Must read books (Page 3)

Great answer - I am a fan of both authors, however, I would put Cormac McCarthy more as a descendent from the Faulkner school.

Lots of great books on these posts - Impressive how well read BT'ers are!

 graceful dave wrote:   Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen is another favorite of mine.

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I really enjoy Carl Hiaasen's books - Sick Puppy was very good indeed!

Edited by bayrunner 2009-11-03 10:07 PM

Speaking of comic books, I'm adding Persepolis (Satrapi) to my list.

A good question is 'what is a must read'- the best book you've read, or your favourite book? They are different for me. I've read The Brothers Karamazov once, and I won't read it again. But I reread the chapter 'The Grand Inquisitor' every few years. Best book I've read, not my favourite.
I will reread all of For Whom the Bell Tolls a few more times before I die, as well as 'The Waiter' (read those 10 pages to find out if you like Hemingway or not) and The Snows of K'. And Conrad's 'Typhoon' but you might have to be a sailor to love it.

I read all of Peter Mayle's books, 'A Year in Provence' 3 times. I read Beck Weathers book on Everest 2 or 3 times. I really enjoyed he and his wife's take on a fascinating story, but I can't say it or Mayle's should be a 'must read' for anyone else. The strike chords in me but won't in most, and aren't great lit. I loved 'Ordinary People' but hated 'Catcher in the Rye'. Maybe a great book but I don't think you miss much by not reading it. I do think you miss an epic story if you don't read 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' because, after all,  it tolls for you (all of you! )



edited- because I didn't go to bed when I should have

Edited by blairrob 2009-11-03 10:23 PM

That doesn't make me feel much better...

The emoticon with the tongue hanging out, however, does...

skewer those and you could put them in a martini.

I think I need to go to bed.

But it's a comic book!

I think I've read most of Hiaasen's novels except the most recent. Usually what happens with fiction/novels is I find a writer I like, go to the used book store, buy and read everything I can get my hands on and then move onto a new author while waiting for old favorites' new releases to come out in paperback.

I generally have one novel and one thinking book going at a time. When I am traveling for work I usually get through 2 novels a week. When not traveling for a full week my speed is about a half a novel a week reading a bit before bead. The thinking books take longer if I manage to stick with them at all.

If you liked Hiaasen, you have to check out Tim Dorsey. Start from the beginning with Florida Roadkill. As far as other Florida crime comedy writers, I find Elmore Leonard to be hit or miss. I like some of his books, particularly Big trouble (made into a movie that I also enjoy) and I dislike some of his other books.

To the person who asked for non academic books:

Ted Bell a fairly recently started writer. His books are a mix of James Bond and Jason Bourne. Hawke was the first but I like the entire series.

The Hawke series:
* 2003 - Hawke
* 2004 - Assassin
* 2005 - Pirate
* 2006 - Spy
* 2008 - Tsar


Speaking of Bourne. Robert Ludlum has not disappointed me yet. I also enjoy the continuation of the Bourne series done by Eric Van Lustbader. He is more well known as a SciFi writer but I am not much for that genre.

The continuation of the Bourne series:
The Bourne Legacy (2004)
The Bourne Betrayal (2007)
The Bourne Sanction (2008)
I have not read the two most recent
The Bourne Deception (2009)
The Bourne Objective (2010)


My most recent find was the Pendergast series done by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It's myster/scifi/action. I've also read a few of Douglas Preston's individual works. Some have been along the same lines as the Pendergast books others remind me of Dan Brown's formula.

Pendergast Novels:
Relic (1995)
Reliquary (1997)
Thunderhead (1999) - This is not a Pendergast novel, but some of the main characters are secondary characters in the Pendergast novels written before and after it. They all make the most sense if read in this order although you can read them as stand alone books and still enjoy.
The Cabinet of Curiosities (2002)
Still Life with Crows (2003) I happened to read this while driving around Iowa and Nebraska in August. Odd coincidence that had me freaked out the entire week.
- The three following books are called the Diogenes Trilogy and are much more enjoyable if read in order.
Brimstone (2004)
Dance of Death (2005)
The Book of the Dead (2006)
-
The Wheel of Darkness (2007) The very beginning and very end are somewhat encryptic if you have not read the Diogenes Trilogy, but it is fine as a stand alone.
Cemetery Dance (2009) - I haven't read this one yet.

