We've done the movie thread. Time for the Book thread.

[ForeverAutumn]

That movie thread was pretty interesting. In fact, I'm going to print it off as there were a lot of good recs there.

So, we've done the movie recs, now it's time for some book recs. I'm looking for some good summer reading. What are your favourite books and/or authors?

Here's a couple of mine to get the ball rolling.

Watership Down by Richard Adams - Yes it's about rabbits, but this is about as far removed from Peter Cottontail as it gets. I read this book about every four or five years and always enjoy it.

Blindness by Jose Saramago - I just finished this incredible story about an epidemic of white blindness which renders the entire world blind, except for one woman. The reader is able to see the world through her eyes. This isn't a disaster story as much as it is a social commentary about the psyche of people and adapting to change. Saramago won a Nobel Prize for literature in 1998.

The Stand by Stephen King - One of King's earlier books and one of my all-time favourites. This was written in the era of The Shining and Salem's Lot when King was, IMHO, in his writing prime. Later books like Cujo and Christine were such crap in comparison that I stopped reading him.

So, what do you spend your time reading?

[Troy]

King's "The Stand" is an old favorite. I like it's mix of the secular and mystical. That combined with the "last man on earth" scenario (another personal favorite theme) and I was totally hooked. His "Dark Tower" books are a lot of fun and he wrote a collection of short stories called "Everything's Eventual" a few years ago that had some really great stuff in it. In fact, his short stories are much better than his novels which tend to be bloated and meandering.

The best novel on THAT subject was "Earth Abides" by George Stewart.

I read a boxcar full of Sci-Fi in my teens and 20s. I read all the classics and then some. Bradbury, Asimov, Niven, Dick are a few favorites in the genre.

By the time I reached 30, I was burned out on it and just kinda lost my taste for fiction in general. Now I tend to only read fiction on vacation. For the last few years I've read a lot of crime stuff. Recent writers like Carl Hiaason ("Sick Puppy" has some hilarious music stuff in it-highly recommended) and Elmore Leonard and old like Dash Hammet and Jim Thompson.

2 books by Christpher Moore stick ut as well. "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" and "Blood Sucking Fiends". Really funny and clever stuff. Go to amazon and read the synopses. They are as good as they sound.

[nobody]

I'll toss out a few modern ones...

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Probably the best recommendation for most people as it concerns itself with trials and turbulations of family life and really touches on many universal type situations. The writing is absolutely top notch. I just rad it recently and it is absolutely one of the most well-written modern books I've come across. More character driven than plot driven, so doesn't lend itself well to a quick description, but an excellent book.

Paradoxia : A Predator's Diary by Lydia lunch
This one ain't for the weak of stomach. it chronicles physical, mental and sexual abuse in great detail. Lydia, of course, has a strong and forceful voice throughout, as we watch the victum evelove into the predator.

A Different Kind of Intimacy: The Collected Writings of Karen Finley
Collected work of performance artist Karen Finley that touches on many issues of modern America. The poetry and short works are woven into the book while a main narrative covers her career and legal battles. Some fine illustrations as well. My favorite quote from the book goes, "I kill myself because I love you; If I loved myself I'd kill you."

There's three from the modern world. Usually, I tend to read old stuff. I';m also a big fan of Truman Capote (start with In Cold Blood) and a few others.

[dld]

Anything by Richard "Big Dick" Kinky Friedman is guaranteed to please,

as is Dan Jenkins' Semi Tough (unfortunately dated but still a great read), Baja Oklahoma (will NEVER be dated), and Dead Solid Perfect.

Of course, that Davinci Code novel was great

Old Tom Clancy was very good too, especially those written during the cold war period.

[Davey]

My tastes kind of go in cycles, but right now and for the last couple years I've been back heavy into science fiction, mostly what is termed hard sci-fi, meaning lots of real science in the fiction. Helps to have a good library right across the street so I've been reading tons the last year. Hard to remember most of them, but here's 10 memorable and recommendable sci-fi books I've read recently that (I think) are all from the modern era, 1990s to present.

1. Hyperion - Dan Simmons
2. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
3. A Talent for War - Jack McDevitt
4. Forever War (Author's Complete Edition) - Joe W. Haldeman
5. Moving Mars - Greg Bear
6. The Reality Dysfunction: Emergence and Expansion - Peter F. Hamilton
7. A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
8. Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
9. The Wreck of the River of Stars - Michael Flynn
10. Look to Windward - Iain M. Banks

[nobody]

Speaking of all this Sci Fi stuff...has anyone else read William Morris's News From Nowhere?

