What's the best book you've read that was written in the last 25 years

[steelemagnolia]

I love to read and am always looking for new ideas.

What are your suggestions?
Thanks.

[Jade Fox]

1. I assume you mean fiction.....

and in that category my favorite was "The Robber Bride" by Margaret Atwood.

[Heidi]

2. Huh. I loved Don DeLillo's "Underworld." It changed the way I see the world.

Other works of fiction I've loved: "She's Come Undone," by Wally Lamb, and "The Sportswriter" by Richard Ford.

Non-fiction: "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, "Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, A Memoir," by Elizabeth Wurtzel
and "War Against the Weak: America's Campaign to Create a Master Race."

[steelemagnolia]

4. Anything: Fiction, Non-Fiction eom

[steelemagnolia]

6. Thanks, I really liked "She's Come Undone" eom

[Starbucks Anarchist]

19. I might be interested in DeLillo's work.

However, I did watch "Game 6," which he wrote the screenplay for, and I was not impressed, especially given the hype around the movie.

:hi:

[Heidi]

29. Please read "Underworld," SA.

It's loooooooooooong, but really, truly great. I believe you'll become a DeLillo fan. :hi:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

30. It's on my list.

Right now, I'm reading "The Onion Field," then I'll start "Free Lunch," which is by the same author as "Perfectly Legal."

I've been on a reading binge lately. I think I've read 20 or so books in the last six months. :D

[LibraLiz1973]

25. She's Come Undone was really really good

[Perry Logan]

48. DeLillo blows my mind every time.

[YankeyMCC]

3. For Fiction

It's a difficult choice but I think I'll say the "Hyperion Cantos" series by Dan Simmons.

For Non Fiction, I'll say "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick

[steelemagnolia]

5. Thanks, I'm going to Barnes and Noble later

I'll check them out.

[RetroLounge]

7. Fiction, Oh, so many...

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcis Marquez

:hi:

RL

[mitchum]

8. Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian"...

Harold Bloom agrees

[MilesColtrane]

23. That's my pick too.

It reads like a mash up of Melville and Peckinpah.

Epic, bloody, and uniquely American, it's some of the most masterful writing I've ever read.

[Orrex]

36. Since mitchum has already correctly named Blood Meridian

I'll offer Foucault's Pendulum. It's like a smart version of The Da Vinci Code, but with a plot. :evilgrin:

[asteroid2003QQ47]

9. "Anyone who reads, anyone who still lusts for adventure or...

that book you can't put down, will glory in AZTEC,"

The Los Angeles Times

It's by Gary Jennings and at 1980 is close enough, if it's not, sue me!
At 1038 pages it's not a quick read but it's one hell of a book if
you like historical novels.

[KG]

49. awesome book. also 'The Journeyer' is a great yarn about Marco Polo.

[distantearlywarning]

10. The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

It's a novel.

[DS1]

11. Snowcrash

even though Neil Stephenson doesn't know how to actually end his books, this one was very good.

[appal_jack]

26. The Diamond Age ended well

:hi: DS1!

Snowcrash is on my to-read list, but I have yet to run across a copy.

I loved Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, and though the ending wrapped-up the various threads rather well.

-app

[Orsino]

12. Gilead comes to mind.

Not for nothing did it win the Pulitzer. It's effortlessly beautiful.

[MassLiberal]

13. I thought "Atonement" was really good

and I loved "Ellen Foster" by Kaye Gibbons.

[MissMillie]

14. Fiction? A Prayer for Owen Meany

John Irving

[terrya]

15. "Oryx and Crake" - Margaret Atwood

"The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen

"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay" by Michael Chabon

[Blarch]

16. Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries

What happens when a rock star lives in his closet shooting coke and heroin...

[asdjrocky]

17. Boys Life by Robert R McCammon

And just about anything by Chuck Palahniuk. Being Red, Howard Fast. I can't name just one.

[bicentennial_baby]

18. Fiction: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

[LeftCoast]

43. If I may ask, what did you like about it?

I've been very curious about the book, but started reading another Gaiman novel (Anansi Boys) and really just couldn't get into it. Now I'm a bit shy about picking this one up. Do you know if the two are similar?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

20. "American Tabloid" by James Ellroy.

[mokawanis]

21. one non-fiction and one fiction

War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning - by Chris Hedges.

Hedges was a war corespondent around the globe for many years and has some keen insights into the causes and effects of warfare. I am reading it for the second time.

A Prayer for Owen Meany - by John Irving.

Irving's best novel, imo. A delightful book.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. Speaking of John Irving,

I thought The Cider House Rules was the best fiction I've read in ages. Haven't read Owen Meany yet. And I'm not really into fiction, as a general rule.

[gemdem]

22. I just finished "The Kite Runner"

Outstanding story and very well told.

[gristd2]

53. touche

yes i loved this book! truly incredible, inspiring, and something that shows how tiny our US world really is

[Wetzelbill]

24. "Fools Crow" by James Welch

And "Love In The Time Of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

[The empressof all]

27. Harry Potter

Don't hate me ....It had to be done.... :hi:

and only half kidding...I have a teenager who still goes to sleep listening to it on tape every night

[SallyMander]

28. Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer

Or Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.

