OT: Top 5 Books You've Read

cawacko

cawacko

Well-known member
Since it's been a slow morning on this board and we were discussing books earlier I thought I'd throw out this question. I'm looking for something to read after I finish LBJ: Master of the Senate.
 
I remember how "Valley of the Dolls" absolutely shocked me, the naive little Catholic girl. I had to read it in secret.

The book, "Mr. And Mrs. Bo Jo Jones" also convinced me I never wanted to get pregnant as a teen and before I was married!

"To kill a Mockingbird" my all time favorite
"The Poisinwood Bible" and "My Sister's Keeper". Books I still recommend to others as poignant.

These are my favorite fiction, non fiction is a whole other list.

Joseph Campbell being a favorite non-fiction author.
 
Kel Tec RFB said:
Read Enemy at The Gates. One of my favorite reads ever. Gates of Fire is another good one.
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Gates of Fire is the one about Thermopalae right? If it's the one I'm thinking of I would acutally not recomend it, very dark, very violent and very little in underlying point, though I will say it is very heavily researched.
 
Disillusioned said:
Gates of Fire is the one about Thermopalae right? If it's the one I'm thinking of I would acutally not recomend it, very dark, very violent and very little in underlying point, though I will say it is very heavily researched.
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I would disagree that their is little underlying point, its built up as a story of how people would stand so willingly against such odds. The darkness and violence serve to underscore that.
 
Kel Tec RFB said:
I would disagree that their is little underlying point, its built up as a story of how people would stand so willingly against such odds. The darkness and violence serve to underscore that.
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I'll admit to the darkness underscoring the point but what they're standing for is pretty much as bad as what they're fighting, reference the section of the narrator getting nailed to a fence post. The greeks are no "enlightened civilization" in that book. But you're entitled to your opinion.
 
Disillusioned said:
I'll admit to the darkness underscoring the point but what they're standing for is pretty much as bad as what they're fighting, reference the section of the narrator getting nailed to a fence post. The greeks are no "enlightened civilization" in that book. But you're entitled to your opinion.
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No they're certainly not 'enlightened', they're not made out to be. Its not a simple story of good vs evil or anything like that. Far more real in its tone, that's why I suggested it.
 
Kel Tec RFB said:
No they're certainly not 'enlightened', they're not made out to be. Its not a simple story of good vs evil or anything like that. Far more real in its tone, that's why I suggested it.
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As I said you're entitled to your opinion. I simply offered a different viewpoint, I wasn't by any stretch a bad book(though it's pretty hard to find something I'd consider bad) I just wouldn't recommend it to anybody who doesn't have a lot of time of their hands.
 
Disillusioned said:
As I said you're entitled to your opinion. I simply offered a different viewpoint, I wasn't by any stretch a bad book(though it's pretty hard to find something I'd consider bad) I just wouldn't recommend it to anybody who doesn't have a lot of time of their hands.
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I wouldn't either, I just think that if a story makes you root for someone who you normally wouldn't,its a good story.
 
cawacko said:
Since it's been a slow morning on this board and we were discussing books earlier I thought I'd throw out this question. I'm looking for something to read after I finish LBJ: Master of the Senate.
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Nixonland was one of the best books I've read over the past five years. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery was also great, definitely an illumination of a pivotal point and a great President.

Did you ever read the King book (11/22/63)you me and SF were talking about? I did. I don't think anyone would find it boring and it's been on pretty much everyone's top ten best books of 2011 list. I thought his conclusions were ludicrous, but the book itself was pretty good King. Close to the top of his game. Maybe at the top of his game.
 
"To Kill A Mockingbird" ranks up there. The Foundation Trilogu does as well. Pretty much anything by Azimov was tops.
 
Hmmm my list would be.

#1. Aztec - Gary Jennings
#2. The Art of War - Sun Tzu
#3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
#4. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
#5. The Choirboys - Joseph Wambaugh

To round that out to my top 10 I would include.

#6. Dune - Frank Herbert.
#7. LOTR - JRR Tolkien
#8. The First Man in Rome - Colleen McCullough (actually I recommend her entire Masters of Rome series. Incredibly well researched).
#9. All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
#10. The Prince - Nicolo Machiavelli
 
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What're you looking for Wacko? Fiction or non?

It's hard to rank my Top 5 Ever, but some great ones are:

Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
A Frolic of His Own, William Gaddis
White Noise, Don DeLillo
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy O'Toole
Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
Going Native, Stephen Wright
 
Dungheap said:
What're you looking for Wacko? Fiction or non?

It's hard to rank my Top 5 Ever, but some great ones are:

Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
A Frolic of His Own, William Gaddis
White Noise, Don DeLillo
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy O'Toole
Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
Going Native, Stephen Wright
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Is All the King's Men the book the movie is made after? I'll take a look at those others, thanks.

