Young Writers Society

No particular order:

Slaughter-House Five - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. This book is the most interestingly arranged piece of prose I have ever read. With aliens, war, and a sense of pointlessness, but behind it all are several meaningful messages worth knowing.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee I loved this book so much when I read it in 8th grade. It gets to the heart of racism and makes you want to kill several characters. What more could you ask for?

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway (WARNING! SPOILER STEER CLEAR IF YOUR CURRENTLY READIN THIS NOVEL!)This is the first and only (so far) Hemingway novel which I have read and I must say it was brilliant. Every character in the story was so flawed - so human - that its imposible not to care about them. I love the "iceberg principle" as well. For those of you who don't know, this is an idea pioneered by Hemingway. Basically it means that the author knows all of these characters extremely well, everything about them and the story surrounding them, yet most of this information is left under the surface, like most of an iceberg is under the water. Its hinted at, and if the story is written well the reader should know most of these by the end, but the author doesn't come out and say "Lady Brett Ashley won't marry Jake Barnes because he's impotent!"

The Catcher in the Rye - Can't remember his name... anyway, great book. I liked the protagonist. A lot.

The Bible (duh! Takes half a lifetime to read thoroughly and a little longer to comprehend. I have yet to get to either points, lol.)

Yea, I know there all classics, but there is a reason that they are classics ("no way! That can't be true!"). It's 'cause they're so great and they 'speak' to people of many different backgrounds and races. They spoke to me.

Edit: YES! I get the top of the page! \:D/

Here’s my list. You can tell I’m a war book buff . I may write a review on these books one day and post it here for the sole purpose of convincing fellow YWS members to read them.

1.Making the Corps by Thomas E. Ricks.

This book is very interesting. IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MILITARY AND THE PEOPLE IN IT, THEN PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!! At surface level, it tells the journey of many young men as they go through the infamous basic training at Parris Island to become Marines. But at a much deeper level, the book is about the wide gulf between the military’s values and America’s “MTV generation”. Both a casual reader and the more philosophical/intelligent types will enjoy this book.

2.Generation Kill by Evan Wright.

This book is told through the view of a war reporter embedded with a small group of Marine infantry as they spearhead the war in Iraq. It gives a different, refreshingly unbiased view of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the young men who fight it.

3.Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit by Tom Clancy.

Marine written more in the style of a “coffee-table’ book; it is full of graphs, charts, photos, and cutaways. Despite being full of facts and statistics, it explains the Marine’s mystique and culture. I used this book as research for one of my war stories and it is invaluable if you’d like to know about the equipment, doctrine, and organization of the Corps.

4.Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy.

This is the only fictional work on my “top five” list. Like all of Tom Clancy’s fiction, it has a deep, twisting plot with a helluva lot of action, suspense, and…GUNS! A well-written book with an amazing climax.

5.Jarhead by Anthony Swofford.

I haven’t seen the movie Jarhead yet (I heard it sucks), but if you have, then wipe it from your memory and pick up the book that the movie is based on. Jarhead is the story of a Marine who fantasizes about the Marines his whole life and joins the Corps as a sniper. He eventually fights in Desert Storm, and although he doesn’t engage in any real battles, this book is still one of the best war books ever written. This book also goes well with Generation Kill, if you’re interested in either.

In order from most to least favorite:

(1) "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini - you should have your eyes removed if you haven't read The Kite Runner. Best book in the world, no question about it.

(2) "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy - I like Tolstoy anyway, but I like this one so much because he did such a good job writing Konstantin Levin.

(3) "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu - You go, ancient Chinese! Wonderful book - rules which can be applied to much more than war.

(4) "The Wave Without A Shore" by CJ Cherryh - Reality is liquid, or so says Herrin Law.

(5) "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Aurthur golden - Deflator ending, but he writes really well.


Above is my list of the best books ever written. Read The Kite Runner or die.


Note to Teufelshund - Not planning to join the military by any chance, are we?
I wanted to be a Navy SEAL so badly it hurt - then I read the BUD/s
requirements and realized that they don't accept women.
Chauvanists.

My five favorite books are:
1: The Faded Sun Trilogy by C.J. Cherryh
2: any of the Thomas Covanent Books by Stephen Donaldson
3: Dune by Frank Herbert
4: 1984 by George Orwell
5: Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker

1. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
2. The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart(almost any of her older books are fantastic, esp. This Rough Magic)
3. Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent
4. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
5. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy(read it in like fifth grade and is still a favorite)

soo many more i could add, but these are some big ones.
i have to do some honorable mentions like

Tregaron's Daughter by Madeleine Brent
The Winding Stair by Jane Aiken Hodge
Watch the Wall, My Darling by Jane Aiken Hodge
East by Edith Pattou
I am Morgan Le Fay by Nancy Sinclair (this book is a bawl your eyes out book)
The Savage Damsel and The Dwarf by Gerald Morris
Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (*bawls)
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

i know i'm getting too many, so i'm going to stop now.

Sleepers by Lorenzo Carceterra

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

hey the person above me put pimpernel too! how cool

pimpernell owns. i have to add Touch Not The Cat by Mary Stewart , and... oh dang it something else that i've forgotten. uhhhh. dang. idk now.

Books!!!

Only 5?!! Are you serious? Harumph. This should totally be top 10.I'm doing 10.

