WZ Book Club

[HBK-aholic]

This is my way of choosing some new books to read for the summer. You people get to choose. I will read pretty much anything, because I'm a book geek. So, tell me your favourite and tell me why .

I don't have a favourite book of all time, because I like that many. And I could list the general Harry Potter/Twilight series' that most girls my age would, but that would be pointless. I've just finished reading Angels and Demons/The Da Vinci Code so I'll say it's Angels and Demons for the moment. I saw the film first, but it seemed the type of film which would be better as a book. I was right. It's a book which actually has you hooked as soon as you open it, I took this book places with me so I could read it on the bus, I just didn't want to put it down. It's full of twists and turns, with the most important being at the end; my jaw dropped when I read it.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Anything by Raymond E Feist.

He writes Fantasy books with elves, magic, and stuff like that. He knows how to keep people turning pages while not turning it into anything ******ed like some fantasy books I've read Another good thing is while there is a lot of magic in his books it's there not over saturated with it. I strongly suggest at least getting one of them out of a library if you're not sure about buying them.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

My favorite book is A Painted House by John Grisham. I love it because it talks about the 1950s and how the cotton industry benefitted the families. I was curious to see how the hill people and the Mexicans the Chandlers hired would co-exist. Some of my favorite parts of the book was 7 year-old Luke watching 17 year-old Tally Spruill bathing in the creek and Cowboy, one of the Mexicans, killing Tally's brother Hank and running off with her.

An underlying plot in the book was Luke's uncle Ricky fighting in the Korean War and the family finding out that he impregnated Libby Latcher who is part of a family of sharecroppers and who struggle to make ends meet.

 

[The Todd]

Jeff Stelling's autobigoraphy. I'm guessing this won't be one you will look to read, but as autobiographies go, it ruled. It may have been because it was an autobiography about someone who had accomplished something in life, not Ashley Cole or Wayne Rooney, but also for the following reasons. He had me laughing on the very first page and it carried on through the whole book. He took the reader on a journey from the shite job he started off with to becoming the most loved presenter in Britain, which as a budding sports journalist was good to read about. And he also goes over how he came up with his legendary quotes such as "Jellyman's thrown a wobbly".

Apart from that, has to be from the Harry Potter series, probably the last one. It was long, but everything was needed for the storyline and there was so many twists you didn't want to put the book down. Until someone rang you asking what you were up to, and trying to sound manly you replied "err, watching...sports".

 

[HBK-aholic]

Apart from that, has to be from the Harry Potter series, probably the last one. It was long, but everything was needed for the storyline and there was so many twists you didn't want to put the book down. Until someone rang you asking what you were up to, and trying to sound manly you replied "err, watching...sports".

Really? I thought the last Harry Potter book was quite a let down. I think I was used to the formula of him being at Hogwarts and things happening. But you have to admit there were some very dull moments.."We camped here, we camped here, we camped here, Ron left, we camped here, we camped here, Ron came back, we camped here..." You see where I'm going with that. The ending was amazing, I loved what happened as a whole, but it wasn't as exciting as some of the others for a lot of it. I think Half Blood Prince was by far the best book of the lot. Had me on edge for 2 years until the last one came out, very well written.

 

[The Todd]

Really? I thought the last Harry Potter book was quite a let down. I think I was used to the formula of him being at Hogwarts and things happening. But you have to admit there were some very dull moments.."We camped here, we camped here, we camped here, Ron left, we camped here, we camped here, Ron came back, we camped here..." You see where I'm going with that. The ending was amazing, I loved what happened as a whole, but it wasn't as exciting as some of the others for a lot of it. I think Half Blood Prince was by far the best book of the lot. Had me on edge for 2 years until the last one came out, very well written.

Well, my judgment might have been affected by only reading five and six once, and read the others at least twice.

With all the camping things something always seemed to happen though, like they were caught by the snatchers, they were nearly killed by the snake etc and also it added to the anger building up in Ron and Hermione that Harry was wandering aimlessly. It maybe could have done with being a little shorter, definitely not longer. I just remember reading that chapter that ended with Harry dying, and realising I had to go out and all day I seemed to be thinking about "how is there still loads of pages left? what happens next?". And as you said the ending was amazing, and that is what sticks in the mind most when you think of the book.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I always thought that Voldemort should have killed Harry and that would have been it, but that's just me. The last book didn't meet my expectations but it had some good moments. I like Ron and Hermione getting married and how Harry's opinion of Snape changed.

 

[X]

Great thread idea, can't believe it hasn't been done before.

