BigFooty Top Book list - voting commenced!

royals1922

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There is a difference between books you can read cover to cover and books that are compelling yet because of their subject matter hard to read except in excerpts. The Good old days is a compelling read but because of its subject matter impossible to read much in one sitting.
 
Nov 1, 2012
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I'll see how I go:

  1. A Prayer For Owen Meaney - John Irving
  2. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron
  3. Leviathan- John Birmingham
  4. Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan
  5. Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde
  6. Unreliable Memoirs - Clive James
  7. Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel
  8. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
  9. The Book Thief - Marcus Zuzak
  10. A Dark Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine
  11. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
  12. Grand Days - Frank Moorhouse
  13. The time Travellers Wife - Audrey Nifenegger
  14. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
  15. The Sarantine Mosaic - Guy Gavriel Kay
  16. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R R Martin
  17. The Mitford Girls - Mary S Lovell
  18. The Harry Potter series - J K Rowling
  19. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
  20. 1788 - Watkins Tench
 

Houston

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1. Lord of the Rings trilogy - J.R Tolkien
2. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
3. The Wolf of Wallstreet/Catching the Wolf of Wallstreet - Jordan Belfort
4. The Belgariad series - David Eddings
5. My Bookywook 1&2 - Russell Brand
6. A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin
7. The Power of One- Bryce Courtney
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. Magician series - Raymond E. Feist
10. Northern Lights series - Phillip Pullman
11. Revolution - Russell Brand
12. Outlander series - Diana Gabaldon
13. The Hobbit - J.R Tolkien
14. World War Z- Max Brooks
15. Humble Pie - Gordon Ramsay
16. In the Fire - Gordon Ramsay
17. Driven to Distraction - Jeremy Clarkson
18. Tiger Woods: A Biography - Bill Gutman
19. Rowan of Rin Series - Emily Rodda
20. Talon of the Silver Hawk - Raymond E. Feist
 

CatMarie

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What? You read the rules?? :eek:
Is that even allowed??
;)

Definitely my second favourite thread- am feeling extremely ignorant after reading most of the lists put up here, though I'm consoling myself with the hope that maybe some of them are just made up ;) and that the poster hasn't actually read any of those high-brow books on philosophy, etc.

Thank you, fpcookie !!
I feel very ignorant to Teriyakicat . I come in here , thinking to make a list for this years reading, and there is another list, or 3 . And a lot I haven't heard of. Will just have to go through every one's lists and make my own . People on B F are so well read !
 
I see a lot of people have this in their lists:
A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin

Does no-one think it plods on too much, doesn't have enough of the White walkers, and definitely not enough dragons!? Maybe one of the few TV shows that is better than the books it is based on...
 
Feb 11, 2012
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I see a lot of people have this in their lists:
A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin

Does no-one think it plods on too much, doesn't have enough of the White walkers, and definitely not enough dragons!? Maybe one of the few TV shows that is better than the books it is based on...

I may change my opinion if the last books take a giant nose dive and ultimately have no point to the build up, like Steve King's Dark Tower series, but currently I think they are excellent reads. Martin's prose rarely bores me. I did have some reservations about book 4 with all the 'Who cares' characters he introduces but warmed to it.
 
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I see a lot of people have this in their lists:
A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin

Does no-one think it plods on too much, doesn't have enough of the White walkers, and definitely not enough dragons!? Maybe one of the few TV shows that is better than the books it is based on...
I was wondering about some of the other books on people's "best" list - whether they'd also watched the movie and which they thought was better; movie or book.

I myself won't ever watch a movie of a book that I've read, nor read a book of a movie that I've watched.
I find that there's too much of a gap between my imagination and the imagination of those who convert books to movies- and I am disappointed when I find the movie very flat.

The first book/movie pairing that I read, then watched, was Dune.
No movie could replicate what my mind fantasised when I read that book!
 

CatMarie

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I was wondering about some of the other books on people's "best" list - whether they'd also watched the movie and which they thought was better; movie or book.

I myself won't ever watch a movie of a book that I've read, nor read a book of a movie that I've watched.
I find that there's too much of a gap between my imagination and the imagination of those who convert books to movies- and I am disappointed when I find the movie very flat.

The first book/movie pairing that I read, then watched, was Dune.
No movie could replicate what my mind fantasised when I read that book!
I am like that with Stephen King's Under the Dome " Loved the book.. bit unsure whether to get the dvd of it or not . My mind did very well with the book !
 

CatMarie

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In that case it won't matter. The Book and TV series are just too different storywise. IMO one good, the other shithouse.
Oh ok . So what not good? The tv series? I just liked the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen in the book.
 
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Oh ok . So what not good? The tv series? I just liked the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen in the book.

TV series, yeah. I only watched half a season or so but characters in the series aren't the same, different motivations, etc. It also has the same odd hokey way of playing out the story like a lot of Stephen King's filmed works end up. Strange how so few filmmakers can adapt a King story well, like Frank Darabont and Rob Reiner.
 

maxrm

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I'm struggling to remember all the book I've read so I'll probably miss a few beauties but I'll give it a shot...

