All Time Favorite Books

2dogs

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
Messages
384
Location
Santa Cruz CA
What an original idea! Really, thanks logicnerd411.
My favorite books, the ones that are on the top shelf, would include these. How about your favorite fiction or nonfiction books.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T.E. Lawrence)
Timeline (Crichton)
The Andromeda Strain
Ranch Life an the Hunting Trail (T. Roosevelt)
The Bible (God)
Beowulf (not really a book)
any cookbook
any outdoors book
any Mark Twain
The Art of War

I'll try to edit this when I'm not so tired.
I completly forgot Clive Cussler and his (main) hero Dirk Pitt.
 

RichardMT

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
114
Im a reading junkie. I spend at least a couple of hours at night reading myself to sleep. Some of my favorites are:

Without Remorse - Tom Clancy
Executive Orders, Red Storm Rising....oh geez, pretty much anything by Tom Clancy

Fatherland - Robert Harris
The Firm - John Grisham
Body of Evidence - Patricia Cornwell

There are actually to many to list.
 

Rothrandir

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
Messages
7,795
Location
US
<font color="red">what?!?!?! no tolkien?!?!?!?!</font> how do i associate with you people?!?!

1. the silmarillion (tolkien
2. the hobbit (tolkien
3. lord of the rings (tolkien)
hmm...this is where it gets difficult...
can we use series as one book? if so, then:
4. chronicles of narnia (c.s. lewis)
5. harry potter books (rowlings)

i guess i kind of have a theme going...
 

Bill.H

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Messages
630
Location
Maine USA
I can't list by book, but I can list by author. I've read almost everything by the following (in no particular order):

David Weber*
Tom Clancy*
John Ringo*
Joe Weber
James H. Cobb
Robert Heinlein
Isaac Asimov
Larry Bond
Eric L. Harry
Michael DiMercurio
Ed Ruggero
James A. Michener
Dale Brown
Ann Coulter
Jack Higgins
Ken Follett

Of the above that are still living and writing, I purchase new titles without even looking at the book since I know I'll enjoy it. The 3 with *s next to their names are the ones that I'll actually spend the extra and get the hardcover instead of waiting for the paperback. These are mostly fiction, I read enough non-fiction for work that I rarely read anything non-escapist at home.
 

revolvergeek

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 6, 2002
Messages
1,037
Location
Louisiana
Hmmmm... Tough to pick a single favorite, but how about a top 10 in no particular order:

- The Hobbit
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (really have to treat them as one big book)
- Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson (possibly my most favorite)
- The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout
- The Three Musketeers
- Starship Troopers
- The Book of Five Rings
- The lectures by Richard Feinman when he was at Cal-Tech
- Sixguns by Elmer Keith
- Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting by Ed McGivern
- A Cooks Tour by Anthony Bourdain (not sure that it measures up to the others, but I am reading it now and like it)
 

FalconFX

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2002
Messages
3,297
Location
Davis, CA
Tolkein and Clancy books are a great read for me.

I even found the JK Rowlings books entertaining.

Haven't read much in recent times, but in high school, if I was found without a book, there's something wrong...
 

shankus

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
1,472
Location
Mojave, CA
Tao te ching - Stephen Mitchell translation
Illusions - Richard Bach
Essential Rumi, the - Coleman Barks translation (poetry)

These are the ones I keep retuning to, and re-reading again and again.

Whoa! I forgot to mention encyclopedias and dictionary.
 

Tomas

Banned
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
2,128
Location
Seattle, WA area
Urk!

I'm sorry, I just can't do it.

In just reading those books/authors listed to get to the point where I could post I found myself nodding at most of the choices, and thinking of even more.

I'm a reader. Even as a child I was a reader. I got my own library card (Mottet Branch, Tacoma Public Library) when I was 5 - I had to wait until I could sign my name for it. If it has print on it, and it is near me, I MUST read it. I can't tell you how many times as a child I read the back, sides, top, bottom, and front of the same cereal box. *sigh*

My biggest problem with my latest move (01APR'03) was moving the 3600+ books that happen to be following me around - that doesn't include the ones still in storage.

I can't list just a few. I really can't. I'll try. (Alpha-order)

Greg Bear
Alfred Bester
David Brin
Dale Brown
(B-52 crew dog!)
Tom Clancy
Arthur C. Clark
Michael Crichton
Philip Jose Farmer
Robert Anson Heinlein
Rudyard Kipling
Larry Niven
Mark Twain
John Varley


Too many more to name. *sigh*

tomsig03.gif
 

Wits' End

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Messages
2,327
Location
Remote NEast Minnesota, next to Lake Superior
2 Dogs-- Beowulf will always have a special place for me as without it I might not be married to my wonderfull wife!!
Too many "favorites" but Tolkien an CS Lewis are up there. Asimov, Zelazny (A-Z?)
Anyone read the Ender Series? Author skips my mind. I'll be back-- Orson Scott Card-- I think.
 

