Books

[Onlykrc]

I love to read. I spend a lot of my time in front of the tv or computer screen, but I love books. I should be reading Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood right now for my english class, but i'm not really interested.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anybody has good book suggestions, what's you're favorite book, what genre is it?

I love fantasy. Harry Potter, Daughters of the Moon, Old Magic, and The Giver are my favorites. I also like fiction like Homecoming, Dicey's Song, and I just finished a book for class called The Bell Jar.

[Kuky]

I REALLY enjoyed Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash. If you like cyberpunk stuff, this is for you.

[Don Simeone]

hm...i'll probably have to give you a warning that most books i read are of the decadent dirty kind...but read charles bukowski and brett easton ellis :) you'll never go back to fantasy

[hunny]

Didn't you find The Bell Jar to be the most depressing book, ever? I did.

I've got lots of 'favorite' books but if I had to pick my all-time favorite, I think it would be Watership Down, by Richard Addams. I recommend that, it sounds from your taste that you might like it too.

Other books you might like: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers, not fantasy but good fiction. Or The Lover, by Margeurite Duras (not sure if I spelled the name correctly there.) J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is a must if you haven't read that yet.
ANYthing by Kurt Vonnegut.
Often when I'm looking in the bookstore, I tend to look for authors' first books. I like reading a first novel, it appeals to me for some reason.

[Kuky]

Oh yeah, and you can't go wrong with Catcher in the Rye. What's that? Already read it? Read it again! It only takes like a day or two :).

[kuju]

If you like Fantasy, Tamora Pierce has a few 4-part series of fantasy books... generally listed as kids or teen books, but they're big enough to last a while.

if you have never read Pride and Prejudice, you must read it. NOW!

[Don Simeone]

if you want to read some "great american literature", read a son of the circus by john irving...it's one of the best books i've ever read

[Brent3515]

If you want fantasy:
Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth series
Robert Jordon, Wheel of Time Series

If you want Sci-Fi:
Ron L Hubbard, Battlefield Earth
Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers
Orson Scott Card, Enders Series

All of those books will keep you VERY entertained if you like that sort of genre

[Sydney123456]

Dystopia's are a personal favorite of mine.
-1984
-Brave New World
-Farenheit 451 (some may think it's a little dry...but I liked the concept)
-A Clockwork Orange (the new edition with 21 chapters...a must)
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
-The Time Machine (like, 100 pages long...but a cool take on the degeneration of society)

I also adore "The Bell Jar" (you've read) and "Catcher in the Rye". Also, if you haven't read anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald...you should, by starting with "The Great Gatsby". I love him, but clearly that's his most popular work. "A Farewell to Arms" is a good book, and I usually loathe Hemmingway. "A Tale of Two Cities" is SUCH a good book. I haven't read anything else by Dickens, but THIS book is GREAT. "To Kill a Mocking Bird" is exceptionally good too. I read "Old Goriot" in my Literary Criticism class, and I really liked this book even though we picked it apart times 10. Not to mention "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolfe, although I find her a little...tough sometimes. "Catch 22" is hilarious, great book. And, I just finished reading "Beowulf" in my Brit Lit class, and again...regardless of the fact that we're dissecting it so much in class I want to BARF, its still a good read.

I got carried away. :shifty:

[SmOkYpRiNcEsS]

I just finished "Kissing your ex" by Brooke Stevens...definately an awesome read. It's kind of a long the lines of "chick lit" but if you have ever been in love it's such a good book! :dance:

[Kuky]

Other ones:

Animal Farm
Hitch hiker's guide
Lord of the Flies

(these are obvious, I am sure you've read them all)

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Originally posted by Sydney123456@Sep 16 2004, 07:37 PM

-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Also, if you haven't read anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald...you should, by starting with "The Great Gatsby".
YES. good stuff.

i will shamelessly admit, i am a total Stephen King junkie. My faves are The Stand (plague scare, anyone?) and From A Buick 8 (SO creepy).

i also love Robin Cook. If you like realistic stories about the world of medicine, i recommend Acceptable Risk (which is about anti-depressants) and Outbreak (which is about Ebola).

i'm also a big fan of anything by Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker's Trilogy (all FIVE books), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul are simply brilliant.

