blather_book_club Sol oh yes it is, as anticipated. favorite authors and books? gabriel garcia marquez-100 years of solitude iain M banks (and iain banks) almost all, i didnt like inversions though. Salman Rushdie-only read the moors last sigh and am currently reading the satanic verses. very good book, highly recomended. fan of the foundation series by asimov terry pratchet discworld books louis de berniers is very good, particularly the war of don emanuels nether parts (its better than captain corellis mandolin, in my opinion, but people have disagreed) um, catch 22 is recomended (by me) cant think of anymore at the mo. but no doubt more will come. 010730 ... Tank 'woman on the edge of time' by marge piercy 'times arrow' by martin amis 'the televisionary oracle' by rob breszny you know what, i have a whole list posted at my site - http://www.tankgreen.com 010730 ... Aimee please anyone give me recommendations... i need a book to read!!! 010730 ... nocturnal good call, sol. catch-22 is the funniest thing I've ever read, and it gets better every time. I would like to second that recommendation. is it a bad sign to understand and relate to yossarian? I hope not.....? 010730 ... dB I second Sol's choice, and add the following: Stephen Lawhead - Song of Albion trilogy Arthur C Clarke - Damn near everything Frank Herbert - I'm surprised nobody has mentioned him yet Ben Elton - All (especially Stark) That's all for now 010730 ... DannyH The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Murakami The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler New York Trilogy by Paul Auster Waterland by Graham Swift The Hunting of The Snark by Lewis Carroll The Complete Oxford English Dictionary 20 vols. by Oxford University Press (you can borrow my copy) I used to run a bookshop so take some string from a professional. If you want really good advice on books you should go to Flo but he's not around much any more. 010730 ... dB Tolkien. nuff said. 010730 ... Gollum yes my precious, db is wise 010730 ... Aragorn may I offer "The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Edward Abbey 010730 ... god anything by harlan ellison, esp. appraoching oblivion, alone against tomorrow, strange wine, deathbird stories... 010730 ... . The Wave by Morton Rhue 010731 ... girl all the books by chuck palahniuk: invisible monsters fight club survivor choke (survivor is my personal favorite) eye scream by henry rollins black coffee blues by henry rollins the jackson hole trilogy (skipped parts, hope floats, and social blunders) by tim sandlin anything that peter sotos has written (but be forewarned its hard to handle mostly true crime but some of it is psychotic violent and graphic) more to come maybe 010806 ... Dafremen Watership Down by Richard Adams A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Let's not be so quick to discard the old friends and hiding places of our childhood. 010806 ... girl ah watership down i love that book! its also a pretty decent cartoon movie. 010808 ... unhinged aaahhh yes frank herbert i just started reading the dune series again when i was in milwaukee and i gobbled the first book up so fast that i haven't had time to go out and buy the second one. the winter queen and the summer queen by joan vinge the tibetan book of the dead the dhammapada brink road by a.r. ammons the world according to garp by john irving a prayer for owen meany by john irving fear of dreaming by jim carroll 010808 ... Photophobe I'm currently reading: Do androids dream of electric sheep by Philip K. Dick (its the inspiration for blade runner, and has a similar plot, but different characters, and a different feel.) 010809 ... DannyH Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman Trust me on this one, you won't regret it. 010809 ... Teenage Jesus All Robert Anton Wilson 010809 ... Persona the most amazing book I have read is 'House Of Leaves' by Mark Z. Danielewski. I don't think I comprehended a deal of it, there were so many facets. 010810 ... Gollum The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. A tale comparable to the Bible; the dawning of a world and the creation of its peoples. 010820 ... silentbob Orson Scott Card: The Ender Series The Homecoming Saga by Stephen King: Eyes of the Dragon The Talisman Skeleton Crew Different Seasons by Chuck Palahnuck (er sumthing) Fight Club Survivor by mario puzo The Godfather Fools Die 011015 ... Glory Box The God of Small Things - Arundahti Roy. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. - David Eggers. The Diviners - Margaret Laurence. Really. Read them. At least the first and last one. 011017 ... Understudy To Abby Grey One of the best things i ever read .... And The Ass Saw The Angel by Nick Cave I'd recommend it to anyone 011017 ... translucent The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, Restaurant at the end of the universe, so long and thanks for all the fish... any book by douglas adams 011017 ... birdmad The Damnation Game and The Hellbound Heart- Clive Barker Less Than Zero Rules Of Attraction American Psycho - Brett Easton Ellis Divine Comedy - Dante The complete Edgar Allen Poe Tornado Alley, Naked Lunch - william S. Burroughs Get in The Van - Henry Rollins The Brains of Rats - Michael Blumlein Grendel - John Gardner (and Matt Wagner's Grendel comic books) Different Seasons and The Bachman Books - Stephen King Daphnis and Chloe - longus Titus Andronicus, Hamlet, Richard III, The Tempest, Othello, MacBeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Loves Labours Lost, Romeo & Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice - Wm. Shakespeare 011017 ... nocturnal grendel rocks. that book cracked me up. but before reading that, you have to read beowulf. otherwise it might not make as much sense. 