Can anyone suggest a good book.

You know, I loved almost all of Heinlein, but I never got Rand's Fountainhead more than halfway read before I gave up on it. She was simply too self-involved and too busy trying to justify her own life for my tastes, even in the early 1960s.
 
The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh is a very good read, as are most of his books, if you like police stories.
 
FullerH said:
Perhaps because Rand and Heinlein share a libertarian political philosophy.
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FullerH said:
You know, I loved almost all of Heinlein, but I never got Rand's Fountainhead more than halfway read before I gave up on it.
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From what I can tell Rand isn't *the* definitive school of libertarianism, but more of a poster child for one of the major schools of thought; others exist and there has been a lot of discussion on this topic.

I dislike Rand, but that comes from reading "The Fountainhead", which left a pretty negative impression. Heinlein I actually dislike for reasons other than political philosophy ... I know what kind of following each has; not going to argue with you guys/girls about it here :)
 
wasn't Rand really big on self sufficiency and nothing less while she slobbered all over the cuffs of some married guy and broke up his marriage?
 
Apart from some already mentioned, you can consider these:

For classic:
Quo Vadis (H. Sienkiewicz)
Les Miserables (V. Hugo)
1984 (G. Orwell)
(I enjoyed these, unlike other "classics" (e.g. Balzac really sucks)

For "horrors"
IT and The shining (S. King)

For horrors :)
Anything from H.P. Lovecraft

Sci-Fi
War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells)
W. Gibson

Fantasy:
Tolkien (Silmarilion rocks!
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)
Prattchet (Discworld series only)

Other:
John Grisham isn't usually bad too.
Mario Puzo of course
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(I don't know if they are translated to English, but if they are look for books by Jiri Kulhanek( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiri_Kulhanek ), really entartaining)

(btw avoid anything apart Catch 22 from Heller,
also 2nd, 3rd and 4th and 6th part of Dune are poor,
Asimov's quality is very oscilating too
)
 
Here are some real standouts from collection

FICTION

A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle, novel about an Irish street thug turn of the century

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, always read the book before the movie

Payback by Thomas Kelly, great story about two brothers, one an Irish thug, the other a "sandhog" trying to put himself through college

any Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan/Mars books. Dejah Thoris on some of these covers is silly

Silmarillion by JRR Tolkein, pretty much the backstory to the Middle Earth universe. First chapter reads like Genesis from the Bible, except there weren't any orcs, elves, dwarves etc. Tolkein really pulled from Jewish, Catholic, Christian and Nordic sagas with this one.



NONFICTION

Man of Honor by Joseph Bonnano, an "autobiography" of Joe Banana, he writes about how he hated that name BTW. The guy brushes off his lifestyle as something honorable and admirable, I like it because he obviously knew what he was doing was wrong, but didn't give a damn. A real POS, but a good book nonetheless.

Pawprints of History by Stanley Coren, an interesting read about dogs and their influential masters throughout the ages, and how influential these dogs were on their masters

Crowkiller by Raymond Thorp, Jeremiah Johnson, or Liver Eatin' Johnson, wasn't the hero portrayed by Robert Redford. Didn't know this side of the famous mountain man.

Pirate Hunter by Richard Zacks, an indepth look at why Captain Kidd was labeled a pirate, illustrates that he really was a privateer, and that he was executed for the wrong reasons

Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland by Helen Rountree and Thomas Davidson, still reading this one, gives a very good history of the American Indian in my back yard



Disappearing Delmarva by Ed Okonowicz, one of my favorite books this year. Ed interviewed different people with different professions on the MD/DE/VA eastern shore. Lots of neat pics, many great accounts. This book might not mean anything to those who aren't familiar with the Eastern shore, but after reading this, I found out that I wasn't familiar with the eastern shore either. I'm familiar with the RTE 50, RTE 1, RTE 13 and RTE 113 corridor, but not the real eastern shore. Like the title says, a book about the disappearing culture of the eastern shore. A must read for those who love the eastern shore and its heritage.
 
Seeing Quo Vadis reminded me of a book that I read 46 years ago this summer and I reread l;ast spring with all of the enjoyment that I first experienced in it. That book is The Egyptian: A Novel, by Mika Waltari, rereleased with a new forword by Lynda S. Robinson. It foirst came out in English, Waltari is a Finn, just after WWII and caused quite a scandal, but it is an extremely well-written novel and its history is still accurate 60 years later.
 
tgw914 said:
I currently find my life absent of literature, which makes me a bit bummed out. Can anyone suggest a good book.
I don't really care about genre, as long as its not a girly romance type thing. I like a book to have some action and suspense, but I also want to think a little bit.

