What's the best book I should ask for on my birthday?

[wasteofo2]

My birthday's coming up (2 days and I haven't told my family what I want!), so I figured I'd ask for some books. Problem is, while I like reading, I don't have that much knowledge of many authors other than ones I already like. So I was hoping you guys could help me up and hook me up with some GREAT books.

I don't want to have to sort through big lists of books, go do research on them, try to deceipher which books are amazing and which are just alright or crappy thought, since I have very little time. So, to assure that I only get great reccomendations, please list just ONE book, your favorite book ever, the best book in the world in your opinion, the one book that you think everyone should read.

Thanks a lot,
Jacob

 

[Evo]

"The Celery Stalks at Midnight" (who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of artichokes) the story of a vampire bunny - by James Howe (Bunnicula and Howliday Inn are both great)

Happy Upcoming Birthday!

 

[wasteofo2]

You know, I actually read those books in fourth grade, and I think I still have them somewhere in my house.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry

Hardboiled characters, action, pathos, suspense, combine in this gripping tale of an orphan informally adopted by a butcher and gradually trained to follow in the butcher's footsteps in his secret capacity as a hitman-for-hire. Extremely well written. A page turner.

 

[brewnog]

A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down - Nicey and Wifey, ISBN:0316729175.

 

[jma2001]

If you like science fiction, and an odd sense of humor, I can recommend any collection of short stories by Robert Sheckley. Unfortunately, many of his books are out of print and hard to find. I found a few of his stories online so you can get a taste of his style:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley/sheckley1.html

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheckley4/sheckley41.html

 

[neurocomp2003]

"Computational Beauty of Nature" Gary Flake
"Algorithmic Plants" ?

 

[faust9]

Johnny Got His Gun---Dalton Trumbo

 

[hitssquad]

For fiction:

Lies Inc., by Philip K. Dick. (This was previously published as The Unteleported Man. However, the new version has 100 pages of fluff added after the fact by PKD at the behest of the publisher who wanted a longer piece of work. So, the reader should skip, as one reviewer has said, "from page 73 to page 173 and, thus, read one coherent story.")

amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400030080


If, on the other hand, you wanted a science book, I recommend as the most important book ever published:
A New Morality from Science: Beyondism
amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0080171923

 

[Astronuc]

What kind of books - fiction or non-fiction?

In fiction there is Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide) - hilarious. Oh, wait, isn't HHGG non-fiction.

Then there is Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal" and his Discworld Novels, which I haven't even started yet.

Then I have a whole list of non-fiction books.

 

[faust9]

What kind of books - fiction or non-fiction?

In fiction there is Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide) - hilarious. Oh, wait, isn't HHGG non-fiction.

Then there is Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal" and his Discworld Novels, which I haven't even started yet.

Then I have a whole list of non-fiction books.

I love Pratchett. I have most of his books in hardcover. The lack of chapters bothered me at first though. I have some weird need to stop reeding at predefined points thus the lack of chapters means I tend to read Pratchett novels in one or two sittings.

 

[Danger]

'The Proteus Operation' by James P. Hogan. Commando team from a Nazi occupied present-day US in a parallel universe time-travel to change history. Einstein and Churchill get in on the action. Awesome stuff!

 

[Soilwork]

All of Alexandre Dumas' books.
They have also just translated a story of his that was never published so that is out now at book stores.

Some Titles:
Three Musketeers
Count of Monte Cristo
Black Tulip
Twenty Years After
The Man in the Iron Mask
One Thousand and One Ghosts (new one)

Clive Cussler is also a really good author, but yeah every time I've read Dumas' books I've been left stunned at what a talented author he was.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex, But Were Afraid To Ask.

 

[honestrosewater]

With a one book limit, I'd have to go with a sampler: Louis Untermeyer's Treasury of Great Poems: An Inspiring Collection of the Best-Loved, Most Moving Verse in the English Language. The title pretty much says it all- my favorite anthology. If you want to discover new authors, this is a great way to do it. If you don't like poetry, you might try a collection of quotations (Oxford's and Bartlett's are my favorites, but Bartlett's 10th edition is available online) or a collection of short stories, etc.

 

[Tsu]

The Source - James Michener.

Fascinating and very thought-provoking.

 

[icvotria]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. And anything by Evelyn Waugh. Or J.P. Donleavy. And John Fante. Ooh, and Naive.Super by Erland Loe. Sorry, that's not one, that's lots. It's your birthday now in England! Happy Birthday!

 

[plover]

For science fiction: A book of stories by Greg Egan (I'd suggest Luminous), or The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson or Air by Geoff Ryman or ... that's more than one isn't it?