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Remember the old book topic we had going on before the forum switch?  Well, I want to revive it.  School doesn't start here until 3 September (and that's only for Freshmen...4 September for everyone else), so we're starting to get all the huge packets in the mail full of advertisements for things like theater tickets and volunteering options, and of course, the letter from the principal.  Well, we've got a new principal coming in this year who has to deal with the schedule change ordered by our "hehe u no wat i tink i well run 2 texas now dat u all h8 me cuz i m st00pid" superintendent, and one new thing he's implimented is a Sustained Silent Reading part of our study hall period.  I like reading, but I wanted some book suggestions for this, so I decided to bring it to the CoN.  I'm currently reading Frankenstein, but I'll finish that before school even starts (seeing as it's summer reading, I'd better).  What are some of your favorite books that I and others might enjoy?

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Ever read any Orson Scott Card books, Neal? Ender's Game is my favorite book ever. Any of his books are good, though. I'm trying to get throught the Lord of the Rings books again right now.

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Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

The Wheel of Time Series, by Robert Jordan. I recommend that the most, and it'll take you at least your senior year to finish the entire series  

Hmm, but what else...I recommend The Redemption of Althalus by...umm...gah, I can't remember their names, their my favourite authors almost...oh right, by David and Leigh Eddings. And for shorter books, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood is quite good. Dammit, if my book collection was only here instead of in Halifax, lol. Oh! If you haven't read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, that is quite good. As well as Animal Farm and/or 1984 by George Orwell.

Finally, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. All 5, if you can, though I haven't read the 5th yet and have been told that's it really depressing.

Elena



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I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

I'll speak for both myself and Gerad here and go for the Tom Clancy series starring Jack Ryan. Not only are the books exceptionally well-written, there are a LOT of them, possibly enough by now to sustain an entire semester of "sustained silent reading" (WTF.).

If you wanted to go through the entire series, there are two ways to read them: by order of publication, or by order of the "Ryanverse" timeline. I would suggest the former, as it creates a long series of jumps in time from the Cold War to the present day and back to Vietnam. Very cool. I can provide a list of publication dates or timeline data, too.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Anyone ever played Magic: The Gathering? If so, and you like the game, you'll love the book series. I heart the Ice Age cycle books that came out. Three to the set and I've read them a few times now.

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"If it is weak, either kill it or ignore it. Anything else honors it."
-Kaervek

Quote (Elena99 @ 26 Aug. 2002, 09:06)

and have been told that's it really depressing.

Mmm it is
A good book is Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Or any book by Tom Brown, Jr.

Quote (SECProto @ 26 Aug. 2002, 15:33)

A good book is Dune, by Frank Herbert.

A very good book indeed. If you have time, I would suggest reading the other five books Herbert wrote in the Dune Chronicles.

Besides the Dune Chronicles, I also suggest [U}A Farewell to Arms[/U] and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.

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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

If you've been around for a while, then you know that I'm a serious Tolkien fan, particularly of his greatest work, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  My liking of his books has increased to a frenzied level, now that my long wait for films about LotR that aren't really, really bad has finally come to an end.

I have also been a longtime fan of the Sherlock Holmes mystery, and to date I've read the complete works.  Arthur Conan Doyle, for all his bouts of depression and slow downward spirals into insanity, was truly the finest master of the narrative mystery.  The Great Detective remains one of my favorite characters ever produced in fiction.

The last book I finished was George Orwell's "1984", and I must say that it was brilliant.  His study into the dangers of political extremism (and of humanity's indifference towards it) is a chilling reminder of how close to the edge we can be.  I can not find a correct word for the emotion which this book produced in me; suffice to say that it was disturbing, particularly near the end.  Definitely a must-read.

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"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

I've read 1984 and the LotR series (except for Return of the King...I was always bored after finishing The Two Towers.. /me awaits the inevitable barrage of stones), as well as quite a few Sherlock Holmes collections.  I need to read the other four books in the Hitchhiker's Guide series, since I only read the first one...I also only read the first in the Dune series, and I really liked it.  I have Dune Messiah, not sure why I haven't picked it up.  A book I'd recommend to everyone is the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas...that is an EXCELLENT book, and the movie was surprisingly good, too.

And Josh, it's Sustained Silent Reading for the whole year, not just one semester.  



