Suggest a book to read thread

I still like Kafka better although Wind-Up is a great book

Seconding these:

Eric Idle wrote:Gabriel Garcia Marquez-- One Hundred Years of Solitude

Douglas Adams-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Khaled Hosseini-- The Kite Runner

Joseph Heller-- Catch-22

Recent books I've enjoyed:

Atonement - MacEwen

Barney's Version - Richler

The Book of Negroes - Hill (musician Dan Hill's brother)

Water for Elephants - Gruen

Flatland - Abbott

Freedon - Frantzen

Recent books I'm so-so on:

The Room - Emma Donaghue

The Weed that ties the Hangman's Bag

Recent Books I wish I could unread:

Generation A - Douglas Coupland

The Road - Cormac McArthy

The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood

On the Road - Kerouac (could not finish this no matter how I tried)

Solar - MacEwen

Some random favourites in no particular order:

Slaughterhouse Five

The Tess of the d'Ubervilles

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

The Kite Runner

Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

The List of Seven by Mark Frost

Decision Points by George W. Bush

A great book, really makes me admire our country's first great president of the new millenium. He was a great man of morals and a great president.

Mr. Spock wrote:

My Name is Asher Lev - Potok. Outstanding book, maybe my favorite.

Dandelion Wine - Bradbury.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Heinlein.

Shogun - Clavell

Dune - Herbert (already suggested, but seconded).

I re-read Dandelion Wine recently, loved it the 1st time, 2nd time not so much.

Dune is great, but i got really bored w/ nos. 2 and 3 of the trilogy.

What i've liked alot lately:

Hemingway - for whome the bell tolls

Books by David Lodge, especially Therapy

Wolf Hall (story of Thomas Cromwell - excellent)

Eric Idle wrote:

...

Chinua Achebe-- Things Fall Apart

...

Wow! I read this many years ago in college as part of the African Religions section of a Religions Of The World course. It made such a big impression on me that I actually considered switching my degree to Sociology. I still have the book, 30+ years later.

The book I think I have enjoyed more than any other is "Walk Across America" - Peter Jenkins. The hardest one to put down I have ever read I think. The Krakauer (sp?) books are excellent - I've read "Geiger Dreams"/"Into Thin Air"/"Into The Wild".

Running-wise, I just finished "Run to Overcome" - Meb. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it. My two sons also have read it and enjoyed it immensely.

"Running Tide" - Joan Benoit Samuelson, "Running Back" - Steve Heidenreich (I was so moved after reading it that I called his parents to see how he was doing), "The Miler" - Steve Scott, are all good.

Good Books wrote:

Lots of great ones listed already, Ill try and pick a few that I dont think were listed:

Kafka on the Shore-Murakami (my personal favorite of his)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronichicles- Murakami (prob his most famous)

Chilly Scenes of Winter- Anne Beattie (sp?)

If On a Winter's Night a Traveler- Calvino

Blood Meridian- Cormac McCarthy

The Alchemist- Coelho (my personal favorite book)

The Stranger- Camus

If you like short stories here are a few:

The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God- Keret

Marcovaldo- Calvino

Just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles since I loved Norwegian Wood so much. And I'm loving it. Great suggestion.

Hearts in Atlantis - Stephen King's best book.

Why do people bother suggesting classics? Aren't these pretty well known, established good reads? I doubt many people click on a thread like this (bibliophiles, mostly) and then think - aha! Huck Finn! Great suggestion! Never thought of it!

Can we just assume that most classics are classics for a reason? Suggest something you think others may NOT have heard of.... c'mon.

My contribution: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Thought-provoking. Really good read. But don't expect Shakespeare.

Some other favourites:

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

The Shipping News - Annie Proulx (can't finish any of her other books, but this one is brilliant)

The Stone Carvers - Urquhart

The Wars - Findlay

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque

Solomon Gursky was Here - Richler

Kit's Law - Morrissey

No Great Mischief - Macleod

Mercy among the Children - Richards

The White Bone - Gowdy

Pilgrim - Findlay

A Fine Balance - Mistry

Vernon God Little - Pierre

Disgrace - Coetze

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Doyle

The God of Small Things - Roy

There is a disproportionate number of Canadian authors in the list. :-)

Another one, that I recently read (I took a Japanese lit course in undergrad, introduced me to some authors, hence the Japanese books)

Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

the old man and the please wrote:

Why do people bother suggesting classics? Aren't these pretty well known, established good reads? I doubt many people click on a thread like this (bibliophiles, mostly) and then think - aha! Huck Finn! Great suggestion! Never thought of it!

Can we just assume that most classics are classics for a reason? Suggest something you think others may NOT have heard of.... c'mon.

My contribution: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Thought-provoking. Really good read. But don't expect Shakespeare.

I think there are some classics, especially those that were not originally in English, that people may not have heard of and are hence worth a plug.

Fair enough. Here are some others probably not as well known.

Bed- Tao Lin

No One Belongs Here More Than You-Miranda July

Dreams of a Robot Dancing Bee-Tate

Men and Cartoons-Lethem

zip zero nada wrote:

Just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles since I loved Norwegian Wood so much. And I'm loving it. Great suggestion.

Glad you like it

Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever

Yanqui wrote:

I'm actually surprised to see people praising Hemingway. Hemingway's awful, except for a few short stories like "The Killers" and "The Short Happy Life of Frances Macomber." I re-read "The Sun Also Rises" last year because it was about the only book in the house I was at. It's wretchedly terrible.

I like your suggestions but wonder what you have against Hemingway? I look at Hemingway like I would view reading Maxim or something today, but 100x better.

He talks about drinking, sex, "sports" and war. He is extremely cautious with his writing, which I admire.

I am not arguing with you, just curious as to what you hate so much.

Oh, I just read Lolita (Nabokov) and The Crying Lot of 49 (Pynchon).

I enjoyed both and would recommend them to anyone. I will be reading more Nabokov.

P.Whelan wrote:

Slaughterhouse Five is the crowning achievement, unless you really like it I wouldn't move on to the rest of his works, I though Cat's Cradle was pretty weak.

Slaughterhouse-Five - while a masterpiece - is one of my least favorite "Vonnegut books". I put that in quotes b/c I don't mean books by Vonnegut, but rather books in his unusual voice. It is well written and amazing, but it is also his most traditional piece of literature (granted, time travel and the like are not very "traditional"). I loved Cat's Cradle, and feel that his unusual satire is his most beloved characteristic. I can see it being a matter of taste though.

Definitely don't think you are wrong, just don't want to discourage others from reading Vonnegut after they are made to read Slaughterhouse-Five in school.

My favorite Roddy Doyle book is actually "A Star Called Henry."