Books: FOH's to read/re-read list - give us your "all-time favourites" nominations...

[Wookie]

1 minute ago, RDB said:

Yes yes yes. One of the great prose stylists. And a bit loopy.

He started to lose me with the later novels in the series.  

[HDGSN]

Favorite Non-Fiction

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson - full of information, witty, great writing, accessible

Favorite Fiction

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - the Great American Novel, haunting, sticks-with-ya, an annual read, the greatest book ever written

 

[MoeFOH]

Dropping this one in as a long overdue re-read. Love Vonnegut! 

[SignalJoe]

I have bought this book five times and read it a few more.  I've given the previous copies away as gifts (once in Havana).  It is an amazing history and will be very tangible especially for those who have visited Havana as you read the stories of how some of the famous hotels came to be.  I can't recommend it enough.  

[Shakey]

For history fans -
The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America by William Manchester is excellent. Covers the time period from the depths of the Great Depression through the late 1960s. Very long, though there is a quite good audiobook version available too. 

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. In my opinion much better than American Prometheus. Might be more accurately titled "A History of Nuclear Physics from 1880-1945" because it starts well before the 1940 and covers the growth of nuclear physics as a field of research. 

[Li Bai]

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

[westg]

The Trial of Vladimir Putin . Try it on. A remarkable survey by one of our most celebrated human rights lawyers. 

 

[joeypots]

In no particular order.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Tutankhamun: The Untold Story 

[Rhod]

Most of you guys are pretty deep for me and my attention span.  That said, will throw out a few that have stuck with me over the years.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen  - really made me think of how fragile our way of life is and what would I do if it were to all fall apart.  It particularly hits home as I have a Type 1 diabetic daughter as did the protagonist of this work.

Hugh Howey's Silo series.  Wool, Shift and Dust.  Not the best writing but I loved the story.  First book is narrowly focused on one community.   Then subsequent books open it up to reveal the bigger picture and history.  

About all of Tom Clancy's works entertained me completely, but Without Remorse I thought was amazing.

Neil Gaiman has a lot of great reads too.  Particularly love American Gods and Neverwhere.

[joeypots]

Russian mob and lots about why Russian mobsters became so vicious. Didn’t read it twice but it stuck with me.

[BlueRidgeFly]

I just finished “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold. Should have read this years ago. Land conservation, invasive species, agricultural practices, the impact of humanity. A complete shift in perspective. This guy saw the future. If you hunt or fish or soak up being outdoors, or just give a sh*t… worth reading.

[Cayman17]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera is a book I have read many times, very deep and insightful. 

For lighter fare, The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson is, in my opinion, a highly entertaining novel. 

Quantum of Solace, a collection of short stories by Ian Fleming, is also great (especially for vacation reading).