43 Comments

• 1. OhioOrrin  |  May 1st, 2008 at 7:36 am

  objection matt - this is NOT an open thread if it’s restricted to “fav novels” !

• 2. js  |  May 1st, 2008 at 7:55 am

  i havent read a novel since 1984

• 3. Matt Margolis  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:04 am

  it isab open thread with a specfic topic.

• 4. Christian Wright  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:04 am

  Funny, JS.

  The last novel I read was 1984 and now our citizens are living it.

• 5. NebraskaMilitia  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:25 am

  Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein. Anything by this author is a good read. I started reading his books in my early teens (late 1970’s) before I knew what conservative or liberal meant. Looking back maybe Heinlein influenced the conservative values I have held since I first voted for President Reagan.

• 6. Rich  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:44 am

  For Whom the Bell Tolls- or the book I am writing now, which will probably suck very badly.

• 7. Seth  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:52 am

  I was interested and excited recently to learn that good ole Chief Justice Roberts is a big fan of PG Wodehouse…I too would recommend any of his (Wodehouse’s) farcical British novels. “Right Ho, Jeeves” comes to mind as a particularly clever and enjoyable one.

• 8. Casper  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:53 am

  One of the best books i’ve read in the last couple of years is “1776″. While it’s not really a novel, it reads like one. David McCullough does a great job of bringing that year to life.

  NebraskaMilitia,

  Robert A. Heinlein has been one of my favorite authors since the sixties. I’ve read everything he has written. Great author!

• 9. Canadian Observer  |  May 1st, 2008 at 9:40 am

  One of my all-time favorite novels is London, by Edward Rutherfurd which traces the history of city through the eyes of his characters, from Roman times to the present.

  I have just finished reading Paul Theroux’s, Elphanta Suite. Theroux is a favorite of mine as he has the capability to capture the essence of
  any country of which he writes, either in his travel books or his fiction.

• 10. Some Assembly Required  |  May 1st, 2008 at 9:58 am

  Top 5 All Time favorite Books:

  Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
  Utopia by Sir Thomas More
  No Logo by Naomi Klein
  The Giver by Lois Lowry
  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

• 11. Kahn  |  May 1st, 2008 at 10:04 am

  I was going to write “Stranger in a Strange Land” also. Excellent book.

  For one of my literature credits in college I took “Science Fiction”. What a great course. “Stranger in a Strange Land” was one of the books we had to read. I don’t know how many times I’ve read it since…

• 12. SEW  |  May 1st, 2008 at 10:34 am

  Tossup, in progress. Barry’s Cult by Hussein Obama, and Reverend Wright’s Snippets by Hussein Obama.

• 13. Amanda  |  May 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am

  I loved Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer, and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Basically, I’m hooked on BookSense award-winners.

• 14. Canadian Observer  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am

  12. SEW | May 1st, 2008 at 10:34 am

  Obama authored Rev. Wright’s sermons? Who would have thunk?

• 15. kimberly4victory  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:05 am

  I just read “Love in the Time of Cholera” (so much better than the movie) … now I am on to one of Joel Osteen’s books “Your Best Life Now”. It’s very uplifting.

• 16. Dasein Libsbane  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:15 am

  Grapes of Wrath, re-reading Stienbeck is like visiting an old friend.

• 17. David B. Schmidt  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am

  Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (I believe); however, I have to agree with the others about Robert A. Heinlein. I have read and re-read just about every one of his works.

• 18. Danish Artist  |  May 1st, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  CW, you were supposed to be non-political. Well when all you can do is regurgitate liberal talking points……………..

  Now, back on topic,

  1776
  The Founding Brothers
  Rise to Rebellion
  The Civil War - Shelby Foote’s MASSIVE narrative.

  Also, I like science fiction alternative history stories, specifically those of Harry Turtledove. He has written alternatives to the Civil War and WWI and WWII.

• 19. Bev  |  May 1st, 2008 at 1:17 pm

  Anything by Nicholas Sparks….Probably his “The Guardian”

• 20. JPL  |  May 1st, 2008 at 1:49 pm

  For me, probably A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, though Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would be a close second.

• 21. Rana Quijotesca  |  May 1st, 2008 at 1:54 pm

  I have a few favorite books:

  Don Quijote-Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (hence the handle)
  Slaughter House V-Kurt Vonnegut
  Catch 22-Joseph Heller
  All the King’s Men-Robert Penn Warren
  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead-Tom Stoppard (even though it’s technically a play and not a novel)
  The Cure at Troy-Seamus Heaney (another great play)

  I am also a great fan of almost everything written by J. R. R. Tolkein (The Salmarillion got a little tiresome, but it was still enjoyable).

  I guess that you can see a bit of my personality and beliefs reflected in what I like to read, but I don’t really think that that matters too much–a good story is a good story.

• 22. Bigfoot  |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:18 pm

  For one of my literature credits in college I took “Science Fiction”.

  Same here, for one of my “humanities electives”. It’s hard to pin down any one novel, but my favorite series of related novels would be the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, one of which was included in my college SciFi course. I also like some of Jack McDevitt’s books, such as The Engines Of God, Ancient Shores and Eternity Road, where he combines SciFi with archaeology.

