quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveluci

*"Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck.  The ending scene of this book is perhaps the most hopeful of any novel I've ever read. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Darcyandthedark

This is Darcy.
 
Just a few off the top of my head that I'd personally recommend;

Horror:
'Salems Lot, The Stand, The Shining - all by Stephen King
Off Season, The Girl Next Door - Jack Ketchum (strong stomachs required, though)
Monster Island, Monster Nation - both by David Wellington
World War Z - Max Brooks

Thrillers:
The Day After Tomorrow - Allan Folsom (nothing to do with the movie, this is a cracking story with one of the most original twists ever)
Anything by James Patterson, but particularly the Alex Cross series (begin at the beginning with Along Came A Spider)
Anything by Michael Connolly - his Harry Bosch books in particular but I have yet to read a bad novel by him.
Anything by Michael Marshall Smith.

Humour:
Any of Bill Bryson's books.

Graphic Novels:
From Hell - Alan Moore (the definitive work on Jack The Ripper)
30 Days Of Night - Steve Niles (Vampires in Alaska - 'nuff said!)
Spiderman : Fearful Symmetry (Kraven's Last Hunt) - J M DeMatteis (simply one of the best Spidey stories ever)

There, that should keep you busy for a while.....

Darcy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

My list would include,

"Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them" a A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by Al Frankin.
Accurate,spot on and very funny,and plenty of footnotes,for the factinistas.

"Imperial Hubris" Why the West is Losing the War on Terror ,by Anonymous.(Michael Scheuer)
Michael Scheuer was a 22 year CIA veteran and headed the
"Bin Laden Issue Station"BTW,this same unit has been shut down,by bush)If you`re serious about the war on terror,this man`s books are required reading.

"Salt"-A World History by M.Kurlansky .
This book looks at salt`s affect on human societies.Salt was as valuable and important,(back then) as oil is today(for us).
Could any one imagine invading another country,over salt?
The author gives insights to how those "salt wars" were like our "oil wars", as well as pointing out the folly of both.

"The Art of War "by Sun Tzu
There is a re-editing of this classic by William Lidwell,that let`s people "get it".It`s paired down  and easier to read the translations.This is probably the most widely read military book, in history.



Yeah ,yeah boring, I know.The Frankin book is a blast,though and a quick read.

Peace

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

I see what you're doing, Level. You're picking our brains because you have no idea where to start next time you're in your local library. Or you get lost at B&N, don't you?

Have you ever read "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov?

And right now... I have my nose in 'Portrait of a Priestress: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece' (Joan Connelly).

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ORIGINAL: popeye1250

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ORIGINAL: Level

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ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Great motivational books that can be read in an hour or so....

"Johnathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach
"The Greatest Miracle in the World" by Og Mandino
"The Greatest Salesman in the World" by Og Mandino

Also....
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
"Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

erin, I started to make a wise-crack about why I'd read something written by someone named "Og Mandino", but instead, I looked at some of his work on the net, and I see why you recommend him.
 
Angela's Ashes is one of the funniest, and most heartrending reads I know of. Great, great book.

.
You know, and this is *my opinion* but you almost have to be mentally retarded to want to vote for Hillary Clinton knowing what we do about her.
I don't think Bush can hold a candle to her. And Bush is *BAD!*

quote:

ORIGINAL: RosaB

I'd be here forever listing or even trying to remember many of my best reads,  so I'll just name a couple of my favorite books of past and a couple I've recently read that I would recommend

Over the past week

Fiction
Please don't come back from the moon - by Dean Bakopoulos.

Non-fiction
The Glass Castle - by, Jeannette Walls
This book if read should quiet anyone that is a consant whiner about how bad their life is.  Brother if you thought you had it ruff growing up. 

Some books from the past  .
Non-fiction
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt,
This book was heart renching, funny, a page turner.  I love Mr McCourt's writing style

Fiction:
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The main character had me feeling very uncomfortable, but his sort of a moral personality is what kept me intrigued, nothing typical about this story.  Nothing sappy or redeeming here but much to make one think when it comes to humanity, morality.  Some may even think about their, knee jerk reactions to the behaviors of others that don't coincide with what one thinks is appropriate in a given situation.

The Reader,  by Bernhard Schlink.  Its got sex, abuse, Nazis major moral dilimas.  I recommended it to my therapist years ago, she loved it. 

I Know This Much Is True - by Wally Lamb
I read this almost ten years ago one of a few books I've read twice, even at its nearly 900 page count.   It was a hard read at first, I went throug soooo many emotions when trying to get through the first few chapters, but it was worth it.

Well that's my list, I've read so many more good books, just can't think of them right now. I tend to be reading at least two books a week and I was really thrilled that after not finding much worth reading lately, I did pick up the two lasted books mentioned at the top of this posting.   

