favorite book

[emclinux]

So im sitting here reading my favorite book and just wanted to see what other peoples favorites are.

Mine is Jurassic Park. I love the imagery, adventure and science in this book.

[Mama T]

love book talk! i have a couple, which i know is greedy, but I can't help it:

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

Matilda by Roald Dahl (hence my moniker)

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

[emclinux]

Dont think I have read them. I also want to make known this book. Its one hell of a true story and quite motivational.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivor-Eyewitness-Account-Operation/dp/0316067598

[67alecto]

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.

"Now consider the tortoise and the eagle.

The tortoise is a ground-living creature. It is impossible to live nearer the ground without being under it. Its horizons are a few inches away. It has about as good a turn of speed as you need to hunt down a lettuce. It has survived while the rest of evolution flowed past it by being, on the whole, no threat to anyone and too much trouble to eat.

And then there is the eagle. A creature of the air and high places, whose horizons go all the way to the edge of the world. Eyesight keen enough to spot the rustle of some small and squeaky creature half a mile away. All power, all control. Lightning death on wings. Talons and claws enough to make a meal of anything smaller than it is and at least take a hurried snack out of anything bigger.

And yet the eagle will sit for hours on the crag and survey the kingdoms of the world until it spots a distant movement and then it will focus, focus, focus on the small shell wobbling among the bushes down there on the desert. And it will leap…

And a minute later the tortoise finds the world dropping away from it. And it sees the world for the first time, no longer one inch from the ground but five hundred feet above it, and it thinks: what a great friend I have in the eagle.

And then the eagle lets go.

And almost always the tortoise plunges to its death. Everyone knows why the tortoise does this. Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off. No one knows why the eagle does this. There’s good eating on a tortoise but, considering the effort involved, there’s much better eating on practically anything else. It’s simply the delight of eagles to torment tortoises.

But of course, what the eagle does not realize is that it is participating in a very crude form of natural selection.

One day a tortoise will learn how to fly."

[Robzilla1983]

Gotta go with Lord of the Rings

Space Odyssey on the whole as a close second. It's the reason I still read sci fi today. I haven't found another series that captivated me like this one

[bigm141414]

Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. A close second would by the entire Hitchhikers Series.

[Mama T]

ayn rand is definitely a goodie. did you like atlas shrugged too?

[bigm141414]

I did actually. It's third on my list. Fountainhead was just that much better. I've read it till the spike has cracked and fallen apart.

[emclinux]

If you guys have ever seen Star Wars and liked them the Darth Bane series is awesome.

[lostintranslatn]

Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. A close second would by the entire Hitchhikers Series.

The Fountainhead here too. That book (and her others, but especially this one) blows me away! So excited you guys are fans, too!

Other favorites: The Great Gatsby, My Name is Asher Lev, Pride and Prejudice

[BarefootDawsy]

Just read Ender's Game..I can't believe I hadn't read it before, it's great! Other favourites are the Count of Monte Cristo, The Complete Robot by Asimov, World War Z, and Robopocalypse, to name a few

[Zelager]

Gotta say The Name of the Wind. Incredible story, yet strangely plausible. I don't think any other book I've read has made me burst out laughing as much as this one. It has held up to multiple reads. The Wise Man's Fear (the sequel) is also excellent.

['Roos]

@Dawsy You stole mine!

Enders Game is top of the heap (though Orson Scott Card is like, one of my least favorite authors)

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (How many times have I dreamed of disappearing to the 'below' of my world and becoming a hero down there?)

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, though that fights with Lives of Christopher Chant for the 'favorite' spot. Also, all these brits are responsible for my 'creative' spelling through grammar school.

Kon Tikki is the top of my Non Fiction pile - I had such a crush on Thor Heyderhaal before I realized he was a real person older than my grandfather.

[BarefootDawsy]

@'Roos Neverwhere! How could I forget that one? I read it before a trip to London and spent every tube trip looking for secret stations

[Centurion]

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.

"Now consider the tortoise and the eagle.

