The best books nobody knows about.

[Gitsnik]

Hmm I'd have to say the Night Angel series. Even if the third one was a bit weak.

Also it is getting increasingly more difficult to find someone who has read both horror originals - Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster.

Ah... I am afraid I have read this (Night Angel). I loved the series, but I know of at least two people who have read it...

Congratulations, you necromanced a thread that's at least a month old and quoted a post from February to tell me you read a book that three or four other people already told us about. I'd say you win a cookie, but frankly you just seem like your quote-whoring me for some reason I can't fathom.

Plus, a book can't become a best seller if it hasn't been read by someone, and considering the entire Night Angel series are best sellers, logic dictates that someone somewhere must have read them. My post, like so many of the early posters, was regarding to people I actually know and/or care about, not randoms on the internet.

 

[Resurrectionist]

The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav.

He wrote it as a Masters Thesis at my Alma Mater.

Google it. It's worth a read.

 

[Popadomus Ohio]

i think the author Peter V Brett is really overlooked. he writes fantasy novels, but i don't know anyone except one friend that reads his stuff.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

A lot of my friends have never even heard of The Little Prince.

Then again, my friends aren't big readers.

 

[ArtIsABlast]

One of my favorite books is horror/comedy Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez.

 

[Nouw]

Starship Troopers.

I think it's fair to say it really began Space Marines.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

The Myth Adventure series by Robert Asprin. They turned his first book into a comic book and now some one is colorizing it as a web comic project.

http://www.airshipentertainment.com/mythcomic.php?date=20100109

It's been a few years since I read them, but damn this comic is dead accurate to the book. If you like what you see here, I definitely recommend picking them up. There's like 10 of these books.

Oh god, yes. M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link is still one of my favorite books EVER.

Apparently, no one but BDSM enthusiasts have ever heard of the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. The first trilogy follows an anguissette (a masochist to the Nth degree) courtesan on her path to right the wrongs caused by her patron, and the second follows her foster son.

Warning, it's kind of graphic about sex and violence, but it's beautifully written and strangely philosophical about love, pleasure, and the meaning of 'being good'.

 

[Signa]

The Myth Adventure series by Robert Asprin. They turned his first book into a comic book and now some one is colorizing it as a web comic project.

http://www.airshipentertainment.com/mythcomic.php?date=20100109

It's been a few years since I read them, but damn this comic is dead accurate to the book. If you like what you see here, I definitely recommend picking them up. There's like 10 of these books.

Oh god, yes. M.Y.T.H. Inc. Link is still one of my favorite books EVER.

Apparently, no one but BDSM enthusiasts have ever heard of the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. The first trilogy follows an anguissette (a masochist to the Nth degree) courtesan on her path to right the wrongs caused by her patron, and the second follows her foster son.

Warning, it's kind of graphic about sex and violence, but it's beautifully written and strangely philosophical about love, pleasure, and the meaning of 'being good'.

Sadly, I did some research when I got introduced to that web comic and I found out that good old Robert died a few years ago. The good news is that some one had plans to continue the series.

 

[onewheeled]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is absolutely incredible.

Sure, it's a high school-coming-of-age kind of book, but it's just so well written, and is basically my favorite book of all time.

 

[Lisolet]

P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books are a favourite of mine, but the only other person I know who's read them is my dad, who introduced them to me.

I'm with you, Dragons - I adore Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie stories. My mother introduced me to him and I've read all I could. Along with Adams, he's one of my go-to authors when I need to re-learn to love humanity (and laugh my ass off).

Books I never hear others talking about are by Vernor Vinge, though to be honest this thread is so big I haven't read it all. All his books are fantastic, skillfully written, incredibly imaginative and fun and so thought-provoking. I'll say this about Vinge - not only did I read a 774-page book about arachnids, I rooted for them, I cried when something bad happened to one of them, I even loved them. (I keep hoping someone will recognize my username ...).

 

[the Dept of Science]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is absolutely incredible.

Sure, it's a high school-coming-of-age kind of book, but it's just so well written, and is basically my favorite book of all time.

Easily as good as Catcher in the Rye. I think I might have preferred Diary of Adrian Mole: Aged 13 & 3/4s, but mainly because the character was closer to me.
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski is the other classic entry in that whole genre. I think Bukowski is a great writer, his words just ring with experience.

Just started The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. He introduces some quite profound philosophical questions, then explores them through one of the most emotionally complex narratives I've read. To a large extent he disregards the "show, don't tell" idea that a lot of writers use, but he doesn't suffer for it because making the subtext of the characters actions overt is essential and he describes it in a beautiful manner. Really amazing book so far.

Naked Lunch by William Burroughs is the most mad book ever written. Burroughs is a homosexual heroin addict and his books spare no punches in describing some of the most depraved scenes imaginable. On the other hand, the book is hilarious, surreal and memorable. There's little plot to it but its got tonnes of memorable characters and scenes in it. It's considered one of the great works of the 20th century, but I get the impression that not many people have read it.

If anyone here has not read On the Road by Jack Kerouac yet, I suggest you go out and fix this quickly. Really its just a loose narrative about the authors years hitch hiking around America, but it just captures the romance of the road and the spirit of late 50s counterculture so well. Its one of those books which everyone reads (or at least should) at some point in their life. There is something emotionally dead within you if you don't long for a life like one of the protagonists.

Oh and a graphic novel I would heartily recommend:
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware. A non-superhero comic about a man who meets his father for the first time. Possibly the most beautiful, tragic and emotionally mature graphic novel I have ever read. The art style is unique and imaginative. I would recommend it to people who have read no graphic novels as much as people who have read tonnes of them. Easily one of the best examples of the medium outside of Alan Moore. Its one of those things where if it wasn't a graphic novel, then it would have achieved worldwide acclaim.

 

[cptn ricardo]

I've read "Stranger in a strange land" by Robert Heinlein, thats one of the more obscure books I've read recently. All about a man who was born on Mars and is basically Jesus. Very interesting. Also I've read all the Musketeer books by Dumas, there's 5 overall. Not many people know that. And they are amazing!

 

[zombiejoe]

The Last book in the universe

good book

 

[AvsJoe]

I've read a few that no one else has heard of, like The Last Canadian and The Medusa Wave, but they mostly aren't worth mentioning.

I do want to mention In Conquest Born by C.S. Friedman, We by Yevgeni Zamyatin, and Will the Last Person to Leave the Planet Please Shut Off the Sun? by Mike Resnick. All 3 are famous authors but few have heard of these classics. All three are very much worth reading.

 

[Naal]

The Seven Water Series.

I think every woman should read that series and every twihard should learn what a true strong lead protagonist should be like. (Sorcha and Liadin would kick Bellas ass into shape)

 

[Icehearted]

Swan Song, Robert R. McCammon. One of the most brilliant post apocalypse stories I've ever read.

 

[Clueless Hero]

At least around my age group (15) no one has heard of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"! It makes me sad.

 

[AugustFall]

The Malazan series by Steven Erikson, tis an epic undertaking but well worth it.

 

[AngryMongoose]

Mortal Engines. 'Nuff said.

I wouldn't say NOONES heard of it. It's my favourite book, for one thing; and I personally made sure about 20 people in my secondary school had read it.