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C.S. Lewis once said that any book worth reading is worth reading one a year. While I highly doubt that any of us are quite that avid in our reading, I am quite certain (based on this thread) that we all seem to enjoy reading on some level.

What books have either most influenced you or were just plain fun to read? If you had to make a list, which ten would come out on top?

Please list your choices (attempt to limit your choices to novels or non-fiction - no graphic novels or comics, please) and briefly describe why each made your list.

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This is going to take me a while.
See my sig for most of my choices.


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1 - Have Space Suit, Will Travel - Robert Heinlein

2 - Time For The Stars - Robert Heinlein

3 - Tunnel Through Time - Lester Del Ray

4 - Runaway Robot - Lester Del Rey

5 - Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire - JK Rowling

6 - The Lost Race of Mars - Robert Silverberg

7 - Nine Tomorrows - Isaac Asimov

8 - There Will Be Time - Poul Anderson

9 - Paradox Alley - John DeChancie

10 - The first seven Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison.


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In no particular order ('cause I love them all):

Any of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books by Douglas Adams
--absolutely hilarious and brilliant!

"The Green Mile" by Stephen King
--it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me cry some more...

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
--I have read this book many, many times and I still love it and identify with the main character sometimes.

"Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller
--A professor suggested it and I LOVED it.

"Gerald's Game" by Stephen King
--I really love all of his books, but this one was another one of my favorites.

The "Harry Potter" series. I can't pick just one that I like 'cause I liked them all.

Crap. I can only think of 6. I know there are some others that I enjoyed reading...

Last edited by sweetmarlene; 2006-04-18 6:21 PM.

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this is more than ten, but they are series, so i will just put them


split infinity (i believe) piers anthony

death gate cycle (i forget the author)

wheel of time (robert jordan)

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A lot of sci-fi stuff on these lists.

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i haven't read much non fiction, excpeting mythology, or history, and then i have no idea the names or authors of any of those books.

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tim thinks mythology is real! you heard it here first, folks!

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mythology isn't, but reading about the mythology, where it came from, and when it ended, as far as common practice is. as well as the beliefs of it.

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Don't try to confuse me with your monosyllabic jargon and simple truth!

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In no particuliar order

The sword of truth series up until and including Faith of The Fallen (nr. 6) Terry Goodkind

The Dark Glory War Michael A. Stackpole

Magic the Gathering: Arena William R. Forstchen

The Riftwar series Raymond E. Feist

The Icarus Hunt Timothy Zahn

The Great Dune Trilogy Frank Herbert (I'm currently reading this, but it's good stuff!)




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I brew beer now. Brewing beer is cool.


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isn't that the wrong title?

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yep


I brew beer now. Brewing beer is cool.


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Pink Floyd - Point me at the Sky
The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Her Majesty
Derek and the Dominoes - Layla
The Doors - The Soft Parade
David Bowie - All The Madmen
The Velvet Underground & Nico - All Tomorrow's Parties
The Pixies - Where's My Mind?
Modest Mouse - Float On
Pearl Jam - Baba O'Riley (Live The Who cover)
Super Furry Animals - Sidewalk Surfer Girl


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"I offer you a Vulcan prayer, Mr Suder. May your

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Don't know Much about History-Kenneth C Davis
Among Madmen- Jim Starlin
Lightning- Dean Koontz
Dolores Claiborne-Stephen King
The Iron Marshal- Louis L'amour


"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who

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The Matthew Scudder thrillers by Lawrence Block - tight continuity over a 30+ year period, stylish noir writing and outstanding characterization. 16 books and not a bad one yet.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King - excluding the disappointment of the final 1 and a half books, one of the best finite series ever.

The "Prey" series with Lucas Davenport by John Sandford - Solid crime fiction reminiscent of the better, earlier Spencer novels.

Greg Rucka's Atticus Kodiak books - well crafted and clever.

The Stand by Stephen King - The pinnacle of his work, in my opinion. Though, for a shorter but still enjoyable read, I'd recommend Needful Things

The "What to Expect" series of child care books - Takes much of the mystery and fear out of child rearing from pre-birth to toddler stage. Absolutely essential reading for any mother- and father-to-be.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X - I try to read this book once every couple of years. Excellent, if a bit dated, book on race and perception in America.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - read it 20 years ago for a contemporary lit class and it's still one of the finest novels I've ever read.

A Season Inside by John Feinstein - Does a great job of capturing the essence of big time college basketball in the 80s.

King Con by Stephen Cannell - Great caper book. If you liked the movie "Confidence", you'll like this book. Probably doesn't deserve to be in the company of the above mentioned books but it popped into my head so it makes the list.


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If there was a poetry book collecting the works of Peter J. Pappas I would read that.

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If you want to read Pappas' poetry all you have to do is go outside and look at the common man.


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Lost Souls by Poppy z Brite

Bram Stocker's Dracula

Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today by: Katherine Ramsland

Ghost: Investigating the Other Side By: katherine Ramsland

Anne Franks Diary

cant recall what else

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Off the top of my head right now I would say the entire WILD CARD series.


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That of course does not include recognized classics (Tom Sawyer, Gullivers Travels etc)


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WHAT ABOUT PENTHOUSE LETTERS?

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Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (11 books total)
Dark Elf Series - R A Salvatore (12 or 13 total)

Both of these you can cheat on now since they've been made into comics. Well, only one of the WoT books so far, but I'm hoping for more.

Zanth Series - Piers Anthony (Original "trilogy" was 9 books) Only read these if you can tolerate really bad puns, since thats what the whole series is based off.

Discworld - Terry Prachett (Lots of books, can be read in any order)

Clan Novel Saga - Various Authors (Books based off Vampire: The Masquarade)

Anything in the Forgotten Realms series, especially the Harpers books. They're not called that naymore, tho.

Theres a Monster at the end of this book and Theres another monster at the end of this book (Both are Sesame street books, both star Grover and the second one co-stars Elmo. I highly recomend these to the guy that just had the really cute baby girl (sorry, I don't rememberhis name)


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In no particular order, although the first two are my two favorites of all time...

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Hitchiker Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

True Detective and True Crime by Max Allan Collins

The Stand by Stephen King

Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

And a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head...


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Atlas Shrugged
Jurassic Park
High Fidelity
Patriot Games
Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy
Watership Down
Choke
Survivor

I reviewed most of them, I consider all of these books must reads.


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