OT: Favorite Books.

[daveblackeye15]

I like reading books, I usualy read fantasy stuff with action in it. I read the Redwall Books, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter books, and James Bond books by Ian Fleming and Raymond Benson. Starship Troopers is another good one and I can't forget Jurassic Park, the (very) violent B-movie that you read. Your favorites....

[Mr_Vindictive]

Stupid White Men-Michael Moore.

[The Burgomaster]

Classics:
I'm a big fan of Charles Dickens.  Also, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME are worthy of multiple readings.

Contemporary:
I like anything by Stephen Hunter.  His novel DIRTY WHITE BOYS would make a great movie.  The book INCIDENT AT TWENTY-MILE by Trevanian (the author of THE EIGER SANCTION) is absolutely riveting.  It's a western about a psycho who terrorizes a small town near a mining camp.  I also enjoy Elmore Leonard's books.  PRONTO was very good.

Pulp:
I have been buying all of the DOC SAVAGE paperback novels . . . I have almost the whole collection and I am working on reading them all.  I have also started buying all of the similar AVENGER paperbacks.  This is GREAT trash from the 1930s and 40s.  If you have never read these stories, they are sort of a cross between Indiana Jones and the Green Hornet.  Bad guys, evil plots, exotic locations, cliffhanger situations . . . classic crap!

[Bernie]

Most anything by James Thurber or S.J. Perelman.

I reread Tolkien's Trilogy every couple of years, even though there are spots that drag horribly.

Recently read two of the best novels I've ever experienced, Dreamland and Paradise Alley, historical novels of old New York by (I think) Kevin Baker.  Incredibly rich & believable, with wonderfully complete and human characters.

Genre?  Never got into fantasy outside of Tolkien but I love old-style (30s 40s 50s) science fiction.

Not a big mystery fan, but love Raymond Chandler's writing.  How can prose be that purple, almost self-parodying, yet be that GOOD?

Tomorrow's list would probably be totally different...

[raj]

Love the Lord of the Rings series, even the Silmarillion.
Right now I'm really enjoying Dracula.

[Bernie]

I liked the Silmarillion too, once I gave up trying to keep all the names straight!

[trekgeezer]

Here are a few. Note that I really lean towards the Science Fiction/Fantasy  group.

The  Entire Dune Series (Frank Herbert can be a tough read, but worth it)

Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit  (Didn't read these until I was in my 40's, didn't know what I was missing)

Anything by H. G. Wells (Wish someone would do a period piece movie from War of the Worlds, it could really be scary if done right)

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert  Heinlein

The Stainless Steel  Rat series by Harry Harrison (the role Bruce Campbell was meant to play).

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy  Trilogy (in five parts) by Douglas Adams

[Vermin Boy]

My all-time favorite author is Daniel Pinkwater. If you haven't read his stuff, it's probably because it's usually in the children's section, but his novels are some of the most insane things I've ever read. My favorite of his books (and probably favorite of all time) is Borgel. It starts out as a typical "boy befriends eccentric great uncle" story, but about ten chapters in it takes a left turn when they start flying a used car through "time, space, and the other thing," and eventually visit a touristified Hell on a quest to find the Great Popsicle. Words don't do it justice; it's a classic of deadpan weirdness.

I'm currently reading "Electric Jesus Corpse" by Carlton Mellick III, which retells the story of Christ, except Jesus is a disco dancer in a post-apocalyptic world run by zombies, and his apostles are all sorts of deviants who hate him. The best characters are Thaddeus, the punk, John, the pimp, Phillip, the cokehead jazz musician, and Judas, the zombie-killing alien with Tourette's who wears a smiley face mask.

I also love Hunter S. Thompson's writing style; gotta love Gonzo journalism!

[Chopper2]

The Marching Season & The English Assasin, both by Daniel Silva
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Survivor - Chuck Phalanuik (i know i messed up his last name, same dude who wrote Fight Club)

[The Burgomaster]

A late addition to my list is James Clavell.  KING RAT, TAI-PAN, GAI-JIN, SHOGUN . . . all page-turning epics.

[Chopper2]

I've always meant to read Shogun. Thanks for reminding me Burgo. If you like samurai/ancient Japan stuff you should catch the Last Samurai. They did a great job with making the martial arts look as realistic as possible.

[raj]

Yes.  I saw it with some of my Aikido folks, and we were pointing out all the various moves.

[ulthar]

Did you catch the War of the Worlds radio broadcast on Glenn Beck's affiliates LAST Halloween (2002)??  They did a pretty good job (I only heard parts of it)...I THINK it is possible to get it from Beck's web site.

www.glennbeck.com

but you'd have to look around for it.

[ulthar]

I used to read a lot of fiction (spy/suspense novels) now I read mostly non-fiction and historical fiction.  And, the Bible.

History - 'They Met at Gettysburg,' 'Old Ironsides,' 'History of the American Sailing Navy,' 'Naval History of World War II,' 'Battles of Ireland,' 'October Sky,' etc.

Action/Adventure - 'K2: Triumph and Tragedy,' 'In the Throne Room of the Mountain Gods,' 'Into Thin Air,' 'In the Shadow of Denali,' 'Eiger Dreams,' 'A Himalayan Odyssey,' 'The Seven Summtis,' etc.

Historical Fiction - anything by Patrick O'Brian, and I plan to begin CS Forrester books, too.

How-To's and guide books

We have hundreds of books, including a LOT of textbooks (science, math, physics, biology) and believe it or not, I read them sometimes for 'enjoyment.'

Fiction wise, I still enjoy the occasional Stephen King, but I prefer his short stories to the novels (he can be long winded).  But recent SK novels I really liked include Desparation and DreamCatcher.

[Susan]

I'm embarassed to admit it but my favorite books are humor. I enjoy the Lampoon book that has sign blunders and classified ad blips. the "Letters from a Nut" series really suits my taste. This year my pick for a gift idea is "This book will change your life"...if you read the book, it literally will. (Each day tells you something new to do, for example one day gives you the number for the KKK headquarters and tells you to prank call them) It is absolutely one of the most hillarious books just based on the idea that you could really amuse yourself with some of 365 instructions.

I'm more of a movie person so my book collection is thin and i tend to resell them back to used stores. What I have kept is alot of Stephen King books (mostly the older ones, collected stories) although in recent years his larger books tend to be really bad, he always has a way of making it winded and then coming up with some ridiculous subplot or ending.

 i really enjoyed 'the hot zone' and 'flags of our fathers'. And I have a Poe book from the 70's i've had for all my life..complete wish very cheesy illustrations and my favorite story 'the masque of red death'. My brother is really literate, they have a LIBRARY and love being edukatid people. I guess i never revisit a book as much as I do a movie so it makes more sense for me to put my money in movies. I would hate to stare at a collection of books I may never read again that value in the tens of thousands.