Your favourite books?

[rkj87]

Since I just read an interview with Bryan (

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) and found out he studied creative writing I felt the need of opening this thread. Don't ask me why, but I always love to hear people speak about their favourite books, especially since it's sometimes kind of weird to meet webmasters and other guys from the industry that you would never ask about their favourite novels and they turn out to be Hemingway-specialists

I read lots of books, most recently more scientific stuff, and here are my favourite books of all time which mean very much to me and have definitely influenced me in the way I think and act - or made me laugh like crazy:

- Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (MUST READ. Serious! Lullaby, Fight Club... his old stuff rules!)
- Catcher in the Rye (Guess most people at least heard from it. Classic!)
- Solipsist (Henry Rollins - great guy and definitely a role model for me, not only because I love Black Flag)
- Got Fight by Forrest Griffin (You don't have to be into MMA to love it - super funny!)
- Everything (!) by Charles Bukowski - Easy to read and the dialogues are amazing.
- A long way down by Nick Hornby (After reading it, you'll appreciate life more, I think)
- Bullshit Nights by Nick Flynn (Did you have a fucked up father-son relationship? This book is for you!)

Allright, gonna leave a little place for your book recommendations also

 

[Simmo!]

I like historical fiction (Roman Empire stuff and that sort of thing) and am currently reading the 2nd of a Ben Kane trilogy called "Silver Eagle" set in and around ancient Rome... read a lot of that.

I like *some* thrillers as long as they aren't the slow descriptive character-building type LOL. Davinci Code was probably the most can't-put-down book I ever read and Dan Brown's other books were also very good. Funny how every book of this genre suddenly got released with the word "code" in the title after the success of Davinci LOL.

I also enjoy one-off stuff ("I, Partridge" being the latest acquisition) and autobiographies of interesting people (ie: not 22 year old footballers!) with some life experience.

 

[4 of a kind]

"Liberty And Tyranny"

Author: Mark R. Levin

 

[PNEFOREVER2]

It tends to be mostly autobiographies I read,eg Roy Keanes and Wayne Rooneys last few books.

Wouldn't mind re-buying some of the books I use to have years back though-secret seven and famous five by Enid Blyton (aka Mary Pollock),use to spend hours in my own world reading those books!

 

[PegeeSue]

True Crime is my passion. Ann Rule rules in true crime writing ! I also like Cathryn Casey and a few others. True crime books that delve into the minds of the killers and especially the forensics part of it all.

 

[Flyer187]

What Americans Really Want...Really

Frank Luntz

Eye-opening

 

[Brooklyn]

Anything James Patterson writes.....also The Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is another fave. I love true crime books..I read at least two books a week. Love reading and try to pass it on to my children as well.

 

[Simmo!]

Anything James Patterson writes...

Ah yeah I read a couple of his recently too

 

[Jasminebed]

Asking to name your favourite books is liking asking to name your favourite children.

A few that have had the biggest impact in how I live my life are:

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Time Enough for Love - Robert A. Heinlein
Elements of Style - William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White
Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Julia Child
The Joy of Cooking and The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking - Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker

 

[nisosbar]

I enjoy reading fun stuff (fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller), and sometimes, non-fiction.

Anything by Terry Pratchett is guaranteed to make you laugh. He's got to be my favorite.
James Herbert - wrote just a bunch of horror/sci-fi books in the 70's and 80's.
James Dickson Carr - sort of the male counterpart to Agatha Christie.

Some more 'furrin' stuff:

Naguib Mahfouz, Abdelrahman Munif, Andre Gide, Anais Nin

 

[ksech]

Egads! I'm eclectic in my taste. I'm currently reading "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven" (a religious book - true story, as told from a child's point of view)
I've read all of James Patterson (except his new one Kill Alex Cross, which I saw in the book store yesterday)
John Sandford (Prey series)
JD Robb (Nora Roberts alter ego)
Granny D (about a 90 year old woman who walked across the US)
For the Thrill of It ( True story- 1930's Chicago)
Chosen By a Horse (True story)
Sarah's Key

I used to read 5-6 books a week, but have a slight problem concentrating since I had my stroke. Now I have all I can do to read 1 or 2. I want to get one of those Nooks, thinking maybe the larger print will help reduce eye strain, which will help reduce the headaches (sounds like a good argument for investing in one right???? LOL) Anywhoo..

 

[chayton]

I'm a mystery buff - I don't really have any favorite mystery books but I do have favorite authors - Agatha (of course!), PD James, Stephen Booth, Ian Rankin, Graham Hurley, Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill, Rennie Airth, Val McDermid, Minette Walters, Dennis Lehane, Caleb Carr.

I do read other stuff too - I think my favorite books of all time have got to be "A prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving and "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon. Also almost anything that Peter Straub ever wrote - if you like horror, "Ghost Story" is IMO the all time greatest horror novel I've ever read.

 

[nisosbar]

Dennis Lehane

Shutter Island was a HUGE disappointment for me. The book was gripping and suspenseful right up to the end, but the ending was cheap and simple and I felt really cheated.

 

[Simmo!]

Shutter Island was a HUGE disappointment for me. The book was gripping and suspenseful right up to the end, but the ending was cheap and simple and I felt really cheated.

I enjoyed the book but I tried to watch the film and gave up after 15 minutes... felt like an amateur dramatics society.

