TBD on Ning

Our Own "Favorite Books" Lists

There are book lists everywhere with a rainbow of criteria. Some lists are scholarly; some are purely popular. I'm interested in what books the members of this group particularly love. That can mean your all-time favorites or what you're loving in the here and now. The list can be general or specific to a particular genre. Anything goes.

And, of course, there's no limit to the number of lists, or types of lists, you can post over time. Hey, life is about change, isn't it?

So, post your lists. Let's say they should have at least five books on them, you may describe the books or not, and please identify what kind of list it is (e.g., Science Fiction, Classics, All-Time Favorites, Children's Books of the 1950s, etc.).

(BTW, I looked through 10 pages of discussions and didn't see a similar topic, so I decided to post this. Sorry if I'm reinventing the wheel. ツ )

Tags: books, favorite books, must reads, reading list

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 18, 2018 at 6:25pm

Some Favorite Books Which Don't Usually Make Favorite Books Lists

Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
The Dwarf by Pär Lagerkvist
Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist
Ulysses by James Joyce--Sure, it's a masterpiece, but how many people actually put it on a "favorite books" list? (I blame my ex for this--haha)
Wendell, His Cat, and the Progress of Man by V. Campudoni

Permalink Reply by Lyn on August 18, 2018 at 7:19pm

could we do maybe two at at time or so while we walk down memory lane?

The Cole Trilogy: The Physician, Shaman, and Matters of Choice by Noah Gordon

Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer: A Novel (P.S.)

Sena Jeter Naslund

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

I guess the title of my list would be books I enjoyed and in no particular order

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 18, 2018 at 9:35pm

Lyn, you can do anything you wish! Well...maybe not ANYTHING. ツ

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 19, 2018 at 4:20pm

I haven't read any of your picks, Lyn. They have all piqued my interest!

Naslund's unconventional character Una has especially caught my attention. I'll probably be paying her world a visit.

Permalink Reply by Lyn on August 22, 2018 at 1:37pm

yay! I enjoyed them immensely. The Cole trilogy is long and the first book is the best, but it is a good read going from , I think, the 1100's up to modern day. I almost do anything I wish. I am retired and 3 of my older kids live with me.........they run the house and drive me around.........I sort of do what I want! Hope you enjoy the books

Lyn

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 22, 2018 at 11:38pm

I'm sure I shall!

Yeah, I think we all have the right to do what we wish, unless of course it hurts others or infringes terribly on their rights--yadda yadda yadda. When I said "not anything," I was meaning in the context of the group, and thinking about things like posting photos of oneself stark naked. HAHAHA! Of course, while Ning wouldn't like it, the rest of us might. FREEDOM!!! ツ (Just being silly.)

Permalink Reply by Lip Service on August 18, 2018 at 9:31pm

Thanks for infusing the group with this suggestion. It has been a while since we had these kinds of posts.

Here are some off the top of my head (funny to be aware of what stuck in one's head)

- Dune by Frank Herbert

- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin

- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

- Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac

- Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounter Consciousness by Bruce Rosenbaum and Fred Kutner

- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

(I had forgotten about that book but was reminded of it when watching the PBS series "The Great American Read" then remembered how much I liked it)

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 18, 2018 at 10:00pm

You're very welcome, LS.

The Dune series is great favorite of mine. I need to reread it.

And, thanks for making me aware of Quantum Enigma. Looks interesting, and I'm always up for science.

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 19, 2018 at 4:40pm

A Few Favorite Science Fiction Titles

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Flow My Tears the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Dhalgren by Samuel Delany
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
The Gameplayers of Zan by M.A. Foster

Permalink Reply by Lip Service on August 22, 2018 at 11:58am

At home I passed by the bookcases and I heard screaming:

You ingrate low-life perfid, how could you forget about us

After all the time we spent together!!

Indeed how could have forgotten how much I loved these following wonderful books. I will provide an Amazon links where you can browse parts of the book and see for yourself. I will also say a few words on why these books were special to me.

- The Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Age-Milky-Timothy-Ferris-ebook/dp/B00...

A delightful guided tour of how humans developed they views of the skies, from thinking stars to be holes in a canvas to studying distant galaxies.

- Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard

https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Stone-Talk-Expeditions-Encounters-e...

A transcendant stream of consciousness where an inspired person shows how to make magic from ordinary language

- Godel, Escher and Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

https://www.amazon.com/Gödel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567/

A book which has many many facets, including art, music, creativity, philosophy. It is also a passionate argument for rejecting the dichotomy of reductionism (understanding organisms solely by studying their components) and holism (understanding organisms solely by studying global outward functions). Even though technically the subject of the book is Artificial Intelligence, his main arguments is that humans cannot be machines. If you are game for an intellectual trip, you will not find better.

- Orientalism by Eduard Said

https://www.amazon.com/Orientalism-Edward-W-Said-ebook/dp/B00NDTUDIY/

Nothing short of revolutionary but also very lucid and quite entertaining. Shows how ideology has shaped the views of historians and scholars history. It is as if somebody telling Plato's cave dwellers the truth of their conditioning. Another great intellectual journey

- The Structure of Everyday Life: Civilization and Capitalism 15th - 18th Century by Frenand Braudel

https://www.amazon.com/Structures-Everyday-Life-Civilization-Capita...

History usually is written as "what happened when". This is more "how did it happen, what did it feel like". The main theme is Capitalism but it is much more encompassing then just that. Not a different view but a deeper and engaging one. If you like it, it is first of a trilogy of books

Permalink Reply by Angharad on August 23, 2018 at 12:14am

I really enjoyed The Coming of Age in the Milky Way and Teaching a Stone to Talk. Godel, Escher and Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid is very familiar, but I'm not sure if I read it, part of it, or am just having a memory misfire.

I'm drawn to Annie Dillard's work. Her first novel, The Living, touched close to home--my mother grew up in Washington State and summered on Guemes Island in Puget Sound in the early 1900s. It was a joy reading about so many of the things of which my mom spoke, especially of the indigenous peoples.

The last two titles were probably in my beloved's library (he was a historian/history professor/college administrator), but I haven't read them. I've always been a history curmudgeon--you know, one who grumbles, "once you understand human nature and how things work, history is no longer a mystery." His passion for it went a long way toward breaking me down. He could have lectured on the history of plumbing fixtures and I would have been enthralled. ツ

Permalink Reply by Joanne on August 22, 2018 at 4:46pm