Books , authors , let's discuss

[oldbike54]

 What books are your favorites , and what authors ?

 What books came recommended that were awful , same for authors ?

 Here , I'll start , one of my favorites was "The Drifters" by Michener

 Least favorite was that Sword of Shanara nonsense by Terry Brooks , nothing more than a weak Tolkien imitation .

 Dusty

[DaveJT]

Breakfast of champions.  Lost Horizon.

[pebra]

A couple of awful recommendations:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Just a little hardly anything at all?

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
I know "anything goes" in fiction, but come on - - - - It just got sillier and sillier and half way through I was..... through with it.

[AJ Huff]

Waaaaay too many to list.

-AJ

[pehayes]

"Under the Banner of Heaven" by Krakauer.  Couldn't put it down.  Gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[oldbike54]

Waaaaay too many to list.

-AJ

 It isn't like we don't have the time ...

 Dusty

[john fish]

Hell, Dusty, I'm a reader.  How much time you got?   :)

A Norwegian friend clued me into this one:



It's very good both as a sea adventure and in an allegorical sense.  The author had served on ships and knew his stuff.  I was fascinated to learn that sailing ships were still faster than steam ships in the early part of the 20th century.

[oldbike54]

Hell, Dusty, I'm a reader.  How much time you got?   :)

A Norwegian friend clued me into this one:



It's very good both as a sea adventure and in an allegorical sense.  The author had served on ships and knew his stuff.  I was fascinated to learn that sailing ships were still faster than steam ships in the early part of the 20th century.

  Love tales of the sea, although I get seasick 

 Thanks John

 Dusty

[fotoguzzi]

Just two of the dozens of books I've read since -.

[wrbix]

Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy.
Anything by Loren Eiseley

Disliked Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mechanics.

[HarveyMushman]

Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy.

Good books.  Try Blood Meridian for the full psychopathy treatment.   

[Shorty]

"Aztec"    by Gary Jennings.   Kurt Vonnegut fan. I like some of Tom Robbins stuff. (Even Cowgirls get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker)  More recently, I like the "Serge" series of books by Tim Dorsey. Also a fan of Randy Wayne White (Doc Ford novels), and Carl Hiasson, (Skink) all 3  Floridacentric scribes. Michener, Hemingway are early favorites. I've read the complete Bible  a few times. Read some rather dreary Albert Pike (Morals and Dogma.) Lots more, but I like it light, not  too profound these days.

[Ncdan]

Other than THE BOOK, I probably enjoyed the original Mary Shelly version of Frankenstein. It took me several nights to complete it because there were many words, phrases and articles that are no longer used in our English/grammar. Many of the words which were necessary to understand due to being KEY WORDS needed to understand the meaning of the sentence. These words were not in the dictionary and I had to do some research to learn what the Old English word or term meant.
Read it, it’s an enjoyable challenge, kind of like owning a moto Guzzi:)

[kirby1923]

Coming for the out back in W Texas there wasn't much water so..

What started me reading in earnest was the :

 C. S. Forester's ten novels of Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Navy officer. Taught me a lot about command.(came in handy).

After that I was given a small book titled A lifetimes must read reading list from which I read a bunch of those listed but most now lost in the fog of time.

For the past 5 year its been technical books and manuals mostly with a dime novel here and there that  usually has captured my attention from the cover or title..just rubbish but quick entertainment.

:-)

[wrbix]

Good books.  Try Blood Meridian for the full psychopathy treatment.   

Been there, done that. Memorable

[LowRyter]

I miss Kurt Vonnegut & Dr Hunter S Thompson ....  but I read more nonfiction now.  I've only read one of his books but George Packer was quite good, I should read some of his other books.

[arveno]

Do not judge a book by it's cover , they say.

Well , I did it ( could not resist the pic of that bmw in the cover ) and i liked it

title: Shop class as soulcraft
Author :Matthew Crawford

[pebra]

"Aztec"    by Gary Jennings.   Kurt Vonnegut fan. I like some of Tom Robbins stuff. (Even Cowgirls get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker)  More recently, I like the "Serge" series of books by Tim Dorsey. Also a fan of Randy Wayne White (Doc Ford novels), and Carl Hiasson, (Skink) all 3  Floridacentric scribes. Michener, Hemingway are early favorites. I've read the complete Bible  a few times. Read some rather dreary Albert Pike (Morals and Dogma.) Lots more, but I like it light, not  too profound these days.

