Reading Material

[Damien]

The summary of this board mentions books, but I don't see many threads about them. I was just wondering, if you read, what kinds of books do you read and what are your favorites.

I've read alot of good stuff. Among my favs. are "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "The Seekers: A Bounty Hunter's Story" by Joshua Armstrong, "Beyond the Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier, and "The Vampire Lestat" and "Memnoch the Devil", both by Anne Rice.
Right now, I'm reading "Joey the Hitman: The Autobiography of a Mafia Killer."

[James]

Books I'd swear by:

Any of the Jeeves books by PG Wodehouse are always top on my list - rather hard to come by in second hand shops too - apparently a massive demand for them. Hay-On-Wye, a small quaint and beautiful village on the border of England and Wales is reknown for their collection of second hand books. One of the shops told me (the keeper - not the building) that the chances of catching any of Wodehouse's work as second hand was as little to no chance. Even in Hay-On-Wye. Tut.


Any short/long story about Sherlock Holmes penned by My Conan Doyle hits a close second. I adore the style, the period and that characters in these works.


I read The Wasp Factory for Uni last term and I high recommend this gothic tale set in remote Scotland. A book I'd have passed by if I hadn't been forced to read it.


HitchHikers Guide To The Galaxy - I've been trying to push Barb into reading this as it's a fantastic trip into intelligent philosophy and quintessential English humour - I know urge the rest of you to try this spiffing little series by the late Douglas Adams.


Terry Pratchett - English author of International best sellers Discworld. A little like Douglas Adams in style, his books will make you laugh.


Harry Harrisons - Bill The Galactic Hero - Light humour with Bill, an unwilling conscript in a nasty war. Several follow up books were written, the one set on the planet of robots was fantastic. Worth a look.


Phillip K Dick: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? - Inspiration for Blade Runner and a twisted and plausible look into the furture of mankind.


Someone called Rowling did some books about a little boy who does magic at a school. Read them - I think they are quite rare... :rolleyes:

[ccffan01]

"Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", by William Shirer. One of the better World War Two books I have read.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

I'm currently wrapping my brain around Dante's Inferno, and boy, is it nuts. It's gonna take a while to "get" all of it, but so far, it's been great.

[electricsheep]

Originally posted by SJJ



Phillip K Dick: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? - Inspiration for Blade Runner and a twisted and plausible look into the furture of mankind.




Good to see someone else who enjoys my favorite book...

A Scanner Darkly also by P.K. Dick is another I thoroughly enjoyed.

Others among my favs. are:

basically anything by Franz Kafka or H.P. Lovecraft, both writers produced works that really strike a chord with me...

The Necroscope Series - Brian Lumley
the Mike Hammer series - Mickey Spillane
the Diane Duane Spider-man trilogy
If Chins Could Kill... - Bruce Campbell

I generally lean toward sci-fi/horror, but there's a good mix of other genres in there too...

[Tanooki]

i'm not much of a reader, so my list of books is fairly limited.

i've read and enjoyed all four of the harry potter books (twice!)

i've also read through mick foley's first book (thrice!)

i've also had the supreme disappointment of reading through this book titled "mortal kombat". yes, it was a book that gave an actual story line and plot to the video game. it actually starts out very very good, but then it just all goes away. very easy to read and follow. there just isn't any depth to it at all. why did i read it in the first place? (twice...:() becaues i was like eight

:dexter:

[Jerry Mouse]

Originally posted by electricsheep

the Diane Duane Spider-man trilogy

Whoa!!! TRILOGY??!! I had no idea! I have "The Venom Factor" and enjoyed it. Are the others any good?

[James]

Originally posted by ccffan01
"Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", by William Shirer. One of the better World War Two books I have read.

Excellent book. Invaluable for my A-Levels and one I have bought since. One you just have to own if you have any interest in the build up to the second World War.

[The Penguin]

Textbooks. I read college textbooks... :(


Well when I read actual books I'd have to say my favs are the Next Generation and Voyager books. They are really nice extensions of the TV shows and I enjoy going back with my favorite characters.

I've also read the novelizations of both of the Star Wars prequels and they are really pretty good. :cool:

[Failure]

Originally posted by The Penguin
Textbooks. I read college textbooks... :(

LOL! I feel your pain. :p

[Andy Mancini]

As I've said before, The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil is one of my favorites. The idea of humans becoming "one"with computers has been done to death (The Borg, Ghost in a Shell, Evangelion, G Gundam, even the rock band Our Lady Peace took a stab at it), and like those things, he makes the future sound really creepy. Still, Mr. Kurzweil's book has one thing those others don't: humor. His book is as funny as hell, He truly does know his stuff (he predicted the Pentium IV processor and IBM's tranlation telephones four years before they were released), but every serious thing, there is two goofy things (like how compared being colorblind to an octopus). One final bit of advice: take the author's suggestion and do not read it from beginning to end. It's a lot less confusing and taxing on the brain in you just pick a page and start reading.

[Drachentöter]

School interrupts my reading time, but I've got my favorites:

Anything Stephen King but only when you have free time. His books are pretty long. I've been reading Dreamcatcher for two months...stupid school.

I second Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams . Quick, funny reads but also full of smart satire and philosophy. Same goes for Terry Pratchet except he deals with fantasy while Adams tackles sci-fi.

Of course, you can't have a list without mentioning The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Or, for that matter, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

Orson Scott Card of Ender's Game fame has made an excellent series following his best-seller.

The Dragonlance series by various authors looks intimidating, but is a satisfying read for fantasy lovers.

That's all I can think of right now. I'll always welcome suggestions.

[Ordinary Guy]

I'm one chapter away from finishing the book I'm reading. Terry Bradshaw's: Keep It Simple. It's a good book I'd highly recommend.