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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:48:14 PM EDT
[#1]
The best series I have ever read would have to be a toss-up between the Dune series (Frank Herbert), especially the books from his son, and The Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien.
Single book? Dunno. Too many good ones to pick just one. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:49:01 PM EDT
[#2]
MAybe not the best I've ever read, but have you read "Ghost Wars" by Stephen Coll?
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:49:02 PM EDT
[#3]
Guide Book for Marines, 1972 printing.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:49:54 PM EDT
[#4]
The Lord of the Rings.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:51:21 PM EDT
[#5]
Norman of Torn.
ETA. Edgar Rice Burroughs ETA2 anything by Burroughs including the Tarzan series.......nothing like the movies  Anything by Louis La'Mour Anything by John Grisham |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:51:42 PM EDT
[#6]
The Bible
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:52:16 PM EDT
[#7]
Books I read semi-regularly:
"The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. Nonfiction. Through letters, an art teacher teaches his students that it's not enough merely to produce art; artists owe it to society to be different. "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. "Sphere" and "Congo" by Michael Crichton. Edit: How could I forget? "The Gentle Giants of Ganymede" series by James P. Hogan - not blow 'em up sci fi, just a great story. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:53:53 PM EDT
[#8]
 sorry  |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:54:58 PM EDT
[#9]
the harry potter series
of those the last one #6 the half blood prince good stand alone book rising phoenix by Kyle Mills real sloution of the drug problem 
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:55:02 PM EDT
[#10]
Penthouse
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Posted: 12/23/2005 7:56:01 PM EDT
[#11]
If you're into airplanes check out Fate is the Hunter, by Ernest Gann
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:00:33 PM EDT
[#12]
isaac asimov's foundation and it's sequels are excellent heinlein's stranger in a strange land + just about anything he else he wrote most by niven and barnes king's the dark tower series varley's wizard, demon, and titan (3 seperate books ) need more? |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:01:04 PM EDT
[#13]
Chickenhawk. By Robert Mason.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:02:14 PM EDT
[#14]
I've only read a few.
Toss up between: The Hot Zone (about ebola) In the Company of Heroes (Michael Durant's book) |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:03:35 PM EDT
[#15]
Red storm rising
Without remorse Blackhawk Down |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:03:46 PM EDT
[#16]
Mysteries of the Unexplained
Readers Digest 1982 Sitting on the bookshelf right now  ETA: Perfect if you like spontaneous human combustion, bigfoot, biblical mythology, ghosts, etc. Covers just about everything. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:05:03 PM EDT
[#17]
The Origin of Species. I would recomend reading The Voyage of the Beagle first just to give context. It stands in such stark contrast to all the BS that has been produced at other times. It is so carefully written and has such undeniable logic and common sense that it gives me the impression that people have forgotten how to think, let alone communicate.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:05:32 PM EDT
[#18]
The Bible or Lord of The Rings.
Both are a hard read that you can get a lot of knowledge and insight to the world with, and you are better for reading them both. Get both. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:06:02 PM EDT
[#19]
Same here....Love it. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:06:13 PM EDT
[#20]
Not trying to be a literary snob, but... War & Peace by Tolstoy.
Herman Wouk is also the superb author of: The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, The Hope, and The Glory Gore Vidal is also generally a good read. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:09:15 PM EDT
[#21]
Patriots!
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:10:00 PM EDT
[#22]
One of the best and most enjoyable books I've read lately is "The Curse of Chalion" by Lois McMaster Bujold, closely followed by "The Hallowed Hunt" same author, part of a trilogy. Unfortunately the middle book "Paladin of Souls" was good but not great like the other two were.
These are great for relaxing reading. For more serious but still good reading, Catton or Foote Civil War books, Coddington on Gettysburg Campaign. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:11:07 PM EDT
[#23]
Off the top of my head: Blackhawk Down.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:14:05 PM EDT
[#24]
I cannot pick a favorite book. Here are some good one's that aren't on many people's standard lists (so, for example, not picking the Bible, Tolkein, CS Lewis, Frank Herbert, any literary classics, etc):
Non-fiction, religious: Francis Schaeffer's How Shall We Then Live or JI Packer's Knowing God Non-fiction, secular: Stanley Fish's There's No Such Thing As Free Speech Fiction Sci-Fi pulp: David Gemmel's Wolf in Shadow |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:20:09 PM EDT
[#25]
Arthur Nersesian's The Fuck-Up I thought to be tremendously well-written, although vulgar and gritty. I also enjoyed Palahniuk's Fight Club far more than the movie, which is saying something, and Akira Yoshimura's On Parole. Other ones I found enjoyable were Larry Niven's Ringworld, but not the sequels, and Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but I dislike most of his other writing. Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South was an entertaining read.
