Five Favorite Books
Oct. 14th, 2005 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
filkertomBorrowed and modified from the thread below: What are your five favorite books, i.e., ones which you go back to over and over and over, the ones that really changed your life? And why?
Mine actually turned out to be a really easy call, in no particular order:
Mine actually turned out to be a really easy call, in no particular order:
- The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, which opened me to worlds of fantasy and adventure which have permeated my life ever since
- Dune by Frank Herbert, which helped to make me socially, religiously, ethically, politically, and environmentally conscious all at the same time
- The Beast That Shouted Love At The Heart Of The World by Harlan Ellison, which showed me that cliches were made to be upended and new realities were only a small twist away, and that sometimes it is possible to be dark and serious and odd and funny and emotional and logical and a billion other things all at the same time and that's okay because people really are like that
- Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, which showed me that your world can be destroyed in a way which you can physically survive, yet you can still create a new one if only you're not afraid
- What To Cook When You Think There's Nothing In The House To Eat by Arthur Schwartz, which was the first cookbook I really read recreationally and which gave me confidence that I could do more than boil water and microwave popcorn
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 01:42 pm (UTC)I have a cookbook in my house called >Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!, which is a collection of recipes that the author's mother gave him when he moved into his first apartment. Very well-written book, and on the few occasions when I am [a] eating dinner at my house and [b] want to cook something more complicated than pasta or grilled pierogies(*), that's one of the first places I turn.
(*) Seriously. Mrs. T.'s frozen pierogies, right out of the freezer, 5 minutes on a Foreman Grill. They're fantastic, and zero prep work.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:04 pm (UTC)When you're a Pole by heritage, though, you're constitutionally incapable of leaving pierogi at that. Now, Mrs. T makes a fine pierogi for something frozen, I will admit that. But eating them without first boiling them, then pan-frying in butter with onions and a little garlic is entirely out of the question. :)
I live and die by Irma Rombauer's magnum opus, The Joy of Cooking (do not confuse with the later edition, 'The New Joy Of Cooking'; only the original will do!). Just about anything you might want to know how to cook, is in there, with clear and simple instructions, and wonderful marginal observations along the way.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:33 pm (UTC)Have they now? That may be a must-buy. (It may not qualify, but I try to buy depression-era cookbooks, because they are such wonderful sources for making a little food go a long way. Wartime cookbooks are also good for that.)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 03:53 pm (UTC)The latest version is an abomination. Too much foreign food and they dropped the jams, jellies and preserves chapter. Arrrgh arg arg arg!
On the other hand, I do have just about everything that M.F.K. Fisher ever wrote, even the [admittedly awful] fiction. I think that Our Tom would get a kick out of HOW TO COOK A WOLF, a WWII era book on how to stay fed during times of meager resources.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 06:42 pm (UTC)It had first aid advice, cleaning advice, how to pick out foods in a store and easy recipes :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-15 10:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 01:57 pm (UTC)And speaking of Memory have you ever head Echo's Children's "Two Falls Out of Three?" I love that song.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:13 pm (UTC)It makes us cry our eyes out till we shrivel die, my precious.
Also, wow, there's an Ellison book named that? I have just died of cross-reference bliss.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 06:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:19 pm (UTC)And Memory is probably my favorite Bujold book.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:04 pm (UTC)There were the books that I reread every year as a teenager:
I Will Fear no Evil by Heinlein (I have long since outgrown his notions of my gender!)
Watership Down by Adams ("It's about bunnies.")
Up The Down Staircase by Kaufman (I liked seeing the teacher side of things while I was in school)
Dibs in Search of Self by Axline (I can't remember now why it fascinated me so)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein (see comment #1)
My favorites now aren't earthshattering so much as comfort food for the brain; cozy friends I'm so familiar with that I can open them anywhere and start reading, or read from cover to cover and immediately start again with equal joy. And since I can't rank 'em, I can't keep the list to just five, I'm afraid:
Pride and Prejudice by Austen Social satire, chick lit, romance, and classic all in one.
Northanger Abbey by Austen. Because I *was* Catherine Morland when I was younger.
Dandelion Wine by Bradbury. If I can learn to write 1/3 as well as he does, I'll die happy.
Small Gods by Pratchett, who is to me the Austen of our times.
Witches Abroad by Pratchett
Lords and Ladies by Pratchett
Going Postal by Pratchett
The White Deer by Thurber. He had a way with words that nobody else has ever come near.
The Little Princess by Burnett. You're never too old for a good story
Gaudy Night by Sayers. Even after you know whodunit, you love the world and the characters enough to want to keep visiting.
