week4paug.net

Where's the stage? Spurious Generalities => Entertainment => Topic started by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:09:18 PM

Title: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:09:18 PM
Island by Aldous Huxley. Check it out if you haven't already. I'm about forty pages in. This book depicts a paradise that is changed by a shipwrecked journalist with a flair for the sensational(as well as being corrupt). This is a simple way of describing the story. Any book you want to talk about folks. :-D :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 12, 2006, 02:12:46 PM
No way, I'm reading that too!   :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:13:33 PM
How about that. Now we can do the dance of joy!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 02:20:25 PM
I'm Reading "While Europe Slept" by Bruce Bawer
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jedifunk on December 12, 2006, 02:35:37 PM
Island is one of the greatest books i ever read!  after reading that i immediately stopped reading and havent read since then
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 12, 2006, 02:36:26 PM
Quote from: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:13:33 PM
How about that. Now we can do the dance of joy!

:lol: +K for the Perfect Strangers reference.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on December 12, 2006, 02:37:29 PM
week4paug.net
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:42:46 PM
Quote from: ikki on December 12, 2006, 02:36:26 PM
:lol: +K for the Perfect Strangers reference.
From the Island of Mypos.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 12, 2006, 03:12:22 PM
I just finished "The Curious Incident of a Dog In The Night" (I think?)  By Mark Haddon.

FUCKING AMAZING BOOK. 

I highly encourage everyone to read it.  It's such an easy yet classic read.  Uplifting good stuff.

I'm in the middle of "A Tale of Two Cities" which I paused to read the Haddon book...it's kinda good...but I don't really get it....it's my first Dickens experience. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 03:17:32 PM
The latest National Geographic has some amazing information on the planet Saturn(and photography).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PhishJY on December 12, 2006, 03:43:39 PM
Playboy....






















For the articles.  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 12, 2006, 03:51:05 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 12, 2006, 03:12:22 PM
I just finished "The Curious Incident of a Dog In The Night" (I think?)  By Mark Haddon.

FUCKING AMAZING BOOK. 

I highly encourage everyone to read it.  It's such an easy yet classic read.  Uplifting good stuff.

I'm in the middle of "A Tale of Two Cities" which I paused to read the Haddon book...it's kinda good...but I don't really get it....it's my first Dickens experience. 

Dickens=most overrated ever, IMO.  He takes so much time to say so very little, zzzzzzzzzzz.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 12, 2006, 03:56:41 PM
Quote from: ikki on December 12, 2006, 03:51:05 PM
Dickens=most overrated ever, IMO.  He takes so much time to say so very little, zzzzzzzzzzz.

yup.

but he's worthwhile imo just for writing "A Christmas Carol"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 12, 2006, 03:57:17 PM
Quote from: phan003 on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:

Suit yourself...

I would love to experience a lesbianic homosexual rendezvous.  :banana: :samurai:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 03:58:17 PM
Thomas Pynchon Against The Day
Graham Greene The Comedians
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 12, 2006, 04:01:46 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 12, 2006, 03:56:41 PM
yup.

but he's worthwhile imo just for writing "A Christmas Carol"

I guess, since it was the inspiration for Scrooged!   :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 04:01:58 PM
well when the lesbians rip your dick off for being an "oppressive" male, we'll see who is right

edit: faux I think your confusing lesbians with coke sluts, and "naughty" college girls, which I would love to tango with
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 04:05:30 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 03:58:17 PM
Thomas Pynchon Against The Day
Graham Greene The Comedians
How much Pynchon have you read?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 04:10:29 PM
This is my maiden voyage into Pynchon.  I honestly can't get into books that are more than 350 or 400 pages, but, this is an important author, so I'm diving in head first. 

Just finished Pamuk's My Name Is Red 4-6 weeks ago, just before the announcement.  It was WAY too long for the purpose...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 12, 2006, 04:10:38 PM
   I just finished "Acts of Faith" by Philip Caputo....

          "The ghosts of literary heavyweights are never far from the page in Philip Caputo's unflinching, dust-swept African odyssey, Acts of Faith. This cautionary tale about a modern-day group of well-intentioned pilots, missionaries and dreamers who attempt to alleviate the suffering in war-torn Sudan covers all the morally rocky ground we love in Melville and Conrad. Three very different love-in-the-trenches subplots recall the shell-shocked assignations of Hemingway. And the brutally honest, two-fisted prose reminds us yet again why Caputo, along with Jim Harrison and Peter Matthiessen, may be the last of the big cats in our literary jungle."

    Pretty interesting and topical subject. Not as good as his Rumor of War, his reportings from his tours in Vietnam, which he won a Pulitzer for. But pretty amazing none-the-less.
   
   Now reading Touching my Fathers Soul by Amling Tenzing Norgay.  Written by the late Everst Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, son. Quite interesting so far...


On the topic of books, my alltime favorite read was Geek Love by Katherine Dunn...fromwiki..."Geek Love is a novel by Katherine Dunn and first published in 1989. It's the story of a traveling circus run by Aloysius "Al" Binewski and his wife, "Crystal" Lil. When Al's circus begins to fail, the couple devise an idea to breed their own freak show, using various drugs and radioactive material to alter the genes of their children. Who emerges are Arturo ("Arty"), a boy with flippers for hands and feet; Electra ("Elly") and Iphigenia ("Iphy") the Siamese Twins; Olympia ("Oly") the hunchback albino dwarf; and Fortunato ("Chick"), the normal looking telekinetic baby of the family -- as well as a number of still-borns kept preserved in jars in a special wing of the freak show. The story is told by Oly in the form of a novel written for her daughter Miranda.

   READ THIS BOOK, you will not be disappointed.
I am a voracious reader so any and all recomendations are extremely welcome..
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jedifunk on December 12, 2006, 04:23:54 PM
how do you people have time for reading........  seriously
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 04:26:53 PM
well i choose to read instead of watching TV.  I also like to listen to music while I read, so I knock out 2 birds with one stone. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jedifunk on December 12, 2006, 04:31:26 PM
well, i don't have time to watch tv either... or play video games....

luckily listening to music is something i can do while doing almost anything...

about the only thing i have time for is the paug ;)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 04:38:31 PM
5000+ posts
I'm calling bullshit, your never here  :wink:

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 12, 2006, 04:40:52 PM
Quote from: jedifunk on December 12, 2006, 04:23:54 PM
how do you people have time for reading........  seriously
I just got laid off for the next 3 months :banana: Cant install Swimming pools in the winter
Enjoy your jobs, Suckers :mrgreen:


Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on December 12, 2006, 04:42:25 PM
right now i'm reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  It's hilarious!

admittedly it takes me twice as long to get thru a book than it used to p.m. (pre-motherhood) but i definitely take time to read.  gotsa keep me sharp!

the last book i read was In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.  It was good, albeit a bit slow.  But it was nice to see how his book kicked off murder/mayhem/chaos into the reading by pop culture.  

a great toilet read... An Underground Education by Richard Zacks...full of small articles with odd facts, like the time Winston Churchill was flogged, the tools used by early gynecologists (which gave me chills.), research on severed heads...you know, fun stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 12, 2006, 04:43:27 PM
I'm about to take a maiden dive into Pynchon, depending on whether anyone buys me that Gravity's Rainbow that's on my xmas list.  Although, from what I've read about him, its pretty dense stuff.  We will see.  "Ulysses" is still up on my bookshelf, taunting me for never getting through it.

Edit:  it keeps telling me replies have been posted.  It is clear we are all killing the last 1/2 hour or so at work right now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 04:45:56 PM
or studying  :|
I have two finals tomorrow and I need to study but I just don't want to right now. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 04:49:30 PM
kellerb - Google Books has a "preview" of Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow available.  You can get a head start - if you just type in Google Books Pynchon it should come up for you.

tela - Walk In The Woods was the first of Bryson's that I read.  I still laugh over that section, I think prior to setting out, where he talks about what one should do if approached or attacked by a bear - anything but be calm since you are about to be eaten!  I read three of four of his other works, but none were as good.
His Notes from a Small Island would be good if you want to fall asleep on the potty  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on December 12, 2006, 04:54:15 PM
Hidden Heritage: Historical Archeology of the Overseas Chinese edited by Priscilla Wegars. Part of continuing research project on a "Chinese Laundry" (as described by fire insurance maps 1888-1902) that was situated on the land where the house I rent sits.  I just won a mock grant proposal for the project in my archeological methods class today.  Major presentation, glad its over.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on December 12, 2006, 04:55:56 PM
^^^whoa.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on December 12, 2006, 05:03:31 PM
Sounds pretty nerdy huh?  I just don't read fiction anymore.  I used read quite a bit of fiction.  Hell I used to think that I was going to be a better writer than Kerouac, but after I grew up a bit, and some of that teenage angst wore off, so did my love of fiction.  Now I'm pretty much just a music and archeology nerd.  My love for archeology started when I was 6 or 7.  I wasn't a very social child, and spent a lot of time in the school library reading National Geographic.  Now, the rest is history.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 05:07:00 PM
^^
Perhaps, but judging by your signature, fiction is what made you the person you are.  So, perhaps a return to the fold might be good for you  :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on December 12, 2006, 05:31:32 PM
True that^^  My wife, owner of an english bs., never forgets to remind me of that either. 

On another note I'm also reading The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips And Advise For Dads To BE by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash, so I believe that my life is going to be a lot different then I ever imagined any way.  :banana:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 12, 2006, 06:06:52 PM
all of your email... 

btw nab, that's a good offer on \/|4GR4 u got the other day...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 06:09:08 PM
do you mean the PM's ?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 12, 2006, 06:17:02 PM
Quote from: phan003 on December 12, 2006, 06:09:08 PM
do you mean the PM's ?
nope  :-o :evil:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on December 12, 2006, 06:32:03 PM
Quote from: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 02:09:18 PM
Island by Aldous Huxley. Check it out if you haven't already. :-D :-D

Did you steal that from my car?   :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 12, 2006, 06:32:50 PM
tet,
what was the last email I received ?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 12, 2006, 06:34:00 PM
Quote from: susep73 on December 12, 2006, 06:32:03 PM
Did you steal that from my car?   :-D
No. That's funny though. :-D Have you read it yet?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on December 12, 2006, 06:43:25 PM
Quote from: tet on December 12, 2006, 06:06:52 PM
all of your email... 

btw nab, that's a good offer on \/|4GR4 u got the other day...

Too good, aparently  :evil:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on December 12, 2006, 08:02:05 PM
currently seeding 5-23-94 Portland, OR
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=502502

pretty good show with a nice Reba.

oops! i misread the question!

i am currently eating a delicious sandwich.

(http://cicado.com/bug-sandwich.JPG)

it's damn good, too!
a




















wait a minute.....the question is what are you reading?
currently reading minds.
and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk for the 3rd time.




Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 12, 2006, 08:19:02 PM
i haven't read pynchon's new book yet, but i've read all the others.
gravity's rainbow is indeed a kind of brilliant mad book.
expect to be reading it for a long time. it's slow going but if you make it through, you'll be very happy. looks like they've just published a new, illustrated version of it. crazy.

i've read bryson's 'a short history of nearly everything,' which is a great science primer entertainingly written for folks not up on their scientific knowledge.

currently i'm reading 'The Mind's I.' it's a collection from '80 edited by daniel dennett and douglas hofstadter (who wrote a truly amazing-- though rather challenging-- book called 'goedel escher bach') all about brains, artificial intelligence and what it means to be 'you.' or 'i'. it's less technical than it sounds, with many pieces by philisophers, fiction writers, and so on, all exploring these themes of what it means to have an identity and how artificial intelligence might be realized.

the book that really blew me away recently was Blood Meridian by cormac mccarthy. i'd read All The Pretty Horses a few years back and wasn't all that impressed. but this one is just stunning. it's dark and violent and apocalyptic and the prose is so gorgeous there were times when i had to stop reading just to sit and be amazed by the beauty of a particular sentence. THAT doesn't happen to me often.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: grewich on December 12, 2006, 11:01:27 PM
Clive Cussler ~ Shock Wave

this is the sixth one ill have read...and damnit i like it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 11:17:28 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 12, 2006, 08:19:02 PM
It's dark and violent and apocalyptic and the prose is so gorgeous there were times when i had to stop reading just to sit and be amazed by the beauty of a particular sentence. THAT doesn't happen to me often.

It can happen again soon if you pick up McCarthy's The Road.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 13, 2006, 12:40:40 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 12, 2006, 11:17:28 PM
It can happen again soon if you pick up McCarthy's The Road.

i actually did pick that one up. haven't gotten to it yet...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on December 13, 2006, 08:30:54 AM
You folks are completely missing the boat here.  You need to be reading what I am:

"Migrating to IPv6, A practical guide to implementing IPv6 in mobile and fixed networks" by Marc Blanchet
Let me tell you, its a scorcher.  In chapter 14 when he covers flow labels, WOW!!!!!!!

This is one of those books I would sell back in college before the final for beer money.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 13, 2006, 12:28:51 PM
Aldous Huxley-The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. This PDF file was started by yours truly at about 11:00 P.M. last night. I had to leave my friend's computer but I was really enjoying Huxley's breakdown on spatial relationship's while he was under the influence of mescalin. Right angles weren't right angles anymore. Yes,the bent dimension. :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on December 13, 2006, 01:07:29 PM
Quote from: converse29 on December 13, 2006, 12:28:51 PM
Aldous Huxley-The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. This PDF file was started by yours truly at about 11:00 P.M. last night. I had to leave my friend's computer but I was really enjoying Huxley's breakdown on spatial relationship's while he was under the influence of mescalin. Right angles weren't right angles anymore. Yes,the bent dimension. :-D

I read that book in high school way before I had any psychedelic experiences.  I was just trying to explain to this kid (who has never had a psychedelic experience) who I work with that intellectually understanding psychedelics (i.e. understanding something like Huxley's book) and having the experience are two totally different things.  Maybe I should go back and read that book again.     
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on December 13, 2006, 01:52:47 PM
Quote from: nab on December 13, 2006, 01:07:29 PM
I read that book in high school way before I had any psychedelic experiences.  I was just trying to explain to this kid (who has never had a psychedelic experience) who I work with that intellectually understanding psychedelics (i.e. understanding something like Huxley's book) and having the experience are two totally different things.  Maybe I should go back and read that book again.     
If you feel you could benefit from it and help others. I feel Huxley was a person who could interpret the psychedelic experience intellectually as he was having an emotional spiritual experience. :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on December 13, 2006, 03:41:44 PM
Quote from: converse29 on December 13, 2006, 12:28:51 PM
Aldous Huxley-The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. This PDF file was started by yours truly at about 11:00 P.M. last night. I had to leave my friend's computer but I was really enjoying Huxley's breakdown on spatial relationship's while he was under the influence of mescalin. Right angles weren't right angles anymore. Yes,the bent dimension. :-D

yes!  two awesome pieces of literature from huxley.  nice call!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 13, 2006, 05:57:59 PM
Quote from: phan003 on December 12, 2006, 06:32:50 PM
tet,
what was the last email I received ?

your activation code for exclusive member-only access to Goatse
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on December 13, 2006, 09:50:03 PM
Quote from: august on December 12, 2006, 08:02:05 PM
i am currently eating a delicious sandwich.

(http://cicado.com/bug-sandwich.JPG)

it's damn good, too!
a

nice, looks like you got your trace elements :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on January 20, 2007, 02:42:14 PM
Bob Dylan
Chronicles Vol. 1

Bob tells an interesting story when he was rehearsing w/ the  :syf: in '87 and how they were pulling out all of these older tunes that he didn't/couldn't feel.  He made up an excuse to leave practice and went for a walk.  He passed this bar up the street where a jazz group was playing so he went in for a beverage and listened.  He really became inspired by the singer/vocalist because of his feel and returned to practice more rejuvanted.

Also there was a fun story about him hanging w/ Bono w/ a case of Guinness.

Great read so far, thanks again sl :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on January 20, 2007, 02:50:01 PM
Grateful Dead Gear - Blair Jackson


Da Capo Best Music Writing 2006 - Mary Gaitskill/Daphine Carr (Editors)

The Best Music Writing book is cool, mostly essays and short articles about, duh, music - written in 2006.  The first one is an article about why Masters Of War is the greatest protest song of all-time.  And it goes on from there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 20, 2007, 04:12:41 PM
QuoteGreat read so far, thanks again sl
glad you like it susep :-)

QuoteThe Best Music Writing book is cool, mostly essays and short articles about, duh, music - written in 2006.  The first one is an article about why Masters Of War is the greatest protest song of all-time.  And it goes on from there.

funny. I heard that one yesterday on the ipod and it was going in my head all day. It was obviously written about the cold war (I'm pretty sure it was before the escalation of Nam) but I just keep on seeing Bush and Cheney's face. Timeless song with powerful lyrics that still hold up.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: lexslamman on January 20, 2007, 09:20:47 PM
Current list of books being actively read (not the queue, these are the ones I'm reading now):

Identity and Foreign Policy in the Middle East - Shibley Telhami
The Foreign Policies of Mid-East States - Michael Hinnebusch
The Origin of Alliances - Stephen Walt
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Drawing of the Three - Stephen King
The Lord of the Rings (note: this book and its predecessors are always and perpetually being read by me)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on January 21, 2007, 01:13:31 AM
Quote from: lexslamman on January 20, 2007, 09:20:47 PM
Identity and Foreign Policy in the Middle East - Shibley Telhami
The Foreign Policies of Mid-East States - Michael Hinnebusch

sounds interesting.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on January 21, 2007, 03:02:51 AM


Final Fantasy XII Official Strategy Guide, Brady Games
Archeology In Montana Vol 43 No 1 2002 and Vol 45 No 1 2004

Edit: Oh yea, and a National Geographic article on Neandertals from 1996.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on January 21, 2007, 12:14:03 PM
Just started
"Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln"  by Doris Kearns Goodwin.   Written as a narrative of he and his cabinet excellent read so far.  I love here writing style.  She wrote a great memoir of the Brooklyn Dodgers for you baseball fans called "Wait Til Next Year"
Barack Obama "The Audacity of Hope" is next
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 29, 2007, 08:59:48 AM
Still fucking reading "A Tale of two Cities"

:x
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Marmar on January 29, 2007, 10:18:42 AM
J-Cards.......
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PhishJY on January 29, 2007, 10:44:22 AM
Quote from: Marmar on January 29, 2007, 10:18:42 AM
J-Cards.......

:-D

I'm currently working on my CCNA, so i'm reading CCNA Fast Pass 2nd Ed., by Todd Lammle. 

RIP + RIP v2 + OSPF + IGRP + EIGRP = Interesting Stuff
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red Sea Pedestrian on January 29, 2007, 01:49:01 PM
I'm just about to start reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I really liked Snow Crash, and this book looks even better.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 29, 2007, 02:14:21 PM
finished The Road by McCarthy.
very sparse and very bleak.
but good!
not the dense, beautiful masterpiece that was Blood Meridian, but still excellent.

now i'm reading Against The Day, the new Pynchon novel.
it's loooong. and kind of all over the place. we'll see...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on January 29, 2007, 03:28:03 PM
Quote from: Red Sea Pedestrian on January 29, 2007, 01:49:01 PM
I'm just about to start reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I really liked Snow Crash, and this book looks even better.

One of my favorites, tried to read the Baroque Cycle but it was pretty tough.  I might re-attempt it at some point.  I really like Diamond Age by Stephenson as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on January 29, 2007, 05:50:18 PM
One Flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey. I am also reading The Book of Exodus, that tells the story of Bob Marley's expierences while making the Exodus album and purposes for making it. It goes into a lot of detail on Rastas. Pretty good read
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on January 30, 2007, 12:12:42 AM
Quote from: PhishJY on January 29, 2007, 10:44:22 AM
:-D

I'm currently working on my CCNA, so i'm reading CCNA Fast Pass 2nd Ed., by Todd Lammle. 

RIP + RIP v2 + OSPF + IGRP + EIGRP = Interesting Stuff

Good stuff.  Don't forget to hit BGP and IPv6 as well.  MPLS would be good.  MPLS and BGP are in high use and IPv6 is 18-24 months from taking over the network space.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: bizarro jerry on January 30, 2007, 12:31:22 AM
I'm reading Summer of '49. Great stuff
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on January 30, 2007, 12:43:27 AM
Slaughterhouse-five
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 30, 2007, 01:41:21 AM
Quote from: whyweigh2.0 on January 30, 2007, 12:43:27 AM
Slaughterhouse-five

so it goes.

there's a movie from the early '70s based on it. not bad, actually. the best attempt at filming vonnegut so far. rumour had it a year or two ago that leonardo dicaprio was having Cat's Cradle adapted for him to star in. haven't heard anything since about that one. i'd love to see a great movie of cat's cradle, kind of doubt it will come to pass. it's tough to pull off vonnegut on film, since his subject matter is always so bleak and serious, and it's only in the way he tells the story that makes you laugh your ass off.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on January 30, 2007, 06:51:49 AM
Comments on a couple entries before I share mine:
Tale of Two Cities- man, I did not want to read it for school. I did though and, while I dug it, the dissection in class nearly ruined it. I went back and read it again a couple years later... Awesome book. Don't sweat taking your time, iirc it's one that Dickens wrote as a serial, so a chapter a week is not too shabby.

CCNA, huh?
I've been meaning to study up on IPv6 to prepare for the future. If I stay in my current job, though, I'll probably spend more time on VoIP and it's necessary QOS this year; in addition to my regular duties as DBA. One of the joys for working in a small IT dept.

Kesey is a great writer, overshadowed by his pranksterism. I highly recommend "Sometimes A Great Notion" next. Its about 4 times as long but there's some serious meat in that puppy. Blew me away.

I am reading two books:
Grateful Dead Gear- fucking rules. I'm learning things about guitars, recording and sound re-enforcement that I wouldn't expect to learn from what is, on the outside, a coffee-table book.

And

Discarded Science, Ideas That Seemed Good At The Time...
By John Grant

Basically a run down on a shitload of the silly theories that man, primarily western man, has tried to use to explain life, the universe, and everything.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on January 30, 2007, 11:49:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on January 30, 2007, 06:51:49 AM

CCNA, huh?
I've been meaning to study up on IPv6 to prepare for the future. If I stay in my current job, though, I'll probably spend more time on VoIP and it's necessary QOS this year; in addition to my regular duties as DBA. One of the joys for working in a small IT dept.


QOS is big.  VoIP and MPLS will be your primary IPv6 adopters.  Vista won't even support v4 for peer to peer networking.

Oh, I design a network management product.

End hijack
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on January 30, 2007, 12:33:00 PM
Quote from: Guyute on January 30, 2007, 11:49:29 AM
QOS is big.  VoIP and MPLS will be your primary IPv6 adopters.  Vista won't even support v4 for peer to peer networking.

Oh, I design a network management product.

End hijack

Which one?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on January 31, 2007, 02:50:52 AM
The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson

If you enjoy his novels I highly recommend this one.   It's out of print but I found a reasonably priced used one.  I think I paid 30 plus shipping.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on January 31, 2007, 08:45:30 AM
I enjoyed fear and loathing and rum diary. I still don't see what Fear and Loathing has to do with the American Dream...getting fucked up and going on wild and crazy rampages?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ucusty on January 31, 2007, 01:18:55 PM
nice cookbook since thats really all I read nowadays...  check it out
"Happy in the Kitchen"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on January 31, 2007, 03:17:47 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 29, 2007, 02:14:21 PM
finished The Road by McCarthy.
very sparse and very bleak.
but good!
not the dense, beautiful masterpiece that was Blood Meridian, but still excellent.

now i'm reading Against The Day, the new Pynchon novel.
it's loooong. and kind of all over the place. we'll see...

Nice!  McCarthy has gone spare, and while I don't think it worked in No Country For Old Men it damn sure worked in The Road.  In a word, distilled.

I, too, am wading my way through Pynchon (about 700 pages in) and it is like falling down an elevator shaft.
I always try to read two at a time, so the other right now is Don DeLillo's Americana.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on January 31, 2007, 09:35:18 PM
Quote from: emayPhishheadMD on January 31, 2007, 08:45:30 AM
I enjoyed fear and loathing and rum diary. I still don't see what Fear and Loathing has to do with the American Dream...getting fucked up and going on wild and crazy rampages?

This one is kind of like a somewhat tamed fear and loathing, but in Hawaii.  Its not quite as crazy as F&L but a bit more on the edge than rum dairy. 

Rum Diary is still my favorite "novel" of his.  Can't wait for the movie...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on January 31, 2007, 11:26:07 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on January 31, 2007, 03:17:47 PM
Nice!  McCarthy has gone spare, and while I don't think it worked in No Country For Old Men it damn sure worked in The Road.  In a word, distilled.

I, too, am wading my way through Pynchon (about 700 pages in) and it is like falling down an elevator shaft.
I always try to read two at a time, so the other right now is Don DeLillo's Americana.

I like the 2 at a time idea.  You don't find you get distracted by them?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on February 01, 2007, 04:56:01 PM
Quote from: Guyute on January 31, 2007, 11:26:07 PM
I like the 2 at a time idea.  You don't find you get distracted by them?

No, I don't get distracted.  I think it is a carry over from college and having to read multiple Philosophy texts at the same time (from different eras, disciplines, etc...).

Because of the length of Against The Day it makes the need to read something else more acute.  The one book, Americana or whatever the case may be, forces me to take a break from Against The Day which is a good thing. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 02, 2007, 09:04:11 AM
I tend to keep one bok in my bag for my commute and another by my bed for reading @ home.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on February 06, 2007, 12:03:31 PM
Quote from: emayPhishheadMD on January 31, 2007, 08:45:30 AM
I enjoyed fear and loathing and rum diary. I still don't see what Fear and Loathing has to do with the American Dream...getting fucked up and going on wild and crazy rampages?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_loathing_in_las_vegas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_loathing_in_las_vegas)
QuoteMajor themes

The book was an attempt to place the radical activism and drug culture of the 1960s into the context of what was the mainstream American experience at the time. It explores the idea that 1971 was a turning point in hippie and drug culture in America, when the countercultural movement no longer had momentum and its innocence and optimism of the late 1960s turned to cynicism.

Throughout the novel, the main characters go out of their way to degrade, abuse, and destroy symbols of American consumerism and excess. Much of Las Vegas is used to symbolize the ugliness of mainstream American culture, to which the characters give little respect. In the DVD commentary of his film version of the novel, Director Terry Gilliam characterizes these actions as a theme of anarchism.

Some have suggested that the book's themes resemble those of The Great Gatsby, which deals with the state of the American Dream and the lives of the rich and careless. Others have surmised that the white Cadillac Journalist Raoul Duke drives (referred to as the "White Whale" in the book) is an allusion to the white whale in Moby Dick, symbolically representative of good and evil and a metaphor for elements of life that are out of people's control.

[edit] The "wave speech"

The "wave speech" is an important passage that appears about a third of the way through the novel, at the end of the eighth chapter (although the same "speech" is given toward the middle of the film version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Thompson considered the "wave speech" to be "probably the finest thing I've ever written." It tries to capture the zeitgeist of the hippie era, and the way it came to an end.
"    San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .

History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time — and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.

My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights — or very early mornings — when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .

And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
wikipedia does a better job of explaining the answer to your question than I can.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 06, 2007, 12:54:13 PM
And Terry Gilliam did as good a job as is humanly possible in making it a film.

I just got the Criterion Collection DVD and it is amazing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 06, 2007, 12:55:29 PM
On topic:
Just started reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Never read it before but, I remember enjoying the mini-series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 06, 2007, 01:19:57 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 06, 2007, 12:55:29 PM
On topic:
Just started reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Never read it before but, I remember enjoying the mini-series.

that's really a great read. way better than the miniseries, as one would expect.

and speaking of mcmurtry and movies, the movie The Last Picture Show, based on one of his books, is a masterpiece i highly recommened.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on February 06, 2007, 08:58:15 PM
Catch A Fire - The Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White

Its ok so far but the Author's style is a bit dry in that he over intellectualizes everything.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 06, 2007, 09:14:08 PM
I found that to be be the case, also.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 03, 2007, 09:27:35 AM
I just read a great little book that my Wife brought home from work (she works @ the local library):

The Crane Wife as retold by 'Odds Bodkins'
(http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0152163506.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)

This is a retelling of the Japanese folk tale that The Decemberists are telling in "The Crane Wife pt 1-3" on their album of the same name.
I just read it to my daughter... totally beautiful.

http://www.amazon.com/Crane-Wife-Odds-Bodkin/dp/0152163506
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on March 03, 2007, 12:20:06 PM
Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.  Still.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  Still.

i used to devour books pre-motherhood.  now it takes me forever.  it's the only thing about pre-motherhood that i miss.  seriously.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 03, 2007, 04:27:10 PM
My wife read that over my shoulder and she shares your sentiment...
From here it looks as if she's finding more and more time though...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 04, 2007, 03:46:44 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 03, 2007, 04:27:10 PM
My wife read that over my shoulder and she shares your sentiment...
From here it looks as if she's finding more and more time though...

Your wife reads "everybody poops" over your shoulder?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 04, 2007, 09:47:03 AM
Yes. I won't let her have her own copy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on March 07, 2007, 12:50:25 PM
kinky.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 07, 2007, 01:07:21 PM
I've been slacking.. still on the last chapter of Slaughterhouse five.  I picked up the complete Hitchhikers Guide last night on amazon 8-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 07, 2007, 08:19:48 PM
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is awesome. My mother turned me on to that when I was 8.

Now reading:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

So far, a great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 07, 2007, 09:07:27 PM
yeah, I have always like the Hitchhiker's Guide.  But never owned a copy :?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on March 07, 2007, 09:32:55 PM
Currently on book 4 "A Feast For Crows" of George R. R. Martins Song of Fire and Ice series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phatyphil on March 08, 2007, 02:31:03 PM
just started the botany of desire by michael pollan.  very intriguing so far (25 pages into it  :-D)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on March 08, 2007, 07:00:26 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 07, 2007, 08:19:48 PM
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is awesome. My mother turned me on to that when I was 8.

Now reading:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

So far, a great read.

I absolutely loved Lonesome Dove, and I never thought I'd ever bother reading a Western, but it's so well written and the characters feel like real people.

The sequel, Streets of Laredo, is pretty kickass too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 09, 2007, 07:33:42 PM
If I like Lonesome Dove when I finish as much as I do right now, Streets of Laredo will def. hit my reading queue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 09, 2007, 09:30:40 PM
Quote from: thechadbaker on March 07, 2007, 09:32:55 PM
Currently on book 4 "A Feast For Crows" of George R. R. Martins Song of Fire and Ice series.

heh. addicting, aren't they? i'd say the two genres of books i hate the most are fantasy and swords & sorcery. yet these books truly kick ass. HBO just bought the rights to make them into a series, one book per 12 episode season. should be interesting if they actually pull it off...

Quote from: ikki on March 08, 2007, 07:00:26 PM
I absolutely loved Lonesome Dove, and I never thought I'd ever bother reading a Western, but it's so well written and the characters feel like real people.

The sequel, Streets of Laredo, is pretty kickass too.

i never read the sequel, but i loved lonesome dove, too. great book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 09, 2007, 09:33:54 PM
This is your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin

really good read, I have ~60 pages left.  It is about cognitive neuroscience of the brain and how the brain processes music.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on March 14, 2007, 05:25:26 PM
Audacity of Hope.

I like the way this guy thinks and looks at the world.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 15, 2007, 10:13:19 PM
Quote from: whyweigh2.0 on March 07, 2007, 01:07:21 PM
I've been slacking.. still on the last chapter of Slaughterhouse five.  I picked up the complete Hitchhikers Guide last night on amazon 8-)

got it a couple days ago.  It's nice.. black leather-like covering.  Gold outlined pages.  A sewn in placekeeper.  it's got the 5 complete novels and one story.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the End of the universe

Life, the Universe and Everything

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Mostly Harmless

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 17, 2007, 09:57:40 PM
Quote from: whyweigh2.0 on March 15, 2007, 10:13:19 PM
got it a couple days ago.  It's nice.. black leather-like covering.  Gold outlined pages.  A sewn in placekeeper.  it's got the 5 complete novels and one story.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Restaurant at the Ed of the universe

Life, the Universe and Everything

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Mostly Harmless

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe

Thats the ed. that I have. sweet sweetness.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 18, 2007, 06:16:14 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on January 31, 2007, 03:17:47 PM
Nice!  McCarthy has gone spare, and while I don't think it worked in No Country For Old Men it damn sure worked in The Road.  In a word, distilled.

I, too, am wading my way through Pynchon (about 700 pages in) and it is like falling down an elevator shaft.
I always try to read two at a time, so the other right now is Don DeLillo's Americana.

i finally finished Against The Day. did you ever finish it? like falling down an elevator shaft all the way into the center of the earth and back again. kind of exasperating in a lot of ways, but ultimately a lot of fascinating pieces in there. i'm glad i made it through. i think.

now i'm reading War Trash by a chinese writer, Ha Jin. won a bunch of awards. hope it's good.

been years since i read hitchhiker's guide. i will always remember this line, though: 'the huge yellow ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.'
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on March 24, 2007, 06:03:15 PM
Rubbish- The Archeology of Garbage   What Our Garbage Tells Us About Ourselves

By William Rathje and Cullen Murphy



This is a fascinating book that seeks to use archaeological method to interpret modern American waste disposal in an attempt to better understand past human behavior vis-a-vis artifact deposition.  It is based on the reality that a good amount of the archaeological material found and studied today is, in fact, evidence of past cultures dumping their trash.  Some interesting insights I have gleaned so far:

- The industrial revolution did not create non-biodegradable trash, it has always been a major part of human waste activity (think of pottery shards, glass, bone in non-acidic soils, stone tools).
-  Recycling has been a constant presence in the human waste experience.
-  Getting an exact estimate of American waste products is extremely problematic.  Volume accounts are erroneous on the side of large garbage objects (fridges, building materials etc.) and Weight accounts are thrown off by the study area (the exact same bag of trash would weigh different in New Orleans, on account of humidity, than it would in Arizona or New York)


This is only the beginning.  More to come   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 24, 2007, 08:31:07 PM
   Nice Nab. I read that book during college.

Are you an archaelologist? I have a BS in Physical Anthropolgy....my main area of study was osteology. I never pursued a career since my wife found out she was pregnant a few weeks after graduation. Archaelogy just wouldnt pay the bills...I still dig in the dirt, now I just install polls however.
    Anyway, Rubbish! was a fun read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on March 24, 2007, 10:30:37 PM
Quote from: birdman on March 24, 2007, 08:31:07 PM
   Nice Nab. I read that book during college.

Are you an archaelologist? I have a BS in Physical Anthropolgy....my main area of study was osteology. I never pursued a career since my wife found out she was pregnant a few weeks after graduation. Archaelogy just wouldnt pay the bills...I still dig in the dirt, now I just install polls however.
    Anyway, Rubbish! was a fun read.

I am an archaeologist, or soon to be, I still have 3 years of school left to complete my Masters.  My wife and I just had our first baby and she won't let me do anything but pursue my education/career.  I've tried to give up a couple of times but she keeps pushing me.  Its a good thing.  Anyway, yes, I do love to dig me some dirt.  I also make my bread and butter digging dirt now, just not archaeologically; I am a landscaper.  Kind of annoys the other guys when I insist on looking at the stratigraphy in a freshly dug hole, or when I sift through the dirt looking for objects of interest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 24, 2007, 10:46:37 PM
I just started the Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 25, 2007, 09:29:37 AM
I just started Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on March 25, 2007, 10:08:41 AM
(http://www.wah-wah.nl/media/wahwah/Image/uitgaven/2007_05/wahwah_low-large.jpg)

Dutch 'zine.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tmwsiy on April 02, 2007, 10:00:02 PM
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=phish
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on April 02, 2007, 10:14:34 PM
Quote from: tmwsiy on April 02, 2007, 10:00:02 PM
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=phish
Phish ="A band that preaches love and happiness rather than hating your parents and fuckin' bitches. Kind of like Jesus."
:lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 03, 2007, 08:17:42 AM
I just finished reading The Streets of Laredo The followup to Lonesome Dove (see earlier in the thread.)

Wow.

Now I'm going on novel hiatus so I can focus my energies on music
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red Sea Pedestrian on April 06, 2007, 11:30:46 PM
Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe as well as The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan. I have a highly developed geeky side to my personality, although it's usually a side I don't get to indulge very often.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on April 24, 2007, 02:42:58 PM
"The Life Of Pi"-Yann Martel.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 24, 2007, 03:05:31 PM
Fieldwork: A Novel
by Mischa Berlinski

Recommended to me by Stephen King
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20034042,00.html
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on April 24, 2007, 03:44:12 PM
Quote from: phan003 on March 24, 2007, 10:46:37 PM
I just started the Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
still reading it.  I've been really busy the past few weeks, but I'll be finished soon. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on April 24, 2007, 03:46:33 PM
Scientific Progress Goes "Boink"

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/Scientific_Progress_Goes_Boink_Calvin_and_Hobbes_Book.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 24, 2007, 10:56:48 PM
Quote from: phan003 on April 24, 2007, 03:44:12 PM
still reading it.  I've been really busy the past few weeks, but I'll be finished soon. 

I just picked up "brave new world revisited" which is huxley's comparison of the modern world (circa 1958) with "brave new world (1932)."  Never knew it existed before, and it was sitting on the "classics" shelf in the library--I think they meant to put Brave New World out there instead of this.  So far he's mentioned communism quite a bit, which is kind of funny and somewhat dated. I'm not too far into it, I hope he discusses LSD (if he'd taken it at that point).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on May 26, 2007, 09:00:15 PM
Sin Killer

Seriously addicted to these Larry McMurtry Westerns.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 26, 2007, 11:57:58 PM
"parting the waters- 'america in the king years '54-'63'" by taylor branch (its a doosey)
next up volume 2
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 27, 2007, 12:11:07 AM
if you folks like books on the west...read edward abbey
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on May 27, 2007, 12:26:41 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 26, 2007, 09:00:15 PM
Sin Killer

Seriously addicted to these Larry McMurtry Westerns.

Heh. I just read two in fairly short order...
read something else
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 24, 2007, 03:05:31 PM
Fieldwork: A Novel
by Mischa Berlinski

Recommended to me by Stephen King
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20034042,00.html

And now I think i'm gonna go back to the westerns
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 27, 2007, 02:30:33 PM
been reading a lot lately...

No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
this was just made into a movie by the Coen brothers, opening this fall, so i thought i'd check out the book. it's written very sparsely and is a very simple, violent story. not bad, but the other books i've read of his are a lot better. actually, it kind of reads like a movie outline. not surprised the coens chose it. i can imagine their movie being better than the book.

I Am A Strange Loop - Douglas Hofstadter
this is the guy who wrote the amazing, unique, brilliant mind-fuck of a book Godel, Escher, Bach back in the late '70s. this new one is very different, more personal and accessible. it deals with figuring out what it is to think of oneself as an "I". what is the "I"? how is determined? where does it come from? is it an illusion created by our brains? he posits that it is effectively an illusion, and that this "I" functions as a sort of feedback loop. i'd explain it better, but it might take me a whole book to do so. it's very good.

now i'm reading an old (1901) H.G. Wells book, The First Men In The Moon. it's great so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on May 27, 2007, 09:51:24 PM
Gonna have to check out the 'Strange Loop' book.
I loved Goedel, Escher, Bach.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 28, 2007, 01:33:13 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 27, 2007, 09:51:24 PM
Gonna have to check out the 'Strange Loop' book.
I loved Goedel, Escher, Bach.

do so!
it's a very different kind of book, much more personal and straightforward. in fact, i was thinking it was maybe not so great for the first half, like it was too simple and insubstantial, but he really pulls it together by the end. he makes an argument for a very scientific concept of what it means to be an individual, yet that very scientific view is made beautiful by him. and that's tough to pull off in a science book, though i wish it weren't, making the logical argument the beautiful one, as opposed to the 'mystical' or religious view.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on May 28, 2007, 08:16:20 AM
Sowbelly:  The Obsessive, Never-ending Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass
did i mention i have this Fishing problem?  Very well written book made up of several fishermens stories and their day-to-day struggle to catch the monster!  I will post my picture of two monster fish soon!

The Elegant Universe: Brian Green
String theory dude.....deep shit.....his first book was mind blowing for me, but now, this is like a really strong tranquilizer....must finish.

My Life in and out of the Rough?!  John Daly's autobio...this sucks, like a third grader wrote it.

Stranger in a Strange Land......i read this like once per season.  I wish i was Jubal Harshaw....

:samurai:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khanti on May 28, 2007, 10:43:12 AM
Just finished:
The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem.   One of the few truly original science fiction novels I've read in a long time. Not really a novel, eve, more of a series of short stories detailing the adventures of a pair of 'constructors'. Couldn't put it down.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris.   Light reading of the first order. fun.

