Favorite Non-dance (*gasp*) Books?

[Pacion]

DanceMentor's thread on his experience at Burger King and others postings reminded me of a couple of books that I thought were particularly good:

- Conversation with God
- The Celestine Prophecy

Has anyone read these books?

What sort of books do you like? Any favourites?

(SD, I just had to plagiarise :wink: )

[Sarah]

What sort of books do you like? Any favourites?

(SD, I just had to plagiarise :wink: )

Right at the moment I am working my way through the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian. They're a bit like a soap opera for men combined with a nautical encyclopedia and a learned work on early 19thC medical practice. Good fun, and nowhere else will you find the quote `Sir, you have debauched my sloth.'!

Cheers
Sarah

[Genesius Redux]

Right now I'm totally hooked on Linda Fairstein and Patricia Cornwell. In love with their heroines!

Cheers,

Genesius

[SDsalsaguy]

(SD, I just had to plagiarise :wink: )
Well, that *is* the most sincere form of flattery, right? :wink:

As far as non-dance books, just to name a few...

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
The Foutainhead by Ayn Rand

[mhgroove]

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is an excellent book, SDSalsa Guy. Orson Scott Card is an excellent storyteller.

I can make this list very large..but for the sake of brevity here's my favorite books.

Dona Flor & Her Two Husbands, Gabriela, Clove & Cinnamon, & Tieta by Jorge Amado.(Jorge Amado is my favorite storyteller. He really captures Brazilian culture incredibly well and his books are a lot of fun to read.)

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I know most Literati love One Hundred Years of Solitude better..but Love In the Time of Cholera was much more of a cohesive story than One Hundred Years of Solitude.)

Solider of the Great War by Mark Helprin (Mark Helprin is a terrific storyteller..also Winter's Tale is another delightful book.)

Thomas Covenant the Unbeliver series by Stephen R. Donaldson. (I know Lord of the Rings gets all the pub in the fantasy genre. But this series..I believe rivals the Lord of the Rings series.)

And of course, the Bible. Yes I'm a Christian..but I won't force my religion on anyone!

[Genesius Redux]

Thomas Covenant the Unbeliver series by Stephen R. Donaldson. (I know Lord of the Rings gets all the pub in the fantasy genre. But this series..I believe rivals the Lord of the Rings series.)

I first read Donaldson in high school--one of the major things that got me paying attention to writers other than Tolkien! But I never liked the sequel series as much as the first.

Have you read any Charles de Lindt? Really cool urban fantasy stuff....

Cheers,

Genesius

[SDsalsaguy]

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is an excellent book, SDSalsa Guy. Orson Scott Card is an excellent storyteller.
Yes, he's top notch all around... and very versatile. I've read almost every book and series he's done. I think Ender's Game is his single best work although the other books in that series, as well as the Alvin Maker series are also quite good.

As far as the fantasy genre, aside from Tolkein I also really like Raymond E. Feist, especially the original Riftwar saga (Magician Aprentice, Magician Master, Silverthorn, and Darkness at Sethanon). My favorite set of this nature though, is the 5 book Belgariad by David Eddings (although its follow up set of 5 books, the Malorean, s also very, very good).

[Genesius Redux]

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is an excellent book, SDSalsa Guy. Orson Scott Card is an excellent storyteller.
Yes, he's top notch all around... and very versatile. I've read almost every book and series he's done. I think Ender's Game is his single best work although the other books in that series, as well as the Alvin Maker series are also quite good.

I've always loved the Ender series, and thought the first book was by far the best. The others, while good, get a little preachy for me.

As far as the fantasy genre, aside from Tolkein I also really like Raymond E. Feist, especially the original Riftwar saga (Magician Aprentice, Magician Master, Silverthorn, and Darkness at Sethanon). My favorite set of this nature though, is the 5 book Belgariad by David Eddings (although its follow up set of 5 books, the Malorean, s also very, very good).

Being a real traditionalist here, I've always loved Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. Leiber was the better writer, I think, and more imaginative, but Howard was a master of the adventure plot. Tried to read William Morris once or twice, but could never get into it.

Ever read any James Branch Cabell? I think "Pieces of Earth" (I think that's what it's called) is just marvellous. And Ursula LeGuin? And Madeline L'Engle?

[mhgroove]

Thomas Covenant the Unbeliver series by Stephen R. Donaldson. (I know Lord of the Rings gets all the pub in the fantasy genre. But this series..I believe rivals the Lord of the Rings series.)

