Must read...

[BAMSS04]

So, I was wanting some ideas for things to read for fun and for knowledge... I thought we could all use this knowledge. Here is the catch. Don't post anything political at all....I don't want it ( conservative or democrat or other). I get enough of that bullshit from talk radio and television. I am not into romance either, but if you must... go right ahead.


Anyway, I am interested in what all of you have to say.

[phit_demon]

I'm always wary about recommending books to people, mostly because I think my tastes in literature are kind of shit.
However anything by Raymond Chandler is a fairly safe bet, especially Farewell, My Lovely.

[By-tor]

If you haven't read this:
http://www.elliottbooks.com/ebayimages/pillarsoftheearth.jpg
...go for it. I don't think I've read anything from Follett that I didn't enjoy.

[FanGirl]

There are quite a few of us who are Chuck Palahniuk fans. Of his books, I would recommend:

Survior - pages count down as a man tells his story into a black box of an airplane as the plane will run out of fuel in two hours.

Lullaby - man investigates crib deaths and finds they all have the same nursery rhyme book

Diary - diary of a woman whose husband is in a coma and she discovers how history repeats

Haunted - a bunch of aspiring writers go to a writing camp where they are held hostage

Now these are all very, very boiled down plot lines. Haunted was the one that caused people to passout when he was reading it outloud at book stores and I can honestly say it did psychological damage to me. Now that is good writing.

I can also recommend:

Hitman by Lawrence Block about a hitman have a midlife crisis.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly - I think you know this one

[Thinman]

Superficial, disgusting, violent, perverse, and AMAZING!

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
http://frank2005.punt.nl/upload/cover_americanpsycho.jpg

[looking4answers]

Orwell's 1984.

[Antonio_Bay]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading Pet Cemetary, Shining and I am Legend.

http://images.wikia.com/simpsons/images/a/aa/Shinning2.jpg

[BizarroPunisher]

http://www.superherostuff.com/OtherItems/comics/images/batman_the_dark_knight_returns_2.jpg
One of the best comics (or graphic novels, whichever you prefer) I have ever read.

[Sheriff]

Jack Kerouac - The Dharma Bums
Charles Bukowski - Tales of Ordinary Madness
Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead
Fyodor Dosteovsky - The Brothers Karamazov

[BlakefromTexas]

Robert Ludlum

[end-quote]

A book that has greatly changed my way of thinking about street people is George Orwell's Down and out in Paris and London. That book I had to take out from the library and have had trouble finding it in both new and used book stores. Other books that I found to be must reads are Larry Niven's Ring World (if you're a sci-fi fan) and Go ask Alice.

[looking4answers]

A book that has greatly changed my way of thinking about street people is George Orwell's Down and out in Paris and London. That book I had to take out from the library and have had trouble finding it in both new and used book stores....
Orwell's:
Down and Out in Paris and London
Road to Wigan Pier
Homage to Catalonia

All brilliant books. Good choice!

[subMonkey]

How about... Jennifer Government by Max Barry

http://www.abc.net.au/widebay/stories/Jennifer_G_m642338.jpg

[Spacemeat]

Robert Ludlum

I've read The Lazarus Vendetta. Bitchin' book. Great cinematic writer.

This is quite a good read:

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0330375474.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

S'about the US military spending rediculous moneys on creating "Warrior Monks" who basically believe they can defy the laws of physics and walk through walls and kill people by thinking and so forth. It reads like fiction, but unfortunately it's not. Not too long either.

[Antonio_Bay]

Robert Ludlum

That's the guy who wrote the Bourne books, right? Anyone read them, and do the films deviate from the novels?

[JamesArthur]

So, I was wanting some ideas for things to read for fun and for knowledge... I thought we could all use this knowledge. Here is the catch. Don't post anything political at all....I don't want it ( conservative or democrat or other). I get enough of that bullshit from talk radio and television. I am not into romance either, but if you must... go right ahead.


Anyway, I am interested in what all of you have to say.

don't blame you if you like fantasy check out robert jordan. fiction/non-fiction ANYTHING kurt vonnegut.

[JamesArthur]

Superficial, disgusting, violent, perverse, and AMAZING!

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
http://frank2005.punt.nl/upload/cover_americanpsycho.jpg


didn't that star christan bale?

[By-tor]

That's the guy who wrote the Bourne books, right? Anyone read them, and do the films deviate from the novels?Good reads. I liked the films okay, but yeah, both were a stretch from the books. Didn't care for that too much. But, it happens all the time. :(