MikeSellers45 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Over the summer for my AP World History Class, I have to read one of these books and do a book report. Have any of read any of these books? I don't like reading much so can anyone tell me which is the shortest? Fiction A Soldier of the Great War, Mark Helprin The Winter King, Bernard Cornwall Any of the "Richard Sharpe" novels by Bernard Cornwall Any of Patrick O'Brian's Napoleonic Sailing Novels Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield Gertrude and Claudius, John Updike Timeline, Michael Crichton Lest Darkness Fall, L Sprague de Camp Things Fall Apart, Cinua Achebe Heart of Darkness, William Conrad The Quiet American, Graham Green The Heart of Matter, Graham Green All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque Nathaniel's Nutmeg, Giles Milton Monkey, Ch'engen Wu Trinity, Leon Uris Exodus, Leon Uris The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown Life of Pi, Yann Martel The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco The Fixer, Bernard Malamud Hard Times. Charles Dickens Great Expectations, Charles Dickens The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway Thief of Time, Terry Prachet QuickSilver, Neil Stephonson I, Claudius, Robert Graves Non-Fiction Modern Times, Paul Johnson Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond The Third Chimpanzee, Jared Diamond The Dragons of Eden, Carl Sagan The Discoverers, Daniel Boorstein Plagues and Peoples, William McNeil The Columbian Exchange, Alfred Cosby Wonderful Life, Stephen J. Gould Catastrophe, David Keyes What Went Wrong?, Bernard Lewis The Day the Universe Changed, James Burke On Arms and Men, Michael Connell Warriors of Steppe, Erik Hildinger A History of Warfare, John Keegan Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography, Diana Price Shakespeare- Who Was He?, Richard F. Whalen Goodbye to All That, Robert Graves Dreadnought, Robert Massie Nicholas and Alexandra, Robert Massie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twenty-eight Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Things Fall Apart, Cinua Achebe It's a great book, it's also an easy read and not that long... Life of Pi I really liked this book as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfanevan Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 do yourself a favor, read da vinci code Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twenty-eight Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 ^^ Dont read that that, total SNOOZEFEST:2cents: do you listen to the roots? they named an album after Things Fall Apart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsD Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Things Fall Apart is a great book as is All Quiet on the Western Front. I would go with A Farewell to Arms which is one of my favorite books. A great story and easy to read. I highly recommend it. A lot of symbolism which you can write about in your paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissU28 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Read Things Fall Apart in college...and Da Vinci Code of course.... 1st book is okay, second is fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Gates of Fire and DaVinci code are easy reads and perhaps will enjoy them despite not liking reading. Uris is good ,but Trinity is long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdskn4Lyf21 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Timeline by Crichton is excellent.... Ive read many books on those lists for school, and its the best read (its longer, but very entertaining). Sadly, the movie did it absoutely no justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooka Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield Timeline, Michael Crichton Life of Pi, Yann Martel These are all easy reads. Gates of Fire and Life of Pi are excellent. * Timeline by Crichton is excellent.... Sadly, the movie did it absoutely no justice. Whoa, movie? When did that happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinz89 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Even i've read the Da Vinci Code, it was good, not great but good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdskn4Lyf21 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Gates of Fire, Steven PressfieldTimeline, Michael Crichton Life of Pi, Yann Martel These are all easy reads. Gates of Fire and Life of Pi are excellent. *Whoa, movie? When did that happen? I want to say 3-4 years ago: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406274/info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSellers45 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Does anyone have any page number totals? And thanks for your help everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdskn4Lyf21 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Does anyone have any page number totals? And thanks for your help everyone. Hey man, Don't go for the shortest book...it could end up being the longest. What interests you? Choose one on your interests and that one will be the quickest because it will hold your attention and you'll retain more so you aren't daydreaming it while reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 read the Life of Pi, great book, and probably even more enjoyable for a religious person. Guns, Germs, and Steel will teach you the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashburnskinsfan Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Does anyone have any page number totals? And thanks for your help everyone. On Amazon.com there is an option called Text Stats for each book you search on that gives you the number of words. Although probably not the shortest, Timeline is a very easy read. The Dragons of Eden is a fantastic book from the non-fiction list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooka Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hey man,Don't go for the shortest book...it could end up being the longest. What interests you? Choose one on your interests and that one will be the quickest because it will hold your attention and you'll retain more so you aren't daydreaming it while reading it. Yea, you'll breeze through Gates of Fire or Timeline twice as fast as you'd get through 200 pages of Great Expectations.Life of Pi is definently one of the shortest books up there though. Can't be any more then 350 pages and a good number of the pages have text covering only half of the page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I can't believe that a schlocky book like the DaVinci Code is on that list with such great novels as All Quiet on the Western Front, Heart of Darkness and A Farewell to Arms. Don't decide based on which book has the fewest pages. Pick one that interests you. Recommendations: Any of the three classics listed above. Name of the Rose is a great book, but it is HARD reading, and very long. Everyting else Eco wrote is conplete garbage. I loved Dreadnought - it explains all the personalities behind World War I and is a real page turner. Nicholas and Alexandra is a bit drier. A History of Warfare - John Keegan is a great military writer Guns, Germs and Steel - explains why Europen civilization came to diminate the world - you will learn a lot Dragons of Eden - good discussion of issues around the biological evolution of human intelligence and Sagan was a heck of a writer. The easiest read is probably Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett is a comedic Sci-Fi writer. That would be the lame way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symbol Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I read The Da Vinci Code, good read, but I find a lot of the conspiracies a little far fetched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I read All Quiet on the Western Front, and DaVinci Code..both very good books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSellers45 Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Thanks, I am going with Life of Pi. It seems interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Goodness don't pick Great Expectations by Charles Dickens! I think it was the boringest book I ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shsu1 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I've read Things Fall Apart and Great Expectations in high school. I still haven't read the Da Vinci Code and don't plan on doing so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techboy Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I don't like reading much so can anyone tell me which is the shortest? I can tell you that it ain't Focault's Pendulum. I think you're being a bit unfair to it, though, Predicto. After the first 50 pages, which were very tedious, I thought it was quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Another vote AGAINST "Trinity". My wife read the book recently... long book... and boring. Unless you really enjoy learning about Irish culture in itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsForLife260 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque i read this for summer reading. Its a good book. And wasnt to long. Its about a young soilder's time in WW1 from germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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