Books you can't live without by BadgersHat

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Books you can't live without

POSTED BY: BADGERSHAT
UPDATED: Thursday, May 12, 2005 04:58
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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 6:42 AM

In the spirit of the DVD thread, here's one about books you can't live without...

-Icefire (Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, great sci-fi writers, DAMN good thriller)
-Tom Sawyer (all time favorite)
-Harry Potter series
-The Indoor Grilling Bible

I'm sure there's others...

--Jefé The Hat

***************************
--Don't bother trying to predict, figure out, second guess, criticize, or suggest anything that comes from the mind of Joss Whedon, for you shall usually be wrong, and shall find out the Truth and Purpose in due time.
(This is the Truth of Whedoning)

"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 6:52 AM

STILLSHINY

Bible
Steven Lawhead - The Song of Albion

Walk On - The Spiritual Journey of U2

Chronicles of Narnia (as they were originally released out of "chronological order")

Lord of the Rings

Paul Reiser - Couplehood & Babyhood (even better on audio book)

Jesse Duplaints - Close Encounters of the God kind

The Unforgettabel Fire - Definitive Biography of U2

Make It So - Leadership Lessons from Star Trek the Next Generation

Not really a big "reader" myself.

Check out my shop!
http://www.zazzle.com/contributors/products/gallery/browse_results.asp
?cid=238187680745956238

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:03 AM

GORRAMREAVERS

Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck

The Shining - Mr. King

All I can think of right now...

"..it is my very favorite gun."

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:24 AM

MAUGWAI

-Bruce Campbell's book, If Chins Could Kill
-Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse
-Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester
-The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
-Night, by Elie Wiesel
-Bleak House, by Charles Dickens

Okay, there's way too many. Can I count every Shakespeare play ever except The Merry Wives of Windsor? Plays aren't really novels, but still. I don't think I could live without Hamlet or The Tempest.

Without books I would definitely curl up into a tiny ball and waste away to nothing, especially without Siddhartha.

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:48 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Lord of The Rings
Glory Road & Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy
Trout Fishing in the Shenandoah National Park - Harry Murray
Helms repair manual for the 1988 Honda CRX
Rand-McNally Road Atlas

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:55 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Killer Angels
Grapes of Wrath
Anyone found a Good Bible?

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 9:07 AM

NAKEDANDARTICULATE

EVERYTHING WRITTEN BY ERIC BOGOSIAN(PLAYWRITER)
BROOKLYN DREAMS
THE SERENITY NOVELS

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
ISHMAEL

"Hamsters is nice."

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 9:22 AM

LADYSILVER

Since my entire house is filled with books, I'm not sure I'll be able to narrow it down too much. There aren't too many titles I can live without - I live to read! Here goes:

anything by Anne McCaffrey and Laurell Hamilton
Lord of the Rings (both books by Tolkien and DVDs by Jackson)
Harry Potter, etc.
Folly by Laurie King (and most of her other books!)
The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilmore
early Patricia Cornwell
the Bookman series (and the author's name escapes me! aarrgh!)
Susan Grafton's alphabet series
J.D. Robb's series featuring Eve Dallas (I know, I know, it's really Nora Roberts, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for science fiction romantic mysteries!)

And I could go on, and on, and on, and on. In fact, I did! Oops!

I can see I will definitely have to check out the sci-fi/fantasy section of my library - and soon. The mysteries are taking over!

Happy Holidays, my fellow Browncoats!
—Jean

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 9:23 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

my most favoritest book is The Little Prince.

I know some folks consider it a children's book, but it really is a story for adults. I can't count the number of time I've read it. I only took French in high school so I could translate it myself.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:19 AM

MALICIOUS

Jefe,

If my house were burning down, I'd save my son, my dog and The Stand by Stephen King.

Others I'd try to get are:

King:
The Shining
'Salem's Lot

James Thurber:
The Thurber Carnival

Any and all Dave Barry

and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The rest would have to burn because The Stand--Complete and Uncut weighs a ton.

And if you were spending the night I'd save you too!

Mal-licious

Co-Holder of the Red Bell from Hell

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:33 AM

SGTGUMP

Well...

Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, Job: a Comedy of Justice - Heinlein

The Dune novels - Frank Herbert

Chuck Palahniuk - all of his books

The Hithchikers Guide, All of them - Douglas Adams

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

That's all I can think of for now.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:35 AM

NIKNAK

The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
The increasingly inaccurately named Hitch-Hiker's guide to the Galaxy trilogy

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:48 AM

LETOV

David Brin:
The Uplift series, all 6 books

Long list from Orson Scott Card:
Ender's books, esp Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
Alvin Maker series

Douglas Adam's:
HitchHiker's Guide
The Dirk Gently books, love 'em more than the HitchHiker

Frank Herbert:
Dune series: "Children" being my favorite

I could go on for a while probably but just about any books above will get picked up when I feel like reading something but don't have something new on hand. I ride mass-transit to work so I enjoy my regular reading time every day.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 11:17 AM

CHEWIE

Okay... This one took some thinking...

Anything Written by:

Kathy Reichs
James Patterson
Patricia Cornwell
Dan Brown
Janet Evanovich (The Stephanie Plum novels)
J.K Rowling

Then theres...

A Time to Kill by John Grisham
In the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Alanna: Song of the lioness by Tamora Pierce

And a few other hundred I can't think of off the to of my head!

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 11:52 AM

GUNRUNNER

Submarine! By Capt. Edward L. Beach, USN
(Ever useful) Jane’s Warship Recognition Guide 2nd Edition
Blind Man’s Bluff by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew. (Best book on the Cold War period)
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts.
The Star Wars: X-Wing Novels by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston
Bravo Two Zero by Sgt. Andy McNab, UK SAS
With Hostile Intent and Acts of Vengeance by Robert Gandt.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:14 PM

JABBY

The Secret Garden

Wuthering Heights

Anything by Michael Crichton

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:16 PM

FIREFLYWILDCARD1

All books in The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

The Book of Words Trilogy by J V Jones
The Sword of Shadows Trilogy by J V Jones

All books in the Starfist series by Dan Cragg and David Sherman

Books by Lurlene McDaniel (though if I had to I'd let them burn)

The Lord of the Rings

All of my Military History books (especially those written by veterans (not historians))

My useful technical books from school.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:40 PM

SERGEANTX

"Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid"

by Douglas Hofstadter

If I could only find a woman who appreciates this book...

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 3:01 PM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

There are no books I can't live without. However, there are a good many that, if something happened and I lost all my books, I'd buy again just so I could have them to read if the mood strikes me.

These include (but are not limited to):
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
1984, by George Orwell
Jumper, by Steven Gould
The Hooded Swan/Star Pilot Grainger stories, by Brian Stableford
a number of Stephen King books, like The Stand, Firestarter, The Bachman Books, and now, the Dark Tower series
Dune, by Frank Herbert

Quite a lot.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6
http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
(some of the above-listed books are reviewed in the forums section of my website)

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 3:43 PM

SGTGUMP

Well, I just got my first taste of Ayn Rand. I just read 'Anthem', took about 3 hours. I think that I'd have to put it right near the top of my favorite books list.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 4:45 PM

MELVILLE

My two all time favorets -
Emergence, David R. Palmer
Sea of Glass, Barry Longyear

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 4:59 PM

MONTANAGIRL

The Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium, and Tamuli series by David Eddings
Lord of the Rings
Pride and Prejudice
The Black Stallion
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
everything by Dave Barry

Packer fans welcome.
All others tolerated.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 5:38 PM

MELEAUX

1)The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
2) The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
3) An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden
4) Watership Down by Richard Addams

She understands, she doesn't comprehend

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004 11:42 PM

GAVIDA

Hmm, just from the top of my head:

The Dragon and the George - Gordon R. Dickson

Who goes here? - Bob Shaw

Spellsinger - Alan Dean Foster

The Doomfarers of Coramonde - Brian Daley

Janissaries - Jerry Pournelle

Well and the one or other Discworld Novel :)

Keep flying,

Gavida

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 2:49 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

All the Asterix books.

Those things inspired me to become a cartoonist - I couldn't ever live without them.

Also as my niece and nephews grow up I can read the stories to them, which is wonderful because I was about their age when I first came across them.

and

100 Years of Solitude I read it every summer.

www.cirqus.com

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 4:54 AM

HUITZIL

The Left Hand of Darkness
Pride and Prejudice
The Neverending Story
any of the M R James compilations as long as its got 'Oh whistle..', and 'Number 13' in it!

