The Sword of Truth series by T.Goodkind. Books that are every bit as instructing as they are entertaining.

The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic by T.Pratchett. Hilarious postmodern fantasy.

Foucault's Pendulum by U.Eco. A good book on the nature of reality.

Masks of the Illuminati by R.A.Wilson. Same as above.

Eragon and Eldest by C.Paolini. Fantasy that is cliched, but pleasantly so.

Needful Things, Pet Sematary and The Eyes of the Dragon by S.King. The first is brilliant satire, the second the only book that managed to scare the crap out of me, and the third good fantasy.

The Hannibal Lecter trilogy by T.Harris. Excellent psychological thrillers (I haven't read Hannibal Rising, but judging by the movie and the reviews I read on the Internet, it was crap).

Dagon and Nyarlathotep by H.Lovecraft. They are just short stories, but have a unique nightmarish feel to them.

 

BANG! The complete history of the universe by Brian May, Patrick Moore and some othe guy.

The scientific history of the universe made easy to understand to anyone with a basic grasp of physics. The single best non fiction book I have ever read.

 

After looking though the list I'm surprised I didn't think to mention it before, but 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' By Douglas Adams is one you should definitely read at least once if your a sci-fi fan at all.

 

I hate buckling down to one author, or even one genre for more than a few books, but Nabokov certianly makes me do so. There is, of course, little reason to mention his immortal classic, Lolita. Beyond that, his entire catalogue should be (I haven't finished it, so i can't Say for sure) rich and beautiful.

If you haven't wandered upon Ayn Rand as of yet, do so immediatly. Don't read Foutainhead, at least not until you've finished Atlus Shrugged. After that go through her tristies.

Rushdie: Midnights Children...rest is mediocre to good.

His Dark Material Trilogy.

Crime And Punishment.

Lord Of the Flies.

And, lastly, Flatland.An amazing mix of sci-fi and satire.

 

Tim Powers - On Stranger Tides is the ultimate in pirate fiction. It is what "Pirates of the Caribbean" wishes it could be, and it predates Disney's movie by fifteen years. In fact when you read it you'll wonder why Powers hasn't sued Disney's ass off yet. "Jack Shandy" and his sweetheart "Elizabeth" deal with cursed treasures and a ship crewed by zombies. Sound familiar? It is, and they do it better.

It also features, Black Beard, Stede Bonnet, Calico Jack and his wenches Anne Bonny and Mary Reed, Voodoo, and the Fountain of Youth. It's an insane, inspired, possibly brilliant piece by one of the most inventive SF/Fantasy writers working today.

The beauty of Powers' work is that he peels back the cover and shows us the magic - sinister, dangerous, dark magic - hiding behind ordinary reality. He shows us a world where everything has a meaning, and everything that looks sinister actually is. Of course Black Beard was a sorcerer, we think. How could he not be? Of course pirates practiced Vodun. How could we not already have known this?

 

Map of Bones by James Rollins and it's sequel Black Order are two of the most amazing books I have ever read. If you like historical speculation tied into an action thriller, these books are the ones for you. Actually, anything by James Rollins is amazing.

 

Wow... there's quite the variety of books here but I'm suprised no one has mentioned "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgress so I thought I'd put that guy up. But my favourite book would have to be Homer's "The Illiad" just because its so epic. Also, for those that suggested the Dan Brown books I'm sorry but they've all been done before under the name "Indiana Jones" or to expand on that: white, American, professor familiar with history and religious paraphenalia, goes to Europe and gets caught up in intrigue involving evil right wing parties in pursuit of religious relics but saves the day via intelligence as opposed to brawn. Shocking, but its mostly hype, not to say that it isn't a decent book, it's just not groundbreaking or imporntant really. Anyhwo thats all i got... Toodles.

 

People have mentioned Ender's Game, but what about Ender's Shadow.

If I was only allowed one book for the rest of my life, I would pick Ender's Shadow.

I thought Shadow had more insight than Game.

I read Shadow before Game and I enjoyed it immensely. I was a bit disappointed by Game when I read it.

It also helps that I like the character of Bean better.

Ender seemed a bit... Off to me... Maybe a bit too god like?

 

Recommended

Books:

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card (Science Fiction)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Science Fiction)

Original Story:

Queen of Glass by S. J. Maas (Romance / Action / Adventure / Drama)
Link: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/697932/1/

Queen of Glass does have a bit of fluff in it (especially the end) but it does have decent amounts of action and magic and this story is being revamped and then sent to a publisher.

Two Summaries on Queen of Glass:

1. A infamous assassin sentenced to death in the salt mines of Endovier, she is given a second chance to redeem herself by helping those who took away her life.
   
2. The bargain was simple: a kingdom for her life. A retelling of the classic Cinderella story from a completely different point of view.

Reading it will also show you how fangirl and unoriginal I am... u-u

 

I love the Belgariad series by David Eddings - everything he wrote after that has the main character super-powered at the beginning and really-super-powered at the end.

Also Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gamain. Even if it did send the slash fangirls nuts.

 

i believe the black company novels and garett files, both by glen cook aren't mentioned yet
once you get over the beginning it's a fascinating read

 

If anyone one here has a good knowledge of American History I recommend Harry Turtledove books. He is known as the "Master of Alternate History." The books don't have any magic or anything, but they are in the Science Fiction section.

How Few Remain- is about a post Civil War America where the Union lost to the Confederacy.

Great War series- which chronicles WW1 with America split into 2 countries.