An interesting read considering it's a sci fi book written before technology crept into our lives. It's a vision of the future written in 1890 or so. In this future, people don't improve things by using bigger and better tools, but by improving their performance. Just thought it may be of interest to the sci fi buffs out there, and it's a quick, short read. Politically minded sci-fi from days gone by.

[tentoze]

So, what do you spend your time reading?
Whew, where to start? I'll go with authors for $20, Alex:

Walker Percy- One of the finer story-tellers of the era. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Percy in Baton Rouge years ago. Some of his novels are set in the future, but not sci-fi. Most deal with alienation in the modern world. Any of his small total output are well worth reading.

Peter Matthiesson- About 1/2 and 1/2 split between real-world nature advocacy and pure fiction. His Killing Mister Watson trilogy is a superb read.

Gunter Grass- just anything he ever wrote, as long as you're up for a challenge.

Lawrence Durrell- The Alexandria Quartet still contains some of the most beautiful English prose I've ever read.

Vonnegut- Any and all.

[Stone]

I read all day at work and for some reason I lost interest in reading for enjoyment, so I just don't read much anymore. I did recently read the last Johnny Cash autobiography, entitled Cash, which was decent. It was more interesting from perspective on who his friends were at certain times and his interactions with them than anything else for me.

I also have sitting at my place a Ray Davies autobiography, a Bob Marley biography, and a book on Trojan records. I also have The Book of Treachery that sounds pretty interesting.

I'm also looking for a good book on the history of Iraq and/or Kurdistan, especially the more recent (last 100 years or so) history.

[Mr MidFi]

I just spent 20 minutes typing in a lengthy post here, only to lose it all when I hit Submit. Soemthing about a busy server. Whatever. Here is the quick & dirty version:

New Tim Sandlin book: don't. Get Skipped Parts or Sorrow Floats instead. Or Sex & Sunsets. Or Social Blunders.

New Margaret Atwood, called Oryx & Crake, is interesting post-apocalyptic stuff but not for everyone.

Agree about Vonnegut, especially the titles no one hears about (Mother Night, Jailbird, Player Piano, Deadeye Dick).

PK Dick: I just finished my 32nd by him. Lies, Inc. not worth it unless you are a completist. 3 Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Scanner Darkly, Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep, The World Jones Made, Ubik, Transmigration of T. Archer, Now Wait til Next Year, Man in the High Castle, Confession of a Crap Artist are all better bets.

DaVinci Code: little cheesy, but great fun.

The Devil in the White City: I'm starting tomorrow. Looks interesting.

[Dave_G]

Hmmm.

I used to read a lot but have little time for reading, much less listening to music.

Anyway, I like Vonnegut a LOT. I have read every single one of his books several times.

I also liked the Gap series by Steven Donaldson. Excellent outerspace sci-fi stuff.

Read a lot of Ludlum too.

And I read the crap out of the Hobbit and LOTR of course.

Mainly I read kids books now to the kiddies and I read bicycling and music magazines and look at Penthouse.

Dave

[Dusty Chalk]

I've been on an Orson Scott Card kick lately. A couple of recent ones (besides the obvious Ender's Quartet):

Treasure Box
Enchantment
Songmaster

I would recommend either of the latter two first, although the first one won't disappoint.

...and I also recently finished reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. I would recommend anything by this guy, but I wouldn't start with this one, as it is a "difficult" read (plus, it's part of "the Baroque Cycle", and he's already written the next two! Can you believe it!?!).

[BradH]

That movie thread was pretty interesting. In fact, I'm going to print it off as there were a lot of good recs there.

So, we've done the movie recs, now it's time for some book recs. I'm looking for some good summer reading. What are your favourite books and/or authors?

I always get into the freaky stuff during summer. If you're into fantasy then you should know the event of the decade is George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series. Some have called it the best fantasy since Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books. I wouldn't know because it's the only new fantasy I've read since the Covenant series; I usually go for the older stuff. What I can tell you is it isn't like anything else I've ever read. We're talking serious violence, the worst I've ever read - as in don't get attached to any character because everything is unpredictable. Gawd, what a twisted mess. Extreme political intrigue in a decaying medieval setting and just about everybody sucks. The books are huge but you'll rip through them because they're page-turners. I think he's up to the fourth book out of a six-book series. These books should come with seat belts 'cause it's a helluva ride.

