Any good books to read?

[Étoile]

It's summertime and instead of killing my brain cells over the break by being on the computer nonstop, I want to read some books. Whenever I go to my library, I'm seriously overwhelmed by all the books they have there that I can never decide on which ones I want to get! Do you guys and girls have any good suggestions on some books to read?

I'm don't like any horror or historical novels. Fantasy's okay, but not my favorite.

[xequar]

"Fantasy's okay, but not my favorite." Hmmm, have you read Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels? She has 15ish set in that world in different time periods. Some are almost pure fantasy, and others are an interesting sci-fi/fantasy blend. Read the Dragonriders trilogy, The Renegades, All the Weyrs, and Dolphins. Skip Moreta, Nerilko, and Chronicles (unless you get hooked by the others). Harper Hall trilogy's ok, but don't necessarily start there. Dragonsdawn is good, and is set at the beginning of that world's setting (she wrote this one later on, and if you read in the order she wrote, it has a neat effect).

That's about all I have at the moment. I haven't read much in far far too long.

A good psychological/gore (but not horror) is Battle Royale by Kousun Takami. Its like Lord of the Flies but it isnt boring. Dante's Inferno is a hard read but a very entertianing one if you can understand it. Um Childhoods End is an eye opener. OOOOO Life of Pi is cool. Id say Dune but that might take up your summer

[GhostDog]

Hmm. Well, most of what I read is fantasy, but might I recommend Neil Gaiman? He writes fantasy for people who don't care for swords-n-magic stories set in medieval times. I don't think I've come across a single dragon or elf so far. If you ever saw Coraline, he was the guy who wrote the original story. But two of his books that I have recently devou-err, read, are American Gods and Anansi Boys, which are modern-day fantasy type things. He has a really interesting take on mythology.

Aaand Terry Pratchett is another fantasy author, but his books are primarily humorous. As Douglas Adams is to sci fi, Terry Pratchett is to fantasy, or something. Two of my favorites by him are Monstrous Regiment and Soul Music.

I should probably read a different genre once in a while, haha. >.>

[MusicIsLife]

The Pornographer's Poem by Michael Turner is really good, I would highly recommend it its along the same lines as The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen chbosky, which if you havent read is also very good.

[D_Alejandro]

The following is a MUST READ list:

-The Hours by Michael Cunningham
-Dog Years by Mark Doti
(both deal with homosexuality and the authors are both gay)
-And then there were none by Agatha Christie
-The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński (extremely controversial due to it's graphic nature but TRUST me this book is among my top 5)
-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (very difficult to read but worth it)
-De Profundis by Oscar Wilde (need I say more? lol)

I hope you have time to read some of these!

[AXavierB]

The Catcher in the Rye is a really good book. To be honest, I only skimmed it, but the main character is really interesting and so is the plot.

I'd defininety say go for Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, just an intense and enjoyable read.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, everyone should read this atleast once in their lifetime. It's not strictly a book in the novel sense but more a poetically related philosophy for living... But that doesn't really describe it either... Just give it a read!:-)
As for fantasy genre, ever read the wheel of time books by robert jordan? Not in the tolkien branch of fantasy with orcs and wizards etc. but slightly different, i think its worth reading.
You could give Homer's illiad and oddesy a try, i read Chapman's version which is in shakespearean heroic verse with rhyming couplets which is a bit of a slog but rewarding in the end, other versions available. Enjoy.

[Markio]

Anything by David Sedaris. Like Me Talk Pretty One Day or Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim or Naked or When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

[Davo]

Gee, I'm the same when it comes to books, I can't stand libraries but love reading so always want people to recommend good books. My favourite is Catch-22 which is very funny, but I'm reading 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which is a quite dark and a fascinating read.

Here are a few good ones,

Alas, Babylon
The Poisonwood Bible
Life of Pi (someone already said it, but I just wanted to second it)


Anything by Christopher Moore. Good for quick reads, and he's hilarious. If you're open to plays on religion, then I recommend his book Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

[Étoile]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions! More is happily welcomed.

I've read a handful of books that you guys have suggested. Anansi Boys was wowzing. I didn't finish The Perks of Being A Wallflower because I didn't like the diary style writing and the main character. I couldn't stand Catch-22. Too many characters and a bit confusing for my taste. LOL I thought Lord of the Flies was an entertaining but chilling read. The movie was just as good too.

I have to read The Life of Pi for my summer reading for school but my friend said the ending was stupid and the book didn't make sense. Vrai ou faux?

[Mirko]

Not sure if you are into classics but here is a list of books that I found to be an interesting read:

Joseph Conrad, Heard of Darkness
Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell, Animal Farm (this is actually quite a funny read)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground
Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo

[Greggers]

Im reading John Barrowman's autobiography Anything Goes and its a great read! If your a fan definitely pick it up.

(Hes a big celeb who happens to be gay, cause of his roles in the Doctor Who Universe, if you dont know the name )

[rainemc]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but Wicked seems like a really good book. Especially if you're into the wizard of oz.

[TheBP]

If you wouldn't mind fantasy, I'd suggest the His Dark Materials triology, Phillip Pullman. Thoroughly enjoyed those books.

I also enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), East of Eden (John Steinbeck), or The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan), but I read those in school, so I don't know if you'd be interested, haha.

[the ry guy]

Tom Clancy's Net-Force series is pretty good I thought; the Doom series is pretty good too by Brad Linaweaver, Starship troopers by Robert A Heinlein, Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures by J. Steven York are really good I thought but there out of print so they might be hard to find, Outlander by James Axler, and the Halo series by Eric Nylund good stuff most of it's fantasy