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[edit] List

Here's a complete list of books recommended by Eschwans in the Top Five> forum. The Original Posts are below.

[edit] Original Posts

Sep 1, 2005 9:27 from Kyle S (Forum Moderator)

We're going to try something slightly different. Something a little more serious, just for a while. And I hope I'm not stepping on Biblio> as we do this. Post a favorite read and why you liked it.

Don't worry, we'll go back to the likes of bumper stickers and curses soon enough. I just thought we'd mix it up for a while.

Top Five CURSES> --> Top Five RECOMMENDED BOOKS>

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Sep 1, 2005 9:35 from Evermore

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond About why some ciovilations got rich and others got smooshed. His conclusions aren't at all what you'd expect. Plus, very educational.

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Sep 1, 2005 9:33 from Kleric

Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison Short stories, from the late 60s/early 70s. It's considered the "birth" of speculative fiction, not quite sci-fi, not quite fantasy, not quite "normal" fiction. This book changed what I've read for the last 4 years since I first read it.

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Sep 1, 2005 9:36 from Kyle S

Bridge to Terabithia -- Katherine Paterson

One of the best children's books ever written. Great coming of age story. Be warned: very humongous tragedy within. You may need to talk with your kids about it as they read it.

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Sep 1, 2005 9:35 from Ibster

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo

Two books about change and why it's so fucking hard.

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Sep 1, 2005 9:37 from Jane

Lies My Teacher Told Me (debunking what you learned in HS history) An Incomplete Education (a primer on things you should know about history) Perfection Salad (social look on how women in the early 1900's were empowered to get out of the house by cooking)

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Sep 1, 2005 9:38 from GoNINzo

The Bible No, seriously, it has some of the best insane ramblings of any book I've ever read. Constantly contradicts itself, used by a couple major religions, and is the basis of all sorts of atrocities. It's popular for a reason! Do this, or you are damned forever and ever, amen!

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Sep 1, 2005 9:42 from Kyle S

Hitler's Pope : The Secret History of Pius XII -- John Cornwell

Popes and Nazis. What more can you want? What was originally meant to be a book that would redeem Pius XII and his decisions during his papacy turned out to be pretty damning of the Pontiff. Has an excellent chapter at the end putting his Papacy in perspective of the last fifty years and especially JP2. Very informative.

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Sep 1, 2005 9:45 from Ibster

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor.

The only other book I distintly remember reading dozens of times as a child. Oh and another book about change.

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Sep 1, 2005 10:00 from Kali

People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn.

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Sep 1, 2005 10:00 from Dawdle

Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History.

One of the best books at explaining the factors that shaped colonialism, the rise of our modern economic system, and much of the diet and culture and the anglo world.

Spandau: The Secret Diaries by Albert Speer. A fascinating account of life as a prisoner, of the nazi regime, of hitler's inner circle, and of speer's own life, written by one of the smartest, most erudite people of the 20th century.

Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth by Gitta Sereny Sereny really writes on of the most fascinating books I've ever read on the nazi regime, by someone whose life work focused on it, through the prism of a biography of one of the regimes most fascinating characters. As much psychological study of speer and the lower level folks who surrounded him and Hitler's inner circle as it is a biography, Sereny had unprecedented access to speer's papers, the man himself, his family, friends, and former subordinates. The central question of the book is really what did speer really know about the regimes crimes and to what extent was he willing to go to maintain a consistent narrative throughout his postwar life.

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Sep 1, 2005 10:08 from Bendix

Don Quixote really is the greatest novel ever written. But so is The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow. And Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh is great fun. (Kind of sloppy, as novels go, but full of great one-liners.)

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Sep 1, 2005 10:26 from Metatron

Make Love!*

∗The Bruce Campbell Way

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Sep 1, 2005 10:42 from FantaFlair

The Border Trilogy, Cormac McCarthy All The Pretty Horses The Crossing Cities Of The Plain

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Sep 1, 2005 10:45 from Kyle S

The Mars Trilogy -- Kim Stanley Robinson Red Mars Green Mars Blue Mars

Sci-fi novel about the colonization of Mars. Very believeable in a way that much sci-fi isn't. Characters are very likeable and, here's a thought, some of them *die*. I reread it all the time.

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Sep 1, 2005 11:07 from Mirth

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense - Suzette Haden Elgin Nightwood - Djuna Barnes Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - Annie Dillard Mothers of the Novel - Dale Spender Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin

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Sep 1, 2005 11:31 from Vylar

Women Warriors--David E. Jones

The military history of women. What I really liked was that it was balanced, with women across the world (not just Europe). Very engagingly written, mostly mini-biographies of heroic women who saved their villages or homes.

