| Good books
Posted: 5/17/2007 3:19:03 PM | | Ray Bradbury is one of the best. Some of his stories and characters have stayed with me; his powers of description are really good. I reread Dandelion Wine every few years. I read parts of it to my nephew and he ate it up. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/17/2007 10:22:12 PM | ~*i dont read alot anymore but im gonna say all books by jerzy kosinski (the painted bird especially)...and isaac asimov..*~ | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/17/2007 10:40:10 PM | | I like E=MC^2, the biography of the equation. It's amazing. One chapter it's a science textbook, the next it's a story of a woman forced from her home and her work stolen because of the blood in her veins, the next it's a spy novel. Very well written, I blasted through it in a night, because I couldn't put it down. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/17/2007 11:25:39 PM | The Swarm.
http://www.amazon.com/Swarm-Novel-Frank-Schatzing/dp/0060813261 | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/19/2007 10:31:49 AM | a long way gone... memoirs of a boy soldier.. pretty self explanatory, written by a fomer boy soldier in sierra leone, nicely written, although sad
nicholas evans, he did horse whisperer (movie sucked compared to book... sigh) and a couple of others... so easy to get lost in
LOTR and Harry Potter, can't forget those... | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/19/2007 12:19:08 PM | Vacation on Krynn , read Dragonlance.  | |
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| Good books
Posted: 5/20/2007 10:19:07 PM | Nope I didn’t like Catcher in the Rye. Tuggirl is right on with that one.
I have posted this before but but but so what, I love this book.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
I pass this book onto others at any and all chances. It made me laugh and shoot rice out of my nose, it made me cry and look like wuss on the subway, scream out causing strangers to jump staying at a safe distance, and started war in a small town tax office. Yeah man it has everything.
Others
Porno and Trainspotting
A Confederacy of Dunces
Junkie
Poisoned Paradise (Robert Service)
The Art of Sexual Ecstacy
Living the Writers Life
The last two are kind of self help books “with cheese”. | |
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| Show of Evil by William Diehl
Posted: 5/22/2007 12:14:14 PM | I thoroughly enjoyed this book, had to read it after seeing Richard Gere in Primal Fear. Had just enough red herrings in it to make me wonder.....
Anne McCaffrey continues to be one of my favorite authors. Dragon Riders of Pern series and many other good reads.
For poetry, I still enjoy Robert Frost, Henry Beston and Elizabeth Coatsworth. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 6/13/2007 12:12:44 AM | Anything by Malcolm Gladwell.
'Exile and the Kingdom' by Albert Camus (great short stories of spiritual longing)
Speaking of Camus, I'd like opinions on L'Etranger. Any of you guys read it? What'd you think? | |
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| Good books
Posted: 6/13/2007 10:48:01 AM | | Anything by Sidney Sheldon. Just TRY to put one down.....I dare ya! | |
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| Good books
Posted: 6/13/2007 11:09:58 AM | last 3 books i read:
1.Johnny Thunders...In Cold Blood by Nina Antonia (an essential for fans, but POORLY written imo)
2.The Last Opium Den by Nick Tosches (short, but interesting/good read if you like that sorta stuff)
3.After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean Rhys (wasnt her best but LOVE some of her other stuff) | |
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| Good books
Posted: 6/13/2007 11:47:31 AM | I haven't had a lot of time to read, but I do have a big pile I am trying to get to.
the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is really good. Time travel, war, historical, romance, sci-fi... it's a freaking buffet of goodness.
Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear... he's got sequel(s)? I have one of them in my pile of "to Read", but haven't gotten to it yet. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/8/2007 5:15:07 AM | In a futuristic society, Tally Youngblood is 15 years old, she can't wait to turn 16 and undergo an operation all children do that will grind down her bones and restructure them, give her a beautiful face and destroy a part of her brain that allows her to think clearly. Once this is over with she can "upgrade" to live in New Pretty Town where people do nothing but drink, have sex, and have a high-tech super fun life. But the surgeon in charge of Special Circumstances has other plans for her. "Uglies" is the first novel of a trilogy by Scott Westerfeld that leads Tally on an action-packed adventure that leads to the brink of world war.
