List of good books
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Second vote for Ender's Game.
Battlefield Earth... great Sci-Fi book!!!!
Almost anything by Heinlein... Time Enough For Love is a good starting point.... a collection of semi-interrelated short stories.
Men to Match My Mountains.... non-fiction about 1800s mountain men.
Non-fiction that I believe should be required reading by every American.... The Irony of Democracy. Wanna' know how and why the federal government ACTUALLY became what it is? Read the book.
Battlefield Earth... great Sci-Fi book!!!!
Almost anything by Heinlein... Time Enough For Love is a good starting point.... a collection of semi-interrelated short stories.
Men to Match My Mountains.... non-fiction about 1800s mountain men.
Non-fiction that I believe should be required reading by every American.... The Irony of Democracy. Wanna' know how and why the federal government ACTUALLY became what it is? Read the book.
For sci-fi: "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke.
I tell you. The corporate tax return I'm finishing up is quite a fairytale.
I recently read his "Hound of the Baskervilles" and loved it.
Richard Matheson's classic "I Am Legend".
The inspiration for Night of the Living Dead and most subsequent zombie movies, Stephen King's The Stand and Salem's Lot, and just about every post apocalyptic horror or sci-fi work to come down the pipeline in the last fifty years.
The inspiration for Night of the Living Dead and most subsequent zombie movies, Stephen King's The Stand and Salem's Lot, and just about every post apocalyptic horror or sci-fi work to come down the pipeline in the last fifty years.
The author I like the most is Stephen King, the Dark Tower series is hard to follow though. After that it would be Heilein, Koontz. Series wise would be Star Wars the New Order. I also have to say thanks for all the good suggestions you guys have gave in this thread. I have nothing but time to read at my new job and a library card to match, i'm in heaven.
One of my favorite books is "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling. Mind you I'm not talking about Disney's stupid version, but the real thing. My Mom has a very old reprint and I found some exerpts in the following link which read the same way. Wonderful descriptions and gives an insight on people, life, and how one should live. R. Kipling would roll in his grave if he knew this book was Disneyfied.
http://www.samurai.com/kipling/jungle/
http://www.samurai.com/kipling/jungle/
I would suggest "L'argent" d'Emile Zola, especially now when the world is facing with an economic cataclysm. Very interesting and instructive despite it dates from 1890.
It's never easy to know what another will like as to books.
I've been reading 4-5 books per week for well over thirty years. From the classics in my earlier years (Mortimer Adlers list of the Great Books [from, How To Read A Book given me by a neighbor when a teenager; still not finished), to a ton of thrillers and such as my energy/skills decline due to failing health there is no end to it as there is with shallow television and the rest. Maybe you'll find my experience of help.
Cautions: Beware of the best seller list, in general. Most are poorly done and little more than TV substitute. Avoid books "written" by more than one author (such as an autobiography ghosted by another; or a series in fiction); remember that even good writers tend to only have one, maybe three good books in them. Anything more is just a franchise in all but a handful of cases. Make talent a priority.
Get your library card ready. Have a list of used bookstores for your area for the moments when you have a moment.
Lists which are helpful include the prizewinners of various organizations: the Nobel, the Pulitzer, etc. Each genre tends to have one (for mysterys, the Edgar). You may, as have I, find a few good authors this way. I searched the Internet for these. "Great Books of the 20th Century" is another search, by several groups, American, European, etc. Pretty well no losers on those lists.
My rules of thumb at the library are fairly simple for authors unknown to me:
Number One, a review by the papers of NY, LA, DC, etc means it isn't dross. A "named" review from the NY Times/NY Review of Books is gold (as are those from other major reviews; the reviewer is named). Thousands of books are published yearly, and, as a reader it is to be hoped that the better books are noted by the various reviews and reviewers.
As to reviewers there are those for whom it is a part livelihood. Nelson DeMille is a mediocre writer who in turn never met a book he didn't like, sort of like Gene Shalit and movies. You can likely find his "!!" on dozens of recent books. Shills abound.
