Ooo, thanks for the update, Skidgepidgeon!

.............Skidgepidgeon?

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Thank you.

totally answering to that from here on in

@ Harris: WE MUST SPEAK FURTHER ON THIS MY FRIEND. But not here. On account of off-topic. Also we don't want the OTHER, NOBODY NONBOOKSELLERS to know our BOOKSELLERY SEKRITS.

Also, I am too lazy to check back and see if I answered this already; let's go with Jasper Fforde and Jane Austen and I have a bit of a thing going for Ken Kesey...all the authors you'd expect, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and Charles DeLint...Mercedes Lackey depending on series, Patricia C. Wrede, J.K. Rowling of course...

I specialize in children's books at my store. When I say "specialize", what I mean to say is one of my favorite tricks with customers who doubt my expertise is to demand they name a children's book and rattle off the author, basic plot, where it's shelved and my opinion of the book. I am far from infallible, but I'm damn good. So there is a rather gigantic stack of favorite-authors in THAT section of the store.

Steven Brust's EARLY stuff I loved with a passion approaching the obsessive. I find his newer books to be rather...nngh, but continue reading them much in the way one continues to visit old friends who have gone politics-mad and ramble about it for hours when you go, simply because they are old friends and you'd feel terribly if you didn't. So you go and you listen to them rant and occasionally insert a "hmmmm," and a polite nod and every once in awhile they reward you with flashes of who they used to be before they discovered Causes. Not that he DOES go on about Causes...mostly he talks about food. Which is lovely. But not when you've got a plot to get on with.

My husband forced me to fall in love with Shakespeare and Dickens. I don't see the point in falling out of love with any of these three men, as the work may be hard but the rewards plenty.

I'm giving Stephenson a try, we'll see how I like that.I have a feeling about Stephenson.

...yes, and I am rambling. **clears throat**

ETA: Oh, yes, Mieville and Scott Westerfield! I liked the Uglies series best, although Leviathan was INTERESTING.

OH! Skidgepidgeon!!

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Thank you.

Yeeeeee-eeeeees? *inquiring look*

Just re-read the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I love Telemain. Its explained here. I also like Stephen Erikson...1000 page books? My kind of length. Alos, very detailed world. Different from our own in may ways, and other fictional* worlds.

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*That is, I'm presuming they're fictional.ITs quite possible that such a place exists, as if there is an infinite number of universes...everything has to exist somewhere.

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A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a trombone; what else does a man need to be happy?

YESSSS. I was nine years old when I read Dealing With Dragons the first time. Was my first exposure to a: dragons, b: the entire fantasy genre, c: Patricia C. Wrede herself, and d: grouchy nerdy dudes. All of these things remained as lifelong obsessions (you should see the hundred-something dragons living in my office!)

I was horribly in love with Telemain. HORRIBLY. I PINED over that man. I seriously think my singleminded pursuit of grouchy nerdy dudes all throughout my romantic life was started, and sustained, by a combination of Telemain and Henry Higgens. And don't even get me started on Morwen.

Also...multiverselove!

Ursula K. LeGuin is at the very top of my list. I venerate her like my mother, and she may have had even more influence on my life.
Then Donald Barthelme, and J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mark Twain, and Kurt Vonnegut. And Shakespeare and Stoppard and Ibsen and Shaw for plays. And Watterson and Trudeau and Groening and Larson for "cartoons". And Randy Newman for songs. And a lot of fine authors already mentioned, and Molly Gloss, who should be.

Terry Prachet is my second favourite author the man is the master of funny.
My favourite would be Max Brooks for his book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War; This book is scarey not scarey in the fact of uhh people getting attacked by zombies, It`s scarey in the way that it makes zombies feel real. It`s setting is after the great zombie threat that almost drove humanity to its end has been brought back under control. Governments have reformed safe zones have been placed out and countries are regaining land from the zombie hordes. The story is told through the interviews of the people who survived all this through ability or just plan luck. The ``writer and interviewer of the book`travels around the world to interview all kinds of people some who had a huge part in winning the war on zombies some that were a very cause of the problem, and your average man just another face in the crowd. These ``interveiws`` piant such a morbid and dark veiw on just what would happen to the world if something like zombies existing came in to light that you can`t help but be chilled to the bone. Be it the interveiw with a soldier who saw first hand how bad the government and army reacts to the threat. Or a mentally hand caped girl who can will explain every gruesome detail. This book will scare you in a way that you have never felt before. Do not read if you are a wimp, scared easily, have loose bowels, are very paranoid, and if you are some moron who believes if zombies ever busted through his door he would take them down like flies with only a baseball, meet up with three other friends and fight off an entire city of zombies to safety. It will not work you will die and not be missed.

H.P. Lovecraft should be required reading for anyone anywhere, especially if they're into graphic novels or manga. His mythos comes up so much, and none of it is as brilliant as his original stories. None of it. At all. Ever.

