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#51

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 10:23am

...AND because it was recently discussed here on bww, "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson is a fantastic novel.

"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."

"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS

#52

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 10:48am

For something different, I recommend books by Lisa Lutz. She has written a series of mystery-comedy books about the quirky Spellman family.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#53

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 11:30am

Some day The Shining will be studied in high school English classes. It's stupid to write off something because it's "contemporary" or just popular.

Meanwhile- if you want engrossing reads, I just re-read The Hotel new Hampshire by John Irving. The World According to Garp and Prayer for Owen Meany are good too- BIG books but very engrossing. I'd also highly recommend A Confederacy of Dunces. An indescribably erratic plot, an amazing cast of characters- and a Pulitzer.

#54

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 12:40pm

I love John Irving.

KFTC!!!!!

#55

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 12:49pm

Great. More fuel for the rumors that you and I are the same person.

#56

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 12:55pm

LOL, Joe! I didn't even know about those rumors!

KFTC!!!!!

#57

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 2:21pm

I'd rather a high schooler read what they like and read it with passion than be thrown Les Mis and told something that boils down to, "This novel is great because it is, write an essay how great it is,"- which inspires no critical thinking and dampens any enthusiasm for literature.

That being said, I'm largely a nonfiction reader. Since you're in high school, you would probably enjoy Lies My Teacher Told Me. It'll open your eyes to the limits of what you're being taught in American History.

The Great Gatsby is a beautiful novel, and a fairly brisk read.

And honestly? For a quick thrill, read Neil Gaiman's Coraline. It's a young adult book but that doesn't diminish the quality.

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#58

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 2:31pm

My favorite books are "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood (and if you like Atwood and/or apocalyptic fiction, I'd also suggest Oryx and Crake), "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire and Armistead Maupin's Barbaray Lane opus, which Em mentioned.

My very favorite author is Lionel Shriver. I highly recommend her works to anyone who's a reader. My favorite of hers are "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and "The Post-Birthday World." Kevin just wrecked me. She also wrote a book called "So Much For That" about a family dealing with the emotional and financial toll of a family member with cancer, which I read when I had cancer, so while that one wrecked me too, I admit that could have been circumstantial. Another of hers I liked a lot is "The Female of the Species."

#59

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 2:57pm

...and speaking of Atwood, I just read "The Penelopiad", a novella from 2005. It was delicious!

#60

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 3:14pm

I recently read Alison Bechdel's Fun Home (in preparation for the musical at the Public) and really, really loved it.

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#61

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 6:09pm

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
Entries From a Hot Pink Notebook - Todd D. Brown
The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
The Talisman - Stephen King
Rules of Prey - John Sandford
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Knots and Crosses - Ian Rankin
Weaveworld - Clive Barker
The Burning Man - Philip Margolin
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
Harry Potter series
Chronicles of Narnia
His Dark Materials series
C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy
Hitchhiker's Guide series
Anything by Daniel Pinkwater (start with the 5 novels compilation and Lizard Music)

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

Updated On: 10/15/12 at 06:09 PM

#62

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 9:50pm

I will say that my least favorite book I've read ever was The Historian. Complete dribble. Long, complicated, and blown up. I finished it, but I hated it.

Speaking of true crime, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a fantastic book. The movie wasn't great, but it was fun.

#63

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/15/12 at 11:05pm

One of mine: The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth.

Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

#64

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 6:29am

My October (Halloween!) picks are:

Nocturnal - Scott Sigler. I'm reading it now and it's kept me up way past my bedtime two nights in a row. part police procedural, part freaky creature feature, all engrossing.

And coming out next week, Justin Cronin's The Twelve. Rarely do genre novels cross over into respected literature, but Cronin's "The Passage" (which is the first of a trilogy with "The Twelve" being part two) did just that. It's creepy scary fun that you can feel good about reading.

And just out in mass market paperback, The Room by Emma Donoghue. Not a horror story per se, but a harrowing and disturbing tale nonetheless.

I love Margaret Atwood too, Phyllis. The Blind Assassin is a stunningly intricate and moving novel. One of her best, imo.

....but the world goes 'round

#65

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 12:13pm

Not to threadjack, but Jungle Red, I tried on three separate occasions to read "The Historian," and I just couldn't get through it.

#66

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 1:15pm

I love that this thread is giving me some ideas of books to look for!

KFTC!!!!!

#67

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 1:29pm

^ same! I unfortunately stopped most leisure reading in college, and never got the chance to pick it back up in earnest (it doesn't help that I get nauseous reading on the subway).

Another book I really enjoyed, that I actually read in high school, is Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

#68

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 3:27pm

The Historian is a neverending crapola of wasted paper and ink. I generally like vampire lore, but this went on, and on, trying to do that Frankenstein thing but never succeeded.

Atonement is a beautiful novel and it reads much like the movie.

#69

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 3:50pm

Just want to second two of the books mentioned:

The Room is excellent. Harrowing, indeed, but worth the read.

Also, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is fantastic. I was surprised how much I enjoyed that book.

Another great one that's not very well known is The Coyote Kings and the Space Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust. It has crazy narration (jumping perspectives every chapter) and a wildly fun story.

Hi, Shirley Temple Pudding.

#70

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 4:10pm

#71

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 5:13pm

THAT review is why my generation is so looked down upon by adults. Sometimes I wonder why everyone hates our generation, and then I see things like that.
But I digress.

Thank you so much, guys. I'm debating whether or not to start A Clockwork Orange now. I'm saving many of your suggestions for the summer or school vacations when I'll have more time.

Note: I'm not reading Les Mis for school, even though I think it SHOULD be taught in schools, I'm just reading it for fun.

#72

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 5:44pm

I've tried my best to read A Clockwork Orange and just can't. I may give it another try but having to look up every word really broke the spell for me.

By the by, Lord of Flies is one of my favorites. I've been working on an adaptation of sorts and it's turning out really well.

Updated On: 10/16/12 at 05:44 PM

#73

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 6:00pm

I read A Clockwork Orange many years ago and really enjoyed it, but you have to be patient with all the slang and vernacular. I did get the hang of it after a while and it became easier. Another good read was Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#74

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 6:06pm

"THAT review is why my generation is so looked down upon by adults. Sometimes I wonder why everyone hates our generation, and then I see things like that.
But I digress. "

I wouldn't worry too much--I'm sure if they had had Amazon back then, some kid in the 70s, or the 60s would have written a similar review.

I read Flies 15 years or so back in Jr High and I remember most people in class weree really into it--but that may not be the standard since I was aways in honours English classes (unlike my crap work in math and other classes...)

#75

Your favorite books

Posted: 10/16/12 at 7:25pm

Eh, you're allowed to hate some of the "classics" without being a total cretin. I can name at least a couple of books in this thread I dislike, and man, I hated Thomas Hardy every time I had the misfortune of being assigned one of his novels. Don't even get me started on North and South. :P But you know what was probably the most unexpectedly delightful read of that Victorian lit seminar? The Woman in White. I'd recommend it in a hot minute.

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