College Students! discussion

what books do you love?

I'm going with On the Road & Franny and Zooey.

My favorite is the Lovely Bones.

i really enjoyed that books as well.

I could never really get into Franny and Zooey really. Maybe that's because I read Catcher in the Rye in high school and hated it. I think i might try it again.

understandable.
you should try again. :)
hahaha..i can't help it..i will convert the haters one at a time. :)
kiddding.

my guilty pleasures are the Harry Potter books! :) I also really love Jane Eyre & Little Women.

i read the first harry potter book a long time ago..and i LOVED it..but then i never read any of the others for some reason. Jane Eyre is a book i feel like i should read but havent yet.

you should start reading them again!!

My favorites :
The Things They Carried
Things Fall Apart
Skinny Dip
Walk Two Moons- read it as a girl and it was so good I cried! (during the appropriate parts, of course)

I'm with you, Jamie- I feel like I should read Jane Eyre but I have a hard time getting into books written in 19th century english. Then I always feel stupid that I don't understand.
If I start it, maybe someone could explain it to me in steps as I go along?? I am determined to read classics! (Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte) Somebody help me!

I'm in the middle of Jane Eyre right now. I put it off for so long, because I thought it was going to be one of those old stuffy classics. It's actually very good, and the writing isn't hard to understand either.
Anywho, my favorite books of all time have been the Harry Potter books (I read the first one when I was 12, and I was hooked ever since then!) Other than that, I recently discovered that Markus Zusak is an amazing author (he wrote The Book Thief and I am the Messenger). I loved Catcher in the Rye, Flowers in the Attic, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Time Traveler's Wife...and there are also millions more than I can't think of right now.

I have a lot of favorite books. A couple though are Catcher in the Rye. I read it in high school and loved it. Useless knowledge...it's also the book that the man started to read outloud after he shot John Lennon. Sad, I know, but I still love the book! P.S. I love The Beatles!
I also love the Jessica Darling series. Sloppy Firts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, and coming soon, Fourth Comings. They're just fun, simple reads but I got very into the characters and can't wait to read the 4th one!

Janet,

Did you ever see Across the Universe??

Janet, I read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings... I thought they were great! I never got to the Third book, but ever since I saw there was a Fourth one out I've been itching to read the Third and Fourth!
Hm... Maybe I'll read the 1 and 2 all over again just to get to 3 and 4 :)

Anastasia,
I love Jessica Darling! She is just the greatest character! The third book is probably my favorite. It takes a little bit to get into it, I thought, but it's just great. I am so glad you read them!! My friend and I passed them around this summer and we're so excited for the 4th one! Haha.

Jamie,
I didn't ever see Across the Universe! I heard it's really great but I just always forget about it when I am renting movies. I'll have to remember it!

you really have to see it!! :)
i loved it! :)

I just re-read The Bell Jar again recently..and remembered how much it really is one of my favorites. :)

awl i loved Lovely Bones, that was a good one. Honestly i cant pick a favorite book!! (sighs) That puts stress on my shoulders that i cant bear! haha. I would feel like im turning a cold shoulder on all the other books ive read. =0 am i the only one like that?

I loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Frankenstein, The Poisonwood Bible, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close..which i'm sooo excited to see that was a group read here!!

You've got great taste in books Molly!

I still enjoy reading, "Invisible Monsters".

5 people you meet in heaven.
and i still love Secret Garden! :)

The sisterhood of the traveling pants series
What my mother doesn't know
What my girlfriend doesn't know
The book thief
Kissed by an Angel trilogy
The historian
The thirteenth tale
Harry Potter saga
The echo falls mystery trilogy by Peter Abrahams
Water for Elephants

It's soo hard for me to pick favorites... but these would definitely be included (along with so many others):

The Virgin Suicides
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Little Prince
To Kill a Mockingbird
Eat, Pray, Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Up the Down Staircase
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Cat's Cradle
Walk Two Moons
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

so hard to choose favorites because they change all the time, however the books which I have loved for several years are:
Jitterbug Perfume
The Pillars ofg the Earth
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight An African Childhood
Power of One
East of Eden
The Cider House Rules

Loads!

1.Evasion This book changed my life.
2.His Dark Materials Trilogy
3.Cunt A Declaration of Independence Expanded and Updated Second Edition by Inga Muscio
4. Harry Potter Boxset Books 1-7
5. Days of War, Nights of Love Crimethink
For Beginners Crimethinc is amazing, it really opened my mind to so much stuff.
6. The Lucifer Effect Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo
7. Juno & Juliet A Novel by Julian Gough.
8. Is Anybody Listening? by Larry O' Loughlin
9. Media Control The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda by Noam Chomsky. What a legend!
10. Full Frontal Feminism A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valentini. Excellent book, and it made me realize that I am a feminist!
11. Death Without Weeping The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil by Nancy Scheper- Hughes.

Favorite book of all time for me is Catch-22.

I have to pick ONE favorite? But I love so many, including:
Everything Is Illuminated
Matilda
The Lord of the Rings
The Lovely Bones
Jane Austen's novels
To the Lighthouse
The Hours
Cold Mountain
Middlemarch
there's more listed on my profile. SO MANY BOOKS!

i love so many different books, for so many different reasons, but at the moment, my top 5:
1. extremely loud and incredibly close
2. to kill a mockingbird
3. the boy who loved words
4. the book of lost things
5. the secret of lost things

i LOVED Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close..definitely one of my all time favorites..I will have to check out the others you have listed!