I first read Donaldson in high school--one of the major things that got me paying attention to writers other than Tolkien! But I never liked the sequel series as much as the first.

Have you read any Charles de Lindt? Really cool urban fantasy stuff....

Cheers,

Genesius

I agree Genesius that the 1st Thomas Covenant series was better than the 2nd.

I've read plenty of Charles de Lint. The Little Country, Moonheart, Spiritwalk, Memory & Dream, & Dreams Underfoot(short story collection). The stories set in the fictional of Newford(basically it's Ottawa, Ontario) were delightful.

In my previous life, before I became a mortgage loan officer, I worked at bookstores as a bookseller for five years. Three of those five years, I worked at Borders Books in Albuquerque, NM. I use to love getting the advance galley copies of books before they came out. Lots of fun!

SD Salsaguy, I must admit Donaldson, Tolkien, Delint, Card, and Ursula LeGuin were the only ones I read in the fantasy genre. I used to believe the David Eddings books, Terry Brooks books(what a play on words), Robert Jordan books and the like were too much like Tolkien. They are probably good books but I've never read them.

[SDsalsaguy]

And Ursula LeGuin?
You do know her middle initial, no? Know what it stands for?

[mhgroove]

SD Salsaguy,

Ursula Leguin's middle initial is K. I believe it stands for Krober or something like that. I heard it's her maiden name.

Yes..the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card was excellent. What a unique look at American history. Thanks for bringing those books up!

[Genesius Redux]

And Ursula LeGuin?
You do know her middle initial, no? Know what it stands for?

No--what does it stand for? Her daughter's name is Carolyn, but that's with a C. :?

[SDsalsaguy]

SD Salsaguy,

Ursula Leguin's middle initial is K. I believe it stands for Krober or something like that. I heard it's her maiden name.

Yes..the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card was excellent. What a unique look at American history. Thanks for bringing those books up!
Heya mhgrrove... glad to have you in the mix! Yup, the K stands for Kroeber and that was her maiden name... she was the daughter of Alfred Kroeber, one of the leading cultural anthropologists of his time (and a student of Franz Boas, the grandfather of American anthropology).

As for the Alvin Maker series, I really enjoyed the intertwining of fiction with hitoricity.

[pygmalion]

I guess there's no point in mentioning trashy dime store novels in this illustrious conversation. Hmm. :lol: :lol:

Actually, my favorite book of all time is Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Haven't reread that in a while. I guess it's time.

[Genesius Redux]

I guess there's no point in mentioning trashy dime store novels in this illustrious conversation. Hmm. :lol: :lol:

Why not? I threw out Robert E. Howard--if Conan isn't the posterboy for pulp, I don't know what is!

Actually, my favorite book of all time is Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Haven't reread that in a while. I guess it's time.

Have you read "A Handful of Dust"? *Much* more ironic! But no doubt, you were also a fan of the series--swooning over Jeremy Irons and Anthony Edwards, I'll be bound! :wink:

[Christina75]

:tossing in two cents:

I'm a Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell fan (even though I fear Cornwell may be a little off her rocker lately). I also read James Patterson and even though he irritates me sometimes with his plots and characters, I still go read the next thing he publishes. A little more on the guilty pleasures side, I also like Mary Higgins Clark :roll:

I sometimes enjoy reading books that were made into movies, Hannibal was my favorite of that type.

My favorite book of all time is To Kill A Mockingbird.

That was more like five or six cents wasn't it?
Christina :D

[pygmalion]

Hey Christina75.

I love Sue Grafton. Did I mention I have an autographed copy of P is for Peril? Sorry. Had to rub it in. LOL.

I also like the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, motivational books by Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, and Wayne Dyer. I've also read virtually every relationship/pop psychology/ self help book known to man. Plus I unwind by reading trashy romantic novels. And I read a lot of (boring to many) technical and trade journals, plus lots of fitness magazines (just to discourage myself. Nothing like tons of airbrushed thighs to discourage a normal female. LOL)

Oh yeah, and I let out my fave children's books: anything by Dr. Seuss or Beverly Cleary. And favorite poetry: Edna Saint Vincent Millay and Nikki Giovanni.

[TemptressToo]

Presently I'm working through two books of short stories by Truman Capote. Both have an enjoyable edge somewhat reminescent of Flannery O'Connor (one of my fav's).

My favorite books are all classics...little written after 1950 is worth reading. Not quite challenging enough...Let's see...