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Sep 1, 2005 11:19 from FantaFlair

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy Rachel and Her Children : Homeless Families in America, Jonathan Kozol Broken Heartland: The Rise of America's Rural Ghetto, Osha Gray Davidson With These Hands: The Hidden World of Migrant Farmworkers Today, Daniel Rothenberg

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Sep 1, 2005 11:41 from Evermore

Resurrection by Tolstoy

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Sep 1, 2005 11:43 from Cpk

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. Kind of dry in places, but a great story, and a lot of insight into life under the restored monarchy.

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Sep 1, 2005 11:44 from Mela

_Blindness_, by Jose Saramago. It's translated and odd on the punctuation, but such a good story, such excellent characterization, and one of those stories that has stuck with me for quite some time.

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Sep 1, 2005 11:47 from GoNINzo

Okay, serious suggestions. Neuromancer by William Gibson and Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Two books with completely takes on the cyberpunk genre, but both get it right in spades.

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Sep 1, 2005 11:51 from Evermore

_Good Omens_ by Gaiman and Pratchett. Funniest book ever.

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Sep 1, 2005 12:01 from FantaFlair

Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins

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Sep 1, 2005 12:00 from Misquoted

The Last Convertible by Anton Myrer Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein (:P) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides The Secret History by Donna Tartt (hey, who has my copy of this?) I Wish I Had a Red Dress by Pearl Cleage Trying to Sleep in the Bed you Made by Donna Grant and Virginia DeBerry

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Sep 1, 2005 12:48 from Snookles

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein - I know it seems very dated now, but I truly believe that it offers insight into human nature that's very powerful. Unfortunately, Heinlein managed to be openminded about everything but homosexuality.

Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq - An astonishing novel I posted about a couple of months ago. It seems very fragmented, and I almost put it down in the middle because the story didn't interest me. Even the ending was disappointing. It's followed by an 8-page epilogue that pulls the whole mess together and makes it all work, like closing a drawstring bag. I nearly flipped it over to re-read a second time.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - A love story of profound depth and breadth, following a very unusual arc. When Henry and Clare first meet, she's known him almost her entire life, but he's never seen her before. Like Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim, Henry is unstuck in time.

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Sep 1, 2005 13:31 from EverybodysDeadDave

_Invisible Man_, Ralph Ellison

One of the most carefully and beautifully crafted books in the English language. Also a compelling and painful story of race and masculinity in the U.S.

(Still working on 2 - 5.)

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Sep 1, 2005 13:36 from Methos

"Atonement" by Ian McEwan (anything by him really, but that one's the best.)

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Sep 1, 2005 15:15 from Amanda

Peace Like a River - Leif Enger To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (mandatory for a list like this, I think) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman

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Sep 1, 2005 16:25 from Ad Astra

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson. Some of the best fantasy I've ever read, and written on by far teh broadeset scope I've ever read.

Book 1: Gardens of the Moon Book 2: Deadhouse Gates

These are the only two available in the USA, but the rest, through book 5, are available used through Amazon

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Sep 1, 2005 16:31 from Evermore

_Tipping the Velvet_ by Sarah Waters. Not a super cerebral read by any stretch, but a fun Victorian lesbian novel.

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Sep 1, 2005 16:40 from Benevola

_Sarum_ by Edward Rutherfurd _London_ by Edward Rutherfurd _Time Enough for Love_ by Heinlein

First two: historical fiction set on the isle of Britain. Prehistory to the present, following distinct groups of people through the years. Really really good.

Last one: The only Heinlein book I've ever enjoyed. :)

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Sep 1, 2005 22:01 from Vampyre

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide - Douglas Adams The Code Book - Simon Singh A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Burton G. Malkiel The Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan Getting to Yes - Fisher, Ury, and Patton The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene Collapse - Jerad Diamond

Seconds for: Guns, Germs, and Steel To Kill a Mockingbird Neuromancer Snow Crash

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Sep 2, 2005 8:13 from Porco Rosso

serious book - As I Lay Dying by Falkner was a very good read. if i recall correctly, different narrative voice in each chapter including one by the dead mother(? its been years since i read it) [William Faulkner]

sci-fi - Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. i really liked this book, especially when trying to match the Hindu characters to what i recalled from my school studies from long ago.

The Last Starship from Earth by John Boyd. clever, short book. probably inspired by 1984 and Brave New World, but not as deep although possibly more humourous.

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Sep 2, 2005 8:58 from Linda O

I'm a big fan of Nancy Kress, and I'd recommend pretty much anything of hers I've read. I especially liked the Beggars series, which starts with "Beggars in Spain".

And readers of Biblio> already know that I really liked "I Had Brain Surgery, What's your Excuse?" by Suzy Becker.