Picking a single solitary book as my all-time favorite is hard, but in the end I went with this.

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac --- Everyone usually goes right for On the Road as Kerouac's best work, but the Bums is truly his best work in my opinion. I've loved Kerouac ever since I was twelve years old and have since read every one of his books and several of his poetry collections, the man was an absolute genius in the vein of a Walt Whitman. That Whitman influence is best seen in the Bums, where Kerouac was at the height of his Buddhist transcendentalism. Imagine Walden, only not mind-numbingly boring and mixed with heavy doses of Buddhist meditation and experimentation. Kerouac at his most deliriously joyful and poetic.

BIG TIME Honorable Mentions
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
The Beach by Alex Garland
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Stand by Stephen King
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Franny & Zooey by JD Salinger
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick

Yeah I know I kind of went overboard there. All highly recommended.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Read the Steve Berry collection involving Cotton Malone. It starts with The Templar Legacy. Also, I like James Rollins books featuring Sigma Force.

These are historical fiction/action books. You get to learn while you're entertained. It's like Oregon Trail.

 

[jmt225]

My favorite book is Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. You could not ask for more in a novel. The first half is filled with nothing but great, great humor, and the second with unbelievable suspense, action, sex, and drama. Plus, the book is just highly unpredictable. You have no idea what's coming next or what to expect. Moreover, it's really confusing, so it makes you think and makes you want to read it over and over again until you get what exactly it is that is going on. I absolutely loved it.

X mentioned The Rules of Attraction and Less Than Zero by BEE, and those are my two other favorite books from not only him, but of all time. They're just the best two books you'll ever read about college life in eighties, and it makes for highly entertaining, dramatic stuff.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Here are my four favorite books:

American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis, 1991) - The story of yuppie Patrick Bateman, an investment banker by day, a psychopathic and misogynistic killer by night. I didn't really like this book's film adaptation (which was released in 2000), as I felt it didn't take the book seriously enough. So, I would skip it and just read the book, which stays deep and insightful throughout although it's essentially about a man and the equally vapid and mean-spirited Wall Street subculture he inhabits.

The Life Of Pi (Yann Martel, 2001) - I don't think any other book has inspired me more than this one, which is about an Indian boy, Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel, stranded at sea for more than half a year in a life boat with a tiger named Richard Parker. Books that mix hardship with resiliency usually make me roll my eyes, as I feel that they are too contrived in either overstating the adversity their protagonists face or understating the means their protagonists have to combat this adversity. But, this book softened a piece of my heart, and made me again believe that it just may be possible for the human will to overcome anything.

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005) - I can't really tell you much about this one without spoiling it for you. Hopefully, me just telling you that it's about a group of children in an English countryside boarding school who all have a special purpose will be enough to entice you to read it. I would be glad to discuss this book with anyone, as I feel it's one of the two or three most important dystopian novels ever written. And, given that it's on my list here, it should be no surprise that it's my favorite dystopian novel.

2666 (Roberto Bolaño, 2004) - I can't say enough good things about this book, which is about the elusive and enigmatic German author Benno Von Archimboldi and the large amount of unsolved female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. Like most of Bolaño's other works, this book raises within its readers feelings of terror and dread with nothing more than seemingly-ominous ambiguity. Although, by the end of 2666, we come away from it with no truly concrete knowledge of the world it presented, we are nonetheless transfixed, and we find ourselves repeatedly asking questions about it that we'll never find the answers to.

 

[jokeboy624]

My favorite book is and will probably always be The Stand by Stephen King. I saw that Xfear had mentioned it before as well. The book is just epic, has a great ensemble cast, the villain is so devious and leaves you wondering how anyone could take him down. I noticed also that you like the Harry Potter series so I believe you would enjoy this novel as well. They have very similar elements to them.

I've read this book at least once a year since I was 15. It's such a great novel with characters you grow very attached to. The growth these people undergo is amazing and they all have so many layers. I love this novel, in fact, I think it's about time to re-read it.

 

[Tastycles]

I'm not particulary well read, but Catch-22 is undoubtedly the best book I've ever read. Nothing really happens, plot wise, but it's still really gripping. The characters are flawed, which is realistic, and some of the stuff that happens is pretty harrowing, but not as harrowing as the main character's nonchalance to it all. That is by far the most pretntious sentence I've ever written.

 

[The Dewbliners]

See, I don't really read that much in the way of novels, autobiographies, and the such. I usually stick with my comic books, legal texts, and medical volumes for light reading. That said, I absolutely love certain books outside of my normal parameter. Here goes:

1.The Divine Comedies- By Dante. It's the well known Inferno, along with two other tales. It gets you thinking about faith, God, and that sort of thing. Great read.