Peyton Place--Grace Metalious
The Hobbit and LOTR Trilogy--Tolkein
Gone with the Wind--Margaret Mitchell
The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar--Shakespeare (actually, most all Shakespeare except for the Henry VII, etc.)
Canterbury Tales--Chaucer (so funny)
Short Stories by Ray Bradbury, Hawthorne and Flannery O'Connor (mentioned above)
All Sherlock Homes--Sir Arther Conan Doyle
Actually, most all Hawthorne (everyone always gets what they deserve)
Dr. Faustus--Christopher Marlowe
Anything by Edgar Allan Poe
A Modest Proposal--Jonathan Swift

There are more...but half of you are asleep on your PC's.

[Genesius Redux]

Presently I'm working through two books of short stories by Truman Capote. Both have an enjoyable edge somewhat reminescent of Flannery O'Connor (one of my fav's).

My favorite books are all classics...little written after 1950 is worth reading. Not quite challenging enough...Let's see...

Peyton Place--Grace Metalious
The Hobbit and LOTR Trilogy--Tolkein
Gone with the Wind--Margaret Mitchell
The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar--Shakespeare (actually, most all Shakespeare except for the Henry VII, etc.)
Canterbury Tales--Chaucer (so funny)
Short Stories by Ray Bradbury, Hawthorne and Flannery O'Connor (mentioned above)
All Sherlock Homes--Sir Arther Conan Doyle
Actually, most all Hawthorne (everyone always gets what they deserve)
Dr. Faustus--Christopher Marlowe
Anything by Edgar Allan Poe
A Modest Proposal--Jonathan Swift

There are more...but half of you are asleep on your PC's.

You have excellent taste, Temptress! Your list sounds like one of my own syllabi.

But after 1950....

Try Raymond Carver, John Gardner, Vonnegut, and if you like detective fiction, check out Jonathan Lethem, "Motherless Brooklyn" and his more recent detective yarn about the future world with advanced intelligent animals (I forget the title)--well worth the price of admission. Very much in the tradition of Hawthorne, Poe, and Swift.

[TemptressToo]

Oh, I forgot two...

Oedipus Rex--Sophocles (I think...could be wrong)
Mythology--Edith Hamilton

I had to read both in AP English class in high school. I so love Greek mythology.

[danceguy]

Mythology--Edith Hamilton

That's a great book Temptress...I read it in high school for English and again for Greek Mythology in Junior College...I knew that book inside and out! Who's your favorite character? Mine is Hippolytus. :)

Cantebury Tales...that's another of my favorites! I remember my HS teacher telling us when he handed the book out "not to read The Miller" which of course we all did as soon as class was over! :D

Have you ever read The Decameron? Very similiar to CT, but a much longer book and also quite "saucy", but that's why I enjoyed it. ;)

SG

[TemptressToo]

My favorite character in Mythology would have been "Zeus." I love reading how he liked to play games with the mortals (and immortals).

CT--to some people was boring. But obviously, they just dreaded reading the long thing...it was very interesting reading into his descriptives.

I haven't read that other book.

What did you think of Paradise Lost? I found it interesting but too long (as many books of that time were). Also, you can't forget Pilgrim's Progress...a staple of any lit class.

[pygmalion]

Yup. One thing I found in my honors literature courses was that the classics generally are so for very good reasons. Early on (meaning eighth and ninth grade LOL), I used to be turned off by the stereotypical pretention that came along with certain works of literature. By college honors lit, I was just going with the flow, and letting myself love the books -- almost always a good read, not just good for expanding the mind. :wink:

[ShyDancer]

Im a huge fan of Virginia Andrews/V.C Andrews. I have most of her collections.
I love a good family saga!! Heaven was my favorite set of books, I still read over them from time to time :D

Im also into Sidney Sheldon and John Grisham.

Autobographies are great too..... usually all the sad stories are the ones I go after...Darren Milane's (Aussie footballer) book made me cry a few times... and I cant wait to read through Jason McCartneys (Another aussie footballer who was badly burnt in the Bali bombings and survived) book.

I dont read many of the old books though....although I do love A Patch of Blue, beautiful, inspirational book!

[pygmalion]

I read one VC Andrews novel -- can't remember the title -- back in high school, I think. Creeepy! Never again. I try not to read stuff that's going to haunt my nightmares. LOL. That's why I don't read Stephen King, either. *shudder* I'm a wimp. :oops: :lol:

[pygmalion]

btw, Does anyone like to read Dave Barry, the humor columnist/author? Totally stupid, off the wall humor. Gets me cracking up every time.

