What are your five favorite books?
Right now, I am completely in the grips of a Twilight/Stephenie Meyer addiction, so I could easily say Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn and The Host.
Prior to my addiction, I would have said the following: (in no particular order) The Secret History by Donna Tartt; Interview With A Vampire by Ann Rice; Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert; A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving; and hmmmm....not quite sure about the fifth one. I'll have to think about it!
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is my all time favorite. Yes it's a childrens book, but what a great message. I guess I love anything from Shel. I also like the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I know, I'm a dork.
Don't feel Dorky...I love Shel Silverstein too. I have both "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "The Giving Tree"I also just gave my one granddaughter my copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit" from when I was a kid. We also read Robert Frost together.
After that I'm off to Sci Fi and Horror Land. I love Stephen King's "The Stand" and Salem's Lot. Anything by Ray Bradbury (Love the Martian Chronicles), Robert Heinlein and Robert R. McCammon. I also love Poe.
My two dobies who both died last summer were named Edgar Allen and Anabelle Lee. How's that for obsessive?
I don't get into the fantasy stuff all that much ( dragons, dungeons etc.), but give me a good horror or sci fi novel and I'm good to go..
im not sure i have fine but i have a lot of series
Twilight Saga
Inheritence cycle ( Eregon)
Harry Potter Series
Kushiel's Legacy
and alot of random books by a lot of different authors I would rather spend my time reading than doing almost anything else.
Julia
And I LOVE Where the Sidewalk Ends!
Great topic! we are avid readers in our house. Cleaned out our books one day and gave away over 300 books ... still had 5 bookcases, doubled and tripled rowed, filled with books. I'm a speed reader (no, never took the class .. I could read before I was 4) so when I buy books, I have to buy 3 or 4 at a time. It always makes me laugh at the commercials or ads that talk about "reading a book for the summer". Geesh, I read a book in an afternoon!!! One year for Christmas I got 10 books ... had them all read before New Year's Eve.
I just finished the book "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young. Religious based book, but I cried 4 different times. Very good. Highly recommended!
"Never Give Up" by Joyce Meyer. Very motivating and uplifting. If you sometimes feel like you're the regenade in your family, that somehow you don't "fit in", you will like this book. (see my signature ... "eagles soar alone" came from this book).
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. Read this years ago. Slow starting but I SOBBED at the end. Couldn't turn the pages fast enough to read this.
"The E-Myth" by Michael Gerber. If you run or are contemplating starting a business, you HAVE to read this book.
"The Martha Rules - 10 Essentials for Achieving Success" by Martha Stewart
We keep our books on the shelf alphabetically by author (we have to .. it's the only way we can know what books we've read ... we've bought duplicate books before!) so our favorites are Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Ken Follett, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell and too many others to mention.
I'm keeping this thread in mind for when I actually have time to read a adult book!! My dd just started kindergarten this year and now can read - we do 2 books everynight with her and read my 2 year old a story as well. Then a fulltime non-cake job and with cakes part time I have no time!
It is bad that when I pick up a good book I can not put it down until its done - so I can't have anything else planned...
Indydebi, your house sounds like mine was up until a couple of years ago when I finally had to sort through hundreds of books and part with a lot of them. I had one room in my house where the walls were lined with bookcases filled with books, and when my mother died, she had one room where 3 of the walls were lined with nothing but cookbooks and baking books. When I sold my house and moved to hers, I just did not have the room for all of them and spent a couple of months just sorting nothing but books.
When I was in 6th grade, our reading class was a test subject class for speed reading. I was a fast reader anyway, but like you, I buy 3 and 4 at a time. I've taken to scrounging yard sales when I can. It's a lot cheaper...lol.
Oh, and I have to add "Tuesdays with Morrie" and The "Five People You Meet in Heaven" both by Mitch Albom.
cakedoll, I can't buy mazagines because they are a waste of money. When I had a job that required me to be on a plane 3 days a week, I'd watch people buy magz's to read "on the flight". heck, I'd read a magz before we pulled away from the gate! 
when I was in 2nd grade, they let me go to the 4th and 5th grade library because I had read all the books in our 2nd grade library.
"Tuesdays with Morrie" is a book I want to read!!!!!
A book thread on a cake site! What could be more perfect? I probably don't read as fast as you do, Indydebi, but I real quite a lot. I love everything Charles Dickens, especially Bleak House. Jane Eyre, Hind's Feet on High Places; C.L. Lewis' Space Trilogy was fantastic, and anything by Stephen Lawhead. The Shack is on my list of books I need to read, but haven't gotten to it yet. 