So, Number Two: As I was impressed by author George Pelecanos (recommend him to anyone; my one recommendation to you), and I see that a blurb from him is on the jacket of a book by an author with whom I'm unfamiliar, I'll give it a shot.
Number Three is to see if the story as re-capped in the flyleaf interests me. Some don't. But whether or not I think I might like it is the last, and by far the least important decision in choosing a book. A strong review, a strong reviewer, the blurb of a good author weigh more in the process.
A good list I'm currently working from is the US Marine Corps recommendations for all enlisted personnel and officers. Those I haven't read previously I'm trying to get through before my mind/energy decline further . . my son recently accepted his commission in the USMC.
Reading can be for pleasure (97% of those who call themselves readers fall into this category), it can be for information (hopefully outside ones livelihood), and for knowledge. I can best recommend that one pushes oneself from time to time, to try something new. I am no whiz in science, only adequate, but since college have greatly enjoyed what is termed "hard" science fiction (Charles Sheffield for example) as it has broadened my ideas of "the possible".
In the end, reading ought to open that door, of what may be possible.
Good luck.
I've been reading 4-5 books per week for well over thirty years. From the classics in my earlier years (Mortimer Adlers list of the Great Books [from, How To Read A Book given me by a neighbor when a teenager; still not finished), to a ton of thrillers and such as my energy/skills decline due to failing health there is no end to it as there is with shallow television and the rest. Maybe you'll find my experience of help.
Cautions: Beware of the best seller list, in general. Most are poorly done and little more than TV substitute. Avoid books "written" by more than one author (such as an autobiography ghosted by another; or a series in fiction); remember that even good writers tend to only have one, maybe three good books in them. Anything more is just a franchise in all but a handful of cases. Make talent a priority.
Get your library card ready. Have a list of used bookstores for your area for the moments when you have a moment.
Lists which are helpful include the prizewinners of various organizations: the Nobel, the Pulitzer, etc. Each genre tends to have one (for mysterys, the Edgar). You may, as have I, find a few good authors this way. I searched the Internet for these. "Great Books of the 20th Century" is another search, by several groups, American, European, etc. Pretty well no losers on those lists.
My rules of thumb at the library are fairly simple for authors unknown to me:
Number One, a review by the papers of NY, LA, DC, etc means it isn't dross. A "named" review from the NY Times/NY Review of Books is gold (as are those from other major reviews; the reviewer is named). Thousands of books are published yearly, and, as a reader it is to be hoped that the better books are noted by the various reviews and reviewers.
As to reviewers there are those for whom it is a part livelihood. Nelson DeMille is a mediocre writer who in turn never met a book he didn't like, sort of like Gene Shalit and movies. You can likely find his "!!" on dozens of recent books. Shills abound.
So, Number Two: As I was impressed by author George Pelecanos (recommend him to anyone; my one recommendation to you), and I see that a blurb from him is on the jacket of a book by an author with whom I'm unfamiliar, I'll give it a shot.
Number Three is to see if the story as re-capped in the flyleaf interests me. Some don't. But whether or not I think I might like it is the last, and by far the least important decision in choosing a book. A strong review, a strong reviewer, the blurb of a good author weigh more in the process.
A good list I'm currently working from is the US Marine Corps recommendations for all enlisted personnel and officers. Those I haven't read previously I'm trying to get through before my mind/energy decline further . . my son recently accepted his commission in the USMC.
Reading can be for pleasure (97% of those who call themselves readers fall into this category), it can be for information (hopefully outside ones livelihood), and for knowledge. I can best recommend that one pushes oneself from time to time, to try something new. I am no whiz in science, only adequate, but since college have greatly enjoyed what is termed "hard" science fiction (Charles Sheffield for example) as it has broadened my ideas of "the possible".
In the end, reading ought to open that door, of what may be possible.
Good luck.
