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RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 20/8/2006 1:39:34 PM

impqueen

Posts: 6922
Joined: 24/7/2006

I love the following

1984
Good Omens
The War Lord Chronicles
The Hobbit
Holes
The Grapes of Wrath
Lolita
American Psycho
Father of Frankenstein
The Sherlock Holmes Collection
The Iliad
Middlesex
Lord of the Flies
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Peter O'Toole Loitering with Intent

_____________________________

Yes, always.

Mr Clever!

You were expecting someone else?

(in reply to KennyM)

Post #: 91

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 20/8/2006 9:51:35 PM

danbo1138

Posts: 7863
Joined: 10/6/2006
From: Always Outnumberd Never Outgunned!

the hobbit.............no contest

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Come against me, if you dare! I am the storm! Come if you dare, Shai'tan! I am the Dragon Reborn!

(in reply to Krazy_Beyootiful)

Post #: 92

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 22/8/2006 10:23:02 PM

Jackal

Posts: 5030
Joined: 30/9/2005

Posted these on another thread without knowing about this one...

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D Salinger)- never has a book made me laugh out loud so much yet it's quite a sad wee tale. Felt quite sorry for Holden. A bit of an arse at times but a decent enough guy who you'd like to help. Well, that's what I think, anyway.

Cross of Iron (Willi Heinrich)- Told from the Germans' point of view after the defeat at Stalingrad. Don't want to give too much away. Just give it a read.

The Big Nowhere (James Ellroy). Wow. Very complex. Don't let that put you off though. You get the hang of it after the first 100 pages. The first of Ellroy's I've read and it won't be the last.

The 47 Ronin Story (John Allyn). Ronin (masterless Samurai) plan for years to gain revenge on the man who betrayed their master.

_____________________________

Contro il fascismo. Ora e sempre. Resistenza.

(in reply to danbo1138)

Post #: 93

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 28/8/2006 11:58:28 PM

fireboy

Posts: 184
Joined: 17/8/2006
From: UK

Gotta get in these -

The Nights Dawn Trilogy - Peter F Hamilton
The Reality Dysfunction
The Neutronium Alchemist
The Naked God

Utterly brilliant epic space opera. Three books, each longer than the entirety of Lord of the Rings, containing a huge cast of people, planets, habitats and cultures. Breathtaking in scope and grand in execution, it never lets up pace for a second. Even at the end of the staggering 3500 pages, you want more, dammit. Fantastic. Actually, it kicks LotR into a cocked hat.

And on the other end of the sci-fi scale you have -

Feersum Endjinn - Iain M Banks

I mean, the guys the master, right? And this is a little gem of a book. A departure from his normal approach of meticulous planning, this was written from start to finish off the cuff, just making it up as he went along. Yeehah!

With four storylines presented alternately, including perhaps his greatest character in Bascule the teller, this is an energetic and engaging piece of arse-backward nonsense. Crazy stuff.

And on a lighter note -

The Moomins - Tove Janssen

Oh yeah, let's hear it for the moomins.

_____________________________

Spielberg's Favouite Sun

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

(in reply to Jackal)

Post #: 94

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 8/9/2006 1:26:09 PM

damn im good!

Posts: 498
Joined: 12/10/2005
From: Left of hell, East of damnation

I'd like to add:

Bringing Down The House - Ben Mezrich
Ugly Americans - Ben Mezrich: Wow! Superb true story, written in an uncomplicated style. Totally gripping.
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk: By no means perfect, but riveting, twisted and darkly comic.
What You Make It - Michael Marshall Smith: Possibly one of the greatest collections of short stories ever.
In Harms Way - The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors - Doug Stanton: Title says it all really. A very harrowing but neccesary read.

_____________________________

Don't fuck with the Jedi Master, son.

(in reply to fireboy)

Post #: 95

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 15/9/2006 2:52:33 PM

Niate

Posts: 45
Joined: 15/9/2006

I think there should be a clear difference between your favourite book and the best book you've ever read....

...with this in mind my favourite book ever has to be, without question, Good Omens - I've probably read it about 20 times. My two favourite authors in one place....bliss.....

< Message edited by Niate -- 15/9/2006 2:53:01 PM >

(in reply to damn im good!)

