Favourite Books/Novels/Pieces of Writing?

[CaroPhoenix]

The poems and short stories by E. A. Poe.

Almighty Me by Robert Bausch - I've had him teach my American Lit 1 & 2 classes and a few Creative Writing Courses at the local community college. He's a wonderful author and an awesome person.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

I just finished the third Skulduggery Pleasant book. Man, I love that series. It's a pretty light read, but so much fun.

Now I just have to wait a year for the next book. And there has to be one. Stopping now would be like ending Dead Man's Chest and not making At Worlds End.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Awww. Then again, I'm probably a weirdo cuz I used to identify with the main character, and think about who I'd like to bump off. -.- I might check Crow Road out sometime.

[cinema guy]

Hell no. But I will hunt Peter Jackson (who is rumoured to be directing The Hobbit) down and kill him if he massacres The Hobbit.

I thought Guillermo del Toro was directing.

I also like The Wasp Factory, and Lord Of The Flies. Everyone I know hates The Wasp Factory, I'd love to find a fellow fan. ^^

I didn't like the Wasp Factory. I do love Banks' Crow Road though.

[CaroPhoenix]

Jack Whyte's Camulod series. It's based on the King Arthur Legends.

Eberron books by various authors.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I'll add more when I think of them.

[Eric the Grey]

Well, I never get to read anything not related to school.

I'm in the same boat. I solved my problem by listening to audio books from Audible in my truck while going to and from work/school/game/GF's. I'm currently listening to Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. I find that I can listen to hard (or not-so) Science Fiction much more than I can read it.

For reading, I prefer Fantasy titles. I'm a huge fan of Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" series of books as well as Tolkien, Robert Jordan (can't wait to read the conclusion of his series) and Pratchett.

Usually, there is enough to keep me in new titles, but there are a few that I'll go back to ever so often. One of the few books I re-read every few years is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Edit: I was just checking out titles on Audible and found Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books in audio format, read by Neil Gaiman! Guess what I'm ordering for my selection for this month??


Eric the Grey

[InsanityInc]

I'm going to put in a plug for Laurell K. Hamilton. I like the Anita Blakes', and absolutly love the Merry Gentry series. Both are alt reality series where magic works, and there really are things like the fae, zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc.

Most Lackey, McCaffrey, Koontz, I go back and forth from mysteries to sci fi to true crime to whatever catches my eye.
I HATE romance, but my mom got me hooked on a series (Bishop/Special Crimes Unit) by Kay Hooper about a FBI unit that uses sci powers. Because they are so good at using their powers, and catching the bad guys, they catch cases on real monsters. It has a good enough plot and story line to let me overlook the romance thread running through it.

[Boggles]

The Jasper Fforde books of course (see signature) but only the Thursday Next series. I'm not a big fan of the Nursery Crime books.

The Discworld series. Especially Soul Music and the current Moist Von Lipwig trilogy.

I have read and re-read Douglas Coupland's MicroSerfs and also J-Pod.

I like a lof of other series such as the Lincoln Rhyme novels and Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels.

Also I have to mention Deric Longden. He is an author who writes about his life with his blind wife and umpteen cats in Huddersfield (nearest town to here.) If your local library has them then I would really recommend them although I would warn you that the first two (Diana's Story & Lost For Words) will have you sat bawling your eyes out at some points. Both deal with the loss of loved ones (his wife and mother) but still find the humour in everything.

And finally the Gervase Phinn books. He is a retired schools inspector from the Yorkshire Dales and the books are all about his meetings with the little angels in the schools. Well worth a read.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings"- ALL of the volumes.

For the longest time I refused to see the movies because I was scared they would all suck but I was happy when I did. They don't ever replace the books though.

Hell no. But I will hunt Peter Jackson (who is rumoured to be directing The Hobbit) down and kill him if he massacres The Hobbit. Actually, bitching about the bits they left out of the movies is one of my fave ever pasttimes; however, I have to make sure that my audience is not gnawing their own legs off in boredom every so often. XD

Which brings me to another series of books I like; the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Yep, that is the first one, but my fave is The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe. I so want to go there, dammit!

I also like The Wasp Factory, and Lord Of The Flies. Everyone I know hates The Wasp Factory, I'd love to find a fellow fan. ^^

[Shangri-laschild]

The Discworld Series

The Mercy Thompson Series (plus the offshoot, Cry Wolf)

The Dresden Series

Strangers In Paradise

[CaroPhoenix]

Anne Bishop's Black Jewels world, and her two books Sebastian and Belladonna. Another brilliant writer, IMHO.

How could I forget the Ephemera series by Anne Bishop? Thanks for reminding me Lupo!

Also, the Blending Series (The Blending - which is 5 books and then the sequel: The Blending Throned (or something like that)). All the books are written by Sharon Greene.

My husband has turned me onto the writings of Robert E. Howard (he wrote the Conan novels and Soloman Kane and other books).

And of course I love Star Trek books!

I also like the "Star Wrekked" novels - but I can't remember the writer's name - can anyone help me?

[cinema guy]

Dracula by Bram Stoker is probably my favourite book.

I also like Dickens, particularly Little Dorrit.

I also read and reread Jasper Fforde's books, His Dark Materials, Robert B. Parker's Spencer books and Christopher Moore's very, very funny books.

[lupo pazzesco]

First and foremost my god of the literary, Tolkien!! I read the Lord of the Rings books once a year, at least. I agree with clod that the movies were good, but will never replace the books. I just told myself Hollywood had to interpret them to get the main points across to the masses, not just die hard Tolkien fans. Ahem. Moving on.

Anne Bishop's Black Jewels world, and her two books Sebastian and Belladonna. Another brilliant writer, IMHO.

Michelle Sagara's series about Elantra, Cast In Shadow, Cast In Courtlight, Cast In Secret and Cast in Fury

Love anything by Mercedes Lackey, and Elizabeth Hadyon's series is also phenomenal.

I also like to read true crime and historical stories about plagues and diseases. Top favorites in that category are:

Diseases and Human Evolution by Ethne Barnes

Witnesses From the Grave: The Stories Bones Tell by Christopher Joyce and Eric Stover

Demon in the Freezer by Robert Preston

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby

Return of the Black Death: The World's Worst Serial Killer by Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan

Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm, Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by Dr. William Bass and Jon Jefferson.

William Bass is one of my heroes in my field. I fangirl over him, and am supremely disappointed that I'll never get to work with him, as he's retiring before I graduate, AND there is, at last check, at least a 3 year wait list to work at the Body Farm. <Sigh>

Er...I have lots more favorites, but this is rather long as it is...more later, I suppose.

[CaroPhoenix]

yeah... I'm actually kind of ashamed to admit that while reading the books I've had feelings that some would consider a crush for some of the characters.

I've had a crush on Sherlock Holmes for most of my life. So no worries ... I don't think you're odd!

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, did I mention I adore Dostoyevsky?

Yay.

Crime and Punishment FTW

Oh and also I love the Seafort Saga by David Feintuch (6 published books, one unpublished). Love the characters... that is Feintuch's strength is in his ability to make characters who you become involved with).

yeah... I'm actually kind of ashamed to admit that while reading the books I've had feelings that some would consider a crush for some of the characters.