Neil Gaiman - Fragile Things. His latest collection of short stories. Some real gems in here if you're a fan of his work (American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, ...)

Just picked up:
Solaris = Stanislaw Lem.  Figure if the Cyberiad was so good, the one they made into a movie, must also be pretty good... We'll see.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 28, 2007, 02:29:14 PM
Quote from: khanti on May 28, 2007, 10:43:12 AM
Just finished:
The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem.   One of the few truly original science fiction novels I've read in a long time. Not really a novel, eve, more of a series of short stories detailing the adventures of a pair of 'constructors'. Couldn't put it down.

Just picked up:
Solaris = Stanislaw Lem.  Figure if the Cyberiad was so good, the one they made into a movie, must also be pretty good... We'll see.

lem is awesome. i love how funny the cyberiad is. along with being so incredibly imaginative. solaris is very good, too, but different. lots of long passages about the science of the the strange planet. it was made into a movie twice, actually. neither is great, but the russian '70s one is better.

Quote from: Bobafett on May 28, 2007, 08:16:20 AM

The Elegant Universe: Brian Green
String theory dude.....deep shit.....his first book was mind blowing for me, but now, this is like a really strong tranquilizer....must finish.


mindbending book. i really liked that one, too. that one is his first book, and the fabric of the cosmos his second. both are excellent. if you dig that kind of stuff, see my above suggestions of Goedel Escher Bach and I Am A Strange Loop.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 28, 2007, 02:37:38 PM
just finished...

rant-palahniuk...

good stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on May 28, 2007, 03:33:51 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 28, 2007, 02:37:38 PM
just finished...

rant-palahniuk...

good stuff.

still taking me a few times to get through the first 3 chapters.
reminds me of my first few attempts at invisible monsters.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: haleakalari on May 28, 2007, 05:16:20 PM
Quote from: Bobafett on May 28, 2007, 08:16:20 AM
Stranger in a Strange Land......i read this like once per season.  I wish i was Jubal Harshaw....

my teacher gave me that to read in 6th grade because i was bored with the book assigned to class. i still remember the book and it has always been one of my all time favorites, plus, it really got me passionate about reading.

last book i read was; Gods of Our Fathers: The Memory of Egypt in Judaism and Christianity by Professor Richard A. Gabriel. some recycled theories and inflammatory statements, plus the guy is a certified "egyptophile", but nonetheless the writing style is pretty engaging and it is a solid read. the book was very recently released and is a bit expensive, but the price should go down soon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 28, 2007, 05:22:29 PM
Quote from: August on May 28, 2007, 03:33:51 PM
still taking me a few times to get through the first 3 chapters.
reminds me of my first few attempts at invisible monsters.
a

give it time...
i thought the exact same thing.
but it gets better :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on June 08, 2007, 01:30:31 AM
I don't know if this is already a topic, sorry if it is.  I just thought that with the Last Movie Seen thread and the Right Now I'm Listening To, we should (I should) add a book one too.  Even though everyone here probably spends all their time listening to music and posting on the net, reading might fit in there somewhere (maybe?).  Anyway, what are some recommendations, or what are you currently digging?  I am a music bio and true crime junkie, so this is what is on my nightstand currently:  Mr. Untouchable, the story of New Yorks biggest H dealer in the 70's, Nicky Barnes.  It rules obviously, given such a great subject and also the Elliot Smith bio which is pretty good too.  Worth getting from the library at least.  Stay tuned and I'll post my top 10 music bios soon...(Snoops "The Doggfather"? A modern classic...)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on June 08, 2007, 01:35:30 AM
Ytowndan just alerted me to the fact that, yes this thread already exists at http://week4paug.net/index.php/topic,4845.0.html

sorry for wasting you time....I'm new here  :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 14, 2007, 08:39:19 PM
been reading a lot lately...

Oppenheimer - a recent biography, very good. he's the guy who lead the team that created the atom bomb in WWII, among many other fascinating endeavors. very complex guy. it was so interesting to read about all of these scientists predicting what would happen if we began a nuclear arms race. everything they feared came true. reading about the efforts people went to to avoid what became the cold war was really eye opening.

Notes From Underground - Dostoevsky. never read anything by him before, so i started with this, a very short book. great! written 150 years ago and like nothing else. it's basically a 130 page rant. funny and intense. feels very modern. i'm going to get around to the Brothers Karamazov soon.

Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis. british, '60s, very funny story of a slacker vaguely trying to keep a teaching job at a college and deal with a variety of women while drinking way too much.

This Is Your Brain On Music - Daniel Levitin. recommended by phan003 in another thread somewhere. not bad, but i didn't get into it as much as phan did. some good stuff about the basics of music and how the brain deals with it, very much aimed at readers who've never thought about music before. for me there was too much focus on the details of his own research.

Einstein - Relativity. well i've read so many books that discuss relativity i thought i'd finally read the first book on it by the man himself. and i've gotta say, though he tries to explain it as plainly as possible, he's a little too far up in his own genius brain to get it across simply. but cool to read.

Team Of Rivals - Doris Goodwin. this is the big recent book about Lincoln and how once he very surprisingly became president, he appointed all of his rivals to all of the important positions in his government, so that he could hear the opposing opinions on every matter.  just started it, really good so far...

Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth - Chris Ware. a graphic novel. very good and very depressing. just started that one, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gumbo72203 on July 14, 2007, 11:09:08 PM
anything and everything by one Howard Philips LOVECRAFT.

the Cthulhu Mythos owns your soul.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 15, 2007, 09:38:43 AM
J.R.R. Tolkien - Children of Hurin
Good book. Basically an more detailed telling of the story of Turin which can be found in part in the Simarillion & the book of Lost tales (iirc) So, some of it was familiar, some was new. All was freshly told in a manner that is closer to that of LOTR than the Simarillion. (Less obtuse explication.)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red Sea Pedestrian on July 15, 2007, 11:39:36 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 15, 2007, 09:38:43 AM
J.R.R. Tolkien - Children of Hurin
Good book. Basically an more detailed telling of the story of Turin which can be found in part in the Simarillion & the book of Lost tales (iirc) So, some of it was familiar, some was new. All was freshly told in a manner that is closer to that of LOTR than the Simarillion. (Less obtuse explication.)

I never really got that into Tolkien, I can appreciate the impact he's had on fantasy literature, but I never really liked him as a writer. The ending of LotR is terrible, it's more dragged out then a disco biscuits concert, and about ten times more boring (ZING). The Silmarrilion was probably the most inaccesible piece of literature I hav ever picked up, every time I would read more then a page my brian would just shut off and I'd fall asleep.

The Hobbit KICKED ASS.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 15, 2007, 11:46:35 AM
You should get a new brian...
(http://kasparov.skife.org/brian-for-sale.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 15, 2007, 04:38:55 PM
_The Scarlet Letter_  By Nathaniel Hawthorne

_Living Bill of Rights_

_The U.S. Governmental Operations Manual_

_God and Man in Washington_
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 15, 2007, 04:44:49 PM
QuoteThis Is Your Brain On Music - Daniel Levitin. recommended by phan003 in another thread somewhere. not bad, but i didn't get into it as much as phan did. some good stuff about the basics of music and how the brain deals with it, very much aimed at readers who've never thought about music before. for me there was too much focus on the details of his own research.
That book really blew me away.  Thanks for taking the time to read it. 

edit to add:

QuoteTeam Of Rivals - Doris Goodwin. this is the big recent book about Lincoln and how once he very surprisingly became president, he appointed all of his rivals to all of the important positions in his government, so that he could hear the opposing opinions on every matter.  just started it, really good so far...
I recently read, Lincoln on Democracy by Mario H. Cuomo & Harold Holzer.  It is a collection of his speeches throughout his career, and its a great read.  If you like Lincoln and want an in depth look into how he approached the major issues of his generation, this book details how intelligent Lincoln was and how great an orator he was as well. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on July 16, 2007, 01:00:46 AM
Quote from: phan003 on July 15, 2007, 04:44:49 PM
That book really blew me away.  Thanks for taking the time to read it. 

edit to add:
I recently read, Lincoln on Democracy by Mario H. Cuomo & Harold Holzer.  It is a collection of his speeches throughout his career, and its a great read.  If you like Lincoln and want an in depth look into how he approached the major issues of his generation, this book details how intelligent Lincoln was and how great an orator he was as well. 

Thanks for the suggestion.  Team of Rivals is far and away the best written historical piece I have read, especially for that period in time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Jesso666 on July 16, 2007, 07:20:33 PM
Almost always Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter S Thompson (all three of the Fear and Loathing Letter collections are awesome) and the newspaper. I'm currently reading "Answer Me! the First Three" A collection of the first three editions of the magazine with the same title"Answer Me". "Answer Me" appeared in the early nineties , and only had 4 issues. It was created by the then Husband and Wife team of Jim and Debbie Goad
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on July 16, 2007, 08:13:31 PM
  I still have two of the original Answer Me zines. The "rape issue" and "suicide" issue.
Absolutely the most shocking and mind fucking reads ever!
The "Jimmy the Jail Punk" story has managed to keep me far away from prison. now THAT is some insightful reading

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 18, 2007, 08:44:16 PM
So I just started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which I've heard good things, and I'm about 100 pages into it and I like it so far.  It is over 1000 pages though, so my opinion is subject to change.  I know cactusfan and few other members are going to puke upon reading my post.   :-D
So I'm ready to be flamed for willingly reading this book. 

However, after Atlas I plan to read some Chomsky.  I picked up (in paperback) Hegemony or Survival, which I'm also looking forward to reading. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on July 23, 2007, 06:44:26 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 14, 2007, 08:39:19 PM
been reading a lot lately...

Oppenheimer - a recent biography, very good. he's the guy who lead the team that created the atom bomb in WWII, among many other fascinating endeavors. very complex guy. it was so interesting to read about all of these scientists predicting what would happen if we began a nuclear arms race. everything they feared came true. reading about the efforts people went to to avoid what became the cold war was really eye opening.

Notes From Underground - Dostoevsky. never read anything by him before, so i started with this, a very short book. great! written 150 years ago and like nothing else. it's basically a 130 page rant. funny and intense. feels very modern. i'm going to get around to the Brothers Karamazov soon.

Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis. british, '60s, very funny story of a slacker vaguely trying to keep a teaching job at a college and deal with a variety of women while drinking way too much.

This Is Your Brain On Music - Daniel Levitin. recommended by phan003 in another thread somewhere. not bad, but i didn't get into it as much as phan did. some good stuff about the basics of music and how the brain deals with it, very much aimed at readers who've never thought about music before. for me there was too much focus on the details of his own research.

Einstein - Relativity. well i've read so many books that discuss relativity i thought i'd finally read the first book on it by the man himself. and i've gotta say, though he tries to explain it as plainly as possible, he's a little too far up in his own genius brain to get it across simply. but cool to read.

Team Of Rivals - Doris Goodwin. this is the big recent book about Lincoln and how once he very surprisingly became president, he appointed all of his rivals to all of the important positions in his government, so that he could hear the opposing opinions on every matter.  just started it, really good so far...

Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth - Chris Ware. a graphic novel. very good and very depressing. just started that one, too.

nice selections :beers:  I saw the Oppenheimer bio recently, have to get it.

I'm reading Searching for the Sound by Phillip Lesh.  Good so far, interesting insights.  I like his description of visualizing a "rainbow of notes"between him and Jer while dosed from a '68 show.
Phil is the man!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 24, 2007, 08:56:57 AM
I just finished the Harry Potter book.
Yep. Not ashamed to admit it.

It was a good ending to a good series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on July 24, 2007, 10:27:19 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2007, 08:56:57 AM
I just finished the Harry Potter book.
Yep. Not ashamed to admit it.

It was a good ending to a good series.

I read it. I agree. Well-written and it tied everything up pretty well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 24, 2007, 12:34:16 PM
breakfast of champions.
Vonnegut.

watched the movie a while ago.
pretty painful.
but i always enjoyed the pieces of this book i read for school

can't wait to finish.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on July 24, 2007, 03:52:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2007, 08:56:57 AM
I just finished the Harry Potter book.
Yep. Not ashamed to admit it.

It was a good ending to a good series.

definitely a good ending, although she could have left out the epilogue. Kind of the opposite of the last Dark Tower book, where -in my opinion- most of the last book sucked but the 'epilogue' was completely right.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 24, 2007, 04:35:25 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 24, 2007, 12:34:16 PM
breakfast of champions.
Vonnegut.

watched the movie a while ago.
pretty painful.
but i always enjoyed the pieces of this book i read for school

can't wait to finish.

no one seems able to film vonnegut effectively. it's very hard to get that kind of humor across on film. slaughterhouse 5 was a good effort, the only one, really, but even that one is a little too lacking in the funny. it takes a certain kind of genius to make a book about the horrors of WWII funny.

Quote from: phan003 on July 18, 2007, 08:44:16 PM
So I just started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which I've heard good things, and I'm about 100 pages into it and I like it so far.  It is over 1000 pages though, so my opinion is subject to change.  I know cactusfan and few other members are going to puke upon reading my post.   :-D
So I'm ready to be flamed for willingly reading this book. 


well with a lead-in like that, i guess i'd better say something. or else puke.

way back in college i read The Fountainhead, and rather liked it. i thought that the philosophy, taken in a very personal, individual context, where one should forge ahead and do creatively honest work no matter what, was very powerful. the characters were, of course, little more than mouthpieces for the various opposing philosophical viewpoints, but i still thought it was a good and provocative book.

then i read atlas shrugged, where rand took the same philosophy but this time applied it not to the individual, but to society at large, and that's where things get ugly. she does a fine job showing how totally insane and counter to human nature the concept of communism is, but her replacement philosophy is just as misguided and wholly detached from how humans actually behave. it's just as unworkable and idealistic and therefore as dangerous as communism. plus i didn't think it worked as a novel at all. but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be read. she's sure as hell got an opinion, and she makes it at great, great length...  :-D

so anyway, no puking. perhaps you will share your thoughts on it, phan, when you finish...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 24, 2007, 04:44:54 PM
"Yes, at first I was happy to be learning how to read. It seemed exciting and magical, but then I read this: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of shit, I am never reading again." - Officer Barbrady

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 24, 2007, 08:41:13 PM
Quote from: Hicks on July 24, 2007, 04:44:54 PM
"Yes, at first I was happy to be learning how to read. It seemed exciting and magical, but then I read this: Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I read every last word of this garbage, and because of this piece of shit, I am never reading again." - Officer Barbrady



:-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 24, 2007, 08:43:40 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 24, 2007, 04:35:25 PM
then i read atlas shrugged, where rand took the same philosophy but this time applied it not to the individual, but to society at large, and that's where things get ugly. she does a fine job showing how totally insane and counter to human nature the concept of communism is, but her replacement philosophy is just as misguided and wholly detached from how humans actually behave. it's just as unworkable and idealistic and therefore as dangerous as communism. plus i didn't think it worked as a novel at all. but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be read. she's sure as hell got an opinion, and she makes it at great, great length...  :-D

so anyway, no puking. perhaps you will share your thoughts on it, phan, when you finish...
I will do so.   :-)

I haven't read the fountain head, so can't comment on that, but I have read Rand's "On Objectivism" and I agree with your points that you stated.  Pseudo Anarchy scares the crap out of me, and I think her philosophy does border on the brink of that.  Also her use of Nietzsche's theories is a bit baffling in that I would think Nietzsche would have an uncanny level of disdain for her ideology.  I do like the concepts of freedom and capitalism and her admiration for each being to be free; however, an excess of capitalism can be detrimental to the moral obligations of society.  I will say that I think she is a wonderful writer even though it takes forever to get her point.

I'll get back to you once I finish it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on July 25, 2007, 10:33:33 AM
reading the first Harry Potter now, seeing what all the hype is about....so far it is a pretty well written, easy read (only on pp.125)....don't know if I'll make it through the other 6, but maybe
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 25, 2007, 10:42:37 AM
saving graces

by elizabeth edwards

(no, she doesn't capitalize her name either).

<3
matthew.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 25, 2007, 01:51:15 PM
shadowrun sourcebook.
its a role playing game- old school style w/  dice.

also the most reading i've done in 10 years.
:lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on August 03, 2007, 12:21:51 AM
I need a new book.

I prefer non-fiction, historical, more of an archeological focus as opposed to historian.  I will not rule out good historical analysis from an historian though.

Any suggestions?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on August 03, 2007, 01:01:34 AM
just finished harry potter, i'm now starting kerouac's dharma bums
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khanti on August 03, 2007, 07:55:05 AM
Quote from: nab on August 03, 2007, 12:21:51 AM
I need a new book.

I prefer non-fiction, historical, more of an archeological focus as opposed to historian.  I will not rule out good historical analysis from an historian though.

Any suggestions?

I recently read "The Ancient Engineers" By L Spraque DeCamp

It's a little dated, but still has a lot of good information and a pleasant read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 03, 2007, 08:22:35 AM
Quote from: phil on August 03, 2007, 01:01:34 AM
just finished harry potter, i'm now starting kerouac's dharma bums

The Dharma Bums is possibly my favorite Kerouac. Closely seconded by The Subterraneans and Big Sur. If you Enjoy The Dharma Bums, I recommend moving directly to Desolation Angels. It picks up directly on the heels of Dharma Bums...


Myself, I'm currently reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It's a memoir about growing up in poverty with an alcoholic pops and a dreamer of a mother who, together barely manage to raise their three children... It's been pretty fascinating. My favorite thing about it is how, when writing about her very young years, she applies the rose-colored filter of her former naiveté. This keeps the judgement of her adult self from spoiling the memories which, to the reader, can sometimes seem appalling.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on August 04, 2007, 09:42:20 PM
Quote from: khanti on August 03, 2007, 07:55:05 AM
I recently read "The Ancient Engineers" By L Spraque DeCamp

It's a little dated, but still has a lot of good information and a pleasant read.



I'll check that out, thanks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on August 04, 2007, 10:09:54 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on August 03, 2007, 08:22:35 AM
The Dharma Bums is possibly my favorite Kerouac. Closely seconded by The Subterraneans and Big Sur. If you Enjoy The Dharma Bums, I recommend moving directly to Desolation Angels. It picks up directly on the heels of Dharma Bums...

All faves of caravan...somewhat related, and a good read is " The First Third" which is the Neal Cassady autobiography.....check it out
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on August 04, 2007, 10:13:35 PM
01) on the road
02) the Dharma bums

:-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on August 04, 2007, 10:41:28 PM
Visions of Cody is the full realization of Kerouac's spontaneous prose style, it is also the most inaccessible.  My Kerouac list would probably read:

1. Desolation Angels
2. On the Road
3. The Dharma Bums
4. Big Sur
5. Visions of Cody
6. The short story "October in the Railroad Earth"
7. Some of the Dharma


My favorite biography of Kerouac would have to be "Memory Babe" by Gerald Nicosia. 
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Babe-Critical-Biography-Kerouac/dp/0520085698
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 06, 2007, 01:20:06 AM
Quote from: nab on August 03, 2007, 12:21:51 AM
I need a new book.

I prefer non-fiction, historical, more of an archeological focus as opposed to historian.  I will not rule out good historical analysis from an historian though.

Any suggestions?

for straight up archaeology there's always Lucy by Donald Johansson, about the discovery of the then oldest australopithecus fossil in ethiopa. it's an exciting story, mainly because the guy is such an egomaniac.

definitely read, if you haven't already, Guns Germs And Steel by Jared Diamond, which basically lays out in 500 pages why different societies around the globe developed at such different paces (it's all about geography, he argues brilliantly). an incredible book.

another classic, though we're getting pretty tangential to archaeology here, is Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner, about water in the american west. rivers, dams, acquifers, everything about water. it's a great read, fascinating and worrisome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: doctorron on August 08, 2007, 11:00:33 AM
Hey,

If it has not been mentioned, read Pynchon's SUPERB "Gravity's Rainbow."  Get ready for a trip....

Also anything by Vonnegut (RIP) is wonderful.

Ron
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on August 08, 2007, 10:53:00 PM
I bet you are all dying for this one:

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: converse29 on August 12, 2007, 06:49:43 AM
Quote from: nab on August 04, 2007, 10:41:28 PM
Visions of Cody is the full realization of Kerouac's spontaneous prose style, it is also the most inaccessible.  My Kerouac list would probably read:

1. Desolation Angels
2. On the Road
3. The Dharma Bums
4. Big Sur
5. Visions of Cody
6. The short story "October in the Railroad Earth"
7. Some of the Dharma



My favorite biography of Kerouac would have to be "Memory Babe" by Gerald Nicosia. 
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Babe-Critical-Biography-Kerouac/dp/0520085698
I think "The Town And The City" was a solid book. Of course, sometimes,people will bring up the Thomas Wolfe comparison.... :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 12, 2007, 07:48:47 AM
Quote from: converse29 on August 12, 2007, 06:49:43 AM
I think "The Town And The City" was a solid book. Of course, sometimes,people will bring up the Thomas Wolfe comparison.... :-D

I quite enjoyed it...

Of course, I think I've read them all at this point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on August 25, 2007, 03:37:37 PM
Quote from: phan003 on July 18, 2007, 08:44:16 PM
So I just started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which I've heard good things, and I'm about 100 pages into it and I like it so far.  It is over 1000 pages though, so my opinion is subject to change.  I know cactusfan and few other members are going to puke upon reading my post.   :-D
So I'm ready to be flamed for willingly reading this book. 

However, after Atlas I plan to read some Chomsky.  I picked up (in paperback) Hegemony or Survival, which I'm also looking forward to reading. 
So I finished Atlas Shrugged yesterday.  I'm going to start a political thread about the politics of Rand, so look for it, as it would be a better place to discuss the book. 

I also just started Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky, and I like it thus far.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on August 26, 2007, 01:31:20 AM
on a Daniel Silva kick...  some really brilliant stuff if you're into espionage/thriller/historical shit.

just finished The Kill Artist, picked up the next in that series: The English Assassin. 

i'd start reading his stuff from the beginning first, cause it all builds up and connects even though some are not completely related.  start with The Unlikely Spy if you haven't read his stuff yet. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ooeygooeypheeshstyx on August 26, 2007, 09:57:53 PM
reading Dharma Bums...mmm beatnik buddhism
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on September 02, 2007, 04:54:22 PM
Quote from: ooeygooeypheeshstyx on August 26, 2007, 09:57:53 PM
reading Dharma Bums...mmm beatnik buddhism

one of my all-time favorites

as for me, i'm re-reading walden...never really dug thoreau's style the first time around, but he's growing on me
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on September 02, 2007, 06:22:14 PM
finished the English Assassin, which was also great.  Decided to re-read Animal Farm too, which I hadn't read since high school.  What a brilliant book.  There's some really dark humor in there that i certainly didn't fully appreciate last time.


Next up: The Rum Diaries, by HST
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on September 02, 2007, 06:24:51 PM
Quote from: tet on September 02, 2007, 06:22:14 PM
Next up: The Rum Diaries, by HST

My favorite HST novel.  Supposedly Johnny Depp is going to play him again in a movie adaption of the book.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on September 12, 2007, 05:46:51 PM
For class - one flew over the cuckoo's nest

for fun - Earth House Hold by Gary Snyder (any kerouac fans might know that Gary Snyder was the inspiration for Jahpy Ryder in The dharma bums, it's really top-notch poetry)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 12, 2007, 07:08:29 PM
Just finished up 'The God Delusion.'  Waiting for me at the library is Chuck Klosterman IV.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 12, 2007, 07:15:54 PM
Snyder is great. I have a bunch of his stuff but, I assign part of the blame for my seven-year writers block to him along with asian poetry.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on September 14, 2007, 07:19:31 PM
Michael Gruber: Tropic Of Night

So far it is a really good, well written thriller.  I'm digging it for sure.

I'm also reading I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, which is the Warren Zevon biography.  It's also really good, especially since I knew very little about Zevon to begin with.  It's entertaining....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on September 14, 2007, 08:30:49 PM
phans dissertation on the price of oil vs. notable american conflicts/trouble in the 9>11 thread.  Good one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Casey Lenahan on September 14, 2007, 11:10:43 PM
a shit load of Business Books  :x

marketing management
business management
organizational behavior
business law 2

i hate school
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on September 16, 2007, 02:04:05 PM
must not be in your major classes yet.  I happen to like all of my text books this semester. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Casey Lenahan on September 17, 2007, 02:30:32 AM
yes and no. Im not a big reader in general.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: White_Bandana on September 17, 2007, 10:43:09 AM
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/26/40/6690228348a079ab6fe20110._AA240_.L.jpg)

The Bus: A novel
Rob Goll

Anybody else read it? Seems like is would be pretty popular around here, picked it up at Nelson's Ledges during summer and am just about done! fun read
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on September 25, 2007, 09:09:18 AM
Chuck Palahniuk-
Choke
(again...)

(http://pubpages.unh.edu/~laj8/choke.jpg)

This will be Chuck's second novel to become a feature film.

Finished this yesterday....

Anthony Kiedis-
Scar Tissue

(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0751535664.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 25, 2007, 09:21:33 AM
Does the latter explain your recent foray into the Chili Peppers' catalog?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on September 25, 2007, 09:23:42 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 25, 2007, 09:21:33 AM
Does the latter explain your recent foray into the Chili Peppers' catalog?

Actually, I listened to their first 4 before the book then remembered that he had written this.
I started and finished it yesterday.
Really great read for RHCP fans.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 25, 2007, 09:55:52 AM
aug.
did you make it thru rant again?
i remember you saying you were trying to read it when i first came'round these parts...

and you know they announced that possibly 'Invisible Monsters'
is on deck for the next book-->film of palahniuk's?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756666/

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on September 25, 2007, 09:57:47 AM
Nope.
I might go back and do Haunted or Lullaby again, though.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 25, 2007, 09:59:33 AM
Quote from: August on September 25, 2007, 09:57:47 AM
Nope.
I might go back and do Haunted or Lullaby again, though.
a

haunted and lullaby were great.
diary or survivor opinions?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on September 25, 2007, 10:00:21 AM
It's been too long.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: White_Bandana on September 25, 2007, 12:03:52 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 25, 2007, 09:59:33 AM
haunted and lullaby were great.
diary or survivor opinions?

just read diary again about a week ago about to start on celestial prophecy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 26, 2007, 01:10:59 PM
can't complain, thus far...

(http://a574.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/14/m_5e79459b8f5070d23247fc91acf14975.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: messengerbird on September 26, 2007, 01:34:46 PM
I am not reading this book right now, but I have read it several times. It is one of my favorites.

The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho

I highly recommend it if you are looking for inspiration and knowledge about your destiny.

Enjoy  :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on September 26, 2007, 02:10:26 PM
An old throwback.  My favorite novel of all times taboot.  The Great Gatsby.  I wish i was in this book.  they know how to PARTY!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 26, 2007, 03:25:33 PM
Quote from: Bobafett on September 26, 2007, 02:10:26 PM
An old throwback.  My favorite novel of all times taboot.  The Great Gatsby.  I wish i was in this book.  they know how to PARTY!

i'll second you on this one.
one of the best books public school ever had me read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 26, 2007, 03:54:09 PM
Funny, my wife and I were discussing books we read in school last night. Great Gatsby was one that came up. Heart of Darkness. The Jungle. Invisible Man. Grapes of Wrath.

Good stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: metalzone58 on September 28, 2007, 12:00:43 AM
Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary
Slow start so far
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on September 28, 2007, 12:06:31 AM
It will get better.  I prefer his non fiction based books, but the Rum Diaries is an excellent read none the less. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 28, 2007, 12:26:27 AM
for those seeking spirituality, or dare i say it, religion in their liberalism  ::gasps::

(http://p3books.com/images/disobedience_cvr_big.jpg)

from the publisher:

QuoteTrained relentlessly to work and consume, we make daily lifestyle decisions that promote corporate profits more than our own well-being. We also find ourselves working more, living in fragmented communities, and neglecting our most basic spiritual and political values. As Curtis White puts it, "In order to live, you will be asked to do what is no good, what is absurd, trivial, demeaning, and soul killing." Although we belong to the world's most affluent society, somehow we never have the chance to ask: How shall we live? 

With his trademark humor and acerbic wit, White raises this impertinent question.  He also debunks the conventional view that liberalism can answer it without drawing on spiritual values.  Surveying American popular culture (including Office Space and The Da Vinci Code) to illustrate his points, White urges us to renew our commitment to "human fundamentals" as articulated by Henry David Thoreau—especially free time, home, and food—and to reclaim Thoreau's spirit of disobedience.
Seeking imaginative answers to his central questions, White also interviews John De Graaf (Affluenza), James Howard Kunstler (The Long Emergency) and Michael Ableman (Fields of Plenty) about their views of the good life in our time. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 28, 2007, 03:00:52 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 26, 2007, 03:25:33 PM
i'll second you on this one.
one of the best books public school ever had me read.

Dammit.  I can't remember a single good book they made me read.  Although, I might have gotten to them before they could tell me.  Gatsby is awesome for the drunkenness if nothing else.  I need to re-read that one, but I have a couple other re-reads in line before it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on October 02, 2007, 08:48:46 AM
Quote from: August on September 25, 2007, 09:09:18 AM
Chuck Palahniuk-
Choke
(again...)

(http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb147/LastingsMilledge/choke.jpg)

a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on October 02, 2007, 09:48:13 AM
(http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14730000/14731405.JPG)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 25, 2007, 05:19:16 PM
started reading this forever ago...
just found it in my boxes that i haven't unpacked from
moving home in december.... 

(https://www.sunstudio.com/sunestore/images/03CashAutobiography_284.jpg)

QuoteBut I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on October 25, 2007, 05:35:14 PM
Started reading Asimov's Foundation and Empire.   Very good nerdy book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on October 25, 2007, 08:15:02 PM
I just finished the Rum Diary and now I'm about to delve into Ham on Rye by Bukowski
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on October 28, 2007, 10:21:49 PM
One Train Later by Andy Summers, his memoirs

absolutely great. i was blown away. i picked this up because i vaguely knew he'd been around the london music scene in the '60s and '70s before being in the Police, and i thought maybe there'd be a few amusing anecdotes or whatever. boy was i wrong. this is a great book. the writing is fantastic. in a way it's clear it's written by someone who doesn't write books for a living, yet his voice is unique and powerful and trippy and beautiful. personally i'm drawn to books more for the writing than for whatever is being written about. in this case i was making an exception, but damn did it ever turn out to be great.

he was right there in the '60s as the london scene took off, jamming in little clubs with the unknown clapton and tons of other people, touring in a popular band playing r&b hits. when the psychedelic scene hit he dove right in. there's great descriptions of his first and subsequent acid trips. he played with a number of psychedelic bands, jammed with hendrix, went to america, played with the Animals for awhile before crashing and burning in LA. goes back to london and just slaves away for years as a guitar for hire, barely able to survive and support his wife and daughter, before stumbling into the police.

you don't have to have the slightest interest in the police or even summers going into this book. it's fantastic just for the perspective of reading about a working, starving musician in those years, and then at the end of the book, reading about what it's like to then be touring with what was briefly the biggest rock band in the world.

plus he just comes across as the greatest guy. not great like he's a saint, not at all. just great for his attitude and honesty, and his own spiritual quest through his love of music.

highly recommended to everyone here.

here's an excerpt that he excerpts from an interview he gave in '80, talking about their then new song Shadows In The Rain:

"The way we are playing it live now is turning it into a seminal piece of Police music. A lot of people are being pulled up short by it. I found the guitar part after I recorded it. We started more of less from scratch in the studio. Sting had this old jazzy rhythm, nothing the like the version on Zenyatta and we tried a lot of things, I put on two guitars which complemented each other and made a weird reggae rhythm which we decided was an improvement, being slower and more funky. Then I went in and laid the pseudo-psychedelic tape echo part all the way across, and everybody liked that. I did it playing through an Echoplex and Stewart moving the tape speed up and down so it sounded like it was bubbling, twisting, and turning the whole way. Obviously I couldn't do that live, so I started working out this more orchestral part; chords with the echo and repeat wound all the way up so that when you hit the guitar the original sound isn't heard. All you hear is the echo, and I swell that up with the volume control, shhhhhhh, and it's like a string section is coming in.
You're got to hit it just before the beat so that you don't hear the repeat of the echo, you only hear that great cloud of sound emerging. Combined with that, I fragment all the chords. The chord structure is fairly basic, but i play them all in flattened ninths and invert them so that it all sounds much more modern.
I mean, the riff at the end when Sting sings "shadows in the rain" over and over is a basic a minor, but I actually use a strange inversion of an a minor sixth chord. It's high up on the neck, and as it starts to feedback I hit a high harmonic on the top string, which echoes against the feedback, and then you start to get this whole new effect. You enter another world. I really like the dark brooding quality of it. I think it's a good way for us to go."

here's Shadows In The Rain from 2/2/81, Tokyo:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ax9bs0
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on November 12, 2007, 03:36:09 PM
HELLS YES.

QuoteWell, in the wee hours of the night, when I wasn't looking, the pre-order page for Chuck's next book Snuff made it's way onto Amazon.com. It's slated to be released on May 20th, 2008. As always though, this information could change. Though I doubt it will.

(http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/images/books/snuff/covers/ushardcover_med.jpg)


By now, many of you who saw Chuck read on his last tour, know the story of Snuff. But for those of you who don't, here's the official summary blurb from Random House:

"Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages. A must-have movie for every discerning collector of things erotic."

"Didn't one of us on purpose set out to make a snuff movie."

Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication. On camera. With six hundred men. SNUFF unfolds from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600, who await their turn on camera in a very crowded green room. This wild, lethally funny, and thoroughly researched novel brings the huge yet underacknowledged presence of pornography in contemporary life into the realm of literary fiction at last. Who else but Chuck Palahniuk would dare do such a thing? Who else could do it so well, so unflinchingly, and with such an incendiary (you might say) climax?

Pre-Order 'Snuff' Today!

--
Dennis
Webmaster
A Writer's Cult, LLC
http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net

just incase you like to read his stuffs, like i do :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 12, 2007, 05:13:07 PM
Quote from: Bobafett on October 25, 2007, 05:35:14 PM
Started reading Asimov's Foundation and Empire.   Very good nerdy book.

If you're a sci-fi nerd, ever check out Dan Simmons? If not, have a look---he's awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on November 13, 2007, 02:00:00 PM
I will check that out today at the local bookstore.  thanks, cause i need something new for my trip this week. :mrgreen:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 13, 2007, 06:02:49 PM
You got it--epic, literary space opera is the best way I can describe him. Great escapist fun. Two different series: one of four books that starts with Hyperion, another of two, the first is Ilium. Both are too dense and crazy to describe. They can influence your dreams.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 15, 2008, 09:40:14 AM
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
Dean Karnazes

(http://www.ofertondelibros.com/images/large/isbn978158/9781585422784-l.jpg)

Totally ridiculous and inspirational.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 15, 2008, 09:46:08 AM
^^
that guy is  - shall we say, very motivated. Must be interesting to see what drives him.

Just finished EC, now on Wonderful Tonight (Patti Boyd). Great stories about the "origins"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 15, 2008, 09:49:46 AM
Freally.
He didn't run for 15 years and then ran again on his 30th birthday.
For those not familiar with an "Ultra Marathon"

QuoteThe Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a 135 mile (215 km) course starting at 282 feet (85 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It usually happens in July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 F (49 C) in the shade are not uncommon. Consequently, not many people—even among ultramarathoners—are capable of finishing this race.

And some of his accomplishments...

QuoteSignificant race wins:

    * 2004 Badwater Ultramarathon[5]
    * 2006 Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run[6]

Running accomplishments:

    * 128.75 miles in 24 hours on treadmill in NY (2007)
    * 350 miles in 80 hours and 44 minutes without stopping (2005)[7]
    * North Face Endurance 50: fifty marathons in fifty U.S. states in fifty consecutive days
    * inaugural South Pole Marathon in running shoes
    * 148 miles in 24 hours on a treadmill (2004)[8]
    * single-handedly completed the 199 mile Providian Saturn Relay six times
    * 1000-Mile/10 Day Buckleholder at the Western States Endurance Run[9] (i.e., better than ten twenty-four hour finishes. Note: Karnazes current count is 11 finishes in less than twenty-four hours each)

Other endurance accomplishments:

    * swimming across the San Francisco Bay

It really is a great read.
It's more about focus and determination that the act of running.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: willsteele on January 15, 2008, 09:50:17 AM
^^ Dayam.  Thats some hard core stuff.

Just started Miles Davis - The Autobiography.  To quote the man..."its a motherfucker".  Fantastic reading so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 15, 2008, 10:07:59 AM
Quote from: August on January 15, 2008, 09:40:14 AM
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
Dean Karnazes

(http://www.ofertondelibros.com/images/large/isbn978158/9781585422784-l.jpg)

Totally ridiculous and inspirational.
a

Karnazes is a machine...I don't know how he does it.  They had a good cover story on him in Outside a few months back, whicih is where I really learned about him.  That stuff is crazy. My wife's aunt and uncle are ultra-runners/marathoners and they do these crazy 100 mile races in the desert in California (not to mention the Ironman multiple times).  People like that are a different breed.  SO driven.....all they do is run.  My wife's unce goes through like 20 pairs of running shoes in a year....I'm lucky to get 1500 miles a year in on my bike....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 15, 2008, 10:14:25 AM
couldn't imagine. different breed is right. 26m in one day is enough for me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on January 15, 2008, 10:20:11 AM
I've recently read:
(http://cdn.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/medium/6/9780061351426.jpg)
Slash - Slash
Slash is no poser. Dude hung tough through some crazy shit (good and bad and ugly) and reveals it all without self-aggrandizing.

(http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/survivor-us-trade2.jpg)
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
I loved Fight Club -the movie and so I knew it was only a matter of time before I delved into this guy's catalog. Just to taunt myself I didn't read Fight Club first. This book, optioned for a film that was scrapped in the wake of 9/11, is a serious and yet seriously funny indictment of our celebrity-and-marketing cults. (edit to add: the book was recently re-optioned and the guy who directed "I Am Legend" has supposedly expressed a desire to make the movie)

(http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/fight-club-us-trade3.jpg)
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Ok, so I didn't torture myself long. This book is terrific and it's little wonder that someone had to make a film from it. What is impressive is the quality of the transformation of this book into film. That an adaptation of such loyalty could come from a book that so ably shrugs off narrative conventions is remarkable. That this is a "first published novel" from the author is stunning.

So, Now I'm reading:
(http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/haunted-us-trade1.jpg)
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on January 15, 2008, 01:27:39 PM
In the words of Ralph Swenson, Dean of Graduate Admissions and teacher of "Marathon Training" for PE credit at UVM:

"Ultra runners are strange critters."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
On The Road Original Scroll  Offers a cool new look into a book that changed my (and countless others) life.  I am bumming that I missed the chance to see the scroll on display when I was in NYC over Christmas.  I went out too late with Aug, and didn't wake up in time to make it to the library  :frustrated:.  Sucks, because it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs.  Sucks, because it has been making the rounds for a couple of years and I never checked it out....oh well, at least I have the book now.  Required reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on January 22, 2008, 02:02:38 AM
I heard it was really hard to read.  Basically the same story just in a more drug addled stream of conscienceness sort of way.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 22, 2008, 10:19:03 AM
Well, I wouldn't attempt to really compare the two versions, nor would I say that this in some way replaces the other. But having read the 'edited' version so many times and being somewhat of a Kerouac nerd in general, I just found it to lend some real insight or shed some more light into the whole 'experience' or mystique of it.  Sure, it is a a lot more raw, but that's the point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 22, 2008, 10:19:58 AM
Quote from: thechad on January 22, 2008, 02:02:38 AM
Basically the same story just in a more drug addled stream of conscienceness sort of way.

You say that like it's a bad thing  :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 22, 2008, 04:57:51 PM
for all you Chuck P. fans...

QuoteIn what they're already calling the best sale of the festival, Fox Searchlight as of 5am this morning, has bought Clark Gregg's adaptation of Choke for a reported $5 million! The film had its world premiere last night at the Racquet Club Theatre, and Chuck Palahniuk was in attendance as the film got a roaring applause.

FirstShowing.net:

" I caught the world premiere of Choke last night and certainly will confirm that it is one hell of a great film. It's no Fight Club, but it is a Chuck Palahniuk movie in its own right delivering a solid story with great comedy and a perfect performance by Sam Rockwell. It's not my own favorite movie of the fest, but I couldn't be happier seeing this get picked up by the best indie distributor out there. Fox Searchlight has put out some of the biggest indie hits - Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno - and now it's time for Choke!"

Folks, this could be the best news we've reported on the site in years. I could not have thought of a better way this could have turned out. I just sent Chuck a text, congratulating him. I can't wait to hear what he says about all of this. It must've been one hell of a night.

Cheers for Choke, Chuck, and a wonderful job by Clark Gregg and his cast and crew!

Dennis
Webmaster
A Writer's Cult, LLC
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 06:18:55 PM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs. 

Actually, its Jim Irsay, who owns the colts.  He's also got one of Jerry's guitars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Irsay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Irsay)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 22, 2008, 09:00:23 PM
Quote from: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 06:18:55 PM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs. 

Actually, its Jim Irsay, who owns the colts.  He's also got one of Jerry's guitars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Irsay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Irsay)

my bad....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 22, 2008, 09:28:29 PM
Just finished "Captain Trips: A Biography of Jerry Garcia" which was very interesting, albeit extremely poorly written.  My middle school students could write almost as well.

I have also started "I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe.  So far it's really interesting, especially the realistic look at college life and college situations, emotions, internal conflicts, etc.

Over the past few months I have reread a few classics- "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Catcher in the Rye".

Also Vonnegut's "Player Piano"- an interesting look at a world in which machinery takes the place of the common man and the people whose lives are changed by it.  Anything by Vonnegut is worth checking out.  I recommend Hocus Pocus, Breakfast of Champions, and of course Slaughterhouse Five and Cats Cradle.
To answer the question of where I find the time to read so much...I teach middle school and we do "silent reading" at the beginning of each of my 5 classes, so I tend to get a lot of reading done. 

I am definitely going to check out a few titles some of you have read.

Thanks for the thread!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 10:29:16 PM
I just cracked into "Sometimes a great notion" by kesey--I got it for christmas.  started off a bit slow, b/c it introduces a shit-ton of characters and a whole family's back-story right off the bat, but its getting pretty good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 22, 2008, 10:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 10:29:16 PM
I just cracked into "Sometimes a great notion" by kesey--I got it for christmas.  started off a bit slow, b/c it introduces a shit-ton of characters and a whole family's back-story right off the bat, but its getting pretty good.

It's a pretty good book, and one of the few books where the movie is actually as good if not better than the book.  It's a great movie, worth checking out. So is the book....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on January 22, 2008, 10:51:36 PM
Quote from: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 10:29:16 PM
I just cracked into "Sometimes a great notion" by kesey--I got it for christmas.  started off a bit slow, b/c it introduces a shit-ton of characters and a whole family's back-story right off the bat, but its getting pretty good.

great book.
enjoy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: White_Bandana on January 22, 2008, 10:54:04 PM
Killer news about Choke the lady and I love Chuck P!

This year I've been cranking out the books, I 've just finished The Rum Diary (liked it), Jonathon Livingston Seagull by  Robert (?) Balch, and then this book titled "stormy weather" by carl hiaasen extremely fun read. Getting in Vonnegaut's  "thank you mr. rosewater had anybody read this one yet?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Wolfmansbrother on January 22, 2008, 11:23:47 PM
Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72
by H.S.T.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on January 23, 2008, 01:02:28 AM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
On The Road Original Scroll  Offers a cool new look into a book that changed my (and countless others) life.  I am bumming that I missed the chance to see the scroll on display when I was in NYC over Christmas.  I went out too late with Aug, and didn't wake up in time to make it to the library  :frustrated:.  Sucks, because it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs.  Sucks, because it has been making the rounds for a couple of years and I never checked it out....oh well, at least I have the book now.  Required reading.


Is it worth reading the original scroll?  Not trying to be sarcastic, but I've read that book a number of times and I was trying to decide whether or not to buy this edition of the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on January 23, 2008, 01:12:19 AM
Quote from: Wolfmansbrother on January 22, 2008, 11:23:47 PM
Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72
by H.S.T.

nice
Im reading The Great Shark Hunt right now
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 23, 2008, 04:25:36 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 22, 2008, 09:28:29 PM

Also Vonnegut's "Player Piano"- an interesting look at a world in which machinery takes the place of the common man and the people whose lives are changed by it.  Anything by Vonnegut is worth checking out.  I recommend Hocus Pocus, Breakfast of Champions, and of course Slaughterhouse Five and Cats Cradle.


can't go wrong with vonnegut.
two of my favorites you didn't mention: The Sirens of Titan and Galapagos

just finished: Spaceman Blues by Brian Francis Slattery, a first novel. very musically written, a bit pynchon-esque, but not dense. involves spaceships. i liked it.

and before that...

The Omnivore's Dilemma. pretty eye-opening book into the world of food and where it comes from and how it's made. worth reading just the first section, all about corn, and how it's EVERYWHERE.

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson. a kind of trippy take on a few unusual characters in southeast asia during the vietnam war. very good.

The Possibility of An Island by Michel Houellebecq, a french author. this is somewhat science-fiction-ish, about a sort of religious/scientific cult creating what will be the next great evolutionary step in humanity. the author is a serious misanthrope, but his writing is excellent and his observations of people and the fate of the world are powerfully made, even if you don't always end up agreeing with him. which you won't. cause he's kind of a bastard. he also wrote a good non-fiction book about H.P. Lovecraft called Lovecraft: Against The World, Against Life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 23, 2008, 03:56:38 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 23, 2008, 04:25:36 AM
The Omnivore's Dilemma. pretty eye-opening book into the world of food and where it comes from and how it's made. worth reading just the first section, all about corn, and how it's EVERYWHERE.

that's four times, now, that i've heard positive about this read...

guess i'll pick that up next...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on January 23, 2008, 06:38:32 PM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 22, 2008, 10:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on January 22, 2008, 10:29:16 PM
I just cracked into "Sometimes a great notion" by kesey--I got it for christmas.  started off a bit slow, b/c it introduces a shit-ton of characters and a whole family's back-story right off the bat, but its getting pretty good.

It's a pretty good book, and one of the few books where the movie is actually as good if not better than the book.  It's a great movie, worth checking out. So is the book....

Interesting, did not even know there was a movie. I will have to look into it after I finish the book
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 23, 2008, 08:32:01 PM
I'm reading 'The United States of Arugula', by David Kamp, which is about the food and cooking revolutions of post-war America. Pretty interesting history of all the current food chains, trends and cooks. Don't know if there are a lot of foodies in the group besides our resident chefs, but it's pretty cool learning the history of some of the current and past icons of the industry.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/books/review/Scott.t.html

Pretty good review of the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 23, 2008, 09:19:50 PM
Quote from: nab on January 23, 2008, 01:02:28 AM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
On The Road Original Scroll  Offers a cool new look into a book that changed my (and countless others) life.  I am bumming that I missed the chance to see the scroll on display when I was in NYC over Christmas.  I went out too late with Aug, and didn't wake up in time to make it to the library  :frustrated:.  Sucks, because it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs.  Sucks, because it has been making the rounds for a couple of years and I never checked it out....oh well, at least I have the book now.  Required reading.


Is it worth reading the original scroll?  Not trying to be sarcastic, but I've read that book a number of times and I was trying to decide whether or not to buy this edition of the book.

well, there have been 1001 different releases of the edited version, so I can see why it would seem like another repackage.  It is pretty different, and the first half of the book are essays on the book itself, which I found to be interesting, but someone else might not, especially if you only have a passing interest in kerouac.  I won't tell you to go buy it, but I strongly recommend you check it out of the library.  That's what I did, realized I wanted to add it to my library and searched out the lowest price I could on the internet.  I got it used but like new for $15 with shipping on ebay.....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 23, 2008, 10:03:49 PM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 23, 2008, 09:19:50 PM
Quote from: nab on January 23, 2008, 01:02:28 AM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 21, 2008, 10:57:10 PM
On The Road Original Scroll  Offers a cool new look into a book that changed my (and countless others) life.  I am bumming that I missed the chance to see the scroll on display when I was in NYC over Christmas.  I went out too late with Aug, and didn't wake up in time to make it to the library  :frustrated:.  Sucks, because it is not going to be on tour anymore and is going back to it's owner, the guy that owns the KC Chiefs.  Sucks, because it has been making the rounds for a couple of years and I never checked it out....oh well, at least I have the book now.  Required reading.


Is it worth reading the original scroll?  Not trying to be sarcastic, but I've read that book a number of times and I was trying to decide whether or not to buy this edition of the book.

well, there have been 1001 different releases of the edited version, so I can see why it would seem like another repackage.  It is pretty different, and the first half of the book are essays on the book itself, which I found to be interesting, but someone else might not, especially if you only have a passing interest in kerouac.  I won't tell you to go buy it, but I strongly recommend you check it out of the library.  That's what I did, realized I wanted to add it to my library and searched out the lowest price I could on the internet.  I got it used but like new for $15 with shipping on ebay.....

cool. i'll check it out at the nypl tomorrow afternoon before i head out of nyc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 24, 2008, 01:55:35 PM
Chi Running
by Danny Dreyer

(http://www.runningmovies.com/image/ChiRunning1.jpg)

a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:06:20 PM
Are you still on hiatus?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 24, 2008, 02:10:35 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:06:20 PM
Are you still on hiatus?

Nope.
Been throwing in a few more rest days in between runs and have been running with a brace on.
Feeling much better.
Had a sweet 7.5 miler this AM.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:13:53 PM
Nice!  I wish I could run 7.5 miles at this point.  Lately I am having some lower back issues after i run and am considering getting some inserts for my shoes to see if it helps at all.   :|  But then again, it might be my shoes.  I have some low-end sauconys that I got on sale early last year.  I'm not sure yet, but am def. wondering.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 24, 2008, 02:16:16 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:13:53 PM
Nice!  I wish I could run 7.5 miles at this point.  Lately I am having some lower back issues after i run and am considering getting some inserts for my shoes to see if it helps at all.   :|

Try a month on the treadmill.
I have a half marathon coming up on May 4th and plan on running 75% of my runs on the treadmill the month before to work on shaving the pace.
Between the knee and shin pain I'm thankful I haven't had back pain.
::knocks wood::

a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:19:48 PM
Right, That's probably a good idea.  I was a member of a gym last winter and the treadmill did help. 

EDIT:  It helped tremendously with pace as well.  When I run on the street, I catch myself not paying attention and running too fast due to the change in music. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on January 24, 2008, 02:21:59 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:19:48 PM
Right, That's probably a good idea.  I was a member of a gym last winter and the treadmill did help. 

That's really what this book is about.
Ways of correcting your stride and mental techniques that take a lot of the pain out of running.
My buddy from the Nike challenge recommended to me.
He swears by it.
If you want, I'll send it to you next week.
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:24:21 PM
I could only imagine what someone would say if they saw my stride.  I am sure it's plain awful.  Something like that would probably help tremendously so maybe I'll go look it up at the books store.  Thanks for the recommendation!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 24, 2008, 09:33:53 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:13:53 PM
Nice!  I wish I could run 7.5 miles at this point.  Lately I am having some lower back issues after i run and am considering getting some inserts for my shoes to see if it helps at all.   :|  But then again, it might be my shoes.  I have some low-end sauconys that I got on sale early last year.  I'm not sure yet, but am def. wondering.

you've gotta hook up some Asics bro....or at least go to a running store where they'll check out your feet and your stride and fit you with the right shoe...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 24, 2008, 10:00:29 PM
Quote from: caravan2001 on January 24, 2008, 09:33:53 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 24, 2008, 02:13:53 PM
Nice!  I wish I could run 7.5 miles at this point.  Lately I am having some lower back issues after i run and am considering getting some inserts for my shoes to see if it helps at all.   :|  But then again, it might be my shoes.  I have some low-end sauconys that I got on sale early last year.  I'm not sure yet, but am def. wondering.

you've gotta hook up some Asics bro....or at least go to a running store where they'll check out your feet and your stride and fit you with the right shoe...
yep.
good shoes, that fit you properly (regardless of brand) are the best investment you can make. If your having trouble go to a store that specializes in running, they can help you out.
if you're feet are really bad (like mine, I got the flattest feet on the planet), then orthotics can work wonders. start with good shoes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 29, 2008, 03:37:51 PM
I just finished _The Third Policeman_ By Flann O'Brien.

I highly recommend it.  Apparently, it was influential in the creation of the television show _Lost_.

I don't really understand how... there is a lot of banter about Bicycles, and nothing about Islands or Airplanes...

Anyways, it was a good read.

I have just picked up _As Above, So Below_ by Rudy Rucker.

This book is really really really slow and superfluous.  It's like reading a fictional biography of a real person.  In fact it's not just "like" that, it is what it is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on January 29, 2008, 07:46:57 PM
The best of Hume.  Its a compilation of his best work. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on January 29, 2008, 09:47:54 PM
Quote from: Sophist on January 29, 2008, 07:46:57 PM
The best of Hume.  Its a compilation of his best work. 

:lol: A little light reading?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on February 07, 2008, 04:27:52 PM
(http://www.ontheissues.org/Why_Courage_Matters.jpg)

And ___Frankly Scarlett, I Do Give A Damn!  (A Parody)  Classic Romances Retold_____

By Beverly West and Nancy Peske
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 07, 2008, 05:33:12 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on January 15, 2008, 10:20:11 AM

(http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/haunted-us-trade1.jpg)
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk


Finished that the other day.
Wow.
I thought the first story was quite disturbing... then I read the afterword wherein he tells of people fainting during  public readings of the story on a book tour.
double wow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on February 12, 2008, 09:15:27 AM
That takes guts...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 12, 2008, 09:18:44 AM
It's a pretty nutso story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on February 12, 2008, 09:22:36 AM
Don't try the swimming pool, dewds!
You'll never go back!
a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on February 12, 2008, 09:41:46 AM
I actually read Survivor and re-read Lullaby lately. Survivor was interesting, But I thought Lullaby was better. I've read parts of Haunted but haven't finished it yet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on February 12, 2008, 10:59:33 AM
Quote from: sunrisevt on January 29, 2008, 09:47:54 PM
Quote from: Sophist on January 29, 2008, 07:46:57 PM
The best of Hume.  Its a compilation of his best work. 

:lol: A little light reading?
yeah  :-D .  Great read actually.  It was less difficult than I anticipated.  I finished it over the weekend, and started a new book. 

(http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14750000/14758192.JPG)

from Barnes&Noble website:
QuoteIn Kingdom Coming, Goldberg demonstrates how an increasingly bellicose fundamentalism is gaining traction throughout our national life, taking us on a tour of the parallel right-wing evangelical culture that is buoyed by Republican political patronage. Deep within the red zones of a divided America, we meet military retirees pledging to seize the nation in Christ's name, perfidious congressmen courting the confidence of neo-confederates and proponents of theocracy, and leaders of federally funded programs offering Jesus as the solution to the country's social problems.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on February 12, 2008, 11:56:17 AM
scary shit.
I don't mind people being religious, but this sounds a little bit different.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on February 12, 2008, 12:02:31 PM
Quote from: slslbs on February 12, 2008, 11:56:17 AM
scary shit.
I don't mind people being religious, but this sounds a little bit different.
It is different, he equates it to a rise of theocracy within the United States, which is very different from people just practicing religion.  I'm about 40 pages into it, and I won't hijack the thread with political talk, but like you said it is very scary. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: August on February 26, 2008, 08:55:05 AM
Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BHKPCA04L._SS500_.jpg)

a
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: grewich on February 29, 2008, 07:12:32 PM
(http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%2019/freakonomics-cover.jpg)

interesting especially "the 'roe v. wade' leads to less crime" theory
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 01, 2008, 02:37:10 PM
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. never read him before. really good. the classic hard-boiled detective story.

then i finally decided to try some Palahniuk, since he appears to be everyone's favorite author. maybe i picked the wrong one, Survivor, because i didn't like it at all. it was gimmicky and trite and banal. no real characters to care about at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 02, 2008, 12:05:20 PM
Quote from: grewich on February 29, 2008, 07:12:32 PM
(http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/Features/Issue%2019/freakonomics-cover.jpg)

interesting especially "the 'roe v. wade' leads to less crime" theory
I enjoyed that book, I read it when it first came out.  Def gets you thinking about certain topics. 


I just started this:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/Lifeofpi.jpg/200px-Lifeofpi.jpg)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Pi)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on March 03, 2008, 09:51:26 AM
i've been reading Groucho Marx's autobiography.  really interesting and well written.  dude was a genius and a money maker.  in 1936, he made over 1.5 million.  yowza.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on March 03, 2008, 09:55:19 AM
Anyone ever read any of Chuck Klosterman's books? I just picked up "IV" on saturday. Havent started it yet, but looks like a good bathroom reader
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 03, 2008, 11:12:43 AM
The Dictionary

(Random House Copywrite 1987 dedicated to Jess Stein).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 03, 2008, 05:26:51 PM
Quote from: Igbo on March 03, 2008, 09:55:19 AM
Anyone ever read any of Chuck Klosterman's books? I just picked up "IV" on saturday. Havent started it yet, but looks like a good bathroom reader

They're all good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jedifunk on March 03, 2008, 05:29:29 PM
Tales of the Jedi: Golden Age of the Sith
Tales of the Jedi: The Great Sith War

Dark Horse comics... tells the tales of the history of the jedi going back 5000 BBY (BBY= Before the Battle of Yavin... which is the planet where the 1st death star was destroyed in A New Hope)

sweet stuff...

i actually just got the entire Tales of the Jedi collection.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: redrum on March 03, 2008, 05:37:19 PM
so wuts the deal with that book, "Living with the Dead", by Rock Scully ?

someone gave it to me, and though its ridiculously graphic about the  :syf: 's drug use, i'm not sure i'm buying it all.

didn't i hear or read somewhere else that that book has been exaggerated, and the GD fam/orginazation wasn't happy about its content?

anyone else ever read it?

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:18:05 PM
Quote from: redrum on March 03, 2008, 05:37:19 PM
so wuts the deal with that book, "Living with the Dead", by Rock Scully ?

someone gave it to me, and though its ridiculously graphic about the  :syf: 's drug use, i'm not sure i'm buying it all.

didn't i hear or read somewhere else that that book has been exaggerated, and the GD fam/orginazation wasn't happy about its content?

anyone else ever read it?



the Dead used drugs??
:-o
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: redrum on March 03, 2008, 06:21:54 PM
no thats why i don't believe it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on March 03, 2008, 06:51:11 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

Are you a member of Oprah's Book club? heh
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 03, 2008, 07:54:36 PM
Quote from: hoodie22 on March 03, 2008, 06:51:11 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

Are you a member of Oprah's Book club? heh

Hey, Yo!
Zing!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 09:11:59 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 03, 2008, 07:54:36 PM
Quote from: hoodie22 on March 03, 2008, 06:51:11 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

Are you a member of Oprah's Book club? heh

Hey, Yo!
Zing!


Ironically, I saw the book at a store the other day with the Oprah book club sticker and was like "damn, I am gonna hear about this from someone."  :frustrated: 

Of course, you brought it up, soooo....

Regardless, I am still enjoying it.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on March 06, 2008, 06:18:50 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...
I think you're the 5th person I know who's reading that now. Great book. As luck would have it, the 1st time I went to the UK was right after I finished it - it was kinda cool looking at the cathedrals with that stuff fresh in my head.

Quote from: Bobafett on March 03, 2008, 09:51:26 AM
i've been reading Groucho Marx's autobiography.  really interesting and well written.  dude was a genius and a money maker.  in 1936, he made over 1.5 million.  yowza.

If your into the Marx Bros, another good one is Harpo Speaks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 06, 2008, 06:36:02 PM
I just read My Revolutions, by Hari Kunzru
A pretty cool novel about a guy who, in the late 1990s after 20 years of living under an assumed identity is forced to confront his past as a political radical in late 60s/early 70s england.

It's pretty fascinating and well written.
And excellent, detailed review can be found here: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/my-revolutions-by-hari-kunzru-463612.html

Now I'm back on my Palahniuk kick and reading Diary.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 06, 2008, 06:44:43 PM
 Nice!
I just finished Haunted the other day, now I'm also reading Diary. Somehow Palahniuk has stayed off of my reading list but I'm loving his books. Thanks for turning me on to him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 06, 2008, 08:20:09 PM
I'm still huffing through "Confessions of a Bigamist".

I don't know why I'm still drawn to this book. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on March 06, 2008, 09:07:54 PM
Bob Dylan:  Chronicles, Volume 1


brilliant so far...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 06, 2008, 09:41:38 PM
I am also reading "Into the Wild" (mainly because my wife is supposed to teach it in a non-fiction class).  Pretty good.  Very interesting.  Kinda makes me want to hit the road again...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 07, 2008, 01:56:17 AM
Quote from: tet on March 06, 2008, 09:07:54 PM
Bob Dylan:  Chronicles, Volume 1


brilliant so far...
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 06, 2008, 09:41:38 PM
I am also reading "Into the Wild" (mainly because my wife is supposed to teach it in a non-fiction class).  Pretty good.  Very interesting.  Kinda makes me want to hit the road again...

Both good reads.

if you enjoy Into The Wild consider reading Into Thin Air by the same author. It's a seriously hair-raising story about the author's trip to Everest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 07, 2008, 09:21:08 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 06, 2008, 09:41:38 PM
I am also reading "Into the Wild" (mainly because my wife is supposed to teach it in a non-fiction class).  Pretty good.  Very interesting.  Kinda makes me want to hit the road again...

Both good reads.

[/quote]
if you enjoy Into The Wild consider reading Into Thin Air by the same author. It's a seriously hair-raising story about the author's trip to Everest.
[/quote]

It's on my list.  Looks pretty interesting.  My wife finished it and said it was great.

edit: I screwed up the quote, :) musta hit a backspace at the wrong time
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on March 07, 2008, 10:09:04 AM
yep. great read
if you ever had the slightest inkling of climbing Everest, that book will put your head back on straight
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 07, 2008, 02:54:23 PM
Quote from: slslbs on March 07, 2008, 10:09:04 AM
yep. great read
if you ever had the slightest inkling of climbing Everest, that book will put your head back on straight

for me it did two things: made me totally understand why one would want to climb everest-- and even in a sense made me say, yeah, i want to climb that fucker!-- while at the same time making me say, no fucking WAY i would ever attempt to climb that fucker. a serious page-turner.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on March 07, 2008, 03:54:41 PM
Fox in Socks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gone2gamehenge on March 07, 2008, 04:31:58 PM
I am reading the Eric Clapton autobiography, and I highly recommend it. Has some great stories about his life with all the different bands and people he played with and some insane drug use. I knew he got down pretty hard there for awhile, but man did he put away some blow and heroin. Great story about his first time on LSD with the Beatles (up for 3 days seeing things broke down to energy and mathematical equations and such)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 07, 2008, 04:52:26 PM
The kid from Into The Wild went to my high school...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 07, 2008, 05:02:37 PM
 Alexander Supertramp. A hero of mine...and a fool. Would love to have hit the road like he did only with a better outcome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on March 07, 2008, 09:14:06 PM
Contributions to the Study of the Dorset Paleo-Eskimos

Edited By Patricia B. Southerland



The Dorset are a really interesting people native to the Eastern Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic from about 2000 BP.  I'll elaborate if anyone cares. :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:22:50 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 07, 2008, 04:52:26 PM
The kid from Into The Wild went to my high school...

Yeah, Chris McCandless (sp)
He graduated from Emory Univ... a few of my buddies went to school with him.  And a few made the trek to check out the "bus" after the book was written.
Although he was a bit misdirected, I still envy him.  Big time...

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:30:56 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.

Okay, so Pillars of the Earth is sitting on my dresser.  I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the 1000+ pages.  I totally have ADD, so it's tough for me to finish a book like that.  Should I start?
Fast Food Nation:  Just saw the movie last week.  Awesome.  Not awesome for the cattle though.   :|
If you're on the veg fence, this will convince you.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 07, 2008, 09:31:51 PM
Quote from: gone2gamehenge on March 07, 2008, 04:31:58 PM
I am reading the Eric Clapton autobiography, and I highly recommend it. Has some great stories about his life with all the different bands and people he played with and some insane drug use. I knew he got down pretty hard there for awhile, but man did he put away some blow and heroin. Great story about his first time on LSD with the Beatles (up for 3 days seeing things broke down to energy and mathematical equations and such)

It's on my shelf right now and it's close to being next on my reading list...looking forward to it. I have heard great things about it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on March 07, 2008, 10:12:50 PM
Quote from: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:30:56 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.

Okay, so Pillars of the Earth is sitting on my dresser.  I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the 1000+ pages.  I totally have ADD, so it's tough for me to finish a book like that.


Great book, def. a page turner shouldn't take too long to get through it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 07, 2008, 10:15:48 PM
Quote from: Hicks on March 07, 2008, 10:12:50 PM
Quote from: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:30:56 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.

Okay, so Pillars of the Earth is sitting on my dresser.  I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the 1000+ pages.  I totally have ADD, so it's tough for me to finish a book like that.


Great book, def. a page turner shouldn't take too long to get through it. 

Agreed.  Once you start it will keep you going.  I wish I could find more time to read it. 
Although if I didn't check this website, listen to shows, watch sports...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 10:26:29 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2008, 10:15:48 PM
Quote from: Hicks on March 07, 2008, 10:12:50 PM
Quote from: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:30:56 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.

Okay, so Pillars of the Earth is sitting on my dresser.  I guess I'm a bit intimidated by the 1000+ pages.  I totally have ADD, so it's tough for me to finish a book like that.


Great book, def. a page turner shouldn't take too long to get through it. 

Agreed.  Once you start it will keep you going.  I wish I could find more time to read it. 
Although if I didn't check this website, listen to shows, watch sports...
Alright, I'm on it...
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
My other recommedation:  In Defense of Food
Awesome.  Perfect for all those "foodies" out there.  Loved it, and very informative.



Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on March 08, 2008, 05:55:23 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2008, 09:31:51 PM
Quote from: gone2gamehenge on March 07, 2008, 04:31:58 PM
I am reading the Eric Clapton autobiography, and I highly recommend it. Has some great stories about his life with all the different bands and people he played with and some insane drug use. I knew he got down pretty hard there for awhile, but man did he put away some blow and heroin. Great story about his first time on LSD with the Beatles (up for 3 days seeing things broke down to energy and mathematical equations and such)

It's on my shelf right now and it's close to being next on my reading list...looking forward to it. I have heard great things about it.
It was good, especially all the stuff about what was going on musically in the 60-71 w John Mayall, Cream, the Dominoes, etc
I didn't care for his music much in the 70s and 80s (saw him 75) and now I know why.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 08, 2008, 09:09:58 AM
Quote from: cimsm on March 07, 2008, 09:22:50 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 07, 2008, 04:52:26 PM
The kid from Into The Wild went to my high school...

Yeah, Chris McCandless (sp)
He graduated from Emory Univ... a few of my buddies went to school with him.  And a few made the trek to check out the "bus" after the book was written.
Although he was a bit misdirected, I still envy him.  Big time...



Just finished Into the Wild.  Makes me want to go on a western expedition...albeit with a different outcome.  I feel similar to how I felt when I finished On the Road so many years ago.

I recommend this book to anyone.  Especially before you see the movie.  Don't ruin a good book by seeing the movie first!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on March 08, 2008, 02:15:06 PM
Absolutely read the book before you see the movie. The books are always better anyway.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 10, 2008, 08:49:49 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 05, 2008, 10:03:18 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 03, 2008, 06:23:17 PM
Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

I would paste a pic, but I am ignorant and can't figure out how...

one of my favorite books of all time.

working my way through fast food nation now. read that and you won't eat at a fast food place again anytime soon.
I'm going to read that soon, I recently watched Super Size Me and it had the same effect.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 10, 2008, 10:03:09 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on March 08, 2008, 02:15:06 PM
Absolutely read the book before you see the movie. The books are always better anyway.

We should start a thread about the exceptions that prove that rule.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on March 11, 2008, 09:58:01 AM
So i have been reading "IV" by Chuck Klosterman. Its the 1st time i have read anythign by Klosterman. Basically just a bunch of short interviews with people like U2, Val Kilmer, Radiohead, Wilco, Metallica. All pretty interesting, and snidely funny at times.

So far, the best was the article about "Bats Day" at Disneyland. It is basically a huge gathering of Goth Kids who take over Disneyland for the day. I was dieing laughing reading it last night. Worth it for that chapter alone.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on March 11, 2008, 10:26:52 AM
When I started grad school, we got handed Into the Wild and had to teach it to freshmen. None of us liked it then, but it's grown on me since. I haven't seen the movie but I kind of want to.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on March 11, 2008, 11:04:28 AM
Quote from: birdman on March 07, 2008, 05:02:37 PM
Alexander Supertramp. A hero of mine...and a fool.

I think his intention and purpose of his adventure were genuine and noble. But he was also very foolish and naive. Who think fuck goes to northern Alaska not having basic knowledge of flora and fauna, or how to hunt. He was learning as he went along. living in the north country of alaska isnt like car camping in the summer in northern virginia where dude was from
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on March 13, 2008, 11:29:10 PM
SkyDog
bio of the guy to your left.
great book. just read the part about how he met Clapton and worked on the Layla album.

other recent purchases that are on deck have been mentioned here-Omnivores Dilemna and In Defense of Food
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 14, 2008, 10:57:23 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 07, 2008, 04:52:26 PM
The kid from Into The Wild went to my high school...
Thats cool.  Emory is about 25 miles from my house. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 20, 2008, 05:37:35 PM
FYI

QuoteThe book is called 'Pygmy', and it's already written!  Read on below for the plot:

I've just finished the first draft of a novel called "Pygmy," a dark comedy about terrorism and racism.  The lead character is a 13-year-old foreign exchange student sent to live with a suburban, white, middle-class family.  Oh, and they're Christians.  The visit is for six months, and he's one of a dozen similar kids, all shipped to America to live with typical families. 

The secret truth is that Pygmy is a terrorist, trained since infancy in martial arts, chemistry and radical hatred of the United States.  He has six months to build a prize-winning project for the National Science Fair.  If he succeeds, he and his project will go to Washington, D.C. for the finals competition -- where the project will explode, killing millions. 

So far, Gerry Howard says it's the best book I've done.  Fingers crossed for luck.

palahnuick's new, finished one...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 24, 2008, 05:26:10 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/Lifeofpi.jpg/200px-Lifeofpi.jpg)
So I finished this book over the weekend and all I can say is wow.  This is a new favorite for me.  Everything about it is incredible and very moving to me.  If you want a book that makes you think and has an incredible story, I'd recommend this to you.  It will get you thinking analytically about religion. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 24, 2008, 06:06:23 PM
^^^Read it a few years ago.
Richard Parker. The island.
Quality read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on March 24, 2008, 10:21:30 PM
Ok so i got a $40 gift cert for amazon and I'm trying to decide waht i want to get.
I know a lot of you have read palahniuk and i was wondering what book you'd recommend for a first time reader.
thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 25, 2008, 03:57:26 PM
Quote from: hoodie22 on March 24, 2008, 10:21:30 PM
Ok so i got a $40 gift cert for amazon and I'm trying to decide waht i want to get.
I know a lot of you have read palahniuk and i was wondering what book you'd recommend for a first time reader.
thanks!

everyone's different...

i got turned onto fight club by a friend about 5 months before the movie came out....
that book is what hooked me.... but i really dug survivor and invisible monsters...

not to say that any of the others weren't good; they're all super.
those three are what did it for me...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 25, 2008, 09:56:27 PM
Quote from: hoodie22 on March 24, 2008, 10:21:30 PM
Ok so i got a $40 gift cert for amazon and I'm trying to decide waht i want to get.
I know a lot of you have read palahniuk and i was wondering what book you'd recommend for a first time reader.
thanks!
I just finished Diary which I liked a fair bit. Not my favorite but good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on March 27, 2008, 10:19:25 AM
Just started "A Fighters Heart" by Sam Sheridan.

Its a non-fiction, this dude joins the Merchant Marines, and there he gets a taste for boxing and hand-to-hand combat. This dude gets a taste for fighting, and then makes a sort of journey to learn all types of fighting. He trains with muay thai fighters in Thailand, learns brazilian jiu jitsu, etc. Pretty interesting so far, bloody.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 27, 2008, 11:04:38 AM
Just finished Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry.
Chronologically the first of the adventures of the fellows in Lonesome Dove.
I'm now reading the next (and fourth,) Comanche Moon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on March 28, 2008, 01:08:37 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 27, 2008, 11:04:38 AM
Just finished Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry.
Chronologically the first of the adventures of the fellows in Lonesome Dove.
I'm now reading the next (and fourth,) Comanche Moon.

Nice, finishing up the Berrybender Narratives myself and would recommend them, more of a lighthearted farce than the Lonesome Dove books though. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JimmyWilson on March 28, 2008, 03:49:04 PM
(http://www.outfitterssupply.com/images/WBKC1.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on March 29, 2008, 01:48:58 PM
(http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/25150000/25155594.JPG)

Quote"My personal feeling is that citizens of the democratic societies should undertake a course of intellectual self-defense to protect themselves from manipulation and control, and to lay the basis for more meaningful democracy."-Noam Chomsky

"Exercising intellectual self-defense is an act of citizenship. It is what has motivated me to write this little book, which offers exactly this: an introduction to critical thinking."-Normand Baillargeon

What is the relationship between democracy and critical thinking? What must a citizen in a democracy know to make the word democracy meaningful? In A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense, radical pedagogue Normand Baillargeon trains readers to think, deconstruct, and ask the necessary questions to protect themselves from the manipulations of government, "authorities," and other elites. Whether the issue be the call to what we're told will be a bloodless war, the "debate" around Intelligent Design, understanding a government military expenditure, or simply reading the news, Baillargeon teaches readers to evaluate information and sort fact from official and media spin. In the spirit of advocates of critical thinking from every age, and including the famed late scientist Carl Sagan's "Baloney Detection Kit" and George Orwell's views on the political uses and abuses of language, this vivid, accessible primer empowers readers to take their education as citizens into their own hands.

Normand Baillargeon is a professor of education fundamentals at the University of Quebec in Montreal, where he teaches on the history of pedagogy and the philosophy of education.

I've read 120 pages so far, and its really good thus far.  I've especially enjoyed the logical and statistical arguments that are presented in this book. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 03, 2008, 09:05:30 AM
Just read "The Great Gatsby" over the past few days.
Great book.  One of a few "holy grail" novels for English teachers.

I am also finishing up "Pillars of the Earth" and I am curious how is the book that follows it?  I really enjoyed Pillars and I am anxious to read the continuing story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on April 06, 2008, 06:47:02 PM
^^
I don't remember there being a sequel.

"The Organic Lawn Care Manual" - Paul Tukey
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 06, 2008, 09:25:34 PM
Quote from: slslbs on April 06, 2008, 06:47:02 PM
^^
I don't remember there being a sequel.

It just came out a few months ago, curious about it myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on April 06, 2008, 09:41:47 PM
thanks - i'll look for it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 07, 2008, 11:05:27 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 06, 2008, 09:25:34 PM
Quote from: slslbs on April 06, 2008, 06:47:02 PM
^^
I don't remember there being a sequel.

It just came out a few months ago, curious about it myself.

I don't think it's technically a sequel, but just a continuation of the story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 17, 2008, 09:53:50 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on April 07, 2008, 11:05:27 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 06, 2008, 09:25:34 PM
Quote from: slslbs on April 06, 2008, 06:47:02 PM
^^
I don't remember there being a sequel.

It just came out a few months ago, curious about it myself.

I don't think it's technically a sequel, but just a continuation of the story.

Just started it and it's called "World Without End" and it takes place a few hundred years later in the same town.  Apparently you don't have to read them in order, but it seems logical since they take place chronologically.

Also rereading "The World According to Garp"-- Irving is one of my favorite authors.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: meaningless on April 21, 2008, 02:15:53 AM
Sense and Sensibility
BY
Jane Austen...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on April 21, 2008, 09:05:20 AM
Quote from: meaningless on April 21, 2008, 02:15:53 AM
Sense and Sensibility
BY
Jane Austen...
Welcome to the paug dude.  Nice to see a new face.   :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on April 21, 2008, 09:38:51 AM
Quote from: Sophist on April 21, 2008, 09:05:20 AM
Quote from: meaningless on April 21, 2008, 02:15:53 AM
Sense and Sensibility
BY
Jane Austen...
Welcome to the paug dudette.  Nice to see a new face.   :beers:

FYP ;)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on April 21, 2008, 11:54:35 AM
The Stand, by Stephen King. Dug it out to read again, found it in a box of stuff i was cleaning out this weekend.

Just finished the Bone graphic novel by Jeff Smith. Great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: EliWhitney314 on April 21, 2008, 02:45:44 PM
I just finished Into the Wild.  I think now i'm going to read Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: meaningless on April 28, 2008, 06:25:36 AM
Quote from: Sophist on April 21, 2008, 09:05:20 AM
Quote from: meaningless on April 21, 2008, 02:15:53 AM
Sense and Sensibility
BY
Jane Austen...
Welcome to the paug dude.  Nice to see a new face.   :beers:


Thank you :)


Today i bought Thief of Love By Linda Walker
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 28, 2008, 07:45:43 AM
I finished reading Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry.

Having finished reading all four of the Lonesome Dove books... I'm a little sad that they're done. It's an amazing saga.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: EliWhitney314 on April 28, 2008, 02:18:24 PM
My friend brought a zombie survival guide book today.  I was enjoying it.  Just the stuff it tells you is ridiculous.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 28, 2008, 02:27:40 PM
It wouldn't sound ridiculous if these guys were outside your door
(http://media.bluedistortion.com/zombies_01.jpg)

Best to be prepared.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 29, 2008, 10:21:33 PM
Finally finished "Sometimes a great notion."  Great book, highly recommended.  And the end is awesome.

Now starting on "Dharma Bums," the next book on my xmas present queue.




Still unread:  Ulysses, from an xmas present queue probably 3 years ago. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 30, 2008, 10:50:35 AM
"Manners" by Kate Spade.

Interesting read.  I definitely like her (and Andy's) sense of humor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 30, 2008, 11:26:11 AM
Quote from: kellerb on April 29, 2008, 10:21:33 PM
Finally finished "Sometimes a great notion."  Great book, highly recommended.  And the end is awesome.

Now starting on "Dharma Bums," the next book on my xmas present queue.



Both great books and among my favorites...

I've just begun this:
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0618680004.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 30, 2008, 01:39:08 PM
god delusion, that was pretty good. if you're interested in dawkins beyond the atheist angle, a really great and fascinating book by him is The Ancestor's Tale, which traces evolutionary history backwards starting at the present. a beautiful way to see how all life is interrelated.

i just read Saturday by Ian McEwan, who i've heard a lot about of late. lovely writing style, but the story didn't really do it for me.

then i read, for the first time since 8th grade, The Catcher In The Rye. it didn't thrill me. i could see why it was  sensational back in the '40s, but now it's just okay. or so i thought. i like Salinger's short stories much better.

and i read a crazy long sci-fi book called Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney. his style is unique, kind of dense and imaginative yet easy to read. the book enventually bored me, though. very much of its time, the early '70s.

guess i need to read a kick-ass book soon...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on April 30, 2008, 01:43:14 PM
I'm going through The Great Shark Hunt right now
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Shark_Hunt
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 30, 2008, 09:15:16 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 30, 2008, 01:39:08 PM
then i read, for the first time since 8th grade, The Catcher In The Rye. it didn't thrill me. i could see why it was  sensational back in the '40s, but now it's just okay. or so i thought. i like Salinger's short stories much better.


Catcher in the Rye is one of those books that can affect you differently at different points in your life.  In high school I thought it was decent, but nothing great; near the end of college I reread it and thought it was awesome; I just reread it last summer and couldn't help but think how much of a whiny douchebag Holden Caufield was. 
(In a whiny voice) Ohh, life is hard,  I don't like school, I don't know what I want to do with my life, why don't these girls like me...  Suck it up, dude.  Deal with it.

But then again, I might reread it in a few years and think differently.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 30, 2008, 09:31:30 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 30, 2008, 11:26:11 AM
Quote from: kellerb on April 29, 2008, 10:21:33 PM
Finally finished "Sometimes a great notion."  Great book, highly recommended.  And the end is awesome.

Now starting on "Dharma Bums," the next book on my xmas present queue.



Both great books and among my favorites...

I've just begun this:
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0618680004.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

That's a good one.  I've got "The Blind Watchmaker" next on my Dawkins-to-read list
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 01, 2008, 01:00:17 PM
_Aristotle and an Aardvark Go To Washington_ (Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes)  By Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on May 14, 2008, 03:33:57 PM
The Myths of Laziness, by Dr. Mel Levine.
Healing ADD, ny Dr, Daniel Amen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 14, 2008, 01:07:11 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tOXdt3rEL._SL160_SS160_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 14, 2008, 01:08:01 PM
(http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/74033326.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193121F0CA65233434882CC8C8BF8A6FFB8284831B75F48EF45)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 01, 2008, 04:42:22 PM
if you EVER made one....