___________
the turtle and the wolf are natural enemies

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 7:17 AM

PHOEBE

The Shining - Stephen King
The Dark Tower (books 1 through 7

) - Stephen King
Desperaiton - Stephen King
And the rest of my massively large King collection.

Hmmm.... anyone would think I have an obsession.

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 7:20 AM

MAUGWAI

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
All the Asterix books.

Those things inspired me to become a cartoonist - I couldn't ever live without them.

Also as my niece and nephews grow up I can read the stories to them, which is wonderful because I was about their age when I first came across them.

I love Asterix! It's difficult to find those books in America. I've been trying to find the vidoes I once saw in French class. Any idea where I can get either books or videos?

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 8:49 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Well they sell them in all bookstores here in England, and often I go to Brussels to visit a friend - and over there they're everywhere.

I'm not aware of anything online just because I've never had to search to that extent.

However if you like I'd be happy to grab a selection for you and post them your way.

Would this be ok?

TheSomnambulist

www.cirqus.com

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 12:18 PM

ANKHAGOGO

Mmmm....books. Yummy.
These are in no order - just as I see them on the shelf. :)

Lord of the Rings, like a bunch of others here

The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman - I don't know them back to front, but they're just fabulous

Any anthology or stand-alone novel in the Bordertown series (edited by Terri Windling)

Oh, my Elfquest -- up to a point, then they kind of start to meander off to characters I'm not connected to.

Most anything by Roddy Doyle

Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer as well. But I've always preferred Huck.

Lonesome Dove

Preacher

Harry Potter. Can't help it; love em.

Neil Gaiman -- Neverwhere

Gone With the Wind

Little Women & Little Men

Peter Pan

"I know your name, jackass!"

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 2:37 PM

OZYMANDIAS

Everything by heinlein, specifically starship troopers, puppet masters, and farnhams freehold

The ender saga, by orson scott card, and also enchantment

sphere by crichton

All chuck palanuik books, especially diary

All Hunter S. Thompson books (Fear and Loathing in Las vegas, Kindgom of fear and Generation of swine especially)

and last but certainly not least...

ARMOR, by John Steakley. Without a doubt one of the best three books I have ever read in ANY genre. If you haven't read this book, get off your gorram ass and buy it

And Melkor fled before the laughter of Tulkas, and hated him ever after

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 2:44 PM

ZOID

El Jefé Magnifico asked us all which books we cannot live without:

Well, that is a toughie... Phrasing it another way (y'all knew I'd do that, didn't you?), this a short-list of books I think everyone should read at some point in their lives:

The Holy Bible: Straight, old King James version, please. Particular attention paid to the New Testament, because Jesus replaced the 'eye for an eye' OT values with 'turn the other cheek', among other revolutionary tenets that modern Christians have such a hard time embracing. Still, whether you're a 'believer' or not, Western civilization is based on the Judeo-Christian ethic. If you're playing the game, you might consider knowing the rules, regardless whether you buy into the underlying system of faith... (NB: I am a Christian; this is not an attempt to proselytize or discredit other faiths; I do not judge others' relationship with God.)

The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene: An acclaimed and fascinating book discussing the various 'n-dimensional' (super)string theories attempting to describe the nature of the Universe and reality. There are many other books of this ilk -- Hawking's "A Brief History..." or Smolin's "Three Roads to Quantum Gravity" among many examples -- but I like this one best. Starts out simple and works the reader up to an advanced snapshot of the recent state of theoretical physics. Things have changed somewhat since the book was published, but if you can manage to comprehend it through to its end, you should be able to follow the advances made since. (I get all my latest 'pop sci' from Scientific American, available at a bookseller near you).

How the Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity, Brian Goodwin: An alternative to straight Darwinism, this is not some neo-Creationist tripe. It attempts to explain the 'staccato' nature of the fossil record, and how new forms can arise spontaneously. When you've done with this book, you should immediately read Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children, by Greg Bear, in order to cement these ideas. The scientific premise for these books is that dormant genes and introns are the machines of evolution, and can bring about a massive change of species within a single generation. He's even got a nice -- if perhaps fanciful -- scene of a dig that uncovers a nomadic group made up of h. sapiens and h. erectus, working and living (and possibly engaging in interspecies sexual activity) together. And of course, it's Bear, so it's a very engaging read.

