I don't normally read to many books (actually almost none) but when i read choke from chuck palahniuk that made him my new favorite

as far as sagas/series go...

i enjoy this as well.

and i do have to add Tolkein as well... because i grew up with his books.

Hehe, wasn't that a fucked up twisted book? I can't wait to see if it will ever become a screenplay :D

Michael Crichton is still my favorite.

However, Jeff Shaara is quickly speeding towards the front the more times I read his stuff.

I used to be a fan of the Enders Game series, but I think that with time the quality started going down. I think that Xenocide was the first stinker, and can't remember was came next, I'm not sure I finished that one. When did Card write Ender's Shadow? I read that a while back and was entertained, but not blown away.

I read a lot of Tom Clancy. I don't know, though, if my interest in his books has declined with my age and maturity, or if his talent is drying up. The Hunt For Red October and Without Remorse were awesome, but the Bear and The Dragon was like reading a Steven Segal movie- the good guys never even get dirty. I just picked up his newest book and I'll withhold judgement until I finish it.

Does anybody else feel the same way?

Damn, I think I might have killed this thread. It was cruising along, and then, bam! nothing.

OK, lets forget about Clancy and Card- has anybody read any good political or autobiographical book? If I'm going to read, then I might as well try to get smarter.

Conan The Barbarian - Robert E. Howard (orignal stories, not the pastiches)

Discworld - Terry Pratchett

Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov

HitchHiker's Guide - Douglas Adams

Xanth Series - Piers Anthony

Riverworld - Philip Jose Farmer

Anything by Heinlein

Anything by John Irving

I read a lot of the Xanth series as a kid. I loved those books...

One things I love about this is that books are too inumerable to list and too many great ones have come and gone -

Joseph Heller - Catch 22
It is the greatest piece of humor I have ever read. So black and so telling. In years past I kept a half dozen copies all over my home so I could pick one up anywhere and begin reading.

Homer - The Odyssey, The Illiad
I have a thing for the classics. And nothing is more classic than the great works of The Greek.

William Gibson - Neuromaner et al.
I am an avid fan of true Cyberpunk. Neuromancer spearheaded a genre and captured the imagination of millions. Every 'computers and people' Matrix type movie owes everything to Gibson.

Lau Tsu - Tao Te Ching
Supremely interesting. But never read just a single tranlation. It's best to read a number of translations simultaneously and compare the chapters.

Shea and Wilson - The Illuminatus Trilogy
Can you say paranoia? Also started me on a life long obsession with learning more about John Dillinger.

Wei Hui - Shanghai Baby
Just something I picked up at the library earlier this year. A tour de force for a young and modern writer.

Tristan Egolf - Lord of the Barnyard
More or less the same but I picked it up a few years ago. It's a bit massogonistic but the writing is amazing.

Herman Wouk - City Boy, The Hope, etc.
Herman Wouk came to me by way of Jimmy Buffett and 'Don't Stop the Carnival'. I've read a half dozen of his books now, and they're prime.

William Shakespear - He wrote a couple...
The incomparable bard.

Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide
A sense of humor matched by none. His passing still saddens me.

John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar
Written in the late 60's with a twisting and serpentine manner never before and never again captured, Brunner played with so much in this. Skipping conventions of typography, the format of the novel, the rigors of linear plot. His books stars the future and not the multitude of characters who inhabit it. Sadly, I think every day how his predictions are coming to fruition.

I'll toss my vote in for Martin's "A song of Ice and Fire" series. One of the best I've ever read.

I also enjoyed the "Wheel of Time" series as well as "The Sword of Truth", but they don't hold a candle to Martin.

Dave Eggers

fav author: Easily Neal Stephenson

fav book: Snowcrash

Fav Series: Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn... GREAT books

Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time

Raymond E. Feist, All his books.

David and Leigh Eddings: Belgarath series

Sarah Fergusons 'Budgie The Little Helicopter' serires

The Dark Tower Seriers - Stephen King

Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk.

Also Benchley and Crichton.

