Which Books Do You Read? What Is Your Favourite Book?

[Lyra Belacqua]

Good evening everyone

I haven't seen any threads discussing literature so I thought I would start one Are there any bookworms in here? If yes, what do you like to read (which genre, favourite authors...)?

Personally, I really do like Fantasy, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and so on, but I am also a fan of classic literature and from time to time I do enjoy some poetry

Have a great day!!

 

[Michael Leigh]

Good evening everyone I haven't seen any threads discussing literature so I thought I would start one Are there any bookworms in here? If yes, what do you like to read (which genre, favourite authors...)? Personally, I really do like Fantasy, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and so on, but I am also a fan of classic literature and from time to time I do enjoy some poetry
Have a great day!!

@Lyra Belacqua
I think you've started great thread. I was unable to read for two years due to severe tinnitus. From 2008 to 2010. The crime writer Peter James, helped to put my life back on track when I purchased one of his books just by chance. His writing is incredibly vivid and so realistic I feel I'm part of the story when reading his books. Only a few authors have had this effect on me. If you haven't read any of his work then please try to and you'll see what I mean. Start with the Roy Grace series about a Police detective in Brighton, England. It so happens his 13th book in the series: Need You Dead, has been published today.

All the best
Michael

 

[Connie3140]

Hi Lyra,

I don't read much fiction -- mostly nonfiction, especially memoirs and autobiography. I especially like memoirs by doctors. My all time favorite book is My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, by Abraham Verghese. His parents were Indian, but he was born in Ethiopia, where his parents were teachers. He became a doctor in the US in the 1980s, specializing in infectious diseases. He ended up as a doctor in rural Tennessee, right at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. The book talks about his caring for patients, the Indian community and the AIDS epidemic. He is a very compassionate, caring doctor and a great writer.

Connie

 

[RonnieCarzatto]

I love memoirs, especially rock and roll, political, or extreme lifestyle ones. Mostly because, I and most of the populace will never life that kind of celebrity or high octane life so the stories involved I find fascinating. The most entertaining one I've ever read was called Sinner Takes All by an adult film actress named Tera Patrick. It was surprisingly well written and got a lot of emotions out of me (humor, frustration, sympathy, etc.), and no spoilers, the ending is surprisingly balanced between uplifting and depressing.

I also recommend a book called The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee. She's a North Korean defector and that book is her story. It's almost like reading a real life version of the Hunger Games and kept me on the edge of my seat reading the entire time. Talk about a page turner, what a story!

 

[Shera]

Fantasy!! Urban Fantasy is my most fave as I got bored with just High/epic fantasy years ago. I used Harry Potter to reintroduce myself to reading. I'm still having issues with reading and my T, but pushing on.

I just read Geekerella by Ashly Poston. It's not my normal genre, but I couldn't resist the fangirl stuff. Currently reading Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland, loving all the sci-fi elements so far. Especially the humor.

I've been meaning to read some classics. I found a beautiful copy of Gone With the Wind and have been flirting with the idea of starting it.

 

[Shera]

Oh, and I never a pick favorite book.

Danielle says it best:
"I could no sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens."

 

[victoria9273]

I am so glad you posted this thread. My all-time favourite is Wuthering Heights by Emily brönte and works by Kate Chopin, whose silky and sensuous writing style I enjoy.

The books I'm currently re-reading is Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Scarlet Letter. After I finish these, I'm going to read The Portrait of a Lady, Atlas Shrugged, and The Crime and Punishment.

I'm a bit sad that the papers publishers use has gone eye-comforting brown to penetrating grey, mostly. It's not comfortable to the eye.

 

[George Brady]

I like the James Patterson novels the Alex Cross series there like 27 books in it

 

[Juan]

Due to hyperacusis I read even more these days... now I am reading "Untouchable" by Mulk Raj Anand.

And you? What are you reading right now?

 

[Lilah]

I like fiction and one of my favorite books is Wuthering Heights. Before I got tinnitus, I read about 10 classics in one year (To Kill a Mockingbird, some Agatha Christie mysteries, etc.). However, I have not done much reading since I got tinnitus.

I also read the Bible for faith-based reasons, but enjoy reading it more from an academic perspective where I supplement with additional readings.

 

[Juan]

Good evening everyone

I haven't seen any threads discussing literature so I thought I would start one Are there any bookworms in here? If yes, what do you like to read (which genre, favourite authors...)?

Personally, I really do like Fantasy, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and so on, but I am also a fan of classic literature and from time to time I do enjoy some poetry

Have a great day!!

Some of my favourite books, in no particular order:

- The portrait of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
- The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
- Behind God's Back, by Zsigmond Moricz
- Junkie, by William Burroughs
- The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
- The Woman from Sarajevo, by Ivo Andric
- Pere Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
- 1984, by George Orwell
- Cien Años de Soledad, by Gabriel García Márquez
- Los detectives salvajes, by Roberto Bolaño

 

[LindaS]

I read mostly non-fiction: How to Books: (Drawing, Watercolor painting, Art), Buddhism, Meditation etc...
Now getting in to some non fiction. Currently reading the trilogy by Stieg Larsson.

 

[Enkidu]

One of the positives (I use the word cautiously) of my recent spike of T and H, as well as the pandemic, is that it has really got me back into reading in a big way. One of the things that keeps me going is that there still a world of literature out there to discover.

I'd probably say my favourite contemporary novel is 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle' by Haruki Murakami. I read it when I was a teenager and it had a really big effect on me.