1. A Song of Ice and Fire - G.R.R Martin
2. Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey
3. Wolf Brother - Michelle Paver
4. Harry Potter series - J.K Rowling
5. Seven Ancient Wonders series - Matthew Reilly
6. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
7. The Hunger Games (first book) - Suzanne Collins
8. Open - Andre Agassi
9. Ice Station - Matthew Reilly
10. Breathe - Tim Winton
11. Stark - Ben Elton
12. High Society - Ben Elton
13. Pincus Corbett's strange adventure - Odo Hirsch
14. Will Buster and the Gelmet Helmet - Odo Hirsch
 
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maxrm

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I see a lot of people have this in their lists:
A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin

Does no-one think it plods on too much, doesn't have enough of the White walkers, and definitely not enough dragons!? Maybe one of the few TV shows that is better than the books it is based on...

I watched the first three seasons and loved every minute of it. I then read the first five books which were absolutely incredible. It provided a whole new level of depth and articulation to the ASOIAF world that the TV show simply could not achieve. Despite knowing what was going to happen for the first two and a half books I was captivated. However, I did not enjoy season four of the TV show nearly as much having read ahead. I found that I over-analysed everything too much and ultimately the show could never live up to the depth and knowledge of the books. I think it's important to remember that they're vastly different art forms presenting a similar but unique storyline to a similar but unique audience.

As for 'plodding on' it is true to an extent particularly with the most recent two additions to the series, but if you read closely almost everything included is of importance to the story as a whole. Sometimes you don't realise it at the time, but everything he writes is there for a reason and is of relevance later in the Song.
 
Nov 1, 2012
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I see a lot of people have this in their lists:
A Song of Ice and Fire series - George R. Martin

Does no-one think it plods on too much, doesn't have enough of the White walkers, and definitely not enough dragons!? Maybe one of the few TV shows that is better than the books it is based on...

Very few books make me gasp and hold my breath as I wait several chapters to see whether a particular character survives. His have.

Then again I'm also a sucker for Wars of the Roses and enjoy finding the parallels.
 
Awesome thread. Here is my somewhat eclectic list, the accuracy of which suffers as a result of my horrendous memory. I see that To Kill A Mockingbird is on many lists, but since I last read (and enjoyed) it over 30 years ago, I can't genuinely include it in my top 20. Also, I haven't read a lot of those that most would consider classics.

1. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
2. Alex Delaware series - Jonathan Kellerman
3. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
4. The Island - Richard Laymon
5. Cancer Ward - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (I agree with swingdog on this - thanks for the reminder)
6. Animal Farm- George Orwell
7. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
8. Rabbit Run - John Updike
9. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (though I found it hard work)
10. Dark Matter - Juli Zeh
11. deadkidsongs - Toby Litt
12. Eye of The Needle - Ken Follett
13. Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
14. Duma Key - Stephen King
15. Four Past Midnight - Stephen King
16. Relentless - Dean Koontz
17. The Turning - Tim Winton
18. Scarecrow series - Matthew Reilly
19. Trouble - Jesse Kellerman
20. The Rivers of London- Ben Aaronovitch

I feel like I've been harsh on King, Koontz and Laymon as many of their titles could make this sort of list.
 
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Game of thrones is a very good tv show, but the books are much better. The complexity of the world and characters he has created are amazing and could never be captured by tv, although agree the last two books had some points where you just want something to happen.
 
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A song of ice and fire, tops my list due to the first 3 or so books.

Any book I throw accross the room in anger 1 minute, then pick up again and finish that night must be good. The red wedding had that impact on me.

In regards to white walkers and dragons I am glad there is not more of it myself. Like mentioned the war of the roses parallel is what grips me.
 
Aug 2, 2012
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Godfather films are as good as the book, scifi/fantasy must be harder to adapt I would imagine. All the President's Men is also a pretty good film.

Great minds, I immediately thought of the Godfather books .
There are others, but the films sometimes differ significantly.
Someone mentioned the Dune film, and I remember a film critic saying they spelled it wrongly, the last letter should have been a "g".
.
 
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I think scifi is harder to adapt because it's so much more of an unreal world and everyone will have imagined it existing in a different form. Maybe I'm too much of an unimaginative bugger and that's why I don't get the genre.

I suggest at least some of the books on your list require at least a suspension of disbelief. ;)
 
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I think scifi is harder to adapt because it's so much more of an unreal world and everyone will have imagined it existing in a different form. Maybe I'm too much of an unimaginative bugger and that's why I don't get the genre.

Ender's Game is one of my favourite books and the film had most of the stuff I enjoyed about the book but.... there was something not as exciting about the film that the novel portrayed. I don't know how to describe it but believe its a case of more director artist license would have translated the feel of the book better.... if you get my meaning... The director was too worried about getting all the main points in there that he forgot to get the vibe as well.

Total Recall (1990) is a very loose adaption of a Philip K Dick story but the vibe of 'what is reality' is ever present throughout the film. Or to use another Arnie example, John Milius also captured the essence of a Conan story even though the film is once again a loose adaption of the original character.
 
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Ordering these books/series is the hardest part.
1. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
2. The Alchemist – Paulo Coehlo
3. Magician series - Raymond E. Feist
4. Tomorrow series – John Marsden
5. The Ancient Future Trilogy - Traci Harding
6. Jack West Jr series (3 books) - Matthew Reilly
7. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
8. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
9. Animal Farm - George Orwell
10. Contest - Matthew Reilly
11. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
12. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
13. A Game of Thrones - GRR Martin
14. Belgariad series - David Eddings
15. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown

If I think of others I'll add them, but most of my favourites come from these series'.
 
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