Favorite books?

[wilson]

I enjoyed my recent "favorite" lists. Let's all do another. This time, ten books. Here are mine. No particular order:

1. Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
2. Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
3. Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist
4. Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream
5. P.D. Eastman, Go, Dog. Go!
6. Marjorie Flack, The Story About Ping
7. James Clavell, Shogun
8. David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing
9. J.H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance
10. Clement C. Moore, The Night Before Christmas

[OZZIE4DUKE]

1. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books. All of them, but Red Storm Rising was his best. The last couple were weak, which may be why he hasn't written another one in about 4 or 5 years.
2. The Godfather
3. Jaws
4. Airport
5. Mickey Mantle, Mr. Yankee (I read it when I was a kid)

[bjornolf]

It's really hard for me to pick a list of favorite books, as I like so many, so I'll just say what I'm into now.

The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher is awesome. I love it, and I read every one as soon as it comes out. I also like George R.R. Martin's series a lot. David Farland's Runelords series is pretty cool too. I still read Tolkien every once in a while. And I have to admit that I really enjoyed the Harry Potter series. I also like James Patterson's Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club, and Michael Bennett series (that's my favorite, it's about an Irish detective in New York that has ten kids whose wife sadly dies of cancer, so he's left all alone with all these kids). I used to read a lot of Clancy, but that was a while ago. I also used to read a lot of Crichton and Grisham. Stephen King's Dark Tower series is one of my favorites of all time.

[wilson]

Seriously, folks...keep some coming. I am strongly considering some (gasp! :o ) pleasure reading in the near future (and no, works of history that reside outside my field aren't going to qualify this time), and I'd like a big pool to choose from.

[captmojo]

Trouble is. all of mine have the same author. Samuel Clemens. Save one special spot for Groucho and Me.

[TillyGalore]

Seriously, folks...keep some coming. I am strongly considering some (gasp! :o ) pleasure reading in the near future (and no, works of history that reside outside my field aren't going to qualify this time), and I'd like a big pool to choose from.

I read "chick" books. Want me to list those for you?

[wilson]

I read "chick" books. Want me to list those for you?

List away! I'm just not promising I'll read any of them.

[TillyGalore]

I read "chick" books. Want me to list those for you?

List away! I'm just not promising I'll read any of them.

I tend towards authors, though I try not to read the same author more than once at a given time. My favorites are Anita Shreve (Pilot's Wife, Sea Glass (I loved that book)) and Chris Bohjalian, the books of his I've read so far tend to be set in Vermont, thus I love reading him. Of his books I've read Midwives, the lead character would have been in my class at UVM, but my favorite is Water Witches. In this book the lead character is a man. I love how his character developed through out the book, and the love he showed towards his wife, her family, and their daughter, as well as his love for the catamount. His books really make me miss Vermont - but not the snow.

I recently read The Lovely Bones, and really liked it.

Right now I'm reading a book about Hawaii written by their last monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani. I have a feeling I'm going to be somewhat disappointed with the ending. While in the long run it is in the best interests of Hawaii to be part of the US, I think the way it happened, over throwing the monarchy might not have been the way to do it.

[captmojo]

I read "chick" books. Want me to list those for you?

List away! I'm just not promising I'll read any of them.

I tend towards authors, though I try not to read the same author more than once at a given time. My favorites are Anita Shreve (Pilot's Wife, Sea Glass (I loved that book)) and Chris Bohjalian, the books of his I've read so far tend to be set in Vermont, thus I love reading him. Of his books I've read Midwives, the lead character would have been in my class at UVM, but my favorite is Water Witches. In this book the lead character is a man. I love how his character developed through out the book, and the love he showed towards his wife, her family, and their daughter, as well as his love for the catamount. His books really make me miss Vermont - but not the snow.

I recently read The Lovely Bones, and really liked it.

Right now I'm reading a book about Hawaii written by their last monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani. I have a feeling I'm going to be somewhat disappointed with the ending. While in the long run it is in the best interests of Hawaii to be part of the US, I think the way it happened, over throwing the monarchy might not have been the way to do it.

"How sad it is, to think of the multitudes who have gone to their graves, on this beautiful island, and never know there was a hell."
Mark Twain

[Bostondevil]

I can't do a Top 10 but I'll post some favorites.