Recently, I have been getting into classics. As someone with an interest in history I love learning about the cultural background to ancient texts. At the moment I'm reading 'The Epic of Gilgamesh', generally accepted to be the oldest epic still relatively intact. With a modern translation you can almost forget its 4000 years old! It's also where I took my username from

 

[Juan]

These are two good books on hearing issues I have read this year:

- Musicophilia, by Oliver Sacks
- Volume control, by David Owen

 

[Charburchar]

I haven't done much reading since developing T which has been terribly sad as I used to read 40-60 books a year. The last book I did read was Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth about the creation of money under modern capitalism. Incredibly eye opening..

 

[Rjbookworm]

I haven't done much reading since developing T which has been terribly sad as I used to read 40-60 books a year. The last book I did read was Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth about the creation of money under modern capitalism. Incredibly eye opening..

I hope that reading with tinnitus becomes doable for you. I struggle when it comes to reading with tinnitus, but I'm trying my best since I've loved reading for years.

The Deficit Myth sounds really good.

 

[Juan]

I haven't done much reading since developing T which has been terribly sad as I used to read 40-60 books a year. The last book I did read was Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth about the creation of money under modern capitalism. Incredibly eye opening..

I read a book by Yanis Varoufakis that explained how the US gets going basically issuing debt non-stop and running huge deficits. It was interesting. The book's title is "The Global Minotaur".

 

[Rosco99]

Great subject! I've always been a fan of everything that Kurt Vonnegut has written. I also love Albert Camus and Bill Bryson. Right now I'm on a biography and auto-biography kick. Reading the words of people like Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, and Frederick Douglass helps give me perspective.

 

[Charburchar]

I hope that reading with tinnitus becomes doable for you. I struggle when it comes to reading with tinnitus, but I'm trying my best since I've loved reading for years.

The Deficit Myth sounds really good.

Thankyou! I wish the same for you.

I read a book by Yanis Varoufakis that explained how the US gets going basically issuing debt non-stop and running huge deficits. It was interesting. The book's title is "The Global Minotaur".

I've been wanting to read that since coming across it at my uni library, coincidentally. Yes, the US can effectively run an infinite deficit by virtue of the dollar being the global reserve currency, but, according to Kelton, this isn't actually necessary (issuing bonds), since the US can just print the money instead of borrowing.

I did read Adults in the Room by Varoufakis, which was honestly amazing. One of the best political books I've read.

 

[Juan]

I did read Adults in the Room by Varoufakis, which was honestly amazing. One of the best political books I've read.

Varoufakis is a great thinker and his stance to defend Greece from the European powers was brave, although unsuccessful in the end.

 

[frpp]

Probably not a book a lot of people would read but, The Great Chefs of France, it's stories and images capturing the romance and artistry of fine dining, classical cuisine, and the lives of the chefs that make it happen.

 

[Daniel Lion]

I am reading a very enjoyable light hearted book called "The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window" by Jonas Jonasson. It takes place in Sweden and is a good laugh, adventure, and sweet. - Good for tinnitus sufferers.

I am a huge fan of Chuck Palahniuk - he is so dark, funny and taboo... my favorite food groups.

 

[Peter Q]

At the moment I'm reading or rereading the work of Elizabeth Bowen, one of my favourite novelists.

 

[Steph1710]

Well I'm going to make myself sound really boring...

I'm currently reading a non-fiction book called "Boom Cities: Architect-Planners and the Politics of Radical Urban Renewal in 1960s Britain" by Otto Saumarez Smith.

Unless you love that type of thing, it's a pretty dry read.

 

[aot]

I recently finished a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories (a Halloween reading, of course.) And I just started DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke. After that will be Terra Incognita, by Connie Willis.

Also, my current avatar is the protagonist of Blade Runner 2019, a comic I really love.

 

[david c]

At the moment I'm reading or rereading the work of Elizabeth Bowen, one of my favourite novelists.

Love Elizabeth Bowen, though not read any for a while. The House in Paris, The Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day my personal favourites.

 

[Peter Q]

Love Elizabeth Bowen, though not read any for a while. The House in Paris, The Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day my personal favourites.

Yes indeed, the three you mention and also The Last September.

 

[Juan]

Well I'm going to make myself sound really boring...

I'm currently reading a non-fiction book called "Boom Cities: Architect-Planners and the Politics of Radical Urban Renewal in 1960s Britain" by Otto Saumarez Smith.

Unless you love that type of thing, it's a pretty dry read.

That book sounds really interesting. I am also currently reading a book on urban planning from the same period: "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" (1961), by Jane Jacobs.

 

[Steph1710]

That book sounds really interesting. I am also currently reading a book on urban planning from the same period: "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" (1961), by Jane Jacobs.

Haha! Really Juan!? That's brilliant! I'll have to look it up. Oh actually my book references Jane Jacobs a lot.

 

[Juan]

Haha! Really Juan!? That's brilliant! I'll have to look it up. Oh actually my book references Jane Jacobs a lot.

I'm still at the beginning of the Jane Jacobs book but I love the social perspective and the social focus she uses to analyse urban planning, and also how urban planning can influence the behaviour of urban dwellers.

I would love to find books on how cities have expanded, specific cities, like case analysis, and that also provided practical information on how city life flows in terms of public transportation, services, office areas, flooding areas, former industrial areas etc I thought it would be very easy to find this, but I tried to find a book like that on Riga (Latvia) and could not find anything. Maybe the information is too specific and only available at local urban planning departments...