MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Just finished a cheap thriller (book that is) and although it was riotus and kept me turning the page I've been left unfulfilled. So literary types/Richard and Judy book club members tell me about your fave... finish the last page sit back, eyes closed and think....
"yeah man, that was a mighty good thing to get in my head"
types books
Only cheery inspirational stuff please, not a Daily Mail fan
hit me!
MC
1984
Brideshead Revisited.
In fact, I must re-read it.
The Strange Death Of David Kelly...
VC Heroes by Michael Ashcroft
Catch 22
Heart of Darkness (plus it's short)
Anything by Adam Hall.
Little Black Sambo
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17824
I can remember it in my Primary Schools Library, I can remember reading it, I can remember never having seen a coloured or ethnic person and I can remember some of the other saying they didn't like it. I loved it.
Life of Pi
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Just finished slaughterhouse five - kurt vonnegut
would reccomend it
all the lord of the rings books.
loved em all, so started them again and read them back to back.
I read the entire published works of Kurt Vonnegut when I was living in Finland, I particularly like Bluebeard (which I have a copy of), the trouble is they all tend to blur into each other and you end up with this weird Kilgore Trout shapeshifting universe in your head! 😆
Tibour Fischer - The Thought Gang is laugh out loud funny, I think I may reread that actually!
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. A simple, feel good story with some fantastic characters and great insights into the human condition. I've re-read it at least 4 times now and always experience that wide eyed wonder you get when you know you've learnt something special. Has a sequel as well, Sweet Thursday, which is equally inspiring.
Mind you, I am a huge Steinbeck fan, slowly working my way through all of his books. My favourite is East of Eden, but that has a fair amount of unhappy material so doesn't really fit your criteria. I would urge anyone to read it though, amazing book.
I'm with you on Of Mice & Men, awesome book!
of mice and men is good too.
was that john steinbeck.
Which is the Vonnegut book with the artist doing a massive mural in it, is that Slaughterhouse 5? Got that here, guess I could re-read it and find out 😉
The Old Man and the Sea.
Short, sweet and the best book I've read (and I've read a lot - I did English lit at uni).
Any of the Jack Reacher books by Lee child.
I found Of Mice And Men one of his least satisfying books to be honest. Struggled to feel empathy with most of the characters for some reason. I'll give it another go I think. Not sure why this and Grapes of Wrath are chosen as study material in schools, as they are his most depressing books (albeit great stylistically, especially GoW). I'd have taught Tortilla Flat, which is a riot. Admittedly, the subject matter of drunkenness, womanising and petty theft might not go down well with the authorities 🙂
the bible..........
may god be with you.
"The Wrath of Grapes" has probably been the biggest influence in my life! 🙄
changed my life
pretty strong!
no fictional book has changed my life, doubt one ever will
Cyclecraft by john franklin, is definitely a book that will open your eyes! this is the bible for anyone who rides on the road,
sorry not a "story book" but it's inspirational stuff
http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/
The Biggest effect? Necessary Illusions by Noam Chomsky completely changed my world view when I first read it, I still dip into it occasionally now. The other was a copy of The Ascent of Everest I found in a second hand book shop, by John Hunt himself. Amazing what they did without the technological backup we all seem to take for granted nowadays. Extraordinary.
Ranaulph Fiennes - The Feather Men. I challenge you to not be amazed/confused/scared/intruiged as whether it is fact or fiction.
One of the best books I've ever read.
Auto Da Fe
Elias Canetti. If you can find a copy .
One of the most compelling things I've ever read.
In Auto-da-Fé no one is spared. Professor and furniture salesman, doctor, housekeeper, and thief all get it in the neck. The remorseless quality of the comedy builds one of the most terrifying literary worlds of the century."--Salman Rushdie
Just finished...The God of Small Things...yeh I know...10 years since its release.......stunning!
another vote for The Old Man and the Sea and/or Islands in the Stream - Hemingway's fiction is fantastic
as to a book that has changed my life
Herman Buhl's Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage
nothing is impossible
Anything by Richard Brautigan.
"Who Moved my Cheese" - Spencer Johnson
Second vote for "Who moved my cheese"
The bomb maker by Stephen Leather was a very good read
£2 in Asda at the moment.
Vulcan 607 is tops
The ragged trousered philathropists by Robert Tressell. It had a huge and lasting impact on me. I re-read it occasionally
"Keep the Aspidistra flying" George Orwell
"A day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch" Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
"Post office" Charles Bukowski.
War & Peace. 😀
Its been out a few years but I remember "The strange case of the dog in the night time" being particularly enjoyeable.
Vurt - Jeff Noon
Crow Road - Ian Banks
Or
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
You lot have read some good books! I love Cannery Row, Catch 22, Keep the aspidistra flying, and recommend them all - they all make me laugh.
As something more up to date and lighter , how about some Tom Robbins? "Even cowgirls get the blues" and "Jitterbug perfume" are both awesome little books, well written and very funny. And what about Flann O'Brien's "Third policeman"?
"Systems thinking in the public sector" John Seddon.
More readable than it sounds, explains clearly why the last 10 years of "command and control" from central government has been such an expensive disaster.
Instinctively thought that spending twice as much on the NHS and getting a worse service wasn't good, this book explains.
On the Road - was the book for me when I was a teenager.
Recent books that have done it for me would include JPod and Life After God by Douglas Coupland. Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. The Arabesk Trilogy by Jon Courtney Grimwood or Syrup by Max Barry (the funniest book I have ever read).
