I need a book to read; no wait I need twenty

[ben---neb]

I've got a long and boring summer holiday coming up. My job isn't suited for extra shifts, PC gaming is dire and I can't be bothered with films.

This leaves me with books. I love reading, i used to read non stop, i read War and peace in 2 weeks and really enjoyed it. Lately I've slacked off a bit and I think that now is a good time to re-start my favourite hobby.

So I need some book recommendations, one's that I haven't read. To make your suggestions more useful here's a list of the type of books I want/like:

1. Fiction suggestions only please
2. My favourite genres are Sci Fi and Fantasy or any good action book
3. I'll happily read Children's books
4. I love funny books
5. I hate overly discriptive books (i.e. Dickens)
6. Books in a series are good as I have other books to read later on
7. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Garth Nix and Christopher Paloini
8. I have read all Twilight novels - there OK but not great
9. 'Girly' books are fine, they provide an insigh into the opposite sex
10. Expense is not an issue, I've got a £100 lying around
11. I really love books that are 'un-put downable'

I HATE: depressive, emo, moodly, sulky and depressive books. I like to be cheered up . I can cope with 'dark' novels as long as they don't make you feel like you should go slit your wrists.

Cheers folks

EDIT: A lot of good suggestions so to keep you all up to speed:
Earthsea - Le Gunn - read all
Everything by Philip K Dick - read
Everything by David Eddings - read
Everything by Douglas Adams - read
Night Angel Trilogy - read and recommend
Everything by Wells - read
Everything by Neil Gaiman - read
John Wyndem (day of triffids) - read
Issac Asimov - LOVE - huge fan - read everything
Harry Potter - please! Of course I've read it
Everything by Jules Verne - read
Everything by Tolstoy - read
Catch 22 - read and hate all other Heller books
Sharpe books - went through a historical fiction phase recently and don't feel like returning, a read one of the Sharpes books and it was OK.

Other than that great suggestions, looking forward to a huge browse of amazon in the near future

 

[ThaBenMan]

Riddley Walker by Russel Hoban (sci-fi)

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (first book: A Game of Thrones) (fantasy)

Anything by David Sedaris - When you are Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One Day (funny)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (drama/historical)

Pretty good range there, I think. Enjoy!

 

[Azhrarn-101]

All the "Culture" novels by Ian Banks.
Should keep you entertained for a good while.
Top Sci-Fi with a good storyline. All the books are more or less independent, so which one you pick up isn't really important.

 

[Kogarian]

The Bible.

 

[ThePoodonkis]

The Hitchhiker's Trilogy is a good 5-part series. It's fairly enjoyable.

The Bourne Series are also good reads.

 

[Gooble]

Catch-22

 

[mythbuster343]

I've got a long and boring summer holiday coming up. My job isn't suited for extra shifts, PC gaming is dire and I can't be bothered with films.

I know someone like you, don't ask who cause she was in my class bofore school let out.


Anyway, a good book is All Quiet on the Western Front

 

[Beltom]

The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks is quite a good fantasy series. Not sure whether you'd consider it overly descriptive but the Cthulhu Mythos by H.P.Lovecraft is good as well.

 

[oliveira8]

Dune all by Frank Herbert.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
War of the Worlds/Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?/the Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
1984/Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
American Gods/Coraline/The Graveyard Book/Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Necronomicon by H.P. Lovecraft
Stranger in a Strange Land/starship Trooper by Robert A. Heinlein
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

All Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Have a good summer.

 

[Trivun]

Discworld and anything from Ian Irvine. That'll keep you busy for ages...

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[megalomania]

Jules Verne: 20000 leagues under the sea

Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird

Homer: The Odessey and The Illiad

That ought to keep you going for a little while. If you need more I can always actually get up and go to my book shelf and look instead of just trying to remember lol

 

[waggmd]

For Science Fiction I recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy series, and The Foundation Trilogy. Stephen King's Dark Tower series is great, seven books in total plus it has references to his other novels. Since you mentioned children's books you can also look into the Harry Potter series as well.

 

[j0z]

Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series is a classic in Sci-fi, and one of my all time favorite series.
Michael Crichton's books are really good thrillers, Jurassic Park, and The Andromeda Strain are really good. Well, most of his books are good.
Could read some Steven King or Dean Koontz books. Koontz's newer books aren't as good as some of his older stuff, but his old stuff is really good. Steven King is just Steven King, want a long book read The Stand by him, great end of the world book

 

[Melancholy_Ocelot]

Definitely the Ender's Game series. I cannot recommend it enough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_series

 

[curlycrouton]

If you read only one book (although it seems you won't be doing), then please, please read Stalingrad by Antony Beevor.

After that, try Maus by Art Spiegelman.

 

[InProgress]

I don't read very much, but:
"Novecento" by Alessandro Baricco
Anything by H.P. Lovecraft

 

[Fingerprint]

His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Pullman
The Book World Series (four, I think) - Fforde (sp?)
The Bernie Gunther Series - (30's Berlin detective) - Kerr

Also anything by Paul Auster and/or Haruki Murakami.

 

[KaiRai]

Final Theory by Mark Alpert
The ENTIRE Series of Hieronymus Bosch novels by Michael Connolly
The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
True Evil by Greg Iles
The Watchman By Robert Crais
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

To name a few

 

[Hitman 43]

I've got a long and boring summer holiday coming up. My job isn't suited for extra shifts, PC gaming is dire and I can't be bothered with films.

This leaves me with books. I love reading, i used to read non stop, i read War and peace in 2 weeks and really enjoyed it. Lately I've slacked off a bit and I think that now is a good time to re-start my favourite hobby.

So I need some book recommendations, one's that I haven't read. To make your suggestions more useful here's a list of the type of books I want/like:

1. Fiction suggestions only please
2. My favourite genres are Sci Fi and Fantasy or any good action book
3. I'll happily read Children's books
4. I love funny books
5. I hate overly discriptive books (i.e. Dickens)
6. Books in a series are good as I have other books to read later on
7. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Garth Nix and Christopher Paloini
8. I have read all Twilight novels - there OK but not great
9. 'Girly' books are fine, they provide an insigh into the opposite sex
10. Expense is not an issue, I've got a £100 lying around
11. I really love books that are 'un-put downable'

I HATE: depressive, emo, moodly, sulky and depressive books. I like to be cheered up . I can cope with 'dark' novels as long as they don't make you feel like you should go slit your wrists.

Cheers folks

I strongly suggest reading:

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.
The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling
White Fang by Jack London
His Dark Arts Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman

They're all excellent books.