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Sep 2, 2005 10:10 from Ariel

Harriet the Spy - Louise Fitzhugh (best book EVER)

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (huge in scope, about the history of a family but also about colonization, politics, and other stuff; thoroughly engrossing)

No More Masks! - edited by Florence Howe (classic anthology of poetry by women) The Professor and the Madman - Simon Winchester (about the guy who first created the Oxford English Dictionary; a true story, but as fascinating and absorbing as a fast-paced mystery)

Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (not her best-known novel, but I think one of her best; it's about a painter who comes back to her hometown for a retrospective of her paintings, and ends up revisiting her childhood & youth -- just beautifully written)

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Sep 2, 2005 10:51 from EverybodysDeadDave

_The Color of Distance_, Amy Thomson

A very well written piece of science fiction that does its best to get you inside the mind of an alien race. It is also a work of ecofiction with some utopian elements.

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Sep 2, 2005 21:21 from Raven

American Pastoral - Philip Roth We Were the Mulvanys - Joyce Carol Oates

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Sep 3, 2005 0:33 from Max Q

-Ishmael- by Daniel Quinn

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Sep 3, 2005 6:48 from Snapdragon

John Barnes wrote an uber-trashy, scientifically awful book about super-hurricanes. If you go into it with low-expectations, kind of like you would a romance novel, it's not bad.

MOTHER OF STORMS

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Sep 4, 2005 12:59 from Mere Joy

The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov Written in 1920's newly communist Russia. Satan goes to Moscow and plays pranks on the citizens therein. You see, with the uprising of communism, religion became pretty well illegal. If you don't believe in Jesus, then how can you believe in Satan? Hijinks ensue. The Rolling Stones based Sympathy for the Devil off of this masterpiece. He wrote this between 1928-1940. Many of these years spent blackballed by Stalin's regime. Excellent social satire.

A Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy Toole Toole was won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981 for this funny funny and kinda sad novel. He committed suicide in 1969 and his mother got a professor at loyola to read the manuscript in the mid 70's....

Anyhow.... you hip kids can keep your Holden Caufield. I'll take my flatulent slob, Ignatius Reilly.

Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede - Big Dumb Fun with robot dogs and Buddy Holly and aliens and all sorts of good things.

oops. Written by Bradley Denton

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Sep 6, 2005 9:19 from Metatron

The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy By Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw

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Sep 7, 2005 7:46 from Porco Rosso

has anyone ironically recommended High Fidelity by Nick Hornby yet?

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Sep 7, 2005 8:00 from Dawdle

I've read High Fidelity and How to be Good by Hornby and really liked them both. I didn't read either until after seeing High Fidelity the movie, though.

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Sep 7, 2005 11:47 from Snookles

I also really liked the book High Fidelity, and was disappointed by the film. But I get the joke. "Top Five" indeed.

An honest recommendation: Les Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues. I read it over a year ago, and it's amazing how much it has modified my perceptions in the intervening time. I've read all of Feinberg's nonfiction work now, and I'm eagerly awaiting her next novel, Drag King Dreams.

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Sep 8, 2005 1:25 from Emma

On that note, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold. It's a history of 1950s upstate New York (Albany?) butch-femme dykes.

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Sep 8, 2005 8:42 from Kali

AND, "My Dangerous Desires" by Amber Hollibaugh.

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Sep 8, 2005 9:05 from Breakdancing Jesuit

Top Five Difficult Novels that are worth reading:

Gravity's Rainbow -- Thomas Pynchon La Recherche du Temps Perdu -- Marcel Proust (more long than difficult) The Life and Times of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman -- Laurence Sterne Foucault's Pendulum -- Umberto Eco (call it four out of the five)

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Sep 8, 2005 9:57 from Fleep

I really liked the Name of the Rose better, but I'm not sure why.

Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K LeGuin Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean Auel Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy

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Sep 8, 2005 10:05 from Fleep

[That's my standard contribution to Top 5 lists, I have other suggestions though..

The Gunslinger series - Stephen King Rose Madder - Stephen King The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow I Don't Know How She Does It - Allison Pearson Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson Fool On the Hill - Matt Ruff Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver Brave New World - Aldous Huxley Little Women - Louisa May Alcott Watership Down - Richard Adams Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - cant rememebr the author

I'm sure there are more..

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Sep 8, 2005 10:46 from Linda O

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was written by Robert C. O'Brien.

And I second that recommendation. That's a fabulous book.

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Sep 8, 2005 12:03 from Snookles

There's a terrific graphic adaptation of Tristram Shandy by Martin Rowson. It's a great way to see what you're getting into.

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Sep 10, 2005 2:46 from Ruby

Maybe The Moon - Armistead Maupin - One of the most beautiful stories I've ever read.

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Sep 10, 2005 8:13 from Mirth

Miss Mole by E.H. Young Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson

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