What kinda books do you like/and what is your favorite

[The Stranger]

Share It With The World

[Duke Malcolm]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is especially good, as are Robert Rankin's books. I am currently reading a book called Flashman, which is a humourous and somewhat rude adventure set in the First Afghan War.

[Geoffrey S]

A Prayer For Owen Meany, Anabasis, Brideshead Revisited and Memoirs of Hadrian for me.

[Craterus]

I like picture books and colouring books!!

My favourite is Henry's First Adventure!

~;)

[doc_bean]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is especially good,

Yup, though I find the latest books I've read (Nightwatch and Monstrous Regiment) to not be quite as good as I've come to expect from him.

I just bought Going Postal today, I'll probably start reading it tonight.

[Scurvy]

Robert rankin and tom holt are prob the two authors i like most --> last book i read was Ogg by Robert Jones which was quite good

[Geoffrey S]

Yup, though I find the latest books I've read (Nightwatch and Monstrous Regiment) to not be quite as good as I've come to expect from him.
I thoroughly enjoyed Nightwatch. While it was lacking in humour when compared to other Discworld books it was very good when considered on its own merits; it was however a far darker and more serious affair than the usual Discworld novel. Basically, not a good Discworld book but a very good book on its own.

[Del Arroyo]

I'm a fan of literary fiction. Hemingway and Heller have impressed me very much so far. Faulkner seems kind of weird. Currently enjoying Marquez.

Also enjoyed U.S. Grant's memoirs (not fiction, obviously).

DA

EDIT: Oh, also from what I've read Heinlein is something else. Not exactly literary, but quite good stuff.

[Tribesman]

Malcolm and Scurvy , Have you visited this site ?

http://www.sproutlore.com/

Reading "Knees up mother earth" at the moment

[Reverend Joe]

I don't know if you could classify my favorite books in one genre...

-Carl Hiaasen. A perversely comedic mystery writer. He is kinda like James Patterson with a wry sense of humour (and much better writing ~;)).

-Hunter S. Thompson. A real nutcase, but his books are amongst the best of his era.

-Henry Miller. Another nutcase, he really has opened my eyes as to a whole otehr way of living that I am seriously considering. Hell, I'm already on the road to living it.

-Frank Herbert. Perhaps the best science fiction writer since Jules Verne; the world he created surpasses even that of Tolkien's Middle Earth.

A couple other individual books are Heart of Darkness and The Dragons of Eden.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Shoutout to Tolkien - The Hobbit is one of my top books.

I like some of Harry Turtledove's books, but more for the setting than the writing. :shrug:

Ender's Game = teh c00l.

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte is awesome, though for 7th graders.

[IrishMike]

Anything by Tom Clancy or Tolkien is good by me.

[Big_John]

no one type in particular. i tend to like early to middle 20th century american writers. been reading a lot of fitzgerald lately. basically anything he writes is amazingly well-executed, but reading about the ins and outs of being newly rich or oldly rich or richly rich for the 10th time is getting a little tired.

[Del Arroyo]

been reading a lot of fitzgerald lately. basically anything he writes is amazingly well-executed, but reading about the ins and outs of being newly rich or oldly rich or richly rich for the 10th time is getting a little tired.

Interesting observation. My personal feeling on Fitzgerald is this-- This Side of Paradise is great because it's fresh, The Great Gatsby is a solid, excellent book, Tender is the Night is, well, a bit disparate, though interesting for the biographical elements at least.

I haven't yet been able to bring myself to read The Beautiful and Damned. Every time I pick it up it just strikes me as too pretentious. The vast majority of his short stories are pretty commercial.

I liked him very much initially and he has been an inspiration, but I have come to think that he's been somewhat over-hyped as a writer, at least in the public perception.

DA

[Arcanum]

David Gemmel, all the way.

[edyzmedieval]

I like both non-fiction and fiction.

For non fiction, I generally prefer military history books, like Osprey.
Also, historical novels are my thing. Here are some of my favourites:

-Spartaco, Raffaelo Giovagnoli
-Fall of Constantinople, by a Romanian author

As for the other genre, I like:

Clive Cussler's novels. I like them a lot!!

I'll put some more. Can't think of right now...

[The Stranger]

i really ENJOYED The LOrd Of The rings and some other books you prolly dont know :wink:

[master of the puppets]

my favorite author is Michael Crichton, i've loved his writing from the first time i read jurassic park. other than that i like war novels and tragedies.

[The Stranger]

oh forgot to say...i like War books...les keep it simple...books with a lot of action and violence but it musnt be shallow

[Scurvy]

i only really like comedy books to read in relax-time, i do like reading some theatre scripts for example Pinters birthday party which is hilariuos

[Quietus]

Aside from science books, I used to read mystery books.

I'll forgo the already-popular Agatha Christie titles. Here's some lesser known ones:

13 At Dinner (aka Lord Edgware Dies) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/042509961X/qid=1129344019/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4090529-2908007?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Funerals are Fatal (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553350161/qid=1129344088/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4090529-2908007?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Evil Under the Sun (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425129608/qid=1129344129/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-4090529-2908007?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

edit: added links.

[AntiochusIII]

My tastes in books and literature are diverse and rather subjective.

I am one of the millions of Tolkein's fans across the world. Though I enjoyed more the Hobbit than the epic The Lord of The Rings.

As for science fiction no one beats Frank Herbert. He is more philosophical than most sci-fi writers out there, as well. Indeed, I sometimes feel that his Dune series did not really explore the vastness of his universe, even though it digs deep--very deep--into it.

Who could forget the legendary Don Quixote? It is an amazing parody of the annoying Arthurian legends and the incredibly nonsensical themes they possess.

