Your 10 Most Recommend Books To Read before You Die

[ark_ader]

I have not had the time (lies lies lies) to get to the library lately to read some books that people have recommended to read before you kick it. 

With the wealth of ebooks out on the net, and Spoken Book CDs at the library, the issue of choice can be a very important issue with regards to making the time.

I'm about to fly back home for a few days.  What book would you recommend spending my time reading, and what is your personal top ten books?  What books moved you, and what novels inspired you.

Remember I might not want to read all the Star Wars Star Trek books out there, but wouldn't mind reading some Milton or Dickens that have slipped off radar.

I would ask to limit the Sci-Fi/Horror books to 3 and the rest on classical fiction and factual books.  IT books are out, as we want to have fun than cram.  I do enough of that already.

I know what I like, as the Talisman is one of my favorites as is Battlefield Earth, but I would love to hear of your selections so I can have a change, and maybe learn something new. 

[polaris]

HMM dunno bout books how about a dvd to watch
stop making underhand comments about me because you cant admit you're wrong about something

[Bones]

I can't stand fiction so instead....

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
The Fifth Miracle - Paul Davies
Naked Ape to Superspecies - David Suzuki
Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawking
The Sixth Extinction - Richard Leakley

[Ginsu Victim]

Since you like The Talisman (one of my favorites), have you read the sequel, Black House? Also, there's the entire Dark Tower saga that ties in (see my avatar).

If you've never read Watchmen, you've got time before the movie comes out. Well worth it!

Harlan Ellison is great, though not as easy to find.

"Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" if you need an entertaining read.

[Bones]

Hardy har har.

[ark_ader]

HMM dunno bout books how about a dvd to watch
stop making underhand comments about me because you cant admit you're wrong about something

I have the Xbox DVD set too.
I always admit when I'm in the wrong.
I want your books not your whining. 

Since you like The Talisman (one of my favorites), have you read the sequel, Black House? Also, there's the entire Dark Tower saga that ties in (see my avatar).

If you've never read Watchmen, you've got time before the movie comes out. Well worth it!

Harlan Ellison is great, though not as easy to find.

"Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" if you need an entertaining read.

Yes I read that book.  I was disappointed as it was rushed towards the end.  The Gunslinger thing was pants too, so I figured they went through the motions.  It started good....

Bruce Campbell was in the Quick In the Dead, but ended up on the cutting room floor.  He is ace!

I can't stand fiction so instead....

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
The Fifth Miracle - Paul Davies
Naked Ape to Superspecies - David Suzuki
Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawking
The Sixth Extinction - Richard Leakley

Yep I like Stephen Hawking even though he sounds like a speak and spell.

How about the Jaguar Mask?

Keep em coming.

[polaris]

Yep I like Stephen Hawking even though he sounds like a speak and spell.

classy, full of christian compassion aren't we

[Singapura]

I tried to make a varied list. I read pretty fast so I like books with some weight, tried to put some lighter stuff in there as well.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (I know, it's actually 3 books but anyway, read the omnibus)
2. Frank Herbert, Dune
3. Brian Green, The Elegant Universe
4. Tom Clancy, Rainbow Six
5. David Eddings, The Belgariad (again an omnibus)
6. Li Zhi Sui, The Private Life of Chairman Mao
7. Edward Gibbon, The decline and fall of the Roman empire (again cheating, read the omnibus)
8. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
9. William L. Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
10. Mario Puzo, The Godfather


Ugh, you like Battlefield Earth? I read it (I even have it in my collection) but the fact that it was written by some delusional idiot (who founded Scientology) spoils my mood.

[ideft]

The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy(all the volumes) - Douglas Adam
The Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Slaughterhouse Five -  Kurt Vonnegut
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

[Bones]

8. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Brilliant book. Absolutely brilliant.