011017 ... Toxic_Kisses Save Our Planet - Susan A Levine Brother To Shadows - Andre Norton The Cartoon Guide To Physics -Larry Gonick and Art Huffman 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth - The Earth Works Group The next 2 books I got bc I was trying to improve a hopeless relationship w/ my Ex, Figed if I bettered my self every thing would be back to the way things use to be, happy. Either way though after reading these books it truly opened my eyes to what love truly means and what a relationship really is. The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman (You neither have to be married or religious to read this, the book applies to all relationships, yes, even yours) How To Make Anyone Fall In Love With You - Leil Lowndes (Cheesy title, Good and informative information) ~Books I'm slowly reading off and on currently~ BioHazard - Ken Alibek The Lucifer Principal- Howard Bloom Both so far are pretty good so far but I need to take beaks from them every once in a while or else I become kinda down 011017 ... mindfield the death of books is a truly tragic one I could read a book a day for the rest of my existence and barely scratch the surface. I will read almost anything but I have a few favorites: anything by the beautiful and deeply dark Timothy Findley, Douglas Adams, Susan R. Matthews, Stephen R. Donaldson (Particularly the White Gold Trilogy, twisted books) Umberto Eco, Mark Frost and last but by no means least, Tom Robbins. And I agree with all the positive remarks about Catch 22, great, great book. happy reading 011017 ... Norm I'm not a reader but I do read There is only one book that I have really ever enjoyed and that was Go Ask Alice - Anon. 011017 ... Alexander Beetle Graphic novel, while a term generally used by people who don't see the sun very often, is still not entirely a falsehood. Examples: Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis & some other guy Preacher by same Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima Anything by Masamune Shirow (esp. Appleseed) Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo U.S. by Steve Darnall & Alex Ross Out-of-print, but worth looking for, are: Stig's Inferno by Klaus Schonefeld & Ty Templeton (sadly unfinished) Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez (not really novelic, I guess, but wacky!) Milk & Cheese by Evan Dorkin (ditto-like) Print-wise, all I'll offer is A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books and be done. 011027 ... ever dumbening all you word junkies MUST read Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (and you're not allowed to skip the 100 pages of end notes either--they will be on the quiz) 'KERTWANG' lots of great stuff by Borges The Mind's I by Dennett and Hofstadter and, Sol, d'accord on The Foundation (ah, the Mule) and Banks (The Wasp Factory is outstanding) 011115 ... flo Although i don't come here as much as i used to. Feeling that perhaps my sense of humour doesn't quite fit, but i still like to come back for a browse from time to time, and i'm glad i did. i'll be back with my book recommends in the next few days. 011116 ... Aaron a good collection of books i have read were called "shadow run" i'd recamend them if you like future fantasy/sci-fi. magic, tech stuff, all kinds of fun.. 011116 ... m i tried to read infinite jest and slipped into a coma after the 10 th page. 011116 ... Sonya The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Read this if you are looking to regain some lost optimism. It has heaps of inspiration buried within its pages. Love Letters by Niall Williams Read this if you think love is a negative element of humanity. Not a romance novel, but more of an often unobserved perspective on the whole idea of love and its power. 011117 ... ClairE If you are not looking deep into the reality of life, death, and what the difference could possibly be (that is, if you are not "depressed" at the moment), you really must read Gail Godwin's The Odd Woman. This book...thank God I was happy, or it would have knocked me out. I was, quite literally, stunned by it. It is life. 011221 ... cube I'll second Orsen Scott Card (silentbob). Ender's Game is a must for the genre ... 011221 ... sweetheart of the song tra bong The Great Fires by Jack Gilbert. or Traveling at High Speeds by John Rybicki. So so amazing. Love is apart from all things. Desire and excitement are nothing beside it. 011221 ... Fire&Roses FARENHEIGHT 451- Ray Bradbury The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide- Douglas Adams Catch 22- Joseph Heller To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee O there are so many... I can never remember them all... I really like Clive Cussler, Phillip Pullman, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Michael Crichton, There are soooo many... 011221 ... yummyC The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide- Douglas Adams the discworld books by terry pratchet White Oleander- Janet fitch 011222 ... blamethesky the perks of being a wallflower by steven chobosky. one of the best books ever. also she's come undone and i know this much is true both by wally lamb 011223 ... Casey Fantasy- The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan Another good book I liked was The Little Prince, it's classified as a childrens book kind of, but I still recomend it. Douglas Adams books are good. C.S. Lewis for more fantasy. Star Wars books can be good Sci-fi 020401 ... little wonder Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein please read this 020429 ... silentbob my sister told me that all the women in that book were either secretaries or other stereotypical female roles and that's how things were viewed back then. Crazy, i thought. 