Best Book Thread Summary

[ozraven]

Last week we had a thread running that asked

The Best Book You Ever Read?

What's the best book/completed series of books you have ever read??

Not in a literary sense, but in terms of pure, "unputdownable" entertainment.........

Best book you ever read?

Given it has died off, now seems the appropriate time to post the complete list of books nominated........

I have tried not to edit it at all, but have attempted to remove all duplications of book and or series titles, to see who nominated what use the link above, too much like hard work putting that in the list too!

If you owned 50% of these books you would be incredibly well read, I'll have to check and make sure I've read 51% later...

Lit's Best book nominations - March 2003

1984 by George Orwell
A Lesson Before Dying-Ernest J. Gaines
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A Son of the Circus -- John Irving
Aaron Allston (Doc Sidhe, Sidhe-Devil and the X-Wing: Wraith Squadron series)
Aerosmith and Steven Davis - Walk this way
Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City, Redemption Ark etc
Anne McCaffery's Freedom Series
Anne Rice - The Witching Hour
ANY book written by Michael A. Stackpole
Anything by Anne Rice
Anything by Beverly Cleary
Anything by Clive Clusser
Anything by Dale Brown
Anything by Harry Harrison
Anything by Iris Johansen
Anything by James Mitchener
Anything by James Patterson
Anything by John Steinbeck
Anything by Kathleen Woodiwiss.
Anything by Maeve Binchy
Anything by Tom Clancy
Anything by Tom Robbins, Milan Kundera, Chuck Bukowski
Anything written by Heinlein and Anne McCaffery
As the Crow Flies - Jeffrey Archer
Asimov's Foundation series
Ayn Rand – Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead
Beach Music -Pat Conroy
Blood, Bread and Roses by Judy Grahn
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Budd Schulberg - What Makes Sammy Run
Carnations – Poe
Catch-22" by Joseph Heller.
Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger
Catherine Coulter - FBI series
Centennial -- James A Mitchener
Charlotte's Web by White.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein
Colette - Cheri and The Vagabond
Complete works of Jorge Luis Borges.
Contact by Carl Sagan,
Crash by J.G. Ballard
Crone by Barbara Walker
Crucible Series - Sara Douglass
Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice
Das Boot by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim
Dave Barry's only Travel Guide You'll ever need -- Dave Barry
David Eddings Belgariad Series and the following Mallorean series.
David Eddings the Elenium & the Tamuli
David Weber (The Honor Harrington books)
Devil in a Blue Dress - Walter Mosley
Doug Adams - Hitchhikers guide to the universe
Douglas Adams' Five Stages of the Universe
Douglas Adams' Five Stages of the Universe
Dreamcatcher - Stephen King
Dune by Frank Herbert
Emerson's Essays
Emile Zola -- Thérèse Raquin et Nana
Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
Erica Spindler - Shocking Pick
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Faust I & II by Goethe
Fionovar Tapistry - Guy Gavriel Kay
Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
George Carlin - Napalm and Silly putty.
Germinal by Emilia Zola
God and the Evolving Universe by James Redfield
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Gossips, Gorgons, and Crones by Jane Caputi
Great Apes by Will Self
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -JK Rowling
Harry Potter Books by J K Rowling
Hotel New Hampshire – John Irving
Hunt for Red October -Tom Clancy
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
I Heard the Owl Call My Name - Margaret Craven
I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea.
Imagika - Clive Barker
Invisible Man-Ralph Ellison
IT by Stephen King
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jean Auel's Clan series
Job by Robert Hienlien
JRR Tolkien - the Hobbit
Kay Hooper - Shadow and Evil series
Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions, Blue Beard and The Siren of Titans
Live Your Dream - Les Brown
Magician, by Fiest
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
Man's Search for Meaning - Vicktor Frankl
Mark Twain - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
Memoires of Geisha - Arthur Golden
Menfreya in the Morning by Victoria Holt
Miss Lonleyhearts by Nathaniel West
Morgan Llewellyn's "Red Branch"
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Nicolas and Alexandra by Massie.
Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige by Selma Lagerlöf ~ Swedish author
Norman Mailer - The Naked and the Dead
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Only Forward, by Michael Marshall Smith
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Other Disaster by Jean Shepherd
Paula Giddings' When and Where I Enter
Perfume by Patrick Susskind
Peter the Great--his life and world by Robert Massie.
Playboy magazine, May 2002
Poetry by Maya Angelou
Prince Of Amber Series by Roger Zalazny
Queen of the Damned - Ann Rice
Replay - Ken Grimwood
Robert Caro's series on Lyndon Baines Johnson
Robin Cook's books.
Roots-Halley
Salem's Lot - Steven King
Santaroga Barrier – Frank Herbert
Sarum – Edward Rutherford
Scott Adams - Dilbert series
Sesame and Lilies by Ruskin
Seven Nights by Borges.
Shogun by James Clavell
Sinclair Lewis' books - Babbitt, Elmer Gantry, Dodsworth
Slaughter House Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Spiral Dance by Starhawk
Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawkins book, a brief history of time.
Terry Goodkind - The Sword of Truth series
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
The Archy McNally series -- Lawrence Sanders
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley
The Bible – Unknown
The Book of Five Rings by Mushashi
The Brothers Karamazov. C&P. Les Miserables.
The Dark is rising by Susan Cooper
The Dark Tower series -- Stephen King
The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red
The Discworld novels
The Essential Ellison – Harlon Ellison
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
The Fight by Norman Mailer
The Giving Tree by Silverstein.
The Joy of Sex – Alex Comfort
The Legend of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert
The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman by Laurence Sterne
The Mahabharata
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Mummy: Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
The Narnia series by C.S.Lewis
The Nights Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton
The Number of The Beast by Robert Hienlien
The Outsiders - SE Hinton
The Outsiders by Susan E. Hinton
The Pern Books by Anne McCaffery
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet
The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy
The Ring Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
The Road to Omaha -- Robert Ludlum
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Sotweed Factor by John Barth
The Stand - Stephen King
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
The Symposium by Plato
The Talisman -- Stephen King & Peter Straub
The three halves of Ino Moxo by César Calvo
The Velveteen Rabbit by Williams.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories
War and Remembrance- both by Herman Wouk
Watchers by Dean Koontz
Watchers by Dean Koontz
Watership Down – Richard Adams
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Where the Red Fern Grows – Wilson Rawls
Winds of War – Herman Wouk
Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Witches of Eileanan Series - Kate Forsyth
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (Collected Works)


