I'm a ravenous reader. Non-fiction, fiction of nearly every genre (I don't read romance). I've gone through the "classics", loved some hated others. (I'll still never understand fans of Catcher in the Rye!)
I need some new material, so if you please.... What are your favorites?
2006-12-20 18:02:05 · 28 answers · asked by mrtryitall 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
The effort has been good everybody... but thus far only about 2 I haven't read...
If they made you read it in school, I have.
I'm looking for something a little off the beaten path.
2006-12-20 18:30:03 · update #1
When I was at university I discovered the works of John Dos Passos. His trilogy of novels -- "The USA" (42nd Parallel, Nineteen-Nineteen, and The Big Money) absolutely blew me away by its depth, complexity and sheer inventiveness.
The novels tell the story of the USA at the beginning of the 20th Century, and of the ultimate prices a nation pays for becoming a super-power. This group of novels has haunted me ever since. If you haven't read them -- PLEASE do yourself a favour and check them out.
Cheers, mate.
2006-12-20 18:50:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Historian
The Alchemist
The Ezekiel Prophesy
The Autobiography of Henry VIII
Like Water for Chocolate
Cry To Heaven
The Witching Hour (part of a trilogy)
The Secret Lives of Bees
Mystic River
DaVinci Code (duh)
Angels and Demons
Cold Mountain
Jane Eyre
Uncle Tom's Cabin
2006-12-22 19:34:49 · answer #2 · answered by lena b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it totally depends on what you're into but i would recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if you haven't read it, it's a must.
Neil Gaiman's Stardust and the original Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne are also fairly essential in my book.
I personally am a big fan of reworked fairly tales, so if you think that might appeal to you you should check out a collection by Emma Donoghue called Kissing the Witch, in fact pretty much anything by Emma Donoghue is good.
Nick Hornby also writes great stuff, you could read About a Boy or High Fidelity but i would recommend A Long Way Down.
i didn't like Catcher in the Rye either.
2006-12-21 02:56:01 · answer #3 · answered by Vicky H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read everything too... so I'm trying to think of books I reread
over and over again.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Handmaid's Tale
John Jake's Bicentennial series (historical fiction, follows a family from the first American colonies up to the Industrial era.)
C.S. Lewis' 'Space' Trilogy
John Sandford's "The Hanged Man's Song"
Snow Crash
Robert A. Heinlein "The Past Through Tomorrow" (collection of short stories, but includes the novella "If this goes on...")
The Hyperion Cantos
The Snow Queen (Joan D. Vinge)
Maia (Richard Adams)
That's everything I can think of at the moment that you might not have caught. Hopefully I added one or two to your list.
Edit:
Add
Winter's Tale (I believe it's Mark Halprin)
The First Immortal \__ These two are same author, but can't
The Truth Machine/ remember his name!
2006-12-21 08:56:22 · answer #4 · answered by annoying_the_neighbours 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well you can try reading these books:
- Around the World in 80 Days
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Les Miserables
- The Screwtape Letters
- Dracula
- Black Beauty
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- The Scarlet Letter
- King Solomon's Mines
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
2006-12-21 02:16:01 · answer #5 · answered by bianca b. 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have you read the Narnia Chronicles? Dont write them off as 'kids books'. Im 30 and just finished them. They were 'unputdownable'!
Thats how I judge my books.
Also recently enjoyed Tom Sawyer for the first time. Guess I must be reverting to childhood and reading all these childhood classics, because I recently read my daughter the BFG by Roald Dahl and was hooked on it!
Enjoyed Jamed Herriots books. He was a farmer in Britain in the 50s. He wrote a series of books on his experiences.
Brock and Bodie Thoene write a lot of historical books regarding Israel. Also unputdownable.
CS Lewis is my 'adult' author of choice at the moment. Am enjoying The Screwtape Letters.
Best stop now as I will go on forevermore
2006-12-21 02:16:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Neil Gaiman
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
Eva by Peter Dickinson
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Clarke
Daphne DuMaurier -- a great gothic writer
The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged by Rand
The Road from Coorain by Conway -- an interesting bio
These are my current favorites
2006-12-21 14:08:14 · answer #7 · answered by suzykew70 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are so many "best"... Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, Jane Eyre, Stienbeck's The Grapes of Wrath-sure you've read that. All oldies, but so very good that you might think of reading over again.
I agree with you about Catcher in the Rye. Had to get through it many years ago in High School. But, maybe, I should try it again, since I'm much older.
2006-12-21 02:17:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Cider House Rules (or any John Irving, he's brilliant)
Garlic and Sapphires (NY times Food critic wears disguises and dines)
The Omnivores Dilemma
Krakatoa (Non fiction...account of HUGE volcano explosion)
Into The Wild and Into Thin Air (2 non fiction books by john krakauer - Wild is about a kid who disappears in Alaska, thin air is an account of hikers on mt Everest...both awesome)
The Kite Runner
Fools Progress: An Honest Novel (Edward Abbey - one of my all time favorites)
happy reading!
2006-12-21 02:16:33 · answer #9 · answered by prekinpdx 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ISBN : 1-4208-9737-3 (sc) Red Bird Just Like This by Earl Jesse Stevens. Go to Authorhouse.com, or ask for it by ISBN number at any major retail book seller. This was just published in February of 2006. I gur-an-damn-tee you that you've not read anything like this one, except of course the whole thing is full of words, just like all the others. It's an autobiographical novel by a man who'se been around more than the 70 year old prostitute named Loosy Lucy who still does the donkey shows in Tijuana.
2006-12-22 01:55:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Life on the Road by Charles Kuralt
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Those are 3 of my favorite books of all time!!
2006-12-21 07:46:00 · answer #11 · answered by DGS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