Top 5 books you have read

[carlc]

What are the top 5 books that you have read? (I am "in-between" books and am just fishing for some ideas of what to read next.)

[BWF89]

(Not in any order)

Animal Farm
Warhammer 40,000 Firewarrior
The City and The Stars
Communist Manifesto
Starwars: The Bounty Hunter Wars (never finished because it is so freaking long)
Harry Potter books 1-3
How to Stay alive in the Woods
Guinness Book of World Records 2001

[oddabe19]

No particular Order:

Misery - Stephen King
IT - same
The Shining - same
The Dead Zone - same
Christine - same (i'm not a stephen king fan.... *shifty eyes*)
Boy Meets Girl - Joshua Harris
Books of Romans, I & II Corinthians, James, Proverbs and Isaiah
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (Everything = 42)
The Divine Comedy (yes, i've all the parts in original Italian and english... it took some work, but was well worth it)
Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

[adbak]

Harry Potters (3 is my favorite, 5 was a let-down, but the rest are good too) by JK Rowling
Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Hobbit and all 3 Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkein (they're more of less one book, just separated into different parts)

[BWF89]

Where the Red Fern Grows by James Whitmore
My 8th grade teacher made me read that one. It was pretty good.

[Jad]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0596002874.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg
Free as in Freedom ( Richard Stallman's ) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596002874/w3planet-20)

Designing With Web Standards ( Jeffrey Zeldman ) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712018/w3planet-20)

Search Engine Visibility ( Shari Thurow ) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712565/w3planet-20)

PHP 5 Power Programming (Andi Cutmans, Others) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/013147149X/w3planet-20)

LPIC I Exam Cram 2 ( Ross Brunson ) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789731274/w3planet-20)

[myklgrant]

In descending order:
Godel, Escher, Bach (Hofstadter)
Childhoods End (Clarke)
Infinity and the Mind (Rucker)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig)
Catch-22 (Heller)

Picking 5 was hard.

Michael

[Titeuf]

Dune, by Frank Herbert (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/044100590X/qid=1107640742/sr=8-6/ref=pd_csp_6/002-4930176-8874406?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
This is the only English book I've read. All my other books are Dutch, but I don't read much anyway.

[Sye d'Burns]

Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole - - Arguably the funniest book ever written

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (entire series)- Douglas Adams - - This is the main argument against CoD

Death Be Not Proud - this book makes ol' yeller look like a comedy - John Gunther

1984 - George Orwell

The Stand (unabridged) - Stephen King - With all this talk about biological weapons - yipes!

[TravisNewman]

No order:
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
1984, George Orwell
I Lucifer, Glen Duncan - about Satan getting a second chance, a VERY good book, very good style
Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony
Harry Potter 1-5 (and probably 6 and 7)

I'll probably **** a lot of people off, but I can't get into LOTR. The movies are great, but Tolkein's writing style is too self-involved and insane for me.

[drmagoo]

The Glass Bead Game - Hermann Hesse
Dosadi Experiment -Frank Herbert
Dune - Frank Herbert
Chaos - James Gleick
Remnant Population - Elizabeth Moon

[miho]

Communist Manifesto
Forever by Pete Hamill
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Star Wars: Republic Commando by Karen Traviss
The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking

[mark]

Red Planet - Robert A. Heinlein (first novel I ever read, at age 8 or 9)
The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri (the John Ciardi translations)
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever books - Stephen R. Donaldson (bit of a tough read, but well worth it)
The Story of Philosophy - Will Durant
The Prince - Jerry Pournelle (with W.M. Stirling)
The Ringworld books - Larry Niven
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

and, for sheer "action movie"-type entertainment (with odd bits of courage, honor and loyalty thrown in):

The Honor Harrington books - David Weber

(Sorry, five is simply not enough!)

