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10387 Posts
At my school we do this thing called Accelerated Reader, which is 10% of our english grade. AR is due next week and I have.. about 500k words I need to read haha.. Usually I get all this stuff done pretty quickly but I haven't really been able to find any interesting books this year.
Books I really liked (and have already tested) are the Ender series, LotR books, HP books, Bartimaeus Trilogy, Fountainhead and some others I can't really remember right now. I tried to read Inkheart and this bigass book by Tom Clancy, but I got kinda bored of those and stopped reading it.
For a point of reference, Fountainhead is around 300k words.
Edit: My preferred genre is that of Fantasy/Sci-Fi, or a combination of the two, but I do not mind the other genres. I have read some fiction novels that involved some litigation (Forgot the author's name, books were titled something like "The Judge" or "The Firm", idk), which I enjoyed. As long as its well-written at least, I should enjoy it.
More books I really enjoyed:The Last Book in the Universe
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Jules Verne novel's are the way to go.
20k leagues under the sea, Mysterious island
Journey to the center of the earth..so many good ones.
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Try A game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, its the first book of A song of ice and fire. I liked it.
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THE DIAMOND AGE BY NEAL STEPHENSON
I put it in caps because YOU SHOULD REALLY REALLY READ IT
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Each book in the Night's Dawn trilogy is probably 450-500k words. Way too much sex in the first book, and although most people seem to think the sequels weren't nearly as good I liked them more.
Battlefield Earth is about that length too, but I haven't read it since I was like 12 so I can't vouch for its quality anymore. Was a hell of a lot better than the movie, at least (not that that says anything).
I can't think of any other +1k page books I've enjoyed. The first several books of the Wheel of Time are good, but you'd probably have to read the first two to get your 500k words.
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George R. R. Martin books were good. I really like how he randomly kills main characters from time to time. Never know what to expect.
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Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
The 100 by Michael Hart
Catch22 by Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
3x Carlin by George Carlin
Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter/Phantoms in the Brain by V. S. Ramachandran(s/p)
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
Thats a pretty good mix for you to read, any 2/3 will suffice
Are you required to read fiction or nonfiction? Because only 2 from my list are fiction
oh and every person that is alive required to read:
"The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy"- simply the best series ever made
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Baa?21244 Posts
Did you also read the Ender's Shadow Quartet/Speaker Trilogy? First Meetings?
Try the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix if you liked Bartimaeus. Pretty typical fantasy stuff, but pretty well written from what I remember.
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman definitely. In line with that, read Paradise Lost by Milton if you're in the mood for some classics.
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I HATED the Ender's Shadow series. I really wanted and tried to like them, but all the international politics were so silly and shallow I just couldn't take them seriously.
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I liked eragon, eldest, and brisingr you should read them.
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I second Jules Verne and also recommend H.G. Wells. The easy answer is "War of the Worlds" but I'd recommend "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" and "The Invisible Man" as they are both excellent works. I couldn't guess their length in words though. They're short novels and may only put a dent in the required amount of reading. For something lengthy you might check out Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra." If you don't mind that it reads in a manner similar to the Bible, it is an interesting philosophical piece.
Edit: I forgot H.G.'s "Star-Begotten." The ending felt a little predictable but left me with a smile never the less.
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My fav book used to be Ender's Game ... until I read A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. They're totally different genres but check it out. All of John Irving's books are well written (he did Cider House Rules as well as The World According to Garp).
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The Unknown Terrorist - Richard Flanagan
Stranger in a strange land - Robert Heinlein
Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly
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My Colombian Death
An Australian news writer becomes so frustrated and bored with his work that he travels to Columbia:
"My Columbian Death covers Thompson's 2006 experiences in Colombia, when he roamed the country spending time at carnivals, with gang members and cocaine dealers, ran with bulls, played the explosive drinking game of tejo, met Salvatore Mancuso, the then-head of the right-wing paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a US-designated terrorist organisation, made friends in the bohemian circles of Medellin and drank the legendary shamanic hallucinogen, yage AKA Ayahuasca. (wikipedia)"
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10387 Posts
AR quizzes I can take are listed at http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp?c=MA 71:11:2 9002/6/21
George RR Martin, The Diamond Age, Night's Dawn trilogy, Wheel of Time and Abhorsen Trilogy except Abhorsen (-_-) were not available as tests sadly. Those looked quite fantastic, but unfortunately..
The Jules Vernes books, 20k leagues and Around the World in 50 Days are listed, along with the Owen Meany books and HG Wells books
I've read the Eragon series, those are ok, not my favorite.
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Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. I suppose you could classify it as fantasy but that book is really in a genre of its own. It follows the lives of four main characters, a waitress in modern Seattle, a perfume shop owner in New Orleans, the co-owner of a perfume company in France, and an exiled Norwegian King.
Tom Robbins is a fantastic author. It isn't your typical fantasy but it was the best book I've ever read.
Any of the Robert Heinlein novels are excellent but as a sci-fi fan you've probably read them.
