"Good" Books You've Read
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 201
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Catch 22
The Art of War by Sun-Tzu, basic things about war, supposedly can be applied to the business world but I'm not of that age yet...
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, if you have a lot of time on your hands
Candide by Voltaire; satire about life
The Book of General Ignorance; debunks common myths of today, quite interesting
Guns, Germs and Steel; explains the rise and fall of all great kingdoms.
Why Terrorism Works; explains how terrorism became so promient and what can be done to stop it.
The Prince by Machiavelli; handbook for ruling a country.
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis; very hard read, very dense, which is ironic considering how small the book is (~80pgs), many different topics within it, but mainly about education and how we should learn for the sake of it and not because it will do things for us.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis; two guys try to take one poor saps' soul.
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis; A trip through Heaven and Hell by C.S. Lewis and meets several characters, similar to The Inferno.
The Bourne Series by Robert Ludum; much better than the movies, IMO.
All of those are my favorite books that I have read so far.
Currently I just started The Republic by Plato and The Modern Mind by Peter Watson and The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.
Hope those help...
The Art of War by Sun-Tzu, basic things about war, supposedly can be applied to the business world but I'm not of that age yet...
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, if you have a lot of time on your hands
Candide by Voltaire; satire about life
The Book of General Ignorance; debunks common myths of today, quite interesting
Guns, Germs and Steel; explains the rise and fall of all great kingdoms.
Why Terrorism Works; explains how terrorism became so promient and what can be done to stop it.
The Prince by Machiavelli; handbook for ruling a country.
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis; very hard read, very dense, which is ironic considering how small the book is (~80pgs), many different topics within it, but mainly about education and how we should learn for the sake of it and not because it will do things for us.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis; two guys try to take one poor saps' soul.
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis; A trip through Heaven and Hell by C.S. Lewis and meets several characters, similar to The Inferno.
The Bourne Series by Robert Ludum; much better than the movies, IMO.
All of those are my favorite books that I have read so far.
Currently I just started The Republic by Plato and The Modern Mind by Peter Watson and The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.
Hope those help...
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 464
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From: Round Rock, TX
The Post Office - Charles Bukowski
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
Naked - David Sedaris
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell - Tucker Max (By far, the funniest book I have ever read)
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski (Very long)
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
Naked - David Sedaris
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell - Tucker Max (By far, the funniest book I have ever read)
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski (Very long)
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,778
Likes: 0
From: Kona, HI
In the last few weeks I read Ender's Game, very good book, I'm partway through it's follow-up, Speaker for the Dead, doesn't have the same spark the first did.
I'm not much for sci-fi or fantasy, but I've had quite a bit of it thrown my way in the last year or so and it's really opened my eyes. I've been an avid reader for over 20 years (that's right bitches, self taught at the age of 6) and literally never touched scifi/fantasy until the last year and only because a few recommendations came so highly and from several different sources.
George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice (7 books in total, 4 out so far, and ****ing amazing...several people who absolutely abhor the genre told me I had to read 'em, they were and are right, start with A Game of Thrones and you will be hooked), I've never read a series of books that hit's such a great balance between plot and character development. I've also never read a series of books with such great characters that...die suddenly. There's none of that security that most books grant their main characters. Anyone can and will die, that's what great about 'em.
Recently had two friends that have never met each other suggest the same book out of the blue within 48 hours of each other. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie is the first in the series, and I'm partway through it now (stopped reading Speaker for the Dead when the box from Amazon arrived) and it kicks ass. Gripping read. As soon as it's over I'll start the second, Before They Are Hanged. The third (and I believe final) will be out later this year. Can't wait already.
I believe someone mentioned the Dark Tower series by Steven King. That was huge literary letdown #1 in my eyes. I've always been a big King fan, and that was absolute shit. There was so much potential and he dribbled it off of his foot. So much of the series was fantastic, and truly the end ****ing blows, and to me, the end is everything, especially when you have a 7 part series that spans over 30 years (hell might even be closer to 40 years when you start talking when SK started writing #1 and finished writing #7). I won't give anything away, but several people who I often disagree with (respectfully) when it comes to books came to the exact conclusion I did, amazing story, shit ending. Sorry.
