What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Your favorite books

Well, here I am doing nothing for a couple of months, and I've been feeling the need for books.
There's nothing better than a good book. Although they're kind of paradoxes... you're reading it and you can't stop reading (even though you want to) it because you want to finish, but then you finish and you're all disappointed because you finished. :-/ I especially like sci-fi, and mystery/horror novels.
so, what are your favorite books?
If you like sci fi, I'd suggest you read the ender books by Orson Scott Card.
The first one is "ender's game", although there is another one called "ender's shadow" which is the same overall story but from a different perspective. It's quite interesting reading both.
 
I might read a book every 5 years.
smile_n_32.gif


I did read more when I was younger.

I really like Terry Brooks
The Original Shannara Trilogy
· The Sword of Shannara
· The Elfstones of Shannara
· The Wishsong of Shannara

and also The Word & the Void Trilogy
· Running with the Demon
· A Knight of the Word
· Angel Fire East
 
I recommend Behold a Pale Horse by William Cooper. It's a fun read.
 
Try 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole--very funny, thought provoking and excellent writing IMO. And a different genre for you. Here's a review link: http://www.curledup.com/dunces.htm
 
Non fiction: if your interested in africa at all John Taylors biography Pondoro is an awesome read. he was an ivory poacher and one heck of a writer. it centers mainly around elephant hunting but if you have any interest in Africa its a must read. he lived with the natives and such while he was there. its not the normal pompas british type read of most african novels are. Use Enough Gun by Robert Raurk is also good.

sci fi: Lucifers Hammer by Larry Niven is a good end of the world type book. we written

History type novel: The Wolves of Dawn by William Sarabade, bronze age europe. extreamly well written.

action type: The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell, its an excellent book about two orphans who grew up to be assasins

those are my 4 favorates
 
Many of my recommendations have been mentioned already. If you want some short stories, get The Cyberiad Chronicles by Stanislaw Lem. It's some of the most original scifi I've ever seen. When I tell most people about it, I don't even mention that it's lumped in with scifi. It's really more of a scifi motif; it doesn't actually read much like scifi.
If you want some good, meaningful nonfiction (nonfiction is a fave of mine) try Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, which is all about the rise of civilization and technology - very informative. Another good nonfic title is Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstader, but it's all about math and cognitive science so it doesn't apply to most people's everyday thoughts.
I wish I were back at my house in Portland, then I could give you some good fiction titles - I don't even have a quarter of my book collection up here at school. Chuck Palahniuk and William Gibson are favorite fiction authors of mine; you can't much go wrong with their stuff. For nonfic, Daniel Dennett has some pretty intruiging ideas.
~Joe
 
My favorite books:

Harry Potter Series
----The Sorcerors's Stone
----The Chamber of Secrets
----The Prisoner of Azkaban
----The Goblet of Fire
----The Order of the Pheonix
----The Half Blood Prince (it comes out like July 11th I think)

Also, I've heard The Lord of the Rings books are really good. Though I haven't read them, I've seen each movie at least 5 times.

House of Leaves - I just started reading this really long freaky sci-fi book. It's written in a really weird style and it takes a little while to get used to but it's really cool.
 
I'm not a huge fan of novel type books I like monographs on species of plants, animals, insects, habitats most.

But for me the best stories are HP Lovecraft. HIS stuff though, I'm not so thrilled with the people who write "within the mythos" and try to expound on his eccentric way of writing horror tales. His stuff was all written in the early 1900s so there's not really descriptions of gore or horrific carnage but just weird bizzare short stories (generally 4-15 pages each in a regular sofback book). One of his biggest works is At the Mountains of Madness which is a very fun book, The Call of Cthulhu (the original book, not the series) is great! I also like his very short story The Outsider. It has a fantastic end which you don't expect!
 
Stephen King books are pretty entertaining.
 
  • #11
The Jurasic Park books are much better then the movies.
 
  • #12
Well my all time favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. Also i am a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk (he wrote fightclub, the book, and yes there is a book) and H.P. Lovecraft, but i agree with swords i dont like the ohter writers who have ruined, i mean written in mythos.
 
  • #13
Favorite book: Getting Even, by Woodie Allen.

Most tedius book to get through: Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus (written in Middle English)


Most boring book I ever sunk my mind into: Intruder in the Dust, by William Faulkner. (Almost kept me from graduating high school.)
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ July 01 2005,2:36)]
Most boring book I ever sunk my mind into: Intruder in the Dust, by William Faulkner. (Almost kept from graduating high school.)

You're not alone in your dislike for Faulkner. His stuff is terrible. (IMO, anyway...)

Isaac Asimov's books are great science fiction. And of course, there's always the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.....

The best mystery stuff I've read are Poe's 3 Dupin stories and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
 
  • #15
not as much sci fi, closer to the Terry Brooks end would be the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jorden.
Enders Game is an all time favorite of mine.
 
  • #16
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Gawd_oOo @ July 01 2005,2:12)]The Jurasic Park books are much better then the movies.
The books are always better than the movies. I think it's because they're less guided.

If you want something in fiction pick up any Dean Koontz or James Patterson book. Honeymoon by Patterson was pretty good.
 
  • #17
I love scifi books too, but I have a very limited access to them. I'm reading one book of the Area 51 book series by Robert Doherty right now, and it seems good so far.

The Black Stallion's Ghost by Walter Farley is by far my favorite of the entire Black Stallion series, and it's WAY different than the rest of the series, leaning way into the scifi category.

And for funny as hell.. do I even have to say it? America (The Book), Jon Stewart.
 
Back
Top