Both flat-out AMAZING books! :hi:

[azmouse]

31. That's a tough question to answer.

I read so much it would be hard to pick just one book.

I'd suggest reading 'A Simple Plan' by Scott Smith,
or anything by Dan Simmons.

[redqueen]

32. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

By far. I might have said Mason & Dixon, but I haven't finished it (STILL).

[Phillycat]

33. The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen, Nobody's Fool and Straight Man by Richard Russo,

Until I Find You and A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Hotel New Hampshire and Garp by John Irving. All the Harry Potter books. Good Omens by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett. Nine Stories by JD Salinger. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Memoirs of a Geisha, can't remember the author. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, can't remember the author.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

34. anything by vonnegut

[av8rdave]

35. Hear, hear!

Love about everything he's written. Timequake remains one of my favorite laugh-out-loud works.

[IzaSparrow]

37. Cosbyology

by Bill Cosby, funniest book I've ever read

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
A murder-mystery told from the perspective of an autistic boy

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Good if you haven't seen the movie.

[bif]

38. Several...

"Memoir from Antproof Case" by Mark Helprin. "Love in the Time of Cholera" Marquez. "Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

39. THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini is fascinating.

:hi:

[steelemagnolia]

40. Thanks everyone

Wow, I can see that I'm going to be at Barnes and Noble's all day tomorrow. :-)

[Pacifist Patriot]

41. If you mean fiction I'm going to nominate the "His Dark Materials" trilogy..

by Philip Pullman.

Forget the movie hype for The Golden Compass and enjoy the books. Deeply philosophical and way over any "kid's" head. More than enough there for adults to discuss.

[SKKY]

42. "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr

Un-freakin-believably good!

[Maraya1969]

44. Hannibal - The book sequel to Silence of the lambs

It was the worst book I ever couldn't stop reading and it terrified me on a hundred different levels.

Actually it was made into a movie which I saw but the movie was nothing compared to the book.

[Richardo]

45. Non-fiction: "1776" by David McCullough. Fiction: "The Curious Incident ....

....of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon

[gristd2]

54. ha

I loved Haddon's story! He's damn hilarious and I couldn't put the book down. It was the first time i finished a book in one read since 4 years ago.

While somewhat random, I read to my dog sometimes and found this to be coincidentally one of his favorites. Rebel (beautiful black labrador) was barking every time i laughed, and my involvement with PETA felt all the more fulfilling (http://www.peta.org/feat-abc_campaign.asp, where I fight for animal rights and end animal homelessness).

Stellar taste Richardo

[Richardo]

55. Great story - I should read to my dogs too.

Here's my JRT watching me read:


I picked that book up during a shift at B&N and almost finished it before I punched out that day. I did finish it by bedtime however. I've read it at least three times since.

Welcom to DU, gristd2! :hi:

[Tyler Durden]

46. "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Ebola on rye.

A review by Steven King said starting out it was the scariest thing he'd ever read, and it just kept getting worse.

The most amazing part? It's non-fiction.

[steelemagnolia]

50. Read that one in one night...couldn't put it down. eom

[Perry Logan]

47. A tie: "Humboldt's Gift," by Saul Bellow; "Gravity's Rainbow," by Thomas Pynchon.

[Shakespeare]

62. Those are both older than 25 years. n/t

[Shakespeare]

63. Tie between Blood Meridian and Love in the Time of Cholera.

And I'm still irritated that they did such a horrible adaptation for the movie version of Garcia Marquez' book. x(

[joeybee12]

52. The Cider House Rules by John Irving...

...he peaked with that novel.

[Forkboy]

56. The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Best book I've ever read period. One of the most staggering examples of the human imagination I've ever read.

The Years of Rice and Salt (2002) is an alternate history novel written by science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, a thought experiment about a world in which neither Christianity nor the European cultures based on it achieve lasting impact on world history. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2003.

Great in depth review here.

http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2002/03/06/europe/index.html

[MrCoffee]

57. Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack

I'm gonna keep recommending it until one of you bastids reads it and names your next child after me for turning you on to it.

[hellbound-liberal]

58. A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind

the story of an African-American student who attended Ballou High School in Washington D.C. and dreamed of attending an Ivy League University. It is a very uplifting story and it is very effective at pointing out the challenges that inner-city youth face in order to achieve their dreams. I highly recommend it to anyone who is going into the field of teaching, especially if you plan to work with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

[mtnester]

59. Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

and I simply was stunned by Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

It was unspeakable, horrible, beautiful, tragic, sad, loving...really such a different read for me...it is almost hard to review or try to describe.

Both books have their dark moments, one more than other. Sometimes I think I came away from The Road with hope, other times, not so much.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

60. "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
"Among The Thugs" by Bill Buford

[applegrove]

61. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

[otherlander]

64. I think I'll nominate...

Ishmael, Of Love And Shadows, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Because those are the only 3 books that have actually made me cry.