Favorite books?

[Bernadette]

I'm an avid reader so I thought I would create this topic. What are your favorite books?

Mine....

"Rule of the Bone" by Russell Banks
I read this when I was about 15 and it remains one of my favorite books. I would describe it as a comming of age story with strong messages about change, finding your way through life and the importance of friendships.

"Prozac Nation" by Elizabeth Wurtzle
This is a memoir that very acurately describes what it's like to live with depression.

"A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey
This guy was on Oprah and there was a lot of controversy regarding this book because although he originally claimed it was non-fiction he later admited to making a lot of it up. Still a very, very good read.

I mostly read a lot of books about serial killers. One of my best friends and I have what we call "the creepy kids book club" and we just swap books about serial killers back and forth. Yea we're dorks and we're the only members in our book club haha

Not for the faint of heart but some of my recommended reads in that genre are
"Green River Running Red" by Anne Rule
About the green river killer of course.
"Mind Hunter" by John Douglas
Written by one of the FBI's leaders in criminal profiling.
"The Serial Killer Files" by Harold Schechter
I'm currently reading this one. Basically an overview of nearly every recorded serial killer, the different classifications of crimes, criminals, m.o's etc.

I'm always looking for new books and I'm excited to see what you guys recommend

 

[sharyn]

Ooooh Bernadette, this thread was made for me

Some of my faves are:

"Vernon God Little" by D.B.C. Pierre, its hard for me to describe it because I think simply writing down the plot is not enough with this book to tell why it is so good

"The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides

"Lost Souls" by Poppy Z. Brite, since I am originally from Transylvania, I read a lot of Vampire novels but this is (IMO) by far one of the best.

"The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy" by Tim Burton, a collection of poems.

"Exquisite Corpse" Poppy Z. Brite is about serial killings

I really have to go now but I'll definitely add some more later

 

[Bernadette]

Oh my gosh Sharyn thank you, I am going to check those out

 

[medusalox]

Gaah, Sharyn, you beat me to it! Lost souls and Exquisite corpse are AMAZING

I'd also like to recommend anything by Chuck Palahniuk or Tom Robbins, particularly Invisible Monsters by Palahniuk or Still Life With Woodpecker by Robbins. Amazing, amazing authors.

 

[NikkiHorror]

I love reading too, but I like short stories more than super long books.
My favorite author is Ray Bradbury, and favorite short story by him is The Long Rain. (It's in the Illustrated Man and Classic Stories I). I Love anything sci-fi, horror and suspense!

 

[jenii]

A really good book, that more than lived up to it's hype, is "The Time Traveler's Wife," by Audrey Niffenegger. It's a love story that doesn't make me ill.

What else... You should try the Thursday Next series, by Jasper Fforde. It's funny, and very clever.

If you want something more serious and non-fictiony, I couldn't put down "Under The Banner Of Heaven," by [SIZE=-1]Jon Krakauer. It's about religious fundamentalism, but focuses on FLDS.
[/SIZE]

 

[sharyn]

Gotta add some more

"A density of souls" by Christopher Rice - one of the best debut novels I've ever read. Yes, it is about friendship, homosexuality and set in New Orleans, but it is so much more than just another novel about gay parties.

If you want to get to know Poppy Z. Brites work, I suggest you read Wormwood or Self Made Man. In her short story collection, she writes about Elvis, Franz Ferdinant, her "career" as a Doctor... I recommend these books to anyone who thinks she only writes about homosexual goths.

If you like haunted house stories, read "A winter haunting" by Dan Simmons.This author is talented beyond believe. I read it in english when I was 15, and I think if you like Stephen King, you are going to love this. "Drawing Blood" by PZ Brite is also a haunted house story.

I really have to get "Still life with woodpecker" and "Prozac Nation" - the reviews on amazon.com got me really interested!

 

[coachkitten]

The book I recently read and loved was "The Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhurst. It was a really original story & heartfelt. I loved it. Plus I love anything by Cecelia Ahern like "PS I love you".

 

[GalleyGirl]

Cool, I know very few people who also like true crime books (my boyfriend thinks they're "weird"). Anyway, I've been obsessed with the Black Dahlia case, so I've been reading:
Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel A former LAPD detective builds a case against his father in the killing of the Black Dahlia and other women
Exquisite Corpse: Surrealism and the Black Dahlia Murder Describes the connections between Surrealist art and the display of the corpse.
Severed by John Gilmore Narrative of the Black Dahlia murder augmented by interviews with people who knew her.
And my fav fiction books are:
A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington Great vampire novel by an excellent British author.
Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory

 

[Char1986]

I love "Boy Still Missing" by John Searles. I read it at least every couple of months!

 

[Bernadette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GalleyGirl Cool, I know very few people who also like true crime books (my boyfriend thinks they're "weird").