The final book in this series called "Specials" has got to be the most exciting action-packed book I've ever read. This series is written for teenagers but don't let that stop you. This is the ONLY good book I have read since "Flowers In The Attic" over 20 years ago (and I am a bookaholic). As Tally would say "totally bubbly-making".
If I could undergo the operation she did in the final book, I'd do so in a heartbeat. It makes you long to be something more than an ordinary human. Looking for my Zane. And thanks for the memories, Tally-wa. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/8/2007 9:57:21 AM | Don't have very much time to read at this point, so it takes me forever to get through any book, but a pretty good one I recently finished was Durchgetreten (yes, it's in German) , true account by two German guys who rode their bicycles around the world.
Cold Beer and Crocodiles was so-so, story of an American journalist living in Australia who decided to ride his bicycle around (literally) the continent down under.
I'm currently reading Death of an Irish Sea Wolf, a murder mystery set on an island off the Irish coast, not bad but nothing really gripping so far.
The last book I remember reading that I REALLY liked was Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, a different take on the Dracula story, very well written! | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/8/2007 12:57:28 PM | | The Fionavar Tapestries. Very interesting. If you like The Lord Of The Rings, this series is for you. Even if you like Arthurian books, he's in this one as well, with Lancelot. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/8/2007 1:43:45 PM | A good book is such a personal summation- I 've had recommendations from friends, whose taste I know and respect, which I hated.
I'm reminded of Mark Twain's quote " Even a library with no books is, by virtue of not having any Jane Austen novels, a pretty good library." | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/8/2007 4:08:46 PM | Hmmmm.....I always thought that summer reading was supposed to be the lighter stuff while you lazed at the cottage or on a beach. The stuff I have seen here so far is mainly pretty heavy going, even in the wwinter with a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie.
For those who like their reads a little bit lighter, may I present the folowing:
1. J.D. Robb's series on Eve Dallas...all are titled ______ in Death. Born in Death, Origin in Death, Naked in Death etc. There are about 20 of them so far and Dallas is a detective dealing with murders in the world of 2059 New York. She also happens to be married to the richest man in the universe.
2. Laurie King's series on Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes...yes, that Sherlock Holmes ...there are 8 or 9 of these. She also has a good series involving Kate Martinelli, another set of detective books.
3. Greg Isles...a number of thrillers starting with Spandau Phoenix...each one gets better written and harder to guess "whodunit".
4. Robert K. Tannenbaum's series on Butch Karp, a D.A. in New York and his very strange wife, Marlene Ciampi, who lost an eye from a letter bomb intended for Karp, who accidently shoots a couple of wife-beaters and who raises guard dogs. Try to start with the early ones as they have kids who keep getting involved in murders, corruption and the like.
5. Elisabeth George...Brit mysteries involving Sir Thomas Linley.
6. V.L. or Val Mcdermid....more U.K. mysteries but in Scotland. One of her series of novels was made into a set of mini-series on BBC.
7. Bryce Courtenay...a South African living in Australia. His best books are "The Power of One" (made into a movie...never saw it, can't comment) and "Whitethorn", both set in South Africa. Similar themes ...in One it is a Boer boy growing up in an English world while "Whitethorn" is the opposite, English boy in a Boer orphanage. His books set in Australia are not as good but still interesting.
8. Elisabeth Peters....her stories of Amelia Peabody and her Egyptologist husband set in the late 1800s and early 1900s are fun and give you some idea of just how the graves in the Valley of Kings were found and most times looted.
My all time favourite book is Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, followed closely by The Foutainhead. I try to read these two at least once a year.
Lately I have been on a big fantasy jag so I have lots of recommendations in that area, should anyone be interested. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/16/2007 4:53:10 PM | "1610" by Mary Gentle - in fact anything by her.
