Favorite books

[rikkitikki08]

Griffin.
Badge of Honor series
Presidential Agent series
I really love Clancy.
The Bear and The Dragon is probably my favorite there.
I used to really enjoy the Reacher Novels by Lee Childs.
A lot of my reading though is WWII books especially about the Pacific campaign and the rise of nazi Germany.
Flags of Our Fathers I enjoyed. Helmet for my Pillow. The rise and fall of nazi Germany. The coming of the third Reich and Heinrich Himmler are all ones I would suggest from that list.
The Harry Potter books were a guilty pleasure for me.

One of the most poetic war novels i have ever read.......leckie was incredible with words.

 

[Rack Em]

My favorite Dr. Suess book

 

[NDinFL]

That^

Needs to go here: http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/notre-dame-football-recruiting/67865-moved-thread.html

 

[WaveDomer]

Great thread.....Too many I like to pick a favorite....but will name some.

Underworld -- Dom Delillo
The Chill -- Ross McDonald
Modern Times -- Paul Johnson
The Moviegoer -- Walker Percy

The Moviegoer is great. I went to Tulane and the Maple Street Bookstore is huge on Percy. If you like him, read The Sportswriter by Richard Ford.

Some other books: The Professional by Heinz (called the best boxing novel by Hemingway)
Clockers by Richard Price
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Grendel by John Gardner
First Blood by David Morrell (yes this is Rambo and it is just a thrill ride from page 1)
Treasure Island by Stevenson
Wind in the Willows by Grahame
A River Runs Through It by Maclean
The Maltese Falcon by Hammett

For non fiction I would recommend The Looming Tower, Economics in One Lesson, The War of Art, and The Rhythm of Life.

 

[irishpat183]

If you guys are into this kinda thing...

"Beat the Reaper" by Josh Bazell

It's like a cross between the TV show "Scrubs" and the movie "The Godfather". If you can imagine.

Fantastically entertaining.

 

[gkIrish]

Surprised no one has mentioned the Song of Fire and Ice series AKA a Game of Thrones. I'm on the 2nd book and it's really entertaining.

I have also enjoyed:

The Fountainhead
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Catch-22
Sherlock Holmes (all volumes)
David Copperfield
Iliad/Odyssey

Oh and my favorite Children's book was The Hatchet by Gary Paulson

 

[GDomer09]

-The Good Soldier
-The Might have been
-The World According to Garp

Favorites
-The Rum Diary
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I love the movies, but Hunter's books are much better.

 

[dshans]

Another Roadside Attraction – Tom Robbins
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates – Tom Robbins
The Sot-Weed Factor – John Barth
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Love In The Ruins – Walker Percy
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
The Magus – John Fowles
Sunlight Dialogues – John Gardner

... and a cast of thousands.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Fiction:

The Middle Earth Saga (Lord of the Rings trilogy+The Hobbit+The Silmarillion)
All the King's Men
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
The Enchantress of Florence
Midnight's Children (in other words, pretty much anything by Rushdie)

Non-Fiction:

Stones into Schools
The Accidental Guerilla
A History of the Arab Peoples
The Crusades through Arab Eyes
Salt
A History of Warfare
Guns, Germs and Steel

Finally, my least favorite author of all time and one I find inexplicably mentioned a lot here: Ayn Rand. Her work, and her life, was a failed attempt to raise the individual out of and over the society in which it exists. No wonder she died lonely and miserable.

Ayn Rand is one of America's great mysteries. She was an amphetamine-addicted author of sub-Dan Brown potboilers, who in her spare time wrote lavish torrents of praise for serial killers and the Bernie Madoff-style embezzlers of her day. She opposed democracy on the grounds that "the masses"—her readers—were "lice" and "parasites" who scarcely deserved to live.

The only explanation for Rand's appeal is that everybody who reads her thinks that they are John Galt instead of the helpless masses bringing him down. Guns Germs and Steel is a great read for anyone who reads Rand- it makes you realize that the forces at work in shaping society are far bigger than the "great men" she puts such an emphasis on.

