Favorite books

[sonic titan]

List a few of your favorite books that you have read. Give a brief or detailed description if you'd like. This thread will not only give insight to eachothers preferences but also can serve as a sort of review/reccomendation thread where you may find something you like!

Some of my favorites:

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson: Gonzo journalism. A tale of two men on the search of the American Dream, filled with drugs, booze, and confusion. This book is hard to put down.

Filth - Irvine Welsh: Aptly named for it's filthy content and characters; this incredibly mysterious and interesting english novel is about an egotistical crooked cop, murder, sex, drug addiction, deceit, and despair. Loaded with disturbing yet sometimes hilarious imagery this book will keep you occupied.

Two books by two of my favorite authors. I also reccomend anything else these two have written. Let's see some of your favorites!

[Ghengis Chron]

"A walk in the Woods" - Bill Bryson. Excellent read about Bryson and a childhood friends whose "let himself go" attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail. I liked it because the AT is basically in my back yard and I've wanted to hike it for sometime now. - Lot's of interesting little stories and facts about the AT and natural history. and it is pretty funny at times.

"Catcher in the Rye" - J.D. Salinger. Funny, everyone seems to love this book. But it's just such a classic read that it's hard to not like it. Salinger portrays human emotion so well in this book. I'm pretty sure most people feel like they can associate themselves with Caulfield.

"The Perfect Storm" - Sebastian Junger. Awesome book for weather nuts like me. This book is primarily about the 1991 October storm that ravaged the east coast. As a side theme, Junger includes the story of the ill-fated sword boat the Andrea Gail and its crew. Watching the movie just doesn't serve justice to the book, the book is soooo much better, as in most cases.

"Isaac's Storm" - Erik Larson. About the 1900 hurricane that struck Galveston Island Texas. Details the immergence of Galveston as a city, it's competition with Houston and New Orleans for the center of economics west of the Mississippi, and it's one fault that it could never recover from. It's vulnerability to Hurricanes of the Gulf Coast. 6,000 people died in this storm, and 2/3's of the buildings were destroyed. Very intriguing read.

"Demon in the freezer" - Richard Preston. A detailed and journalistic look at the history and behavior of Small pox. From the author of "The Hot Zone", Preston delves into the frightening world of viruses and the biological arms race. The 2001 Anthrax scares only scratches the surface.

[TurnyBright]

"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein

"David and the Phoenix" by Edward Ormondroyd (formed my childhood)

"Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott (should be required reading)

"Moksha" by Aldous Huxley

All short stories by Phillip K. Dick (i think his shorts are better than his novels)

And we mustn't forget "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne

[bhouncy]

Filth - Irvine Welsh: Aptly named for it's filthy content and characters; this incredibly mysterious and interesting english novel is about an egotistical crooked cop, murder, sex, drug addiction, deceit, and despair. Loaded with disturbing yet sometimes hilarious imagery this book will keep you occupied.

hrmm... Irvine Welsh is Scottish. :thumbsup:

Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh: The lives of a bunch of heroin/anyfuckingdrugtheycangettheirhandson addicts having pure mental adventures.

[sonic titan]

You're right, I guess I wrote that because on some of his books it says he lives in London and some in Edinburgh. my mistake anyway

[stinkyattic]