Post #: 96

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 30/10/2006 8:32:17 AM

OptimisticYid

Posts: 164
Joined: 31/5/2006
From: Stamford

Dice Man, The - Luke Rhinehart

(in reply to Marlowe)

Post #: 97

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 2/11/2006 4:39:45 AM

minisnowflake

Posts: 32
Joined: 2/11/2006
From: In my lovers arms

I love

Little Women | Louise May Allcot
Hotel New Hampshere | John Iriving
Anything by Tom Robins :D

_____________________________

Sex on television can't hurt you unless you fall off

(in reply to Dirty Bear)

Post #: 98

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 2/11/2006 5:32:29 AM

Izzardesque2

Posts: 2899
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Get back to Russia!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Niate

I think there should be a clear difference between your favourite book and the best book you've ever read....

Absolutely, I completely agree. This is why I always get into arguments with people taking umbrage with 'Favourite Book/Film/Album/Whatever' polls because they think that some classis has been overlooked in favour of The Da Vinci Code or something.

_____________________________

The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

(in reply to Niate)

Post #: 99

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 17/11/2006 10:03:24 AM

matthewforan

Posts: 21037
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: My Hometown

1) The Rum Diary
2) The Great Gatsby
3) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

_____________________________

"The Irish have always been victims of negative stereotyping. I mean people think we're all drunks and brawlers. And sometimes that gets you so mad all you wanna do is get drunk and punch somebody"

Clear Eyes Full Hearts Can't Lose

Punchdrunk RIP

(in reply to Marlowe)

Post #: 100

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 4/12/2006 2:56:38 PM

Jackie Boy

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: novadash

Post Office - bukowski

Easily my favourite this year,it's absolutely hilarious.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk was another fave of mine this year,i reckon it's even better than the movie.

_____________________________

"If you're not against me,don't cross this line! If yes,do."

(in reply to novadash)

Post #: 101

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 9/12/2006 3:47:05 PM

closet heroine

Posts: 225
Joined: 21/8/2006
From: Shermer, Illinois

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Other Voices, Other Rooms - Truman Capote

_____________________________

Never rub another mans rhubarb

(in reply to Izzardesque2)

Post #: 102

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 14/12/2006 9:53:53 PM

lewie24

Posts: 29
Joined: 14/12/2006

Oh God, why oh why did someone pick Little Women? I'm a literature student, so I have EVERY RIGHT to say that it is the most atrocious piece of tripe ever to be committed to paper (tongue in cheek, before you start...). I hate it with every sinew of my being. I didn't give a crap when whatsherface died. I read about 95% of it and STILL didn't finish it because I hated it that much. Oh the anger and the resentment.

Um, at the moment, I'm having trouble beating Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. I am writing a 5000-word essay on it at the moment though, so that might kill off my enthusiasm for it a little.

(in reply to closet heroine)

Post #: 103

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 6/1/2007 7:26:44 PM

jools

Posts: 3
Joined: 6/1/2007

we need to talk about kevin by lionel shriver. fab

(in reply to Krazy_Beyootiful)

Post #: 104

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 6/1/2007 7:28:16 PM

jools

Posts: 3
Joined: 6/1/2007

yes loved it. would you like to live your life by the roll of a dice?

(in reply to OptimisticYid)

Post #: 105

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 6/1/2007 11:08:27 PM

The2ndRing

Posts: 3954
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: rehab

I found that book (Dice Man) deeply unnerving

My most favourite book ever, even saying it's name makes me wanna...um well any way it's:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, you either love it or you hate it, but I love it, I love it long time!

_____________________________

I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library

"Do you know what I like about you?
Fuck all."

(in reply to jools)

Post #: 106

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 8/1/2007 6:25:43 AM

Plagiarist

Posts: 2
Joined: 8/1/2007

quote:

ORIGINAL: damn i'm good!

I'd like to add:

Bringing Down The House - Ben Mezrich
Ugly Americans - Ben Mezrich: Wow! Superb true story, written in an uncomplicated style. Totally gripping.

Just finished Bringing down the house - it's very very good. Much better than I'd expected. Truth really is stranger than fiction.
What's Ugly Americans about?

