Your favorite book.

[-BloodRush-]

currently reading American Gods.

My favorites include the Dark Tower series and some of the Anne Rice vampire novels.

Oh! and The Legend of Drizzt books. theyre cool.

 

[Nerples]

Trying to be original, which whittled away I am Legend, Chuck Palhniuk, and HP Lovecraft.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. It's the anti-space opera. Contends that even if we found aliens, we would never be able to communicate with them in a meaningful manner, or even recognize them as sentient. The alien being a metaphor for God, of course. Kind of like tragedy with the Buggers taken to logical extremes.

I've read Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem but not Solaris -- how do they compare to one another? Have you read them both? Which do you like better if so?

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy. Incredible.

Same questions here -- read The Road by McCarthy but not Blood Meridian.

If you've read The Road I whole-heartedly recommend Blood Meridian. It follows The Kid and a group of cowboys as they traverse the Texas/Mexico border hunting for human scalps in exchange for money. It is very bleak and still retains McCarthy's flow and lack of punctuation, but is also filled with his own rich philosophy which is voiced by the infamous Judge character, as the other poster mentioned. Lots of commentary on morality and religion and life in general. Powerful stuff. Also has lashings of ultra-violence...

 

[Nerples]

L'Étranger by Albert Camus.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
Dangerous Midsummer by Tove Jansson.
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.
The Witches by Roald Dahl.

Then there's the stuff that isn't strictly prose; namely Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: Or What You Will and everything ever written by Emily Dickinson and Sappho.

Sophocles was pretty bitchin' too. Probably the earliest example of a male writer concerned with the gender construct.

I noticed Camus and de Beauvoir in there. Just out of interest, have you read anything by Judith Butler? I think you might like 'Gender Trouble'...

 

[Kimjira19]

World War Z by Max Tucker

You mean by Max Brooks... I enjoy The Zombie Survival Guide

 

[Kimjira19]

I also love Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Beowulf, and Hamlet.

 

[LiquidGrape]

L'Étranger by Albert Camus.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
Dangerous Midsummer by Tove Jansson.
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.
The Witches by Roald Dahl.

Then there's the stuff that isn't strictly prose; namely Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: Or What You Will and everything ever written by Emily Dickinson and Sappho.

Sophocles was pretty bitchin' too. Probably the earliest example of a male writer concerned with the gender construct.

I noticed Camus and de Beauvoir in there. Just out of interest, have you read anything by Judith Butler? I think you might like 'Gender Trouble'...

Funny you'd mention her; I was recommended that very book yesterday during a seminar.
Now with two points of reference, I'll make sure to check it out.

 

[Kimjira19]

The Things They Carried is also good.

 

[Budgy]

What's Cyberiad about? Cause it's on my list now. I was also wondering how Blood Meridian compares to The Road. I loved the Road, speed read it in six hours. All I know about Blood Meridian is there's some fellow called the Judge...

If you imagine Kurt Vonnegut's playful yet satirical style and mix it around with philosophical ideas (such as Berkeley's ideas, seen replicated in The Matrix) and add that to the question of intelligent life in machines you get The Cyberiad. Truly an original, entertaining and witty piece of writing that gives your noodle something to chomp on at the same time.

EDIT: It also helps he's a polack like myself. Oh yeah perogies are awesome.

The Things They Carried is also good.

The author (Tim O'Brien) actually visited my high school years ago. Interesting book, though it seems to dwell too long on the cliched idea that fact in fiction or fiction in fact is irrelevant (can we not learn something or come away from reading a story that is completely made up with new ideas, something more on the subject? - that's what I felt the point of the book was, and after hearing it over and over it's like... I get it!)

HOUSE OF LEAVES!!! this book will completely mind fuck you no lie go read it now

Hells yeah. Read the last 200 pages the night before a final last year. One of the most haunting books ever written. Disturbed me more than any movie or visual image. It gets under your skin.

 

[Quick Ben]

I'll probably forget a lot of books I should have mentioned, but I'll just take some favorites from the top of my mind:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen series
A Song of Ice and Fire series
His Dark Materials trilogy
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Brave New World
The Road
No Country for Old Men (Note to self: Need to read more by Cormac McCarthy)
Watchmen
Artemis Fowl books
Bartimaeus trilogy
Anything by Neil Gaiman

Those are the ones that come to mind immediately. I'll probably need to hit myself for books I forgot, but I suppose that's unavoidable. There's also loads of English classics I haven't read yet, which will probably end up among my favorites when I have read them.
[small]Don't kill me for not having read 1984 yet![/small]

 

[CrazyGirl17]

My favorites include:
The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling,
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques,
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien,
Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan,
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer,
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan,
and So You want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane

Have you checked out the Pendragon series? A friend of mine has a very similar taste in books, and she's ape about those books.

