Just finished Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, sex race, religion and politics all combined :)
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Just finished Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, sex race, religion and politics all combined :)
Just finished reading Bryson's "At Home" and "Assholes Finish First" by Tucker Max. Kind of an odd pair of books I had going at the same time, but both very enjoyable reads. I wish more teachers/professors were like Bryson- He manages to make learning extremely enjoyable/entertaining.
Just picked up "The Nature of things: The Secret Life of Inanimate Objects" from a buddy of mine that is very into new-age energy stuff. Only a few pages into it, and whether or not you buy into the concept completely, it's an interesting read, if for no other reason than providing a different way of looking at the world.
I really enjoyed Bryson's "At Home." He has a real knack for making the seemingly mundane interesting.
Assholes Finish First seems like a good read. You got me at the title :) What is it about?Quote:
Originally Posted by Crock
Just finished this. Well worth reading.Quote:
Originally Posted by Helldawg
Hi folks - don't mean to spam but I figure a few of you on here might enjoy this book:
http://www.abdou.ca/canterburytrail.html
It was penned by my wife as her PHd dissertation. It's a modern day take on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - set in a small BC mountain town that many of you may recognize. It even contains accurate usage of the word jong. I shit you not.
Maybe give it a pass if you have an aversion to skiing, course language, pot, alcohol or sex.
And if you do enjoy it please spread the word.
Cheers,
Coach
Quite interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it and would consider buying it if I didn't have all these other books to read.Quote:
Originally Posted by coach
My (modest and biased) recommendation: It's ski season - no better time to read a ski book. Bump it to the top of your list - it's an engaging, hard to put down, fucking hilarious read with a climax that will leave you thinking about it for days. And it's fucking hilarious. And there's a recipe for pot cookies ... amongst other things. But I've said too much...
Anyhow, hope you get around to reading it - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Let us know what you think.
<end SPAM>
OK I'm done plugging my wife's book. Don't mean to be spammy here - I just know a good audience when I see one - you'll appreciate it.
Now I'm gonna go rip the shit out of something!
Cheers,
Coach
I am currently reading, and enjoying, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.
So I know it's kind of rare but I did a complete search and read this entire thread and glanced through a couple of others.
I too am looking for a new book (s). Heading out on the river in a couple of weeks. With high water ( short float times) almost solstice ( lonngggg days) and a hip that needs replacement (no hiking) I will be spending some time at rivers edge with a good strong gin and tonic and I love to read with the white noise background of a river.
I have also resolved my "I don't need glasses my eyes are perfect syndrome" by purchasing and keeping track of some reading glasses for the last six months. It sure is easier to read when it doesn't give you a headache.
Some great ideas in here that I will pursue. Coach your wife's book sounds awesome.
While I am primarily looking for fiction right now, I read and liked Lost City of Z and 1776 recently and enjoyed both.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver was great for me. Maybe because my dad traveled extensively into the Congo at around that time and I suspected for a while that he worked for the CIA.
I have read almost all of John Irving - hows his newest - Last Night in Twisted River? if anyone has an opinion.
I really like Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Tom Robbins and of course Hunter S.
Cormac McCarthy - I feel like I should like him more, but I don't think I will read another. While I kind of liked All the Pretty Horses, The Road was too much for me. Looking for something lighter I guess.
Most books that I try to read start way too slow. After ten pages of 'scene' setting I feel like someone slipped me a qualude as I start to nod off. I haven't found much to interest me. Maybe I suffer from emailitis or some other attention span disorder.
So if anyone has anything to add post it up. Thx.
Two books I recently ripped through in a couple of days because they were just so damn enjoyable were:
Fool - Christopher Moore
this is a retelling of King Lear from the point of his court jester. i've never read/seen Lear, but his was a hoot. dirty, ribald, and funny.
Moore's other books are great as well: Coyote Blue (a reworking of the Native American Coyote mythos); Practical Demonkeeping; The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cover; Bloodsucking Fiends...
http://www.chrismoore.com/books.html
Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman
this is a superhero novel told from a super villain's perspective. at times it had hints of Megamind/The Invincibles/Despicable Me, in terms of how the villain talks/acts, but it was funny and creative
Another author you might check out is Joe R. Lansdale. He writes everything from westerns to gritty mysteries to horror, often combining all three into what he dubs "Mojo Storytelling". You can check out some of his short stories for free on his site: http://www.joerlansdale.com/todaysfeature.html
I've mentioned it before, but try and track down some of the short story collections by Ron Carlson. that dude can write!