The Seventh at St. Andrews is decent, about the building of the new course at St. Andrews by David Kidd. I found it interesting since Kidd built the course where I work, and they mention my course quite a bit, plus I've hung out with Kidd a few times so it's cool to get more perspective on the guy. All in all though, if you aren't a golfer, feel free to skip it.
I picked up Pillars of the Earth on my dad's recommendation, just never got around to it. That'll happen after once the other's are done.
I also read Dean Koontz's Velocity, and thought it was great. Never been a Koontz fan, always thought him a poor man's Stephen King, but this was a very well done book. Check it out.
You can't go wrong with Crichton or Grisham, been a big fan of both of there's for a few decades now. Sure they have some books that are better than others, but all in all great collections. If you like action and can put up with very technical writing, check out Tom Clancy's books. A lot of them are VERY indepth, though accurate. I remember one of his books seemed to spend about 45 pages on the inner working of a nuclear bomb. Most of it flew over my head, I was 12.
However, I strongly recommend to anyone who likes action books to read Without Remorse by Tom Clancy. That's one of the few books that I'm completely torn on as far as being made into a movie, since it's rumored to start production in another year or two. I'd love to see it brought to life, but I'm pretty sure it's going to pale in comparison and kill my loving memory of it. But since the studio's don't run their idea's through me, I guess we'll find out.
I'm not much for sci-fi or fantasy, but I've had quite a bit of it thrown my way in the last year or so and it's really opened my eyes. I've been an avid reader for over 20 years (that's right bitches, self taught at the age of 6) and literally never touched scifi/fantasy until the last year and only because a few recommendations came so highly and from several different sources.
George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice (7 books in total, 4 out so far, and ****ing amazing...several people who absolutely abhor the genre told me I had to read 'em, they were and are right, start with A Game of Thrones and you will be hooked), I've never read a series of books that hit's such a great balance between plot and character development. I've also never read a series of books with such great characters that...die suddenly. There's none of that security that most books grant their main characters. Anyone can and will die, that's what great about 'em.
Recently had two friends that have never met each other suggest the same book out of the blue within 48 hours of each other. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie is the first in the series, and I'm partway through it now (stopped reading Speaker for the Dead when the box from Amazon arrived) and it kicks ass. Gripping read. As soon as it's over I'll start the second, Before They Are Hanged. The third (and I believe final) will be out later this year. Can't wait already.
I believe someone mentioned the Dark Tower series by Steven King. That was huge literary letdown #1 in my eyes. I've always been a big King fan, and that was absolute shit. There was so much potential and he dribbled it off of his foot. So much of the series was fantastic, and truly the end ****ing blows, and to me, the end is everything, especially when you have a 7 part series that spans over 30 years (hell might even be closer to 40 years when you start talking when SK started writing #1 and finished writing #7). I won't give anything away, but several people who I often disagree with (respectfully) when it comes to books came to the exact conclusion I did, amazing story, shit ending. Sorry.
The Seventh at St. Andrews is decent, about the building of the new course at St. Andrews by David Kidd. I found it interesting since Kidd built the course where I work, and they mention my course quite a bit, plus I've hung out with Kidd a few times so it's cool to get more perspective on the guy. All in all though, if you aren't a golfer, feel free to skip it.
I picked up Pillars of the Earth on my dad's recommendation, just never got around to it. That'll happen after once the other's are done.
I also read Dean Koontz's Velocity, and thought it was great. Never been a Koontz fan, always thought him a poor man's Stephen King, but this was a very well done book. Check it out.
You can't go wrong with Crichton or Grisham, been a big fan of both of there's for a few decades now. Sure they have some books that are better than others, but all in all great collections. If you like action and can put up with very technical writing, check out Tom Clancy's books. A lot of them are VERY indepth, though accurate. I remember one of his books seemed to spend about 45 pages on the inner working of a nuclear bomb. Most of it flew over my head, I was 12.
However, I strongly recommend to anyone who likes action books to read Without Remorse by Tom Clancy. That's one of the few books that I'm completely torn on as far as being made into a movie, since it's rumored to start production in another year or two. I'd love to see it brought to life, but I'm pretty sure it's going to pale in comparison and kill my loving memory of it. But since the studio's don't run their idea's through me, I guess we'll find out.