Books - by author
- Douglas Adams
Most famous for the series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Adams has written another series about the exploits of a private detective, Dirk Gently. Great comedy, cool sci-fi, and fast reading to boot!
Suggested Reading:- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Last Chance to See
- The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
- So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
- *Robert Asprin
Writer of many books, but our favorites are the Myth Adventures series.
Suggested Reading:- Any Myth Adventures book
- The first Thieves World book
- Ray Bradbury
Waukegan native Bradbury has written some of the most interesting and challenging science fiction ever written. And no one can weave d escriptions the way he can.
Suggested Reading:- Fahrenheit 451
- The Illustrated Man
- The Martian Chronicles
- Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Albert Camus
One of the leading existential writers, his books can change the way you look at life. BE WARNED: you cannot go back after reading Camus.
Suggested Reading:- The Myth of Sisyphus and other Essays
- The Plague
- The Stranger
- Lewis Carroll
aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, mathmatician and clergyman, is one of my greatest influences. He defies comparison.
Suggested Reading:- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- The Hunting of the Snark
- Symbolic Logic
- Through the Looking Glass
- John Donne
One of the great pre-romantic poets and your humble narrator's favorite. How one man can be so exulting yet so bitter towards women is a wonder.
Suggested Reading:- Get a book of his poetry!
- Michael Moorcock
Writer of the famed Elric series, Moorcock's books are both entertaining and easy to read. And if you don't like a demon serving albino sorcerer who is a slave to his soul swallowing sword, then you don't read enough.
Suggested Reading:- Elric of Melnibone
- The Fortress of the Pearl
- Sailor on the Seas of Fate
- Stormbringer
- *Frederick Forsythe
Better than Clancy because he's not so high on the establishment, man. As far as I'm concerned, he's king of the action/spy novels.
Suggested Reading:- The Day of the Jackal
- The Dogs of War
- The Odessa File
- William Goldman
Cool author that your numble narrator discovered freshman year of high school (thanks again, Mr. O'Laughlin!). Easy to read and interesting story twists. Check him out.
Suggested Reading:- Magic
- Marathon Man
- George Orwell
Way cool, but his work can be very depressing. Imagine reading Camus, Vonnegut, and Orwell in the same span and you'll understand me better!
Suggested Reading:- 1984
- Animal Farm
- Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut may be seen as the father of the web because he tended to write in those short paragraph bursts that could be considered the root of the WWW. His books are great for a while, but hard to swallow in large doses.
Suggested Reading:- Breakfast of Champions
- Mother Night
- Player Piano
- Slapstick
- Slaughterhouse Five
- Welcome to the Monkey House
- Robert Anton Wilson
King of cool conspiracies, beloved by fanatics everywhere, Wilson has a take on life that isn't heard much these days. Wilson is not for traditional types who liked Love Story.
Suggested Reading:- The Historical Illuminatus Trilogy
- The Illuminatus Trilogy
- Masks of the Illuminati
- Reality is What You Make of It
More details on these books coming soon.
- Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks
- Good Omens - Terry Brooks and Neil Gaiman
- The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Neuromancer - William Gibson
- The Nevereding Story - Michael Ende
- The Princess Bride - William Golding
- Snowcrash - Neil Stephenson
- The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway