Favorite Books (excluding Rowlings and Tolkien works)

[spartan231490]

Does anyone really consider Tolkien's work to be their favorite? He did some amazing world building and indelibly left his mark on modern fantasy but a good writer he was not.
snip

Thank you! Nobody gets this.

I'm depressed how many amazing books weren't mentioned on page one.
Vlad Taltos series by steven brust
kingkiller Chronicles, by patrick Rothfuss(unrivaled series, I very much doubt there's a better in all of fiction)
Sword of Truth, by terry goodkind(ignore what you've heard, amazing story)
Night Angel trilogy by Brent weeks(amazing series)
Attikus kodiak series by Greg Rucka

I can't recommend these books highly enough. Each is a fascinating ride that will pull you in and hold you till it's done. They are definitely my favorites.

 

[Yopaz]

The Wheel of Time. Seriously, read those books. The best series I know.

The world is just so massive, Robert Jordan really did a great job with the politics, the environments, the different characters and their stories.
It gets slow at time, but it's totally worth it to read to the end. A Memory of Light was a really satisfying book and I feel it got the ending it deserved.

i was a bit disapointed that it did end but as they say all things end as the wheel moves forward

I'll be honest here, I did shed a few tears at the final few pages. Not because I thought it was sad, but because it was like I finally was able to take it in that there would be no more Robert Jordan in my life. A part of me would have wanted it to go on forever, but a different part is just satisfied.

Also I have to say I agree with the Mistborn books. I would recommend The Way of Kings, but I have just finished a series that took forever to end and I know how bad the wait can feel.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Ugh why is everyone always hanging over the same teenage fantasy bestseller soon-to-be-movies franchises? They're all the same!

Um... I'm seeing a lot of variety in peoples favorites... very little hangup in fact... which ones are you talking about that are "all the same"?

 

[BeeGeenie]

The complete works of Terry Pratchett.

My personal favorites include "Going Postal" "Small Gods" and "Mort," but they're all good.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Marie Brennan's Doppelganger series are some of my favorite books, her new stuff is kind of bad so I moved on to The Noble Dead series by Barb & JC Hendee.

If they're so damn fond of making movies out of romantic vampire books why can't they do the Noble Dead!
There's actually a plot in there! Plus you have ample opportunity for Morgan Freeman to play a talking dog! Now if that won't sell movie tickets I don't know what will.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

Demons Don't Dream by Piers Anthony. I've read that book multiple times while growing up. I'll still pick it up if I don't have anything else to read. It's not an amazing book, but it's creative for sure. Most of Piers Anthony's books I find to be that way.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

My favorite book would have to be The Catcher in the Rye.

I'm also a fan of Rant by Chuck P.

THANK YOU.

Ugh why is everyone always hanging over the same teenage fantasy bestseller soon-to-be-movies franchises? They're all the same!

Um... I'm seeing a lot of variety in peoples favorites... very little hangup in fact... which ones are you talking about that are "all the same"?

There's some variety, your list included, but in general everyone seems to go about swords and dragons and magic and stuff.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Mort, Soul Music, Hogfather and, Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. Really any of the Discworld books centered around The Death of Discworld who is my favorite character in the Discworld universe. There's just something so very human about Death. It's like Death is a curious 5 year old and yet is knowledgeable in fields no mortal can even conceive of...it makes Death really endearing.

If you're at all interested in sequential art then I highly recommend Superman: Red Son or Superman: Brainiac. I'm not a Superman fan and when it comes to superheros I do enjoy reading about or watching, he isn't even in my top 10...or rather he wasn't but, those two books changed that. Granted, I still haven't grabbed anything Superman since but I only got those books in the last...4 to 6 months I think...I should grab more soon.

 

[Dragoon]

Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series is another good set of books that focuses on a different interpretation of a Necromancer that is also quite good.

I love those books read them ages ago in my third year of high school, really good series I need to read them again. I also loved the Keys to the Kingdom series by Nix, I read them all at about the same time as the Old Kingdom series when I was on a massive reading binge.

OT: I'd probably go for A Song of Fire and Ice, cliche answer these days but I love them.

 

[Baneat]

Why would I pick J.K Rowling? She can't write

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Fools Die by Mario Puzo. You know, the guy who wrote The Godfather. Fools Die tops the list of my favourite books of all time.

Despite the name, appearances and the writer's resume, it's NOT a mafia novel. It's a very personal, character-driven experience, cuts back on action heavily when compared to his other books. It's just that the writing is so enjoyable and the characters are so incredibly colourful and interesting that it's impossible not o like the book, whether you're a fan of his mafia-related stories or not.