 

[maxd]

In no particular order:

• The Hobbit, Lord Of The Rings - Tolkien
• Crash - JG Ballard
• A Game Of Thrones - GRR Martin
• Podkayne of Mars - Heinlein (gimme a break, I was 12!)
• Schizmatrix - Bruce Sterling
• Conan the whatever - RE Howard
• Elric (anything) - Moorcock
• Time Traveler's Guide to the Middle Ages - Ian Mortimer
• Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
• Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
• Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
• Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
• American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
• Portrait of a Marriage - Nigel Nicolson

... I could go on for a while.

 

[ksb11]

Into Thin Air- Jon Krakauer
Earth's Earliest Ages- G.H. Pember
Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Fifties- David Halberstam

I can't remember all the books I read, especially when I was in my twenties. The above mentioned are just a few of my favorites from different genres.

 

[Dipity]

I will literally read anything, romance, thriller, suspense, as long as it's fiction. Can't stand non fiction.

I echo the Terry Pratchett reccomendation, his books literally have me chuckling away to myself whilst reading.

By far my favourite set of books are the Stephen King 'Dark Tower' series. If you haven't read them, I urge you to read them from book 1 up till the end (7 books in all), they are literally mind blowing. I must've read them all so many times over the years.

Theres a final one being released this year too, 8 years after the ending book.

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[Realitybitez]

I tend to gravitate to the same authors because I like their books and mainly sci/fic and fantasy

Anne Bishop - most of them from House of Gain trilogy to The Black Jewel Trilogy (Favorite Author)
Terry Goodkind - most of his books from Wizards Rule, Mother Confessor etc etc
Terry Pratchett - most of their books. They're a crack up!
Alan Dean Foster - The Flinx series
Karen Marie Moning - The Highlander Series
Raymond E Fiest - most of them
Janny Wurts - Daughter, Servant, Mistress of the Empire

Im a total bookworm, and tend to read series more than anything

 

[bsilva028]

i am reading "the secret"
author Rhonda Byrne

 

[jjezebel37]

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad....

Apocalypse Now, was based on this book, one of my all time favorite films.

 

[maxd]

Apocalypse Now ... one of my all time favorite films.

 

[klara1968]

FOR STRONG PEOPLE ONLY

AND THE ASS SAW THE ANGEL - NICK CAVE

Amazing language.Tragic story.I wiil never forget this one.

 

[chayton]

Anyone read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy? It was a little hard to get into at first because of the way it's written, but really a good book in a hopeless and depressing way. I've yet to muster the courage to see the movie.

 

[De Beuker]

I just LOVE fantasy , SF and thrillers.

My favourite for fantasy would be George RR Martin - Song of Ice and Fire.
Its a saga that the writer is still writing, 5 parts have been released so far.
Max already mentioned A Game of Thrones, thats the first book.

HBO is currently making this saga into a televisionserie, I've seen season 1 last summer, and it was mindblowing, highly recommended!

My favourite SF saga, no doubt, Dan Simmons - Hyperion Saga (all 4 books)
If you have read that, you know what I mean, if not, go read it!

 

[purpletin]

Great idea for a thread...

1. The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart
2.Filth - by Irvine Welsh (also train spotting, Porno and Glue)
3. Too many Stephen King books to list..
4. Choke and Fight Club as mentioned by OP
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

 

[nisosbar]

Oh, and on a gambling-related subject, "Fortune's Formula" about the development of the Kellye method of bet-sizing. Fascinating and fun.

 

[Surasanji]

My Favorite books/Authors

Believe it or not! (And what reason would you have not to?! ) I'm into poetry. As such, on my shelf, I have the current works (both poetry and non.):

I have the same Henry Rollin's book, the Solipsist. Very good poetry. I forget if Rollin's poem 'Brick' is in this book, I haven't read it for a while. I suggest you search for this poem if you're into weird/serious/deep and somewhat dark poetry.

EVERYTHING by Kahlil Gibran (But in particular my favorites are The Madman and The Prophet.)

The Rum Diaries & Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

I have quite a bit of fantasy and sci-fi. Ender's Game, Various Dragonlance and Forgotten Realm books as well as the standard LOTR bits.

And then the rest? Comic books and dungeons and dragons manuals (and their competing companies' analogues!) , of course, because I'm a big nerd.

Anywho, of all of that Kahlil Gibran's the Prophet is by far my favorite. You can check it out online for free, and its a short and easy read. Give it a look!

 

[buttkiss56]

Micheal buble, On stage Off stage

for all of his fans, it's a fun book that he wrote "on stage off stage" lots of pics for us woman lol

 

[samoas]

Awesome read! Had to share!

My sister used to work for Borders for many years and always had access to proofs prior to publication. She's getting ready to move and came across one she never read from 2008. It was so good she passed it on to me & I fell in love. Read the whole book yesterday!

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Garth Stein, author


It's a sweet, touching story narrated by a pet dog named Enzo. Not often I am touched by a book, but I love this book so damn much, I am buying it as gifts for people. I am a dog lover and this book gives great insight to the impact a person can have in the lives of other human beings and pets included.

Gonna look into reading Garth Stein's other novels after reading this gem.

 

[IanO]

Anything by Terry Pratchett is guaranteed to make you laugh. He's got to be my favorite.

Seconded! Great author and a really nice guy too. Got to chat to him after a lecture in Dublin once. I also like all of Tom Holts stuff so maybe check that out.

Now my next recommendation:

I STRONGLY recommend you check out ''Norah's Children'', ''Michael'' and the third book in the trilogy ''Going Home'' which was released just today!!

They are all fantastic books loved by any who read them. Granted I may be a smidge biased as my Mum is the author, but how could I NOT put a shameless plug for her in here. So proud of her. www.annofarrell.net