I need book suggestions...

Duke wrote: I read *Fight Club* after having seen the movie, and honestly, I thought the movie moved a lot better and told the story more interestingly.

Odd, I thought the exact opposite. Plus, the end of the book is a lot more interesting.

tuna55 wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: "1984". Great Gatsby. Catch 22. Fahrenheit 451. War of the Worlds. Starship Troopers. Ender's Game. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (sometimes humor is great art). Dracula. A collection of Sherlock Holmes. The Princess Bride. I will also throw in "The Watchmen" as an overlooked modern classic. Yes, it's a "comic book", but as an English major, I can say it is genuinely one of the best works of literature I have ever read. Of all the books I have listed, I put it and 1984 at the top of this list.

This guy reads good E36 M3. 1984 was the scariest book I've ever read until I read Fahrenheit 451 and realized it was more realistic and scarier. You've already mentioned Chucks books, he has a lot now, Fight Club and Survivor are at the top. Some of his later ones weren't that good honestly. We the Living is pretty good. To Beer Barons list I would add Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and anything by Lord Dunsany and/or HP Lovecraft (lots of excellent short stories).

Survivor was a great book. I should actually re-read it.

Animal Farm

The0retical wrote: In reply to Duke: Interesting you mention the subsequent books of Enders Game. I really felt the same way though I keep hearing how wrong I am from literary critics but I couldn't even finish Xenocide.

I had read, and wasn't too crazy about, Speaker For the Dead, and haven't even tried reading Xenocide. However, Ender in Exile and the ones that follow Bean instead of Ender are much more in the same vein as the original.

AngryCorvair wrote: Animal Farm

oo - good one

z31maniac wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: "1984". Great Gatsby. Catch 22. Fahrenheit 451. War of the Worlds. Starship Troopers. Ender's Game. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (sometimes humor is great art). Dracula. A collection of Sherlock Holmes. The Princess Bride. I will also throw in "The Watchmen" as an overlooked modern classic. Yes, it's a "comic book", but as an English major, I can say it is genuinely one of the best works of literature I have ever read. Of all the books I have listed, I put it and 1984 at the top of this list.

This guy reads good E36 M3. 1984 was the scariest book I've ever read until I read Fahrenheit 451 and realized it was more realistic and scarier. You've already mentioned Chucks books, he has a lot now, Fight Club and Survivor are at the top. Some of his later ones weren't that good honestly. We the Living is pretty good. To Beer Barons list I would add Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and anything by Lord Dunsany and/or HP Lovecraft (lots of excellent short stories).

Survivor was a great book. I should actually re-read it.

I'll bet you don't know how it ends, though. Go to Chuck's website to see. I can't view it at work or I'd give you a link.

MadScientistMatt wrote:

The0retical wrote: In reply to Duke: Interesting you mention the subsequent books of Enders Game. I really felt the same way though I keep hearing how wrong I am from literary critics but I couldn't even finish Xenocide.

I had read, and wasn't too crazy about, Speaker For the Dead, and haven't even tried reading Xenocide. However, Ender in Exile and the ones that follow Bean instead of Ender are much more in the same vein as the original.

I wasn't crazy about any of them, but I preferred "Speaker for the Dead" to "Ender's Game." (Of course, that could be my worldview talking; I also hated the film "Starship Troopers" - never read the book)

More sci-fi:

Dan Simmon's Hyperion/Endymion books

Maria Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" and "Children of God"

Not quite so much science fiction and YA novels, but entertaining are Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" and "Homeland"

JoeyM wrote: I also hated the film "Starship Troopers" - never read the book)

The book and the film of Starship Troopers have never met.

If you like Snow Crash - especially the neurolinguistic hacking aspect - check out Max Barry's "Lexicon". It's set in today's world and has some good thoughts in it. Good read so far. Not as funny as Snow Crash is though.

If you like sci-fi and haven't read Snow Crash, get on it. It was the inspiration for Google Earth amongst other things. Plus you have to love a book with a character called Hiro Protagonist.

If you like good writing, William Gibson's newer stuff is beautifully crafted and isn't really sci-fi.

Douglas Adams is also a great series to get sucked into:

1 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
3 Life, the Universe and Everything
4 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
5 Mostly Harmless
6 And Another Thing...

The first 3-4 are brilliant, the last one is not.

I'm not a huge bookworm, only really read a handful during school, but lately I've really been getting into it.

I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in high school, and I still carry a towel.

Go like hell I could not put down. I didn't expect it to end like it did. But as a gearhead it is required reading.

The Cornbread Mafia by James Higdon is about the craziest marijuana cartel in american history. It happened in my backyard and I bought my book from the author. Got it signed, too!

coolusername wrote: i enjoy reading civil war diairys, "Rebel Private Front & Rear"

If you like that sort of stuff, try "Company Haitch"

Catcher in The Rye

Robinson Crusoe

The Last of The Mohicans

The Last Convertible

I o-d'd on Philosophy & Classics when I was a lot younger. Now, I mainly read for fun.

The 'Jack Reacher' Novels - Lee Child

Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Dick Francis, Philip R. Craig

etc.

