Books , authors , let's discuss

[Seventy One]

My all-time favorite book is 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac. I intend to read the rest of his books after reading this one.

Other favorites include 'Jupiters Travels' by Ted Simon, 'Mondo Enduro' by Austin Vince and 'Two Wheels Through Terror' by Glen Heggstad.

In the awful list is just one book: 'Lone Rider' by Elsbeth Beard. To date it remains the only book I ever regretted reading. Absolutely awful. Just because you rode a motorcycle around the world doesn't mean your book will be fun, interesting or even worth reading. My God this book was terrible!

I wasn't able to get into 'Brave New Word' (Huxley). One day I'll finish it. I suspect some books are considered to be good just for being first, ground breaking or controversial and not for their writing. 'On the Road' was well written. This book (what little of it I've read), is not.

Once I finish 'Heart of Darkness' (Conrad) I'll get started on 'Crime and Punishment' (Dostoevsky) and the 'Gulag Archipelago' (Solzhenitsyn). Since I like Russian watches, firearms and movies I figure I should give their books a shake.

[john fish]

My girlfriend asked me if I've ever read James Joyce's Ulysses.  I told her, "Honey, nobody's read Ulysses."

So, anyone read it?

[giusto]

Uhg...Ulysses and it's parallel the Odyssey...That obscene and somewhat insane tale of Mr.Blooms jaunt through Ireland at the turn of the century...made it through every page but I'm sure it was way above my feebleness...I believe some of it needed to be translated 

[kingoffleece]

My other favs, Not to start a debate, mind, were Zen (you know-and it's a philosophy book, not a bike book), and Papillion, the story of a French criminal.

[Bulldog9]

Great Topic.  Don't really have a favorite author, but many. I read a lot of History, mostly military or presidential related, and Sci Fi of all types.

If I had to pick a favorite book based on how many times I've gone back to it, it would be Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. Usually read annually.  For History, it would be HW Crocker's "Don't Tread On Me"

Favorite authors Fiction in no order, ANY is a good read: Tolkien, Asimov, Scalzi, Lovecraft, Scott-Card, King, Burroughs, Twain, HG Wells, Arthur C Clarke, Heinlein.
 
Favorite authors History: HW Crocker, McCullough, Metaxas, Millard, Atkinson

I just finished Sir Shackleton's "South", an amazing story, and started "Path Between the Seas by McCullough. I'm also reading a very interesting look at Lincoln called "They Knew Lincoln" by John E Washington that focuses on where Lincoln really stood on the issues of slaves and slavery. He was a child living in Washington DC during the Lincoln assassination, and was raised by those who knew him well. It is filled with first hand interviews, and very interesting so far.   

[cloudbase]

I've yet to find an author who could convey the nuances of the human condition like Steinbeck could.  The Wayward Bus really stands out (for me) among his works.  A. J. Liebling had the same gift.
Right now, just about finished with Chernow's biography of U. S. Grant.  Next in the queue is The Greatest Beer Run Ever.

I tend to favor historical stuff, as what passes for history courses in high school and college (for non-history majors) is just glossing over the high points.  Well researched history subjects
really open up to making connections to other events.  I live for those "aha!" moments.

[giusto]

Opps I forgot to mention the question at hand....too many favorite authors...but I'll mention the last few years I've been reading biographies and autobiographies mostly from musicians, as I've been one all my life

George Harrison I me mine
BB King  Blues all Around me
Phil Lesh Searching for the Sound
Paul McCartney The Life.......also The Love We Make
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run ......Long Walk Home
Rory Block Prove It On Me
Warren Zevon Nothing's Bad Luck
Eric Clapton The Auto Biography
Robbie Robertson Once Were Brothers
Les Paul In His Own Words
Jerry Garcia Jerry on Jerry
Frank Sinatra, All or Nothing at All......His way

etc...

[Shorty]

Charles Sasser is an Okie writer  with a pretty big portfolio. Historic fiction and other non fiction titles, Some of his books are required reading in some military academies. https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/28221.Charles_W_Sasser    

"Bio
 


Charles W. Sasser

Charles W. Sasser has been a full-time freelance writer/journalist/photographer since 1979. He is a veteran of both the U.S. Navy (journalist) and U.S. Army (Special Forces, the Green Berets), a combat veteran and former combat correspondent wounded in action. He also served fourteen years as a police officer (in Miami, Florida, and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was a homicide detective). He has taught at universities, lectured nationwide, and traveled extensively throughout the world. He has published over 3000 articles and short stories in magazines ranging from Guideposts, Parents and Christian Life to Soldier of Fortune, True West, and Writer’s Digest. He is author, co-author or contributing author of more than 50 books and novels.