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand- She's a gifted social commentator and her characters are pretty intense. The ideas of charity, selfishness, creation and appreciation of art as a social or anti-social undertaking, the process of consciously testing ones own morals, the relationship between the popular press and society/'the masses'- it's all in there. I've read this book a dozen times and get something new every time.
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez- What can I say. It's an epic that I couldn't put down about a town that exists only in its own collective consciousness. Love in the Time of Cholera is lighter and more fun. Yay for magical realism... on that note...
Like Water for Chocolate- I forget who wrote it. The book was fabulous. The movie did it justice. Rent the movie.
The Night Manager- John LeCarre- The Constant Gardener is right up there too. What a disturbing read. LeCarre has a profound sense of human nature and what causes people to act in ways they themselves would not have expected. Like turning Man into Superman out of sheer necessity. Start from the beginning, when he was a cold war spy novelist. Watch him develop as a writer and take the leap into international organized crime and human rights abuse after the cold war ended.
Neuromancer- William Gibson- Really neat, short read about subculture in dangerous poilitical times. Sorry guys but when I saw the Matrix my initial reaction was 'aww what a fucking ripoff of Neuromancer. Oh and Keanu Reeves is annoying in ANY role'
The Diamond Age- Neil Stevenson- This dude is a GENIUS. I can't even BEGIN to tell you what the book is about. Its sheer complexity is mind-blowing. The short version is an upper class man designs an interactive book as a teaching tool for his daughter. The book falls into the hands of a homeless girl and girl and book adapt together to become a force that literally ties a revolution together. READ IT.
Possession- AS Byatt- Two stuffy academics are studying two Victorian poets. Said poets turn out to have been romantically involved. Byatt is a great writer- the short story Morpho Eugenia from the collection 'Angels and Insects' is deeply disturbing and uplifting at the same time.
The More Than Complete Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy- All 5 books in the trilogy in one weighty tome that will have you chortling from one cover to the other. And all Arthur ever really wanted was a proper cup of tea...
The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver- Four daughters of a missionary grow up in 1950s Sub-Saharan Africa. They are all changed in different ways by their father's collapse into complete derangement and the family's interaction with the villagers whose souls turn out not to really need saving after all. It follows them into adulthood. Fantastic juxtaposition of the ideals of 50's American culture onto a more primeval landscape.

[action.420]

Enders Game Series by Orson Scott Card - Sci Fi Novel...don't feel like going into detail but an amazing series of books.

[bhouncy]

Weaveworld by Clive Barker - I used to read a lot of horror and found I enjoyed Clive Barker stuff the most. The guy who brought you Candyman and Hellraiser.

[bhouncy]

You're right, I guess I wrote that because on some of his books it says he lives in London and some in Edinburgh. my mistake anyway

No problem mate.

[akimbo1013]

Here's some of my favorite reads:

The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: Really an instant classic for me. Kind of slow to begin with but really is a fantastic book.

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon: Definitely one of the tougher books I've read. If you can get used to pynchon's extremely long sentences, you should be alright. Its a crazy story.

Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: My favorite Vonnegut book so far. This book is the epitome of his twisted sense of humor. I loved this book so much I read it in pretty much two sittings.

The Windup Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami: I don't even know where to begin on this book. This book (and all his books) are almost like reading a dream. So surreal. His characters and tone are always unbelievable.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: I am not really into the love story genre (which the core of this book is), but the time traveling aspect had me intrigued. Its about a guy who time travels randomly and has no control over it. I am so glad I decided to read this. The time and perspective aspects can be a little confusing at first, but once you get used to it, it gets really great.

[r0k]

I'm with the OP on this one, Hunter Thompson's the man! I'm reading Kingdom of Fear right now..

[RedRum]

Anything by Charles Bukowski:

"Post Office", "Ham on Rye", "Women" and all of his poetry.

[ghosty]

Max Brooks - World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide.. but I Highly reccomend World War Z as thats actually a novel
Any Palahniuk novel, but especially Fight Club, Lullaby, and Survivor
George Orwell - 1984 and Animal Farm
Phillip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
Dante- The Divine Comedy (at least The Inferno)
Craig Roberts - The Medusa File (non-fiction of a lot of now declassified dirty shit the goverment did throughout the years... very interesting and eye-opening read)
H.P. Lovecraft -(The Original Genius of Horror) Call of Cthulu, Shadow Over Innsmouth, etc... I have a book with a collection most of his well known works

[Ghengis Chron]

Max Brooks - World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide.. but I Highly reccomend World War Z as thats actually a novel
Any Palahniuk novel, but especially Fight Club, Lullaby, and Survivor
George Orwell - 1984 and Animal Farm
Phillip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner)
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
Dante- The Divine Comedy (at least The Inferno)
Craig Roberts - The Medusa File (non-fiction of a lot of now declassified dirty shit the goverment did throughout the years... very interesting and eye-opening read)
H.P. Lovecraft -(The Original Genius of Horror) Call of Cthulu, Shadow Over Innsmouth, etc... I have a book with a collection most of his well known works

Animal Farm...one of my all-time favorite books.