What have you al-READ-y read?

[Bel-Cam Jos]

We have a wonderful thread here about what we are reading now, and I'm pleased that so many of us are into the copyrighted bookbound pulp and ink. At times, several of us have mentioned other books we've read before (and sometimes are re-reading). So, what have you read before that you've loved? Or despised? Or been indifferent about? If someone was just getting into reading or has time off (i.e. summer vacation), what would you suggest? Doesn't have to be SW related, can be anything in book form (no magazines, comics, newspapers, or inappropriate types [for this thread]).

As a start, my favorite book of all time is John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Will discuss it more as replies add up.

[El Chuxter]

My three favorite books ever written are One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

If you haven't read them, do so.

If you read them and didn't like them, I should kick you in the groin, but it wouldn't matter none since you ain't human.

I've not read The Grapes of Wrath, but everything I've read by Steinbeck has been high on my list.

[Kidhuman]

One of my all time faves is Catcher in the Rye. A great book. I would also reccomend Stephen King as well, The Talisman by him and Peter Straub is a good book. Havent read part 2 yet though.

[Patient Zero]

Anything by Camus or Rimbaud, but on the less serious side of things I would suggest Carl Mellick. His works are like putting your brain in a blender and laughing hysterically as it rotates. That guy should be cut open and studied.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

As a start, my favorite book of all time is John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Will discuss it more as replies add up.

This is, IMHO, the true "Great American Novel." It has the American Dream (while seldom fufilled), the struggles that both made the country great and pitiful, and true-to-life grit intermixed with poetic fancy that is still realistic. Contradiction and consistency, beauty and barbarism, depth and desire. A wonderful tale, that while historically based, is still fiction at its finest.

Here's what I've read so far in my life that I've been able to document or remember, totalling as of today at 613 books (I have my master list elsewhere, so this is off memory):

- 204 Star Wars novels and "story" books (not counting comic books, trivia guides, visual collections, Essential Guides)
- about 10 Encyclopedia Brown mysteries
- about 7 Paddington Bear books
- all 6 Harry Potters
- all 12 Series of Unfortunate Events
- just about every Dave Barry book written
- all 4 of William Least Heat Moon's books (shortest is 300 pages, longest is 800+)
- Steinbecks' G of W, Cannery Row, The Pearl, The Red Pony, The Wayward Bus (I think), Of Mice & Men
- Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet
- just about every Joseph Campbell book (except Skeleton Key to Finnegan's Wake and The Portable Jung, I believe)
- at least 4 by Mark Twain (Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Puddin'head Wilson, CT Yankee in KA's Court, etc.)
- 3 by Stephen King (Eye of the Dragon, Running Man, the anthology that includes "Apt Pupil," "The Body" et all)
- several by H.G. Wells
- several by Arthur C. Clarke
- several by Jules Verne
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Poisonwood Bible
- The Alchemist
- a few by Alice Walker
- a couple by Toni Morrison
- The Notebook and Message in a Bottle
- the "Bunnicula" series
- Mrs. Pepperpot to the Rescue
- several by Carlos Castaneda
- several by Judy Bloom
- Joy Luck Club
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Speak
- Monster (not the movie one)
- 2 by Rudolpho Anaya (Bless Me Ultima and By the [some river] I Wept)
- Big Fish
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
- the Lord of the Rings trillogy (plus The Hobbit, Roverendale [sp?], Ballad of Tom Bombadill, Unfinished Tales, Silmarillion)
- Bridges of Madison County
- 4 by Howard Gardner (creator of "multiple intelligences" concept)
- Blink and The Tipping Point
- Born of the 4th of July
- Forrest Gump
- Game of Thrones
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- Beowolf
- Odyessey and Illiad
- Dante's Divine Comedy trilogy
- Aenid [sp?]
- Wuthering Heights
- The Zoo Story
- a few by Paul Zindell
- Canterbury Tales
- Ivanhoe
- about 4 by Charles Dickens

And many more I fail to recall right now. Will highlight those that I really love later.

