| Picture | Title / Author | Description |
 |
"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman | The movie captivated me in 1987, which is strange considering how young I was. I actually recall not wanting to go see it because it sounded very girlie but my parents dragged me there and I loved it. Saw it a second time the next night. I've seen this movie maybe 40 times, now. After many years, though, I spotted the book in Half Price Book stores and picked it up not knowing what to expect. As it turns out, William Goldman is quite a funny writer, which I should've guessed considering his hand in the screenplay, but still - I typically see a larger separation between written works and what ends up on screen. Fortunately, this book is incredible and fleshes out a lot of things skipped over (due to time) in the movie. Also, it's one of the few books that enhances having seen the movie as the actors fit the written characters very well. Buy this book - seriously. |
 |
"Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. The one listed here is the complete 5 book series | OK, first off - I
will broadly state that the movie (2005) sucked. I mean, it
was horrid. Not a fair representation of the incredible
writing work of Douglas Adams at all - it didn't come close to
capturing his unique and very British humor. Oh, and the movie
changed the plot actually adding things not found in the book and
ripping out huge important sections altogether. Horrrid. With that said, the books are a delight - and, yes, I said "books" because there are 5 books in this Trilogy (don't ask) and I highly recommend you just buy the omnibus edition with all 5 books in one. It's just easier that way (and more cost effective). Brilliant comedy with a sci-fi background. Awesome. This is the only book that I have purchased at least 6 copies of - the reason is that I keep giving them away, also an "only" for me. I've read these books many times and now have electronic versions of them on my PDA. |
 |
Any of the Jack Ryan novels by Tom Clancy | You might be surprised to know that 4 of the books in this series have been turned into movies: "Hunt for Red October", "Patriot Games", "Clear and Present Danger". Yes, although the actors changed, these are all part of the Jack Ryan series which encompasses quite a few books, now, over Tom Clancy's long writing career. I just love the way these are written, and I own every one. In fact, most of them I own a hardback and paperback edition. |
| Any of the books by Harlen Coben, but especially the Myron Bolitar ones | ||
 |
Any of the books by Parke Godwin. Some favorites: "Robin and King", "Firelord" | Parke Godwin tells his stories in an interesting fashion, preferring a lot of character development and realism over fantasy and flash. While a typical Arthurian book would follow a traditional English approach and shine an almost God-like light on Arthur, Godwin prefers to look at the more humanistic past of an Arthur born to unique circumstances, introducing characters to me in a very raw, unedited and approachable fashion. I love King Arthur and Robin Hood books, but Godwin's versions are true gems in the midst of commonality. |
| Terry Brooks, especially the Shannara trilogy (the rest of the Shanarra series is good, too - but the original trilogy is special) | ||