What’s your favourite book? | ADHD Information

My all time fav kids books would without a doubt are 'Witches' and 'The Twits' by R.Dahl.

I loved all of his stories actually. I've dropped hints about his collection for Xmas.

I couldnt get into Robinson Crusoe. I tried readng it a few times but found it dead boring.

I liked 'The three musketeers' by Alexandre Dumas. That was my favourite in Year 12. I did my final essay for my exam on that novel.

Narnia - one of em for sure. Movie comin out soon for those who can't read.

peita- i noticed your favorite books are pretty short.

no offense. mine are too.

if i do read a whole book, it's either in a matter of hours, or a matter of years (decades even!).

clockwork orange was really good.

favorite of all time would be.... well, i can't even remember.

wait- i think it's coming to me.

for fiction, Robinson Crusoe. living on an island, self-sufficient, free of an aggravating frustrating society, and all those irritating people.... i read this book several times.

for non-fiction, 'driven to distraction', any of thom hartmann's books, or the 'Rules of Epictitus.' or possibly 'siddartha'.(wait- siddartha would be fiction, huh? seemed pretty real to me.)

rules of epictitus is the philosophy of stoicism. a set of principles that, in reflection, helped me manage lots of this adhd stuff as a teen.

Well, I've got ya'll beat....lol....My sister sent me one of my favorites as a kinda' joke last birthday (since I have raised some huge goldfish lately)...."A Fish Out of Water", by Helen Palmer. The last book I managed to read all the way through was "Jaws"....never seen the movie- just excerpts.

Another kids book I loved was "Andy Buckram's Tin Men", about a boy that built "robots" from all kinds of scraps...in a dream they get charged by a bolt of lightning and a wonderful companionship is formed with a great adventure involved.

Most of my favorites are from childhood. Two that stand out are The Outsiders and Jacob Have I Loved. Looking back on it, it seems that both are about not fitting in, not feeling special, etc. -- pretty much how I felt growing up.

I also liked Ghosts I Have Been about a psychic girl who portends the sinking of the Titanic. I liked her story-- she had special gifts, she was poor, a loner, common sensical, independent.

Classics I liked were A Separate Peace and A Catcher in the Rye.

Books I've liked as an adult are Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, 100 Malicious Little Mysteries (the BEST book of short stories I've EVER read-- these are great little mysteries that will make you laugh, gasp, or shiver! edited by Isaac Isimov. I strongly recommend it), everything by Jane Austin (just reread her anthology-- hard read, but the romantic endings make me laugh and clap my hands with glee. I'm a sap.), and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evening (I might actually like the movie better since it has John Cusack, my husband).

For some time now I have lost the ability to read . . . and make any sense of
it. I have my best luck on the internet. I can read small bits and pieces and
enlarge the type as needed. I don't think I have read a whole book for 20
years, perhaps more. I did like the Dickens books in middle school. Pip was
the name of one of the charters I liked back then.

Favorite books when I was a child...

Anything about Pipi Longstocking. ( Anybody remember her?) I felt like we could've been sisters.. I liked how she loved her freckles ( I had lots) and how she wasnt afraid to be her own funny, freeloving, wierd self.. She had all the makings of the personality that I had worked so hard to suppress as a child... ( Excuse me, Psychology Today? no no, not interested.... ) sorry delving too deep there.

Favorite grown up books are currently anything by John Grisham.. I love the legal mysteries .. so cool. In the past, I have also enjoyed Stephen King before the writting of IT ( too much sex, I wanted to be scared.. that book ruined it for me, havent bought another SK novel since then.) I've also enjoyed books from the Left Behind Series - Ive read all but the last one, I think.

Sherry

All in one book is a good idea for the likes of me!

And you're right, it would have been interesting. I think the kids series may have been a little scarier. I love both writers, although The Hobbit took me forever to read for some reason.

Hi my all time favourite is prob the Lion the Witch and the wardrobe! It takes me back to my happier childhood days when I didn't even know I had ADD, I was labelled scatty. I would just be myself in my day dream world! Now as an adult, (well Im only 19) I have to co operate with this world!

xxx

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?

I ask purely because I am rather nosey

I've got loads of favourites but the top two at this moment would be;

1. A Clockwork Orange.

2. Wuthering Heights.

Ok, your turn...............

