth.

Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, by Niccolò Machiavelli.

The (Unabridged) Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce.

The Duel, aka. Point of Honor, by Joseph Conrad.

Bellarion the Fortunate, by Rafael Sabatini.

Bibliotheca, by Apollodorus.

1) Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
2) Pendragon 1-8 by DJ MacHale
3) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4) The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo
5) Twilight and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
6) Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith
7) The Nightside Series 1-8 by Simon R. Green

just a few o.O

There's more to life than the interwebz, it seems...

When I was younger I loved: Looking for Alibrandi, Idiot Pride, Kurt Cobain Journals, Life; Interrupted. Last year I read Ugly, and I loved that too. I prefer true-to-life novels, but I also enjoy the occasional biography and left-wing political rant.

I'm on a mission to read more, so...

What are your favourite books, and what books would you reccomend reading?

MASH by Richard Hooker
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek

Only good ones I can remember.

1) Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
2) Pendragon 1-8 by DJ MacHale
3) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4) The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo
5) Twilight and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
6) Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith
7) The Nightside Series 1-8 by Simon R. Green

just a few o.O

:confused::(:confused:

You just made babies Mosses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohamed, Joseph Smith, and L. Ron Hubbard cry.

Slaughterhouse Five, and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I note someone's put down War & Peace.

Lies.

No one in the history of mankind has read that book, even Tolstoy himself couldn't be bothered and you'll find the middle chapters are simply copy and paste from the first bunch of chapters - he assumed no one would notice and the fact that no one has proves that no one's read it.

I only know because I have an auction-bought letter from him to his father where he writes:

"Dear Dad,

How are you? I hope you are well. I am fine.

I've finished writing 'War, what is it good for?'. I got really bored of this book, I've just lost interest in the whole thing so I copied the first part, shoved it in the middle and wrote a quick ending to finish it off. I bet no one notices anyway. I might change the title though.

Thanks for the herring, Pyotr came over yesterday and we enjoyed eating it.

Send my love to mother,

Love

Leo"

So his mistress DID tell him to change the name to War and Peace...

HEY! A KIRYU POST! YAYYYYYYY!

Anyway I mostly read Star Wars Expanded Universe. It's the only thing that can keep me except for some non-fiction and political.

Catch 22 is favourite book. Other books I like include:

Trainspotting - Welsh
Brave New World - Huxley
1984 - Orwell
The 'His Dark Materials' Trilogy by Pullman

Ahh but of course! (to everything apart from Trainspotting, haven't read that)

I read mostly non-fiction, and the stuff I read would probably not appeal to a mass audience.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

V for Vendetta was awesome. So was the movie, but the graphic novel was better, IMO.

Bold = for the win.


Mine:
Dracula
Frankenstien
The Shining
The Things They Carried
Any of Poe's works
The Scarlet Letter (and most of Hawthorne's short stories)
The Crucible (a play, but still)
Lovecraft's short stories (most)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes
Warriors of God
The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
Confederates in the Attic

Just off the top of me head.

I agree with your bolded choices.

I tend to love whatever book I'm reading at the moment, which would currently be "The Dispossessed" By Ursula LeGuin. That would mean whatever book I've read the most is probably my favorite of all time, but I can't be bothered to keep track of stuff like that.

I picked up that book randomly at the library because it was by Ursula LeGuin and I had just read a short story by her and figured "Ah, what the hey! It's taxpayer money." And I loved it. Except for the ending. NOTHING HAPPENED. It was so disappointing!

Anyway, I just finished the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. That has to be one of the most uplifting and inspiring books I've ever read!

Except for the ending. NOTHING HAPPENED.

:confused:

Shevek realizes the fundamental corruption at the heart of Urras, releases the ansible to the universe (quite important in Le Guin's later works), and brings an immigrant to Anarres for the first time since the initial arrival. That's pretty momentous both on the personal level and on the larger scale.

Anyway, I just finished the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. That has to be one of the most uplifting and inspiring books I've ever read!

If you're serious... how on Earth can you like The Dispossessed and The Fountainhead at the same time? Surely that's politically impossible?

These are my favorite books. Not in order.


Artemis Fowl
Harry Potter
Jurassic Park
City at World's End
Lord of the Rings
His Dark Materials

Tell me someone likes The Anne of Green Gables series.

After all, It's awfully sweet and perfect.

"Three Men in a Boat"
Any Discworld novel apart from the childrens books.
"The Lord of the Rings"
"Sense and Sensibility"
"The Great Gatsby"
"The Hippopotamus"
"VernonGodLittle"
"1984"
The Sharpe books. Huzzah!
"All my sons" (strictly a play, but I've never had any problems reading a play. I quite like it actually)

These are my favorite books. Not in order.


Artemis Fowl
Harry Potter
Jurassic Park
City at World's End
Lord of the Rings
His Dark Materials

Artemis Fowl is excellent! A fantasy series that isn't exactly like everything else out there.

He [Vonnegut] was my neighbor, until a few months ago, when he died. He had a nice dog.
Way cool. I loved everything he wrote. I like anything by Orson Scott Card too.

If you're serious... how on Earth can you like The Dispossessed and The Fountainhead at the same time? Surely that's politically impossible?
I liked the characters and the story and the message, regardless of whether I agreed or disagreed with either.

And, in response to the ending part, it was momentous, sure, in relation to the characters, but in all it was underwhelming to me. It felt as if nothing happened: he *spoilers* went to Urras, found out what he already knew, and then came back with an immigrant. */spoilers* I think I missed the whole importance of the immigrant, but Shevek didn't seem to care too much about it.

:confused::(:confused:

You just made babies Mosses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohamed, Joseph Smith, and L. Ron Hubbard cry.


Can I quote that? That was awesome.


Are we counting epics here? Because then I have to add Paradise Lost as one of my top 3. I also would add The Illaid, The Odyessy, and The Epic of Gilgamesh(sp?).

Catch 22 is favourite book... <snip>


Shit! I left it off my list. How could I? (Goes back to update list.)

Can I quote that? That was awesome.

Permission granted.

Lost Souls - Poppy Z Brite
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
To Reign in Hell - Steven Brust (and any book in his Jhereg series)
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Wizard of the Grove - Tanya Huff
Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner

I've read a lot more 'good' books. But these are the titles that'll always stick in my mind.

Tell me someone likes The Anne of Green Gables series.

After all, It's awfully sweet and perfect.

I read one of the books long ago and never really liked it. :/

'Where The Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.

'Hop on Pop' by Dr. Seuss.

The first 'Foundation' trilogy by Isaac Asimov.

:)




Where the Wild Things Are!
Yayyy!
One of my favorite books.

My favorite books would have to be The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I mostly read teen lit. It's kind of like relaxation for my brain.

As far as books that aren't teen lit, I also love Animal Farm, Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, 1984, The Doors of Perception, Anthem. Blahblahblah.

I just read this really great book called the Thirteenth Tale.
I haven't been as riveted by a book since I first cracked open Harry Potter eight years ago.

Also, did anyone else find Deathly Hollows to be horrid? Seriously, if that was a fanfic, I would flame the author.

I guess my favorite book would be The Art of War by Sun Tzu.....

Others inclued

Lord of the Rings Series
Jennifer Government

i Absolutely LOVE anything by Sarah Dessen...anything!!
James Patterson, Shannon Hale, and Garth Nix, they are great too!

:)

Artemis Fowl is excellent! A fantasy series that isn't exactly like everything else out there.
I like Artemis Fowl because its a funny, fantasy, high tech book.....

Most of John le Carré's work, esp. The Tailor of Panama and The Spy who came in from the Cold. Superb works.