2 very good nonfiction books.
The Tell Tale Brain by V.S.Ramachandran... for anyone interested in neurology/science..
Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz ...less science and more sociology
Christopher Moore's best book is Lamb though. (he is one of my favorite authors)
i really like soon i will be invncible.
I used to always bring Douglas Adam's Last Chance to see when i went on overnights.
its a small book but it may be hard to find
Totally funny...the one Christopher Moore book I haven't been able to get into is Lamb...started it a few years ago and after a couple of chapters I wasn't sold, which was funny since all of his other books I've read (Practical Demonkeeping; Coyote Blue; Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove; Bloodsucking Fiends; Fool) l loved to death and read in a matter of days, mesmerized by the prose and humor. But Lamb just didn't grab me...I plan to re-start it at some point, but sill, it is the only book of his that I've started and pushed aside.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It's 2 stories in one. The story of the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair and a serial killer in the same period. Non-fiction, amazing amount of research went into it, if you have any interest in architecture, history, things that eventually became pop culture, etc. than this is a good read.
++ for Devil in the white city, takes you back in time.
I just read "the Tiger" about Tigers in Russia gone bad, very cool true story.
Agreed. I felt the same way about "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and his less popular "Shakespeare: The World as Stage." I have zero interest in Shakespeare, but in typical Bryson fashion he hooked me in and completely astounded me with Shakespearean trivia and conspiracy. Worth checking out if you like Bryson's style, it's a quick 200 page read.Quote:
Originally Posted by The AD
If you're ever in for a long drive, pick up a Bryson written and narrated audiobook. He is as good a narrator as he is a writer.
life of pi was a fast enjoyable read
obrian's biography of picasso was badass
now working on 7 years in tibet and fagles translation of the oddysey
both enjoyable so far but not particuarly engrossing
Quote:
Originally Posted by dookey67
Have you read Dirty Jobs? that is my other favorite i think. shares a lot of characters with Blood sucking fiends/bite me, and some other of his books
Own Dirty Job, but haven't read it yet (I have all of CM's books). I just started Island of the Sequined Love Nun, though.
I've been on a tear this weekend. Started and finished the following:
Soon I Will Be Invincible - Austin Grossman (striking similarities to Megamind, but maybe that's just coincidence). Great, snarky, quick read.
Blood Dance - Joe R. Lansdale
a "lost" novel from the mojo storyteller. This one's a western and it's very much in the vein of classic "dimes store" Louis L'Amour.
The Thief of Always - Clive Barker
I believe this is Barker's first foray into "young adult" literature. It's basically a "fable" about an evil house that preys on the dreams of kids. It was okay, but totally aimed at the teen crowd from back in the day and nowhere near as seminal as his Books of Blood short story collections (still his best work IMHO).
As stated, currently reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun and next on the platter are: Glamorama by Brett Easton Ellis and American Gods by Neil Gaimen (at least that's what I pulled from my storage boxes of books, so who knows?).
Damn, no Kindle edition available. Still will probably order it for some summertime reading.Quote:
Originally Posted by coach
Currently reading and loving...(but will definitely need some grown-up reading afterwards)
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla...garautobio.jpg
Life with a 4 month old has severely crippled my reading time but I just finished:
When the Killing's Done- Definitely not Boyle's best work but entertaining enough.
Gallatin Canyon- Some hits, some misses, but mostly good.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Some of the best new short stories I've read in a while. My wife thought it was too depressing to finish but I loved them.
I'm almost done reading "The Tiger" by John Vaillant. Pretty kick-ass rad.
I never knew an animal as rad as the Amur Tiger exsisted. Hopefully they keep on exsisting. What a complete badass!
I just read the Hunger Games trilogy. I got them for the kids but decided to check it out, pretty good read and fast.
I'm rereading "Of Human Bondage" by Maugham. Last read it probably in college or so. Awesome book. If Philip Carey doesn't strike a nerve for you I don't know what literary character will.
For dog people The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Its a story narrated by a "philospoher" dog, Enzo, about his life with his family. Its a quick read, I read it on a flight from Charlotte to Denver, and its very funny and also very sad at times.
If you live in the west, check out Cadillac Desert which is about water policy and politics in the west starting with John Wesley Powell exploring the Green River down to the Colorado and ultimately through the grand canyon all the way to 1992 (the second edition was published in 1994). Its much more interesting than you would think and it will really make you reconsider the way you look at water. A great read if flying across the country because you can look out the window and see the things the book is discussing.
One of the best sci fi trilogies ever. In Her Name : The Omnibus edition.
Posted a thread just for it, cause it's that freaking good. Must read if you're in to epic sci fi. And, it's cheap on the kindle.
Donovan Creed series on the Kindle. Funny, fast vacation reds and at .99 a book hard to go wrong.
Just read A Movable Feast by Hemingway again. Not one of his more popular books but worth it. Get the first edit if you can find it.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, as well as Ender's Shadow, Xenocide, Shadow of the Hegemon, basically the whole Ender series.
I'm still on my rock star kick. Just picked up the Keith Richards book, "Life." Excellent opener about getting busted in Arkansas in 1975 with a carfull of dope and booze and a drunk judge pulling a bottle of whiskey from his sock and a police chief who wants to send these girly English boys to the slammer. That's how you start a book.
http://www.gibson.com/Files/aaFeatur...Life_08-10.jpg
Recently wrapped the first 3 of the 4-part "Vurt" books:
Vurt - solid cyberpunk yarn with plenty of action and nifty wordplay. Easily stands alone (i.e. no real necessity to read the next 3 books in the loose series unless you're a complete diehard).
Pollen - Second book in the Vurt series. A bit more convoluted and took me twice as long to get through as Vurt.
Automated Alice - Basically a re-telliing (or as the author, Jeff Noon, states, "a trequel" to Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass). Not bad, but not essential.
I'd highly recommend Vurt and then passing on the next two unless you totally get sucked into Noon's twisted vurtual world of Manchester.
Also recently read Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen. Excellent "portal fantasy" (i.e. like Alice in Wonderland where the lead protagonist is transported to a new world via a portal) and written in a wonderfully wry British manner. Highly recommended if you dig Douglas Adams, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, and, well, Neil Gaimen.
Just started Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. Where American Psycho was all hell-bent in rattling consumerism, this book is all about celebrity and kind of presages the whole reality TV boom and America's continued downward spiraled addiction to celebrity doings. Not sure how it's gonna hold up for 400+ pages, but it's addictive much in the same way that something like Jersey Shore is. Recommended if you've read and enjoyed Ellis' previous work: Less Than Zero; Rules of Attraction (perhaps my favorite of his books); American Psycho.
i think i tried reading glamorama at one point but never got more than a 100 pages in, did not like it at all.
I just passed the 180 page mark and the book is starting to get interesting. Weird, surreal undertones are starting to permeate through and I'm now hooked and intrigued. We'll see if it ends up being as bugged out as its alluding to (and if it holds up for another 200+ pages).
Just started a new book recommended by my mom: "Ice Hunter" by Joseph Heywood. This is the first book in his Woods Cop series about Michigan Conservation Officer Grady Service. As some reviews have mentioned these books do for Michigan's U.P. what Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee series did for Navajo country. I know there are a few Yoopers here who might be interested as well as anyone else interested in hunting, fishing and the outdoors which means a good percentage of Maggots.
Heywood has written seven books in the series and the eighth installment is due out next month. See: http://www.josephheywood.com/woods.html
I'm only about 50 pages in, but it seems like good light reading. My mom heard about the books from a high school friend of hers who served in Vietnam with Heywood.
I enjoyed Orson Scott Card until I started to notice how he was subtly putting his religious beliefs (mormonism) in to his stories. It started to sound way too preachy to me. Then I read some of his writings, and I decide he'd never get another penny from me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edgnar
DBS, I didn't know he was Mormon. He was friends with one of my college professors and came and spoke at one of our classes. He seemed an interesting and intelligent guy. I supposed I can see the religious undertones though. The books are fun reads, and you don't have to accept everything he believes.
Yeah, I know, but he uses his money to push his views in other forums.
He's pretty hard core.
After it was referenced in The Tiger, I picked up Dersu The Trapper. Another kickass rad read.
Now I gotta pick up Ice Hunter.