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day (not sure I spelled the author name correctly)
Michael Ondaatje - In the Skin of a Lion - prequel to The English Patient
Robertson Davies - so hard to pick one but my favorite is probably What's Bred in the Bone, you have to start with The Rebel Angels though. The Cornish trilogy is my favorite of the trilogies
Alice Walker - Living by the Word, It's a collection of essays and by far my favorite Alice Walker book
Oh, oh, oh just for you wilson and I really do love this book - read On Stranger Tides
by Tim Powers - it's got pirates and zombies and get this pirate-zombies (and Blackbeard). Also by Tim Powers - The Stress of Her Regard
Margot Livesey - Eva Moves the Furniture
Nick Hornby - Fever Pitch and/or High Fidelity

[wilson]

I tend towards authors, though I try not to read the same author more than once at a given time.

I do that sometimes too. As you noticed in my list above, Treasure Island is one of my favorites. In fact, it's probably my single favorite book ever...I can't wait to read it to my kids. And yes, I will "do the voices". Anyway, I also really like Stevenson's other stuff...Kidnapped is also really enjoyable, and he also published some poetry.
A couple of summers ago, I absolutely blitzed through the majority of Anne Tyler's canon. You'll also see above that The Accidental Tourist is in my top 10, and it is my favorite of hers, but I really enjoyed all of the others I read, too. Plus, she's a Duke grad!
And of course, I have my favorite historians, though I'll not bore you all with those (except on request). It's funny; though I've obviously read some great works of history over the years and I have some "favorites," I just don't classify those books among my all-time favorite books. The response they evoke in me, and the whole endeavor in general, are just entirely different.

[TillyGalore]

I tend towards authors, though I try not to read the same author more than once at a given time.

I do that sometimes too. As you noticed in my list above, Treasure Island is one of my favorites. In fact, it's probably my single favorite book ever...I can't wait to read it to my kids. And yes, I will "do the voices". Anyway, I also really like Stevenson's other stuff...Kidnapped is also really enjoyable, and he also published some poetry.
A couple of summers ago, I absolutely blitzed through the majority of Anne Tyler's canon. You'll also see above that The Accidental Tourist is in my top 10, and it is my favorite of hers, but I really enjoyed all of the others I read, too. Plus, she's a Duke grad!
And of course, I have my favorite historians, though I'll not bore you all with those (except on request). It's funny; though I've obviously read some great works of history over the years and I have some "favorites," I just don't classify those books among my all-time favorite books. The response they evoke in me, and the whole endeavor in general, are just entirely different.

I read an Anne Tyler book last summer, When We Were Grownups. I really liked and plan to read more books by her.

I also have on my reading list (when I finally unpack it) the WWII book you and colchar suggested. And, I bought a book about survivors of Pearl Harbor that I want to read too.

[TillyGalore]

Oh yeah, and I will read Treasure Island this summer. So many books, so little time.

[wilson]

Oh yeah, and I will read Treasure Island this summer. So many books, so little time.

It's one of those ones you can read in a day. Make it happen.

[Bostondevil]

What? No comment about the pirate-zombies, maybe it's zombie-pirates? Pirates and zombies! In the same book! If I thought I could do it justice, On Stranger Tides is the one book I'd try to turn into a screenplay, assuming Mr. Powers didn't want to do it himself. It really is an incredible fantasy novel.

[bjornolf]

My wife is reading the Southern Vampires series, which is what the True Blood show is based on. She loves it. It's even got "Bubba", who is Elvis. His "turning" went wrong cause of all the drugs in his system, so he's a wackjob vamp who likes cat blood best.

I've been reading the House of Night series, which my wife turned me onto. It's about a vampire finishing school, so it's kind of like Harry Potter with vampires instead of wizards. It's not as good as HP, but it's good for some light reading.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series really isn't bad, surprisingly. I like her other book, "The Host", better. It's about aliens that have come to earth and taken over all the humans. They look like little silver worms that get implanted into people's necks and take over their brains. There's an interesting argument about whether the human race is better off with or without the aliens. On the one hand, the people taken over are basically gone forever, but on the other hand, the aliens are totally peaceful and environmentally conscious, so there's very little pollution and no war and everybody gets along. It's actually pretty interesting.

[CathyCA]

My favorite book is Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir. I met the author at Kepler's Bookstore (a delightful place!) in San Mateo a few years ago.