 

[SconnieHack]

Wow. I can't believe that "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline didn't make the list. Well, I guess it did now. This is a fantastic book.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

My favorite book would have to be The Catcher in the Rye.

I'm also a fan of Rant by Chuck P.

THANK YOU.

There's some variety, your list included, but in general everyone seems to go about swords and dragons and magic and stuff.

Everyone has their own tastes, I for example find that most of my favorites are Adventure Stories, whether they be fantasy, sci-fi, historical or modern. You seem to prefer your literature of a more introspective, psychological bent? Not that familiar with Chuck P. (Fight Club/Choke guy right?) though, so he may not fit that definition.

But saying it's "all the same" is kind of... mean...

 

[FoxKitsune]

If you're into fantasy, look up David Dalglish's 'the half orc' series. Between that and the other stories he has set in the same world, its a lot of good reading material. Oh, and if Superheroes are more your thing, I'll have a cracker for you in about a month. HINT, HINT, HINT.

 

[itsthesheppy]

Anything by Prachett.

Also, I love the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. "What if countries used dragons in the Napoleonic Wars?" Brilliant.

 

[the doom cannon]

My favorites that I would recommend to absurdly everyone
All of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels
These are great reads, and they even refer to each other

All of Michael Crichton's fiction
Again these are great reads.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Ender's ____ series
Really good. Ender's Shadow was intense

Orphanage series
Another space military series. I thought it was awesome

EDIT: I should probably give a starting book for Clancy and Crichton
The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy
Prey by Michael Crichton

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

My favorite book would have to be The Catcher in the Rye.

I'm also a fan of Rant by Chuck P.

THANK YOU.

There's some variety, your list included, but in general everyone seems to go about swords and dragons and magic and stuff.

Everyone has their own tastes, I for example find that most of my favorites are Adventure Stories, whether they be fantasy, sci-fi, historical or modern. You seem to prefer your literature of a more introspective, psychological bent? Not that familiar with Chuck P. (Fight Club/Choke guy right?) though, so he may not fit that definition.

But saying it's "all the same" is kind of... mean...

They're all mostly bestsellers written in the past 5 to 15 years and/or franchises with movie deals though, aren't they? That seems like a bit of a narrow spectrum.

 

[Ninmecu]

Basically the entirety of the works written by Robert Greene.

The 48 Laws of Power-As A-moral as Machiavelli and just as insightful
The 33 Strategies of War-A deeper look into the most common strategies used in conflict, be it military or simply person to person.
The Art of Seduction-Self explanatory
The 50th Law-I nearly passed on this one, seeing as it's written about 50 Cent and his life, however, it teaches the art of Fearlessness, using his life(Curtis Jackson/50 cent) as well as historical references.
Mastery-My personal favorite and highly recommended, it analyzes the process known as "Mastery" using both contemporary masters such as Temple Grandin and more historical masters such as Darwin and Da Vinci. Good read overall.

His style uses psychological analasys and Historical fact-albeit twisted slightly to suit his needs to prove, or disprove, his points. I should mention these fall mostly under "Self Help" books, but are...well, almost cruel in the way they drive the points home. No coddling in his books.

 

[Mordekaien]

Not sure I would recommend starting that far into the series, but if you could keep up then I'm glad. I love Butcher's writing style, especially his excellent pacing. I suggest you look up the rest of the series, though the first two books are not quite so good as he was still finding his footing. Also, his Codex Alera series is not bad if you decide you'd like to see some of his non-Dresden work.

I actually liked the second one very much, it was still kind of balanced in the detective/wizardry sense. The later ones I found moved a bit from the detective part, but are still good nonetheless.

OT: I would recommend Witcher, if you haven't read it already. Good story, good characters and brilliantly written- Although I don't know how much the english translation holds to the original.

 

[Phuctifyno]

Richard Bachman's The Long Walk and Running Man are two interesting books as well.

Richard Bachman. lol

OP: I'd be surprised if this hasn't been mentioned yet, but you might like Stephen King's Dark Tower series, if you are just coming off of Harry Potter or LOTR and looking for something similar but different (helpful, I know).

I tend to like stuff that reads breezy, but that still has depth delivered deceptively or effortlessly. Vonnegut and Palahniuk are the obvious go-to's for that kind of stuff. I would also recommend Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash or anything from James Ellroy's Jazz Quartet. Might not be down your alley genre-wise, but you can finish them really quick... (what's the literary equivilant of "bang-for-your-buck"? ... reap-for-your-read? pow-for-your-page? wow-for-your-word? licks-for-your-letter?).