Best Books You Have Read This Year

[Kiwi Shelf]

What are the say 5 best books you have read this year?

I think I will have more than five, but:

1. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
2. Subterranean by James Rollins
3. Amazonia by James Rollins
4. Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve
5. Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
6. Weird Sister - Kate Pullinger
7. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
8. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
9. Confessions of an Ugly Step-sister - Gregory Maguire
10. The Romantic - Barbara Gowdy


I will stop at 10, there are likely more. I read like 155 books this year. :)

[Virgil]

Deleted......

[Virgil]

Goodness, what have I read this year?

Literary works:
Joyce's Ullyses, took up most of the year.
Dante's, Infereno is almost complete.
Hemingway's, The Sun Also Rises
Before the year is out, I will read Shakespare' "The Winter's Tale" since someone brought it up on another thread, and it is one I have never read before.

Along with my literary readings, I usually read a biagraphy, a non-fiction work ususally of history, and something to improve my career. This year, the biography, which I never finsidhed BTW, was Heloise and Abelard (by James Burge), non-fiction, Thomas Woods, How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, and my career improver was something on leadership.

But don't forget the many poems I've read or re-read, magazine and journal articles, and all the stuff for work.

[Pensive]

I have read over 50 books this year and these are the one's I like the best:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
A Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
Flowers In The Attic by Virgina Andrews
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling
Mill On The Floss by George Eliot
The Hobbit by Tolikien
Anne Of The Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

[Virgil]

50!!! My God, that's incredible. Even in College I don't know if I did that. Wasn't Wuthering Heights great?

[EAP]

1. Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
1. A Feast For Crows - George R. R. Martin
1. Circle Of Friends - Maeve Binchy
4. Boys & Girls Together - William Goldman
4. Tamsin - Peter Beagle

[RobinHood3000]

Haven't had time to read much this year, but I did read Michael Crichton's Timeline, and I enjoyed it.

[Weeping Willow]

Hmmm lets see.. i don't know how many.. but i'll try..

Robert A. Heinlein - The cat how alks through walls
Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe
Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels
Mary Wollestonecraft Shelley - FRANKENSTEIN
Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman - The Death Gate Cycle - all 7 volumes
Jorge Amado - Sea of Death
Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary - got stuck in the middle...
Alexandre Dumas - The Three Musketeers - reading now...

[Dixie Chick]

By far, the books I enjoyed the most this year have been:

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett

Neither of them sounded like anything I would like but they came highly recommended. It surprised me how much I liked them.

[Virgil]

1. Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
1. A Feast For Crows - George R. R. Martin
1. Circle Of Friends - Maeve Binchy
4. Boys & Girls Together - William Goldman
4. Tamsin - Peter Beagle

How was Winter's Tale? I've always wanted to read Mark Helprin, but haven't had the chance yet.

[Aurora Ariel]

There was actually already a thread for this, if anyone would like to continue here:


http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13415

[Pensive]

50!!! My God, that's incredible. Even in College I don't know if I did that. Wasn't Wuthering Heights great?

Sorry, I think that I used a wrong word. I did not mean over 50. I meant less than 50, over 40 - I guess.

[EAP]

How was Winter's Tale? I've always wanted to read Mark Helprin, but haven't had the chance yet.

Winter's Tale is exquisite. There are three main characters - Peter Lake, Beverly Soames and New York.
It is meant to be read during the winter season. Preferably on a cold, stormy night with the crackling of fire and the banging of the window frames to keep your company as the White Horse pulls you into the city of New York and doesn't let go till the last deed is done. :D

[Virgil]

Winter's Tale is exquisite. There are three main characters - Peter Lake, Beverly Soames and New York.
It is meant to be read in winter. Preferably on a cold, stormy night with the crackling of fire and the banging of the window frames to keep your company as the White Horse pulls you into the city of New York and doesn't let go till the last deed is done. :D


Hmmm. Sounds interesting.

[Erna]

1. Douglas R. Hofstadter - Gödel, Escher, Bach (still reading, extremely good and extremely hard)
2. Jules Verne - Journey to the center of the Earth
3. J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince
4. Henry Charriere - Papillon
5. Mark Haddon - The curious incident of the dog during night-time
6. Yann Martel - The life of Pi
7. Ian McEwan - Amsterdam

[lit_fan!]

1. Girl, Interrupted by Suzanna Kaysen
2. Beijing Girl ? i don't remember who the author was, as i lent the book out, but it was banned in China, apparently, and had a pink cover
3. Double Star by Robert Heinlein
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
5. The Terminal Man by Michael Chrichton

[rodanho]

jules verne-from the earth to the moon
nathaniel hawthorne-the scarlet letter
tolkien-the fellowship of the ring, the hobbit
dan brown-da vinci code
mark twain-tom sawyer, huck finn
mary shelley-frankenstein
shakespeare-romeo and juliet, hamlet, a midsummer night's dream

[Wendigo_49]

I think we had a thread like this earlier in the year. Anyway here is my list:

Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
Narcissus and Goldmund and Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Barrabus by Par Lagerkvist
Light in August by William Faulkner

[Erika90]

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

[Virgil]

I think we had a thread like this earlier in the year. Anyway here is my list:

Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
Narcissus and Goldmund and Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Barrabus by Par Lagerkvist
Light in August by William Faulkner

Wow - That's some heavy reading. What did you think of Light in August, one of my all time favorites.

[Jay T]

Out of some 80-90 book read this year published in 2005, I will limit my choices to those that came out this year, in let's say a top 12 format (in no particular order):

1. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco
2. Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford
3. Vellum by Hal Duncan
4. Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin
5. Never Le Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
6. Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
7. Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen Mchugh
8. Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land by John Crowley
9. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
10.Eternity: And Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
11.Yume Me Hone: Book of Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente
12. I'm reading Paul Auster's Brooklyn Follies right now and would probably put that here, for now I''ll say Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania.

[Wendigo_49]

Wow - That's some heavy reading. What did you think of Light in August, one of my all time favorites.

Light in August saved me from my disappointment from the other two books in Oprah's Summer Selection pack. I liked As I Lay Dying, but it just didn't meet my expectaions. The Sound and the Fury would probably be more enjoyable the second time around since I know who the characters are now.

Light in August I thought was great, partly from my lowered expectations from the first two stories. Faulkner's descriptive prose jumped out in this novel. You could take out any paragraph from the story and feel like you were traveling through the deep south with Lena, working at the mill with Lucas Burch, or see
the hauntings of cavalry officers in Gail Hightower's mind. My favorite part from the whole book is when Brown escapes out the window and Lena sighs and then says "Now I got to get up again."

[Virgil]

Light In August is my personal favorite from Faulkner. That's not to say I don't like the others either. But you're right. The characters are so vivid here that you can almost see them. I don't know if they've made a movie out of this novel, but it couldn't possibly live up. Faulkner's prose is at his best here too.

[alexanderpope]

These are the best books I've read this year (not in any particular order):

1. King Lear, by Shakespeare
2. Paradise Lost, by John Milton
3. The Wings of the Dove, by Henry James

and for some strange reason I've read these three books on the Faust legend:

4. Doctor Faustus, by Thomas Mann
5. Faust, Part 1, by Goethe
6. Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe

[Vedrana]

Best books I have read? Hmmm...that would take a fair bit of work to figure out, but I would say that, in no particular order, they were for me:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Sense and Sensibility
I Capture the Castle
Girl With a Pearl Earring
The Crucible

And...I have to admit that I can't remember. But I really liked all of them. Actually, by some mysterious coincidence, all of those listed have been made into films. I would have to say that few films really capture a text completely and utterly, but Girl With a Pearl Earring was well done, I really liked what they did, and so was I Capture the Castle. (Lovely performances from Romola Garai and Rose Byrne)

Anyway...I would say that I have had a fruitful year of reading.

[Virgil]

These are the best books I've read this year (not in any particular order):

1. King Lear, by Shakespeare
2. Paradise Lost, by John Milton
3. The Wings of the Dove, by Henry James

and for some strange reason I've read these three books on the Faust legend:

4. Doctor Faustus, by Thomas Mann
5. Faust, Part 1, by Goethe
6. Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe

That's interesting about reading all three books on the Faust legend. Any thoughts? Which did you prefer?

[Miss Darcy]

(Best books in order of reading)

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. Time Must Have a Stop by Aldous Huxley
3. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
4. Island by Aldous Huxley

I guess you could say I'm a Huxleyoholic. ;)


The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Those are two of my all-time favourites...quite in contrast to one another, but so wonderful and unique, each book in its own way. You have good taste, Erika. :D :thumbs_up

Darcy

[Virgil]

And you, Miss Darcy, have read three Huxley novels. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read any. Any thoughts on Huxley?

