Favourite books/authors

[Stocka]

What do people here like reading? Here are some of my favourite books:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson)
The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson)
The Pearl (John Steinbeck)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
The Turning (Tim Winton)
Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)

 

[acuguy]

My favourite book of all time is Bryce Courtney's April Fools Day, an unbelievable account of his son's battle with AIDS. This should be a must read for senior English.

 

[Chasing the Dream]

I have enjoyed all of Michael Connelly's work, but 'The Poet' is by far my favourite book of all time.

"Beware - The Poet is out there"

 

[Hollow Knight]

Hunter S Thompson - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail.
Phillip K Dick - A Scanner Darkly, Ubik, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion, The Selfish Gene, Unweaving the Rainbow, The Blind Watchmaker
Stephen King - The Shining, The Stand
Christopher Hitchens - God is Not Great
George Orwell - Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Nelson Mandela - The Long Walk to Freedom
Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Steven Levitt - Freakonomics
James Ellroy - LA Confidential

Shitloads more. Just read The Draft by Emma Quayle which was fantastic, and am currently reading Adam Gilchrist's autobiography. After that I'm moving onto the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Getting tired of people recommending it all the time.

 

[Rawhead]

Last one I read was American Gods by Neil Gaiman, pretty good

If I had to pick a favorite book it would be um, Possibly Clive Barkers Weaveworld. Dont think I ever read anything dodgy by Barker,

or maybe Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Actually all of Tom Robbins books are excellent.

Really though
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant books, by Stephen Donaldson,
Dune Series, by Frank Herbert,
Lord of the Rings Triology, by Tolkien
Foundation series, by Asimov

all rate a pretty high mention



Oh and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series by Douglas Adams, and his 'Long dark tea time of the Soul' holistic detective novel, they were all excellent.

 

[blynd_freddie]

Anything by Milan Kundera, Alice Sebold, Nick Hornby, Roald Dahl, Ben Elton, Aldous Huxley and Tim Winton to name a few.

 

[blynd_freddie]

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant books, by Stephen Donaldson

Hahaha, one of the first box sets bought with pocket money... late 70's?

 

[Rawhead]

Hahaha, one of the first box sets bought with pocket money... late 70's?

Yep, though he's writing new ones now, and I fear he might die before he finishes.

Have released Books 4 and 5, been waiting two years now for the 6th one



I still get a lil teary thinking about Foamfollower immersing himself in Lava so his friends could live.



brave, brave foamfollower.

 

[acuguy]

Hunter S Thompson - Fear & Loathing in Shitloads more. Just read The Draft by Emma Quayle which was fantastic, and am currently reading Adam Gilchrist's autobiography. After that I'm moving onto the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Getting tired of people recommending it all the time.

I really enjoyed The Draft, it gave great insight into the mindset recruiters have and also the lives of the boys involved.

I have finished Gilchrist's book and enjoyed it immensely, i did get a feeling that Adam was very caught up with Adam though.

Also finished Glenn McGrath's Line and Strength- This was a very good read but quite sad because it was written before the death of his wife and there was real hope she would survive.

 

[blynd_freddie]

Yep, though he's writing new ones now, and I fear he might die before he finishes.

Have released Books 4 and 5, been waiting two years now for the 6th one

I still get a lil teary thinking about Foamfollower immersing himself in Lava so his friends could live.

brave, brave foamfollower.

Are you talking 6th as in 6th trilogy of Chronicles?
[I've just checked only have the 1st and 2nd] also have a couple of Julian May's - in the Saga of the Exiles - sitting next to them.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I have finished Gilchrist's book and enjoyed it immensely, i did get a feeling that Adam was very caught up with Adam though.

Its an autobiography!

If anything, he is self-deprecating almost to a fault. Not a hint of arrogance there IMO.

 

[John]

I really don't have favourite books but i always seem to have a few on the go.

View Of Sussex by Ben Darby a $2 job from a 2nd hand shop.
Rubicon by Tom Holland. A history book on the Roman Republic.
A New History Of England. A re-read.
The Scream By Kris Needs. Book about the band Primal Scream.
Rome Or Death: The Obsessions Of General Garibaldi by Daniel Pick.
I am a sucker for history.

Hey Rawhead. Did you read Chapterhouse Dune? I was disappointed that Herbert passed on with out being able to take it further.

Hey freddie. You mentioned a book by Hornsby to me once before about music. What was that again?

 

[blynd_freddie]

Hey freddie. You mentioned a book by Hornsby to me once before about music. What was that again?

