Our Shared Shelf discussion

What are your favorite books ever? Now, I haven't read loads of books but have been more passionate than ever, and I have a top five:

1. Ladies' Paradise, Emile Zola
2. Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
3. Nobody's boy, Hector Malot
4. Love in the time of cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5. Queen of the Tearling/Hunger Games, E. Johansen/Suzanne Collins.

What are yours, in an evergrowing reading list and shelves?
I already have a reading list for 2016, apart from what the bookclub chooses each month although I am paying attention, and here's a few of them that made the list:

1. The principles of success, Jack Canfield
2. How to win friends and influence people, Dale Carnegie(finished);
3. How to win friends and influence people in the digital era, Dale Carnegie(just started it, I'm around p.46);
4. Stop worrying and start living/How to get it, keep it, sell more than ever, Dale Carnegie;
5. Diamond as big as the Ritz/Tender is the night, F. S. Fitzgerald;
6. Cuckoo's calling/Current vacancy, J.K.Rowling;
7. 100 Years of solitude, G. G. Marquez and a few others.....

I have my eyes set on self help/personal development, yeah.
Also Romanian classics because well, y'all know, each with their own. I would recommend some of them but are they available in english? Eugene Ionesco(playwright, ''was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and one of the foremost figures of the French Avant-garde theatre'' wiki) or Emil Cioran, naming just two grand ones.

Other than reading, I'm taking german classes on duolingo.com and it's so much fun, I'm at chapter 36, and I am addicted to it. I might as well turn german now.......I love the language coz it's difficult, and that's attractive.

I'm trying writing this story which is so complicated but likes my mind to much to get outta there. Keep you posted.

[can you tell I love talking?]
What about you?

I love reading and sharing books about real women. In order to share my passion I created a website www.booksaboutrealwomen.com. On this website are approximately 200 books that I have read. Each month I promote a different book. If you are looking for a book to read, you might check it out.

Diane wrote: "I love reading and sharing books about real women. In order to share my passion I created a website www.booksaboutrealwomen.com. On this website are approximately 200 books that I have read. Each m..."

thank you!

A few of my favorite books are:

Chronicles of a foretold death. By GG Marquez
The Mongolian plot. By Rafael Bernal
The Underdogs. By Mariano Azuela
Bestiario. By Julio Cortazar
And in this list last but not least The Palace of Dreams. By Ismail Kadare

A recommendation on 100 Years of Solitude. Try drawing the family trees and then at the end compare it to the one on the book or the ones on the Internet. Don't worry if it's not the same even if you read it a second time you'll get a different family tree from the one you did first and the one on the book. That's what makes that book fun.

Juan wrote: "A recommendation on 100 Years of Solitude. Try drawing the family trees and then at the end compare it to the one on the book or the ones on the Internet. Don't worry if it's not the same even if you read it a second time you'll get a different family tree from the one you did first and the one on the book. That's what makes that book fun. ."

Interesting! Thank you!
hehehe

A few of my favorites are

The Book Thief
Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter (the whole series)
The Hobbit
Song of the Lioness (its a quartet)
Circle of Magic (also a quartet)
The Circle Opens (also a quartet)
Protector of the Small (another quartet)
The Immortals (another quartet)
His Dark Materials (a trilogy)

there's more than that but I can't think of them all haha XD I think almost every book I've read is a favorite besides the ones that weren't good

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar - a wonderful pre-feminist call to action.

Elena wrote: "What are your favorite books ever? Now, I haven't read loads of books but have been more passionate than ever, and I have a top five:

1. Ladies' Paradise, Emile Zola
2. Master and Margarita, Mikha..."

Rhinoceros is one of my favorite plays. Ionesco's a genius.

As for my favorite books (such a difficult decision so I'm limiting it books I've read as an adult) I guess I'd go with:

1. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet
2. Sula by Toni Morrison (Beloved is incredible too!)
3. Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
4. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
5. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

I've been making an effort to read a more diverse selection of books over the past two years and there is so much variety out there. Incredible authors and ideas and challenging theories that are pushing me to think differently about everything. It's wonderful.

Imma need a warehouse or just plenty of storage for this amount of new books #dilemmas

Lots of writers I never heard of, ah, the excitement!

Elena, find a good library and save lots of space and money. Happy reading!

100 años de soledad
El hobbit/el señor de los anillos
Harry potter
El código da vinci
canción de hielo y fuego

Matthew wrote: "Elena, find a good library and save lots of space and money. Happy reading!"

Thanks Matt! To you too, but have you started the february book?

Matthew wrote: "Elena, find a good library and save lots of space and money. Happy reading!"

Estos libros son muy interesantes, gracias! Que estas leyendo ahora?

The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter series (Prisoner of Azkaban is my absolute favorite!)
Catcher in the Rye
Bloodchild (a collection of Octavia Butler's short stories)
Looking for Alaska
The Time Machine
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
A Murder is Announced
Give a Boy a Gun
Frankenstein
and, of course, My Life on the Road :)

I also recommend anything by Gillian Flynn. she writes about really dark stuff, so she's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love her.

