Make me read books

[Letti]

I do love reading and I read as much as I can if I am not exhausted like hell.
Here I would like you to write about the books you love a lot and which mean a lot to you and which could mean a lot to the others as well.
Please try to avoid the spoilers but try to write down what that book meant to you and why it's worth reading it.
So next time when I go to a bookshop I would like to spend there my whole salary because you told me so many amazing books.

(I know there are many threads where we are talking about our favourite books but we don't talk about the details.)

Guys, make me read tons of books!


Let me start it.

Here is one of my forever favourites but it's not popular at all.

Fatu Hiva - Back to the Nature by Thor Heyerdahl


It's an amazing book about a man who tried to find the Paradise with his love on a little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
I learnt so much from this book. Now I have pics of my head about my dreams.. when I was reading this book I felt if I really want I can catch them.
I learnt that we can run we can escape but it can make us blind and selfish.
This book made me realise that we can run but it's in us we would like to get rid of.

But it's me. I am sure others learn and feel other things.

Here is a pic of Fatu Hiva the island which still exists and only 584 people are living there.



And here is a pic where Thor and his wife:



Could they find the Paradise and could they escape from their past and future to a perfect world?
Or did they fail?
I don't want to answer and I can't answer, either.
If any of you will read it let me know.

[OchrisO]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is my favorite book. I have read it around 5 times. The central idea of the book is that faith creates and powers gods, and that people immigrated to the United States and brought their gods with them, but then forgot about thgem, and they were left in America with hardly any followers and as a result, hardly any power. The story follows a character named Shadow who is released from prison and travels home to see his wife, and everything goes wrong. It is really an amazing book, especially if you have any interest in mythology. It also has the bonus of having been translated into Hungarian, so you should check it out.

[sarajean]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is my favorite book. I have read it around 5 times. The central idea of the book is that faith creates and powers gods, and that people immigrated to the United States and brought their gods with them, but then forgot about thgem, and they were left in America with hardly any followers and as a result, hardly any power. The story follows a character named Shadow who is released from prison and travels home to see his wife, and everything goes wrong. It is really an amazing book, especially if you have any interest in mythology. It also has the bonus of having been translated into Hungarian, so you should check it out.

pretty much any neil gaiman is a sure thing.

[John Blaze]

ok, there are two series that, although the books on their own aren't on my favorites, the series are.

These are the most important books on this thread. Read these FIRST! (pisses you other guys off, doesn't it? )

First, there's this author named Tamora Pierce. She writes alot of different books, but has a series based in a mystical land called Tortall. READ THESE BOOKS. TRUST ME, YOU WILL LOVE THEM. They are about the lives of certain young women as they mature in a feudalistic society. Meaning Knights and chivalry and all that other stuff I know you love.

Start with

The Song of the Lioness series. (4 books)
The story of Alanna.

Then,

The Immortals series ( 4 books)
the story of Diane, a Wild-Mage

also,
The Protector of the Small series (you guessed it, 4 books)
The Story of Keladry (which is a name we almost named our daughter, because I love it) who is a noble girl who doesn't want to be a lady-in-waiting and decides to train as a Knight. I think this one was my favorite series of the 3, but it was a close thing.

The funny thing is, I discovered there thru my little sister, and they are aimed at the young teen audience. Mrs. Pierce also has the Circle Universe
books, centered around the lives of four young mages who become friends. These are also worth reading, and up there on my list. But the Tortall books are first. Oh, there's also newer Tortall books, but you can find those online and catch up, I need to read Terrier to be up to the limit on those.
In many ways, I believe Mrs Pierce to be a much better storyteller than Mrs. Rowling.

OK, second series,

The Dragonrider's of Pern series.

Look up Dragonrider's of Pern on wikipedia, and it will give you a reading order.

they go back and forth, so it's complicated.

[ZoNeSeeK]

Could they find the Paradise and could they escape from their past and future to a perfect world?
Or did they fail?
I don't want to answer and I can't answer, either.
If any of you will read it let me know.

Letti, have you seen a movie called The Mosquito Coast ? I don't know if its related to Fatu-Hiva, but the central theme is essentially the same. You may enjoy it!

[Darkthoughts]

I have tons of recommendations!

If you liked Eyes of the Dragon then check out Stardust by Neil Gaiman, another twisted fairy tale - then if you like that read American Gods and Anansi Boys...heck just go out and buy the Sandman graphic novels too because Gaiman deserves your attention!

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is another great book about magic and the realm of faery, but in quite a Dickensian style. Its author, Susannah Clarke, was sort of mentored by Gaiman before she got published.

Code 61 is a really original, uncliched and quite brilliant twist on vampires. Its by Donald Harstad and as far removed from Anne Rice as you can go.

Also The Kiss of the Spiderwoman by Manuel Puig. Its actually a screenplay, but you can read it so easily you wouldn't notice. I found this story so moving, I totally recommend it. Likewise, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving...not a screenplay but a very moving story. I'm a big Irving fan and this is one of my favourites.

