Book recommendations please from you book-worms!!?

Great question!

I can list some that changed my life. Some are important because they're right, some because they are wrong. They made me think, which is a good thing. They all fueled my passion for the written word.

In the order I read them.

1. Moby Dick (Melville - required reading)

2. The Outisiders (Hinton - required reading)

3. The Bible (You decide who wrote it)

4. Worlds in Collision (Velikovsky - then read Ages in Chaos)

5. The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud)

6. Opus 100 (Asimov)

7. Will (Liddy)

8 Apocalypses (Weber)

9. The Qu'ran (Again, you decide)

10. Patriot Fires (Lawson - the one I'm reading now)

Then, about 600 more.

Ok well I am a 28 year old female so perhaps you won't like my choices..but then again the books I will tell you about come highly recommended generally and anyway my husband has read some of them and he's not a big reader and he liked them too. I guess some of them could be considered more girly? But.. I dunno I think they're all some of the best books I have read.

The Shipping News

Vernon God Little

Life of Pi

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

The English Patient

Cloud Atlas

The Lovely Bones

Just look them all up, read some reviews and Iam SURE you will find a few at least that you like the sound of. I don't want to explain them as I think you have to go to them very open minded!

I have enjoyed answering your question :-) I love books!

The best book I've ever read IMHO is Twilight by Stephenie Meyer but I would not necessarily recommend it for a 23 year old male since I think it would appeal more to females.

A couple fantasies I've read recently that may appeal (if you're into fantasy) are The Gunslinger by Stephen King which is the first of his Dark Tower series and Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.

The best book I ever read was Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde, about a little boy's simple plan to change the world. I always keep 3 copies of that book on my shelves at all times. If you are looking for a new series though (and let's face it, who isn't) try Robert Parker's "Spenser" series and Lawrence Block's The Burglar Who... series.

If you prefer nonfiction (physics, to be exact), I liked Brian Greene's Elegant Universe and Fabric of the Cosmos or anything by Richard Feynman.

Also, I read 2 great books about trivia buffs:

The Know it All by A.J. Jacobs, about a man who read the Encyclopedia Britannica in its entirety.

Prisoner of Trebekistan- A Decade in Jeopardy by Bob Harris, about his many appearances on the TV show Jeopardy.

Hope you get some good ideas out of these,

Channa

As a true bookworm, it's hard for me to narrow down my choices. My favorite of all-time... Charlotte's Web. Serioiusly. I LOVED that book as a kid (I'm 26).

These days I mostly ready mystery/thrillers with the occassional "chick" book. If you're not religiously adverse to it, anything by Dan Brown is good. I've read most of the books he's released (The DaVinci Code, Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons) and regardless of my own personal beliefs, I couldn't put any of them down. I was disappointed in the movie they did of the DaVinci Code somewhat, but that's usually the way it is when you've already read the book. A lot of my guy friends are fans of his books as well. If you want to read something by him that doesn't touch on the religious, read Digital Fortress. That one's great.

If you like something a bit more on the ... supernatural side, I'm a huge fan of Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child. They've done quite a few books, and quite frankly, I've loved all of them. They're... different, but there's always a twist at the end that you didn't see coming. I also like John Saul and Dean Koontz for a touch of the spooky. John Saul probably more so, though. He wrote one book about a woman's descent into madness... wow. I think it was call "the Unloved". I actually read it three times. :-)

I guess it really just depends on your interests, but that's the type of thing I like to read that you might possibly be able to get into. Hope this helps!

Best book I've ever read is "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Set in London in 2540 (or AF 632), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, biological engineering, and sleep-learning that combine to change society.

The world it describes could also be a utopia, albeit an ironic one: humanity is carefree, healthy and technologically advanced. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and everyone is permanently happy. The irony is that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things from which people currently derive happiness—family, cultural diversity, art, literature, science, religion, and philosophy.

Other recommendations would be: Neil Gaiman "Good Omens" or "American Gods", Christopher Moore "Lamb", Piers Anthony, Lian Hearn, anything by Kurt Vonnegut

NOT Twilight, the story is pathetic and cliche Blood+ by Ryo Ikehata The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King Trinity Blood: Rage Against the Moons by Sunao Yoshida Trinity Blood: Reborn on the Mars Harry Potter, of course Wuthering Heights The Giver The Last Lecture Vampire Hunter D novels

I'd say, "War & Peace" by Tolstoy - brilliant read.

The war sections are authentically recreated, so you can really imagine what it was like to be a soldier in the Napoleonic wars. The characters are so real too - Tolstoy manages to get you inside the head of each of his characters, so you become completely absorbed.

Plus it looks good to been seen reading it!

Best book EVER.

(By the way - I found 'The Catcher In The Rye' to be the most over-rated book of all time. Its a book that goes nowhere, says nothing and you know this all the time you're reading it.)

John Case is an amazing author which both me and my partner LOVE! He has only released about 5 or 6 books on his own and they have all been amazing except 1 called the Horseman.

Definately recommend buying one of his books!... once you try one you will buy the rest thats what happened to me and my partner!

It's not very common for a 23 year old girl and a 32 year old man to love the same book! i think anyone would love his books!

go on...... have a look on amazon.co.uk

Well, I don't know which books you like or which you know, but here are my favourites, maybe you'll find one or two you like:

"Terrorist" by John Updike.

I read it yesterday and it's great wirtten. What I likes most is that it is not such a typical "Look, here's the terrorist, you can recognize him" but that he tries to make us understand how someone can develop from a normal guy to a person, who ist willing to die...

"The World according to Garp" by John Irving.

It's amazing, it's wonderful, and it's a whole story of living, dieing and trying to be the person you want to be, my all-time-favourite

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams.

Just read it. And then start reading it again. Find out what's the last question of the universe and why it's answer is "42", Find out, that the earth is just an ordinary small planet with ordinary people living there but feeling they'd be the greates people in universe - in fact, they are not ;-)

"Water Music" by T.C.Boyle.

To me the book showed that being a hero has only something to do how good you sell the story of your heroness. I love his view and his humor.

"Halloween" by Stewart O'Nan.

A strory written from the view of the ghosts of three teenagers died in a car accident a year ago. They can't leave the world, because everyone still remembers them - and now they find out that their best friend, who survived the accident, wants to make the beiggest mistake in his life. Terrible great stuff!

"Yeats is dead" by various authors.

About twenty of the best writers wrote an incredible great novel - a great experiment, and funny to read ;-)

"Me talk pretty one day" by David Sedaris.

Just enjoy. Short stories about David, his parents, his sisters and why he suddenly found himself in a "French for beginners" course in Paris ;-)

Uh, there are so many more...