Dune, Frank Herbert: For all the reasons I've stated numerous times; but mostly for its Machiavellian political/religious insights. Some things never change throughout human history; Herbert's work provides a more or less complete insight into these, if one reads deeply enough. And overlaying all that practical insight is a story laden with elements reminiscent of the best of Shakespeare: witches and noblemen and stabbings and poison and children of questionable birthright from secretly incestuous pairings (only the witches know for sure who's related to whom).

I could name many others, but if I had to list the essentials only, I would say read these books (and then read everything else). I think you'll find enough polarity in these viewpoints to give you a well-rounded vantage of the 'big picture' of reality. I have actually managed to reconcile them; as a consequence, I am philosophically unwelcome just about everywhere I go...

You have been warned.

Literarily,

zoid

P.S.
Folks, remember to read more than fiction. History is good. So are archaeology and the natural sciences. Mix up your reading diet.

P.P.S.
The books I can't live without are the ones I have yet to read. Life would be pretty unbearable without the prospect of great books to read for the remainder of my time here...
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 3:43 PM

CORNCOBB

I'm gonna echoe the support for Lord of the Rings and The Hitchhiker's Guide and also sing the praises of War of the Worlds by HG Wells and Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I'm only halfway through the latter book and it's already a contendor for my all-time favourite. If you haven't read it yet you should.

"Gorramit Mal... I've forgotten my line."

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Thursday, December 23, 2004 7:39 PM

ALIENZOOKEEPER

Anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, but especially her Miles Vorkosigan stories. The first two novels, by internal chronology, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, are about the hero's Mom!

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Orphans in the Sky, and Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlien.

With The Lightnings and Lt. Leary Commanding by David Drake (Scary writer who's mellowed to the point where I imagine he wouldn't scare Bothari, if the two of them were to meet in a dark alley...) Third book is not quite as good, with all due respect to Mr. Drake.

Most anything by Mark Twain, but especially Huckleberry Finn, the most seditious book you can give a teenager to read. Huck would understand Mal, and vice versa.

The Guards books out of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (silly, true, but also full good ideas and great characters). Read the whole series and watch a silly send up of modern fantasy rip-offs of Tolkien grow into something more.

Vince the Alien Zookeeper

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Friday, December 24, 2004 4:02 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan

Lord of the Rings trilogy - So it's in 3 seperate parts. I Like to reread it every year or so.

Dinosaur Heresies - Dr. Robert Bakker

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Friday, December 24, 2004 4:38 AM

ZOID

AURaptor:

Thanks for your list. I'll check out the Sagan and Bakker. Can you clue me on why those books are great?

Of course, I've read the Tolkien. The historical subtext is worth the effort, on its own, apart from the great fantasy. I reckon it's the template for pretty much every other fantasy (read: 'sword and sorcery') novel since; LotR is the progenitor -- and still best example -- of the entire genre.

v/r,
-zed

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Friday, December 24, 2004 9:03 AM

BANDANAGIRL

Uh well I can think of one book right now that I'm currently reading.

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. It takes place before the Hobbit and LOTR. I read it first before any other Tolkien book, but while watching movies it helped me understand them alot more. Also you realize there is a greater signifigance to certain things (like the Phial of Galadriel for instance).

Frell me dead!!!

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Friday, December 24, 2004 12:12 PM

DEBBIEBUK

Sorry I can't resist this thread. Had a go last night and gave up, but would also stress the importance of non-fiction. I keep trying to get rid of books but these are the ones I keep:

Non-Fiction
In my case it's mainly cookery books (reflected in my shape)
Madhur Jaffery, Antonio Carlucci, Arabella Boxer, Sophie Grigson and a great one from Bill Granger called Sydney Food.
And foreign language dictionaries but they don't count.

