Off of the top of my head.... "Cat's Cradle," -Kurt Vonnegurt "Master and the Margarita," Mikhail Bulgakov "You Can't Go Home Again," Thomas Wolfe "The Brothers Karamazov," Dostoyevsky "Hell's Angels," Hunter S. Thompson "Madame Bovary," Flaubert "Me Talk Pretty One Day," David Sedaris "A Confederacy of Dunces," Toole Everything by Mark Kurlansky...histories of the Basques, salt, the cod fish...tremendously interesting historian "Orientalism," Edward Said "Explaining Hitler," Ron Rosenbaum
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway Scarlett Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne (I actually hated this book when I first read it and actually tore my high school copy in half. I recently re-read it and found it amazing.) The Professors House - Willa Cather Lolita - Vladmir Nabokov On the lighter side, Carl Hiassen and Nick Hornsby always entertain me.
The best book I ever read was nonfiction, but was a brilliant piece of storytelling: The Guns of August by Barbra Tuchman. There have also been two science-fiction specific books that made me envious of the author Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age, both by Neil Stephinson. I know science fiction isn't supposed to be serious writing, but in both cases, after reading the book I was almost violent with jealousy that I didn't have the power to create something so good. I like all his books, but those two in particular were significant for me. I also forgot Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco which didn't make me jealous, as such, but left me understanding that there are people in the world who are so smart and so well educated I couldn't even manage a five minute conversation with them.
The Broken Spears : The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico - Miguel Leon-Portillo Timeline and Prey - Michael Crichton A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
Invisble Man by Ralph Ellison. Nothing else comes close to it in my mind, but there some others I like. Huck Finn by Mark Twain. A Grammar of Motives by Kenneth Burke. The Souls of Black folk by W.E.B Dubois. Go Down Moses and Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner. Man's Fate by Andre Malraux Poems that have Affected me: We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurance (sp?) Dunbar From the Dark Tower by Countee Cullen Nikki-Rosa By Nikki Giovanni
Lord of the rings and dune. Dracula. was a great written book, it perfectly uses al the thing people are afraid of.(Blood/ our weak spot the Neck/ it only happens at night, and that is the time people might be affraid/ wolves. and manny thing more) The secret history(donna tardt) als a great book
Best novel I've ever read was "Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King. It's one of his few non-horror works and it really kept me glued to the pages.
A Catcher in the Rye- Salinger(I was 12, and that book screwed with my head but good) On the Road- Kerouac The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test-Wolfe The Right Stuff -Wolfe A Time to Kill- Grisham Clear and Present Danger- Clancy (so much better than the movie it's not funny) Queen of the Damned- Rice (see above commentary)
1984 - Orwell A Christmas Carol - Dickens The Witching Hour - Rice Screwtape Letters - Lewis I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov right now....I'm thinking that might be making my list, as well.
Alas, Babylon - I read it from start to finish the same day. I seem to recall liking 'The Outsiders" when I was young. I like just about anything Dean Koontz writes.
I agree 1984 Walter Mosley - Easy Rawlin's Mysteries Ismeal Reid - Terrible Twos and Terrible Threes Way Past Cool Songs of Solomon - Toni Morrison Watchmen , V for Vendetta, Rocket River
Of the books that I've actually read through my eyes, my favorites are probably Lonesome Dove and Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry. Of the two, I liked Comanche Moon best. Very good book. I went through a phase when I was travelling a lot where I listened to a bunch of books on tape. I was able to catch up on all of the classics that I should have read when I was younger. Of the classics, my favorite was probably Call of the Wild by Jack London. Also I liked the Steinbeck books about Cannery Row. I think the other one was Sweet November. Of the books on tapes that I "read" was Angela's Ashes by Frank McCord. It was narrated by Frank McCord in his authentic Irish accent and that totally made the story for me.
Totally agree on the Enders Game Novel. i read it in my final year of high school as an assignment and have read it a couple of times since....... and im not one who reads many books!!! Bill Bryson, "A short History on almost everything..." is the most interesting book i have ever picked up. seriously i recommend this book to anyone with an interest in um,..... well just life in general i guess. some of the chapters you just marvel at the facts and figures - but others dont interest as much - depends what you are in to. for example, his chapters on chemistry didnt really interest me much, but his chapters about space and how the world began are sooooo interesting
I am 700 pages into Cryptonomicon and WOW!!!!! I love this book!!! World war two combat, espionage, cryptology, treasure hunting for nazi gold, high tech finance, and the proper way to eat Captain Crunch all rolled into one novel. I'm sick with the flu so I should be done soon. Alas, Babylon made me want to get Lasik.