31 Songs - Nick Hornby first published by Viking now published with additional material by Penguin.

 

[John]

Gotta get that one. Cheers.

 

[SunKing]

Favorite book is Wuthering Heights
Other favorites ..other 19th C English lit such as Tess Of The D'Urvervilles
Killer See Killer Do (ultra rare detective novel)
Chariots Of The Gods - Von Daniken
The Love We Make -Biography on The Beatles

Authors
The Bronte sisters particularly Emily
Agatha Christie - absolute fanatic and have read most of her novels many,many times.
Jules Verne

 

[brisbanelioness]

Phillip K Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Was just talking about this book last night after hubby and I watched "The Day the Earth Stood Still" at the movies. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was such a great book and different from the ever popular film, Blade Runner.

In terms of authors, my first love was Enid Blyton, then Stephen King, then William Shakespeare. In recent years I have enjoyed Nick Earls' work and Monica McInerney's too, as well as the odd autobiography.

At the moment I have just started reading Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary and I'm really enjoying it. I found it on my bookshelf among a heap of classics a friend offloaded to me years ago. It's turned out to be a real treasure.

I wish I had more time to read. I love getting lost in literature...

 

[Rawhead]

Are you talking 6th as in 6th trilogy of Chronicles?
[I've just checked only have the 1st and 2nd] also have a couple of Julian May's - in the Saga of the Exiles - sitting next to them.

I stuffed that up actually, It's the third chronicles, so it's books 7 and 8 that have recently been released, with the last book of the third chronicles (9) still to come.

Julian Mays Saga of the exiles, that was an extremly decent read, wouldn't mind reading that again actually

Hey Rawhead. Did you read Chapterhouse Dune? I was disappointed that Herbert passed on with out being able to take it further.

Yeah me too, wasn't quite as good as God Emperor of Dune. I hear his son Brian Herbert wrote 2 more books that follow on with the Dune saga though, based on notes that Frank Herbert left when he died. There are also two trilogies of Dune prequels by Brian Herbert that I havent read yet.

 

[Rawhead]

I've just started reading 'Christ the Lord' by born again Jesus Krispie Anne Rice.

I have a feeling at some point Jesus is gonna go vampire.

 

[acuguy]

Its an autobiography!

If anything, he is self-deprecating almost to a fault. Not a hint of arrogance there IMO.

I am a massive fan of Gilly and i really did enjoy the book, but i didn't finish it liking him any more if that makes sense. I also thought the part where he wrote about Jane McGrath's death at the end all a bit strange. I guess that is the great thing abut books people get different things from them.

 

[Hilly72]

I generally have a pile of books on the bedside table, though with 2 kids and a third on the way find little time.

Reading Duma Keys by Stephen King at the moment.

 

[flight23]

gonna get shot down by the real readers in here

as a kid

enid blyton - famous 5, secret 7 to a lesser degree

Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators - this series of books was brilliant

now

robert ludlum
matthew reilly

 

[dlanod]

I hear his son Brian Herbert wrote 2 more books that follow on with the Dune saga though, based on notes that Frank Herbert left when he died. There are also two trilogies of Dune prequels by Brian Herbert that I havent read yet.

I wouldn't really bother. I read the first couple of prequels that came out, and while they weren't horrible (although some found them to be so) I just found them boring and not at all consistent with the tone of Frank Herbert's books. Some of the characters also suffer by comparison, as Brian tends to introduce inconsistencies with their later behaviour.

 

[Rawhead]

I suspected that might be the case, and with my favorite authors it's the music of their writing that attracts me, not so much the subject matter, and Frank Herbert was one of a kind.

I've also heard they are attempting again to make a Dune movie, which I have great reservations about. If David Lynch couldn't make a decent movie out of Dune, no one can.

 

[POBT]

gonna get shot down by the real readers in here

...

matthew reilly

I consider myself a reasonably sophisticated reader. But every now and then, I like to delve into different genres and that "blokes books" genre is my one of my favourites. I don't read them to be educated; I read them to be entertained. Sometimes I find them unintentionally amusing though - so much testosterone!

Reilly is great from a "blokes books" perspective - no drop in pace and written in a really easy style. It is almost like reading a radio serial. I started reading Wilbur Smith when I was about 12 and still like to pick one up every now and then. Clive Cussler books probably top the list as far as unintentionally funny moments go (can't believe he writes himself in as a minor character of every book!) but I don't mind them. Entertaining, if not very thought provoking. Tom Clancy is another author I quite like too.

 

[Rawhead]

Australian classic.