What books do you think everyone should read?

Use this forum for book and reading discussion that doesn't fall into another category. Talk about books, genres, reading issues, general literature, and any other topic of particular interest to readers. If you want to start a thread about a specific book or a specific series, please do that in the section below this one.
Post Reply
User avatar
Spoons
Posts: 166
Joined: 08 Apr 2008, 10:17
Bookshelf Size: 0

What books do you think everyone should read?

Post by Spoons »

I dont think there is a thread on this apologies if there is.

I am curious as to what books you all think that everyone should read. I know everyone has different tastes. But what are the books that you feel everyone should atleast read once.

1984 is often suggested to me, and i cant believe that i still have never read it, but are there any others you could suggest?

any responses appreciated.

[Moderation Note: Thread moved to general section because new threads in the "Reviews, Recommendations and Warnings" section must be limited to one book or series per thread. All others must be posted in the sticky thread for that genre or in a different section. Please see the new forum rules for the recommendations section. Thank you. -Scott]
Last edited by Spoons on 11 Apr 2008, 06:54, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Tracey Neal
Posts: 914
Joined: 12 Mar 2008, 11:51
Favorite Author: Nicholas Sparks
Favorite Book: The Hundred Dresses
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2460

Post by Tracey Neal »

You know Spoons that is an excellent question, I have a few I think people should read at least once :D

Umm, for the lovelorn romantic, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Wuthering Heights...are just a few :wink:

Watership Down, which I just recently finished...beautiful read :)

The Memory of Running

Breakfast of Champions

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Dubliners

The Color Purple

Of Mice and Men

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which is also in King's 1982 novella collection called "Different Seasons"

Also to note the movies Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me were adapted for the screen from two of King's stories in the collection "Different Seasons", which obviously Shawshank Redemption would be the first, Stand by Me from the story "The Body"
Image
User avatar
knightss
Posts: 811
Joined: 17 Dec 2006, 11:25
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by knightss »

hmmm... i don't think i can narrow it down to just one.

i'm glad you liked Watership Down.. that book holds a special place in my heart.

1984 (a must, especially if you're interested in government)
Anthem by Ayn Rand (along the same lines, quick read)
Breakfast of Champions
The Canterbury Tales
The Decameron
"Words can be like x-rays, if you use them properly - they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced." - Huxely
Image
User avatar
KaeMartyndale
Posts: 370
Joined: 12 Mar 2008, 19:49
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by KaeMartyndale »

Star wrote: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
I loved that book! I didn't even know other people had even HEARD of it!
User avatar
Tracey Neal
Posts: 914
Joined: 12 Mar 2008, 11:51
Favorite Author: Nicholas Sparks
Favorite Book: The Hundred Dresses
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2460

Post by Tracey Neal »

KaeMartyndale wrote:
Star wrote: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
I loved that book! I didn't even know other people had even HEARD of it!
OMGosh Kae yes! I'm part Irish, I read this book when I was a wee little girl, I cried.
Francie Nolan! There is so much of myself in her! How she loves her father, and her father reminds me of my own dad! My dad is a big dreamer...excellent storyteller. I just love this book. It hit very close to home for me in so many ways.
Image
User avatar
Gard
Posts: 24
Joined: 07 Apr 2008, 16:04
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Gard »

Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell

Fartherland and archangel - Robert Harris
User avatar
IanBookMan
Posts: 78
Joined: 04 Apr 2008, 13:18
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by IanBookMan »

Catcher in the Rye.
Moby Dick
User avatar
Scott
Site Admin
Posts: 4068
Joined: 31 Jul 2006, 23:00
Favorite Author: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
Currently Reading: The Unbound Soul
Bookshelf Size: 340
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-scott.html
Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
Publishing Contest Votes: 960
fav_author_id: 248825

Post by Scott »

Of what people already said, I was going to say Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and Of Mice and Men.

Though it is less known than most of the books already declared, I would also encourage people (at least those from the U.S.) to read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen.
knightss wrote:Anthem by Ayn Rand
I'll go with Atlas Shrugged instead of Anthem. But it's all Ayn Rand, and all intellectually stimulating.
"That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another's. We see so much only as we possess." - Henry David Thoreau

"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
User avatar
sleepydumpling
Posts: 1719
Joined: 14 Jan 2007, 03:25
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by sleepydumpling »

Ahh so many!

But I would be very happy if everyone read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton.
Have a Hoot: Read a Book! http://www.haveahootreadabook.co.uk

Image
Libellus
Posts: 89
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:16
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Libellus »

More of the usual suspects ....

Classic stuff - The Aeneid, The Odyssey
What a waste stuff - Good-bye to All That, Counter-Attack (OK its not a book)
Fantasy stuff - Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Foundation Trilogy
Funny Stuff - Catch 22, Hitchhiker
LittleRead stuff - Old Man and the Sea
You-cant-have-such-a-list-without stuff - The Picture of Dorian Gray (This is just indulgent prejudice on my part)
User avatar
Erasmus_Folly
Posts: 109
Joined: 29 Mar 2008, 07:49
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Erasmus_Folly »

sleepydumpling wrote:I would be very happy if everyone read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton.
You have mentioned this book so many times you've finally convinced me! :D I just ordered from Amazon. :) :)
One must think like a hero merely to behave like a decent human being.
User avatar
sleepydumpling
Posts: 1719
Joined: 14 Jan 2007, 03:25
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by sleepydumpling »

Erasmus_Folly wrote:
sleepydumpling wrote:I would be very happy if everyone read Cloudstreet by Tim Winton.
You have mentioned this book so many times you've finally convinced me! :D I just ordered from Amazon. :) :)
Ahh you've made an old librarian very happy!

I think I'd like everyone to read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams too.
Have a Hoot: Read a Book! http://www.haveahootreadabook.co.uk

Image
User avatar
knightss
Posts: 811
Joined: 17 Dec 2006, 11:25
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by knightss »

Libellus wrote:
Funny Stuff - Catch 22
I was going to add that to my list but it seemed too long as it was =x
"Words can be like x-rays, if you use them properly - they'll go through anything. You read and you're pierced." - Huxely
Image
hotrod marlin
Posts: 16
Joined: 12 Apr 2008, 20:28
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by hotrod marlin »

Scott Hughes wrote:
knightss wrote:Anthem by Ayn Rand
I'll go with Atlas Shrugged instead of Anthem. But it's all Ayn Rand, and all intellectually stimulating.
I second Atlas Shrugged
User avatar
Hope
Posts: 48
Joined: 14 Mar 2008, 06:29
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Hope »

The Prophet.

A book that must be read by all man-kind. It helps us understand life in a better way. Such a priceless book. Beautifully written, wisely put. Every single line in that book, could inspire.

Truly truly beautiful.
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
♥ ♥ ♥
Everything changes.
Post Reply

Return to “General Book & Reading Discussion”