Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (Difficult to read but well worth it) The Belgariad by David Eddings (Truly a hidden gem in the fantasy genre) The 'Gone' series by Michael Grant (Extremely dark with a refreshing concept)
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusack; A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini; Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami. 3/4 of my favourite books.
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. I mention this book too often so I thought I'd put Suns in the spotlight for once. :lol:
I've decided to go with three of my favourite fantasy book series rather than just three books, because I'm cool like that. :icon_cool The Malloreon, by David Eddings (following on from The Belgariad) The Black Magician Trilogy, by Trudi Canavan The Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini
My list of "must-reads" probably definitely changes periodically, but right now I'll say: 1) Going Bovine by Libba Bray A book I read when I was a young teen. I don't even quite remember the details of it now, but it had enough of an impact that I still recommend it to this day. All I can say is, it's quite a unique, eccentric book, but in an amazing way. 2) Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande Even if you aren't interested in healthcare or the medical field at all, it's a great eye-opener to many issues facing healthcare to this day, that might very well affect you and your loved ones. It really got me thinking. 3) I'm torn between many for my third, but- The Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield was a great read. It certainly should be relatable and inspiring to most, even if you aren't- as most of us aren't- an astronaut. Has some intelligent insights and ways of looking at life, work, and determination. Not a difficult read at all, so I'll recommend it to anyone.
1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 3. Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick The Simarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (possibly my favorite fiction book) Red Dragon by Thomas Harris All fiction books, but all three superb in their own respective way.
Stoner by John Williams Fear: A Novel of World War 1 by Gabriel Chevallier The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek
The Stranger by Albert Camus 1984 by George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Wanted to put Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, its even in my signature, but I just love Bradbury too much)
Memoirs of a Gesha by Author Golden Game of Thrones Seires (the books are better) Good Omens by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman Now I'm going to have to unbury Good Omens and read it again!
I really don't have a top five or top ten or anything really so I'll post a random book I read: Perdido Street Station - Honestly, you should read The Scar, the indirect sequel to this pick here, because Perdido has a "you either love it or hate it" story. The book is very interesting with it's setting. The book falls into a steampunk and weird fiction kind of genre, with magic being harvested as an energy resource to power a vast city built within the remains of an ancient dead beast. It's about a scientist who is ambitious with proving his theory on self-productive magical energy as being possible. He gave up on that theory a long time ago, but that drive is restored when an Avian, a half-human half-bird being, shows up at his workplace one night. The avian shows him that his wings are cut off and won't say why; he refuses to explain but he gives what seems like an unlimited amount of gold to the scientist. Of course, the scientist is poor and wants to seek recognition after losing his respectable position in his profession. However, the story unravels with the scientist tasking a shady friend to smuggle him tons of flying specimens. That friend unintentionally gains a stolen experiment from the militia, a force that operates in the city's government to "keep peace." Things go downhill from there and a new hell is unleashed among the city. That's when the conflict starts. There's another conflict that happens as well. The scientist has a secret relationship with a kephri woman. The kephri are beings who are a mix of human and insect. You find out through her that her boss, a drug lord who commissioned her to build a sculpture in his image, funded those secret experiments. He is very paranoid and believes that she stole them after finding out the scientist is her boyfriend. Him and The Militia find out names of the scientist and the characters involved with the stolen experiments. They try to capture all those involved. While on the run, the scientist, the avian, and the smuggler meet up with other characters. A political activist, who wants to destory the city government, joins them along the way because she wants to live. They then meet The Weaver, a spider who weaves reality and travels across the world through different planes of reality. With all these characters, they all band together to try and stop the city from being destroyed while avoiding multiple parties that want them killed. Although it's an enjoyable book, the story is still "you either hate it or love it." Reasons why is that the author tends to lose focus with setting scenes and not actually moving forward with the plot. Basically, there are chapters where he writes pages of description about the city. There's even a chapter where you hear about the city for fifteen pages before the characters are brought back into the plotline. The conflict doesn't really start until 200 pages in, so you get a lot of interactions between characters about research, friends having a good time, and scenes with the khepri woman and her sculpture. It's a long build up to the where all hell breaks lose, so you'll definitely know the characters a lot more by the time it happens. Despite all that, the story is still there beneath everything else. The Weaver scenes are probably my favorite part of the book. A big strength that comes from the book is definitely its weird factor and the world it's set in. There's a lot going on in that world like various cultures (cactus people, insect people, avians, magic as an energy resource), various governments (the avian's homeland, the city government), and social classes (communities based on the races in this world, upper class, middle class, lower class) living in a city that was built within the remains of an ancient beast. The book is just alright, but it could've been better if it was revised and edited some more. That's why The Scar seems better. That story is an indirect sequel about a girl who leaves on an airship to escape the events going on in the first book. There is no city to describe so it's just about a refugee living on her own in this strange world the author wrote about.
Didn't see this thread when I created a new post just now recommending a book. Narcissus and Goldmund The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian The Road Absolutely terrifying and beautiful at the same time. I tried to read Perdido Station and just couldn't get into it for some reason. Maybe I'll have to try it again.
Mary Poppins by P. L Travers (Helen Lyndon Goff) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni Doctor Who by Paul Newman and Verity Lambert et al.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (It's so beautifully written and don't let anyone ever tell you that Gelphie isn't a thing.) The Dark Light by Julia Bell (I PICKED IT UP OUT OF A BOOKSTORE AT RANDOM AND IT WAS GAY. GO GAYDAR. It's so good and tragic honestly I spent like 3 days not knowing what to do with myself.) More Than This by Patrick Ness (another Gaydar win. I picked it out of the library and the main character is gay. It's so deep and moving and more than a tiny bit freaky. I only just finished reading it and it's so brilliant.)
A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones - The start of my favorite series of all time The Hunger Games - Book 1 Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow - Another book to start another great series
