The Ultimate Compendium of Favorites

[DragonHeart]

I notice that we have no current threads pertaining to any kind of favorites, so here's one that covers them all! Genre, author, book, short story, poem, any literature favorites you have, post them all! With explanations of course, as per the no-spam rules.

Favorite: Genre

Fantasy. Even from a young age, I was absolutely fascinated with ideas of imaginary worlds and stories about things that don't exist in ours. That feeling has never left me and even to this day, I love fantasy. Everything about it, the limitless possibilies, the fantastic characters, the magic, it never ceases to amaze and entertain me.

Favorite: Author

Michael Crichton. Amazingly, he doesn't write fantasy but still tops my list as favorite author! I own almost all of his books save his most recent and two of his nonfiction works. I fell in love with his writing in third grade, the first time I read The Lost World, which was a new release back then. I make a point to keep track of and purchase every new book he writes.

Favorite: Book

Unfortunately, I am going to refrain from listing anything right now. I could easily write entire threads of nothing but favorites because honestly, I love most of the books I own. Otherwise I wouldn't own them. I will try to narrow the list down as much as possible and probably list my top five at a later time.

Favorite: Poet

Robert Frost. A local, he lived and died in my home state of New Hampshire. His writing is beautiful and spot-on. I even sought out a nearly complete collection of his poetry for my library. I can relate to his work and every time I read one of his poems, I'm moved by the depth and emotion his writes simply yet so elegantly.

Favorite: Poem

Fire and Ice, Robert Frost. Short but so memorable. This poem is what led me to seek out more of his work, and the impact of it was never forgotten.

I will be sure to expand and add more of my favorites in as I think of them.

What are your favorites?

~DragonHeart~

[Mistress Sheena]

And before I edit my post to list my favorites, I'm going to say this:

Each person only gets one post. One. You may edit it accordingly so that it fits your current favorites list, providing it changes overtime. Also explain why it changed, if it does so.
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Genre:
Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I'm currently delving into other genres at the moment, but this is my major genre. I've been reading this genre starting with Dragonlance books, and also some Forgotten Realms books as well. Although my first book into this genre was a Magic the Gathering book of the Ice Ages.

Author:
Mick Foley - I mostly love his memoirs about behind the scenes of wrestling. He has two fiction books under his belt, as well. Scooter and Tietam Brown, which I haven't gotten the chance to read just yet.

Ed Greenwood - Founder of Forgotten Realms, and also writes his own books as well.

Eoin Colfer - Most people may not know this man's name, because it is overshadowed by the book series he's writing; Artemis Fowl. My writing style used to be a mesh of Colfer and Greenwood until I found my own niche and went with it.

Kim Harrison - She's my favorite fantasy writer. She's somewhat like Laurel K. Hamilton, but doesn't really concentrate on the sex.

Book:
Right now, I have to say Foley is Good, because I'm currently reading it and it is an easy read with jokes in all the right places.

Poet/Poetry:
N/A

[Psiko]

Favorite Genre: Fantasy

This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me at all. I've been into fantasy for a long, long time. I actually think it goes back to watching Willow at my Grandma's house when I was growing up. Like, every time. Great movie, which got me hooked on a great genre.

Favorite Author: Terry Goodkind

I'm still a huge fan of the Sword of Truth series more than any other. I've been a fan for nearly seven years now. I can read and reread his books until the day I die and never get tired of them. Great characters make the story wonderful.

Favorite Book: Wizard's First Rule

Obviously it would be a Goodkind book. The first in the series, the one that started my fandom to the Sword of Truth series. I've read that 800 page book more times than any other book. Amazing!

Favorite Poet: Undecided

Alas, I'm not as widely versed on poetry as I would like to be. I need to read more, and then I can make an intelligent decision on Poet and Poem.

[Govinda]

Genre: Social Commentary/Short Story

I couldn't pick between the two. I don't know if Short Story really qualifies, but I had to mention my love for the type of writing. Social Commentary novels, especically when written by Douglas Coupland, Oscar Wilde or Emile Zola never fail to capture me. Stories written to exemplify and expand upon the state of a particular generation at a particular point in time. Salinger was quite good at it too. I just like to see the ways in which authors choose to capture the feeling at the time they're writing. I suppose you could say that I like stories with imagination, but imagination firmly grounded in reality; unlike a lot of people here, I cannot read Fantasy at all. It just does nothing for me. I like books with a message (not to say that Fantasy novels don't sometimes posess these; I just can't read them for long enough to find it). Any good fiction also sits well with me.