Davey mentioned hard sf but he didn't mention Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Hands down, Stan's the man and the Mars Trilogy is easily equal to Dune or Lord of the Rings. The best sf I've ever read. NASA even designed the offical flag of Mars after the Red, Green & Blue books. How 'bout that for promotion?

[DPM]

...here's some recs from when I was on a tear.

1) Stephen King/The Stand--Indeed, this is his best. I also recommend It, The Shining, Needful Things, and Night Shift (his first collection of short stories).

2) Dean Koontz/The Watchers--A fantastic book. The movie from the 80's does not compare. A good second choice is Phantoms.

3) Michael Crichton/Jurassic Park--Another fantastic book. The movie from the 90's does not compare.

4) John W. Campbell Jr./Who Goes There?--The novella upon which the movie The Thing was based. The Carpenter flick is much truer to the story than Howard Hawk's version.

Dave M

[Davey]

Davey mentioned hard sf but he didn't mention Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. Hands down, Stan's the man and the Mars Trilogy is easily equal to Dune or Lord of the Rings. The best sf I've ever read. NASA even designed the offical flag of Mars after the Red, Green & Blue books. How 'bout that for promotion?
I did read the first one but it kind of lost me with all the politics and rioting and warfare toward the end. A lot of the story didn't seem all that plausible being set only about 20 years in the future at launch time. Guess I got a little bored with it and didn't feel compelled to continue with the series. I kept hoping he would cut out some of the repetitious characterizations and interject more adventure into the story. Got a litttle depressing. I will say that I thought parts of it were brilliant and it certainly qualifies as an epic. And it does seem that most people enjoy the series as much as you, in fact the Green and Blue volumes both won the Hugo award. Maybe one of these days I'll have to give Green a try. If you haven't read that Moving Mars novel by Greg Bear, I'd highly rec it. Also involves a conflict between Earth and Mars with a lot of politics but I found it more entertaining. I think it won a Nebula award around that same mid 90s time. [Just checked and Red Mars won the Nebula in 93, Moving Mars in 94.] Fun book. Did you ever read the Heinlein classic The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? Similar type of story played out between the Moon and Earth, but a fascinating book from all angles, political and scientific. Not quite the detail of the Robinson trilogy, but a blast to read and ponder.

[BradH]

I did read the first one but it kind of lost me with all the politics and rioting and warfare toward the end. A lot of the story didn't seem all that plausible being set only about 20 years in the future at launch time. Guess I got a little bored with it and didn't feel compelled to continue with the series. I kept hoping he would cut out some of the repetitious characterizations and interject more adventure into the story. Got a litttle depressing. I will say that I thought parts of it were brilliant and it certainly qualifies as an epic. And it does seem that most people enjoy the series as much as you, in fact the Green and Blue volumes both won the Hugo award. Maybe one of these days I'll have to give Green a try. If you haven't read that Moving Mars novel by Greg Bear, I'd highly rec it. Also involves a conflict between Earth and Mars with a lot of politics but I found it more entertaining. I think it won a Nebula award around that same mid 90s time. [Just checked and Red Mars won the Nebula in 93, Moving Mars in 94.] Fun book. Did you ever read the Heinlein classic The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? Similar type of story played out between the Moon and Earth, but a fascinating book from all angles, political and scientific. Not quite the detail of the Robinson trilogy, but a blast to read and ponder.

I remember not being particularly blown away with Red Mars, myself. But it gets a lot better. Halfway through Green Mars it suddenly hit me that all of this was coming out of one man's head. It hardly seemed possible. The thing about the beginning being set in the near future is overrun by the discovery of those longevity treatments, so you get the original settlers watching a large slice of time with most of the events not happening in the near future at all. The real genius of the series is how the viewpoint cycles through the different characters as time goes on, the way they see events and each other. One person may be acting crazy until you get to that person's perspective and it all suddenly makes sense. That's the Pillip K. Dick influence on Stan Robinson, the changing perspective in reality itself. It's not just hard science, either. It's political, spiritual, adventurous, all depending on who's telling the story. It's writing at a very high level that you don't normally find in science fiction. Lotta descriptions of rocks and land formations, though. A real nature-loving thing. I couldn't figure out how a geologist could write like that until I learned he was a literature major who knows how to use a library. I don't think anyone else is in the ballpark with him right now.