Enjoy your reading........

 

[roxanne69]

I LOVE book threads!!! I like the list and have read many of them and enjoyed them except Hemingway and Bukowski who I absolutely loathe.

My list off the top of my head (in no order):

Sophie's World - Gaardner
The Razor's Edge - Somerset Maugham
Of Human Bondage - Somerset Maugham
The Stand- Stephen King
All of the Anne Rice vampire books
Widow for a Day- John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
Poland - James Michener
Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
I, Claudius -Robert Graves
Claudius the God -Robert Graves
The Stone Angel - Margaret Laurence
The Diviners - Margaret Laurence
I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
Complete works of Oscar Wilde
Siddhartha -Hermann Hesse
Barney's Story - Mordechai Richler
All the Harry Potter books
Spiral Dance - Starhawk


I know there must be more but I can't think of any right now. I guess I will add them as I think of them.

 

[aly*]

cool

Great lists. That thread seemed a bit daunting, thanks for this! I don't know about 50%, but i have definitely read a good sized chunk and have a handfull on my list.

If it is not too late, I'll add two of my favorite books (i don't think i saw listed); Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer. I think they may be considered a bit macabre. Just a warning i suppose.

 

[SpiceCake]

I love to read. If I finish book - it was usually worth it!

Read on!

 

[just pet]

Re: cool

Great lists. That thread seemed a bit daunting, thanks for this! I don't know about 50%, but i have definitely read a good sized chunk and have a handfull on my list.

If it is not too late, I'll add two of my favorite books (i don't think i saw listed); Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer. I think they may be considered a bit macabre. Just a warning i suppose.

Geek Love is probably one of the most shocking books I have ever read. Absolutely brilliant, but her second book was a dismal disappointment. I heard a rumor that David Lynch had the rights for the movie.

 

[aly*]

Re: Re: cool

Geek Love is probably one of the most shocking books I have ever read. Absolutely brilliant, but her second book was a dismal disappointment. I heard a rumor that David Lynch had the rights for the movie.

Lynch would be one of the few that might just be able to pull off... I haven't read her second, but It would be hard to top. It still amazes me that that is her first book!

I've yet to meet someone who has read my second recommendation, but i have heard they are out there. lol.

 

[just pet]

Re: Re: Re: cool

Lynch would be one of the few that might just be able to pull off... I haven't read her second, but It would be hard to top. It still amazes me that that is her first book!

I've yet to meet someone who has read my second recommendation, but i have heard they are out there. lol.

I'm checking on it now

Check out Will Self, Great Apes. It has a similar feel to Geek Love.

 

[eagleyez]

Continental Drift

by Russell Banks comes to mind

 

[aly*]

Re: Re: Re: Re: cool

I'm checking on it now

Check out Will Self, Great Apes. It has a similar feel to Geek Love.

Cool! Totally new to me, thanks for the tip.

 

[pointless]

.

 

[breakwall]

Just want to say, that took a lot of work to summarize and I appreciate it. I think it was a very well recieved thread and gave alot of people new ideas for reading.

Thanks.

 

[sweet soft kiss]

Very good list... I doubt I have read 50% yet... but a good 33.3 %

I didn't see any Richard Brautigan on the list....

He was always one of my favorites..

 

[crappie master]

Good job on the summary, Lots of interesting recommendations. Did anything stand out or surprise you as you did the summary?

 

[ozraven]

I LOVE book threads!!! I like the list and have read many of them and enjoyed them except Hemingway and Bukowski who I absolutely loathe.

My list off the top of my head (in no order):

............

I know there must be more but I can't think of any right now. I guess I will add them as I think of them.

Another good selection, many of them are on the list, and some new ones.........

