Suggested Reading?
 

A couple of times here, I have seen people mention books and other literature that they have enjoyed. I am always looking for a good f...I mean read. What would you suggest? Any genre works! Name and author if you know both please. Let us know the main idea but I will not be grading book reports (puts her red pen away on the weekends)so k.i.s.s.(keep it sweet and simple). I know from just reading the posts of so many of you, that you (myself included here)are pervs, but most of you seem to be extremely intelligent and creative pervs so I am very intrigued as to what you read.

I'm a big ann rice fan so my favorite book is of course interview with a vampire how ever I also realy like her sleeping beauty sieries as well

Jay
 

I too enjoyed Rice's Vampire Chronicles but have not read the Sleeping Beauty one, so thanks.

Some of my favorites...
 

The Bible (KJV)

The Koran

"Faire Queene" --Spenser

"Paradise Lost" --Milton

"On the Morning of Chirst's Nativity"--Milton

"Paradise Regained"--Milton

"A prayer for Owen Meany" --Irving

"Confessions of St. Augustin"

"Halakhic Man"--Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

"Moby Dick"--Melville

"Brothers Karamazov"--Dostoyevsky

"Dead Souls"--Gogol

Nubian
 

That is quite a list there. I have only read 2. Is "Confessions of St. Augustin", where they got the idea for the movie "Name of the Rose"?or am I way off base? I am trying to figure out which book inspired that movie.......Thank you for some wonderful suggestions!

Lilith, The Name of the Rose was based (loosely) on Umberto Eco's book of the same name. It's funny you should mention the movie, as it's one of my favorite. Sean Connery was well suited for the lead role of William of Baskervill, don't you think? The book is also one of my all time favorites.

Nubian
 

TY TY TY I saw he movie years ago but recently discussed it in a class. I would like to read the book as well! Thanks a ton!

Well I like to read psychological thrillers, so I go for the James Patterson novels....Kiss The Girls, Pop Goes The Weasel etc.

I also don't mind reading the Ann Rule true crime series.

I've also read Hart's War by John Katzenbach and thought that was pretty good too...and I beleive that it's being made into a movie (if it hasn't already)

Thanks legend
 

I have not read any of those so I am adding them to my list. Thanks!

historical fiction
 

I'm a big history fan, so I read non-fiction or historical fiction.

I am also of Irish descent, so my favorite author for historical fiction novels is Morgan Llewelyn. She writes novels about Irish myths and legends, as well as a few other books.

Lion of Ireland - the story of Brian Boru (who was the first Irish Ard Ri or high king of all Ireland)

Red Branch - about Ireland's legendary group of Ulster heroes and the warrior Cuchelain

Bard - the story of how Ireland was settled.

1916 - is the story of Ireland's brief rebellion

My favorite non fiction author is Walter Lord

A Night to Remember - THE book to read about the Titanic disaster

Day of Infamy - THE book to read about the attack on Pearl Harbour


BORU

sci-fi
 

Some of the more current sci-fi is OK, but I always find myself comparing it to my favorites...

Ray Bradbury's "Farenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles" (which is actually a compilation of shorts) rate pretty high on my list.

But for my all time favorites would have to be Jules Verne's works

"From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around the Moon"

as well as

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Mysterious Island"

I manged to read these four for the first time when I was 9 or 10 and have loved them ever since.

Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I gave them a gander... maybe it is time to dust of the covers and give the pages some excersise.

For other times I really like the humorous outlook that Roahld Dahl (sp?) has on things, and find that most books by John Grisham are pretty good reads.

I also like Irvine Welch's trainspotting and E but they are kind of hard to find around here.

NY In my profession
 

I have read many a Dahl book to my students. Not to mention, Willie Wonka is a fav movie of mine.
QT~I too have enjoyed some of Spark's books. I have always wanted to read the "It" series but figure I have to be prepared for it. Thank for the suggestions!

Just about any book by the great Australian author, Bryce Courtenay, are good reads.