Not going to be able to carry on a discussion so I'll just say this article speaks for me on Rand. Usually, I'd say a philosopher's personal life is irrelevant to the merits of their philosophy, but in Rand's case I'd disagree...

In the end, Rand was destroyed by her own dogmas. She fell in love with a young follower called Nathaniel Branden and had a decades-long affair with him. He became the cult's No. 2, and she named him as her "intellectual heir"—until he admitted he had fallen in love with a 23-year-old woman. As Burns explains, Rand's philosophy "taught that sex was never physical; it was always inspired by a deeper recognition of shared values, a sense that the other embodied the highest human achievement." So to be sexually rejected by Branden meant he was rejecting her ideas, her philosophy, her entire person. She screamed: "You have rejected me? You have dared to reject me? Me, your highest value?"

She never really recovered. We all become weak at some point in our lives, so a thinker who despises weakness will end up despising herself. In her 70s Rand found herself dying of lung cancer, after insisting that her followers smoke because it symbolized "man's victory over fire" and the studies showing it caused lung cancer were Communist propaganda. By then she had driven almost everyone away. In 1982, she died alone in her apartment with only a hired nurse at her side. If her philosophy is right—if the only human relationships worth having are based on the exchange of dollars—this was a happy and victorious death. Did even she believe it in the end?

 

[rikkitikki08]

Cinderella Man about James J Braddock is an incredible read.......makes our generation look like a bunch of soft little nancy boys

 

[Emcee77]

Fiction:

The Middle Earth Saga (Lord of the Rings trilogy+The Hobbit+The Silmarillion)
...
Finally, my least favorite author of all time and one I find inexplicably mentioned a lot here: Ayn Rand. Her work, and her life, was a failed attempt to raise the individual out of and over the society in which it exists. No wonder she died lonely and miserable.

Lol yes I was thinking this while reading through this thread. May just come down to ideological difference but I despise Ayn Rand too. Not that I want to debate the merits of her stuff in this thread (I've been down that road and it tends to get ugly); just didn't want Syria to feel lonely. And I also love Tolkien. Imagine creating languages for fun, and then writing epic stories because you need people to speak them. Talk about being good with words.

I always struggle to answer when people ask what my favorite books are. I tend not to think of books as one discrete category I guess, so I don't even know what my favorite book overall would be, but here are two sports books that I loved and that I think people on this board might like:

1) Bill Bradley, Life on the Run
It's an account by the former New York Knick and senator from New Jersey of life in the NBA in the 70's. I read it over and over when I was a kid, and I'm not even a fan of the Knicks and didn't grow up watching Bill Bradley (way before my time).
2) A Fan's Notes, by Frederick Exley
A "Fictional Memoir" by an obsessed New York Giants football fan. Some of us might be able to relate ...

 

[RyCo1983]

"War and Peace" Leo Tolstoy
"Morte D'Arthur" Sir Thomas Mallory
"My Side Of The Mountain" Jean Craighead-George
"1812" David Nevin

To name a few.
I also quite enjoy military sci-fi...Timothy Zahn's works in particular.

Add J.R.R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin...LOTR and the Silmarrilion were huge for me as a teen reader.

 

[koonja]

My Grandpa was in the marines and he made me read 3 Tom Clancy books. Thought they were solid.

 

[dshans]

... but I despise Ayn Rand too. Not that I want to debate the merits of her stuff in this thread (I've been down that road and it tends to get ugly); just didn't want Syria to feel lonely.

Can I sign up for the "Night of REAL Voice of Reason" book, beer tasting and general-shooting-the-bull club?

I've read Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead, Anthem and The Virtue of Selfishness. I still SMH at her popularity.

 

[Emcee77]

lol sounds great dshans.

 

[scUM Hater]

Ghost Soldiers

written by: Hampton Sides


Story of Bataan Death March survivors in a POW camp and their rescue.

I'll admit I don't read much but this book is AWESOME.

Actually may read it again.

