Favorite Books (Manga Doesn't Count)

[Alice Catherine]

Probably The Giver by Lois Lowry for me. Awesome book. All rich preppy kids in America should read this and be happy for what they have. I didn't like Gathering Blue, though. Is the Messenger any better?
And of course, Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.
Best series ever, far surpassing Harry Potter, and clearly not Harry Potter's ripoff clone.

[Evil_Koala]

lol, Art of War.

[Reidar]

1984. I got sent to the counselor for laughing out loud in class at, "He smashed his fist into her solar-plexus." I love that book.

Same with The Old Man and the Sea, but that was read on my own leisure. I don't know whether the old man was pissed at me or at you guys, but he was definitely pissed.

And Dante's Inferno deserves mention for the most awesome Hell ever.

[Alice Catherine]

I've heard that The Giver is 1984 for pre-teens.
Needless to say, now I wanna read 1984.

[Jae Hoon]

The Scions of Shannara, imo blows away The Tolkien series.

[miko hanyou]

I can't remember the title of the book but i know it during WWII, a girl and her family saving their jewish friend(Her best friend) from the nazi soldiers that were gathering jewish people and getting her to escape germany. I wish i knew what it was called. (If anyone knows what book i'm talking about, please tell me the title. I read it a long time ago)

Another one called Holes by Louis Sachar, At first i didn't want to read it because i always got this theory that 'If a book is popular then it's boring' ex:Harry potter. But my teacher told everyone to pick a book out from the lockers behind the class, i choose Holes and liked it.

[Alice Catherine]

Harry Potter is really going downhill. I pray that the last book is better than OotP and HBP.
Meanwhile, Charlie Bone's getting more kick-arse. Such as Manfred getting ****ing fire powers.

[Japhyl]

These are some of my favorite books:

Chinese Cinderella
Farewell to Manzanar
The Neverending Story
The Giver
Kira-Kira
When My Name Was Keoko
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Little Prince

Probably The Giver by Lois Lowry for me. Awesome book. All rich preppy kids in America should read this and be happy for what they have. I didn't like Gathering Blue, though. Is the Messenger any better?
And of course, Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.
Best series ever, far surpassing Harry Potter, and clearly not Harry Potter's ripoff clone.

I've read all three of those Lois Lowry books, and I think the Messenger was better than Gathering Blue. I thought Gathering Blue was boring compared to the others.

[Holy Knight]

I love everything I read, so this is a tough choice for me to choose...

In Fantasy:

The Gormenghast Novels (Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone) are some of the most creative writing I will probably lay my eyes on. Mervin Peake is called a genius for a reason. I also have a soft spot for The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. The Narnia series is very well writen as well as the very known Lord of The Rings novels. I also very much enjoyed Stephen King's The Dark Tower series as well as the occasionnal H.P. Lovecraft novel.

Science-Fiction:

Ender's Game is marvelously crafted and so is the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Hyperion is a must for any cyberpunk and Dune, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 for old-school classics.

Phylosophy:

Definitely any of Plato's works. Not only are they cleverly crafted together, but you get an insight into the very ideas on which our society is formed. There are also the must-reads such as Kant, Descartes, Hobbes, Nietzche, etc. Among the more recent philosophers, I prefer Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila by Robert M. Pirsig.

Fiction:

East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Portray life in the early 1930's with glaring realism. Who can forget to add in the mesmerizing The portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and the quintessential Tom Sawyer series by Mark Twain? I'm not too much of a fan of plain fiction, but I'll also add in Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, which is a must read.

Physics:

All of Stephen Hawking's writings are fascinating and highly recommended if you don't mind the abstract world. I'm also currently reading The Physics of Immortality which is, so far, an engrossing read. Part Physics textbook, part novel, part insight into the computer's mind and the brain, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is a much easier read than your average textbook and, though not for the light reader, I highly recommend.

Random Stuff:

Dracula by Bram Stocker, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol, the Sherlock Holmes series and all other such classics are also must reads!

