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Thanks for the suggestions everybody, can't wait to check some of these out.

What do you guys think of Bukowski and which of his novels would you recommend? Heard a lot of great things about him.

Old book, Memoirs of Geisha... it's beautifully written, it's biography based on fictional character, so it should still be considered fiction more than bio.

Based on what you've read, I strongly suggest The Art Of Fielding.

Catcher In The Rye-ish coming of age story involving college baseball and the MLB Draft. Big presence on the bestseller lists recently.

Also, Stephen King's 11/22/63 is another mass-market book that was truly exceptional. I'm not a King fan at all, but that book was as enjoyable as any book I've read in the past year - which includes the Millennium trilogy and the A Song Of Ice And Fire series. Just a great job by King.

Iamphilhughes wrote:What do you guys think of Bukowski and which of his novels would you recommend? Heard a lot of great things about him.

I suggested Ask the dust (John Fante) and it was Bukowski's favorite novel. I also like Bukowski and would suggest Factotum (the book and the movie with Matt Dillon, loved it) or his last work (Pulp). If you're into that kind of books then previous poster (Selbycobra) made me think about Hubert Selby Jr. You should read Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a dream (adapted by Darren Aronofsky, very good movie too).

If you're a fan of Catcher in the Rye I'd suggest two great coming of age books:

1) A Separate Peace by John Knowles
2) Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

If you want to read some phenomenal modern literature I'd suggest:

Snow by Snow Orhan Pamuk

mrpoetryNmotion wrote:

moocow007 wrote:Dante's Trilogy...Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Greatest work of literature of all time.

+1 Though it's debatable with Homer's works, maybe.

Lolita is also a good novel off the top of my head by Nabokov. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is good if you're into the post-apocalyptic setting.

I also know a lot of contemporary poetry if anyone is interested, though probably not.

Lolita was a difficult read- not just because the subject matter, but because the author was a writing wizard.

All of Cormac McCarthy's novels are beautiful works of art, but I don't particularly enjoy reading them. They leave me feeling despondent, similar to Breaking Bad.

Guano wrote:

mrpoetryNmotion wrote:

moocow007 wrote:Dante's Trilogy...Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Greatest work of literature of all time.

+1 Though it's debatable with Homer's works, maybe.

Lolita is also a good novel off the top of my head by Nabokov. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is good if you're into the post-apocalyptic setting.

I also know a lot of contemporary poetry if anyone is interested, though probably not.

Lolita was a difficult read- not just because the subject matter, but because the author was a writing wizard.

All of Cormac McCarthy's novels are beautiful works of art, but I don't particularly enjoy reading them. They leave me feeling despondent, similar to Breaking Bad.

I'm with you. I absolutely hated Lolita and The Road.

Another Salinger book that's a quick read - Franny and Zooey. Plenty of adolescent angst. I don't know if I would like it today, but remember liking it after reading Catcher and the Rye as a teen.

Agree w a previous poster on the Geisha book.

A few I have read recently that I enjoyed;

Girl w the Dragon Tattoo Series
The Killing of Lincoln
Dreams of Joy (set around China's Great Leap forward - the author also wrote a great book centered around Chinese foot-bind, the title of which I cannot re-call)
Collapse - important book about the collapse of various societies due to environmental abuse.

I just started Blood & Thunder about Kit Carson - so far so good

Im on the 3rd of the Hunger Games books. Really good and not complicated reading.

Behold a Pale Horse by William Cooper

Who the hell hates The Road? Great book, but not for children and people with weak nerves. McCarthy is fantastic writer, so far All the Pretty Horses is my favourite book.

SelbyCobra wrote:Also, Stephen King's 11/22/63 is another mass-market book that was truly exceptional. I'm not a King fan at all, but that book was as enjoyable as any book I've read in the past year - which includes the Millennium trilogy and the A Song Of Ice And Fire series. Just a great job by King.

Some good thrillers I have read are Firestarter by Stephen King and The Firm by John Grisham.

It
-Stephen King

Wow, so many awesome suggestions, cant wait to try some of these. Thanks guys. My goal is to read habitually instead of playing NBA2k12 haha. I usually only read for work related stuff but I'm trying to make a concerted effort to broaden my horizons (not only books but for food as well).

cbjackson7 wrote:I tend to only enjoy fiction books as well, but the best book I have read in a long time is Lone Survivor by Marcus Latrell. If you appreciate Navy SEALs then this book will blow your mind.

I read this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I believe a major studio bought the movie rights.

^^And pretty much any and everything else by David Foster Wallace

Iamphilhughes wrote:What do you guys think of Bukowski and which of his novels would you recommend? Heard a lot of great things about him.

I would def recommend Bukowski. His short stories are great. Tales of ordinary madness is a good one. Pretty much any of his short story and poetry collections would be great.

Also, to kos, will def have to check out that other book as catcher in the rye is one of my favs too.