Duke wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I also hated the film "Starship Troopers" - never read the book)

The book and the film of *Starship Troopers* have never met.

Concur. The movie was an abomination. The animated series Roughnecks on the other hand was much closer to the source material.

Looking at my stack of books here:

Ian Douglas: Star Carrier Trilogy

If you are just looking for some entertaining pulp books:

Monster Hunter International - Larry Correias. It's nothing high class but guns, helicopters, cars, and shooting supernatural stuff in the face makes for some cheap entertainment.

The0retical wrote:

Duke wrote:

JoeyM wrote: I also hated the film "Starship Troopers" - never read the book)

The book and the film of *Starship Troopers* have never met.

I read the book first, then tried watching the movie. It was ridiculous.

Winged Victory by Y.M Yeates

A semi-autobiographical novel written by a WWI RAF pilot. It works both as a novel and as an RAF memoir, and it's absolutely fantastic. Yeates writes like a more poetic Hemingway.

Rickenbacker (Eddie Rickenbacker's autobiography)

If you didn't already know, Rickenbacker was a great race driver, WWI ace, airline president, and one-time owner of the Indianapolis Speedway. He also started his own car company which pioneered 4-wheel brakes. His autobiography is highly interesting and entertaining, and an important historical document. Today's school children should know about him. Truly a GREAT American.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

A great classic about making the best of a bad situation, and using what is at hand to make a home and survive. Also, faith and redemption.

The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Who cares what it is about! Every sentence is like a gourmet meal.

Nitchey Tilley by Roy Helton

A forgotten but great novel. A young man who was raised from an orphaned baby to a young adult by an Appalachian hermit, must leave the wilderness and discover life and what it is for, after the death of his only parental figure and source of information about the outer world.

Duke wrote: *Starship Troopers* is good, and raises interesting points, but I prefer *Stranger In A Strange Land* , but especially *The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress* . I would read Robert Heinlein's grocery list and love it.

Geez. I threw out Starship Troopers as a singular Heinlein pick. I seriously debated between these same three though. Stranger in a Strange land is my personal favorite as well. I just figured it was a bit too deep into the pool to start from. I think you might be right with Moon is a Harsh Mistress being the all around best.

pinchvalve wrote: Douglas Adams is also a great series to get sucked into: 1 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 3 Life, the Universe and Everything 4 So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish 5 Mostly Harmless 6 And Another Thing... The first 3-4 are brilliant, the last one is not.

Following the Douglas Adams thing, my favorite novel of all time is "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Similar sort of British satire, only in an apocalyptic fantasy genre (Really, the three main characters are a Demon, an Angel, and the anti-Christ). Didn't bring it up to the OP since I don't really consider it a "classic". You will love it if you're a Douglas Adams fan though.

tuna55 wrote:

Beer Baron wrote: "1984". Great Gatsby. Catch 22. Fahrenheit 451. War of the Worlds. Starship Troopers. Ender's Game. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (sometimes humor is great art). Dracula. A collection of Sherlock Holmes. The Princess Bride. I will also throw in "The Watchmen" as an overlooked modern classic. Yes, it's a "comic book", but as an English major, I can say it is genuinely one of the best works of literature I have ever read. Of all the books I have listed, I put it and 1984 at the top of this list.

This guy reads good E36 M3. 1984 was the scariest book I've ever read until I read Fahrenheit 451 and realized it was more realistic and scarier. You've already mentioned Chucks books, he has a lot now, Fight Club and Survivor are at the top. Some of his later ones weren't that good honestly. We the Living is pretty good. To Beer Barons list I would add Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and anything by Lord Dunsany and/or HP Lovecraft (lots of excellent short stories).

Thank you.
Thank you.
...and Thank you.

All for different reasons.

I must confess, Fahrenheit 451 is the only one of those I have not actually read. I need to.

I put 1984 and Watchmen at the top of the list as books whose endings gave me the most genuine chills. My stomach dropped. They were horrible, and believable, and original. Normally I know ahead of time how a story will end. Those, I did not.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books I read once about 6 years ago but still remember quite well.

Robert Ruark, The Old Man and The Boy

Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed

Cormac McCarthy, Sutree

Keith Tanner wrote: If you like Snow Crash - especially the neurolinguistic hacking aspect - check out Max Barry's "Lexicon". It's set in today's world and has some good thoughts in it. Good read so far. Not as funny as Snow Crash is though. If you like sci-fi and haven't read Snow Crash, get on it. It was the inspiration for Google Earth amongst other things. Plus you have to love a book with a character called Hiro Protagonist. If you like good writing, William Gibson's newer stuff is beautifully crafted and isn't really sci-fi.

Another must read if you liked these is Charles Stross. Could start anywhere with his, but Accelerando is a good place.

I've had trouble getting into Stross for some reason. Just haven't found one that works for me. Maybe I'll give him another shot.

If you're a Douglas Adams fan, it goes without saying that you need to read just about everything Terry Pratchett has written.

Keith, have you tried his Laundry Files series? It's a mix of sci-fi, societal, tech and horror. I know that sounds odd, but they're some of his best storytelling, imho, with plenty of humor as well, so they may be a good starting point.