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SS500_.jpg)


read it. you'll get it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 01, 2008, 04:53:11 PM
i make the best
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 01, 2008, 04:56:45 PM
i'm not too shabby...

i'm always up for a good mix tape :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 01, 2008, 04:58:04 PM
my ex has all mine.
maybe i'll steal you one when i see her in a month.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 01, 2008, 05:00:43 PM
maybe you could make a new one?!

just a thought ;)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 01, 2008, 05:04:18 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 01, 2008, 05:00:43 PM
maybe you could make a new one?!

just a thought ;)

:lol: :| :-D

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JimmyWilson on July 01, 2008, 05:17:16 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LPwtlhQTL._AA240_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 01, 2008, 05:23:28 PM
actually i did read a book today for the first time in about a year...

but it was a role playing game textbook.
does that count?
i had to move my eyes and think...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 01, 2008, 05:25:47 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JIlx9r0rL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Intensely depressing but uniquely written and powerful, I'm looking forward to reading Blood Meridian next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flufhed on July 01, 2008, 05:44:51 PM
Shit we have to read too?  I thought this was a music site...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 01, 2008, 06:42:52 PM
Books is good.

Reading this now:
(http://www.chroniclebooks.com/images/items/0811853/0811853756/0811853756_large.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on July 01, 2008, 10:43:24 PM
Quote from: VA slim on July 01, 2008, 05:23:28 PM
actually i did read a book today for the first time in about a year...

but it was a role playing game textbook.

which?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on July 01, 2008, 11:16:52 PM
Quote from: blatboom on July 01, 2008, 10:43:24 PM
Quote from: VA slim on July 01, 2008, 05:23:28 PM
actually i did read a book today for the first time in about a year...

but it was a role playing game textbook.

which?

shadowrun 4th ed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on July 02, 2008, 12:18:39 AM
I recently read my first Chuck Palahniuk book - 'Choke'

And my friend has insisted I read Brett Easton Ellis and that I begin with 'Less than Zero', so I just read that (and if you haven't read it and have seen the movie....its COMPLETELY different)
And I am currently reading 'American Psycho'
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on July 02, 2008, 02:06:42 AM
Quote from: hoodie22 on July 02, 2008, 12:18:39 AM
I recently read my first Chuck Palahniuk book - 'Choke'

And my friend has insisted I read Brett Easton Ellis and that I begin with 'Less than Zero', so I just read that (and if you haven't read it and have seen the movie....its COMPLETELY different)
And I am currently reading 'American Psycho'

I'm about half way through Choke right now.  Good stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 02, 2008, 03:40:05 PM
Quote from: Hicks on July 01, 2008, 05:25:47 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JIlx9r0rL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Intensely depressing but uniquely written and powerful, I'm looking forward to reading Blood Meridian next.

blood meridian is one of the best things i've ever read. far, far better than the road. very different writing style, incredibly dense and hallucinogenic. i rarely read more than 20 pages at a time, just to be able to take it all in. i've read a few of his other books too, nothing comes close to this one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on July 04, 2008, 02:04:37 AM
Quote from: hoodie22 on July 02, 2008, 12:18:39 AM
I recently read my first Chuck Palahniuk book - 'Choke'

And my friend has insisted I read Brett Easton Ellis and that I begin with 'Less than Zero', so I just read that (and if you haven't read it and have seen the movie....its COMPLETELY different)
And I am currently reading 'American Psycho'

'American Psycho' is the only book of his I've read, and it's a deeply disturbing book.  Currently reading a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 04, 2008, 02:34:18 PM
A Widow for One Year- John Irving (favorite author)   :mrgreen:

and just finished The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult- didn't really like it, but I did enjoy the graphic comic placed throughout story.  Too much of a chick writer for me and I picked it up out of boredom and ignorance (apparently) b/c I don't know much about her or her books.  To sum up, won't be reading any other books by her. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: EliWhitney314 on July 06, 2008, 10:58:52 PM
I am now reading IT by stephen king.  A lot of people don't like him because he is over rated... but it is an incredible book and his imagery is incerdible.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on July 07, 2008, 08:40:10 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 04, 2008, 02:34:18 PM
A Widow for One Year- John Irving (favorite author)   :mrgreen:

Probably my favorite, as well, although I'm not much of a reader.  I read that one but can't remember which story it was.  Is that one the one they made into the movie "A Door in the Floor"?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on July 07, 2008, 09:02:53 AM
Walt Disney - Triumph of the American Imagination by Neil Gabler. Bio of WD.
Raiders & Rebels - Thr Golden Age of Piracy, by Frank Sherry
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 07, 2008, 01:36:40 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 07, 2008, 08:40:10 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 04, 2008, 02:34:18 PM
A Widow for One Year- John Irving (favorite author)   :mrgreen:

Probably my favorite, as well, although I'm not much of a reader.  I read that one but can't remember which story it was.  Is that one the one they made into the movie "A Door in the Floor"?

Yep.  Haven't seen it, but I might after I read the book...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 07, 2008, 01:38:30 PM
Quote from: EliWhitney314 on July 06, 2008, 10:58:52 PM
I am now reading IT by stephen king.  A lot of people don't like him because he is over rated... but it is an incredible book and his imagery is incerdible.

hmm... i think a lot of people don't like him because he's an average writer who's churned out a ton of crap books amidst a few good ones.
try the Shining or the Stand if you want to read his best.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 07, 2008, 02:08:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 07, 2008, 01:38:30 PM
Quote from: EliWhitney314 on July 06, 2008, 10:58:52 PM
I am now reading IT by stephen king.  A lot of people don't like him because he is over rated... but it is an incredible book and his imagery is incerdible.

hmm... i think a lot of people don't like him because he's an average writer who's churned out a ton of crap books amidst a few good ones.
try the Shining or the Stand if you want to read his best.

There is a time in everyone's life when Stephen King is a great read.  For me that time was in middle school and part of high school.  But at some point in your life you will realize there are authors out there that write novels that will change the way you look at the world.  I am not knocking King, because it's entertaining stuff, but it's just like Grisham type authors- formula>novel>easy read for the average human being.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: EliWhitney314 on July 07, 2008, 05:44:24 PM
Well this is pretty far away from what I normally read but I liked the movie and of course the book is better.  I still stand by it, its a good book.  Does anyone like Terry Pratchet?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 07, 2008, 07:21:05 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 07, 2008, 02:08:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 07, 2008, 01:38:30 PM
Quote from: EliWhitney314 on July 06, 2008, 10:58:52 PM
I am now reading IT by stephen king.  A lot of people don't like him because he is over rated... but it is an incredible book and his imagery is incerdible.

hmm... i think a lot of people don't like him because he's an average writer who's churned out a ton of crap books amidst a few good ones.
try the Shining or the Stand if you want to read his best.

There is a time in everyone's life when Stephen King is a great read.  For me that time was in middle school and part of high school.  But at some point in your life you will realize there are authors out there that write novels that will change the way you look at the world.  I am not knocking King, because it's entertaining stuff, but it's just like Grisham type authors- formula>novel>easy read for the average human being.

Werd, except that Stephen King is miles beyond Grisham in terms of imagination and storytelling.

Sure he's not the greatest author, but his books got me into reading for recreation in middle school, which may have happened anyway, but I feel like his writing was a great influence to move me towards reading instead of watching so much TV.  I'm sure there are thousands of other people out there that were affected the same way by his books. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on July 08, 2008, 02:24:11 AM
Quote from: EliWhitney314 on July 07, 2008, 05:44:24 PM
Well this is pretty far away from what I normally read but I liked the movie and of course the book is better.  I still stand by it, its a good book.  Does anyone like Terry Pratchet?

I would put 'IT' right up there with 'The Shining' and 'The Stand'  also the entire Dark Tower saga.  There are a few other books that are pretty good, 'The Bachman Books' which is a collection like 'Different Seasons' I enjoyed a great deal.  As far as someone like Grisham a lot of his early stuff is the same because that what his publisher told him to write. His first book 'A Time To Kill' I think is great but everything else that followed is schlock.  If you notice now, he writes nothing like those first half dozen or so books.  Of course he did write the book that became Christmas with the Kranks so other than his first book his credibility as an author is about as low as dudes who right in to Penthouse Forum.  And to answer your question Eli, I've read the first 15 or so of the Discworld novels and 'Good Omens' with Neil Gaiman.  It's to bad that he has recently been diagnosed with alzheimers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: EliWhitney314 on July 08, 2008, 09:38:17 PM
The only book I have of Terry is small gods and its in line for me to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 09, 2008, 11:02:58 AM
Stephen King was best before he was sober.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on July 11, 2008, 01:18:09 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 09, 2008, 11:02:58 AM
Stephen King was best before he was sober.

I think that can be said of most anyone who has done anything creative.  With some exceptions to be sure.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on July 15, 2008, 01:44:23 PM
midnight in the garden of good and evil, by John Berendt.

love is a mix tape; life and loss one song at a time, by Rob Sheffield
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 16, 2008, 01:23:08 PM
half way thru with this one...
all this michael moore talk and all...

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hqI3fAhYL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on September 16, 2008, 01:26:38 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on July 15, 2008, 01:44:23 PM
midnight in the garden of good and evil, by John Berendt.

Ditto.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on September 16, 2008, 01:51:18 PM
i read treasure island yesterday.  man, i really like that book and haven't read it in years.  brought back some good memories.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on September 17, 2008, 09:19:36 PM
Just ripped through these in a matter of days.  The John Joseph bio is SICK!!  So nuts....If you have any interest in NYHC or NYC in general, it's a must read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on September 17, 2008, 11:42:44 PM
Like many here, I've on a Palahniuk kick this summer....
First was "Choke"...which I very much enjoyed and can't wait for the film
I also read his newest one "Snuff" which is pretty graphic, but I couldn't put it down
Now I'm onto "Rant" and again I just cant stop reading. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 18, 2008, 08:17:50 AM
Quote from: hoodie22 on September 17, 2008, 11:42:44 PM
Like many here, I've on a Palahniuk kick this summer....
First was "Choke"...which I very much enjoyed and can't wait for the film
I also read his newest one "Snuff" which is pretty graphic, but I couldn't put it down
Now I'm onto "Rant" and again I just cant stop reading. 

I just read Choke and I'm reading Rant right now too. Probably finish it on the train home tonight. Great stuff.

Is Snuff in paperback yet?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on September 18, 2008, 01:46:36 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 18, 2008, 08:17:50 AM
Quote from: hoodie22 on September 17, 2008, 11:42:44 PM
Like many here, I've on a Palahniuk kick this summer....
First was "Choke"...which I very much enjoyed and can't wait for the film
I also read his newest one "Snuff" which is pretty graphic, but I couldn't put it down
Now I'm onto "Rant" and again I just cant stop reading. 

I just read Choke and I'm reading Rant right now too. Probably finish it on the train home tonight. Great stuff.

Is Snuff in paperback yet?

I don't so...I tried to wait, but I was curious about it i just had to buy it. It was a crazy read, I couldn't put it down...in good ways and bads.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 18, 2008, 03:05:11 PM
Been reading my son's library books again. Quick kids reads, but the City of Ember series is pretty good. Also just read the Walt Disney bio 'Triumph of the American Imagination'. Don't remember if I mentioned that one or not. I also read a book on the design of Disney's parks that was put out by the Canadian Centre of Architecture a few years back called 'The Architecture of Reassurance: DEsigning Disney's Theme Parks' that was not only a good read, but a bit of a lesson on consumer behavior as well.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on September 18, 2008, 03:25:29 PM
Pure Drivel
by Steve Martin.

It's gonna hold me over til Slaughterhouse 5 gets here! 
thanks Jephrey!  +K
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on October 19, 2008, 10:00:35 AM
Choke- figured everyone was a fan so I would give it a try.  Good stuff.  Hard to put down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on October 19, 2008, 11:44:53 AM
just finished 3...
Daniel Boloud: Letters to a Young Chef.  great book for people in the bizz.
Stranger in a Strange Land...it was that time again.
Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath...i hated it the first time i was forced to read it in High school, but steinbeck is sooooo descriptive that you can be there, exactly where he is describing...cool shit.  boring at times, but cool.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on October 19, 2008, 10:43:18 PM
Quote from: Bobafett on October 19, 2008, 11:44:53 AM
just finished 3...
Daniel Boloud: Letters to a Young Chef.  great book for people in the bizz.
Stranger in a Strange Land...it was that time again.
Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath...i hated it the first time i was forced to read it in High school, but steinbeck is sooooo descriptive that you can be there, exactly where he is describing...cool shit.  boring at times, but cool.

Good book, but what a downer.  And the ending kills me every time.  I feel let down after reading it.  But Steinbeck is wicked awesome with description.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on October 19, 2008, 10:51:36 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on September 18, 2008, 03:25:29 PM
Pure Drivel
by Steve Martin.

It's gonna hold me over til Slaughterhouse 5 gets here! 
thanks Jephrey!  +K

Slaughterhouse 5 is a good book.  Pretty much all Vonnegut is good, IMO.

Currently I am reading
this
http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Loathing-Campaign-Hunter-Thompson/dp/0446313645

and this
http://www.amazon.com/Junky-Definitive-Text-Junk-Anniversary/dp/0142003166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224471118&sr=1-1
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on October 24, 2008, 12:49:35 PM
Just read The 39 Clues with my son. Great kids book, this should be a good series. We've collected most of the trading cards and he's been working on the online part of the game. Neat concept.

Highly recommended to those w/ kids in that age group.

Also, a bunch of LEED prep and Green Building books. the Sustainable Building Manual. Studying for my test...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: easts_vault on October 24, 2008, 03:57:53 PM
Quote from: whyweigh3.5 on October 19, 2008, 10:51:36 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on September 18, 2008, 03:25:29 PM
Pure Drivel
by Steve Martin.

It's gonna hold me over til Slaughterhouse 5 gets here! 
thanks Jephrey!  +K

Slaughterhouse 5 is a good book.  Pretty much all Vonnegut is good, IMO.

Currently I am reading
this
http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Loathing-Campaign-Hunter-Thompson/dp/0446313645

and this
http://www.amazon.com/Junky-Definitive-Text-Junk-Anniversary/dp/0142003166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224471118&sr=1-1

Currently reading some Burroughs myself - Naked Lunch
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 24, 2008, 04:31:19 PM
just finished this one....

(http://jnonymous.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/jitterbug.jpg)


now, onto this one....

(http://www.noexit.co.uk/images/large/184243022xlarge.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on October 24, 2008, 07:16:11 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 24, 2008, 04:31:19 PM
just finished this one....

(http://jnonymous.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/jitterbug.jpg)


now, onto this one....

(http://www.noexit.co.uk/images/large/184243022xlarge.jpg)



jitterbug perfume is my favorite of his. beets and devils.

woodpecker has some good stuff, but feels a little thinner, as i recall.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on October 24, 2008, 09:25:38 PM
Haven't read Jitterbug... but I really liked Still Life With Woodpecker. Another Roadside Attraction is my favorite that I've read of his.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on October 25, 2008, 12:17:33 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 24, 2008, 04:31:19 PM

now, onto this one....

(http://www.noexit.co.uk/images/large/184243022xlarge.jpg)


I haven't read that book, but it makes me want to smoke
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on October 26, 2008, 04:52:35 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on October 24, 2008, 09:25:38 PM
Haven't read Jitterbug... but I really liked Still Life With Woodpecker. Another Roadside Attraction is my favorite that I've read of his.

Agreed on both Woodpecker and Attraction.  Another Roadside Attraction has a phenomenal ending and the characters and great.  Plucky is one of those characters that are on my all-time favorites list.  So many things with that guy are great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 27, 2008, 11:45:12 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on October 24, 2008, 07:16:11 PM
jitterbug perfume is my favorite of his. beets and devils.

woodpecker has some good stuff, but feels a little thinner, as i recall.

i'm only half way through still life.... but it does seem a little on the thin side compared to jitterbug.
a gal i work with kinda pushed me into that being my second tom robbins book... said it's her favorite...

but yes, jitterbug was GREAT... beets, devils, immortality, and a stinky Pan :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on October 27, 2008, 12:51:44 PM
if you are getting on a Tom Robbins kick, you simply MUST read Even Cowgirls Get the Blues...i'd send it to you, but i've been doing this packing/purging thing, and have given a lot of my stuff away.  Including my books.  (i may regret that one.)

it's time for a fresh start.

as far as what i'm reading....nothing right now. 
I will start Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian once son and I land and get settled in Arkansas...

then Choke?  Seems to be a lot of interest in that on this board...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 27, 2008, 12:55:35 PM
the cowgirls one is next in line for me :)

you'll like choke. he's not as "sensual" in his descriptions like Robbins, but very vivid...

Survivor is a great one, too.. either one of those, imo, is a great way to get in to Chuck P.
and if you liked the movie, Fight Club, the book is TEN times better...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on October 28, 2008, 12:12:25 AM
The Audacity of Hope, Obama
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 06, 2008, 08:44:11 PM
One River by Wade Davis

Fantastic. Weaves together the adventures of Richard Schultes, the greatest ethnobotanist of the 20th century, discoverer of thousands of plants/trees/etc. previously unknown to the west, including every imaginable psychotropic plant/vine/bark/mushroom, all of which he used himself to verify their effects, with the adventures of the author, Wade Davis, as he assists another ethnobotanist in his search for coca varieties to learn how historically they were used and cultivated.

Schultes' adventures through all of South America during the '40s and '50s are incredible. The man was obsessed with plants. His appreciation and understanding of the native peoples and how their lives and religions and histories are intertwined with the jungle is profound and fascinating. During the war Schultes was tasked by the US government to search out new species of blight resistant rubber trees, and yet more incredible adventures ensue. Schultes came down with malaria at least ten times, almost died from beriberi, tried all kinds of insane potions made for him by various tribes, etc. and so on.

Woven through all of this are histories of the Inca and the Spanish conquistadors, the late 19th century rubber boom and of the rubber industry in general, hallucinogens, coca leaves, South American missionaries, 19th century botanists and botany in general, various current tribal peoples, plus more info about South American rivers than you can shake a delicious cup of ayahuasca at.

Great writing, great storytelling, lots of science and history, an appearance by William S. Burroughs (whose search for yage Schultes aids in the '40s), what more could you want out of a book? Check it out!


and on a related note, i recently read The Teachings of Don Juan by Castaneda.
not a good book, and when i next read One River, it brought into high relief how totally inept, uninformed and amatuerish Castaneda is. his idea of 'anthropology' is to talk to one guy who he seems incapable of understanding. Don Juan has a few nice things to say about life and the paths we should follow, but this all goes right over Castanada's dim head. the book ends with 50 pages of some kind of 'scientific' synopsis of his banal drug experiences, which is simply laughable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 07, 2008, 09:09:52 AM
Trainspotting- Irvine Welsh

Tricky language at the beginning but great description!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on November 10, 2008, 04:32:47 PM
On The Road.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 13, 2008, 08:35:17 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on November 10, 2008, 04:32:47 PM
On The Road.
Nice.  Is it your first time reading it?  I reread it for the fifth time this past summer.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 13, 2008, 08:55:17 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 07, 2008, 09:09:52 AM
Trainspotting- Irvine Welsh

Tricky language at the beginning but great description!

I am reading this ^^ at home, but at school,  I am reading "Naked Lunch" by Burroughs.  Apparently I am on a junkie kick when it comes to novels.

Quote from: Sophist on November 13, 2008, 08:35:17 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on November 10, 2008, 04:32:47 PM
On The Road.
Nice.  Is it your first time reading it?  I reread it for the fifth time this past summer.  

Great book.  Makes me want to hit the road again.  Good precursor to Phish next year. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on November 13, 2008, 05:22:08 PM
Yeah, first time reading it - about time!  I'm basically finished, maybe 20 pages to go, great book, it got my from the start and never let go.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 14, 2008, 08:19:29 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on November 13, 2008, 05:22:08 PM
Yeah, first time reading it - about time!  I'm basically finished, maybe 20 pages to go, great book, it got my from the start and never let go.
It'll do that.  I'd suggest the Dharma Bums if your looking for more Kerouac. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 08:46:04 AM

I am plowing through The Audacity of Hope.

The first few chapters are a really elegant, hopeful and positive read - a wonderful resume for a President.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I just finished The Watchmen (Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons) and holy crap. That was pretty good. I now respect the level of hype that it has received.

(And by "just finished" I mean, moments ago.)

I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.

Yes, and it's not going to be coherent.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 03:24:52 PM
Quote from: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.

Yes, and it's not going to be coherent.

I just watched the trailer and it actually looks like it rides pretty close to the book. Should be interesting; and 5 hours long.
http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/


oh, and it opens the same day Phish returns so I may have to see it on Saturday in Hampton.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 15, 2008, 03:26:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 03:24:52 PM
Quote from: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.

Yes, and it's not going to be coherent.

I just watched the trailer and it actually looks like it rides pretty close to the book. Should be interesting; and 5 hours long.
http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/


oh, and it opens the same day Phish returns so I may have to see it on Saturday in Hampton.

i don't know what you read, but it's not five hours long. it's ~2 hours 45 min. and if you've watched the latest preview, not the one pre-dark knight, you'll know what a total piece of shit it's going to be.

the end? re-done. no faux alien to unite humanity. now veidt plants bombs around the world. because that's so much more, um... stupid? cliched? i don't know.

strange how suddenly all the characters are built, sleek superheroes. i could have sworn the whole point of the book was to present them as what they are: slightly delusional, average middle aged people who dress up in absurd costumes.

and what's with rorschach's batman voice? and his hopping around like a bug on springs?

remember, this is the director that decided to remake one of the greatest horror movies of all time-- dawn of the dead-- and did so by removing every singe bit of meaning from the original and creating in its place a moronic videogame.

/end rant
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 15, 2008, 10:50:21 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 15, 2008, 03:26:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 03:24:52 PM
Quote from: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.

Yes, and it's not going to be coherent.

I just watched the trailer and it actually looks like it rides pretty close to the book. Should be interesting; and 5 hours long.
http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/


oh, and it opens the same day Phish returns so I may have to see it on Saturday in Hampton.

i don't know what you read, but it's not five hours long. it's ~2 hours 45 min. and if you've watched the latest preview, not the one pre-dark knight, you'll know what a total piece of shit it's going to be.

the end? re-done. no faux alien to unite humanity. now veidt plants bombs around the world. because that's so much more, um... stupid? cliched? i don't know.

strange how suddenly all the characters are built, sleek superheroes. i could have sworn the whole point of the book was to present them as what they are: slightly delusional, average middle aged people who dress up in absurd costumes.

and what's with rorschach's batman voice? and his hopping around like a bug on springs?

remember, this is the director that decided to remake one of the greatest horror movies of all time-- dawn of the dead-- and did so by removing every singe bit of meaning from the original and creating in its place a moronic videogame.

/end rant

I didn't read anything about the movie so I had no way of knowing the actual running time or the changes to the plot. I watched whatever trailer is at the link above which, upon re-watching seems like the same one from Dark Knight. It's not apparent that they are or are not delusional, middle agers. Fact of the matter, all they show in the trailer is action and, in the book they are sleek, effective heroes in most action sequences. I also noticed that a lot of the shots in the trailer are reconstructed directly from the comic.

As for the Director, clearly you are forgetting his greatest work, "Morrissey: ¡Oye Esteban!"  :wink:

Seriously, though. Give the guy a chance. This may not be his masterwork but everybody makes shit movies.
Sidney Lumet directed "The Wiz".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on November 15, 2008, 11:24:15 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I just finished The Watchmen (Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons) and holy crap. That was pretty good. I now respect the level of hype that it has received.

(And by "just finished" I mean, moments ago.)

I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

i want my book back
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 15, 2008, 03:26:40 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 15, 2008, 10:50:21 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 15, 2008, 03:26:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 03:24:52 PM
Quote from: mattstick on November 14, 2008, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: blatboom on November 14, 2008, 01:30:15 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

wasn't that previewed before Dark Knight?  it it's what I'm thinking of, I wouldn't count on it being coherent.

Yes, and it's not going to be coherent.

I just watched the trailer and it actually looks like it rides pretty close to the book. Should be interesting; and 5 hours long.
http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/


oh, and it opens the same day Phish returns so I may have to see it on Saturday in Hampton.

i don't know what you read, but it's not five hours long. it's ~2 hours 45 min. and if you've watched the latest preview, not the one pre-dark knight, you'll know what a total piece of shit it's going to be.

the end? re-done. no faux alien to unite humanity. now veidt plants bombs around the world. because that's so much more, um... stupid? cliched? i don't know.

strange how suddenly all the characters are built, sleek superheroes. i could have sworn the whole point of the book was to present them as what they are: slightly delusional, average middle aged people who dress up in absurd costumes.

and what's with rorschach's batman voice? and his hopping around like a bug on springs?

remember, this is the director that decided to remake one of the greatest horror movies of all time-- dawn of the dead-- and did so by removing every singe bit of meaning from the original and creating in its place a moronic videogame.

/end rant

I didn't read anything about the movie so I had no way of knowing the actual running time or the changes to the plot. I watched whatever trailer is at the link above which, upon re-watching seems like the same one from Dark Knight. It's not apparent that they are or are not delusional, middle agers. Fact of the matter, all they show in the trailer is action and, in the book they are sleek, effective heroes in most action sequences. I also noticed that a lot of the shots in the trailer are reconstructed directly from the comic.

As for the Director, clearly you are forgetting his greatest work, "Morrissey: ¡Oye Esteban!"  :wink:

Seriously, though. Give the guy a chance. This may not be his masterwork but everybody makes shit movies.
Sidney Lumet directed "The Wiz".

if zack snyder had made a Dog Day Afternoon i could forgive a lot of Wizzes. but he hasn't.

having followed what he's said about Watchmen, and watching what he's done, i am expecting disaster.

maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised. we shall see.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 16, 2008, 07:41:18 AM
Quote from: Igbo on November 15, 2008, 11:24:15 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 14, 2008, 01:28:24 PM
I just finished The Watchmen (Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons) and holy crap. That was pretty good. I now respect the level of hype that it has received.

(And by "just finished" I mean, moments ago.)

I don't see how they'll go about making a coherent film of of that book but someone's taken a crack at it.

i want my book back

Come get it.
Catrina has been sleeping on it.









j/k

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on November 17, 2008, 07:13:01 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SIP9IihsL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: natronzero on November 18, 2008, 01:37:17 AM
I'm revisiting some old favorites -
after getting a friend and his wife hooked on Richard Brautigan, I decided to reread all of Brautigan's novels in order of publication.
So far about 2/3 of the way through A Confederate General From Big Sur.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on December 02, 2008, 08:33:43 PM
Just finished Bentley Little's "The Academy"..not as gruesome as some of his others but still a good read...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on December 02, 2008, 09:36:45 PM
World According to Garp
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: bluecaravan521 on December 02, 2008, 09:38:17 PM
Othello & On the Road
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PhishPhan on December 02, 2008, 11:12:55 PM
Quote from: susep73 on November 17, 2008, 07:13:01 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SIP9IihsL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

I'm reading the same book. Guess there are some Deadheads at our library :D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 02, 2008, 11:43:50 PM
just picked up The Audacity of Hope.  first read i've been looking this forward to in a long time...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 03, 2008, 07:40:21 AM
Quote from: khalpin on December 02, 2008, 09:36:45 PM
World According to Garp

Great book!  Irving is one of my favorites.  I love Garps thoughts on so many things.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 03, 2008, 08:43:31 AM
Love All The People (http://www.amazon.com/Love-All-People-Letters-Routines/dp/1932360654)- Bill Hicks. 

QuoteEditorial Reviews
Review
'Savage, brilliant, funny, tremendously intelligent' John Cleese 'He was hilarious, brilliant, brave and right about everything.' Henry Rollins 'Being a genius is a heavy burden, and he's the only one I'm ever likely to meet' Sean Hughes 'He was what only a great comedian can be for any age: an enemy of boundaries, a disturber of the peace, a bringer of insight and of joy, a comic distillation of his own rampaging spirit'. - John Lahr, from the foreword. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In 1993, network executives abruptly cut the final appearance of comedian Bill Hicks — a scathing tirade of digs on the Pope and the pro-life movement — from an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. His banning from the show, along with a profile in The New Yorker by veteran writer John Lahr, catapulted Hicks to national prominence. Just months later, at age 32, he died of pancreatic cancer.
Now available for the first time are Hick's most critical and comic observations, gathered from his stand-up routines, diaries, notebooks, letters, and final writings. This collection features his controversial humor and witheringly funny attacks on American culture, from its worship of celebrity and material goods to its involvement in the first Gulf War. Love All the People faithfully traces Hicks's evolution from a funny but conventional stand-up comedian into a fearless and brilliant iconoclast.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 03, 2008, 09:37:06 PM
Anathem by Neal Stephenson.

first one i've read by him. i loved all the science and philosophy. he's very good at explaining complex topics. the book is set on a sort of alternate earth, and he does a good job describing that world. the problem comes when the plot really kicks in. he's not very good at storytelling, and the characters are pretty sketchy, making pure action sequences kind of dull (cause who cares who lives and dies when no one seems like a real person?). still, i was very much into it for something over 800 pages. then came the end, which wasn't an end. the story just stops with all these loose ends, right at the point where you'd expect to have a pretty enormous final sequence. in short, the ending just plain sucked. too bad.

anyone read Cryptonomicon? worth picking up?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 03, 2008, 09:50:18 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 03, 2008, 09:37:06 PM
Anathem by Neal Stephenson.

first one i've read by him. i loved all the science and philosophy. he's very good at explaining complex topics. the book is set on a sort of alternate earth, and he does a good job describing that world. the problem comes when the plot really kicks in. he's not very good at storytelling, and the characters are pretty sketchy, making pure action sequences kind of dull (cause who cares who lives and dies when no one seems like a real person?). still, i was very much into it for something over 800 pages. then came the end, which wasn't an end. the story just stops with all these loose ends, right at the point where you'd expect to have a pretty enormous final sequence. in short, the ending just plain sucked. too bad.

anyone read Cryptonomicon? worth picking up?

I believe Anathem is the first in a series so that would explain the lack of ending.

Cryptonomicon is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

Diamond Age is outstanding too, and Snow Crash is really good in terms of a trashy pulp cyberpunk novel.

I tried reading the Baroque cycle and gave up half way through the first one, I'll probably give it another shot someday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on December 03, 2008, 10:56:40 PM
Snowcrash rocks.....I haven't read it in years...  I'm curently reading Open Up and Bleed, which is the Iggy Bio.  I am also reading the Stanley "Tookie" Williams bio, which is dope, but not as good as Monster (Sanyika Shakur.)  Also just picked up a ton of books from the library that I have yet to start.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 04, 2008, 03:11:15 PM
Quote from: Hicks on December 03, 2008, 09:50:18 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 03, 2008, 09:37:06 PM
Anathem by Neal Stephenson.

first one i've read by him. i loved all the science and philosophy. he's very good at explaining complex topics. the book is set on a sort of alternate earth, and he does a good job describing that world. the problem comes when the plot really kicks in. he's not very good at storytelling, and the characters are pretty sketchy, making pure action sequences kind of dull (cause who cares who lives and dies when no one seems like a real person?). still, i was very much into it for something over 800 pages. then came the end, which wasn't an end. the story just stops with all these loose ends, right at the point where you'd expect to have a pretty enormous final sequence. in short, the ending just plain sucked. too bad.

anyone read Cryptonomicon? worth picking up?

I believe Anathem is the first in a series so that would explain the lack of ending.

Cryptonomicon is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

Diamond Age is outstanding too, and Snow Crash is really good in terms of a trashy pulp cyberpunk novel.

I tried reading the Baroque cycle and gave up half way through the first one, I'll probably give it another shot someday.

well, it HAD an ending, just not a good one. if there's a sequel, some loose ends could be tied up or explored, but that doesn't excuse what happened in this book. it's kind of hard to explain unless you've read it.

anyhow, at some point i'll try out Cryptonomicon. sounds like his best.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 04, 2008, 07:27:22 PM
I'm finally digging into Gravity's Rainbow, almost 1/2 done.  I got it last Xmas and finally started reading it a week or so ago.  It's good stuff, lots of characters and subplots.  I kind of feel like I should have read some Cliff's Notes or something first (worked pretty well for Faulkner, not helpful yet for Ulysses) but its been pretty good.  Lots of dirty WWII sex and intrigue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on December 15, 2008, 11:38:24 AM
gavin menzies' 1421: the year china discovered america

just now getting into it, potentially mindblowing. from what i understand so far, four explorers set out columbus-style from beijing and explored literally everywhere, from antarctica to greenland, all through the carribean and south america, up and down the east and west coast of what's now the U.S. and all around europe... pretty crazy stuffs
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 15, 2008, 01:07:08 PM
Life of Pi  (at home)

Eagle Strike (at school)-- Alex Rider series for young adults.  Anyone with 10 year old + should have them check this series out.  It's fun, easy read, and about young kid who is a spy.  I read it because many of my students have and again, it's an EASY read that doesn't take too much concentration for me during Independent Reading at the beginning of class.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on December 15, 2008, 06:29:28 PM
half-asleep in frog pajamas.

robbins, again :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on December 15, 2008, 09:06:51 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Bob_Dylan_Chronicles,_Volume_1.jpg)

Amazing read, unfortunately skips over some eras I'm more interested in but his prose is delightful.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 16, 2008, 08:10:05 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 15, 2008, 01:07:08 PM
Life of Pi  (at home)

Eagle Strike (at school)-- Alex Rider series for young adults.  Anyone with 10 year old + should have them check this series out.  It's fun, easy read, and about young kid who is a spy.  I read it because many of my students have and again, it's an EASY read that doesn't take too much concentration for me during Independent Reading at the beginning of class.
I loved Life of Pi, it was one of the best fiction books I've read in a long time. 

Quote from: Sophist on December 03, 2008, 08:43:31 AM
Love All The People (http://www.amazon.com/Love-All-People-Letters-Routines/dp/1932360654)- Bill Hicks. 

QuoteEditorial Reviews
Review
'Savage, brilliant, funny, tremendously intelligent' John Cleese 'He was hilarious, brilliant, brave and right about everything.' Henry Rollins 'Being a genius is a heavy burden, and he's the only one I'm ever likely to meet' Sean Hughes 'He was what only a great comedian can be for any age: an enemy of boundaries, a disturber of the peace, a bringer of insight and of joy, a comic distillation of his own rampaging spirit'. - John Lahr, from the foreword. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In 1993, network executives abruptly cut the final appearance of comedian Bill Hicks — a scathing tirade of digs on the Pope and the pro-life movement — from an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. His banning from the show, along with a profile in The New Yorker by veteran writer John Lahr, catapulted Hicks to national prominence. Just months later, at age 32, he died of pancreatic cancer.
Now available for the first time are Hick's most critical and comic observations, gathered from his stand-up routines, diaries, notebooks, letters, and final writings. This collection features his controversial humor and witheringly funny attacks on American culture, from its worship of celebrity and material goods to its involvement in the first Gulf War. Love All the People faithfully traces Hicks's evolution from a funny but conventional stand-up comedian into a fearless and brilliant iconoclast.


I just finished this, and it was a wonderful read.  So much of what Hicks said still applies today. 

I just started the this one:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JQYjru2ML._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
The Conservative Soul (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Conservative-Soul/Andrew-Sullivan/e/9780060934378/?itm=1)
QuoteSynopsis
What does it mean to be a conservative any more?
With the Iraq war, the rise of Christian fundamentalism, exploding government spending, soaring debt, insecure borders, and an executive branch with greater and greater power, Republicans and conservatives are debating this question with more and more urgency.
The contradictions keep mounting. Today's conservatives support the idea of limited government, but they have increased government's size, power and reach to new heights. They believe in balanced budgets, but they have boosted government spending, debt, and pork to record levels. They believe in individual liberty and the rule of law, but they have condoned torture, ignored laws passed by Congress, and been indicted for bribery. They have substituted religion for politics, and damaged both.
In The Conservative Soul, Andrew Sullivan, one of the nation's leading political commentators, makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the corruption of the Republican far right, which has become the first fundamentally religious political party in America. Through an incisive look at the rise of Western fundamentalism, Sullivan argues that conservatives cannot in good conscience keep supporting a party that believes in its own God-given mission to change people's souls, instead of protecting their liberties. He carefully charts the arguments of the new conservatism, showing why they cannot work in today's America, why they fail the test of logic and pragmatism, and why they betray the conservative tradition from Edmund Burke to Ronald Reagan.
In this bold and powerful book, Andrew Sullivan criticizes our government for acting too often, too quickly, and too expensively. He champions a political philosophy based on skepticism and reason, rather than certainty and fundamentalism. He defends a Christianity that is sincere but not intolerant; and a politics that respects religion by keeping its distance. And he makes a provocative, heartfelt case for a revived conservatism at peace with the modern world, dedicated to restraining government and empowering individuals to live rich and fulfilling lives.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 16, 2008, 08:42:25 AM
Quote from: Sophist on December 16, 2008, 08:10:05 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 15, 2008, 01:07:08 PM
Life of Pi  (at home)

Eagle Strike (at school)-- Alex Rider series for young adults.  Anyone with 10 year old + should have them check this series out.  It's fun, easy read, and about young kid who is a spy.  I read it because many of my students have and again, it's an EASY read that doesn't take too much concentration for me during Independent Reading at the beginning of class.
I loved Life of Pi, it was one of the best fiction books I've read in a long time. 




I love the analogies of the zoo and the philosophical connections.  Granted I am not too far in, but it sounds pretty interesting so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on December 16, 2008, 09:50:16 AM
Well, enjoy! 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 16, 2008, 12:48:38 PM
Quote from: mattstick on December 15, 2008, 09:06:51 PM
Amazing read, unfortunately skips over some eras I'm more interested in but his prose is delightful.

one of my favorite books.  i can just imagine him speaking that whole thing, and it flows very nicely.  agreed that i would have been more interested in his take on lots of other things, but he writes so well that i was just captivated from the first page. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on December 20, 2008, 10:16:20 AM
(http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/muze/books/0879308931.jpg)

preety interesting so far, great insights into the band's gear, esp. like the descriptions of Jerry's axe's even going back to his bluegrass days.  awesome pics too!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Ellis Dee on December 23, 2008, 04:23:24 PM
Quote from: susep73 on December 20, 2008, 10:16:20 AM
(http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/muze/books/0879308931.jpg)

preety interesting so far, great insights into the band's gear, esp. like the descriptions of Jerry's axe's even going back to his bluegrass days.  awesome pics too!

me thinks this book will make the perfect gift for somebody...might have to buy my own copy too...seems really cool...thanks
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 23, 2008, 05:30:18 PM
Steve Martin
Born Standing up
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410PcKvvEgL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

Albert Einstein
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51owsnGSHRL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

in case you haven't figured out, I like bios
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on December 24, 2008, 04:41:51 PM
Quote from: Ellis Dee on December 23, 2008, 04:23:24 PM
Quote from: susep73 on December 20, 2008, 10:16:20 AM
(http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/muze/books/0879308931.jpg)

preety interesting so far, great insights into the band's gear, esp. like the descriptions of Jerry's axe's even going back to his bluegrass days.  awesome pics too!

me thinks this book will make the perfect gift for somebody...might have to buy my own copy too...seems really cool...thanks

read through that last year, absolutely loved it.  really one of the most fascinating aspects about the band has been their use (and really, invention) of technology as they grew, so reading about all of it in such detail (and with such direct connections to what was going on in their career at the time) was thrilling for me as a tech geek & Deadhead. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on December 24, 2008, 05:35:19 PM
Quote from: tet on December 24, 2008, 04:41:51 PM
Quote from: Ellis Dee on December 23, 2008, 04:23:24 PM
Quote from: susep73 on December 20, 2008, 10:16:20 AM
(http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/muze/books/0879308931.jpg)

preety interesting so far, great insights into the band's gear, esp. like the descriptions of Jerry's axe's even going back to his bluegrass days.  awesome pics too!

me thinks this book will make the perfect gift for somebody...might have to buy my own copy too...seems really cool...thanks

read through that last year, absolutely loved it.  really one of the most fascinating aspects about the band has been their use (and really, invention) of technology as they grew, so reading about all of it in such detail (and with such direct connections to what was going on in their career at the time) was thrilling for me as a tech geek & Deadhead. 

yep... pretty much what tet said.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 19, 2009, 08:19:22 AM
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy

The End of the Affair
by Graham Greene

Lord of the Flies (b/c I am teaching it right now)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on January 19, 2009, 08:21:55 AM
Just finished..
(http://thewrittenwordreviews.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/american-psycho-cover1.jpg)
Interesting read, that's for sure!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 19, 2009, 01:41:04 PM
cool ways to turn your house/life/everyday routine ecofriendly...

if your gals dig being ecofriendly.. it's a good read.

