Favourite novel/book

[Badyouken]

Ok, the last few weeks, I've been reading a lot (and by a lot, I mean A LOT) and need reading suggestions for the future.

So...

What's everyone's favourite book?

Mine is "The Solitaire Mystery" by Jostein Gaarder but right now I'm reading "Le comte de Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas (in french) and I think it'll become my all-time favourite (even though it's 1200 pages long) when I get done.

"Read in order to live."
-- Gustave Flaubert

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[sharky]

I would suggest Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad [quick read] and Dante's Inferno. Also just finised Lord of the Rings. Its a bit slow at times but great books. And I just finished the autobiography of Katharine Graham, former owner and publisher of the Washington Post-- she owned the paper during Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. Amazing woman and the book is really good [won a Pulitzer in fact].

 

[bono-vox]

Well here is a REAL mature suggestion from me-read Harry Potter

-they are sooo good, and as the books progress i think they are getting more advanced and shield your eyes now if you dont want me to spoil what happens in the 4th book-but someone DIES-i was so stunned i couldnt turn the page for about 30 mins-its amazing what some books can do to me

Oh and if you fancy having a good chuckle i suggest the Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend-they are really funny

Oh and Dracula is a great book-i LOVED it!

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[Salome]

Shakespeare - Much ado about nothing
Hemingway - Old man and the sea
J.D. Salinger - Catcher in the rye
Kafka - Die Verwandlung

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

 

[Angel]

Well... my specialty is Russian and Soviet literature so I would have to recommend:

'Crime and Punishment' - Dostoevsky
'We' - Evengii Zamiatin (the predecessor to 1984, Orwell in fact got his inspiration from this book).


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I disappeared in you
You disappeared from me
I gave you everything you ever wanted,
It wasn't what you wanted

 

[tackleberry]

Nice thread.

Well right now I just started reading James Joyce's "A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man"

Its a little out there but so far I am quite intrigued.

I loved Harry Potter. One of the most highly creative books I have ever read. I give it 4 thumbs up. Because, you know, I have...4 thumbs.

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"You gotta put the women and children first, but you've got an unquenchable thirst for New York..."

 

[Bonochick]

I loved "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton...I had to read that my freshman year of high school...it was a really easy read, but I enjoyed it greatly.

I also really liked "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" by Salman Rushdie. Even though I would have never wanted that book if it hadn't been related to U2 in a slight way, I am very glad that I did read it.


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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."

 

[kobayashi]

any palahniuk(the guy that wrote fight club) or coupland does me fine.

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you can stuff your sorries in a sack mister

 

[spinninghead77]

My favorite book is "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving. It is 100% better then the movie. In fact alot of the plot is completely different. I was very anti-abortion before I read this book, and it helped open my eyes to why they are necessary!!

 

[u2sangel]

F Scott Fitzgeralds The Great gatsby I am also a big C.S.Lewis and Tolkein fan!

 

[zonelistener]

I'm reading Tom Robbins' latest book "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" - and I love it so far. He's known for "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (Haven't read it).

My favorite book by Robbins is "Skinny Legs and All" (one of the charachters is a modern-day Salome - but not the Moderator type Salome).

Shake it, Shake it Shake it!

 

[kariatari]

"Giants in the Earth" by O.E. Rolvaag - It's about a group of Norwegian immigrants who come to America and settle in the Great Plains. EXCELLENT book...kicks the shit out of "Little House on the Prairie."

"The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell - Kind of a Sci-Fi book with a sort of an ethics theme to it. I don't normally like Sci-Fi, but this book was hard to put down.

"Trinity" by Leon Uris - This book is about the "terrible beauty" that is Ireland. It tells about the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland by following a young Catholic rebel who falls in love with a Protestant girl. It's a long book, but Uris's powerful storytelling makes the read go by a a lot faster.

 

[80sU2isBest]

"Mister God, This Is Anna" - Fynn
"Les Miserables"(abridged version, or you'll be reading 900 pages about architecture) - Victor Hugo
"Little Princess" - Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

[Discoteque]

TILL WE HAVE FACES - semi-rare book by C.S. Lewis (*anything* by CSL is awesome)

THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE (the series) - C. S. Lewis (see above)

U2 AT THE END OF THE WORLD - Bill Flanagan (reading it again for the 3rd time, it's so great)

EARTH - David Brin

GARDEN OF IDEN - Kage Baker (fascinating concept series)

INSIDE OUT - Larry Crabb (best "self-help" book I've ever read)

Disco

p.s. i'm stealing this thread!

