What are your favorite writers/books ?

James said:
I was just thinking of reading something new, I think I've been spending too much time on non-fiction books. Any suggestions ? What are your favorite authors, books ?

The last really good non-fiction book I read was The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Has anyone ever read any Murakami ? I loved Norwegian Wood when I read that. I'm kind of writing two books myself at the moment, not to be the next Dan Brown or whoever. I think the last few weeks really sparked my creative side, and I've been rattling off a few thousand words each day. It's not a race, but I would like to finish them.

One was intended to be a sort of thriller and the other a social commentary/relationship/character study - I decided to go with two, so I didn't get stuck with them and could switch back and forward.

Sorry I wandered off topic - any really great books that I should pick up on ? Thanks.
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i dont think u will b interested in my pick lol. 'superstar high: nobody's angels' by isabella cass. read it about 4 times. its a coming of age book
 
This morning I read a very short story by Kafka called "First Sorrow" and which is basically about the life of a trapeze artist who wants to remain on his trapeze at all times to dedicate himself entirely to his art. Though not as well known as "A Hunger Artist", it's still amazing.
 
Wuthering Heights
Great Gatsby is a great novel, which a movie will NEVER do justice to. Just the way he intertwined all these different personalities and their foibles cannot possibly be shown in a movie
The Grapes of Wrath
Dark Elf Trilogy
 
A mostly accurate list of my current reading habits: Peter Matthiessen, Ivo Andrić, EO Wilson, Jack Vance. Andrić's tragic The Bridge on the Drina has unseated Gene Wolfe's Peace as my favorite standalone novel. His Omer Pasha Latas, though a fascinating snapshot of a crossroads of Yugoslav history and a fractured Pasha that represented it, didn't have the broad scope and bird's eye view Andrić employed so magically in The Bridge on the Drina. Earlier favorites include Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus and Ursula K le Guin's Worlds of Exile and Illusion are comparable as loosely interconnected novellas. Having previously only read Jack Vance in anthologies, his Emphyrio was a romp. My favorites from Matthiessen are The Snow Leopard and The Tree Where Man Was Born first as poignant travelogues, then for the author's unique insights on the human condition. More recently, I finished EO Wilson's The Social Conquest of Earth just weeks before his death and just started Consilience.
 
otter said:
A mostly accurate list of my current reading habits: Peter Matthiessen, Ivo Andrić, EO Wilson, Jack Vance. Andrić's tragic The Bridge on the Drina has unseated Gene Wolfe's Peace as my favorite standalone novel. His Omer Pasha Latas, though a fascinating snapshot of a crossroads of Yugoslav history and a fractured Pasha that represented it, didn't have the broad scope and bird's eye view Andrić employed so magically in The Bridge on the Drina. Earlier favorites include Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus and Ursula K le Guin's Worlds of Exile and Illusion are comparable as loosely interconnected novellas. Having previously only read Jack Vance in anthologies, his Emphyrio was a romp. My favorites from Matthiessen are The Snow Leopard and The Tree Where Man Was Born first as poignant travelogues, then for the author's unique insights on the human condition. More recently, I finished EO Wilson's The Social Conquest of Earth just weeks before his death and just started Consilience.
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Nice.
You are a well cultured otter.
 
Bit soon to tell since I'm only on book 3, but I've been getting into the Wheel of Time series, expedited due to cancellation.

So far, it's been pulling me forward whenever I can get enough reading hours to resume.

The story is much more compelling than any of the action scenes, which are perpetually confusing to read. Kind of interested in how contrivance is set up as a story element, creating a meta-narrative around fate and choice - especially when it comes to the hero of the story (and I really mean hero, not protagonist). Yet another abstraction layer above that, I'm keen to find out where readers see Jordan messing up (common criticism coming up mid-series) and how Sanderson attempts to pull the cart out of the mud.
 
Uncanny, but definitely not entirely a coincidence that I happened to open this thread.
James said:
...Has anyone ever read any Murakami ? I loved Norwegian Wood when I read that....
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I loved this book. It must be your copy on my shelf right now. I don't recall us ever talking about it. A shame time robbed me of that connection.

StarryEyedDreamer said:
My favorite authors would have to be JRR Tolkien and Anne Rice. Favorite books of mine would have to be "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and "The Complete Vampire Chronicles" compilation of book series.
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Love both of these series, but only more recently went through (most of) the Vampire Chronicles. It rekindled my full enthusiasm for all things vampire. There's an incredible adaption of it right now on AMC, with The Vampire Lestat being adapted for the 3rd Season releasing next month.

I wonder what prompted you @StarryEyedDreamer to bump this thread?

Ginny said:
Bit soon to tell since I'm only on book 3, but I've been getting into the Wheel of Time series, expedited due to cancellation.

So far, it's been pulling me forward whenever I can get enough reading hours to resume.

The story is much more compelling than any of the action scenes, which are perpetually confusing to read. Kind of interested in how contrivance is set up as a story element, creating a meta-narrative around fate and choice - especially when it comes to the hero of the story (and I really mean hero, not protagonist). Yet another abstraction layer above that, I'm keen to find out where readers see Jordan messing up (common criticism coming up mid-series) and how Sanderson attempts to pull the cart out of the mud.
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Hey @Ginny , I read this series. Like, cover to cover. Every volume. Would it be unkind of me to recommend you quit while you're still ahead? Those middle 7 books are long. I did quite enjoy the first few books, but I agree the action was really confusing. The Branderson co-wrote novels are really interesting to read when you've familiar with both writers. You can barely taste Branderson at first, but by the end he's really the only flavour. That isn't to say he doesn't do a fantastic job of closing out the series, I found the ending almost made up for the middle 7 books. Almost.

As for me?
Dune is incredible. An absolute miraculous series, and unlike anything else I've ever read. The films do not do any justice to how deep and cerebral these books are. Frank Herbert was on some different kind of spice.

And the Wolf Hall series by Hilary Mantel. It's a story from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII's court, dealing with 'that Boleyn girl', and the many subsequent Tudor misadventures.
 
Meatball said:
Hey @Ginny , I read this series. Like, cover to cover. Every volume. Would it be unkind of me to recommend you quit while you're still ahead? Those middle 7 books are long. I did quite enjoy the first few books, but I agree the action was really confusing. The Branderson co-wrote novels are really interesting to read when you've familiar with both writers. You can barely taste Branderson at first, but by the end he's really the only flavour. That isn't to say he doesn't do a fantastic job of closing out the series, I found the ending almost made up for the middle 7 books. Almost.
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Tough to say, since you're unaware of my reading habits and the circumstance that I have bought the whole series. I know of the ubiquitously disliked middle books, where the threads unravel to the point of unbearableness. I see it as a challenge to read this though to the end, a means to learn more about storytelling. After all, you cannot learn if you only read the good bits. It is certainly unkind to the story, since so much has been done to finish it at all, rather than letting it die with the author. It's not like ASOIAF, which hasn't been finished to date and is doubtful to be finished at all, considering the author's attitude since the botched series finale.

Your words actually make me want to read it more, just to spite the comment. It's in my nature. Nothing personal, more of a reflex.
If the books do happen to become too long, I'll resort to audiobooks as a mental focus. I did that with several other unlikables to success.

I plan to consider the latter books as a test for Sanderson to convince me to want to read the Mistborn series. Given the tough assignment, it is the highest praise to him as an author to have this particular mess end satisfactorily, his own blend of writing style carrying it along as well.
 
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