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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I also suggest Tom Clancy novels. They are well-written and pretty interesting as well as fun to read, IMO.
Some others that I suggest if you find them [some of them you probably won't be able to find] "Dragon's Apprentice" by Vlad Wheeler, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, "1984" by George Orwell, "Child of an Ancient City" by Tad Williams... there's probably other good ones, but i can't remember at this time.
anyway, i think we had SSR in the 6th grade. That sucks that you have it in high school.

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"When I turn the page
The corner bends into the perfect dog ear
As if the words knew I'd need them again
But at the time, I didn't see it."

~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear

let's see,  I'd recomend anything by Edgar Allen Poe,  You can find a big all in one book in the library.

Memory Sorrow and Thorn(trillogy) by Tad Williams  (a LOTR ripoff that is better written than the origional)  besides it's has a race called the Qanuc, how could you go wrong?

the Harry Potter books.  well written, funny as shit, It's also a good re-read since there are small hints and jokes that you won't get the first time around.

Mage Wars series by Mercadies Lakley and Larry Dixon
the main char is a griffon, nuff said

(I've been warned that Lakley's other stories have a lot of homosexuality in them,  Mage wars doesn't have that, but in case you want to read some of her other stories, I thought I should warn you. I personaly don't go for that stuff myself...)

Magic:The Gathering, Ashes of the Sun, and ...The Brothers' War  Two best MTG books IMO.  

Ashes of the sun places "Crouching tiger"-esqe Ayesh into a Mintaur labyrinth as a pet.  Her arival ignites a religous revolution, as does her training goblins (and a young minotaur) in martial arts.  Pet point-o-view, freedom of religon statement, minotaurs, my fave.

The Brothers' War  tells the story of the war between Urza and Mishra that caused both the Ice Age, and ultimately, The Phyrexian Invasion.  Very believeable chars in this book.

Jaws it's pornographic

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"Number One, I order you to go take a number two."

Quote (Sabin @ 26 Aug. 2002, 20:58)

"Night" by Elie Wiesel.

Hey, a book I actually read! It was a good book too, my hon. world history teacher had us read it.

It's not that I don't like reading, I just haven't gotten around to it I guess. I used to love reading, particulary the Goosebumps series, and the Animorphs series, as well as good books here and there. The best books I read nowadays are issued at school. If I think of some good ones, I'll let you know.

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

Gears is absolutely right...the Ender series is exceptional.  I highly recomend you pick up Ender's Game sometime, and if you enjoy it, continue with the rest.  For a little more science fiction, take a look at Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey quartet...you know the movies 2001:  A Space Odyssey and 2010:  Odyssey 2?  It's an excellent group of books.  And last, but definitely not least...Contact, by Carl Sagan.  Probably my favorite novel of all time, this masterpiece is brilliantly written.  Oh, and if you've ever had the slightest interest in Star Trek, Federation is an amazing read.

I'll hold off on the stones:), but you really should read The Return of the King...it's probably the most action-packed and riveting of the three.

My word, a few fellow readers of the Magic:  The Gathering novels?  I don't read them anymore, because they're just novelizations of the damn expansions these days.  Back when the novels were completely original, just based in the world of Magic, THAT'S when some wonderful books were written.  I would have to agree about The Brother's War, mael_duin...it's probably my favorite one in the entire series.  And Peace Shall Sleep and Arena come next, with Ashes of the Sun right behind.  The Greensleeves trilogy by Clayton Emery was quite good, as well.

This may sound like a strange question, but how many of you have read The Chronicles of Narnia?  It seems to me like far too many people missed them during their childhood, and they're great reading at any age.  If you've never read them, you really should.:)  Same with the Tripod trilogy, actually...

Clancy is a brilliant writer, but I find him to be a bit overwhelming sometimes.  I've only managed to read a few of his books, and then I realized just how many there are.  I haven't managed to get back to him for a while now...  However, I must say that Red Storm Rising, The Hunt For Red October, and The Cardinal of the Kremlin were simply wonderful.

Lastly, we have Michael Crichton, one of my favorite writers.  If you haven't read Jurassic Park, I can't recomend it enough.  It's one of those books that I could read over and over again and not get tired of.  The Lost World was quite good, too, along with just about anything else the man has written.:)  Sphere and Congo are probably my other two favorites, along with The Andromeda Strain.

I've always loved the Chronicles of Narnia.  I remember that I used to have them read to me in bed when I was a child.  It's funny to notice that, after all that time, the fantasy series is still entertaining.

