NationStates Jolt Archive


favorite book

Vanishing_shame
23-04-2009, 04:33
what is yours?

my favorite book is all of them by john grisham.
Conserative Morality
23-04-2009, 04:36
"The Lord of The Rings"

And

"Guns of the South"
You-Gi-Owe
23-04-2009, 04:41
what is yours?

my favorite book is all of them by john grisham.

That is so... what's the word I'm looking for... ambiguous.

The FIRST favorite book that came to my mind when I saw the question was, "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves.
Saige Dragon
23-04-2009, 04:44
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham and Rautavaara's Case by Philip K. Dick are my top three contenders for fiction.
Saint Jade IV
23-04-2009, 04:47
The Secret History is one of my favourite books. But my all-time favourite would have to be Pride and Prejudice. So cleverly done and witty.
Free Soviets
23-04-2009, 04:50
teh lolcat book of job
SaintB
23-04-2009, 04:52
Way too many to answer, I love books and usually the one I am currently reading is my favorite.
The Romulan Republic
23-04-2009, 05:02
My favorite three are:

Entering Space, by Robert Zubrin (nonfiction)

The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

1984, by George Orwell

I really can't choose between these.
You-Gi-Owe
23-04-2009, 05:08
My favorite three are:

Entering Space, by Robert Zubrin (nonfiction)

The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

1984, by George Orwell

I really can't choose between these.

Okay, You just chose one of my "honorable mentions". "1984" A real good read. Maybe I'll start a discussion thread on it?
Ledgersia
23-04-2009, 05:12
Books on the history of Central & South America and sub-Saharan Africa are generally my favorites.
Zombie PotatoHeads
23-04-2009, 05:13
I can't answer that. I can answer, 'favourite authors' but not 'favourite book'.
Veblenia
23-04-2009, 05:57
The Case of Comrade Tulayev (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/sep/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview25), even if it does get a little self-indulgent towards the end.
The Parkus Empire
23-04-2009, 06:11
The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga, by Jack Vance.
Dragontide
23-04-2009, 06:13
Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy. That guy running around, ripping off terrorists had me in stitches. It would make a great Quentin Tarantino film!
:D
Luna Amore
23-04-2009, 06:16
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

and since no mention of fiction was in the O.P.

The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark and Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
Aggicificicerous
23-04-2009, 06:48
Books by James Branch Cabell in general all should qualify.
Delator
23-04-2009, 07:42
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
Ledgersia
23-04-2009, 08:01
Favorite fictional book is Catcher in the Rye.
Delator
23-04-2009, 08:05
Favorite fictional book is Catcher in the Rye.

I might just go change my response in the Worst Book thread just to spite you. :tongue:
Extreme Ironing
23-04-2009, 09:53
I might just go change my response in the Worst Book thread just to spite you. :tongue:

Yeah I thoroughly disliked that book as well.

Current favourites (liable to change): The Remains of the Day, Q, The Kite Runner.
Dancing Dragons
23-04-2009, 10:09
"The Brothers Karamazov"

"Moby-Dick"

"Im Western Nichtes Neues", (Nothing New On The Western Front)
The Archregimancy
23-04-2009, 10:11
what is yours?

my favorite book is all of them by john grisham.

Which probably explains why you're vanishing from shame.

I have soft spots for Nineteen Eighty Four, Moby Dick, War & Peace (which doesn't deserve its reputation as a long hard slog - it's rollicking good fun; except for the last chapter), and A Bend in the River.
Bokkiwokki
23-04-2009, 10:27
The Encyclopædia Britannica. :D
New Smeg
23-04-2009, 10:43
Undergound by Andrew McGanahan. It doesn't pick up until halfway through but when it does itsone HELL of a tense, suspenseful and intriguing ride. It's half political thriller, half espionage, half adventure (yes, three halves, there is so much in the damn book!)

Actually, I've chnaged my mind. Memorial Day by Vince Flynn.Sure, its got the usual American hero that saves the friggin day but this guy does it in an awesome friggin way! (I love Vince Flynn)

And I left Underground at the top because it's a great book but it was never very popular because it wasn't great until the story really kicks into high gear. Robert Ludlum, eat your heart out. Actually don't, that would be messy...
New Smeg
23-04-2009, 10:45
Crap! I forgot Dune! And anything by Janet Evanovich! (Did I justlose all my credibility there? Ah well.)

