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Recommendations of all Books Please!

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TheMary
Post subject: Recommendations of all Books Please!
Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 5:57 am
I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map, And knew that somehow I could find my way back; Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too - So I stayed in the darkness with you
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So my new favorite thing to do is read book recommendations by anyone willing to share. I love reading and I love discussing books but there are so many out there that I find myself overwhelmed. So I tend to raid my friends bookcases in search of a good book.

I love books and am completely not picky when it comes to what sort of book I read. Biography, autobiography, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, historical and so on an so forth. Now I've read mostly fiction in my life but I'm open to anything. I want to know what YOUR favorite book is and I want to read it.

Please share as many titles as you can and I shall do the same.

Happy sharing and happy reading!!!! :D :love:

The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Fielding
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

There are many many more but I shall pace myself :)

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Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
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From across the distant shore

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping


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Alatar
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 9:17 am
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Oh, too many to list, but I'll take the ones that jumped straight to mind.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
Duncton Wood by William Horwood
The Farseer, Assassin and Liveship Trader trilogies by Robin Hobb.

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*E*V*E*N*S*T*A*R*
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 9:59 am
I've cried a thousand oceans, and I would cry a thousand more if that's what it takes to sail you home.
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All-time favorite: It by Stephen King

Runner-up: Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.


I still haven't finished Hello, I'm Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity by Hal Niedzviecki, but it is endlessly fascinating. There are so many ideas in it I became overwhelmed and had to put it down for a bit because I didn't know if I should start discussing it while I remembered certain points, or save that for when I finished. But I recommend it to absolutely everyone.




*E*

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MariaHobbit
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 3:05 pm
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I like the Dresden Files series, by Jim Butcher. They are ever so much better than the TV shows. :)

I've got literally hundreds of favorite books at home, listing them all would be appalling. But here's a list of my favorite authors, the ones I read almost everything they write/ wrote:

Adams, Douglas
Asprin, Robert
Butcher, Jim
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Card, Orson Scott
Francis, Dick
Gellis, Roberta
Heinlein, Robert
Herbert, Frank
L'Amour, Louis
Kurtz, Katherine
McCaffrey, Anne
Palmer, David R.
Saberhagen, Fred
Stirling, SM
Tolkien, J.R.R.
Vinge, Vernor
White, James

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Jude
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 3:13 pm
Aspiring to heresy
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I love Diana Wynne Jones. A good place to start is "Dark Lord of Derkholm", and the sequel "Year of the Griffin."

I also love anything by Muriel Spark. Check out "The Comforters". It will probably want to make you read all her other books. :D

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Crucifer
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 3:43 pm
A song outlasts a dynasty.
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To add to Alatar's list, the Tawny man trilogy by Robin Hobb.
(And BTW, The Assassin trilogy? Are you sure you don't mean Farseer again? They're called Assassin x, assassin y and z assassin...)

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King.
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake.
Anything written by Niel Gaiman.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke.

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Alatar
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 3:46 pm
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Crucifer wrote:
To add to Alatar's list, the Tawny man trilogy by Robin Hobb.
(And BTW, The Assassin trilogy? Are you sure you don't mean Farseer again? They're called Assassin x, assassin y and z assassin...)
Ack. I meant the Tawny Man instead of Farseer. Wasn't thinking straight. But yeah, those 9 books as a "trilogy of trilogies" are awesome.

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Crucifer
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 3:54 pm
A song outlasts a dynasty.
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I'm starting on Liveship Traders as soon as I finish Gormenghast... Which may be this time next year. That is one hefty book...

(I actually cried when the Fool died in the Tawny man. Seriously. This was last Friday. And I cried when Fitz brought him back to life. And I cried even more when Fitz realised he could never see him again.)

I must also recommend Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. A little Childish but a rollicking good read.

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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 4:07 pm
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Please tell me you read Liveship Traders before the Tawny Man? This is a re-read, right?

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Dave_LF
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 5:24 pm
You are hearing me talk
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Pillars of the Earth and its sequel, World Without End. Both are by Ken Follett, and are on my mind since I just read the second one recently.


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vison
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 5:34 pm
Best friends forever
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If you never read them before: The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Absolutely splendid.