EDIT: Can't believe I forgot The count of Monte Cristo and The Canterbury Tales. Loved the books!

I love books! I couldn't select just one or two, so I made the above list, which is probably very underlisted, as I'm sure I'm forgetting more than one invaluable title. I'm currently sticking mostly to the classic works, so you won't really see unknown authors or books in there. Once I get done with the classics, I'm moving on to whatever it is that catches my fancy.

[ryushe]

"The count of Monte Cristo" - By Alexandre Dumas. It's my 2nd time reading this book.

I was really drawn to this book because of Gankutsuou, but funny enough I've never watched it till this day.

[nekochan]

Thr3e by Ted Dekker

[Ketaru]

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Loved the social satire...

[master terrence]

hard option, I could name a list, but I really thought it through and:

Hero by Robery Cormier.

This was a hard decision, but I was really engrossed into that book for some reason.

[sinistar816]

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. Also, any Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. You'd be surprised how many cheap offshots there are.

[master terrence]

Also, any Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. You'd be surprised how many cheap offshots there are.

Not suprised, it is like the Ars Poetica of mystery/detective books.

I am currently readin "The Cantebury Tales"

I h8 old english enough to make me... use "h8" in a sentence.

[goddessofanime]

Oh it changes all the time...

My current favorites are 'Stardust" by Neil Gaiman, "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, 'Running with Scissors" from Augusten Burroughs...

I could go on and on but I won't bore you all. Right now, I"ve been also on a Jane Austen and biography kick.

[cyborgaaron]

Harry Potter and almost anything by Stephen King and Anne McCaffrey

[Leader Desslock]

I am currently readin "The Cantebury Tales"
One of the best works in the hostory of the English language.

I h8 old english enough to make me... use "h8" in a sentence.
Be thankful you're not reading Old English then. ^_^

[master terrence]

oh what is it? middle english.

It isn't that bad... considering I got a transelated version.

But I have to transelate it anyways.

[Leader Desslock]

Yep. Chaucer's Middle English.

You're translating? From this?

Whan that Apprill with his shouris sote
And the droughte of marche hath percid þe rote
And badid euery veyne in suche licour
Of whiche vertu engendrid is the flour
Whanne zepherus eke with his sote breth
Enspirid hath in euery holte and heth
The tendir croppis / and the yong sonne
Hath in the ram half his cours y ronne
And smale foulis make melodie
That slepyn al nyght with opyn ye
So prikith hem nature in her corage
Than longyng folk to gon on pilgremage
And palmers to seche straunge londis
To serue halowis couthe in sondry londis
And specially fro euery shiris ende
Of yngelond to Cauntirbury thy wende
The holy blisful martir forto seke
That them hath holpyn when they were seke
Cool. I always loved translating, but it blew my spelling ability in modern English to pieces.

For comparison, Old English looks like this:
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,

monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra

ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!

[max payne]

Book of Dead Days
Anything written by Spike Milligan

[Evil_Koala]

What doth love be?

Old English looks funky...

[Lord Timaeus]

Harry Potter is really going downhill. I pray that the last book is better than OotP and HBP.

Yes, YES! HBP was especially disappointing, with its lack of a solid plot and Harry being too whiny for his own good. Then again, the fact that I got spoiled the important twist of the book may have hindered my enjoyment of the series.

As for my favorite book, I gotta go with Fahrenheit 451.

[kenshinbebop]

My absolute fave would have to be The Catcher in the Rye. It's pure greatness.

[ryushe]

2^ Forgot all about Fahrenheit 451, While not my favorite, It most definitely ranks pretty high.

Also forgot, Coldest Winter Ever - Sister Souljah. It was also a really good book to me.

