Rain Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Along similar veins...lets do a fav book category. What did BBOers (or BBFers) enjoy reading? For me:1) Anything by Lois Mcmaster Bujold.She is awesome. Can't begin to describe how much I like her books. Luckily she's more industrious than my 2nd favourite author.... 2) George R R Martin.Have you read "A song of ice and fire" series? It reads like a TV serial unfolding before your eyes. Maybe that's the attraction. But it has plenty of everything that keeps me readin. Blood, Lust, Envy, everything. It should be rated R. :) He has another fun book called Tuf Voyages, very cute too. 3) Roald Dahl--all his short stories and books. When I get home I'm going to demand them back from cousins who "borrowed" and never returned them. 4) R. K. Narayan, Michael Crichton probably. While composing this list of favourite non-bridge books/authors, I realise a lot of my favourites are bridge books by Mollo and the Kings. They probably rank joint second. I envy those with more eclectic taste in writers. Some of the books out there are unreadable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jlall Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Da Vinci Code was the last good non bridge book I read. Inside the Criminal Mind is good, anything by Agatha Christie... I don't read much non bridge anymore :) lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrothgar Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Agreed: I'm a big fan of "Song of Ice and Fire" by Martin(Also agree regarding the first Uplift series by David Brin) In all honesty, the book that I'm enjoying most right now is 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra. Other stuff that I read recenly and enjoyed: Theordore Rex by MorrisGuns, Germs, and Steel by DiamondPlayer of Games and Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elianna Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I find that it's easier to just list authors (and list by books/series if they have more than one, and I've only read one)! George RR Martin: A Song of Fire and Ice. Wonderful! Robin Hobb Kate Elliot: "Crown of Stars" series Gregory Maguire: "Wicked", but only if you're an Oz fan (and have actually read the books, not just seen the movie). But avoid "Mirror, Mirror" Stephen Fry LM Montgomery - I still read the Anne of Green Gables series regularly! Stephen Brust: The whole Taltos series. Some of the prequels are a little obnoxious. I'm currently reading Adam's favorite series: The Uplift Series by David Brin. The first (Sundiver) was kind of a snore, but the others are really rivetting. I'll stop now. :)And yes, these are books that I've read (ok, some reread) recently. I like to read! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike777 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Huge fan of Hercule Poirot books.Stephen Ambrose books, read Undaunted Courage, Lewis and Clark.William Gibson NeuromancerThe Amber science fiction series by Zelazny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echognome Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Tom Sharpe - In particular, Ancestral Vices. Funniest book I've ever read. Ken Follett - In particular, The Pillars of the Earth. Dixit and Nalebuff - Thinking Strategically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike777 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Dixit and Nalebuff - Thinking Strategically. I do not know this one, can you please elaborate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inquiry Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin , have a lot of time on your hand before reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echognome Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 "Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life." by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039331035...5Fencoding=UTF8 This was the first book on game theory I ever read. Has great examples and excellent intuition behind several of the major theories. Good introduction to the subject and will make you think in ways you hadn't thought of before. You might already know a lot of the ideas but hadn't formulated them scientifically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winstonm Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Shogun.Noble House.Taipan.Whirlwind.The Excorsist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Crime stories, many written by women (Eliszabeth George, Joy Fielding, Sara Paretsky, Minette Walters, etc.)Michelangelo (Irving Stone)Da Vinci CodeIl Barone Rampante (Calvino)Cook books :P Lord of the RingAvalonLe Petit PrinceTHGTTG (obviously..)Books with stories that play in former EgyptBooks of German authors like Fontane, Mann, Goethe, Lenz, Frisch, TucholskyBooks of D.H. Lawrence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joker_gib Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Ken Follett - In particular, The Pillars of the Earth. I agree this is a fantastic work by K. Follet ! :P For those who like "thrillers" : Did anybody try "Genesis" from John Case ? I promise this one will catch you in the first pages ! Alain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclayton Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I read everything by Michael Crichton and Ken Follett when they first come out. I liked all of Dan Brown's stuff too, although he seems to wander into Oliver Stone blurred line between fiction and NF. Started to get into Marquez a few years ago, and kind of liked it. Sentences that last several pages is an oddball style, however, and not well suited to my ADD personality ;) . Like Matt, Pillars of the Earth is my all time favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigi_BC84 Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 If you care about hard science fiction: Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling and Eclipse by John Shirley. --Sigi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 [..]Guns, Germs, and Steel by Diamond[...] One of my favorites as well. Other good ones:- The Selfish Gene (Dawkins)- The Blank Slate (Pinker) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothy Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 The books i like :- Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jarred Diamond was an amazing book. (even mentioned it in introductions :D) Birds Without Wings by Bernieres, despite its title throwing mud at the theory of evolution, is a brilliant book, and i challenge anyone to read it without a lump appearing in their throat (simultaneously swallowing a gob-stopper aside). READ IT!! Anyone interested in Anatolian history and the obstetrical struggles with the birth of modern Turkey would find it fascinating... My Autobiography entitled 'A Sloth's life: Coping with Doraphobia' which was published posthumously. Oxford English Dictionary. i admire people who strive to communicate something as descriptively yet as succinctly as possible, using words and phrases in such a way that it adds meaning and beauty to what they say. There is nothing wrong in widening ones vocabulary. May even get you a date :) Any book by Richard Dawkins ( a man walking on the shoulders of midgets) and i agree with Helen (Pinkers Language Instinct and Blank Slate are modern linguistic classics) Slothy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blofeld Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 A few of my favourites: Gödel, Escher, Bach : an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. Probably my favourite single book. Anything by TolkienThe Amber sequence, and Lord of Light, by Roger ZelaznyDune by Frank HerbertGood Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil GaimanSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson I'd also second the recommendation of Dawkins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshs Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Here are the books I listed at my amazon site: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin Political Sophistication, Sociolological Insight, and a main character who would rather be with his beloved, but needs to change two worlds instead... This Is My Beloved by Walter Benton Best love poetry ever written. Get Never a Greater Need also. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut My favorite author. His best book. Witty and brilliant. We are what we pretend to be... The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran All the wisdom one would need. Speaker for the Dead (Ender Quartet) by Orson Scott Card My other favorite author. Both Ender's Game and the more sophisticated Speaker for the Dead are great. I think the best treatment of religion in literature. Ten Poems to Open Your Heart by Roger Housden Get all of Roger Housden's poetry anthologies even if you are already familiar with the poems. His essays on the poems are incredible. This book contains my favorite poem, Saint Francis and the Sow. Letters from Prison and Other Essays by Adam Michnik His letter, Why I am not Signing, is the most "moral without being judgmental" thing I ever read. I re-read this every year. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter Brilliant. Got me interested in mathematics and convinced me of the possibility of AI. The Assistant: A Novel by Bernard Malamud Heartbreaking! White Noise (Contemporary American Fiction) by Don DeLillo Quirky and very funny with great insights into modern america. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Another funny and brilliant book. The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke (Vintage) by Rainer Maria Rilke My favorite poet. New and Selected Poems : Volume One by Mary Oliver My favorite contemporary poet. 1919: Volume Two of the U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos I can't tell if its a novel, or the best social history ever written. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Well I am still a hopeless romantic at heart. I hope life is not this tragic... The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Another source of great wisdom. The Grapes of Wrath : (Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck This had a great influence on me politically. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond A facenating look at human history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Anything from Asimov. Specially the Fundation series. Anything from Crichton, I liked "State of Fear" a lot recently.Dan Brown's books are good too.Rendezvous with Rama is also a great book. And any bridge book around there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keylime Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Current reads (edited 10 March): Klinger's book about Keri (Chapter 5)David Horowitz -> Unholy Alliance (halfway)Bill O'Reilly (on audiobook) -> Who's Looking Out for You? (on iPod)Rod Parsley -> Silent No More (just got in, on Chapter 2)Dr. Charles Stanley -> Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit (3/4th's through)Marshall Miles ->Modern Constructive Bidding (already own Comp Bidding in the 21st Century) On order: Political Incorrect Guide to Science; also one for IslamMichelle Malkin -> Invasion; Unhinged I go through a lot of books concurrently through the year; I can't sit down and read ONE book through - brain doesn't work that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshs Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 I go through a lot of books concurrently through the year; I can't sit down and read ONE book through - brain doesn't work that way. Thats what happens when you mix Havarti Cheese, Danish Ham, and Key Lime. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elianna Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Wow, a lot of people are mentioning authors whose books I couldn't stand. :) For example, Kurt Vonnegut. Haven't read anything by him in 5 or 6 years, but I couldn't stand Slaughterhouse-Five or Breakfast of Champions. I don't remember them very well (who knows, maybe I'd change my mind) but I remember hating their depiction of women, and just feeling dirty and upset after reading them. Isaac Asimov - Foundation series. I started reading the first book, and couldn't even stand to finish it, it was too aggravating. All this talk about something being math, when really i felt it was sociology (and statistics) and not too complex or interesting. And again, I couldn't stand the people in the books. I guess that's the good thing about books: There are so many that reach so many different types of people, that we can agree/disagree about the merits of millions of books! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echognome Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I kind of feel the same way about Guns, Germs, and Steel. Fantastic ideas and was really interesting... and then went on and on and on. Just a bit too long winded for my tastes. I found Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suokko Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Tad William's ShadowmarchIan Irven's The view from the mirrorMargareth Weiss' Death's gate cycleRobert Jordan's Wheel of Time And of course the classic books - LoTR. All these aren't jsut a book but series of books where story flows :P I love them. There is many other that I like a lot but these are from the top of the list. All of them are magic fantasy with variant degree of magic. The world in Wheel of time and Death's gate cycle are built on magic and great powers unlike in our world. The magic is everyday happening in them that nearly everybody have to know how to use.Shadowmarch has it's own setting where magic is very strong in the shadow world that is blocked from menThe view from the mirror has very strong magic but it is very restricted in the world that story begins from but there is hints that in other world magic flows freely and the mirracles are easy to archive. All the books include riddless and many turnings before in the end good wins. Heroes born in middle of story from the small people who happend to make rigth choices. The victory can come with great lose. It is the victory that can be celebrate later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badderzboy Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Magician by Raymond FeistDaughter of the Empire Series by FeistDrizzt D'Urden/Menzoberran books by SalvatoreMote in Gods Eye - Niven & PournelleAnything by Robert HeinleinFoundation & Dune Series ( although both get wacky by the end!)Legend by David Gemmell ( some of the others are great too).Dragonlance Chronicles by Weis/Hickman. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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