Favorite books

[Caspar]

What are your favorite books? Why do you like them? Do you recommend them? Which books have the greatest effect on who you are today?

I am bored. Recommend me a good book, preferably something thought provoking if nonfiction or good literature if fiction.

 

[King_Oni]

I'm not really an avid reader in general, so the entire fiction boat kinda goes past me. In a way, I cannot "get" characters in books. The entire development, I kinda lose track of it in general. The same can be said for characters in movies (or even games).

If anything I've read a lot of nonfiction in my life, ranging from biographies, to just flatout informational textbooks. In general I like reading about popculture analysis. There's a series where they apply philosophy to movie or series X, and they are pretty interesting I think. I've read a similar one about Facebook and psychology. Popculture gives me more of a frame of reference than using for instance (and I can use this term on this board) an NT perspective and example.

Besides that I usually like books with random information; Currently I'm still reading a book on pre-industrialized London, and what went on below the surface in terms of "activity". Apparently there were gangs and all kinds of things going on in the tunnels and sewers there. I like to read up on etymology; seeing where words come from. Just like I like to read books about design and art and see what the psychology (or just train of thought) was behind that, probably in that timeframe.

However; the few fictional works I do read, are usually the ones that are already adapted to a movie. Why? Because I kinda have a trouble in visualizing every word I read, and with having a rough frame of reference, that makes it a bit easier on me. I'm ok if I have my own idea of what it looks like and write that, but I kinda have troubles reading it from others.

That being said; I thought Fight club was better as a book, but I do enjoy that movie a lot.

Another book I did enjoy, but did not make it to the silver screen (yet) was the latest rambling of Chuck Palahniuk called Damned. That was a fun read (at least to me)... it was quite surrealist and absurd, but that kinda is the thing I don't have a problem visualizing I guess.

But recommending a book in terms of "thought provoking"... I look for those books a lot and I can't stumble to find any, lol. So really, what provokes ones (or in this cas, your) mind?

 

[Caspar]

I like to read books with random information, too. But these days, I think the internet satisfies my appetite for random trivia and superficial pieces of information. Popculture and sociological nonfiction are also interesting - I love books like Freakonomics and Outliers. I often tend to miss the big trends in society since I am not into mainstream culture.

But recommending a book in terms of "thought provoking"... I look for those books a lot and I can't stumble to find any, lol. So really, what provokes ones (or in this case, your) mind?

Thought provoking...I don't know. I haven't read one of those books in a while. But I think I am looking for something that gets me to think about things I don't usually think about - you know, to get an escape from my mind so I don't think about the same things all the time. Freakonomics was one of them - it got me to think that little things that people don't notice may have a big effect on economics and sociology. Godel, Escher, Bach was another one - it addresses whether the question of consciousness can be explained using a Reductionist approach. In terms of literature, I like The Road in the way that it explores human behavior (specifically, parent-child relationship) in a post-apocalyptic world. I also like Catch-22 and Absurdist literature in general.

In terms of non thought provoking but enjoyable reads, I like fantasy novels.

It seems that reading is just a way to escape my routine and my default mode of thinking, which is why I like to read.

 

[Arashi222]

Stephen King's Rose Red my all time fav book. If you like Fantasy I prefer DragonLance, Harry Potter, or even the mortal instruments series.

 

[Bay]

I don't read fiction. I am an information junkie. To me fiction is a pale reflection of actual life. I think that reality is pretty dramatic already.

 

[Christian T]

I have to say that I adore the original Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It is extremely thought-provoking, and also moving, poetic, thrilling and incredibly insightful. Although, the book that has most captivated me is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It's such a beautiful, rich, involving humanist story, with plenty of uncannily fascinating bits of information into the life of a Geisha.

Bay, even though it's fiction, Memoirs may still interest you. However, the most intriguing non-fiction work I've read is A Language Older Than Words by environmental activist Derrick Jensen. It's thoroughly thought-provoking and provides an unflinching foray into the arrogance, cruelty and selfishness of human beings, and of the power of nature. It's quite heavy though, but if that doesn't bother you, go for it.

For those interested in a lighter non-fiction work, Roald Dahl's autobiographies Boy and Going Solo are as delightful as his fictional works, but astonishingly true.

Lastly, Arashi222, have you read Stephen King's Misery it's absolutely enthralling, and in many ways literature about literature.