Yeh exactly. I always day dream. I am writing a book at the mo, to release my imagination.

Going back to your job it sounds interesting. I would like to do something like that I think. Hopefully get my book published. I work in Fashion, doing boring admin. Central London. It's cool where I work but everyone around me seems so boring, I feel like saying 'GET A LIFE, THIS IS BORING!'

I loved that story too!!

It was my favourite as a kid, I've still got the book up on my bookcase. Santa brought it for me when I was Seven

I'm 30 and I still sit and daydream, who said we have to stop??

How many books are there in the Narnia Chronicles? Ive only read The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe.C.S.Lewis wrote lots of Very good books, he even wrote a series [3 i think] of Sci-Fi books I need to re.read . . .

"The Pilgrim's Regress" C.S. Lewis

Ha thats what I alway say. I have started writing several and never got round to finishing it. But when I do it will be a huge achievement!

How old are your children? Are you married? x

I just finished buying all the Dickens classics.

You should get those stories that are on tapes and cd's. My Grandad had heaps of them when he couldnt read any more.

I can't wait to see the film Narnia! How exciting, I know I will watch it all because it interests me.

I love THE TWITS and all the Roald Dahl books too Peita! I lobed them as a child. I can't wait to have kids to relive all the memories!

It really is boody good fun being a mum with ADHD

I cant wait till Amelia isold enough for The Wind In The Willows. My Dad read it to me before bed when I was about five or six and I adored it and my Dad too!!!

I love it too. Right now I am at my desk, bored. Meant to be entering loads of numbers but I am drawn towards writing on here.

I think kids might complete me. At least they would give me an excuse to act mad. haha

Like I said, it works for me.

Although having to organise two people isnt exactly easy. I have a hard enough time trying to get me out the door in the morning

Was it you that posted you were writing a story? I've been writing the same story for 15yrs. One day I'll finish it and there will be people on the net discussing how my novel is their favourite.

Well, there's nothing wrong with dreaming, is there!!

Peita, there are 7 in the series. You can buy all of them all together in one book, this way you have less of a chance of loosing it . . . . . .

Lewis and the guy who wrote 'Lord of the Rings' were good friends and Professors together in England . . .they fliped a coin to see who would write the 'children's' series and who would write the 'mythology' series . . .It would have been interesting if they each had written each seperatly I think . . .

Any of you guys read Edgar Allen Poe?

He's one of my favourite writers. My Dad read his stories to me when I was quite young.

I've always loved science fiction/fantasy books. Such as 20,000 leagues under the sea, Journey to the center of Earth, 1984, the RAMA series, Foundation series, Robot series(Bicentennial Man, AI), 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Stainless Steel Rat series, Stranger in a Strange land, Friday, The Moon is a harsh mistress,Elfstones of Shanarra, first and second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Hobbit, lord of the rings,,, so many I wont list them all , but those are my favorites![QUOTE=GlenW]

The narnia books were a childhood fave. My parents bought me a used set when I was 6 - read it covers to covers a few dozen times. I want to get them again after finding out Lewis was a very rabid religious zealot who based most of his work as an analogy to christian values.

Glen - He also wrote a FunnY book called 'the Screwtape Letters' @ a senior demon writing to a newbie @ how to do his job better, hilarious . . .I would say 90% +, of Lewis work was not analogy at all but straight on, confronting questions faceing everyone ie; Why is there suffering, Why is there pain, Why does God allow things to happen etc. Calling Lewis a 'very rabid religious zealot' is akin to calling Mr. Rogers a terriost . . . Lewis and Tolkien were buddies who would have long discusions at the pub about life and all the issues surronding it. 'Mere Christianty' by Lewis is one of his better known writings, less then 300 pgs I would say, but very detailed. He was a very intelegent person who looked deep into the questions of God and our interaction with Him. Check Lewis's other writings out if you have questions about God.

Sorry pilgrim - I had just heard he was a super-zealot. I had no idea he was the author of "screwtape" either - had a friend in high school who loved that one.

Questions ABOUT God? Nah I took religion 101 and philosophy 101 and am content there. Now questions to ask God directly? Oodles if I ever met the big guy. Like why be cruel and set sex peaks at women 40 men 18? That's just plain mean. And why if many xtians think masturbation and sex other than reproduction a sin did He make it so wonderful? Why not make it like sex for cats - where it's necessary but all so painful for both? And the platypus - come on - was he sampling the herbs before that one?? LOL - but seriously I'll check on Lewis more now that I'm curious.