Other non-fiction
Apollo 13 - a great story of real human ingenuity
Infectious Greed - Frank Portnoy (explained a lot about the way the stock markets work and the people who influenced them, also for helped me understand a lot more about the telecoms world in 1999-2002 which bit me and a lot of others in the backside)
Richard Feynman's books (two or three of them I think)
Random Walks in Science
Iain Sinclair - London Orbital (about a walk round the M25 and why it is where and what it is, not sure if that is what they call psychogeography)

All the Lonely Planet/ Rough Guides I collect for places I'll probably never get to - great inspiration

Fiction
Left Hand of darkness/ Always coming home Ursula le guin
Forever War - Haldeman I think
Mission of Gravity - Hal Clement
Gameplayers of Zan - can't remember who wrote that one
A lot of stuff by Azimov
Barbara Hambly's books about the wizard, ? tower erm one is called twisting the rope I think.
Lord of the Rings (sorry but it was an inspiration even from school)
Most of Terry Pratchett's stuff, favourite is probably Soul Music, but I reread them every couple of years or so when I'm feeling depressed.
Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban (post apocalyptic folks rediscovering gunpowder, but set in East Kent where I grew up so the geography is important)

James Lee Burke - would have to be one or two of those in there

And on another angle, what about books you've never finished? Gravity's Rainbow - should be the sort of thing I love, very complex, rockets, physics, history, Europe. Just couldn't get past the first two hundred pages. Didn't care any more.

Debbie

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Friday, December 24, 2004 12:43 PM

RUXTON

"Pondoro" by John Taylor

"Hell, I Was There" by Elmer Keith

Complete (annotated) Sherlock Holmes, by A. Conan Doyle
(No one else appreciates Holmes?)

"Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain

The complete works of Richard Bach

"Life in the Far West" by George Frederick Ruxton

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Friday, December 24, 2004 6:13 PM

TERRYO

I'll see your Holmes and raise you one Annotated Alice in Wonderland. {g} My grandmother's maiden name was Norton, btw.

Books everywhere - what would I throw in a box if the house was burning?

The Bible (The Books of Job, Psalms and Isaiah, especially)

Gifts from the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Michael Phillips - The Seven Laws of Money (one of the Whole Earth Catalog guys)

Possum Living - Dolly Freed (and who was her father anyway?)

Julia Cameron's The Artists Way

84 Charing Cross Road

Joy of Cooking

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden series

the latest Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Julie Smith, and Kate Wilhem books, whatever they are...

Alas Babylon - Pat Frank

Josephine Tey - Daughter of Time

The Ivy Tree - Mary Stewart

Sarah Smith - Chasing Shakespeare

Pride and Prejudice

Collected works of Wm Shakespeare (cheating, I know but Hamlet is - well - Hamlet)

Griffin and Sabine (picture books for grown-ups)

A few early Nora Roberts paperbacks

Harry Harrison - grab a few

Ishmael - the Star Trek novel; hated it the first time I read it but it grew on me. Also anything Trek or not by Peter David.

Tam Lin - Pamela Dean

Marelon the Magician - Patricia Wrede

Early Burglar books by Lawrence Block

--beloved childhood favorites--

Sally Watson's Lark and Linnet (YA) - mine

Barbary - Vonda McIntyre (I like her other books but this one is special)

The Hobbit - Tolkien

From my kids shelf:

Mick Hart Was Here

The Face on the Milk Carton

--picture books--
More Spaghetti I Say - Rita Golden Gelman

Good Night Moon

Green Eggs and Ham

Luckily for me, I have half of these in pda format.

Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
"Pondoro" by John Taylor

{snip}
Complete (annotated) Sherlock Holmes, by A. Conan Doyle
(No one else appreciates Holmes?)

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Friday, December 24, 2004 6:28 PM

TERRYO

Sadly, the above list is a tiny percentage of the books I have - but now I feel this weird compulsion to put them all together on one shelf. (Just in case, you know.)

terry

p.s. I forgot the poetry. Toss at least one major collection in with the rest.

Oh - and the Perl books, can't forget the Camel.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 4:25 AM

EST120

a prayer for owen meany.

by far my favorite book of all time.

a rather distant second is the fountainhead.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 3:23 PM

MALICIOUS

Quote:
Originally posted by debbiebuk:
And on another angle, what about books you've never finished?

Oddly enough, the one book I never finished (I forced myself to read as far as I did) was....The Fountainhead--Ayn Rand!

Mal-licious

Co-Holder of the Red Bell from Hell

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 5:36 PM

FIREFLYWILDCARD1

And on another angle, what about books you've never finished?

