i have read enders game, speaker, and enders shadow. never read xenocide though. your right in something very new when i read it.
Some might wonder if War and Peace would of enjoyed its success if it would of went with its original title, War, Was it Good For?- Elaine Benes
As far as personal enjoyment and fulfillment... 1. Dune series 2. Song of Ice and Fire series 3. Animal Farm I love reading long series of books, and consider the entire story more as 'one book' rather than separate entities.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee The Dark Tower series - Stephen King Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell To Kill a Mockingbird was the first book I ever read in one sit down (I was on a flight to Atlanta). Terrific. Have read it numerous times. The Dark Tower series, I cant pick just one book. Thats like trying to pick one book of the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Theyre all one long story, just like Dark Tower. Gone With The Wind is a landmark of american literature. You didnt grow up in the south and not read or see Gone With The Wind. Its my favorite movie as well.
Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian. This is the first book in a twenty volume series that is really one large, grand historical novel. If you only saw the Russell Crowe movie, you are doing yourself a serious disservice. Compared favorably to Jane Austen by reviewers, I think O'Brian is better. I've read them all several times. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien. Another case where one great novel is broken up into several due to length and another case of the movie(s) being poor substitutes for the original work. The Hobbit is really the first, more humorous work, in this fantasy that ranks as the finest ever done, in my opinion. I've read these several times, as well. Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry. Easily the best Western novel ever written. After 800 pages and realizing you are near the end, you simply can't believe it. It is too damned good to be over. Calling it the best Western novel is really unfair. It is one of the best novels ever written by anyone in any genre. I really have others I'd rank right up there with the three I've chosen, but I'm happy to call these the best.
i do want to read it eventually. the godfather is on all the time and once when i was sick i watched the whole thing while wikipedia-ing every character that came up - you get the whole backstory from them all, i guess alot of which comes from the novel. after doing that it totally changed the way i watch the movie - the characters are so much more developed and intertwined than you realize - the movie really leaves out alot.
im about to start that after i finish welcome to the monkeyhouse. i mainly read history books, but most of my faves would be fiction and i cant just choose 3. duel of eagles - the texas revolution as your history teachers never taught you. ive read this book more than any other. breaks down all the mythology around the revolution and the participants. its non-fiction, but reads like a novel. required reading for all texans. confederacy of dunces - wow! i cant believe how many people put it at the tops! didnt realize it was that popular. people had been telling me to read this book for years and i finally did a couple years ago. funniest book i have ever, ever read. great story. unforgettable characters. just a perfect book. MAKE THE DAMN MOVIE ALREADY! slaughterhouse 5 - i read this book while riding the trains in germany, which was appropriate. didnt make it to dresden though. if i could have a beer w/ one person k.v. might be it. the holographic universe - quantum theory for the layperson. no other book has changed the way i look at the world or my place in it. the supernatural really is all around us. really cool stuff. history of the conquest of mexico - the moby dick of mexican history. written in the 1840's by a blind dude named william prescott, its a totally thorough historical account of one of the most fascinating events in human history, imo. about 900 pages. tale of two cities, things fall apart and uncle toms cabin get nods too.
Agreed that A Separate Peace was terribly boring. I have to say though that I liked Catcher in the Rye okay. It's not one of my favorite books by any stretch, but it was at least one of the best books I was forced to read in high school lit classes. And yeah, like I already said earlier, agreed on Watership Down. I almost pity anyone who hasn't read that book.
