Phx Recommended Reading List

kreleia, I love the Odyssey and can't stand Huck Finn. Of course there is the fact that I'm a fan of mythology in general. Oh, did I recommend the Conqueror's Saga by Timothy Zahn? Awesome trilogy! Zahn rocks!
Oh, but avoid Crime and Punishment, I swear those Russian authors sit down at the beginning of winter and start writing til the end, and they have LOONNGG winters.

 

here are the worst books i've ever read:

idoru, by william gibson.[/u]

i really really thought i'd like william gibson but LORD is he a bad writer. this was one of those books i'd always wanted to read, then i finally did. and i've been regretting it ever since. to the plot i say, "oh RIGHT," and to his descriptions of locations i say, "you, sir, need to stop taking so many prescriptions." when someone went to a new place, i had to reread the description at least five times to have any clue what he was talking about. ack.

the pearl, by john steinbeck.

when i read this, my teacher asked the class what word came to mind to describe the mood of the book. so i said, "opiate," and, after the class stopped gawking at me (i guess most 10th graders don't know what word, heh), my teacher agreed. i never thought i could hate reading, but this book made me hate it for an entire semester. boring, stupid, things happen to boring, stupid characters i don't care about, and for such a short book, it dragged on so much i was begging for death.

of mice and men, by john steinbeck.

i guess i just don't like his style, because i have to say everything i said about the pearl applies to this, too. but i never finished this book.

the catcher in the rye, by j.d. salinger.

well this one started out good and i would have liked it, but about half way through i just couldn't stand the main character complaining anymore.

the great gatsby, by f. scott fitzgerald.

never finished this one either, so maybe i shouldn't be talking, but this is another one of those, "*now* i see why most people don't like to read..." books.

hmm, i can't help it, i need to mention writing style real quick.

frank herbert, anne rice and clive barker. they're the type of writers that even if the story is boring, i keep reading because i enjoy how it's being told anyway.

now j. r. r. tolkien i think was a little nutty at times the way he decided to word his books, but he really grows on you. when i first started reading the hobbit i thought it was crap, and suddenly three-quarters through it i decided i really loved it. and now his writing style is one of my favorites.

not that any of you care, of course.

 

jupiter, have you read Neuromancer by William Gibson? I think his earlier stuff is better than his newer books.

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden. If you liked the movie, you'll definitely like the book.

-> IA

 

Upsidaisy!

Read any good books lately?