Since on Foo, Champdoggers are going bookish, I'll continue on that thread.  So what are your favorite books?

My favorites are:        Jostein Gaarder who wrote Sophie's World and The Solitaire Mystery (I love philosophy)
                               The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
                               All Gerald Durrell's books
                               The Lord of the Rings
                               And last but not least Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children Series.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, the first social "faction" of last century dealing with the processed meat industry in Chicago; plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose etc!

When you have read this you ask yourself "have we moved on"?

A milestone for reading for me.

The Magus by John Fowles - what can I say..........?

My favourites are Georgette Heyers Regency novels so witty and comforting at the end of a hard day :) Read em to bits.

Yes Kate - Jean M. Auel's books are brilliant.  How many years did we have to wait for number five?  I can't remember now but when it finally came out I decided to read them all again from the beginning so I still haven't read the last one - spend too much time on here. ;)

Sally

Well really depends on what mood Im in as to what i read but i think  long time favourite of mine has to be
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

I love reading autobiographies but others I have really enjoyed are Memoirs of a Geisha, Wrong Rooms (fab book) .  I also like Ben Eltons books and Dave Pelzer.  It depends on how I am feeling as to what I read but could quite happily spend all afternoon in the library/bookshops.

Michelle :)

mandesue heller
hilary norman
martina cole
shaun hutson
dean koontz
james patterson
to name but a few.

Read all 5 Harry Potter books, eagerly waiting for the next. Just finished reading The Face by Dean Koontz, brilliant book. Anything by Dean Koontz, Stephen King.

Ooo, favourite books!  Where to start :D  If forced to make a choice, my all time favourites in a stuck on a desert island with only a few books sort of way, are Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut), Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Catch 22 (Joseph Heller) and The Stand (Stephen King).  Sorry Tohme, I can't agree with you on The Magus (although the OH rates it as one of his all time favourites!) but I'm with you on The Jungle :)

Lesley

PS A new Harry Potter would be good too ;)

Have to agree with Memoirs of a Geisha, also loved Birdsong and on a lighter note, Breeders by Anita Burgh

Love all the Georgette Heyer books - remember reading them in my teens - and it is good to see them back in print again now!

I too like Thomas Hardy - think that Tess of the Durbervilles is my favourite though - so sad.    Jane Austen - Emma;  R F Delderfield's Horseman Riding By triology and The Streets;  Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael mysteries; love most things by Barbara Erskine; of course J K Rowling  - I could go on and on and on........

Margot

Oh yes Stephen King and Dean Koontz and J.K Rowling .  Did you like It?  One Door Away From Heaven is my favorite (lots of dogs, isn't it wonderful how they all have dogs at the end) but I couldn't get through False Memory.

Me too Missie!! love Harry and I want to go to Hogwarts!! (at nearly 32 not sure they would let me in!!!!  :D )

I am a huge fan of Stephen King and guard my almost complete collection of his books with my life!! and James Herbert(got all those too!)Magic Cottage is my favorite Herbert book, although they are all ace.
I have recently discovered Minnette Walters and have throughly enjoyed the ones i have read.

Dave Pelzer with the 'Child Called It' triolgy was amazing.

Basically any book that drags me in head first in the first couple of chapters and then spits me back out on the last page is well worth a read!! :D

Emma

Emma,

What is Cujo like?  From what I have read about it on the intrenet, it is a scary warning about always vaccinating your dog for rabies. :D  Aside from joking, I can't seem to get my hands on a copy.  About Harry Potter, didn't we wait so long for the 5th book?  I practically cried when it was announced that the release date had been pushed back to June. 

                                                                                                                                    Kate

Cujo is very good, and yes it does serve as a warning when you own dogs. But it is well worth a read!, i can loan u mine if you can't get hold of it, otherwise try boot sales.

I am waiting for the next Harry book and film, in the meantime i am just re reading what i have got (inbetween dog breeding books, book of the bitch and anything staffie i can get my hands on!)

I'm with you on 'Memoirs of a Geisha', don't know anyone who's read it and not loved it.

Like travel writing, and one of the best books I've ever read is 'Take Me With You' by Brad Newsham, so descriptive, a trip round the world in paperback and you feel as if you've met the people yourself.

'The Woman In White' by Wilkie Collins is my best attempt at a classic, have read it dozens of times.

Also love anything by Pat Conroy, particularly 'Prince of Tides' and 'The Lords of Discipline', but just love the way he writes.

Marina

The Necroscope By: Brian Lumley (sp) Hope there is more coming out :)

Harry Potter, I thought they were great, waiting to read the rest.