Oh my goodness, my boyfriend hates it! He thinks it's "weird" too and whenever I'm reading a true crime book he likes to tell me how "weird and creepy" it is and how he doesn't understand why I'm interested in it and blah blah blah! My response, "get over it"

I'm just interested in it, no more explaining necessary! I think he's given up on bugging me about it. Hey, I don't bitch when he reads every single motorcycle add on craig's list (for every city.) Hah

 

[Kiseki]

Great thread...

Favourite books in no particular order:

Stardust - Neil Gaiman : A new fairytale for our generation for grown-ups alike. The adventures of Tristran Thorn in the world of Faery.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman : An enticing adventure that shows that the London Tube is not always what it seems and one should really mind the gap. Follow remarkable characters like Richard Mayhew, Door, the Marquis de Carabas and Hunter.

The Tale of Murasaki - Liza Dalby : A novel about Japan's first known fiction writer. The intricate story of Murasaki in 11th century Japan, a clever woman writes the romantic "Tale of Genji", unaware of it's impact on Japanese court.

Northern Lights - Philip Pullman : The first volume of Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, the tale of Lyra, a young teenage girl who inadvertedly plays the pivotal role of an age old prophecy that will change the world.

Middlessex - Jeffrey Eugenides : Not as famous as "The Virgin Suicides", but a fascinating book about a hermaphrodite.

The Witching Hour - Anne Rice : Although I have read most of the Vampire Chronicles, my personal favourite from Anne Rice in a fascinating tale of witches, a familiar and mistery.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden : I'm not very fond of romance novels, yet this one won my heart. For all those who may (or may not) have seen the movie, but haven't read the book, go get it NOW!

The Sybil - Agustina Bessa Luis : The book everyone hated when I was in High School and I loved, mainly because it depicts the rural community as everything but bucolic and peaceful, but rather dark and rotten. Three generations of women bear witness to the changing of times in rural Portugal.

Queen of Fashion - Caroline Weber : Before Copolla's movie made the first fashion victim popular once again, this woman has been an icon for me since my teens, a smart biography of Marie-Antoinette, a woman who controlled her image even on the day when she "lost her head".

I have many more, but these popped in my mind.

 

[IslandGirl77]

Not sure if any of you do eBooks, but here is a link with some free eBooks to dowload...


http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

[Chic 2k6]

you must read:

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, i swear that this book will have you in stitches, ok it's a classiv 15+ teenage book but if you like a quick humourous reading, this is the one to read. if you enjoyed the book, catch on to its follow ups in the Georgia Nicholson series.

A Review from a site

Georgia Nicolson is just your average fourteen-year-old with a British vocabulary and a hilarious personality. She has six things "very wrong" with her life, one of them being that she is "very ugly and needs to go into an ugly home." She writes in her diary about such occasions as accidentally plucking her eyebrows off, the bed-wetting of her three-year-old sister, Libby, and her half Scottish wildcat, Angus, who stalks the neighbors' poodle. Some of her more dramatic entries include her wondering if she will ever learn how to kiss, her encounters with "The Sex God" and her embarrassing parents who won't let her have a lock on her door or dye her hair blonde. Georgia endures such hardships as dating a Mick Jagger look-a-like and falling in love with the "Sex God."

 

[GreekChick]

I really liked "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold I swear it would haunt me at night time....it was so....sad...
These books are oldies but:
"Lord of the Flies"
and
Also, one of my favorites is "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov....This one is great if subjects such as pedophilia, and murder is what interests you.

 

[Bianca]

Eragon and Eldest, Eragon is my hero haha

 

[JULIA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chic 2k6 Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging

This book is absolutely hilarious. It made me LOL so many times and I love how pesimistic, sarcastic and eccentric the main character is (I forget her name!) I am telling all those who have simply skipped this book because it looks too childish...TO GO READ IT.

 

[ilovexnerdsx]

i need to check out prozac nation. though may i add in prozac doesnt help anything

have you read the bell jar by sylvia plath? it's a semi-autobiographical novel, describing her accounts with depression. the beginning of this book takes a while to get into, but once you're in the midst of it, i PROMISE you that you won't put it down. very heart-heavy, but quite worth reading, imo.

i don't read a whole lot of fiction, i'm mostly into psychology, and i have a ton of college text books sitting on my bookshelf that i go through in my spare time.

however another fiction book that i LOVE is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. it's a dystopian novel portraying what life could be if people continue losing their morals. very intresting; makes you think. i also have an interesting story about this book...when i was about halfway through reading this, i had a dream and in my dream the SAME exact thing happened that happens in the end of the book

very creepy.

 

[JULIA]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

 

[Bernadette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovexnerdsx though may i add in prozac doesnt help anything have you read the bell jar by sylvia plath?

Word girl, prozac helped me weigh 95 pounds :eek2: (NOT a good thing) and that was about it.

I have read "the Bell Jar". Actually, when I ordered it on amazon they recommended "Prozac Nation" so I ordered that one too

I have a list of all of the books everyone has recommended on here. I'm really going to have to control myself when I hit Borders up!