What's your favorite book?

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jsavage
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Post by jsavage »

there's a quote in "the perks of being a wallflower" about how each book you read becomes your favorite. i agree, i don't think i'd waste my time reading a book i didn't like.
some of the more recent ones i've read are: "catcher in the rye" (you have to re-read this, it's different after high school and you know exactly who the phonies are...) "perks of being a wallflower" was a great book. i felt like i knew the main character, plus he reads so many great books that i now have another list of novels to catch up on. i'm reading "galapagos" by kurt vonnegut now and so far it's great. his satiric outlook on society and people in general is amusing and disheartening at the same time.
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knightss
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Post by knightss »

i'm gonna start slaughterhouse-five by kurt vonnegut tomorrow. finishing women by bukowski tonight w/ a few beers of course ;).
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LoveHatesYou
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Post by LoveHatesYou »

5 books to read, because I can't narrow it down to my prior 1 entry, even if you are going to shoot me!
Ready, go:
1. The Bluest Eye, or anything actually, by Toni Morrisson- covers Women's Lit, Black History, and Nobel prize winning authors
2. Junky by William S. Burroughs (especially you KnightS) covers the beatniks, in its truest messed-up form.
3. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers- it is what it says it is- also won an award, Eggers also edits Mc Sweeneys, an acclaimed lit. mag based in San Fra (subscribe)
4. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahunik- not for those of the weak stomach or mind, covers modernism
5. The Stranger, by Camus- existensialism at its finest

I'm going to add anyything by Shakespeare, but that's a given right? Titus Andronicus is a little known work that I personally love, but I like the twisted stuff.

I'd also appreciate lists for others, as my family has now realized that books are my life, and have all gotten me B&N gift cards for the holidays, they are burning a hole...
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knightss
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Post by knightss »

i'll look into junky =) thanks
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jsavage
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Post by jsavage »

so i tried to pick up women by bukowski last night but couldn't find it. i went and asked someone at barnes & noble if they had any copies in and the clerk told me no, but she also mentioned that a lot of bukowski's books go mysteriously missing... hmmm. :?

so i picked up factotum by bukowskiinstead and stranger by camus. but i'm still working on galapagos.
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awelker
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Post by awelker »

hkdonbks wrote:The Godfather by Mario Puzo
i read this book last year for my government class at school and i thought it was exceptional. have you read the family by him? i heard that it was good but i haven't gotten around to it yet.
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LoveHatesYou
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Post by LoveHatesYou »

I think Puzo's books are better than the movies. Go ahead and throw the rotten food pieces now.
tre'21
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Post by tre'21 »

my favorite book of all time (as of yet n i'm only 20 :wink: ) is the complete short stories of zora neale hurston. she's brilliant to me. have any of you read any of her work...other than their eyes were watching god?
Trinah
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Post by Trinah »

I have a few:

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The Perks of being a wallflower - Steven Chbosky
The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time - Mark Haddon
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk

That's about it for now.
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sleepydumpling
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Post by sleepydumpling »

Ooh this question always gets me.

Ok, I do have a top runner. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham is the one book I can read over and over and over and never get bored with. When I'm not sure what I want to read, I trot that one out. So it's my clear favourite.

But after that I have no real clear "next". Other favourites include:

Cloudstreet - Tim Winton - I heartily fell in love with this book. Not just enjoyed it - I fell in love. The characters are beautiful, particularly Quick and Rose. Winton has magical characters and descriptions that transport you instantly to the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations of his books.

Anything by Douglas Adams. He was a genius.

A Man's Got to Have a Hobby by William McInnes. My favourite actor writes beautifully, I peed myself laughing for the first 3/4, bawled my eyes out for the last quarter!

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. She does wit like no other. And I do love the Regency period.

Oh I probably have a dozen or more others but those are the ones popping to my head right now.
Last edited by sleepydumpling on 20 Jan 2007, 04:58, edited 1 time in total.
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NickNorris
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Post by NickNorris »

At this point it either has to be Myth of Sisyphus or The Strange, Both Camus
Best Integrator of philosophy into Literature
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sleepydumpling
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Post by sleepydumpling »

More favourites of mine are Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy... The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van. I love the latter most of all, it has me crying with laughter every time I read it.
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searching
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Post by searching »

I LOVE the outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, too. I'm so jealous RKay got to go to Scotland!! I got hooked on it when I was pregnant and too tired to do anything but read. I read probably 3 or 4 of the books in 2 weeks. My favorite book at this moment though is The Bluest Eye or I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. It's always changing though.
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Tmritz
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Post by Tmritz »

The Hair Book by Dr. Suess. Hair Hair is everywhere.
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awelker
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Post by awelker »

I read so much but i guess that my favorite books are the stephanie plum books by janet evanovich. they are hilarious and you won't want to put them down.
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