Hi everyone, Happy Friday! :) :) :) TGIF!!!!! You know what that means--
Kidding. It's me.
Day before yesterday, I gave you all a pop essay and asked you to name a book that you want everyone to read, and why. Now, from the list of responses (posted here if you need another look), which one book are you most tempted* to read, and why? Tell us in comments.
*If you're not tempted by anything, or you've already read them all, name a book recently recommended elsewhere that tempts you, and why.
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The Ballad of Billy Badass and the Rose of Turkestan by William Sanders, mostly because the title cracks me up.
ReplyDeletePride and Prejudice.
ReplyDeleteI always avoided her books because they reminded me of assigned books in school (and I always ended up hating 90% of those). To hear that she has my kind of writing sense of humor, though, has me intrigued. *-*
(And, I have to admit, seeing the previews for the upcoming movie has me really curious, because it looks like a great story)
I have to go with MamaRose and Holly Lisle's Talyn for the same reasons given.
ReplyDeleteThirteenth Night, The Anubis Gates and Three Men in a Boat. They sound funny, snarky and subversive.
ReplyDeleteThree Men In A Boat
ReplyDeleteMaryB: "The part where our hero is reading the medical book in the library and becomes convinced he has every disease listed except housemaid's knee is hilarious."
I want to read that, too. :)
Possibly "To Kill a Mocking Bird" because I love the movie. Otherwise, I'd go with something recommended elsewhere - Octavia Butler's coming out with a vamp-like story. I think it's titled "Fledgeling" (sp?). Anyway, much like the Darkyn books, it takes a different view of vampire stories. I love it when writers take an old mainstay idea and flip it on its ears to make you think.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't come out I think until December tho.
I found two (and I'll look for one this weekend to start on, as I just finished my current read):
ReplyDeleteThe Anubis Gates by Tim Powers--I've heard of that author before, though I can't remember if it was positive or negative, but I'm curious enough to try it. And I have a weakness for anything sounding even remotely Ancient Egyptian, even if it has nothing to do with the plot.
Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon--because I've been hearing a lot about jester lately, but not this book, so again my curiosity has the better of me and this book just sounds fun!
Cheers,
Ris
Re: Three men in a boat... it's out of copyright - you can ALL read it (and should, right now)
ReplyDeleteIn case nobody knows where Project Gutenberg is, here's a direct link to the book's download page. There's also a sequel - 3 Men on the Bummel.
As I mentioned yesterday, if you hate reading big slabs of text in a web browser, try yBook. I wrote it specifically to reformat these Gutenberg ebooks into something you can read comfortably on the screen.
PBW: last post from me on the subject - I promise!
Thanks for the links, Simon -- we like free stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to go back and fill in the gaps in my reading - this one has been on the list for some time. Of course, it always helps to get someone else's recommendation.
To Kill A Mockingbird, because I've never read it, nor seen the movie. The Heinleins sound good, too, and I added the Three Men In A Boat to my Amazon wishlist, too (although I've read Every Wodehouse Ever, so that book just sounds fun, not necessary).
ReplyDeleteThe Tao of Pooh intrigues me and couldn't we all use a bright spot from time to time?
ReplyDeleteThirteenth Night sounds delicious...I am utterly unable to resist stories involving secret cabals and the power behind the throne.
ReplyDelete:) Misty
Dante’s Divine Comedy.
ReplyDeleteI passed up a chance to grab a beautifully illustrated edition of the whole thing for a fiver (this was when I was at my poorest) and I’ve been kicking myself ever since.
This is why I never get out of a bookstore without plunking at least $50.00 on the table.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to select 4 on this list:
Talyn because Holly rocks, The Anubis Gates and Three Men in a Boat because they shound intriguing.
Lastly, I think I'm going to promise to read To Kill a Mockingbird before the end of the year. I've always meant to read it. Why? My grandmother (who turns 80 next month) attended college with Harper Lee at Huntingdon College, and apparently they got along quite well. :) The idea that a friend of my grandmother wrote a classic just makes me smile. I ought to pay tribute to that connection.
Thanks for everyone's recommendations!
I'm most tempted to read This Perfect Day by Ira Levine, entirely because of this line: "I used to buy all the used copies in every book store I could find then give them away to friends and family."
ReplyDeleteIt's that sort of word-of-mouth passion that endears me to reading a book. Obviously I may not share F. O'Brien Andrew's taste in books, and maybe this line is hyperbole. But I find it compelling and persuasive anyway, that "you have to read this, so here's a copy" attitude.
Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog.... I've been meaning to read this for a while now.
ReplyDeleteJust to throw in one more recommendation, because I missed that day... you must read "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. Actually, you should read all five books in the trilogy, if for no other reason than to understand why five books does in fact make a trilogy.
Thirteenth Night - The premise just sounds so cool. Jesters as spies? It's one of those great twists on an idea where you can instantly see it in your head and want to read the story.
ReplyDeleteLots of those books are on my "Oh, I've been meaning to read that" list, but the one that caught my attention was Godbody--the description of "stubborn love for the worst of us" is something that appeals very strongly to me.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I managed to skip by reading A Tale of Two Cities twice in my education - once in high school and again in college - though I've meant to go back and make amends. Actually, this was a promise I made to myself back when Nicholas Nickleby was on Broadway and I devoured that in a very long weekend. But I didn't want to jump into another Dicken's immediately, and there were other books to read, and...
ReplyDeleteWow, that was quite some list. The ones I'm going to read soon?
ReplyDeleteTalyn, already on my shelf
Ghosts in the Snow, already on my shelf
The ones I wasn't planning to any time soon but am now itching?
Pride and Prejudice (practically the only novel I reread every 5-10 years. I'm not a rereader)
Tale of Two Cities (unlike most I loved this in school)
Stranger in a Strange Land (because it's been a while)
Starship Troopers (cause I saw the movie and don't remember reading it, though I might have)
I'm sure there were more, but those are the ones I can remember without opening it up again.
The only one I definitely wouldn't is Catcher in the Rye. Sadly enough, I had the opposite reaction. I absolutely loved it as a teen. Now, I can't relate at all (I tried rereading recently).
On my plan of school ones to reread is now Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. I read it for 10th grade history and absolutely felt transported. I just hope it holds up to the test of time.
And now that I've blathered on long enough....
Cheers,
Margaret
There are three:
ReplyDeletePride and Prejudice because I've seen more than one film version, but haven't dug into the book, yet. It's on my TBR shelves.
The Tao of Pooh because I've seen it in the bookstores and it looked interesting, but I never bought it.
Tale of Two Cities because I enjoy Dickens, but haven't read that one yet.
Linda
I moved toward the end of my 9th grade year, just as we were starting to read Tale of Two Cities, and I showed up at my new school right after they'd finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird, so I have those two gaps in my education as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd, perhaps I should read all five books to find out why five books makes a trilogy. That sounds like a calculus problem, though, and that was the hardest "C" I ever earned.