[danny_galaga]

non fiction

1: in search of shroedingers cat by john gribbin

2: the cartoon history of time (if you found a brief history of time too tedious) also by john gribbin

3: on the origin of species by charles darwin

4: the barefoot investor by scott pape

5: the prince by nicolo machievelli (its only about 100 pages long, you cant NOT read it!)

fiction

6: neuromancer by william gibson

7: the eyre affair by jasper fforde (beginning of a series, but enjoyable as is)

8: south of the border, west of the sun by haruki murakami

9: to your scattered bodies go by philip jose farmer (warning, its the beginning of a large series)

10: our man in havana by graeme greene

[ChadTower]

I have Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and A Brief History of Time on my desk in the batch of stuff I got from last month's library book sale.  I'll have to bump those up in priority.  Need to finish 2061 and read 3001 first, though.

[danny_galaga]

  Need to finish 2061 and read 3001 first, though.

are they the ones with the dolphins? 

[ChadTower]

  Need to finish 2061 and read 3001 first, though.

are they the ones with the dolphins? 

Sea life, yes.  Dolphins, no.

Wait, there were a few dolphins in 2010.  Heywood Floyd's house had a canal in the main room that led to the ocean and dolphins would swim in to be fed.

[shmokes]

1- The World According to Garp - John Irving
2- The Amazing Adventures of Kavlier and Clay - Michael Chabon
3- The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas
4- Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut (I've got a signed copy!)
5- Memoirs of an Invisible Man - H. S. Saint
6- Danny the Champion of the World - Road Dahl (read this to you son before he's out of elementary school if you love him)
7- The Sun Also rises - Ernest Hemmingway
8- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
9- Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
10- Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

At any given time probably 5 or 6 of those books would be different.

[Malenko]

my fave book as a kid was "Where the red fern grows"
and now as an adult, my Favorite is "How to talk to a widower" by Johnathan Trotter.

[massive88]

It took till Shmokes to hit some of my favorites.  Ill go ahead and relist for emphasis.

1. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
2. Song of Fire and Ice - George RR Martin
3. Gateway - Frederick Pohl
4. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
5. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
6. All the Kings Men - Robert Penn Warren
7. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
8. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
9. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan (Ok the first wasnt my favorite, but cant recommend a book in the middle can I?)
10. Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury

I went over my Sci-Fi quota I am sure, oh well.

Malenko - ditto on the Red Fern Grows as a kid.

[shardian]

I'll second a few of these mentioned:

Ender's Game - Great book. I have read all in the series, including Ender's Shadow and the books following Bean thru adulthood. Ender's Shadow is a really neat read, but you most definitely have to read Ender's Game first.

Frankenstein - I read this finally about a year ago. Fantastic book! Definitely not what you would expect.


And for a guilty pleasure Sci-Fi, I recommend Ringworld. That book serves as the basis for Halo of course. Why is it a guilty pleasure? because the author is a huge perv, and you will never see so much interspecies sex in any other book series. Ever.

Another great book I liked that I assume is mostly Non-fiction is
All Creatures Great and Small - by James Herriot

The book is laugh out loud funny, and if it doesn't leave you in a feel good mood after a chapter or two, then you aren't human.

[wp34]

There are some good ones already mentioned.   Here is my list.  I tried not to list any books already mentioned.

1. The Bounty Trilogy - Nordoff & Hall
2. Armor - John Steakley
3. Dies the Fire - S.M. Stirling
4. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
5. 1984 - Orwell
6. The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller
7. Without Remorse - Tom Clancy
8. John Adams - McCullough
9. Sword of Shannara - Brooks
10. The Time Traveler's Wife - Niffenegger

[ark_ader]

Yep I like Stephen Hawking even though he sounds like a speak and spell.

classy, full of christian compassion aren't we

I'll make a compromise for you Polaris.

I dig out the New Testament Ebook and have Uncle Vista read it out to me.

[ChadTower]

Yep I like Stephen Hawking even though he sounds like a speak and spell.

classy, full of christian compassion aren't we

I'll make a compromise for you Polaris.

I dig out the New Testament Ebook and have Uncle Vista read it out to me.

