Favorite Book/s

So I've gotten back into reading recently and would like to know what ya'lls personal favorites are. It also helps to list the genre and maybe give a brief (no spoiler) summary.

I'd also like to know your favorite authors if you have them.

Also, try to avoid books like Harry Potter and such, while they may be your favorites, it helps to post books others may not have read or heard of.

I recommend Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

Here is a summary I found on Amazon that I completely agree with and describes the book well:

One enemy spy knows the secret to the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin -- code name: "The Needle" -- who holds the key to ultimate Nazi victory.
Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is beginning to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life.
All will come to a terrifying conclusion in Ken Follett's unsurpassed and unforgettable masterwork of suspense, intrigue, and the dangerous machinations of the human heart.

I own a copy and I can give it to you for considerably cheaper than anywhere else online.

 

1984

Moonwalking with Einstein

 

The Tempest and Hamlet

 

Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. It's epic fantasty genre where the continent is divided by The Wall. Everything south of the wall exists in a 1800s, dawn of electricity, industrial era sort of time; everything north of the wall is medieval times with magic, Seers, kings, The Dead, and the Abhorsen.

The seasons are opposite between the two, magic only works in the old kingdom, and technology only works in the south (I forget it's name, something weird like Ancelstierre). There's also a third place called Death, and is represented at a river that spans across 9 gates of death, and the deeper you tread, the stronger the dead become because they've been resisting the "Final Death" for so long. Any necromancer or Abhorsen can step into death, leaving their bodies behind in the physical world.

So necromancers are the bad guys basically, and they raise dead spirits (usually by massacring small towns, and harvesting their fresh souls) as their "Hands", or minions, and if they're powerful enough, they can bind Greater Dead and demons. Demons are natural denizens of death and are bound in the deeper gates by previous Abhorsens to keep necromancers from summoning them and wreaking havoc. The Abhorsen is a bloodline that's been charged with combating necromancy and The Dead, and both sides use 7 Bells in order to control death. With their will and the use of a bell, each one does a different effect on both dead and living. Sleeper, Waker, Walker, Talker, Thinker, Binder, and Death: most self explanatory, walker makes the dead enter death while waker brings them back, talker gives dead the power of speech if they're too decayed or otherwise bound (and can also take it away), thinker gives or takes away independent though, binder makes they do whatever you will them to, and death sends all who hear the bell deep into death instantly, including the one who rung the bell (so it's rarely used). They have actual names besides these nicknames, but I'm too lazy to post them. I.E. Ranna the Sleeper

So I mentioned bloodlines, and there's three in the Old Kingdom: The Abhorsen, The Court, and The Seers. The Court are the king/queen, and The Seers are clairvoyants who live in the extreme north atop a glacier. They can see the future, and if they combine their efforts, they can create prophecies.

The magic in the Old Kingdom is called Charter Magic, and it's carried out by etching symbols using your hands. I hate to make the comparison because Naruto is a fucking god awful TV show, but think of Jutsu, and charter magic is basically that, except you also have to whistle or use bells/panflutes to give the magic "voice". All magic is carried out using music. Singing charter marks is also a way stronger way to invoke magic. Magic has no bounds, only your will and your knowledge of the charter language, and it's all encompassing. You can also imbue objects with charter magic, like enchanting sort of.



So yeah, it's good.

 

Really enjoyed Sir Alex Ferguson's Autobiography.

 

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
It's an incredible book that follow a emotionally unstable, nieve "prince" in St. Petersburg Russia. It's long but an incredible read.

Based on the book you posted, I would recommend Vince Flynn's numerous spy novels that follow one bad ass mofo named Mitch Rapp. The storyline is pretty good in every single one of the books and who doesn't enjoy a badass hero story? It's a very comfortable read if you're not currently looking to read something incredibly dense.

For science fiction I would recommend the Mistborn trilogy(there are 4, only the 1st three are worth reading) by Brandon Sanderson. The trilogy takes place in a sort of apocalyptic world and is centered around a female lead role who is "mist born," granting her awesome powers(i won't reveal em ) Everything about the series is awesome and I think you'd enjoy em.

I have many other recommendations but those are all good places to start.
Happy reading

 

Dostoevsky is awesome. I read a lot of Thomas Ligotti I and Hunter S Thompson. Charles Stross is really good with The Laundry Files series. The Sanitorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass which I can't remember the author. A lot more. As for scifi I like Harlan Ellison and Phillip K Dick.

 

I read "Hatchet by Gary Paulsen" back when I was in middle school and I loved it.
Also love almost anything by Ernest Hemingway

 

The Alchemist
Timequake
Flowers for Algernon
100 years of Solitude
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
On the Road
Ishmael

 

Crime and Punishment is one of the only books that I can recall liking a lot.

 

Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)

 

Eragon series.

 

Fen Follett's Pillar's of the Earth &
Joseph Heller's Catch-22

 

For those who like the Game of Thrones HBO series, the books are even better, so I'd highly suggest reading those if you're a fan of the show.

 

^^^^ The Inheritance Cycle by Chris Paolini (4 books).

Disappointed in the ending but that may just be me. Makes for a good read, couldn't put them down.

 

Pride & Prejudice.