favorite NDR book(s)

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

i saw the movie several years ago. i didnt realize it was based on a book.

i will definitely check out some of tom robbins books. thanks for the suggestion. []

All time fave's would be the LOTR series inclu. "The Hobbit". One of my favorites as a youngster and still today is "Bambi" by Felix Salten. "Watership Down" by R. Adams.
 
I wouldn't say any book changed my life as much as just reading in general improving it. Reading opens the mind for learning in a way other things can't. My love of and interest in, trivia, vocab, nature etc all comes from books.
 
After that? It's more by author. Anything by Stephen King, anything by David Eddings, anything by Laurell K Hamilton. Anything by Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, or Edith Wharton. Trashy romance, mystery, fiction...it doesn't matter. If you are reading, you are learning...period.

I like thrillers and mysteries for the most part and can't stand romance. I do like novels, but I'm pretty picky about them. I go for a good story AND good writing. Some novels have the story buried in ostentatious writing, and some great stories can be flat without good writing.

For laugh out loud funny you can't beat Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books.

If you still want something in the doggie theme, try James Herriot - those books are some of my all time favorites.

Jennifer Weiner has some fun novels.

For a light mystery, try CJ Box. He has a unique setting & the main character is a Wyoming game warden.

Nonfiction? You can't beat Freakonomics. Most fascinating & thought-provoking non-fiction I've read in a long time.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen is a novel I read recently that is good. The peek into the depression era and circus life was really interesting.

Edited to add: for laugh out loud, pee your pants outrageous slapstick funny - try Tim Dorsey. Completely bizarre and totally hilarious.

Harry Potter!
 
I also love and recommend pretty much anything by Terry Pratchett.
 
I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy  by Robin Hobb as well.
 
At the moment I am reading "The Flashman Papers"... only read about 4 of them so far and theres about 15 of them so I have a nice looong BTR list!  I hate it when a good book ends so I really like long series []

I pulled a few off the shelf that could be interesting for you to read.

The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth..It is about certain Nazi officers(most wanted for war crimes)that escaped after the war and set up a network to help further their cause..Interesting if you like suspence and WW2 history.

Frank McCourt wrote 2 books that were very good..Autobiography of his life as a poor child living in Ireland 'Angelas Ashes"and "Tis",his life as he becomes an adult.It is a sad book with some very funny moments,and he writes in a way that is very down to earth..

One of my favorite funny books is "The Complete Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams...there are so many funny and amusing things in this series of books ,that you will need to read it a few times to take it all in..I read the series for the first time in my 20's,and it is still the only book to make me litterally laugh out loud...They have NEVER made a successfull radio or movie version of this book...The book is fantastic though..

ORIGINAL: Chuffy
I also love and recommend pretty much anything by Terry Pratchett.

 
I'm so glad somebody else mentioned him, I felt like an outcast! 
 
Terry Pratchett is, by far, one of my most favorite authors ever.  His books are comedies, but there lies serious issiues in the underbelly too.
 
If you enjoy fantasy with a bit of humor, even though I believe they're marketed as children's books, I highly recommend the Bartimaeous Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud.  They're an easy read that'll keep you reaching for the next book.
 
Also, of course, anything by Anne McAffrey []
 
Wow, can you tell I like fantasy books? [8|]

Tom Robbins!!! He is amazing. I *loved* Another Roadside Attraction. It's not very reverent towards Christianity though, so read it with caution.

Douglas Adams is also wonderful!

shelly....

if your husband and daughter are into reading beat writers, my favorites other than kerouac are william s. burroughs and charles bukowski. by burroughs i have read junky, the naked lunch, the soft machine, and the wild boys. out of those my fav is wild boys. by bukowski i have read post office, ham on rye, pulp, and some of the short stories is run with the hunted. most of his writings are short stories and poems though. two titles that intrigue me (even though not a huge fan of reading poetry) love is a dog from hell and "erections, ejaculations, exhibitions, and tales of ordinary madness".

 
Thanks Bradley.. I will totally pass on the info to DH and the stepdtr!! []

I am a big reader and love all kinds of books so here go some that come from the top of my head.

Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel - A beautifully written love story that takes place during the Mexican Revolution, about a girl, with a super strict mother, who is expected to stay at home taking care of her mom for her entire life because she was the last born child. She is not expected or allowed to fall in love, but she does, of course. The man she is in love with marries her sister in order to be as close to her as possible and it goes from there.

Rain of Gold, Victor Villasenor - This is a nonfiction novel of sorts. The author decided to take all of the unbelievable stories his family would tell him growing up and write a novel about them. Very, very good book. Probably one of my favorite books of all time. There are also two others that go with this book called "Wild Steps of Heaven" and "Thirteen Senses".

Come Back, Claire and Mia Fontaine - This is hands down, the best memoir I have ever read. The mother and daughter wrote it together and it's about the struggle they went through while the daughter was addicted to drugs. It takes into account both of their stories and I just loved it.

