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Post by timgrw on Aug 4, 2009 22:33:58 GMT
A few months ago Jay recommened a book on here for me. It was Bye Bye Baby, a story about a girl's obsession with The Bay City Rollers.
Anyway, it was a super funny read and I'm so glad she recommended it to me because I would never have found it otherwise.
So just got the idea to start a thread so we can share our favourite books. Personally I cannot read fiction but am I biography junkie. Currently reading Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin. Great read and would recommend it.
Books please ........
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Post by MollyMcFearless on Aug 4, 2009 22:55:30 GMT
'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold. It's an imaginative story and really gets you thinking.
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Post by Gerbilly on Aug 4, 2009 22:57:26 GMT
I'm reading Sophie's World, it's really good if you want to know about philosophy.
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Post by beplumcrazy on Aug 4, 2009 22:59:07 GMT
my favorite book ever is "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" it's by Stephen Chbosky
it's kind of a modern day Catcher in the Rye/coming of age story
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Post by timgrw on Aug 4, 2009 23:02:17 GMT
Another favourite is 'Not Without My Sister,' the horrific true story of children you were brought up in the cult 'The Family.' Really, really shocking story. Oh and Anthony Keidis' autobiography Scar Tissue is one of my all time favourites
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Post by taperjeancailin on Aug 4, 2009 23:16:26 GMT
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leigh
Cold as a Grave
Posts: 35
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Post by leigh on Aug 4, 2009 23:28:03 GMT
Ooh, since you like biographies, timgrw, I recommend the memoir 'The Glass Castle' by Jeannette Walls if you haven't already read it. It is one of my all-time favorite books. I guess my favorite series ever will always be Harry Potter. Of course, I recommend them to everyone in the entire world. I'm reading my summer reading right now. I've finished 'The Joy Luck Club' by Amy Tan. It was a really great book once I got into it. And now I'm reading 'The Color of Water' by James McBride which is also a good book. I'm very happy I've picked them. Some of my other favorites are 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon and 'The Host' by Stephanie Meyer. (Personally, I think it's a lot better than Twilight, no offense to any hardcore Twilight fans )
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Post by timgrw on Aug 4, 2009 23:31:51 GMT
^^^^ Cool, thanks x
What is 'The Glass Castle About'?
Oh for Irish people (I'm pretty sure you have to be Irish to read them) the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly books are the funniest read ever. It's the only fiction I ever truly enjoyed! Side-splittingly funny.
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leigh
Cold as a Grave
Posts: 35
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Post by leigh on Aug 4, 2009 23:38:47 GMT
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ron
Runnin' Free
Posts: 246
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Post by ron on Aug 5, 2009 0:36:49 GMT
Not sure if I mentioned this before in another thread, but sure what harm, it's a fantastic book!!! Pretty harrowing read. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
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Post by Natalie on Aug 5, 2009 0:57:53 GMT
I don't know if this is where I should post this but I was wondering if anyone has any recomendations for good books to do for higher english personal study? Thanks
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Flor de liz
Runnin' Free
Meu pai sempre me dizia: Meu filho tome cuidado. Quando eu penso no futuro n?o esque?o o meu passado
Posts: 212
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Post by Flor de liz on Aug 5, 2009 3:30:47 GMT
Great thread! Karma for making it!
I'll check the books you guys recommended.
I don't read much besides History books for Faculty. A shame, I know, but I don't have much time to read other things than that.
I'm really into "magical realism" style, so I would recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (my favorite book of all time). It's about the Buendía family and their town Macondo. I can't explain more than that... hehe. I love it so much because it reminds me of my father's family: crazy, superstitious, religious people... all at once... go figure. Lots of fun... saturday is "tall stories" day at home... Till these days I'm not sure if they are bullshitting or if they really believe what they're saying.
Other of my favorites is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I absolutely love this book. When I've read the first chapters I was sure I wasn't alone in this world. It made me remind a lot of things I've had forgotten about my childhood.
Last, but not least, La Tregua by Mario Banedetti. I'm not sure if it's available in english though. With this book I've learned what happiness is. A short passage of the book enlightened me and I've had to stop for a few minutes and reflect about it and then started to smile. It was one of those moments of happiness the author talks about.
I think that's enough...hehe.