(in reply to damn im good!)

Post #: 107

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded - 21/1/2007 3:44:22 AM

Hissyfit

Posts: 18
Joined: 24/9/2006

The Delicate Dependency: A Novel of the Vampire Life by Michael Talbot

(in reply to Plagiarist)

Post #: 108

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 2/2/2007 8:10:11 PM

chilipenguin

Posts: 1061
Joined: 3/12/2006
From: Edinburgh

The View From The Mirror Quartet by Ian Irvine. Over the course of four parts, Karan and Llian find themselves embroiled in the very fabric of history. Unwittingly come into possession of a enchanted mirror, they find themselves being hounded all over the land by every race who lays a claim on it. The characters are fantastic throughout and they really grow over the course of the four books and I think Karan is one of the best written females in any book. Fact

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I'm not even supposed to be here today!

New short story/portfolio blog online HERE

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Post #: 109

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 5/2/2007 9:59:08 PM

davef1967

Posts: 1
Joined: 5/2/2007

I'd recomemend:

The Keep - F Paul Wilson

(Michael Mann made a movie of this and in most fans opinion (including the author) completely missed the point of the book)

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas - wonderfully funny & worring at the same time

The count of monte cristo - don't be fooled by poor movies & numerous TV attempts - this in one hell of a book

One to avoid - War and Peace - reading it was like ...... well trying to read war & peace!

(in reply to chilipenguin)

Post #: 110

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 4/3/2007 8:13:43 AM

boaby

Posts: 2795
Joined: 29/12/2006
From: Aberdeenshire

I'd like to add a few:

White Fang by Jack London - I love it so much it's the only thing I've ever stolen. I nicked it from my primary school library on my last ever day there.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - no film compares

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson - brilliant, better than Treasure Island IMO. Highlights the Low/High and the Jacobite/Hanoverian divide in Scotland in the middle of a swashbuckling adventure/coming of age story. Also, by the same author: Catriona, sequel to Kidnapped, and of course Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon - not even studying it at school ruined it. Change, love, loss, growth as well as a great illustration of the time and place (1st World War and rural North East Scotland). 1st book in a trilogy, A Scots Quair, the other 2 aren't as good.

I'd also recommend all of John Grisham's work and all of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels. Two authors not treated brilliantly by visual mediums.

_____________________________

"Aberdonians, and with some degree of purpose and right on their side, have absolute contempt for Glasgow. There is a side of Aberdonians who, let's be absolutely honest about this, feel so superior to Glasgow that you can measure it by the yard."

(in reply to Marlowe)

Post #: 111

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 21/3/2007 6:57:57 PM

jimbo909

Posts: 795
Joined: 24/10/2006
From: Pepperland

Here are some books I read recently that I really liked:

Starter For 10 by David Nichols. This is really funny! I laughed a hell of a lot. I didn't get a chance to see the film unfortunately because it was only showing for a very short time. Stupid mainstream multi-plexes!

Down and Out In Paris And London by George Orwell. Here's a paragraph that I love:
"Most of my Saturday nights went in this way. On the whole, the two hours when one was perfectly and wildly happy seemed worth the subsequent headache. For many men in the quarter, unmarried and with no future to think of, the weekly drinking-bout was the one thing that made life worth living."

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. Really creepy short stories, within another creepy story.

Misery by Steven King. For some reason I'd not previously read much King. But this was a good place to start. I think I enjoyed it even more than the film.

< Message edited by jimbo909 -- 21/3/2007 7:00:22 PM >

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"This is an oldie. Well, it's an oldie where I come from."

(in reply to boaby)

Post #: 112

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 16/5/2007 10:53:58 PM

random13

Posts: 26
Joined: 14/5/2007
From: Neverland

k, some of these are sort of aimed at teenagers etc.. but there brill
-cherub series by robert muchamore - awesome
-alex rider series by anthony horowitz - so bloodly amazing
-tess gerristen is an awesome writer - esp her sort of criminal/forenic/medical books

ermm... what else...
-lotr!!!

_____________________________

what would life be without films......DEAD BORING!!!

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Post #: 113

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 8/6/2007 1:56:00 PM

Beckiw

Posts: 54
Joined: 3/2/2007
From: Darlington

The Band and the Banished - James Clemens I loved these 5 books when i read them and very much missed the characters after i finnished them. I like how he writes from different perspectives and always leaves you hanging it makes you want to read more and more (I have just bought the first book of his new trilogy can't wait to start reading)
Black Magician Trilogy and Voice of the Gods Trilogy - Trudi Cannavan I love this writer she writes some of the best fantasy ever and fantasy is basically all i read. She maes characters that you really invest in and never gets carried away with the magic and extravagant things that can happen in fantasy books.

(in reply to random13)

Post #: 114

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 29/6/2007 5:15:27 AM

Lazarus munkey

Posts: 1651
Joined: 20/3/2006
From: out of nowhere

quote:

ORIGINAL: jimbo909

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. Really creepy short stories, within another creepy story.

Just finished it. Oooh, feel the quality.

In parts, however, it's the Earl of Sickminster.

_____________________________

"Because I got the answers"

Last 5 seen
Chronicle 4/5
The Amazing Spider-Man 3/5
Young Adult 4/5
21 Jump Street 4/5
The Apartment 5/5

(in reply to jimbo909)

Post #: 115

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 6/7/2007 10:13:10 PM

Rumble Jack

Posts: 98
Joined: 29/6/2007

A Clockwork Orange
The Lovely Bones
The Ghost Road
David Copperfield
Jaws.

(All the classics at the moment)...

_____________________________

Who needs love when you're doing it up the bum?

(in reply to Lazarus munkey)

Post #: 116

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 19/7/2007 10:26:20 PM

Manxcat

Posts: 17
Joined: 2/11/2006

Rebecca is my favourite book ever. I read it when I was 11 and have done many times since, despite knowing what happens

Otherwise, I love Good Omens
                           Neverwhere
                           The Shadow of the Wind
                           Pride and Prejudice
                           The Secret History.

_____________________________

They had a blanket!

(in reply to Rumble Jack)

Post #: 117

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 24/8/2007 1:43:22 PM

Damo26

Posts: 121
Joined: 23/2/2007
From: Sailing away with Terry McKay

So much of what I like has been mentioned here already, and I'd have to add umpteen tedious lists of stuff by Huxley, Barker, King, De Maupassant, Du Maurier, Kafka, Camus, Hardy, Lawrence, McEwan, Roth, yada, yada, and yada yada some more per post per author, so I'll just throw one out there people might not have heard of, again French lit:

La Symphonie Pastorale by Gide. It's a novella you can still pick up as a double translation on Penguin Classics with Isabelle, but will always be one of my favourite bitter-sweet little stories; and it's utterly, utterly haunting.

Gide was often really good on all those delicate intricacies in human sexuality, wrestling such as he was, with his own; and this one really shows that aspect of forbidden desire in him off brilliantly.

To cut a long story short, a village pastor takes charge of the care of a young blind girl of 15 called Gertrude, he falls for her, and eventually, tragically, the shit has to hit the fan.

Well worth a read. The titular scene where he attempts to describe the concept of colour to a girl blind from birth using the music of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is unforgettable.

______________________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF3wOu7N42g

< Message edited by Damo26 -- 24/8/2007 2:01:34 PM >

(in reply to Manxcat)

Post #: 118

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 13/9/2007 8:23:24 PM

xmagic_dustx

Posts: 1741
Joined: 11/2/2007
From: Glasgow, Scotland

How can you have ommited this masterpiece!?! :O

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"I've killed a Hell of a lot of people to get to this point."

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Post #: 119

RE: Your Favouritest Books: Reloaded (Updated 26/10) - 10/11/2007 7:45:49 PM

damo1104

Posts: 4091
Joined: 27/9/2006
From: Cornwall

I am a real fan of the auther (pseudonym) AJ Quinnell.. he wrote the "Creasy" series of books (Man On Fire- recently remade starring Denzel Washington) and also the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child..
But have recently enjoyed the series of "Emperor" books by Conn Iggulden..based around the life of Caesar..and have recently got the first book of a new series he has written based on Genghis Khan...

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I am a loner
alone
in a crowded head
and crowded in a lonely world...

(words of Salena Godden)

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Post #: 120