[Asphodelle13]

Definetely read Catcher In The Rye...I read it when I was a teen(much like the main character) and it had a big impact on me. One of my favorite books ever. I think everyone should've read this one as a teen because while it is quite dark and depressing at times...the prevailing emotion is about love. And Holden takes you on such a desolate but also soul searching journey in a short period of time. Its a great read that'll keep you in thought long after its over.

[Palmer of the Turks]

Guy Gavriel Kay - The Fionavar Tapestry. It's a trilogy availiable as a bigass single volume - The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Darkest Road

Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion. Again, single volume trilogy. Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance, Oath of Gold

Charles de Lint - Read it all. My personal favourite is "Someplace to be Flying".

Lynn Flewelling - Nightrunner Series: Luck In The Shadows, Stalking Darkness, Traitor's Moon. Exceptional fantasy series, far better than most of the crap out there today.
The Bone Doll's Twin is Book 1 in another series altogether, and Book 2 is The Hidden Warrior. Book 3 isn't out yet, alas.

David Brin - "Earth" Trust me, it'll reshape the way you think about a good chunk of the world, if not all of it.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - Good Omens. If you want more insane laughter than any book should be allowed to provoke, then this is it.

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere. A compelling, mythic tale set in a world "under" ours...

Neil Gaiman - American Gods. A fascinating and captivating tale of ancient gods in the modern world.

Donna Gillespie - The Light Bearer. It's an incredible work of epic historic fiction, set during the height of the Roman Empire.

Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson - The Illuminatus! trilogy (availiable as one or three volumes). The Eye In The Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan.

Clive Barker - Imajica. An engrossing, epic, 5-world spanning adventure in lies, deciet and self-discovery.

I hated Catcher In The Rye. Made no sense to me, and was just annoying.

[Rainne]

I'm not a fantasy person, but I can reccommend some AMAZING books:

Memoirs of a Geisha: A true story of a Japanese Geisha. Very moving, I coulnd't put it down.

Where the Heart Is: Screw the movie. This book is awesome. You'll fall in love with every one of the characters. Once you're finished, you'll be depressed cause you can't find out what happened to them all.

Survivor by Chuck Palanhiak (sp?) : By the author of Fight Club. This book is so fucked up, so completely crazy, you'll just shake your head in amazement. Unbelievable.

By the same author: Choke: Same thing as Survivor, it's so screwed up. It's about a sex-addicted guy who goes to 12-step program meetings for the hell of it. He pretends to choke in restaraunts so he gains peoples sympathy so they stay in touch with him and send him checks. Weird.

That's all that my drunken mind can come up with at the moment.

[Rainbow Brite]

Originally posted by Yuffie Kisaragi@Sep 17 2004, 12:10 AM
[font=Comic Sans MS]

i will shamelessly admit, i am a total Stephen King junkie. My faves are The Stand (plague scare, anyone?) and From A Buick 8 (SO creepy).
I was on a Stephen King kick over the summer. I read several of his novels over the summer...I'd stay up all hours of the night just cause I couldn't put the book down. I started reading The Stand, but by that time, I came back up to school. I have so much reading with my textbooks and projects that I haven't been reading lately.

A Wrinkle in Time (the entire quartet of books, actually) has always been one of my favorites.

[ksinner]

Originally posted by Onlykrc@Sep 16 2004, 03:38 AM
I love to read. I spend a lot of my time in front of the tv or computer screen, but I love books. I should be reading Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood right now for my english class, but i'm not really interested.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anybody has good book suggestions, what's you're favorite book, what genre is it?

