LunaLee Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 It's been a long time since I read a book for me, the last one was The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and I want to invest in some me time. So...what are your faves? Twaddle, non-fiction, fiction, classics... Thanks, Luna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Don't know about top five ever, but here are some recent ones I have enjoyed: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. People of the Book. Your Inner Fish. (not for creationists, tho!) Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam. (You just wouldn't think that a book about goat testicle transplants would be that good. You'd be wrong. This may be the most bizarre book I have ever read, but also one of the most interesting.) Monique and the Mango Rains : Two Years with a Midwife in Mali Traffic : Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher : Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 (edited) The complete Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian To Kill a Mockingbird Anything Austen LOTR Harry Potter series oh oh oh can I go for six? Want to add Gaudy Night by Sayers. Edited November 24, 2008 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Just 5? Well, that's harder than I thought it would be! I decided to pick the ones that "pop out" from different genres: Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck The Nine Taylors - Dorothy Sayers The Parsifal Mosaic - Ludlum David Copperfield - Dickens Bridget Jones Diary - Helen Fielding (its killing me not to suggest Harry Potter, The Golden Compass trilogy, Inkspell trilogy, etc... ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritAnnia Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I always have a difficult time answering questions like this. What I may list as my fav. 5 now is only so because I've not read others that may knock them off the list. And life events and mood are such a huge factor in reading for me. I might enjoy a book purely for how I was feeling at the time I read it; escapism reading is a good example. 1. Madam Bovary by Gustav Flaubert. - Reminded me not to live in the dream world of books I mentioned in my statement above :tongue_smilie: 2. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - Powerful message of faith and love in desperately difficult situations. 3. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien - Escapism in a fantasticly created fictional world. Love it. 4. War of the Worlds by HG Wells (or The Time Machine... but I prefer WotW) - The passivity of the population until they're pulled directly into the action just wows me. The tale always seems a simple easy read but for me it speaks volumes. 5. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - A message of "Just do it!" you'll learn and grow, especially if it's something you tried hard to avoid havng to do at first. I just love Zusak's writing. Phew, that was hard! I don't read much non-fiction so my list is biased towards novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritAnnia Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I have The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher from the library at the moment but have yet to even glance it. Of course it came after a veeeeeeery long wait and I've got a bunch of other books I'm halfway through, I don't want to stop those to start Mr. Whicher. To see it on your list of top 5 makes me want to get started on it right away though. Ack! *mumbling to self "be strong, finish at least one of the others first... be strong"* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumbledeb Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 'Nation' by Terry Pratchett 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' by Marina Lewycka 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven' by Mitch Albom 'Slam' by Nick Hornby Not necessarily my all time top five, but my most recent top five and I think each one of them is a corker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Dune series, by Frank Herbert. Avoid his son. He's pretty simple minded in comparison. I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb. The Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradly. Wuthering Heights for the smiles. Anything written by Chaim Potok. Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 These are not my top 5 faves, but just 5 random books that I have enjoyed in the past year or so: "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie "Dancer" by Colum McCann "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie King "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves "The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Just a few of my fav's One Child, by Torey Hayden. Torey was a teacher of ED kids. This is the story of a year of Torey's teaching, and one child who was abused and neglected--turned out she was a genius. It's just a wonderful book, and Torey is a very readable writer. Teacher, by Sylvia Ashton Warner. Warner was an innovative teacher in New Zealand who worked with Maori children, teaching reading. Spearpoint is her experiences in an American Open classroom school, and it's a great read, too. Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott --just a terrific, funny and poignant book. Tale of Desperaux--A wonderful book--a children's book and so much more. Light and Dark, good and bad--a fairytale/fable with a deep, profound message. There's 5. Not classics or hard to read, just very, very good, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 ...although I wouldn't necessarily call them "must reads" were: 1) Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen Fiction about a 21 year old that joined a Depression-era circus interwoven with his 90 year old self musing about the past. The author did lots of research about what these second-rate circuses were like - very vivid. 2) Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill The author started a company that are like shopping anthropologists - they study shoppers and their behavior. It really opened my eyes to a lot of techniques stores use. I'm also finally plugging through Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I have to admit part of the interest lies in seeing how they converted the dialogue and characters into the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet/Hugh Grant movie. :001_smile: Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Most anything by Orson Scott Card or Mercedes Lackey or Isaac Asimov. They write fantasy/sci-fi in such an easy-to-read friendly-like way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 These are the top 5 of this year: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Socrates Cafe by Christopher Philips Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo (children's book but I absolutely loved it) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski The Private Patient by P.D.James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 The complete Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'BrianTo Kill a Mockingbird Anything Austen LOTR Harry potter series :iagree: To that list I might add The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith Cry, The Beloved Country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalinakel Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Here are five, random, off the top of my head choices. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vaunaken Bruchko by Bruce Olsen Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy(don't recall author) The Awakening Land by Conrad Richter Knowing God by J.I. Packer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battlemaiden Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 The Must Read list is too hard. The Favorite's throughout history for no particular reason list is easier: Travels with Charley by Steinbeck Anything with Lord Peter Wimsey by Sayers 1776 by McCullough Endurance by Lansing Up From Slavery by Washington Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenadina Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 From other people's suggestions, I'll second these: *People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks *The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Tolkien Now for my personal favorites over the years (as in, I searched out copies of them to own...I generally use the library instead of buying...and I have read each multiple times over the years) *The Aztec series by Gary Jennings - there are 4 books, all with the word "Aztec" in the title. Historical fiction. *The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson - Science Fiction. *The Source by James A. Michener - Historical Fiction. *The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Historical Fiction. *Wraeththu by Storm Constantine - Fantasy. My copy is the omnibus edition which includes the 3 original books of the series. This book is NOT for everyone, I suggest reading reviews or the back at the very least before you dive in. Here's a bonus selection by an author already suggested: *Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 My old standbys when I need a good read that I KNOW I'll enjoy are the following: The Harry Potter books The Anne of Green Gables books The Merlin "trilogy" by Mary Stewart (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment, and The Wicked Day) The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy I also recently read both Atonement (Ian McEwan--absolutely stunning, I highly recommend this) and The English Patient (by Michael Ondaatje, also beautifully written). As a PP suggested, Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies is also a terrific book, as is her Bird by Bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Here's my list of books I've most enjoyed, not ones that were necessarily the most "worthy". 84 Charing Cross Road The Last Coin To Kill a Mockingbird (I still cry at the end of ch. 11) The Lord of the Rings The Harry Potters (I can count them as 1, can't I?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amie Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Wow, this is tough. Just off the top of my head... I agree with To Kill a Mockingbird The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom any Jane Austen novel Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis I saw where someone mentioned A Severe Mercy--I wouldn't have thought to list that one, but having been reminded of it--this is a great suggestion--very moving. I'll probably think of others (maybe better ones) as soon as I hit "submit". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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