list good novels/books you read

[hurric]

[I didn't see a similar thread. If so merge it please]

I just finished the last book I was reading so I'm looking for a new one. Here's some of the novels I've read. If you read a good book/novel, please share it here. I've almost exclusively read novels/memoirs but not into lord of the ring type books at all or murder mysteries.

I read:

Angela's Ashes (memoir by Frank McCourt)
'Tis (part 2 of ^)
Roots (awesome book by Alex Haley)
Malcolm X (must read)
Vernon God Little
A Confederacy of Dunces (Kennedy Toole - hilarious book)
some book with a picture of an upside down dog on it (forget title)
The Alchemist (and almost all books by Paulo Coelho)
... (some older ones like life of pi, etc.)

edit: and Lolita (how did I forget that. One of the best novels I've read)

what to read next?

[Soulstorm]

Books are mad expensive in Denmark, so I don't buy many.

Latest readings have been the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden and War - The Lethal Custom by Gwynne Dyer.

Both very enjoyable.

[Art]

Life of Pi is only about 5 years old tops!

Angela's Ashes is good (and an inspiration to the quest Althea's Ashes).

I'm more into flipped out satire, Robert Rankin would be a good example of the stuff I like.

And I usually read a classic if it's been mentioned by a chum (not always reliable I can tell you)

-Art

[Celestial Kitsune]

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Recommendation Lists by Topic

[Zalis]

Currently reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. Robert Jordan, Orson Scott Card, and Brandon Sanderson are other fantasy/sci-fi authors that I read frequently.

[satomz]

If the schools assigned me more boring books, would I have been more grateful for being assigned some of those books in the lists? Most book assignments I've gone through in schools are one of those "gotta read" books, and frankly speaking, what I got out of reading those books instead of awe are satisfaction that I actually finished reading the book, even more assignments, and thankfulness that my brain didn't go through explosion.

Don't get me wrong, as I did enjoy reading a few of them. But when the assigned reading is at the same level as last one and you have thousand other stuffs to worry about like being a teenager, you don't really get to appreciate them.

On a side note, some of the books I enjoyed were Anthem (Ayn Rand), Catch 22, and Catcher in the Rye. I can almost add 1984 and One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest, but 1984 was a bit bleak for my tastes and Cuckoo was sad.

I think Kurt Vonnegut writes interesting books and reading his books weren't pain either, but they are rather... odd.

Agatha Christie is one of the fewest authors around that I actually chose to read books of without being assigned in the school. Murder on the Oriental Express was very well written, and And Then There Were None was very interesting, out of the books I read by her. Just know that The Curtain is the last book of the Hercule Poirot series...

[Lucis]

Listing off the top of my head, a few of my favourites are-

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Cocaine Nights- J.G.Ballard
Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro
The English Patient- Michael Ondaatje

These books are truly excellent.

[Skyy High]

Catch-22
Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy

Two of my favorites. Other books go in and out. I used to read a lot of Clancy and Crichton, but not so much anymore.

[ShadowReapr]

I'd read more if books were cheaper. I'd love to read the whole Terry Pratchett bibliography, but god knows how much all that would be. Going to the library is, of course, out of the question but due to general insomnia I have a lot of nighttime on my hands.

Lately, though, I've read a couple of autobiographies (Donnie Brasco, Stephen Fry) and a couple of less novelly books (couple of the Jeremy Clarkson ones) which is a little out of character. I'm also reading Crime and Punishment, but it's bleeding... difficult to read. Good though.

I read the Godfather a couple of months back, and needless to say it's the best £3 I've ever spent (little tip: regardless of the reasons, one cannot debate that HMV selling film-associated books is a good thing. Decent price too). 1984 and A Clockwork Orange also spring to mind, but unfortunately they're regular prices. Both are good, even if the former is a tad depressing (and, oh god, the ending...). Not to say the latter is a jolly happy read, but you know what I mean. Oh, and American Psycho, but despite the obvious satire it takes some effort to get through (certainly not the happiest bed time reading, anyway).

Not to everyone's tastes, but I do enjoy Lee Child novels. More gritty modern crime... something or other than the classic literature everyone is bound to list in this thread, but it's good and remarkably informative. I've never really liked fantasy-based stuff due to the child/teen connotations (being a child/teen myself, it was inevitable), but recently I read... Neverwhere, I think it was... by Neil Gaiman, which wasn't half bad.

And that's about it, as far as I can remember. The Bourne Trilogy springs to mind, as does Robert Ludlum stuff in general, but as far as favourites go, despite years of reading very little springs to mind as "you must read this book".

EDIT: Ooh, and Fight Club. Excellent book.

[ZefvoneeGreff]

Just recently I finished reading Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream and The Rum Diary, both by Hunter S. Thompson. I found they both were excellent books. Fear and Loathing is a little odd(mostly because the main characters are on some very heavy drugs throughout the entire novel) and the Rum Diary is just ratherw ell written. I also recently read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, another excellent read. For English class, I just finished reading Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It's a great book, but the ending is a little sad.

Oh, and my favorite book of all time; Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I thought this was a great story and just incredibly well written.

I also have a few of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan, but I barely got through the second one. I can't really place what I didn't like.