[Kidhuman]

the anthology that includes "Apt Pupil," "The Body" et all)

That would be Different Seasons and it contained Shawshank Redemption and Stand by me as well.

[Darth Jax]

That would be Different Seasons and it contained Shawshank Redemption and Stand by me as well.

'the body' that BCJ mentioned is 'stand by me'

nice list BCJ. chevy chase did the character justice in fletch, but the books are better.

[Rocketboy]

chevy chase did the character justice in fletch, but the books are better.

I read "Flecth Won" last summer when there was still a chance that Kevin Smith would be making a movie. I'm disappointed he's not, especially with the two possible leads he wanted (Jason Lee or Zach Braff), but it was a great, fun read anyway.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

That would be Different Seasons and it contained Shawshank Redemption and Stand by me as well.

I think the story was "Rita Hayworth at Shawshank," or something; I forget the 4th story's name.

And here are some more I thought of last night:

- all 7 in Narnia series
- 5 by Douglas Adams
- DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons
- Brief History of Time
- Lord of Flies
- 3 books in Oedipus cycle
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison, see above for Wells one)
- first Left Behind
- a few movie novelizations (Fish that Saved Pittsburgh, Batman, THX 1138, IJ and Last Crusade)
- The Dig
- Native Son
- Raisin in Sun
- The Awakening
- Jurassic Park & Lost World
- Bridge to Terabithia
- The Outsiders
- 1984 and Animal Farm
- The Stranger
- Cool Hand Luke
- 3 Bud Macfarlane Catholic novels
- Di and I
- Old Man and Sea
- Tortilla Flat
- Pomona Queen
- Do Androids Dream of Elec. Sheep?
- Moonraker and Casino Royale
- When China Ruled Seas
- The Crucible
- The Scarlet Letter
- Catcher in Rye
- Shoeless Joe and Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa (not the same: one’s good, other’s bad)
- Fahrenheit 451
- Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Walden & Civil Disobedience
- Icarus Hunt
- Emerald
- Wizard of Oz
- Alice’s Adven. In Wonderland & Through Looking Glass
- Peter Pan
- Island of Blue Dolphins
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin
- Great Gatsby
- Glass Menagerie
- The Little Prince
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Treasure Island
- Robinson Crusoe, Journal of Plague Year
- Things Fall Apart
- The Question of Hu
- The Sea and Poison
- The Doctor’s Wife
- 2 What If? revisionist history books
- Mouse & Motorcycle, Ralph to Rescue
- Flowers for Algernon
- Night, The Accident
- The Good Earth
- Skipping Christmas
- Samarkand
- Heart of Darkness
- Portrait of Artist as Young Man
- Dracula
- Frankenstein
- a few sports biographies (Bradshaw, Clemente, Bird)
- How to Eat Fried Worms
- Charlotte’s Web
- Stuart Little
- Charley and Choc. Factory, Charley and Great Glass Elevator
- The Princess Bride
- at least 3 by Isaac Asimov
- Death Comes for Archbishop, O Pioneers!
- 3 White Mountains series
- Anne Frank diary
- Red Badge of Courage
- Our Town
- Jewish Japanese Sex and Cookbook and How to Raise Wolves (weird one…)
- Sisterhood of Traveling Pants
- The Natural
- Things They Carried
- Basil and Pygmy Cats
- Call of Wild
- Million Little Pieces
- Go Tell It on Mountain
- Siddhartha
- The Prince
- Strange Case of Dr. J & Mr. H
- Gulliver’s Travels
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- Seedfolks, Half A Moon Inn
- 2 Turtle Street books
- The Gizmo
- Jude the Obscure
- The Jungle
- The Octopus
- All the King’s Men
- Wrinkle in Time
- House on Mango Street

I'll take a break now; I have a book to read.

[Kidhuman]

I think the story was "Rita Hayworth at Shawshank," or something; I forget the 4th story's name.

The breathing method...


http://www.horrorking.com/different.html