I love fantasy. Harry Potter, Daughters of the Moon, Old Magic, and The Giver are my favorites. I also like fiction like Homecoming, Dicey's Song, and I just finished a book for class called The Bell Jar.
Divine Sisters is a GREATTTTTTTTTTT book. I could read it over and over again.

However, I grew up in Louisiana. So I get it, ya know?


I also really enjoyed "On Our Way To Beautiful", by Yolanda Young.

And I'm currently reading "The Danish Girl"....by David Eber.....somethingernother.

[Palmer of the Turks]

Originally posted by Rainne@Sep 18 2004, 08:45 PM
Memoirs of a Geisha: A true story of a Japanese Geisha. Very moving, I coulnd't put it down.
Read the cover again, dear.

Memoirs of a Geisha is 100% pure FICTION.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Originally posted by Palmer of the Turks@Sep 19 2004, 01:18 AM
Read the cover again, dear.

Memoirs of a Geisha is 100% pure FICTION.
yeah. it's written by a man... well done though, ne? i was surprised as hell by it.

[kuju]

It's based on the life of a Geisha, but apparently he changed it so much as to make it basically fiction. It's still a FABULOUS book.

[vampbarbie]

My favourite book is 'The Bridges of Madison County'. I know its sappy happy fiction but I love it.

The last book I read was called 'Can you keep a secret?' by Sophie Kinsella. Its chick lit but I really was laughing out loud at this book.

'Down with Love'. The true story of the Ewan McGregor movie, another book which made me laugh so much.

'Little Women' - a classic.

[Rainne]

Originally posted by kuju@Sep 19 2004, 09:03 AM
It's based on the life of a Geisha, but apparently he changed it so much as to make it basically fiction. It's still a FABULOUS book.
What I got out of the authors introduction was that it was based on conversations with the lady, and he changed names and identifying stuff. *shrug* I;ll have to read the intro again.

[Onlykrc]

Originally posted by ksinner@Sep 19 2004, 06:49 AM
Divine Sisters is a GREATTTTTTTTTTT book. I could read it over and over again.
Divine Secret's...because it was required reading I thought I was going to hate it, but I have to admit that I ended up loving it. I got so absorbed in the character's lives, I even cried at the end. So yeah, I gotta remember to give a book a chance before i say it sucks.

[Asphodelle13]

Originally posted by Rainbow Brite@Sep 19 2004, 12:18 AM
A Wrinkle in Time (the entire quartet of books, actually) has always been one of my favorites.
Oh I loved those books...they were written so beautifully. I only wish I could write like that..I used to love fantasy books so much. I have such fond memories of those books..and recently when they had 'A Wrinkle In Time' on tv...it was like a total time warp for me.

Another great read is The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty...Awesome read there. :cool2:

[Quiescent]

You and I seem to have very similar taste in books :) Here are a few I [I][/highlyI] recomend.

Terry Brooks writes fantasy. It's similar to LoTR. He has a few out there so if you like them, they will keep you busy. Shannara (http://www.terrybrooks.net/)

If you like more fantasy/scifi check out The Otherland (http://www.tadwilliams.com/) . It's a 4 book story. Very good. Has to deal with fantasy worlds in an internet environment. There is so much detail it's hard to give a good discription.

Stephen Kings Gunslinger (http://www.stephenking.com/DarkTower/) series is also great. I haven't gotten a chance to read the latest one :( Maybe once school is out.

I think someone mentioned it before but i'll say it again watership down My all time favorite book!

[Lone_Raider]

The Iron Heel- Jack London

Everyone knows the man for his outdoor adventure tales, now learn the other half of his life, revolutionary socialist. This book is written incredibly well, some passages nearly moved me to tears. The man was a genius ahead of his time, READ IT!

Other Books

Rubicon - I forget the author, but it is a great book. Outlines the fall of the Roman Republic (if you don't know that's not the fall of the empire, its the fall of Democratically elected Senate and consuls turning into a dictatorship under Julius Cesaer). The similarties between the United States and Rome are scarily similar, so take this book as a lesson and a warning for the direction we are currently heading down.