[TemptressToo]

Was that written before 1950?

You simply cannot beat the classics. Their use of vernacular...the hidden twists (especially during times of crisis)...the whole sentence structure. Not to mention...consider what the writers had to go through to even be published. This was pre-technology...so I find it amazing. I understand how many of them never became famous until they were dead (for instance, Emily Dickinson). ;) And then there were the rare surprises like Anne Bradstreet.

[pygmalion]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Dave Barry was BORN around 1950. He has a nationally syndicated humor column that runs in my local paper. A real crack-up.

Do you have any contemporary authors that you like? There are actually some contemporary classics out there that are worth a read, don't you think? :wink:

I can relate, though. I have a real bias toward movies pre-1950. But there were some true classics made long since then. Hmm.

[mhgroove]

I guess there's no point in mentioning trashy dime store novels in this illustrious conversation. Hmm. :lol: :lol:

Actually, my favorite book of all time is Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Haven't reread that in a while. I guess it's time.

Pygmalion...it's okay..there's nothing wrong with trashy dime store novels as long as you enjoy them. Replying to this topic made me think about my past as a bookseller and all the novels I've read and how I use to get into heated discussions with co-workers and customers about which books you were suppose to read. Book people can become very snobbish! I will admit to that! Ha! Ha!

The one thing that amazed me was how well romance novels sold. Women would come into the bookstore and buy three or four romance novels at a time. Danielle Steel, Jackie Collins, Judith Deveraux..and the list goes on and on!

Most of my reading now is Business Books(Millionaire Next Door etc...) and Christian books. I'm reading a book titled Sacred Romance-Drawing Closer to the Heart of God by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge. It's an excellent about how God wants to capture our hearts and not the other way around.

Anyway...I could write about books all day long. Great topic!

[Genesius Redux]

Oh yeah, and I let out my fave children's books: anything by Dr. Seuss or Beverly Cleary. And favorite poetry: Edna Saint Vincent Millay and Nikki Giovanni.

"Runaway Ralph" and "Bartholomew and the Ooblek" were my favorites growing up. Favorite living poet--W.S. Merwin. Here's a selection from one of his poems, where the speaker imagines himself in the role of Orpheus calling his beloved from the underworld with his fabulous poem of creation:

...Why should I notice the waters
Sundering from the waters, or suddenly
The first tree waving ancient fronds, or how
From novel shadows the new beasts come, the savage
Modulations of holiness, in love's name
Where other names are profanation?

For it is you that are the world thereof,
You whom, possessing, I have still desired,
And, touching, have still dreamed of; you the sense,
The echo there waiting upon this word,
The circle making all within it real,
The sole order; for I have painfully
Wrought you from vacancy to this full air
And sung you to the tender instrument
Of my ten fingers till you have become
The poem in whose arbor we may kiss,
The summer into which we can ascend.

(From "The Dancing Bears," 1954)

Cheers,

Genesius

[pygmalion]

Thanks, Genesius. I'll have to check out Merwin. That's beautiful poetry.

This thread got me thinking about great books versus favorite books. Yes, I was actually thinking about that while I should have been sleeping. Sad. I've gotta break that habit.


Anyway, the conclusion I came to is that my favorite books may be great literature, but often are not. What they all have in common, though, is an emotional component. For example, I grew up reading Newberry Award winning books. But my favorite children's books are Dr. Seuss, that my Dad read to me as a toddler, and Beverly Cleary, that I discovered on my own as a first grader, when my very own library card was shiny and new. Great literature is one thing, to me. Favorite books are another thing entirely.

[Spitfire]

Anything to do with ghost towns and frontier related material.

[pygmalion]

Has anybody read any P.G. Wodehouse? Another hilarious author. I discovered him by accident during my "find an author" stage (long story). Years later, my favorites among his books, the Jeeves and Wooster series, were adapted into a TV serial on PBS. Always a great laugh, if you like dry British humor.

[TemptressToo]

As a little girl...there was nothing better than Judy Blume. I loved 'Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing,' 'Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great,' and 'Superfudge.' Of course, in third grade I was already tackling books like Little Women, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and my other favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder (I read them all). By fourth grade...I was reading the Anne of Green Gables series.

Also can't forget...the Boxcar Children.