I read Bear's Moving Mars but it seemed awfully static and cyberish, sort of like non-Dune Frank Herbert. It was depressing to read about people living underground just after Blue Mars. There was a flood of Mars books at that time. I think The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress was the last good book by Heinlein, at least from what I read which was everything up until '73. He went downhill fast like H.G. Wells. The later stuff from the 80's is supposed to be a return to form but Heinlein at his best is not something I've ever been very excited about for some reason. A lot of the old school sf is decidedly libertarian and quite smug about it. Stan Robinson cuts against that grain and gets described as a liberal ideologue because of it - which he may be in person but his books are much more than simple ideology. Fred Pohl is damned good with social commentary, too. He must be like 180 years old or something but still razor sharp.

For the record, Green and Blue Mars won Hugos and all three won Nebulas. Also, if you liked The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, you should check out Varley's Steel Beach which is a sort of a modern take-off from Heinlein's book. Varley, now there's a fun writer.

[dld]

...here's some recs from when I was on a tear.

1) Stephen King/The Stand--Indeed, this is his best. I also recommend It, The Shining, Needful Things, and Night Shift (his first collection of short stories).

2) Dean Koontz/The Watchers--A fantastic book. The movie from the 80's does not compare. A good second choice is Phantoms.

3) Michael Crichton/Jurassic Park--Another fantastic book. The movie from the 90's does not compare.

4) John W. Campbell Jr./Who Goes There?--The novella upon which the movie The Thing was based. The Carpenter flick is much truer to the story than Howard Hawk's version.

Dave M

Your post helped clear a few cobwebs from whats left of my brain,

I'll have to look up Who Goes There. Carpenter's version rules.

Koontz. The Watchers was good. Maybe my favorite by him was Lightning. A time travel book with a huge, huge twist. A very sympathetic, heroic lead character.

I think King's Shining and Salem's Lot may have been his best. The Shining was good all the way thru to and including the end. The end of The Stand (Which I liked very much) left me disappointed. his short story from Night Shift, The Body, made into the movie Stand By Me, was also excellent. Kings 5 novelletes, condensed into The Green Mile, were good. Personally thought "It" was pretty scary and the movie, up until the end, not half bad.

Michael Crichton has had a few hans't he? Ever read Airframe? Not great, but pretty suspenseful. Andromeda Strain rules as of course does J. Park. They made the inventor too lovable in the flick. He was pretty dark in the book if memory serves...

Joseph Heller's Catch 22 rules.

John Irving has written some killer books also. Garp is a personal favorite.

Ayn Rand, can't say enough, even if you don't like the politics, Atlas Shrugged was a page turner....

Scott Turow started out with a bang with Presumed Innocent, a good read/flick.

[Davey]

Also, if you liked The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, you should check out Varley's Steel Beach which is a sort of a modern take-off from Heinlein's book. Varley, now there's a fun writer.
Nice description of Robinson's work. I loved the geology and most of the adventure, just not some of the long stretches of internal dialog. I'll definitely check out the next one and give it a chance.

And yeah, I haven't read any Varley since the mid 80s and stuff like Millenium and Titan and Wizard. I did check out his latest Red Thunder from the library a few months ago but only read the first chapter. Seemed like it was written for kids and didn't grab me. I have read some of Heinlein's 80's stuff, namely The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and the following To Sail Beyond The Sunset and kind of remember liking them and I do still have them both in the bookcase, but haven't read them again since. I did read The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress again recently (along with some other early ones) which is why it was on my mind. Pohl has certainly written a lot of gems. In the last year I read the first two books in his Eschaton trilogy which was fun. Not exactly classic, but enjoyable reads. Funny, for some reason that I'm not quite sure of I have a copy of Pohl's Gateway sitting on my coffee table right now and have for at least the last couple months. Guess I must have read it again a few months ago. Do you often forget what you've just read? I do http://forums.audioreview.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

[Pat D]

That movie thread was pretty interesting. In fact, I'm going to print it off as there were a lot of good recs there.

So, we've done the movie recs, now it's time for some book recs. I'm looking for some good summer reading. What are your favourite books and/or authors?

Here's a couple of mine to get the ball rolling.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Blindness by Jose Saramago -

The Stand by Stephen King -

So, what do you spend your time reading?
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Of course you could see the movies!

Frederick Rolfe aka "Frederick Baron Corvo," Hadrian VII.

Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel, The NaKed Sun, The Robots of Dawn, The Foundation Trilogy.

Olaf Stapledon, Star Maker.

