Hmmm... Split into sections.
Grown-up books - 'The Lost World' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I only wish someone would make a *faithful* adaptation of it for the screen (read: NO WOMEN).
- 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo. I read it so many times that I can't watch the films because they don't match up with my mental pictures.
- 'Different Seasons' by Stephen King. He's not (just) a trashy horror author, he writes wonderful straighter works too. And any book that can spawn both 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Stand By Me' as movies is okay by me!
- 'The Stars, My Destination' by Alfred Bester. Simply the greatest sci-fi novel I've ever read. Absolutely stunning, and I find it hard to take in that it's well over fifty years old.
- 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' by Manuel Puig. Saw the play, loved it. Read the novel, couldn't put it down.
Picture books - 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers. I love Oliver Jeffers books, and this is my favourite of his.
- 'The Red Tree' by Shaun Tan. Guaranteed to fill you with warm fuzzies after the hardest of days. I only wish I had my own copy.
- 'How to Live Forever' by Colin Thompson. He does beautifully detailed illustrations, and this is the Thompson-created world I most long to be sucked into.
- 'The Mousehole Cat' by Antonia Barber. It's SO beautifully illustrated! I want a huge print of the storm cat for my bedroom wall.
- 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus' by Mo Willems. Mo Willems cracks me up, and the pigeon is my literary hero. :3
Kids books - 'Double or Die' by Charlie Higson. I love the whole Young Bond series, and this is my undisputed favourite of the lot. It's what Dan Brown wishes he could have written.
- 'Scorpia' by Anthony Horowitz. I don't mind telling you that I have a MASSIVE crush on Anthony Horowitz. Before 'Double or Die' was published, this book was - in my oh-so-humble opinion - the finest young adult novel in existence.
- 'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman. It's brand-spanking new, but deserves to go down in history. Beautiful for both adults and children, works as either a continuous novel or a collection of short stories, and is just plain wonderful.
- 'Mortal Engines' by Philip Reeve. One of the most awe-inspiring YA novels I've ever come across. Philip Reeve is just plain fabulous.
- 'Larklight' by Philip Reeve. No, really, he's FABULOUS. I enjoy reading classic sci-fi from the Victorian era, and one of the things I love about it is that sly sense of humour sneaking underneath. Philip Reeve GETS that, and has inserted it wonderfully into this series.
Miscellaneous - 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan. If you can find a more phenomenally beautiful and wonderful graphic novel than this, I'll eat my orange woolly hat. There's not a single word spoken or written in this book, and it apparently took him, like, five years to do. My claim to fame is that I "encouraged" Philip Reeve to buy a copy. Which he did. I <3 Philip Reeve.
- 'Journey's End' by R.C. Sherriff. I don't really want to add too many plays to this list, because performance is where they really come alive, but some plays are just so wonderfully written that they don't need to be performed to be powerful.
- 'The Pillowman' by Martin McDonagh. I harbour a fantasy of one day getting Martin McDonagh together with a picture book illustrator (my dream shortlist is Oliver Jeffers, Shaun Tan, and Dave McKean) and having them produce a graphic novel of the story of the Pillowman. Jeffers would be ideal, because his art style would just be so incongruous with the story that it would be jarring and brilliant; but Tan can do "incredibly disturbing" just as well as he can do "incredibly beautiful", and McKean is - of my shortlist - the most likely to do it.
I'm also a big fan of J.K. Rowling, Meg Cabot, and Robert Muchamore, but in a more general "I devour everything they write!" kinda way, rather than the "OMG this book right here is SO GOOD O_o" way.
Schmergy, what do you think of the news that Eoin Colfer is writing a new Hitch-Hiker's Guide novel? Personally, I'm disappointed, because I find Colfer's writing to be terribly puerile and don't believe that he'll be able to do Adams's divine wit and surreality justice, but I wondered if someone who is a fan of both might have a different outlook. Do you have faith? Or do you think Colfer mayn't be the best match even though you love his works? (Uh-oh, leading questions! XD)
Updated On: 11/15/08 at 11:06 AM
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