I am starting a summer reading list and would like some suggestions of fantastic books?

I have read at college level since third grade so that will not be an issue. When I was younger I enjoyed the older book series like Betsy and Tacy, the “Shoe” books, Anne of Green Gables, All of a kind family, books by Francis Burnett, books by Jules Verne, et cetera. More recently I’ve liked the two Jane Austen books I’ve read (Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility), books about King Arthur (fiction, non-fiction, doesn’t matter really), Kiki Strike series, some of the science fiction I’ve read (a few of the books by Charles Sheffield, The Hitchhiker’s series, Stargate SG-1 series (not exactly classic reading!), etc), and more books that I really don’t have the space to list. Please do not suggest Twilight or Harry Potter or anything similar to those series, I am not really fond of teen fantasy or romance. I think I might enjoy the classics so please suggest a few of those. Please do not suggest books with adult material (like sensual material). Thanks.

I am starting a summer reading list and would like some suggestions of fantastic books?
Good for you. You sound like me. I read my tail off as a third grader.





How about these.





As I Lay Dying - Faulkner is a MUST for every well read person but he can be tough. The Sound and the Fury and The Light in August are a little complex. I always call As I Lay Dying "Entry Level Faulkner". It happens to be my favorite of his works, but it also not terribly difficult. Reading it will tell you immediately if you love his work or not.





Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier. Wonderful book. Someone recently wrote a sequel. One of the first books I ever fell in love with.





We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson. I loved this one so much I wore out two copies.





Gone With The Wind - Pure classic reading. Delightful too.





The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazney - All ten volumes are now in one book. Loved them. Sci fi/fantasy but with a very nice degree of sophistication. A dysfunctional royal family that makes the royal folks in England look normal.





East of Eden - Steinbeck at his finest.





Hemingway - Take your pick they are all wonderful





F.Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby for starters.





Judith Guest - Ordinary People - Wonderful story about a troubled family. Made an Academy Award winning movie.





James Joyce - Dubliners Beautiful short stories.





Frankenstein and Dracula - must reading for a well rounded reader.





Other authors I might suggest are Carlos Casteneda - James Redfield, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frank Mc Court, Dickens, Victor Hugo, Dumas ... my list goes on and on and on. And Dean Koontz Odd Thomas is a wonderful set of books. Odd is a character like Holden Caulfield - one you will never forget. Pax-C
Reply:The Lovely Bones-Alice Sebold (PG-13)


-there's some sensual material but nothing you really have to worry about..I read this in the 7th grade





The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger





The Kite Runner





The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (very short; you might it's a children's story but really, it isn't. in fact, it's one of the most touching books i've ever read)
Reply:No sensual material? What about bawdiness?





I just think you're severely limiting your options.





But, uh, how about something by Graham Greene or Joseph Conrad? "The Secret Agent" is pretty short and full of intrigue, and there's nothing sexy about it (except the writing itself).





Edit: Is Reading Queen actually Meg Cabot? Inquiring minds want to know.
Reply:CRIPTID HUNTERS its for children. it sounds so odd but its about to "twins" and they find out there parents are lost in the jungle.so they are going to stay with uncle travis.they never knew about him but then they all are on a plane and they fall out.land safly due to a parichute.then they are on a contest to find moleke membe..its the best book i have ever read.





also "tree days".
Reply:okay here are some that i liked..........





secret life of bees- sue monk kidd


the memory keepers daugher- ?


deaf child crossing- marley matlin


marley and me- ?


the breadwinner- ?


of mice and men- john steinbeck


romeo and juliet- shakespear


the outsiders- S.E hinton


a child called it- david peltzer


flowers FOR allgenon- ?








***hope i helped and happy reading!!!
Reply:Flowers to Algernon? It really makes you think. Plot and characterization and writing style are great. The story is really unique and interesting, yet it's got a powerful theme behind it. It's got some adult material, but it doesn't get descriptive, and it's used to symbolize rather than entertain. PG-13.


http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Algernon-W...





The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. Plot is not it's strength. Tom Wingo, a man in his 40s, talks to his sister's psychiatrist in order to help her help his sister. He tells about their childhood. The strength of the novel is in the memories. It's...I liked it, but it's not in my favourites. Also PG-13.


http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Tides-Pat-C...





You might like A Crowded Heart by Nicholas Papandreou. Personally, I thought it was a poorly disguised memoir, except the author did absolutely no research into writing one and therefore made it drone on and on. However, a lot of people say they liked it. It's about a Greek boy whose father is a politician, and he feels overshadowed. G, content-wise.


http://www.amazon.com/Crowded-Heart-Nove...





My favourite is the Bartimaeus Trilogy, but it is a fantasy, so you might not like it.
Reply:Mercedes Lackey is amazing.
Reply:gossip girl series is really good





its a older teen book





elizabeth
Reply:the city of ember is goood
Reply:You should try The Catcher in the Rye. I didn't like it much, but you might!
Reply:All of these were in my high school library, so while they might contain adult themes, they aren't "adult" in the sense that they are based around sex. They are mature, not "mature." =)





Everyone needs to read 1984 by George Orwell.





All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque





My Antonia - Cather





The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner





Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Hardy





Uncle Tom's Cabin - Stowe (not my fav, just because of the narrative style, but the story is impeccable.)


===============================





Currently I have Stephen King's Duma Key by my bed. It is excellent, and sort of mirrors King's recovery after he was hit by a car a few years back as it chronicles Edgar's recovery from a terrible construction accident and how he pieces his body, mind, and family back together. The horror doesn't kick in until the last quarter or so, and it is mostly psychological. It is mainly a chronicling of recovery and friendship.





I'm also reading The Looking Glass Wars (a bit young, but a friend rec'ed it and it's good so far), Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, Nelson DeMille's Lions Game, Hunter S. THompson's Rum Diary and a couple books on Rock and Roll history and another on photography right now. I usually go for lighter, more engaging reads during the summer. ^.^





Mark Twain is my favorite summer author. Something about his cynicism and sardonic wit just seems so at place on a muggy summer evening. Check out "The Innocents Abroad" or even his autobiography for a good introduction. Skip Tom Sawyer, and even Huckleberry Finn. Both are good, but they aren't him at his best. They get all the attention because of cultural significance, but his chronicling of life as he was seeing it, and his short stories are where the real gold is to be found.
Reply:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PerfectBoo...





I love Meg Cabot (Heather Wells %26amp; Queen of Babble) and Sophie Kinsella's (Shopaholic [soon to be movie] %26amp; Remember Me) books. I am in the process of reading Emily Giffin's (Something Borrowed %26amp; Something Blue) books. They are all great authors!





For I teen I recommend Meg Cabot's young adult books. She is the best author. Also best selling. She wrote tons of books including the Princess Diaries (Movies based on her books), Mediator (upcoming movie), 1-800-Missing (TV show based on her books), Jinx, and more. She has adult books too, so you can grow with her.





If you want more info or meg cabot's website email me.
Reply:OK, this is right up my alley (well, except for the girly books)...I'm a *HUGE* Arthurian and Verne fan.





http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com





Included is a list of only the best sorcery fantasy books, grade reading level, a short review of each book along with a brief summary of adult content. There is also a "Readers' Choice" list of favorite books, and a list of heroine sorcery fantasy books, plus a full review of "The Golden Compass".





OK, what you want for King Arthur (in this order)


1) The Sword in the Stone - G (some very mild swearing - see my review at the link above)


2) Steinbeck's book - an excellent rewrite of Mallory - PG for non-explicit adultery and incest


3) The Once and Future King - PG for non-explicit adultery and incest


4) The Mabinogion - I have the Gwyn and Tom Jones translation - it is excellent. This is the book of Welsh myths, and includes (among several other very excellent myths) the very earliest Arthurian legends. Sir Kay is great! G


5) (not as excellent as the 4 mentioned above) The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart - the life of young Merlin, definitely adult (explicit sexual content), but a really well-done story. The sequels (there are 4 in the series) are not nearly as good as this first.





Now, for other "classics" that fit in with these....


The Jungle Books - exceptional talking animal fantasy, free online, G


Don Quixote - free online, you mentioned it so I wanted to mention that I found it only "good". Still, worth the read for literary reasons. Some adult humor (R)


Dracula - surprisingly excellent, unlike Frankenstein, which was surprisingly boring. A warning: Dracula begins *very* slowly, but by the time your finished you'll wonder why no one told you how great it is before now. Free online. G


Adam %26amp; Eve by Mark Twain - a short story, the first man tries to understand the first woman. Hilarious, G. Should be free online.





Here are my scifi recommendations:


All of the following are excellent scifi (author, followed by books).





Jules Verne - free online


Journey to the Center of the Earth (my favorite scifi)


20,000 Leagues Under the Sea


Mysterious Island





H G Wells - free online, and roughly half-length novels


War of the Worlds


The Time Machine (downer ending)


The Invisible Man (unlike many IM stories, he's a villain. This is the original)





Isaac Asimov


I, Robot (you *must* read this - the only "must read" scifi)


Elijah Baley books - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Bale... excellent both as scifi *and* as murder mysteries - the best of both worlds (warning: adult content in the 3rd book)


Foundation Series - *the* classic scifi trilogy





Andre Norton - *the* classic female scifi author, most of her books involve "coming of age" and pure scifi adventure


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliograph...


her best: Star Man's Son (also titled 2250 A.D.)


other excellent:


Judgment on Janus


Forerunner series


Central Control series


Solar Queen series


The Time Traders (Atlantis, magic - very cool!)


The Zero Stone





You may also like Andre Norton's "Moon Called", a woman with psychic and magical powers comes of age in a post-nuclear holocaust world with - well, wait until you meet the *real* villains!





Another excellent: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Though written for younger readers, I read this recently and it is great! Better than the movie (which was also pretty good).





I hope this helps.





Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/
Reply:If you liked the Hitchhiker's series, try this one:





Jasper Fforde's THURSDAY NEXT series (very funny books, slightly bizarre; be sure you read the copyright page, all the footnotes, the adverts in the back -it's all relevant!):


- The Eyre Affair


- Lost in a Good Book


- The Well of Lost Plots


- Something Rotten


- Thursday Next: First Among Sequels





Dean Koontz' ODD THOMAS series (he sees dead people, but it isn't horror):


- Odd Thomas


- Forever Odd


- Brother Odd


- Odd Hours





Also by Dean Koontz:


- Lightning (interesting presentation of time travel)





The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (the King Arthur legend told from the viewpoint of the women in his life; a thousand times better than the television miniseries!)





Gregory McGuire's fairy-tale retellings are brilliant:


- Wicked


- Mirror, Mirror


- Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister


- Lost





The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Loved the book, loved the movie!





The Bible: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, and the book of Job. You are going to run into language and themes and imagery from these books over and over and over, so it wouldn't hurt to give these books a good leisurely reading.





1776 by David McCullough





All the President's Men, Woodward and Bernstein





Carl Sandburg's biography of Abraham Lincoln





Here is a web site with a terrific list of classics:


http://books4teensandadults.googlepages....





And the same lady has another page with a list of classics that usually appeal a bit more to girls than guys:


http://books4teensandadults.googlepages....



sweating