[dataw0lf]

Fiction:

1) All of the Dark Tower books - Stephen King (if you haven't read them GO AND PURCHASE THEM IMMEDIATELY)
2) The Talisman - Stephen King and Peter Straub
3) The Preacher graphic novel series - Garth Ennis (Social and religious commentary wrapped in a nice blanket of great humor and wit)
4) Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
5) Salem's Lot - Stephen King

Non-Fiction:

1) Mythical Man-Month - Frederick P. Brooks (original and Anniversary edition, 'the' book)
2) Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky
3) A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
4) The Panda's Thumb / The Mismeasure of Man - Stephen Gould ( I can't choose which one is better!!)
5) Linux Administration Handbook - Evi Nemeth, others (a real Linux book... not one of those '24 hour' or 'Dummy' deals)

[Stormy Eyes]

What are the top 5 books that you have read? (I am "in-between" books and am just fishing for some ideas of what to read next.)

Michael Moorcock: Stormbringer
Stephen Brust: To Reign in Hell
Terry Goodkind: Wizard's First Rule
Ludwig von Mises: Human Action (Austrian school economics)
Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon
H. P. Lovecraft: The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
Robert Anton Wilson: The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged
Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo (I'm not uber enough to read this in French yet. *sigh*)
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince

[akurashy]

Currently reading:

Stephen King - The Dark Tower (The Gunslinger)
(Soon) Stephen King - The Dark Tower (The 3 doors) *I think that was the name*

Have readed:
David Eddigns - The belgariad - 1
David Eddigns - The belgariad - 2
David Eddigns - The belgariad - 3
David Eddigns - The belgariad - 4
David Eddigns - The belgariad - 5

Harry Potter - 1 to 4

David Eddigns - The Dreamers - 1 to 2
David Eddigns - Regina’s Song
David Eddigns - Redemptation of athalus * I think thats the name*
David Eddigns - sequel of the belgariad - 1 - 5

checking my box full of books if i left something behind :shifty:
yes you can sday david eddigns my favorite author, same as stephen kings :)

[dataw0lf]

Damn, I forgot the Belgariad series. Once you've read the first 10 books, make sure you read Belgarath the Sorceror. His best novel to date.

[Stormy Eyes]

Damn, I forgot the Belgariad series. Once you've read the first 10 books, make sure you read Belgarath the Sorceror. His best novel to date.

If you want Eddings-style fluff, I'd try reading Elizabeth Haydon's books. I stole my wife's copy of Rhapsody to read in the crapper one night after I used way too much curry when cooking, and got hooked. Also, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel novels are worth a read if you can handle kink.

[jbrader]

No particular order:

Dune - Frank Herbert
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
A Canticle For Leibowitz - Walter M MIller jr
Count Zero - William Gibson

[kahping]

(Soon) Stephen King - The Dark Tower (The 3 doors) *I think that was the name*


it's "The Drawing of the Three" IIRC

mine in no particular order:

The Dark Tower, Stephen King, Book 1 - 4(waiting for book 5 onwards here :-( )
The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan, Book 1 - 10 + Prequel 1
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
Dark Visions, Lisa Jane Smith, all 3 books

mmm... i guess manga doesn't count, right? *sigh* there's others but i wouldn't say they're books i find particular interest in :-(

kahping

---
edit: argh... darn! how could i have forgotten this?

Kane & Abel, Jeffrey Archer

[Stormy Eyes]

mmm... i guess manga doesn't count, right? *sigh* there's others but i wouldn't say they're books i find particular interest in :-(

As far as manga goes, I've been following Bastard!!, Rurouni Kenshin, Saiyuki, X/1999, and Blade of the Immortal.

[poofyhairguy]

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America-

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805063897/qid=1113533354/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-8636412-3367959?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

To Kill a Mockingbird-

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446310786/qid=1113533389/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8636412-3367959

The Catcher in the Rye-

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316769487/qid=1113533389/sr=2-6/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_6/104-8636412-3367959

Things Fall Apart : A Novel-

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385474547/qid=1113533491/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8636412-3367959?v=glance&s=books

A Wrinkle in Time-

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440498058/qid=1113533532/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-8636412-3367959

Yes I'm an amazon addict. Yes I can stop.......any day...