In general I really only read non-fiction though I would read fiction if it was considered a classic.

I saw Mott mentioned The Prince by Machiavelli. That's considered a classic isn't it? That one seems intriguing.
 
cawacko said:
Is All the King's Men the book the movie is made after? I'll take a look at those others, thanks.

In general I really only read non-fiction though I would read fiction if it was considered a classic.

I saw Mott mentioned The Prince by Machiavelli. That's considered a classic isn't it? That one seems intriguing.
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Please don't tell me that you're one of those thirty something white guys that reads nothing but biographies.

Not sure about the movie. I didn't see it or know that it existed. It won the Pulitzer back in the 40s and is one of the best American novels of the 20th century (as are others that I listed).

"The classics," depending how you define the term, are often not terribly readable. If you wanted to read fiction, you shouldn't limit yourself to just the classics. That may be why you don't think you like a lot of fiction.

You'd probably enjoy A Confederacy of Dunces, even though it's fiction. Same with Going Native. They aren't classics, but are both very good books.

If you dig non-fiction, I recommend Consider the Lobster or A Supposedly Fun Thing I'd Never Do Again. They are collections of essays by David Foster Wallace and are phenomenal. (Consider the Lobster has a piece written for Rolling Stone about the McCain 2000 campaign). I finished The Big Short a little while back and it is worth reading.

Several other not widely read non-fiction books worth checking out: The Wild Trees (about a group of amateur arborists that measure the tallest trees on the planet), The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine (about a guy who cooks every dish in a classic French cookbook without paying for a single ingredient), Predictably Irrational (a book about behavioral economics and how counter-intuitive human behavior is), and, if you really really like biography, I Heard You Paint Houses (about a guy who claims to have killed Jimmy Hoffa).
 
cawacko said:
Is All the King's Men the book the movie is made after? I'll take a look at those others, thanks. In general I really only read non-fiction though I would read fiction if it was considered a classic. I saw Mott mentioned The Prince by Machiavelli. That's considered a classic isn't it? That one seems intriguing.
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If non-fiction is what you're after, Galipoli, Enemy at The Gates, or Rebels (if you're the least bit Gaelic) are amazing books.
 
Dungheap said:
Please don't tell me that you're one of those thirty something white guys that reads nothing but biographies.

Not sure about the movie. I didn't see it or know that it existed. It won the Pulitzer back in the 40s and is one of the best American novels of the 20th century (as are others that I listed).

"The classics," depending how you define the term, are often not terribly readable. If you wanted to read fiction, you shouldn't limit yourself to just the classics. That may be why you don't think you like a lot of fiction.

You'd probably enjoy A Confederacy of Dunces, even though it's fiction. Same with Going Native. They aren't classics, but are both very good books.

If you dig non-fiction, I recommend Consider the Lobster or A Supposedly Fun Thing I'd Never Do Again. They are collections of essays by David Foster Wallace and are phenomenal. (Consider the Lobster has a piece written for Rolling Stone about the McCain 2000 campaign). I finished The Big Short a little while back and it is worth reading.

Several other not widely read non-fiction books worth checking out: The Wild Trees (about a group of amateur arborists that measure the tallest trees on the planet), The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine (about a guy who cooks every dish in a classic French cookbook without paying for a single ingredient), Predictably Irrational (a book about behavioral economics and how counter-intuitive human behavior is), and, if you really really like biography, I Heard You Paint Houses (about a guy who claims to have killed Jimmy Hoffa).
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My bad, was thinking The King's Speech.

Haha, is reading biographies something many white dudes in their 30's do? Uh-oh. Last five or six books have been A Country of Vast Designs - James Polk, The Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Roberty Merry, Columbus - The Four Voyages, Eisenhower - The White House Years by Jim Newton and then the three Robert Caro books on LBJ. Before that it was More Money Than God which is a book about hedge funds and then a book on Steve Schwarzmann and Blackstone.
 
cawacko said:
Is All the King's Men the book the movie is made after? I'll take a look at those others, thanks.

In general I really only read non-fiction though I would read fiction if it was considered a classic.

I saw Mott mentioned The Prince by Machiavelli. That's considered a classic isn't it? That one seems intriguing.
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Yes, The Prince is most definately considered a classic. It's required reading for anyone studying poitical science. It's really a guide on how to succeed in politics. It's a short read and if you like it you'll also enjoy "The Art of War" which is really a book about leadership and strategy. Both are short reads too. What's enjoyable about The Prince and The Art of War is that you can read each section, understand the principle being taught, then put the book down and start thinking about real world applications of those principles. Since you obviously enjoy politics you will enjoy doing that.
 
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