Telling the tale

[Duetta]

Nicholas Monsarrat: The Master Mariner

All of Val McDermid

Oh and I really like J. K. Rowling too.....

Duetta

[acissej]

This is hard. So many choices...

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Grendel by John Gardner
Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
The Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol
The Nose by Nikolai Gogol

Although everyone had such great choices, I've especially got to agree with Curtis on O'Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief"--that's an all-time favorite of mine. And with Fox on Equus.

-acissej

[Finding_Fantasy]

Well, most of the books that I like probably wouldn't appear on anyone else's list but here goes.

The Halfblood Chronciles by Andre Northon and Mercedes Lackey (3 books in all)
The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Blackwood Farms by Anne Rice

It's funny that this thread should come up. I was actually thinking of putting up a book and mvie review page on my website and asking people to review any books that they may have read.

[rlsk]

Ooh, yes, Joy Luck Club.

My recommendation is the novels of Elizabeth Berg, especially Never Change, Range of Motion, and Open House. Very sweet, sad and funny.

[Finding_Fantasy]

I can't believe I forgot to mention Elvenbane, which is my favourite out of the trilogy!

Oh and how about The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey, as well? that's a good one.

I have the first three books of the Halfblood Chronicles, but I am under the impression, after reading the last one, Elvenblood, that there is going to be a fourth. I love Mercedes Lackey. I used to have all of the Valdemar Chronicles, but I had to seel them I have not read The Fire Rose, but I have read Firebird which is also by her and it is based on a Russian Fairy Tale. I also have a HC copy of The Black Swan signed by her.

Right now I am reading Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. It's good, but long, about 835 pages I think and I am a slow reader.

[albear]

i'm currently reading the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
they're kind of hard to get into at first (like, six weeks to get past the first chapter!) but i stuck with it, and it's so easy to get caught up in the magic and romance. i actually felt sick for the hero when he was in trouble. now for me, that is good story telling

[zagadee]

for me, my top list has to be:

'Dust', but Charles pellegrino

'Prey' and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

'Men at Arms' and 'Nightwatch' by Terry Pratchett

'Fandom of the Operator' and 'Nostrodamus Ate My Hamster' by Robert Rankin

'Day of the Triffids' By Jon Wyndam

basically science thrillers and humourous books do it for me

[zagadee]

Oh, also the World War series by Harry Turtledove, probably the best alternative history writer out there.

[Xue Lan]

Fox and I have been following this thread with great interest. There are some very very good books here, that you as writers can learn from.
That is the pupose of this thread. It is not supposed to be a list of FAVOURITE books, it is intended to be a list of WELL WRITTEN books that can teach.

I quote andibabe to demonstrate what is intended:

"The Other Boyelyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory

She's excellent at writing seduction; and also the wavering of loyalties and the conflict it causes within a person. Very good at first person point of view; not many authors are."

Thank you.

[Curtis]

Thank you for the clarification, Xue Lan. In that case, I will recommend "Sorcery and Cecilia" by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. It was written as a series of letters back and forth between the two authors, each pretending to be a Victorian-era sorceress/debutante. There's magic (of course) and a mystery to solve, and the milieu to keep consistent. This is a technique that would be easily adaptable by modern authors collaborating on stories via the Internet.

Each one tells what happened to their character over a two or three day period, then sends the letter off to their friend to tell their next part of the story. In this particular instance, the girls are friends who have been seperated for the summer, one rusticating in the countryside while the other "comes out" in London, so there's no problem (until the end) with stepping on each other's toes or pirating each other's characters.

Most authors would probably do this instead with both characters experiencing the same things (roughly), and each telling from their own perspective how events transpired, but you could do it with the two authors playing the parts of e-mail "pen pals" who live far apart but know some of the same people.

[Finding_Fantasy]

I had completely forgotten about this well written book until I watched the movie last night. (Though, as always, the book is way better). That one is

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. It is also known as its full title The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders.