I’m about to go on a long flight/vacation and having not read a book in years I was wondering what are the best reads out right now. I’m taking I Am Legend but need a couple others. What are your reco’s?
My recommendation would be “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco. Also “The Stranger” by Albert Camus.
If you like “I Am Legend”, try “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. A futuristic tale of censorship.
The only author that has made me laugh out loud in years while reading their books is Nelson Demille. I read The Lion’s Game and am now in the middle of The Gold Coast, but if you like smartass humor, you really can’t beat these books.
“Hard Eight” by Janet Evanovich. It’s a good ol’ detective novel with some wicked humor.
I’m still on “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace. It’s good but I don’t think ou could finish it on a flight unless it was to Mars or something. I just ordered “Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Tales of Ray Russell” from Amazon. com. It’s a collection of provoking short stories. If you’re just a little into gothic or neo-gothic, this would be great for a flight/vacation.
Here’s something a little different for those that like stuff that’s a little different: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Suskind. Check out the descriptions on Amazon.com if you’re interested.
If you like humor/mystery, I would suggest Tom Robbins “Half Asleep in Frog’s Pajamas” or “Still Life with Woodpecker”. I read “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer. Very funny, it’s a modern-day Don Quixote.
Survivor by Chuck Palachuniuk(sp), the guy who wrote fight club. It’s short, it’s fun, it’s interesting, good writing style, one of the main characters has a serious “issue” with steroids and the whole thing is narrated from an airplane. Perfect airplane read.
“Running Man” by Stephen King is a good one. Its pretty short, interesting and keeps moving.
Can’t go wrong with Harry Potter. Bad movie, awsome books.
Gotta say “Ghost Story” by Peter Straub. Still riveting, still scary, still sends chills through every pore in my body - even after all these years. However the last few years have been tackling “David Lean: A Biography” - since it is about 830 pages long and is such a fantastic read that I have to make sure I sit aside time to fully inhale every page. What a director. SO, if you like movies and/or history of cinema (as I do) this is a definite must read.
I really enjoyed beautiful mind.
Thanks for the recommendations. TC, I’ve heard great things about Perfume, and have been meaning to check it out ever since I heard Ridley Scott was set to direct the film version. And is that Hard Eight the inspiration for Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie? I’ve got I Am Legend on the list for sure since it’s Michael Bay’s next flick after BB2.
Up Country by Nelson Demille (alomost every one of his books is great hoot and read)
Anything by Hemingway (The sun always rises, The old man and the sea, etc.)
Sabbeth’s Theater by Philip Roth
Swimming Sweet River (don’t remember the author)
The Ragman’s Son - byKirk Douglas (his autobiography, very interesting actually)
The Rat Pack - no need to explain
These have been good plane reading or travel reading for me as of late.