[Christina75]

Oooh! I loved the Little House on the Prarie books! I think I read them all. I only read the first two of the Anne of Green Gables series. I also liked the Ramona books, I think they were by Judy Blume. I started laughing the other day when I came across one of those VH1 80's clip shows. They were talking about the V.C. Andrews books. LOL! Those were the hottest thing going when I was in jr. high, but I only got through the first two before losing interest. I also remember loving Little Women but not being able to finish any others in that series. (also loved the Wynona Ryder movie version)

aah, my childhood in the library :D ... I was not a popular child :|

LOL!
Christina

[pygmalion]

What was your favorite Little House book? I think mine was probably Little House in the Big Woods. The older the girls got, the less sense of wonder I felt. ... Except for The Long Winter. For some reason, I loved that one. Oh! Now I'm remembering them all. Classics! :D

[Genesius Redux]

Has anybody read any P.G. Wodehouse? Another hilarious author.

What ho! Jeeves!

These days I get a lot of my laughs from David Sedaris, like 99% of the rest of America.

Loved the Anne of Green Gables films--not so hot on the series. Megan Follows was born to play that role, and the late Colleen Dewhurst was just incredible as Merilla!

Growing up as a boy, one is so much less likely to read great children's and adolescent literature. Mostly I had a steady diet of pulp--Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft--as a teenager; before that, though, I remember a whole bunch of fabulous children's books.

Anyone ever read "Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine"? I think that's what it was called.

Then there was this other book, only I don't remember it, about a little old lady who lived in a house with a yak and a crocodile--and there was this flood, and the crocodile (whom everyone in town was afraid of) managed to save the day during a flood, then came down with a fever, and once he got better was honored by the town.

And finally I had this big golden book of children's literature, and my two favorite stories in it were "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde, and the first chapter of "The Hobbit," which first turned me on to Tolkien.

Nostalgia day for me today,

Genesius

[Christina75]

What was your favorite Little House book? I think mine was probably Little House in the Big Woods. The older the girls got, the less sense of wonder I felt. ... Except for The Long Winter. For some reason, I loved that one. Oh! Now I'm remembering them all. Classics! :D

I'm not sure I remember what happened in each book and what the title was. I just remember bits and pieces, like when they moved into town and I think they lived above a store or something. I remember a story about Laura having a rag doll her mother had made and some lady and her daughter came to visit and the daughter wanted the doll and Laura's mother made her give the doll to the girl and then I think she later found the doll laying in a mud puddle. I remember her describing how Pa would play the fiddle, and Jack the bulldog, and walking along behind the wagon when they would get bored from riding. LOL It's like I just have flashes of memory.

I do remember that I was in the fourth grade when I read the books and we were only allowed to check out a library book for one week at a time. It took me two weeks to read each Little House book, so I would have to go in and renew the check out. I felt like it was my own personal mission to keep checking out those books until I'd finished them all. LOL

Christina

[TemptressToo]

The Ramona books were written by Beverly Cleary. I read all of those as well.

My actual favorite of the whole little house series was both Little House in the Big Wood (my first) and Farmer Boy. They actually fall into my pre-1950 category as well. ;) I was most fascinated by the fact that they were based on the real life happenings of herself and her husband.

And oh-so yes...Meagan Fellows was BORN to play that roll. So much so...she really never did anything else in her career (sort of pigeon-holed I guess). I saw her only once since then in a B-rated flick of some sort.

[Christina75]

I saw the Anne of Green Gables movies in a DVD collection the other day at Wal-Mart. I think the set was $50 and I'm still debating on going back to get it. (do I really NEED it? :roll: wouldn't I rather put that money towards new dance clothes or something...hmmm.)

Christina

[Genesius Redux]

And oh-so yes...Meagan Fellows was BORN to play that roll. So much so...she really never did anything else in her career (sort of pigeon-holed I guess). I saw her only once since then in a B-rated flick of some sort.

It's really too bad, isn't it? But she's really a character actress, and there isn't a lot of work for young character actresses in film. I saw her do a kind of forgettable Juliet--probably badly directed. Sigh.

[pygmalion]

The Ramona books were written by Beverly Cleary. I read all of those as well.

My actual favorite of the whole little house series was both Little House in the Big Wood (my first) and Farmer Boy. They actually fall into my pre-1950 category as well. ;) I was most fascinated by the fact that they were based on the real life happenings of herself and her husband.

And oh-so yes...Meagan Fellows was BORN to play that roll. So much so...she really never did anything else in her career (sort of pigeon-holed I guess). I saw her only once since then in a B-rated flick of some sort.