Kinda got beaten to it but definitely
On the road by Jack Kerouac. It made me realise that I too was spending every moment just chasing that last hairpin turn too
The other and more sporting focussed I suppose was
the mind gym by Gary Mack. Virtually every page turned was met with "I do do that!!" Helped me a lot with "head based" issues in my Archery
Oh, I forgot to add anything by William Gibson or John le Carre. (Gibson's early stuff is more sci-fi but the recent stuff like Spook Country are pretty straight thriller material).
Bit of a cliche but War and Peace is geniunely amazing. It's such an epic, and you spend so long (entire lifetimes almost) with the characters, it's like a part of my was missing when i finished reading it.
anything by stuart mcbride
[url= http://www.stuartmacbride.com/en/ ]website of crime writist and bearded raconteur[/url]
Another Steinbeck to consider - The Grapes of Wrath - a stunning book that left me 100% fulfilled at the end.
Cross of Iron book Willi Heinrich (semi-autobiographical).
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig
I re-read this book every few years and it helps keep my life in balance.
Marley and Me....
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...made me cry.
The films out soon as well.
Empty Cradles - Margaret Humphreys
not sure it changed my life but it did move me
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
"Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates' Tom Robbins
Switters is not a character you'll forget in a hurry. He turns down some cocaine with the phrase "why take a drug that makes me feel better looking and more entertaining than I know I already am?" A phrase I've used myself whenever some coked up boor gets on my tits.
Or 'Any Human Heart' by William Boyd. An epic.
Fingerprints of the Gods - Graham Hancock.
Didnt quite "change my life" but "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"
A Kestrel for a Knave (Kes)
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Clockwork Orange
Bonfire of the Vanities
[b]An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan[/b] by Jason Elliot
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unexpected-Light-Afghanistan-Bestselling-Backlist/dp/0312288468
Also nearly finished [b]Shantaram[/b] which has been a gripping read
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shantaram-Gregory-David-Roberts/dp/0349117543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233912980&sr=1-1
Affluenza by Oliver James.
Or....
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Brave new World is a great book. I thought of another: "The Long Walk", by Slavomir Rawicz. It's the story of a Polish army officer who was captured and sent to a work camp in Siberia. He, along with a group of other prisoners, escaped and walked (!) to India.
It's allegedly autobiographical, though there are some records that suggest it can't have been entirely true. Either way, i can't recommend it enough. Incidentally my grandfather was a Pole and was also captured and sent to Siberia, and - like the author - eventally moved to Nottingham after the war.
Not really changed my life, but a book that I simply cannot stop thinking about, more than 2 years after reading (and also the book my book group keeps returning to discussing) is We Need to Talk About Kevin bu Lionel Shriver.
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Kite Runner
The World We Are In - Will Hutton - a rather eye-opening account of world economics and Britain's relationships with the US and Europe
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry. Simply wonderful.
(and, in the same series, Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon and Streets of Laredo. Don't be put off by the cowboy theme, they're truely excellent)
Just started re-reading Grapes of Wrath. Enjoying it more this time. Once Ther Was a War is another excellent Steinbeck read.
"The Long Walk", by Slavomir Rawicz. It's the story of a Polish army officer who was captured and sent to a work camp in Siberia. He, along with a group of other prisoners, escaped and walked (!) to India.
I read that also Finbar, a great book.
Everyones probably read them but the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series of books are brilliant, read them quite a few times now, in fact stuff by Douglas Adams always puts me in a good mood, he was a good and funny writer...
Big fan of John Steinbeck too, Cannery row being my favorite, recently found a book of the diaries that he wrote on a trip to the Sea of Cortez with Ed Ricketts to study marine life that I found quite inspiring...
Just finished "The reader" which I found extremely moving.
My favourite authors are John Irving (The World According to Garp) and Douglas Coupland (Generation X, JPod, etc). From their works I'd recommend A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving) and Girlfriend in a Coma (Coupland).
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque has to be the book that left me feeling more than any other I have read, though it certainly isnt a happy feel good book.
If I want some easy entertainement then I find Christopher Brookmyre quite good. Some of Tom Sharps books have made me laugh more than any others.
The Great Bicycle Adventure
by Nicholas Crane
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The best book I ever read.
/thread.
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[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feet-Clouds-Tale-Fell-Running-Obsession/dp/1854109898 ]Feet in the Clouds[/url] - a book all about how a relatively normal person became a fell running nutter. Although there is a danger you will find yourself getting sick desires to put on funny shoes and super-short shorts and go jogging up mountains.
Joe
the magician by raymond e feist
the unbearable lightness of being by milan kundera
the feather men by ranulph fiennes
lord of the rings by you know who
annapurna by maurice herzog
in no particular order 😉
as i kid i read 'flowers in the attic' read it few years back, still a very powerful book.
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I learnt to read with books like this. Probbly the most influential books of my life!
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Hitchikers books
Thirded To kill a mocking bird - Harper Lee
The wasp factory - Iain Banks
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
The Sound and the Furry - William Faulkner
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck, just for the very last page alone.
A brave new world takes some beating, but heart of darkness is up there as well.
For shock try Last Exit to Brooklyn, heavy subject matter but a classic
Not life changing but highly recomended:
The Road to Nab End, and Beyond Nab End by William Woodruff.
Makes you realise how easy we have it now. Crikey, it were grim up North in the early 1900s.
Also, Two Wheels North, story of two lads just out of high school riding bikes from Santa Rosa to Seattle in 1909 - now that was adventure
surfer I was just about to type The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists then read your post. So how about Keep the Aspidistra Flying or Homage to Catalonia or anything by Orwell really.
Handmaid's Tale
The Magus
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Never Let Me Go
We Need To Talk About Kevin
1984
The Time Traveler's Wife
"Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman