CSNbbs

Clockwork Orange, total different league.

(03-23-2011 07:29 PM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-23-2011 04:46 PM)UofM_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]In no particular order:

Lord of the Rings w/ Hobbit & Silmarillion
Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (about the construction of the Panama Canal)
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan
The Source by James Michener
Nothing Like it in the World by Stephen E. Ambrose (about construction of the transcontinental railroad)
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

That's seven, but what the hell. Really just about anything by Ambrose, McCullough, Michener or Ryan is worth the time to read

What a great list. Obviously Tolkien will be included in almost anybody's list, mine included. But the McCullough is staggeringly good, find the audiobook read by Edward Hermann for a real treat. The Foote trilogy is likewise profound. If I were picking a C. Ryan, I'd go with The Last Battle, but Bridge is also superb. The Ambrose is a surprise, but like you I found it marvelous. I think I like Undaunted Courage more, though.

You're right I forgot about Undaunted Courage. It is an excellent read. I recently finished Nothing Like It in the World. It has been awhile so I'll have to go back and read Undaunted Courage again.

(03-24-2011 08:02 AM)tiger2000 Wrote: [ -> ]Crime and punishment
The dharma bums
In dubious battle
Fear and loathing in las Vegas
The catcher in the rye

The catcher in the rye

Your one of those goverment secret programed people, one phone
call and it all goes blank...??? I knew it... lol great book..
I did like fear and loathing myself as well..

(03-24-2011 10:55 AM)KRB Wrote: [ -> ]Clockwork Orange, total different league.

Yeah, that's one of mine but you know that.

Been thinking all morning..........it's tough to narrow down.

top 5 fiction over the past couple of years. In no particular order.

The Road (McCarthy)
Chesapeake (Michener)
Lord of the Rings series (Tolkien)
Gunslinger series (King)
Camel Club series (Baldacci)

top 5 non-fiction:

The Heart of the Sea (Nathaniel Philbrick)
Benjamin Franklin (Isaacson)
Albert Einstein (Isaacson)
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (Marc Seifer)
The Sign and the Seal (Graham Hancock)

(03-24-2011 11:30 AM)SmokeyOneKenobi Wrote: [ -> ]top 5 non-fiction:

The Heart of the Sea (Nathaniel Philbrick)
Benjamin Franklin (Isaacson)
Albert Einstein (Isaacson)
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (Marc Seifer)
The Sign and the Seal (Graham Hancock)

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (Marc Seifer)
Was a great book as well... dude was a genuis... never got the credit
he deserved,,,

Other favorites from the past, in no particular order:

The Godfather
A Time to Kill
Being There
Illusions

(03-24-2011 11:15 AM)UofM_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-23-2011 07:29 PM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-23-2011 04:46 PM)UofM_Tiger Wrote: [ -> ]In no particular order:

Lord of the Rings w/ Hobbit & Silmarillion
Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (about the construction of the Panama Canal)
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan
The Source by James Michener
Nothing Like it in the World by Stephen E. Ambrose (about construction of the transcontinental railroad)
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

That's seven, but what the hell. Really just about anything by Ambrose, McCullough, Michener or Ryan is worth the time to read

What a great list. Obviously Tolkien will be included in almost anybody's list, mine included. But the McCullough is staggeringly good, find the audiobook read by Edward Hermann for a real treat. The Foote trilogy is likewise profound. If I were picking a C. Ryan, I'd go with The Last Battle, but Bridge is also superb. The Ambrose is a surprise, but like you I found it marvelous. I think I like Undaunted Courage more, though.

You're right I forgot about Undaunted Courage. It is an excellent read. I recently finished Nothing Like It in the World. It has been awhile so I'll have to go back and read Undaunted Courage again.

I lucked up and found an unabridged audiobook of UC for cheap.

There are too many but a short list would be:

LOTR to include the Hobbit and the Silmarillion (I thought the Silmarillion was better BY FAR than either the LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit but that's just me)
The Stand
Imajica (Books I and II) Clive Barker
The Fountainhead (liked it better than Atlas Shrugged which was a great book as well)
Fingerprints of the Gods (nonfiction and intersting as hell)
To Kill a Mockingbird
All's Quiet on the Western Front
The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck (incredible)

(03-24-2011 02:38 PM)XTigerCheerleader Wrote: [ -> ]There are too many but a short list would be:

LOTR to include the Hobbit and the Silmarillion (I thought the Silmarillion was better BY FAR than either the LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit but that's just me)
The Stand
Imajica (Books I and II) Clive Barker
The Fountainhead (liked it better than Atlas Shrugged which was a great book as well)
Fingerprints of the Gods (nonfiction and intersting as hell)
To Kill a Mockingbird
All's Quiet on the Western Front
The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck (incredible)

Fingerprints of the Gods was good. Took me a year to read, but it makes you wonder.