I'll read anything written by Koontz or Stephen King. The Stand has to be the top of my list. And the Talisman, co-authored with Peter Straub, is really good too if you get through the first couple chapters, they're kind of slow. And of course the Dark Tower series. I like Crichton too, he must of been a bright man, I always feel like I've had a science lesson after reading one of his.
my favourite book - a little love song, by michelle magorian. she wrote good night mr tom too.
i will read anything, and usually not remember the title or the author - 12 library books, the max i can get, doesnt last me that long. i have a strong weakness for chick lit, so readble, even if slightly trashy. whats wrong with a happy ending.
danielle steel!!!!
katie fforde
maeve binchy
recently introduced to jodi picoult, usually suspense/ mystery style.
dale brown - military type books, so readable.
jeremy clarckson - tv presenter, who writes such funny things, first books were like collections of his articles, mainly on cars.
i went to canada for 5 months and joined the library there. didnt recognise a single name (well apart from danielle steel, lol) and it was great getting to know loads of new authors. whose names i then forgot!
xx
I'll read anything written by Koontz or Stephen King. The Stand has to be the top of my list. And the Talisman, co-authored with Peter Straub, is really good too if you get through the first couple chapters, they're kind of slow. And of course the Dark Tower series. I like Crichton too, he must of been a bright man, I always feel like I've had a science lesson after reading one of his.
Also "Hearts in Atlantis" and "The Green Mile". If you loved "The Stand", you would probably love "Swan Song" By Robert R. McCammon.
I'll read anything written by Koontz or Stephen King. The Stand has to be the top of my list. And the Talisman, co-authored with Peter Straub, is really good too if you get through the first couple chapters, they're kind of slow. And of course the Dark Tower series. I like Crichton too, he must of been a bright man, I always feel like I've had a science lesson after reading one of his.
Bag of Bones - Stephen King (all time favourite!! Read it a million times)
The Gunslinger Series -Stephen King (Roland is hot!!)
Dark Rivers of the Heart - Dean Koontz (very creepy)
Intensity - Dean Koontz - (even creepier)
Can You Keep A Secret? - Sophia Kinsella (Shopaholic writer very funny)
Hard to limit it to just 5 cause I want to add the Twilight series, James Patterson's Alex Cross books.
For those Stephen King fans (seems to be a few) the book Wiards & Glass is now a comic book & so is The Stand. Very interesting to see the artist rendition of both books. 
[/quote]For those Stephen King fans (seems to be a few) the book Wiards & Glass is now a comic book & so is The Stand. Very interesting to see the artist rendition of both books. [/quote]
I'll have to pick those up out of curiosity now...lol. For anyone in my age group (mid-50's) does "Classics Illustrated" ring a bell?
How could I forget the green mile! My son got me the comic of the gunslinger for christmas, haven't seen the stand yet. I'll have to look for it. I loved It, until the end. Did anyone else hate what It turned out to be?
Wow... I see some interesting books mentioned here... Great topic! My list is adult & kids, depending on whether I'm reading for me or to a child.
1. Bible (and Bible study materials)
2. Jamie Langston Turner - Some Wildflower in My Heart
3. David Sheff - Beautiful Boy
4. Roger Hargreaves - Mr. Tickle, Mr. Messy, and Mr. Mischief (sorry! I just couldn't narrow it down to one!)
5. Russel Hoban - Bread and Jam for Frances
I love to read, but with a two year old that doesn't take naps, it's hard. I used to read all the time, but now it takes a few days just to get through a magazine, nevermind a whole book! Anyway, here is my list, in no particular order
Go Ask Alice...anonymous (about a teenager in the 70's who gets caught up in drugs...it was speculated that the government wrote this book to scare people away from drugs back then.)
100 years of solitude by Khalil Gibran...this is my alltime favorite. It's long, but you just can't put it down.
The prophet...also by Khalil Gibran. This is actually a book of poetic essays. It's fantastic, it really makes you think.
IT was a huge disappointment. I loved the book, but the ending was such a let down. I did develope a huge fear of clowns though 
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There is a new comic book series called "Trechery"(sp), it's about Roland and what happens to him after he shoots his mom. The Stand is broken up into a series of comic books. The first is "Captian Tripps" and it covers the first couple of chapters of the book.
For those Gunslinger fans: who would you cast to play Roland, Jake, Suzannah & Eddie? I absolutley loved this series. Probably some of SK's best work.
The Green Mile I bought when it was released as Chapter Books. I thought the movie was very true to the book, and one of the few movies that I found Tom Hanks kinda hot 
If you have read "Bag of Bones", Bruce Willis's production company apparently bought the rights to that, so it should be a movie soon. If you haven't read it & your a SK fan, I highly recommend it. It was his first book when he switched publishers and it is truley amazing. I would discribe it as a 'haunting love story'. Typical SK scary, but there is a softer side as well. Very well written and it keeps you on your seat until the end.
