your all time top 10 books

[leezuki]

out of interest i am curious to know peoples top 10 books.

1.his dark materials
2.hichikers guide to the galaxy
3.the girl next door
4.fluke
5.living dead girl
6.i am legend
7.of mice and men
8.off season
9.salems lot
10.the road

loads more i wanted to put on here, but i do love these books alot, and they are books i can read again. i am looking forward to seeing peoples choices on this thanks.

[hammerfan]

Do they have to be horror?

[leezuki]

any genre of book hammer
starting with your all time fave book.

[hammerfan]

Cool!

1. They Thirst
2. The Hobbit
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Harry Potter series (I won't cheat and list all of them separately)
5. The Mists of Avalon
6. The Mrs. Murphy murder mysteries
7. The Cat Who books
8. Mistress of the Art of Death

[leezuki]

Cool!

1. They Thirst
2. The Hobbit
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Harry Potter series (I won't cheat and list all of them separately)
5. The Mists of Avalon
6. The Mrs. Murphy murder mysteries
7. The Cat Who books
8. Mistress of the Art of Death



u still got 2 more to add, not heard of they thirst.

[ChronoGrl]

Off the top of my head...

1. The World According to Garp
2. Lolita
3. She's Come Undone
4. The Robber Bride
5. Oryx and Crake
6. The Handmaid's Tale
7. The Hunger Games Trilogy
8. The Harry Potter Series
9. The Martian Chronicles
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


(wow - I just listed three Margaret Atwood books in there - I just simply love her - FYI: If you haven't read Oryx and Crake and The Handmaid's Tale, you should - They are post-apocalyptic and fantastic)

I really need to read The Road - Actually, I've never read any of his books, and I've heard that he's such a great writer...

[The Villain]

1. IT
2. The Tommyknockers
3. Ghoul
4. The Traveling Vampire Show
5. Strange Magic
6. Red
7. Harry Potter Series
8. The Left Behind Series
9. Deathwatch
10. The Hunger Games (Not the series, just the first one)

[leezuki]

Off the top of my head...

1. The World According to Garp
2. Lolita
3. She's Come Undone
4. The Robber Bride
5. Oryx and Crake
6. The Handmaid's Tale
7. The Hunger Games Trilogy
8. The Harry Potter Series
9. The Martian Chronicles
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


(wow - I just listed three Margaret Atwood books in there - I just simply love her - FYI: If you haven't read Oryx and Crake and The Handmaid's Tale, you should - They are post-apocalyptic and fantastic)

I really need to read The Road - Actually, I've never read any of his books, and I've heard that he's such a great writer...

i love that u named hitchikers guide, i have read that book so many times and still find things that i have missed lol

[neverending]

Too hard. Can't do it.

[The Villain]

Too hard. Can't do it.

I hear you on that. I'm not sure about a couple i put in there. Some feel more like favorites at the moment instead of all time.

[hammerfan]

u still got 2 more to add, not heard of they thirst.

If you can find it I highly recommend it, it's written by Robert McCammon.

9. The Martian Chronicles (thank you Chrono!!)
10. Salem's Lot (my intro to horror reading)

[ChronoGrl]

i love that u named hitchikers guide, i have read that book so many times and still find things that i have missed lol

It's one of those rare books that I can just read and read again - Absolutely love it.

[ChronoGrl]

Too hard. Can't do it.

Try it without thinking about it - Top 10 that come to your head in a stream-of-consciousness-spurt. I'm curious as to what you'd say, to be honest. I bet I'd get some good recommendations out of there. :D

[hammerfan]

Try it without thinking about it - Top 10 that come to your head in a stream-of-consciousness-spurt. I'm curious as to what you'd say, to be honest. I bet I'd get some good recommendations out of there. :D

That's what I did, and that's how I forgot The Martian Chronicles until I saw your post!

[leezuki]

i just thought about if i could only take 10 books out my collection what would they be, i wanted to add so many more but they are the books i would read again.