As an adventurer, Sasser has, at various times: solo-canoed across the Yukon; sailed the Caribbean; motorbiked across the continent; rode camels in the Egyptian desert; floated the Amazon River; dived for pirate treasure; rode horses across Alaska; motorcycled Europe; climbed Mount Rainier; ran with the bulls in Spain; chased wild mustangs…

 

He has been a professional rodeo clown and bronc rider; professional kickboxer; sky diver and SCUBA diver; college professor; newspaperman; archaeologist/anthropologist…

Sasser now lives on a ranch in Chouteau, Oklahoma with wife Donna where he is a writer, rancher, and businessman who trains horses and team ropes. He also has a private pilot’s license and is an ultralite aircraft Certified Flight Instructor. "      I have read 3 or 4 of his books and enjoyed them.   

[maquette]

Anything by Clayton Lindemuth, beginning with "My Brother's Destroyer".

Cormac McCarthy anytime.

[Moparnut72]

I read all the time. My wife says I will read anything including cereal boxes if there is nothing else available. I have read too many books that I really liked that I couldn't start to recall to include here. Like others Michener is near the top. One that had me laughing out loud so hard several times that I had tears running down my cheeks was The Milagro Bean Field Wars. Motorcycle subject, The Worlds Fastest Indian, the movie was an insult to this excellent book. One of the best and unfortunately I can't remember the title or author and I have tried to look it up so I could read it again but I have been unable to find it. It about a guy who bought a coal fired ship in Europe brought it to the US and turned it into a salvage recovery vessel, went through all kinds of trials, tribulations and turned that investment into the largest maritime salvage company in the world.
kk

[oldbike54]

 The Shipping News by Annie Proulx . Hell , even the movie was good .


 Dusty

[JC85]

I think I’ve got the paperwork.  Kinda of a Ken Kesey bunch thing?

I'm not familiar with him, so I can't really say. It's about a group of 4 characters, varied in backgrounds and personality, who team up to commit acts of industrial sabotage to slow the destruction of natural wonders and resources in the 60s or 70s. Excellent book.

[ozarquebus]

Historical Biography:
Two Years Before The Mast : Dana
Sailing Around The World: Slocum
Around The World Singlehanded: Pigeon
Tschiffley's Ride: Tschiffley
Richard Francis Burton Biography: Farwell
Marine! Chesty Puller Bio: Davis
Thud Ridge: Broughton
The March Up Country: Xenophon Anabaxis
Noel Wien, Alaska Pioneer Bush Pilot: Harvey
The Man Who Walked Through Time: Colin Fletcher


Historical Fiction:
Aztec: Jennings
Tortilla Flats: Steinbeck
 Tobacco Road: " "
East of Eden:  "  "
Ken Keasey

Fiction:
Deadeye Dick: Vonnegut

Sci Fi Series:
Riverworld: Farmer
Casca: King

[nick949]

For motorcycle reading and truly mad adventurous spirit, it's hard to beat Des Molloy's two books:

"No one said it would be easy https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Said-Would-Easy-ebook/dp/B07YX1Q629  and

"The Last Hurrah" https://www.amazon.com/Last-Hurrah-Beijing-Arnhem-2005/dp/0954791258 for pure mad, hair-brained adventures on old Panthers, Noron and a pre-war BSA.

Of course, I quality literature is what you're after  , you won't go far wrong with my latest masterpiece:

"The Ghosts of Holleford Lake" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TYVDG1H
available in whichever format turns your crank.

Nick

[giusto]

Opps I forgot to mention the question at hand....too many favorite authors...but I'll mention the last few years I've been reading biographies and autobiographies mostly from musicians, as I've been one all my life

George Harrison I me mine
BB King  Blues all Around me
Phil Lesh Searching for the Sound
Paul McCartney The Life.......also The Love We Make
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run ......Long Walk Home
Rory Block Prove It On Me
Warren Zevon Nothing's Bad Luck
Eric Clapton The Auto Biography
Robbie Robertson Once Were Brothers
Les Paul In His Own Words
Jerry Garcia Jerry on Jerry
Frank Sinatra, All or Nothing at All......His way

etc...