I wasn't going to mention the Beverly Cleary thing. But she did write the Beezus and Ramona series, and the Henry and Ribsy series. She also did some interesting stuff with The Boy on Barkham Street and The Dog on Barkham Street and one other I'll remember later (Ellen Tebbitts and something??) In each of the two cases, she wrote the exact same book from two different people's (Or a boy and a dog's) perspectives. Pretty cool for a six or seven year old to read. Ahh.

As for Little House on the Praire, etc. The only one I didn't like was The First Four Years, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. Ugh. The writing was BAD, IMHO. Farmer Boy was good, though. Ever since I read that, I've always wondered about the recipe for apples and onions.

[pygmalion]

Ha! I couldn't wait to remember, so I googled. It was Otis Spofford and Ellen Tebbits. Same book, different perspectives.

As it turns out, Beverly Cleary won the 1978 and 1982 Newberry Honor Award for some of her books. I knew it was the good stuff, even when I was little. :wink: :D

[mhgroove]

My favorite children's book is the Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak! What a book! I recently saw him interviewed by Bill Moyers on PBS. Very interesting interview!

[tsb]

Has anybody read any P.G. Wodehouse? Another hilarious author. I discovered him by accident during my "find an author" stage (long story). Years later, my favorites among his books, the Jeeves and Wooster series, were adapted into a TV serial on PBS. Always a great laugh, if you like dry British humor.

along with the victorian balls LAHA sponsors, we have a p.g. wodehouse society that meets once a month.

http://www.lahacal.org/wodehouse.html

melissa (the person who runs it) tells me i'm the only person who more commonly refers to her as gertrude (butterwick). i rather like being associated with barmy fotheringay(pronounced fun-ghee)-phipps myself.

http://www.hatsharpening.com/j&w/sounds.php

has the opening theme for the pbs productions of jeeves & wooster.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a confusion of ideas between him and one of the lions he was hunting in Kenya that had caused A. B. Spottsworth to make the obituary column. He thought the lion was dead, and the lion thought it wasn't.

[tsb]

John Eldredge.

wild at heart & waking the dead. good stuff

i read a lot; i have sitting in a walk-in closet devoted entirely to books.

my favorite authors, in no particular order:

c.s. lewis, g.k. chesteron, francis schaeffer, martin gardner, hillerman, kellerman, lescroart, martini, patterson (richard north & james), turow, grisham, jack higgins, clancy, sandford, asimov, tolkien, foster( the 'flinx' series), mccaffery (pern & the damia series), wodehouse, kazuo ishiguro ("the remains of the day", "while we were orphans")

i also seem to have a lot of books on gardening, military history & also a lot of cookbooks.

and let's not forget:

le sieg, schulz, larson, unger, breathed and to a lesser degree, watterson & adams

[alfr dís]

my favorites at the moment are The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, and for all you people that don't like S.K. because his books are too scary, READ THESE! :D They aren't scary at all which surprises a lot of people.

[pygmalion]

Has anybody besides me seen the announcement that the Judy Blume book, Deenie, is being produced as a film? Pretty cool. I loved Judy Blume, as controversial as she was when her books first came out. (Fortunately for me, my Mom was oblivious to the furor, so I read everything. LOL)

[Genesius Redux]

Update on books--Reunion by Alan Lightman. It's about a middle-aged college professor who's about to attend his 30 year reunion, and he relives his senior year in the 60s, remembering his affair with a beautiful dancer from NYC. I don't think it's terribly successful in conveying the importance of dance to the girl, but it's not bad.

Also I think I mentioned Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, a detective yarn where the detective has Tourette's Syndrome. I just read lLethem's first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, another detective novel set in a future America, where evolved animals rub shoulder with people, where it's illegal to ask questions unless you're on the police force, and where people drown all their sorrows by taking free drugs called Forgetol and Acceptol. Very funny and very scary.

Cheers,

Genesius

[Bob]

Sarah,

I just finished the "master and comander" and read the first chapter of "post captain" last night!! They are great books!

Other greats:

The Magician Series (Raymone Fiest)
The Stephany Plum series (Janet Yvanivich (sp?))
The Harry Potter series ( The worlds most recent billionare)
The Early Clancy books, most notably Red Storm Rising
Anything by Stephen Ambrose or Shelby Foote

I read Enders Shadow before reading Enders Game and that was the most magnificient way to deliver a story! Enders shadow follows the story of a brilliant (but tiny) boy who watches everything happen to Ender and influances things to the best of his ability while tryint to understand what is going on inside Ender's head. Then when you read Ender's Game, you find out what was actually going through his head... brilliant!





and much much more! Don't order yet...