WORST BOOK: ANYTHING MY SISTER READS! (Twilight, Barbie, Mary-Kate & Ashley, Pride & Prejudice etc)
Rhursbourg
23-04-2009, 10:52
My Favourite book is Three men on a boat by Jerome K Jerome
DrunkenDove
23-04-2009, 11:28
Catch-22. One part gut-wrenchingly hillarious, one part exceptionally tragic and one part incisive commentry, all comming together to make brilliance.
Nanatsu no Tsuki
23-04-2009, 13:43
I have too many.
Kryozerkia
23-04-2009, 13:48
I quite enjoyed books 3-7 of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; the first two were not particularly special.
Truly Blessed
23-04-2009, 14:55
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Just pure awesomeness

Lord of the Rings of course

Catch 22 and A Catcher in the Rye

Treasure Island so many, so many
Londim
23-04-2009, 14:57
Catch 22 is my favourite book. However I've also realised I like Rider Haggard's works such as King Solomon's Mines and She. However what caught my attention most in She was the fallen city of Kor. I wanted to know so much about it and that right there is a series of books just waiting to be written.
Truly Blessed
23-04-2009, 14:59
Captain Ahab: I'll follow him around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give him up.
Heinleinites
23-04-2009, 16:28
Outside of The Bible, I don't really know if I can narrow it down to one favorite book. I have favorite books, and favorite authors. Starship Troopers and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress are good, as is Stranger In A Strange Land. Anything by Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, or H. Rider Haggard. Terry Pratchett is good, as is Frank Peretti. God And Man at Yale is a perennial favorite, as is anything by Milton Freidman.
Salinthal
23-04-2009, 16:45
1)The Shadow of the Wind-Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2)The Bartimaeus Trilogy-Stroud (really good series)
3) The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide- Douglas Adams
I'm a pretty big fan of HG Wells, JK Rowling, Tolkien, Paolini, Bill Bryson

Catcher in the Rye was terrible. The woman who wrote the twilight stuff should be killed for ruining vampire fiction.
The Atlantian islands
23-04-2009, 17:45
I don't know if I have any favorites per se, though I do loOoOve Dan Brown's books.

But I reallllly enjoyed reading Fatherland. It's an alternative history book and basically a detective story set in a hypothetical 1960's Nazi Germany, which exists because basically the Germans beat the British, are still bogged down fighting a seemingly endless uprising in Russia and had signed a peace treaty with America. Western, Northern and Southern Europe are allowed their independence, sort of, as much as Poland, Hungary and so were allowed their Independence from the Soviet Union . . . and a EU is formed that is basically dominated by the German Empire.

America and the German Empire are locked in the Cold War (instead of America and the Soviet Union)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/FatherlansUE64-ter.jpg/800px-FatherlansUE64-ter.jpg

The story follows Kriminalpolizei Xavier March in Berlin in the week leading up the Hitler's 75th birthday. Upon finding the body of an old, senior Nazi official washed up in a lake (he was one of the old time Nazis, one of the oldest and most senior members of the party), March investigates and takes him on a trail through Nazi German history, politics, culture and society *spoiler* on a quest that will eventually lead him to discover the holocaust which was effectively covered up by the highest Nazi officials who are not trying to silence any loose ends who knew about the holocaust *spolier*

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/1120/load1024we1.png
Iniika
23-04-2009, 17:49
Lost Souls ~ Poppy Brite

After that, there are several close seconds. Need more coffee to remember them all.
Nanatsu no Tsuki
23-04-2009, 17:51
-Mighty Snips-

Es que me das un chungo de miedo, tío.:eek2:
The Atlantian islands
23-04-2009, 17:53
Es que me das un chungo de miedo, tío.:eek2:
Why? :DI like history. Don't read too far into it. I'm not a nazi. I promise. :)
Nanatsu no Tsuki
23-04-2009, 17:54
Why? :DI like history. Don't read too far into it. I'm not a nazi. I promise. :)

Oh, I'm sure you're not a Nazi, mate. But your historical interests are... how shall I put it... chilling.:wink:
Rambhutan
23-04-2009, 17:56
...though I do loOoOve Dan Brown's books.


That's all I really need to know
The Atlantian islands
23-04-2009, 17:58
Oh, I'm sure you're not a Nazi, mate. But your historical interests are... how shall I put it... chilling.:wink:
Haha, well I am really big on Western history from like Napoleon on. I love the Napoleonic wars, the Franco-Prussian war, the British Empire, the German Empire, WWI, WWII and probably my favorite is the Cold War era.

Nazi history is just so interesting though, don't you think, and this book was just a really fun fiction novel. I don't beleive I could have read it if it wasn't a cool detective story. :p
The Atlantian islands
23-04-2009, 18:00
That's all I really need to know
Look, I know that alot of people here don't like him, as I recall from a thread on him a while back, but his books are fun to read. They are cool and entertaining, like a good movie.

I'm not that into reading books in general, so that's probably why I really liked Dan Brown. I, personally, would rather read articles than books.

Give me a crisp edition of the Economist and I'd read that over a good book any day.
Davorka
23-04-2009, 18:20
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Just pure awesomeness


Ditto.

I also enjoy Vonnegut (but haven't read Slaughterhouse Five yet:( ) and the Ender series.
No Names Left Damn It
23-04-2009, 21:37
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is made of win, as is Day of the Triffids.
Farnhamia Redux
23-04-2009, 21:50
Lest Darkness Fall (L. Sprague DeCamp)
The Incredible Umbrella (Marvin Kaye)
The Enormous Egg (Oliver Butterworth)
Charlotte's Web (EB White) - One of the greatest first lines ever
The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely (Raymond Chandler)
The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett)

And yeah, Hitchhiker's Guide, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit ...

