Writing What kinds of books do you like to read?

[dposse]

What kinds of books do you like to read? I like to read mysterys, especially who-done-its and murder mysterys. My favorite detectives are Sherlock Holmes and Hercole Poirot. I think I have read almost every Sherlock Holmes and Hercole Poirot book that there is. I also like Science Fiction books. My favorites of Science Fiction are Animorphs, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. I have the entire Animorphs series and the 5 Harry Potter books. I have an entire book case filled with books!I can't wait until the 6th Harry Potter book comes out. I haven't read any mangas. That is because there isn't any stores around me that sell mangas. So, what kinds of books do you like to read?

[Miki]

Ah, the good old days when I actually used to read Animorphs... It was actually quite fun, and the author's quite witty. However, I thought it got kind of old... How far does the series go, anyway? I, for one, don't really enjoy mysteries. Historical fiction is more my type; I love reading about events that happened long ago, and I like seeing the different interpretations of various authors. For example, The Persian Boy is an excellent book written by Mary Renault, describing the life of Alexander the Great through one of his courtesans.

Harry Potter is also quite entertaining, although I have to say that I didn't enjoy the fourth or fifth books so much... The second book was actually my favorite. Other genres that I read quite often are science fiction, fantasy, history, and the likes. Of course, there's also the school curriculum too, and those are always pretty good. I'm reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. It's pretty interesting, although it's rending my heart to pieces.

No mangas yet? I love mangas! I've read almost anything that's on the shelves. Don't you have a Barnes & Noble? That's where I read all of mine. Or Sunburst is pretty good too.

[Lady Asphyxia]

[font=Verdana][size=1][quote name='dposse']So, what kinds of books do you like to read?[/quote][/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1]Don't forget the why. ;) To keep this discussion open, we need to know why you like them, heh.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1]Anyway...I suppose it's sort of hard for me to define what type of books I like. I don't particularly like many Fantasy -- I often find them hard to get into and they seem almost boring to me at times. Stories about real people -- stories based on true stories, written by those it happened to -- don't interest me much either. They just seem to be...I don't know..self-pitying, which really annoys me.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1]There are four series/books that I love, however.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1][b]Harry Potter[/b]. There's just so much to do with this novel, and these character. The plot's very well placed, the characters are solid, and J.K. Rowling really seems to know when it's time for a new villain. I loved the way things tie together; something from the 2 book can be brought up in the third. It really makes it so that it's a series, not just a series of books.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1][b]Duckness[/b], by Tim Richards. Loved that book. Absolutely loved it. It was a series of short stories that related in absolutely no way at all, but I loved the humour and I loved the descriptions and I loved the first story in there. Some of the stories really hit a nerve and I thought it was absolutely fantastic. However, other people who read it didn't like it as much, heh.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1][b]The Dark Jewels Trilogy[/b], by Anne Bishop. I think these were one of the greatest books I've read. I mean, they were different, yes, but there were themes of love and loyalty and such running throughout the books, despite the dark vibes in the book. It was this really great piece that both accentuated and complimented each other...and I plan to by the 2nd book of the trilogy [I hired them from the library to read them] tomorrow or so.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1][b]Digital Fortress[/b], by Dan Brown. My boyfriend of the time was reading this when I came over to his place one day. Anyway, I looked at the back and it didn't seem that bad, so I read the first page and thought 'Yeah, not too sucky'. So I hired it from my library and read the first chapter [which wasn't too long] and got completely hooked. I love the way all of Brown's novels twist and turn and just keep suprising you. I thought it was absolutely fantastic.[/size][/font]

[Spikora]

I used to *love* Animorphs. Read all 54 books, and the Chonicles, Megamorphs, etc, etc. The ending was horrible. As someone I know once said, "It's like you're going along on a road and the road suddenly stops."

As for Harry Potter, I don't think there's a single person I know who doesn't like it. It's a fantastic series.

Mostly, I like science fiction, and some supernatural type fantasies (I really like vampires for some reason.) I think this is because I just like the stuff that's not real - give my imagination something to wrap around, you know?

There are a ton of books that I'd recommend to people, but I think the best is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. That book is *excellent.* It's sci-fi. This alien race has invaded Earth twice and everyone is absolutely sure that they're coming back to finish the human race off. The government decides to start requiting child geniuses into the military, including the boy most likely to win the war, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin.

I haven't gotten to say everything I want to about books, but, if I do, I'll end up having a post the size of Asia. Bye.

[Albane]

I mainly like Stephen King novels (basically all of them).

