I wanted to be the first to mention the Phantom Tollbooth. My friends and I had a long discussion about how, in order to be truly insane, you must have read that book. Of course, this discussion was held in a burger king at about 2 AM, so I don’t know how much stock I would put in it. But other than what was already said, I love the way you can read that book over and over again and always get something new out of it. And the wordplay in it is just so funny. OK, now I’m going to read it again.
Other than that, my favorite authors are:
Doulas Adams, Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Shakespeare.
I have way too many favorite books. In no particular order.
The Hitchhiker’s series, The Narnia series, The Harry Potter series, The Hobbit, The Catcher in the Rye, A clockwork Orange, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Romeo and Juliet (a play, not a book), and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (I know that doesn’t quite fit in, but why not?)
Authors: Charles De Lint, Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Faye Weldon, George Orwell, Mary Wesley, James Morrow, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, Stephen King & Clive Barker amoung others. I can’t even begin to list my favorite books.
[hijack] I love Shakespeare, but they aren’t meant to be read! He was a playwright, not a novelist.[/hijack]
Wow I am a serious book lover where to start and where to end is the question.
Let’s see the book that I would most like to be stranded on a desert island with besides the collected works of Shakespeare is Jane Eyre.
But I am way into fantasy and my favorite fantasy is currently anything by Laurel K. Hamilton she has a series that is a wonderful mix of fantasy detective noir, mystery, and romance.
Um, right now I am reading The Neanderthal Enigma which is a pretty decent Science book and I have been reading the new Eleanor Roosevelt Biography which I count as both history and Biography and I am really enjoying that and
Susan Faludi’s Backlash is still a great reference
And T.S. Eliot and Charles Brukowski and Sylvia Plath are my favorite poets.
I love these types of threads. I always get so many good ideas for my next book. I didn’t take very good notes, but who mentioned Faulker’s The Sound and the Fury? I just recently tried to re-read it and gave up in confusion and disgust. I read it in college and used Cliff Notes so that it would be comprehensible. Now, older and wiser and more perceptive (or so I thought), I thought I could hack it alone. That book has kept me off Faulker for years, and I know I’d like him. I’ve even read (admittedly part) of the Stephen Oates biography of him!
On to more interesting things, I’m VERY interested in The Camulod Chronicles! I just love those whole-mythology things, which is why I respect Anne Rice so much. Her vampire books are complete, with no holes, and she plays by her own rules. I can’t stand it when authors set up a world, then they refuse to live in it! Stephen King has done it a few times.
Swan Song! I couldn’t stand that book and proclaimed it to the world on Amazon. I got hate email <evil chuckle>
Ender’s Game has been lurking on our bookshelves for a while, purchased by my husband. With the recommendations here, I think I’ll have to give it a try!
Now for my favorites (mostly based on how many times I’ve read them!) –
The World According to Garp, John Irving (and anything by Irving, practically)
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
Ahab’s Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund (read but once, but certainly will be again!)
Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
The Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice
Sentimental favorites:
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White
Jane Eyre, one of the Brontes
I also tried reading War and Peace recently. Maybe I am a dimwit, but lordy those Russian names! I couldn’t keep them straight. I did pick up Les Miserables and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Shakespeare – I was disappointed in my Shakespeare class in college, primarily because I held the opinion that they were meant to be seen/heard not read! Also all those archaic words. (Am I starting to sound like the resident feeb. Please say no.) I’ll never forget seeing The Merchant of Venice in high school. It was so beautiful! So understandable. I wanted to shout to my teacher, why did you make us read Julius Caesar! We should be seening it! [/20-year-old rant]
The Annotate Alice has twice been updated, the most recent hasving come out about six months ago. Worth getting.
I love “The Annotated…” series. I’ve got:
The Annotated Dracula
The Annotated Alice
The Annotated Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Annotated Casey at the Bat
The Annotated Hobbit
The Annotated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Annotated From the Earth to the Moon
The Annotated Gulliver’s Travels (by Asimov!)
The Annotated Takes of Edgar Allan Poe
The fellow who did The Annotated Dracula (Leionard Wolf) has since done a series called “The Essential…” (Such as “The Essential Dracula”, of which I’d like to obtain more. The guy who did The Anotatede 20,000 Leagues and FTETTM has started publishing his own translations of Jules Verne. If you read his annotated editions you know why.
My favorite books have to be The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I’ve read them every year since I first got them in grammar school (oh so long ago) and they never disappoint.