Dracula
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde
Batman (various story arcs)
The Hannibal Lecter series
The Alex Cross series
The James Bond series (books or films)
Les Miserables
Various non-fiction books about serial killers
Hitler: A Study in Tyranny
Dracula: Prince of Many Faces (about the real Dracula)
The Harry Potter series
Spider-Man (various story arcs)
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Herbert West Reanimator
The Shining
'Salem's Lot
The Dexter Morgan series
many more

where the red fern grows by Wilson Rawls
The Tempest by William shakespeare
The hound of the baskervilles- sir arthur conan doyle
The eye of the world- robert jordan
a song of ice and fire- george rr martin
earths children series- jean auel
the people of the lakes- kathleen o'neal and w.michael gear
Second Skin and the Pearl Saga by Eric Van Lusterbader
Mythology- Edith hamilton
Le Morte D'arthur by Mallory
The alchemist- Paolo coelho
foucalt's pendulum- Umberto eco
Perdido street station- china mieville
sophies world- jostein gaarder
The illiad- homer

This is as hard as choosing favorite songs, but now that I think about it, there are these books I keep thinking about at random times of the day, as if their story still echoes into my memory, which to me says, they must be brilliant

Tolkien's The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings
Philip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Shakespeare's Macbeth
Anything written by Flannery O'Connor
Nathanel West's The Day of the Locust
Rowling's Harry Potter series
Art Spiegelman's Maus I & II
Satrapis's Persepolis
The Watchmen
Orwell's 1984
Steibeck's Cannery Row
Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Charles Dickens' Great Expectations
Junot Diaz' The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Salinger's Catcher in the Rye
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

My favourites are:

To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Go set a watchman, Harper Lee
The Book thief, Markus Zusak
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Effect, Graeme Simsion
Central Park, Guillaume Musso
and everything from Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.

And of course there are many more to come :D

Too many, though I will say that Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life had the biggest impact on me. Other noteworthy mentions include: Small Island, The Help and 1Q84.

Jessica wrote: "where the red fern grows by Wilson Rawls
The Tempest by William shakespeare
The hound of the baskervilles- sir arthur conan doyle
The eye of the world- robert jordan
a song of ice and fire-..."

Omg sherlock holmes! I was obsessed as a 12 year old!
Aso The Alchemist, um I read the book in highschool - maybe 11 grade, maybe 12 grade, can't remember, but I also went to see the play which was set to premiere later on at our Dramatic Theatre, and i said to myself I need to read it, just because i want to know what it's all about, and the play was too beautiful, came back home with like 2-3 characters and didn't know why.

Elena wrote: tos libros son muy interesantes, gracias! Que estas leyendo

Currently:
David Foster Wallace's The Pale King

Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead

And just about to start February's book.

Matthew wrote: "Currently:
David Foster Wallace's The Pale King
Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead
And just about to start February's book."

Super! Let me know what you thought of Alice Walker's!
From Dostoyevski I read The idiot and it was mostly boring, is that one worth a read?

Among my favorite books:

1) Atonement-Ian McEwan
2) Anna Karenina - Lev Tolstoj
3) Carol - Patricia Highsmith
4) How to kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
5) All Harry Potter books - J.K. Rowling
6) Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
7) Macbeth - William Shakespeare
8)Dracula - Bram Stoker
9) The Dubliners - James Joyce
10) Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

I have many others but somehow I can't recall any of them at the moment ;D

Huh, The Help by Kathryn Stockett! :))

What exactly do you guys love about Dracula? I read it and HATED it completely hated it, the first half was exciting to read but the second half was to me utterly disappointing.

Every time i hear this question im completelly confused and asking myself : WHAT BOOKS ARE THE BEST ONES?
I'd say my absolutelly number ones are all books of Carlos Castaneda.
Then goes:
Gabriel Garcia Marques - 100 years of solitude
Viktor Pelevin - Generation P
George Orwell - 1984
Aldous Huxley - Brave new world
Mikhail Bulgakov - Master i Margarita
George R.R. Martin - The song of ice and fire series
Chuck Hogan and Guiliermo Del toro - The Strain series
Strugatsky brothers (almost all their books)
Philip K. Dick (almost all his books)
RIchard Dawkins - The selfish Gene and The God delusion
Lawrence Krauss - A universe from nothing
Erich Maria Remarque - (almost all his books)
Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon, The Minds of Billy Milligan
J.D. Salinger - The catcher in the rye
Thats all i remember by now, there are more im too lazy to write them all :)

Interesting is that there are some books that almost you all have mentioned. I loved reading CATCHER IN THE RYE. It was lovely, but too short it was depressingly short.