Anything by:

Raymond E. Fiest
Michael Crichton
Tom Clancy

Philip K. Dick or Alfred Bester

Favorite author-Chuck Palahniuk
Favorite series- Harry Potter

Lord of the Rings just didn't do it for me. I liked the Hobbit, but I was bored after reading through the Fellowship. I loved the movies, they kick ass.

The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order - Multiple Authors

Robin Cook -- the guy who wrote "Coma" -- I've read most of his books.

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams

Jaqueline Carey- the Kushiel's trilogy
Melanie Rawn- The Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies
another vote for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series

May be low-brow to some but, Grisham and any Spider-Man novel [although tthe comics are good too]...

J K Rowlings Harry Potter is excellent. She is a great author.

gotta be James Herbert. quality british horror/thriller writer

Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Tolkien)
The tsurani trilogy (Raymond Feist)
Shogun (Clavell)
Hitchhikers saga (Douglos Adams)
The Alchemist (Cant remember the author)

I'm re-reading them now in antipation of the "Wolves of Calla".

Douglas Adams.

The Hitchhiker series and the Dirk Gently series are both so incredibly clever that I have to shake my head sometimes.

Add these including. . .

Margret Wise and Tracy Hickman

Mercedes Lackey

David Gemmel

Terry Brooks

Stephen Donaldson

Despite everyone's arguments over this or that argument about what fantasy author is this and that, I don't care, these are the ones that entertain me.

JRR Tolkien, Lord of the rings. Damn.

I just recently stumbled on this one and haven't read but a third of it.
Hughart, Barry: The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
Humorous tales of a China that never was. Every page has elicited laughter, shock, or disgust. Really great stuff.

Series i would recommend:

George R.R. Martin: Song of Ice and Fire.

Robin Hobb: Farseer Trilogy
Robin Hobb: Liveship Traders
Robin Hobb: Tawny Man
All in the same universe, and all stunningly good.

Stephen R. Donaldson: Gap Series

Dan Simmons: Hyperion Cantos
Dan Simmons: Illium (first book in a series that has a LOT of potential)

"The Last Promise" by Richard Paul Evans (I really suggest this to women, especially! It's a great read.)

ANY of Maeve Binchy's books are absolutely fabulous. She is one of the best authors out there. She really draws you into the story.

Also, for women again, Judy Blume has a great book called "Summer Sisters". I'm not one to read books over but I've read this one 3 times. It's another great read.

Glen cook, The Black Company, best damn fantasy mercs in any world

Steven brust, Vlad Taltos, best damn fantasy assasin in any world

Thieves world anthologies, the best fantasy city in any world...

Oh man, you guys kick ass.....

Yes. George Martin. Robert Jordan... well... I'll be less pissed off with him when he FUCKING FINISHES THE SERIES. Don't get me wrong, love 'em, but they're dragging more than a little. Herman Hesse. Roger Zelazny. David Eddings (though he is kind of a one trick pony). I liked the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. Heinlein. The Black Company Series. I've rambled enough, and could keep going, but it's always a pleasure to see so many people with good taste in recreational literature.

:D

The series I used to read with any consistency was Marion Zimmer Bradley's novels about the planet Darkover.

Many fabulous authors and books/series mentioned in this thread - it's nice to see another P.G. Wodehouse fan! I have read most everything he wrote - he was one of the most entertaining authors of all times.

Have you ever read the short stories by Saki (H.H. Munro)? He sometimes reminds me of a dark Wodehouse - very witty as well.

Well, I'd have to say it's a multi-way tie for authors: J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and Richard A. Knaak. Favorite book series is a three-way tie as well, between Dragonlance, Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter.

Author? Probably Hemingway. I love his simple, powerful prose style.

Series? If you consider Lord of the Rings a series, that would be it.

For a combination of author and series, it would be either Tolkien or Arthur C. Clarke for the whole 2001 series.

-> G.K. Chesterton
-> Sherlock Holmes Stories
-> Walter Gibson and the original Shadow pulp magazine Serials. I can overlook the abysmal years from 1946-1948 when Bruce Elliott butchered the character and virtually ensured the magazine went out of business even with Walter returning to writing.