The reason is that his writing is so powerful and it gives lots of mental images. It's the perfect form of writing in my mind. I'm attempting to write a book (I now have 46 pages) and it's not easy at all. I'm reading Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series and I think it's one of the best epic fantasy/adventure series I've ever read.

[Cyriel]

Ack! Ender's Game!! That is an absolute work of art. Orson Scott Card is probably one of my favorite authors too... He is a master of literature. And although the plot for that does seem pretty cliche, it's far from being stereotypical. Even for people who don't usually enjoy sci-fi, definitely read this! Everyone I've talked to and recommended it to has enjoyed it.

Stephen King scares me. Really. I cannot read any thrillers, or scary horror books, or that sort of thing. First of all, for some reason I always seem to end up reading them at all hours of the night when it's dark and freaky. Second, I'm a wimp! Those books will give me nightmares, and I won't sleep for days. :p

[Lady Asphyxia]

[font=Verdana][size=1]I have to agree about Orson Scott Card. I personally don't like Sci-Fi that much, but I read this book after I saw Miss Sara post something on it [I think it was in a thread, but I know I was impressed with what she said] a while back.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana][size=1]I figured I'd read it, so I checked it out of the library. I honestly could not put it down until I finished, and then I wanted to re-read it; I liked it that much. I loved the way the very [i]human[/i] nature of them. I loved the psychological aspect that was such an intricate part of the book. It seemed so realistic, and the book, I thought, was just fantastic. I really liked the ending, although I almost cried when I realised that all of his friends would have died by then. [/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=1]But yes, it's a great book.[/size][/font]
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[Shinmaru]

I'm all over the place when I read books, but the genre I read most is Science-Fiction. With a good Sci-Fi novel, I just enjoy the mix of technology and good, old-fashioned storytelling. It's a mixture that appeals to me on so many levels, especially considering that I'm one of those dorks who wishes he were in a universe akin to the Star Wars universe.

...a guy can dream, can't he?

But I find it a bit strange, considering how much I love Sci-Fi, that my favorite novel is [i]Invisible Man[/i] by Ralph Ellison. But maybe it's not so strange...the novel is amazing, heh. It delivers an extremely powerful message in a very unique way, without sounding preachy or anything. The overall story is very good, the quality of writing is way up there and I really enjoy the narrator; he's one of my favorite literary characters, in fact.

That's getting a bit off-topic, though. Darn these tangents.

I enjoy Stephen King novels, but they're a bit "off and on" for me. Some of his novels, like The Shining and The Dark Tower series, for example, are simply fantastic and a pure joy to read. Others...not so much. Overall, however, I'd say that Stephen King has written more good novels than bad ones. His short story collections, in particular, are well worth reading.

I'll just throw in one more genre because I have time to burn: Mysteries. I love a good mystery novel. I remember that my Sophomore English teacher had a nice collection of Sherlock Holmes novels that I read for her class. Cool stuff...Sherlock Holmes is the man. It's fun to try and solve the mysteries, too, though I don't think I ever solved any of the mysteries that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle dreamed up lol.

[Balinese]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]When it comes to reading, i love:

[b]Stephen King[/b]. His best books, IMO, are [u]Needful Things[/u], [u]Everything's Eventual[/u], [u]Different Seasons[/u], and [u]Nightmares and Dreamscapes[/u]. The imagery he provides is vivid, his characters are believable, and his 'voice' has influenced my writing a lot. teachers don't usually like my style of many short sentences rather than one long, descriptive sentence.

[b]Orson Scott Card[/b]. The Ender series is one of the best i've ever found, and he wrote this book called [u]Lost Boys[/u] that i found captivating.

[b]Douglas Adams[/b]. So long, and thanks for all the fish, old pal. The [u]Hitchhiker's Trilogy[/u] is a fine example of a brilliant mind soaked in alcohol, and Dirk Gently is a perfect parody of a private richard.

[b]Dragonlance[/b]. Picked it up on my older brother's recommendation, and loved it. i love magicky fiction.

[b]Michael Crichton and Robin Cook.[/b] These guys write some creepy sci-fi that always seems like it'll happen soon. Cook's best is a book called [u]Acceptable Risk[/u], about anti-depressants and testing them.

and i just recently picked up this book called [u]Chocolate Jesus[/u] by Stephan Jaramillo. it's a story about the fast-food culture in America mixed with quirky religious themes. it's a lot of fun, and so apropo for Easter.

Also, if you like dynastic fiction, pick up either the [i]Riftwar Saga[/i], the [i]Serpentwar Saga[/i], or the [i]Empire[/i] trilogies by Raymond E. Feist (the last is co-authored by Janny Wurts). They're a lot of fun.

=^_^= hope you're all having a nice day!

