I'm an avid reader who can't ever remember what people told me to read, so perhaps if y'all could list some of your favorites here, i might have a better grasp on what to pick up. I'll probably end up printing out the list and keeping it in my car or purse for reference.
areas of interest for me in books are:
fantasy (if it's a part of a series, please let me know how many books in the series)
historical fiction (i love epic time period stuff)
anything about artists lives provided they aren't text book boring
i already get tons of murder mystery reading material from my stepmom so don't need to know about any of those.
if you can give a brief description of the book (you know, sleeve summary style) i'd appreciate it.)
thanks for the help. it will give me something quiet to do when i can't sleep.
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Comments: 49
One of my favorites is a mind-blowing story called Same Kind of Different As Me (by Denver Moore and Ron Hall). It's a TRUE story of a homeless man and a wealthy man who meet when the rich man's wife volunteers at a city shelter. The homeless man's story is the most moving, touching message... he actually ends up being the strongest person in the whole book, but you would never expect it at the beginning. A heart-tugging tale. You won't be able to put it down.
i can find the Twilight series easy enough mel, no worries.
can't remember if i read Gone With The Wind. i know i never made it thru the whole movie.
the jack the ripper thing sounds kinda cool though.
How 'bout Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett? I can't remember if you've read it or if I'm thinking of someone else. It's howl-out-loud funny. I'm getting ready to reread it when I finish one of the books I'm on now.
There are nine related books. In "chronological order", the order is: Crystal Soldier, Crystal Dragon (from the far past), Local Custom, Scout's Progress (which are paird in Pilot's Choice),Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change, Carpe Diem (all three of these novels can be found in Partners of Necessity which is how I have them) then Plan B and I Dare. I would actually recommend reading the last five first because the rest are more background but fascinating in their own way. It helps if you're in love, though, and the first five'll do it (or it did for us - Lee and I have read this series dozens of times). There are other Liaden works but they are either companion short stories or with unrelated characters set in the Liaden universe.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is about a seagull. He learns to fly, then really fly-- with his spirit. It's one of those hippy books about finding yourself. :-)
And, CC, I second Kris's recommendations for both The Eight and Good Omens.
I would add "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and "Lamb" by Christopher Moore.
In a different arena, and I'm reluctant to even mention it given your artistic talent, I fell in love with a manga year before last. Like many it has mucho fantasy in it and I loved the art. Some scenes, the art did all the talking. The title is stupid, Fruits Basket but I became a complete addict and have all that have been released in the US (1 or 2 are still outstanding). I can't even loan them to you since my sister, the English Ph.D. (yes the one who hogged all the family artistic talent) has them. But, if you're interested, many libraries have a good bunch of them and they're helpfully numbered in order.
Erin, I heard that series was really good too.
Oh, yeah, there's a vampire detective series by Charlie Huston, starting with Already Dead, that I really like. It's a weird take on the whole vampire thing, but what's really interesting is the series reads like old-school hardboiled detective fiction where the characters just happen to be vampires. John loves those too and is clamoring for me to lend him the latest...
One of my favorites from many years ago was The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. An epic fantasy.
And speaking of epics, if you haven't read them yet you might enjoy Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. There are seven books, I think, and together they make a wonderful epic journey. And, reading them now, you get to skip the agonizing wait while the next book is in the pipeline.
haven't read the Eragon series yet.
The Darkangel
A Gathering of Gargoyles
The Pearl of the Soul of the World
It was a challenge to find the complete set, back when I started reading them* so I bought the set. They were a fascinating mix of fantasy and science fiction, but at the YA level, so nothing on the order of George R.R. Martin or Stephen Baxter. Definitely more of a teen girl's bridge from fantasy to sci fi.
I've never met anyone else who has read these books, and I'm actually thinking of re-reading them just so I can at least compare them to my first reading. Sometimes my opinions of books don't survive a second reading.
*(Pet peeve: our libraries often do not make the effort to complete a series. I could start a series with volume 1 at my local library, but most of the time I found I had to inter-library loan the rest of the series -- or, do that to get volume 2, because my library skipped it.)
One of my all time favorite series is called the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony. The first book, On a Pale Horse deals with a man who is about to commit suicide, is confronted with death, the being in the cloak and all. he panics and shoots him. It is a wild ride from there. Each of them deals with immortal incarnations of offices. Death, War, Time, Fate, Mother Nature, and then the ultimate incarnations of evil and good. 6 books in all. Piers Anthony blends in each of the incarnations through their own story into a story encompassing all of them.
the dark angel series sounds interesting.
i just got 4 books from my stepmom for christmas. one nora roberts and 3 heather grahams.
the heather graham trilogy is the flynn brothers trilogy.
The Twilight Series - I borrowed them myself and had to return them (4 so far I think)
By Glen Duncan is a unique read.
Lucifer gets an offer for reentry into heaven for eternity if he can live out a well-behaved life in a human body on Earth. It's the ultimate case of trying without buying and, despite the limitations of the human body in question (previous owner one suicidally unsuccessful writer, Deelan Gunn), Lucifer seizes the opportunity to run riot through the realm of the senses. This is his chance to straighten the biblical record and celebrate his favorite achievements.
Margaret Truman wrote some fascinating mystery books related to the "secrets of living in Washington D.C. I don't remember the names of the books but I would suggest any of hers. It mixes history with mystery.