Stephen Jay Gould, any. A brilliant man, brilliant writer.

Anthony Trollope - but you've started on him.

Georgette Heyer: light romances written by an author who knew her history. Fun galore. Do not be misled, EVER, by thinking that other "Regency" romances are like hers. They are NOT, no more than
the Eye of Argon is like LOTR.

Dear me. I must stop now or I'll go on for pages and pages and pages.

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Pippin4242
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 8:17 pm
Hasta la victoria, siempre
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Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22'.
Zadie Smith's 'White Teeth'.

And LOTR, I assume, you've read. :P

*~Pips~*

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Crucifer
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 10:43 pm
A song outlasts a dynasty.
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Quote:
Please tell me you read Liveship Traders before the Tawny Man? This is a re-read, right?
I'm afraid not... I asked for The Mad Ship for my birthday this year, and somehow ended up getting the Golden Fool (or whatever the first on is) instead. I read it anyway... Was this not a good idea? I know it's not the order of release...

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Alatar
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Posted: Wed 05 Dec , 2007 11:21 pm
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Well, Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders are more or less seperate, but both feed into the culmination of Tawny man. As a result, there are major spoilers for Liveship Traders in Tawny Man. :(

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yovargas
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Posted: Thu 06 Dec , 2007 12:32 am
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Read everything Neil Gaiman has written.
Then read it again.


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TheMary
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Posted: Thu 06 Dec , 2007 9:45 am
I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map, And knew that somehow I could find my way back; Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too - So I stayed in the darkness with you
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I splurged on two books from Barnes and Noble and one was Good Omens by Prachett and Gaiman since so many people have recommended it to me this year :D.

Woot for all of your suggestions I can't wait to compile a great big written list (I'm old skool like that) and start reading!

Just finished Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club today. It was a super fast enjoyable read. The book differs from the movie a little bit but nothing too drastic :).

_________________

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping


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Crucifer
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Posted: Thu 06 Dec , 2007 8:34 pm
A song outlasts a dynasty.
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Quote:
Read everything Neil Gaiman has written.
Then read it again.
Yes. I couldn't agree more.
Quote:
there are major spoilers for Liveship Traders in Tawny Man.
The whole how the ships are built and Dragon Tintaglia stuff? Dagnabbit...

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Lily Rose
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Posted: Thu 06 Dec , 2007 9:38 pm
stranded in dreamland
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Yay! Good Omens is one of my favorite books ever! :D

I am more familiar with cheesy fantasy than anything else.
My favorite authors are:

R.A. Salvatore
Mercedes Lackey
Anne McCaffrey
David Eddings
Guy Gavriel Kay

If you haven't read The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour, you definitely should. It is one of the best books ever written.

I'm not really a big Stephen King fan, but I like his short stories.

If you like religious authors, than I highly recommend Frank Peretti. His books are interesting enough for even non-religious folks like me.:)

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Dawnnamira
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Posted: Thu 06 Dec , 2007 10:55 pm
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Frank Peretti = :love:

Umm...most of the books I've read in my life so far have been religious fiction because I grew up on a bible college campus. But I'm branching out now (first into the classics such as Jane Austen, and Oscar Wilde, and others).

I recommend anything by Stephen King. I read his short story collection Four Past Midnight over the summer, and it freaked me out. Of course, it didn't help that I read a story about things going wrong on a plane, while I was IN a plane. :Q

Another recommendation, Allan Steele's Coyote and its sequel Coyote Rising are wonderful science fiction/survival stories.

For fans of history/espionage/treasure hunting/puzzles/pretty much anything else, I would definitely recommend Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. It's long and involved, but it's a thrilling story. I loved it and I'm going to reread it very soon.

Killer Angels by Micheal Shaara is a retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg from the vantage point of some of the key players on either side. I'm not exactly sure if it is completely accurate character-wise, but it definitely brought the battle to life for me. I recommend it for war/history buffs like me. :P

Okay, that's enough for now...I need to go do laundry.

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Crucifer
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Posted: Fri 07 Dec , 2007 4:35 pm
A song outlasts a dynasty.
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Oh. Anything by Oscar Wilde. Thanks to Dawn for reminding me.

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