 

[hotpepper]

Thanks for all of the reading suggestions. I suggest:

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - his other stuff is just mediocre

Mila 18 by Leon Uris

Rose by Martin Cruz Smith

I also loved the Harry Potter series.

 

[tiny dancer]

I love anything by Will Shakespeare, but my all time favotite is Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes.

 

[Saracene]

"Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 (prophetic at best)

Don DeLillo's Underworld

Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

James Joyce's Ulysses

Italo Calvino's Numbers in the Dark

Thomas Merton's No Man Is an Island

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Hmmm...I read a LOT and I read fast, so I dunno if I can narrow it down to favorites...they change. What I'm reading now?

-Soul Survivor by Phillip Yancey (an amazing author)
-War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
-Suspicion and Faith - The Religious Uses of Modern Athiesm by Merold Westphal
-Women, Authority and the Bible by various authors
-The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll
-whatever paperback romance escapist novel I happen to have around

A few that remain on my re-reading list...
-Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Tolkien
-Anything by CS Lewis
-The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
-The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (don't laugh...I read them religiously as a child as my life in the jungle was remarkably similar to pioneer life

)

-sula

 

[valvenus8]

great thread!

Chuck Palahniuk is my favorite author, my fav of his books is his most recent Choke but I highly recommend all his books:
Survivor
Invisible Monsters
Fight Club

Another favorite of mine is The Fuck-Up by Arthur Nersesian

2 more...
The Chocolate War (I don't remember the author's name)
Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther


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'listen as hope and peace try to rhyme' -*POP*

"You changed me--and I thank you for that." -Bono 11/5/01

WWJND?

[This message has been edited by valvenus8 (edited 01-05-2002).]

 

[z edge]

Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler, Swank, Nudes Weekly

 

[hippy]

Originally posted by 80sU2isBest:
"Mister God, This Is Anna" - Fynn

"Little Princess" - Frances Hodgson Burnett

I would definitely recommend these books, especially "Mister God This is Anna", what a beautiful book!

And I would like to add...

"The Eight" by KAtherine Neville...it's an indescribablr book, but it'll hold you captive for the entire thing. I seriously couldn't put it down and spent 2 full days reading it.

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[WildHoneyAlways]

Wow, I read everything I can get my hands on so picking a favorite book would be like choosing a favorite child. (not that I have any children) Ummm...let's see, I really enjoyed Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I also love Valley of the Dolls. Charolette's Web still makes me cry to this day. There are so many more I'll have to look at my bookshelf and get back to you.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

As I am a book addict this is a tough question for me...

But I highly recommend the following books:

C.S. Lewis- "The Screwtape Letters"
F.McCourt- Angela's Ashes
T.Cahill- How the Irish saved the civilisation
G.Orwell- 1984
J.T. Leroy-The heart is deceitful above all things

Flavia

 

[Badyouken]

I read many of the books you suggested but there are some really intersting suggestions I might have to look up...

Thanks!

Keep them coming!

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In the beginning, the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry, and been widely regarded as a bad move. --Douglas Adams (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

 

[grace]

I just read "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding and it was fabulous! I was on the floor laughing out loud half the time. I've never had that happen to me when reading a book before. It was a sharp-witted, downright hilarious book. I highly recommend it to anyone, although i think it should be required reading for most single women.

another current favorite: "Life After God" by Douglas Coupland. Beautiful little book!

 

[WildHonee]

I don't know if I'd call it me favorite, but recently I read one called The Lone Rangr and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie. I didn't think I'd get into it, but it's a quick read and there's a lot of interesting things in there about things like the differences and similarities bt myth and reality and....well it's good

and maybe I'm just a ginormous nerd but I thought Crime and Punishment was really interesting.

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~*Mona*~
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[SkeeK]

Anything by Guy Gavriel Kay

 

[Lemonite]

I just finished my little Himalayan Adventure Series in Books.. Reading 'Into Thin Air' as teh headliner.. But I'd also recommend... When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan.. It's a beautiful and in depth look into the genius of Ronald Reagan..

and if you're looking to laugh..

Cosbyology.. there's no one funnier than teh cos

 

[HelloAngel]

I have always loved the Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
Interview with a Vampire
Prozac Nation
The Virgin Suicides
the Bridget Jones books
The Prince of Tides


(can't remember much right now, but
the list could go on and on)