Fictional Favorites

Abbey's Desert Solitaire is the bomb. "One day, after a hard morning of cloud watching...."

Also reading a book about Paul Watson and the exploits of Sea Shepard battling illegal fishing and whaling, good book. Thank the lord for peeps like him.
 
Years ago when I was working with a well known arborist in the Portland area, I asked him what books he recommended me to read. I fully expected him to say to read books about plant biology or pruning. He recommended The Baron In The Trees by Italo Calvino. It is a fanciful story about a guy who had a myriad of adventures and lived most of his life in the trees.
 
I love Magical realism, stories with mostly normal worlds and a few fantastical elements. Here Are some of my favorites.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is the most amazing book I've read in many years. It is a beautifully written story, about sense of place, living with gratitude, loss, power and memory. Hard to describe, but it is spectacular. Only about 225 pages short and thought provoking with a mystery Like plot that totally pulled me along.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro is in a similar vein. A love and adventure story dealing again with memory. It looks at how what we remember affects one's relationships with self, others, and the world. I thought about the ending for weeks after finishing.

Love in the Time Of Cholera by Gabriel arcia Marquez. A classic, with beautiful language. The opening line is poetry and sets a tone that holds up for the rest of ther book.
 
In the Russian genera, I like Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (it’s less brutal than Crime and Punishment although that’s worth reading too) and “How Much Land Does A Man Need” , a short story, by Tolstoy The latter is an interesting critique of human nature and the excess of capitalism.

I am fairly omnivores in reading. But some fictional books that have stuck with me include the Aubrey/Marturin series, Catch-22, the Killer Angels series (historical fiction), Orson Scot Card’s Ender’s Game and the Bean series. Although the Card stuff is mostly popcorn reading.
 
Another sub genera of fiction I love is Utopian Fiction. IMO the real world Is dystopian enough. I'd rather imagine how things could be better not worse.

The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson was fun for me. it's the story of Mars colonization, and what society could look like without the Baggage of historical precedence. Basically, if we could build a new system from the ground up how might it look? it can get pretty into the weeds with world building detail but If you're into that, very enjoyable.

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy is an intriguing look at political thought written during the last Gilded Age. It imagines a more egalitarian world than the enormous wealth disparity and labor exploitation of the time. Not the most incredible plotting, but really interesting ideas. I'm pretty sure The 8 hour work day and 5 day week were first put forward as goals in this novel.

And the original. Utopia by Thomas More. Written 505 years ago, the language can be a bit difficult, but I loved reading it. It's crazy to read what a conservative catholic Englishman imagines for an alternative society. it's also a cool look at early European imagination about the Americas.
 
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On a serious note. Atlas Shrugged by Aynn Rand. I have a bunch on the list and never have time to read but A Brave New World seems fitting for these times. Haven’t done too much fiction. Basically read everything I could find about Everest and the big 7. Probably the last fiction I read was Open Season by CJ Box. Read that whilst in the Wyoming back country.
 
Neill said:
Louis lamour is another favorite. He is usually so repititive and predictable. I barely read for comprehension and I can always follow along. My favorite of his was “the walking drum” where he departs from his North American western identity and writes a fast paced book set in the Middle East. I think… maybe I should reread that one. COVID closed our library until recently. Between that and a baby I’ve not read as much as I should. @Muggs im reading fundamentals at the moment. Thank you!
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I've read pretty much all of his books, several times over, through high school and probably before...owned most of them. The Walking Drum was definitely one of his best, in my opinion. I had heard he wanted to do a second book to follow it, but never written. Just Googled it, there was supposed to be 2 other books in that series.

The other book of his, that ranks up there with The Walking Drum, is The Last of the Breed.

John Grisham is definitely a go to author.

These days I mostly read Kindle unlimited books, which unfortunately doesn't include all the big name authors.
 
Stephen Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle is a series of books reimagining the King Arthur legend.

I also enjoyed C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy.

Admittedly it’s been years since I’ve read any fiction, or much else besides. I miss it.
 
First a bit of honesty...for the last 8-10 years, if I say I "read" a book, it is most likely that I listened to it. I'll read some that aren't available as free audio book or others that I really want to digest. However, I borrow a lot of audio books (get through about 2 a month) that I listen to while driving around. Frankly, I struggle to stay away at the end of a day trying to read more than a chapter!

I do mostly non-fiction. However, earlier in the summer, I did "read" Awakening Land trilogy by Conrad Richter (The Woods, The Field, and The Town - 3 separate books of a continuing story, but sometimes sold as a trilogy). Got that recommendation listening to Brave Companions by David McCullough - he's got some great historical books...this one was just OK...but Wright Brothers, and Path Between the Seas were both very good.

So, back on topic...the Richter trilogy is about a family that moved to the NW territory (Ohio) from PA. It goes from the first European settlers in a vast wilderness to the eventual development of a bustling town around them over several decades.
 
Jonny said:
Any fiction from Stephen King, especially The Dark Tower series and any of his short stories.
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I had read the first three in the dark Tower series in Junior high or high School and remember being disappointed that it was never finished. Just looked it up to see that the fourth book came out when I was in college...
 
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