[Miss Darcy]

Thoughts on Huxley?
He's a genius!

[Virgil]

Thoughts on Huxley?
He's a genius!

Did you know he was good friends with D.H. Lawrence? Huxley must have been a patient and understanding person, becuase it was hard for Lawrence to keep friends.

[Miss Darcy]

Did you know he was good friends with D.H. Lawrence?

Yes, I vaguely remember reading it somewhere. I am not overly familiar with Lawrence's works...I've read about him but as yet have not studied the writings themselves

Huxley was also great friends with J. Krishnamurti, who influenced his life considerably...I think it was somewhat due to Krishnamurti that Huxley in later life embraced vegetarianism and Eastern mystical practices such as meditation. The influence of Eastern philosophy on Huxley can, I believe, be seen best in his last work, Island, which is currently my favourite book.

:)

Darcy

[Aurora Ariel]

I have actually considered adding a book or two by D.H Lawrence to my 2006 wish to read next list.Has anyone read all of his works?Can you recommend one or two specifically?Previously, I have not studied him in depth, and have only read a bit about his biography, etc.But I am aware of his novels such as Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was notoriously banned years ago.

[EAP]

Try 'Sons and Lovers'.

[Wirhe]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, since I can't remember any others. :D

[strategos]

1. Chesapeake by James A. Michener
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
4. American Pastoral by Philip Roth
5. The Known World by Edward P. Jones
6. Rabbit At Rest by John Updike
7. The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
9. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
10. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

[beer good]

Seems like a good thread to jump into...

1. Leonid Tsypkin's "Summer in Baden-Baden" (his only novel, and we lost a great novelist there. Thanks a lot, Soviet censorship.)
2. Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America"
3. Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex"
4. Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" (I've waited for it for 20 years...)
5. Georges Perec's "A Void" (one of the weirdest novels I've read, but great fun)
6. Dostoyevsky's "Notes From Underground"
7. Bret Easton Ellis's "Lunar Park"
8. Klas Östergren's "Gentlemen" (don't think this one is available in English, which is the rest of the world's loss)
9. Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories"
10. Gary Shteyngart's "The Russian Debutante's Handbook"

I think that's pretty close.

[shortysweetp]

The Five People That You Meet in Heaven- Mitch Albom
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime-Mark Haddon
Villette-Charlotte Bronte
The Chronicles of Narnia-CS Lewis
Sea Glass:A novel-Anita Shreve

[coreyg37]

favorite books this year?

1. A Portrait of the Artist as a young man by James Joyce
2. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
3. This side of paradise by f scott fitzgerald
4. The Rum Diary by Hunter Thompson
5. Nausea By Jean Paul Sartre

[Virgil]

I have actually considered adding a book or two by D.H Lawrence to my 2006 wish to read next list.Has anyone read all of his works?Can you recommend one or two specifically?Previously, I have not studied him in depth, and have only read a bit about his biography, etc.But I am aware of his novels such as Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was notoriously banned years ago.
Aurora - I hadn't noticed your post before. I did my master's thesis on DH Lawrence, so I know him very well. I've read just about all his major stuff. As a starter with Lawrence, if I were you I would go with Sons & Lovers. Perhaps I can talk the bookclub into taking it up this year. What is not always widely known about Lawrence is that he is an abslutely great short story writer. If you want to start there, that would not be a bad choice either. If you get a collection of his stories, let me know what's included and I'll tell you which are really worth reading.

[IrishCanadian]

Top 5 of 2005, in order of preference
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Mauriac - Tangle of Vipers
Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
Huxley - Brave New World
CS Lewis - Four Loves
... dang thats already five, you don't really notice how much great stuff you read until someone asks you review the list.
... this doesn't include some of the excelent poetry and short stories that I discovered and rediscovered in the past year too. Hmmm

[Virgil]

Don't know if you realized it, IrishCanadian, there are at least three of us with a Yeats quote for a signature: You, Reisa, and me.

[gilthas]

Easy

1: Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell
2: Harry Potter Six
3: Animal Farm, George orwell
4: Night of Blood, Margeret Weiss
5: Return of the King, Tokien