Hello Rosa

quote:

ORIGINAL: charlotte12

quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveluci

*"Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck.  The ending scene of this book is perhaps the most hopeful of any novel I've ever read. 

I completely agree. I'm so glad my teacher made me read this in highschool because i never would have read it on my own.

The Education of Little Tree. I read this book many many times when i was young and would like to read it again as an adult. It really did make me laugh and cry.

A Prayer for Owen Meany. The characters in this book are written so well and the way the story unfolds left me with the same kind of hope i got from reading The Grapes of Wrath.


Sadly i have not done a whole of reading over the last few years. Too focused on the stuff i had to read for school. Now that it's back i think i will use this very list to get back into reading. Oh how  i miss it :P

quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

I see what you're doing, Level. You're picking our brains because you have no idea where to start next time you're in your local library. Or you get lost at B&N, don't you?

Have you ever read "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov?

And right now... I have my nose in 'Portrait of a Priestress: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece' (Joan Connelly).

 I do get lost in bookstores and libraries, but not from lack of ideas, but from too many lol. I used to have a huge want list, about 20 pages long, but hurricane rita ate it.
 
I've never heard of the Bulgakov book, why do you like it?

quote:

ORIGINAL: stella40

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World

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ORIGINAL: Owner59

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

Great motivational books that can be read in an hour or so....

"Johnathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach
"The Greatest Miracle in the World" by Og Mandino
"The Greatest Salesman in the World" by Og Mandino

Also....
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
"Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

erin, I started to make a wise-crack about why I'd read something written by someone named "Og Mandino", but instead, I looked at some of his work on the net, and I see why you recommend him.
 
Angela's Ashes is one of the funniest, and most heartrending reads I know of. Great, great book.

.
You know, and this is *my opinion* but you almost have to be mentally retarded to want to vote for Hillary Clinton knowing what we do about her.
I don't think Bush can hold a candle to her. And Bush is *BAD!*

Did I miss something?What did Hillary do?

I know this thread is about books,but please indulge me.

Why is it that Hillary get`s republicans so riled up?For years I`ve asked folks to give me examples of her fucking up or doing something wrong,some maleficence.Could you please be specific.

I get the myths and BS conspiracy stories(like the one about having an affair w/ Vince Foster,just before he killed himself),as well as boiler plate republican rhetoric.Still haven`t gotten a straight answer.Being against her is no biggy,we all have our preferences.But all this BS over Hillary,...it`s well,...
funny,interesting and puzzling.This has been going on for decades,well before Bill won the White House.

Could it be that republicans don`t like getting their asses kicked,by a girl?hmmmm

Peace

A good question, for a different thread. I'll ask the mods to slam the door shut before I see this thead turn into a free for all (especially when we have so many other venues for that ).

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

I see what you're doing, Level. You're picking our brains because you have no idea where to start next time you're in your local library. Or you get lost at B&N, don't you?

Have you ever read "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov?

And right now... I have my nose in 'Portrait of a Priestress: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece' (Joan Connelly).

 I do get lost in bookstores and libraries, but not from lack of ideas, but from too many lol. I used to have a huge want list, about 20 pages long, but hurricane rita ate it.
 
I've never heard of the Bulgakov book, why do you like it?

"The Master and Margarita" is a truly multidimensional novel. It's magical satire. It touches on so many subjects, and it is so close to my heart, I cannot begin to tell you the reasons why I like it... there are so many! But I shan't shut up just yet...

Take the historical context during which Bulgakov wrote it (Stalinist Russia - the novel was banned from publication for decades); it's a tale about Satan visiting atheistic Moscow. He and his associates (a cohort of bizare and hilarious demons, my favourite being named 'Behemoth' - a massive black cat that talks) create complete havoc in the city... seemingly for the fun of it. But in fact...

'Satanism' is intertwined with a novel within the novel; written by the Master, a current resident in a psychiatric hospital, where he describes Yeshoua Ha-Nozri's (Jesus of Nazareth to the layman) last days in Jerusalem, and his confrontation with Pontius Pilate... man, my copy of the book is so well-thumbed it's got a life of its own now. I wonder if it could be... the devil's work... ?!

The other dimension of the novel is the Master's love story with his mistress, Margarita, a beautiful young woman who 'witches herself out' to Satan in order to be reunited with her lover... Satan's ball and the souls of the eternally damned rising up from hell is a piece of literary anthology.

You'll just have to read it. I want a full report, on my desk SLAM, by August 1st .

I appreciate your enthusiasm.

quote:

ORIGINAL: RosaB

I'm adding the following book as fun reading for those looking for something a little different.  Nice easy reading.

"Such a Preety Face", edited by Lee Martindale
Its a collection of fantashy adventure stories featuring heroes and herions that are usually not considered of the ideal body size. 

So, they're not hunks, like me, is what you're saying...... *puffs out chest*