2.The Canterbury Tales- Geoffry Chaucer's epic tale of a group of travellers, trading stories and what not. It belongs on everyones required reading list, simply based on it's greatness.

3. Fahrenheit 451- Can't remember the authors name, it's been awhile since I read it. Basically it's the story of a "fireman" in the future, where literature is illegal. It's his job to burn books (hence the title, which is the temperature at which paper burns.) Anyway, on one run he picks up a book and starts reading it. That's all I'll say, other wise I'd spoil a great work.

4. and finally Fatherland-Keeping it short. It's a novella based on "what if Nazi Germany won WW2?" Hitler is still alive, Americas President is Joe Kennedy Sr., and the year is 1963. The worlds two "great" leaders have a summit. Great substory about a reporter and divorced SS officer trying to find a way out to Switzerland. Can't really describe it without giving the whole plot away.

All good reads. Or, of Course, you can do the same as me and read legal and medical text books for fun.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Well this isn't exactly going to be favourite books because I can't decide on a favourite book but I will make a few suggestions.

Bernard Cornwell with a book called "Stonehenge", this is a fictional book set back in the time of the creation of Stonehenge and it involves one of the theories behind the creation of the great big stone circle as well as having the Appenine bowman being a key character within the plot.

David Gemmel with his final series which is called "Troy:" and then whatever the particular story is called. It is a prose interpretation of the Illiad with a very historically accurate geo-political situation for the time. It covers into Roman myth as well. very good fast paced at the right points slowed down for when it needs to be.

Dan Abnett with "Horus Rising" very good novel, it may be pulp sci-fi but it is a great read. within the magnitude of the series it is a great book for it to start with. Gets what the history of the universe becomes down while creating more and more interesting background for the writers in future Black Library books can come up with. He is one of the best sci-fi writers alive today, with his Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies as well as his Gaunt's Ghosts stories down. He has nailed war in a future millennium where there is War on a scale that isn't seen today. he captures the Human spirit within the Space Marines genetically created supermen that have no capacity to feel fear in any form. Take into account how much of human life is dependent upon fear and then try to write a believable character that doesn't have fear. You are looking at a good writer that can do that.

Frank Herbert with "Dune" what can be said about this novel that has not been said before, in fat many times over. It is a relatively short book but it is one of the most gripping sci fi novels created and is ranked up as number one with some lists for a very good reason. it is a real page turner, when I got it I picked it up and could barely put it down until I finished it.

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of my favorites, but I enjoy anything by Hunter Thompson. He is why I went to school to be a journalist.
As XFear mentioned, Jack Kerouac is also an amazing writer and I will mention On the Road as a good jumping off point for reading Kerouac.
I also enjoy Stephen King and as mentioned The Stand is among the best but I also loved the novel It. I read It first read It when I was 11 and it scared the bejesus out of me.

 

[Razor]

I would say the Harry Potter series, but after the 4th book it was "Wah wah, I'm Harry Potter. Wah, wah, I'll fight the evil guys this one last time. Wah, wah, wah, wah." I don't read a book so that the hero can complain the entire time. It's like watching the WWE and having your top face do nothing but cry in the ring because he has to wrestle that night. Fucking ******ed.

As far as my favorite book, it's a tie. It's a tie between:
Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist,
1984 by George Orwell,
Animal Farm by George Orwell,
and Cell by Stephen King

Let the Right One In was an epic movie, and even better as a book. The plot is untouched by many.

1984 and Animal Farm are classic Orwell. 1984 had a great romantic plot thrown right into the middle of a dystopic society. You honestly couldn't trust anyone in that book, even if Orwell presented them as good and did all but promise you they wouldn't betray the protagonist. Animal Farm is simply an awesome portrayal of what happens when government goes corrupt, and it really hits home in today's age. What with the rash of spin and re-writing of facts to make everyone's agenda seem the best.

Cell just because. It was the first Stephen King book I'd read in a while, and I thought it was King back on top of his game. Great, great end game zombie-esque book. I mean come on. A rogue cell phone signal that makes everyone on their cell phones turn into base animals who only know the urge to maim? King was in his own backyard for this book, and it showed.

 

[NSL]

Let the Right One In was an epic movie, and even better as a book. The plot is untouched by many.

I agree on the movie. I'll have to look up the book.

I'm not much of a reader (SHOCKER!), so I won't have many to recommend, much less anything of quality. My favorite book of all time is Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger. I love the story, and every character is very well written, even if they only appear for the briefest of moments.