[SDsalsaguy]

Magician Series = Raymond E. Feist :wink:

[Bob]

Yep, you are correct!


(I never send my posts to the edit or spellcheck departments, but I should :? )

[Underfoot]

I love Ender's Game (& Ender's Shadow) as well!
The middle books, however, arn't nearly as good.

My favorite books include:
Anything by Terry Pratchett (The Death books being my favorite [i.e. Hogsfather] )
Harry Potter (although I'm worried the next books won't be any good)
Hitchhikers Guide (Can you tell I like Sci-Fi?)
Da Vinci Code
et. al.

I've just started a book forum (http://www.underfootbookforum.com/books/) called Underfoot Book Forum, everyone in this topic ought to take a look.
(granted, it is missing [gasp :shock: ] the book club for dancers, but then maybe one of you can start it for me :D )

You can find it here:
www.underfootbookforum.com (http://www.underfootbookforum.com/books/)

Let me know what you think!
~ Underfoot 8)

P.S. - Anyone here go to PPC, (now the smellier PPU)?

[Angelo]

There are a lot of books I enjoy for different reasons, but just off the top of my head :

The Call of the Wild- Jack London
Gates of Fire- Steven Pressfield
TheSpiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein-Ed Spielman
The Sea of Fertitlity tetrology-Yukio Mishima

[Sagitta]

My current is "Crucial Conversations : Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High", by Patterson, Kerry.

[little zephyr]

my two favorite books:

the corrections by jonathan franzen
skinny legs and all by tom robbins

i highly recommend both!

[dancin_feet]

My favourite author is Douglas Adams. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency to name a few.

I also started to read the Dune series, but got bogged down in all the political stuff after the second book. Have had to take a break for a while and go back to them later.

Also love Glenn Meade - author of Snow Wolf and The Sands of Sakkara.

[bordertangoman]

I have just read Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson; A Very Good Read; he's a very good storyteller and there are stories within stories and its very gothic.

http://doubleday.com/thegargoyle/

[Lioness]

Book thread! I love books!

Anyway...

Favourite authors...Bryce Courtenay, Fiona McIntosh, Robin Hobb, Diana Gabaldon. Pretty much anything fantasy or historical fiction. I'm also a massive fan of Tamora Pierce. I first read her books when I was 10 or 11 and still haven't grown out of them.
My favourite series is currently Stephen King's Dark Tower. The whole thing just had so many emotional moments and massive events, and woah.
I also, to the shock of many of my friends, adore the Twilight series. I think it's love or hate it, and I was addicted to it within about 1/2 an hour. I can't wait until the movie comes out...

Oh dear...this is why I should never start talking about books. I won't stop!
In all seriousness, I could go on for several thousand words...I'll stop now.

Oh, one more favourite series - Book of Words by J.V. Jones. There's something in there that reminds me a little of Robin Hobb and I like it.

[etp777]

For those of you who mentioned the Covenant series, you do know that he's started the third set, right? Only read one of them so far, but was definitely imrpessed.

For myself, I'm a fan of the classic (or at least classic in style, as ssome of them are still writing) scifi authors. Verne, Wells, Asimov, EE Smith, Niven, Pournelle, Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, etc.

[ChaChaMama]

Fun to read everyone's favorites.

Special shout out to pygmalion and Gen Redux for mentioning Evelyn Waugh! _A Handful of Dust_ is my favorite of his too. I have actually laughed myself silly over the thought of Tony Last trapped in the jungle forced to read Dickens out loud, forever. (And I teach Victorian Literature!)

I have to take issue with the claim that there is little good written after 1950. Oh my gosh, there is SO much fantastic stuff being written! If you like literature, how can you not be delighted by at least some of the following?

Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children)
Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy = WOW!)
Philip Roth (Portnoy's Complaint, The Human Stain, American Pastoral)
Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, The Handmaid's Tale)
Kazuo Ishiguro
Pat Barker (her World War trilogy is amazing)
Zadie Smith
Sarah Waters (If you like classic gothic tales, try Fingersmith.)
Don DeLillo (White Noise)
Toni Morrison


Some of the best I've read in the past year or so:

Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (I have recommended this book to so many people and so far, everyone has enjoyed it. Very quick read, and a very insightful book for a post-9/11 world.)

Salman Rushdie, Empress of Florence (If you haven't been exposed to Rushdie's storytelling style, you are missing out on a real treat! He's not everybody's cup of tea, of course, but if you like intricate, interwoven tales and an amazing prose style, he may be your man.)