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/

First and foremost for me is Steven Brust

He does two series set in the same fantasy world (and it's a unique world, not some recycled tolkein thing), plus has several stand alone books. The remarkable thing is that each of the series and all the stand-alones are written in different styles.

The first series follows around a central character, Vlad, who is an assassin of some notoriety, a witch of some skill, a sorcerer of middling ability, and a mid-level boss in a criminal syndicate. The books are very fast paced, mostly told via first person from Vlad's perspective, and are very story and character driven. They're really some of the books I've ever read.

The second series is called the Khaavren Romances, and they take place in the same world as the vlad books but are vastly different. They came about, Brust says, because he was thinking to himself it was a shame that no one still wrote in the style of the French romantics. Then he decided heck with it, he was going to write that way anyway. The books are like a gentle satire of Dumas, set in a fantasy world. The writing style is very verbose (intentionally so), and is told in third person through the perspective of a native "historian" of the world. There's a lot of humorous references to certain books and plays, but even if you don't get them it's still a good story and a fun read.

Brusts's Vlad books is one of the two series I use to convert non-readers into readers (the other being the Diskworld books). The Khaavren books I generally only recommend to serious readers, as the exaggerated style can be a bit cumbersome if you don't get the joke.

Thank goodness someone else knows/has read this book. His zombie survival guide was my first introduction to his writing and World War Z had a far more... serious look to the situation. It was interesting.

I, quite honestly, have been reading textbooks for fun (I kid you not).

I have a thing for Douglas Adams and Orson Scott Card, having been raised by sci-fi lovers and I adore, adore, adore Sir Richard Burton's translation of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Some Diana Wynne Jones when I was a young(er) lass. Nabokov is a new interest, having been pointed towards the book, Lolita, by a lovely friend of mine. Shakespeare, but truly Julius Caesar must be my favorite of those. Oh! And The Iliad. It spurred this reading into old greek classics which I never quite got over.

And, well, I should really start reading modern literature. You know. The kind with the pretty words. I should go on the hunt.

Hadn't noticed this thread before - so here's my (much diluted) take:

A grandfather used to read these tales to us as kids. I still have the book, fantastical stuff of yore:
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling.

A gritty modern day story teller
Iain Banks - The Crow Road, Wasp Factory, Espedair Street

An imagination limited limited by - nothing
Clive Barker - Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show

A journalist with a flair for story. Funny, informative, historical, educational.
Robert Sabbag - Snow Blind: A Brief Career In The Cocaine Trade.

You did know the Internet came about because the Russians launched the first satellite (Sputnik) right?
Myths debunked (always nice) and told in a (mostly) non nerdy way.
Katie Hafner - Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet

The book I think i have bought/recommended/given away the most. Seemingly a tale on every page. Keeping track of the family members is a bit challenging at first but perseverance pays off. Put this one on your 'Read Before I Die' list.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude


There's so many more but these are the ones that float to the top when I think of favourites.

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It's not an optical illusion. It just looks like one.

Douglas Adams-my all time favorite!! Who else?

Has anyone mentioned Joseph Heller (Catch-22)? J.D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye)?

Also, much love for the author of the best sci fi 'trilogy' of all time... Isaac Asimov. His is easily the most abundant name on my book shelf. And it doesn't matter if there's only 20 books on that shelf.

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For rent: one skull, in serious need of dusting.

Just like to note: My father made that required reading when I was growing up. He gave me his own books at first, he was so excited.

They're in French.

Reminded of my nigh complete illiteracy with French, he read them aloud, when I was little. I bought the books in English when I grew older and read them myself. I really should re-read the Foundation Trilogy again.

Just pulled out what I've read recently to give you my list:

Skullduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Amusing teen-young adult book

Rocky Bleier: Fighting back - Rocky Bleier with Terry O'Neil
Biography of a man who loses part of his foot in Vietnam and is told he may never walk again, who ends up starting in and winning four Superbowls with the Steelers powerhouse team of the '70's.

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Uh. It's a classic for a reason.

Born to Rock - Gordon Korman
Kid finds out his real father is one of the most fearsome singers in the punk world.


Last suggestion's a political book, so cover your ears:

The Death of Right and Wrong - Tammy Bruce
A conservative lesbian's thoughts on morality in today's society. Yeah, you read that right. Conservative lesbian. Love the book or hate it, she's got an interesting viewpoint.

THIS FORUM IS NOT TO DISCUSS THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK, I'M JUST LETTING YOU KNOW IT EXISTS. NO DISCUSSION!

Oh god, where to start. Science fiction is an absolute must for a technophile such as myself, and the harder the better. Orson Scott Card and Isaac Asimov are two I've read for a while, but there are other, lesser known authors I like and even prefer, such as E.E. "Doc" Smith and Greg Bear. The latter's Way series(which includes Eon, Eternity and Legacy as well as a short story) in particular is one of my favourites. Other authors I like are Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Michael Crichton, and about two dozen others I can't recall off the top of my head.

Also Ayn Rand, because Anthem and Atlas Shrugged were literary cuisine.

Information about the Way series on TOW.

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Dent