The Clan of the Cave Bear series, Jean M. Auel - I LOVE this series. So far, there are 5 books in it, I think. I have been waiting far too long for the next one. I'm starting to get worried. It's been years. About a group of Neanderthals who adopt a young girl named Ayla who is one of the "others". Ayla grows up with them and the series follows her story from there. SO good!

The Left Behind Series - Let me start off by saying that I am NOT religious at all, but I have fallen in love with this series. I do not go to church, I have never been baptized, I just don't practice religion at all. These books are the authors interpretation of Revelations. It's a wonderful series that I haven't finished yet. I'm still trying to catch up. I think I'm on book seven right now.

Books that I have read recently include:

The Namesake - very good book about an Indian couple that move here from Calcutta and raise their children in America. It really just does an excellent job of showing the identity struggle of a 2nd generation immigrant.

The Memory Keepers Daughter - I thought this book was alright. I was expecting it to be much better. It's about a couple who have twins and one of the twins is born with Down's Syndrome. The father hands that twin over to the nurse and tells her to take it away to some instituition (the wife is sedated and is not seeing any of this) and instead, the nurse leaves town with the baby and raises the child herself. The book is really about how that one decision the father made had a huge impact on his life, even though his wife and other child never knew about this. They were told the girl had died at birth.

Books that I am going to start reading are (if anyone has read any of these, please feel free to let me know what you thought):

The Kite Runner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Tender Bar
The Road
The Glass Castle

When I was single I used to read all the time.  Now I don't have time.  But my favorites are:
 
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath.  She is my all time favorite writer.  And this book is amazing.  Semi-autobiography, detailed writing about her descent in madness.  I named my car after her.
[linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Bell-Jar-P-S-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0061148512/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180548562&sr=1-1]http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Jar-P-S-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0061148512/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180548562&sr=1-1[/link]
 
Another great one is Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole.  This book made me laugh outloud.  It's about an eccentric man that still lives at home with his mom and his daily shenanigans.
[linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Confederacy-Dunces-Evergreen-Book/dp/0802130208/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180548387&sr=8-2]http://www.amazon.com/Confederacy-Dunces-Evergreen-Book/dp/0802130208/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180548387&sr=8-2[/link]
 
I also really liked his book The Neon Bible.  No book has left me in complete shock after I read it like this one.  My mouth was literally hanging open.  He wrote is when he was 16.  It's short, but awesome.
[linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Neon-Bible-John-Kennedy-Toole/dp/0802132073/ref=pd_sim_b_1_img/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&qid=1180548387&sr=8-2]http://www.amazon.com/Neon-Bible-John-Kennedy-Toole/dp/0802132073/ref=pd_sim_b_1_img/104-9394749-0410348?ie=UTF8&qid=1180548387&sr=8-2[/link]
 
David Sedaris is always great.  Another laugh outloud writer.
 
I could go on, but I'll stop.  If I was next to my bookshelf this could be three pages long.

One book that comes to mind is "The Time Traveler's Wife".  Very good.
For quick reads I like anything by David Baldacci... 
 

Ashland -  I LOVED The Namesake - just finished it a few weeks ago.  Characters were so real, I feel as if I know them and the first generation American cultural gap is very sensitively portrayed.  Interesting to me as my mother is first generation American.
 
And you are going to read The Kite Runner?  Astonishing book - very intense - deeply moving.  A very human story, dark and difficult, but worth it and ALSO a sort of memoir of an Afghanastan that no longer exists.
 
Cita - I'd forgot about Another Roadside Attraction!  I've read a lot of Tom Robbins and they are definitely irreverent toward a lot of institutions, but also joyous and hilarious.  Also read Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and possibly more, but Jitterbug Perfume I read 3 times.
 
I'm currently re-reading Douglas Adams - had done the first 4 books before and DID laugh out loud that first time through. My appreciation is more sedate this time, but perhaps deeper. I'm finishing So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.  Also reading A Death in Venice by Thomas Mann - new translation. And A Thousand Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 
 
And David Sedaris SLAYS me.  I WISH I was that funny!!!

The Kite Runner...beautiful, beautiful story (2nd novel is opening to grand reviews including being better or as good as the first!)
 
My Sister's Keeper..(J. Piccoult)  Riveting, dramatic fiction.
 
She's Come Undone..(Wally Lamb)  Touching, sincere, sad.
 
Nectar in the Sieve..(sp ?)  Google it...read it two summers ago...quick read..story of strength and survival.
 
Just a few suggested favorites!
Coleen

I second Tom Robbins and Douglas Adams...

Also, if you want a fiction read that will seriously change the way you think about the world: "Ishmael" and "My Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. Definatly read them in that order. My head nearly exploded (in a good way).

ORIGINAL: ashland

The Clan of the Cave Bear series, Jean M. Auel - I LOVE this series. So far, there are 5 books in it, I think. I have been waiting far too long for the next one. I'm starting to get worried. It's been years. About a group of Neanderthals who adopt a young girl named Ayla who is one of the "others". Ayla grows up with them and the series follows her story from there. SO good!

 
man, i LOVED this series, and completely forgot about it until you mentioned it!  i shall have to unearth it and re-read.... THANKS