Engaging Books

[Captain Canuck]

Lots of good stuff on that list of yours.
How about some Huxley? Point Counter Point and Brave New World are both amazing works.

For some good fantasy check out Terry Brooks' Shannara series. Definately enough reading there to keep ya busy a while
The Original Shannara Trilogy
The Sword of Shannara (1977)
The Elfstones of Shannara (1982)
The Wishsong of Shannara (1985)
The Heritage of Shannara tetralogy
The Scions of Shannara (1990)
The Druid of Shannara (1991)
The Elf Queen of Shannara (1992)
The Talismans of Shannara (1993)
Prequel to the Original Shannara Trilogy
First King of Shannara (1996)

 

[Flippy the Squirrel]

I used to have The Sword of Shannara, and it sat on my shelf for around six years before it just vanished. I've always thought about reading those. Gotta add them to the list...

 

[Frank Booth]

Camus has some books containing his editorials from the resistance newspaper Combat from WW2. His literature is good, but the editorials are amazing. If only we had journalists like him now. Also the collection Resistance, Rebellion and Death has an essay, Reflections on the guillotine, which is the best thing on the death penalty put on paper. I was floored by it; quite impressive.

Then get the Zen books for sure. Zen has liberated me from the problems of logic and philosophy. Zen and Japanese Culture by Suzuki has some nice literature on how Zen changed Japanese society, for example how it applies to swordsmanship or haiku or drinking tea.

I love me some philosophy, although I have to take it in small doses, because I'm not a young man determined to change the world anymore. I get fed up with pedantic descriptions of how I'm supposed to think. (I think I'm getting crotchety.)

I have liked the one thing by Camus I read, which was a short story called The Guest in an English class I took a while ago. I've meant to read more. He's a cool existential nut.

 

[Endiment]

Dune is freakin' amazing. also I'd recommend Mythology by Edith Hamilton; the best of Greek and Nordic myths without having to wade through all the Homeric jargon. lastly, Lord of the Flies. should be an obvious choice.

 

[imitation]

Wow. It's amazing how similar people's tastes are here. I actually starred in Cyrano de Bergerac in high school. (I played LeBret, although I was a far better fencer than the guy who played Cyrano.)

I've not read enough Jules Verne, although, as I understand, one must be careful about the version one gets, as translations have generally be exceptionally poor.

Yeah, I've read like 3 copies of @0,000 leagues under the sea. Ashortened kiddy version and the actually big.

 

[Idol]

My short list

SF-
Snowcrash and Diamond Age are good. I'm going to skip the list of short stories assuming you want longer works, but pick up a Bruce Sterling collection, "Tamalakan" is awesome! I liked Greg Egan's Quarantine although it's more philosophy (as is all good SF). If you can find it, Glen Cook The Dragon Never Sleeps rivals Dune as the epitome of space opera.

Fantasy-
Glen Cook again, his Black Company saga is like 7? 8? books long and will keep you engrossed for a while. He has a unique writing style that takes a bit of getting used to. Definitely a worms-eye view of things. Tolkien tells tales from the point of view of the heroes and commanders. Cook will tell you the Battle of Helms Deep from the point of view of the 3rd Orc from the left, 15th row back, of the battalion tasked with guarding the supply wagons. Great stuff.

I found Lawrence Watt-Evans Lords of Dus series to be a good read as well. He ties his plot together well. Plenty of authors will refer back to key events from a couple chapters ago, Watt-Evans shows you how the mundane stuff in book one was actually a key part of the plan brought to fruition in book four!

And speaking of Tolkein, once I managed to get past the first 10 chapters of so of Silmarilion it turns into one of the best books I've ever read.

Fiction-
If you just enjoy a good read outside any particular genre, there's a reason some books are considered classics. Moby Dick is quite the tale and isn't about revenge at all; it's actually a thinly veiled treaste on world religions. Tolstoy's War and Peace will astound you with its rich characters and epic scale. And, since you don't fear the macabre, pick up some Poe or H.P. Lovecraft short story collections. It's refreshing to read an author who really knows how to write. Makes you want to cry at all the carp that makes the best-seller lists nowadays. The opening scene of Lovecraft's "The Picture in the House" is something to be savored over and over. Plus you'll finally understand what all that Cthulhu business is about :huh:

Non-fiction-
Call me strange but I found Stanley Greenberg's Race and State in Capitalist Development to be particularly enjoyable. But then I'm a sucker for comparative studies.

Hope this helps.

 

[DragonD]

SF-


Fantasy-
Glen Cook again, his Black Company saga is like 7? 8? books long and will keep you engrossed for a while. He has a unique writing style that takes a bit of getting used to. Definitely a worms-eye view of things. Tolkien tells tales from the point of view of the heroes and commanders. Cook will tell you the Battle of Helms Deep from the point of view of the 3rd Orc from the left, 15th row back, of the battalion tasked with guarding the supply wagons. Great stuff.

Glen Cook is one of my favorite authors. Have you read the Garret Files?

 

[Flippy the Squirrel]

And, since you don't fear the macabre, pick up some Poe or H.P. Lovecraft short story collections. It's refreshing to read an author who really knows how to write. Makes you want to cry at all the carp that makes the best-seller lists nowadays. The opening scene of Lovecraft's "The Picture in the House" is something to be savored over and over. Plus you'll finally understand what all that Cthulhu business is about :huh:

I'm down with Cthulhu, trust me. I started reading HPL during the 1980s and have been a fan of his work ever since. Personally, my favorite of his works are The Whisperer in Darkness, The Dunwitch Horror, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.