Shibumi by Trevanian is my all time favorite. I re-read it every couple of years.
King Rat by Clavell is a great story, very different from the Shogun/Tai-Pan books.

The Road Less Traveled

Have read 13 of the ones mentioned so far. Who's going to show me up?

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

23 not even counting The Bible or Marvel Comics which I have read at large portions of each.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Lonesome Dove
Gone With the Wind
Runner up would be: Ball Four, by Jim Bouton

The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk

"The 13th Valley" by John M. Del Vecchio
"Parliament of *****s" by P. J. O'Rourke

jkag89 said:

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23 not even counting The Bible or Marvel Comics which I have read at large portions of each.

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Second time I've seen Marvel Comics. I'm also a fan, and have read tons of them. So what's the best series, and what's the best individual issue?

Note: Uncanny X-Men, GIJoe #21.

The boy captives. Shows you that millenials and baby boomers have no clue how bad life could be. Our ancestors were some hard nosed son of a guns to tame the wilds of this land.

Win At Life said:

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jickyjack1 said:

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Win At Life said:

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jickyjack1 said:

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Win At Life said:

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Rutedown said:

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The Catcher in the Rye

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I read it because everyone says it's great. Please explain the great part to me.

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All of it. First page to last. Great on about a million levels.

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Please name one level.

Thanks

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Humor. Laugh out loud humor. Ex: But the son of btch wouldn't give me one so I had a Coke, too. (May be slightly off, haven't read in several years; time to read again. It never gets old.)

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It's humorous (pun intended) that you would mention humor as the #1 great thing about that book, because I never laughed once and of all the types of quotes the book is noted for, humor is not one of them.

https://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/quotes.html

Quote:

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Quotes By Theme

Innocence Quotes

Mortality Quotes

Youth Quotes

Isolation Quotes

Sexuality and Sexual Identity Quotes

Sadness Quotes

Wisdom and Knowledge Quotes

Lies and Deceit Quotes

Madness Quotes

Religion Quotes

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You never said anything about #1 thing. Also, wry humor (on the part of the author) might not -- evidently doesn't -- register with you.

AliasMan02 said:

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Dune

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Sucked

jkag89 said:

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23 not even counting The Bible or Marvel Comics which I have read at large portions of each.

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Congrats! I expected someone to beat me. I was just wondering by how much.

CanyonAg77 said:

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jkag89 said:

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23 not even counting The Bible or Marvel Comics which I have read at large portions of each.

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Congrats! I expected someone to beat me. I was just wondering by how much.

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I'm actually somewhat surprised I've read so many mentioned on this thread. Very surprised that two David McCullough histories were mentioned. When following the the Entertainment Board's yearly threads on Books Read, I have rarely read the books mentioned nor do I have much interest in reading most of them.

Duncan Idaho said:

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AliasMan02 said:

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Dune

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Sucked

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Obligatory username does NOT check out.

jkag89 said:

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23 not even counting The Bible or Marvel Comics which I have read at large portions of each.

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38

But I counted the Bible but no Marvel

Franklin Barbeque - A Meat Smoking Manifesto

Fonzie Scheme said:

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I will include audiobooks based on content, not narration. Genre is up for grabs. What and why?

This could be something you could pick up and read anytime, the one book you would take to a desert island, whatever. Have at it.

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The best book I've ever read.

It's a toss up between these three...

Mein Kampf
The Satanic Bible
Curious George Takes a Job

Shocked ...




That your total is only 38. Up to 25 now..

jkag89 said:

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Shocked ...




That your total is only 38. Up to 25 now..

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If I count the ones above you, it is 40

Two tied. Author James Hornfischer. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Neptune's Inferno: The Naval Battle for Guadalcanal.

LewP said:

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Fonzie Scheme said:

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I will include audiobooks based on content, not narration. Genre is up for grabs. What and why?

This could be something you could pick up and read anytime, the one book you would take to a desert island, whatever. Have at it.

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The best book I've ever read.

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Quote:

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Very surprised that two David McCullough histories were mentioned. When following the the Entertainment Board's yearly threads on Books Read, I have rarely read the books mentioned nor do I have much interest in reading most of them.

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Your taste may run more toward the History Board's "What are you reading right now" thread.

https://texags.com/forums/49/topics/2905795

I've read 18 of those.

And my count here is up to 15, with some later additions.

Congrats to the new leader at 40.

Penthouse Forum

Bruce Almighty said:

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The Hunt For Red October

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Also Red Storm Rising. I have probably read it 20 times.

CalebMcCreary06 said:

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Two tied. Author James Hornfischer. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Neptune's Inferno: The Naval Battle for Guadalcanal.

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While not my top, I can second that The Last Stand is a damn good yarn. Reading the book will give a lot more context to the quote below, but for the uninformed, the "Tin Cans" were destroyers and destroyer escorts (if memory serves). They willingly took on vastly superior forces, in order to protect the Soldiers and Marines landing on nearby beaches.

I cannot read the quote below without getting choked up. Belongs in the pantheon with "Don't give up the ship" and "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead".

Quote:

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"Captain Copeland picked up the intercom mike and addressed the Roberts's crew. That he was speaking for himself struck Ens. Jack Moore as unusual and urgent. Normally seaman Jack Roberts was the public address voice of his namesake warship. His southern drawl was all but unintelligible to anyone not acquainted with Dixie's rhythms and diphthongs. But the skipper's diction was as crisp as a litigator's. He was talking fast and sounding more than a little nervous.

"A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. "This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."

James D. Hornfischer,

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

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Catch-22, only book I can think of that I've read more than twice.

Southlake said:

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All The Light We Cannot See

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Great book!
I thought "Beneath A Scarlet Sky" was better. Also WW II. Reads like historical fiction but is a true story.

Honk his butt

Or pants him

My husband listens to the Bill Simmons podcast on speaker. His voice drives me insane.

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

What an awfully awful awesome book

Not certain if it's the best book, but it's the only book that I've read that has kept me reading through the night, literally all night long, multiple times in the middle of a work week. Every time, that next day at work was not fun.

Anyhow, this it it: The Historian

Quote:

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An "innovative" (The New Yorker) retelling of the story of Dracula. Told with the flourish and poise of a talented storyteller, Kostova turns the age-old tale into a compelling "late night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle)

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