Bernard Shaw, Plays Pleasant, especially "Candida."

Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland (A Romance of Many Dimensions).

Sydney J. Harris, Pieces of Eight. Harris was a newpaper columnist.

Dhammapada, trans. Ananda Maitreya.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.

G. K. Chesterton, The Complete Father Brown Stories, Heretics (literary criticism), Orthodoxy, The Everlasting Man.

Agatha Christie, The Body in the Library (Miss Marple)

Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Books, Just So Stories.

Lewis Carroll, Alice and Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass.

Hans Kohn, Nationalism.

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton.

Edwin Way Teale, Journey into Summer (nature writing, one of a series of four books, one for each season).

[Chip_B]

I just finished Dean Koontz' 'One Door Away From Heaven' and liked it very much. I've read at least ten of his books and like most of them, though none are better than 'Intensity'. Never has there been a more aptly named book.

I've read most of Stephen King's books and have to disagree that his best novels were confined to his 'early' years. The Green Mile is, IMHO, the best thing he ever wrote and he's written other noteworthy and altogether creepy stuff like 'Bag of Bones'.

I read a lot of Eric (von) Lustbader's stuff and always found his spy thrillers to be far more intriguing than Ludlum's fate-of-the-world-hangs-in-the-balance storylines. Unfortunately, Lustbader got way too fond of mysticism and essentially ruined the characters who had been interesting in early books.

I liked Clavell's books (Shogun; Tai-pan) up to a point. I thought Noble House was pretty absurd though and his last book was a waste of time.

Like Dave Nasty, I like Scot Turow's books. He's a more literary Grisham. Also like Dave, I like the Kinkster (Armadillos and Old Lace).

Though I've only read one book by Tom Robbins, 'Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates' is one helluva read: outrageous, funny, profane, and charming.

I like mystery/thriller writers like James Patterson (though some of his most recent stuff falls really flat), Harlen Coben, Jonathan Kellerman, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, and Stephen Hunter.

Like most guys, I was an insatiable Sci-Fi/horror reader growing up. I'm a big P.K. Dick fan (Man in the High Castle is my favorite) and loved Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, Fritz Leiber, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, and Harlan Ellison among others. I liked fantasy too and in addition to the Tolkien books, read several of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders stories, Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant trilogy. I never really 'groked' Heinlein though. He always bored the snot outta me.

Count me among those that like Vonnegut too.

[ForeverAutumn]

Ayn Rand, can't say enough, even if you don't like the politics, Atlas Shrugged was a page turner....

I read The Fountainhead a few summers ago and loved it. Atlas Shrugged is sitting on the shelf waiting for me. I did start it once. I got through about the first 100 pages and realized that, at the time, I wasn't able to devote the attention to it that it deserved, so I put it aside. I've been contemplating making a summer project out of it. If you like Rand's writing, Anthem was also an excellent read.

[dld]

I If you like Rand's writing, Anthem was also an excellent read.

ANTHEM!! I was trying to think of that one as I was writing the Atlas Shrugged prop. What a neat little novelette. She said so much with so few words (for a change, ha ha).

Give Atlas Shrugged a try. A helluva great mystery, a little sci fi, some solid economics, a lotta politics, and great romance(s). Loved The Fountainhead too.

[ForeverAutumn]

ANTHEM!! I was trying to think of that one as I was writing the Atlas Shrugged prop. What a neat little novelette. She said so much with so few words (for a change, ha ha).

Give Atlas Shrugged a try. A helluva great mystery, a little sci fi, some solid economics, a lotta politics, and great romance(s). Loved The Fountainhead too.

You've inspired me. I've pulled Atlas off the shelf. I greatly enjoyed what I read when I started it. That's why I didn't read it at the time...I wanted to be able to focus on it and I didn't have the time then. I'm still not sure that I have the time, but really, when will I ever? Besides, I need to know, who is John Galt? ;)

Have you read her essays also or do you just stick to the fiction?

[Gresh]

Maybe I'm really out of touch - none of my favorites are on anybody's list - anyway:

- Pillars Of The Earth : Ken Follet

- High Fidelity and About A Boy: Nick Hornby

- Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha: Roddy Doyle

- The Industry Of Souls: Martin Booth

- The Fu@k - Up: Arthur Neresian

- The Rachel Papers: Martin Amis

- Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked: David Sedaris

- Replay: Ken Grimwood

- The Basketball Diaries: Jim Carroll

- The Alienist: Caleb Carr

- A Drink with Shane Macgowan: Victoria Clarke & Shane himself.