I've read a few graphic novels (read: serious comic books), so if you like those at all, or want to take a gander at some, I'd recommend either The Watchmen, or The Killing Joke. The former is considered by most to be the greatest ever, and the latter is the one that most directly influenced The Dark Knight.

 

[Goberz2K8]

Well I cant think of loads off the top of my head. But I have one or two...:

I no particular Order

Bret Hart: Hitman
Alice Cooper: Golf Monster
Darren Shan Saga (for people who like Vampires for example/fantasy)

There are more, cant think of any off the top of my head, but will put them in, if I remember.

 

[JenovasWitness]

I just finished "The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone. I couldn't put the book down. It's basically a chronicle of the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti, the works of passion and art he created and the challenges he faced while creating them. I am a huge admirer of his fresco and sculpture. Irving Stone was able to create a very believable recounting of his life by studying the many letters and journal entries that Michelangelo left behind and had them translated into English by Charles Speroni who was the chairman of the department of Italian studies at the University of California. Great read.

I love the Jim Butcher series, the Dresden Files. The mix of the supernatural, fantasy and dark comedy in modern day Chicago never fails to entertain me. Harry Dresden is a funny dude.

The other great book I just finished reading was "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. I enjoyed the story and how it was written, no chapters, no quotations when people spoke, it was like an exercise in stream of consciousness writing.

I also love the entire Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and the fantasy series written by Raymond Feist.

 

[Milkyway!]

I've not read much in my day. My mother has like 284672340968 bookshelves full of Nora Roberts, and when I ask for a book, she simply says "Theres Nora Roberts over there, pick one, shes the best author in the world" So, I have to go with Nora Roberts, because other than the World Of Warcraft books, thats all I've been exposed to in my days. She is a wonderful author. So I'm going to have to go with anything by Nora Roberts, as my favorite piece of lit.

 

[Azrael Cain]

The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

As a future English teacher, I would never be able to teach this book, nor is it considered any kind of classic (that I know of?) but the book is beautifully written and raises very interesting discussion questions about life, death, society and its outlook on all of the aforementioned things, as well as relationships. There are others in the series (aptly named the 2nd Deadly Sin and so forth), but none were as good as the first.

I will admit that Paradise Lost and Hamlet come to mind as well, but I am not sure epic poems and plays count as "books."

 

[falconsault]

For the Zombie lovers and all that... like I am. I'd suggest the following books.

World War Z by Max Brooks. It's written in a different style, at least I've never seen a book written in it's style before and has an extremely interesting take on the Zombie Apocolyse, how it could happen and what the world could do to survive it. Out of ten stars, I'd give it 75

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. Honestly, I can't speak for this one. I've not been able to read it yet, as I can't obtain a copy. The BX here on base doesn't have it, and well that sucks, and I've been too busy spending my money on new uniforms and mind rotting video games to buy books.

Um... shit that's all I got. World War Z though is a great book, I'd suggest it to anyone.

 

[HereComesThePain101]

im a Steven king fanatic but i like the whole wizards and magic genre(harry potter) but a really cool book by Steven king like that is the Eyes of the dragon. it was a really great book and i have reread that book at least twice a year since i first read it four years ago.

 

[CH David]

For the Zombie lovers and all that... like I am. I'd suggest the following books.

World War Z by Max Brooks. It's written in a different style, at least I've never seen a book written in it's style before and has an extremely interesting take on the Zombie Apocolyse, how it could happen and what the world could do to survive it. Out of ten stars, I'd give it 75

Um... shit that's all I got. World War Z though is a great book, I'd suggest it to anyone.

World War Z FTW. Great book, and for those that don't know, he is the son of none other than Mel Brooks. Good stuff.

Anyway, other books for Whisper and anyone else. Personally I am a huge fan of the Artemis Fowl books. I will state that I was a huge Harry Potter freak growing up, but Artemis Fowl took over and IMO is better. I can't wait for the newest Artemis Fowl to come out. It is written by Eoin Colfer, and he does a very good job. The series isn't truly about wizards and witches, but more of an Irish kid trying to steal magic from fairies. Sounds corny, but the later books are freaking good.

Another would have to be Lord Brocktree by Brian Jacques. Lord Brocktree is a badger wandering through the woods searching for his way home to Salamandastron, the home of badger lords. His father is the ruler, but is killed by a wildcat and his vermin that take over the kingdom. Trust me, this is one hell of a read, especially if you can imagine badgers and all sorts of other animals kicking ass.