...need more CDS!!!

[Bob D.]

No order:

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn: The Gulag Archipelago
Frank Herbert, Dune
Richard Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince
Issac Asimov, any book in the Foundation or Robots series

Tough to list only five!

Bob

[skoal]

Definitely my top 5 books of all time, as it reflects me well (and my interests):

1. The New American Bible
2. Cathechism of the Catholic Church
3. Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen
4. Six Great Ideas, by Mortimer J. Adler
5. A History of Private Life : From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, by Georges Duby (Editor)

[gil-galad]

Hmm, I have read too many books to make a top 5 list. Heres some books off the top of my head.

The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
The Silmarillion - Tolkien
Foundation (Only the first one is extremely good) - Asimov
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Eaters of the Dead - Michael Crichton
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller
Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne

[Jason-X]

American Psycho - Brett E Ellis
1984 - Goerge Orwel
Christine - Stephen King
Hearts in Atlantis - Stephen King
Turned On - Biography of Henry Rollins

[asimon]

George Orwell: 1984
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Philip Roth: Sabbath's Theatre
Stanislav Lem: Solaris

Actually it's quite unfair to choose only five books, there are so many other fantastic ones.

[thegreedyturtle]

Snow Crash
Cryptonomicron
The Otherworld Series (ok, so that's five books of it's own)
Ender's Game
Neuromancer

It seems that I'm a Sci-Fi nutter, but I read other stuff too... like technical tomes...

[bobmitch]

Best Ever: The Night's Dawn Trilogy - Peter F Hamilton
(The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God)

Other Greats:

Dune - Frank Herbert
I, Robot + Robots of the Dawn - Isaac Asimov
Neuromancer - William Gibson
The World Of Null-A - A E Van Vogt
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven + Jerry Pournelle
Excession - Ian M Banks

[ubuntu_demon]

not in any order and only books by english authors :

1984 - george orwell
lord of the flies - William Golding
brave new world - by Aldous Huxley
utopia - thomas more
The Hobbit and all 3 Lord of The Rings - JRR Tolkein
some books of stephen king in dutch (my library doesn't have much of his books in english)

[paretooptimum]

I'll only give the non-fiction today:

Wade Davis - The Serpent & The Rainbow (much better than movie)
Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene
Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs and Steel
Matt Ridley - The Origins of Virtue
David Friedman - The Machinery of Freedom

If you read 2-5 you will be collonised with a set of memes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme) known as secular humanism.

For those that said the Communist Manifesto, try reading all three volumes of Das Capital as my father made me do when I was 10.

Someone once wrote a great article called "The sex lives of great economists." Summary: Smith lived at home with his mother and had no children, Ricardo had a huge family, Marx married into a wealthy family, spent all the money and got the maid pregnant, Keynes was gay, married a lesbian for appearances and had no children.

[andy_sp1ke]

Lord of the Rings - once you get into his style of writing its brilliant
Hitch Hikers Guide
Five people you meet when you go to Heaven
Bourne Identity
Animal Farm

Off the top of my head i would say those are the ones i have read recently that i most enjoyed.

[burlap]

These are not exactly *the best* books I've read, but in a certain moment of my life they really impressed me.

1. "The Magic Mountain", Thomas Mann (this is actually also one of *the best* (if not the one) novels I've read.)

And in no particular order:

"One Hundred Years of Solitude", Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"Galapagos". Kurt Vonnegut
"Ubik" Philip K. ****
"Hopscotch" (or substitute this novel with any of the short stories), Julio Cortazar

I've read all of them in Polish except for Galapagos (in Polish and English).

