My favorite page turners - Page 5 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 02-16-2006, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Some of my favorites along the way:

Milan Kundera - The Joke, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Hemingway - just about everything. My favorite is probably For Whom the Bell Tolls
Steinbeck - about anything he wrote (though I haven't read everything yet)
Ghandi's autobiography
The Remains of the day (excellent, excellent subtly poignant book)
The THings they Carried by Tim O'Brien (excellent series of related short stories about the Vietnam War)
poetry by Charles Bukowski (even if you never really like poetry you might like this stuff)

Just for starters.

and just to prove I'm human, the book that I haven't read since the 5th grade, that made me cry: WHere the Red Fern Grows

Interesting. But I wouldn't call these classic page turners. Would you? Some of them I'd have to work to get through. That's me, though.

More like "some of my favorite books."

Let's see, books that I couldn't put down. "the Godfather" by Puzo. Of course that might have been because I was a hormone-laden high school junior at the time. More recently "Davinci Code" I read pretty much straight through.

Non-fiction humor, read "Spook". Author's investigation of the science of proving the existence of an afterlife. Fun read.

SeattleUte · 02-16-2006, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Some of my favorites along the way:

Milan Kundera - The Joke, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Hemingway - just about everything. My favorite is probably For Whom the Bell Tolls
Steinbeck - about anything he wrote (though I haven't read everything yet)
Ghandi's autobiography
The Remains of the day (excellent, excellent subtly poignant book)
The THings they Carried by Tim O'Brien (excellent series of related short stories about the Vietnam War)
poetry by Charles Bukowski (even if you never really like poetry you might like this stuff)

Just for starters.

and just to prove I'm human, the book that I haven't read since the 5th grade, that made me cry: WHere the Red Fern Grows

Interesting. But I wouldn't call these classic page turners. Would you? Some of them I'd have to work to get through. That's me, though.

More like "some of my favorite books."

Let's see, books that I couldn't put down. "the Godfather" by Puzo. Of course that might have been because I was a hormone-laden high school junior at the time. More recently "Davinci Code" I read pretty much straight through.

Non-fiction humor, read "Spook". Author's investigation of the science of proving the existence of an afterlife. Fun read.

I edited my post while you were responding to it.

MikeWaters · 02-16-2006, 03:46 AM

I read a lot of Isaac Bashevis Singer while in high school. I think we were assigned specific writers to report on and I got Singer. Lots of good sex in those books too.

Haven't read him since HS though.

SeattleUte · 02-16-2006, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I read a lot of Isaac Bashevis Singer while in high school. I think we were assigned specific writers to report on and I got Singer. Lots of good sex in those books too.

Haven't read him since HS though.

Good for your high school teacher. I wish I'd had such a good one.

FarrahWaters · 02-16-2006, 03:48 AM

At the risk of copycatting (Mike and I seem to have similar likes, imagine that), I have to reiterate three of the books Mike already mentioned.

Remains of the Day- one of my all time favorites, though I haven't really liked any of the other Ishiguro books I've read.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, also any of Hemingway's short stories
The Things they Carried

looking over the bookcase to remind me of others...
Possession (A.S. Byatt)
Anna Karenina
Seabiscuit
Tolkien books
Catch-22- the funniest book ever written
The Red Pony (Steinbeck), a childhood favorite
the Mark Twain books already mentioned, also liked his short stories

and I'll probably be mocked for this, because these are children's books
Harry Potter series- I admit I find these good fun
Lemony Snicket books- hearing Tim Curry read these to me on audio books will sometimes entertain me while I'm cleaning the house.

Surfah · 02-16-2006, 03:56 AM

Maybe it's because I majored in English and turned into a snob, but there is very little contemporary literature that I read. I do pick up and read things like Freakonomics, Da Vinci Code, Moneyball and Celestine Prophecy to stay conversational. I guess I am just a big dork, a superficial one at that.

I fly through most books. I'll kill a hundred pages in an hour easily especially if it's something like Da Vinci Code. In fact, I read that book in one sitting. I try and stick to the canon. I hate fantasy and sci-fi, but I'll branch out and read the classics because of some innate feeling I have that it is my obligation to do so.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee's work is the great American novel.

Anything by Flannery O'Connor. Her short stories are her best work. You can pick up a compilation at Borders or Barnes & Noble. A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything that Rises Must Converge are must reads.

Harry Potter series. I didn't understand the rage. I was on my mission when the first books were huge hits. I have since read every book and have become a fan.

Ender's Game was a page turner for me. I thoroughly enjoyed. I know I said above that I hate sci-fi and fanatsy and I list books from each genre here.

The Giver. A great novel.

I love juvenile literature. The Lemony Snicket series is great. There are many allusions that any well read person will thoroughly enjoy.

il Padrino Ute · 02-16-2006, 04:05 AM

Mike mentioning The Godfather sparked a memory for me:

The Sicilian

Did anyone else here read it? I read it just after rerutning from my mision to Sicily and loved it. It's a companion book to The Godfather.

