I heard earlier this evening that J.D. Salinger has died. His best known work, The Catcher in the Rye, is one of the books I will never forget reading. I loved it from the opening line.
Are there any books which have made an impact on you? If so, why? Is it just the story or does it have more significance because of when you read it or what it was about?
On my list would be:
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines - a heart-breaking book which moves me profoundly every time I read it.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I read it as a young teenager and was enthralled by Austen's wit and worldview.
The trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - made me question stuff.
There will be more...
i nearly bought PS I Love you today... love the film but thought it might make me sad.
Reading a good book atm "The five people you meet in heaven" - kinda apt at the moment
Suze xx
Paradise Lost by John Milton.....for it being unremittingly tedious
Catch22....it took me several attempts to get into it but I'm really pleased I persevered.
Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume.
Macbeth - William Shakespeare.
Under The Hog by Patrick Carleton is a wonderful novel about Richard the Third.
Well researched and from a different point of view than the familiar Tudor propaganda, it touches upon the poor folk of the time and not just the 'Mighty'.
To Kill A Mocking Bird is also wonderful.
Atticus has got to be one of the all time greats of literature. His qualities are so admirable. My fondness for him have nothing to do with my user name.
The Color Purple- Alice Walker. Devoured in one stint whilst lounging in a hammock last summer.
The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Nickerbocker.
The House of Sand and Fog- Andre Dubus III
The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy- Douglas Adams. Absolute bloody genius.
Hmm. It would appear my head is stuck in my "The" section.
Lord of the Rings.
How anyone can imagine such in depth thoughts and fantasy, shows this authors pure genius.
The films were even more breathtaking.
Just discovered Tom Sharpe you lucky bugger.
Theres a book I loved as a child called the Woolpack and I think it is the main reason I developed the love of reading I have.
Modern american novels are lovely. I love A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I must have owned dozens of copies of that book because when I meet somebody who loves reading and read it I give them my copy.
Perfume Patrick Suskind
Cold Mountain Charles Frazier
Not a fan of the great classics im sorry to say, read a few biographys of which one author in paticular reduced me to tears many times in the 1st book.... Dave pelzer "a child called it". I thank my lucky stars that i had the childhood i did.
I can highly recommend never picking up the BS7671:2001 17th edition IEE Electrical Regulations unless you really have to or someone has a gun to your head :shock:
Just thought of some more:
All of the Patrick O'Brian Jack Aubrey novels about the late 18th and early 19th British Navy. So well researched and accurate and descriptions of the lands and people make you feel as though you are actually there.
This Thing Of Darkness by Harry Thompson. (I think it was his only novel and he died shortly before publication - I may be wrong on that though). A lovely story about the relationship between Fitzroy and Darwin on their voyage to South America.
On the Science fiction front. Neutron Star and Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven are books I've always enjoyed.
' We need to talk about Kevin' Lionel Shriver.
The book is so many things and definitely unforgettable.
The stand out ones, the ones that affect one, out of the so many.... how difficult... !
If this is a Man - Primo Levi - that wise and gentle soul and no real survivor after all;
The Glass Bead Game - Hermann Hesse - I read it at the perfect, self-searching time for it to be profoundly influential; and
Siddharta- Hermann Hesse
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving - carried away on the schmaltzy idea that it's all for a reason;
Flaubert's Parrot - Julian Barnes - self-conscious but breath-taking virtuosity;
Philip Roth - his whole oeuvre;
Pride and Prejudice - story telling like wot it ought to be;
The Book of Dave - Will Self - watch that language dance and spin - where it will land, nobody knows;
L'Assomoirand/or Nana- Zola - but how do you pick - I love them all!
How many are we allowed? Is there room for EverythingisIlluminated- Jonathan Safran Foer - or Gormenghast? or Possession? or Perfume?
Necroscope - Brian Lumley
Magician - Raymond E Feist
The Ninja - Eric Van Lustbader
All of terry pratchett
The Taming of Sleeping Beauty - Anne Rampling (otherwise known as anne rice)
:lol2: :lol2: 
Eldest told me to quit reading cos it was embarrassing, but too late, I was reading over and over the same paragraph, in bits I was :lol2: Henry and Eva Wilt are my heros! :rotflmao:
as you do 
:? when I looked up I found myself alone on the bus, on the other side of the bluddy city ten miles away from where I wanted to be :lol2: :lol2:
). My most thought-provoking one was "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" as it helped me understand my own son's mind better.