My favorite books of all would have to be:

Perks of Being A Wallflower
Veronika Decides to Die
The Alchemist (I really love Paulo Coelho!)
Burned Alive
Pride & Prejudice
All of the Dr. Seuss's
& plenty of more.

Oh, gosh, I have so many favorites.
Rebecca, Ella Enchanted, The Anansi Boys, and The Phantom Tollbooth, just to name a few.
I don't know if I could possibly list all of the books I've fallen in love with over the years.

Anna wrote: "Oh, gosh, I have so many favorites.
Rebecca, Ella Enchanted, The Anansi Boys, and The Phantom Tollbooth, just to name a few.
I don't know if I could possibly list all of the books I've fallen in lo..."

The Phantom Tollbooth is on my tbr list. I LOVED Rebecca. Have you ever heard the song "Rebecca" by Meg & Dia? It's the perfect song based on that book.

The Phantom Tollbooth is so great... I hope you like it. :)

I haven't heard the song. I'll have to check it out.

What are your all time favorite books?

Gotta go with (in no order):
The Giver / Gathering Blue / Messenger
Looking for Alaska
Paper Towns
An Abundance of Katherines
The Secret of Lost Things
The Lovely Bones
Water for Elephants
The Magicians

Wow, so many people seem to have fairly recent books as their favorites. I haven't added a book to my list of "all time favorites" in a while.

My (long-standing) favorites:
The Bell Jar
Ella Enchanted
the Abarat series
The Brothers Karamazov
The Crimson Petal and the White
The Fountainhead
My Heart is a Lonely Hunter

I'm reading Moon Palace by Paul Auster and I'm loving it! Maybe this one will become the newest addition to my list...

I just have to add a new book to my favorites list: Blindness. Amazing book. Wow.

My all time favorite - thus far -is Water for Elephants. I don't think I'll ever forget this story's ending.

And The Glass Castle. Although it took me a couple of chapters to really get into it (I think that's normal, right?), it's an amazing journey.

Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, Tender Is the Night, Invisible Monsters, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Virgin Suicides, The Catcher in the Rye, ah, so many :)

The Harry Potter series. Hands down.

I haven't read several of my favorite books in a few years. I'd like to reread them this summer/in the near future to see whether they're still my favorites.

Another good one to bring back up. Our blog just did a Top Ten Tuesday about all time favorite books. What are yours?

http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/2...

Probably Pride and Prejudice.. I could re-read it forever I think. I even like all the spin-offs of the story from other authors.

My top ten would have to be:

The Fountainhead
The Harry Potter Series
Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Chasing Redbird
The Pillars of the Earth
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Little Women
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Truth About Forever

My favorites would be:

Harry Potter - if I had to choose one, it'd probably be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
City of Ashes (although once I read City of Glass it will probably become my favorite in the series)
Island of the Blue Dolphins because it was the first book I ever read (and I loved it!)

Sadly I can never seem to get into Jane Austen books. I'm determined to read at least one of her books!

Richard, if you can make yourself get into an Austen book, its worth it! She is one of my favorite authors. My favorite books of hers are Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion.

Oh, and good choice on Harry Potter :)

Anika wrote: "Richard, if you can make yourself get into an Austen book, its worth it! She is one of my favorite authors. My favorite books of hers are Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion.

Oh, and good choice..."

Haha thanks. Barnes and Noble has the free e-book for Pride and Prejudice, so I'll probably read it. I always freak out cause I feel I need to focus on every word or else I'll miss/forget something. And I don't like reading too fast because it feels like you're rushing through it. But sometimes I get caught up in what's going on and next thing I know I've mowed through 50 pages without looking up haha.

I'm the same way. If I am even the tiniest bit distracted while reading, I always feel like I have to reread to make sure I've picked up on every detail. With Austen, I find that its hard to get into her style at first, but once I'm about 25 or so pages in, I am completely used to it.

Anika wrote: "I'm the same way. If I am even the tiniest bit distracted while reading, I always feel like I have to reread to make sure I've picked up on every detail. With Austen, I find that its hard to get ..."

Yeah! I hate it when there's a tv or conversation going on that you can barely hear, yet it still manages to keep you on the same page for 10-20 minutes. I hate it. A lot of times if I'm too distracted I just put the book down and try again later.

That's good to hear about Jane Austen's books. I never really put much effort into her books, so I read the first page or two and couldn't manage to be successful in reading it. Now that I'm getting used to reading again I'll have to try reading Pride and Prejudice.

Also, I'm ashamed to say I've never read a Nicholas Sparks novel (never tried either). I've been wanting to but haven't gotten around to it. Do y'all know any good books by him that you'd recommend for me to read?

Haha, Richard I am exactly the same way when it comes to distractions while I'm trying to read!! And I can't believe you've never read a Nicholas Sparks novel! He is wonderful if you want a quick, romantic read! I haven't read all of his; I mostly go for the ones about the younger couples, since those are more relatable. I've read A Walk to Remember (my favorite), The Notebook (which is also really good), The Wedding, Dear John, The Last Song, and True Believer. All of them were pretty good.