Great read.

MikeWaters · 02-16-2006, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

Mike mentioning The Godfather sparked a memory for me:

The Sicilian

Did anyone else here read it? I read it just after rerutning from my mision to Sicily and loved it. It's a companion book to The Godfather.

Great read.

I read it. Nice and steamy.

Not as good as the GodFather if my memory serves me correctly.

il Padrino Ute · 02-16-2006, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I read it. Nice and steamy.

Not as good as the GodFather if my memory serves me correctly.

Yes, quite the steamy book and I agree that it wasn't as good as the Godfather. I did like that it mentions that Don Corleone wants Michael to bring Salvatore back to NY from Sicily with him.

SeattleUte · 02-16-2006, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarrahWaters

At the risk of copycatting (Mike and I seem to have similar likes, imagine that), I have to reiterate three of the books Mike already mentioned.

Remains of the Day- one of my all time favorites, though I haven't really liked any of the other Ishiguro books I've read.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, also any of Hemingway's short stories
The Things they Carried

looking over the bookcase to remind me of others...
Possession (A.S. Byatt)
Anna Karenina
Seabiscuit
Tolkien books
Catch-22- the funniest book ever written
The Red Pony (Steinbeck), a childhood favorite
the Mark Twain books already mentioned, also liked his short stories

and I'll probably be mocked for this, because these are children's books
Harry Potter series- I admit I find these good fun
Lemony Snicket books- hearing Tim Curry read these to me on audio books will sometimes entertain me while I'm cleaning the house.

I agree about Catch-22. I couldn't get through Possession. Tolstoy is my favorite novelist, overall, but Anna Karenina wasn't among my favorite of his. It's still an amazing book by standards of most mortal novelists. I tend to really get into foreign novelists more than American ones, at least foreign speaking novelists. I mentioned Singer. I love the Russians. Dostoyevsky; The Brothers Karamozov my favorite of his. Two by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 100 Years of Solitude, and Love in the Time of Colera; couldn't get into any others by him.

02-16-2006, 03:56 AM	#46
Surfah Master Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: F'burg, VA Posts: 3,211	Maybe it's because I majored in English and turned into a snob, but there is very little contemporary literature that I read. I do pick up and read things like Freakonomics, Da Vinci Code, Moneyball and Celestine Prophecy to stay conversational. I guess I am just a big dork, a superficial one at that. I fly through most books. I'll kill a hundred pages in an hour easily especially if it's something like Da Vinci Code. In fact, I read that book in one sitting. I try and stick to the canon. I hate fantasy and sci-fi, but I'll branch out and read the classics because of some innate feeling I have that it is my obligation to do so. To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee's work is the great American novel. Anything by Flannery O'Connor. Her short stories are her best work. You can pick up a compilation at Borders or Barnes & Noble. A Good Man is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything that Rises Must Converge are must reads. Harry Potter series. I didn't understand the rage. I was on my mission when the first books were huge hits. I have since read every book and have become a fan. Ender's Game was a page turner for me. I thoroughly enjoyed. I know I said above that I hate sci-fi and fanatsy and I list books from each genre here. The Giver. A great novel. I love juvenile literature. The Lemony Snicket series is great. There are many allusions that any well read person will thoroughly enjoy. __________________ Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort." Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!"

02-16-2006, 04:05 AM	#47
il Padrino Ute Board Pinhead Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the basement of my house, Murray, Utah. Posts: 15,941	Mike mentioning The Godfather sparked a memory for me: The Sicilian Did anyone else here read it? I read it just after rerutning from my mision to Sicily and loved it. It's a companion book to The Godfather. Great read. __________________ "The beauty of baseball is not having to explain it." - Chuck Shriver "This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at." - Christopher Hitchens on IQ jokes about GWB.

02-16-2006, 03:46 AM	#43
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	I read a lot of Isaac Bashevis Singer while in high school. I think we were assigned specific writers to report on and I got Singer. Lots of good sex in those books too. Haven't read him since HS though.

02-16-2006, 03:48 AM	#45
FarrahWaters Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,122	At the risk of copycatting (Mike and I seem to have similar likes, imagine that), I have to reiterate three of the books Mike already mentioned. Remains of the Day- one of my all time favorites, though I haven't really liked any of the other Ishiguro books I've read. For Whom the Bell Tolls, also any of Hemingway's short stories The Things they Carried looking over the bookcase to remind me of others... Possession (A.S. Byatt) Anna Karenina Seabiscuit Tolkien books Catch-22- the funniest book ever written The Red Pony (Steinbeck), a childhood favorite the Mark Twain books already mentioned, also liked his short stories and I'll probably be mocked for this, because these are children's books Harry Potter series- I admit I find these good fun Lemony Snicket books- hearing Tim Curry read these to me on audio books will sometimes entertain me while I'm cleaning the house.