Theres loads more, but thats quite enough for now I'm sure

[Jean]

Nikolett,

you said you didn't read a lot as a child, so you may have missed some really great books, the ones nobody thought of yet just because the people who have already posted - probably - considered them too obvious, rather part of childhood, teenagerhood, growing up than books per se. How about

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Treasure Island, by R.L.Stevenson

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

I really don't think a life can be full without any of these.

[Brice]

If any of you will read it let me know.

I have read it. It's a wonderful book.

[Rjeso]

Try Judith Tarr's The Hound and the Falcon trilogy, comprised of Isle of Glass, The Golden Horn, and The Hounds of God. I mentioned this series in the Historical Fiction thread, because the events in the book center around the time of the Crusades, the raid on Constantinople, the taking of the Holy Sepulcher, and the like.

Anyway, I love this series because it deals with nature versus nurture in that a member of the Fair Folk was abandoned, then found and raised by a Catholic abbey. He is a devout monk and loves his faith, but knows what he is and that by the very law of his religion, he should not suffer himself to live. He goes through a huge inner struggle, one that is not helped at all by meeting members of his own kind. The weaving of this fairytale kind of being around very harsh historical settings is wonderfully done. I love all of Tarr's books, but these are by far my favorite.

[Letti]

Guys you rock. Thank you. Now I know where to put my salary.
Jean I have read Jane Eyre as a child and I was in love with it so much. I couldn't put it down. I don't know why I didn't read more at that time if I could enjoy some books so much..

[Letti]

If any of you will read it let me know.

I have read it. It's a wonderful book.

I know. I know.

[Jean]

Jean I have read Jane Eyre as a child and I was in love with it so much. I couldn't put it down. I don't know why I didn't read more at that time if I could enjoy some books so much..

Yes, darling, so you see what I mean! They are all soul-forming books. I wish you would read all of them, and soon!

[Letti]

Jean I have read Jane Eyre as a child and I was in love with it so much. I couldn't put it down. I don't know why I didn't read more at that time if I could enjoy some books so much..

Yes, darling, so you see what I mean! They are all soul-forming books. I wish you would read all of them, and soon!

Oh dear believe me I wish I could read as much as I'd love to.

[John Blaze]

What Jean said got me to thinking, have you read the book The Bridge to Terabithia? how about Island of the Blue Dolphins? Banner in the Sky?

[Telynn]

If you are in the mood for somthing light, easy and humorous, there is a series by Robert Aspirin. The Myth series. I think the first one is called Another Fine Myth. Each book is pretty short, so they are fast reads. But fun!

[ZoNeSeeK]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is another great book about magic and the realm of faery, but in quite a Dickensian style. Its author, Susannah Clarke, was sort of mentored by Gaiman before she got published.

My fiance is reading that at the moment, she says its very good

[Darkthoughts]

^It is! If she enjoys it theres another book of short, but interlinking faerie stories, Susannah Clarke has written called The Ladies of Grace Adieu.

[ManOfWesternesse]

For a really good Fantasy series, read Stephen Donaldson's 'Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'.
Be prepared for a loooong read if you do. ('First Chronicles' of 3 books + 'Second Chronicles' of 3 books + 'Last Chronicles' - so far 1 published of a planned 4 books). Extremely good fantasy tale of a modern-day American who contracts Leprosy and is transported to another world/dimension.

For a good Historical Fiction read try Leon Uris' "Exodus" or "Trinity" - this guy was a hell of a writer.
Exodus being based on the Jewish question and resettlement of the new State of Israel.
Trinity being a very well researched tale around the 'Irish Problem' (as the English referred to it ).

[Matt]

I am going to have to give that first series a look see. Sounds really interesting.

[Telynn]

Oh, yeah. Thomas Covanent The Unbeliever is stuff.

[OchrisO]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is my favorite book. I have read it around 5 times. The central idea of the book is that faith creates and powers gods, and that people immigrated to the United States and brought their gods with them, but then forgot about thgem, and they were left in America with hardly any followers and as a result, hardly any power. The story follows a character named Shadow who is released from prison and travels home to see his wife, and everything goes wrong. It is really an amazing book, especially if you have any interest in mythology. It also has the bonus of having been translated into Hungarian, so you should check it out.

pretty much any neil gaiman is a sure thing.

:high5:

I totally wish there was a high5 smiley.

[OchrisO]

I like anti-heroes, but Thomas Covenant is a little anti-hero for even my tastes.

[Darkthoughts]

Talking of anti-heroes, Alan Moore's Watchmen and V for Vendetta are a must...just don't mention that film

[ManOfWesternesse]

I like anti-heroes, but Thomas Covenant is a little anti-hero for even my tastes.

I love those books.
Covenant is a hell of a twisted character in certain ways, but he's one of my favourite ever characters in any book / series.
And the wealth of what Donaldson created in this series is a match for pretty much any invented world.
- The Lord's themselves... such power and humility combined....
- The Bloodguard... 'service' defined...
- The Ranyhyn (see sig!) ... noblest horseflesh ever created in fantasy...
- The sandgorgons.... The Giants.... The Ramen.... the ordinary Stonedowners and Woodhelvenin of the land... The Waynhim..
- And then there's Lord Foul his bad self...

Damn, I'm in a mood for another re-read

[Rjeso]

The Ramen....

Mmm, ramen.