C.S. Lewis has since endured as one of my favorite authors.  His "Space Trilogy" is an excellent work of literally astronomical proportions, and a fine example of the best science fiction has to offer.

"The Return of the King" is an excellent book, so don't pass it up, even if (for some strange and unusual reason) you didn't like the first two.  Although it might not be the most action-packed ("The Two Towers" gets my vote in the action category), the value of the prose which Tolkien uses is, as usual, flawless, and he brings the fantastic tale to a close with a flair that could only be performed by a master of the fantasy genre.  Excuse me while I search for some stones.  

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"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

Lessee...

Anything Dragonlance, particularly the Chronicles series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.  

If you like Sci-fi, try Angelmass, the Icarus Hunt, and the Conqueror's Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.  He's probably the BEST sci-fi writer in the world, and he's a physicist to boot, so most of his stuff is crazy interesting, because he tells it like it could actually WORK.

The Rhapsody series by Elizabeth Haydon... this series has EVERYTHING: romance, fantasy, blood and guts, humor, you name it.

The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe.  Four books.  Only read the first, it was really good but I never got around to reading the others.

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I close my mouth now and I scream,
Open the door, there's nothing worth redeeming
I saw your face before in rough,
You should wait around a while, your body's bound to turn up.
So low for how high?
-Matt Good, "Running for Home"

Well if ever you want something morbid, Anne Rice, Interview With The Vampire. That book is truly great. I'd recommend anything from her. Also, The London Vampire Panic, by Micheal Romkey. Everyone suspects everyone of being a vampire. Graves dug up and thigns beheaded. Jack The Fuggin Ripper. GOOD book.

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Okay, but there was a goat!

i'm not much of a reader. buti love the Chronicles of Narnia. My favorites, though, were the Voyage of the Dawn Tredder, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle i think it was called. Those are the only books that I liked that I wasn't forced to read.

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Air force... if you ever join the militant wing, join the Air force

Army = jockos
Navy = seasick nerds
Marines = show offs
PeaceCorp = hippies

AF is the way to go

I thought I'd add some that haven't been mentioned.  

Weathership Down by Richard Adams.  It is about a bunch of rabbits leaving their warren in search of a better place to live.  It sounds silly, but it is a whole lot more dramatic than that.  Trust me.  

Also , The Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliot.  There's so much going on in the series I can exactly describe it to you.  It's a fantasy, and there are a good deal of characters, at least in the later books.  The first in the series is The King's Dragon.

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"So in the end
I will be-what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me"
-Gollum's Song, Emiliana Torrini

Lewis Carroll - "Alice in Wonderland"
P.G. Wodehouse - great humorist
Diana Wynne Jones
"The Last Samurai"
"A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity"
"Troublemaker and other Saints"
"Ladies With Options" (v. funny)
David Eddings - fantasy writer
Terry Pratchett - fantasy humor
Jerome K. Jerome - "Three Men in a Boat"
Connie Willis - sci fi
"Love, Lucy" - by Lucille Ball...her autobiography.  It's AWESOME.

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"Turd-cookies!...they're hot and soft, though..."

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heaped for the beloved's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.  - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Read some Nietzsche-it'll totally change the way you look at society. "Beyond Good and Evil" is a great place to start.

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"Nothing exists, but atoms and the void"
-Democritus

ABSOLUTE FAVORITE AUTHORS!!!! Tom Clancy, very good author that writes about tactical military situations. The last book I read from him was Rainbow Six... really really good LONG but very good book. Another goody is David L. Robbins' War Of The Rats. Very good book about the battle of Stalingrad in WW2, which more intracatly follows the battle between two pro snipers who were good at what they did... killing. One German and one Russian, naturally the "good guy" was the Russian, who falls inlove with an American-Russian woman who becomes his most trusted assassin. Michael Chrichton is also good, he wrote Jurrasic Park, The Lost World, Congo, and a few other interesting ones. Then the greatest classic of all, which im currently reading, is J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings. It's DF's book and im on chapter 3 but WOW!  It's such a good book!
Well there's my suggestions. OH DANG! Almost forgot!
ANN RICE!!! All of the books from the Vampire Series, Sevant Of The Bones, and basically anything she wrote... I love the gothic-medievil-vampire-blood-and-bone-evil-satanic-demons-hell bent on revenge-against humanity type books.
But i'd really suggest Tom Clancy if your into the whole Military and Tactical Espionage stuff.
oops! I didn't see that DF mentioned Ann Rice, bah well he didn't mention Servant Of The Bones.