020429 ... little wonder they were...sort of. a nurse some "secretaries" and other things. but not your typical type of secretary. 020429 ... yiasku Still life with woodpecker - Tom Robbins. That book found me one of my best friends. Or at least made me finally realise it. 020602 ... Arwyn Angela's Ashes Tis ~ Frank McCourt A Child Called It The Lost Boy A Man Called Dave ~ Dave Pelzer Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ~ John Berendt What Dreams May Come Hannibal Where the Red Fern Grows 020603 ... birdmad The Stranger - Albert Camus Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka Blade Runner (do androids dream of electric sheep?) - Phillip K. Dick Edmond Rostand - Cyrano de Bergerac 020603 ... velvetdesire the catcher in the rye - jd salinger she's come undone - wally lamb 020604 ... lo joyce carrol oates- any one of them 030506 ... jane welcome to the monkey house by kurt vonnegut jr. 030507 ... Rowbes Most of my favorites are already listed here, but I offer The Sirens of Titan (vonnegut jr) Lovelock (O.S. Card and Kathy Kidd) The Thief of Always (Clive Barker) They Cage the Animals at Night (Jennings Michael Burch) Bag of Bones (King) Robot Visions (Asimov) Timestorm (Dickson) was here. 030507 ... User24 Sol, what a great idea! -applaudes you- Ian Banks The Bridge The Business I didn't like Walking on Glass. Terry Pratchet Discworld series, esp Carpe Jugulum Ano Nymous Maximum Security (fact, but a great book) Molly Brown Virus ? Random Factor (I'll get back to you on the author) Susan Cooper Dark is Rising series 030507 ... -Jessica- book_recommendations 030507 ... Teenage Jesus New book- The Holy- by Daniel Quinn. Very good; deals some with archetypes and strangeness. 030806 ... DeafeningSLNC God only knows by Joeseph Heller. He is the same author of Catch 22. One of the best books I have read in a long time 031008 ... nomatter Red Dragon - Thomas Harris The Lovely Bones- Alice Seabold Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel 'Salem's Lot - Stephen King 031020 ... phil princess bride - william goldman a walk in the woods - bill bryson 031020 ... Freak Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio 031020 ... smurfus rex I've been ruminating on this list for awhile now, so here's an introductory few: American Gods by Neil Gaiman To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by Jeremy Leven The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown The entire Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa The entire Legend of the Five Rings series based on the CCG The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Tolkien (what list would be complete without them?) The 37th Mandala by Marc Laidlaw Needful Things by Steven King The Green Mile by Steven King Rising Sun, Jurassic Park, Congo and Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Hamlet by William Shakespeare Shibumi by Trevanian Red Dragon by Thomas Harris Azazel by Isaac Asimov Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick Mindhunter and The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas The Art of War by Sun Tzu The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tze The Peaceful Warrior Collection by Dan Millman Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Sunetomo .... I think you can find these two stories as part of a collection or anthology: Chatting with Anubis by Harlan Ellison The Black Stone by ...damn, the guy who wrote the Conan series. The first time I read "Chatting" was in Asimov's SF magazine, and there was a point in the story where I actually was surprised enough that I tossed the mag across the room...it was cool. :) Read every book listed in my list and in this whole blathe. 031021 ... phil yep 031022 ... celestias shadow Good Omens- Terry Pratchett and Neal Gaiman anything by Terry Pratchett or my favorite, Chuck Palahniuk Me Talk Pretty One Day- David Sedaris The Golden Compass (and sequels)- Philip Pullman the Darkangel Trilogy- Margaret Ann Pierce The Hours- Michael Cunningham, purely as a literary experience The Trigger- Arthur C. Clarke (amazing book) Dune books- Frank Herbert Silence of the Lambs- Thomas Harris Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card Feed- M. T. Anderson 031026 ... kenobi Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood Atomised - Michel Houellebecq 031026 ... phil Dreaming Metal 031125 ... Little Lost Riding Hood Oh my god!! Celestias Shadow - you have read Enders Game!! I love that book - but no one else has ever heard of it! Have you read the other 2 in the trilogy? Also reccommend: Midnights Children - Salman Rushdie Love in the time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez The World According to Garp - Cant remember author Ulysses - James Joyce Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Jmaes Joyce 031125 ... Little Lost Riding Hood oh, and also anything by Luis De Bernier (Captain Correlis Mandolin) 031125 ... Strideo Sabriel by Garth Nix - I think this book diserves more recognition in the fantasy genre. Writen by an Astralian author, i almost never it in the book stores. Memories of Silk and Straw: A Self-Portrait of Small-Town Japan by Junichi, Dr. Saga, Garry O. Evans (Translator), S. Saga (Illustrator) - Whew. This is one of my favorite books about Japan. I can flip my copy over and see that the price is still marked in yen as well as dollars on the back. It tells the stories of people who lived in this small town just north of Tokyo during the early 1900's. Most of those who share thier tales were teenagers during that time and its absolutely fascinating to read about how different life was. recent reads . . . Atonement by Ian McEwan Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert Timeline by Michael Crichton Nemesis by Isaac Asimov ... 031125 ... Strideo I used to have a ton of paperback sci-fi and fantasy novels on the shelf until the roof leaked and thoroughly "watered" my collection. Unfortunately most of the books were ruined. ... 040113 ... Freak new books to suggest... The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (so much better than the movie) Middlesex Life of Pi by Yann Martel Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim, and Barrel Fever by David Sedaris Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs 041214 ... Freak ...and I doubt that me or someone else hasn't already suggested this one but Ill put it on here again because it is one of the best books ever... The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky 041214 ... realistic optimist Tom Robbins is quickly becoming my favorite overall author. he wields words and metaphor with grace and profundity, with the tongue-in-cheek humor of a well adjusted misfit. the Magic Animal, by Philip Wylie is quite a profound book, especially for the time in which it was written, though phil could stand to get over himself a bit. as i've alluded before, my favorite all time book is Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A Heinlein. i've still got that one on mp3. one thing i've developed a taste for is reading books in couplets. two great tastes that taste great together are: The Celestine Prophecies, by Some Shitty Writer together with Chaos, the Making of a New Science, by James Gliek. [kissing sound with fingers together, snapping apart as the hand flies from the kissing mouth] c'est magnifique! you really can't escape the timeless wisdom of the Tao. that Lao guy really had his finger in the great dike of illumination and did a good job of pointing to the nameless tao, a feat which he himself proclaims to be impossible. and yes, any and every thing by Robert Anton Wilson is quite worthwhile. Stephen Hawking might be a somewhat dry read, though he DOES have a good sense of humor. anyway, he is good at encapsulating difficult conceptual physics for the layman. and reading 1984 by George Orwell would be a good idea, since the current administration appears to believe it is a how-to manual for running a government. although i have enjoyed the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, i don't put it in the same caliber as these other books. plus, i'm unsure he will finish the agonizingly detailed series before he shuffles off this mortal coil. anyway, that's the world of books from the perspective of this realistic optimist. thanks for the preceding (and soon to be following) insights. this is a great idea for a thread. 041214 ... 4 2 laugh "The Celestine Prophecies, by Some Shitty Writer" 041214 ... monee the country diary of an edwardian lady - edith holden i love it. 041214 ... gja Ill add a few of my favs - without thinking too much I dont know why these make the list - maybe more to do with my setting whilst reading them than their overall quality: In no particular order: Please be Quite Please: Raymond Carvers collection of short stories. As close to the accuracy of poetry you can get whilst staying as prose. Illywhacker / Bliss / Oscar and Lucinda: Peter Carey. Multiple Booker prise winner. Money: Martin Amis. His father was a great writer also, and, a prodigious collector of porn. Fear and Loathing: Hunter S Thompson. A Walk in The Woods: Bill Bryson. Brief History of Time: Stephen Hawkins - worth the effort. Crusoes Daughter: Jane Gardam. Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen Other Voices, Other Rooms / Answered Prayers: Truman Capote Mr Norris Changes Trains: Christopher Isherwood. If on A Winters Night / Six Memos for the Next Millenium: Italo Calvino And on and on and on. 070628 ... pSyche I can't believe nobody has mentioned The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. A must read in my opinion. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Watership Down by Richard Adams Flowers for Algernon by Daniel keys Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick 070629 ... birdmad Dune - Frank Herbert Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn - Henry Miller The Dark Tower series - Stephen King V for Vendetta - Alan Moore/David Lloyd Gates of Fire - Stephen Pressfield 070629 what's it to you? who go blather from