Everybody is posting favorite lists, but one thing that gets overlooked is books. As a group of relatively intelligent people, I'm sure there are more readers than just me. So, what books have drawn you in to the point where you just don't want to leave the world crafted by the author? I'll start us off...
1. Ender's Game / Ender's Shadow -- Orson Scott Card
-- Two books following the stories of Bean and Ender, child prodigies who are training (through the use of videogames) to command the Earth's final battle against the Formics. Political sci-fi at it's absolute best with some of the most gripping characters I've ever encountered in a book. You really owe it to yourself to read these.
2. Night -- Elie Wiesel
-- Perhaps the most powerful book I've ever read. The true story (autobiographical perspective) of a 15-year-old Jewish boy who managed to survive the holocaust. Forget Steven King, this is true horror. A short book, and not the best written piece I've encountered, but the raw presentation and lack of sugar-coating makes it extremely potent, dare I say life-changing.
3. 1984 -- George Owell
-- A totalitarian future (the book was written in the 40s) where the government controls all, and the thougt police take people away in the dark of Night. Privacy is no more, as Big Brother sees all. Follows the story of Winston Smith, a man who hates the party and Big Brother, and his attempts to leave a message for the future about the world he currently lives in -- knowing full well the act of writing it down makes him a dead man.
4. The Great Gatsby -- F Scott Fitzgerald
-- Social commentary of the jazz movement of the 1920's. Relitively light-hearted, with a lot of character devlopment and a splash of comedy. There's are a lot of great literary techniques to learn from if you take the time to look for it, so this is definitly a book worth reading 2 or 3 times. Take it from me, my scores on papers shot up a good 10 points after reading this.
5. Waiting For Godot -- Samuel Beckett
-- OK, so this is actually a play, but it's a damn good one. Theatre of the absurd at its best, the book follows a couple of tramps in a swamp who are waiting for Godot, and know nothing beyond that. This one is almost impossible to explain, but for those who can appreciate its sillyness, is great. There's a lot of meaning hidden under the surface nonsense. For those not convinced, Beckett was a major influence for Monty Python.
6. Of Mice And Men -- John Steinbeck
-- Another really short book with a lot to say. Follows the story of two men (one scrawny, intelligent smooth talker, and another a big luff with the mind of a 5-year-old) who are trying to find work and peace. Lenny, the dumb one, has a knack for incidentally killing things so that leads to a lot of tension. The book will throw a rather sudden and powerful ending at you, so be prepared.
7. Stranger In A Strange Land -- Bob Heinlein
-- A man raised on Mars by Martians is finally returned to Earth to live among "his people". The book follows his attempts to adjust to the human way of life and the people who are both trying to help him and those who are trying to make him into the science experiment of the century.
8. Shadow Of The Hegemon -- Orson Scott Card
-- The sequel to "Ender's Shadow", this book continues the story of Bean and the other Battle School children as they live out their lives on Earth, as the most powerful weapons a country can aquire. Peter Wiggen plays a much bigger role this time around, as do Petra and Achilles. This one is more tactical/political fiction than sci-fi, but if you liked the first books you should like this one too.
9. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley
-- Kind of an anti-1984 world where all of society is synthetically happy clones of one another. Freedom of sex replaces freedom of thought, and art and religion have been abolished. A "savage" is brought into the world from the reservations built for the old society. Really good book that can be taken multiple ways -- for example, I actually side with the civilized world presented in the novel that the author is trying to discourage.
10. To Kill A Mockingbird -- Harper Lee
-- A black man is accused of rape during the great depression in a southern town where bigotry prevails. Follows the children of the town's attorney who is trying to defend his case. Plenty of plot twists and interesting characters (particularly Boo Radley, but I won't say anything about him so as not to give away the book).
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
I really enjoyed all of Mr. Adams work, it's a shame that he passed away. All of his works are funny and have some substance to them.
Any Works - Micheal Stackpole
What can I say, this man shaped the Battletech universe and also make political stories interesting, strikes a good balance between action/politics/ethics/etc.
Cather in the Rye - J D Salinger
A truly excellent book, while it's short, I suggest everyone read this at least once
-A song of Ice and Fire Trilogy = A Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, Storm Of Swords, A Feast For Crows
-Enders Game
-Lord of the Rings
-A Series by Laurence watt evans, the name doesn't spring to mind, Books in it I believe are called, The Basiliks Lure, Lords of Dusarra, The Sword of Bheule, The Book of Silence.
-All Quiet on the western Front
I never really seemed to enjoy the classics, like To kill a mocking bird and 1984 wasn't a big deal to me either. There are more books I know I like but I can't recall them. Right now I'm reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway
Anyone that knows me will tell you I like anything Agatha Christie I am a confirmed crime buff
I'm getting good, back when I started I could never guess who the murderer was, but she's written about 500 books, so with as much practice as I have had I'm getting good at picking up the clues now
Mike
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert
I'm in the middle...well no where near the middle...of reading Lord Of the Rings at the moment.
Last book I read was The Dead Zone by Stephen King, that was pretty good.
I had to read A Brave New World for English in year 11. That was a pretty interesting book. Bold prediction of the future and all that too.
Also had to read To Kill A Mockingbird (Tequila Mockingbird as I pronouce it! ) in year 8...now that you mention it, that was pretty good.
I tend to read books out of my own since I spent 3 hours on a trains a day since the begginning of uni. I'll finish LOTR in no time!
MUGGUS
Come and annoy me more at
www.muggus69.tk STOUT ANGER!!!
Three Kingdoms - Very hard book to find, 1698 pages...it takes a long time to read...but great none-the-less.
Catcher in the Rye - it was a very enjoyable book, not too slowpaced, but not going by so fast you miss everything in the book entirely...kinda missed the part about where he was the whole time he told the story
Red Sky at Morning - "A sort of catcher in the rye out west" very funny...hunner' percent!
The Holy Book(not the Bible, the Book of Circy) - that comment explains it all
Gatsby was ok, but the characters were not developed, they were all extremely shallow people, except maybe nick
a book you don't want to read is Cry the Beloved Country *still wishing I'd gouged my eyes out...like Oedipus*
As a boy, I wanted to be a train. I didn’t realize this was unusual—that other kids played with trains, not as them.
The Faraway tree series by Enid Blyton
Anything by Goosebumps
Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuse
Show me the power child,
I'd like to say,
That I'm down on my knees today,
Gives me the butterflies,
Gives me away,
'Til I'm up on my feet again,
I'm feeling outshined.
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I am a confirmed crime buff 
Mike 
) in year 8...now that you mention it, that was pretty good.
Edited by the Author.
