i am on a book..... quest! yes, a quest.

[Mouse]

Well, I'm looking for people to tell me EVERY GOOD BOOK (that they can remember) THEY HAVE EVER READ. I'm putting together a list. I don't care how long it gets, because frankly my goal is to never reach the end of it. 

Anyway, I'm gonna be keeping a little journal in addition to my normal one about the books I'm reading, as well as a list of the books I NEED to read, so yeah.

Anyways. I'd like to start off with classics. Like books *everyone* has to read, and then go into random ones, interesting ones. I really do like everything. EVERYTHING. Horror, mystery, fantasy, science fiction, biographys, non fiction, science, psychology, animals, anything! Just as long as it's a GOOD BOOK. And good by YOUR standards are fine. I'd like a lot of everything. :3.

Please supply the full name of the book and the author(s) if you can, so it's easier, and maybe even where I'd be able to get the book if it's foreign/no longer in print/not in libraries, etc.


Edit -
You can go through my progress here: http://booksforamouse.blogspot.com/ as I go on my book queeessttt.

[AlanBama]

suggestions:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susanne

Old Dogs and Children by Robert Inman

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

She's Come Undone and I know this Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress

It's always so hard for me to just list a 'few' books......

[livingpositively]

As Alan said...To Kill a Mockingbird (I think my fave ever and one of my fave movies as well.)

I have been on kind of a James Patterson kick lately, especially his newest "series" which includes:

1st to Die, 3rd Degree, 4th of July, and there is a "2nd" but damn if I can remember what it is right now.  He also has others:  "Kiss the Girls", "Cat and Mouse", "Jack and Jill", etc.  He writes in very short chapters, which I love.  Makes for quick and easy stopping points.

If you like historical novels, a series called "Wagons West" was, for the most part, very good.  Definitely something you have to read in order...and there's 24 books in the series, but it was good.  The author is Dana Fuller Ross.  They are older books.  I have seen them MANY times in the used paperback stores where you can exchange your old books.  And they are cheap.  The first one in the series is called "Independence"  It will have a list of the next ones in the sequence.

That oughtta keep you busy for a while. 

[sweetasmeli]

Jaser
Have you checked out this thread for ideas too?
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=1949.0

Melia

[nvgreene]

Some of my faves are (and I'll probably think of more as time goes on):

Possesing the Scecret of Joy by Alice Walker

Rebecca by Dauphnie DuMaurier

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

Even though its been said To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz

That should be a good start to my list.

J

[otherplaces]

I really loved Yukio Mishima's 'Sea of Fertility'.  It's actually four books starting with 'Spring Snow'. He's considered Japan's greatest author. After completing this book he publicly commited ritual suicide!!! It's an intense book, and he obviously considered it his final crowning achievement. He was kinda' nuts, but I guess the book and his suicide were supposed to be a message to modern Japan.

He was also gay, and wrote a real good book about gay culture in 60's Japan called 'Forbidden Colors'.

[carousel]

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[AlanBama]

good suggestions J -

I love anything by Alice Walker!

I thought Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt was good also, didn't like the movie so well though

[J220]

Let's see, for science fiction, you gotta love Issac Asimov's FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE trilogy. Also on the top is Frederick Pohl's THE COOL WAR.

Private detective genre: Robert B. Parker's THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT. I know, I know, this is not really a literary masterpiece, but sometimes you just want to read a page-turning, smart, witty story. And no one does this better than Parker! (geez, I sound like his literary agent).

For war novels (my favorite genre), you have influential works like Remarque’s ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, and Wouk’s WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, and then you got your faster, battle-focused novels like Larry Bond’s VORTEX, Greg Iles’ BLACK CROSS, and PLATOON, the novel by Dale Dye. And yes, the screenplay for the movie was written first, and then adapted by Dye. But still, the story is powerful, raw, fascinating, and cruel in written form, and thus an excellent read. I also have to add FATHERLAND by Robert Harris, a fascinating what-if-Hitler-had-won novel, set in the sixties. Oh, one more, throw in Kurt Vonnegut’s SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, a true classic.

Murder-mystery, THE ALIENIST, by Caleb Carr, fantastic.

Now, for classic literary fiction, how about WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams? A beautiful, unforgettable novel. Then of course we have Hemingway’s FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, and FAREWELL TO ARMS…heck anything written by him is good. Put them all down.

For non-fiction, wow, where to begin. Since my thing is warfare and society (combined, not either/or) I’ll start with NO MAN’S LAND, by John Toland, one of the most comprehensive studies of the First World War I’ve ever read. For the second world war, there is an outstanding oral history book called NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY, by Russell Miller, first hand accounts ranging from the D-Day invasion to liberation.

Moving on in non-fiction, I just finished reading a book called HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION by Thomas Cahill, a study about how Ireland became sort of the literary repository of Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of medieval Europe. Kind of a hard read, style-wise, but very enlightening.

Let’s see, what am I missing? Ah, self-help, I guess. For me, about the only author I like for this is Wayne Dyer, and his seminal work YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES. I have read at least one book by Tony Robbins, but it didn’t impact me as much as Dyer’s work. The one thing I took away from Robbins’ book was the value of persistence, which is fairly obvious, but nevertheless good to be reminded of. But I really prefer Dyer, because his work, especially his more recent books (i.e. THE POWER OF INTENTION), do a wonderful job of addressing existentialism, without proselytizing.

Last but not least, commercial fiction. Robert Ludlum started this sub-genre, in my opinion, and I particularly like THE HOLCROFT COVENANT. There’s Tom Clancy’s THE CARDINAL OF THE KREMLIN, and then the prolific Clive Cussler, I guess his TREASURE is worth mentioning, although in all honesty his plot/ character style is rather repetitive (so was Ludlum’s to be fair, on a smaller scale), so if you read one of Cussler's novels, although you will be entertained by the others, you will not be surprised. Yet, you already plunked down some 10 bucks for the book, so its job is done (hence the 'commercial' in commercial fiction- sales-driven content, rather than content-driven sales.)

Okay I think that covers my list…good luck on your ‘quest’!

[otherplaces]

Oh yeah, non-fiction.

'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' by Richard Rhodes
'Chaos' by James Gleick (the development of complex mathematics)
And of course...'And the Band Played On' by Randy Shilts

And Philosophy

'Geneology of Morals' Nietzsche, but I really like 'Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks'
'the Prince' by Machiavelli
'Tao te ching' by Lao Tzu
Might as well hit some Socratic dialogues by Plato while you're at it.
But the obscure fragments of Heraclitus are my favorite.

[J220]

Those are some heavy hitters, otherplaces! I must admit that I don't read as much philosophy as I should...I should do something about that. Oddly enough I made the main character of my second novel very well-read in Greek philosophy! Go figure...I guess it's my subconcious mind calling for help!! Feeeeeed meeeeee......! lol

[Robert]

If there is one book any 15 year old kid should read it is:

CATHCER IN THE RYE by JD Saliger

robt

[AlanBama]

Oh yes Robert!  Catcher in the Rye would be perfect for our young master Jayser