Absolutely no offense taken. I wanted a serious opinion and you gave it. (I miss my book club back home).Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
I did get frustrated waiting for "the coward to become a man", but still enjoyed the book.
Absolutely no offense taken. I wanted a serious opinion and you gave it. (I miss my book club back home).Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
I did get frustrated waiting for "the coward to become a man", but still enjoyed the book.
:cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing:Quote:
Originally Posted by Alioops
quite possibly the lamest thought that's ever run through my head is now getting spilled onto der internet but b/c it's down here where only the lamest of the lame go anyway.
I don't think it would be very difficult to have a book-club here.
I believe that you guys are reading individual chapters which were published as a serial in The Economist.Quote:
Originally Posted by bad_roo
You just might want to spring for Bas Rutten's Big Book of Combat 1&2 and get the complete work from street fightin' genius himself.
As Bas likes to say "One good headbutt is worth two eyepokes."
That'd be interesting - or perhaps a lending library/free book thread. I've several I'd be willing to pass on/trade.Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
K....but I am telling everyone it was YOUR idea. You can pick the first book to redeem yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
edit: I see you already started it.
Started last night and got through half of Into Thin Air. I wansn't all that busy at work. :)
Before that I read Under the Banner of Heaven. Now I'm scared. Catch the theme of my recent readings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigtrubs
I loved "Time Traveler's Wife"! Great characters and I loved the way the timeline was put together. I just got through "Wicked" and couldn't really get into it, so I'm saying ixnay on "Son of a Witch".
Great book I just got through..."My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Piccoult. The ending was a little contrived, but it was excellent.
BUMP because this is a good thread (and timely for me).
I just started "The Brothers Karamazov" about a week ago. It's been a little difficult to get into, but it's growing on me now.
I saw a book review in the Seattle Times last weekend that looks like it would be a good read: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...cascade18.html
Here's the link to the book on Amazon in case that Seattle Times link doesn't work: http://www.amazon.com/White-Cascade-...e=UTF8&s=books
Given how long this thread has been idle my recent list is quite long and represents about the last 6 months, but I definitely got a few good titles from here, so hopefully others might appreciate a longer list.
Recently Finished, in no particular order, only those that I would reccommend
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Shantaram by some Australian
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michale Pollan
The River of Doubt by Candace Millard - Teddy Roosevelt expedition to Brazil
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart: If you want to get a totaly new and fascinating perspective of Iraq and what a supreme cluster fuck we have gotten ourselves into, read Prince of the Marshes.
The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe: Western and very good, I thought.
American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips
Currently Reading:
The End of Faith by Sam Harris
The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling - trying to get wise about building an iron taint for the summer riding season.
On Deck:
Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Last book I finished?
Mind Scan, by Robert Sawyer. 1 of 5 stars. Lame. Came highly recommended, too.
What I'm reading right now?
The Brothers K, by David James Duncan
Fury, by Salman Rushdie
Warped Passages, by Lisa Randall
That's very amusing, and a bit sad. You look to a writer of distorted pro-Imperialist, pro-Plutocratic sci fi to get the hard evidence on climate change?Quote:
Originally Posted by KungPowder
Wow. And you admitted it here, too. Wow-Wow.
Recently finished Shattered Sword (forgot the authors) which is a re-analysis of the Battle of Midway during WWII focusing on the Japanese strategy/tactics, leadership, and capabilities. Remarkable book. These guys did some serious research using surviving Japanese records (including ship's logs) and convincingly debunk several common assumptions made/believed over the decades since that battle.
I'm seeing more books similar to this one where researchers carefully examine the records in order to determine the actual significance of a given historic event. There's a couple of books on the Allied bombing campaign against Germany and it affect on the war's outcome that I'd also like to read. I thumbed through both and each appeared to have a different take on the bombing of Dresden- i.e., justified vs. unjustified. Ought to be fun to compare the two.
I think this is kool because back when I was a war buff, many of the books were primarily based on survivor's interviews and personal accounts and lacked a thorough critical analysis of the actual event(s), no doubt for a number of reasons. These earlier books had plenty of who, what, when, and where, but infintesimally little on why. Nor were the consequences well analyzed.
I was halfway through The Alchemist, but I think I left it in the Hellgate condos at Straightline camp?! Damn interlodge speedy exit. :( How am I going to know if he finds the treasure?!
Now reading: The Big Oyster: History of the Half Shell which is all about oysters and their history in New York.
The Chess Artist: Genuis, Obsession, and the World's Greatest Game which I found for $3 at the strand- effectively is a Dostoevsky-style portrayal of chess as religious fanaticism.
and working my way through Breakthrough Triathlon Training by Brad Kearns. Other than Friel's bible, this has been one of my favorite tri books- he take a more holistic approach and is more about getting in the workouts around your life than any of the other tri books I've read.
Have a bunch of others in que. I'll be happy when midterms are over :)
I am currently reading "The First Deadly Sin" by Lawrence Sanders.
Last book I read was "The Hunt Club" by John Lescroart.
I usually read 3 or so books a month depending on how drunk I get during apres.
