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Ten Favorite Books of All Time (any category)

SWM said:
A Song of Ice and Fire is my Lord of the Rings. It will be with me forever. Hopefully Martin will finish before he kicks the bucket.

Since we share tastes, have you read Neverwhere? Is it bad, or am I crazy? Should I just try a different Gaiman novel?
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I haven't actually read Neverwhere, but I very much enjoyed Good Omens and American Gods, not to mention the sandman series, so no clue there. I'd say give American Gods a try if you want an interesting read, or Good Omens a try if you'd prefer a more comedic read.

Also I'd highly suggest the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books by George R. R. Martin to anyone that puts Lord of the Rings in their top 10; espicially people on a political website. Take Lord of the Rings, make it about 10 times more brutal, add in a good bit of political intrigue, and make it slightly less verbose and you have the feel of the series. Just...don't get TOO attached to any characters -.-
 
Zyphlin said:
Also I'd highly suggest the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books by George R. R. Martin to anyone that puts Lord of the Rings in their top 10; espicially people on a political website. Take Lord of the Rings, make it about 10 times more brutal, add in a good bit of political intrigue, and make it slightly less verbose and you have the feel of the series. Just...don't get TOO attached to any characters -.-
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I've heard that that series is phenomenal.
 
Zyphlin said:
Also I'd highly suggest the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books by George R. R. Martin to anyone that puts Lord of the Rings in their top 10; espicially people on a political website. Take Lord of the Rings, make it about 10 times more brutal, add in a good bit of political intrigue, and make it slightly less verbose and you have the feel of the series. Just...don't get TOO attached to any characters -.-
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Yes! The mixture of brutality and the lack of a main character makes the longevity of any character very suspect. It is entirely unpredictable storytelling, in the most extreme sense of the word.

I like Tolkein's stuff, but I think his material and Martin's are separated by entirely different foundations: Tolkein's works are primarily about set pieces, while Martin's works are primarily about characters. A Song of Ice and Fire has no substantially new fantasy concepts or tropes. Other than the depicted architecture of some of Westeros, there is very little to inspire awe, wonder, or magic(in the proverbial sense). The setting is simply a detailed, concrete backdrop for characters. I think I prefer this approach to Tolkein's.

I could gush about ASOIF forever, so I'll just stop there for now.
 
Jane Austen and Bronte Sisters works. All their books are a work of art. Sense and Sensibility and Wuthering Heights being my favourite.
 
My first post!

1. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
2. Someone Has To Say It - Neal Boortz
3. Fitzpatrick's War - Theodore Judson
4. *Everything* - Stephen King
5. 1984 - George Orwell
6. Jennifer Government/Company - Max Barry
7. All The King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
8. Turkmeniscam - Ken Silverstein
9. Stalingrad/Fall of Berlin 1945 - Antony Beevor
10. Surrender Is Not An Option - John Bolton
 
My ten Favorite Books of all time:
1. Last Day Events by: Ellen G. White
2. Grave Descend' by: Michael Crichton
3. Shopaholic Ties the Knot' by Kinsella
4. Fear Nothing by: Dean R Koontz
5. 'Twilight' by : Stephenie Meyer
6. The Lake House by: James Patterson
7. Perfect Match' by: Jodi Picoult
8. ' 'A Walk to Remember' by:Nicholas Sparks
9. - Amazing Grace by: Danielle Steel
10. At First Sight' by:Nicholas Sparks
 
Franz said:
My ten Favorite Books of all time:
1. Last Day Events by: Ellen G. White
2. Grave Descend' by: Michael Crichton
3. Shopaholic Ties the Knot' by Kinsella
4. Fear Nothing by: Dean R Koontz
5. 'Twilight' by : Stephenie Meyer
6. The Lake House by: James Patterson
7. Perfect Match' by: Jodi Picoult
8. ' 'A Walk to Remember' by:Nicholas Sparks
9. - Amazing Grace by: Danielle Steel
10. At First Sight' by:Nicholas Sparks
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1.) Polar Shift by Clive Cussler
2.) Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shell Silverstien
3.) A Light in the Attic by Shell Silverstein
4.) The Rainmaker by John Grisham
5.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling
6.) Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver
7.) Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
8.) Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
 
Leftist Protozoa said:
Ten favorite books of all time. I know there have been threads specifically for history or politics books or what you're reading now, but I didn’t see one covering favorites of any category. It would be a shame to not include all that great fiction out there.

1. Jupiters Travels, Ted Simon (man and motorcycle travel around the world; but much more than a book about a motorcyclist)

2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S Thompson

3. Planet of the Apes, Pierre Boulle

4. Citizen Soldiers, Stephen E. Ambrose (I’m a big fan of his “conversational” style of writing)

5. anything by Clive Cussler (a guilty pleasure)

6. Ten Days that Shook the World, John Reed

7. Jean Paul Pallud’s “Then and Now” series about World War II

8. Shelby Foote’s three-book set on the Civil War

9. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham (I don’t practice this religion, but the book provided some interesting relaxation techniques)

10. The Last Open Road, Burt Levy
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pfff I don't remember having read 10 books :rofl

I liked "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, everyone should read that one

Oh, and also "80 days around the world", I learnt English by reading this book
 
Only ten, huh? Okay.

1) Tolkien's whole Middle Earth saga.
2) Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying
3) Rand's Atlas Shrugged, which I have to read again to see which Obama appointee is Wesley Mouch.
4) Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
5) Hamilton's Death of a Citizen.
6) Thorne Smith's The Stray Lamb.
7) Niven's The Integral Trees.
8) Saberhagen's The Book of Swords.
9) Bradbury's Dandelion Wine.
10) King's Salem's Lot.


Attempt #2:

1) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2) Cheaper by the Dozen
3) Herbert's The White Plague
4) Stross' Saturn's Children - a new favorite.
5) How could I have possibly failed to put The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in the first list?
6) Swift's Gulliver's Travels
7) Shellabarger's Prince of Foxes
8) Yeah, right, I almost forgot Wylie's Finley Wren and Generation of Vipers - gotta read those.
9) Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
10) Burroughs' A Princess of Mars
 
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SWM said:
A Song of Ice and Fire is my Lord of the Rings. It will be with me forever. Hopefully Martin will finish before he kicks the bucket.

Since we share tastes, have you read Neverwhere? Is it bad, or am I crazy? Should I just try a different Gaiman novel?
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That boy ever going to finish even the fifth book of that series? It's been so long I think I'll have to read read the first four before tackling Dances With Dragons....if it ever gets published.

I hope two things.....Martin finishes the series...and that he doesn't pull what Steven King with The Dark Tower and rush out a totally crap ending just to be done with it.

Oh, and damn good pick, btw.
 
1) The last legion
2) Troy
3) Elders Inheritance Cycle
4) Tyrant
 
My god this is long, and I am late to the game here, mine will probably get buried and lost in the shuffle:

"Shantaram" -Gregory David Roberts <--- this book was spectacular!!! best read I have had in a long, long time, highly recommended!
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christs Childhood Pal" - Christopher Moore
"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" (and sequels) -Douglas Adams
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" - Freidrick Neitzche
"Johnny Got His Gun" - Dalton Trumbo <-- another great book, i think i need to re-read this one, been a while
"Watership Down" - Richard Adams
"Metamorphosis" -Franz Kafka
"The Drifters" -James Mitchener
"The Doors of Perception" -Aldous Huxley
"Lord of the Flies" -William Golding
the Dark Towers series -Stephen King
"The Stand" -Stephen King
"Lord of the rings" (the full trilogy) -J.R.R. Tolkein


there are plenty more, but these are a few standouts for me
 
marduc said:
My god this is long, and I am late to the game here, mine will probably get buried and lost in the shuffle:

"Shantaram" -Gregory David Roberts <--- this book was spectacular!!! best read I have had in a long, long time, highly recommended!
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christs Childhood Pal" - Christopher Moore
"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" (and sequels) -Douglas Adams
"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" - Freidrick Neitzche
"Johnny Got His Gun" - Dalton Trumbo <-- another great book, i think i need to re-read this one, been a while
"Watership Down" - Richard Adams
"Metamorphosis" -Franz Kafka
"The Drifters" -James Mitchener
"The Doors of Perception" -Aldous Huxley
"Lord of the Flies" -William Golding
the Dark Towers series -Stephen King
"The Stand" -Stephen King
"Lord of the rings" (the full trilogy) -J.R.R. Tolkein


there are plenty more, but these are a few standouts for me
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We've got very similar tastes in books, marduc. Great list.
 
Authors:

Patterson
Deaver
Grippando
O'Reilly

Best series:
Gateway To Empire
W. E. B. Griffen books
 
- the Bible
- the Idiot
- the Chronicles of Narnia
- the Brothers Karamazov
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Candide
- Gulliver's Travels
- the Stand
- the Celestine Prophecy
- Crime and Punishment
 
Edify_Always_In_All_Ways said:
As in Bill O'Reilly? If so, you need to read more. If not, be more careful with your surnames.
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How is it that you're qualified to make a personal criticism of another poster's choice in reading materials?
 
In No Particular Order, because my favorite could probably be changed on a daily basis.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I know this much is true by Wally Lamb
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Hombre by Elmore Leonard
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes
On Writing by Stephen King

Yes, My Favorite book by Stephen King is On Writing, it was previously Danse Macabre.
 
Beneath The Wheel -- Hesse
The Immoralist -- Gide
Pan -- Hamsun
Snow Country -- Kawabata
Painted Bird -- Kosinski


Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy -- Adams
A Canticle for Leibowitz - -miller
Dune -- Herbert
Hyperion -- Simmons
Arrive at Easterwine -- Lafferty
 
1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
2. Lucky - Alice Sebold
3. Hey Nostradamus - Douglas Coupland
4. The Probable Future - Alice Hoffman
5. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
6. Neuromancer - William Gibson
7. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
8. Watership Down - Richard Adams
9. The Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons
10. The Stand - Stephen King
 
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I just went over to my bookcase and looked around. Ten that I enjoyed reading were --
  • The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain
  • Up Front - Bill Mauldin
  • Uncommon Carriers - John McPhee
  • In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
  • Robert Kennedy, His Life and Times - Arthur Schlesinger
  • Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi
  • The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes
  • Truman - David McCullough
  • Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William L. Shirer
  • The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

Plus -- Honorable Mentions for two books I remember from my youth --
  • Hot Rod - Henry Gregor Felsen
  • Naughty Nympho Nurses - Dick N. Ballz ;)
 
Crime and Punishment
Notes From Underground
Atlas Shrugged
The Grapes of Wrath
1984
Farenheit 451
Bluebeard
The Lord of the Rings
A Clockwork Orange
Diary of a Madman

** special mention to Alfred Hitchcock and the three investigators as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs and all his Tarzan and Mars books for introducing me to a deep love of reading novels at a very early age.
 
Lord of the Ringss - Tolken
Crime and Punishment. - Fydor (i don't know how to spell his last name xD)
Wicked + Son of a Witch. - Gregory Maguire
White Fang. - Jack London.
Mossflower. - Bryan Jacques
The book Theif. - Markus Zusak
A prayer for Owen Meany.
Angels&Demons. - Dan Brown
The Spark. - Nicholas Sparks
The tesitment - John Grisham
 
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