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein I've tried three times to read this book all the way through and I keep getting stuck about a third of the way through and can't get past that point. Oh well.

A couple of military history books (on submarines) I couldn't get through because they were just too dry.

However, one of my all time favorite books is Thunder Below! by Rear Admiral Eugene Fluckey (USN Restired). It's about his tours on a submarine durring WWII. Very good read.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:42 PM

SOUPCATCHER

I love this thread!!

Let's just say that if there was a fire in the apartment I would have to fight it as best I could because there's no way I could get out all my favorite books in time. But I'll try to give a reduced list (I started to post a few days ago and the list got completely out of control very quickly).

Have survived the “storage purges” that accompany every move
Battle of Midway by Ira Peck
Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Give a Man a Gun by John Creasey
Dayworld by Philip Jose Farmer
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Out of the Silent Planet by C S Lewis
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Bible the King James version
Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Will join the above list the next time I move
Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd by Michael Wallis
30-Minute Meals 2 by Rachael Ray
You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn
A People’s History of the American Revolution by Ray Raphael
Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She? by Molly Ivins

First editions
California: a Guide to the Golden State by the Federal Writers’ Project of the WPA
New Worlds to Conquer by Richard Halliburton - although if I couldn’t save all of my Halliburton collection that would just be wrong.

Regional type stuff
Jack Smith’s LA by Jack Smith
California Historical Landmarks edited by Linda McDonald and Carol Cullens
Lost Legends of the West by Brad Williams and Choral Pepper

Course assigned books that I fell in love with
Labor and Monopoly Capital by Harry Braverman
Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees by Lawrence Weschler
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
The Iliad of Homer translated by Richard Lattimore
The Parables of Jesus by Joachim Jeremias
The Parables Then and Now by Archibald Hunter

Disciplinary stuff
Analysing Design Activity edited by Cross, Christiaans and Dorst
Conceptual Blockbusting by James Adams
Mechanical Engineering Design by Shigley and Mishke
Experiences in Visual Thinking by Bob McKim

Mystery
Folly and O, Jerusalem by Laurie King *(Like LadySilver, I have most of her books)
Blind Descent by Nevada Barr
Home Fires by Margaret Maron
No Colder Place by S J Rozan

Science Fiction/Fantasy
I’m not even going to try and figure this one out

.
* (I'm with AlienZookeeper on David Drake - With the Lightnings would be in this section along with at least one Hammer's Slammers book).

Peace on Earth. Goodwill to everyone.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:43 PM

NEEDLESEYE

Dune series, Frank Herbert
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Rubaiyat - a 1960's printing with a beatiful binding, and it's MINE! ALL MINE!

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book- My copy is from 1990. Everyone should have it. If for some reason you can't remember how long to boil an egg or how to cook a rump roast, this will tell you and give you recipies.

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Sunday, December 26, 2004 6:15 AM

GOJIRO

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah -- Richard Bach

Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson

I have many, many, MANY other books I absolutely love (including the entire Baroque Cycle trilogy, again by Stephenson), but these two are the absolute best books I've ever read. And I have read a lot. Trust me on that.

I imagine Cryptonomicon would appeal to most of the crowd here, but cheers to Ruxton for including Bach's oeuvre.

-------
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Sunday, December 26, 2004 11:30 AM

RUXTON

Thanks, Gojiro. Bach is sometimes overlooked, but ever fascinating.

I'd like to add to my list a book I'm currently reading, for it is fascinating, cuts like a knife, and reminds us to remember history. I suspect it will also sustain my interest with repeated readings over time:

"Unintended Consequences" by John Ross.

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Sunday, December 26, 2004 12:04 PM

JULIABUG

How about:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke

Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

and my all-time childhood favorite

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

Julia

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Sunday, December 26, 2004 12:16 PM

PEDME84

anything and everything by Rumi

Lord of the Rings

Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Hamlet's Mill - this is something i was assigned in a class and i'm rereading right now. if you're interested in myth, especially comparative mythology, this is a must read! just be sure to have a couple of basic astronomy books handy if you're like me and know nothing about that sort of thing.

Stories (Layla & Majnun, etc.) by Nizami

The Sacred and Profane by Mircea Eliade

everything else by Joseph Campbell

- emily

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