Your 7 Favorite Books Ever

[Gregg]

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller was a book recommended to me by a good friend in the late 70's. He said it was hysterical...it was not. It was a book I really wanted to like. I found it repetitious and boring.

I usually finish books that I start. I can't remember if I did or not. If I did it was painful.

You guys have any like that?

[Ken]

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller was a book recommended to me by a good friend in the late 70's. He said it was hysterical...it was not. It was a book I really wanted to like. I found it repetitious and boring.

Haven't read it in 20+ years but I remember really enjoying that one.

[Redbirds Fan]

Catch 22 is one of the books on my tentative list, foundational reading from my early teens.

Also under consideration...Cat's Cradle, Venus on the Half-Shell, and A People's History of the United States.

[Boone]

In no particular order:

1. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Was writing about germs before they were a thing.
2. Fatherland by Robert Harris. Dystopian counter-factual history ... book better than (crappy) movie.
3. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Hilarious ... but captured the early 2000s pre-9/11 so perfectly.
4. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Ditto for the 1980s.
5. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. Chilling and absolutely original tale of North Korea.
6. Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher. The path not taken, with some regret.
7. Nutshell by Ian McEwen. Ever read a suspense novel written from the point of view of a fetus?

[revo]

In no particular order:

1. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Was writing about germs before they were a thing.
2. Fatherland by Robert Harris. Dystopian counter-factual history ... book better than (crappy) movie.
3. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Hilarious ... but captured the early 2000s pre-9/11 so perfectly.
4. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Ditto for the 1980s.
5. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. Chilling and absolutely original tale of North Korea.
6. Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher. The path not taken, with some regret.
7. Nutshell by Ian McEwen. Ever read a suspense novel written from the point of view of a fetus?

Fatherland was a great book. It's probably been 20-25 years since I read it, though.

[Fresno Bob]

You reminded me that Island was, long ago, a book I intended on reading, and never did. I just bought it.

Also, I too for a long time avoided any other Ender series books, and after reading a few more, I think you are on safe ground ignoring most of them. However, Ender's Shadow is a must read for anyone who liked Ender's Game. It may even be the better book, but only if you've also read Ender's Game. Card did an amazing job of basically telling by and large the same story, but through Bean's perspective, and making you care just as much. It is really amazing to revisit that same world, at the same time, and see it from another perspective. And the bits that are totally new--Bean's background and future, are great reads.

I was going to make the same suggestion around Ender's Shadow

[Fresno Bob]

SF is about exploring possibilities. LHoD is about a world without sexual distinctions. This is because everyone can be both male and female, father, mother, or both with frozen sperm. Any of us would be considered deformed, perverted.

J

The Dispossessed is my fav LeGuin

[Fresno Bob]

In no particular order:

1. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Was writing about germs before they were a thing.
2. Fatherland by Robert Harris. Dystopian counter-factual history ... book better than (crappy) movie.
3. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Hilarious ... but captured the early 2000s pre-9/11 so perfectly.
4. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Ditto for the 1980s.
5. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. Chilling and absolutely original tale of North Korea.
6. Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher. The path not taken, with some regret.
7. Nutshell by Ian McEwen. Ever read a suspense novel written from the point of view of a fetus?

I just requested Small is Beautiful from my public library

[chancellor]

Wow...I missed this one, and it's a great thread.

1. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand Read in my teen years, and helped me break the negative peer-influence/peer-pressure of early high school. Liked Rand's writing style in this book much better than her better-known and more often quoted Atlas Shrugged.
2. The Inferno, Dante The first of the Divine Comedy trilogy, and the easiest to relate to of the series. I've re-read this numerous times, and never fail to notice another nuance of Dante's writing. IMO, Ciardi's translation is far and above the best translation to English out there.
3. The Bible Like many raised Catholic, I rarely read Scripture until I chose to become a lector, and even then, more as preparation than really reading for understanding. Not until college and my acceptance of faith did I read for understanding.
4. Dune, Frank Herbert Loved the first book, was not enamored with the remainder of the series. The movie would have been really bad, but as I've noted before, any movie that kills Sting isn't all bad. Still remains my favorite Sci-Fi book, though the Darkship series (especially Darkship Thieves) by Sarah Hoyt comes really close.
5. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Key Best fantasy book I've read. Not as deep and detailed as Tolkein's books, but really liked how he developed the character's points of view, and he avoided highly plodding areas that I felt were in all of Tolkien's books.
6. The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver Saw this on my executive VP's bookshelf after a presentation in his office. Asked him if I could read it, and he gave it to me. Stunningly direct book that outlines that outlines how his approach is grounded in Bayesian statistical theory, how game theory has influenced his thinking, and outright refutations of supposed "scientific" papers/concepts that are/were poorly grounded.
7. The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis I've not read a better book that outlines the darker side of human nature and the spiritual forces that oppose us.

Best short stories I've ever read were The Devil and Daniel Webster, Stephen Vincent Benet and The Lottery, Shirley Jackson.

[TranaGreg]

and I never posted mine ...

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley - really resonated with me as teenager
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens - I recently re-read this; what an amazing prose style Dickens had
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer - one of the most riveting books I've ever read
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini - just a great read
Patriot Games, Tom Clancy - maybe a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it was the first Clancy book I ever read & I just loved the way he constructed the storyline
The Life of Pi, Yann Martel - I think I read this in one sitting
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch, George Plimpton - how is there not a baseball book on here yet? I still remember reading the original SI article at the newstand with my jaw dropped, then as I was walking out I went back to check the date on the cover (April 1, 1985)

[TranaGreg]

6. The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver Saw this on my executive VP's bookshelf after a presentation in his office. Asked him if I could read it, and he gave it to me. Stunningly direct book that outlines that outlines how his approach is grounded in Bayesian statistical theory, how game theory has influenced his thinking, and outright refutations of supposed "scientific" papers/concepts that are/were poorly grounded.

good call; I thought about putting this on my list but found it a bit of a tough slog in the middle

[revo]

and I never posted mine ...

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley - really resonated with me as teenager
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens - I recently re-read this; what an amazing prose style Dickens had
Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer - one of the most riveting books I've ever read
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini - just a great read
Patriot Games, Tom Clancy - maybe a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it was the first Clancy book I ever read & I just loved the way he constructed the storyline
The Life of Pi, Yann Martel - I think I read this in one sitting
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch, George Plimpton - how is there not a baseball book on here yet? I still remember reading the original SI article at the newstand with my jaw dropped, then as I was walking out I went back to check the date on the cover (April 1, 1985)

One of the books on my list is Lords of the Realm.

[TranaGreg]

One of the books on my list is Lords of the Realm.

oops, missed that!

[chancellor]

good call; I thought about putting this on my list but found it a bit of a tough slog in the middle

Understood. I have the same feeling about A Tale of Two Cities

[onejayhawk]

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
It could describe today.

I have the same problem, hence Les Mis.

For CS Lewis I prefer Til We Have Faces.

J