Then there's the mountaineering biographies and autobiographies  :)
Ricardo Cassin,
Giusto Gervesutti.....my WGC namesake
Henry Barber
Yvonne Chouinard (btw....net worth 1.5 billion...not bad for a blacksmith rock climber)
Jong Long
Jeff Lowe
Shackelton's Endurance
Rick Ridgway
Gaston Rebuffat
Phillipe Benuzzi
Jon Krakaurer
Walter Bonnatti
Sir Edmund Hilary
Reinhold Messner

[kirkemon]

Jack London; The Call of the Wild, Seawolf, The Art of Hawaiian Surfing.

[pebra]

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx . Hell , even the movie was good .

 Dusty

Yes, that's a great book, by a great author - didn't see the movie.
I remember thinking the first 50-100 pages of the book were just supreme fiction writing - breathtaking.

Many of her short stories from Wyoming are wonderful, too. Most notably Brokeback Mountain, also a great movie.

[normzone]

Ah, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my all time favorite non fantasy book: "The Monkey Wrench Gang." Who's read it, and for those who have, who is your favorite character? I'm a Seldom Seen Smith man, myself.

It has been said that having interest in that book can get your name put on a list - that's probably old news though.

[JC85]

It has been said that having interest in that book can get your name put on a list - that's probably old news though.

That was absolutely a thing. On the other hand, even if it's still true, we're all probably on one list or another because of some random thing, at this point. 

[Texas Turnip]

Dusty said not to tell anyone that his favorite author is Danielle Steele'

Tex

[slowmover]

Anything by Cormac McCarthy but Suttree is at the top.
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo
Everyman ,Exit Ghost ,and Indignation by Philip Roth
American Meteor by Norman Lock
The Son and American Rust by Philipp Meyer
The Sisters Brothers and French Exit which is a new movie by Patrick deWitt
ANYTHING by E.L. Doctorow - Homer & Langely ,The March , Billy Bathgate ect.

[Bulldog9]

This is great, picked up two new authors to explore.

Charles Sasser - Patton (along with Lee) is one of my favorite figures in recent/modern history
Brandon Sanderson - I've wrung out most of my favorite Science Fiction authors. Discovered John Scalzi a few years ago and the "Old Mans War" series of books, look forward to seeing if Sanderson is up to snuff.

When young, I loved the classics, Steinbeck, Hemingway, etc. "The Old man and the sea" was one of my favorites. May need to revisit some of those.

Great topic, thanks Dusty.

[jared p]

Favorites include The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, the Dune series by Frank Herbert including the follow ups by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Anderson and Michael A. Stackpole wrote a buncha Star Wars books I was a fan of. Also Nimitz Class series by Patrick Robinson. Robert Jordans series The Wheel of Time. Brian Jacques Redwall series. Robert Ludlum's Bourne trilogy is great, but his other works not so much. David Hackworth's About Face is fantastic. Right now reading Jordan Petersons 12 Rules which fantastic so far.

A decade or so ago, I had a set of the Great Books of the Western World and read that through. There's nothing you can go wrong with in there.

I tend to read about history, military, or old old stuff.

[V7Record]

I liked the Redwall series too and forgot all about them, might be time to dig them out and reread them!  (Wonder if they're still buried on the bookshelves somewhere...) 

[oldbike54]

 Slightly surprised that Normzone hasn't mentioned "The Well of Souls" series by Jack Chalker .

 Dusty

[Mr Pootle]

A loud shout for the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels. Set in a world supported on the backs of four elephants standing on a turtle, and populated by wizards, witches, dwarves, trolls and other species. It tips its hat to Shakespeare and Tolkien while being wholly original.

[lad]

My newest favorite series is "The Stormlight Archive" by Brandon Sanderson.

Bridge Four!

[Guzzidad]

   About 15 years ago, while sitting around a campfire at a Guzzi ralley, I mentioned to the guy next to me that I wished I would have chosen a different career path. I was working as a maintenance technician in a corrugated box factory. He suggested I read "Shop Class As Soulcraft" by  Matthew B. Crawford. That book greatly lifted my spirits and got me through the last ten years of my employment until I retired.

[lad]

last read: apex hides the hurt-colson whitehead,
currently: prisoners of geography- tim marshall
next:...hmm...have one on bird migration, or sanderson's mist born, or the making of poetry. hard to tell

[Tiny Tim]

https://www.nickadamswriting.com/

Some of you guy's I'm sure know of Nick Adams adventures I'm sure. He is a die hard Moto Guzzi guy and a great writer. Check out his website for motorcycling stories and more. I also enjoy his YouTube channel.