Some of my favorite books are A Clockwork Orange, Anthem, Dracula,and anything by Roald Dahl.

Thanks in advance.

Tom
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Woodcraft and camping by Nessmuk, (aka George W. Sears)
No suspense but lot's of philosophy on outdoor activities. I just read it a few weeks ago. Now I am reading last of the Mochicans, by James Fennimore Cooper, a book I should have read in grade school like everyone else my age did.
 
Most of C. Dickens
Catch-22 - Heller
Most of K. Vonnegut
A Peoples History of the U.S. (not for everyone) - H. Zinn
Manufacturing Consent - N. Chomsky (not for everyone)
The Bonfire of The Vanities - T. Wolfe
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemmingway
The Grapes of Wrath - J. Steinbeck
The Hobbit & LOTR trilogy - Tolkien
The Godfather - M. Puzo
A Clockwork Orange - A. Burgess
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - W. Shirer
1984 - G. Orwell
 
Try working your way through the "Sharpe" series by Bernard Cornwell. Its historical fiction set in the Napolianic war, and its very good, as well as something to learn from. Cornwell is a history proffesor and at the end of each book is a historical over view of the story you just read and what was really real.

Also by Cornwell is "The Last Kingdom", the historical novel of the saxon invasion of England, and Alfred The Great. The only English king to be called that.

Good stuff that Cornwell.
 
the Dark Tower series by stephen king.

it's not your typical king horror story.

but, BE WARNED, it is highly addictive.

i'm not joking, i went in to buy one of the books and ended up standing in the store reading it for an hour and a half before i finally checked out.
 
A few that probably aren't too well known-not sure if they're exactly what you have in mind but they are two (out of an average of 6-8 a month) that I've enjoyed enough to reread multiple times

1- The Others by James Herbert. British horror (kinda) that with an interesting story line that at the end I thought to myself "that's the most fu-d up thing I've ever read" and then turned to the afterword and found it's loosely based on some true events. This is not the same as the movie w/ Nicole Kidman.

2- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. He usually writes shorter action/intrigue novels. This is not one of them. It spans a life in medeveil (sp?) times and has some amazing characters and is an absolutely great read!

3-A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I am not a fan of John Irving, I find I have to work hard to stay interested in his work. This book is no different-I actually just skipped every other chapter. Then at the end of the book I wanted to cry. Wow-didn't expect that!
 
reveler said:
the Dark Tower series by stephen king.

it's not your typical king horror story.

but, BE WARNED, it is highly addictive.

i'm not joking, i went in to buy one of the books and ended up standing in the store reading it for an hour and a half before i finally checked out.
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I've read the entire series, and have to say that II and III are the best, the last one is better than the rest, but doesn't hold a candle to III. King definitely went nuts on this series.
 
The "Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. Starts with "A Game of Thrones". Best fantasy since Lord of the Rings.
 
Bobwhite said:
The "Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. Starts with "A Game of Thrones". Best fantasy since Lord of the Rings.
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Those were a bit graphic, though! Melting the gold medallion and, well, you know! :eek:
 
Graphic and Brutal. Martin does not shrink from killing or majorly messing up a major character. Be forewarned, all the characters are fair game to his story.
 
There is a series of medieval mystery novels by a Britisher named Michael Jecks. They are set in and around Devonshire, England, during the rather unfortunate reign of Edward II. While the reign may have been unfortunate for the kingdom, it certainly gives lots and lots of room for murder mysteries with all kinds of plot threads to them. Add into this the depth of knowledge of life in the period that Jecks shows and you have a first class series. His heroes are Sir Baldwin of Furnishill, an ex-Templar knight who escaped to England to inherit his older brother's estate. He becomes the Keeper of the King's Peace for the surrounding area, a sort of chief lawman. His friend, Simon Puttock, is a commoner raised up to Bailiff of a castle by an Abbott who has bought the stannery rights for the Dart Moor. This has, effectively, moved him up into the lower levels of the feudal aristocracy along with Sir Baldwin. The two make a great pair, Simon is long and happily married while Baldwin is fated to become very much so. But they work together to solve the crimes and to advance their lords' interests and to try to serve the King without becoming too involved in the growing fight between the King and his court favorites, the DeSpensers, on one side and the high nobility on the other.
 
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