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read the dark elf trilogy by R.A Salvatore great light reading, and it'll fit your quota nicely, and FWIW the writing is leaps and bounds ahead of the Eragon series. most fantasy light reading.
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On December 06 2009 17:21 ArvickHero wrote:AR quizzes I can take are listed at http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp?c=MA 71:11:2 9002/6/21George RR Martin, The Diamond Age, Night's Dawn trilogy, Wheel of Time and Abhorsen Trilogy except Abhorsen (-_-) were not available as tests sadly. Those looked quite fantastic, but unfortunately.. The Jules Vernes books, 20k leagues and Around the World in 50 Days are listed, along with the Owen Meany books and HG Wells books I've read the Eragon series, those are ok, not my favorite.
Catch22 and Slaughterhouse 5 are though
Hitchiker isnt T__T
Read Catch22(its level is 7.1 and its worth 30 points? Thats good I suppose). Its my favorite novel and all I can say its pretty fucking awesome, awesome chars, very hilarious and humongous and makes a lot of strong points.
I also recommend 100 years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez, a fantastic and epic novel
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On December 06 2009 16:19 zerosiris wrote:
Try A game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, its the first book of A song of ice and fire. I liked it.
This. A good read and a page turner.
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MrHoon
10183 Posts
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling is also fun
Science fiction (more steampunk though)
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Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. one of the best novels ever written.
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Oh, also Stephen King's Darktower series, seriously it was epic.
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Austin10833 Posts
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: A Novel by Michael Chabon
Chabon is probably my current favorite modern prose writer; he's absolutely amazing.
http://www.renlearn.com/store/quiz_home.asp?cmd=specific&i=79695&root=AUTHOR&ftextoption=allwords&y=Chabon&q=Chabon&x=10&w=1&autoscroll=NO&quiztype=ALL&RPMatch=
edit:
From the 'pedia
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is a 2000 novel by American author Michael Chabon that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001. The novel follows the lives of the title characters, a Czech artist named Joe Kavalier and a Brooklyn-born writer named Sam Clay—both Jewish—before, during, and after World War II. Kavalier and Clay become major figures in the nascent comics industry during its "Golden Age." Kavalier & Clay was published to "nearly unanimous praise" and became a New York Times Best Seller, receiving nominations for the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. In 2006, Bret Easton Ellis declared the novel "one of the three great books of my generation", and in 2007, The New York Review of Books called the novel Chabon's magnum opus.
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On December 06 2009 16:49 Probe. wrote:
I liked eragon, eldest, and brisingr you should read them.
lololool I was going to say this as a troll post
Now that my game is up I'm going to second A song of ice and fire series. Wheel of Time series is also pretty good, I also like the Dune series (but only the first six books, the later books by his son were really bad I heard)
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Terry Pratchett
=>guaranteed super phun time
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I loooove book threads, I used to be a huge book guy, reading a book a day (or two, I would skip school to read).
Now I read Teamliquid lol.
Also I've read most of Terry Pratchet and all of Hitchhikers Guide and they aren't THAT special. Good though.
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Anything by David Gemmell
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On December 06 2009 16:31 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
Try the Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix
I definitely agree; I've read and enjoyed all the books you've posted that you've read, and I really really liked the Abhorsen trilogy.
Also, I think those law books are written by John Grisham. I've quite enjoyed all his books I've read, too.
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Vatican City State1650 Posts
Contact, by Carl Sagan. Is nice.
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On December 06 2009 16:12 ArvickHero wrote:
At my school we do this thing called Accelerated Reader, which is 10% of our english grade. AR is due next week and I have.. about 500k words I need to read haha.. Usually I get all this stuff done pretty quickly but I haven't really been able to find any interesting books this year.
Books I really liked (and have already tested) are the Ender series, LotR books, HP books, Bartimaeus Trilogy, Fountainhead and some others I can't really remember right now. I tried to read Inkheart and this bigass book by Tom Clancy, but I got kinda bored of those and stopped reading it.
For a point of reference, Fountainhead is around 300k words.
Edit: My preferred genre is that of Fantasy/Sci-Fi, or a combination of the two, but I do not mind the other genres. I have read some fiction novels that involved some litigation (Forgot the author's name, books were titled something like "The Judge" or "The Firm", idk), which I enjoyed. As long as its well-written at least, I should enjoy it.
More books I really enjoyed:The Last Book in the Universe
wow.
your are exactly like me. like the book you have read, and your fav genre, this is really, really weird
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On December 06 2009 17:45 Vharox wrote:Show nested quote +On December 06 2009 16:19 zerosiris wrote:
Try A game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, its the first book of A song of ice and fire. I liked it. This. A good read and a page turner.
triple quote
i read this in 2 days cuz i couldnt put it down
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Dan Simmons - Hyperion cantos. No need to look any further.
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Some book to do with grammar
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Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
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Wow...I was about to recommend Ender's Game to you, but I guess you've read it. Have you read the rest of them? Most of them are VERY good, and I'd highly recommendt hem.
But if you haven't read it already, I HIGHLY SUPER HIGHLY recommend that you read The Alchemist by...Paulo Coelho. It's a simple but incredibly good book to read.