American Empire series- shows the years in between WW1 and 2. Stuff like Depression, bitter countries, politics, etc.

Settling Accounts series- shows WW2 in this universe.

All of those series are connected, so it is a about a 12 book series, the last one is due out in a month.

If you haven't guessed, The USA and the Confederacy are not friends, both WW1 and WW2 are fought on the American continent between the 2 countries.

You should also read the Resident Evil Series of books by S.D Perry

 

I know a very good book you can read. Well, several actually. Its my ultimate favorite book. Its called "Extreme Justice"...I think. Its about a lawyer trying to become a blues artist. When I read it the first time, it confused the crap out of me and had to re-read it to fully understand it. I don't remember the author's name.

Here's some other good books I read: They're by John Grisham.

The Client - Its basically about a kid who whitnesses a guy killing himself, and he's pleading the 5th in the Courthouse, trying to keep his family safe.

The Chamber - A lawyer tries to save his own grandfather from the electric chair for a crime he did 40 or so years ago.

The Rainmaker - This story is (mainly) about a lawyer going through trial, trying to put people away for not giving a couple's child a bone marrow transplant. Its very good if you like law books.

The Firm - A character named Mitch and his wife move to another city, Mitch is a lawyer who gets hired at a law firm, and is fighting for his life to survive from the firm who hired him.

A Time To Kill - Another excellent Grisham lawyer book. A black man's daughter gets raped by a couple rednecks and then Carl (the black man), kills the two responsible himself. The lawyer is on his side and trying to get him acquitted.

The Testament - In this story, an old man wants his will to only go to his daughter, who is unknown to everyone but himself and his old lawyer. Then the old lawyer hires another who's a drunk to go to New Zealand (or is it Africa?), to talk to her.

The Brethren - This is a group of 4 judges in jail that get rich by stealing money from people outside the prison.

The Runaway Jury - This is another good book. A widow's husband is killed by lung cancer (from smoking cancer sticks), and the widow sues the cigarette company. A juror in the jury and his girlfriend (who is not a juror, but works with him), they break the law to correct a wrong, while outsmarting a couple FBI agents.

The Street Lawyer - This is about a lawyer who gets sued and becomes a street lawyer, trying to make ends meat, I suppose.

Its been a while since I've read any of Grisham's books (or ANY books for that matter), but these are only a few of his books. Grisham's law books are very well written. There aren't any magic in them, but they're very good.

Richard.

 

I recommend Ulysses and Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. Read them, and if you're still capable of thinking you've done something wrong.

The mind-fucking Finnegans Wake gave to me was amazing. . . It did the little thing with its tongue and everything.

 

I just finished this really good book, The Interpretation of Murder, by Jed Rubenfeld. It's a murder mystery, sure, but a good one that is brilliantly written and is pretty damned compelling.

It takes place in early 1900s, during Sigmund Freud's one and only visit to America. He returned from that week long trip with very negative things to say about Americans, calling us "savages" and "criminals". His biographers know very little about his stay (in New York) and can't really say why he would come to such a conclusion. This book is a fictional account of his visit.

Well, at any rate, I couldn't put the shit down and I finished it in two days. It actually makes me want to go and read Freud's books, and I will.

/me jots down a few of the suggestions of fellow DLPers.

I've been looking for more books to read also. Damned Harry Potter...

 

That is perhaps the most retarded metaphor I have ever heard in my life. Anyone who uses it should be shot in the dick. Cigarettes is shorter, and while idiotic sounding in itself, is far less violence enducingly so that THAT.

Ill second Mid's rec for THe Dresden Files. It is definitely > HP in nearly all aspects.

Ive started the Gor Series as well. And if you enjoy BDSM, I recommend Kushiel's Legacy series, the first being Kushiel's Dart. Jaquelin Carey.

The Books of the Swords is a good series as well. Fred Saberhagen wrote them if I remember right.

 

I passed through the titles but I might have missed it anyway.
Dune by Frank Herbert is a nice book if you like sci-fi books.

 

Just to quickly catch anyone up that might be interested. The riftwar saga is generally considered to be Magician, Silverthorn, and A Darkness at Sethanon. Prince of the Blood and The King's Bucaneer are sometimes referred to as Krondor's Sons - at least, according to wiki. They directly follow the Riftwar.

Daughter, Servant, and Mistress of the Empire were the first books he co-authored, with Janny Wurts. They basically show the other side of the Riftwar saga. I don't especially care for them.

The other co-authored books were Honoured Enemy, Muder in LaMut, and Jimmy the Hand - but they don't seem to be easily available outside the UK. They take place during the riftwar, apparently as a side-story. I haven't read these, but I bet the one S.M. Stirling co-authored is probably pretty cool.

The next major series was the Serpentwar saga - Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King, and Shards of a Broken Crown. It was published between '94 and '98. I thought RoaMP was the weakest of these

The Conclave of Shadows series followed that, and it is comprised of Talon of a Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, and Exiles Return. I haven't read Exiles Return yet, nor the Darkwar saga which is the current series, currently containing Flight of the Nighthawks and Into a Dark Realm, which just came out this past March.

For anyone who hasn't read these, grab Magician - it is amazing.

 

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card is particularly good in my opinion. The first few are fantastic, but some of the later series is not quite up to the same caliber. Still worth reading though.

 

Moniteur-I have all of them up to the first of the newest series, though the second has come out. I stopped reading them after the Conclave of Shadows series, though--the plots dont draw me any more. I'm also annoyed at how he doesn't end series. Krondor and CoS are freaking unfinished, damnit!