I don't read anywhere NEAR enough. I like a lot of genres and some of my favourite authors include Jack Kerouac, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Herman Hesse, Aldous Huxley, Tolkien, Robert Frost, Mervyn Peake, George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, Simone de Beauvoir, Marcus Aurelius and John Milton. I used to read so so so much fiction but then studied science at university and haven't really had the time since. I read a lot of non-fiction, science and philosophy, but I don't read enough books: the only novels I've read in the last 6 months are the Silmarillion, Children of Hurin, Unfinished Tales and Tales from the Perilous Land (All Tolkien), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera, which I HATED), Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and there must have been others because that's appalling. (I've read lots of non-fiction in that time, but that's not the point). I used to read a book a week and I want to get back to that. I like sci-fi, fantasy, gothic, supernatural and horror, philosophy, literature, modern classics. I don't really really read crime, thrillers or romance, though maybe I'd like them if I tried. I need a LOT of book recommendations right now, please just recommend me ANYTHING right now and I'll read it, I'm desperate for the words of others. I don't care what it is. I got a few novels out the library tonight which I'm hoping to work my way through, but yeah. Please please please, I'm absolutely desperate.
As far as Modern Classics and Literature is concerned... John Fowles - The Magus Thomas Pynchon - The Crying of Lot 49 As far as Supernatural/Horror is concerned... (all short stories) Algernon Blackwood - The Willows (the only story to ever significantly scare me) Russel Kirk - There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding Charles L. Grant - If Damon Comes Stephen King - The Reach Clive Barker - Dread There's so much more, but these are all great stories... The Magus is EXCEPTIONAL
OK. I've read Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman), The Long Walk (Stephen King), Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) and Snow Crash (can't remember the author, haven't finished it but it's awesome as far as I can tell) between october and right now, and they've all come into my list of favorite titles (I read others, but they sucked.)
I'm currently working my way through the 'Nightside' series of novels by Simon Green, and would recommend them to anyone who likes their Supernatural stuff a bit surreal. Think Micky Spillaine meets Harry Potter for adults, and that should give you an idea.
Well you've already read the best! hehe! Got some great authors on that list. I'd recommend Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself and Before they are hanged, Terry Brookes it awesome high fantasy, I'm reading Stephen Hunt's Court of the Air at the moment but I'll admit it's not grabbing me. Neil Gaiman is great, check him out, and Stephen King's Dark Tower Series is just mindboggling. I hope you find something good! Let me know if you stumble across a winner!!
OMG how awful is it that I didn't even know he existed!?! *leaves office, gets in car, drives to nearest bookshop...
Well, there's a lot there for me to be getting on with! I borrowed a few books from the library on Monday and have finished a few books that I've wanted to read for ages: John Wyndham's The Chrysalids (which I liked), Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar (which I utterly hated, despite assuming I'd like it) and I'm abut to start reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. I'm forming a mental list of books I want to read so thanks for the suggestions, Neil Gaiman has shot straight to the head of the list because I've been wanting to read his work for a while. I've got to run out to get more books now but thanks again for all suggestions and feel free to add more if you think of them!!!
Hrmm, thats a pretty good list you have going already. How about you try Vladimir Nabokov? Anthony Burgress? Vonnegut? I don't if your familar with Dungeons and Dragons at all but a lot of the books are good. Salvatore being the filet.
I go to a used bookstore, to the end of the horror section, & pick up paperback anthologies by various authors. My favorite authors are Isaac Asimov, Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Robert Bloch, Anthony Boucher, Ray Bradbury, Frederic Brown, Ramsey Campbell, Hugh B Cave, August Dereleth, Thomas M Disch, Harlan Ellison, Philip Jose Farmer, Charles L Grant, Robert A Heinlein, Robert E Howard, W W Jacobs, M R James, Stephen King, Henry Kuttner, Joe R Landsdale, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Tanith Lee, Fritz Leiber, Thomas Ligotti, H P Lovecraft, Brian Lumley, Arthur Machen, Kim Newman, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert M Price, Joanna Russ, Clark Ashton Smith, Bram Stoker, Theodore Sturgeon, Steve Rasnic Tem, Lisa Tuttle, Manly Wade Wellman, and F Paul Wilson.
I always recommend Jennifer Fallon for fantasy (I absolutely adore her books) and another author that's very good for that is James Clemens. I particularly enjoyed his Banned and the Banished series. George RR Martin is also very good, as is Robin Hobb. I'm not so good with modern classics, but you might want to try Angela Carter, in particular her Nights at the Circus. There's also Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series, if that wasn't on your list (I can't remember). F. Scott Fitzgerald is a 20th Century author I quite like, though some of his books take a while to get into. You could also try Henry James. I hope you find something good to read soon.
