Some Good Fiction Books

[dastuff]

Hi all,

I feel that we as engineers should probably have some similar tastes in what we like to read. I figured this could be a good outlet to compile some good books to throw open when we're not working our bums off. I've tried my best to categorize what i read so that everyone can use the appropriate category. If you'd like to either comment on what i have here or add more books yourself this can get fun.

But i must warn you that i have a high tendency to buy books so if you put a bad read on here and I buy it I will hunt you down. That said,

Bring on the books:

• The Devil in the White City (murder juxtaposed to architecture)
• The Lord of the Rings (to get it out of the way)
• The Corrections (the destruction of the nuclear middle america family model)
• American Gods (from the same guy who did stardust the movie (which is also good imo))
• Catch 22 (funnnny)
• The Dark Tower Series (these books are crazzzy)
• Shadow & Claw: The First Half of 'The Book of the New Sun' by Gene Wolfe (this is the most interesting Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Future book i've ever read. Wolfe will throw in little paragraphs on spacial dynamics or time travel that will blow your mind)
• Harry Potter (lets be honest.. Engineers <3 HP)
• The Dirk Pitt Series by Clive Cussler (great action read if you're in that sort of mood).
• Anything Chuck Palahniuk (i've read a few of his books and they're always a radically different take on things).

That's all i have for now but I'm sure once i get home and look over the bookshelves I'll find some more to add in.

What about you guys/gals? :bananapowerslide:

 

[Ble_PE]

I like Clive Cussler as well. I also like Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's books together. I haven't read anything in a while since I was studying for the PE exam, I'll have to get back to the library.

 

[Chucktown PE]

I like Ayn Rand's books.

Atlas Shrugged

The Fountainhead

I loved Catch 22. I don't read a lot of fiction. I love history so I read a lot of non-fiction.

 

[Road Guy]

stereotypical stephen king and tom clancy for me

 

[FLBuff PE]

I'm not a huge book reader, but like the Dan Brown novels, as well as Jimmy Buffett's (yes, the singer) books. I just read though Where is Joe Merchant? for about the 5 time. It's a story about pirates, pilots and the carribean life in the 80's. Very entertaining, and I highly recommend it. It gets a little wierd with some cosmic mumbo-jumbo, but still worth a read.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Lee Child, F. Paul Wilson, PT Duetermann, early James Rollins (pre Omega group), Kyle Mills are good authors.

 

[dastuff]

ble31980,

I actually bought "the book of the dead" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child but haven't found the time to read it lol

Chucktown,

I swear i had the fountainhead on the list but took it off at the last minute because it was right next to the devil in the white city and i didn't want two architectural books next to each other... yes, that's how i feel about architects, you can't have too many of them in a room together or the react with one another and there may be some type of nuclear reaction.

Road Guy

Sadly i always look at the stereotypical SK and TC and those books look so long to me... And i don't have a problem with reading big books but i just haven't got that genre itch yet



FlBuff,

All i can say is wow... But i really like crazy strange books (like slaughterhouse five was one of my favorites). I'll have to grab this for the conversation factor alone. "Yes it is the same as the author", "No I'm not kidding you", "Yes, he was probably on drugs when he wrote it"

Capt Worley,

Ooooo new authors i haven't looked into! When i find a new author i like it's like an early free christmas present.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I swear i had the fountainhead on the list but took it off at the last minute because it was right next to the devil in the white city and i didn't want two architectural books next to each other... yes, that's how i feel about architects, you can't have too many of them in a room together or the react with one another and there may be some type of nuclear reaction.

WTF? Ayn Rand isn't an architect.

 

[dastuff]

I swear i had the fountainhead on the list but took it off at the last minute because it was right next to the devil in the white city and i didn't want two architectural books next to each other... yes, that's how i feel about architects, you can't have too many of them in a room together or the react with one another and there may be some type of nuclear reaction.

WTF? Ayn Rand isn't an architect.

Sorry, should have been clearer.. The protagonist was an architect if memory serves.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I found myself in the same situation with both Fountainhead and Atlas shrugged--stalled out about 400 pages in. rand has a repitiveness about her that gets tiring.

My dad advised, "When you see she's on a rant, just skip ahead." Instead, i turned to other things.

Capt Worley,
Ooooo new authors i haven't looked into! When i find a new author i like it's like an early free christmas present.

Merry Christmas!

 

[EM_PS]

last books i've read were The Cossacks & War and Peace by Tolstoy. Epic, both stories. I gotta read Ana Karenina sometime too.

some other books I've gotten sucked into were by Jacqueline Carey - the Kushiel's Legacy, comprising a 6 book series - and the 2 book series Godslayer & Banewreaker - pretty good fantasy / scifi reads. I don't read a whole bunch, but when i do, its not typically a minor diversion (probably why i don't read much)

 

[Chucktown PE]

I found myself in the same situation with both Fountainhead and Atlas shrugged--stalled out about 400 pages in. rand has a repitiveness about her that gets tiring.
My dad advised, "When you see she's on a rant, just skip ahead." Instead, i turned to other things.

[

If you do that you'll miss some really good stuff, i.e. the John Galt radio address.