I very much like Guy Gavriel Kaye's work, too.
Conserative Morality
23-04-2009, 22:00
Oh, right, can't forget One Day in the Life of Ivan Densovich.
Dolbri
23-04-2009, 22:03
Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers.
Lowbrook
23-04-2009, 22:08
Anything by Terry Pratchett, who is a genius
Holy Cheese and Shoes
23-04-2009, 23:09
The Warhound and the World's Pain - Moorcock

Dune

None of these are great literary works, but for some reason I can read them again and again and never tire of them. Despite knowing every detail of the plot, they're still a pleasure to read.

The Sirens of Titan gets an honourable mention, it's such a wonderfully f***ed up plot.
Extreme Ironing
24-04-2009, 00:30
Anything by Terry Pratchett, who is a genius

It's odd that so many love his work yet couldn't choose a favourite out of the set. I'm the same.
Saige Dragon
24-04-2009, 00:34
I also enjoy Vonnegut (but haven't read Slaughterhouse Five yet:( )

That's also on my shit to get done list.

Also I should mention that A Short History of the World by H. G. Wells and Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon are two more of my very favourites, that's five now I guess.
Nadkor
24-04-2009, 01:51
"Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce. Not that I have a clue what's going on in it, or actually understand any of it, but it's great fun to open at a random page and see what's written.
Tsaraine
24-04-2009, 03:24
It's odd that so many love his work yet couldn't choose a favourite out of the set. I'm the same.

I can; my favourite is Hogfather. Although I've read it too often now so it's less enjoyable these days. Nation is pretty good too, although it's a different sort of book.

It's hard to pick one favourite book, though, since I like so many for different reasons. I was raised on The Lord of the Rings, so I love that ... Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains is a rare modern fantasy novel that does everything right ... Neil Gaiman's American Gods is wonderful (as is the Sandman series) ... Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion is the only book I have gotten from the library, read through twice in one sitting, and then gone out and bought ... Scott Westerfield's The Risen Empire is excellent space opera ... China Miéville's The Scar has on every page enough ideas to make a whole other book ... I like lots of books, and I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. I can't pick just one.
Sionis Prioratus
24-04-2009, 04:29
Anything by Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut. My heroes.
Farnhamia Redux
24-04-2009, 05:38
"Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce. Not that I have a clue what's going on in it, or actually understand any of it, but it's great fun to open at a random page and see what's written.

One day Joyce was dictating the book to Samuel Beckett and someone knocked on the door. Joyce paused in his dictation, said, "Come in," and went on dictating. Later, when Beckett was reading the new work back, Joyce asked, "Where did that 'Come in' come from?" Beckett said, "You said that right then, when So-And-So visited." Joyce thought about it, then said, "Leave it in."

So somewhere in Finnegan's Wake are the two words "Come in" smack in the middle of a passage.
Wilgrove
24-04-2009, 06:51
I like my big book on Ghosts by Hans Holzer. The thing is freaking huge. :D
Pope Joan
24-04-2009, 06:53
Hey Holy Cheese, Moorcock is indeed great.
Did you also read The City and the Autumn Stars?
Same basic characters.
I like old fantasy, William Morris' Well At The World's End,
or George MacDonald's Lillith for example.
Dakini
24-04-2009, 06:55
Slapstick/Lonesome No More by Kurt Vonnegut

hi ho.
Nanatsu no Tsuki
24-04-2009, 13:11
I think that no matter where life takes me, one of the books I always treasure is The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Rambhutan
24-04-2009, 13:19
How to avoid huge ships by John Trimmer, I learned everything I know about evading large aquatic transport from this book.
Bottle
24-04-2009, 13:20
I am extremely fond of Demian, by Hesse.
Bottle
24-04-2009, 13:26
Oh, and for anybody who reads sci/fi and fantasy:

http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/10/20/mgk-versus-his-adolescent-reading-habits/
Rambhutan
24-04-2009, 13:30
Oh, and for anybody who reads sci/fi and fantasy:

http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/10/20/mgk-versus-his-adolescent-reading-habits/

Asshole Leper Hero :D

I can also recommend Living with Crazy Buttocks by Kaz Cooke
DrunkenDove
24-04-2009, 13:33
Oh, and for anybody who reads sci/fi and fantasy:

http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/10/20/mgk-versus-his-adolescent-reading-habits/

Ouch.
Bottle
24-04-2009, 13:35
Ouch.
Hey, I've read em all, so I'm not judging. :P
Dododecapod
24-04-2009, 14:18
So many to choose from...

Ultimately, I would have to go with A Fall of Moondust by Clarke. Smooth, clean writing, man-against-the-elements plot, and scientifically it still stands up today.