[neverending]

The Biological Time Bomb - Gordon Rattray Taylor
The Roots of Consciousness - Geoffrey Mishlove
The Seth Material - Jane Roberts
All the Little Animals - Walker Hamilton
By the Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow (The Rediscovered Diaries of Opal Whitely) - Benjamin Hoff
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
Another Roadside Attraction - Tom Robbins
The Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
Any collection that contains most of H.P. Lovecraft's works.

[ChronoGrl]

The Biological Time Bomb - Gordon Rattray Taylor
The Roots of Consciousness - Geoffrey Mishlove
The Seth Material - Jane Roberts
All the Little Animals - Walker Hamilton
By the Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow (The Rediscovered Diaries of Opal Whitely) - Benjamin Hoff
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
Another Roadside Attraction - Tom Robbins
The Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
Any collection that contains most of H.P. Lovecraft's works.

I have only heard of two of those - Cool list; I'll have to look the others up - I bet I'll find quite a few to add to my queue.

[neverending]

I seriously recommend By the Singing Creek. I've bought numerous copies of the book to give to people. You can read Opal's diaries online, but I really recommend Benjamin Hoff's edition (he's the guy that wrote The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet) as he writes a lengthy essay explaining who Opal was, a whole biography, etc. He really makes her come to life on the page, so that when you finally read her diaries, you get so much more from them.

Part of the attraction for me is that she was born and raised in a little town in Oregon, which I lived in for a few years. It makes me feel even closer to her.

The Biological time bomb is written by a scientist who took the state of science at the time it was written and projects when new developments in science might become reality, and what effects they might have on society. We're talking about the stuff from science fiction. It's a bit outdated now, but it's still an amazing read. Some things he couldn't predict are the ravages of poor economy and backwards steps taken because of idiot politicians.

Geoffrey Mishlove was the first person to ever be awarded a Doctorate in Parapsycology, and his tome The Roots of Consciousness is his attempt to fuse all kinds of bizarre phenomina and beliefs into one cohesive theory. The book is massive and fascinating.

[TheWickerFan]

The Biological Time Bomb - Gordon Rattray Taylor
The Roots of Consciousness - Geoffrey Mishlove
The Seth Material - Jane Roberts
All the Little Animals - Walker Hamilton
By the Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow (The Rediscovered Diaries of Opal Whitely) - Benjamin Hoff
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
Another Roadside Attraction - Tom Robbins
The Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
Any collection that contains most of H.P. Lovecraft's works.

I love this list! I really should convince my daughter to join and discuss books with you.

[hammerfan]

I love this list! I really should convince my daughter to join and discuss books with you.

I've had a myriad of friends and family that I've tried to get to join. I always get the same response: "But, I'm not into horror." No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to convince them that we talk about way more than just horror films and books.

Good luck getting your daughter to join!

[leezuki]

The Biological Time Bomb - Gordon Rattray Taylor
The Roots of Consciousness - Geoffrey Mishlove
The Seth Material - Jane Roberts
All the Little Animals - Walker Hamilton
By the Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow (The Rediscovered Diaries of Opal Whitely) - Benjamin Hoff
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut
Another Roadside Attraction - Tom Robbins
The Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
Any collection that contains most of H.P. Lovecraft's works.

i have not heard of most them books, i love lovecraft i wanted to add that to my list but i will def check out some of the books u meantioned.

[Fearonsarms]

I'm not going to include collections or non fiction/poetry. But off the top of my head.

1.Imajica-Clive Barker
2.The Wasp Factory-Iain Banks
3.At The Mountains Of Madness-HP Lovecraft
4.Crime and Punishment-Fyodor Dostoevsky
5.Jitterbug Perfume-Tom Robbins
6.Weaveworld-Clive Barker
7.Insomnia-Stephen King
8.The Pit and The Pendulum-Edgar Allan Poe
9.The Bell Jar-Sylvia Plath
10.The Fog-James Herbert

[m_valdemar]

Also sticking just to novels:

1. House of Leaves
2. Anna Karenina
3. Great Expectations
4. The Armageddon Rag
5. Northern Lights (His Dark Materials #1)
6. Ubik
7. The Princess Bride
8. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
9. '93
10. I Am Legend