No, I haven't, but thanks for the heads up.

Also, I thought of a few more books I like, namely:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster,
and Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Edit: I also like pretty much anything by Roald Dahl,
Novels like Roar of Thunder, Hear my Cry and To Kill a Mockingbird
as well as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Dante's Inferno.

I would like to get into series like the Anne Rice novels and The Dark Tower series, as well as the Discworld series. And Good Omens, I hear that's a good series.

Also, do Graphic Novels count? 'Cause I like a lot of those...

 

[Queen Michael]

This book rocks so hard it's unreal.

SO true. I especially loved Crake, but the entire book was wonderful. Her best. Her second best is The Robber Bride.

 

[Jamienra]

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Series

I've only read the first five books of the trilogy, have you read the sixth? I wanna know if it's worth getting, or if I should leave the late, great Dentarthurdent blown to smithereens.

I didnt even know there was a sixth! I remember hearing of a hitchikers that wasnt by Douglas Adams. I'm happy enough with the 5 and their amazing non-sensical ways.

 

[Emurlahn]

The Black Company series by Glen Cook. I, sadly, can't finish it as the last 4 books are out of print. And so I wait until the day comes when I can finish the beloved series and find the ending I so desperately want. (Also, I heard something about the guy making more in the series. Hell, if he does that means the 4 I need will likely go back into print so people like me won't get lost. Common, writer!)

Actually they're out like a two book collection, just like the three frist have been put together in "The Chronicles of the Black Company" and "The Black Company: The Book of South", they are named "Return of the Black Company", being "Black Season" and "She is the Dark", and "The Many Deaths of the Black Company", being "Water Sleeps" and "Soldiers Live"

As you might have understood already I really like that series too.
Also, I love Steven Erikson's "The Malazan Book of the Fallen"-series, and I am waiting with glee for the tenth and last book.
And anything written by Terry Pratchett.

Wait... You mean they already came out with the book collection for it? Well, damn, I gotta get on buying that. I have the book collections of the first 3 books so it'd only be fitting to get a collection of the final three. Is that available at the standard borders/barns&Nobles?

Edit: Ooo, shiny 1000th post...

I have no idea, I live in Norway, so the only way I could get them was Amazon, and they're having a discount at them right now

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Series

I've only read the first five books of the trilogy, have you read the sixth? I wanna know if it's worth getting, or if I should leave the late, great Dentarthurdent blown to smithereens.

I didnt even know there was a sixth! I remember hearing of a hitchikers that wasnt by Douglas Adams. I'm happy enough with the 5 and their amazing non-sensical ways.

yeah the person that wrote Artemis Fowl got to make one after adams died

 

[Soushi]

The Transal Saga by Gary Paulsen
Coming in close second is ``The hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy``

 

[Liam1390]

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. That book changed my life when I first read it.

 

[Jamienra]

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Series

I've only read the first five books of the trilogy, have you read the sixth? I wanna know if it's worth getting, or if I should leave the late, great Dentarthurdent blown to smithereens.

I didnt even know there was a sixth! I remember hearing of a hitchikers that wasnt by Douglas Adams. I'm happy enough with the 5 and their amazing non-sensical ways.

yeah the person that wrote Artemis Fowl got to make one after adams died

That book does not exist in my eyes. i shall leave it as it is supposed to be. Written by the craziest author known to mankind.

 

[The_Reviewist_v1legacy]

The Worm Ouroboros by ER Eddison.
The Hobbit by Tolkien
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Excession by Iain Banks

They're some of the best books I've read, I don't go in for "one of a series" as I love many novel series but often find that no single book stands quite as well on its own. Although the original Game of Thrones by GRRM is pretty darn good.

 

[Nex-Falx]

My favorites include:
*Trimmed*

*Trimmed*

No, I haven't, but thanks for the heads up.

Also, I thought of a few more books I like, namely:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster,
and Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Edit: I also like pretty much anything by Roald Dahl,
Novels like Roar of Thunder, Hear my Cry and To Kill a Mockingbird
as well as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Dante's Inferno.

I would like to get into series like the Anne Rice novels and The Dark Tower series, as well as the Discworld series. And Good Omens, I hear that's a good series.

Also, do Graphic Novels count? 'Cause I like a lot of those...

One more thing... I highly recommend the Mithgar books by Dennis L. McKiernan if you like the LoTRs Trilogy. =D

Sorry remembered that after seeing your re-quote.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

The Burning Shore by Robert Earl

I was 1st attracted to it by its front cover, and a blurb I read in a magazine but could not find it anywhere. After about 2 years i found it completely by chance and can say it was worth the wait.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/robert-earl/burning-shore.htm

i recommend checking it out