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Post by sorocksteady on Aug 5, 2009 4:29:58 GMT
my favorite books are: Post Office: Charles Bukowski The Basketball Diaries-Jim Carroll (Forced Entries is good too) Please Kill Me The Uncensored Oral History of Punk-Legs McNeil Nine Stories: J.D. Salinger Pride and Prejudice
I also like bad vampire romance novels... Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward is a great series
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Post by brasiliangirl on Aug 5, 2009 5:03:07 GMT
I love Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, the Adrian Mole books (so funny), and I love a Brazilian author called Luis Fernando Verissimo, but I don't know if his books are translated to English...
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Post by jeffica on Aug 5, 2009 6:24:28 GMT
Oooh, good thread!! My personal faves (categorised, of course ) Humour The 'Thursday Next' series (about 6 books) by Jasper Fforde, starting with The Eyre Affair. They're detective novels, but they are based around famous literature, and the boundaries between fact/fiction in this story are very loose. Basically its a hilarious story full of lame puns and fantastic names (main evil guy is Jack Schitt "that's Mister Schitt to you...") Fantasy The City of the Beasts by Isabelle Allende. This is a young adult book but only in the sense that the main characters are teens. Not your typical teens, the story is based around their journey (physical and spiritual) into the Amazon in search of a mythical creature. Allende's writing is incredibly rich and poetic, AMAZING. Drama/Intense The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (or any other of her books). This is pretty feminist, tells the story of a woman in an imaginary society where reproduction is incredibly rare and so she is enslaved in a household, and is essentially used for her womb. Most of MA's books will make you hate men for a while, but they are great if you feel like something intense Classical Wuthering Heights - doesn't really need an intro. Even if you find it hard to get into at first, I promise it will be worth it. (Its also hard to get past the fact that nobody ever 'says' anything, they 'ejaculate' instead , but that just adds interest...) Chick-lit Marian Keys Marian Keys Marian Keys. The woman is a genius. Wartime Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes for 'grown-up' - hideously sad, but lifechanging, or Atonement by Ian McEwen - one of the few books where I've found the film just as good as the book, so if you liked the movie you'll like this too Young Adult Teresa Breslin's books - They got me through the last 6 years, along with my good friends Harry, Ron and Hermione (TB's books are nothing like HP though...) Nostalgia When We Were Very Young A A Milne - Winnie the Pooh = my first loveRight... *restrains inner bookworm* That'll do
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Post by Meh on Aug 5, 2009 7:28:25 GMT
My favourite books ever are the Alexander the Great trilogy by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. If you like sweeping epics full of battles, romance and drama then you’ll love it. I also love anything by Dennis Lehane such as the crime orientated Kenzie/Gennaro series and the psychological thriller ‘Shutter Island’ (which has been made into a film starring Leo DiCaprio – out October!). Or if it’s a bit of fantasy/adventure you’re after then you can’t go wrong with the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien! Oh and the Sally Lockhart series by Phillip Pullman is better in my opinion than His Dark Materials trilogy - check it out.
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Post by jeffica on Aug 5, 2009 7:54:24 GMT
^^ You are so right about Philip Pullman!! I remember at primary school we had a 'dress up as your favourite book character' day and me and my friend went as Sally Lockhart and Frederick Garland Sally kicks ass!
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Post by Meh on Aug 5, 2009 8:12:00 GMT
^ I love it and the 19th Century setting of it. Jim Taylor is my favourite character!
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Post by helterskelter on Aug 5, 2009 8:21:52 GMT
Cell by Stephen King is a must read! Read it last summer and I couldn't put it down. If you're into scary/ zombie stuff like I am, you'll love it. Its quite creepy and it kinda makes you never want to use your cell phone ever again. One more thing though, DO NOT read it before bedtime. Its for the best also if you're into biographies and such, you should read John Lennon: The Life by Phillip Norman. Its thick as a brick but its so interesting. It made me cry, laugh and cry and laugh at the same time. Everything is so detailed and personal and the author spent about three years gathering interviews and stories about John. Its one of the most fantastic books i've ever read, and its not necessarily for Beatles or Lennon fans. Its not like all those other John Lennon biographies out there, those are missing emotional value, but not this one. This book really makes you feel like you knew John and what he really went through, up until the day he died. I hafta say though, the ending made me bawl like a baby! just thought i'd put my thoughts in!
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Post by jeffica on Aug 5, 2009 8:25:35 GMT
^^ haha I can't handle Stephen King's novels, I'm such a wuss Eowyn, did you ever read The Tin Princess? It was written (and set) a few years after the Sally Lockhart trilogy, but it is essentially a Jim Taylor spin-off story! (set a country that doesn't exist, why I find quite funny...)
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