I'm currently reading The Gold Standard: Building a World Class Team by Mike Krzyzewski and Jamie Spatola. I met those authors 29 and almost 28 years ago in Durham. ;)

I've also enjoyed several books by Anne Lamott, including Operating Instructions: A Journal Of My Son’s First Year, Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith and Plan B : Further Thoughts on Faith.

I loved Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series, ending with Sure of You.

There are other books I've loved, but I'm at work, and get so distracted by it. I hate it when work gets in the way of play. ;)

[Johnboy]

I like many many of the books listed by others above, but here are some of my favorite novels that I don't see listed above, in no particular order. My only criterion is that none of these are too heavy or challenging - you can read these on the beach.

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - laugh out loud hilarious book set in the insanity of war.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig - you gotta read it twice to really get it. I used to read it every year. OK, this one might violate my rule, as it will make you think, but there's a good story running through it.

The Once and Future King - T.H. White - the King Arthur legend and the novel that got me loving reading. You will especially love Merlin.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - this is mandatory reading, especially if you're southern. Just a great novel. Again, maybe on the more challenging end of this list.

The Hitchiker's Guide the the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - just really fun, imaginative and humorous reading.

I also like biographies and histories, but I think you asked for novels. "True adventure" type books are also among my favorite summer-reading type books, including the likes of The Perfect Storm, The Hungry Ocean, Shadow Divers, Into Thin Air, and Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. I don't think the latter one (Ship of Gold) was the best-seller that the others were, but it's my favorite - it's like three books in one.

These are just off the top of my head as I'm sitting here. You know, you can do a lot worse for adventure, poetry, biography and history than reading the Bible. It's a great book to read, and if you haven't read it, or aren't familiar with it, you're missing out on a lot of cultural references.

Edit to add: My Losing Season - Pat Conroy - this is about the author's senior year when he was the starting point guard for the Citadel. They play Duke, and just his description of Art Heyman is worth reading the book.

[wilson]

I like many many of the books listed by others above, but here are some of my favorite novels that I don't see listed above, in no particular order. My only criterion is that none of these are too heavy or challenging - you can read these on the beach.

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - laugh out loud hilarious book set in the insanity of war.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig - you gotta read it twice to really get it. I used to read it every year. OK, this one might violate my rule, as it will make you think, but there's a good story running through it.

The Once and Future King - T.H. White - the King Arthur legend and the novel that got me loving reading. You will especially love Merlin.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - this is mandatory reading, especially if you're southern. Just a great novel. Again, maybe on the more challenging end of this list.

The Hitchiker's Guide the the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - just really fun, imaginative and humorous reading.

I too loved The Once and Future King. I read Zen in high school, but didn't love it. I should probably try Catch 22, but Hitchhiker's never really appealed to me for some reason. And I really need to read To Kill a Mockingbird...I never have. I'm not sure how they let me out of high school under those circumstances.

I also like biographies and histories, but I think you asked for novels. "True adventure" type books are also among my favorite summer-reading type books, including the likes of The Perfect Storm, The Hungry Ocean, Shadow Divers, Into Thin Air, and Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. I don't think the latter one (Ship of Gold) was the best-seller that the others were, but it's my favorite - it's like three books in one.

I like these kinds of books too, but believe it or not, I've read every single one of these. Again, I agree with your assessment...good ones all.

These are just off the top of my head as I'm sitting here. You know, you can do a lot worse for adventure, poetry, biography and history than reading the Bible. It's a great book to read, and if you haven't read it, or aren't familiar with it, you're missing out on a lot of cultural references.

Yet another agreement. But with eight years' perfect attendance at Sunday School as a child and this past year as a fifth grade Sunday School teacher under my belt, I'm gonna just content myself with my existing Biblical familiarity for now. ;)

[Johnboy]

It sounds to me like we have similar taste in books. I also have a pirate avatar on the internet (BTD). Scary.

As for the Bible suggestion, it seems to me that fewer and fewer people are biblically literate, and I just think they're missing out on a lot, plus it's an easy book to pick up and put down. Sounds like you have that covered, though.

Please see my edit for My Losing Season above. It's really good.

Oh hell, now I'm thinking of basketball books, including Feinstein's Forever's Team (1978 Duke), Season on the Brink (Indiana/Knight) and March to Madness(ACC season 1996-97). These aren't great books, but I enjoyed them.