Author: Ach, that's a bugger. Right now, I'd have to say Coupland. But then there's Saki, the master of the short story; Bukowski; Orwell; de Berniéres, and believe me, I could go on. But just now, I'm really into Douglas Coupland.

Book: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. By far the most outstanding piece of fiction I have ever read. It follows the story of Ofred, a woman in a nuclear future, trapped in a world that forces her to be nothing more than a subservient breeding machine. Please, please read it; you'll love it.


Poet: Charles Bukowski. They're often short, with a manic rhyme system, but they're really wonderful.

[OmniTense]

Key:
Ultimate Favorite
Cult Favorite
Luke Warm Favorite


Genre:
Sci-Fi
Mostly Asimov and Frank Herbert some Wells. And if you list Lovecraft her...then him too.


Fantasy
Not a big Fantasy buff... Tolkien is good and some Susan Cooper


Horror/Mystery
This is the greatest genre and my personal favorite.


Classic
Meh Classics are classic...nuff said.


Humor

Not really my thing and I kinda have skewed Idea of what is funny... Mostly Thompson and Burroughs


Author:
Lovecraft

His is a dark moody verbose style and has his own unique bitingly morbid breed of black horror.


Doyle

Sherlock Holmes and the odd short stories he passes along. But really in our hearts we know that it is just Sherlock Holmes.


Stoker

This favorite one doesn't get an explanation seeing that no one should need any.


Stout

Orchids, Murder, Smart Ass henchmen and grouchy fat men. Plus it's totally Noir.


Christie

The Master of the Mystery Genre that will never have an equal. She could confuse the hell out of any reader with merest effort.


Burroughs

It doesn't get any more gross, stranger, grittier or horrable than William S. Burroughs. That in-of-itself is merit-worthy and delightfully disgusting.


Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson is quite possibly the wittiest of all reportive authors. He began his carreer by modestly inventing a brand new outlet of reporting.


Conrad

Joseph Conrad has a lot to say about humanity and some of it is not pleasant to hear, but it is important and very vivid. The clandestine, snide, greedy and hateful side of man can be found in his best.


Campbell,

Good old fashioned retro sci-fi stories one might find in an old nostalgic sci-fi mag. Responsible for the movie "The Thing" and plenty of other gruesome tales.


Asimov

He who has paved the way for technology to create the best man-killing rebeluous capitalist conquering Robots complete with murderous semi-A.I.


Kafka,

Bizarre surreal and cold. Kafka makes plenty of statements in his own work. A common theme of alienation runs rampant through his collections.


Stevenson

I like Stevenson for Treasure Island and nothing else. That's not to say I don't like his other work; I've just never ready any.


Herbert

Dune. The Lord of the Rings of Sci-Fi. So in depth it would make Tolkien's nose bleed. Plus this man has a encyclopedia-like understanding of ecology.


Dostoevsky

Psychologically relevant, bleak and pessimisstic. And a nice flowing read.


Gothe

Classic Faust. Better than Marlowe.


Dumas

Classical revenge, sword fighting and relationships.


Hawthorne

Lovecraftian in a good evil wicked way...Heheheh *Laughs Maniacally*


Kipling

Works well in Mythos and legends. The Jungle books are simply magnificent in a charming way.


Wells

Good fashioned mediocre sci-fi.


Wilde

Too damn smug and proper and upper class and gay to be overlooked.


Hugo

The master of tragedy and depression. Think the world is a happy place? Read this man and then try not to kill yourself.


Dickens

The embodiement of Classic


Michael Cadnum

Dark, poetic and macabre. An Edgar Allen Poe of the New century.


Michael Chabon

Genius. A Literary Einstein. You just have to read his work to understand...plus he is a Arthur Conan Doyle Fan.


Thomas Harris

He has a good psychologically valid style.


Michael Crichton

The Literary David Bowie. He pops up in every genre and carries it off with aplomb.


Stephen King

I'm not crazy about this guy but he captures the ninteen-fifties like a polaroid and writes well about groups of old friendships under supernatural stress.




Books:
Naked Lunch,

*Points at William S. Burroughs with one finger and does the crazy motion with the other*
WOOOOOoooo


The Lurker at the Threshold

Vintage Lovecraft. He writes about humanity like we're a lone swimmer in a deep ocean of nasty sharp-toothed things that just don't like us.


Heart of Darkness

Mankind in it's pure primordial state is not a pretty thing. Sometimes in the right circumstances it just breaks down that way.