Anyway, I don't know if these are the best books in the english language, but they're certainly quite good.

These aren't in order or anything.

1.The Giver, Lois Lowry

2.Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry

3.Memors of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

4.The Raging Quiet, Sherryl Jordan

5.Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

6.A Northern Light, can't remember the author...

7. Juniper, Monica Furlong

8.The Moorchild, Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw

9.Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

10.The House at Pooh Corner, A.A. Milne (Don't laugh. It rocks.)

Yay books!!!

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. A Catcher In The Rye
3. The Art of War
4. Foundation series
5. Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Ooh. I loved The Art of War. Good man. ^_^

The Bible tops all!!!!!! Doesn't even fit in a category!!!!

1. Gone with the Wind. As DD said, read the book (I mean THIS one lol) or die. XD

2. Scarlett (it's sequel). It ends just the way it should!

3. Pride and Prejudice. My fav Jane Austen book. I've read it at least 3 times. I always fall in love with Mr. Darcy each time I read it! lol

4. Anything by Dostoyevsky, especially Crime and Punishment. At least I've gotten through the beginning part of it (stupid library fines lol).

5. Dr. Zhivago. Gosh, what an awesome book. Sad, but moving and extremely well-written.

HOW CAN YOU MAKE ME PICK ONLY 5????? There's so many my head swims when I think about it! lol Anything by Jane Austen really and of course Jane Eyre and there's just so many good ones that the stuff is too numerous to mention!

Oh my, so many books you have listed, yet none have approached my personal favorite!

1. Les Miserables (unabridged, of course!)-Victor Hugo
-It took me about a month to read, but it was worth every second of it. This has got to be the greatest novel I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

2. A Prayer For Owen Meany-John Irving
-So funny and yet so powerful

3. The Outlander series-Diana Gabaldon
-I am entitled to some easy reads, right?

4. Pillars of The Earth-Ken Follet
-What can I say? It is amazing!

5. Anything by Dean Koontz
-Again, I think I should be allowed some easy reads

Picking just five is tricky, but here's my list, going up from 5 to 1.

5. A Confederacy of Dunces

This book revolves totally around the character of Ignatius J. Riley, a lazy slob of a man who is creative to the point of delusion, who seems to jump from intelligence to stupidity and simply cannot except the modern world as it is. A Confederacy is funny, but not overly so. It isn't a laugh-riot, but does contain more subtle comedy and many moments that make you grin, as you'd expect from a book where, within the first few pages, the main charcter is 'studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste.'

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Does anything need to be said? Inventive, funny, comical and creative, with moments that made me clap my hands in glee. Don't just read the first, the entire 'trilogy of five' is brilliant.

3. Catch-22

Another classic book. For about the first 100 pages I had little idea as to what was going on. The book plunges you head first into a world filled with diverse and creative characters, from the half-crazy-daredevil of McWatt to the timid and ashamed character of (I'm not making this up) Major Major Major. That's his name. Later on, he's promoted to Major.
Catch-22 is a book that takes a while to get a grip on, but once you do its fantastic and at times laugh out loud funny. My second read through was even better than the first.

2. Dead Famous

The plot revolves around a reality show, much like Big Brother, in which 10 contestants enter a house and must stick it out for the chance to win a big cash prize. Then one of the housemates is murdered. How is this possible with cameras watching them 24 hours a day? Its time to find out.
Dead Famous is a brilliant book. Brilliant, not just in plot and characters, but in dialogue. Rarely have I seen conversation written so naturally and with such skill. More than this, the book has around 12-14 main characters. Every housemate, plus the producers, directors ect. and (of course) the detectives involved in the case, all have thier own, well written, characters. It is, simply, an amazing achievment. And the plot....well, find out for yourself. It astonished me with how well it was put together.

1. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Ahh, number 1. From the author of 'the Hitchhiker's Guide' comes Dirk Gently, a private detective who is....well, downright weird. The book is unlike any other I have ever read, because the plot is so complex. Every time I read it (I've read it 3 times now) I spot new things I never noticed before. And I don't mean little things. I mean big 'ohhh so THAT's why that happened' things. The book is like a roll of toilet paper, the more you pull on it, the more it unravels. It is masterfully written, with an excellent range of characters and laugh-out-loud funny moments.
More than this, it carries the sense that the writer didn't quite know where he was going. Does this make it less skillful? No. It just means that, every time I read it, I uncover new moments of brilliance, a new feeling of awe, and, more importantly, an excitement at where it will lead me next. Read this. Now.

erm right

1.The View from the Mirror Quarteppt
Ian Irvine

2.Remember Me trilogy(Brillant read)
Christopher Pike

3.Mortal Engine Saga
Philip Reeve

4.Harry Potter
JK Rowling

5.The Power of Five Saga(so far only two books out)
Anathony Howerwitz

Runners up

Pawn of Prophecy-David Eddings

Adam_Atlatien(No joke it flipping great one of the best things i've read for a while)

The Chainletter books(two)
Christopher Pike

The Saint of Dragons(Only reason i know this book exist is cause Elizabeth sent me it)
Jason Hightman

Queen of the Slayers(Buffy Book)
Nancy Holden

Oh and Kudos to people who put Edge Chronicles and for Myth putting Goodnight Mr Tom.