There's 3 of my favourite books on this list so far (Damn zebedee for putting Journey to the West and 1984 down. Bugger! No offence, zebedee)....
Animal Farm, by George Orwell (The pen name of Eric Blair) ('nuff said)
Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert (The amount of culture and history put into these books by Herbert is comparable with Tolkien)
Reaper Man, Hogfather, Thief of Time, The Last Continent, Interesting Times, The Truth and The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett (The fantasy equivalent of Douglas Adams. Hogfather, in particular, has some pretty deep themes about belief)
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams (Sci-fi comedy's first major outing)
The Dark Tower series, The Stand, Rage, The Running Man, The Shining and The Green Mile, by Stephen King (A most prolific author, and with many non-horror books)
House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski (Really wierd one this, but good if you like psychologically disturbing books)
Ring and Spiral by Koji Suzuki (Where the movies came from. And when you've read Spiral, you'll REALLY start to be freaked out...)
Red Dragon and Hannibal, by Thomas Harris. (Hannibal Lecter. 'Nuff said)
Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Doctor No and You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming. (If you can tolerate the misogynistic comments, and even some that sound horrifying, Fleming's books are often more realistic than the Bond films, though the recent adaptation of Casino Royale was, interestingly, the first Bond movie to be actually better in most respects than the book it was based on....
The Way of the Gladiator, by Daniel Mannix (Interesting semi-fictionalised account of life for those who worked and fought in the arenas)
The Vesuvious Club by Mark Gatiss (A darkly comic version of a Victorian James Bond, but with a twist that Fleming would never had put in...)
Lungbarrow by Marc Platt (The only Doctor Who novel here, but an interesting one that reveals more about the Doctor's past than any other. It can be read on the BBC website as an e-book, or can be bought off eBay for an exorbitant price.)
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (This, as far as I know, is SO much better than the movie...)
Inferno, by Dante Aligheri (My favourite of the Divine Comedy)
Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes (Quixote's antics are often embarassing, but can make a funny read, as well as a tragic one)
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser (The first full non-fiction on my list, this'll scare the s**t out of you, especially if you're American...)
Underground, by Suelette Dreyfuss. (A very intriguing story about Australian, English and American hackers in the late '80's to early '90's.)
Chopper: From the Inside, by Mark Brandon Read (If you can stomach the thought of reading anecdotes by a criminal, then read this, as it is actually darkly entertaining...)
Mostly Murder, by Sir Sydney Smith (The memoirs of forensic pathologist, Sir Sydney Smith. Some of the earlier chapters at university are amusing...)
The Dilbert Principle, The Dilbert Future, The Joy of Work and Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, by Scott Adams (Scott Adams' marvellously funny views of office life, and how one may cope...)
The Pythons, Autobiography by The Pythons, from interviews of Monty Python (The ULTIMATE coffee table book. Read it and weep....with laughter as well as pathos)
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, by Spike Milligan (Funny and entertaining)
Who On Earth is Tom Baker?, by Tom Baker (The interesting look at Tom Baker's life and career up until 1997. Here's hoping he will release an updated version.)
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(No longer a mod)
On sabbatical...
17 Mar 2007, 2:25 pm