Metamorphosis

More weirdness ala Kafka. Feelings of rejection abound. You feel like an ugly gay fat Leper with herpes simplex.


Portrait of Dorian Gray

I don't know why I like this... Just do.


Dune,

Brilliant both in it's staggering detail and description and it's wicked insight into political and ecological affairs.


The Shining

Madness...It's a madhouse A MADHOUSE!!
And it reminds me of a hotel I've stayed at before up in the rockies.


Les Miserables

Miserable and tragic. It's Denis Leary's "No Cure for Cancer" without the happy ending.


Murder on the Orient Express

A classic ?WTF? whodunnit. That makes as little sense in the end but is tons of fun.


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett...*ahem* I mean Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective and character that will ever exist. He has the deportment of a Jedi Knight and the keen bloodhound like logic of a Vulcan(to put it in sci-fi terms)


Dracula

Greatest Horror novel...
Explanation not necessary


The Nero Wolfe Mysteries

They are too humorous for the subject of greed, death and 1930's sin. So they are like a box full of cookies. They are crunchy, sharp and there's a whole box full of them.


The Great Shark Hunt/The Rum Diaries

Pure synical hilarity in all of it's smartacid glory.


Treasure Island

Dunno why I like this one...
I just do, if you can understand that. I grew up with it and it's like a slice of nostalgia.


Crime and Punishment

What is a man on the edge? How does he live? What does he do? Read this and you will know.


Faust

Ever make a big mistake? Mephisopheles is creeping into your room at night and he looks like Peter Fonda for some reason...


The Count of Monte Cristo

Revenge is messy. It's like a poison and if your not careful it can turn you into something ugly. You must control your revengelust.


The Jungle Book

Classic and charming in an British-Era India way.


Oliver Twist

Classic and charming in a street rat London way... Tsk, Tsk, Tsk poor kid...



Poet:
Edgar Allen

Creepy and the soul of Goth.


William Blake

He's just freaky and weird. I dunno what his angle is, but it is so surreal, abstruse and confusing that I like it.


John Donne

He fenced with words and his pen was much sharper than any sword. A rock star of poetry that used three dimensional words.


Lewis Carrol

Too much fun and worth several laughs! I don't even care if people do think he was a pedo.


Keats

Intricate like lacework. Keats had the mathematics of poetry sewn together with the infinite vocabulary a prominent literary genius.


Lovelace

A better lover than a poet... Pshaw I say! Cheers to the real Cassanova. The Romeo of the velvet pen!


Crowley

Wicked or not he was a great poet.


Lao Tzu

Formulaic and wise beyond words. He expressed the way in such sensible words. His words were so wise and so simple that everyone saw them as the overly complex rants of foolish sage.



Poem:
The Altar of Artemis

And this is my favorite poem in all of poetrydom


The Poison Tree

One needs to learn forgiveness for even our foes.


The Garden of Love

"Thou shalt not writ o'er the door"


Alone

This is my favorite poem in all of poetrydom.


A Valediction Forbidding Mourning[/color]

"SHUT UP BITCH! WHEN I LEAVE I CAN THINK BOUT YOU AND MASTURBATE!!!" My dumbass friend once described this poem in such a way. If you read it closely with knowledge that no normal man has you will find that it's a little deeper than that.


Jaberwocky/How Doth the Little Crocodile...

FUN!


To Althea, from Prison

"Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage"


Tao Te Ching

My philosophy, if you please.

[Corazón de León]

Favorite: Genre

I'm a fan of novels. I don't care what kind of novel it is, because if it's a novel, I'll read it. I like dialogue. It builds the story and makes it more interesting. Books that are, for example, pure historical accounts, have no dialogue (or minimal dialogue), because they're telling a story from the standpoint that it has already occurred, and not just occurring now, as is seen with novelizations. I do, however, enjoy historical accounts if I'm interested in that particular subject. For example, anything about the American Civil War would go over well for me.


Favorite: Author

Michael Shaara. Although he only wrote five novels throughout his entire writing career, they're pretty damn legendary. The Killer Angles and The Noah Conspiracy, to name a few.

Favorite: Book

I have seven favorite books; Stephen King's science fiction epic, The Dark Tower, even though some of the books have some pretty gay parts in them, like the Wizard of Oz references. I honestly thought that was pretty gay. I also highly enjoyed Chris Jericho's autobiography, A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. And as I mentioned earlier, Michael Shaara's The Killer Angles is pretty damn legendary, and a great read.