[Ally95]

George RR Martin: A song of ice and fire (the full series)
JRR Tolkien: EVERYTHING!

[Clip]

(Original post by la-penseur)
The Lord of the Rings, while it was long and tedious at times, I found to be overall a great, epic story which really touched me I sound so cheesy in all of this!

Tedious doesn't come close. It's outdated, blatant nonsense.

People who cite LoTR as a masterpiece are clearly unaware that the entire fantasy genre has been serving up the same story, done better for over 50 years.

Reading ASOIAF generally makes those people weep that they ever rated Tolkien.

[skittlesaremydrugs]

(Original post by brendonbackflip)
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time - Something different to what I've read before, was a really nice voice to autistic people imo.

I'm sorry I hated this book but i think it was because i was forced to read it and the teacher kept on doing a bloody awful somerset accent (seriously ripping my hair out) as she read along with us in class plus you could never really get into it because you were stopping and starting constantly

[Starrstruck]

1) The Kite Runner - deeply moving, it actually made me cry at the end. Brought a significant amount of awareness to me of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
2) Anna Karenina - loved the way Tolstoy created her character. I still thought about her life story after finishing the book for a long time.
3) The Hunger Games - the book was still better than the movie, although both were good.

[IAmTheKing]

50 shades of... Nah can't even say it as a joke.

1. The Rats - James Herbert
As a fan of all things horror, I liked this as it also had a subtext depicting society's neglect of its own doings.

2. Autumn - David Moody
Sure, most/all zombie apocalypse literature has its plot holes, but also as a fan of general dystopia, this is great for pure escapism.

3. The Shining - Stephen King
Just brilliant.

[getoom]

(Original post by Ally95)
George RR Martin: A song of ice and fire (the full series)
JRR Tolkien: EVERYTHING!

qft

[Politricks]

The Bible - there aren't many books out there which talk about children being mauled by bears for making fun of a bald man, and make the perpetrator of the vicious act look like the good guy.

[SecretDuck]

Series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket.

The Magician's Nephew. The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Voyage of the Dawn Treader. All by CS Lewis.

What made them special was that my mother and I used to read them together and these books have a lot of memories in them.

[Leon Trotsky]

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Being Jordan by Katie Price, and Das Kapital by Karl Marx.

[POWCATTY]

in no particular order...

harry potter - it was the first book i ever read off my own back ie wasnt those stupid books you have to read to teachers in primary school, and ive been hooked ever since!!
pride and prejudice - such a happy book!! i start grinning like mad halfway through waiting for the ending
toss up between his dark materials and the rift war saga (raymond e. fiest) - favourite individual books from those two series are 'the subtle knife' from his dark materials and 'magician' from the rift war saga. they are literally epic tales and such an amazing read, and i love the characters!!!

a favourite of mine is also the alex rider books. the covers have fallen off of my copies from over-use! and artemis fowl...yeah i have a very sophisticated taste in books

[daisydaffodil]

(Original post by kalika_amz)
Jane Eyre is amazing, have you read the post-colonial response Wide Sargasso Sea and the book Yellow Wallpaper? Theyre both really good

Read Wide Sargasso Sea although it was a library copy, need to buy it sometime... was actually quite good yeah!

Yellow Wallpaper - I am trying to remember if that's what I think it is and it might not be.. *goes to google* .. Am I right in thinking that's the story of the woman trapped in a room with (obv) yellow walls, she becomes more and more mentally ill and eventually hallucinates other women being trapped in the wallpaper?

I did read that once, but it must have been a while ago - as I don't remember understanding it much beyond the woman being trapped behind the wall! Fits quite well to Jane Eyre though - will try to find a copy and read it again Was a weird story though, I always find stories where the narrator has poor mental health a bit difficult to read and do remember it sticking with me for a few nights!

I did at the time get pushed into reading Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier, thriller/romance/gothic novel) - which at first I found incredibly boring but ended up being unable to put down.. Came across the 1940s film version a while back which was brilliant - a lot of similarities to Jane Eyre but still very good read; especially if you like what my English teacher was determined was called "The Madwoman in the Attic theme" (literally meaning novels that on some level go along the theme of Rochester's first wife in the attic) - it's basically the same theme that's explored in Rebecca as well, though not so literally..

But yeah - will have to go search for The Yellow Wallpaper now :P, am curious to read it again!

[Gary Barlow]

(Original post by Tedaus)
I, Partridge - Alan Partridge/Steve Coogan; Absolutely hilarious. Read the whole thing in Alan Partridge's voice and it's the only book I've ever genuinely laughed at.

I watched that Alan Partridge Open Books the other day, gave me a right chuckle when he read the extracts.

[crazyunicorn133]

OMFGsss '50 Shades of Grey'






... obvs, I jest I read about 4 lines and gave up. It is horrendously written and obviously aimed at 40-somethings stuck in sexless marriages.


Anywhoo,

I loved 'The Gargoyle' by Andrew Davidson, the perfect mix of magic realism and fantasy but still gripping and with an amazing plot.

'Beloved' by Toni Morrison, just blew me away with it's imagery.

'The French Lieutenants woman' by John Fowles. Intellectually written, a curious novel that makes you think. And the standard of novel is waaaay before its time, the whole 3 different endings and the existentialism theme.

[crazyunicorn133]

(Original post by IAmTheKing)
50 shades of... Nah can't even say it as a joke.

1. The Rats - James Herbert
As a fan of all things horror, I liked this as it also had a subtext depicting society's neglect of its own doings.

2. Autumn - David Moody
Sure, most/all zombie apocalypse literature has its plot holes, but also as a fan of general dystopia, this is great for pure escapism.

3. The Shining - Stephen King
Just brilliant.

...Darn, beaten to it

[TattyBoJangles]

1 - To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee.
2 - The Book Thief, Markus Zusak.
3 - A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini.

[kingtaco]

(Original post by SecretDuck)
Series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket.

I'm so glad you mentioned this as it was the first series I read. I loved how dark it was for a kid's book and fell in love with each Baudelaires.

The ending frustrated me slightly but I've forgotten it. How did it go again? And what was the significance of the spyglass thingy? Hahaha thanks

[EllieJelly96]

Hard to pick just 3 but here are some of my favourites.

1) Looking for Alaska - John Green. Loved the fact that this book showed adolescents as they truly are and also had a really shocking/surprising event. Really well written and love all John Green's stuff. The kind of books you keep thinking about after you've read them.

2) The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky. This book keeps you guessing throughout about what is haunting the main character and I just really enjoyed reading it.

3) Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman. One of the first books to make me really stop and think about the content. Excellent ideas and loved the characters. Heartbreaking at the end.

[la-penseur]

(Original post by Clip)
Tedious doesn't come close. It's outdated, blatant nonsense.

People who cite LoTR as a masterpiece are clearly unaware that the entire fantasy genre has been serving up the same story, done better for over 50 years.

Reading ASOIAF generally makes those people weep that they ever rated Tolkien.

Lol well I enjoyed it an to be honest I think that's all that matters.

[Clip]

(Original post by la-penseur)
Lol well I enjoyed it an to be honest I think that's all that matters.

Do you think that Tom Bombadil was a god?

[SecretDuck]

(Original post by kingtaco)
I'm so glad you mentioned this as it was the first series I read. I loved how dark it was for a kid's book and fell in love with each Baudelaires.

The ending frustrated me slightly but I've forgotten it. How did it go again? And what was the significance of the spyglass thingy? Hahaha thanks

Kit dies and leaves her baby with the Baudelaires. They all go back towards the mainland on the boat and their fate is unknown afterwards.
I dunno about the spyglass, sorry.