 

[Old Man Mike]

To continue a demonstration of extreme oldness on my part:

A). Ernest Callenbach ECOTOPIA for reasons other than good writing.
B). Joel Welty Sylviron.
C). Sheri Tepper Beauty.
D). Sheri Tepper The Gate To Womens Country.
E). James Hilton Lost Horizon.
F). Charles de Lint Moonheart.
G). C.S.Lewis' SF Trilogy, particularly That Hideous Strength.


P.S. I repped Syria a 1000-pound green pat-on-the-back for his stand on Rand.

 

[autry_denson]

Interesting set of lists, lots of stuff that I'll have to check out. Let me add a few:

- Saul Bellow: Henderson the Rain King (all-time favorite)
- Pat Conroy: The Great Santini (read it as a teen and never forgot it)
- Howard Zinn: People's History of the United States (apologies to all of the Rand fans!)
- Jack Kerouac: On the Road (opened my eyes to the idea that you can write however the f you want)
- Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass (I think we'd all be better off if we followed his advice and read it every season of every year, but I admit to picking it up only once or twice every few years...)

 

[Rudy89]

I don't read a whole lot of fiction other than comics. The fiction I did like was what I read in school but I enjoyed the frst three Harry Potter books, I also enjoyed backfield package, running scared, and football fugitive. I liked a book I read in 6th grade called twenty and ten that was the story of kids at a catholic school during WWII, that was always a favorite topic for me to study and at that time the fact that I could relate to the characters was neat.

Non-fiction books as a wrestling fan I enjoyed all four of Mick Foley's autobigraphies as well as Chris Jericho's first I want to read his second one really bad. I'm currently reading former Chicago Bull player Bob Love's book now i have had it for 6 years but now I'm finally sitting down to read it.

Comic wise I'm really enjoying Green Lantern: New Guardians, Detective Comics, Action Comics, and Amazing Spider-Man right now. I will be surprised if anyone else on this board knows what I'm talking about because I have always got **** about being a comic fan at my age. lol

 

[palinurus]

The Moviegoer is great. I went to Tulane and the Maple Street Bookstore is huge on Percy. If you like him, read The Sportswriter by Richard Ford.
Some other books: The Professional by Heinz (called the best boxing novel by Hemingway)
Clockers by Richard Price
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Grendel by John Gardner
First Blood by David Morrell (yes this is Rambo and it is just a thrill ride from page 1)
Treasure Island by Stevenson
Wind in the Willows by Grahame
A River Runs Through It by Maclean
The Maltese Falcon by Hammett

For non fiction I would recommend The Looming Tower, Economics in One Lesson, The War of Art, and The Rhythm of Life.

Right on target. Yes, I've read The Sportswriter and loved it, too. I like the other two Ford books from that trilogy, too -- Indepedence Day and Lay of the Land. He's great, though a little more "empty" than Percy. I like all of Percy -- If you want a little mind exercise, try his non fiction, "Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book."

Gonna be in NOLA is a few weeks, I think; maybe I will check on the bookstore -- thanks for the lead.

 

[palinurus]

Lol yes I was thinking this while reading through this thread. May just come down to ideological difference but I despise Ayn Rand too. Not that I want to debate the merits of her stuff in this thread (I've been down that road and it tends to get ugly); just didn't want Syria to feel lonely. And I also love Tolkien. Imagine creating languages for fun, and then writing epic stories because you need people to speak them. Talk about being good with words.

I always struggle to answer when people ask what my favorite books are. I tend not to think of books as one discrete category I guess, so I don't even know what my favorite book overall would be, but here are two sports books that I loved and that I think people on this board might like:

1) Bill Bradley, Life on the Run
It's an account by the former New York Knick and senator from New Jersey of life in the NBA in the 70's. I read it over and over when I was a kid, and I'm not even a fan of the Knicks and didn't grow up watching Bill Bradley (way before my time).
2) A Fan's Notes, by Frederick ExleyA "Fictional Memoir" by an obsessed New York Giants football fan. Some of us might be able to relate ...

Strong endorsement of "A Fan's Notes." A sad, lonely book, but excellent.