Oh and Hsiu, was "The Last Samurai" by Diana Wynne Jones good? I would love to read a book about samurais, can never find any.

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You were in my arms, clutching me tight
We were in the darkness, searching for light
Then you left me, all alone
To walk this world, all on my own!
--Rob--Zealous Apathy

Another good author is Laurel K. Hamilton and her series with Anita Blake in it

Good book to spark your literary interest - The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham.

Good book for suspense - Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy.

The best book I've ever read when it comes to making my life easier - Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

At the moment, I'm reading "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. It's a great book, and part of a trilogy. I'm really surprised I could still get really into a book. I recommend it indefinitely.

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

Try anything by Isaac Asimov (God rest his soul).

And the list of "anything" is a long one... he wrote 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 100 wpm, and simply churned out fantastic books and essays, mostly science/sf.  He once wrote 21 books in a month.  That's almost a book a day.

Try "Foundation" or "I, Robot" first, or "Nightfall".

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I close my mouth now and I scream,
Open the door, there's nothing worth redeeming
I saw your face before in rough,
You should wait around a while, your body's bound to turn up.
So low for how high?
-Matt Good, "Running for Home"

Ok, I'm the 21-year-old child here but I always recommend Harry Potter to anyone. And no, Harry Potter isn't satanic so shut up!!!!! I don't really read other fantasy novels because I can't really keep track of the characters. I used to be able to. When I was a Freshman in high school I read Dragon Lance Dragons of the Autumn Twighlight or something like that and I was able to comprehend and keep everything straight. But since all that required reading in high school and a little "accident" that happened last year I can't keep that stuff straight anymore. I am, however, trying to write my own fantasy novel series. Probably won't ever be great but I like it. The thing I'm having the hardest time with is trying to create a fictional religion without basing it on other religions. I've begun to think it's impossible.

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

Here's one for the list:

"The Lovely Bones" - Alice Sebold.  It is excellent.  It's about a fourteen-year old girl who is murdered and watches her family from heaven.  <= sounds sappy, but it's not.  She watches how grief tears her family apart and affects the community.  She enters the thoughts and memories of her murderer.  She watches how her death influences the directions other people's lives take. It's a wonderful book, and actually quite funny at times.

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"Turd-cookies!...they're hot and soft, though..."

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heaped for the beloved's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.  - Percy Bysshe Shelley

When I read, I generally read a bunch of books by one author.  Here are some of my favorites:

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child : These guys are great.  They write really scary and weird stuff, like Thunder Head andIce Limit.  My favorites, Relic(which was made into a crappy B-movie), and Reliquary are intriguing, well written, and REALLY scary, if you can be scared by books.
Timothy Zahn: I think someone mentioned him.  His sci-fi novels are awesome.
Michael Crighton: Besides Jurassic Park and The Lost World, some of his best are Congo and TimeLine.  TimeLine was really good, and actually made sense, or at least it did to me.

I love reading.  Besides drawing, it's my favorite thing to do.  

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Charlie:Let's go to my house,sew a bunch of blankets together and make a circus tent!
Gregg:That would probably make you mom snap...
Me:Then we can collect all the Welcome Mats in uptown Butte,lump them together like an elephant,and charge people five bucks a ride!
::laughter::
-Art Club results

I like the Silverhand series or "the arcana" as its called and of course the vampire chronicles by anne rice. but i read too much  of course another cool book series is The dark materials (i think is the name) by philip pullman

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This one time I punched a bear in the forehead TO DEATH! I still have the scars on my chest. I am the manliest man that ever did man.

League: Z3roHawk
Steam: Zero_Hawk
Wii U: Zero_Hawk
FF14 - Goblin - Zero Hawk <Fiend>

Quote (Ninja Edge @ 26 Aug. 2002, 12:31)

Anyone ever played Magic: The Gathering? If so, and you like the game, you'll love the book series. I heart the Ice Age cycle books that came out. Three to the set and I've read them a few times now.

I used to play Magic, but I definetly don't recommend the novels!

I'm reading "Janus" by Aurthur Koestler and have read many of his workd in the past.  If you like political fiction, you can't go wrong there!

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"For consumption by the masses the political process must be colored like gingerbread figures at a fair."