There are a couple other novels that do not include agent Pendergast, but I've enjoyed them almost as much.
Mount Dragon (1996)
Riptide (1998)
The Ice Limit (2000)

If you can't tell I've really enjoyed the work from these two guys.

Edited by graceful_dave 2009-11-03 11:30 PM

A book that changed my life:

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

And others:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Night in November and Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones. It's a combo book of two short plays. One is about football and Belfast in a long round about way...but very well written and quick.

A newer one that is not really "high lit"...If Chins Could Kill; Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell. Yes, that Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame. It's his autobiography. I laughed my way from Glasgow to Newark reading it.

Awesome book, actually reccomended it to my babysitter and her 12th grade Lit teacher lauded her for it.  For some light hearted reading I would suggest:

The Zombie Survival Guide
World War Z
Day by Day to Armafgaedon (sp?)- almost done with this one now

Because it's pretty evident that her favorites list is colored by something she studied in college/grad school (maybe has a degree in that specific area of literature/philosophy, or really enjoyed a particular class). And before anyone jumps down my throat, that's not a bad thing. If I made a list, it would look similar in that most of my selections would be from a particular genre or school of thought, since I have a degree in Lit (I've read a chunk of what's on her list as well). That's all. That list is just a fraction of all of the stuff that's out there. You can't possibly read EVERYTHING that's out there, so focusing on what you like makes sense.

Speaking of academics, I had a professor in grad school who laughed at me when I said that I liked Steinbeck...was never sure what to make of that.

Edited by wurkit_gurl 2009-11-04 7:26 AM

Another to add...

"Without Remorse" - Tom Clancy (John Kelly/John Clark, not a Jack Ryan one)

By far my favorite Clancy book, followed closely by Rainbow Six.

If you like military themed  or Leadership style books I suggest:

Lincoln on Leadership- Donald T. Phillips

1139, I believe, depending on the edition ;-)

Common Snese - Thomas Paine
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith

Anything by Philip Dick

I claudius - Thomas Graves

The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe

Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein

Hart's War - John Katzenbach

Tuxedo Park - Jennet Conant

Elements of Style - Strunk and White

Random fact here, Irving was so irritated with how far they strayed from his story that he didn't allow "A Prayer for Owen Meany" to be the title which is why the movie was called "Simon Birch".  If you don't expect the movie to be anything like the book, I think it's a decent movie on its own.  Terrible representation of the book though.

One of my favorite Clancy novels.

I'm a pretty big Clancy fan with Rainbow Six, Debt of Honor and I'm about to read Patriot Games.

I would also add John Irving with The World According to Garp
The Cider House Rules
The 158 pound Marriage

BlackHawk Down by Mark Bowden
JarHead by Anthony Swofford
These will make you take a new look on modern warfare and the lives our armed forces go through

Rex Picket's Sideways is a great novel far better than the movie

Good point!  I love checking out book lists in hopes of discovering a new and exciting gem - but I just don't want to reread "The Jungle" during my next vacation

I didn't like The Zombie Survival Guide or WWZ.  I did like Lights Out.  I have it on .PDF around here somewhere if you want it.

Except that mine isn't a favorites list at all. Some of them are favorites (Cloud Atlas, Letters to a Young Poet, and Symposium, for example), but for the most part, I differentiate between favorites and books that I think are really good for people to have read. The OP solicited suggestions for "must-read" books, and maybe I misunderstood or made a distinction there that the OP didn't intend. I didn't list Leviathan or Weber because I loved reading them. They're long and heavy, and I found it quite a slog to get through them (a fascinating slog, but a slog nonetheless). But I think that it's important to understand how we arrived at this particular point in our culture, society, and politics, and what better way to do that than to read the works of some of the most influential writers?

I suppose it's also worth noting that my listing the book as a must-read doesn't mean that I agree with everything in it. Aristotle's section on slavery in Politics, for example... yeah, not so much.

Anyway, I didn't major in sociology or poli sci (I majored in physics), but my undergrad school has a requirement that every student take a year of social sciences, and the sequence I took was amazing. Personally, I'm a big believer in having a well-rounded education, and I get that not everyone feels the same way. That's a-okay--my feelings won't be hurt if no one wants to rush out and read Rousseau. (Though really, Cloud Atlas is very cool once you get past the rather mind-numbing opening section.)