Favorite Books

[Dralion1221]

Is similar to the favorite music and movies thread (sorry I like threads that have to do with something "favorite") Suggest books to your fellow Planeshifters to read while they aren't playing PS! Try to include an age range the book is for and if you can, explain why people should read it .

PLEASE INCLUDE THE AUTHOR TOO!

Most of my books will be for young adults.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud-for young adults, but adults will enjoy it just as much (if it counts that my mom loved it).

The Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher-for young adults, about a boy who accidentally breaks the truce between the statues of London and war breaks out.

The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen-for young adults and adults, Owen uses many things from several classic books and authors.

Deltora Quest, Deltora Shadowlands, and Dragons of Deltora (3 series in the same universe, should be read in order) by Emily Rodda-mainly for children but I still enjoy them

Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky-for young adults, focuses on the journey of a young Barn owl from his nest to the Great Tree and beyond. (Quite frankly I think the series got silly towards the end so I never read the last book )

Dragon Keeper, Garden of the Purple Dragon, Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson-for young adults, there is also a prequel but I've never found it in the US :/ the setting is Ancient China during the Han Dynasty.

The Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron-for young adults, books talk about what happened when Merlin was a kid to a young man in Barron's universe

The Great Tree of Avalon Trilogy by T.A. Barron-what happens after the Lost Years of Merlin series ends

A few awesome books that most of you probably won't read due to the fact they're for young adults. But I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy them if you're into fantasy and sci-fi and whatnot

[Geoni]

Lucky: A memoir-Alice Sebold This is for people 18+ because it is non-fiction and it has to do with rape.

The Lovely Bones-Alice Sebold (the movie sucked for this one!) I'd say this is the best novel i have read in my life, with such power and emotion that kept me reading on and on and on. I would say maybe 10th or 11th grade level of a book.

Life of Pi-Yann Martel (The book is pretty much a really big metaphor for another another small story in the book) i'd say it's for 10th or 11th grade level.

Petropolis-Anya Ulinich I'm almost finished reading this one [its the book I'm currently reading] but it has lots of humor in it, and really has some entertaining dialogue. I would say it's 9th grade+

To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee Just a classic, and you'll have to read this in school probably. 9th grade.

Memoirs of a Geisha-Arthur Golden I would say this is a really unique book, that gives insight on another culture, and i learned alot from it. I would say it's at the 12th grade level, which is the highest.

The Reader-Bernard Shlienk [18+ for graphic eroticism and holocaust situation] It's the saddest book that i have ever read, and i HIGHLY advise people see the movie.

I am writing 3 novels right now, which i am only in the rough drafts for them, but it's hard work on top of high school. novels: Our Route, The Diary of Sophia Rilay, and No Color For a Pendulum. I also have others planned like Phantasmagoria, but they aren't even written yet, just a bunch of idea's.

[garoninja]

Lord of the rings - JRR Tolkein
Redwall - Brian Jacques
Eragon - Christopher Paolini

[MellasFenixxes]

ANY book by the writer's team Weis & Hickman.
Especially the Death Gate Cycle Series are exceptionally good. <3



The Earth was destroyed.
Four worlds were created out of the ruin.
Worlds for ourselves and the mensch: Air, Fire, Stone, Water.
Four Gates connect each world to the other:
Arianus to Pryan to Abarrach to Chelestra.
A house of correction was built for our enemies: the Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth is connected to the other worlds through the Fifth Gate: the Nexus.
The Sixth Gate is the center, permitting entry: the Vortex.
And all was accomplished through the Seventh Gate.
The end was the beginning.
— Weis & Hickman, Into The Labyrinth pg. 9

[lilura]

the Ender's game series by Orson Scott Card
     - Set several hundred years in the future, humans have been at war with the Buggers for over a hundred years. the story of a boy and   his training to become Earths next great military mind and events after  (depending on which book your reading)  for middle school to adult

The Old Kingdom Trilogy: Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorson by Garth Nix
    - Sabriel: Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.  age range high school? to adult

The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
  - twelve men and women who have been investigated, watched, manipulated, and harassed by high-priced lawyers and consultants who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict. Now that the jury must make a decision in the most explosive trial of the century, a precedent-setting lawsuit against a giant tobacco company.   Age Range: High School to adult

The Giver by Lois Lowry
   -When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life for the community. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth.  Age Range: Middle School and up

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
    -atteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico.He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster because he is a clone.    Middle School and up

[bilbous]

I cut my teeth on Robert A. Heinlein's juveniles way back in the dark ages, The Star Beast, Podkayne of Mars, Space Family Robinson, The Menace From Earth, among others from his early career, I read a lot of his other stuff, The Past Through Tomorrow cycle of stories was quite good and a lot of his stuff was tied in to that universe. His later stuff became a little bit perverse though.

I read a lot of Issac Azimov too he had some classics and he was extremely prolific in not only science fiction but in non-fiction as well. His Foundation series was huge back in the day and some movies you might have seen were made from his books (more or less): I Robot, Bicentennial Man.

Later on I got into Michael Moorcock and his multiverse cycle, Elric, Hawkmoon, Corum and others, aspects of the Eternal Champion existing in different planes and times.

I have to say though that my favorite author was Philip K. Dick, his books always dealt with the nature of reality, some movies were made from them include Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner and Total Recall. Some of those were fleshed out of short stories and some from novels.

Philip Jose Farmer had a couple good series (The World of Tiers and Riverworld) and quite a few stand alone novels, I especially liked The Wind Whales of Ismael and The Stone God Awakens. It seems the 70's were a great decade for Fantasy and Science Fiction.

It is really hard to do more than spit out a few names and there are many more that  could be mentioned, Orson Scott Card with the Alvin Maker series and the Speaker for the Dead series,. Niven's Ringworld series was classic and even Piers Anthony wrote some good books before he became a formula hack.

So many memories, so little space.

[Marathal]

The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde:

  The Eyre Affair
  Lost in a Good Book
  The Well of Lost Plots
  Something Rotten
  First Among Sequels
  Shades of Grey

[Marqsaynt]

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens: Epic but very approachable.

Tender is The Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby is oversold... this is his actual best book and coincidentally my favorite.

Any Short Story collection by Anton Chekhov

The Captive Mind - Czesław Miłosz: Hey. no one said all the picks had to be fiction...

Animal Farm/1984 - George Orwell

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

The Good Earth - Pearl Buck (Haven't read it for a while so don't blame me if it actually sucks)

Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak (Same disclaimer as above )

[Dralion1221]

Lord of the rings - JRR Tolkein
Redwall - Brian Jacques
Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Hehe my sis has been trying to get me to read these...but they just don't interest me for some reason :/ I know they're good, I just can't get myself to read them

Geoni, you should let me have the first copy of those books when they're published

lilura, I had to read The House of the Scorpion last year. I was quite pleased with it. Def my kind of book  (it was either that or the Golden Compass...have had many doubts about that series)

Oh a good book is Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi. It's a predictable story but I really like it. Maybe because it reminds me of myself (except for the whole bullying part...just the playing online games) more towards young adults

An inspiring book is Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. It's about a (high schooler?) who decides to commit suicide by crashing his car. He doesn't die but instead kills a girl. To redeem himself, the mother of the dead girl asks him to create 4 whirligigs in her image on the four points of the US. Then the story has chapters about how others are affected by the whirligigs after he makes them. This is recommended for anyone!

Btw, you don't have to limit yourself to just regular novels. You can recommend comic books, graphic novels, anime, etc. Like the ones I'm about to say.

The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman....is AWESOME. My sister got me hooked on it, and now I'm looking for #7. This is actually more for adults since it contains nudity and whatnot but if you can handle it, high schoolers can read it too.

Devi series by Shekhar Kapur (Virgin Comics) is pretty much a woman who is forced to take over the role of the Devi (pretty much India's superhero) I've only read the first one but it's pretty good. Let me know where you find the rest of the series though not sure on age range but probably young adults and up.

[Geoni]

@Dralion1221 I have to get them published first, and that won't be for many many many years! I have confidence that i can accomplish them though. Getting a novel published is a whole challenge in itself, and requires a great bit of perseverance.

@Lilura I have read an excerpt from "The Giver" And it was really good. It's on my big list of books to read, and i suppose i should get that one out of the way since its small. another "to read" that i have to add is a book by the author Drallion mentioned [Neil Gaiman] called The Graveyard Book.

By the way, has anybody but me read "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson? I thought that was a great book! It challenges the mind! I recommend this to only avid readers, whom can handle it.

[Mekora]

I am still quite young, so I only read the books that my family suggests to me, because I have a busy life. They are:

Harry Potter series- My first series, started reading them when I was 9 or so.

Life of Pi- A must-read.

The Kite Runner- Easily my favorite book.

Merchant of Venice- Shakespearean masterpiece. Unfortunately I had to read this in the original play-script form, so I used sparknotes! ^^

Diary of Anne Frank- I am still reading this- halfway through it.

Bartimaeus Trilogy- A really nice set of books. The only reason I picked it up is that it's offer- Jonathan Stroud, has the same last name as I do .

[Sarras Volcae]

i haven't read much. i used to read a lot... my favorite books were the redwall series. i was reading the lord of the rings trilogy, contact, and frankenstein until school kept me from reading on my own (ironic isn't it?), then reading got too hard with my blindness.

the odyssey? that's a pretty badass story.

isaac asimov is awesome.

[Earowo]

i hate books, there i said it
*disapears*

[Dralion1221]

I am still quite young, so I only read the books that my family suggests to me, because I have a busy life. They are:
Merchant of Venice- Shakespearean masterpiece. Unfortunately I had to read this in the original play-script form, so I used sparknotes! ^^

Bartimaeus Trilogy- A really nice set of books. The only reason I picked it up is that it's offer- Jonathan Stroud, has the same last name as I do .

Geez Lancelet is sick in the Merchant of Venice. WHO THE HECK PLAYS TRICKS ON THEIR BLIND DAD 

Bartimaeus trilogy is one of the awesomest things I've ever read. My favorite is probably the second book (the Golem's Eye) though throughout most of the series, you continually say to yourself Nathaniel is an idiot. (no really, read the first book and you'll REALLY think he's an idiot).

The Fire Within, Icefire, Fire Star, The Fire Eternal, Dark Fire by Chris D'Lacey-I probably only liked this series up to Fire Star. I didn't read the last two so I can't give any opinions on those. I enjoyed it for quite a while, but then it kind of started to get boring....as well as it started to go against my religion. So feel free to try them,

The Pit Dragon Trilogy by Jane Yolen-An awesome series! I enjoyed it very much and has an intriguing plotline. For young adults, but I think adults should read it too ^_^

[Zon]

The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Collins