George Orwell - especially "Down & Out in London & Paris". Currently reading a collection of his articles from the Spanish civil war.
for lighter reading, Terry Pratchett and Simon Green | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/16/2007 7:16:11 PM | | Hmm definetly something I can contribute to. I love to read. Do you like sci fi, fantasy, horror or just what you listed? | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/16/2007 10:33:22 PM | Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
All of the Dark Tower Series books by Stephen King
The Female Brain by Dr. Louann Brizendine
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
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| Good books
Posted: 8/17/2007 7:00:17 AM | Sci-Fi/Fantasy is my genre of choice. Right now I'm reading Robert A. Salvatore's Clerical Quintet about a young clerical priest named Cadderly. A fun series thus far. I'm on book two "In Sylvan Shadows" at the present.
I highly recommend the Drizzt Do Urden series by Salvatore and start with his "Homeland" then "Exile" and finish with "Sojourn". Drizzt is a dark elf who lives in an underworld home called Menzoberranzon. His race is hated by the surface elves and humans because of their innate desire for wanton cruelty and raids on the surface world for slaves. Also in Drizzt's society, Goddess worship is inevitable thus women rule and men are subjugated to a lesser status. Thus when Drizzt escapes his lothed homeworld in "Exile", he comes to the surface in "Sorjourn", he is automatically hated for his race and yet while living in Menzoberranzon, he was abused for his gender. You think you like political books about racism and world cruelty? Salvataor has done an amazing job of leting you into a world where cruelty is the norm. Highly recommended.
Do you have a penchant for computers (especially the old DOS ones?) from the late 1980's and early 1990's? Well there's a series of Fantasy novels by Rick Cook called "Wizard' s Bane" about a young Silicon Valley computer geek nicknamed 'Wiz' who is transported interdimensionally into a fantasy world where Fantasy Magic is real and Wiz figures out how to use his skills as a computer programmer to create spell engines (littel demons) who can perform very intricate spells. He meets up with a hot blooded/tempered red head hedge witch, an African Shaman/Wizard who runs the High Council, dragons, an evil lodge of bad wizards, and much more. | |
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NateC
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Joined: 4/10/2006
Msg: 47 | |
| Good books
Posted: 8/17/2007 10:04:34 AM | So far, all I'd read this summer was Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton, Vampire Hunter D: Raiser of Gales by Kikuchi Hideyuki and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K.****br>
Fallen Dragon was a bit long-winded and disjointed, but by the end it all made sense. I probably won't be reading it again, though. Unfortunately, there's not much else I can say about it because if you do want to read (it doesn't really suck, it's just not my cup of tea) it, there's a very high likelihood I'd reveal a spoiler.
Vampire Hunter D had an excellent story, but the dialogue comes right out of a mediocre translation and is often hokey. The author also plays up his main character, D, far too much. This should have been a manga.
Flow My Tears is an excellent humanistic story that's a bit on the satirical sie and on the first read, a complete and total mind-bender. A short book, but a heavy read. Highly recommend. In fact, I'd recommend most by Philip K.****except for the VALIS trilogy. | |
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| Good books
Posted: 8/17/2007 12:39:07 PM | Classics that everyone should read:
1984
Catch-22
And force yourself to read War and Peace. It's worth it.
For light reading I always come back to Silverlock by John Myers. It'll make you remember old classics you read years ago, and a few you'll wish you'd read. | |
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Hope~
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Joined: 5/29/2007
Msg: 49 | |
| Good books
Posted: 8/17/2007 2:50:46 PM | best book I have read in a long time is The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
the book made me cry
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Travelers-Wife-Audrey-Niffenegger/dp/0099464462 | |
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| Good books
Posted: 9/3/2007 12:07:26 AM | | good books are abundant. It depends on what mood you are in. For example ...Nancy Pearl's " Book Lust " can point the way to a whole new way and create a opportunity to venture out and examine a few books new and unthought of. It is a great way to broaden the horizen of reading. | |
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