Skunk Works by Ben Rich. if you are into military avation you'll enjoy it.
'The Lord of the Rings'. A cliche by now but a favorite for me.
'Glory Road' and 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'. I liked these better than 'Stranger in a Strange Land'.
'Conquest of Gaul' by Ceaser.
'National Geographic Atlas of the World'
'Brute Force' by Ellis. It's out of print, might be hard to find, but an excellent read that offers a different way of looking at WWII.
Paul Davies has a lot of nice 'popular physics' books. '*** and the New Physics' and 'About Time' are favorites.
'Shogun' by Clavell.
'When Titans Clashed' by Glantz. 'The Battle of Kursk' if you get interested in the eastern front, as well as 'Zhukov' by Chaney and 'Lost Victories' by Manstein.
'Iberia' by Michener'. More of a travel diary than his typical fare.
'Breakout' by Russ, about THE epic Marine Corps campaign. A nice complement is 'Enter the Dragon' by Spurr, on the Red Chinese entry into the Korean War.
'Star Testing Astronomical Telescopes' by Suiter is a superb book for the interested hobbyist. 'Burnham's Celestial Handbook' too.
'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information' by Tufte. Amazing.
'Death in the Silent Places' by Capstick. People don't go for hunting stories much these days, but Capstick does such books better than most.
There's lot's more, but that'll do it for now.
'Glory Road' and 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'. I liked these better than 'Stranger in a Strange Land'.
'Conquest of Gaul' by Ceaser.
'National Geographic Atlas of the World'
'Brute Force' by Ellis. It's out of print, might be hard to find, but an excellent read that offers a different way of looking at WWII.
Paul Davies has a lot of nice 'popular physics' books. '*** and the New Physics' and 'About Time' are favorites.
'Shogun' by Clavell.
'When Titans Clashed' by Glantz. 'The Battle of Kursk' if you get interested in the eastern front, as well as 'Zhukov' by Chaney and 'Lost Victories' by Manstein.
'Iberia' by Michener'. More of a travel diary than his typical fare.
'Breakout' by Russ, about THE epic Marine Corps campaign. A nice complement is 'Enter the Dragon' by Spurr, on the Red Chinese entry into the Korean War.
'Star Testing Astronomical Telescopes' by Suiter is a superb book for the interested hobbyist. 'Burnham's Celestial Handbook' too.
'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information' by Tufte. Amazing.
'Death in the Silent Places' by Capstick. People don't go for hunting stories much these days, but Capstick does such books better than most.
There's lot's more, but that'll do it for now.
There seems to be lots of Sci-Fi readers here, and I'm one of them. Certainly one of the best I've read is the 'Rama' series by Arthur Clark.
Technology isn't quite up to the task just yet, but a good sci-fi book can take you to the stars every night.
Technology isn't quite up to the task just yet, but a good sci-fi book can take you to the stars every night.
JHZR2
Staff member
The World is Flat, by Thomas Freidman...
Reccomended by RADM Cohen (CNR) at his last ONR briefing... Ive started it and it is quite good...
JMH
Reccomended by RADM Cohen (CNR) at his last ONR briefing... Ive started it and it is quite good...
JMH
I forgot a few excellent ones.
Ivory, by Mike Resnick, a great novel that spans thousands of years, made up of several episodes set in different times, all involving a (real) set of huge elephant tusks, and the different people and cultures who desire to possess them for various reasons.
Paradise, also by Resnick, a story about a planet called Paradise, and what happens to it. The book is actually a history of Kenya, but told as a Sci-Fi story.
Mike Resnick is an excellent story-teller.
Ivory, by Mike Resnick, a great novel that spans thousands of years, made up of several episodes set in different times, all involving a (real) set of huge elephant tusks, and the different people and cultures who desire to possess them for various reasons.
Paradise, also by Resnick, a story about a planet called Paradise, and what happens to it. The book is actually a history of Kenya, but told as a Sci-Fi story.
Mike Resnick is an excellent story-teller.
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