Some of my favorite book are Airborn and Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel. I also like the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz- a friend reccomened them to me and they're pretty good. I wish i could think of something else, but i haven't had much time to go get more books lately.
I just finished The Madonnas of Leningrad and have moved it to the top of my favorites list. Fabulous book. Very short read- I finished it in two evenings, but absolutely stunning.
This is gonna be long... Piers Anthony's Incarnation of Immortality .hack// 1984 Fahrenheit 451 Brave New World The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay (except the third book) The Halo series Anything by Asimov, especially Foundation and The Gods Themselves. From Stephen King: Rage, The Long Walk ( awesome, this is A MUST. Well, pretty much everything on this list is, but you know), Carrie, Firestarter. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. Snow Crash (epic) Neuromancer A clockwork orange (hell yeah) Good Omens Discworld series by Terry Pratchett Anything by Neil Gaiman. Jumper Series (not anywhere near as crappy as the movies). Anything by Jared Diamond (not really fiction but very interesting). I am Legend (good, unlike the atrocious movie with the fresh prince) If you like to be depressed and/or are already a raving nihilist, or just plain like philosophy: Nietzsche. Kafka is awesome but tedious at times. Harry Potter is good if you have some time. The divine comedy. And, if you liked the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (unprobable, but still) or even if you didn't I recommend the whole 9 Haruhi Suzumiya light novels. Note: This books are all competing for my number one favorite. Seriously; I can't pick just one (except for potter, kafka, nietzsche [which is awesome but not really fiction], carrie, rage or jared diamond, they aren't really competing). Sorry but I couldn't remember all of the authors, but they are easily findable by the series name
Like someone before me said, Ender's Game (and all the other books that go with it.) If you like Tolkien try Robert Jordan or The Sword Of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Stephen King is always good. I would have a longer list if I could think straight. EDIT: I like Terry Brooks so much I went and got a review for his books. http://www.terrybrooks.net/novels/sword.html
I love the Belgariad and the follow up series the Mallorean, five books each, by David Eddings. I also really enjoy the trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima, Warrior Heir, Wizard Heir, and Dragon Heir. I second anything by Terry Pratchett. I'm just now in the middle of re-reading the Wee Free Men books and forgot how much I loved them. The Keys to the Kingdom series, by Garth Nix, is good but not finished yet. I also liked what I've read so far in the Leven Thumps series, by Obert Skye. Plus they've got a great website.
I love the Belgariad and the follow up series the Mallorean, five books each, by David Eddings. I also really enjoy the trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima, Warrior Heir, Wizard Heir, and Dragon Heir. I second anything by Terry Pratchett. I'm just now in the middle of re-reading the Wee Free Men books and forgot how much I loved them. The Keys to the Kingdom series, by Garth Nix, is good but not finished yet. I also liked what I've read so far in the Leven Thumps series, by Obert Skye. Plus they've got a great website.
I know this list was for someone else, but I pretty much wrote down everyon's suggestions. HAHA. I've been trying to create a reading list for 2009, but I find that many people I know aren't active readers. (I don't get it, but whaver.) This is a fantastic resource. As for my favourite books: A complicated Kindness (can't remember the author) Cornelia Funke's Inkheart Series Marth Well's Fall of Ile Rien Series The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown Harry Potter of course, lol The Giver - Lois Lowry Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury (but i'm sur eyou've already read that one) The Birth House Flowers for Argenon Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy And the as of yet, unpublished books by Sara King. I read them recently and feel in love immediately. She's still working on them a bit, but even in their raw form, they're fantasic. You can find them here: http://www.kingfiction.com/ There are more i can't for the life of me remember, but those are a good chunk. Hope they help.
Have you read anything of Chuck Palahniuk? He's pretty good. I love Fight Club and Choke. I've started on Haunted and I plan on reading Rant and Invisible Monsters too.
I just finished the Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Tough tough book to understand, but a treat to analyze if you're into that stuff! Hailed as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, it truly pushes the envelope on narrative style. Definitely worth a read if you don't mind a few headaches
Joyce's Ulysses, (anything by him) "Middlemarch", Shakespeare, "Paradise Lost", the Bible (King James version)- all classics
I can't believe that no one has mentioned the single greatest book of the last half-century: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
