Hi I am going travelling for a few months soon and am trying to decide what books to take to keep me occupied through the many long bus journeys ahead. I am not a fan of science-fiction or horror. I can put up with a crime, as long as it is well written. I would like:
1. A Long Classic - one of those whoppers you never usually have time to read.
2. A Classic
3. A Memoir/Autobiography
4. Non-Fiction - something political/ philosophical/ theoretical, a “makes you think” book.
5. Light-Reading - a good old indulgent romance book.
6. A Modern Classic - a good page-turner.
7. Something Topical - I am mostly travelling in Eastern/Central Africa, so an African fiction should make the list.
8. A Play
9. Something Different - something creative and out of the ordinary.
10. The One Everyone Should Read - out of everything you’ve ever read, the one you would recommend the highest, whether it be the most affecting, emotional or simply enjoyable.
Tonya
Tags: Horror, Non Fiction, Science Fiction
1. War and Peace or Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
3. Memoirs of A Geisha
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. Love Story by Eric Segal
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
8. Twelfth Night by Shakespeare (have a good laugh)
9. Eleven Minutes by Paolo Coelho or Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (100% recommended)
10. The BIBLE (zillion percent recommended)
1. Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky
2. Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck
3. Arthur and George - Barnes
4. Freakonomics - Levitt
5. Anything by Carl Hiaasen or How I Paid for College - Acito
6.Midnight’s Children - Rushdie
8.Proof - Auburn
9. Invisible Monsters - Palahniuk
10. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay - Chabon
1, Swan Song by Robert McCammon (he’s a horror writer but this is not a horror book, it is an epic)
2. Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, or, if you’ve read that, Handmaiden’s Daughter by Atwell
3. The Glass Castle or Running with Scissors or Me Talk Pretty One Day Or Night.
4. A People’s History of the United States by Zinn
5. Anything by Jodie Picoult.
6. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
7. The Kite Runner
8. Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, or No Exit by Sartre
9. Magical Thinking by Burroughs
10. The “Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever” trilogy by Donaldson. Its amazing. Don’t listen to anyone who recommends “Ishmael” OR “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” That means the rest of their list isn’t very good either.
Here are my humble suggestions:
1. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
2. The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
3. The Moral Compass also by William J. Bennett
4. Daily Word Love, Inspiration, and Guidance for Everyone
Edited by Colleen Zuck
5. The Power of a Praying Husband/Wife/Parent or any other book by Stormie Omartian
6. Fit for Life II by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond or any health book of your choice
7. A History of the World by Marvin Perry et. al.
8. Discovering Computers by Shelly et. al. or any textbook on a subject of your interest
9. Ten Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer J. Adler
10. any crossword puzzle or IQ pocketbook
Instead of lugging books around, I suggest you read from you laptop. Tons of classics to choose from to take care of your first 8 choices.
9 and 10 .. I would suggest a new one that is free online right now…. “Gospel Enigma” That is really fresh in concept and highly informative. Find it here for free. 10th on the list:
Le tour du monde en 80 jours( Travelling round the world in 80 days )
Jules Vernes
Voyage au centre de la terre( Journey to the centre of the earth )
J.Vernes
A travelling woman
J.Wain
1. War and Peace o.O
2. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
3. Groucho and me, Groucho Marx
4. Don’t read non-fiction
5. Dark Lover by J.R. Ward or Ransom by Julie Garwood(both of them longish)
6. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
7. No idea
8. Anything from George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde or Tennessee Williams
9. The Law of Love by Laura Esquivel
11. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Who has time to read all these books!?!? LOL
I would rather write than read. It is better to lead than to follow. But you DO need to have read in order to be a good writer.