Book meme

[aprilstarchild]

Let's see if I can do this without over editorializing:

List (fast as you can - try not to edit) 15 books that will always stick with you.

Starhawk's The Spiral Dance totally changed the course of my life ...I read it in high school
Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion also changed how I see the world, and differently
Derrick Jensen's The Culture of Make-Believe was fucking hard to read. I think I should probably reread it one day. Oddly, it's not as much of a downer as you'd think...but still, another book that changed my view of reality
Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and Ratey, the book that made me think, oh shit, I have this ADD thing too...

Those are the biggest nonfiction ones.

All the Harry Potter books. Duh.
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, I think I've read it a dozen times
The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin, OH MY GOD I think I've read it three times now, and I only first read it a year or two ago, and I hardly ever reread anymore
The Weetzie Bat series by Francesca Lia Block (psst if you write to her, she writes back...)
The Secret Garden
Stardust by Neil Gaiman, it's what really got me hooked on his stuff
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, read it the first time in sixth grade, and spent eighth grade reading everything in that series and the parallel one about the Austins..."Meg, I give you your faults..."
The Doll Hospital, a paperback I read repeatedly in fifth grade
Angie, I can't remember the author's name...read repeatedly in fourth grade
Woman: an Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
The His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman

...those were the first fifteen I could think of. I know there are glaring omissions. For instance, the Hitchhiker's Series. Fucking DUH. Or all the ElfQuest graphic novels.

As a correlation to this: I know there are books I really should read. I have very literary friends...please feel free to suggest ONE novel (or series) and WHY you think I should read them, as I think I will pay off what I owe to the library and start using it again, as that will pay for itself very quickly! Please note: I have tried Vonnegut and Robbins and dislike both for the same reason: I get the feeling that the authors are sitting there smugly thinking, "I'm a clever bugger, look how clever I am, tee hee." It is completely off-putting to me. Feel free to disagree. :^)

Comments

[jenhowell.livejournal.com]

I disagree about Vonnegut. I'm not sure how I feel about Robbins.
I think Vonnegut's just having lots of fun.

I'm not in a huge recommending mood right now, I like all the stuff I read, but I'm not sure whether you would like some/all of it. You've read Gaiman's "Sandman" series, though, right?

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

No! It's like the only thing of his I haven't read. It drives me nuts.

Yeah, I read like one book by Vonnegut that I really liked but was more of a memoir, when I tried to read a novel of his I started eye-rolling so bad I couldn't finish it.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I just reread this comment and am embarrassed by my overuse of the word "like." What am I, twelve?

[zebrallama.livejournal.com]

I like your use of the word "like". (srsly)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Like really?

;^)

[evilcresyluna.livejournal.com]

Your reading collection resembles mine a lot, actually I have the God Delusion waiting for me in the "too read when school reading isn't insane" pile. ^_^ I love the Dispossessed, I think I just love LeGuin's world-building ability and the way the story is woven into that.

The Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. If you like medieval-esque high adventure fantasy with modern sensibilities (ie, gays and strong women and religious tolerance) then highly recommended. It isn't the highest literature form, sure, but FUN.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I had friends in high school who liked Mercedes Lackey...the covers put me off, they just looked so awful. Might give them another shot, though.

Ursula K LeGuin: OH MY GOD. I love her sci-fi so damn much, it's craaazy. The Lathe of Heaven is another huge favorite from her, although I wonder how much of it is because I recognize a lot of the places she talks about--I live in Portland, which is where the story takes place. I also loved Lavinia, even though it's semi-historical.

The God Delusion ...wow. It's so nice to read stuff from someone who assumes you're intelligent, but just don't know the subject matter. He's wonderful at explaining things in a witty way that really makes me think. I finished that book and announced to my (now ex-) boyfriend that I was an atheist.

[evilcresyluna.livejournal.com]

Covers are pretty terrible, honestly, as in my opinion some of the illustrations (I would frequently yell to Chris, "look! 80s-tastic hair furry stuff!") but pretend they don't have covers. ;)

I haven't read Lavinia! I've read the Left Hand of Darkness which I really enjoyed, and Lathe, also awesome (even not being in Portland!... though now I kind of wanna).