(http://www.afterglowcosmetics.com/press/images/GorgeouslyGreenBook2008.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on January 19, 2009, 01:48:07 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on January 19, 2009, 08:21:55 AM
Just finished..
(http://thewrittenwordreviews.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/american-psycho-cover1.jpg)
Interesting read, that's for sure!

Having read it years ago, I would have to say that that is quite and understatement.   :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on January 20, 2009, 11:51:18 PM
Good travel book....well written account of the author's journey on the Orient Express.....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 02, 2009, 01:45:05 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 19, 2009, 08:19:22 AM
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy


Just finished it and I wanted to throw it across the room.  Not sure if it's from frustration or wanting to know more...

But don't let that fool you.  The writing is extraordinary.  Recommended.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on February 02, 2009, 03:23:44 PM
Just finished Vince Flynn's Extreme Measures and now starting Dean Koontz's Your heart is Mine
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on February 02, 2009, 03:43:28 PM
About to start Beloved again, with my classes. This book is a lot harder to get through now that I have a baby of my own.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 02, 2009, 04:14:27 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on February 02, 2009, 03:43:28 PM
About to start Beloved again, with my classes. This book is a lot harder to get through now that I have a baby of my own.

Man, that is a tough one. Funny how books affect you at different points in your life.

I know it's an English teacher thing to say, but that's why reading is so great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on February 08, 2009, 12:19:34 AM
"Clapton"..EC's bio
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on February 08, 2009, 02:38:28 PM
Quote from: mehead on February 08, 2009, 12:19:34 AM
"Clapton"..EC's bio

good read....man, was he ever mangled on H and drinking.....gives me hope for Trey
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on February 08, 2009, 08:45:40 PM
enjoyed the 1st half of that one  - a lot. Great stories about the 60s and 1970, Derek and the Dominoes

got tired of reading about being drunk, almost killing himself, and recovery the second half

for another view of EC, and some great insights to George and the Beatles, check out Wonderful Tonight

I just started this one

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51A0Geof6IL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Traitor to his Class - FDR.
might have some relevance now
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PhishPhan on February 08, 2009, 11:23:39 PM
First time since I was in Junior High.

(http://www.swotti.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW5KIHROZW4GDGHLCMUGD2VYZSBUB25LRW50ZXJ0YWLUBWVUDC1CB29RCW==/imgAnd%20Then%20There%20Were%20None3.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,

I think you'll get closer to that vibe from the Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 17, 2009, 08:17:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,

I think you'll get closer to that vibe from the Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"

Or even "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson.  It's about a dude who walks the Appalachian Trail.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on February 17, 2009, 08:50:27 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 17, 2009, 08:17:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,

I think you'll get closer to that vibe from the Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"

Or even "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson.  It's about a dude who walks the Appalachian Trail.
Another would be "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins.
This dude and his dog walk from upstate NY to New Orleans. Great characters and stories abound in this read. Doesn't have the climax of "Thin Air" or Into the Wild" but has plenty of that "adventure" you're looking for (living with a hermit in appalachia, rooming with a poor black family in rural Mississippi, and an amusing stay at a hippie commune in Tenn.)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 09:12:34 AM
Quote from: birdman on February 17, 2009, 08:50:27 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 17, 2009, 08:17:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,

I think you'll get closer to that vibe from the Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"

Or even "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson.  It's about a dude who walks the Appalachian Trail.
Another would be "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins.
This dude and his dog walk from upstate NY to New Orleans. Great characters and stories abound in this read. Doesn't have the climax of "Thin Air" or Into the Wild" but has plenty of that "adventure" you're looking for (living with a hermit in appalachia, rooming with a poor black family in rural Mississippi, and an amusing stay at a hippie commune in Tenn.)

Reminds me of "Travels With Charley: In Search of America" by Steinbeck.
An awesome travelogue, if you haven't read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 17, 2009, 09:48:40 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 09:12:34 AM
Quote from: birdman on February 17, 2009, 08:50:27 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 17, 2009, 08:17:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 17, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 15, 2009, 11:58:16 PM
Quote from: thechad on February 10, 2009, 01:33:15 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 09, 2009, 07:46:52 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 09, 2009, 07:39:15 AM
Quote from: A-Train on February 08, 2009, 08:57:38 PM
Just got "Into the Wild" for my B-day.Gonna start it tonight.Then watch the movie once I'm done.Already know most of the story.Hoping to get similar feeling from it as I did from "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums".

Yeah, well... It's more of a cautionary tale than the idealistic inspiration of Kerouac.

qft

If that's what you're looking for out of this book, you're going to be terrible disappointed, it's a good book, but for totally different reasons.

I guess, what I really wanted was a sense of Adventure into the unknown. Not trying to get anything deep out of it or compare the author to Kerouac, even though I guess that's how I came across,

I think you'll get closer to that vibe from the Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"

Or even "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson.  It's about a dude who walks the Appalachian Trail.
Another would be "A Walk Across America" by Peter Jenkins.
This dude and his dog walk from upstate NY to New Orleans. Great characters and stories abound in this read. Doesn't have the climax of "Thin Air" or Into the Wild" but has plenty of that "adventure" you're looking for (living with a hermit in appalachia, rooming with a poor black family in rural Mississippi, and an amusing stay at a hippie commune in Tenn.)

Reminds me of "Travels With Charley: In Search of America" by Steinbeck.
An awesome travelogue, if you haven't read it.

That is a great read.  I was going to mention that next. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 18, 2009, 07:49:36 AM
New Palahniuk book coming out in this summer!
:banana:
Pygmy

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780385526340
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 08:52:45 AM

I cannot seem to finish James Joyce's "Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man"

Good reading if you wanted about 60 pages of gorgeous prose on what Hell is like.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 18, 2009, 09:22:30 AM
Quote from: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 08:52:45 AM

I cannot seem to finish James Joyce's "Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man"

Good reading if you wanted about 60 pages of gorgeous prose on what Hell is like.

60 Pages, huh? I can accurately describe hell in three words:

Hannah Montana Marathon
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 18, 2009, 09:30:08 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 18, 2009, 09:22:30 AM
Quote from: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 08:52:45 AM

I cannot seem to finish James Joyce's "Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man"

Good reading if you wanted about 60 pages of gorgeous prose on what Hell is like.

60 Pages, huh? I can accurately describe hell in three words:

Hannah Montana Marathon
Then I spent most of sat. morning in hell, if your description of Hell is accurate.
Felt/heard like Hell to me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 09:33:08 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 18, 2009, 09:22:30 AM
Quote from: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 08:52:45 AM

I cannot seem to finish James Joyce's "Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man"

Good reading if you wanted about 60 pages of gorgeous prose on what Hell is like.

60 Pages, huh? I can accurately describe hell in three words:

Hannah Montana Marathon

You sir, are no James Joyce.   8-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 18, 2009, 09:52:36 AM
Quote from: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 09:33:08 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 18, 2009, 09:22:30 AM
Quote from: mattstick on March 18, 2009, 08:52:45 AM

I cannot seem to finish James Joyce's "Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man"

Good reading if you wanted about 60 pages of gorgeous prose on what Hell is like.

60 Pages, huh? I can accurately describe hell in three words:

Hannah Montana Marathon

You sir, are no James Joyce.   8-)

I, and my affinity for concise prose, thank you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 18, 2009, 07:46:49 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 18, 2009, 07:49:36 AM
New Palahniuk book coming out in this summer!
:banana:
Pygmy

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780385526340

I haven't liked a new Palahniuk book since Choke...

...jumped the shark.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 12:03:13 AM
Quote from: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?

I love a good 19th century science journal.   :wink:

But, seriously I do enjoy it.  With all the biology courses I'll be taking I better be able to get through this book.  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on March 19, 2009, 12:06:21 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 18, 2009, 07:46:49 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 18, 2009, 07:49:36 AM
New Palahniuk book coming out in this summer!
:banana:
Pygmy

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780385526340

I haven't liked a new Palahniuk book since Choke...

...jumped the shark.

Maybe I'm the only one....but I went through "Snuff" in about a day.
Its kind of sick, but I couldn't put it down.

I am currently reading "Survivor"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on March 19, 2009, 12:35:22 AM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 12:03:13 AM
Quote from: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?

I love a good 19th century science journal.   :wink:

But, seriously I do enjoy it.  With all the biology courses I'll be taking I better be able to get through this book.  :-D


This is true.  Darwinian method has really become another step in the scientific method.  Archeologically speaking, it is sometimes used to explain the "evolution" of artifact styles through time.  Pretty interesting stuff if you are a nerdy archeology boy like me.


FWIW, this is what I'm reading right now:

(http://www.japanfocus.org/images/UserFiles/Image/2589.dubreuil.ainu/Fig%201%20%20Ainu%20book.jpg)

http://www.amazon.com/Ainu-Northern-William-W-Fitzhugh/dp/0967342902
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 01:47:11 AM
Quote from: nab on March 19, 2009, 12:35:22 AM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 12:03:13 AM
Quote from: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?

I love a good 19th century science journal.   :wink:

But, seriously I do enjoy it.  With all the biology courses I'll be taking I better be able to get through this book.  :-D


This is true.  Darwinian method has really become another step in the scientific method.  Archeologically speaking, it is sometimes used to explain the "evolution" of artifact styles through time.  Pretty interesting stuff if you are a nerdy archeology boy like me.

I bet.  Definitely the greatest man in science. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 07:32:05 PM
Quote from: hoodie22 on March 19, 2009, 12:06:21 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 18, 2009, 07:46:49 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 18, 2009, 07:49:36 AM
New Palahniuk book coming out in this summer!
:banana:
Pygmy

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780385526340

I haven't liked a new Palahniuk book since Choke...

...jumped the shark.

Maybe I'm the only one....but I went through "Snuff" in about a day.
Its kind of sick, but I couldn't put it down.

I am currently reading "Survivor"

"Survivor" is by far my favorite of his books.  I knew it was going to be good right around the part in the first few chapters where the protagonist receives a phone call via his "suicide prevention hotline".

His new books to me are just I think not as shocking to me as his first few books were/are...

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 07:33:56 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 01:47:11 AM
Quote from: nab on March 19, 2009, 12:35:22 AM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 12:03:13 AM
Quote from: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?

I love a good 19th century science journal.   :wink:

But, seriously I do enjoy it.  With all the biology courses I'll be taking I better be able to get through this book.  :-D


This is true.  Darwinian method has really become another step in the scientific method.  Archeologically speaking, it is sometimes used to explain the "evolution" of artifact styles through time.  Pretty interesting stuff if you are a nerdy archeology boy like me.

I bet.  Definitely the greatest man in science. 

I disagree.  I think there are far better minds... Gregor Mendel... Marie and Pierre... Schrodinger... Bohr... all spring IMMEDIATELY to me.

Darwin was a great scientist, but "greatest"... not by a long shot.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:24:01 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 07:33:56 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 01:47:11 AM
Quote from: nab on March 19, 2009, 12:35:22 AM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 19, 2009, 12:03:13 AM
Quote from: nab on March 18, 2009, 11:51:28 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 18, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
The Origin Of Species.
Charles Darwin.


Little light reading?

I love a good 19th century science journal.   :wink:

But, seriously I do enjoy it.  With all the biology courses I'll be taking I better be able to get through this book.  :-D


This is true.  Darwinian method has really become another step in the scientific method.  Archeologically speaking, it is sometimes used to explain the "evolution" of artifact styles through time.  Pretty interesting stuff if you are a nerdy archeology boy like me.

I bet.  Definitely the greatest man in science. 

I disagree.  I think there are far better minds... Gregor Mendel... Marie and Pierre... Schrodinger... Bohr... all spring IMMEDIATELY to me.

Darwin was a great scientist, but "greatest"... not by a long shot.

True.  Labeling someone as the greatest in a field that's so broad is kinda silly to begin with.  Also, I should have made it more clear that I was referring specifically to biology (in which Mendel, who you mentioned, also had such a pivotal role in).  Greatest?  No, I agree with you there.  One of the greatest?  Absolutely, IMO. 

And, that was definitely a PWI.  I posted that after about 5 glasses of Woodford Reserve, and the book was obviously still dominating my thoughts.   :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:27:23 PM
It was interesting to listen to them talk of him on npr's Talk of the Nation... apparantly... Darwin did not publish his work until 20 years after he originally wrote it...and only because a buddy of his came up with almost exactly the same theory independently...

Since Darwin was an Oxford grad, he was technically a C of E Cleric...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:34:12 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:27:23 PM
It was interesting to listen to them talk of him on npr's Talk of the Nation... apparantly... Darwin did not publish his work until 20 years after he originally wrote it...and only because a buddy of his came up with almost exactly the same theory independently...

Since Darwin was an Oxford grad, he was technically a C of E Cleric...

I'll have to search npr's online archive for that.  I assume it was recent, given that the 200th anniversary of his birthday was a couple weeks ago. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:35:45 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:34:12 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:27:23 PM
It was interesting to listen to them talk of him on npr's Talk of the Nation... apparantly... Darwin did not publish his work until 20 years after he originally wrote it...and only because a buddy of his came up with almost exactly the same theory independently...

Since Darwin was an Oxford grad, he was technically a C of E Cleric...

I'll have to search npr's online archive for that.  I assume it was recent, given that the 200th anniversary of his birthday was a couple weeks ago. 

It was today's show.  It might be called "Science Friday".  I think WBUR in Boston produces it.

I don't know if it was the first or second hour.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:41:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:35:45 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:34:12 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:27:23 PM
It was interesting to listen to them talk of him on npr's Talk of the Nation... apparantly... Darwin did not publish his work until 20 years after he originally wrote it...and only because a buddy of his came up with almost exactly the same theory independently...

Since Darwin was an Oxford grad, he was technically a C of E Cleric...

I'll have to search npr's online archive for that.  I assume it was recent, given that the 200th anniversary of his birthday was a couple weeks ago. 

It was today's show.  It might be called "Science Friday".  I think WBUR in Boston produces it.

I don't know if it was the first or second hour.

That made it much easier to find.  Thanks!  +K
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:45:19 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:41:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:35:45 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on March 20, 2009, 09:34:12 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:27:23 PM
It was interesting to listen to them talk of him on npr's Talk of the Nation... apparantly... Darwin did not publish his work until 20 years after he originally wrote it...and only because a buddy of his came up with almost exactly the same theory independently...

Since Darwin was an Oxford grad, he was technically a C of E Cleric...

I'll have to search npr's online archive for that.  I assume it was recent, given that the 200th anniversary of his birthday was a couple weeks ago. 

It was today's show.  It might be called "Science Friday".  I think WBUR in Boston produces it.

I don't know if it was the first or second hour.

That made it much easier to find.  Thanks!  +K

Yeah, no problem.  It's a pretty decent show and makes Friday's fly by!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on March 20, 2009, 09:51:48 PM
USA Today...b4 it becomes extinct
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 20, 2009, 09:52:50 PM
Quote from: mehead on March 20, 2009, 09:51:48 PM
USA Today...b4 it becomes extinct

USA Today will most likely survive.  They actually have a great business model, and they have huge support in the corporate community.

There is a reason they are the Paper you get at most decent hotels in the U.S.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on March 20, 2009, 09:58:18 PM
I hope you're right...about a year ago it cost 50 cents..now it's a buck...I hate watching the fuckin' news on tv
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 21, 2009, 12:25:52 PM
When I stay at a decent hotel, I get a one or a choice of the NYTimes, Washington Post, LATimes, Wall Street Journal & whatever local fishwrap may be worthwhile. USA Today may be an option but I'd never pick it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 30, 2009, 02:22:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Just had this sent to me from an old friend. Seems pretty good so far...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 30, 2009, 02:27:23 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 30, 2009, 02:22:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Just had this sent to me from an old friend. Seems pretty good so far...

it's so good!!!!!

especially if you love a good mix tape :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 30, 2009, 02:32:48 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 30, 2009, 02:27:23 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 30, 2009, 02:22:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Just had this sent to me from an old friend. Seems pretty good so far...

it's so good!!!!!

especially if you love a good mix tape :)

Yeah, an old girlfriend of mine and I have been sending each other mix tapes (way back when) and now cd's every year on our birthdays for like 10 years now, and accompanying my cd this year was this book. It fits perfect.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on March 30, 2009, 02:44:32 PM
The First Man In Rome by Colleen McCullough. It's great--I couldn't have gotten through the last 5 days with no T.V. without it! 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on March 31, 2009, 03:39:40 AM
Just started, and now almost finished Russell Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter."  Had to read it for a class, pretty depressing but a pretty decent book, and it takes place it a Keene, NY.  He calls it by a made up name, but he lives there and the fact that I also have been there many times, it's only 30 min. from my house and he uses local business' in the book it was fairly obvious where it was.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on March 31, 2009, 12:02:37 PM
Quote from: thechad on March 31, 2009, 03:39:40 AM
Just started, and now almost finished Russell Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter."  Had to read it for a class, pretty depressing but a pretty decent book, and it takes place it a Keene, NY.  He calls it by a made up name, but he lives there and the fact that I also have been there many times, it's only 30 min. from my house and he uses local business' in the book it was fairly obvious where it was.   

Never read it, but the movie is good, in a soul crushing kinda way.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: willsteele on March 31, 2009, 10:32:37 PM
The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin in preparation for my boy in a couple months.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on April 01, 2009, 12:14:53 AM
Quote from: Hicks on March 31, 2009, 12:02:37 PM
Quote from: thechad on March 31, 2009, 03:39:40 AM
Just started, and now almost finished Russell Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter."  Had to read it for a class, pretty depressing but a pretty decent book, and it takes place it a Keene, NY.  He calls it by a made up name, but he lives there and the fact that I also have been there many times, it's only 30 min. from my house and he uses local business' in the book it was fairly obvious where it was.  

Never read it, but the movie is good, in a soul crushing kinda way.

I've got to watch it this weekend, the book is pretty soul crushing on it's own, hopefully the fact that the Mitch the lawyer is played by Bilbo Baggins with make it easier. :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: G. Augusto on April 01, 2009, 05:35:32 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZtWPmt8yL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on April 01, 2009, 05:40:26 PM
thought for sure this was going to be a certain mustacioed-author's tome.  8-)  :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: G. Augusto on April 01, 2009, 05:42:40 PM
Quote from: blatboom on April 01, 2009, 05:40:26 PM
thought for sure this was going to be a certain mustacioed-author's tome.  8-)  :wink:

I'm waiting for the official season to start to crack that one!
After Keith's, Darryl's new book should be out.
That shit's gonna be SCANDALOUS!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 30, 2009, 02:22:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Just had this sent to me from an old friend. Seems pretty good so far...

sorta have to agree with the title with no knowledge of what the book is about. Sorta sums up my meager existence.

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on April 01, 2009, 07:41:02 PM
Quote from: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 30, 2009, 02:22:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oruag4N3L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

Just had this sent to me from an old friend. Seems pretty good so far...

sorta have to agree with the title with no knowledge of what the book is about. Sorta sums up my meager existence.

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.

I read Mix Tape. It was good. Nothing meager about it!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 02, 2009, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.

I just read Slaughterhouse 5.
Good stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 02, 2009, 10:58:38 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 02, 2009, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.

I just read Slaughterhouse 5.
Good stuff.

Vonnegut is one of the best.  Great story, although sad with the post-war trauma issue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 02, 2009, 01:00:49 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 02, 2009, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.

I just read Slaughterhouse 5.
Good stuff.

a great one. have you read The Sirens of Titan? might be my favorite of his.

i just finished The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (i.e. Lawrence of Arabia). one hell of a book. very long and dense. took awhile to get through, but worth it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on April 02, 2009, 04:17:57 PM
over vacation i read "Portnoy's Complaint", by Philip Roth. 

brilliant and hilarious - and a must-read for any tribemember especially...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Blaise on April 03, 2009, 02:53:25 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 02, 2009, 01:00:49 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 02, 2009, 09:22:31 AM
Quote from: Blaise on April 01, 2009, 07:29:52 PM

I'm reading Jailbird by Vonnegut right now.

I just read Slaughterhouse 5.
Good stuff.

a great one. have you read The Sirens of Titan? might be my favorite of his.

i just finished The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (i.e. Lawrence of Arabia). one hell of a book. very long and dense. took awhile to get through, but worth it.

ya, I have read sirens, although quite a while ago. I think breakfast of champions is my favorite and kilgore trout is a minor character in jailbird so thats why I decided to read it but I admittedly haven't gotten past the preface yet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 06, 2009, 10:46:15 AM
here's an update on that phish book that was supposed to be coming out, from jambands.com:

QuotePhish: The (Delayed) Biography

As we previously reported, Da Capo Press will publish Parke Puterbaugh's official biography of Phish. Originally set for a May 25 release, the book has now been pushed to November 23 (presumably to incorporate details of the band's reunion). Phish: The Biography, which evolved out of the author's 1995 interview with the group for Rolling Stone, is "the product of a decade of interviews with all band members, tracing their evolution from prep school to enormous success in the mid-'90s and beyond. Puterbaugh provides unique insight into their music and complicated interpersonal dynamics; examines their controversial later years; and reveals the real role drugs played in their breakup."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on April 06, 2009, 11:00:41 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on April 06, 2009, 10:46:15 AM
here's an update on that phish book that was supposed to be coming out, from jambands.com:

QuotePhish: The (Delayed) Biography

As we previously reported, Da Capo Press will publish Parke Puterbaugh's official biography of Phish. Originally set for a May 25 release, the book has now been pushed to November 23 (presumably to incorporate details of the band's reunion). Phish: The Biography, which evolved out of the author's 1995 interview with the group for Rolling Stone, is "the product of a decade of interviews with all band members, tracing their evolution from prep school to enormous success in the mid-'90s and beyond. Puterbaugh provides unique insight into their music and complicated interpersonal dynamics; examines their controversial later years; and reveals the real role drugs played in their breakup."

that's cool.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on April 06, 2009, 11:05:39 AM
Yeah, I just love reading about "people breaking up over drugs." Sounds like a barrel of laughs!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on April 06, 2009, 11:13:19 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on April 06, 2009, 11:05:39 AM
Yeah, I just love reading about "people breaking up over drugs." Sounds like a barrel of laughs!!

Trey doesn't do drugs.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: redrum on April 06, 2009, 11:16:18 AM
Quote from: blatboom on April 06, 2009, 11:13:19 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on April 06, 2009, 11:05:39 AM
Yeah, I just love reading about "people breaking up over drugs." Sounds like a barrel of laughs!!

Trey doesn't do drugs.

and if he did, he'd think being a junkie was stupid.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 06, 2009, 11:19:48 AM
Quote from: redrum on April 06, 2009, 11:16:18 AM
Quote from: blatboom on April 06, 2009, 11:13:19 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on April 06, 2009, 11:05:39 AM
Yeah, I just love reading about "people breaking up over drugs." Sounds like a barrel of laughs!!

Trey doesn't do drugs.

and if he did, he'd think being a junkie was stupid.

He's too smart to be a junkie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 06, 2009, 11:27:43 AM
Quote from: redrum on April 06, 2009, 11:16:18 AM
Quote from: blatboom on April 06, 2009, 11:13:19 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on April 06, 2009, 11:05:39 AM
Yeah, I just love reading about "people breaking up over drugs." Sounds like a barrel of laughs!!

Trey doesn't do drugs.

and if he did, he'd think being a junkie was stupid.

Wait a minute, I thought it was supposed to be cool.   :?  Are you sure?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JimmyWilson on April 06, 2009, 11:53:34 AM
(http://images.salon.com/sneaks/bass961118.gif)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 06, 2009, 12:49:35 PM
(http://www.scburns.com/images/Books/Until%20I%20Find%20You.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 06, 2009, 01:42:09 PM
^^ It's on my shelf.  It's the last book of his I have yet to read.  I feel like holding off because I don't know when the next one will be.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 06, 2009, 01:51:48 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on April 06, 2009, 01:42:09 PM
^^ It's on my shelf.  It's the last book of his I have yet to read.  I feel like holding off because I don't know when the next one will be.
October 2009 - Last Night in Twisted River

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-Twisted-River-Novel/dp/1400063841
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 06, 2009, 01:53:22 PM
Sweet!  I guess I can get reading Until I Find You.

Thanks for the heads-up! +k
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 06, 2009, 02:00:07 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on April 06, 2009, 01:53:22 PM
Sweet!  I guess I can get reading Until I Find You.

Thanks for the heads-up! +k
And a +K back at ya!  :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 06, 2009, 10:55:50 PM
Quote from: khalpin on April 06, 2009, 12:49:35 PM
(http://www.scburns.com/images/Books/Until%20I%20Find%20You.jpg)

curious what you make of this.
gotta say, i loathed it.
far and away the worst book of his i've read.
my favorite is owen meany.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 06, 2009, 11:07:02 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6197W6FSFRL.jpg)

So I'm completely sold on the idea that Neal Stephenson kicks absolute ass all day.  I have read straight through the Baroque Cycle and am very saddened to be drawing to a close with it.  Short of nabbing Anathem and diving straight in, if anyone can recommend anything remotely like Stephenson's stuff (witty, charming, well written, and a fun plot, but incredibly dense with philosophy and the arts and sciences of all kinds) please do let me know.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 07, 2009, 12:57:04 AM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Infinite Jest is similar to this Stephenson dude?  Seriously?  Or just kind of.  If so, I need to check it out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 07, 2009, 04:12:08 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 07, 2009, 12:57:04 AM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Infinite Jest is similar to this Stephenson dude?  Seriously?  Or just kind of.  If so, I need to check it out.

no.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 07, 2009, 12:57:04 AM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Infinite Jest is similar to this Stephenson dude?  Seriously?  Or just kind of.  If so, I need to check it out.

When postjack asked for something that was:

Quoteincredibly dense with philosophy and the arts and sciences of all kinds

Infinite Jest sprang immediately to mind. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 07, 2009, 01:20:34 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 07, 2009, 12:57:04 AM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Infinite Jest is similar to this Stephenson dude?  Seriously?  Or just kind of.  If so, I need to check it out.

When postjack asked for something that was:

Quoteincredibly dense with philosophy and the arts and sciences of all kinds

Infinite Jest sprang immediately to mind. 

makes sense.

yet to answer fauxpax, the two authors are a million miles apart.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 08, 2009, 02:10:24 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 07, 2009, 01:20:34 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 11:14:32 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 07, 2009, 12:57:04 AM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Infinite Jest is similar to this Stephenson dude?  Seriously?  Or just kind of.  If so, I need to check it out.

When postjack asked for something that was:

Quoteincredibly dense with philosophy and the arts and sciences of all kinds

Infinite Jest sprang immediately to mind. 

makes sense.

yet to answer fauxpax, the two authors are a million miles apart.

Alright...sorry for my confusion.  A cursory glance at amazon told me that they were nothing alike...but I was hopeful for a second.

And yes, that does make sense.

Infinite Jest is the obvious choice when you are looking for something that is incredibly dense focusing on arts, science and philosophy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:07:00 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Right on, I've read a collection of DFW short stories, but Infinite Jest always intimidated me.  I'm wondering if it would be more artsy and less fun then Stephenson.  The thing I love about Stephenson is that he is such an incredible storyteller.  He keeps the plot moving along, and manages to make the book a page-turner without sacrificing any of the arts & sciences density. 

Yup, read Cryptonomicon, great book.  Diamond Age is great as well.  I'm thinking of picking up Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton) next.  Looks fat and dense and I could use a straight sci-fi space opera.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 08, 2009, 10:09:53 PM
Quote from: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:07:00 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Right on, I've read a collection of DFW short stories, but Infinite Jest always intimidated me.  I'm wondering if it would be more artsy and less fun then Stephenson.  The thing I love about Stephenson is that he is such an incredible storyteller.  He keeps the plot moving along, and manages to make the book a page-turner without sacrificing any of the arts & sciences density. 

Yup, read Cryptonomicon, great book.  Diamond Age is great as well.  I'm thinking of picking up Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton) next.  Looks fat and dense and I could use a straight sci-fi space opera.

Wallace's short stories are way more artsy fartsy and a lot less fun than Infinite Jest is.  Infinite Jest is great.  You should really not be intimidated by it.  Once you are about 50 pages in, you'll forget the fact that you were ever scared to read it.  It is insanely entertaining and hilarious.  It's truly a work of genius and you will constantly attracted and reppelled by it (simultaneously).  Have fun!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:28:51 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 08, 2009, 10:09:53 PM
Quote from: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:07:00 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Right on, I've read a collection of DFW short stories, but Infinite Jest always intimidated me.  I'm wondering if it would be more artsy and less fun then Stephenson.  The thing I love about Stephenson is that he is such an incredible storyteller.  He keeps the plot moving along, and manages to make the book a page-turner without sacrificing any of the arts & sciences density. 

Yup, read Cryptonomicon, great book.  Diamond Age is great as well.  I'm thinking of picking up Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton) next.  Looks fat and dense and I could use a straight sci-fi space opera.

Wallace's short stories are way more artsy fartsy and a lot less fun than Infinite Jest is.  Infinite Jest is great.  You should really not be intimidated by it.  Once you are about 50 pages in, you'll forget the fact that you were ever scared to read it.  It is insanely entertaining and hilarious.  It's truly a work of genius and you will constantly attracted and reppelled by it (simultaneously).  Have fun!

Right on, sounds fun!  it's definitely back on the to read list, thanks for the recommendation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

Picked up "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 09, 2009, 09:37:25 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

Picked up "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius".

Excellent book. It was a little slow getting into it, but once I did, finished it pretty quick. Might want to consider skipping the intro part (you'll see what I mean) and read the story then go back and read all that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 09, 2009, 09:46:00 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

I think he mostly bums cigarettes and drops out of college.  Argues about random stuff with people a bit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 09:59:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on April 09, 2009, 09:37:25 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

Picked up "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius".

Excellent book. It was a little slow getting into it, but once I did, finished it pretty quick. Might want to consider skipping the intro part (you'll see what I mean) and read the story then go back and read all that.

That book makes me want to punch dave eggers in the mouth.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 09, 2009, 10:13:26 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 09:59:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on April 09, 2009, 09:37:25 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

Picked up "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius".

Excellent book. It was a little slow getting into it, but once I did, finished it pretty quick. Might want to consider skipping the intro part (you'll see what I mean) and read the story then go back and read all that.

That book makes me want to punch dave eggers in the mouth.

Really? I don't know anything else by Eggers, but why the strong hostility towards him? I thought the way the characters sometimes broke out of the story was a pretty neat concept that I hadn't seen done elsewhere.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 10:18:39 AM
It struck me as well written, self aggrandizing, bullshit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 09, 2009, 10:22:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 10:18:39 AM
It struck me as well written, self aggrandizing, bullshit.
Had to look that word up.  My vocabumalary sukz.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 09, 2009, 10:36:55 AM
Quote from: khalpin on April 09, 2009, 10:22:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 10:18:39 AM
It struck me as well written, self aggrandizing, bullshit.
Had to look that word up.  My vocabumalary sukz.

Ha ha, yeah I was just going to say, I have to admit, I had to look up self aggrandizing. Well, its been a couple years since I read it, but I think that might have been part of what he was trying to get across, just how ridiculous and self centered people of a certain time and age group could have been (for example, the whole thing with him trying out for mtv's real world, or some such show just for exposure, just to be famous for nothing at all). But, I agree there was a lot of bs in there too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 10:39:03 AM
Quote from: kellerb on April 09, 2009, 09:46:00 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

I think he mostly bums cigarettes and drops out of college.  Argues about random stuff with people a bit.

Wow, I missed that part about dropping out of college.  At one point he was thinking about being a priest?

I guess I should try and read Ulysses but I'm not too stoked about reading more James Joyce at this point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 09, 2009, 10:40:20 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 10:18:39 AM
It struck me as well written, self aggrandizing, bullshit.

when I read it several years ago I thought it was the best thing ever, but I was also way into chicken finger sandwiches and amphetamine.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 09, 2009, 11:13:22 AM
Quote from: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:07:00 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Right on, I've read a collection of DFW short stories, but Infinite Jest always intimidated me.  I'm wondering if it would be more artsy and less fun then Stephenson.  The thing I love about Stephenson is that he is such an incredible storyteller.  He keeps the plot moving along, and manages to make the book a page-turner without sacrificing any of the arts & sciences density. 

Yup, read Cryptonomicon, great book.  Diamond Age is great as well.  I'm thinking of picking up Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton) next.  Looks fat and dense and I could use a straight sci-fi space opera.

Stephenson is definitely a little more entertaining, but I didn't find the Baroque Cycle necessarily "fun".  I actually bailed on it half way through the first book, but I still plan on trying it again one of these days.

If you give Infinite Jest a shot, I'd suggest skipping the footnotes as they can really bog you down since some of them are actually 10 page short stories and they aren't completely integral to the plot.  Either way it's definitely a staggering work of genius that I would recommend to anyone who has the patience to read "serious" literature.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 09, 2009, 12:46:24 PM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 10:39:03 AM
Quote from: kellerb on April 09, 2009, 09:46:00 AM
Quote from: mattstick on April 09, 2009, 08:49:10 AM

Finally finished James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man".
Took about 2 months and it's only 350 pages... slow reading - and frankly, I didn't follow most of the 2nd half of the book.

I think he mostly bums cigarettes and drops out of college.  Argues about random stuff with people a bit.

Wow, I missed that part about dropping out of college.  At one point he was thinking about being a priest?

I guess I should try and read Ulysses but I'm not too stoked about reading more James Joyce at this point.

Okay, maybe it was seminary, not college.  Been a while since I read it.  I have the same problem with Ulysses--it sits there on my shelf and taunts me.  I got about 30-40 pages into it once and abandoned it.  I read other books to procrastinate about Ulysses.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 09, 2009, 01:35:34 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 08, 2009, 10:09:53 PM
Quote from: postjack on April 08, 2009, 10:07:00 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 07, 2009, 12:05:08 AM
Infinite Jest would be the obvious choice. 

Have you read Cryptonomicon yet?  That's a corker too. 

Right on, I've read a collection of DFW short stories, but Infinite Jest always intimidated me.  I'm wondering if it would be more artsy and less fun then Stephenson.  The thing I love about Stephenson is that he is such an incredible storyteller.  He keeps the plot moving along, and manages to make the book a page-turner without sacrificing any of the arts & sciences density. 

Yup, read Cryptonomicon, great book.  Diamond Age is great as well.  I'm thinking of picking up Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton) next.  Looks fat and dense and I could use a straight sci-fi space opera.

Wallace's short stories are way more artsy fartsy and a lot less fun than Infinite Jest is.  Infinite Jest is great.  You should really not be intimidated by it.  Once you are about 50 pages in, you'll forget the fact that you were ever scared to read it.  It is insanely entertaining and hilarious.  It's truly a work of genius and you will constantly attracted and reppelled by it (simultaneously).  Have fun!

one page back on this thread you were asking what DFW was like and had to read up about him on amazon to find out. you must read fast.

for those interested in DFW, there was a really good and long article about him in the New Yorker in march, which you can dig up on their site. he was working for years on a new novel he never finished, but some chunk of it is going to be published next year.


Quote from: rowjimmy on April 09, 2009, 10:18:39 AM
It struck me as well written, self aggrandizing, bullshit.

i remember being into it for the first half, then the book really fell off a cliff.
i haven't read any other books by eggers.
but for quite awhile i was enjoying McSweeney's, which he edited. collections of short stories published every few months. but even that got to be a little too full of itself.
he also started a foundation called 826 Valencia that's all about teaching kids to write, which is really great. so at least he's put his money to good use.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 09, 2009, 01:53:04 PM
I'm not ashamed to say that the RS article on DFW that came out shortly after he died made me cry a bit. 

So sad, such a loss.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 09, 2009, 06:30:55 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 09, 2009, 01:35:34 PM



one page back on this thread you were asking what DFW was like and had to read up about him on amazon to find out. you must read fast.

for those interested in DFW, there was a really good and long article about him in the New Yorker in march, which you can dig up on their site. he was working for years on a new novel he never finished, but some chunk of it is going to be published next year.




Huh?

No, I was asking about Stephenson, because of the comparison to David Foster Wallace.  Stephenson was who I looked up on amazon, not DFW.

I read Infinite Jest in the summer of 1996 for the first time, because of an article in Time magazine.  I was getting started on that when the rest of my senior high english class was reading _Rebecca_.

I've read Infinite Jest at least twice more times completely through since then.  I've read his other novel, Broom of the System as well (I thought it was tedious and not very well scripted) and I'd say probably 70 percent of his short stories, essays and articles.

While I'm sure I'm not the most versed "scholar" of his work, when it comes to David Foster Wallace, more often than not I know what I'm talking about.

I have been known to use Ms. Incandenza's phrase "the howling fantods" in casual conversation to the befuddled amusement of my peers.

...

Hicks do you really think that you should be suggesting to try and read the book without reading the footnotes?

I think that would seriously diminish anyones reading of the material. 

The footnotes are (in my opinion) integral to the plotline and fundemental to you knowing what in the hell is going on.

...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 09, 2009, 06:33:32 PM
Quote from: Hicks on April 09, 2009, 01:53:04 PM
I'm not ashamed to say that the RS article on DFW that came out shortly after he died made me cry a bit. 

So sad, such a loss.

Double post for me!

I agree 110 percent.  He's actually the first celebrity who's death saddened me.  What's crazy is that he committed suicide on my birthday. 

There was an awesome article in the New York Times Book Review the sunday after his death if you missed it...and also McSweeney's did an issue of tributes from other authors who counted themselves among his peers.

Both of which were really cool to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on April 09, 2009, 06:34:48 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 09, 2009, 06:30:55 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 09, 2009, 01:35:34 PM



one page back on this thread you were asking what DFW was like and had to read up about him on amazon to find out. you must read fast.

for those interested in DFW, there was a really good and long article about him in the New Yorker in march, which you can dig up on their site. he was working for years on a new novel he never finished, but some chunk of it is going to be published next year.




Huh?

No, I was asking about Stephenson, because of the comparison to David Foster Wallace.  Stephenson was who I looked up on amazon, not DFW.

I read Infinite Jest in the summer of 1996 for the first time, because of an article in Time magazine.  I was getting started on that when the rest of my senior high english class was reading _Rebecca_.

I've read Infinite Jest at least twice more times completely through since then.  I've read his other novel, Broom of the System as well (I thought it was tedious and not very well scripted) and I'd say probably 70 percent of his short stories, essays and articles.

While I'm sure I'm not the most versed "scholar" of his work, when it comes to David Foster Wallace, more often than not I know what I'm talking about.

I have been known to use Ms. Incandenza's phrase "the howling fantods" in casual conversation to the befuddled amusement of my peers.

...

Hicks do you really think that you should be suggesting to try and read the book without reading the footnotes?

I think that would seriously diminish anyones reading of the material. 

The footnotes are (in my opinion) integral to the plotline and fundemental to you knowing what in the hell is going on.

...


They were interesting and all, but some of them are so long you forget what was going on in the main narrative once you are done with the footnote. 

I felt like there wasn't any real crucial info back there, but I've only read the book once.

I really like Broom of the System myself, especially the "waste product" brother character.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 09, 2009, 06:38:17 PM
I thought that some of the background info on the characters was very helpful and insightful.

Especially when it came to characters such as Pemulis, Les Assasins de les fautils roulents, Orin Incandenza and Helen Steeply.

I can see how you might get bogged down in a 30 page footnote and forget where you were in the story, but I saw that challenge as part of the fun of reading it. 

My favorite footnote, btw, is the one concerning the game of Eschaton.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 09, 2009, 06:43:23 PM
I just finished up these three Neil Gaiman graphic novels

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HJMWW5C0L.jpg)

(http://prettythings.pullbot.com/artworks/58794/Sandman4_medium.jpg)

(http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/Miss%20Finch%20FC.jpg)

The sandman's are a repeat (probably my sixth or seventh time for each of them), Miss Finch is a new one for me, and I thought it was pretty awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 17, 2009, 01:48:05 PM
Just starting Rant by Palahniuk.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on April 17, 2009, 02:18:24 PM
I'm on Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill.  It's great so far!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Ri©h on April 28, 2009, 12:44:21 AM
(http://991.com/newGallery/Phil-Lesh-Searching-For-The-465005.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on April 28, 2009, 01:38:14 AM
The World in Six Songs by Daniel J. Levitin.  He writes too much about Evolution, which I find boring, but other than that it's pretty good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 28, 2009, 10:47:40 AM
"The Stress of Her Regard" by Tim Powers

Only a short ways in but already it's fantastic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 05, 2009, 12:08:56 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on April 17, 2009, 01:48:05 PM
Just starting Rant by Palahniuk.

Finished this, moving on to Fight Club.