Oooh!  Oooh!  Can I get a 5.25" copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and have a TI99 speak it to me?

[Ginsu Victim]

No, Hunt the Wumpas and Parsec only!

[ChadTower]

No, Hunt the Wumpas and Parsec only!

Zork you, pal.

[Xiaou2]

 Ogre Ogre - Piers Anthony  (Xanth Series)

 His  'Incarnations of Immortality'   series is good too.

[Singapura]

No, Hunt the Wumpas and Parsec only!

Zork you, pal.

You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

[TOK]

If I'm going to die after the 10th book I'm gonna improve my chances and not read any.

[ChadTower]

His  'Incarnations of Immortality'   series is good too.

I liked those, especially the one about Thanatos, but I can't say I'd put any of them anywhere near the only ten books I'd ever get to read.

[saint]

Piers Anthony is fun casual reading (thought if you take a good look at his Xanth books they smack of child pornography. I'll never read another one.), but it's not what I'd put in my top 10. I very much enjoyed most of what I've read of him, and must have more than 20 books by him, but I concur on not making the top-ten cut.

--- saint

[RTSDaddy2]

This is an obscure little piece of fiction that never got all the limelight it should have, BUT....

as a chance, I picked up a new book in Kroger several years ago by an unknown author (to me at least) named Susan Palwick.  The title of the book is "Flying In Place." It is 211 pages, and if you're not careful you'll have this one finished in a couple of hours. (edit) Not because it's short - because you simply cannot put it down; least I couldn't.

It is a must read, and I've shared it with numerous people who agree it's a incredible find.

A word of caution: it is VERY powerful, and the last 20 - 30 pages you may need tissue.  Seriously, it's that good.

[Xiaou2]

 I dont read a lot actually. But happened to run into Ogre Ogre on accident.
Ive since read a few other Xanth books, and none really were as amazing
as Ogre  (starts out slow, but nearing the end, is very intense and amazing)... which IMOP,  would make an Awesome movie if they could
do it right.  Would make the potter series look very very dull.

 Piers occasionally adds some dirty minded stuff into his books, but I
didnt recall it being anywhere near x rated... nor child pornographic.  He
simply dances around with funny ideas about how sex, such as how
seeing panties is somehow more sexually suggestive than seeing a
creature completely naked.

 In the Incarnation series... he did get much more graphic,  as he
delved into the Devils sex life was like over an eternity.  And how over the hundreds of years, the act of sex became mundane, thus he started
doing some of the craziest things to get satisfaction.   Some could call
it sick... but its a valid thought path.  A very interesting and realistic
view in such a place and situation.

 Ive suggested Ogre Ogre to several people now, and every one has
fell in love with it... and praised it equally.  Each time Ive loaned the book
out, Ive had to re-buy it again cause I cant get it back.   

 It was actually my English teacher that recommended it,  as I needed a
book to read fast for the report due.   And years later, I met another
english teacher in another school who also had read and loved that book
as well.

 However... to each his own.

===

The griffin had captured a monstrous shoefly pie. The
winged shoes had been cooked to a turn, the juices of their
fine leather suffusing the pie, which massed about as
much as the griffin. This was an ideal meal for an ogre.

Smash marched up, not bothering to employ any stealth.
The griffin whirled, half spreading its wings, issuing a
warning squawk. Nobody in his right mind interfered with
a feeding griffin, except a sufficiently large and hungry
dragon.

But Smash was not in his right mind. No ogre ever was.
There was simply not enough mind there to be right. "Me
give he three, leave sight of me," he said. All ogres spoke
only in inane rhyme and lacked facility with pronouns,
which they took to be edible roots. But ogres generally
made themselves plain enough, in their brutish fashion.

The griffin had not had prior experience with an ogre.
That was its fortune. There were very few ogres in these
parts. The griffin opened its eagle beak wide and screeched
a warning challenge.

Smash's bluff had been called. That was unfortunate,
because no ogre was smart enough to bluff. With dimwit-
ted joy, he rose to the prospect of mayhem. "One," he said,
counting off on his smallest hamfinger. The griffin didn't
move.