Glen - I've read quite abit by and about Lewis, and never heard the phrase 'zealot' and him in the same sentence, paragraph, chapter or book . . . Must have been a rumor started by some Super-Atheist-Zealot ROFL !

Sex just for reproduction, BalderDash and Hooey ! Sounds like something a, umm, err, what's the word I'm looking for, not misguided, that's not it,something the blind leading the blind would say - no I would Never say That, a SILLY rule for Silly people - not quite . . . I'll have to get back to you when I think of the correct Word I'm looking for . . .

Super Atheist? Wow - can I wear a cape and tights with that?LOL!!

The sex for making babies - come on you hear that too with the extremes of christianity - the "spilling the seed" misread of the bible and all. Taking that to the extreme if you see your dad's - uh - member - you are cursed and should have very bad things happen to you. Or if you call a religious man "baldy" then out come the dancing (and shredding and eating) bear with her cubs!!!

I know it's silly - but hey it's in print right?

Not going to bash the bible - oriented - promise. Just questions that if I ever saw the "light" I'd be keeping ready to ask.

Glenn, I hear what yer sayin' ! If you don't know all the background then it does seem all Wonky . . .'the bears & baldy' has a lot to it. Here was a gang of anti-Jewish guys, they just wern't teasin' him they were gettin' ready to attack him, God was defending this elderly person from being killed and not all of these gang-bangers were hurt.

Capes can be danergous, escalotrs, engines, doorways, fan blades and all . . .so be careful .

About a year ago I read a really wonderful book about a man in his final months of life, talking about life.

I think the title is Tuesdays with Mory.

Dog, that was avery good book . . . didn't they make a movie out of that to ? The next book he wrote I didn't care for. pilgrim38687.7698148148

anything by nelson demille

oh penthouse 2

For me - I haven't read in a long time - but my last favorites (and still I think) are Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant: unbeliever series and Stephen king's the Stand and The Bachman Books. All good sci-fantasy and that was my book of choice.

glen- the scary/sad part of all fundamental religious types, is that the draw to the most basic literal forms of any faith, is that you can eschew the complexities and dichotomies of being a human.

i've known many fundy christians, and they all have trouble with sex, gender roles etc. they all imagine there was sometime in the past when society was more moral, less complex.

to me, they miss a fundamental concept of jesus, being divine, but having forced upon him the onerous situation of being human, coping with human fallibilities. that is our struggle- to balance our strong animal urges with the ability to transcend them in order to consciously evolve.

it is a struggle to be an 'animal', having normal animal urges. the drives for a full stomach, safety from physical danger, and it's component of comfort(a lack of all indications that physical danger or duress is imminent), the drive to procreate.

being an animal, and simultaneously having invented morals and culturally proscribed acceptable behaviours is quite a balancing act. if we don't manage our drive to procreate, then we have rape, children being born into situations in which their survival or ability to become productive members of the group, are in peril, humans getting carried away in behaviours that may distract us from contributing to the greater good of their cultural group.(what would you rather do, f**k, or till hard ground and plant real, rather than proverbial, seed?)

i'm not really making any judgments about any of it. i have come to believe there are practical foundations for many of the morality practices adopted and preached by different religious groups. saying it is god's law is not only true in the sense that they were probably very practical solutions to social difficulties, but gives it credence and force to help the group adhere to the practices.

for instance, though it is a primitive way of thinking, if, back in the days of the judeans, masturbation, and fornication were not quashed, why would anyone marry?

to make sexuality the province of marriage makes marriage neccessary, and gives procreation a venue that makes society a little more orderly and manageable. esp. in terms of resources. if you think of this example of the judeans, you see the benefits of managing the limited resources they frequently had.

without a family structure, how could any form of organised society exist? how do you manage the care, feeding, and education of children? how does work, particularly agricultural work, get done? how do women get the social supports they need in order to care for their babies, as while they do this their availibility to do other kinds of work is dictated by the baby's needs? how can any heirarchy be formed to help with the complexities of people living in large groups?

i have only scratched the surface of these things. my point, though gotten to the long way round, is that morals only exist as practical ways to modify and modulate our animal instincts to allow cooperation and structure, enabling humans to live together in large numbers, advance beyond our 'animal' underpinnings, create technology, and evolve.