[master terrence]

Whan that Apprill with his shouris sote
And the droughte of marche hath percid þe rote
And badid euery veyne in suche licour
Of whiche vertu engendrid is the flour
Whanne zepherus eke with his sote breth
Enspirid hath in euery holte and heth
The tendir croppis / and the yong sonne
Hath in the ram half his cours y ronne
And smale foulis make melodie
That slepyn al nyght with opyn ye
So prikith hem nature in her corage
Than longyng folk to gon on pilgremage
And palmers to seche straunge londis
To serue halowis couthe in sondry londis
And specially fro euery shiris ende
Of yngelond to Cauntirbury thy wende
The holy blisful martir forto seke
That them hath holpyn when they were seke

the prolouge isn't to bad. Except for the fact that pilgrims are boring. Took me a while to translate it, and I still didn't figure out what "Hath in the ram half his cours y ronne" meant until the teacher had to explain it. She had to explain it, I was off on a tangent with greek sacrafices.

[Leader Desslock]

the prolouge isn't to bad. Except for the fact that pilgrims are boring.
The descriptions are polite. The humor and artistry of the text lies in what is implied, rather than what was said directly. Read the description of the Monk. Chaucer's Pilgrim gives him quite a long and respectful description, but from the point of view of Chaucer and the audience, it's a slam. He's a monk and a man of god who's very much attached to the material world and creature comforts, hence the large gold pin he uses to clasp his hood, etc. It's a scathing portrait of a hypocrite, told in reverent terms by a narrator who clearly doesn't realize anything's amiss.

"Hath in the ram half his cours y ronne" meant until the teacher had to explain it.
It's the first recorded product placement, paid for by the Dodge corporation. :lol:

Here's a fun passage you might enjoy translating:

Anon he sellith his bed and his aray
Vnto a compiere of his owen sorte
That louyth dyse ryot and disporte
And hadde a wyf that held for contenaunce
A shoppe & swyued for hir sustenaunce
This one's a great passage to read in class, because you get to watch the wave of recognition spread slowly out over the class.

The more recognized passage, of course, is from the Miller's Tale:

Now sire and eft sire so be fyl the caas
That on a day this hend Nicholas
Fil with this yonge wyf to rage & to pleye
Whylis that her husbond was at Oseneye
As clerkis be ful subtil and ful queynt
And pryuely he caughte hir be the queynt
And sayde y wis but yf I haue my wylle
For dern loue of the lemman I spylle
And held here harde be the shank bones
And sayde lemman loue me at onys
Or I wol dye al so god me saue
Gods help me, we actually had a student ask what "caughte hir be the queynt" meant. My professor embarassed him so badly with the answer that it was a long time before he asked another question. :lol:

[Salainen]

Crime and Punishment and Candide...Probably

I also liked Brothers Karamazov.

[Salainen]

The descriptions are polite. The humor and artistry of the text lies in what is implied, rather than what was said directly. Read the description of the Monk. Chaucer's Pilgrim gives him quite a long and respectful description, but from the point of view of Chaucer and the audience, it's a slam. He's a monk and a man of god who's very much attached to the material world and creature comforts, hence the large gold pin he uses to clasp his hood, etc. It's a scathing portrait of a hypocrite, told in reverent terms by a narrator who clearly doesn't realize anything's amiss.


It's the first recorded product placement, paid for by the Dodge corporation. :lol:

Here's a fun passage you might enjoy translating:


This one's a great passage to read in class, because you get to watch the wave of recognition spread slowly out over the class.

The more recognized passage, of course, is from the Miller's Tale:


Gods help me, we actually had a student ask what "caughte hir be the queynt" meant. My professor embarassed him so badly with the answer that it was a long time before he asked another question. :lol:

...I liked that collection of stories...I prefered some of them to others, but I liked most of them...

[master terrence]

swyued... was my struggling point.

Some of it was easy, like dyse. Book is pretty interesting.

[Vaikyuko]

I particularly enjoyed Broken Sky, by Chris Wooding. Reminds me of my own works, except mine are mostly dystopian in some way. Treasure Island is another nice read. Also, does Watchmen count? It's technically a graphic novel, but not manga.