I'm currently reading Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring and enjoying it far more than I did when I first read it. Next up is C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I frankly hated The Great Gatsby, but most people enjoy it. The same goes for Faulkner's work (I read As I Lay Dying and severely disliked it, and tried a couple others, but couldn't care enough about them to read more). Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World were not only well-written and good books, but also excellent social commentaries. Ayn Rand's work is heavy on the social commentary, but not at all easy or, in my opinion, enjoyable to read. Kafka's a little odd, but try some of his short stories. The Metamorphosis is obviously the most famous, and also one of the better ones. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold was also enjoyable. You might also try some Shakespeare (I suggest Romeo and Juliet as a first, followed by Julius Caesar and Hamlet; Hamlet is a very difficult read, and you must be a little familiar with Shakespeare's style to be able to read it, but it's well worth it), and perhaps Homer's sagas. With all that, not only will you have a firm grounding in antique and contemporary literature, but you should also have at least two good years' worth of reading. ETA: I personally cannot understand anybody who has read few books more than their religious book and what they needed for school. Literacy is one of the greatest gifts of the human race, and I think it's a wasted life that does not constantly use and develop that gift. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:24:45 PM EDT
[#26]
These are both very good. However, you can read them both in a few hours. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:25:38 PM EDT
[#27]
Animal Farm by Orwell. Short enough that you can read it in one sitting and still my favorite after reading it ten years ago in HS.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:26:07 PM EDT
[#28]
I can't really pick one favorite, but one of the better "classics" I've read (if you like military history) was "The Conquest of Gaul" by Julius Caesar. The short cliff note version is that the french were getting their asses kicked by the germans and asked rome for help. Rome "helped" them alright. They came up and stopped the germans basically at the rhine and just stayed and took over gaul (france).
Hehh. 2000 years, and some things just never change. Somebody's always kicking the french around. Hell, they just beg for it. I guess it's just natural for pussies to get fucked by dicks.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:27:34 PM EDT
[#29]
The Girl Who Owned a City
I read it in 7th or 8th grade I think. No book had ever or has ever led to more day dreams and thoughts then that book I read. Ever since then when I look at a building I wonder if it could be fortified or when I look at a neighborhood I wonder ig walkways could be built from house to house just like in the book. Its the one book for some reason that has always stuck out in my mind. And I am a big reader from the classics like Homer and Plato all the way to Louis Lamour which I have read all of. The Girl Who Owned a City is basically every kids dream where a disease wipes out anyone over the age of 15 or something. Its a SHTF type book. I really remember the teacher in my class bringing reality back into the book by asking deep questions like "if all the adults died, what happened to all the bodys." Teachers like to do that, take the fun out of day dreaming. I would like to read it once again, but I think it my ruin it. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:27:52 PM EDT
[#30]
WITHOUT REMORSE by Tom Clancey (sp?)
Lord of the Rings, all three books anything by Henlein as far as classics go, go for Dumas (Musketeers and Count of Monte Christo) and Dickens (Nicholas Nickelby). And as always, you can't go wrong with a Zane Grey western.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:28:05 PM EDT
[#31]
The Peloponnesian War, Rex Warner translation of Thucydides |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:28:05 PM EDT
[#32]
Eh, I never usually spend more than about an hour at a time reading. Too busy. But if you start reading a lot of Kafka, you'll spend more time at it. Oh, forgot to recommend Hemingway. A little depressing, perhaps, but a good writer. ETA: I was going to add in more, but I realized that if I put in every book I've ever loved, you'd need to have about 10 years of reading time. Just for an example of how much I read, we have about 10 bookshelves (6ft high, 1ft deep, 3ft wide, on average) full of books, plus several banker's boxes worth in the basement, and we've sold about 40 banker's boxes full of used books. My family reads. A lot. So do I. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:28:12 PM EDT
[#33]
I'd be hard pressed to name absolute favorites, but I have purchased multiple copies of the following because I tend to wear them out.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Catch-22 - Joseph Heller Armor - John Steakley Vampire$ - John Steakley The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs (the first 3 books at a minimum) |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:31:22 PM EDT
[#34]
So many that I forgot a favorite from grade school.
