<p>Wow. I just Wikipedia-ed The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s so intense…</p>
<p>Oh. And I’ve also heard that Ender’s Game is supposed to be good.</p>
<p>O, I read Ender’s Game, I thought it was good too, same with Fahrenheit 451. Wow, I just read the summary as well! It sounds good, I need to go to the book store lol</p>
<p>1984 is similar to Ender’s Game and Fahrenheit 451. The cynical futuristic kind of novels. Good stuff :]</p>
<p>Speaking of Dan Brown:</p>
<p>Angels and Demons. Takes place in Rome. Um…Robert Langdon is not interesting, but the side-characters are, such as the Camerlengo. It’s basically about the conflict between the Church and science.</p>
<p>Infinite Jest. An epic-scale novel, about 1100 pages but written in 1996 and very readable. That being said, it’s also quite complex and layered, and very, very good. Plot summary is tough due to the amoun tof material covered, but the central characters are a tennis and linguistic prodigy named Hal Incandenza; a recovering drug addict, former burglar, and Ennet house [rehab, pretty much] resident named Don Gately; Marathe, a wheelchair-ridden member of a Quebecois insurgency…reading it back, the characters come off as a little lame, but I in now way do this novel justice. My favorite book.</p>
<p>Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- the back of the book says “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.” mad funny and if u like Jane Austin u will still like this book and if u hate Jane Austin u will LOVE this book!</p>
<p>Any book by Tim O’Brien! Although The Things They Carried was a great book, it fails in comparison to Tims other books like Tomcat in love, July July, Lake in Forest, and his memior is also a great read! I’m a huge O’Brien fan lol</p>
<p>I just bought the five I listed. lol I plan to read them within my free time:)</p>
<p>Some More:</p>
<p>The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas–A man named Edmond Dantes is wrongly thrown in jail and escapes years later to get revenge on those who betrayed him. </p>
<p>Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult–The aftermath of a school shooting, which explores why the boy who committed the crime did it, and how those most affected felt. It isn’t a true story, but it’s really interesting. </p>
<p>Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman–A guy named Robert Mayhew gets involved in a world underneath London, called London Below. I can’t really describe it, but it’s one of the best fantasies I’ve ever read. </p>
<p>Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas–If anyone reads The Three Musketeers. It’s the sequel, and a little more in-depth when it comes to the motives of the musketeers themselves. I won’t say much, though, because it spoils the first book.</p>
<p>All Quiet On the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque–The point of view of a German soldier during World War I.</p>
<p>I’ve read All Quiet On the Western Front and Nineteen Minutes:) They were very good, and sad:/</p>
<p>The Picture of Dorian Gray is easily one of my favorite books. </p>
<p>The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Belgariad series by David Eddings (fantasy, if you like HP you’ll love this…)
The Mallorean series by David Eddings (fantasy, if you like HP you’ll love this…)
Emma by Jane Austen
King Lear by Shakespeare</p>
<p>The god Delusion</p>
<p>The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter is also good
- it’s a set of retold classic fairy tales, but retold in a dark, morbid, and sometimes seemingly manic fashion.
The “main” story is The Bloody Chamber which is a rewrite of Blue Beard, where a girl, 17, is forced to marry and older man, I think he’s in his 40s. He’s a complete pervert and pedophile, and is also a sadist who, not only tortures the girl, but keeps the bloody chopped bodies of his former wives in a locked chamber.
While it is gory and twisted, Carter wrote it in this amazing, almost melodic, intricate and elegant fashion.</p>
<p>If you want something that’s very bizarre, all of Carter’s stories are like this. I have another called The Infernal Desire of Doctor Hoffman, but I haven’t read it yet.</p>
<p>I second Picture of Dorian Gray! I need to reread it soon. It’s very thought-provoking.</p>
<p>I mainly read historical fiction, but I’ll try to throw some others in the mix, too:</p>
<p>Interview With the Vampire (Anne Rice) – Basically self-explainatory title. It’s pretty well written, much better than the movie (of course), and thought provoking. May not be everyone’s bag, though.</p>
<p>The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky) – Three brothers and their father and their rifts between them. A very character-driven story. I find it quite enlightening although I admit I haven’t finished it, but I’m almost done. I blame summer reading assignments. 
</p>
<p>Papillion (Henri Charriere) – A convict and his journey as he escapes. It’s an autobiography. I thought it was a page turner 
There’s a movie and I believe a sequel, but I haven’t read/seen either.</p>
<p>Push Not the River (James Conroyd Martin) – Part of a trilogy (third book might be out by now). Historical fiction about romance and wars and all of that in Poland and Central Europe, basically. I loved the characters and the writing. Can’t for wait the third one! (Sequel is: Against A Crimson Sky)</p>
<p>Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) – I read this a while ago, but it was good. A bit adult for me at the time, but it’s about a hostage take over in South America.</p>
<p>The Knight of Maison-Rouge (Alexandre Dumas, pere, I believe) – Unknown compared to his other classics (The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte-Cristo…) this is a very… awesome novel. Takes place during The Terror and deals with a fictionalized imprisoned Marie Antoinette (as if she hadn’t been killed along with the King). I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>I also loved 1984, Brave New World, All Quiet on the Western Front, Les Miserables, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. :)</p>
<p>Pardon my horrible summaries… I suggest Wiki’ing, although don’t read the endings. It ruins books. (<em>Looks at Les Mis and the Brothers Karamazov</em>) :(</p>
<p>Speaking of historical books and Alexandre Dumas, (the above book is by him, but I haven’t read it yet), I am reading one called “The Last Cavalier” which has more to do with Napoleon so far than anything else. More interesting than when I learned about Napoleon in history, anyway. Even if it isn’t entirely true.</p>
<p>If you haven’t already read it read
A portrait of the artist as a young man - James Joyce. The language in this is absolutely beautiful, and the story is great as well. It’s a semi-autobiographical story about a young boy growing up and I won’t say much else except amazing book :)</p>
<p>I started reading 1984, and though I am only on p. 37 right now, so far I like it:) Thank you for the suggestions! I have so many to choose from now. I think I will be reading continuously throughout the school year haha:></p>
<p>The Alchemist sounds really good. I’ve been meaning to read that…</p>
<p>Blindness by Jose Saramago – an entire city gets struck by a sudden, and unexplicable, epidemic of blindness. afhhgf. It’s soo different, yet well written.</p>
<p>The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty – Basically, a loser bikes accross country. Soo funny. A little bit like Catch-22, but good in it’s own respect.</p>
<p>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Told from the viewpoint of a kid with aspergers. Also, really funny.</p>
<p>I’ll add:</p>
<p>Fade by Robert Cormier–It’s more for those who like sci-fi/fantasy. Basically, it’s about this boy who can become invisible. There’s that great moral question of what you would do if no one could see you do it.</p>
<p>Wow, Blindness sounds good, as does Fade, and the portait of the artist as a young man. I bought Picture of Dorian Gray a couple of days ago so I will read that after I finish 1984:) Wow, these all sound good:></p>