Awesome! I can't wait to actually start it. Right now I'm slogging through colonial literature, with a focus right now of religious stuff...

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Right now I'm slogging through colonial literature, with a focus right now of religious stuff...

That reminds me, I gotta find The Wordy Shipmates. I didn't finish it! Where is it?! Dang!

The Left Hand of Darkness is good, but I like the person who pointed out to the author (she quoted this in an intro to another book) that she intended to write a book about a planet of androgynes, and wrote a book entirely of men. The Birthday of the World has a short story of a person becoming of age in that society, going into kemmer the first time and visiting the kemmerhouse. It's really good, the characters are actually androgynous, and...it's kinda hot.

[evilcresyluna.livejournal.com]

That does make sense, thinking of it, it was more men that could have babies/not be outcasts to sleep with each rather than androgynous. I may quite have to check out said short story.

[mandamagpie.livejournal.com]

I'm going to suggest two because this is the internet and I don't think you're going to come biking over here to hit me if I do.

1. The Phantom Tollbooth, it's a kids book but I re-read it at least once a year. So many good usages of words and phrases. It's a blast to read.

2. Of Human Bondage by Maughm I don't know what it is about this book but I have always loved it. You really, really get to know the character and I was so disapointed that it had to end.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I dunno man, I can bike thirty or forty miles with a loaded bike...

:^)

I've heard good things about The Phantom Tollbooth. It'll go on the list.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

The other book you recc'ed too, of course.

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

I think I must just really like authors who know they're clever buggers. Don't read Dave Eggers.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer comes to mind as a good rec for you for some reason.

And I can't believe I left A Wrinkle in Time off my list, gahh!!

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I know, I woke up this morning and thought of about eight more books/series I could have put on that list, for instance the Little House on the Prairie series. The Summer of Love by Lisa Mason.

I think the "clever buggers" thing must be a matter of taste. I mean, I love funny and clever books--the Hitchhiker's series by Douglas Adams comes to mind--but when you're reading them, there's not this self-awareness on the part of the author (or narrator) that bothers me.

[5minutelimit.livejournal.com]

Anything by Terry Pratchet. Addictive. Not smug.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I've read a couple of his things and liked them, I don't know why I haven't read more...

[ourglasslake.livejournal.com]

Oooh, seconded! Small Gods is really good, as are all the ones with Death as the main character.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I've read Small Gods and Witches Abroad and I think at least one more, but can't remember what...

[ladynine.livejournal.com]

I second (third?) the Pratchet - although reading the series from start to finish does help as the various characters grown and intermingle.

I would suggest Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Mars Trilogy'. Good food for thought.

And, finally, the series by Steven Ericson. Starts with "Gardens of the Moon". Where I usually read a few books at a time, that series? Could *not* put it down, and could *not* read anything else. His partner, Ian Esselmont, also started a partner series, which is just as good. They are smart, SMART men, who do the research, to make the battles and cultures and geology they create make SENSE. None of the 'and then the wizard blew it all away' stuff that leads to giant plot holes. Tight, seamless writing that just draws you in and - well, yeah. :)

I also totally dug the Patrick O'Brian historical fiction series that spawned the Master and Commander movie - 20 books in that series following Captain Jack and Doctor Maturin. My whole family has read all of them too - good, fun stuff, and again based on solid research.

;)

[weeona.livejournal.com]

Stephen King's Dark Tower series... get the updated copy of Gunslinger and blast through it to get to the Drawing of the Three and Wastelands.

I LOVE the DT.
Just... whoa.

Also, anything Margaret Atwood or Ray Bradbury is stellar.
Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is devastatingly beautiful. It just... entrances me each time. I also really like Martian Chronicles.

If you haven't done The Lovely Bones or The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, they are great, too. Ditto the Ismael books by Quinn.

Okay, I'm stopping now.
I are a bibliophile. ;) Mmmm books!

Re: ;)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I've read Fahrenheit 451. I liked it until I read the "Coda" he's tacked on to the end where he decries "women's libbers" among other things. WTF.

But his story, "All Summer in a Day" got me right in the gut. I read it in seventh grade when I was, shall we say, a bit unpopular.

I recently read The Lovely Bones. It was way better than I expected.