What are some great books you've read?

Question

I'm looking for a good novel to read. I'd prefer something without heavy romance. Something with suspense or mystery sounds good but that's not necessary. Just something good that you can think of.

Can you please also include what it was about?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut Jr:

Satire - The main character is Eugene Debs Hartke, a Vietnam War veteran and college professor, who realizes that he has killed exactly as many people as the number of women he has had sex with.

The entire narrative is laced with Eugene's thoughts and observations about the Viet Nam war, history, and social conditions- especially class and prejudice.

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson:

Sci/Fi - It is formed from several interconnecting strands and also features characters from Gibson's previous books (such as Molly Millions, the razor-fingered mercenary).

One of the story lines concerns Mona, a young prostitute who has a more-than-passing resemblance to famed Simstim star Angie Mitchell. Mona is hired by shady individuals for a "gig" which later turns out to be part of a plot to abduct Angie.

The second story focuses on a young Japanese girl, daughter of a Yakuza boss, sent to London to keep her safe while her father engages in a gang war with other Yakuza members. In London she is cared for by one of her father's retainers who is also a member of the London Mob. She also meets Molly Millions, who takes the girl under her wing.

The third story thread follows a reclusive artist who lives in the "Rust Belt", a large expanse of deserted factories somewhere near Chicago. A convicted car-thief, he spends his days creating large robotic sculptures. He is hired by an old friend to look after the comatose "Count" (Bobby Newmark), who is hooked into a super-capacity cyber-harddrive called an Aleph.

The final plot line follows Angie Mitchell, Simstim star and the girl from the second Sprawl novel Count Zero. Angie, thanks to brain manipulations by her father, has always had a close subconscious affinity for cyberspace, but drugs provided by her production company have altered her brain.

The story of the reclusive artist that makes cybernetic sculptures is a reference to Mark Pauline of Survival Research Labs.

The Beast Within by Edward Levi:

Horror - The book begins in the 1920's on the farm of Henry and Sarah Scruggs. Henry is a fanatically religious man who believes that people are vile and base, and that sex, even marital sex, is repulsive and sinful. Sarah, who is much younger that Henry, disagrees. One day a traveling salesman by the name of Jimmy Connors shows up at the farm, telling them that his car broke down. Feeling unusually hospitable, Henry gives the man some dinner and lets him sleep in the barn for the night. After she thinks that her husband has fallen asleep Sarah sneaks out to the barn and is seduced by Connors. Unfortunately for the both of them, Henry catches them in the act and knocks Connors unconscious. When he awakens he finds himself chained in Henry's basement. Henry tells him that he has murdered Sarah and that he plans on keeping him prisoner for "a long time." Connors is held captive for over twenty years, and eventually the constant abuse, grotesque food, and the horror of his situation drive him to become more beast than man. He loses all memory of who he once was and is simply an animal content to live its life in bondage. But Henry dies and the creature escapes from its prison into the surrounding forest in order to avoid starvation.

It finds its way close to the home of Eli and Carolyn MacCleary, a young married couple. One night when Eli is at work Carolyn ventures outside and is knocked unconscious by the creature, which was hunting for food and became frightened at her approach. Some long forgotten instinct awakens in the beast and it rapes her. After it has finished it leaves her alone in the forest to resume its search for food. It tries to catch a snake but is bitten and dies from the serpent's venom.

Carolyn becomes pregnant from the attack, but is unaware of her rape and so assumes that the child is her husband's. The baby is born and they name him Michael. Michael is an affectionate child, but they notice strange things about him. Animals have a bizarre reaction to him, and he is intensely claustrophobic. As he begins to grow, his parents discover that when night falls a strange transformation overcomes him, as if his entire personality has changed. He slips into trances and prowls the forest, killing the animals that he comes across. Eli boards up his windows to prevent him from escaping at night, and soon thereafter Michael's "spells" seem to relent...until he hits puberty, at least.

As a teenager Michael falls in love with a girl he knows from school, but he is also afraid of hurting her because of his transformations. However, he lets his guard down and even decides that he wants to marry her. Before they can leave together, though, he kills a bully at school who tried to attack him. Wanting to get out of town as soon as possible, he and his girlfriend drive to her house to pick up some of her things. As it turns out, her house used to be the home of Henry Scruggs, and from the moment he steps in the door the beast within him (which is comprised of the emotions, senses, and savage hungers of the creature that was his biological father) springs to the surface and he is left violently insane. Instead of confining him in a mental institution, his parents decide to keep him in the house's cellar, hoping for the day that he might recover.

Others:

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime
A Lesson Before Dying
A Room With A View
Girl With A Pearl Earring
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Me Talk Pretty One Day

Answer 2

I would recommend George Orwell's "1984", it's the best book I've ever read. It's a dystopia, a psychological novel but nothing like any other book. It is very shocking book, but brilliant. It is about the state of the world in 1984, separated into 3 countries, 2 of which are constantly at war with each other. The story takes place in one of these countries ruled by Big Brother, who can never be seen. The Party governs the country in fear and tyranny, and the past is always altered and everyone is brainwashed. Even to think something improper is forbidden and it is considered the most serious crime.The main character, Wilson Smith tries to fight against the system...and I won't tell you the end :) The book is like the worse ever communism Orwell imagined in 1949 when he wrote the book.

Answer 3

Anything that is written by Annie Proulx. She is a fine author and spot on at describing places like Newfoundland and the Texas Panhandle, which would ordinarily be the last areas in the world to interest me. The ability to dig deeply into where folks live and how the fact shapes them is a true gift; easier said than done. Ordinarily books don't make me laugh or cry, but I do appreciate them as friends. Other authors of note are Emile Zola, Feodor Dostoevsky, and Franz Kafka. The film Titanic made me cry, also Fluke. Casablanca is my very favorite film. Cheech and Chong, Monty Python, and Rocky Horror are great for a howling good time-ROFL!

Answer 4

I read Little Women this year, and I liked it a lot! It doesn't have much romance, well, the parts that it does have romance in usually turn out to be funny. I really enjoyed the book. You should definately read it. I doesn't really have any mystery, but it keeps you on the edge of your seat at times. The book has some depressing parts, but all in all, it is a great book, that I think anyone could enjoy. Remeber, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Answer 5

Da Vinci Code - A series of murders
Demons & Angels - A series of murders.
Cirque du freak - A boy's journey as events cause him to become a vampire
Keys to the kingdom - A boy who was destined to die, is saved by a mysterious events
Seven towers - The seven towers represent a system in which the highest is superior, i can't really explain, read to long ago.

Use yahoo or wikipedia to find a much better summary.

Answer 6

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

In fact, almost anything by Terry Prachett. Check stuff with the City Watch characters for a good mystery. They're funny but still serious enough to keep you guessing.

Answer 7

Uglies
Pretties
Specials
Very good books about a girl....lol ...umm its a trilog...VERY GOOD

also try readin the pendragon series...also AWESOME books...Harry potter books are just a LITTLE better than these
the first on is ummm...the merhchant of death...i have the first six and ive read the seventh...once again AWESOME
hope that helps!

-sara

Answer 8

The Bonfire of the Vanities (by tom Wolfe), Das Kapital (by Karl Marx), Bug-Jarga (by Victor Hugo).

Answer 9

Lois Duncan is an amazing mystery fiction writer.

absolutley ANY of her books are fantastic.

p.s. she wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Answer 10

I really liked the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (sp)

Answer 11

The 5 people you meet in heaven. I love that book.

It's about this old man who dies and goes through a journey in heaven (kinda dreamish) to meet 5 people, one at a time, whose life he has influenced or they have.