Finished:
The Doryman's Reflection
Taking On The World (Ellen MacArthur)
Armed Madhouse - Greg Palast
Currently reading:
AK-47
To Read:
Heat - Bill Buford
Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis - Mark Bowden
Just finished: Bowling Alone & All the Presidents Men
Reading: Razor's Edge by Maugham
Next: Too many to list, but probably Don Quixote, it has been taunting me after many false starts and it is time kick Cervantes ass once and for all.
I just finished "Into Thin Air" and am currently reading "The Constant Gardener" by John Le Carre and "Crime and Punishment" by Fedor Dostoevsky ... I'd recommend them
Just Finished:
Lord Jim -Joseph Conrad
Greek Ways -Bruce Thornton
Now Reading
I am Charlotte Simmons -Tom Wolfe
Genome -Matt Ridley
Recently Finished
Into The Wild - Krakauer
The Great Shark Hunt - H.S. Thompson
Currently Reading
The Stranger - Camus
The Joke's Over - Steadman
On Deck
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bryson
The World is Flat - Friedman
Devotional Cinema - Nathaniel Dorsky
that was the last one, not really reading anything now
Just finished "The Places in Between" by Rory Stewart. A memoir/diary of Stewart's solo walk across Afghanistan (basically the entire country) shortly after the fall of the Taliban. Really interesting...
Now reading "Storm of Steal" by Ernst Junger (a WWI memoir).
True North-Jim Harrison
Just Enough Liebling by A. J. Liebling
Richard II
The 6th Lamentation by William Brodrick
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is the current reading at work.
I think the last one I read was Collapse by Jared Diamond, but I got bogged down and never finished it.
Off the Map is good
Fight Club is great
Animal Farm is good to
i thought books clubs were just for getting drunk on wine.Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon boy
And knitting clubs are a great way to meet babes.Quote:
Originally Posted by adam
Currently reading:
The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Terror, Dan Simmons
Just finishing 'The Chosen' by Chaim Potek. I walk to work two days a week through a Hasidic neighborhood and I remembered reading this in hebrew school in 7th grade. Good stuff, very educational.
About to begin 'Special Topics in Calamity Physics.' At my current reading pace that ought to take me about ten years to get through.
just finished 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Thompson is THE MAN.
Currently reading 'The Children of Men' by P.D. James. Highly recommended
I just finished reading both Jurassic park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton, next up I'm not sure. Getting an urge to read The Stand by Stephen King again.
Living alone I am always reading, whether its a book or a magazine. Sometimes when I get on a roll I can do a fiction novel in a couple of days.
Yes, if its a good book I can read it multiple times, same with movies if they are good ones.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.
I really enjoyed it and read it pretty fast, I give it a 9/10.
Currently Grapes of Wrath and Things Fall Apart
i recently read "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest" and that was very good
Also read "In Cold Blood" recently. Capote's writting is incredible, dense at times, but amazingly eloquent, and smooth. Perhaps the best modern prose i have read.
Currently i am reading "the world according to garp" as well as assorted essays by assorted people
I usually read hard backs, but i've been traveling a lot lately so have been going through the stacks of paperbacks laying around the house and cabin more recently.
Last few books I've finished (i was reading multiple ones at the same time as I had a book at my pad, one at my parents house, and one at our cabin):
Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard (been laying around in a pile for years)
Booneville - Robert Mailer Anderson
Mr. Paradise - Elmore Leonard
I am currently wading through:
Everybody Into The Pool - Beth Lisick
Wormwood - Poppy Z. Brite
The Value of X - Poppy Z. Brite
Pop Gun - various (it's a graphic novel compendium i was given for free at a SXSW event)
On a good year I average 2-3 books a month. On a "bad" year I average 1 book a month.
Just about to finish up The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies.
Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders.
really enjoying them. great writing.
nice change of pace for me
in the past few years, havent read much at all.
i dont feel like i have a lot of free time, unless im traveling to be able to really read a lot, but right now it seems about 1-2 a month.
Currently reading volume three of Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative. Really, really good stuff and I recommend it for any Civil War buff. The entire trilogy is around 3,000 pages, though, so not exactly a quick read.
I'm a HUGE fan of short story collections. They are great to travel with and are great for knocking out something in a week or two. You just read a story a night, when possible. Makes for a good break, too. Read a story, put the book aside and do something else (watch a movie, go skiing, cook, etc). Pick it up whenever and start a new story. I find it's the best and easiest way to get back into reading after a dry spell.Quote:
Originally Posted by pechelman
I last read LA Rex by Will Beall, an LA detective turned novelist. He was at the West Hollywood book fair last year and gave a shout out to Warren Zevon, so I had to give his book a try. It's a gritty noir about late 90s Los Angeles -- rookie cop learning the streets, drug deals gone bad, race riots. A fun, quick read.
Right now I'm reading Bend Sinister by Nabokov and Audacity of Hope.
Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger. Now I'm reading The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski. I read about three novels a month, thanks to having really boring classes in which I rarely listen to the professors...
I'd recommend Salinger.