[Holy Knight]

I can't believe I forgot to include The Canterbury Tales. I knew I was missing something from my list. >_<

And would it embarrass me to ask what "caughte hir be the queynt" means? I read it as "caught her to be quiet", which is not a proper sentence...

And the first story, "The Knight", is the best one. :thumbsup:

[espy]

The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy.

[master terrence]

I can't believe I forgot to include The Canterbury Tales. I knew I was missing something from my list. >_<

And would it embarrass me to ask what "caughte hir be the queynt" means? I read it as "caught her to be quiet", which is not a proper sentence...

And the first story, "The Knight", is the best one. :thumbsup:

are you serious? Why would he catch her to be quiet? It was obviously set-up for ehr to cheat on her husband... obviously it means he caught her by the female reproductive organ.

EDIT: alright, I'm not going to lie, I looked up queynt. I get it though.

[Tenou]

Not suprised, it is like the Ars Poetica of mystery/detective books.

I am currently readin "The Cantebury Tales"

I h8 old english enough to make me... use "h8" in a sentence.

I'm taking a full year course on Chaucer and his contemporaries. And our text doesn't have the frickin' translation. Kind of funny store, an accounting student had picked up the course as an elective, no knowing who Chaucer was or what he wrote. Took one look at the text, laughed, and walked out of the class. Proff said it happens every year.

@ Alice, The Giver is being made into a movie... I haven't decided how I feel about this, so I won't comment on it too much, but I will say, that I'm not sure if it can be done successfully.

As for my favourite book... Right now, I think it might be Frankenstein, just because that's what I'm reading at the moment.

[master terrence]

A full year course on Chaucer O.O;

[kenshinbebop]

Catcher in the Rye(I already mentioned this one), 47 Ronin Story, Old Man adn the Sea, Fahrenheit 451 deffinately, more...

[Haro!]

Love in the Time of Cholera, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, it was the dumbest book i tried to read in high school so it holds a place in my heart. Plus you've got to love a book with a character nicknamed the "Shah of Blah"

Farenheit 451 is another one of my favorites.

But my absolute favorite is still One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Suess. It was the first book I read completely on my own. And the rhyming entertains me to this day.

[DazzleKitty]

One of the best books I have ever read is The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman. It had a very surreal feel to it, and there was this feeling of something dark and sinister about to happen. Very good book.

I also like a few books by Kristin Hannah and Beverly Lewis.

House of Shadows by Susan Bowden was good as well.

I have tons. I love to read...I've read lots of good books in my life.

[Holy Knight]

are you serious? Why would he catch her to be quiet? It was obviously set-up for ehr to cheat on her husband... obviously it means he caught her by the female reproductive organ.

EDIT: alright, I'm not going to lie, I looked up queynt. I get it though.

No, I get what it implies, I meant what words do those translate as. The meaning is...err...clear.

EDIT: Looked up "queynt"...Not a nice word...

...One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez...

Hum. How good is this book? It's on my reading list, but I'd like to know if I should bump it up as it's pretty much near the bottom of it. I'm told it's a classic.

[Leader Desslock]

swyued... was my struggling point...
Wording this much more politely than Chaucer's Cook: "She kept a shop for the sake of appearances, but prostitution was her bread and butter." ;)

The interest doesn't lie as much in the Cook's tale itself. The Cook's tale was never finished, nor was it likely meant to be. It's a segway. It follows the Knights tale (courtly love), the Miller's tale (a polite-company but still bawdy cuckolding tale), and the Reeve's tale (a vulgar rebuttal to the Miller's tale). By making the Cook's tale too vulgar to be continued, Chaucer allows his host to say, "Okay! Well, we've heard enough of those tales, how about something else for a change? Yes?" -_-;

an accounting student had picked up the course as an elective, no knowing who Chaucer was or what he wrote. Took one look at the text, laughed, and walked out of the class. Proff said it happens every year.
Yep. It does. I've seen it happen myself. There are people who look at the text and don't recognize a single word. It might as well be Greek.