morals can also hold us back, prevent enlightenment and order, when they are adhered to blindly, and we do not acknowledge when they aren't working, are ineffectively applied, or have become unneccessary.

also, glen-

i liked the thomas covenant books. read them in a hyperfocus period.

differing age of peak of sex drive has a couple of sources. i believe women peak later, as their fertility decreases and their testosterone levels begin to climb. it is nature's clock. last chance to procreate. also, culturally, our history is to suppress women's sexuality, and as they age they become more comfortable with themselves, and have learned to better balance their self-knowledge with the external demands of society.

men peak early because their test. levels are highest, they are most fertile, and that is when they are in the best position to challenge older males for access to females, a la critters like elk and deer.

At first I was gonna say something like, Whoa . . . sounds like a dog's eye view of humanity, but realized that was just a knee jerk reaction and didn't have much substance to it, wish I wasn't such a 'knee-jerk'.

pilgrim-was that for me?

what would be a dog's eye view?

i, too wish i wasn't such a knee-jerk. i react faster than i can assess. my mouth always starts before my brain.

The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night time. Not my favorite, but really different. Dog's eye view made me think of that. Although, it was not written from a dog's eye view, but from the perspective of a person with Autism Spectrum. Louis!
My Dad's favorite author...
May they rest in peace. Did I respond to this one yet?

The Bible, first.

The ADHDer's Bible, next (Driven to Distraction).

Red Storm Rising.

Cardinal of the Kremlin.

Microbiology Textbook.hey seeker - glad to see i'm not the only one with delusional would-be megalomaniacal tendencies on the board.

oh - ho di ho. i identify with hamlet. typical adder. all intention no action. all thought and not much else, eh? i love hamlet - my fave ever, ever book.

' and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought -- and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry and lose the name of action' etc. etc.

or whatever. probably quoted that a bit wrong. feeling a bit muddled headed today as it goes.

every line of hamlet kinda resonates with me. as far as i am concerned it is a play of genius....

seeker - I was the one who originally mentioned the chronicles of thomas covenant - unbeliever. It is still one of the book series that had a great affect on my thoughts and emotions.

I liked it a great deal - it was the idea I think of an "anti-hero" - one who tries everything to avoid what is demanded of him - to his chagrin he cannot. He has such a crappy life in our world with the leprosy (causing a "fog" on his mind and incapable of feeling - very ADHD like), loss of his family (again very ADHD like) and being uncomfortable around other people (ditto). Yet - he is special and is pushed to be a great hero in this other world.

A fave and always will be.

From childhood Chronicles of Narnia, Animal Farm, any Judy Blume book

later...Withering heights, Pride and P....Sense and Sen. bla bla bla and all that

From college Prozac Nation

Now ummmmmmmm I will get back with you

Poe...rat at tat tat tat .....louder and louder and louder....well he drove me nuts...not for me.

My favorite book is probably To Kill a Mocking Bird. But then I also love all the Harry Potter books because I read them with my kids everytime one comes out. We are the nuts that wait in the long lines and get our previously purchased book and stay up all night long reading until one of us falls asleep.

hamlet - shakespeare

bhagavadgita (religious text)

the periodic table - primo levi

the discourses - machiavelli

the inner life - thomas a kempis (nother religious text)

the republic - plato (in fact anything that contains socratic thought specifically with the more, yup you got it, religious themes... )

and loads of others i can't think of right now. but i am not sure i would necessarily recommend the above. it's just they appeal to my weird way of thinking.... that's all. except perhaps the periodic table which is just a collection of short stories - so is more 'readable' than the rest i guess. and hamlet of course which is just a play so can read it in two hours.

i love the discourses by machiavelli - i bet annidagostini or other chess players below might like it too because it is a smooth read but funnily analytical almost in a chess-like way. what do i mean by that - i am not making sense even to myself. suffice to say it is WAY better than 'The Prince'. why is it that people always hype what I consider the wrong thing... (the Mona Lisa over the Madonna of the Rocks for example or The Prince over The Discourses --- is it me, surely not!!??) mmm - but such is the life of an ADDer.

oh oh oh and how could i forget: The Divine Comedy - Dante Aligheiri (yup another religious text but couldn't leave that one out of course). yes large, fat book surely better in the Italian but have to make do with the translation until i learn that language i guess. but another great fave.