The tortoise is a ground-living creature. It is impossible to live nearer the ground without being under it. Its horizons are a few inches away. It has about as good a turn of speed as you need to hunt down a lettuce. It has survived while the rest of evolution flowed past it by being, on the whole, no threat to anyone and too much trouble to eat.

And then there is the eagle. A creature of the air and high places, whose horizons go all the way to the edge of the world. Eyesight keen enough to spot the rustle of some small and squeaky creature half a mile away. All power, all control. Lightning death on wings. Talons and claws enough to make a meal of anything smaller than it is and at least take a hurried snack out of anything bigger.

And yet the eagle will sit for hours on the crag and survey the kingdoms of the world until it spots a distant movement and then it will focus, focus, focus on the small shell wobbling among the bushes down there on the desert. And it will leap…

And a minute later the tortoise finds the world dropping away from it. And it sees the world for the first time, no longer one inch from the ground but five hundred feet above it, and it thinks: what a great friend I have in the eagle.

And then the eagle lets go.

And almost always the tortoise plunges to its death. Everyone knows why the tortoise does this. Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off. No one knows why the eagle does this. There’s good eating on a tortoise but, considering the effort involved, there’s much better eating on practically anything else. It’s simply the delight of eagles to torment tortoises.

But of course, what the eagle does not realize is that it is participating in a very crude form of natural selection.

One day a tortoise will learn how to fly."

I just finished reading this a couple of weeks ago, great book (now reading 'Guards! Guards!)

My faves would have to be:

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Watchmen by Alan Moore (yes I know it's a graphic novel but it's good enough to stand with a lot of fiction)

1984 by George Orwell

[Timmy M]

i'll second LotR, also some faves are The 'Raven' Trilogy (Giles Kristen), 'The Forgotten Legion' (Ben Kane), Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield), The Night Angel Trilogy (Brent Weeks), The Demon War Trilogy (Peter V. Brett) and finally 'The Way of Kings' (Brandon Sanderson)

I've just bought all the books in the Shadows of the Apt series (Adrian Tchaikovsky, 7 and counting!) after reading 'Empire in Black and Gold' and will read em all at once after i've read the ones in my current 6 week challenge

yh i have around 110 books , I'm 20 and they're ALL MINE!!!!!!! and most i'd read again...

[Exceliber]

I'm gonna have to go with:

"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", Haruki Murakami

"American Gods", Neil Gaiman

but my favorite series is definitely the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson.

[bigm141414]

yh i have around 110 books , I'm 20 and they're ALL MINE!!!!!!! and most i'd read again...

Only 110? Don't let the book collecting get out of control. It sucks when it comes time to move. I count my collection in boxes now, 18 and counting.

[Robzilla1983]

Just read Ender's Game..I can't believe I hadn't read it before, it's great! Other favourites are the Count of Monte Cristo, The Complete Robot by Asimov, World War Z, and Robopocalypse, to name a few

I REALLY enjoyed Enders Game, but found the rest of the series was a let down. Couldn't even finish book 4.

*By the rest of the series I mean the core 4 books - Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind (pretty sure those are the names). There's a lot more out that I didn't bother with

[mcdrew]

2nd "name of the wind".

I'll raise you, "dune" and "wheel of time".

Enders game is sick!

[Anivair]

House of Leaves.

[Mama T]

Only 110? Don't let the book collecting get out of control. It sucks when it comes time to move. I count my collection in boxes now, 18 and counting.

i second this, being a frequent mover over the years. i only actually own about 5 books that i HAVE to have, and everything else is circulated through the library. Support Your Library!

also, @exceliber - murakami is amazing. i still get random flashbacks of After Dark and read that quite awhile ago.

[bigm141414]

House of Leaves.

Eeee! I forgot about that one. I have 4 copies of it (blue, red signed, full color, and Dutch), plus 3 copies of OR (an ARC, first edition hard cover, first edition paperback), and the Fifty Year Sword. Again, I collect a lot of books. My blue version is filled with sticky notes. The book still freaks me out. I amend my earlier statement, Fountainhead is second and HoL is first.

[Timmy M]

well i do try to restrain myself...

[Junglizer]

I'd have to say "Watership Down" by Richard Adams.