Yeah, I devoured it in a couple of days. It does make you think. He had one called Mysteries of the Sphinx that was also very interesting. I saw the one you listed above and it's a new one to me. I'm gonna have to check it out.

(03-24-2011 02:38 PM)XTigerCheerleader Wrote: [ -> ]There are too many but a short list would be:

LOTR to include the Hobbit and the Silmarillion (I thought the Silmarillion was better BY FAR than either the LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit but that's just me)

Interesting. I take it your loved the new one, then.

(03-24-2011 11:55 AM)MonsterTigerBlue Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-24-2011 11:30 AM)SmokeyOneKenobi Wrote: [ -> ]top 5 non-fiction:

The Heart of the Sea (Nathaniel Philbrick)
Benjamin Franklin (Isaacson)
Albert Einstein (Isaacson)
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (Marc Seifer)
The Sign and the Seal (Graham Hancock)

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (Marc Seifer)
Was a great book as well... dude was a genuis... never got the credit
he deserved,,,

Tesla, the man who invented today. Anything about Tesla, and I'm in.

(03-24-2011 03:28 PM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-24-2011 02:38 PM)XTigerCheerleader Wrote: [ -> ]There are too many but a short list would be:

LOTR to include the Hobbit and the Silmarillion (I thought the Silmarillion was better BY FAR than either the LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit but that's just me)

Interesting. I take it your loved the new one, then.

You mean The Children of Hurin? If so, meh, it was ok. I thought it was a bit boring in parts and overly complex.

The Silmarillion is probably my most favorite book ever. I got chills reading it every time when the Valar helped Eru sing the world into existence. That part alone made that book for me. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the imagery in that particular part is heartbreakingly beautiful. A lot of people dont like the book for various reasons, but I think they were disappointed because they were looking for it to be a story of a similar scope as the LOTR trilogy and were disappointed because it wasnt. I took it at face value and was thus surprised because it was simply a beautiful prelude to the best story ever written.

Jumping off Tolkien's nuts now.

Gravity's Rainbow.

(03-24-2011 09:45 PM)XTigerCheerleader Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-24-2011 03:28 PM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-24-2011 02:38 PM)XTigerCheerleader Wrote: [ -> ]There are too many but a short list would be:

LOTR to include the Hobbit and the Silmarillion (I thought the Silmarillion was better BY FAR than either the LOTR trilogy or the Hobbit but that's just me)

Interesting. I take it your loved the new one, then.

You mean The Children of Hurin? If so, meh, it was ok. I thought it was a bit boring in parts and overly complex.

The Silmarillion is probably my most favorite book ever. I got chills reading it every time when the Valar helped Eru sing the world into existence. That part alone made that book for me. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the imagery in that particular part is heartbreakingly beautiful. A lot of people dont like the book for various reasons, but I think they were disappointed because they were looking for it to be a story of a similar scope as the LOTR trilogy and were disappointed because it wasnt. I took it at face value and was thus surprised because it was simply a beautiful prelude to the best story ever written.

Jumping off Tolkien's nuts now.

Don't jump off on my account. How Tolkienized am I? During my two years at UTK, I had a 6' long poster over my bed that was a mural of the covers of the first paperback editions, the ones by Barbara Remington. This was 1973-75. I still have it, framed. I have the poster of 'Bilbo's Last Song'. In high school, my best friend and I pissed the brothers off because we knew Feanorian and wrote stuff they couldn't understand. I have the complete History of Middle Earth. I have the very first calendar from 1975, by Tim Kirk.

I loved Children of Hurin, both because of its Greek tragedy overtones and because every single word was by JRR himself. The closest thing we will ever have to another book.

More oldies but goodies:

1984
Gift of the Sea
Silent Spring
Mere Christianity
Cry the Beloved Country
Flannery O'Connor Short Stories

And with a real Memphis connection, The Royal Road to Romance and the rest of Richard Halliburton's travelogues. He was the only male graduate of Hutchison, a graduate of Rhodes, a real world adventurer, who was tragically lost at sea on one of his world jaunts.

(03-24-2011 11:38 PM)alterego2 Wrote: [ -> ]More oldies but goodies:

1984
Gift of the Sea
Silent Spring
Mere Christianity
Cry the Beloved Country
Flannery O'Connor Short Stories

And with a real Memphis connection, The Royal Road to Romance and the rest of Richard Halliburton's travelogues. He was the only male graduate of Hutchison, a graduate of Rhodes, a real world adventurer, who was tragically lost at sea on one of his world jaunts.

Seven League Boots was my favorite book as a young teen. Everyone with any imagination and sense of adventure should read his books.

Top childhood books:

The complete Nancy Drew series - original editions
The Black Stallion series
A Seperate Peace
Little House in the Prairie series
Tom Sawyer