Personal Reading Recommendations

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My friends and family members have learned, over the years, that I should not roam within three miles of a bookstore. Especially if I'm on a money saving record. A good buddy of mine gets absurdly excited whenever she passes a candystore, which I've witnessed at least a dozen times and have been dragged into it at least a dozen more.

I don't like candy all that much, no more than any regular person, so I guess I had to make up for that addiction a different way. Books are to me as chocolate is to my friend, and like my friend, who prefers very specific brands and so help you God if you don't carry them, I have a particular taste.

Most of the literature sporting my shelves are the types of things snobs balk at. Stephen King himself might as well live in my bedroom. There's also a bit of Tad Williams, Philip Pullman, Peter Benchley, Michael Crichton, and I just recently bought a book with a giant shark eating a t-rex on the cover. Sitting on the floor is a little bundle of Goosebumps by RL Stein, a relec from my childhood. Similarly, I own almost every one of Paul Zindles gory short novels. I read them when I was in 5th grade, however old that is. And, of course, Harry Potter. There's also a growing stack of Neil Gaiman that doesn't exactly rival all of King's stuff, but well...

The first thing Travis Baker, my professor for creative writing in my freshmen year, asked me and my peers was this:

"What do you like to read?"

Gaiman wasn't on my list then, but most of the above were. I stressed King and Crichton. Crichton made me sound smarter, and if I didn't mention King it'd feel like a lie. Professor Baker said something to the effect of:

"That's a weird reading list for an environmental writer."

Yeahhh... I guess so. Then again, Crichton wrote Jurassic Park and absolutely loves stories where humans mess up somehow and have to deal with the plague of crazy they've unleashed upon themselves. Plenty of King's stories follow a similar pattern, especially the long ones where the world ends. There's plenty of environmental undertones in The Dark Tower series, for example (which I'll admit I haven't finished yet).

Anyway, I almost forgot the point of this journal entry. Here's a bunch of book recommendations by yours truly. You might notice a trend, mainly that I seem to like horror, fantasy, and strange things. Check them out on Amazon to see if they're your flavor.

Fire Bringer by David Clement-DavisHis Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams
Peter and Max by Bill Willingham
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Eye of the Dragon by Stephen King
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
It by Stephen King
How To Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Beast by Peter Benchley
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende 

Oh. Just so you know... Jaws is an absolutely terrible novel. See the movie instead.

What types of books would you recommend?

By Shayde. Click the image for a bigger view.