As for my favourite book... Right now, I think it might be Frankenstein, just because that's what I'm reading at the moment.
That might stay your favorite. I can list 50 books that were all significant and important to me. I can list authors whose works I've studied and who've changed my view of the world completely. But when I try to boil this thread down to one single book, Frankenstein might be the one for me too.

[Stafal-chan]

O_O books that aren't manga exist!!? O_o :lol: Jus' messin'...i love the book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon ^_^ not too many ppl have heard of this though i don't think... :P

[Samurai Drifter]

The various incarnations of the Arthurian Legends are probably at the top of the list. I've read L'Morte D'Arthur (but not for quite awhile), Howard Pyle's version (King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table), and several other more modern versions.

Tim O Brien's Vietnam war novel "Going After Cacciato" is excellent (one of his other ones, "The Things They Carried" is quite good also). "What Dreams May Come" by Richard Matheson is another favorite (you may remember the movie based on it).

Also high on the list-
"Rose Madder" by Stephen King
"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein
"Orphans of the Sky" also by Robert Heinlein
"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis
"Jurrassic Park" and "The Lost World" by Michael Crichton (great author).

And many, many more.

[Bernard_Monsha]

If I had to pick 3 that I can read again with no problem.

Philosophy: The Sane Society by Eric Fromm

Modern Novel: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Novel: The Brothers Karamazov by Fydor Dostoevski

[hanakuza]

fantasy novels:
wheel of time
shannara series
sword of truth series
thomas covenant series
also like detective books

[bloodangel]

The Naked Lunch by William Sewart Burroughs is the best and the most demented book I'll ever read in a long time.

[HSaabedra]

The collected works of Khalil Gibran (in Spanish)
Messages from the Celestial Sanctum
Cosmos
The Communist Manifesto
The Little Red Book
The ATR/DHR manifesto and related streams of consciousness from Alec Empire.
Visual Explo sourcecode.

[Blaze]

Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt (memoir)
&
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden

[CrossboneGundam]

At the moment: Capital by Karl Marx and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.

[Bernard_Monsha]

At the moment: Capital by Karl Marx and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.


Gah, Marx is a terrible writer. Only Thomas Aquinas inspires the same terrible urge to chew my toungue off.

[Stelok]

Choose Your Own Adventure series
Star Trek #16: The Final Reflection

[CrossboneGundam]

Gah, Marx is a terrible writer. Only Thomas Aquinas inspires the same terrible urge to chew my toungue off.

Yeah, he might not be good at the writing, but he's still got some of the most solid criticisms of capitalism in that economic system's history.

[Smith]

Vampire Hunter D(and series), Hideyuki Kikuchi
Hondo, Louis L'Amour
Where The Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
The Russel Rules, Bill Russell

[Samurai Drifter]

Oh, forgot to add Fight Club and Brave New World.

[jedisolo]

Eagle in the Sky, River God, The Seventh Scroll, A time to die and Golden Fox by Wilbur Smith, Spencerville, By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille, Pillars of the Earth, A Dangerous Fortune, A Place Called Freedom, The Key to Rebecca, Code to Zero, JackDaws, Night over Water by Ken Follet. I love reading Star Wars books.

[Solid_Snake]

Enders' Game.
Tuesdays with Morrie.

[Mazinkaiser]

American Gods
Neverwhere
The Sandman: Book of Dreams
The Soong Dynasty
Wild Swans
Rainbow Six
Starfighters of Adumar

[Alice Catherine]

...Harry being too whiny for his own good...


...which is why I don't like the main characters in CB. They're either too whiny, too happy, or HFCs.
VIVA LA ZELDA!


