Favorite books

[aesthetistician]

If some nice person would go through the whole series and cut out all the unneccessary blather, and make him swear that the plot is actually going somewhere and there's a conclusion in sight, I'd read it.

Listing all my favourite books would take forever, really, so I'll just mention the ones that aren't so well-known. Micheal Marhall Smith is superb; is it fantasy? Science fiction? A complicated allegory? You don't really find out until the very end. C. S. Lewis doesn't need a plug, but his adult books might. Check out his Cosmic Trilogy. Robin McKinley's Sunshine is a lovely read too - with baking! Donna Tartt's The Secret History is a proper tragedy. China Mieville is another one whose sheer originality blows my mind, every time. It's a huge complicated fantasy world, and it's nothing at all like Middle-Earth!

In the non-fiction category, Chaos by James Gleick is great. If it doesn't take your breath away, you probably weren't paying attention. Or else you really don't like physics . I suppose the Science of Discworld books are non-fiction too, and they're very readable.

Children's books: I retain a soft spot for E. Nesbit and the Just William stories. And Joan Aiken. And all the usual suspects, of course...

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention Lemony Snicket, Edward Gorey, Alexander McCall Smith, and doubtless many more.

[Mel_in_Oz]

I don't have favourite books so much as favourite authors, Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, John Le Carre. I've gone off Anne McCaffrey a little, but not enough to give away books...

When it comes to listing individual books there's Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. From childhood I remember Blinky Bill and the Magic Pudding.

[MrBluePie]

I don't read books much, btu I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and a few of Chuck Palahniuk's books.. I believe they were Haunted and Choke..

[aesthetistician]

I used to devour Anne McCaffrey as a teenager, but now it's something of a guilty pleasure - I KNOW it's more or less Mills & Boon plus dragons (or telepathy, or musical crystals, or whatever), but it's just so undemanding to read.

[Daydreamer]

I just have to add this book I'm reading at the moment because I think it's really great.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a must-read, especially if you love Mathematics

You should still read it though, even if you hate maths

[perrosaurio]

sounds great, I'll find it... thx!

I'm a lost fan on JRR Tolkien literature and just finished "The Tale of The Children of Hurin" and I'll say is absolutely SHOCKING!, probably the best Tolkien book, along with The Silmarillion, and I'm totally serious, the history is tremendous.

greetings.

[araknoid]

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a must-read, especially if you love Mathematics

sounds great thanks!

on my part i love p.k.dick and dystopian scenarios... 1984 is such a sharp book!
and also would like to mention moorcock's jerry cornelius.

for those curious about smart italian literature i'd recommend pirandello's "uno, nessuno e centomila" (One, No one and One Hundred Thousand)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirandello
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One%2C_No_ ... d_Thousand

[Dori]

I think it was on this forum a few years back that someone asked why it is that there are no novels with characters who fold origami. Well, a couple of years ago I was just starting to fold and, as I was also starting to write a novel, I decided that my main character should fold as well.

I never joined the forum; I was too busy writing (and working.) But I've finally finished the book and it is published. I know this seems like shameless self-promotion, but I thought some of you might be interested in my story.

The Haunted Man is the story of a carny who captures a ghost and forces it to perform in his sideshow; a civil rights activist who longs to set it free; and a Home Depot stockboy with dreams of taking the world's most astonishing photograph.

Sometimes it's the living who torment the dead.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 4601&itm=5

[foldymole]

I would heartily recommend anything by the Americam authour Richard Brautigan. They are not very long, but with a few words he conjures up fantastic imagery. Standout novels are "Sombrero Fallout" and "Dreaming of Babylon", a detective thriller so far from Sam spade its scary.

On the subject of origami in fiction, I once dreamt I was being attack by an origami ninja, the refolded itself as it moved. Really, the whole thing rippled and you (not YOU, you weren't there!) could hear the paper. Would that be a film, "Attack of the Origami!"

I often ramble like this.....

[Dori]

Wow, I'm getting such great freaky visuals from this! What a terrific animation that would be!

(Good premise for a video game as well.)

[Jonnycakes]

An origami video game where the main character could manipulate paper...maybe something like the anime Read or Die (which is great by the way).

[Nostalgic]

The clan of the cave bear series. LOVE IT

I will read all teh books again one day

[TheRealChris]

i read "the 5 people you meet in heaven" lately.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786868716

its a really nice book, easy to read and a very charming story, I recommend it a lot

[mrsriggins]

My favorite book is three books really but they are all the same story continuing on through the three, kind of like Lord of the Rings but it was so long they made him break it down into three book when it was supposed to be one.... They are by the master authoress Jacqueline Carey and titled (in order) Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar. Wonderful books i highly recommend them! Any other Carey afficionados out there in origami land?

[Trekker_1983]

The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter series, The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) and some of my fav. authors: John Grisham, Mario Puzo, Agatha Christie etc.
And I just read Patrick Suskind's "Das Parfum"... Pretty intriguing book.