Balinese[/FONT]

[sublime2004]

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Two words: Aldous Huxley.

His wildly vivid interpretation of absolutely absurd ideas is riveting. [u]Time Must Have a Stop[/u], [u]Brave New World[/u], [u]Island[/u] and [u]Crome Yellow[/u] are all by far the best books ever written.

Harry Potter is another great series of books. The character develpement and upkeep has stayed consistent. The story has stayed interesting and as Lady Asphyxia so eloquently worded it, "The plot's very well placed, the characters are solid, and J.K. Rowling really seems to know when it's time for a new villain."

She knows when it's time for a new villain all while keeping the over-all evil well integrated without being overused. And even when it seems something is absolute, something is revealed to turn the situation on it's head. But everything still makes sense.

James Clavell is another great author. I have read his book [u]King Rat[/u] based in WWII Japanese prison camp in Singapore. It shows the inner workings of a secret inter-barracks bureaucracy and how hypocrisy and friendship are tested. All-in-all: a great read.

I also like to read a lot of Time-Life book series'. The Revolutionary War, the Old West, the Civil War, the Korean & Vietnam wars, WW's I & II. It seems I have a thing for wars. Is that bad?[/color][/b][/size]

[BlueGender]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=Navy]I enjoy the Harry Potter books I have read all 5 and the History of Magic book. I also can not wait til the 6th book comes out. I recently purchassed The Gunslinger- The Dark Tower I and just havent gotten around to reading it just yet. As for manga I read Chobits, Lupin the 3rd,GTO, and Initial D. I havent been able to find Battle Royale yet but I really want to read the series.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Albane]

[QUOTE]I recently purchassed The Gunslinger- The Dark Tower I and just havent gotten around to reading it just yet[/QUOTE]

You won't regret that choice. I've read that book and it's really good. Kind of slow to introduce some of the minor characters though but who really cares about minor characters?

[Spikora]

[QUOTE=Balinese][FONT=Comic Sans MS]
[b]Douglas Adams[/b]. So long, and thanks for all the fish, old pal. The [u]Hitchhiker's Trilogy[/u] is a fine example of a brilliant mind soaked in alcohol, and Dirk Gently is a perfect parody of a private richard.[/FONT][/QUOTE]

I read the first few books in the Hitchhiker series, but once he started trying to give them plots they lost my interest. Those books are excellent and totally hilarious, though. They're probably the only books in the universe that can have no plot [I]and get away with it[/I]. It takes talent to be able to do that.

[PWNED]

I am a very big book fan and I enjoy to read mostly "sword and sorcery" fantasy type of novels. My favourite right now would either be Seige of Darkness by Robert Salvatore from the Legacy of the Drow which is set in the Forgotten Realms, The Halfling's Gem by said author in the Icewind Dale trilogy from said Realms, the City watch trilogy by Terry Pratchett or Dragons of a vanished moon by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis which is part 3 of the Chaos War trilogy from the Dragonlance universe.
I would also tell you to pick up any books by Douglas Niles, Terry Pratchett of R.E. Feist.

[Cyriel]

Hmm...if you want to get into the fantasy, I'd strongly suggest Michelle West. I'm in the final book of one of her series called The Sun Sword, and they are by far the best books that I've read in the realm of fiction. Of course, each of the five books is as thick as a dictionary, but her writing is amazing, and the characters are so in detail....

[QUOTE]I also like to read a lot of Time-Life book series'. The Revolutionary War, the Old West, the Civil War, the Korean & Vietnam wars, WW's I & II. It seems I have a thing for wars. Is that bad?[/QUOTE]
Personally, I love reading about wars. I mean, it's not like I enjoy bloodshed and all that, but the politics and details are always so interesting... It's amazing how much information can be divulged about human nature and things from those sorts of books. Besides, I've always had a little thing for history. We have this amazing book called [U]WWII in Color[/U], and I have to say that the pictures make it all the more stunning. Not to mention, my dad has a collection of videos about the Korean War...which really has nothing to do with this, does it? But yeah, historical things are always fun to read for me. I just read the narrative of Frederick Douglass, and his imagery was so stunning, it sort of reminded me of [I]The Passion.[/I] But...those sorts of books really open your eyes to a lot of things.

[Japan]

The books that I like mostly consist of historical fiction (mostly Asian historical fiction, exp. Samurai's and geisha's), some science fiction, fantasy, and action/adventure.

I love Asian historical fictions like, [i]Shougun[/i] and [i]Tai-Pan[/i] by James Clavell, and [i]Cloud of Sparrows[/i] by Tasaki Masukoka. These novels are entertaining and you learn a lot from them too. Unlike others who are into Knights in shining armor, kings, queens and princesses, I am into the Samurai and Geishas.