 

[RavenSly]

I don't really prefer fiction over non-fiction, nor vice versa. They both have their place, and I respect them both and enjoy each in its own unique way. As for my favorite book, this is an easy question for me, the answer being the book that I most loved reading as a child, a fantasy picture book called "The Voyage of the Basset" by James C. Christensen. The paintings in it are beautifully done, and its plot is well-done for a children's book.

 

[music.forlife7]

I tend to love books about European woodland animals (Like Redwall, Wind in the Willows, etc). I find those to have really great characters and plots. I used to read Jodi Picoult's books, but they seem too close to court cases and jail (And that happens in real life anyway), I want to escape when I read a book. Since those didn't do it for me I qut reading them.

 

[Pella]

I tend towards fiction, I have had trouble focusing for quite awhile but I would say that I generally like something with some "meat" to it. These are some of my favorites.

A Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Blindness – Jose Saramago
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction – by J.D. Salinger
Pride and Predjudice – Jane Austen
Lesson’s In Becoming Myself – Ellen Burstyn
Anything David Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, Holidays on Ice, etc. his audio books are worthwhile as well)
Running with Scissors- Augusten Burroghs
Dry – Augusten Burroughs (his short essay books as well, Possible Side effects, Magical Thinking)
Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West – Gregory Maguire
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books – Azar Nafisi
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
Politically correct fairy tales, or Politically correct bedtime stories
A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You – Amy Bloom
The Giver – Lois Lowry
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Stardust – Neil Gaiman
Good Omens – Neil Gaiman

 

[Christian T]

Tell me, Pella. With A Clockwork Orange did you ever use a nadsat dictionary, or learn the language purely by immersion, like I did? I found that an intensely fascinating book, full of intriguing moral questions and madcap descriptions.

 

[Pella]

Tell me, Pella. With A Clockwork Orange did you ever use a nadsat dictionary, or learn the language purely by immersion, like I did? I found that an intensely fascinating book, full of intriguing moral questions and madcap descriptions.

I just read it.

 

[76054Pluto]

I tend to read factual books especially on history, railways, astronomy and nature. I even collect old British Rail national timetables from the 1970s and 80s and compare journey times between certain places.

 

[gailt915]

Lately, my favorite books are: Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth - Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs - currently reading Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles deLint (short stories, urban fantasy genre).

 

[Sparticus]

Vietnam-perhaps a turning point for the USA. Too many others to mention. "Think and Grow Rich" changed my life & lead to another career. It's a succinct epitome of motivational & positive books per career/life advice.

 

[Galaxy Freeze]

Eh, either one. I voted "other".

It really depends how interesting it is or how well it's written. My favorite book is Dragon Rider, a fictional story about a fantasy journey to the Himalayas. But I do really love the book Unbroken, which is non-fictional and follows a U.S soldier and his life as a Prisoner of War in Japan during WWII.

 

[Rootless Tree]

Fiction.

I just started reading "One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand" by Luigi Pirandello. It's a classic from Italian Literature.

When his wife says a man that he has a little defect on his nose, and other parts of his body that he never noticed, a man freaks out and starts wondering about how he perceives himself (We are One), how everybody else does (We are One Hundred Thousand personas) and if there is really something he can call "himself" (We are No One).

I really love David Foster Wallace as well.

 

[Perry Holia Kerrith]

I like fiction, but not realistic or historical fiction.

Basically, Sience Fiction and Fantasy.

I just feel that... There's not enough creativity in books that just duplicate or mirror reality. There's no... Inspiration. No imagination. But that's just my opinion, and is obviously not universally applicable.

Currently reading The Dark Mirror, by Juliet Marillier.

 

[Sparticus]

I have a lot-here's a few:

The White Dawn
Crazy Horse
Edible Wild Plants, Peterson Field Guide
The First Circle
Cat's Cradle

 

[Christian T]

I just feel that... There's not enough creativity in books that just duplicate or mirror reality. There's no... Inspiration. No imagination. But that's just my opinion, and is obviously not universally applicable.

I just think that you can do more with science fiction and fantasy because these books can still have some realistic elements, and also some imaginative ones. Fiction is ultimately, after all, using exciting lies to tell a deeper truth.

 

[Hadassah]

The best book I've ever read is "Sinuhe the Egyptian" by Mika Waltari. Sinuhe's thoughts are profound and reflect life no matter what time you live in. I can also identify with his pain and loneliness.

They've actually made a silly movie about it in the fifties. But the quotes are from the book: The Egyptian (1954) - Quotes - IMDb