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When not watching TV or festing, most of us are avid readers (we feel this obligation, what with our large percentage of members who are librarians and all). These are the books some of us have enjoyed that we recommend to other readers.
I have several fave books and an entire series: "Daughter
of the Empire," by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts. It's
a really good, unpredictable series. "The Handmaids Tale"
by Margaret Atwood is a creepy post-apocalyptic tale in which
everything that happens in the book has happened at least once
in human history. An interesting book to investigate the innate
capabilities of humanity in the spirit of the Milgrim experiments.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden: very
interesting insider's view of a 'secret' society.
"The Mammoth Book of Cats." This is a rather complete collection of stories, verse and prose, all dedicated to cats. Much of the writing is done by very well-known authors: Wilde, Dickinson, Poe, Twain, Livermore, and many, many more. Published by Carroll & Graf. 2) "The Best Cat Ever." The last in a trilogy by Cleveland Amory. It's about a cat and his grumpy owner (ownee?). 3) "Spock V.S.Q." An audio book published by Simon & Schuster featuring the voices of Leonard Nimoy and John deLancie. Superb fare for those long drives I take so often, or when I'm stuck in the horrible traffic in Parlin or Doyleville.
Two old ones: "Don Juan" by George Gordon. Lord Byron is wonderful poetry. It can be found online at www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/7086/donjuan.htm. "Hamlet's Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time" by Georgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend is a fascinating explanation of all kinds of things, whether it is true or not. Two recent ones: "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson is a long science fictional computer/spy/cryptography/bunch-of-other-stuff novel which even includes funny parts. "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin is the first volume of the best epic fantasy series being written. [Fred also reviews "Get a Life!" in the Best of G Force. His science fiction reviews appear monthly in the Denver Post Sunday book section.]
"The Wizards First Rule" by Terry Goodkind is a great book, the starter to a great series. It has very interesting characters and an extremely captivating plot. It has a medieval setting, in the imaginary world of the Midlands. It contains plenty of blood and gore, as well as romance.
"The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle is about (you guessed it!) Robin Hood and his band. I think it would appeal to the Macbeth crowd, since it is written in old English. If you enjoy stories about quaffing ale, tricking fat priests, having quarterstaff fights, saving peasants, having feasts at inns, or singing ballads, this is the best of the best.
"Into Thin Air," by Jon Krakauer. I liked it because it absorbed me completely and transported me into the experience with him. It was all I could talk about for days. After finishing it, I had a compulsion to climb a mountain (though perhaps not Everest). Come to think of it, that book may have had something to do with our decision to move to Gunnison.
I love books! I like Barbara Hambly's work very much, especially her Sun Wolf/Starhawk fantasy trilogy (starting with "The Ladies of Mandrigyn") and her new series about Benjamin January, the "Free Man of Color" in the title of the first book. It's historical fiction, set in 1830s New Orleans, where society and race all come together in a bizarrely fascinating mix. Obviously a student of history, Hambly sets her scenes very vividly without getting in the way of the story, and her characters are human, not superhuman. I first read "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster when I was 12, and I re-read it every two years or so, because it's a book that changes as perspectives do. A boy who is bored with his life finds himself setting off to rescue the Princesses of Pure Rhyme and Sweet Reason, encountering any number of odd and/or fantastical characters along the way. And I haven't even touched on pirate books, or Richard Bradford (the one who wrote "Red Sky at Morning" and "So Far From Heaven," not the other one), or Alistair MacLean's "Guns of Navarone," which set the action-adventure pattern for my reading habits from my teens through my twenties.