[y0]

hi everyone...eh just a little question: what books do you read for inspiration? or what books do you like to read just for fun, and give you inspiration?
(answer w/ book titles, authors, book genres and so on) for me...i havent read in a few years (so i wouldnt know)

[christian cox]

Hmm, I read different kinds of books. Biographies, How-to, Fiction, etc. I'll list some of my favorites:

(Fiction) Gormenghast, The Lord of the Rings, Ender's Game, Amber Chronicles, A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Silmarillion, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich, Ender's Shadow, Speaker for the Dead, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Out of the Silent Planet.

(Non-Fiction) The Coen Brothers Biography, The Art of 3-D Computer Imagery and Animation, The Illusion of Life, The Natural Way to Draw, Becoming a Computer Artist, How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way, Chuck Amuck, The Cuckoo's Egg.

[aquamire]

I cant go to sleep without reading something. It's a habit.. one that I think is good.

The entire Dune series, including the new books written by Frank Herberts son, Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson. Not as complex, but still, very good stories.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Doug Adams. Hillarious and thought provoking. It'll leave you in stitches, then confused about your existence.

Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, by Hunter Thompson. Very interesting and sometimes disturbing reading. My dad was a biker back in the day and knew some angels.. he said they were every bit as bad if not worse than book describes them to be, tho they had their good moments.

Fire in the Mind -- Cant remember authors name. A book exploring humanities quest for order in a sea of chaos. It shows that science and religion tho claiming to be very different, are both the same kind of tools that we humans use to try and maintain relative sanity.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Persig. I honestly didn't understand three quarters of the philosophy discussed in this book, but it was really 3 books in one anyways. The true story of an extremely intelligent man who went insane and went through shock therapy, loosing most of his lifes memories. The story of his new self and his son, traveling across the United States on a motorcycle. And of course, an exploration of human values.

Hmm. I need to read more. I recommend all the above books to anyone who enjoys literature that makes them think.

[xXxPZxXx]

- I enjoy reading almost anything by Howard Zinn (the zinn reader) or Noam Chomsky (Necessary Illusions) those two authors are as good as it gets when you are talking about politics.

-I just got done with "how to think like Leonardo da Vinci" by Michael J. Gelb. I think EVERYONE should invest in this book. Dunno why but something about it really got me motivated. Its a life changer =D

[J Bradford]

I am currently reading 'The Count of Monte Crisco', it's a really good book - there happens to be a movie comming out for it soon as well.

Fantasy books are good too, especially Dragonlance novels - full of things you can use as ideas, play around with, etc.

Science Fiction too.

I think Bladerunner and Lord of the Rings series should be base books anyone reads before moving on to more Fantasy it Scu-Fi novels.

[Ahcri]

I'm currently reading The Biography of Joseph Beuys. He really is my newest hero, opened all sort of inventive ideas about art.

[y0]

thanks for the replies...i guess i might pick up the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. it was recommended 2 times here, and i've seen it come up a lot.

[Awetopsy]

draw magazine!!!

[Glondus]

Im trying to get all of the Fantasy Masterworks series. Ive got about 5 or 6 so far.

Also trying to find some good faerie literature. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Lunatique]

Generally, literature, contemporary or classic.

I still read fantasy sometimes, but reading them again after having read contemporary literature, I find the writing in sci-fi and fantasy lacking in general.

Try reading Kathryn Harrison or Peter Hoeg. Or if you don't mind classics, Tolstoy is a good read.

[maceface]

im into cyberpunk novels...my favorite authors are

William Gibson: Nueromancer, countzero,johnny Mnuemonic and alot others

Bruce Sterling

they both rock!

and i often pic up "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu....in all actuality its a great book

[klaivu]

try ozamu dazai.

[klaivu]

f*n double post ..

[ December 01, 2001: Message edited by: klaivu ]

[Red Leader]

I always have a pile of books on the go...

Currently I am reading:

• The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes - a history of the brutal colonization of Australia
  
• The Universe in a Nutshell, by Steven Hawking- his recent follow up to A Brief History of Time
  
• The Seekers, by Daniel J. Boorstin, a history of western Philosophy ( I also loved his books "the Creators" and "the Discoverers"
  
• The Art of Color, by Johannes Itten- an excellent book on color theory
  
• The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac- A book about life by one of the fathers of the Beat Generation. Dig?
  

I usually read Popular Science, Scientific American, and Cinefex as far as magazines go.

In general, I like to read science and history books, as well as far out CyberPunk (I like Jeff Noon's stuff)
Also books about the Bushido.

My all time favorite auhor is Hermann Hesse. (He wrote Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and the Nobel prize winning Glass Bead Game) Truly an inspiring man. I've read nearly all of his books.

[ December 01, 2001: Message edited by: Red Leader ]

[the_monkey]

i liked "A bold new world" by aldos huxley.
the wheel of time series
all quiet on the western front
a primer on postmodernism
out of the silent planet
and of course the lord of the rings...

[A.Buttle]

"Brave New World", monkey.

[Minefield]

For inspiration I think Iain Banks has written the best stuff, since scifi is pretty much all I read.

Heh, just found a wacky site... Might not understand if you haven't read his books.
http://www.floatingplanet.net/phlebas/

Well, anyway, there was a pretty good site for information about him, but I forgot the url.

[Aura]

ah for inspiration: Wings of A Dove was a great book and if you're a real man then you don't believe in women's books.
Recreation:Buffy the Vampire Slayer my fave is the Gateway Trilogy.

[y0]

oh snap :P i forgot about this thread hehehe...thanks everyone else for replying. i'll be looking into those books and asking for second opinions.