[BradH]

Maybe I'm really out of touch - none of my favorites are on anybody's list - anyway:

- Pillars Of The Earth : Ken Follet

- High Fidelity and About A Boy: Nick Hornby

- Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha: Roddy Doyle

- The Industry Of Souls: Martin Booth

- The Fu@k - Up: Arthur Neresian

- The Rachel Papers: Martin Amis

- Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked: David Sedaris

- Replay: Ken Grimwood

- The Basketball Diaries: Jim Carroll

- The Alienist: Caleb Carr

- A Drink with Shane Macgowan: Victoria Clarke & Shane himself.

Oh MAN! How could I forget The Alienist? The sequel was good, too.

[dld]

[QUOTE=Gresh]Maybe I'm really out of touch - none of my favorites are on anybody's list - anyway:

- Pillars Of The Earth : Ken Follet

- High Fidelity and About A Boy: Nick Hornby

QUOTE]

If you're a Follet fan , you must have read On Wings Of Eagles right? What a great true life tale and a heckuva Made For TV Movie. Burt Lancaster's acting job as no nonsense Col. (ret.) Bull Simon was awe inspiring. The story of the worst hotel on earth in Van, Turkey truly sounded like the worst hotel on earth.

And High Fidelity is on my short list. That is the one the movie was based on?

Oh yea, add Shibumi to my recommended list. I still return to it every couple of years or so.

[-Jar-]

I'll just give a quick list of my favorite books, since I haven't had any time to read hardly anything in the past year or so.. I have started several books, but that's about it.. mostly parenting stuff (they never tell you it's the hardest job in the world do they)

Vonnegut.. I love everthing I've read by him.. my favorite so far is BLUEBEARD.. but I haven't read it in years because most of my Vonnegut books were stolen several years ago. A close 2nd would be SIRENS OF TITAN.

Irving.. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY.. just an incredible, awesome book. What an ending..

Mark Vonnegut.. THE EDEN EXPRESS.. Kurt Vonnegut's son's auto-biographical tale of his life as a hippie in the late 60s and his descent into schizophrenia.. a fascinating and totally involving story.. It reads like a great work of fiction, except it's reality filtered through Mark's memory of those times.. amazing.

Hermann Hesse - STEPPENWOLF. Love this book.. another twisted, visual trip into madness..

Douglas Coupland - GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA.. interesting read, not the greatest, but it's fun to pick up all the Smiths & Morrissey references..

As for Non-Fiction.. a couple great books on astrophysics/cosmology that I've read recently are BEFORE THE BEGINNING by Martin Rees and THE WHOLE SHEBANG by Timothy Ferris.. both are easy to read and fascintating if you're into this stuff. My wife bought me THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE by Brian Greene (recently a NOVA special) and it's interesting, but boy, seems like these days if I have time to read seems my body wants to SLEEP.. somehow Relativity Theory just induces the zzzz's these days.. guess I should skip ahead in the book.. I'm sure the parts about 11 dimentions will be much more exciting.. har har :)

-jar

[tentoze]

Vonnegut.. I love everthing I've read by him.. my favorite so far is BLUEBEARD.. but I haven't read it in years because most of my Vonnegut books were stolen several years ago. A close 2nd would be SIRENS OF TITAN.

Irving.. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY.. just an incredible, awesome book. What an ending..

:)

-jar
Sirens is my favorite Vonnegut of all time- "I was the victim of a series of accidents, as are we all."

And I couldn't agree more about Owen Meany. Probably the most genuinely human, and humane, novel I've come across ever.

My earlier list left off one of my top authors, Robert Graves- whether his poetry, or historical novels, translations of ancient mythology, literary criticisms, his autobiography (the best I've ever read) or treatises on the craft of writing- an extraordinary genius.

[JDaniel]

I read all the time. Every day. But my favorite of all genres is, yep, not ashamed to admit it, Westerns. Give me a Louis Lamour or Zane Grey book any day. Almost nothing is more relaxing to me than picking up a good Western. Perhaps it is because I have traveled over most of the territories that both authors wrote about. But whatever it is, I love westerns.

I have over 400 here. I have every Louis Lamour in paperback, and about half in leather bound editions.

I also enjoy Grisham (Bleachers could have been written about my hometown) & Clancy (Debt of Honor, Red Rabbit & Cardinal in the Kremlin were my favs).

JD