However, I am also a Harry Potter fan for fantasies. Excuse me, I'm young!!! ~D

Other kinds of books which I greatly enjoy, but not exactly literature, is manga. Damn, the scene of millions of Japanese of all ages reading them on their bullet Shinkansen trains on their way to work is, somehow, romantic. Kind of neo-romanticism (ha! I invented a new genre on the spot!). My favourite? Love Hina. Sure, cheap entertainment, but, wow, it's fun.

As you can see, I prefer fiction to facts.

[GoreBag]

The Arthurian legends make sense in light of Celtic mythological beliefs..

I don't know if I have a favourite, but I like to read...period. Right now, I'm looking for a copy of Robert Nye's Faust; I heard it was quite good, and I've already read (and I own) Goethe's play.

[AntiochusIII]

The Arthurian legends make sense in light of Celtic mythological beliefs..

I don't know if I have a favourite, but I like to read...period. Right now, I'm looking for a copy of Robert Nye's Faust; I heard it was quite good, and I've already read (and I own) Goethe's play.Yes, I do understand its roots. My problem is with the French (i.e. High Medieval) version of the legends, which twisted the folktale into stories of absurd "courtly love" and less absurd, but boringly executed chivalrous heroism. Don Quixote does a great job of ridiculing them.

I've just realized how severely lacking I am in the knowledge of older, but not ancient novels. I must look more to read old classics such as All Quiet On The Western Front and War And Peace, after I finish my Dante's Inferno, of course.

[The Stranger]

The Arthurian legends make sense in light of Celtic mythological beliefs..

I don't know if I have a favourite, but I like to read...period. Right now, I'm looking for a copy of Robert Nye's Faust; I heard it was quite good, and I've already read (and I own) Goethe's play.

i like arthurian legends too :book: ~:cheers:

[doc_bean]

I thoroughly enjoyed Nightwatch. While it was lacking in humour when compared to other Discworld books it was very good when considered on its own merits; it was however a far darker and more serious affair than the usual Discworld novel. Basically, not a good Discworld book but a very good book on its own.

Well yes, I have certain expectations when reading a Discworld book and they weren't entirely met. Pratchett can usually write something that makes me think, and makes me laugh at the same time, I didn't laugh reading Nightwatch.

I finished Going Postal now, and I'm happy to say it's again a very funny Discworld book !

[master of the puppets]

oh and one good book if you do like comedy read a hichhikers guide to the galaxy, its so unbelievably stupid its great.

[Shambles]

I only really read, the disk world novels by terry pratchet.

although I did Read a book caled good omens Writen by terry pratchet and I think neil some 1 or other . "gayman" i think., but that looks bad....

There probably best discribed as Mystical fantasies, Although good omens was more of a religious fantasy

My fave book...
Mort, by good old terry. One of the disk world novels.

Worth reading if you can get them,

[jimmyM]

I'm reading The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks at the moment, which is a really great book, in my opinion. I also enjoyed The Wasp Factory, though I didn't particularly like song of stone...so there we go. I hear his sci-fi books are good too (the Algebraist is an example)
In crime, I'd say Ian Rankin is easily my favourite, great style of writing and creating an atmosphere. Hmm. That's two dark Scottish authors called ian/iain i've picked. but there we go...
I like terry pratchetts' books, might get the new one when it comes down in price...:book:

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

At this moment i'm into reading alot of the hooligan books by some of the ex-members of football violence. Vulgar and shocking in equal measure but strangely page turning nonetheless

[yesdachi]

book books I'd have to say old school Tom Clancy stuff and informational mythology books.

I am also a big comic fan and I rather like the Rifts RPG and some D&D stuff, both to read not play.~:cheers:



Edit: Haven’t seen many mention the Bible.~;)

[Big_John]

Interesting observation. My personal feeling on Fitzgerald is this-- This Side of Paradise is great because it's fresh, The Great Gatsby is a solid, excellent book, Tender is the Night is, well, a bit disparate, though interesting for the biographical elements at least.well, each to their own and whatnot. i loved tender is the night, partly because of it's autobiographical aspects. despite it's popularity, i still think gatsby is one of the greatest novels ever written, in terms of subject and execution.



I haven't yet been able to bring myself to read The Beautiful and Damned. Every time I pick it up it just strikes me as too pretentious.i have yet to read either the beautiful and the damned or this side of paradise.



The vast majority of his short stories are pretty commercial.while they were certainly designed to be sold to the magazines, i don't think it's fair to write off fitzgerald's stories for being commercial. even the most fantastical and commercial stories offer interesting insight into the psychology of the times (e.g. "a diamond as big as the ritz"). there are some very good stories on their own merits too ("winter dreams" comes to mind).



I liked him very much initially and he has been an inspiration, but I have come to think that he's been somewhat over-hyped as a writer, at least in the public perception.well, i'm not sure about the public perception, but being as i consider gatsby to be one of the greatest works of literature ever, i think he should get tons of hype. ~:)

[Ldvs]

I'm a George R.R. Martin's fan. His series "A song of Ice and Fire" is admirable. Not only the plot is complex but there is such a suspense! You never know whether your favorite character is going to be killed or not. There is cruelty (it may even shock you if you like merry ends and morality), treachery, debauchery and the "good ones" aren't necessarily the winners. That's quite refreshing, actually.
http://georgerrmartin.com/

I also like Jordan's The Wheel of Time, but there's less suspense (you know who'll win, eventually).
I recommend Peter Straub if you like detective stories, his "Blue Rose" trilogy, especially.

[Proletariat]

My favorite book for years has been Anna Karenina.

Others on my all time list, in no particular order:

Madame Bovary
War and Peace
Grapes of Wrath
Dickens, too many titles to mention
For Whom the Bell Tolls
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Trainspotting

There's a ton more, but those few come to mind as favorites. I guess with a few exceptions, most of my favorites are 19th century novels.