What five books do you wish everyone had read/you most love to talk about? And WHY???

Mulling, but any list has to include Kafka because he was so damn nuts.

I heard him do a book reading at book people a few years back.

jesus christ, with his voice, his stature and his stories, it was hard to keep from falling over from laughing.

the first time I heard him was on "this american life" when he was telling the tale of how he and his sister amy went to greece.....oh god....amy's a hoot in her own right. put the 2 of them together, well, I won't be held responsible for the results.

That's odd..because I am kind of reading a biography of Kafka!

Wow! never heard of any of 'em!! Faskinating.

I love that story. Sadly, I never read any of his books either (though my sister did get me "Me Talk Pretty One Day" on tape). My favorite part was when they made him sing so he decided to to a Billy Holliday impression.

For a good read about the horrors of humanity told in a detached and humorous way, you have Slaughterhouse Five. And then there's Catch 22 -- a perennial favorite.

I typically read a little off the beaten path.

Did you ever read anything by Christopher Moore? You might like the books I listed if you liked Moore.

Freeduck, I agree about Vonnegut. "Slaughterhouse 5" is wonderful!

Burrowing through this thread (happily) in search of my next few books for my (fiction) library book group.

Thanks so much, bunny!

I always go for Dan Brown collection. I like mystery

If you want to rich then prefer...
"Think and Grow Rich"

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, i love this book even as a non religious person i have to say what little faith i have i owe to John Irving. And i mean talk about Catharsis if you want to read a cathartic book, read A Prayer for Owen Meany.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, I am obsessed with Quentin Compson's section its deep insights and the way it is written as a boy walking through cambridge talking about life.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, i wish i could talk about this with people because unlike most i actually dislike the book. Its got a great plot but to me Huxley didnt get to say everything he wanted to in this boo; to me its one long introduction for john then no middle action and one long conclusion leading to the end of the book. I think the fact that John wasnt around for that long takes away the cathartic feeling a reader could get from this book.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- it has a great but overused plot but has the worst writing style ever. Each sentence is just subject verb, subject verb there is no variation at all.


Harrison Bergeron (Short story) by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I would love to talk about this story because i love Vonnegut even as a grouchy old man when he wrote a man without a country, and this story was designed to be a short story. There is no way this story could be expanded and Vonnegut does a great job of realizing that.