On a Palahniuk kick apparently.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on May 05, 2009, 12:47:07 PM
queer by William S. Burroughs. I love it so far. Burroughs is great. He's like an older, homosexual, Hunter S. Thompson! I just had to start reading him after I watched the Naked Lunch Movie. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on May 05, 2009, 12:52:20 PM
"An Underground Education" by Richard Zacks
Bits and pieces of history that were/are too lewd, gross, or shameful to make it into the history books.

http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Education-Unauthorized-Outrageous-Supplement/dp/0385483767

Astonishing facts!

Bizarre photographs!

Fascinating & sometimes deeply weird true stories!

Just a small taste of the intellectual smorgasbord contained in this volume.

Did you know:

that in the original story of Goldilocks the bears torture and kill their impolite visitor?
that Pope Leo XIII appeared in an advertisement for cocaine-laced wine in the 1880s?
that people didn't eat with forks until the 1700s?
that Sir Isaac Newton's famous humble-pie quote "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" was actually written to a dwarf scientist named Robert Hooke and clearly meant as an insult?
that Thomas Edison secretly helped develop the electric chair in a scheme to have the lethal machine named after his arch-rival, George Westinghouse?
that the first pediatric guide written in the United States recommended that expectant mothers breastfeed puppies?
that for two centuries French scientists obsessively experimented on freshly decapitated heads in an effort to discover whether the bodiless brain still functioned?
that Cleopatra was ugly as sin?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on May 05, 2009, 04:30:59 PM
HST- Hells Angels
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 05, 2009, 08:24:05 PM
Quote from: tipetoo on May 05, 2009, 04:30:59 PM
HST- Hells Angels

Sp many crazy things in this book.  Good read about the Hells Angels culture.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on May 05, 2009, 10:13:21 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on May 05, 2009, 08:24:05 PM
Quote from: tipetoo on May 05, 2009, 04:30:59 PM
HST- Hells Angels

Sp many crazy things in this book.  Good read about the Hells Angels culture.

That's one of his I haven't read. I'll have to give it a shot someday. Thanks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 06, 2009, 12:48:41 PM
prolly gonna finish this up tonight or tomorrow.
haven't been able to put it down....

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Scartissuebook.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 06, 2009, 12:52:34 PM
^^ I have heard that is fantastic.  A friend of mine in VA was raving about it a while back as he was reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 06, 2009, 01:09:24 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on May 06, 2009, 12:52:34 PM
^^ I have heard that is fantastic.  A friend of mine in VA was raving about it a while back as he was reading it.

i'll hand it over at alpine.

it looks like a big book, but it's one you can't put down so 465 pages is cake :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 06, 2009, 01:22:41 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 06, 2009, 01:09:24 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on May 06, 2009, 12:52:34 PM
^^ I have heard that is fantastic.  A friend of mine in VA was raving about it a while back as he was reading it.

i'll hand it over at alpine.

it looks like a big book, but it's one you can't put down so 465 pages is cake :)

:beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: bluecaravan521 on May 06, 2009, 08:47:14 PM
Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 06, 2009, 11:24:10 PM
(http://www.cardscomicscoins.com/usrimage/cat30.jpg)

The Sandman-World's End.  Hands down my favorite graphic novel ever, of all times, written in any language, created with ink on paper by any author that was ever born to a mother and a father on the planet we call earth.  Fucking phenomenal story arch and really brings the entire series together, much more than any other graphic novel that I've ever read that is a part of a greater linear story arch.

God.  I cannot say enough fucking good things about this comic.

It's kind of like a condensed version of "The Canterbary Tales" mixed with better storys, better storytale and comic book mystique.

You know when you get Stephen King to write an introduction to your comic book, it better be good, and this set totally lives up to the expectation created.

If you like other novels such as The Watchmen, and Arkham Asylum (especially the latter) I would highly suggest picking this one up even if you haven't read any others in the Sandman or Death: The High Cost of Living series'.

It's that fucking good, and even if you don't thank me personally, you most likely will have enjoyed it!


(http://www.comicoo.com/sandman/Sandman67/s/Sandman%20%2367%20pg00s_400x400.jpg)

The Kindly Ones-Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)

Satisfying End to an epic series of comics.

Everything I love about the entire series summed up in the biggest story arch stretching out over a year and a half in creation, tying up almost all loose ends and forming the cohesive bind to a story created years earlier.

Great terminus.

(http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/4/36860-4207-41225-1-sandman-the_super.jpg)

The Wake-Neil Gaiman (Sandman)

Almost like a comic epilogue to the epic tale that is the sandman, The Wake serves as a way to foresseee what happens to characters created during the course of the series after the series has already run its course.

Man.  These three graphic novels pretty much sum up everything that I love inherent to the literacy and artistry involved in comics pretty well.

Neil Gaiman really did outdo himself, and every time I go through the series, I re-remember why I love the series so much.

To me, Gaiman is as awesome as a modern day Shakespeare or Milton, creating and re-creating mythologies that serve to captivate, illustrate and energize the senses.

Good fucking stuff, and I'm sad to put these characters back on the motherfuckin' shelf.





Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on May 06, 2009, 11:24:27 PM
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles.  Very interesting so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on June 28, 2009, 09:53:21 AM
for obvious reasons I busted out The Phish Book the other day..can't wait til the new book comes out later this year - now November I think
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on June 28, 2009, 10:03:49 AM
The Night of the Gun, David Carr

Not your typical junkie memoir. Carr uses his skills as an investigative reporter to accurately retrace his life as he struggled with drug addiction. He wrote the entire book based on videotaped interviews with people he hung out with at the time.



(http://www.bookcoverarchive.com/images/books/the_night_of_the_gun.large.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on June 28, 2009, 10:29:43 AM
Just finished re-re-re-re-re-reading The Hobbit.
Now doing the same with Lord Of The Rings
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on June 28, 2009, 10:37:51 AM
Quote from: mehead on June 28, 2009, 09:53:21 AM
for obvious reasons I busted out The Phish Book the other day..can't wait til the new book comes out later this year - now November I think

me too! one of my favorite quotes:

QuoteHow did the Dude become the Dude? "That goes back to when Trey and I were going to the Taft School," he says, "It was late one night when everyone had taken mushrooms. I walked into the room clad in tapestry, goggles and a hat, and started uttering certain wisdoms." Such as? "I haven't the slightest idea. But the next thing I knew, I was knighted the Dude of Life, and I've been the Dude of Life ever since.

:wtu:

Quote from: rowjimmy on June 28, 2009, 10:29:43 AM
Just finished re-re-re-re-re-reading The Hobbit.
Now doing the same with Lord Of The Rings

Classic! Been thinking I need to revisit these soon as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: metalzone58 on June 28, 2009, 10:42:21 AM
GONZO very interesting, but not any easy read due to being written as an oral biography
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on June 28, 2009, 10:57:08 AM
Gaiman is a favorite, but I've never read any of his graphic novels.  In fact I've never read a graphic novel, though if I start, I know where it will be.

Just finished Tim Power's "The Anubis Gates", currently reading "A Canticle for Leibowitz", after it was recommended to me by everyone from my cousins to the TSA lady at the airport on my way to Hampton.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on June 28, 2009, 11:04:02 AM
recently finished:


(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/103/297410904_8854082d1b.jpg)

a great little (size wise) book for those who want to learn more about both sides of the israeli-palestinian conflict.
its written as an autobiographical narrative by carter, which makes it a much easier read than a straight history book.
its "controversial" in the fact that it levies as much blame, if not a little more, on the isreali's....if you find that controversial......


(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Diarycvr.jpg)

my first stab at palahniuk.  i thought it was great. i put off reading his stuff cause everyone was so gaga over the movie fight club, which i thought blew.  i'm sure the book is better, as is usually the case.  looking forward to reading more of his stuff.


(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/Invalids_fierce.jpg)

almost done with robbins complete works up till now and this one is definitely in the top three
if you like robbins and haven't gotten to this one yet, read it next!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: G. Augusto on June 28, 2009, 11:36:05 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker link=topic=4845.msg287567#msg287567
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Diarycvr.jpg)

my first stab at palahniuk.  i thought it was great. i put off reading his stuff cause everyone was so gaga over the movie fight club, which i thought blew.  i'm sure the book is better, as is usually the case.  looking forward to reading more of his stuff.

I'm sure Survivor has been mentioned as the next one to check out...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on June 28, 2009, 02:58:58 PM
Quote from: *¡DYNAMITE!* on June 28, 2009, 11:36:05 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker link=topic=4845.msg287567#msg287567
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Diarycvr.jpg)

my first stab at palahniuk.  i thought it was great. i put off reading his stuff cause everyone was so gaga over the movie fight club, which i thought blew.  i'm sure the book is better, as is usually the case.  looking forward to reading more of his stuff.

I'm sure Survivor has been mentioned as the next one to check out...

Definitely check out Survivor. I've read all of his books, and it's my favorite. ... I've also read all of Robbins, and I highly recommend to anyone Still Life with Woodpecker. Amazing book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: bluecaravan521 on June 28, 2009, 06:37:06 PM
(http://lopezbooks.com/images/kl/024881.jpg)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Been meaning to read this for a while, and when I finish I'll watch the movie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on June 28, 2009, 07:10:12 PM
The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner.  Good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on June 28, 2009, 08:30:23 PM
Just started "the NOW Habit," after procrastinating on it since christmas.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on June 28, 2009, 08:30:41 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.
How about learning English first!   :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: G. Augusto on June 29, 2009, 01:53:57 AM
Oh POP!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on June 29, 2009, 07:55:40 AM
Quote from: kellerb on June 28, 2009, 08:30:23 PM
Just started "the NOW Habit," after procrastinating on it since christmas.

Heady shot of irony...

thx
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 09:21:01 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.

Totally agree. Survivor is my favorite. But Choke and Invisible Monsters are great too. I didn't like Diary all that much.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 29, 2009, 12:14:10 PM
Quote from: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 09:21:01 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.

Totally agree. Survivor is my favorite. But Choke and Invisible Monsters are great too. I didn't like Diary all that much.

diary is off the beaten path for him... not as big of a wack job story as the rest of his stuff....

i still have snuff, pygmy, and his compilation of short stories-stranger than fiction to read before i've gotten thru his entire catalog.

and yes, still like with a wood pecker was GREAT. but i think, for me, it's third to villa incognito and jitterbug perfume by robbins.
robbins is just as far out as chucky p. at times....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 12:16:58 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 29, 2009, 12:14:10 PM
Quote from: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 09:21:01 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.

Totally agree. Survivor is my favorite. But Choke and Invisible Monsters are great too. I didn't like Diary all that much.

diary is off the beaten path for him... not as big of a wack job story as the rest of his stuff....

i still have snuff, pygmy, and his compilation of short stories-stranger than fiction to read before i've gotten thru his entire catalog.

and yes, still like with a wood pecker was GREAT. but i think, for me, it's third to villa incognito and jitterbug perfume by robbins.
robbins is just as far out as chucky p. at times....

Well said. I still can't get enough of Robbins.

On a slightly related note, I am not a big fan of Stranger Than Fiction. Most book reviewers tore him up, for good reason, imo. He hasn't written a good book in a while.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 29, 2009, 12:19:27 PM
Quote from: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 12:16:58 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 29, 2009, 12:14:10 PM
Quote from: flow00 on June 29, 2009, 09:21:01 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 28, 2009, 07:44:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on June 28, 2009, 02:51:19 PM
2666 by Roberto Bolano.
not science fiction, despite the title. in fact that number never appears in the book.
best thing i've read in years.
amazing.

I would like to learn spainish and read this in the original language.

Also---MBW---you should be happy that you started with Diary, I think it is by far one of Chuck's weaker efforts, and my enjoyment of it was diminished by the awesomeness of his other output.

Survivor is by far my favorite of his works, but if you like Diary, you might prefer to move on to either Choke or Invisible Monsters next and save Survivor for a time when it won't diminish your enjoyment of his other books.

Totally agree. Survivor is my favorite. But Choke and Invisible Monsters are great too. I didn't like Diary all that much.

diary is off the beaten path for him... not as big of a wack job story as the rest of his stuff....

i still have snuff, pygmy, and his compilation of short stories-stranger than fiction to read before i've gotten thru his entire catalog.

and yes, still like with a wood pecker was GREAT. but i think, for me, it's third to villa incognito and jitterbug perfume by robbins.
robbins is just as far out as chucky p. at times....

Well said. I still can't get enough of Robbins.

On a slightly related note, I am not a big fan of Stranger Than Fiction. Most book reviewers tore him up, for good reason, imo. He hasn't written a good book in a while.

oh right?
i haven't read any reviews about it, i try to steer clear of them till i finish books i want to read.

i think the whole part on the back about the testicle festival is what drew me into buying stranger than fiction, finally, saturday night :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on June 29, 2009, 12:37:07 PM
currrently i'm reading unread posts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on June 29, 2009, 01:54:09 PM
In addition to LOTR which I'm reading @ home, my coworker just handed me his copy of Palahnuik's Pygmy which I shall begin reading tonight on the train.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on June 29, 2009, 03:58:07 PM
Not bad. True Story
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on July 01, 2009, 05:50:16 PM
didnt have 'Survivor' readily available, so now i am reading

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/357533381_c9d8846fe0.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 01, 2009, 06:54:28 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

the sentences are short?

is that akin to mozart playing too many notes?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 09:49:20 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 01, 2009, 06:54:28 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

the sentences are short?

is that akin to mozart playing too many notes?

It's just sort of choppy and very matter of fact. He has some poetic things to express but it's mostly very journalistic.  Kinda like a pitcher's duel in baseball. I haven't finished it yet though. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 02, 2009, 12:38:40 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on July 01, 2009, 05:50:16 PM
didnt have 'Survivor' readily available, so now i am reading

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/357533381_c9d8846fe0.jpg)

Good choice.  Actually the favorite (for me) of his books.

Everyone really really loves 'Survivor', however.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on July 02, 2009, 01:11:40 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 09:49:20 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 01, 2009, 06:54:28 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

the sentences are short?

is that akin to mozart playing too many notes?

It's just sort of choppy and very matter of fact. He has some poetic things to express but it's mostly very journalistic.  Kinda like a pitcher's duel in baseball. I haven't finished it yet though. 

He's a philosopher before an author, so his storytelling is a bit unorthodox. But I loved that book. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on July 02, 2009, 07:10:26 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/All_the_pretty_horses_mccarthy_cover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 02, 2009, 08:53:52 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 02, 2009, 12:38:40 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on July 01, 2009, 05:50:16 PM
didnt have 'Survivor' readily available, so now i am reading

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/357533381_c9d8846fe0.jpg)

Good choice.  Actually the favorite (for me) of his books.

Everyone really really loves 'Survivor', however.


i liked this one too... and Choke.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 09:08:39 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

I have The Fall in front of me as I type this.  Going to give it a go at some point this summer.

Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 02, 2009, 07:10:26 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/All_the_pretty_horses_mccarthy_cover.jpg)

Just picked that up at a used book store Monday.  Finished The Road a while ago and No Country about a month ago.  Great writer.  Although I have heard that Horses is a bit different than the previous two I have read. 

As for what I am reading now, just finished an interesting article on Dylan from RS.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 02, 2009, 01:13:40 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 09:08:39 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

I have The Fall in front of me as I type this.  Going to give it a go at some point this summer.

Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 02, 2009, 07:10:26 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/All_the_pretty_horses_mccarthy_cover.jpg)

Just picked that up at a used book store Monday.  Finished The Road a while ago and No Country about a month ago.  Great writer.  Although I have heard that Horses is a bit different than the previous two I have read. 

As for what I am reading now, just finished an interesting article on Dylan from RS.

for McCarthy, you should really read Blood Meridian. it is far, far better than any of those other ones.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 02, 2009, 01:26:13 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 09:08:39 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

I have The Fall in front of me as I type this.  Going to give it a go at some point this summer.

Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 02, 2009, 07:10:26 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/All_the_pretty_horses_mccarthy_cover.jpg)

Just picked that up at a used book store Monday.  Finished The Road a while ago and No Country about a month ago.  Great writer.  Although I have heard that Horses is a bit different than the previous two I have read. 

As for what I am reading now, just finished an interesting article on Dylan from RS.

I really enjoyed that Dylan article myself.  As for his assertion that once he's gone we will not see the likes of him again, I have to agree.  He really represents the last songwriter/performer of his kind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 02, 2009, 01:27:06 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 09:08:39 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 01, 2009, 06:43:54 PM
The Stranger by Camus. The sentences are a bit short, but pretty good though.

I have The Fall in front of me as I type this.  Going to give it a go at some point this summer.


The Fall is pretty good.  It took me about an hour and a half to read it.  Not difficult at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:04:35 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 02, 2009, 07:10:26 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/All_the_pretty_horses_mccarthy_cover.jpg)
Read the whole trilogy this past winter.
Not as good as his other stuff.
I agree that Blood Meridian is his best. In fact, one of my personal favorite reads ever!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 03:55:25 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

There have been a few books that I re-read to make up for my lack of interest in high school...

Catch 22 being the first that comes to mind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 04:26:56 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.

Really don't like that book.  Never really enjoyed it and it makes me throw up a little in my mouth to thikn about reading it.

But I hope you enjoy it.   :wtu:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

I cheated with both of those and hit up the cliff's notes after a couple chapters.  Made them much more comprehensible.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 05:38:38 PM
Quote from: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

I cheated with both of those and hit up the cliff's notes after a couple chapters.  Made them much more comprehensible.

yeah, it's crazy. I think I tried to read it before. There are a lot of jumps in the story between different things happening. You have the italic and the non italic...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:54:32 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 05:38:38 PM
Quote from: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

I cheated with both of those and hit up the cliff's notes after a couple chapters.  Made them much more comprehensible.

yeah, it's crazy. I think I tried to read it before. There are a lot of jumps in the story between different things happening. You have the italic and the non italic...
I forget which one has a [retarded] narrator in 1st-person perspective for the 1st 1/4 of the book, but that's what made me seek out a synopsis.  It helped a bunch.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 06:46:05 PM
Quote from: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:54:32 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 05:38:38 PM
Quote from: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

I cheated with both of those and hit up the cliff's notes after a couple chapters.  Made them much more comprehensible.

yeah, it's crazy. I think I tried to read it before. There are a lot of jumps in the story between different things happening. You have the italic and the non italic...
I forget which one has a [retarded] narrator in 1st-person perspective for the 1st 1/4 of the book, but that's what made me seek out a synopsis.  It helped a bunch.

It's the Sound and The Fury that has the retarded character.  I picked it out because it had a really cool cover and Faulkner is mentioned in the last Woody Allen movie I watched.  I saw As I Lay Dying in the same section at Borders. Might have to get it next time.  
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 02, 2009, 07:15:20 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 03:55:25 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

There have been a few books that I re-read to make up for my lack of interest in high school...

Catch 22 being the first that comes to mind.

Catch 22 may be my favorite book of all time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 08:39:33 PM
Quote from: kellerb on July 02, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

I cheated with both of those and hit up the cliff's notes after a couple chapters.  Made them much more comprehensible.

Cliff's notes?

(http://www.tarstarkas.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/cliff.jpg)
It's a little known fact...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 08:40:06 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 02, 2009, 07:15:20 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 03:55:25 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

There have been a few books that I re-read to make up for my lack of interest in high school...

Catch 22 being the first that comes to mind.

Catch 22 may be my favorite book of all time.

The first chapter is pure literary hilarity. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 11:56:48 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 08:40:06 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 02, 2009, 07:15:20 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 03:55:25 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

There have been a few books that I re-read to make up for my lack of interest in high school...

Catch 22 being the first that comes to mind.

Catch 22 may be my favorite book of all time.

The first chapter is pure literary hilarity. 

I now love that book. Didn't care to think about it in High School. I read Moby Dick for fun but didn't want to read Catch 22 because it was assigned.



As for the present, I just finished Chuck Palahniuk's Pygmy.
It was great.

Well, maybe not great.

But good.

Entertaining.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 03, 2009, 02:49:36 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 02, 2009, 08:40:06 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 02, 2009, 07:15:20 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 02, 2009, 03:55:25 PM
Quote from: birdman on July 02, 2009, 03:47:39 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 02, 2009, 03:42:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury. Faulkner. Just started. Cool style--Southern.
Nice. I just started "As I lay dying".
I remember "reading" it in Highschool. Figure I'll give it a real read-through this time.

There have been a few books that I re-read to make up for my lack of interest in high school...

Catch 22 being the first that comes to mind.

Catch 22 may be my favorite book of all time.

The first chapter is pure literary hilarity. 

as is every chapter thereafter.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on July 04, 2009, 04:58:47 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/01QzTqAJ8QL._SL500_AA160_.jpg)
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Guess i'll have to check out Blood Meridian after this  :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 11:30:07 AM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 04, 2009, 04:58:47 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/01QzTqAJ8QL._SL500_AA160_.jpg)
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Guess i'll have to check out Blood Meridian after this  :-)

I'm thinking about reading The Road, myself. Film is coming out soon and I want to read the book before the film ruins it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on July 04, 2009, 07:41:08 PM
just finishing Robert Greenfield's Dark Star, an oral biography of Jerry Garcia, I'm sure a lot of you have read it as well.  Fascinating insights into Garcia's life, I may have read it 8 or 9 times but the cool thing about it is, I learn something new each read or get a new spin on something so in that sense its like a  :syf: improvisation, "the wheel keeps turning and it can't slow down"

I was browsing pics of Jerry and saw this one w/ Jerry diving in Hawaii May 90 w/ GD roadie/stage mgr./Garcia lifeline Steve Parish on the right and at the time Jerry's gf Barbara Meier, one of if not his first gf going back to pre-65.  Its cool to see Jerry having fun outside of music as well(note, check out Jer's missing digit on Barbara's right shoulder/arm).
(http://musicalstewdaily.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/2078856387_717a645822.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 07:57:17 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.

Loved that book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on July 04, 2009, 11:10:32 PM
Right now it's Freakonomics for me.  Interesting stuff so far.  The Roe vs. Wade/crime rate stuff caught me off guard.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 05, 2009, 01:40:59 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 07:57:17 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.

Loved that book.

ditto.

Dee... villa incognito, next.... do it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 05, 2009, 09:10:48 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 11:30:07 AM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 04, 2009, 04:58:47 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/01QzTqAJ8QL._SL500_AA160_.jpg)
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Guess i'll have to check out Blood Meridian after this  :-)

I'm thinking about reading The Road, myself. Film is coming out soon and I want to read the book before the film ruins it.

Do it.  It's phenomenal.  Find a day or two to just sit down and read it.  You will be happy you did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: inourdr on July 05, 2009, 09:52:44 AM
Quote from: susep73 on July 04, 2009, 07:41:08 PM
just finishing Robert Greenfield's Dark Star, an oral biography of Jerry Garcia, I'm sure a lot of you have read it as well.  Fascinating insights into Garcia's life, I may have read it 8 or 9 times but the cool thing about it is, I learn something new each read or get a new spin on something so in that sense its like a  :syf: improvisation, "the wheel keeps turning and it can't slow down"

I was browsing pics of Jerry and saw this one w/ Jerry diving in Hawaii May 90 w/ GD roadie/stage mgr./Garcia lifeline Steve Parish on the right and at the time Jerry's gf Barbara Meier, one of if not his first gf going back to pre-65.  Its cool to see Jerry having fun outside of music as well(note, check out Jer's missing digit on Barbara's right shoulder/arm).
(http://musicalstewdaily.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/2078856387_717a645822.jpg)

Awesome whale shirt but not as cool as the wolf shirt.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 05, 2009, 02:53:11 PM
Quote from: susep73 on July 04, 2009, 07:41:08 PM
just finishing Robert Greenfield's Dark Star, an oral biography of Jerry Garcia, I'm sure a lot of you have read it as well.  Fascinating insights into Garcia's life, I may have read it 8 or 9 times but the cool thing about it is, I learn something new each read or get a new spin on something so in that sense its like a  :syf: improvisation, "the wheel keeps turning and it can't slow down"

I was browsing pics of Jerry and saw this one w/ Jerry diving in Hawaii May 90 w/ GD roadie/stage mgr./Garcia lifeline Steve Parish on the right and at the time Jerry's gf Barbara Meier, one of if not his first gf going back to pre-65.  Its cool to see Jerry having fun outside of music as well(note, check out Jer's missing digit on Barbara's right shoulder/arm).
(http://musicalstewdaily.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/2078856387_717a645822.jpg)

The guy on the right is not Steve Parish.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 07, 2009, 10:22:03 AM
I just finished "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" and it was flipping hilarious.  Tucker Max might be one of the worst human beings on this earth, but he is easily one of the most entertaining as well. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 07, 2009, 01:06:57 PM
Over The Edge of The World by Bergreen.
a really great account of Magellan's circumnavigation of the world back around 1520.
an insane adventure. took three years and the few sailors who actually made it all the way around sailed a total of 60 thousand miles. most died on the way.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on July 08, 2009, 01:08:57 PM
Belushi
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XMVFFFFNL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)

great book so far. Written as a string of interviews with different people strung together.
i never realized how instrumental he was with 2nd City, and National Lampoon radio hour
a true comic genius
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 03:28:41 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 07:57:17 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.

Loved that book.

My favorite Robbins book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 08, 2009, 04:11:09 PM
Quote from: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 03:28:41 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 07:57:17 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.

Loved that book.

My favorite Robbins book.

For me it's 2nd behind Roadside Attraction.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 04:12:01 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 08, 2009, 04:11:09 PM
Quote from: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 03:28:41 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 04, 2009, 07:57:17 PM
Quote from: gimmetela on July 04, 2009, 07:54:12 PM
Still Life with Woodpecker

i love tom robbins.

Loved that book.

My favorite Robbins book.

For me it's 2nd behind Roadside Attraction.

I have to agree with Mr.Minor on this one.

Both are great books. though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 08, 2009, 04:14:44 PM
I'll take Even Cowgirls Get the Blues FTW with Jitterbug Perfume coming in second. 

Still Life didn't do much for me at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 08, 2009, 05:14:30 PM
Quote from: Hicks on July 08, 2009, 04:14:44 PM
I'll take Even Cowgirls Get the Blues FTW with Jitterbug Perfume coming in second. 

Still Life didn't do much for me at all.

havne't made it thru cowgirls...

but mine go, thus far...

1. villa incognito
2. jitterbug
3. still life...

need to read another roadside attraction, cowgirls, and fierce invalids home from hot climates....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 08, 2009, 07:20:49 PM
jitterbug perfume is my favorite.
skinny legs and all is up there, too.

cowgirls didn't really hang together for me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 08, 2009, 09:23:18 PM
Quote from: Sophist on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:

Excuse me? That's a really asshole thing to say.  You are clearly full of it. Dickens is amazing. I loved Tale of Two Cities. Tried to read it when I was in 3rd grade and couldn't really get it but then I went back years later. Too bad for folks who are culturally illiterate. By the way, I just finished The Sound and The Fury and it was a crazy work, confusing but brilliant.  Now I'm on to Anna Karenina.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 09:25:01 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 08, 2009, 09:23:18 PM
Quote from: Sophist on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:

Excuse me? That's a really asshole thing to say.  You are clearly full of it. Dickens is amazing. I loved Tale of Two Cities. Tried to read it when I was in 3rd grade and couldn't really get it but then I went back years later and it worked. Too bad for folks who are culturally illiterate.

This marks the second time in two days that I agree with sprobeck.
Dickens was a great writer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on July 08, 2009, 09:25:26 PM
am I the only nerd here who reads TSR novels?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on July 08, 2009, 09:26:47 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 09:25:01 PM
Dickens was a great writer.

QFT

I am about to finish HST's The Great Shark Hunt. Ive been reading it on and off for about 4 months now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on July 08, 2009, 09:28:37 PM
Quote from: tipetoo on July 08, 2009, 09:26:47 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 09:25:01 PM
Dickens was a great writer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 08, 2009, 09:42:10 PM
Quote from: blatboom on July 08, 2009, 09:25:26 PM
am I the only nerd here who reads TSR novels?

I read a couple of the first Dragonlance books, they were aight.

Oh yeah, and Dickens does blow IMO. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 10:12:25 PM
Still Life is by far my favorite. Here is a passage:

For more than an hour, Leigh-Cheri stared into the mandala of the sky. "Does the moon have a purpose?" she inquired of Prince Charming.
Prince Charming pretended that she had asked a silly question. Perhaps she had.
The same query put to the Remington SL3 elicited this response:
Albert Camus wrote that the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not.
Tom Robbins wrote that the only serious question is whether time has a beginning and an end.
Camus clearly got up on the wrong side of the bed, and Robbins must have forgotten to set the alarm.
There is only one serious question. And that is:
Who knows how to make love stay?
Answer me that and i will tell you whether or not to kill yourself.
Answer me that and i will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time.
Answer me that and i will reveal to you the purpose of the moon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 10:19:26 PM
Amazing. Poignant. Well-written.



(http://perival.com/delillo/whitenoise_first_ed.jpeg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on July 08, 2009, 10:25:46 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 09:25:01 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 08, 2009, 09:23:18 PM
Quote from: Sophist on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:

Excuse me? That's a really asshole thing to say.  You are clearly full of it. Dickens is amazing. I loved Tale of Two Cities. Tried to read it when I was in 3rd grade and couldn't really get it but then I went back years later and it worked. Too bad for folks who are culturally illiterate.

This marks the second time in two days that I agree with sprobeck.
Dickens was a great writer.

while we're piling on, I'll take issue with the idea that a homosexual can't be a real man.  also Dickens was a great writer.

Current read (can't recall if I posted it already):

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t68ar0SFX54/SKncTgM2dmI/AAAAAAAABjQ/8WpWnSWJtTw/s400/Last+Call.jpg)

Last Call by Tim Powers

Powers is my favorite newly discovered by me author.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on July 08, 2009, 10:48:47 PM
Crazy For The Storm by Norman Ollestadt...sick...I finished it in 3 sittings....check out some background here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqLnh1biSa0


Cool book, recommended reading, well written..
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 10:52:38 PM
What is up with the homophobia anyway?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cimsm on July 08, 2009, 10:55:59 PM
Quote from: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 10:52:38 PM
What is up with the homophobia anyway?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on July 08, 2009, 10:57:16 PM
Hopefully, it's just an off color stab at humor.   :|
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 11:15:15 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on July 08, 2009, 10:57:16 PM
Hopefully, it's just an off color stab at humor.   :|
I think so.
It was three years ago and Sophist has demonstrated himself to be more than reasonable in the intervening time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 09, 2009, 12:10:59 AM
There is no me without you.
Great read, def recommend.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on July 09, 2009, 02:49:39 AM
More importantly, what's with calling someone out for something that they said three years ago?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 09, 2009, 03:50:27 AM
Quote from: flow00 on July 08, 2009, 10:19:26 PM
Amazing. Poignant. Well-written.



(http://perival.com/delillo/whitenoise_first_ed.jpeg)



by far the best delillo book i've read. i've read a few others, didn't much care for any of them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on July 09, 2009, 07:23:31 AM
Quote from: thechad on July 09, 2009, 02:49:39 AM
More importantly, what's with calling someone out for something that they said three years ago?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on July 09, 2009, 08:03:27 AM
Quote from: thechad on July 09, 2009, 02:49:39 AM
More importantly, what's with calling someone out for something that they said three years ago?

win.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 09, 2009, 08:29:31 AM


(http://a2.vox.com/6a00cd96fbfbe14cd500d09e5361eabe2b-500pi)

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Heady stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 09, 2009, 09:11:05 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 11:15:15 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on July 08, 2009, 10:57:16 PM
Hopefully, it's just an off color stab at humor.   :|
I think so.
It was three years ago and Sophist has demonstrated himself to be more than reasonable in the intervening time.


That's strange. I must have clicked on 1 instead of 44. I didn't even notice that. Sorry!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 09, 2009, 09:20:26 AM
As far as Robbins is concerned...

...Another Roadside Attraction is by far the best of the best...

...Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is almost up to that level....

...Still Life With Woodpecker (although favored by a lot of his fans) is a distant third....

--->Skinny Legs and All gets an honorable mention.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 09, 2009, 09:36:09 AM
Quote from: postjack on July 08, 2009, 10:25:46 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 09:25:01 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 08, 2009, 09:23:18 PM
Quote from: Sophist on December 12, 2006, 03:56:27 PM
I equate dickens novels to a homosexual experience, its something no real man should ever experience  :-o  :evil:

Excuse me? That's a really asshole thing to say.  You are clearly full of it. Dickens is amazing. I loved Tale of Two Cities. Tried to read it when I was in 3rd grade and couldn't really get it but then I went back years later and it worked. Too bad for folks who are culturally illiterate.

This marks the second time in two days that I agree with sprobeck.
Dickens was a great writer.

while we're piling on, I'll take issue with the idea that a homosexual can't be a real man.  also Dickens was a great writer.

Current read (can't recall if I posted it already):

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_t68ar0SFX54/SKncTgM2dmI/AAAAAAAABjQ/8WpWnSWJtTw/s400/Last+Call.jpg)

Last Call by Tim Powers

Powers is my favorite newly discovered by me author.


Jesus, that was a joke.  The emoticon should of tipped off I wasn't being serious.  
Quote from: sprobeck on July 09, 2009, 09:11:05 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 08, 2009, 11:15:15 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on July 08, 2009, 10:57:16 PM
Hopefully, it's just an off color stab at humor.   :|
I think so.
It was three years ago and Sophist has demonstrated himself to be more than reasonable in the intervening time.


That's strange. I must have clicked on 1 instead of 44. I didn't even notice that. Sorry!
No need to apologize.  Not the first time someone has misinterpreted me.  I would explain my line of reasoning for the off kilter joke, but like others have said, it was three years ago, so I have no clue as to why or how I came up with that.  

Further, I think you will see that the intent of my jokes is never to insult, but just for the sake of humor.  If anything insults you, I do apologize, as like I said, I'm not going for vindictive stabs at anyone.  
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 09, 2009, 09:37:04 AM
Quote from: mattstick on July 09, 2009, 08:29:31 AM


(http://a2.vox.com/6a00cd96fbfbe14cd500d09e5361eabe2b-500pi)

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Heady stuff.
I read that a few years back, that is a great book imo.  Real insightful into the science behind how our brains hear music. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 11:38:46 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 09, 2009, 09:20:26 AM
As far as Robbins is concerned...

...Another Roadside Attraction is by far the best of the best...

...Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is almost up to that level....

...Still Life With Woodpecker (although favored by a lot of his fans) is a distant third....

--->Skinny Legs and All gets an honorable mention.

I really liked Skinny Legs because of the look at the race divide that was encompassed in the restaurant.  Great metaphor on life, racism, and the UN.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 09, 2009, 12:27:01 PM
Quote from: Sophist on July 09, 2009, 09:37:04 AM
Quote from: mattstick on July 09, 2009, 08:29:31 AM


(http://a2.vox.com/6a00cd96fbfbe14cd500d09e5361eabe2b-500pi)

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Heady stuff.
I read that a few years back, that is a great book imo.  Real insightful into the science behind how our brains hear music. 

I know I mentioned it in here awhile back, but you both should pick up Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, I think you guys would dig it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 09, 2009, 12:40:49 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 11:38:46 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 09, 2009, 09:20:26 AM
As far as Robbins is concerned...

...Another Roadside Attraction is by far the best of the best...

...Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is almost up to that level....

...Still Life With Woodpecker (although favored by a lot of his fans) is a distant third....

--->Skinny Legs and All gets an honorable mention.

I really liked Skinny Legs because of the look at the race divide that was encompassed in the restaurant.  Great metaphor on life, racism, and the UN.


I also really liked the subplot involving the semi-blind artist and her goony wannabe artist husband.  The description of how she viewed the world while driving really captivated my attention.

Such a great little story.

The only book of his from the "modern" era that I think lives up to his 70's stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 09, 2009, 12:52:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 09, 2009, 12:27:01 PM
Quote from: Sophist on July 09, 2009, 09:37:04 AM
Quote from: mattstick on July 09, 2009, 08:29:31 AM


(http://a2.vox.com/6a00cd96fbfbe14cd500d09e5361eabe2b-500pi)

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Heady stuff.
I read that a few years back, that is a great book imo.  Real insightful into the science behind how our brains hear music. 

I know I mentioned it in here awhile back, but you both should pick up Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, I think you guys would dig it.
I'll check it out, thanks for the rec. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 09, 2009, 03:20:09 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

Nice.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

I teach A Wrinkle in Time in my 7th grade class.  It's a fun book with some great themes and allusions.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 09, 2009, 04:29:35 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 09, 2009, 03:20:09 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

Nice.


i was just thinking about reading those again. loved them when i was like 10 or whatever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: keeb333 on July 10, 2009, 10:35:14 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

I teach A Wrinkle in Time in my 7th grade class.  It's a fun book with some great themes and allusions.

Awesome!  As far as themes go, I was thinking about discussing finding strength in your faults and how "reality" changes as our perception changes.  Also, individuality and free choice vs. "freedom" from having to make decisions.  Any other suggestions?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 10, 2009, 10:49:50 AM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 10, 2009, 10:35:14 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

I teach A Wrinkle in Time in my 7th grade class.  It's a fun book with some great themes and allusions.

Awesome!  As far as themes go, I was thinking about discussing finding strength in your faults and how "reality" changes as our perception changes.  Also, individuality and free choice vs. "freedom" from having to make decisions.  Any other suggestions?

I've never read these books, but after that post plan on doing so. Thanks keeb!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: keeb333 on July 10, 2009, 11:05:36 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 10, 2009, 10:49:50 AM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 10, 2009, 10:35:14 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

I teach A Wrinkle in Time in my 7th grade class.  It's a fun book with some great themes and allusions.

Awesome!  As far as themes go, I was thinking about discussing finding strength in your faults and how "reality" changes as our perception changes.  Also, individuality and free choice vs. "freedom" from having to make decisions.  Any other suggestions?

I've never read these books, but after that post plan on doing so. Thanks keeb!

Man, they are really good and read fast.  Also, pretty heavy stuff for young adult literature!  The first two of the series received Newberry medals, if that tells you anything.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 14, 2009, 07:51:21 AM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 10, 2009, 10:35:14 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 09, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
Quote from: keeb333 on July 09, 2009, 03:10:24 PM
A Swiftly Tilting Planet for discussion with my son as part of our "home summer reading" venture.

Just finished the first two of the series...it's been so long since I'd read them I'd forgotten how good they are!

I teach A Wrinkle in Time in my 7th grade class.  It's a fun book with some great themes and allusions.

Awesome!  As far as themes go, I was thinking about discussing finding strength in your faults and how "reality" changes as our perception changes.  Also, individuality and free choice vs. "freedom" from having to make decisions.  Any other suggestions?

Identity/individuality are a couple of great ones from that book.   Also good vs. evil and the triumph of love.  A few others I teach are a little more in depth:  inadequacy of words and the idea that one (Meg) cannot know everything.  great themes for young adults to consider.  Quite relevant to their own lives.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 09:18:30 AM
Just finished A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, and am reading the American Federalist Papers now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 14, 2009, 10:14:50 AM
Quote from: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 09:18:30 AM
Just finished A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, and am reading the American Federalist Papers now.

Ha! That book had me cracking up, literally, sometimes I'd be reading and just burst out in laughter! Been meaning to re-read it for a couple years now....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 10:27:42 AM
^^ Yeah, I was re-reading it myself. After me and my gf hit the PA and IN shows we drove to New Orleans, and I was like: "There are 3 things I want to do: 1) Eat Crawfish, 2) Pee in the mouth (ewww) of the Mississippi (I had taken a leak at the start of the river a few years back when visiting Bemidji, MN and it just seemed symbolically important...) and 3) Take my picture with the Ignatius Reilly statue on Canal street....

I got the crawfish, but forgot about peeing in the river (Nola has a way of making you forget things, especially when you have a bunch of fine gooballs you brought along for the ride) and the camera took a dump on the last day so I couldn't get my picture.

Guess I'll have to go back. Darn my luck...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on July 14, 2009, 12:44:12 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 14, 2009, 10:14:50 AM
Quote from: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 09:18:30 AM
Just finished A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, and am reading the American Federalist Papers now.

Ha! That book had me cracking up, literally, sometimes I'd be reading and just burst out in laughter! Been meaning to re-read it for a couple years now....

I read that a few years before I had ever visited NOLA, and I think I missed out b/c I'd never been there.  I need to re-read as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 12:50:54 PM
It was incredible how different an experience that book was after visiting NOLA. I only wish I had read it more recently before going (it had been a couple years), to check out the different spots mentioned. Would love to have seen Ignatius' street, etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 14, 2009, 12:59:28 PM
Quote from: unclepaulie on July 14, 2009, 12:50:54 PM
It was incredible how different an experience that book was after visiting NOLA. I only wish I had read it more recently before going (it had been a couple years), to check out the different spots mentioned. Would love to have seen Ignatius' street, etc.

