Head-Fi Recommended Reading List!
Aug 31, 2004 at 7:20 AM Post #32 of 64
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk
I've been on an Orson Scott Card kick, myself, lately. Just finished Treasure Box (not his best, would recommend Songmaster or Enchantment first [and, of course, the Ender serieses])

What did I like about it? Well, other than the rich part, I could really relate -- I think Orson Scott Card really understands "humanity" and captures it well in the written word. All his characters in all of his books are very "human"...and yet they are all different, have strengths and weaknesses. Plus, he's just a very charismatic writer (and by that, I mean, when you're reading him, you want to read more by him).

I learned nothing -- it's fiction.



I'll second Orson Scott Card, Ender's Shadow is my favorite so far. I've read Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon and Songmaster.

I'll also add all of Robin Cook's medical thrillers, very enjoyable reads actually written by a doctor about things that current to the medical world at the time of writing.

The Harry Potter series was a lot of fun...
biggrin.gif


Ludlum is good too but the books move a little slowly at times.
 
Sep 18, 2004 at 12:04 AM Post #33 of 64
I have to recommend Robert Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It is a fantastic book to invest in building your financial literacy. It is not some kind of boring accounting book either because it is written in the style of a personal narrative. Engaging, non-conventional, and thought provoking as well as inspiring, I heartily recommend it to others.

I also recommend the Linux in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference book by O'Reilly publishers.
 
Sep 18, 2004 at 10:06 PM Post #34 of 64
I need a Top 10 list of Financial books.

I think that Suze Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and perhaps Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad may qualify but I am not so sure. Would you please submit a list of the most influential financial books you've ever read? By the way, we are talking everything from accounting to asset allocation to investing to even how to be thrifty and frugal books. My local B&N has no such list but the books should be in our inventory.

Hey, if I'm going to stick with this Head-Fi curse, then I might as well make sure I can afford this expensive lifestyle...
 
Sep 18, 2004 at 10:59 PM Post #35 of 64
All of the Tencedor books by Sara Douglass, the first trilogy about Tencedor is the Axis Trilogy. Austrailian writer, shes pure genius in her writing, books have won numerous Austrailin awards.
 
Sep 19, 2004 at 2:46 AM Post #36 of 64
Fun but not really thought provoking includes most anything by Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy. Favorites include Timeline and Airframe (by the former), Red Storm Rising and Hunt for Red October (by the latter). Also of note, Harry Potter. Hey, I'm a teenager. They're fun books
biggrin.gif
Oh yes, and Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. The Omnibus edition, with all 6 stories.

Favorite books that might be considered 'classics' are 1984 and Animal Farm, by George Orwell. IMO, necessary reading for everyone. Awesome views on government control and socialism, especially Animal Farm. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card is also quite good. Not sure what it's a representation of for modern day culture, but it's still a good read. Finally, 2001: A Spacey Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke. Classic Sci-Fi, and well worth reading, even if you aren't into that genre.

A slightly techie book I enjoyed was Crypto, by Steven Levy. Basically a history of computer-based cryptology, and how it's changed the way business is done. You definitely have to have an interest in the subject to appreciate it, but worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing.
 
Sep 19, 2004 at 9:15 AM Post #37 of 64
A few of my favorites:

'Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

Phantastes by George MacDonald (arguably invented the fantasy genre, utterly original. My current favorite author, died in 1905, he also wrote short stories and stories for children.)

Lilith by George MacDonald

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (taken with a grain of salt, recommended reading for everybody. The Fountainhead is also very good, a better story IMHO, but I think it's best to read AS first.)

Some short stories...
Gifts of the Child Christ, a collection of short stories by George Macdonald
"Eyes of a Blue Dog" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"The Pit and The Pendulum" by Edgar Allen Poe
I found some great short stories here: http://mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us/cybereng/shorts/


My Wife's favorites:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
The Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Dearskin by Robin McKinley (also one of my favorites)
 
Sep 19, 2004 at 7:15 PM Post #38 of 64
Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork
....The Mechanical Mind: A Philosophical Introduction to Minds, Machines and Mental Representation ....



On the same subject, I guess you will enjoy this book also... It's a real classic and true masterpiece IMO... I also attached some links for you to see what's it all about:

Douglas R. Hofstadter - Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%F6del,_Escher,_Bach
http://www.forum2.org/tal/books/geb.html
http://geb.stenius.org/old/
 
Sep 25, 2004 at 10:03 PM Post #42 of 64
My favorite book of all time is Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley. It's a long novel and essentially an autobiography of Huxley's life through his late 30s. Before reading that, though, I would recommend Antic Hay which is also a narrative work (unusual for Huxley considering his tendency toward essay-like novels) which expresses much of his ideas about human character types.

Aside from Huxley novels (my favorite author) my favorite novels are Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises, A Moveable Feast, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Farewell to Arms, George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (okay, not a novel, but a great book on the true nature of war), Knut Hamsun's Hunger (A fascist but a great writer), and Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground.
 
Sep 25, 2004 at 10:31 PM Post #43 of 64
I had to read part of a book for school lately called "Beowulf", and to my complete surprise, it was awesome. I also just picked up the "MYST reader", which is a collection of the MYST books. I have yet to read it.

Other than that, I've also got some more recent reccommendations:

1) LOTR, whole series. Start with the Hobbit, which is one of the best books I've ever read.

2) The "Left Behind" series

3) "Weapons of Mass Distortion"

4) The Star Wars "New Jedi Order" series.
 
Sep 25, 2004 at 10:59 PM Post #45 of 64
Surprised no one's mentioned last year's rage - Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I've actually read all of Dan Brown's books now, and I find them all enjoyable, although several of them use the same basic plot formula as DaVinci code. He uses different settings and as always includes a wealth of intriguing information on the relevant topics.

Another great read for any young male is Bringing Down the House - a true to life tale of a group of MIT students trained by a math professor to beat the casinos at blackjack. Sex, money and math - can't beat that combination. Especially recommended for the geeks out there (yes, this means you).

One of my favorite novel for character development was The Stand by Stephen King. I think King gets a bad rap for writing exclusively "horror" books, but most who criticize him have never read some of his best works (many I would certainly not consider the typical "scary" horror novels). Reading King's books is always a pleasure simply because of his sheer mastery of his craft, story telling. He bends the language to his will and uses it to convey emotion and feelings of characters better than any modern popular writer I've read. He's also written some books that have been turned into very good movies and many people don't even know he wrote them (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, etc). Unfortunately many of his earlier works (Firestarter, Tommyknockers, etc) have been turned into some pretty awful movies as well.

John Grisham's books are excellent plane-readers (in fact, it seems the only time I pickup novels lately is on long trips with lots of travel time). Almost all exciting stories of sensational legal tales, usually involving large sums of money and the lengths people will go to get their hands on it.

LOTR books are excellent, I agree with the above that the Hobbit is the best book in this series (despite being set before the trilogy on which the movies were based). The actual trilogy can get a bit slow IMO, but the Hobbit basically includes as much action/adventure as the entire trilogy has and condenses it into one neat package. I've heard rumors that they're planning a movie based on the Hobbit, I certainly hope so!

-dd3mon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top