My list:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Harry Potter
3. The Vampire Lestat
4. Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress
5. Jane Eyre
I'm another one who can't figure out reading a book during the summer or even one book a month. A novel doesn't last more than a few hours around me.
"It" was a disappointment. So was "The Cell". If you haven't read it yet, don't worry about it. The heart of the book was great but when I got to the ending, I just set the book down I thought "I just wasted a few hours reading this for THIS ENDING?" Very disappointing.
It was like he thought "Ok, I've spent enough time on this one. Gotta end it NOW."
I loved "Hearts in Atlantis" and "Insomnia." Both excellent. They did butcher "Hearts in Atlantis" for the movie though. Stellar cast but rotten movie.
Stephen King bought a house down here in the 90's about 15 miles away from where I live on one of the keys. I remember they actually put an article in the local paper about it asking people to please leave him alone and not ask for autographs.
pipe-dreams: I read "Go Ask Alice" and remember the speculations on who actually wrote it. Also read both by Khalil Gibran. Those were two that I kept when I had to part with so many books. Now I'm going to have to go read them again!
Stephen King bought a house down here in the 90's about 15 miles away from where I live on one of the keys. I remember they actually put an article in the local paper about it asking people to please leave him alone and not ask for autographs
Have you read Duma Keys? It takes place in the Florida Keys. It's the sister book of Bag of Bones. And his new collections of short stories "Just After Sunset" there are a couple of stories in it set in the Keys.
Also wanted to add that I have read a few of Oprah's book club choices, and find that if I need a good cry, just to look to one of those.
Oh yes, mbelgard! How could I ever have left out Charlotte Bronte!!! (Shame on me!)
I tried multiple times to read Stephen King's "It", and always got brain twisted with who each chapter was about and whether they were written from the point of view of them as kids or adults. I finally waited for the movie, which I really enjoyed. But boy does that clown still scare the bejeebers out of me!!!
Stephen King bought a house down here in the 90's about 15 miles away from where I live on one of the keys. I remember they actually put an article in the local paper about it asking people to please leave him alone and not ask for autographs
Have you read Duma Keys? It takes place in the Florida Keys. It's the sister book of Bag of Bones. And his new collections of short stories "Just After Sunset" there are a couple of stories in it set in the Keys.
Also wanted to add that I have read a few of Oprah's book club choices, and find that if I need a good cry, just to look to one of those.
I haven't read those yet. Thanks. Those I'm definitely going to have to get.
For those Gunslinger fans: who would you cast to play Roland, Jake, Suzannah & Eddie? I absolutley loved this series. Probably some of SK's best work.
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Back when I first started reading them Clint Eastwood would definitely have to have been Roland. I think he's too old now. Probably Whoopi Goldberg as Suzannah. I think she would do that alter personality thing really well. But, she's probably too old now too. Eddie and Jake, I'm not sure.
The only thing I really hated about it was when they made the TV movie and cast Molly Ringwald as Fran...huh????
I thought they did pretty good with the casting, Molly Ringwald didn't really bother me, the one I hated was the one who played the Dark Man. I thought he was completely wrong. He was so short, and I would have cast someone attractive in that part.
The only thing I really hated about it was when they made the TV movie and cast Molly Ringwald as Fran...huh????
I thought they did pretty good with the casting, Molly Ringwald didn't really bother me, the one I hated was the one who played the Dark Man. I thought he was completely wrong. He was so short, and I would have cast someone attractive in that part.
Tim Curry as Pennywise was a good choice. I didn't like Harry Anderson or Richard Thomas. I was looking at the movie cover & it doen't mention Molly Ringwald, but Annette O'toole, and the character's name was Beverley. If Molly was cast as Fran, than that would have been from The Stand.
Back when I first started reading them Clint Eastwood would definitely have to have been Roland. I think he's too old now. Probably Whoopi Goldberg as Suzannah. I think she would do that alter personality thing really well. But, she's probably too old now too. Eddie and Jake, I'm not sure.
Clint Eastwood is who the drawings in the book are based on, but I would have chosen him too.
Suzannah: Vivica A. Fox
The other two, I'm not sure. This is a hot debate topic on SK's forum too.
Cakes22: Sorry, I should have thrown up a flag or tagged the post I was responding to 
. I did mean Fran Goldsmith from "The Stand."
Totally agree with you about Richard Thomas in "It." And you gotta love Tim Curry in ANYTHING. Harry Anderson...I kept picturing Judge Harry Stone from "Night Court."
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