• 23. Christian Wright  |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pm

  I don’t remember the title of the book, but it is about a DC Madam that kept records on all the kinky Republicans that used her service.

  She had already exposed one Senator to show she had to nerve to do it, and she was planning to expose all the Republicans when suddenly she is murdered in such a way as to suggest suicide.

• 24. Jeremiah  |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:27 pm

  Narnia - C.S. Lewis.

• 25. JPL  |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm

  I don’t remember the title of the book, but it is about a ridiculous left-wing blogger who posted assinine off-topic posts at a popular conservative blog.

  He’d already exposed himself as a primo nitwit to show he had the nerve when suddenly everyone else wished he would just go away.

• 26. Aitch  |  May 1st, 2008 at 2:46 pm

  Hithchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

• 27. Marty13  |  May 1st, 2008 at 3:53 pm

  Doris Kearns Goodwin’s tome of Lincoln’s cabinet, “Team of Rivals,” was a great read.
  For fun, I too love a good alternative history work. Though Turtledove is excellent, I have enjoyed Newt Gingrich’s (along with William Forstchen) 3 volume work on the Civil War.

• 28. Some Assembly Required  |  May 1st, 2008 at 4:38 pm

  26. Aitch | May 1st, 2008 at 2:46 pm

  Completely forgot about that book… ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ was great too.

• 29. William Teach  |  May 1st, 2008 at 4:55 pm

  Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Charles Sheffield followed by Starship Troopers.

  Others are Plum Island, The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse, anything by Heinlein and Michael Marshall Smith.

  The alternate history books by Harry Turtledove are excellent, too.

  Not sure if anyone else has gotten it, but the code word is fiction absorbing for me :)

• 30. William Teach  |  May 1st, 2008 at 4:59 pm

  Hey, Bigfoot, funny you should mention McDevitt. I am re-reading Cauldron, almost done with it. His books are excellent.

• 31. Danish Artist  |  May 1st, 2008 at 7:05 pm

  “I don’t remember the title of the book, but it is about a ridiculous left-wing blogger who posted assinine off-topic posts at a popular conservative blog.
  He’d already exposed himself as a primo nitwit to show he had the nerve when suddenly everyone else wished he would just go away.”

  JPL, I remember this book, but I haven’t locked down the title yet - it was either “Dumber & Dumberer”, “Air Heads” or the “40 year old virgin”.

• 32. Gaijin  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:11 pm

  Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is one of the best books I have read in the past 5 years.

  You also can’t go wrong with Kurt Vonnegut.

  Peace, Gaijin

• 33. Gozer the Carpathian  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:51 pm

  I love Isaac Asimov’s work. I also like Orson Scott Card’s Ender Series and the Honorverse by David Weber. So yeah, several books I keep reading good books. :)

  Oh! Can’t forget the Starfist Series by David Sherman. Marines in space, gotta love it. :)

• 34. Matt Margolis  |  May 1st, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  I have a few favorites..

  One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
  A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby
  Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

• 35. Freedom1  |  May 1st, 2008 at 9:43 pm

  Alien

  Heh.

• 36. LNC  |  May 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm

  Gozer… I really like the Honor Harrington books, too.

  I don’t think I could possibly pick a favorite book, though. I read a lot!

  I have really liked Orson Scott Card’s Women of Genesis books, as well as his book enchantment.

  I like Eric Flint’s 1632 series (alternate history).

  And I just finished a book by Stephanie Meyers called Twilight (vampires) that was excellent… I can’t wait to read the next two in the series. I know so many people that have read them and couldn’t put them down.

• 37. JPL  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:04 pm

  Good one, Danish! (Though in his case, the more accurate title might be the “14 Year Old Virgin”….)

• 38. Kahn  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm

  I guess you’re not very well read CW.

  Rana - Slaughterhouse Five is good. Try “Cat’s Cradle” also by Vonnegut. The song “Nice, nice, very nice” by Ambrosia is a poem from this book set to music. It’s about the end of the world and it’s exactly what you would expect from Vonnegut.

  Aitch - I have all the Hitchhikers books. All five books as done by BBC radio. The TV series on DVD and the latest movie on DVD. I found the radio shows (the first two books) posted on the net. I turned to e-bay for the rest. His two Dirk Gently books are hilarious also. Dirk Gently is a holistic detective.

  Gozer, I have a lot of Asimov also.

  MATT - I hear that “Atlas Shrugged” is good, I’ll have to pick it up.

  Next, ask us for our non-fiction choices…

• 39. Casper  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:28 pm

  Kahn,
  Vonnegut, Heinlein, Douglas, and Asimov. Our libraries are a lot more similar than I think either of us would have expected.
  I would have to add Arthur C. Clarke to the list. I loved Childhoods End and 2001.

• 40. Kahn  |  May 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm

  Casper - both good books. If you read the end to 2001, you don’t really need “2010″, as it’s all explained.

• 41. Matt Margolis  |  May 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 am

  I’ve read Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions by Vonnogut. I liked the former better.

  I’m actually reading (or really listening to the audiobook of) Orwell’s 1984.

• 42. Kurt  |  May 2nd, 2008 at 2:50 am

  The Godfather, By Mario Puzo

• 43. abpierce  |  May 2nd, 2008 at 10:12 am

  “The Keys of the Kingdom”, by A.J. Cronin, hands down.

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