[kassetra]

I'm kind of all over the map when it comes to reading, but I have a definite preference for cyberpunk... or at least cyberpunk-flavored.

In no certain order:

Pattern Recognition - William Gibson
Neuromancer - William Gibson (and the rest of that series)
ANYTHING by Pat Cadigan
Sandman series by Neil Gaiman
Vurt - Jeff Noon
Pollen - Jeff Noon
The MYST series by Rand & Robyn Miller
Kaikan Phrase - Mayu Shinjo

And for some strange reason, "Exotic Cat Girl NekoNeko" ... but I cannot find it anywhere anymore, and I haven't a clue who the author is anymore.

Every once in a while, I even like my own stuff. heh.

[Amarack]

I don't think I can really just do books. How about just authors, because when I do read, I read everything by one author I can. So:

Neal Stephenson
William Gibson
George Orwell
J. K. Rowling

That is kind of in order of preference. But the problem with stephenson is, he keeps writing these giant books that take lots of time to finish, and almost instantly he has a new one out. I guess thats not really a problem since they are all so great! :) . Gibson is awesome I can't get enough of his books and stories, although once and a while he does have some really strange characters in them.

[kingojb]

It's hard to pick just 5 books but here's my list:

Use Of Weapons (and all the other Culture books) - Iain M Banks
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
K-Pax Trilogy - Gene Brewer
Genome - Matt Ridley
Before The Beginning - Martin Rees

I highly recommend Iain M Banks (note the M as that's the name he publishes science fiction under), the man is a genius.

Oly

[bobmitch]

It's hard to pick just 5 books but here's my list:

Use Of Weapons (and all the other Culture books) - Iain M Banks
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
K-Pax Trilogy - Gene Brewer
Genome - Matt Ridley
Before The Beginning - Martin Rees

I highly recommend Iain M Banks (note the M as that's the name he publishes science fiction under), the man is a genius.

Oly

Dang - I knew I left out a book. :)

Excession is one of my top 10. Not only that, but Ian Banks lives just a couple of miles from me. :D

[kojitsu]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Dead Center
1984
Wit'ch Fire
(Currently reading) Interview With a Vampire

[sas]

Catch-22 (Funniest. Book. Ever)
1984
che guevera: A revolutionary life
The Da Vinci Code
Lord of the Rings (including hobbit, sillmarillion, unfinished tales et al)

I'll have probably changed my mind on all of those except LOTR and catch-22 in a years time:/

[wondering_jew]

hmmm

Stanger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Heinlein
Cats Cradle - Vonnegut
The Republic - Plato
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tsu

Honorable mentions: Hitchhikers guide series, Illuminatus Trilogy & Schrodingers Cat Trilogy, Principia discordia, anything by Heinlein or Vonnegut and I am currently starting to read what ever I can find by Bukowski and i suspect he might get added to the list shortly

[paul cooke]

What are the top 5 books that you have read? (I am "in-between" books and am just fishing for some ideas of what to read next.)

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein

Earth by David Brin
(http://www.davidbrin.com/othersfbooks.html)

All of Terry Pratchett's works
(http://www.co.uk.lspace.org/about-terry/index.html)

Mathematics - From the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg
(http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall96/math.htm)

Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy

The Art Of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth
(http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/taocp.html)

[paul cooke]

Michael Moorcock: Stormbringer[...]
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince

cool, Stormbringer... the Stealer of Souls... I'm currently listening to Hawkwind's Live Chronicles... complete with Michael Moorcock reading from the book during the performance... (I was actually at the concert that was recorded... :) )

And Machiavelli's The Prince... I've always intended to get into that... one of these days I'll do it... At least it's out of copyright and is available on project Gutenberg...

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1232

[skoal]

Maybe out of place, but since I've already given my "adult" reads...