Kristofg

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
355
Location
Belgium
Any Terry Pratchett book from the Discworld series. (wonderfull Fantasy books)
Michael Palins travel biographies
Antonio Carluccio's guides to italian food. (Yes, I do like to cook)
 

arioch

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 26, 2002
Messages
390
Location
maui,hawaii
To Reign in Hell (Steven Brust)
The Stand (Stephen King)
Lucifer's Hammer (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell)
The Incarnations of Immortality series (Piers Anthony)
The earlier Xanth series (Piers Anthony)
Stormbringer (Michael Moorcock)
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

KC2IXE

Flashaholic*
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
2,237
Location
New York City
Argh - I have 3000+ books at home, so this is a Hard ONE

I'll list some authors and some books

Tom Clancy, but the last few sucked- I used to buy the book the day it came out - I don't even have the last one!

Larry Niven

Robert Heinlein, in particular "Starship Troopers", "The Moon is a harsh Mistress" ,and believe it or not "Starman Jones", "Farmer In The Sky" and "Citizen of the Galaxy"

The Art of War

Just about anything by Dugan (Military Theory)

Falkenburg's Legion

Once an Eagle

Xanth

Much (but not all) of the Dragonrider books - In fact, much, but not all EARLY McCaffery

My current book - "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War" - I'll be done with that tonight
 

logicnerd411

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 24, 2002
Messages
1,246
Location
Fairfax, VA
WHAT?!?!?!? No one likes Douglas Adams?!?!?

The meaning of life, the universe, and everything: 42.

My all time favorite books:

The five book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy.

Dan
 

saunterer

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
139
Location
Hillsdale Lake, Kansas
[ QUOTE ]
logicnerd411 said:
WHAT?!?!?!? No one likes Douglas Adams?!?!?

The meaning of life, the universe, and everything: 42.

My all time favorite books:

The five book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy.


[/ QUOTE ]

Read all five. Don't forget your towel. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anything regarding outdoors.
Anything by Thoreau, Heinlein, Horace Kephart, John Muir
 

Orcinus Orca

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
124
Location
PA
I thought that there would be some Clancy fans here. My personal favorite of his is a toss-up between "The Hunt for Red October," "Red Storm Rising," "Without Remorse," and "The Sum of all Fears." I'm currently about half way through "The Bear and the Dragon," which is allright, but I certainly agree that the quality level of his books has declined over the past couple of years--as you can easily see from my selections.

I also noticed several references to "The Art of War," a book that I plan on reading in the near future. It is amazing to me that so many CPF members share common interests in so many different areas.

Cheers,
Dale
 

Charles Bradshaw

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Messages
2,495
Location
Mansfield, OH
To fully understand The Bear and The Dragon, you need to read (in order), Debt of Honor, and Executive Orders. Even Rainbow Six ties into this one.

I REALLY want to NUKE the movie Studio and screen writers that consistently and blatantly TRASH Tom Clancy!!!!! Jack Ryan was NEVER a CIA Agent or Field Officer. They could do a truly decent film, that is faithful to his books, but, they REFUSE to.

I love reading books and really hate when studios deliberately screw a book and author.

I love Science Fiction and some Fantasy, but, I am rather picky in my tastes. I also read New Age and such, again picky.

Anne McCaffery (all excellent books)
Marion Zimmer Bradley (Darkover Series)
Andre Norton (Alice Mary Norton, the great grand Dame of Science Fiction: still alive and writing at well over 90!)
Edward E. "Doc" Smith, Ph.D. (Lensman and Skylark series)
Tolkien
Julian May (Galactic Milieu sp?)
Tom Clancy (Jack Ryan novels and a few others)
Many others: too many to list.
 

Orcinus Orca

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
124
Location
PA
Charles,

I fully agree with you about how Hollywood has butchered Tom Clancy's novels time and time again. I have seen Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and more recently The Sum of all Fears. None of which adhered even slightly to the actual plot line of the books. If I were Clancy, there would be no way that I would allow movie producers to trash my work like that. For this reason I refuse to see The Hunt for Red October. I am one hundred percent sure that it would be a dissapointment.

If only Clancy could have managed to trim some of the excess "fat" from some of his later works, I would be overjoyed. However, I suppose that when you are dealing with such massive story lines--and in keeping with Clancy's nature--a great deal of detail is needed. As it stands at this point, the only thing that keeps me going is the desire to follow the Jack Ryan saga to its very end.

Dale
 

FalconFX

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2002
Messages
3,297
Location
Davis, CA
When Hollywood tries to put a well written book on the screen, there's no way in getting around it but to butcher the book to shreds.

Potter was never done right. Nor were movies like those of Clancy's, or even Stephen King's.

Even Lord of the Rings, as good as it is, leaves much to be desired from the book; and this, done and directed with an iron hand by a great admirer of Tolkein.

There's just no way to put as much detail as a book into a movie without running a typical movie some 10-12 hours long, and that, now, becomes an injustice (not to mention shooting your attention span to the clankers).
 
Top