i like john le carre too - and he writes spy novels, nothing overtly religious (hooray!), but i like the way he writes. he also wrote 'the constant gardener' which is now showing as a film over here. i don't really know why i like him but i do - i'm sure he must be an ADDer (sheesh i'm starting to sound like a fanatical gay person who likes to claim everyone famous or talented is gay but either not out of the closet or in denial... "oh he's gay for SURE!!!" type-thing. oh dear.)

chjones38696.0984953704

but as for a recommendation. the book i am reading at the moment is cracking. its called

"einstein's heroes -- imagining the world through the language of mathematics."

and don't be put off by the imposing-sounding title. it's an easy read, basically just a set of different metaphysical ideas but relying on the biography of james clerk maxwell and other physicists to provide structure. it's easy read not jargonistic or full of mathematical formulae and very interesting so far...

def. recommend it to anyone who is interested in that kinda thing.

James "clerk" Maxwell? I thought it was Clark. Anyways, he was the guy who noticed that lightning strikes caused compasses to spin, and linked the eletrical force with the magnetic force through math. I think he was from Ireland. Any more heroes ?

James Clerk Maxwell was from Scotland, his father was the laird of Glenlair - and in the UK 'clerk' is pronounced 'clark' --- even the word like office clerk. we say it office clark. which is maybe where the confusion came from. but yeah other heroes the book concentrates on are Newton and Faraday mainly.

it's great - def check it out if you are interested. cracking book.

chjones38696.3371759259I know that my new favorite book will now and forever be a book I read about Adult ADD. The book is geared towards us and is broken up to be easy to read but that's not why I liked it- I liked it because after reading it I finally had an answer to so many things in my life and why I am the way I am. My diagnosis confirmed it but I was sold way before getting the diagnosis[QUOTE=chjones]

it's great - def check it out if you are interested. cracking book.

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I thought he was the laird of Glenbogle

Ummmm Sweet Potato Queens.... very intellectual read....LOL...

which book gracie?

It's called: "Adult ADD" by Thomas A. Whiteman, PhD & Michele Novotni, PhD. I highly recommend it to all!Not to be cliche, but Da vinci Code was one book that kept my attention...I liked the 'da vinci cold' to, it was some good Fiction . . . [QUOTE=CreativeCrazy] [QUOTE=chjones]

it's great - def check it out if you are interested. cracking book.

[/QUOTE]

I thought he was the laird of Glenbogle

[/QUOTE]

nah that's Glen W....

i got to thinking about a series of books a few who posted here had read and enjoyed.

the chronicles of thomas covenant.

it's about a man whose life is going badly, and he contracts leprosy. in this world, his wife has left him, and he's a pariah.

but somehow, i don't remember how exactly, he is transported to this alternate world in which he's a messiah of sorts. the ppl. regard him as the one the prophecies foretell to save their world from Doom.

in this alternate world, he is no longer a leper, and many exalt him. he struggles to accept this very different situation in which he is valued, rather than avoided and rejected.

a twist to it is that his wedding band, made of white gold, has some magical power that is beyond his control, and miraculous.

that's the short of what i recall.

what i started thinking was how this character appealed to me.

i've always known i was different/'special'. i've faced lots of rejection from most groups of ppl. i've had to be a part of. i've always felt, unless depressed, that there was something important i had to offer the world, but that i was handicapped and disdained in my world, so that it could not be seen.

the part about the ring i think symbolises for me, something about the things i hold dear, but have not been able to maintain in my life- like a marriage/relationship. in the book , the magic of the ring is called the wild magic, or something to that effect.

for me, adhd is a kind of wild magic. it can be spectacularly cool- the intuition, the free-thinking, the spontaneity, the drive, the quickness of thought.

it can be terrible or even useless, as i have little control over when it works for me, or acts upon it's own whims, as Covenant's ring does.

for those that have read these books, how do you respond to this?

for everyone else, do you respond to characters in books or movies this way?

never read driven to distractionAnyone read 'Something Wicked this Way Comes'? God that's a strange one and even a strange movie. It's not your easy typical book to read.

I've read the Bible through a lot of times and don't know why. Guess that's what a Christian is supposed to do!

And I've read a lot of Louis Lamour, great stories!