Top 5 Childhood Books read (which I still fondly remember):

1. James and the Giant Peach (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375814248/qid=1114119672/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-4386317-1321750)
2. Where the Wild Things Are (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060254920/qid=1114119289/br=1-1/ref=br_lf_b_1//102-4386317-1321750?v=glance&s=books&n=2974)
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060234814/qid=1114119801/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-4386317-1321750)
4. A Wrinkle in Time (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440498058/qid=1114120101/br=1-1/ref=br_lf_b_1//102-4386317-1321750?v=glance&s=books&n=2975)
5. Where the Red Fern Grows (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385323301/ref=lpr_g_1/102-4386317-1321750?v=glance&s=books&n=2975)

I read many books in my youth, but none captured my imagination and fascination like these.

[jaegen]

Here we go:

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Hitchiker's - Douglas Adams
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

[-TayloR-]

I can only think of two books i really liked and they were the following:

Anthony woodward - Propellerhead
Stephen King - Insomnia

Has anyone read that the da vinci code? is it worth reading or?

[gamehack]

Eric Meyer on CSS
More Eric Meyer on CSS
Adobe Illustrator Official Course
C++ Primer Plus
Mono: A Developer's Notebook

[Stormy Eyes]

Has anyone read that the da vinci code? is it worth reading or?

I've read it. It's entertaining, but I'd recommend buying the paperback; it's not worth buying in hardcover unless you can get a secondhand copy. Also, I've heard that Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco does a better job of telling a similar story.

[Stormy Eyes]

cool, Stormbringer... the Stealer of Souls... I'm currently listening to Hawkwind's Live Chronicles... complete with Michael Moorcock reading from the book during the performance... (I was actually at the concert that was recorded... :) )

You were there? Damn. I was still a little kid when they did that show; I didn't hear that album until I was 19 and had spent a month in England; I found a tape of Live Chronicles at a secondhand record shop in Yeovil.

[paul cooke]

You were there? Damn. I was still a little kid when they did that show; I didn't hear that album until I was 19 and had spent a month in England; I found a tape of Live Chronicles at a secondhand record shop in Yeovil.
I was 28...

The December '85 Hammersmith Odeon concert was also released on PAL VHS (Jettisoundz video). I have that as well as an original signed programme and the live CD that has subsequently been released with a bonus disk.

Now back to books... ;)

[sas]

I can only think of two books i really liked and they were the following:

Anthony woodward - Propellerhead
Stephen King - Insomnia

Has anyone read that the da vinci code? is it worth reading or?

Yes definetly, it's very entertaining and hard to put down...I went for the paperback...Don't take too much from the story "facts"...it's just an enjoying read.

[-TayloR-]

Hmm.. i think that will be my next read then, thanks for the info :)

[minio]

Top 5 books?

Douglas Adams
Philip K. ****
Terry Prachett
China Miéville
J.K. Rowling

Total: around 50 books :)

[primeirocrime]

Ulysses - James Joyce
1984, Animal Farm, Homage to Cataluña, Down And Out In Paris And London,The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell
The Plague, The Stranger - Albert Camus
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Simulacra and Simulation - Jean Baudrillard
The Nausea - J.P. Sartre
Why I am Not a Christian, Proposed Roads to Freedom - Bertrand Russell
God and The State, Writings - M. Bakunin
Anarchism - Seán M. Sheehan
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Lanark - Alasdair Gray

Comics:
Watchmen - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth - Chris Ware
--------any Corto Maltese- Hugo Pratt-------------
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller
The Airtight Garage - Moebius

sorry I know it was top 5 books, but I had to chop a hand to choose only this ones.

uh! and also: the Book of Job in the Bible, and Dante's Inferno! 1970's X-men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne [alpha flight! Phoenix dies!] Sci-phi by Asimov and Philip K.****. Distopic novels. I like to read the papers in the medicine cabinet.