I like vampires, dragons, space, and other sci-fi and fantasy characters, beasts, and robots. I love clingons (sp?) from star Trek. >_> I also love the [i]Last Vampire Series[/i]

Why wouldn't anyone like action and adventure? I love the explosions, the guns, and the bloodshed it is very interesting.

That is pretty much it. Though I do love some non-fiction. I like to read countless books on geology. You know, rocks, fossils, volcanoes and earthquakes.
I also like to read about war and deadly viruses. [i]War and Peace[/i] was somewhat interesting. I also loved the book, [i]The Hot Zone.[/i] The author slipped my mind, but it was a good book. [SPOILER]It was all about the Ebola (a deadly virus) outbreak in Africa and in Washington DC during the late 80's and early 90's.[/SPOILER]

[Snufkin]

Well, when I was little I was into humor and books about talking animals. (Louis Sachar being humor and things like Beatrix Potter filling the shoes for the talking animal books.) And though I still enjoy reading the odd silly things I enjoyed when I was younger my interests have changed. Somewhat.

I used to strickly stick to fantasy. I'd read Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and A Series of Unfortunate Events so many times I'd already have bits and pieces of them completely memorized and spot references to them everywhere online >.<" It was rather annoying, really.

Last year I started reading different books (*gasp*). Mostly books everyone else had read when they were in about fifth grade. The Giver, Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, things like that. I fell in love with those three books in particular ^_^" I've read The Giver three times and Alice in Wonderland almost ten times (I quote that book very, very often).

And, of course following the logic of 'monkey see monkey do' I pick up books my brother has read. I started reading Hamlet a while back, I finished the first two books in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King and am currently reading The Shining. My brother has excellent taste in literature ^_^

And no, I'm not really a monkey O.o;;

[Kopfgeldj]

hey I love to read my fav books are thing like hp lovecraft, tolkin, harry potter, douglas adams and starwars. i almost forgot you should read some of mathew reilys work it is great it is so fast paced that it's like reading a movie and it all makes sense and some of the twists are great

[gumby]

[font=Arial][size=2][color=darkred]Aldous Huxleys' books are particuarly good. Although some of them have wrong ideas, specifically [u]Antic Hay.[/u] [u]Brave New World[/u] is interseting in it shows a different view of society. George Orwells [u]Nineteen Eighty Four[/u] and [u]Animal Farm[/u] are also good ways of seeing the world in a different view.[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Arial][size=2][color=darkred]Sci Fi books are my main vice though [u]Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy[/u] and Arthur C. Clarkes [u]2001 A Space Odessy[/u] seriesare awsome although sometimes the physics envolved can be a little bit screwed up. [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Arial][size=2][color=darkred]Most of the books I read are given to me or I find out about them off other people. Most of the time I don't really choose a new author unless it is said to be good by other people. [/color][/size][/font]

[Falkon]

my favy author has to be Michael Crichton. Prey and Timeline are his best books, i think. They are addictive as he** and I have read timeline about 5 times. Great books.

[Guest Deathscyth_14]

At first I read and collected the old animorph series, I had almost every book up to 35. It was at that point where the story became almost monotonous and somewhat boring. When at the height of my interest, those books were interesting and intriguing.

Now I am more interest in the James Clavell's [U]Asian Saga[/U]. Included in this series is Shogun, Tai-pan, Gai-gin, and The Noble House. Each book is intertwined to each other, but each tell intirely different stories. Tai-pan is ultimately my favorite, it details the life of the ingenious merchant trader Dirk Struan who owns the most powerful merchant comany in all of Asia, the Noble House. The storydetail his competion with his enemy Brock and Sons and intertwines many other storylines that only add to the whole story. That of Dirk, his gorgrous chinese mistriss May-May, his illigitament son the Illustrius Chen, his son Collum, and various other characters. All of this with the backdrop of the Opium Wars that took place between England and China. Although I didn't like the ending, the rest was unforgettable.

I guess I really like historical fiction because I am reading another series by Patrick O'Brian who write many novels about the capable Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, a surgeon/special agent for the governemt/bird lover. He wrot something like 14 books about these two. I have only read Master and Commander, H.M.S. Surprise, and To the Far Side of the World. The movie "Master and Commander: To the Far Side of the World" starring russel crowe, gets its script from these books.

The civil war book "Gods and Generals" written by Jeff Shaara is a classic. Detailing a major battles of the civil war and making it so you feel empathy for Robert E. Lee and his cause, really it allows you too see where both sides were coming from in the war.