"Two." After a brief search, he found another finger.
The griffin had had enough of this. It gave a raucous
battle cry and charged, which was just as well, for Smash
had lost count This sort of intellectual exercise was horren-
dously difficult for his kind; his. head hurt and his fingers
felt numb. But now he was released from the necessity of
counting all the way to three, and that was a great relief.

[MustardTent]

If you've never read Watchmen, you've got time before the movie comes out. Well worth it!

Resurrecting this thread cause I was reading the watchmen on the recommendation of a few people and just finished it.  I really wasn't that impressed, but not because of the story.  This story would have benefited greatly from being split into multiple graphic novels or just one regular novel.  There just wasn't much depth. 

Also, since I'm adding to the thread, I'll add the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons as one of the best series of novels I've ever read.  It's also a story that's been trying to break onto the big screen for a good long time.

[Ginsu Victim]

This story would have benefited greatly from being split into multiple graphic novels or just one regular novel.

It was originally a 12 issue comic book run, not a graphic novel at all. What people refer to now as a "graphic novel" is actually just a collection of those 12 issues.

And you're in the minority on this. That's one DEEP frickin' series. You must've missed out on a lot. Hell, the book excerpts between issues filled in a lot of the gaps.

[MustardTent]

Didn't know it was a condensed series.  Just reading the graphic novel though didn't provide much depth.  How could it?  It's short and the format does not allow for much depth as there's just not that much text.

[Ginsu Victim]

It's not condensed. It's all there. All 12 issues.

And when talking about depth, we're talking about a 1985 comic book run that had more character development and backstory than just about anything that had come out up to that point. It was aimed at adults and was a growth point for comics in the public eye. It, along with The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke, really helped push the format into bolder new story directions.

[shmokes]

In no particular order:

1- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
2- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
3- Memoirs of an Invisible Man - H.F. Saint
4- Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
5- The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
6- Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
7- The World According to Garp - John Irving
8- Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl (if you have any love for your child whatsoever make sure he/she reads this before leaving elementary school)
9- Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
10- For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway (I had great difficulty deciding which Hemingway to include in the list -- could have just as easily been The Old Man and the Sea, A Moveable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, etc . . ., but I think maybe For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favorite).

[knave]

I'm pretty shocked that George R.R. Martin only recieved one mention.

His "song of Ice and Fire" series is amazing!
The first book is "A Game of Thrones"

As I was reading this one of my friends said he envied me because I had the rest of the series ahead...and that other books pale in comparison.

[Ummon]

In no particular order:

1- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
2- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
3- Memoirs of an Invisible Man - H.F. Saint
4- Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
5- The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
6- Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
7- The World According to Garp - John Irving
8- Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl (if you have any love for your child whatsoever make sure he/she reads this before leaving elementary school)
9- Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
10- For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway (I had great difficulty deciding which Hemingway to include in the list -- could have just as easily been The Old Man and the Sea, A Moveable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, etc . . ., but I think maybe For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favorite).

You already posted that early on.

First, it depends on why you're reading them.

[TelcoLou]

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

[shmokes]

You already posted that early on.

Wow . . . I thought this was a new thread.  Looking at my prior post though is almost creepy.  The list is almost identical, right down to the parentheticals!  That is ---smurfing--- weird.

First, it depends on why you're reading them.

Is this directed at me?  If so, what do you mean?  What is "it" and what is "them?"  If them is the books on my list, I'm recommending them because I enjoy reading and they are among the most enjoyable books I've ever read.

[danny_galaga]

It took till Shmokes to hit some of my favorites.  Ill go ahead and relist for emphasis.
.
.
.
.
.
8. Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

i finally read this a few months ago. loved it (",)

the person who recommended it to me knew i loved 'neuromancer'. he said this is better than neuromancer. but i disagree. i find them to be rather different in style. it would be kinda like saying 'hitch hikers guide' is better than 'star trek'...