I read all the time and I don't think I could live without reading good books. I'm always looking for new and interesting books to read, so I'm curious to know what your top 5 favs are. In no particular order, mine are:

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Sophie's Choice - William Styron
Roots - Alex Hailey
The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

I could probably list hundreds of books that I've loved, but these are my absolute favourites.


What are yours?

The Decay of the Angel

Spring Snow

Runaway Horses

The Temple of Dawn

Confessions of a Mask

all by



also anything by Tolstoy

Tao Te Ching read 5 times.

Fauxie said:

i don't even know how many times i've read that. it's like a desk reference anymore.

"naked lunch" by william burroughs
"shock value" by john waters
"a confederacy of dunces" by john kennedy toole
"generation x" by douglas coupland
"glamorama" by bret easton ellis

two more recent favorites that i would recommend to anyone:

"a massive swelling" by cintra wilson
"weird like us" by ann powers

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah

True To The Game by Teri Woods

Star by Danielle Steele (?)

Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins


Smooches;)
[Edited 6/3/05 7:34am]

The Master & Margarita - M.A. Bulgakov

Wurthering Heights - Emily Brontë

Journey To The End of the Night - L.F. Céline

The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie

The Island of the day Before - Umberto Eco

Anxiety said:

good choice

kisscamille said:

I read that one a few years ago and although I liked it a lot
I'm still curious as to what makes it one of the best books of
the last century for general readers and critics alike.

I though "The Old man and the Sea" was a much stronger story.
Not even talking about "For Whom The Bell Tolls"

kisscamille said:

Have you also read Marquez's "chronicle of a death foretold"?
Everyone always lists "One Hundred Years of Solitude" when they
mention Marquez, and sure, it probably is his most accomplished
book, but "chronicle" is just such an amazing read. Very short,
but so powerful. I had to read it twice and was still amazed by
the end.

NSFW

Mach said:

that's one of my favs, too.

Mach said:

IstenSzek said:

I have read only one other Marquez book. It was called "of love and other demons". I liked it a lot, but it was nothing compare to "love in the time of cholera". As far as 100 years of solitude.....I've tried reading it twice and can't get past page 100. I know it's supposed to be his masterpiece, but I couldn't get into it. Thanks for your suggestion of chronicle of a death foretold. I will pick it up at my used bookstore.

I'm a huge Hemingway fan. I've read all his work. You either love him or you think he's overrated. He was a real mans man and wasn't ashamed of writing about all the "manly" things he loved to do. He is such a strong writer and is great with his descriptions of everything from war, to bull-fighting to human emotions. I personally feel that Papa was the greatest writer ever.

kisscamille said:

I think I'll give him another go in a few month's time.
Especially, "The Sun Also Rises", which is a book I'll
be able to finish in a single day.
I'll wait until I feel ready for it and give it another
try.

i know why the caged bird sings-maya angelou
sula-toni morrison
the bluest eye-toni morrison
the autobiography of malcom x-alex hailey
one flew over the coocoos nest-ken kesey






just remembered the author edit.
[Edited 6/2/05 10:18am]

1. "The Second Sex" by Simone de Beauvoir.
The great feminist manifesto.

2. "We the Living" by Ayn Rand
(Yes, I do like it better than Atlas Shrugged-- which is magnificent. As far as narrative style and fully dimensional characters I think Kira is one of the best and most compelling. Her actions at the end always move me. Some of Ayn's characters can be rather one-dimensional philosophical props -- no sacrilege intended. Ayn is of course a god.)



3. "The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice.
Rice's plotting, character development and word choice are all captivating. When I read her as a child, she made me appreciate observing life and humans to better interpret human fears, desires, lusts, and spiritual cravings... Her observances are so rich, insightful, and unparalled. I underline so many passages when I read her. I never stop at face value. Louis's description of his last sunrise remains with me to this day. I loved Interview With the Vampire and didn't think I could love Lestat more, but I did.

4. "Gather Together in My Name" by Maya Angelou
(Where she tells of her life as a prostitute with a no-regrets, proud, drmatic flair that made me love her. Despite being molested as a child and afterward becoming promiscuous, she never acted as a victim. I respect that.)

5. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
I love Malcolm's insight into how the psychology of people has been altered by racism and how people must search for the truth about themselves. I respect that he evolved to denouce crime, drugs, and womanizing. He was even evolving to understand he could be one with other races in his search for equality. There will be many "leaders" who hold marches and ostensibly fight for external changes. But Malcolm focused on changing the internal in oppressed masses. With all the drug use, gangs, violence, ignorance, and depravity going on among the oppressed today -- we could sure use a motivational force like him. Damn the CIA.

Honorable mention: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (the first novel I read about gay life) and all of Ayn Rand's other books (except Anthem )
[Edited 6/2/05 10:36am]

1. the sun also rises - hemingway
2. american psycho - bret easton ellis
3. burt - howard buten
4. morvern callar - alan warner
5. breakfast of champions - vonnegut

take that, canon!

I also really really love Twain's short stories, and the diary of adam & eve. and I love Linh Dinh! Soon he will be on my list. I just have to read his shit a few more times.

also, did I mention how much JD rocks for introducing me to #4?

"The Ciderhouse Rules" by John Irving
"The Hours" by Micheal Cunningham
"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
"The Celluloid Closet" by Vito Russo
"The Kid: Or How My Boyfriend and I got Pregnant" by Dan Savage

SynthiaRose said:

I love my some Simone de Beauvoir!!

brownsugar said:

Hi, I happened to notice you have Angela Davis in your avatar. I absolutely love her. I got to speak with her several years ago when she visited Indiana University. And though I don't believe in autographs, I was honored to have her sign my book. I'm in love with the ideals of the Black Panthers although their reality didn't always match. Had I been of age during their heyday, I would joined the Panthers for sure -- partly out of sheer romanticism for revolutionaries... although since female equality wasn't a major priority ... I probably would have been secretly appropriated as sex kitten.

You guys have read some great stuff and you've given me several suggestion too.

IstenSzek said:

Yea! ... and John Stuart Mill (The Subjection of Women), Mary Wollstonecraft (Vindication of the Rights of Woman), Virginia Woolf (A Room of One's Own, etc), Doris Lessing (To Room Nineteen)....
[Edited 6/2/05 10:50am]

The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Winter's Tale ny Mark Helprin
A Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Sirens Of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
The Etruscan by Mika Waltari

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger

ANNA KARININA by Leo Tolstoy

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY of MALCOM X

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Honorable Mentions

1984 by George Orwell
GLAMORAMA by Bret Easton Ellis
THE VAMPIRE LESTAT by Anne Rice
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace
Swan's Way by Marcel Proust

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann

Anxiety said:

It's brilliant isn't it? I read some of it every day.

Fauxie said:

i should keep reading it every day, but i've lagged lately. i go through phases where i study and read and meditate and write a lot, and phases where it gets shoved to the back burner...though it's always with me in practice - i feel like i've come to internalize much of what i've learned over the years.

Gulliver's travels - Jonathan Swift
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
The unbearable lightness of being - Milan Kundera
Max Havelaar - Multatuli

can't think of a fifth right now