Thursday, September 27, 2012

Top five favorite books

1. Jane Eyre  (free download, your choice of format, right side of top row)

I think I was twelve when I first read this book.  I can't really detail why it's one of my favorites, but it is, and has been since I read it the first time.  I tend to re-read it every three or four years.

2. Dune

I was about thirteen when I first got my hands on this book.  It opened my eyes to human nature, political expedience, the economics of limited resources, and I keep getting new ideas from it every time I re-read it (usually at least once per year, if not more often).  The really interesting thing is how closely it parallels the British Imperial occupation of the Middle East, and the oil-based economy (and its weaknesses).


3. The Little White Horse

No real deep messages, in this book.  It's a quiet, classic children's book, involving children learning to do the right thing, no matter how scary or difficult.   When I'm the most frazzled, I re-read this book for sheer comfort.  I've always liked it better than any other children's book (save, perhaps, The Hobbit).

4. 1984 (free to read online)

I read 1984 for the first time when I was about fourteen years old.  My family were under the control of the state, since my sister and I were in the legal custody of the state, but in my mom's physical care.  If anyone ever doubted that the government has designs of totalitarian control over the lives of its citizens, they need to live for a few years with the terror of child illfare services threatening to put them in foster care if they so much as sneezed wrong, or forgot to ask permission to take a shit.

Needless to say, this book combined with the circumstances of my life formed my absolute hatred of politics, politicians, propaganda, and being controlled. 

5. Robert Heinlein's Future History series, especially the stories regarding the Howard Families

I've said before that I never had healthy models of how to be an adult.  Heinlein's stories gave me the healthiest models I had, and except for the promiscuity, I've tried to model my own behavior on his very human characters.

Chime in.  What are your favorite books, and why?

8 comments:

  1. I'm with ya on Dune - in fact I liked the whole series. My very first SF book was "A Stranger in a Strange Land" - it still holds up today. "Time Enough for Love" kinda wraps itself around the whole Lazarus Long saga - it's my all-time favorite. On the military side - "Without Remorse" is right up there but as a whole I love Clancy. 1984 was much more interesting in the 60s before it morphed into reality, not so high on my list anymore. Niven's Ringworld books, Mote in God's Eye are good.

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    1. I've been reading SF for so long I don't even remember what my first one was, but yeah--Heinlein kicks ass.

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  2. Dune- is the first of about three books in my lifetime that I never finished reading after about the first 100 pages.

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    1. If you're interested in the themes, but don't want to try picking the book back up (though it picks up quickly after the first 100 pages), you might enjoy SciFi's miniseries--both are remarkably close to the books, though the second miniseries (Children of Dune) conflates books two and three of the six-plus book saga.

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  3. Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon

    Norman Mailer - Harlot's Ghost

    Orson Scott Card - The Ender series

    Larry Correia - Monster Hunter series

    Anything by John Ringo and/or Michael Z Williamson

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    1. Haven't read the first two, but agree that the rest are awesome.

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  4. Pretty much anything by Heinlein, but Starship Troopers was read so often it fell apart. Aside from the blatant militarism or because of it, the points about Rights vs. Responsibilities really resonated with me.

    The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. Innocence and love of life triumphing over evil. The depth of world building. I can't get enough.

    The Parafaith War by L E Modisett. At the time I first read it, this book really helped me sort out questions of faith. Now, it speaks to me as a story of triumph over impossible odds.

    Any book by Terry Pratchett. Small Gods is awesome. Reaper Man, Night Watch, Good Omens....it's British comedy in book form.

    There are others that really like, but don't make the all time faves list.

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    1. Yeah, Starship Troopers and Tolkien's work rock. I've read one by Pratchett, but not the Modisett book. I'll have to look that one up.

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