For James Michener fans - What is your favorite Michener book?

[RamblingRose]

I've read Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, Chesapeake, Caribbean, Space and The Source. I started Mexico a couple of times but couldn't get through it.

[luvs2sing]

1. I liked Hawaii and Alaska..

but his book on the Kent State shootings is my favorite.

[RamblingRose]

2. I didn't know he had a book about Kent State :/ I'll add it to my list n/t

[luvs2sing]

15. I read it probably in 1982.

And I’m not sure if I’ve seen it since, I think the title was Kent State:What Happened and Why.

[Number9Dream]

26. That is the correct title - I have it in paperback.

It is very detailed, and a must read if one is interested in the Kent State shootings.

[Polly Hennessey]

3. The Source

[John1956PA]

14. +1. Tel Makor comes to life and reveals its tales through the eras.

The narrative about the ancient astronomers marking the vernal equinox sparked my interest in the clockwork of the solar system.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. +2 My mother handed it to me and said "Read this"

She did that fairly often actually.

It remains one of my favorite books. Michener's long novels are more like a series of novellas tied together by family, a location, etc. You can finish a segment, not go back to it for a while and pick right up because the next segment will be all new people with a new storyline. Just follow the common thread through the book.

I loved Centennial also. We have been clearing out some things & I found my mom's VHS set of the complete series. I had forgotten we had it.

[Hestia]

4. Space - starts with Nazi's from Germany being spirited to AL (GA?) and development of rocket

system, how the Nazi's were not allowed off Base without security detail until 1970s, that NASA hated that JFK promised Moon Landing, NASA wanted probes from the very beginning.

[The Magistrate]

5. Tales Of The South Pacific Is Not Too Bad, Ma'am

It is readable, and conveys some accurate feel for a unique time and place.

Bears very little relation to the musical, fortunately, and reflects in parts attitudes long out-dated, that might catch younger readers up short here and there.

[bif]

25. I love that book.

My dad was stationed in the South Pacific in WWII, so it gives me a sense of what he went through.

[vsrazdem]

6. Centennial. I also really enjoyed the Covenant and read it twice.

[The Blue Flower]

7. He's good, but he writes by the pound

Way too much verbiage to wade through to get to the plot. But I've read most of his books. I liked Space and The Source best.

[RamblingRose]

12. It takes me forever to read one of his books and I keep my dictionary app open n/t

[livetohike]

8. I liked The Drifters. I've read all of them and am re-reading

Alaska right now 🙂.

[Dave in VA]

9. Chesapeake

Hey, its close to home!

[blm]

10. Centennial. (Read it twice.) Fires of Spring.

The Source. Chesapeake.

Those are all favorites.

[RamblingRose]

11. The Source was hard for me to get through. I'll have to go back & re-read it sometime

My problem is if I go more than a week without reading one of his books I have to backtrack 30 pages to catch up on the 200 characters.

[yellowdogintexas]

24. treat The Source as a series of novellas, strung together by a common thread

In this case the well.

Once you have left a section, you are going to meet a whole new set of characters, in a different time.

Centennial is the same way so I suspect the other giant ones are as well.

[Ferryboat]

13. So hard to choose.

Iberia was a favorite. Whenever i shipped out i made sure a couple of his books were onboard.

[RamblingRose]

19. You can definitely tell he was in the Navy with his attention to details of ships & sailing n/t

[yellowdogintexas]

23. we read Iberia before we went to Spain and when we arrived at a new place

we checked Michener's info on that place just in case he recommended something we should try.

This is how we ended up having white gazpacho at the Alhambra in the dining room of a 16th century convent, smack in the middle of the palace grounds. (You can stay there if (a) you can even get a room and (b) you can pay the room rate.

We also found that gazpacho, sangria and coffee taste different according to where you are at the time. Coffee down in Andalusia is not for the fainthearted. Very strong. Fortunately the Spaniards have marvelous cream which helps.

[northoftheborder]

16. Hawaii, and The Source

The last Michener book I read, I couldn't finish: Poland. It's history is so sad, and just repeats itself over and over through the centuries. I've read most of his books, he's one of my favorite authors. I happened to see him at a nearby restaurant table when he was researching Texas. The only thing I had to write on for an autograph was my charge slip. I got up my nerve to ask him for an autograph, and ask how much of the German history of the state's immigrants he would cover; he was very approachable, signed my bit of paper and answered my question with a humorous quip!!!

[lark]

17. I love his books.

Being a history buff, I love his stories with all their infinite detail. I've read Texas, Chesapeake, & Hawaii and bought a used copy of Mexico that I will be starting soon. Lately I've been sticking with fantasy and sci-fi so it's time to diversify.

[Patterson]

18. I haven't read it, but "Fires of Spring" is based on the orphanage my grandfather and Michener

we're both at in Pennsylvania in the 1910's.

[RamblingRose]

20. Has anyone read his analysis on the United States' Electoral College system entitled

"Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System."

It was published in 1969

[CrispyQ]

21. Centennial, hands down.

But I was born and raised in that area. A lot of people skipped the first part with the dinosaurs and the beaver, but I thought those parts were fascinating. There were some gut wrenching human stories, though. And we should have paid more attention to the part about water and the future.

I also liked Hawaii. I will never forget Woo Chow's Auntie and how she checked her body for leprosy every night before going to bed. I read some of his other titles, Poland, Chesapeake, Alaska, but it was decades ago for all of them, so I'm more than a little fuzzy. I haven't heard of the last three titles you mentioned.

[Number9Dream]

27. I enjoyed Hawaii... but rather depressing.

[RamblingRose]

28. LOL - I thought it was one of his more upbeat books. I think Mexico wins for depressing. I couldn't

get through it. Maybe it has a happy ending??