I don't know if the thread will keep going or not, but for now I guess this is as good a place as any to stick a new one when you read it, or add and comment as time goes by?

 

[ozraven]

Re: cool

Great lists. That thread seemed a bit daunting, thanks for this! I don't know about 50%, but i have definitely read a good sized chunk and have a handfull on my list.

If it is not too late, I'll add two of my favorite books (i don't think i saw listed); Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer. I think they may be considered a bit macabre. Just a warning i suppose.

Nope, niether of them were on the list.......

And I am nowhere near 50% either!

I doubt I will be, 90% of the time I read for escapism, so reality based deep thought books rarely, but occasionally appeal.....

I tried to track down Slaughterhouse 5 on the weekend, but the cheapest I saw it for was $25, and for a book that was hardly 100 pages long I thought that a bit rich....... Might have to renew my association with the local library!

 

[ozraven]

I love to read. If I finish book - it was usually worth it!

Read on!

Me too........

When I was younger I read anything and everything, and just soaked up the thoughts and worlds of others, these days I am a bit "fussier".....

 

[ozraven]

Re: Re: cool

Geek Love is probably one of the most shocking books I have ever read. Absolutely brilliant, but her second book was a dismal disappointment. I heard a rumor that David Lynch had the rights for the movie.

The reviews I have read of it suggest it may be a little morbid for me, guess you will just have to love me for my body?!

 

[just pet]

Re: Re: Re: cool

The reviews I have read of it suggest it may be a little morbid for me, guess you will just have to love me for my body?!

Not a difficult request

And Breakwall is right, you did a great job with the list
Well done

I didn't see it as morbid. It was a great vehicle for exposing bigotry.

 

[ozraven]

Continental Drift

by Russell Banks comes to mind

I read the reviews of everything suggested on the least thread as I added them to the list, and looks like I haven't stopped yet, this one looks good.......

A "mood" book, but I do enjoy reading the heavier stuff too sometimes....

 

[ozraven]

Just want to say, that took a lot of work to summarize and I appreciate it. I think it was a very well recieved thread and gave alot of people new ideas for reading.

Thanks.

Thanks, appreciate the comment, but I was being selfish too, I have a great list of books, mostly recommended by people that I know I have something in common with, that has to be a great place to start........

Opened my eyes a bit, and I will now go back and start to revisit some of the sorts of books I haven't read in 15 years.....

 

[ozraven]

Very good list... I doubt I have read 50% yet... but a good 33.3 %

I didn't see any Richard Brautigan on the list....

He was always one of my favorites..

REVENGE OF THE LAWN: Originally published in 1971, these bizarre flashes of insight and humor cover everything from "A High Building in Singapore" to the "Perfect California Day." This is Brautigan's only collection of stories and includes "The Lost Chapters of TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA."

THE ABORTION: AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE 1966: A public library in California where none of the books have ever been published is full of romantic possibilities. But when the librarian and his girlfriend must travel to Tijuana, they have a series of strange encounters in Brautigan's 1971 novel.

SO THE WIND WON'T BLOW IT ALL AWAY: It is 1979, and a man is recalling the events of his twelfth summer, when he bought bullets for his gun instead of a hamburger. Written just before his death, and published in 1982, this novel foreshadowed Brautigan's suicide.


Those titles and descriptions are enough to at least peak your interest.......thanks, a great suggestion.

 

[ozraven]

Good job on the summary, Lots of interesting recommendations. Did anything stand out or surprise you as you did the summary?

Thanks....it turned into a good list.......

Yeah, a number of things actually, now that you mention it.....

1. The level of intelligence of the people on this board is significantly higher than I had originally thought, a great thing, which shows how some small minded people can influence your global thinking, something I will remember.
2. There a lot of Science Fiction / Fantasy fans on the boards, a much higher percentage than you would find in most "communities", again for me agreat hting, as that is my favourite method of escapism.
3. That books really do move people......something I had experienced, but rarely recently, a thought which has prompted me to start another list of books I will now seek to purchase, just to experience that again, and some of the books suggested would appear to be very powerful works.....
4. Books are fun, personal entertainment, and people love to talk about them, for that reason if no other, I will try to keep this, or a similar thread running on the GB.........

Probably more, but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it, the list was fun to put together, and a whole new group of authors has opened up for me.....that's got to be good!

 

[ozraven]

Re: Re: Re: Re: cool

Not a difficult request

And Breakwall is right, you did a great job with the list
Well done

I didn't see it as morbid. It was a great vehicle for exposing bigotry.

LMAO

You need new glasses beautiful.......not morbid, I will have another look......

The reviews had it painted as more King than Koontz, if you know what I mean......?

 

[Blindinthedark]

Thanks for including some of my favorites in your list!

Hope you enjoy them.

 

[juicylips]

Based on someone's recommendation in the previous thread...

I read Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice on Saturday. It was excellent and I plan on reading the other's in that series.

I am about 90% finished with Sara Douglass's Wayfarer Redemption. Again, another excellent read.

It's great to find other Fantasy authors. I hesitate to just pick up a new one and start reading. I don't have the time to waste and most are series. I always have to start at the beginning.