Busman's Honeymoon by Sayers. Ditto.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:22 pm (UTC)Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon (taught me about intelligent parody, remains the funniest book I have ever read)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (pulls together many observations about human and primate sociology into something which may be a little fanciful, but makes a hell of a lot more sense than any other view of humanity I've ever read)
Strategy by Hart B. H. Liddell (makes sense of every form of conflict from simple games to world war, and makes the point that the truest form of strategy is to accomplish one's goals without engaging in a conflict)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (along with the Chronicles of Narnia, opened my eyes in the Fourth Grade to allegory... that a story could have meaning and symbolism beyond what is simply being described was a shock to my system.)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:26 pm (UTC)I kiss three bucks goodbye(wait -- that's media; sorry :-) , and I find something new and beautiful.Those are the top and earliest five, but there are tons of other books I reread. In fact, those tend to be authors more than books: Spider Robinson, Diana Wynne Jones, Diane Duane, Glen Cook (the Garrett books, not the Black Company), and Richard Feynman.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:27 pm (UTC)I love it when literature does its job of holding up a mirror to life.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 06:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:30 pm (UTC)The other five-book list I need to think about is the five that got me into reading; the ones that hooked me so hard, I couldn't ever stop. Later, after I do parental things...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-15 12:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 02:40 pm (UTC)Wow. Cutting it down to five is going to be really really really hard, but I'll give it a go.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 03:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 04:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 06:25 pm (UTC)'Sfunny -- unlike a fair number of people, apparently, I thought that Memory had an incredibly obvious "reveal". (For those of you who haven't read it, we switch to highlightable Spoiler-Vision: ) It wasn't the "mystery", but the emotional journey Miles took that made the book magical.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 05:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:03 pm (UTC)Mostly because this is the "earliest" story by Norton I remember -- I remember my mom reading this story to me. I learned to read, reading Norton. Someone above said they missed Asimov, even though they never met him? For me, that's Norton.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
I think this is the strongest, most articulate and tightly plotted of the Potter books. The adults are fully realized and believable, the surprise twist at the end was a surprise :) and the book ended with a sense of hope and delight.
Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Cazaril is a more appealing hero for me -- and the Dratsab amuses me to no end. I laugh and gasp and exult every time I re-read this book.
The Mad Scientists' Club by Bertrand Brinkley
A series of short stories about a group of geeks, who wreaked havoc (sometimes un-intentionally) on their small town, had adventures and saved lives. Great characterization and unique use of first person. This book makes me laugh my ...head... off and has for years.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
My favorite of her books. Witty, charming, the perfect "Cinderella" story. I loathe angst, and Austen is the "anti-angst." :)
LB
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:24 pm (UTC)Wow, does that ever take me back. I wonder if I still have my copy somewhere. Unlikely, but it might have ended up in my siblings' book collections...
That was one of the first books that started giving me a sense of identity as a geek, I think.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:45 pm (UTC)The Hobbit: this was the first book I can remember reading all of
The Wind and the Willows: dont remember the author, another kids favorite
On Basilisk Station: David Weber, got me hooked on the Honorverse and Treecats RULE! bleek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Without Remorse: Tom Clancy, I have always liked the Jack Ryan books, but I like John Clark even better than Jack as a character
Sahara: Clive Cussler, this got me started on the Dirk Pitt books, and I have read all of them know... great stuff
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-14 07:45 pm (UTC)Hmm.
Date: 2005-10-14 10:01 pm (UTC)Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson - The Quintisential Pirate Book, it was one of the very very first 'long' books I ever read, and it sucked me into the world of reading.
Arrows of the QueenBy Mercedes Lackey - I am a huge,massive, insane Valdemar fan. They sometimes repeat themselves, but I can identify so much with the characters, that sometimes it's kinda scary.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy By The Indomitable Douglas Adams - Forty Two. 'Nuff Said.
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan - Like him, or hate him, you have got to admire the persistance of a man who's been writing ONE Book series for 30 Freakin years. Besides, the story rocks on how much you can look at it and say "Man, and I thought my life sucked."
The Gunslinger by Stephen King - When My mom handed me the thin tome that is "The Gunslinger" and I first began reading it, my first thought was 'wtf?' - Six books, a huge cast of characters that endears at the same time it confuses, Villians who are heartily believable in their mad quest to take down all of existance, An amazingly detailed backstory, and an intriguing, unexpected ending that left you wanting him to tell you what Roland WOULD find at the top...iIf everything went right. It made me really think about the world we live in and how fragile it really is when you boil it right down.
There's lots more, but those are the best.
The Ring of Five Books
Date: 2005-10-15 01:13 am (UTC)There are other books I once re-read frequently but have been diminished by how much I've changed since first becoming an active reader. But discussing that turned into such a long post that I've put it up as an entry on my lj (or will, as soon as I finish editing it).
Without thinking about it (or the list will grow...)
Date: 2005-10-15 01:20 am (UTC)Stranger in a Strange Land
Godbody - Theodore Sturgeon
Wounded Sky - Diane Duane Trek novel
Illuminatus - Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
And the odd practical one that actually helped me to function when living on my own for the first time: Superpig by Willy Rushton.
My Favorite 5
Date: 2005-10-15 02:34 am (UTC)1). A Fire Upon the Deep - Veron Vinge Quite possibly one of the greatest Space Operas ever.
2). Shadow's Fall - Simon R Green.
3). The Uplift War Saga - David Brin
4). A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawkins
5). Have Space Suit Will Travel - My first ever science fiction novel, Mom had to write a note to my 1st grade teacher to so they would let my brother and I pick out real books...
6). A Wrinkle in Time.
7). The War Against the Chtorr novels (if Gerrold ever gets to publish the last two anyway....)
8). Starship Troopers. How could they make the movie without the Armor??
9). Armor - John Steakly.
10). Vampire$ - John Steakly. A wonderful book ruined by a horrible abortion of a movie.
11). Ender's Game.
12). A Mote in God's Eye - Niven / Pournell.
13). Ringworld - Niven, the original "Big Dumb Object" book.
I could go on...almost everything by Asimov, Heinlein (I've even got a copy of Grumbles from the Grave around here somewhere). I own a hard cover edition of the expanded edition of A Stranger in A Strange Land.
Re: My Favorite 5
Date: 2005-10-15 02:38 am (UTC)Yes I apparently read a lot don't I?