Favorite Non-dance (*gasp*) Books?

Pacion

New Member
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: )
 
Pacion said:
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
 
Pacion said:
(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
 
Favorite non-dance (gasp) books

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!
 
Re: Favorite non-dance (gasp) books

mhgroove said:
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
 
Re: Favorite non-dance (gasp) books

mhgroove said:
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).
 
Re: Favorite non-dance (gasp) books

SDsalsaguy said:
mhgroove said:
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.

SDsalsaguy said:
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?
 
Re: Favorite non-dance (gasp) books

Genesius Redux said:
mhgroove said:
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.
 
Favorite non-dance gasp books

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!
 
Re: Favorite non-dance gasp books

mhgroove said:
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.
 
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 said:
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!

pygmalion said:
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:
 

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