@Tenou: OMFG NO F'ING WAY.
I'd like to see who plays Asher...and Fiona. I bet they'll get Ian McKellen for Giver. He's good with roles like that.

[RyoTD]

Right now I'm really into the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. So far, Small Gods and Mort are my favorites.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

are you my mother? - Dr. Seuss

[Haro!]

are you my mother? - Dr. Seuss
Oh man that book rocked also!!! That was the second book i ever read.

[Alice Catherine]

are you my mother? - Dr. Seuss
I never really got into Dr. Seuss. He was just too...weird.
I didn't really like kids books when I was a kid. If anything, I was really into Dear America/Royal Diaries when I was 6.

[hiroaki]

Telephone book
Atlas
Timetable

Mother Earth Father Sky by Sue Harrison

[Old Ape Face]

visual quickstart guide, Html, Xhtml & Css, Sixth Edition

you didn't say text books didn't count. :P

[Laharu]

Dune, Interview With the Vampire, Harry Potter

[Gundam_Warrior1]

The Dark Tower series by Steven King
Various Star Wars books.

I really put alot of my money into comic books (mostly Marvel, Dark Horse, and others).

[kimbeey13]

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
And Then There Were None (also known as 'Ten Little Indians') by Agatha Christie
Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar
a rose for melinda by Lurlene McDaniel
Into the Land of the Unicorns by Bruce Coville
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Telling Christina Goodbye by Lurlene McDaniel

[Danju]

I'm a fan of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series and can't wait for the final installment. He better finish it before he dies. <_<

[kimbeey13]

I can't remember the title of the book but i know it during WWII, a girl and her family saving their jewish friend(Her best friend) from the nazi soldiers that were gathering jewish people and getting her to escape germany. I wish i knew what it was called. (If anyone knows what book i'm talking about, please tell me the title. I read it a long time ago)


I think your talking about Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

[Alice Catherine]

Number the Stars is a good book.
But Lowry's best book is obviously the Giver.
Hands. Down.

[sailornyanko]

1984. I got sent to the counselor for laughing out loud in class at, "He smashed his fist into her solar-plexus." I love that book.

Hahaha, this is the problem with reading books with poorly done translations to spanish: I miss out on the dirty jokes. This is definitely a great book. Freaked the hell out of me. I strangely viewed that black haired woman as Cho from Zoids Fuzors with black hair and lighter skin. Strange.

And Dante's Inferno deserves mention for the most awesome Hell ever.

I just began reading this book (currently at song #3). If you loved Dante's Inferno, you should read the manga version of Saint Seiya the Hades saga since the anime version of Inferno isn't finished yet. The entire view of hell was pretty obviously taken from Dante's book. Just add uber hot guys and you're ready! ^o^

-

I loved Brave new world. Gives us a different view about socially accepted view of orgy and abortion.

I'd reccomend some parts of the Bible just for the harems. Jacob was in a harem before harem was a word.

There's a lot of great childrens book I'd love to reccomend, but I can't remember the names right now. One of them is an RPG book called the Sicilian contract. All of those books from that series are very fun to read. Love the ones where I end up getting killed. ^^'

Only read one Hitchhiker guide to the galaxy books, but I really enjoyed the sole one I read: The restaurant at the end of the universe. Hilarious and strangely a very deep phylosophical book without really intending it.

Sadly I don't have a lot of free time during semesters to read books that aren't medical books. So far I've actually been liking Structural and functional Pathology by Robbins but I think the book lacks detail in describing each disease. It's just way too basic. Though of course, who am I complaining? The book is over 1,300 pages long as it is (and I can easily say I've read 1/3rd of it).
I always liked Pharmachology by Rang a lot. Unlike the Goodman books, it's very straightforward and less chemical.
There is another Anatomy book I really liked a lot but I can't remember the author.

[JoeStrummer]

Crime and Punishment, 1984, Catcher in the Rye, LotR for fantasy, Alongside Night, And Atlas Shrugged, and Hitchhikers Guide heh