He was born in South Africa and The Power Of One (set in S. Africa) is probably his best known book....and a great read too

Lilith, yes... the "It" books are very heart-wrenching, especially to those of us who have a past of abuse. It was difficult to read at times, but also very uplifting in the end, to see what this poor child was able to overcome! I'm telling you -- when I read this, I started to think I was raised by The Cleavers! Definitely though... make sure you're in a good mindset before you choose these books.

I'm reading "The Rescue" by Sparks right now and can't put it down!! Very good read!

Right now
 

I am reading, in between playing here at Pixie's all day (lazy Sundays..... l love them), my most favorite author. Zora Neale Hurston. I have read a lot by her but am finally settling in to read, "Their Eyes Are Watching God." She wrote my very most favorite love line in a book ever,"I ud ruther all de womens in des wurl be dead, den fuh you to hab a toofache." Some like her dialect stories but some do not!I adore them!

J.R.R.Tolkien
Terry Brooks
Gary Gygax

Most fantasy writers

to satisfy my Alter ego

Oh man, where to start?!? I loved Nubian's picks (especially the Milton, the Irving, the Dostoyevsky, and the Confessions), and Boru's suggestion of Morgan Llewellyn, and like NY I'm a big fan of Ray Bradbury and of Roald Dahl (Who isn't? Both his kids' stuff and his more grown-up work is fabulous)... I've read and enjoyed Bryce Courtenay and Nicholas Sparks too, at various times... And Zora Neale Hurston! Of course! And Tolkein too...

But it should come to no surprise to those who have read my other threads that I have a certain passion for Canadian Literature (CanLit).* My all-time favourite author has to be Carol Shields --- I love all of her novels and plays (especially The Stone Diaries and Larry's Party) but her short stories and poems are absolutely exquisite, though they're much harder to find now. Then there is Alistair MacLeod (short story collections: Lost Salt Gift of Blood, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun; novel: No Great Mischief. Or Michael Ondaatje (novels: The English Patient or Anil's Ghost, or poems: The Cinnamon Peeler), Ann-Marie McDonald (novel: Fall On Your Knees), Anne Michaels (novel: Fugitive Pieces or poems: Skin Divers), Jane Urquhart (novel: The Stone Carvers), or --- of course --- Margaret Atwood (novels: Alias Grace and The Handmaid's Tale)... I think there's something magical about reading words that have come out of your own home landscape and your own specific culture, and that something is what always draws me back to my CanLit... That said, I read and love books from around the world whenever I get the chance.

On another note, for anyone who likes to write, I definitely recommend looking at Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg --- it's a constant source of inspiration for me, in both my academic and my creative writing.

--- sweetstuff,
unveiling yet another of her little obsessions

* What I'm including here are just my favourite titles, not all the works by each author... although my list is long and it might start to feel that way at times... :D But, LOL, if you think my list is long, you should see the list of books I want to read but haven't yet had time to indulge in!

Larry Niven "Protector" or the Ringworld series.

Anne McCaffrey, the Pern Series.

Daniel Defoe

Stephen Coonts

Not a voracious reader but...
 

I don't read as often as I'd like or know I should, but when I do sit down I like to partake of:

Edgar Allen Poe, any of the short stories

Richard Matheson, wonderful short stories, and my favorite vampire novel, "I Am Legend"

H.P. Lovecraft, any short stories

Douglass Adams, Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy series, very funny stuff

The World According to Garp, John Irving

Phillip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - the movie Blade Runner is based on this book. Really cool influention intellectual sci-fi

William Gibson, Neuromancer - the father of "cyber-punk" Matrix style sci-fi long before the matrix. Good sci-fi thriller. Check out also Virtual Light by Gibson.



Some of the classics:
Hamlet
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Phantom of the Opera - Alexander Dumas
A Christmas Carol - Dickens

I know, Christmas Carol is an odd addition to this list, but I've always liked it.