Yeah, I read it while living down there, so it was great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on July 15, 2009, 12:25:54 AM
stopped by the bookstore today.  As I was milling around this caught my eye so i grabbed it.  I think I'm a little too tired to crack it open tonight... but who knows
(http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/warnercover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on July 18, 2009, 06:07:30 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SCVZMA6RL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 11:13:39 AM
Anna Karenina--Leo Tolstoy. Good so far!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 18, 2009, 02:57:36 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 11:13:39 AM
Anna Karenina--Leo Tolstoy. Good so far!

I hope you're reading it in Russian.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 03:08:47 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 18, 2009, 02:57:36 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 11:13:39 AM
Anna Karenina--Leo Tolstoy. Good so far!

I hope you're reading it in Russian.

No, not in Russian. It's the Bantam Classics edition.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 18, 2009, 03:10:02 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 03:08:47 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 18, 2009, 02:57:36 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on July 18, 2009, 11:13:39 AM
Anna Karenina--Leo Tolstoy. Good so far!

I hope you're reading it in Russian.

No, not in Russian. It's the Bantam Classics edition.

Yr missing out brah!

Twee ne knee-chev-oh rooskie yezik?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 22, 2009, 02:52:27 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on July 18, 2009, 06:07:30 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SCVZMA6RL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
I read that earlier this year, great read. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on July 22, 2009, 02:55:23 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 09, 2009, 12:27:01 PM
I know I mentioned it in here awhile back, but you both should pick up Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, I think you guys would dig it.

this was waiting for me at my place when i got back from Florida last night...

gonna dive into it this weekend... can't wait!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: antelope19 on July 22, 2009, 03:04:14 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

QFT.....I've read that series no less than 5 times myself. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:06:09 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.

:beers:
Awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 23, 2009, 11:20:10 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.

Impressive!  :clap:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: keeb333 on July 23, 2009, 12:01:00 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.

dude, that rocks!  :clap:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 23, 2009, 03:48:35 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.

I taught The Hobbit to a 7th grade class one year.  It was a fun book to teach.  Had some sweet activities to go with it.  Some of the kids really got into it.  Had a riddle contest that had some great riddles.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on July 24, 2009, 01:14:15 PM
Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was a favorite when I was a kid.

Alice in Wonderland is another good one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 24, 2009, 01:34:38 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indian_in_the_Cupboard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 24, 2009, 01:47:10 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

Watership Down
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 24, 2009, 01:53:06 PM
Quote from: Hicks on July 24, 2009, 01:14:15 PM
Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was a favorite when I was a kid.


Also these two...

(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n0/n4388.jpg)

(http://www.wicknet.org/library/middle/wrinkle%20in%20time.jpg)

And finally, every little girl would probably love...

(http://sendingpostcards.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/petit_prince_renard.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 24, 2009, 01:53:42 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

The Old Testament  :-P You want her to sleep right?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:59:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 24, 2009, 01:53:42 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

The Old Testament  :-P You want her to sleep right?

You don't know me too well, do you?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on July 24, 2009, 02:02:55 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:59:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 24, 2009, 01:53:42 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

The Old Testament  :-P You want her to sleep right?

You don't know me too well, do you?

If anything the old testament would give her nightmares!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on July 24, 2009, 02:06:59 PM
Quote from: mattstick on July 24, 2009, 01:34:38 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Indian_in_the_Cupboard

yes!

Island of the blue dolphins
Beyond the Reef
Indiana Bones and the Temple of Poon.


Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on July 24, 2009, 02:08:47 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:59:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 24, 2009, 01:53:42 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

The Old Testament  :-P You want her to sleep right?

You don't know me too well, do you?

We know that the word "God" would be replaced with "FSM"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 24, 2009, 02:28:22 PM
Quote from: Sophist on July 24, 2009, 02:08:47 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:59:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on July 24, 2009, 01:53:42 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 24, 2009, 01:09:26 PM
I like the riddle contest idea.

So, now my 5y/old daughter wants me to tell her another epic tale. I think LOTR might be a little too intense, though. Suggestions?

The Old Testament  :-P You want her to sleep right?

You don't know me too well, do you?

We know that the word "God" would be replaced with "FSM"

It was a joke! Jeeeeeeeeez! Anyhow, you could always tell the story of Keeb.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on July 24, 2009, 02:45:42 PM
 :roll:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 28, 2009, 02:57:08 AM
Cryptonomicon.

lots of great stuff. i liked all the parts in WWII. the storyline in the present was pretty lame, though. the attempt at a female character and a relationship with her was laughably bad. and completely unnecessary too. not sure what was up with all of that. the ending was kind of weak too. still, with 900+ pages of shit going on, there was plenty to keep me entertained.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 28, 2009, 06:54:21 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:05:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 22, 2009, 03:03:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 22, 2009, 03:02:27 PM
I'm re-re-re-re-re-reading The Lord Of The Rings. currently at the beginning of The Two Towers: book 4.

That's a story that never gets old. 

Yep.
Re-read The Hobbit before it and just finished telling the Hobbit (rather than reading it) to my youngest daughter as a series of bedtime stories. Did it all off the top of my head and it took a couple weeks.
Dude, that's kick ass.  +K to you sir for being a kick-ass dad.  And if you're looking for suggestions, I remember loving most of C.S. Lewis' books and another fun one to recount to kids is the Adventures of Tom Thumb.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 28, 2009, 08:04:25 AM
Followup:

Thanks for all of the suggestions. She actually solved it for me by requesting Harry Potter.
So, it looks like I'll be reading the entire series to the second of my three kids which means I'll probably do it for the third one day...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 28, 2009, 08:40:55 AM

Maybe because it's the summer, but I have zero time to read these days... sucks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 28, 2009, 08:41:56 AM
Quote from: mattstick on July 28, 2009, 08:40:55 AM

Maybe because it's the summer, but I have zero time to read these days... sucks.
I hear ya, I haven't picked up a book since May.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 28, 2009, 08:44:32 AM

Last night I was so conflicted... listen to the Jays game on the radio in bed or read.

So I laid down to try and make a decision and woke up with my alarm at 6:15...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 28, 2009, 08:55:53 AM
Yeah, I caught the end of the game, they whomped them 11-4, not bad.  I just wish they could get going on a streak here like the start of the season to gain some ground.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 28, 2009, 08:59:34 AM

I wish they would trade Halladay, Rios and Rolen for good young talent and put together a real team for 2011.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 28, 2009, 09:31:16 AM
Agreed, but I feel injuries have hurt any chances they may have had over the last few years.  Looks like they've been shopping him around so your wish may come true.  I'm a Rios fan but it seems there are rumors swirling about him being traded as well.
I guess this discussion would be more apt for the sports thread, ah well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red... Rocks! on July 28, 2009, 04:19:10 PM
I try to read every night... I love the pulpy stuff, I am on a huge Edgar Rice burroghs kick right now... i just finished Master Mind of Mars, reading through the Barsoom series
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 29, 2009, 08:25:40 AM
The Kite Runners

Starts well, at least.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on July 29, 2009, 09:48:59 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 29, 2009, 08:25:40 AM
The Kite Runners

Starts well, at least.
I loved that book, couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on July 29, 2009, 10:40:44 AM
Just finished "In Other Words" by Anthony DeCurtis, a collection of interviews - mostly musicians.  Now I started something called "House of Leaves" that my brother gave me for christmas.  I'm wary that its a hipster book, but the first few chapters have been interesting.

Still slowing making my way through "the Now Habit," but only at work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 30, 2009, 09:42:44 AM
Quote from: Phishy69 on July 29, 2009, 09:48:59 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 29, 2009, 08:25:40 AM
The Kite Runners

Starts well, at least.
I loved that book, couldn't put it down.

Agreed. Both his books are great, A Thousand Splendid Suns was also tough to put down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on July 31, 2009, 12:27:38 PM
"Into Thin Air" was fantastic. I wanted to read "Into The Wild" next, but i couldn't find it at the bookstore so bought this:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MpKcyS4KL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on July 31, 2009, 11:33:05 PM
as of right now i am "reading the book" just passed 1000   :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on July 31, 2009, 11:36:39 PM
robbins new one

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dq3-71TxL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on August 01, 2009, 02:30:07 AM
I must admit, I dig old school gonzo much more.

(http://rjdent.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/songs-of-the-doomed.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 01, 2009, 11:05:49 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on July 31, 2009, 11:36:39 PM
robbins new one

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dq3-71TxL._SS500_.jpg)

I saw that the other day and debated picking it up, but passed, let me know what you think of it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on August 01, 2009, 01:44:35 PM
Quote from: tipetoo on August 01, 2009, 02:30:07 AM
I must admit, I dig old school gonzo much more.

(http://rjdent.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/songs-of-the-doomed.jpg)

Agreed.  However, his final release 'Kingdom Of Fear' was pretty good, actually. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 01, 2009, 07:38:34 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 01, 2009, 11:05:49 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on July 31, 2009, 11:36:39 PM
robbins new one

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dq3-71TxL._SS500_.jpg)

I saw that the other day and debated picking it up, but passed, let me know what you think of it.

so far its great, of course
you really cant loose, its only about 150 pages
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 02, 2009, 01:47:46 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on August 01, 2009, 07:38:34 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 01, 2009, 11:05:49 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on July 31, 2009, 11:36:39 PM
robbins new one

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dq3-71TxL._SS500_.jpg)

I saw that the other day and debated picking it up, but passed, let me know what you think of it.

so far its great, of course
you really cant loose, its only about 150 pages

Thats all I needed. Thats what I am getting next week when I head to the used bookstore place. Tanks yo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on August 03, 2009, 06:44:27 AM
(http://www.theshrubbery.com/0101/anthology.jpg)

Still reading, since last christmas. Halfway through now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 09:06:47 AM
picked this up for my trip.  wanted to read it before I watched the movie..

(http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/watchmen-cover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on August 03, 2009, 12:44:01 PM
Quote from: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 09:06:47 AM
picked this up for my trip.  wanted to read it before I watched the movie..

(http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/watchmen-cover.jpg)

Im not a big graphic novel guy but i read it last year before the movie came out and really dug it. Some of it is pretty heady 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
Quote from: Igbo on August 03, 2009, 12:44:01 PM
Quote from: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 09:06:47 AM
picked this up for my trip.  wanted to read it before I watched the movie..

(http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/watchmen-cover.jpg)

Im not a big graphic novel guy but i read it last year before the movie came out and really dug it. Some of it is pretty heady 

word.  I'm totally not into graphic novels either but I figured this was one I could get with.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on August 04, 2009, 01:31:34 AM
Quote from: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
Quote from: Igbo on August 03, 2009, 12:44:01 PM
Quote from: blatboom on August 03, 2009, 09:06:47 AM
picked this up for my trip.  wanted to read it before I watched the movie..

(http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/watchmen-cover.jpg)

Im not a big graphic novel guy but i read it last year before the movie came out and really dug it. Some of it is pretty heady 

word.  I'm totally not into graphic novels either but I figured this was one I could get with.

Be sure not to skip over any of the "non-comic" parts of the book.  Like all of the excepts and the like, just as important to the story as everything else.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red... Rocks! on August 04, 2009, 08:58:34 AM
Quotepicked this up for my trip.  wanted to read it before I watched the movie..




Im not a big graphic novel guy but i read it last year before the movie came out and really dug it. Some of it is pretty heady 


word.  I'm totally not into graphic novels either but I figured this was one I could get with.


Be sure not to skip over any of the "non-comic" parts of the book.  Like all of the excepts and the like, just as important to the story as everything else.

This is an amazing piece of work, even if you aren't into comics... defintiely worth multiple reads. I am re-reading it now, and am finding all kinds of details I didn't catch on the first read.
With regard to the movie I am waiting to see it until December, when the ultimate version with the Black Freighter interwoven into the movie comes out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on August 04, 2009, 09:08:46 AM
I just started this last night
(http://11after11jc.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/11590185.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on August 05, 2009, 06:49:31 PM
Quote from: whyweigh3.5 on August 04, 2009, 09:08:46 AM
I just started this last night
(http://11after11jc.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/11590185.jpg)

Klostermann is the man.  "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" changed my life in college.  Then "Fargo Rock City" changed it again.

(https://www.nightshadebooks.com/secure/images/products/58_large5.jpg)

Jay Lake - Trial of Flowers
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Red... Rocks! on August 05, 2009, 08:11:23 PM
(http://www.rtsunlimited.com/CoverPages/images/IncHulk%23102Big.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on August 05, 2009, 09:22:35 PM
Quote from: postjack on August 05, 2009, 06:49:31 PM

Klostermann is the man.  "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" changed my life in college.  Then "Fargo Rock City" changed it again.


My favorite line from that book: "...listening to Clapton is like getting a sensual massage from a woman you've loved for the past ten years; listening to Van Halen is like having the best sex of your life with three foxy nursing students you met at a Tastee Freez."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on August 06, 2009, 02:16:49 AM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on August 03, 2009, 06:44:27 AM
(http://www.theshrubbery.com/0101/anthology.jpg)

Still reading, since last christmas. Halfway through now.

i bet that's a bitch to read...

but i need to pick it up.
i'd love to get lost in that one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ozymandias on August 20, 2009, 11:59:54 PM
Edit: Whoops.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on August 21, 2009, 12:06:18 AM
http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=4845.0  :-)


I recently read The Watchmen for the first time, so I understand your login now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on August 21, 2009, 12:07:50 AM
Can I just say that the "entertainment" board is kinda dumb considering that music is technically a form of entertainment.

As for myself, I have long since forgotten how to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ozymandias on August 21, 2009, 12:15:52 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/silmarillion.JPG?w=190&h=252)

LOTR came up in a LST, and it reminded me that, at one point, I wanted to read The Silmarillion, but never got around to it. Now that I have some time, I've started digging in. Pretty great read so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on August 21, 2009, 01:01:43 AM
(http://johnlarroquetteproject.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/johnlennonthelife-198x300.jpg)

John Lennon
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on August 21, 2009, 10:48:02 AM
The Annotated Edition of Pride and Prejudice. The annotations really help a lot.  I also just finished Anna Karenina which I really enjoyed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on August 21, 2009, 11:07:59 AM
I am reading Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance. Pretty interesting stuff, actually.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcOhS_A3tnc/SDANmVkMDWI/AAAAAAAAAVk/RM0oLLVtqn8/s320/Sans+titre.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: AntelopeFreeway on August 21, 2009, 12:10:55 PM
Quote from: slslbs on August 21, 2009, 01:01:43 AM
(http://johnlarroquetteproject.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/johnlennonthelife-198x300.jpg)

John Lennon

Just finished that one yesterday.  Moving on to a biography of Satchel Paige.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: okelnard on August 21, 2009, 12:16:41 PM
I read Scar Tissue recently.  I always enjoyed the rhcp when I saw them waaay back in the day, but reading it made me want to bitch slap Anthony... what a douche!  But, that's what addiction does to you I suppose.

I read the New Yorker regularly and just about any book on my kids' reading list (If I never read it, I want to know what they are reading).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on August 22, 2009, 01:15:24 AM
maybe i was inspired, dunno, anyway, I love a good read so if anyone has something to share, please do....

at the moment, this may sound a bit.... :-P, my wife and I are reading "A River Runs Through It" aloud together. It all started after the gorge shows when we headed back the olympics to get our son and head off to Montana. We ended up staying in eastern WA, priest lake in ID, then ended up camping outside Hamilton Montana where the book was written.   We spent many a beautiful day hiking the bitteroots and decided to buy the book in town.  driving through highway 12 towards Jerry Johnson hot springs, highly recommended, and picking huckleberries up old logging roads was the perfect backdrop for the story.    anyway, the book has a lot more to do with fishing than the movie shows, but then again, who wants to see Brad Pitt fish for two hours. we are still not finished but just wanted to share...

other than that, usually i read about big mountain climbing or the like, and dont mind a little Dan Brown or Dean Koontz on the occasion when i want an easy read..
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on August 22, 2009, 02:02:14 AM
Wow two book fail threads in two days, that's gotta be some kind of record. 

Also, Dan Brown, lol.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on August 22, 2009, 02:04:25 AM
(http://jangledorf.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/book-fail.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: WhatstheUse? on August 22, 2009, 02:11:43 AM
Ok.... Ill be the nice guy...
http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=4845.0 (http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=4845.0)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on August 22, 2009, 02:16:42 AM
Quote from: WhatstheUse? on August 22, 2009, 02:11:43 AM
Ok.... Ill be the nice guy...
http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=4845.0 (http://week4paug.net/index.php?topic=4845.0)

thats the spirit, sorry, didnt see it on the main page, i thought maybe everyone listened to books on there machines...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 22, 2009, 06:15:43 AM
O, I read books alright. Mostly about music.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 23, 2009, 12:34:24 AM
Quote from: ozymandias on August 21, 2009, 12:15:52 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/silmarillion.JPG?w=190&h=252)

LOTR came up in a LST, and it reminded me that, at one point, I wanted to read The Silmarillion, but never got around to it. Now that I have some time, I've started digging in. Pretty great read so far.

I'm in the middle of that right now. Probably my third time to read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on August 23, 2009, 04:25:43 AM
(http://worldsmostfamousaccountant.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/pygmy.jpg)

It's the good shit lollipop.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 23, 2009, 08:20:18 PM
Quote from: aphineday on August 23, 2009, 04:25:43 AM
(http://worldsmostfamousaccountant.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/pygmy.jpg)

It's the good shit lollipop.

Recently read that. I dug it. Not my favorite of his but still good.
I'm currently reading Snuff on the train. (Silmarillion @ home.)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 23, 2009, 11:28:36 PM
John Barth - The Sot-Weed Factor.

one of the most brilliant, hilarious books i've ever read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on August 24, 2009, 03:10:56 AM


Recently read that. I dug it. Not my favorite of his but still good.
I'm currently reading Snuff on the train. (Silmarillion @ home.)
[/quote]

Snuff was great. I like most of his stuff, Pygmy was a damn challenge though with the broken English. Great though, nonetheless.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on August 24, 2009, 03:15:58 AM
I'm not too far in to it yet, but I really like it so far
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Killijgasdhgsd.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on September 07, 2009, 03:26:08 PM
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Haven't really started reading yet, but i'm pretty excited.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on September 07, 2009, 04:10:18 PM
i just started "The things they Carried" by tim o'brien.  never read any of his stuff, but so far i like the writing style a whole lot.  Its about Vietnam, which ususally does nothing for me, but again, the style of storytelling is really solid.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on September 07, 2009, 06:59:21 PM
(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n38037.jpg)

awesome and really easy read.  and better than the movie
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on September 07, 2009, 08:24:46 PM

Chatwin - In Patagonia
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 07, 2009, 09:06:44 PM
Just finally finished "House of Leaves."
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764 (http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764)

Very odd book I've never heard of, xmas gift from my brother. 


...still not finished with "the NOW habit"

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on September 08, 2009, 01:23:02 AM
Started reading "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy again.  Saw that another author has written a sixth book in the series and it is going to be released in October, don't really know how I feel about that, even if he was given the blessing of Douglas Adam's widow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on September 08, 2009, 08:12:57 AM
Time Travelers Wife

Interesting so far.  Not sold on it yet, but has a pretty sci-fi premise with an underlying love story theme thing going on. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 08, 2009, 10:12:56 AM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 07, 2009, 06:59:21 PM
(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n38037.jpg)

awesome and really easy read.  and better than the movie

I love how it is written "by the author of "Fight Club"

Quote from: thechad on September 08, 2009, 01:23:02 AM
Started reading "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy again. Saw that another author has written a sixth book in the series and it is going to be released in October, don't really know how I feel about that, even if he was given the blessing of Douglas Adam's widow.

Blasphemy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on September 08, 2009, 10:20:26 AM
Quote from: Bobafett on September 07, 2009, 04:10:18 PM
i just started "The things they Carried" by tim o'brien.  never read any of his stuff, but so far i like the writing style a whole lot.  Its about Vietnam, which ususally does nothing for me, but again, the style of storytelling is really solid.
that's one of my favorite books.  He's a brilliant writer.  Let me know what you think once you finish it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: AntelopeFreeway on September 08, 2009, 11:22:02 AM
This one:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on September 08, 2009, 12:15:39 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 08, 2009, 10:12:56 AM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 07, 2009, 06:59:21 PM
(http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n7/n38037.jpg)

awesome and really easy read.  and better than the movie

I love how it is written "by the author of "Fight Club"

Noticed that, that is pretty funny.

Quote from: rowjimmy on September 08, 2009, 10:12:56 AM


Quote from: thechad on September 08, 2009, 01:23:02 AM
Started reading "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy again. Saw that another author has written a sixth book in the series and it is going to be released in October, don't really know how I feel about that, even if he was given the blessing of Douglas Adam's widow.

Blasphemy.

It was apparently written by Eoin Colfer who wrote the Artemis Fowl series of children's books.  I think this information makes it even more unsettling.  I have not read the Artemis Fowl books so I am not basing it on that, it just doesn't sit right with me, but I will probably still read it eventually, if for the only reason I can bitch about it thoroughly and correctly.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 09, 2009, 12:53:03 PM
just finished:

(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/89/45/4ea5c0a398a02eeecc961210.L.jpg)

sadly, this completes my reading of robbins' bibliography
get to writing tom!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on September 09, 2009, 12:58:50 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 09, 2009, 12:53:03 PM
just finished:

(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/89/45/4ea5c0a398a02eeecc961210.L.jpg)

sadly, this completes my reading of robbins' bibliography
get to writing tom!

That's my favorite of his.  Plucky...what a great character.  So many things to like about that book!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 09, 2009, 01:51:38 PM
it is definitely great. top three for me, inclulding villa incognito and fierce invalids.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 09, 2009, 04:04:01 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on September 09, 2009, 12:58:50 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 09, 2009, 12:53:03 PM
just finished:

(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/89/45/4ea5c0a398a02eeecc961210.L.jpg)

sadly, this completes my reading of robbins' bibliography
get to writing tom!

That's my favorite of his.  Plucky...what a great character.  So many things to like about that book!

Yup.  This book and _Even Cowgirls Get the Blues_ far and away surpass all of his other works, imo.  _Skinny Legs and All_ is a distant third.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 14, 2009, 05:05:24 PM
Dan Browns new book, The Lost Symbol drops tomorrow. I'll probably wait for the paperback to come out since I have a whole stack of other stuff I'm working on, but just thought I'd mention it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 12:27:54 AM
There's a special circle in Literary Hell reserved for Dan Brown readers.  It's adjacent to the section reserved for Daniel Steele readers and right down the hall from those who prefer Nelson Demille.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:25:04 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 12:27:54 AM
There's a special circle in Literary Hell reserved for Dan Brown readers.  It's adjacent to the section reserved for Daniel Steele readers and right down the hall from those who prefer Nelson Demille.

i tried to read the da vinci code but couldn't get past the first page. not that i was trying to be snobbish about it, i wanted to see what all the hubbub was about, figured i'd whip through it in a couple days, but i just kept re-reading the first sentence with growing disbelief that it had been written like that. it really may be the worst first sentence of any book, ever. so i gave up.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 08:35:19 AM
(http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/39210000/39210142.JPG)
Launch The Intruders

Documenting VA-65's 1972 stint in Vietnam. My father flew in that squadron on that cruise, gave an oral history to the author, and is mentioned numerous times in the book.
He handed me my copy and said, "If you want to know what I did in Vietnam... read this."

So I'm reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on September 15, 2009, 09:21:53 AM
^ Thats pretty freakin cool RJ.  Kudos to your dad!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 10:00:03 AM
That is pretty cool.  How does it compare to Flags of our Fathers?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 15, 2009, 10:21:48 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:25:04 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 12:27:54 AM
There's a special circle in Literary Hell reserved for Dan Brown readers.  It's adjacent to the section reserved for Daniel Steele readers and right down the hall from those who prefer Nelson Demille.

i tried to read the da vinci code but couldn't get past the first page. not that i was trying to be snobbish about it, i wanted to see what all the hubbub was about, figured i'd whip through it in a couple days, but i just kept re-reading the first sentence with growing disbelief that it had been written like that. it really may be the worst first sentence of any book, ever. so i gave up.

That is a terrible first sentence.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:19:11 AM
Special circle of literary hell.  Told ya.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 11:30:12 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:19:11 AM
Special circle of literary hell.  Told ya.

You don't have to like it, but you do realize Da Vinci Code sold over 80 million copies and has been translated into 40+ languages? I'm just saying, they're quick fun reads.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:31:20 AM
Kenny G.  has similar sales figures.  I would say the same for him in the context of music.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 11:33:22 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:31:20 AM
Kenny G.  has similar sales figures.  I would say the same for him in the context of music.

Its true. I like Kenny G too!  :cry:

:lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:36:05 AM
Ha.  Do you ever listen to Kenny G. while you're reading Dan Brown?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 11:36:29 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:36:05 AM
Ha.  Do you ever listen to Kenny G. while you're reading Dan Brown?

Heaven, I'm in heaven....  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:37:43 AM
One more final question.  Have you ever gasped audibly during either the end of a chapter or the beginning of a chapter?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 11:41:01 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:37:43 AM
One more final question.  Have you ever gasped audibly during either the end of a chapter or the beginning of a chapter?

Have you been watching my webcam?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Currently working my way through The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:57:20 AM
Ok.  You are not what I meant by "Dan Brown Reader".  Dan Brown readers are the ones who have nothing on their shelves besides Dan Brown.  They are similar to, but not the same as the Stephen King readers of the 1970's/1980's.  They are people, who for whatever reason, subsist solely on Dan Brown.

These are the same people who think that McDonald's=Gourmet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 15, 2009, 12:01:38 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
No need to repeat yourself, we already know how you feel about the works of Dan Brown
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 12:08:08 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:57:20 AM
Ok.  You are not what I meant by "Dan Brown Reader".  Dan Brown readers are the ones who have nothing on their shelves besides Dan Brown.  They are similar to, but not the same as the Stephen King readers of the 1970's/1980's.  They are people, who for whatever reason, subsist solely on Dan Brown.

These are the same people who think that McDonald's=Gourmet.

It's more like take a break from the art house movies, and seeing the zoned out big summer flick with a big bag of popcorn and soda. What can I say? I'm lovin' it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 01:00:51 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.

Yes, I seem to remember your great hatred towards Eggers earlier in this thread.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 01:10:02 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 01:00:51 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.

Yes, I seem to remember your great hatred towards Eggers earlier in this thread.

If he's fucked up "Where The Wild Things Are" I might have to hunt him down.
As that's pretty much a given, I'm in the market for a new compass and a folding chair.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 01:22:08 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 01:10:02 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 01:00:51 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.

Yes, I seem to remember your great hatred towards Eggers earlier in this thread.

If he's fucked up "Where The Wild Things Are" I might have to hunt him down.
As that's pretty much a given, I'm in the market for a new compass and a folding chair.

I wouldn't be so sure, Spike Jonze is the man.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 01:25:33 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 01:10:02 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 01:00:51 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.

Yes, I seem to remember your great hatred towards Eggers earlier in this thread.

If he's fucked up "Where The Wild Things Are" I might have to hunt him down.
As that's pretty much a given, I'm in the market for a new compass and a folding chair.


Yes, the folding chair list. Now I know Eggers is on it, and George Will. Who else might round out a list of 5?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 01:35:14 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 01:25:33 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 01:10:02 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 01:00:51 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 12:42:49 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 15, 2009, 11:52:10 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 15, 2009, 11:45:57 AM
Aaditya, I'm sure you're a sensible chap.  Perhaps we can start you off with some light Eggers and then work your way up through McSweeny's.  At that point, you may find yourself regretting the errors of your ways.

I actually read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

I read that book.
Dave Eggers has a metal folding chair reserved for his face if I even meet him.
Pretentious fuck owes me a few hours of my life.

Yes, I seem to remember your great hatred towards Eggers earlier in this thread.

If he's fucked up "Where The Wild Things Are" I might have to hunt him down.
As that's pretty much a given, I'm in the market for a new compass and a folding chair.


Yes, the folding chair list. Now I know Eggers is on it, and George Will. Who else might round out a list of 5?

G. Gordon Liddy, David Caruso... a few others.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 01:41:03 PM
I enjoy reading George Will, he's a douche, but his arguments are always well written and I think he does have a flair for prose.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:06:26 PM
Just because a guy can write doesn't mean he's not an asshole and deserving of retribution for hateful statements.


/just sayin'
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 15, 2009, 02:10:25 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:06:26 PM
Just because a guy can write doesn't mean he's not an asshole and deserving of retribution for hateful statements.


/just sayin'

Watch it Hicks!

(http://cache.boston.com/images/bostondirtdogs/Headline_Archives/FF_TX_chair.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:45:59 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
This has nothing to do with politics.

The dude shat on Jerry Garcia's grave the week after his death.
Fuck that guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:59:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:45:59 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
This has nothing to do with politics.

The dude shat on Jerry Garcia's grave the week after his death.
Fuck that guy.

Oh that.

Yeah that was a low blow, and Newsweek used an excerpt from that column as ad copy for years, which really sucked. 

Like I said before he is a douche, but he was actually pretty critical of Bush very early on, which got some points from me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 03:01:46 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:59:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:45:59 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
This has nothing to do with politics.

The dude shat on Jerry Garcia's grave the week after his death.
Fuck that guy.

Oh that.

Yeah that was a low blow, and Newsweek used an excerpt from that column as ad copy for years, which really sucked. 

Like I said before he is a douche, but he was actually pretty critical of Bush very early on, which got some points from me.

I haven't read a word form that clown since August 95.
Nor have I read Newsweek.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:13:52 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 03:01:46 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:59:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:45:59 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
This has nothing to do with politics.

The dude shat on Jerry Garcia's grave the week after his death.
Fuck that guy.

Oh that.

Yeah that was a low blow, and Newsweek used an excerpt from that column as ad copy for years, which really sucked. 

Like I said before he is a douche, but he was actually pretty critical of Bush very early on, which got some points from me.

I haven't read a word form that clown since August 95.
Nor have I read Newsweek.

a wise decision.

as for eggars, i can sure do without his books, but at least he's used his money and fame to create an organization called 826 Valencia, which provides all kinds of great writing classes for kids. it's a very cool thing.

as for spike jonze being 'the man'... so far he's had the good sense to direct charlie kaufman scripts. Wild Things he wrote himself along with dave eggars. which if you read the big nyt article last week on it, jonze proudly proclaims that they didn't want to have any kind of story that made sense. they just wanted stuff to happen. so, yeah. hm. i fear the worst.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on September 15, 2009, 04:47:26 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 15, 2009, 02:45:59 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 02:31:33 PM
Yeah who needs a civil discourse of differing ideas and viewpoints, it's a totally overrated concept.
This has nothing to do with politics.

The dude shat on Jerry Garcia's grave the week after his death.
Fuck that guy.
wow, this is the first I am hearing of this, details please. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 05:46:23 PM
I just read it, it's more asshole-y than I remember.

Don't bother.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on September 15, 2009, 06:40:59 PM
Faulkner - Sartoris
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on September 16, 2009, 06:02:35 AM
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0306811839.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes - Sylvie Simmons
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 16, 2009, 08:43:29 AM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 01:41:03 PM
I enjoy reading George Will, he's a douche, but his arguments are always well written and I think he does have a flair for prose.
Quote from: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:13:52 PM


a wise decision.

as for eggars, i can sure do without his books, but at least he's used his money and fame to create an organization called 826 Valencia, which provides all kinds of great writing classes for kids. it's a very cool thing.

as for spike jonze being 'the man'... so far he's had the good sense to direct charlie kaufman scripts. Wild Things he wrote himself along with dave eggars. which if you read the big nyt article last week on it, jonze proudly proclaims that they didn't want to have any kind of story that made sense. they just wanted stuff to happen. so, yeah. hm. i fear the worst.

I approve of these two quoted posts.

Especially the shout out to 826 Valencia/McSweeny's/The Believer.

Dave Eggers may not write the type of prose that you desire to read, but he has done excellent work for literature in general.  The Believer and McSweeny's are the two best "rags" currently being published.  If you have not read either, you are totally missing out.  I especially appreciate that a month after David Foster Wallace's death, McSweeny's published an entire issue dedicated to his life and career.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on September 16, 2009, 08:40:13 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 16, 2009, 08:43:29 AM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 01:41:03 PM
I enjoy reading George Will, he's a douche, but his arguments are always well written and I think he does have a flair for prose.
Quote from: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:13:52 PM


a wise decision.

as for eggars, i can sure do without his books, but at least he's used his money and fame to create an organization called 826 Valencia, which provides all kinds of great writing classes for kids. it's a very cool thing.

as for spike jonze being 'the man'... so far he's had the good sense to direct charlie kaufman scripts. Wild Things he wrote himself along with dave eggars. which if you read the big nyt article last week on it, jonze proudly proclaims that they didn't want to have any kind of story that made sense. they just wanted stuff to happen. so, yeah. hm. i fear the worst.

I approve of these two quoted posts.

Especially the shout out to 826 Valencia/McSweeny's/The Believer.

Dave Eggers may not write the type of prose that you desire to read, but he has done excellent work for literature in general.  The Believer and McSweeny's are the two best "rags" currently being published.  If you have not read either, you are totally missing out.  I especially appreciate that a month after David Foster Wallace's death, McSweeny's published an entire issue dedicated to his life and career.

while i appreciate the intent of mcsweeney's and the believer, i gave up actually reading mcsweeney's a few years ago. it's just become way too insufferable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 16, 2009, 08:41:25 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on September 16, 2009, 08:40:13 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 16, 2009, 08:43:29 AM
Quote from: Hicks on September 15, 2009, 01:41:03 PM
I enjoy reading George Will, he's a douche, but his arguments are always well written and I think he does have a flair for prose.
Quote from: cactusfan on September 15, 2009, 04:13:52 PM


a wise decision.

as for eggars, i can sure do without his books, but at least he's used his money and fame to create an organization called 826 Valencia, which provides all kinds of great writing classes for kids. it's a very cool thing.

as for spike jonze being 'the man'... so far he's had the good sense to direct charlie kaufman scripts. Wild Things he wrote himself along with dave eggars. which if you read the big nyt article last week on it, jonze proudly proclaims that they didn't want to have any kind of story that made sense. they just wanted stuff to happen. so, yeah. hm. i fear the worst.

I approve of these two quoted posts.

Especially the shout out to 826 Valencia/McSweeny's/The Believer.

Dave Eggers may not write the type of prose that you desire to read, but he has done excellent work for literature in general.  The Believer and McSweeny's are the two best "rags" currently being published.  If you have not read either, you are totally missing out.  I especially appreciate that a month after David Foster Wallace's death, McSweeny's published an entire issue dedicated to his life and career.

while i appreciate the intent of mcsweeney's and the believer, i gave up actually reading mcsweeney's a few years ago. it's just become way too insufferable.

Excellent choice of words.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Alumni on September 16, 2009, 08:49:09 PM
Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures)

Memoirs of three UN Peacekeepers who served in various hells on earth during the 90s. Pretty good so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on September 18, 2009, 01:24:36 AM
While I can see how McSweeny's could be perceived in that light...  I do not see how The Believer can fall in that category.

The Believer is what mags should be.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on September 18, 2009, 02:19:02 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on September 16, 2009, 06:02:35 AM
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0306811839.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes - Sylvie Simmons

Excellent biography, highly recommended.

next:

The Castle - Franz Kafka
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on September 18, 2009, 07:11:07 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on September 18, 2009, 02:19:02 PM


next:

The Castle - Franz Kafka

great book. but so very frustrating that he didn't finish it.

have you read The Trial? that's my favorite of his.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on September 19, 2009, 10:56:48 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on September 18, 2009, 07:11:07 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on September 18, 2009, 02:19:02 PM


next:

The Castle - Franz Kafka

great book. but so very frustrating that he didn't finish it.

have you read The Trial? that's my favorite of his.

yeah i did, right after we read 'the metamorphosis' in school (which is my fave), but i got bored after a while.
gonna give it another chance after 'the castle'.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on September 23, 2009, 03:44:44 PM
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough. Follows the story of Pride and Prejudice--20 Years Later!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 24, 2009, 10:59:04 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?

Libraries are free...
/just sayin
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on September 24, 2009, 12:11:19 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 24, 2009, 10:59:04 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?

Libraries are free...
/just sayin

Or I would imagine that it will be found at used bookstore for pretty cheap in about a week or so.  But if you really want a new copy, I would wait for the paperback.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on September 24, 2009, 01:08:21 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 24, 2009, 10:59:04 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?

Libraries are free...
/just sayin

QFT, leaves for Library
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 24, 2009, 04:15:06 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 24, 2009, 01:08:21 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 24, 2009, 10:59:04 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?

Libraries are free...
/just sayin

QFT, leaves for Library

I dunno. I'm allergic to cats, and you know where cats like to hang out...the library.

(http://www.secheltanimalhospital.com/pageimages/cat_reading.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on September 24, 2009, 04:28:38 PM
^^^ :lol: maybe thats only in UK libraries cause hes reading the UK edition of Half Blood.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 24, 2009, 04:40:56 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 24, 2009, 04:28:38 PM
^^^ :lol: maybe thats only in UK libraries cause hes reading the UK edition of Half Blood.

Cats preferz teh kingz englush.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 25, 2009, 12:26:07 AM
Quote from: thechad on September 24, 2009, 12:11:19 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 24, 2009, 10:59:04 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2009, 01:07:12 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 23, 2009, 03:26:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 17, 2009, 03:59:59 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on September 17, 2009, 02:57:02 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on September 16, 2009, 08:40:22 AM
Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol. Meh-tastic.

tell me its not so, i was looking forward to this

I, as well. It happens.

OK, to clarify:

storyline = mehtastic, it's pretty true to Dan Brown formula.

factually, also like his previous books, the novel is very interesting and worth the read.

not saying more as it's hard to discuss without giving spoilers.

ok, so here;s the question. Should i go ahead and get the hardback or is it mehtastic enough to just wait for the paperback version to come out?

Libraries are free...
/just sayin

Or I would imagine that it will be found at used bookstore for pretty cheap in about a week or so.  But if you really want a new copy, I would wait for the paperback.

Agreed. Unless you want a digital copy. :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on October 01, 2009, 12:03:58 PM
speaking of... caught this at the book store yesterday.....

do what to read this one...

(http://www.bumpershine.com/wp-images/covers/david_cross_cov.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on October 01, 2009, 12:33:17 PM

Red X has a new book out?!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

i've read a bunch of his books over the years, they're always good, but i think this one may be the best. so much better than the movie version.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on October 01, 2009, 01:11:18 PM
The Pharmer's Almanac  :phish:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 01, 2009, 07:33:36 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

i've read a bunch of his books over the years, they're always good, but i think this one may be the best. so much better than the movie version.

If you like him.  Please check out the novels from Jack Womack.  His novels "Elvissey", "Ambient", "Heathern", etc are all wonderful cyberpunk novels from the 1980's.  Highly underrated stuff.  Very socio-political and very applicable in the world today.

Also, you may want to find "White Light" by Rudy Rucker.  Rudy Rucker is an amazing author that combines cyberpunk, philosophy, history, quantum theory and higher level mathematics in an interesting way that is stimulating and rewarding. 

I think you'll find that these are not only easier to read than Gibson and Dick, but that they are more entertaining and less direct as well.

When you are done with these...read Vert and Pollen by Jeff Noon.  You won't be sorry.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 11:22:37 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 01, 2009, 07:33:36 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

i've read a bunch of his books over the years, they're always good, but i think this one may be the best. so much better than the movie version.

If you like him.  Please check out the novels from Jack Womack.  His novels "Elvissey", "Ambient", "Heathern", etc are all wonderful cyberpunk novels from the 1980's.  Highly underrated stuff.  Very socio-political and very applicable in the world today.

Also, you may want to find "White Light" by Rudy Rucker.  Rudy Rucker is an amazing author that combines cyberpunk, philosophy, history, quantum theory and higher level mathematics in an interesting way that is stimulating and rewarding. 

I think you'll find that these are not only easier to read than Gibson and Dick, but that they are more entertaining and less direct as well.