Oh yes, I remember enjoying Even Cowgirls Get The Blues enormously!   
Have recently bought Still Life With Woodpecker, let's see if we agree on that one  - - - - -

And Hiaasen! 
For a period I read all I could find of Hiaasen, Henning Mankell's Wallander books, and Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti books -
I think of them as writers with distinctly different writing styles, writing these crime books incorporating clear social commentary from very different cultures. They also have in common that they let the protagonist lament the way his world is changing.

[Huzo]

I did read “Chickenhawk” by some bloke.
About a young bloke who went through helicopter training for Vietnam. ‘Twas good.

Strangely enough, the Boorman Mc Gregor “Long Way” books were a good adjunct to the real thing.

For Aussies.. Boris Mihailovic’s “My Mother Warned Me About Blokes Like Me..” was a good rainy day one.

[Demar]

I like Larry McMurtry. Lonesome Dove was excellent. Also Louis L'Amour.

[fotoguzzi]

A true iron man,

[Gliderjohn]

From Huzo:

I did read “Chickenhawk” by some bloke.
About a young bloke who went through helicopter training for Vietnam. ‘Twas good.

Agree, a good Vietnam era book.
GliderJohn

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Anything by Nick Adams. 

[Gliderjohn]

Some may discount Louis L'Amour but I consider his book "The Haunted Mesa" as of my top reads.
GliderJohn

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Looks prophetic today.

The Dying of the trees by Charles Little. Non-fiction. I’m quite the tree hugger and I saw with my own eyes what the author detailed.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. Absolutely love it!

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams. The passage with the whale and the flower still cracks me up!

Anything by Louis La’mour, Patrick McManus, and Tolkien’s LOTR. Also partial to Nick Adam’s writing style.

Honorable mention Their eyes were watching god by Zora Neal Hurston. Again a required reading, but one I appreciated immensely.

Books I didn’t like.

The Great Gatsby. I don’t think I’ve quite forgiven my English teacher for making that required reading.

The later hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. It felt forced, like the author was trying to recapture what he had in the first 3 books.

There was one of Falkners books that I just never could get into. I can’t remember which. Probably a defense mechanism.

Anything by Clive Cussler. Most of Tom Clancy’s books, they got extremely formulaic.

The Silmarlion(?) by Tolkien. Just couldn’t read it.

[GeorgiaGuzzi]

Some may discount Louis L'Amour but I consider his book "The Haunted Mesa" as of my top reads.
GliderJohn

👍🏼 I have read all his works I believe. I was a voracious reader (still am) growing up and I searched high and low to get his works.

[fotoguzzi]

[DougG]

WARNING...SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION...





Hi all,                                                                                               2-19-21

I wrote this book a few years ago.  It is available on Amazon and Kindle.  It is about 400 pages in length and will come out as an audio book in about 4-5 months.   The plotline deals with a health insurance company that seeks to increase its profits by eliminating the most costly (chronically ill), policy holders...in a most insidious way.  If the description on Amazon does not interest you, please do not purchase.  If it tickles your interest, try it. 

Click on the thumbnail for a more complete image.

Be well, stay well,
DougG

[JC85]

I'm a fantasy nerd. Was given a copy of "The Hobbit" for Xmas when I was 12, and never turned back. Fantasy is 99.9% of my leisure reading.

My newest favorite series is "The Stormlight Archive" by Brandon Sanderson. The man is an absolute master at building entirely unique worlds, races, cultures, magic systems, etc. The best since Tolkien, imo. I got turned onto him when he was brought in to finish "The Wheel of Time" series, when the original author, Robert Jordan, died when it was still two books away from being finished. Fair warning: he's not a light read; all 4 of the first books in " The Stormlight Archive" series have broken 1000 pages. Totally worth it, though, imo.

For lighter, funnier, and more enjoyable fantasy, I recommend Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files." Been keeping up with that series for 14 years, now. It's sort of a cross between fantasy and noir mystery. The main character is a wizard who lives and works as a private detective in modern day Chicago. The series is long and still going, but each book is a short, fun, easy read. Each individual book is its own self contained mystery novel, but at the same time, there's an amazing overarching plot that connects and develops through the whole series. There was a really horrible SyFy channel tv series that only lasted for 1 season, because it was so bad. If you've seen it, don't pass up the books, because of it. The show was a dumpster fire, but the books are wonderful.

[Kiwi_Roy]

The Last Grain Race is a 1956 book by Eric Newby
a travel writer, about his time spent on the four-masted steel barque Moshulu during the vessel's last voyage in the Australian grain trade.