:)

Anything by John Wyndham , Patricia Cornwall , Tom Holt , Terry Pratchett , Jean Auel , Kathy Reichs ...any good murder book especially with a psychological twist :D :D

Too many faves too mention but I do find I can read a book again and again whereas I would only watch a movie once,anybody else the same? Sandra.

My favourites are Lillian Beckwith's books about her years living in the Hebrides. Sandra, I bought all of them and I reckon I must have read them at least 3 or 4 times by now. :)

Kath.

This is a good thread because Im coming to the end of my current book and was wondering what to get next.I started off with yonks ago Agatha christie,georgette heyer (they really get you transported to another era) I like Martina cole books cant wait for the next one,ive read Barbara erskine but couldnt get into the last two she wrote,I howled laughing at Brigette jones very good.Ive read everything on Tudor History as well.
Also read quite a few on  Women  in Moslem countries their way of life,everything about the Krays and sixties gangsters.The list goes on.But Im going to track down some mentioned on here.

Also like books about women in moslem countries too - find it fascinating.
Started reading them when my little sis moved there to live quite a few years ago and now shes trapped there and cant leave :(

Poor girl cant she visit ?
I read the book about the two girls being taken over by their father and the battle their mother had to get to them they lived halfway up a mountain one ventually came home but the other never did :(

I'm always interested in what other people read.
My favourite author at the moment is Harlan Coben if you like a mystery 'Tell know one' was brilliant and is  now being made into a film. The lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is great and I've just finished Tuesdays with Morrie can't remember who wrote it though.

I read that one too Mattie. I think its fascinating to see how other cultures live.
Unfortunately my sister cant leave the country unless she leaves her children behind - which she would never ever do :(

I agree with the Georgette Heyer fans, also PG Wodehouse (both authors just keep making me simle and smile :) :)  )  my favourite book of all time is probably Wuthering Heights, and my favourite series has to the the Lymond Chronicles (Dorothy Dunnett), incredible historical accuracy and details, but definetly not your run of the mill historical novel!
bye
Gwen

mattie if you like martina cole try mandesue heller. she is brilliant and a big fan of martina cole herself.

Same here Mel especiall Cornwell and Reichs. Also like Robin Cook and Ian Rankin. Like ALL spy thriller writers too.
I hate romantic novels - gawd sound like a bloke :p :p

Gina

Anything by Terry Pratchett, or Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (start at the beginning and keep going!) or Barbara Erskine or ... almost anyone, really. Apart from Evelyn Waugh.

I've just finished reading Polgara by David and Leigh Eddings. Brilliant book (as well as The Belgariad and The Mallorean). Now I'm off to borrow Belgarath from my daughter (or is it my son that's got it? ) :)
I like Anne McCaffrey and The Wheel of Time series is brilliant. Can't stand Terry Pratchet though.

Anyone read The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime ?

Yes Lorelei, I've read it several times over and think it is amazing.  As I work with special needs student, those with an Asperger diagnosis included, it explains quite comprehensively how not everyone has the same pattern of thinking.

I also think this book is quite unique in the way that it's written for both young people and adults alike.  It is one of those books I have bought several copies of to give to people who I feel would benefit reading it.  Book of the Bitch is the other one I've done that with.

I like anything by Virginia Andrews, Maeve Binchey, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Harold Robbins

Hi,
I'll give most boks a go but I really love King and Koontz. Have to agree about the Dave Pelzer books, thought they where great, don't know how anyone could do that to a child though. Just finished Walking in Darkness by Charlotte Lamb and thought it was brill, couldn't put it down. Oh, and Forget you had a daughter by Sandra Gregory (think thats her name, but not to sure coz I lent my mum the book). That was great too.
Louise

I've just finished the curious case of the Dog in the Night time I really enjoyed it completely different to the books that I usually read .

I have ead it - and thought it incredible that the author did not do any specific research into aspergers before writing it!   You want to hope that the whole family lived happily ever after!

In literary style, in my opinion, it is not far from the "stream of consciousness" style which James Joyce used in Ulleyses, and also by an author called Dorothy Richardson, who wrote autobiographically in the early 1900s.    When I first read some of her books, I was blown away by the fact that this was a person who wrote and felt as I did as teenager!

Margot

After that ringing reccommendation Ill give the dog in the night a go. :)

I felt like that Margot when I read books as a pre-teen by S E Hinton - The Outsiders and That Was Then This is Now.  They really touched a nerve and it was the first time that I realised others could feel the same way I did.

Infact I've just ordered them from Amazon as I could do with a refresher!

I think The Curious Incident ....... is now out in paperback and available from places like Tesco for just a few pounds - bargain!  If anyone is unsure, just read the reviews on Amazon, you can't fail to be convinced to give it a go.

Margot
Did you understand the Monty Hall Problem on p78.I didn't i still thought that it was 50 /50 but I am a bit dense when it comes to maths