[quote]bigflamer wrote:
“Watch my back” by Goeff Thompson. A terrific book so far.[/quote]
Yeah a pretty good read. Get’s a bit repetitive but i like the message.
“The shock doctrine” by Naomi Klein
You know, threads like these just reaffirm why I love this place so much. I think as a collective group we may be some of the only serious readers still left out there. It’s nice to see people passionate about this sort of thing. I’ve always wondered somewhat about it. I’m currently thinking that the time we’ve spent trying to better our bodies and beat them into submitting to our desires drives us to pick up new passions and try to better ourselves in other ways…expand our horizons. As for me, I was always the skinny nerdy type :). /sappy crap.
At any rate, I see a lot of these books already on my bookshelves, and a lot more I want to get to. It’ll have to wait for a little bit though til I get some free time…but the next series of books I read will definitely include “4 hour work week”.
malonetd–don’t sweat the Fellowship too much. It’s been my experience that if people don’t at least start the 2nd book before they pick up other things, they never ever finish the trilogy. That’s a sad sad loss. I was one of the people that got into the book right away, but I think that was because I like to have a complete and total world built for me. I think his work is quite compelling. Regardless, you WILL like the 2/3rd books.
Stick with it–I’ve read the series about 9 times. Used to be an annual tradition for me. I always take the position of telling people who are struggling with the 1st book to try to “relax into reading” it. That probably doesn’t make any sense, but that’s the best I can do over the 'net. If you’re a history buff at all, it may make sense. History books can be dry, but if you start to try and dive into the culture and time period mentally, they suddenly just come alive. I dunno. At least, don’t quit til you’ve started the second book.
Currently I’m reading the C.S. Forester “Hornblower” series. British sea combat in the Napoleonic War. They. are. unbelievable! I’ve read the books before, but never got through the whole 11 vol. series, just because something always came up. He’s got a really nice way of simultaneously digging into Hornblower’s mind and personality, and telling a compelling and exciting seafaring tale.
I mean, he’s got all the details of sailing right as far as I can tell. I don’t know much, but I get the sense this is really very historically accurate. I don’t know how I forgot how great these books were!
Edit: The 2nd/3rd books of the trilogy have a definite Beowulf/Ilead epic feel to them. I definitely get goosebumps during the battle sequences. Try to read the series before you watch the movies…much more compelling that way.
Just finished “Egonomics” (I started it this morning). That was a fascinating read and I’ll definitely have to look at it again soon.
I think a good followup to this would be checking out “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini.
I’m reading 100 Bullets written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo, [/quote]
I think that was Dumas’ best work, however the 3 Musketeers series is really good too.
–The Three Musketeers
–Twenty Years After
–The Vicomte de Bragelonne*
–Louise de la Vallière*
–The Man in the Iron Mask*
(*may be sold separately or as a collection)
[quote]AdamC wrote:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (just finished). [/quote]
I love Wilde’s short stories. They just crack me up.
I’m in the middle of the “Maximum Ride” series by James Patterson. It’s a young adult series (wife asked me to read it to see if it would be worth adding to the cirriculum at her school), but it’s still very solid writing.
[quote]Bujo wrote:
I’m reading 100 Bullets written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso
Uncle Gabby wrote:
Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo,
I think that was Dumas’ best work, however the 3 Musketeers series is really good too.
–The Three Musketeers
–Twenty Years After
–The Vicomte de Bragelonne*
–Louise de la Vallière*
–The Man in the Iron Mask*
(*may be sold separately or as a collection)
[/quote]
Try some of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s work.
His first book, the one where Hitler is reborn, was pretty damn good.
I read a few after that and they weren’t worth my time, imo.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
All of the Greg Iles novels. What a skillful author![/quote]
Currently I’m reading for pleasure “Chasm City” by Alistair Reynolds.
I haven’t read sci-fi in years and his books had great reviews, so I’m giving it a shot. Not bad so far.
These days I have a hard time reading both serious a/w/a self-help books in one sitting, so at the moment I’m currently reading in bits and pieces:
-How to Win Friends and Influence People
-As A Man Thinketh
-The Origins of Christianity
And I just threw away a book called Spiritual Marketing, by Joe Vitale. Pure garbage.
And on my commute I’m about to begin a lecture series entitled “Roman Emperors”.
The Catcher and Rye
Nine Stories
Franny and Zooey
for the 8957397th time, I’m a JD Salinger fan, what can I say.
Paddy Whacked- The History of the Irish Mob by T.J. English. Brutal. And the guy is a terrific writer.
The Sun Also Rises- Hemingway. Legendary. Don’t know why I waited 23 years to read the damn thing.
I just started a book about C.C. Pyle’s cross country race in the 1920’s. It’s a hell of a book.
“The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead” by David Callahan. The book is just pisses me off about the way society is heading.
I just gave a friend a copy of Shirley Jackson’s short stories as a gift. “The Lottery” is one of my favorite short stories.
I tried reading “Wuthering Heights” but I just do not like Heathcliff. I will keep trying though.
“Dance of Death” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I have liked almost all the books they have written.
[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
“The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead” by David Callahan. The book is just pisses me off about the way society is heading.
[/quote]
Does this book discuss people ‘busting’ the turn only lane to cut in front of me on my morning commute ? If so, I will pick up immediately !
Shirley Jackson rocks…
[quote]sen say wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:
“The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead” by David Callahan. The book is just pisses me off about the way society is heading.
Does this book discuss people ‘busting’ the turn only lane to cut in front of me on my morning commute ? If so, I will pick up immediately !
Shirley Jackson rocks…
[/quote]
It does cover briefly driving habits
she do rock
The Eight by Katherine Neville…awesome book…set over centuries…If you like chess, you like The Da Vinci Code and you like lots of violence…you will love this book…
Some good books:
[quote]lixy wrote:
“The shock doctrine” by Naomi Klein[/quote]
Some good reviews for a prospective reader:
http://lrc.reviewcanada.ca/index.php?page=audacious-undertaking
Klein’s a bit of a Luddite.
Has anyone on these boards read Battle Royale? Not complicated reading, but nonetheless it’s one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read.
As for what I’m reading right now:
Recently finish Steroid Nation
Angela’s Ashes
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Any book by Bernard Cornwell. I just finished “The Pale Horseman”. Its great historical fiction.