Fang
 

I read The Hitchhiker'sGuide series one long hot summer in Texas. I love Edgar Allen Poe as well, because I prefer short stories. I think it has to do with my attention span :D.

Hmm... My reading has always leanded toward sci-fi/fantasy, (although I still love the childrens book Goodnight Moon), some of my faves are:
Tolkiens' Lord of the Rings
Piers Anthony's Xanth series and Incarnations of Immortality series
Stephen King's Gunslinger series and several other King books
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series
Stephen R. Donaldson's Thoms Covenant series
Michael Chrichton's Sphere, Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park
John Grisham's Pelican Brief, The Firm, The Client
Anne Rice's The Mummy
Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide Series

Just a few of the many books I've enjoyed... I'd also add that I hated most of the movies that were based on books listed above.

Lillith...
 

Love all Steven King books, but the last one I read was the best.

Insomnia...very long and sometimes drags a little bit, but as always with his books, has a great ending. Very imaginative!

Rockhard
 

I am going to pick that King book up. I have read most everythig else he wrote including his Bachman stuff. Good suggestion Thanks! If I get Insomnia I will think of you reading it as well!

Re: Lillith...
 

YES! Insomnia was great also... there's a LOT of tie in's to the Gunslinger series in that book (and others!)

If you like Sci-fi you have to read Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love" or "Stranger in a Strange Land." I also like Asimov Robot series and anything by Bradbury or McCaffrey. Sci-fi anyone?

Lots of great books
 

This thread is reminding me of past favorites now long forgotten. Time to revisit them I think, especially Aquaman's suggestion of Anne Rice's The Mummy. Excellent book and much easier to get into than the Vampire Chronicles (although Queen of the Damned is my fave from Anne)

And Sweetstuff....what an impressive list of Canadian works. May I add Farley Mowat to the list? Specifically Lost in the Barrens and Curse of the Viking Grave. I just saw Lost in the Barrens on Bingo and a Movie Saturday night and remembered enjoying it some 25 years or so ago.


BORU

R.A. Heinlein - A-1 top drawer author - amazingly enough, I've not read the 2 you mention, but I devoured his short story collections in my youth - Bradbury kinda bored me after discovering Heinlein...
Also check out Arthur C Clarke's "The City & the Stars"

Now that sounds like a book written especially for me

For the Archaeolgy buffs,
Down Behind The Pyramids, By Musthafa Crapp.


For the Ladies a short story 170 pages,way better than the movie
Bridges of Madison County,


For the Guys any thing by Immanuel Velikovsky

Sci-fi rules
 

QTPie,

I too have this Beaver thing.

Heinlein's fun, but treats women badly.

Asimov's awesome.

I discovered Asimov's Foundation on the shelf and seeing as several people mentioned it, i thought i would give it a go. Well, I've tried to read it three times and I've only gotten to about page 20....i keep falling asleep each time. Oh well, I'll try again when I'm not so tired. It's not the easiest book to read though.

Legend

The Foundation series is not to be read like a Western.

It is the Fall of the Roman Empire revisited with a number

of wrinkles.

Asimov was exploring subtleties when he write it, along with

putting a lot of words on paper. At 2c per word, he had a

young family to support.

blk cat, shame! What's ancient Egyptian for pooper-scooper?

Zoid
 

Not read "Time enough for Love" or "Stranger in a Strange

Land"?

Gave up after "The Moon is a harsh Mistress"?

Reading McCaffrey's latest dragon book. Comments?

Thanx for the enlightenment OF :)


yay...100 posts

Re: Zoid
 

sorry... like I said, got into RAH's short story stuff during & after HS, never got around to any of his novels... so maybe I should have stayed back from this thread, since I don't read much fiction anymore... far too busy being a Renaissance Man w/o profit in my own land...

1. the bible
2. anything by piers anthony
3.Spock's World(don't know who wrote it)
4.'' Left behind'' series
5. the tarzan series by e. r. burroughs
these are ones i could read 5 or 9 times, some i have!:)