A word on Rand's behalf, though: I think she was a miserable person, in part a result of her devotion to her philosophy, which, it is true, exalted the individual to godhead and thus was doomed to fail, but there is no question -- NONE -- that there is a lot of truth in her portrayal of the state unbound as a leviathan that will crush the individual and lead to tyranny if not restricted. Just look around to see how -- which reminds me that better than Rand, though not a novel, is "Road to Serfdom" by Hayek.

 

[palinurus]

Another Roadside Attraction – Tom Robbins
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates – Tom Robbins
The Sot-Weed Factor – John Barth
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Love In The Ruins – Walker Percy
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
The Magus – John Fowles
Sunlight Dialogues – John Gardner

... and a cast of thousands.

Yes, on "Love in the Ruins." By the way, if you like Percy, they published a posthumous book of essays, which included one on bourbon, which in turn included a recipe for his uncle's Mint Julep. I still drink them every May, just the way "Cuddin' Walker" wrote it up.

You like Robbins a lot; I'll have to try him. Sot-Weed has been on my "Read Next" bookcase forever.

 

[Rocket89]

Was there a limit? Because I feel like I'm leaving out great ones that I can't remember and it feels so wrong.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky
1776 by David McCullough
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
Master & the Margarita by Bulgakov
No One Gets Out of Here Alive- Jim Morrison Bio
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Game by Ken Dryden
The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Beatles Gear by Andy Babiuk
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
War & Peace by Tolstoy
The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut
And pretty much any history/bios from Roman times!

 

[Yorkehead82]

As a bum with an English degree, I'll throw in my two cents.
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Citizen Soldier by Stephen E Ambrose
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth

 

[dshans]

Yes, on "Love in the Ruins." By the way, if you like Percy, they published a posthumous book of essays, which included one on bourbon, which in turn included a recipe for his uncle's Mint Julep. I still drink them every May, just the way "Cuddin' Walker" wrote it up.

You like Robbins a lot; I'll have to try him. Sot-Weed has been on my "Read Next" bookcase forever.

Percy is a pearl. The Movie Goer is a gem. I'll have to surf Amazon for the posthumous essays and anything else I may have missed. I've loved everything by Robbins, at times for different reasons. Both novelists add an interesting perspective to religion and its historical and social interwoven threads.

There was a stretch in my life when my reading preferences were dominated by "Johns." Barth, Gardner, Irving, Cheever and Fowles. Tom Robbins' writings were the "bookends" with delightful interludes.

The best (and initial) mint juleps I've ever had were sitting in the infield of Churchill Downs for the one hundredth running of the Kentucky Derby in 1974, just before graduating from ND. Sweet memories – and not just the Juleps.

I'll make a point of digging into Richard Ford.

 

[dshans]

As a bum with an English degree, I'll throw in my two cents.
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Citizen Soldier by Stephen E Ambrose
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth

Good God Awmighty, man ... I was tempted to add One hundred Years of Solitude and Goodbye, Columbus to my list, but I was trying to keep it mercifully short. I'll take a shot at your other favorites, you being an expert and all*.



*Not a tongue-in-cheek slam at all. An expression of respect.

 

[NankerPhelge]

"How to Write a How to Write Book" by M. McGibblets

"If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs" by J. Killz

"Theory of Lengthwise Rolling" by Richard Shans

"The Interpretation of Geological Time From the Evidence of Fossilized Elephant Droppings in Eastern Europe" by OMM

"I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen" by B. Benken

"Cheese Problems Solved" by N. DOM.

"Big and Very Big Hole Drilling" by B. Trotter

 

[Yorkehead82]

Hah, I'm probably one of the least well-read guys with an English degree around (due to various brain cell killing activities in college). But, of the books I've read, I must say that Things Fall Apart is my favorite. When I read it, I feel like I'm sitting in front of some wise old man telling it to me--just brilliant story-telling.

 

[Old Man Mike]

You can learn a lot from Elephant Droppings; mainly to stay out from under them.


By the way: was this post an elephant dropping??

 

[IrishinTN]

A Tale of Two Cities - Dickens
Fathers and Sons - Turgenev
Any of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit
Non-fiction by C.S. Lewis
The Gift - Keith Allen Reimert (which would be me)