[bored2k]

Stupid White Men by Michael Moore
Star Wars I
Star Wars II
Star Wars III
Star Wars IV
Star Wars V
Star Wars VI
Star Wars : Heir To Empire
Star Wars: The Mandalorian Armor
Star Wars Complete Guide to Characters

[sas]

Ulysses - James Joyce
1984, Animal Farm, Homage to Cataluña, Down And Out In Paris And London,The
Ahh, I forgot all about Paris and London :/

[Nis]

Fight Club
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
Survivor
The Bedford Handbook (not really something you read but it is good to know grammar rules)

[SamH]

Not in a particular order:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
HMS Ulysses - Alastair MacLean
A Distant Mirror - Barbara Tuchman
The Sleep Book - Dr. Suess (Theodore Giesel)
The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 - Alfred Thayer Mahan

As with most of you, 5 is such a small number when so many books have been read. :smile:

[Get]

Not in order:
Just for fun - Linus Torvalds and one more
The code book - Simon Singh
Fermat's Last Theorem - Simon Singh
The official GNOME 2 developer's guide - Matthias Warkus
No 5 I don't really know..

[sonny]

With no order:

The love in the time of colera --- Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The Medic -- Noah Gordon
The divine comedy -- Dante
Les Misérables --- (in englsih) Victor Hugo
The Godfather -- Mario Puzo
The Omerta -- Mario Puzo

[Arto]

I've read it. It's entertaining, but I'd recommend buying the paperback; it's not worth buying in hardcover unless you can get a secondhand copy. Also, I've heard that Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco does a better job of telling a similar story.

Agreed. The Da Vinci Code was entertaining but somewhat simplistic. (It's going to make a great movie script, though.) Umbert Eco writes about the same stuff but at a much greater depth and scope. Foucalt's Pendulum is excellent, as are his other books The Name of the Rose and The Island of the Day Before.

BTW, recommend seeing the Channel 4 documentary The Real Da Vinci Code (http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/W/weirdworlds/da_vinci_code/) for anyone who has read the Da Vinci Code. (I predict it's going to be widely available on file sharing networks ;-))

[kahping]

Not in order:
Just for fun - Linus Torvalds and one more
The code book - Simon Singh
Fermat's Last Theorem - Simon Singh
The official GNOME 2 developer's guide - Matthias Warkus
No 5 I don't really know..

i wouldn't mind reading those... sounds interesting. i usually read fantasy, sci-fi or general fiction, though.

kahping

[heimo]

Seven Brothers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/188047400X/qid=1114438404/sr=8-9/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i9_xgl14/103-3860801-9054215?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) (Aleksis Kivi)
Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell)
Applied Cryptography (Bruce Schneier)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Cisco Networking Academy: First Year (Cisco Systems)

[senorcheaposgato]

Hoooboy. I'm counting series as a single book here.

FICTION:

The Dark Tower series - Stephen King

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein (the best book I have ever read)

The Stand - Stephen King

Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernier (yeah, the movie sucked the big one, but it's an amazing book)

Anything by Chuck Pahlaniuk

Anything by Robert A. Heinlein

Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, The Shadow of the Giant - Orson Scott Card


NONFICTION

Kanzi - Sue Savage-Rumbaugh

Reason for Hope - Jane Goodall

In the Shadow of Man - Jane Goodall

Lucy, Lucy's Child - Donald Johanson

Red China Blues - Jan Wong


And now a few books I cannot stand:
LOTR
anything by Ayn Rand
almost everything from Orson Scott Card not related to Ender's Game (religious symbolism is a little to heavyhanded for me)
Dreamcatcher - Stephen King (it was HORRIBLE)

[gylf]

War and Peace - Tolstoy

Just finished reading "The Wizard Knight" series by Gene Wolfe. Very good.
Amazon link to the first book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765309890/qid=1114447049/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/104-5150591-9306364?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

If you've got a lot of time, I hear The Story of Civilization (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067154800X/qid=1114447097/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5150591-9306364?v=glance&s=books) is worth a read.