Elena wrote: "Interesting is that there are some books that almost you all have mentioned. I loved reading CATCHER IN THE RYE. It was lovely, but too short it was depressingly short."
It was indeed, but thats also a plus, i guess it wouldnt be so good if the story was longer :)

Such a lack of philosophy readers... You should give it a try :)

Elena wrote: "Such a lack of philosophy readers... You should give it a try :)"

Im not a big fan of philosophy at all, but you can give some advices on it, maybe ill give it a try :)

That's kind of personal haha, but any remarkable philosopher will make you think a thousand times more than any other book, so...

That indeed is personal. One may like philosophy, other will like fantasy. Ill stick with science books, they make personally me think more than any other books. Philosophy isnt for everyone. :)

Elena wrote:
Super! Let me know what you thought of Alice Walker's!
From Dostoyevski I read The idiot and it was mostly boring, is that one worth a read?

On Walker - will do.

On Dostoyevsky - probably not if you didn't like The Idiot. Heavy realist text, lots of flitting about w/r/t characters, so not riveting.

To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Book thief, Markus Zusak
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery

Cynthia wrote: "To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Book thief, Markus Zusak
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery"

I love me some Bronte sisters
_____________________________________
Regarding philosophy, I don't know who reads philosophy in their spare time, maybe that's just for studies,not so much for fun. I personally like Hermann Hesse, and I'm planning to get some of his works. But I do own Immanuel Kant's Logic, Imma give it a try, see it it goes.

My favorite books are:

The Harry Potter Series - J.K. Rowling
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie...

I just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)

Sam wrote: "If it helps at all, philosophy doesn't have to come in the form of dry endless treatises. Quite a few of the biggest philosophers of the 20th century and beyond also wrote novels which contain thei..."
Sartre is great author. Probably one of the few philosophs i actually enjoyed reading.

I read philosophy and theory books but more for the challenge than for the love of it. Of what I've read recently, I found Sensational Flesh by Amber Jamilia Musser an excellent text. It's about masochism and how it relates to race, gender, and politics and touches on the work of Fanon, Lorde, Freud, Sacher-Masoch, Foucault, etc. Really opened my eyes to the different kinds of pain we all experience and express.

I wouldn't say I loved the book though. The writing style lacked poetry.

Liz wrote: just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)
."

you cheeky monkey!(i say it not to offend you but i do say it with affection)

Locovilly wrote: "Sam wrote: "If it helps at all, philosophy doesn't have to come in the form of dry endless treatises. Quite a few of the biggest philosophers of the 20th century and beyond also wrote novels which ..."

Interesting, thank you, I'll put it on my list!

Elena wrote: "Locovilly wrote: "Sam wrote: "If it helps at all, philosophy doesn't have to come in the form of dry endless treatises. Quite a few of the biggest philosophers of the 20th century and beyond also w..."

I also recommend from "No Exit" by Sartre. Its a play, but it can be read just as easily as a novel and its a story that can really make a person think.

No Exit

I have a lot of classics to catch up on, but so far in my young life here are my favorite books - in no particular order:

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

Juan wrote: "Elena wrote: "Locovilly wrote: "Sam wrote: "If it helps at all, philosophy doesn't have to come in the form of dry endless treatises. Quite a few of the biggest philosophers of the 20th century and..."

NO EXIT is among the stories in this book I found on the bookstore's website, I'll get it fo'sure!

Elena wrote: "Liz wrote: just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)
."

you cheeky monkey!(i say it not to offend you but i do say it with affection)"

Haha... don't get me wrong either... I have read Male Writers: Tolkien, Alexandre Dumas, Nicholas Sparks =) Just not my favorite-close-to-the-heart books...

"I just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)"

And then there are those male writers who write with something of a female sensibility - many of Colm Toibin's works, in particular Brooklyn. And vice versa - Plath and Woolf spring to mind. Which all helps to break down barriers of male v female, perhaps? Or maybe not, I don't know...

Liz wrote: "Elena wrote: "Liz wrote: just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)
."

you cheeky monkey!(i say it not to offend you but i do say it with affection)"

Haha... don't get me wrong either... I ha..."

I only tried to be funny that's all, oh I love Nick Sparks! And Al. Dumas!

Matthew wrote: ''And then there are those male writers who write with something of a female sensibility - many of Colm Toibin's works, in particular Brooklyn. And..."

i just love a good book regardless of who wrote it, wether it's a male or female.

So little time to catch up to all the books I want to read.. but for now:

Atonement - Ian McEwan
Blindness - José Saramago
The raven and other poems - Edgar Allan Poe
Maus I and II: A survivor's tale - Art Spiegelman
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

:)

1. The Giver
2. Keeping Safe the Stars--Since this is a feminist book club, I'll mention that there are at least two great and well-developed female characters in this book.
3. The Maze Runner
4. The Fault In Our Stars--and no, it's not remotely similar in any way to the 2nd book on this list, despite the titles. :p

Matthew wrote: ""I just realized they are all FEMALE WRITERS.. ;)"

And then there are those male writers who write with something of a female sensibility - many of Colm Toibin's works, in particular Brooklyn. And..."

Thanks for the tips! ;) I'll look them up