Phillip Roth, Indignation and Exit, Ghost (Probably the most impressive living American writer. From early works like Portnoy's Complaint to most recent classics like The Human Stain, Roth amazes me. Some of his recent works write about old age with unflinching candor.)

J. M. Coetzee, Diary of a Bad Year (Very po-mo in style, with two or even three different texts on each page, which obviously intersect and impact on each other.)


I'm currently reading and really enjoying Aravind Adiga's _White Tiger_, which won this year's Booker Prize.

[bordertangoman]

I like Rushdie's Empress of Florence.

Roth is a brilliant writer but cold blooded unfeeling candour would be my description. I read the Dying Animal and thought what a waste of talent. I read Ishiguro until Remains of The Day which bored me rigid but I loved a Pale View of Hills.

[Stagekat]

Devil in the White City
Knights Templar
Map of Bones
Anything by Shakespeare
Anything by Dan Brown
Anything by Ian Fleming

[ChaChaMama]

I like Rushdie's Empress of Florence.

Roth is a brilliant writer but cold blooded unfeeling candour would be my description. I read the Dying Animal and thought what a waste of talent. I read Ishiguro until Remains of The Day which bored me rigid but I loved a Pale View of Hills.

The Dying Animal is the worst book he has written in years, possibly ever, so I actually agree with you there!

But that unfortunate volume aside, I find him anything but unfeeling. I am deeply moved by so many of his books. American Pastoral--the pain of living with the knowledge that your child has done something unforgivable. The Human Stain--the guilt and shame of "passing," living a double life, in denial of one's true racial identity, family, and past. The shame is so deep and abiding that even when telling the truth would keep the main character from losing his job...he doesn't do it. He can't.

Roth is from the same part of New Jersey as my Mom, and he conjures up the old Jewish Newark (and sometimes New York) and the lives of the tradespeople there with incomparable care. It is like a love letter to a world that has passed away, the way he describes the work of the leather workers who made gloves, the kosher butcher, the jewelers in Brooklyn, etc.

I also love the earlier, humorous Roth. Portnoy's Complaint is one of those books everyone should read in college.

****
I also have to admit to a bit of a soft spot for Ian Fleming. I actually had an article published on Fleming, John Osborne, and Kingsley Amis in "the minnesota review" a few years back. (They did a special issue on the 1950s.)

[dancelvr]

Most of my literary tastes don't run quite so traditionally classic, unfortunately. However, I'll put my favorite author's storytelling skills up against any other author.

James Herriot. (All Creatures Great and Small etc..)

As for children's literature....All the Little House books..."Where the Wild Things Are"...anything written by Walter Farley (Little Black, the Pony...The Black Stallion...etc)....anything by Judy Blume....and basically any book I could find that told a horse story. :-)

[Peaches]

Slightly off topic, but oh well...

So since there are a bunch of readers here, can anyone tell me if there's something fantastic about Of Human Bondage that I'm just not getting? Is there some big theme that I should keep in mind as I read it, which will help me to see it in a new light?

I read it about 15 years ago...and hated it. I'm rereading it again now...and I have even less patience for it now than I did then. I really just want to smack the main character, and I'm not even finding the writing particularly pleasant. It's not because of the older writing style, which I like just fine, it's just striking me as being particularly hackneyed.

[emeralddancer]

Terry Goodkind's The legend of the Seeker series (11 books I believe) so good. (now it is a TV series because Disney picked it up.) Let me tell you the books are SOOOOOO much better. Very vivid. The series destroyed the images I had in my mind.

These books are a great escape to veg but without the trash. Very well written

[Angelo]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse by Jared Diamond
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson

[bordertangoman]

Riding Between the Worlds by Linda Kohanov

"Two years ago author and horse trainer Linda Kohanov wrote "The Tao of Eguus--a daring multidisciplinary exploration of the powerful spiritual, emotional, and psychological connections between people and horses, its provocative narrative, blending her story of prescient dreams and ancestral communication with a wide-ranging exploration of equine-facilitated therapy practices, created a worldwide demand for her workshops and lectures she also received more than 1,000 letters from readers around the world describing their own strange and wonderful experiences with horses. In "Riding Between the worlds, Kohanov continues sharing the story of her own journey of healing and transformation and further develops the ideas introduced in "The Tao of Equus, bolstering her groundbreaking theories with anecdotal evidence. Where her previous book laid the theoretical groundwork for expanding our emotional, mental, and spiritual view of horses, "Riding Between the worlds concentrates on the extraordinary stories that support this view."

synopsis