[sfear]

THE STAR KINGS by Edmond Hamilton
THE STAR KING by Jack Vance
TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO by Philip Jose Farmer
THE WINDS OF WAR by Herman Wouk
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
THE WORLD OF WASHINGTON IRVING by Van Wyck Brooks
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Arthur Conan Doyle
THE WORLD BEYOND THE HILL by Alexi and Cory Panshin
THE LOST WORLD BY Arthur Conan Doyle
TIME AND AGAIN by Clifford D. Simak

These aren't in definitive order but if this were a lucky 13 list I would have to add I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury, and SCIENCE FICTION BY GASLIGHT edited by Sam Moskowitz, this last bizarre enough to satisfy if not stun any lover of horror.

[leezuki]

THE STAR KINGS by Edmond Hamilton
THE STAR KING by Jack Vance
TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO by Philip Jose Farmer
THE WINDS OF WAR by Herman Wouk
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
THE WORLD OF WASHINGTON IRVING by Van Wyck Brooks
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Arthur Conan Doyle
THE WORLD BEYOND THE HILL by Alexi and Cory Panshin
THE LOST WORLD BY Arthur Conan Doyle
TIME AND AGAIN by Clifford D. Simak

These aren't in definitive order but if this were a lucky 13 list I would have to add I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury, and SCIENCE FICTION BY GASLIGHT edited by Sam Moskowitz, this last bizarre enough to satisfy if not stun any lover of horror.

not heard of most them books, ill check them out cheers dude.

[sfear]

Geoffrey Mishlove was the first person to ever be awarded a Doctorate in Parapsycology, and his tome The Roots of Consciousness is his attempt to fuse all kinds of bizarre phenomina and beliefs into one cohesive theory. The book is massive and fascinating.
I'll keep an eye out for this one when I'm book hunting (which tends to be every weekend). Is parapsycology, at least as used in his theory, synonymous with the supernatural?

[sfear]

not heard of most them books, ill check them out cheers dude.
Hope you enjoy any you might come across. These are literally books I did not want to end.

[Geddy]

1. The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger
2. The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
3. Crash, by JG Ballard
4. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Naked Lunch, by William S Burroughs
6. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
7. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
8. The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac
9. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

[hueyisme]

Ive probably got a hundred favorite books but heres ten of them.

The Lost World-Conan Doyle
Dracula-Bram Stoker
The Martian Chronicles-Ray Bradbury
Allan Quatermain-H. Rider Haggard
Collected Works of H.P. Lovecraft
Lord of the Rings
Christine-Steven King
Transition of Titus Crow-Brian Lumley
Two Years Before the Mast-Richard Henry Dana
House on the Borderland-William Hope Hodgson
Footsteps of Thunder-James F. David

[neverending]

I'll keep an eye out for this one when I'm book hunting (which tends to be every weekend). Is parapsycology, at least as used in his theory, synonymous with the supernatural?

I don't think I'd use the term synonymous.

You can find used copies on Amazon. I recently got another copy there.

[Elvis_Christ]

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut


Vonnegut ruled.

[neverending]

Yes, yes he did.

[sfear]

I don't think I'd use the term synonymous.

You can find used copies on Amazon. I recently got another copy there.

Yeah, I checked 'em out, one as low as four cents! I'll check around town first, we've got several pretty good used bookstores.

"Synonymous" might not be a bad term. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines parapsychology as "a field of study concerned with the investigation of evidence for paranormal psychological phenomena" and paranormal as "not scientifically explainable: SUPERNATURAL." Of course, English is nothing if not a boxing ring canopied with various, often opposing, shades of meaning.

[Doc Faustus]

The study of something is not synonymous with the thing. If I read a cookbook, my stomach is not filled with food.

[sfear]

The study of something is not synonymous with the thing. If I read a cookbook, my stomach is not filled with food.
Of course not. If you read a cookbook you are reading about how to cook food. If you study the paranormal you are studying the supernatural. SHADES OF MEANING! Parapsychology can be synonymous with the supernatural by "having the same connotations, implications, or reference (to runners, Boston is synonymous with marathon)." Not the marathon itself.