I am also say I am into Anne Rice's Vampire chronicals. The first being Interview with a Vampire, Lestat the Vampire, the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, etc. I can't remember them all but thats the jist of it. They detail the life lestat the vampire who's love for humans wrestles with his new way of life. It is by far the most intricate and intriguing, not to mention the most believable, vampire series ever written.

[Guest Le tour sombre]

Well the first genre I'm upmost attracted to would be Fantasy. I'm usually all for magic and kickin' sadistic characters that'll chop your head off if you look at them weird. Lately I've been addicted to Anne Bishop. I've read all her books 'cept one or two. I guess she's my favorite author. Anne Rice, too. Vampires another big thing. Gothic-ness is a nice touch to a fantasy book, too. I hate the movies ('Cept Interview with the Vampire.. atleast Lestat had blonde hair. -.-; ) they made out of Anne Rice's books, but that's a different subject. I'm currently reading the last book she made in the Vampire Chronicals; Blood Canticle.

Alright well the second genre I like is a good scary murder mystery. This falls into fantasy, too, I think, but zombies and.. weird mutant killer things could be awesomely scary if you write the book in a right way.. and if the monster isn't too retarded. I just like to be scared. Honestly, I was scared most from Stephen King's Pet Cemetary and IT books. He used to write such good books.. he's going king of downhill lately. Anyway, yes.

[eleanor]

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Most of the time, there are only two types of books I read. It's either [b]sci-fi/fanstasy[/b] or the, er, [i]novel[/i] novels. O_o.

[b]Orson Scott[/b] got into sci-fi after I read [b]Ender's Game[/b] at an academic camp I went to. So far I've finished the Ender Quartet and the whole 'Bean' book-things, but I haven't gotten to read anything else by him except for his short stories and this 'How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy' book. Anyways, I fell in love with the [b]Redwall Series[/b] about three years ago, and that counts as fantasy I guess. The only other fantasy book I've read so far is [b]Eragon[/b].

What I mean by 'novel' novels are books like [b]Catcher in the Rye[/b] or [b]Of Mice and Men[/b], just to name a few. Goerge Orwell is one of my favorites with [b]Animal Farm[/b] and [b]1984[/b]. I'll finish up this post later, I must go. =_=[/color]

[Shippou]

I personally Prefer Fantasy novels like the Shannara series, but absolutely NO Harry Potter. It has become too generic, and everyone likes it so that makes me angry.Grrrr. If your looking for a good fantasy, read The Scions of Shannara , by Terry Brooks. It is the first in a series of 4 books, it does start of a little slow but that is just for character build-up. It is a story about a tyrant government who outlaws magic while at the same time working with magical creatures called shadowen. It is a very good series, it starts with 5 books and the next series of 4 books is several generations later, and the next one is a series of 4 books several generations later and now he is on a new series that is just a few years after the last series. And he is still writing today (wahoo!)


And thanks to my friend Chris for spell-checking my posts.
From Chris: Shippou is the absolute worst speller... and sucks gramatically... this may be the last message you see that is at least... uh... presentable.

[Kei]

[color=darkblue]I myself have come to be big on fantasy novels. Talking animals, knights fighting dragon and saving princesses, magic and mystery; I love it all. I guess I never let go of that little childhood imagination of mine, lol.

I have come absolutely love the [u][b]Redwall[/b][/u] series by Brian Jacques. The imagery he uses and the characters alone are simply wonderful. I've managed to read the entire series (though it took a while to get them from the various libraries off of reserve, lol) and the latest one, [u][b]Loamhedge[/b][/u] was simply marvelous. It took a different path in the end from most of the others, but it was still a great read.

[u][b]Night of the Wolf[/b][/u] by Alice Borchart was also a pretty good book. Most people think that werewolf books are all alike, but this one was muchly different from the stereotype. The historical references in it were actually pretty accurate (which is sort of hard to find in some fiction) and interesting. I would definately recommend it.

Another book that I would suggest taking a peek at is [u][b]The Sight[/b][/u] by David Clement-Davies. I mentioned it in another thread a while back, and I still love this book. The way the story is told makes it seem like the characters are actually human at times. I couldn't seem to put it down at all, and I read it in about three days.

Of course, the [b]Harry Potter[/b] books will always be recommended by me. I don't believe they've become "generic" recently, but some are being annoyed by all the hype they've been given, an example being when [b][u]Order of the Phoenix[/u][/b] came out. I'm sure that HP fans worldwide are waiting with baited breath for the 6th book (myself being one of them), so eh. There are a lot of other books out there, so you can just walk on by if you see them on a bookstore shelf.[/color]