Break The Spine.

[dotkel50]

How about Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov? It's sci-fi and mystery combined:

A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!

[BBP]

How about something that is rights-free and thus easily available for all of us?
Let's say...
Ulysses by James Joyce
Iliad
Odyssey
Short stories by Gogol
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

[dotkel50]

I just googled Caves of Steel and found several free download sites. I'm not locked into that book, it was just a suggestion. I'm guessing almost any older book we come up with is free somewhere.

[Collector]

Keep in mind that just because a book can be downloaded does not mean that can be legally. Project Gutenberg has over 33,000 public domain books available for download. Google Books also has many freeware books.

[dotkel50]

Here's a great site for some free sci-fi/fantasy books.
http://www.baen.com/Library/books.asp

[BBP]

Just checking that Google Books and noticing that Hamlet apparently qualifies as Literary Criticism and Naked Lunch qualifies as Psychology. Hmmm.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hamlet is literary criticism? Since when?

I also noticed that Relativity by Albert Einstein is classified in "Classics" - as is the Koran. However, Darwin's The Origin of Species is apparently not a classic. Errr...?

[BBP]

This one. Read only vol 1 so far, it's been a year or so. Started on Within a Budding Grove.

[Jules]

Yay! I can finally post in this thread!

Some of you know I've been listening to audiobooks lately and it's the perfect solution if you simply have zero time to sit down and read. They're perfect for listening to at work (if your work place allows headphones and the work doesn't require too much thinking like mine) and while driving to/from work (takes the edge of of road rage).

So! A list of books I've completed in order as I've "read" them:

Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer: (don't look at me like that!) I truly enjoyed the books. The movies on the other hand, were very bad. The first movie was horrible and to make it even worse than they were: Kristen Stewart. Knowing how emotional the last book is I honestly cannot see her performing the necessary emotions the book-Bella portrays. The book-Bella is funny, witty, clever and keeps me interested even when she's eating a bowl of cereal. Movie-Bella is dull, has an attitude, and gives almost no life to book-Bella. But anyways, about the book. Despite of all the nay-sayers, I liked the book for what it is. Sure, it's not one of the best stories I've experienced but I still like it. Some may say vampires don't sparkle, that's fine, but it's just somebody else's interpretation of a mythical creature. Everyone has their own image of each creature and if they don't like someone else's view, who is to say their view is better than someone else's? It's a love story and a not-so-violet story so it's not suited for everyone.

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Hands down, best story I have experienced in a VERY long time. Complexity, depth of story, colorful characters, completely unexpected ending. It has everything I want in a story. J.K. Rowling is pure genius. She pulls off a story with all these elements WITHOUT harsh violence, booby floppage and cursing. I like to keep the movies as a separate entity from the book series. The movies leave out so much detail, it's hard to love the movies on their own without the books. Without the books, the movies are just a pretty visual. One day I *will* see Harry Potter land in Florida! Yeah!

The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett: Hands down, best story I have experienced in a VERY long time. Okay I said that with Harry Potter but Pillars is in its own 'adult' category. Booby flopping, cursing, human torture, even animal torture (I had to skip this part I couldn't listen to it), the works. Depite of all these things that I mostly would not like in stories, I applaud Mr. Follett for a complex storyline with complex characters. I did like the tv mini series but they do change up the story. Both the book and movie are excellent in their own way. Definitely a good read. To briefly summarize (which is very hard to do) it's a book about cathedrals, political greed between church and state, and of course, a love story.

World Without End by Ken Follett: This is the sequel to Pillars which takes place a few hundred years after. Some say this is just as good as Pillars but I must respectfully disagree. The characters lack uniquness. There were some times when I did not know what one of the main characters looked like! Story is pretty good but I just couldn't get into it as much as I did with Pillars.

The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris: Hands down one of the worst stories I've experienced. This is the one and only case so far where the tv series/movie is far better than the books. I could not place one specific event into a book from books 5 through 8 because they are pretty much summarized as, "who's going to kill sookie next". Does it really take nine books to finally tell the audience that Sookie is part fairy? Books 9 through 11 finally get into the history behind Sookie's parents, Eric's past, Bill's past and even her own. We get to meet Sookie's relatives and other creatures such as Elves and Demons. It's as if Charlaine had zero intention of ending the series. I can only assume she received criticism of the "same ole, same ole" linearity so she finally listened from book 9 on to add some depth to the story. Sorry, Sookie, you rate pretty low on my list. But this doesn't hamper my excitement about Season 4, True Blood!

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: If I hadn't seen the movie, I would have been lost throughout this audiobook because the prose and cadences were extremely long and intricate for as soon as you figured out what they were trying to say, you're trying to hurry up and understand their next sentence. But as a classic of its time, I did enjoy the story and the experience of how things were back in the day such as how it was so important to find a husband because women sometimes didn't have much say-so in the matter. This was very similar in Pillars: Aliena tried to sell a sack of wool and was offered half the amount for better quality wool than the previous seller who received more for his not-so-great quality wool. She was offered less because she was a woman. Rough life! (of course this is from a fictional book so who is to say this is how it really was)

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins: I've only completed the first book along with part of the second, Catching Fire, but as of right now, I'm at the end of my chair! It's such an interesting series. I am enjoying the depth to the story but I wish there was a teeny bit more detail that J.K. Rowling adds to her books. The characters are likeable (although I wish they gave more detail about them too) but It's really interesting and I can't wait to get to work so I can listen again! (Let me say that's the only time you'll see me get excited about work and the long drive to it - to listen to my audiobooks!)

Next on my list is:
Water For Elephants by Sara Guen (heard it's good)
The Host by Stephanie Meyer (heard it's good and that it's similar to The Hunger Games)
Lord of the Rings (seen the movies but haven't read the books)
The Hobbit (heard so much about it)

[Collector]

Next on my list is:
Lord of the Rings (seen the movies but haven't read the books)

Tsk, tsk.

The Hobbit (heard so much about it)

Hobbit first.

[Jules]

Is it a precursor to LotR?

[Tawmis]

Is it a precursor to LotR?

Yes. Very much so.

And the thing is - I bet you will enjoy THE HOBBIT, but may not enjoy LORD OF THE RINGS (which is VERY frequently the case for non hardcore fantasy types).

[BBP]

I read LOTR before Hobbit and it took down my appreciation for the latter a bit, if you already know an important stretch of the story and have to munch your way through it in kiddie language. It's not necessary for the LOTR story save the ring section (which is summarized in LOTR) but if you're going to read both anyway it's preferable to start with Hobbit.

[Rath Darkblade]

Definitely read Hobbit first! It introduces the concept of the ring, plus six of the most MAJOR characters in Middle-Earth. (I won't spoil it by saying who!)

[AndreaDraco]

The Hobbit, while not necessary to understand the events of LotR, makes for a very nice reading. You'll breeze through it, I'm sure!

(And, while we're at it, Julie: disavow Stephanie Meyer! She represents all that's bad in the world! )