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Baa?21244 Posts
On December 07 2009 01:45 Zergneedsfood wrote:
But if you haven't read it already, I HIGHLY SUPER HIGHLY recommend that you read The Alchemist by...Paulo Coelho. It's a simple but incredibly good book to read.
I did not like The Alchemist 
I can't believe I forgot to say the Hitchhiker's "Trilogy" by Douglas Adams, yes, definitely read those.
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On December 07 2009 01:45 Zergneedsfood wrote:
Wow...I was about to recommend Ender's Game to you, but I guess you've read it. Have you read the rest of them? Most of them are VERY good, and I'd highly recommendt hem.
But if you haven't read it already, I HIGHLY SUPER HIGHLY recommend that you read The Alchemist by...Paulo Coelho. It's a simple but incredibly good book to read.
I had to read The Alchemist for English....pretty boring imo.
Ender's Game is REALLY good. but kinda short.
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Neuromancer Trilogy - William Gibson, Cyberpunk.
Idoru - William Gibson.
Otherland Series - Tad Williams.
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Valhalla18444 Posts
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
one of the best read's I've ever had, highly highly recommend
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On December 07 2009 06:46 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
one of the best read's I've ever had, highly highly recommend
Was just going to post this. Excellent book. Can't wait for sequel.
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Some Lovecraft. It is a mix of Fantastic / Sci fi ( usually in the early 20th ) / Horror.
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Ugh, fantasy and scifi? I agree that they can be enjoyable but I recommend broadening your horizon, especially for an english class. Personally I think it's so much more fun to think about books with deeper themes.
If you like humor/satire I suggest Catch22, it's about WW2 and is just hilarious all the way through, great book and I can't imagine anyone on this site not liking it.
A great psychological masterpiece that I recommend is crime and punishment by dostoevsky, although I'm not sure if you can read it for an english class. It's a brilliant story about someone's state of mind dealing with murder.
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House of Leaves is a good albeit difficult read.
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Baa?21244 Posts
House of the Scorpion is a good easy read with some deeper themes.
Anything by Dostoevsky is great of course.
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10387 Posts
On December 06 2009 19:22 BookTwo wrote:Show nested quote +On December 06 2009 16:12 ArvickHero wrote:
At my school we do this thing called Accelerated Reader, which is 10% of our english grade. AR is due next week and I have.. about 500k words I need to read haha.. Usually I get all this stuff done pretty quickly but I haven't really been able to find any interesting books this year.
Books I really liked (and have already tested) are the Ender series, LotR books, HP books, Bartimaeus Trilogy, Fountainhead and some others I can't really remember right now. I tried to read Inkheart and this bigass book by Tom Clancy, but I got kinda bored of those and stopped reading it.
For a point of reference, Fountainhead is around 300k words.
Edit: My preferred genre is that of Fantasy/Sci-Fi, or a combination of the two, but I do not mind the other genres. I have read some fiction novels that involved some litigation (Forgot the author's name, books were titled something like "The Judge" or "The Firm", idk), which I enjoyed. As long as its well-written at least, I should enjoy it.
More books I really enjoyed:The Last Book in the Universe wow. your are exactly like me. like the book you have read, and your fav genre, this is really, really weird
TL attracts like-minded individuals :D
On December 06 2009 20:36 resonance wrote:
Some book to do with grammar
haha, funny  Grammar is definitely one of my weakest points
On December 07 2009 09:41 Frits wrote:
Ugh, fantasy and scifi? I agree that they can be enjoyable but I recommend broadening your horizon, especially for an english class. Personally I think it's so much more fun to think about books with deeper themes.
If you like humor/satire I suggest Catch22, it's about WW2 and is just hilarious all the way through, great book and I can't imagine anyone on this site not liking it.
A great psychological masterpiece that I recommend is crime and punishment by dostoevsky, although I'm not sure if you can read it for an english class. It's a brilliant story about someone's state of mind dealing with murder.
Well, those are my preferred genres because they spark my imagination but I remember reading QBVII (Not sure if thats the title, it was about this Nazi doctor being prosecuted by Jews I think), it was kinda hard to get into but I liked it. Also I really liked Foutainhead :D both books are AR so I might read those.
that was really nice of you, looks really interesting I'll be sure to read it
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10387 Posts
On December 07 2009 06:46 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
one of the best read's I've ever had, highly highly recommend
looks good, but school library does not carry it sadly :l
On December 07 2009 10:18 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
House of the Scorpion is a good easy read with some deeper themes.
Anything by Dostoevsky is great of course.
looks good, this dystopic stuff really interests me :D
On December 07 2009 05:24 LiminalMadness wrote:
Neuromancer Trilogy - William Gibson, Cyberpunk.
Idoru - William Gibson.
Otherland Series - Tad Williams.
None of those specific books by that Gibson are AR xD
Slaughterhouse Five and the Dark Tower series sounds like something I could read
Thank you all for your suggestions  I'll be spending the entire next week reading non-stop xD
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/books/reviews/inline-interview-matt-thompson-My-Colombian-Death.jpg)