[leezuki]

Hope you enjoy any you might come across. These are literally books I did not want to end.

finaly finnished star kings, thanx for mention that i loved it.

[wizard of gore]

so far...

Jack Ketchum - Off Season
Clive Barker - Books of blood (all of them)
H.P Lovecraft - best of
Edgar Allen Poe - Tales Of Terror
Clive Barker - Cold hart canyon
Richard Laymon - Endless Night
Anne Rule - The stranger beside me
Stephin King - The Dome
Clive Barker - Sacrament
Clive Barker - Hellbound hart

it always changes though the more ya read ,and the more ya forget about the books ya read

[The Villain]

so far...

Jack Ketchum - Off Season
Clive Barker - Books of blood (all of them)
H.P Lovecraft - best of
Edgar Allen Poe - Tales Of Terror
Clive Barker - Cold hart canyon
Richard Laymon - Endless Night
Anne Rule - The stranger beside me
Stephin King - The Dome
Clive Barker - Sacrament
Clive Barker - Hellbound hart

it always changes though the more ya read ,and the more ya forget about the books ya read

Good to know Under The Dome is good. I still havent started it yet and now im gonna have 11/22/63 to read as well.

[leezuki]

Good to know Under The Dome is good. I still havent started it yet and now im gonna have 11/22/63 to read as well.

i brought the book after u mentioned it villain, the size of the book is daunting lol but i am going to get stuck into soon.

[The Villain]

i brought the book after u mentioned it villain, the size of the book is daunting lol but i am going to get stuck into soon.

I got it last year for Christmas. Still havent started it yet. That thing is huge. I don't mind big books especially not his long ones but generally i like to carry books around with me places to read them. How the hell am i supposed to carry that with me? Never before have i thought so seriously about getting an ereader lol.

[leezuki]

I got it last year for Christmas. Still havent started it yet. That thing is huge. I don't mind big books especially not his long ones but generally i like to carry books around with me places to read them. How the hell am i supposed to carry that with me? Never before have i thought so seriously about getting an ereader lol.

u could carry it with u for self defence :p

[The Villain]

u could carry it with u for self defence :p

Yeah i could probably kill someone with it

[wizard of gore]

its big but its pretty full on from start to finish so ya dont get bored

[Anthropophagus]

I havent got the best memory when it comes to books but some of my faves are:

The Fog.
The Dark.
The Spear.
The Rats trilogy. all by James Herbert

Assassin.
Slugs.
Breeding Ground. all by Shaun Hutson

Amityville Horror. Jay Anson
The Exorcist. WP Blatty

[Fearonsarms]

I havent got the best memory when it comes to books but some of my faves are:

The Fog.
The Dark.
The Spear.
The Rats trilogy. all by James Herbert

Assassin.
Slugs.
Breeding Ground. all by Shaun Hutson

Amityville Horror. Jay Anson
The Exorcist. WP Blatty

Not read any Shaun Hutson but love all the other books I would also add Sepulchre to your Herbert list :)

[Anthropophagus]

I have just bought a Kindle,yesterday in fact and will add Sepulchre to the list as it is only a pound.:D

[wizard of gore]

looking back at my top ten.its uch a crap list.iv read so much more authors and need to read soo much more to give my definate top ten

[realdealblues]

Been thinking about mine...here goes. Like Hammerfan I also put "Series" instead of listing all the books in the series. I can't have one without the others.

1. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Series) - Douglas Adams
3. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings (Series) - J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
6. The Chronicles Of Prydain (Series) - Lloyd Alexander
7. Sherlock Holmes (Series) - Arthur Conan Doyle
8. James Bond (Series) - Ian Fleming
9. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

It's like 40 books individually but who's counting :)

[wizard of gore]

Been thinking about mine...here goes. Like Hammerfan I also put "Series" instead of listing all the books in the series. I can't have one without the others.

1. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Series) - Douglas Adams
3. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings (Series) - J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
6. The Chronicles Of Prydain (Series) - Lloyd Alexander
7. Sherlock Holmes (Series) - Arthur Conan Doyle
8. James Bond (Series) - Ian Fleming
9. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

It's like 40 books individually but who's counting :)

not really into horror fiction then?

[realdealblues]

not really into horror fiction then?

No, I like Horror a lot. I like Barker, Koontz, King, etc. They just don't end up in my Top 10 books of all time. I don't read them over and over. The complete poems and short stories of Poe could probably rank up there for me, but my two favorite Authors are Douglas Adams and Ernest Hemingway. I've read all their books several times over because Douglas Adams is everything I "think" about life, and Ernest Hemingway is everything that "actually happens" to me in life.

I could try to make a Top 10 Horror novels if I think about it for a little while.

[Bob Gray]

No, I like Horror a lot. I like Barker, Koontz, King, etc. They just don't end up in my Top 10 books of all time. I don't read them over and over. The complete poems and short stories of Poe could probably rank up there for me, but my two favorite Authors are Douglas Adams and Ernest Hemingway. I've read all their books several times over because Douglas Adams is everything I "think" about life, and Ernest Hemingway is everything that "actually happens" to me in life.

I could try to make a Top 10 Horror novels if I think about it for a little while.

No need to justify your favorites my man, if you can't think of a horror novel that would be in your all-time favorites list that is okay.

For me it changes all of the time but my number one is always Stephen King's IT and then Lord of the Rings and To Kill a Mockingbird fall in their somewhere, other than that my choices are always in flux.

[Dead&Bloated]

Salem's Lot
The Eternity Brigade
The Stand
It
Thomas Covenant(series)
The Sword of Truth(series)
The Gap(series)
Swan Song
Watership Down
City Of The Dead

These are just some of my favorite books. The list isn't in order.

[wizard of gore]

Been thinking about mine...here goes. Like Hammerfan I also put "Series" instead of listing all the books in the series. I can't have one without the others.

1. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Series) - Douglas Adams
3. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings (Series) - J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
6. The Chronicles Of Prydain (Series) - Lloyd Alexander
7. Sherlock Holmes (Series) - Arthur Conan Doyle
8. James Bond (Series) - Ian Fleming
9. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
10. For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

It's like 40 books individually but who's counting :)

is lord of the rings really that good?was just curious coz i have never even seen the movies

[MichaelMyers]

is lord of the rings really that good?was just curious coz i have never even seen the movies

They are quite good with lots of elements of horror in all four novels.

[neverending]

I'd say not seeing the movies is an advantage.

[wizard of gore]

yea my partner said reckons its much darker than the movies...might have put it on my must read soon list

[Bob Gray]

yea my partner said reckons its much darker than the movies...might have put it on my must read soon list

You either love it with all of your heart or despise it. I've never seen much grey area on this. I hope you're one who loves it, I'd hate to think less of you, lol.

[thesystemforce]

The list would be a bit different were I to include favorites from other genres. But as far as horror fiction goes, here's my top 10 in no particular order (aside from number one definitely being my #1).

1. Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
2. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
3. The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
4. Off Season by Jack Ketchum
5. Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan
6. Carrie by Stephen King
7. Horns by Joe Hill
8. Swan Song by Robert Mccammon
9. John Dies at the End by David Wong
10. Rats in the Walls by HP Lovecraft (Not an entire book but it's still good enough to earn itself a spot.)

[iSeymore]

Not in any specific order or anything...

1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. Hannibal
3. Hannibal Rising
4. Red Dragon
5. The Walking Dead: Rise of the Govenor
6. Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Horror/Crime/Mystery)
7. Dearly Devoted Dexter (Horror/Crime/Mystery)
8. The Monalisa Smile (A Halo short-story from Halo: Evolutions, which I'd consider to be Science Fiction/Horror, sort of like Alien, except instead of a Xenomorph killing the good guys, it's Flood infected crewmembers aboard the ship The Mona Lisa Smile.)
9. Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash (Graphic Novel by Wildstorm/Dynamite Comics)
10. Friday the 13th Vol. 1 + 2 (Graphic Novel)

I mostly read Science fiction. ^^;