 

[dastuff]

last books i've read were The Cossacks & War and Peace by Tolstoy. Epic, both stories. I gotta read Ana Karenina sometime too.
some other books I've gotten sucked into were by Jacqueline Carey - the Kushiel's Legacy, comprising a 6 book series - and the 2 book series Godslayer & Banewreaker - pretty good fantasy / scifi reads. I don't read a whole bunch, but when i do, its not typically a minor diversion (probably why i don't read much)

I've been on a fantasy/sci-fi kick recently too... I highly recommend that Shadow and claw that i mentioned above. I'll have to look into Carey since the alt religion/ alt history part sounds great. Although i will have to time it right if it's a 6 book series (gotta work at some time).

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I found myself in the same situation with both Fountainhead and Atlas shrugged--stalled out about 400 pages in. rand has a repitiveness about her that gets tiring.
My dad advised, "When you see she's on a rant, just skip ahead." Instead, i turned to other things.

[

If you do that you'll miss some really good stuff, i.e. the John Galt radio address.

Yeah...90 pages that can be condensed into 964 words.

http://www.working-minds.com/galtmini.htm

Ayn Rand needed an editor with some backbone.

 

[EM_PS]

[i've been on a fantasy/sci-fi kick recently too... I highly recommend that Shadow and claw that i mentioned above. I'll have to look into Carey since the alt religion/ alt history part sounds great. Although i will have to time it right if it's a 6 book series (gotta work at some time).

Yeah, the 6 book series is actually two trilogy's, if that makes sense. They aren't overly quick reads, esp the first Kushiel (Kushiel's Dart), since that sets up everything. But they're def fun reads. The two book series is a quick read, and seems to borrow (too heavily?) from Tolkien perhaps. I'll have to check out the ones you mentioned now too.

 

[OSUguy98]

I'm a fan of Stephen King... I'm actually reading The Shining right now... just finished the Dark Half... This is my second time through these books... I've read Insomnia twice already... Misery, Delores Claiborn (sp?), and a few others are up for round two over the next few months... It's been close to 10 years since I've read most of them... I'm not a huge reader... The only reason I've really read the SK books is because my brother buys them the day they come out... I can't bring myself to read the 40+ Star Wars-related books he has...

One day I may borrow the Harry Potter series from my brother/sis-in-law... assuming I can pry them out of her hands... I think she's finally moved on to other books (I think romance novels are her thing now), and to digital copies at that...

 

[Fluvial]

I used to be a voracious reader, but after I started having kids I stopped reading so much. The last several books I've read have been their 'summer reading' assignments! Now that they are grown perhaps I'll get back into it.

Some books which I remember as being good:

Science Fiction

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeline L'Engle

Sirens of Titan - Vonnegut

Orphans of the Sky - Robert Heinlein

Non-Fiction

Night - Elie Wiesel

The Foxfire Books - compiled from Foxfire magazine

Fiction

any of the Bertie & Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse

Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg

the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester

Opinion etc.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig

The Road Less Traveled - M. Scott Peck

People of the Lie - M. Scott Peck

I could go on and on...

I liked both of Rand's books mentioned above, and also War & Peace.

I have read some Cussler, but I'm not a big fan of his, nor of Stephen King or Tom Clancy. I've only read one of John Grisham's books and it didn't turn me on either.

From your list, dastuff, I've only read the Lord of the Rings. I've not read Harry Potter nor do I have any desire to.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Yeah, the 6 book series is actually two trilogy's, if that makes sense. They aren't overly quick reads, esp the first Kushiel (Kushiel's Dart), since that sets up everything. But they're def fun reads. The two book series is a quick read, and seems to borrow from Tolkien perhaps.

I can't bring myself to read the 40+ Star Wars-related books he has...

LOTR +100

 

[dastuff]

I used to be a voracious reader, but after I started having kids I stopped reading so much. The last several books I've read have been their 'summer reading' assignments! Now that they are grown perhaps I'll get back into it.
Some books which I remember as being good:

Science Fiction

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeline L'Engle

Sirens of Titan - Vonnegut

Orphans of the Sky - Robert Heinlein

Non-Fiction

Night - Elie Wiesel

The Foxfire Books - compiled from Foxfire magazine

Fiction

any of the Bertie & Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse

Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg

the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester

Opinion etc.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig

The Road Less Traveled - M. Scott Peck

People of the Lie - M. Scott Peck

I could go on and on...

I liked both of Rand's books mentioned above, and also War & Peace.

I have read some Cussler, but I'm not a big fan of his, nor of Stephen King or Tom Clancy. I've only read one of John Grisham's books and it didn't turn me on either.

From your list, dastuff, I've only read the Lord of the Rings. I've not read Harry Potter nor do I have any desire to.

Fluvial, we seem to be on opposite tracks.. I haven't read any of these although they sound very good. I do have Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance and Cat's Cradle somewhere and i'll have to move them up the list of things to read now... Also Nine Stories and the Hornblower series sound great (and those were the only two i looked at so far )

Thanks for sharing. Although why no on the Harry Potter? Although in the beginning it may have been for children by the later books it was pretty dark and dreary (which is all the better for me). Although you probably stay away for similar reasons to why I refuse to read any of the twilight books.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance in college and was greatly disappointed. And at the time, I was a big scooterhead, albeit the mid sized crotch rocket varieties.