Books! Glorious Books!

[velcrokidneyz]

So I saw a bunch of threads about books and I've been reading The Stranger by Camus again and I was wondering if anyone else has a book that they have read over and over again or just enjoyed immensely, and why.

I just love the stranger because for one existentialism is a very interesting ideology to me, and the story is interesting, the writing style is also very engrossing.

As a bonus, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for must read books. I enjoy mystery, thriller books a lot. But most any genre will do.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Tales of Mystery and Imagination- Edgar Allan Poe

A collection of short stories.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

On book 2 of the Kingmaker Kingbreaker series by Karren Miller. Her first books, I'm reading these after reading her Godspeaker trilogy and while they were very good, I think Kingmaker is better.

 

[Boneasse]

I am rather fond of the His Dark Materials Trilogy, due to the references towards religion and existentialism (in my personal deductions) which I enjoy immensely.

Even though it is a book meant for teenagers/young adults, I believe it to be worth a read, even for us "grown-ups".

Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

That's the three of them.

The reason I'm recommending these, and not Dune or The Hyperion Omnibus, as I have done so often before, is because I know that they will be recommended by someone else.

 

[velcrokidneyz]

I am rather fond of the His Dark Materials Trilogy, due to the references towards religion and existentialism (in my personal deductions) which I enjoy immensely.

Even though it is a book meant for teenagers/young adults, I believe it to be worth a read, even for adults.

Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

That's the three of them.

The reason I'm recommending these, and not Dune or The Hyperion Omnibus, as I have done so often before, is because I know that they will be recommended by someone else.

i have the trilogy in box set and read them in 7th grade, maybe a re-read is in order to examine these existential ideas in it, not a bad thing and by no means do i doubt you. maybe if you could point out a cpl points to enlighten me you have piqued my curiosity

 

[oreopizza47]

I never manage to get tired of Things Not Seen, by Andrew Clements. It's about a normal boy who suddenly finds himself invisible, and tries to get back to visible with the help of a blind girl. It just really draws me in, and for all the science mumbo-jumbo they use to justify the invisibleness, it seems to make a lot of sense in my mind, so it almost seems plausible.

 

[HassEsser]

The entire Hitchhiker's Trilogy (there's actually five of them)
Entire Harry Potter
Entire Dark Tower
The Things They Carried

^I love those books. There are more, but off the top of my head. . .

 

[emeraldrafael]

The Dark Tower Series because its a powerful story, and the Redwall and Voyage of the Flying Dutchman series.

really cause they are all powerful books, to me at least.

 

[aakibar]

a. Dune
b. LOTR.......of course
c. The Gallic Wars by Caesar-he is a good writer and its good....if you like that sort of thing
d. There are a series of writing by the naturalist John Muir,they are quite good and a very easy read, especially if you have been to Yosemite valley.
e. something else if i can think of it

 

[Braonan]

Down and Out in Paris and London.

 

[Boneasse]

Snippysnip

Well, it's a recurring theme throughout the story, but it's mostly because the story becons rationalism and empiricism, which are the ways of thinking and embodied by Lyra's parents, that lauds existentialism, which Lyra, in turn, embodies.

But I may have read too far into the books. It's a bit hard to explain, as it has been a while since I read them myself, but I'll urge you to read the books again and keep your eyes open ^^

 

[n.s.c.m.]

Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is one of my all time favorites. Another I highly recommend is Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

 

[cynikles]

Currently reading through Greg Graffin's half autobiography, half paper on evolutionary theory, by the name of Anarchy Evolution. It's quite engrossing, but it appeals to my interests so it makes sense. He has some very interesting ideas on evolution and religion that is changing my ideas on the topics a bit more.

As for books I keep reading, there's probably 3. Max Barry's 'Jennifer Government', Takashi Matsuoka's 'Cloud of Sparrows' and Haruki Murakami's 'Dance, Dance, Dance.' All fantastic books with different appeals.

 

[manythings]

The discworld series. I've read every one at least three times (except unseen academicals).

 

[DustyDrB]

I'll give a few suggestions that should cover a variety of interests.

1) Our Band Could be Your Life [http://www.amazon.com/Our-Band-Could-Your-Life/dp/0316787531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294110245&sr=8-1], Michael Azerrad:
This covers underground music, most of which are punk or derived from punk, from 1981-1991. If you're interested in that kind of music, it is a must-read. Each chapter is a profile on a different band during the period. It does a great job of capturing the motivations, the lifestyles, the creative processes, and the cultural significance of punk (I had no idea how persecuted some of the bands were, or how wretchedly poor some were).

2) Dickens. Specifically, A Tale of Two Cities. The opening of the book does some of the best construction of a zeitgeist ever in fiction. And to make things even sweeter, you can have it for free (yes, it is legal [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98]).

3) Slaughterhouse Five [http://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/0385333846/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294110971&sr=1-1], Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut is a personal hero of mine. This is my favorite book ever. It's in some ways autobiographical, as it deals with an event [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_bombing] that Vonnegut experienced firsthand. His cognitive dissonance shows through the writing, which is what makes it so powerful to me. The world is lesser for his loss in 2008. But so it goes...

4) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Deluxe-Anniversary/dp/1400052939/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2], Douglas Adams. If I were to guess what would be the the most frequently recommended and referenced book on this website, this would be it. There's a good reason for that.

5) Into the Wild [http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0307387178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294111222&sr=1-1], Jon Krakauer. Yep, they made a movie about this a few years ago. It's good, but some things were changed and omitted. The book is another one of my favorites, because I can sympathize with McCandless and see how foolish he was at the same time. If you don't know the gist of it, Chris McCandless was a recent college graduate in the early 90s who abandoned what was his life to set out on a voyage to Alaska. He met a lot of people on the way and making an impact on their lives. I'll never stop debating myself on whether he was selfless or selfish, because he came into people's lives who ended up caring for him and he for them. But he was single-minded about what he wanted and left them worrying and not knowing what would happen to him.

I could go on, but I'll leave my last recommendation as not a book, but a website. Gutenberg [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page] is a site that compiles books that have become public domain and stores them in formats you can read on your computer, e-reader, or you can print them out (Yikes at that paper usage). It's a noble endeavor, so check it out if you're into older books and not squeamish at the idea of reading a book on a computer.

 

[The Scythian]

The First Law trilogy. Glokta for the win.

 

[QuirkyTambourine]

The Little Prince. There are so many things to take away from that, it's always been such a profound book in my mind. In fact, when I used to work at a gas station I'd carry it around in my back pocket and read it whenever it was slow there. I probably have read it about a hundred times

 

[velcrokidneyz]

Snippysnip

Well, it's a recurring theme throughout the story, but it's mostly because the story becons rationalism and empiricism, which are the ways of thinking and embodied by Lyra's parents, that lauds existentialism, which Lyra, in turn, embodies.

But I may have read too far into the books. It's a bit hard to explain, as it has been a while since I read them myself, but I'll urge you to read the books again and keep your eyes open ^^

will do

 

[velcrokidneyz]

I'll give a few suggestions that should cover a variety of interests.

1) Our Band Could be Your Life [http://www.amazon.com/Our-Band-Could-Your-Life/dp/0316787531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294110245&sr=8-1], Michael Azerrad:
This covers underground music, most of which are punk or derived from punk, from 1981-1991. If you're interested in that kind of music, it is a must-read. Each chapter is a profile on a different band during the period. It does a great job of capturing the motivations, the lifestyles, the creative processes, and the cultural significance of punk (I had no idea how persecuted some of the bands were, or how wretchedly poor some were).

2) Dickens. Specifically, A Tale of Two Cities. The opening of the book does some of the best construction of a zeitgeist ever in fiction. And to make things even sweeter, you can have it for free (yes, it is legal [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98]).

3) Slaughterhouse Five [http://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/0385333846/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294110971&sr=1-1], Kurt Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut is a personal hero of mine. This is my favorite book ever. It's in some ways autobiographical, as it deals with an event [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_bombing] that Vonnegut experienced firsthand. His cognitive dissonance shows through the writing, which is what makes it so powerful to me. The world is lesser for his loss in 2008. But so it goes...

4) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Deluxe-Anniversary/dp/1400052939/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2], Douglas Adams. If I were to guess what would be the the most frequently recommended and referenced book on this website, this would be it. There's a good reason for that.

5) Into the Wild [http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0307387178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294111222&sr=1-1], Jon Krakauer. Yep, they made a movie about this a few years ago. It's good, but some things were changed and omitted. The book is another one of my favorites, because I can sympathize with McCandless and see how foolish he was at the same time. If you don't know the gist of it, Chris McCandless was a recent college graduate in the early 90s who abandoned what was his life to set out on a voyage to Alaska. He met a lot of people on the way and making an impact on their lives. I'll never stop debating myself on whether he was selfless or selfish, because he came into people's lives who ended up caring for him and he for them. But he was single-minded about what he wanted and left them worrying and not knowing what would happen to him.

I could go on, but I'll leave my last recommendation as not a book, but a website. Gutenberg [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page] is a site that compiles books that have become public domain and stores them in formats you can read on your computer, e-reader, or you can print them out (Yikes at that paper usage). It's a noble endeavor, so check it out if you're into older books and not squeamish at the idea of reading a book on a computer.

all good, the only i havent read or looked into was slaughterhosue and that one has intrigued me, on an interesting side note, for into the wild, my very good friend is 2nd or 3rd cousins with him, movie was good and book was good as well.

 

[DreadfulSorry]

I am rather fond of the His Dark Materials Trilogy, due to the references towards religion and existentialism (in my personal deductions) which I enjoy immensely.

Even though it is a book meant for teenagers/young adults, I believe it to be worth a read, even for us "grown-ups".

Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

That's the three of them.

The reason I'm recommending these, and not Dune or The Hyperion Omnibus, as I have done so often before, is because I know that they will be recommended by someone else.

Beat me to the punch! (not that I expected to be the first commenter to name these gems).

But yeah, I re-read these books at least once a year. And I refuse to watch the Golden Compass movie, simply because the books meant so much to me when I was growing up, and frankly still do.