Deathwatch by Rob White. About a big game guide who goes out with a rich hunter looking for bighorn sheep. The Guide becomes the hunted in a desert backdrop. Good short adventure. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:33:43 PM EDT
[#35]
The winds of war
and it's companion War and Rememberance |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:37:03 PM EDT
[#36]
ATM and MPEG-2 Intergrating Digital Video into Broadband Networks by Micheal Orzessek and Peter Sommer.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:38:04 PM EDT
[#37]
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:38:30 PM EDT
[#38]
my favorite reads are:
Yeager The Right Stuff Band of Brothers Biggest Brother: A more in depth story of Richard Winters |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:39:25 PM EDT
[#39]
A Farewell to Arms and A Moveable Feast are my favorite Hemingway books. Although, some of Hemingway is truly awful, for example, The Old Man and the Sea |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:39:57 PM EDT
[#40]
"IN HARMS WAY"
Its about the USS INDY being sunk in WW2......great book. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:41:03 PM EDT
[#41]
Undaunted Courage by the late Stephen Ambrose
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:41:12 PM EDT
[#42]
+1.......one of my favorite books. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:41:50 PM EDT
[#43]
A second for The Dark Tower by Stephen King. Don't get put off by the author. It's not horror. It really is a fantasy. My favorites of the seven books are The Gunslinger (the original, not the revised) and Wizard and Glass.
Shadowland by Peter Straub, a completely underrated author. Non-fiction: Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor by Joseph Campbell |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:47:56 PM EDT
[#44]
The shadow of the torturer - Gene Wolfe
the foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Downward to the Earth - Robert Silverberg The mote in god's eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle a fine and pleasant misery - Patrick McManus Dune - Frank Herbert. the chonicles of amber - Roger Zelazny the mists of avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley The Stand - Stephan King enuff for now  forgot to include this... I bought it twice, read it three times and gave both copies away The March Up : Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division -- by Ray L. Smith, Bing West |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:48:35 PM EDT
[#45]
Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter is my all-time favorite.
The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour is also excellent. If you are into horror, the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley is a winner. |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:49:31 PM EDT
[#46]
I also like CHICKENHAWK
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:52:28 PM EDT
[#47]
Lot's of the classics and historical books, I like the Charles Henderson books about Gunny Hathcock (Marine Sniper and Silent Warrior) as well as Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, perhaps one of the best stories of revenge I've ever read.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:54:26 PM EDT
[#48]
Hands down: "The Glory and the Dream" by William Manchester. If you love American history from 1929 to 1964, you will love this book. He also wrote the book "The Death of a President", which is the definitive accounting of events surrounding the JFK assasination. Both excellent, books.
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:57:31 PM EDT
[#49]
Crow Killer by Raymond W. Thorp and Robert Bunker.
It's the story of Liver-Eating Johnson, or John Johnson. Better know as Jeremiah Johnson. Kickass book. www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253203120/104-8498084-9723941?v=glance&n=283155 |
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Posted: 12/23/2005 8:57:45 PM EDT
[#50]
Sci Fi...
R H Heinlein's Starship Troopers, the Moon is Harsh Mistress and Tunnel in the Sky I also enjoy many fo the Star Wars books for an eavining's escapism Modern fiction... Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising and Without Remorse (the rest get in to the Jack Riyann life and you will have to read them all (but stay away from "Op Center") Peter Benchly "Jaws" its hard but I like the book better than the movie Classics... Anything by Steinbeck is worth a read to me, same with Mark Twain Vietam Stuff.. Recently I liked John Plaster's book on SOG and Frank Miller's Reflections of a Warrior both are non fiction and can be taken in small bites. My all time favorite Vietnam non fiction is War Story by Jim Morris 13th Valley (John Del Vecchio) is my favorite Vietnam novel Totaly off the wall and probably favotire book of all time (though its not as good as I've gotten older) Catcher in the Rye by J D Sallinger |
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