I know there are a lot of book threads around but, they are usually about what you are reading at the moment and sometimes the books just suck. I have a couple months off and would like to get some reading done. So, I was wondering what are the best 3 books you have read.
Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein… the most awesome fictional system of government and armed forces ever.
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. You seriously will not EVER want to stop reading this book.
Those are just two off the top of my head.
1984 was very good. Very good, indeed.
Atlas Shrugged is a very long and tedious book but I’m glad that I read it.
Frankenstein is very good. Not at all like the movies.
one more, The Wind Up Bird Chronicles. Read that.
Catch-22
1984
Watchmen
– Off the top of my head
Dracula
American Psycho
IT
The Prince
Titus Andronicus (The Shakespeare version of kill bill…)
Hell House
House of Leaves (not for the faint-hearted)
The Oath
The Framley Examiner (funny…)
Slaughterhouse-Five
Deliverance
Battlefield Earth
Dune
Absalom, Absalom!
A Clockwork Orange
Enders Game
The Haunting of Hill House
Running with the Demon
Thr3e
The Pillars of the Earth
Just a few off my ‘favorites’ shelf…
Non Fiction:
The Game by Neil Strauss
The Dirt by Neil Strauss
Robert Greene - The 48 Laws of Power
Fiction:
Any book by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
A. E. Van Vogt - Slan
Michael Crichton - State Of Fear
Michael Crichton - Prey
Robert Heinlein - Cat Who Walks Through Walls
Peter F Hamilton - The Reality Dysfunction series
D.F. Jones - Colossus Trilogy
Dan Brown - The Davinci Code
My local newspaper interviewed me several weeks ago asking just this very question. They heavily edited my comments, including only a few of the books I mentioned. You have only asked for three, but I’m going to take this opportunity to be unabridged. At any rate, my own “best list” from the last year:
Non Fiction:
The Human Zoo and the Naked Ape by Desmond Morris
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
the New Science of Strong Materials or Why Your Feet Don’t Fall Through the Floor by JE Gordon
The World of Carbon and The World of Nitrogen by Isaac Asimov
Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt
Red Giants and White Dwarfs by Robert Jastrow
Though not technically books, I’ve found the audio lecture series available through the Teaching Company thoroughly enjoyable. Granted, I’m keen to absorb but anyone trying to maximize efficiency and still learn effectively ought to try one or two of these series.
Fiction:
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
Breakfast of Champions and Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
Squiggles, “House of Leaves” looks intriguing. I’m not a fan of typical horror, though. Would you say it’s relatively far removed from Stephen King or is it, even with its fresh form, similar at the core?
Thomas, I’m skeptical about The Game. I’ve heard it approaches communicating with women with a scientific perspective. If you have read anything by Desmond Morris, would you draw any comparisons? Is the purported science a misinformed description?
Shakedown Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson-pretty decent to read something that does not try and blow smoke up your ass about how much good this fool does.
Five years to Freedom- The strength of the human spirit is amazing
The Bible
[quote]malonetd wrote:
Catch-22
1984
Watchmen
– Off the top of my head[/quote]
Watchmen the comic book? Wasnt expecting that if thats what you are referring to, GREAT book. If you have any interest in comic books I’ll recommend a few more.
Batman : The Dark Knight Returns (from the guy who did 300)
League of extraordinary gentleman (nothing like the movie, blows it out of the water)
The Sandman (10 part series, widely regarded as the best comic book of all time)
V for Vendetta (better than the movie IMHO)
Y: The last man (Something kills every man on earth but one guy and hit pet monkey)
Basically anything by Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Brian Vaughn is a great start. Amazon has some good comic lists on their listmanias, I didnt get into these until a few years ago and I have REALLY taken to the genre, wish I read them as a kid.
The Great Gatsby - if you analyze it the correct way, its meaning gets changed completely around
Sophie’s World - blends the history of philosophy with a nice story
Atlas Shrugged - this will take you an extremely long time to read (1160 pgs) but well worth it
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Catch-22
1984
Watchmen
– Off the top of my head
Watchmen the comic book? Wasnt expecting that if thats what you are referring to, GREAT book.
[/quote]
Yes, that’s what I was referring to. Like I said, it was just a list off the top of my head. I know the fact t hat it is a graphic novel will turn some people off, but Watchmen is a great book and is even listed on Time Magazine’s 100 greatest novels.
Of course, ask me this question again in six months and I might say three different books.
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Blood Meridian (absolutely amazing book)
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The Master and Margarita
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The Brother’s Karamazov
Fiction:
Velocity by Dean Koontz.
Homer - The Illiad
Homer - The Odyssey
Non-Fiction:
FM 21-76
[quote]B.b. in stress! wrote:
Sophie’s World - blends the history of philosophy with a nice story
I double that!
What I can think of right now:
Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
Crime n Punishment / The Accidental Family and Notes From Underground by Dostoevski
Shibumi by Trevenian
The School of Gods by Stefano Elio D’Anna(still reading)
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield(still reading)
Dammit, I’ve had Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky sitting on my desk for at least a year and I’ve only read the first few pages.
House of Leaves is tough to describe. It’s literally two books in one. I made it 1/4 the way through and lost interest.
I’m currently rereading the Parker novels by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake). The movie Payback is based off of these.
Great series, pulp crime fiction at it’s best. They are a quick read, fun, not to deep. These books won’t teach you anything or lead you to deeper thinking, but they are very entertaining.
Blink! - Malcolm Gladwell
I don’t follow authors, but I asked for a couple more of his books for christmas just because I like him so much.
[quote]IvanDmitritch wrote:
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Blood Meridian (absolutely amazing book)
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The Master and Margarita
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The Brother’s Karamazov
[/quote]
That’s uncanny, those are the next three fiction books on my bookshelf, hoping to get through them all within six months.
Top five for me:
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Brave New World
The Road
In Pharaoh’s Army
The Transformation of War
[quote]Oda wrote:
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. You seriously will not EVER want to stop reading this book.
[/quote]
Fact.
Also:
Watchmen, by Alan Moore
Out, by Natsou Kirino
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
house of leaves is overrated.
my favorite three at the moment:
- Infinite Jest - David foster wallace
- A confederacy of dunces - john kennedy toole
- Jesus son - denis johnson
authors: Irvine Welsh, Chuck Palahniuk (his earlier stuff) and Terry Pratchett.