When you are done with these...read Vert and Pollen by Jeff Noon.  You won't be sorry.

i love science fiction-- yet find much of it to be crap. i've heard all about Rucker. i suppose i'll give him a try eventually.  Womack and Noon, maybe. i read a lot of books, and there's a long list...

sorry, that came out rather bitter. i do appreciate any and all book recommendations.

speaking of crappy sf, just finished Lord of Light by Zelazny.
what a load of horseshit that was. and a Hugo winner to boot.
decent writing, actually, but yikes, it was all this late '60s hinduism/buddhism jibber jabber, lots of gods who sort of maybe aren't really gods, doing battle or who knows what, all with a sort of implied science fictiony vibe. i guess.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: messengerbird on October 02, 2009, 04:05:23 PM
I am reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I am on the second book New Moon and can't stop reading. I think I am addicted to Vampires. Help!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on October 02, 2009, 05:13:21 PM
Quote from: messengerbird on October 02, 2009, 04:05:23 PM
I am reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I am on the second book New Moon and can't stop reading. I think I am addicted to Vampires. Help!
*Birdman makes appointment with dentist to have fangs installed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on October 02, 2009, 08:38:21 PM
Quote from: messengerbird on October 02, 2009, 04:05:23 PM
I am reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I am on the second book New Moon and can't stop reading. I think I am addicted to Vampires. Help!

Every middle school and high school girl and every female teacher at my school have all read it.  They all seem to love it.

I, myself, chose to not have anything to do with them. 
But I hope you enjoy them.  They seem to have taken the world by storm.  And I have heard it just keeps getting better by the fourth book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 03, 2009, 03:15:27 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 11:22:37 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 01, 2009, 07:33:36 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on October 01, 2009, 12:57:08 PM
A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick

i've read a bunch of his books over the years, they're always good, but i think this one may be the best. so much better than the movie version.

If you like him.  Please check out the novels from Jack Womack.  His novels "Elvissey", "Ambient", "Heathern", etc are all wonderful cyberpunk novels from the 1980's.  Highly underrated stuff.  Very socio-political and very applicable in the world today.

Also, you may want to find "White Light" by Rudy Rucker.  Rudy Rucker is an amazing author that combines cyberpunk, philosophy, history, quantum theory and higher level mathematics in an interesting way that is stimulating and rewarding. 

I think you'll find that these are not only easier to read than Gibson and Dick, but that they are more entertaining and less direct as well.

When you are done with these...read Vert and Pollen by Jeff Noon.  You won't be sorry.

i love science fiction-- yet find much of it to be crap. i've heard all about Rucker. i suppose i'll give him a try eventually.  Womack and Noon, maybe. i read a lot of books, and there's a long list...

sorry, that came out rather bitter. i do appreciate any and all book recommendations.

speaking of crappy sf, just finished Lord of Light by Zelazny.
what a load of horseshit that was. and a Hugo winner to boot.
decent writing, actually, but yikes, it was all this late '60s hinduism/buddhism jibber jabber, lots of gods who sort of maybe aren't really gods, doing battle or who knows what, all with a sort of implied science fictiony vibe. i guess.

As far as Sci-Fi books are concerned all of those go down like a fine bottle of wine...very satisfying and enlightening.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on October 03, 2009, 03:19:44 PM
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.  When I saw it at Borders I thought the cover looked really familiar. I've seen it somewhere before. Maybe here. I'm enjoying it so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on October 04, 2009, 06:55:50 PM
just borrowed The Lost Symbol from the buddy lets see how it really is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PhishPhan on October 05, 2009, 09:30:22 AM
Just started Mike's Corner. Got it last week at Gordon's show in Madison.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on October 07, 2009, 07:10:49 AM
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on October 07, 2009, 08:46:12 AM
(http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/160/952/400000000000000160952_s4.jpg)

China Mieville - The City & The City

Just finished this one.  In terms of world building, I found it pretty exhilarating.  Its hard to describe, but basically it describes a modern place in which two "different" cities exist.  The thing is the occupy the same physical space, but citizens in one city aren't allowed to see, hear, or otherwise sense anyone or anything in the other city (they unsee, unhear, unsense, etc).  If a citizen of one city happens to truly appear to be sensing something going on in the other city, a powerful secret police force (named "Breach", after the aforementioned act) shows up and disappears them.  Basically the book is a pretty good murder mystery that takes place in this setting, so you can begin to imagine the conflicts that could occur during an investigation.  Good story, great setting.  Mieville is amazing.

now reading:

(http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/ebooks/product/400/000/000/000/000/031/577/400000000000000031577_s4.jpg)

China Mieville - The Iron Council

Had this on my shelf for years, finally pulling it down and reading it.  Its nice to be back in New Crobozun.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on October 16, 2009, 05:35:57 PM
wow
so I am at my moms house.  There is a book sitting next to the tv.  I pick it up to see what she is reading and its this...
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51M6Z799PJL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on October 16, 2009, 05:36:55 PM
ha, your mom is definitely hipper than mine.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on October 16, 2009, 05:58:26 PM
Started this one a few nights ago.

(http://s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/books/deception_point/dan_brown)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on October 16, 2009, 06:26:10 PM
Quote from: Hicks on October 16, 2009, 05:36:55 PM
ha, your mom is definitely hipper than mine.

yes, she is hipper than a lot of parents.  I am lucky
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on October 16, 2009, 08:54:23 PM
just finished:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Chokecvr.jpg)

the best of the three of his ive read so far.  really good stuff.
now for something completely different.  finally getting around to:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/EastOfEden.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
  My wife and I both read and loved East of Eden a few years back. Great read.

I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on October 16, 2009, 09:21:59 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
  My wife and I both read and loved East of Eden a few years back. Great read.

I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.

I want to check out this one soon
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519ar6ElRGL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on October 16, 2009, 09:28:29 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
  My wife and I both read and loved East of Eden a few years back. Great read.

so excited.  im only about 20 pages in and loving it....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on October 16, 2009, 10:53:36 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.

Didn't realize he wrote any short stories.  All I've read is Gravity's Rainbow.  What are his short stories like?  Seems like he'd almost have to have a completely different style to write something short.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 18, 2009, 09:54:46 PM
Quote from: kellerb on October 16, 2009, 10:53:36 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.

Didn't realize he wrote any short stories.  All I've read is Gravity's Rainbow.  What are his short stories like?  Seems like he'd almost have to have a completely different style to write something short.

I couldn't make it past page 70 of Gravity's Rainbow.  Yet, I've read "Infinite Jest" four times.  Generation Gap'd?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hesthemamba on October 20, 2009, 09:11:55 PM
Finishing up The Essential Dalai Lama; His Important Teachings as soon as i can so i can start The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch which is going to be epic
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on October 20, 2009, 09:40:07 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on October 04, 2009, 06:55:50 PM
just borrowed The Lost Symbol from the buddy lets see how it really is.

Just picked this up also, hope I'm not disappointed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on October 20, 2009, 09:51:29 PM
(http://www.thereadingnook.com/image_manager/attributes/image/image_1/0395174449_large.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 20, 2009, 10:07:50 PM
Does he actually get to deliver the papers?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on October 20, 2009, 10:11:11 PM
Shhh! Don't ruin the end for me...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 20, 2009, 10:14:02 PM
Hey man, I was just basing that on the front cover...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on October 20, 2009, 11:50:03 PM
As God Commands by Niccolo Ammaniti.  Good so far!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on October 21, 2009, 09:16:49 PM
Quote from: hesthemamba on October 20, 2009, 09:11:55 PM
Finishing up The Essential Dalai Lama; His Important Teachings as soon as i can so i can start The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch which is going to be epic

don't get too excited about the pausch book.

/just saying.

Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on October 20, 2009, 09:40:07 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on October 04, 2009, 06:55:50 PM
just borrowed The Lost Symbol from the buddy lets see how it really is.

Just picked this up also, hope I'm not disappointed.

me too, altho the person i borrowed it from said it took awhile to get into.  :|
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on October 21, 2009, 09:22:55 PM
Quote from: kellerb on October 16, 2009, 10:53:36 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.

Didn't realize he wrote any short stories.  All I've read is Gravity's Rainbow.  What are his short stories like?  Seems like he'd almost have to have a completely different style to write something short.
This compilation is made up of his early works, pre-GR. The density is still present but its easier to take in small bites. He takes many of the same themes he includes in his longer works and displays them individually in the  short stories. Does that make sense?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on October 23, 2009, 12:23:09 PM
I just finished Tom Robbin's Another Roadside Attraction and just started Helter Skelter.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 23, 2009, 02:36:20 PM
Quote from: thechad on October 23, 2009, 12:23:09 PM
I just finished Tom Robbin's Another Roadside Attraction and just started Helter Skelter.

How'd you enjoy Another Roadside Attraction?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on October 24, 2009, 01:09:34 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on October 23, 2009, 02:36:20 PM
Quote from: thechad on October 23, 2009, 12:23:09 PM
I just finished Tom Robbin's Another Roadside Attraction and just started Helter Skelter.

How'd you enjoy Another Roadside Attraction?

I liked it, I had pretty much called the Corpse thing about a third of the way through and at times the writing style that he used seemed a little pretentious, but it was a good book and would recommend it to people.  The next book of his that I'm going to read is Still Life... but I've got a few others things to get through first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on October 26, 2009, 10:04:21 AM
Quote from: Sophist on September 08, 2009, 10:20:26 AM
Quote from: Bobafett on September 07, 2009, 04:10:18 PM
i just started "The things they Carried" by tim o'brien.  never read any of his stuff, but so far i like the writing style a whole lot.  Its about Vietnam, which ususally does nothing for me, but again, the style of storytelling is really solid.
that's one of my favorite books.  He's a brilliant writer.  Let me know what you think once you finish it.

I finished it a few weeks ago and have been too busy to stop bythe paug for a chat about a book, but it is now one of the best books i have read in several years.  Amazing how the story gets the full circle aproach like a conversation with a old southern gentleman.  kinda rambles around the point, but when you get to the light, its a lot brighter because of the journey.  He is def. a great writer.  do you have any suggestions of other works of his.

Also, has anyone with interest in the SW and native american culture read The Ancient Child or House made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday?  I highly recommend them, particularly THE Ancient Child.  Mindbendin style of writing that border on free form poetry at times.  lots of metaphysical self evaluation going on.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 04, 2009, 08:53:31 PM
Quote from: thechad on October 23, 2009, 12:23:09 PM
I just finished Tom Robbin's Another Roadside Attraction and just started Helter Skelter.
I just bought that.  How was it?

and I just started this tonight (read the first two chapters):
(http://aerialcircus.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/bc_dmt_spirit_molecule_0.jpg)

and last night I read this in one sitting:
(http://www.buffyholt.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kafka-the-metamorphosis.jpg)

Very interesting.  I didn't know anything about Kafka going into it, and I walked away with a profound sense that Kafka was expounding upon the woes of psychological and economic slavery.  I can understand why the book is praised so highly and a must read for any literary buff. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on November 04, 2009, 10:06:50 PM
(http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2008/0915/pg2_downtown_owl_200.jpg)

About 1/2 way through. Very dark comedy, typical Klosterman. If you are a fan of his, shouldn't be disappointed. If you haven't read Klosterman, I probably wouldn't start here. Try out Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, or Fargo: Rock City as a good first Klosterman read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 04, 2009, 11:41:16 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 21, 2009, 09:22:55 PM
Quote from: kellerb on October 16, 2009, 10:53:36 PM
Quote from: birdman on October 16, 2009, 09:17:12 PM
I'm currently reading a compilation of Pynchon's short stories called Slow Learner.
Much easier on the brain than his massive novels.

Didn't realize he wrote any short stories.  All I've read is Gravity's Rainbow.  What are his short stories like?  Seems like he'd almost have to have a completely different style to write something short.
This compilation is made up of his early works, pre-GR. The density is still present but its easier to take in small bites. He takes many of the same themes he includes in his longer works and displays them individually in the  short stories. Does that make sense?

That volume is also important in that he wrote the introduction and tells us a little about his writing process, influences, and background on each story. He is quite hard on himself and those stories, save for the last one whose title escapes me at the moment. A good place to start for anyone wanting to read Pynchon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 10:40:34 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?

It is. I saw it and Borders and thought the cover looked cool. Has he written other good ones?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 05:42:54 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 10:40:34 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?

It is. I saw it and Borders and thought the cover looked cool. Has he written other good ones?

Absolutely, once you've finished that monstrosity, they all get smaller from there  :lol:

Be happy to make recommendations when you reach that point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 05:51:21 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 05:42:54 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 10:40:34 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?

It is. I saw it and Borders and thought the cover looked cool. Has he written other good ones?

Absolutely, once you've finished that monstrosity, they all get smaller from there  :lol:

Be happy to make recommendations when you reach that point.

Thanks. I'm on page 300 right now. Only 600 to go!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 05, 2009, 09:22:36 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 05:51:21 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 05:42:54 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 10:40:34 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?

It is. I saw it and Borders and thought the cover looked cool. Has he written other good ones?

Absolutely, once you've finished that monstrosity, they all get smaller from there  :lol:

Be happy to make recommendations when you reach that point.

Thanks. I'm on page 300 right now. Only 600 to go!!
Rand'd
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 06, 2009, 02:43:10 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 05:51:21 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 05:42:54 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 05, 2009, 10:40:34 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 05, 2009, 08:08:49 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on November 04, 2009, 11:54:58 PM
I'm reading an incredible novel right now called 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Amazing to read.

Nice, is this the first Bolano you've read?

It is. I saw it and Borders and thought the cover looked cool. Has he written other good ones?

Absolutely, once you've finished that monstrosity, they all get smaller from there  :lol:

Be happy to make recommendations when you reach that point.

Thanks. I'm on page 300 right now. Only 600 to go!!

read it earlier this year and fucking LOVED IT. as soon as i finished, i felt compelled to immediately re-read it. which i didn't, of course. i'm not insane. but it sure struck me as unusual that that's what i felt like doing.

i've also read his book The Savage Detectives. also great, but not quite as great as 2666.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on November 06, 2009, 05:22:03 PM
(http://z.about.com/d/bestsellers/1/0/j/3/-/-/Playing_for_Pizza.JPG)
my pop dukes threw this my way gunna start it tonight.  good short read it looks like.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on November 06, 2009, 06:47:50 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on November 06, 2009, 05:22:03 PM
(http://z.about.com/d/bestsellers/1/0/j/3/-/-/Playing_for_Pizza.JPG)
my pop dukes threw this my way gunna start it tonight.  good short read it looks like.
I'm in a minority of people that really dig Grisham. In fact, I've read almost everything he has ever written. This book is a departure from his style, but very welcomed. Just a good story told very well. Enjoy it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 06, 2009, 07:06:31 PM
If by minority, you mean one of the millions padding his expense account...ok!

Heh.  Grisham was cool, in High School...he knew how to work suspense.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 07, 2009, 12:33:00 AM
For those reading Bolano, this is an author with whom he was a friend, and this is the book I am currently reading. From Amazon.com:

Quote
Salvadorean society is shocked by the gruesome murder of a young upper-class woman, and no one more so than her best friend Laura.  In her first-person solo narration, Laura rattles on and on about her disbelief and horror at the evils all around her—but who's that in the mirror? Laura Rivera can't believe what has happened. Her best friend has been killed in cold blood in the living room of her home, in front of her two young daughters! Nobody knows who pulled the trigger, but Laura will not rest easy until she finds out. Her dizzying, delirious, hilarious, and blood-curdling one-sided dialogue carries the reader on a rough and tumble ride through the social, political, economic, and sexual chaos of post-civil war San Salvador. A detective story of pulse-quickening suspense, The She-Devil in the Mirror is also a sober reminder that justice and truth are more often than not illusive. Castellanos Moya's relentless, obsessive narrator—female, rich, paranoid, wonderfully perceptive, and, in the end, fabulously unreliable—paints with frivolous profundity a society in a state of collapse.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 07, 2009, 10:54:18 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 07, 2009, 12:33:00 AM
For those reading Bolano, this is an author with whom he was a friend, and this is the book I am currently reading. From Amazon.com:

Quote
Salvadorean society is shocked by the gruesome murder of a young upper-class woman, and no one more so than her best friend Laura.  In her first-person solo narration, Laura rattles on and on about her disbelief and horror at the evils all around her—but who's that in the mirror? Laura Rivera can't believe what has happened. Her best friend has been killed in cold blood in the living room of her home, in front of her two young daughters! Nobody knows who pulled the trigger, but Laura will not rest easy until she finds out. Her dizzying, delirious, hilarious, and blood-curdling one-sided dialogue carries the reader on a rough and tumble ride through the social, political, economic, and sexual chaos of post-civil war San Salvador. A detective story of pulse-quickening suspense, The She-Devil in the Mirror is also a sober reminder that justice and truth are more often than not illusive. Castellanos Moya's relentless, obsessive narrator—female, rich, paranoid, wonderfully perceptive, and, in the end, fabulously unreliable—paints with frivolous profundity a society in a state of collapse.

Cool. That sounds good, thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 13, 2009, 10:55:39 AM
Besides studying for a maternal-newborn final, this is what I'm currently reading:

Quote
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...

The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on November 13, 2009, 01:28:51 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 06, 2009, 07:06:31 PM
If by minority, you mean one of the millions padding his expense account...ok!

Heh.  Grisham was cool, in High School...he knew how to work suspense.

HAH! That's what I meant by "minority", I should have explained better. I meant in the minority of intellectual readers. Fuck it, I'll just go buy the new Danielle Steele, I think I'm hopeless ;)

I agree though, the majority of my Grisham experience was in HS as well, and I was just getting into reading. It was cheap suspense, sometimes with some morality mixed in. It's weird that I still feel compelled to read his stuff, but kind of treat it like junk food for my mind now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 13, 2009, 02:06:04 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 13, 2009, 10:55:39 AM
Besides studying for a maternal-newborn final, this is what I'm currently reading:

Quote
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...

The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.

Is this considered Biography or "Historical Fiction"?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on November 13, 2009, 02:19:31 PM

Just finished David Eggars' You Shall Know Our Velocity.  Good book, I got a little tired of his all-over-the-place writing after a while...

Although I did chuckle when I read this:

QuoteThe sun was gone.  I had missed its final few seconds. Time had become elastic.  I'd forgotten about Hand
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 13, 2009, 02:28:40 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 13, 2009, 02:06:04 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 13, 2009, 10:55:39 AM
Besides studying for a maternal-newborn final, this is what I'm currently reading:

Quote
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...

The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.

Is this considered Biography or "Historical Fiction"?

"Historical Fiction"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 13, 2009, 02:33:21 PM
Oh Ok.  I'm a little over historical fiction right now.  I think it is getting to be an exhausted genre, as opposed to a niche genre, you know?  Nat Turner is a cool story tho.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 14, 2009, 07:52:23 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I really enjoyed it.  So dark and oddly disturbing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 15, 2009, 08:16:04 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I have that on deck, as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 16, 2009, 12:39:43 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 14, 2009, 07:52:23 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I really enjoyed it.  So dark and oddly disturbing.

Yeah, I enjoyed it too. Never read any of his other material though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 16, 2009, 12:47:49 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 15, 2009, 08:16:04 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I have that on deck, as well.

I read that earlier this fall, and I'll tell you, it's an excellent book--but as a father, one of the darkest, most wrenching things I've ever read. As difficult in its way as Beloved, which I've had to stop teaching now that I've got a child.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: G. Augusto on November 16, 2009, 12:51:09 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510SF9VC94L._SL500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 16, 2009, 01:22:08 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on November 16, 2009, 12:39:43 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 14, 2009, 07:52:23 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I really enjoyed it.  So dark and oddly disturbing.

Yeah, I enjoyed it too. Never read any of his other material though.

i highly recommend McCarthy's Blood Meridian. the Road is good. and written in the extremely sparse style he's mastered of late. it's a quick read. but Blood Meridian, written in the '80s, is very dense and dark and hallucinogenic and violent and apocalyptic. one of the most amazing books i've ever read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on November 16, 2009, 01:25:43 PM
Keep a dictionary handy if you decide to tackle Blood Meridian, it's rife with 25 cent words.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 16, 2009, 02:32:31 PM
Blood Meridian is waiting in my queue. Not until I finish this, which I'm finding fascinating but somehow I've lacked the discipline to knock it out in a reasonable amount of time:

(http://www.erowid.org/library/books/images/cosmic_serpent.jpg)

Sent to me by my fiancee's mom, no less.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 17, 2009, 08:18:57 AM
Just started:
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

(http://annotationnation.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 17, 2009, 03:01:50 PM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on November 16, 2009, 02:32:31 PM
Blood Meridian is waiting in my queue. Not until I finish this, which I'm finding fascinating but somehow I've lacked the discipline to knock it out in a reasonable amount of time:

(http://www.erowid.org/library/books/images/cosmic_serpent.jpg)

Sent to me by my fiancee's mom, no less.

that book!

i read it a few months ago, having heard it was in some way good. it was not. it made me angry.
here's a review i wrote of it at the time...

     Look, the first time I took a hallucinogen, I too saw all of the natural world break apart and twist together and reveal to me its interlinked workings, its fundamental connectedness to me and every other living and non-living entity in the universe entire, I too saw into the deeper reality of the unified cosmic consciousness, and I (alone?) learned that the funniest thing in all of creation is the taste of a 7-11 watermelon Slurpee.

But did I write a breathless book about it and pretend that none of this had ever occurred to anyone else in the western world and that only I, on my personal magical mystery tour into the world of psychedelics, had discovered the ONE TRUE SECRET that would forever re-write the laws of science and place me alongside Copernicus, Newton and Einstein?

No. I did not. I went to bed early, closed my eyes, and watched the pretty colors some more.

Jeremey Narby took the other route, and so, following his ayahuasca fueled vision of two giant, fluorescent snakes, wrote a book every sentence of which is delivered as if by Pinto in Animal House, the first time he gets stoned, when with eyes wide he says, "So, our whole solar system could be like one tiny atom in the fingernail of some other giant being!" Gee willikers! Neat!

The book starts off all right. Questioning the scientific method as the only means of gaining knowledge is certainly reasonable. His investigations into comparative mythology and the preponderance therein of snakes and twins across cultures is interesting, if not already rather well known. But the book just gets loopier after that.

Narby bashes all scientists with absurd generalizations about how they hate mystery, etc., he trots out all kinds of nonsense about evolution, which he grasps not at all, and every one of his arguments is along the lines of, "Did you realize how complicated the human genome is? Let me throw a bunch of huge numbers at you! See? Wow is it ever big! And that's supposed to have come about by chance? No way!"

Here's a paraphrase of how most chapters begin: "Now I'm not a biologist, so I don't know anything about biology, but I read a book and talked to this friend, and oh my god! You won't believe what I found! DNA is superintelligent and comes from outer space!"

Anyway. He's right that there is more to the universe than what we in the west think we know, and more ways than we know to know it. But he's too timid to actually propose anything other than a mushy-headed load of vague crap about consciousness I can't even summarize since he never directly says what it is. In short, it's something about how life is so complicated, it must have been directed by some form of intelligence. Hm, now where have I heard that argument before?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 17, 2009, 03:21:53 PM
Mental note: don't get stoned with cactusfan and say things like, but man, we could totally be on this bubble right, and it's about to pop, see, but we don't even know it, but if that giant sneezes everything we know will end and we won't even know why....oh, look a penny. Did you know if you find a penny with heads up its good luck, but tails, you shouldn't pick it up. I think that's stupid, so I just kick the penny until it lands heads up,and then pick it up. I call that making my own good luck.......hey, wait a minute..... what were we talking about?



:-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 17, 2009, 04:15:04 PM
Haha.  That book really set Cactusfan off.

I give that review an A+.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 17, 2009, 04:15:40 PM
Like I said, I'm not done with the book, but I'm mostly done, so I'll offer these observations thus far:

1) I do think Narby gets a little over-excited in assuming that every squiggly line or serpent reference from some ancient culture is evidence that they could look inside DNA. He seems to try and force-fit most such overlaps between his thesis and incidences from this or that mythology.
2) You're right, he seems to give up rather easily on the possibility of life on earth through chance and evolution. Or at least he alludes to that but changes the subject just as quickly. His thinking-out-loud alternate explanation is, like you say, plenty flimsy in its own right.
3) Which is odd, because he seems to show an otherwise admirable, and even disciplined, desire to dig up the biological underpinnings of hallucinations. I enjoyed his musings that came out of the remark about DNA being able to emit photons.

I can see how if you got mad early on reading the book that feeling would continue and maybe even get reinforced. I'm not so hot over it so I think I'll make it to the end OK.   :wink:

Now, if you want to see someone going ga-ga over cosmic revelations and jumping to wild conclusions about what we know, don't know, should know, think we know and good lord we can change the world if we only knew, check this one out:

(http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7771/holographic8gz.gif)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 17, 2009, 08:01:04 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on November 17, 2009, 03:21:53 PM
Mental note: don't get stoned with cactusfan and say things like, but man, we could totally be on this bubble right, and it's about to pop, see, but we don't even know it, but if that giant sneezes everything we know will end and we won't even know why....oh, look a penny. Did you know if you find a penny with heads up its good luck, but tails, you shouldn't pick it up. I think that's stupid, so I just kick the penny until it lands heads up,and then pick it up. I call that making my own good luck.......hey, wait a minute..... what were we talking about?



:-D

just make sure i'm also stoned and you'll be fine...  :-D


Quote from: V00D00BR3W on November 17, 2009, 04:15:40 PM


I can see how if you got mad early on reading the book that feeling would continue and maybe even get reinforced. I'm not so hot over it so I think I'll make it to the end OK.   :wink:


actually, i liked the book at first. i think that's what was so maddening. he starts off being very reasonably curious, and just slowly but surely gets crazier, until by the end he's just totally gone off the rails.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:25:12 PM
Very pleased to see all the McCarthy queued up, and that it is being taught (sunrise, what grade or classes do you teach?).

I'll be interested in hearing about the Foer. Unlike McCarthy, of which I've read everything, I haven't read Foer yet. He certainly has his enthusiasts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 17, 2009, 10:26:09 PM
Haven't read Foer.  I will say that during the movie "Everything is Illuminated" I was nicknamed "the town crier", because I cried at least twice.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:28:08 PM
Is the Illuminated book regarding the trip to eastern Europe and so forth?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on November 17, 2009, 10:29:28 PM
Yes, the Ukraine, specifically.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:33:06 PM
Gotcha, sounds like an interesting guy, plus he has a decent looking author wife as well - always key when assessing a writer's place in the canon

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Nicole+Krauss&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=wG0DS-iUIZDOsQOX-tW4BA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCYQsAQwAw
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 01:30:54 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:25:12 PM
Very pleased to see all the McCarthy queued up, and that it is being taught (sunrise, what grade or classes do you teach?).

I'll be interested in hearing about the Foer. Unlike McCarthy, of which I've read everything, I haven't read Foer yet. He certainly has his enthusiasts.

i am, as usual, the curmudgeonly grandfather in these discussions, but i'd say Foer is a sincere lightweight. i read Everything Is Illuminated and thought it merited little more than a shrug... as in, it was okay, but whatever.

what are your top picks of McCarthy? i've read four, but would like to try some others:
Blood Meridian - brilliant, one of the best books i've ever read.
The Road - good, but i felt like i'd seen the setting and the story many, many times in the movies for it to feel in any way original.
All The Pretty Horses - not bad, just didn't do much for me.
No Country for Old Men - nice writing, but a story that doesn't work at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:45:17 AM
More impossible shit.


God, Grad School sucks in as many ways as it shines.


Wanna know something about the Chinese experience in the western half of the United States in the last half of the 19th century, just ask me and I'll hit you up with some "heady" references.   


Do you know what this is?
(http://www.the-curiosity-shop.nl/itempages/asia-orient-americas/SH107301.JPG)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 08:04:18 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 01:30:54 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:25:12 PM
Very pleased to see all the McCarthy queued up, and that it is being taught (sunrise, what grade or classes do you teach?).

I'll be interested in hearing about the Foer. Unlike McCarthy, of which I've read everything, I haven't read Foer yet. He certainly has his enthusiasts.

i am, as usual, the curmudgeonly grandfather in these discussions, but i'd say Foer is a sincere lightweight. i read Everything Is Illuminated and thought it merited little more than a shrug... as in, it was okay, but whatever.

what are your top picks of McCarthy? i've read four, but would like to try some others:
Blood Meridian - brilliant, one of the best books i've ever read.
The Road - good, but i felt like i'd seen the setting and the story many, many times in the movies for it to feel in any way original.
All The Pretty Horses - not bad, just didn't do much for me.
No Country for Old Men - nice writing, but a story that doesn't work at all.

Foer is my light reading right now.  It's an interesting story that I can read at my own leisure.  Haven't read Illuminated though, just picked up the second one and went with it.

As for McCarthy:
The Road
No Country

I found both to be great reads.  Surprised you didn't like the story.  I like the realism of the characters and the misunderstanding of "new" outlaws by the sheriff.  It shows the generation gap.  I also like the internal conflict of Moss with what to do with the money.  The inner greed of the common man was intriguing to me.
As for The Road, all I can say is WOW.  Loved it from start to finish.  Couldn't put it down.  Finished it in one Sunday afternoon.  All the questions and lack of information made me question so much and it threw in the uncertainty of what could happen to these two.  Also found the father/son thing intriguing, especially as I have a son and felt some sort of relation to the characters.  The need for the father to protect the son was amazing and heartfelt, especially in this world.

I have All the Pretty Horses right now, but I am worried that his other novels aren't written like No Country and The Road.  At least that's what I have heard.  We'll see.  I will give it a try, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 18, 2009, 09:12:24 AM
Mr. Minor, you can head next to Cities Of The Plain if ou like the sparse style. The fact that it is the third of the a trilogy does not preempt it being read first.

Southern Novels:                 Western Novels:
Outer Dark                                   Blood Meridian
The Road                                     The Crossing
Suttree                                       All The Pretty Horses
Child Of God                                 Cities Of The Plain
Orchard Keeper                             No Country For Old Men

Those would be my rankings, with Blood Meridian ahead of Outer Dark, but The Road ahead of The Crossing. I haven't read the plays which is a shame...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 18, 2009, 09:42:01 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on November 17, 2009, 04:15:40 PM
Now, if you want to see someone going ga-ga over cosmic revelations and jumping to wild conclusions about what we know, don't know, should know, think we know and good lord we can change the world if we only knew, check this one out:

(http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7771/holographic8gz.gif)

I read that earlier this year.  The logic can be a little flawed at times, but overall it was a good read. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on November 18, 2009, 11:05:42 AM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:45:17 AM
More impossible shit.


God, Grad School sucks in as many ways as it shines.


Wanna know something about the Chinese experience in the western half of the United States in the last half of the 19th century, just ask me and I'll hit you up with some "heady" references.   


Do you know what this is?
(http://www.the-curiosity-shop.nl/itempages/asia-orient-americas/SH107301.JPG)

Our most modestly priced receptacle?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 11:25:26 AM
^^My guess was an ancient toilet plunger minus the handle...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 11:51:09 AM
I think it has something to do with Opium.

All the best stuff does.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on November 18, 2009, 11:52:14 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 11:51:09 AM
I think it has something to do with Opium.

All the best stuff does.

Also, is that guy riding a giant rabbit?

That must be some good shit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 11:56:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 11:51:09 AM
I think it has something to do with Opium.

All the best stuff does.


We have a winner.  This is the top of an opium bowl, plan view.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 18, 2009, 11:59:55 AM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 11:56:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 11:51:09 AM
I think it has something to do with Opium.

All the best stuff does.


We have a winner.  This is the top of an opium bowl, plan view.

Wow. Only took three guesses from paugers. Nice call RJ.  :clap:

Nab, Do another one!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:12:51 PM
Here is another one.


(http://www.nqminersden.com/images/chinlid.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:19:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:25:12 PM
Very pleased to see all the McCarthy queued up, and that it is being taught (sunrise, what grade or classes do you teach?).

I'll be interested in hearing about the Foer. Unlike McCarthy, of which I've read everything, I haven't read Foer yet. He certainly has his enthusiasts.

I'm an adjunct at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. I teach freshman expository writing and intro finction. I think I gave you the wrong impression, though--I just read The Road; I haven't taught it. I did teach Toni Morrison's Beloved, but stopped using it recently because it was too much to deal with every semester, since having a little girl. The Road was a similar experience for me as a father--I was moved deeply and not entirely comfortably by the consideration of parenthood in extreme circumstances.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on November 18, 2009, 12:22:38 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:12:51 PM
Here is another one.


(http://www.nqminersden.com/images/chinlid.jpg)

The world's first placemat?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 18, 2009, 12:35:14 PM
Quote from: Hicks on November 18, 2009, 12:22:38 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:12:51 PM
Here is another one.


(http://www.nqminersden.com/images/chinlid.jpg)

The world's first placemat?

some sort of water stopping device? or maybe those grooves go into something, like a key?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:39:10 PM
A stamp for marking bricks of hash or O?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:47:26 PM
Laundry Reciept?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on November 18, 2009, 12:51:50 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:47:26 PM
Laundry Reciept?

:-o      :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:39:10 PM
A stamp for marking bricks of hash or O?

Closest, not there yet though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:55:05 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:39:10 PM
A stamp for marking bricks of hash or O?

Closest, not there yet though.

It's an opium package.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:06:48 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:55:05 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:39:10 PM
A stamp for marking bricks of hash or O?

Closest, not there yet though.

It's an opium package.


Row Knows



You guys want a harder challenge?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on November 18, 2009, 01:07:11 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:47:26 PM
Laundry Reciept?

bwahahahahahhahahaaaa
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 01:09:21 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:06:48 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:55:05 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:39:10 PM
A stamp for marking bricks of hash or O?

Closest, not there yet though.

It's an opium package.


Row Knows



You guys want a harder challenge?

That was my first thought but the joke took precedence.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 18, 2009, 01:11:55 PM
Quote from: shoreline99 on November 18, 2009, 01:07:11 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 12:47:26 PM
Laundry Reciept?

bwahahahahahhahahaaaa

x2!  :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 18, 2009, 01:21:21 PM
I will name it Steve and declare that it is for lying on the ground until someone picks it up.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:26:56 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

You have just been elected to my editing committee. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:30:06 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:26:56 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

You have just been elected to my editing committee.

:lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 02:19:37 PM
English teachers do it with style.  :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 02:23:09 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 02:19:37 PM
English teachers do it with style.  :beers:

That's what I'm talking about, dude.

:rockout:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on November 18, 2009, 03:23:30 PM
Then again, the style of writing I use when talking about these sorts of things tends to be heavily influenced by the type of literature I read on the subject.  Scientifically correct and grammatically correct are often not the same.  Infer (or inference) is a loaded term which embodies many different meanings and interpretations in archeological literature. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 18, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
Quote from: sunrisevt on November 18, 2009, 12:19:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 17, 2009, 10:25:12 PM
Very pleased to see all the McCarthy queued up, and that it is being taught (sunrise, what grade or classes do you teach?).

I'll be interested in hearing about the Foer. Unlike McCarthy, of which I've read everything, I haven't read Foer yet. He certainly has his enthusiasts.

I'm an adjunct at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. I teach freshman expository writing and intro finction. I think I gave you the wrong impression, though--I just read The Road; I haven't taught it. I did teach Toni Morrison's Beloved, but stopped using it recently because it was too much to deal with every semester, since having a little girl. The Road was a similar experience for me as a father--I was moved deeply and not entirely comfortably by the consideration of parenthood in extreme circumstances.

Excellent, and not your fault, I misread your post. What books do you teach in the intro fiction course?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Alumni on November 18, 2009, 03:30:17 PM
Interesting first-hand look at the difficulties research scientists face when they are sucked into the public policy process.
(http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/NationalGeographic/6200540?$product320x320$) 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 18, 2009, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.

You do know mr. Minor is an English teacher? 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 18, 2009, 04:02:50 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 09:42:01 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on November 17, 2009, 04:15:40 PM
Now, if you want to see someone going ga-ga over cosmic revelations and jumping to wild conclusions about what we know, don't know, should know, think we know and good lord we can change the world if we only knew, check this one out:

(http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/7771/holographic8gz.gif)

I read that earlier this year.  The logic can be a little flawed at times, but overall it was a good read.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the heck out of reading it. Some of the things he described were very exciting, though I can't trust that all of his anecdotes are entirely accurate. Consider, for example, Talbot's breathless, exhilarated accounting of the "mystic" Sai Baba's ability to cause ash and objects to materialize out of thin air. Yet Talbot makes no mention of criticisms of Sai Baba and evidence that appears to reveal him as a charlatan.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 06:48:39 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.

You do know mr. Minor is an English teacher?

and your point is what? that he should be fired?  :wink:

if i am looking at a mysterious object, trying to figure out what its purpose is, i can, using my clever brain, infer that purpose from, for example, its shape, its color, my knowledge of ancient implements, whatever. that is what the word means. that is what it is for.

if i then talk to YOU about it, but i don't want to say straight out what i inferred from my observations, because maybe i'm just difficult that way, i might refer to my inference in a roundabout way, thereby merely implying to you what i think that use is.

indeed, you might then say you had inferred my implied inference.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on November 18, 2009, 07:24:05 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 06:48:39 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.

You do know mr. Minor is an English teacher?

and your point is what? that he should be fired?  :wink:

if i am looking at a mysterious object, trying to figure out what its purpose is, i can, using my clever brain, infer that purpose from, for example, its shape, its color, my knowledge of ancient implements, whatever. that is what the word means. that is what it is for.

if i then talk to YOU about it, but i don't want to say straight out what i inferred from my observations, because maybe i'm just difficult that way, i might refer to my inference in a roundabout way, thereby merely implying to you what i think that use is.

indeed, you might then say you had inferred my implied inference.

I would say both definitions work. 

One of the definitions of imply is

Quote4 : to express indirectly <his silence implied consent>

So Mr. Minor was right in that we could imply the meaning of the artifacts.  I also think we could infer meaning from them too.  I don't see the two terms as completely mutually exclusive in this case. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 11:08:23 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 07:24:05 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 06:48:39 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.

You do know mr. Minor is an English teacher?

and your point is what? that he should be fired?  :wink:

if i am looking at a mysterious object, trying to figure out what its purpose is, i can, using my clever brain, infer that purpose from, for example, its shape, its color, my knowledge of ancient implements, whatever. that is what the word means. that is what it is for.

if i then talk to YOU about it, but i don't want to say straight out what i inferred from my observations, because maybe i'm just difficult that way, i might refer to my inference in a roundabout way, thereby merely implying to you what i think that use is.

indeed, you might then say you had inferred my implied inference.

I would say both definitions work. 

One of the definitions of imply is

Quote4 : to express indirectly <his silence implied consent>

So Mr. Minor was right in that we could imply the meaning of the artifacts.  I also think we could infer meaning from them too.  I don't see the two terms as completely mutually exclusive in this case.

well, no. that is incorrect. they are mutually exclusive terms because they mean different things. they are in no way interchangeable.

YOU cannot imply the meaning of an artifact, unless you are speaking to someone else about that artifact, and you manage through what you are saying to imply to them what the artifact 'means'.

the artifact may certainly include an implied meaning. which meaning you, if you are clever, may perhaps be able to infer from it.

but just you and the artifact? you cannot 'imply' anything from it. you may only infer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 19, 2009, 09:05:46 AM
For those that may be interested, this is a very recent interview with Cormac McCarthy in the Wall Street Journal. Although these are becoming more common as of late (he was on Oprah for christ's sake!), he hasn't given all that many interviews over the sum total of his career. For those who are reading, or are about to read, The Road, it is especially relevant:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529703577274572.html

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on November 19, 2009, 11:43:34 AM
Walden: Or, Life in the Woods - Henry David Thoreau
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 19, 2009, 11:47:48 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 11:08:23 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 07:24:05 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 06:48:39 PM
Quote from: Sophist on November 18, 2009, 04:00:15 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 18, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 18, 2009, 01:23:01 PM
Quote from: nab on November 18, 2009, 01:20:20 PM
Here is the tougher challenge.  There is a piece of ceramic next to the north arrow in this picture.  It is Chinese related.  Can you name the type of ceramic and infer a function.

I will imply, you can infer. 
It has the function of the pointing variety.
:-P

huh? are you suggesting he should have written "can you name the type of ceramic and IMPLY a function"?

i sure hope not.

nab used 'infer' correctly above.

You do know mr. Minor is an English teacher?

and your point is what? that he should be fired?  :wink:

if i am looking at a mysterious object, trying to figure out what its purpose is, i can, using my clever brain, infer that purpose from, for example, its shape, its color, my knowledge of ancient implements, whatever. that is what the word means. that is what it is for.

if i then talk to YOU about it, but i don't want to say straight out what i inferred from my observations, because maybe i'm just difficult that way, i might refer to my inference in a roundabout way, thereby merely implying to you what i think that use is.

indeed, you might then say you had inferred my implied inference.

I would say both definitions work. 

One of the definitions of imply is

Quote4 : to express indirectly <his silence implied consent>

So Mr. Minor was right in that we could imply the meaning of the artifacts.  I also think we could infer meaning from them too.  I don't see the two terms as completely mutually exclusive in this case.

well, no. that is incorrect. they are mutually exclusive terms because they mean different things. they are in no way interchangeable.

YOU cannot imply the meaning of an artifact, unless you are speaking to someone else about that artifact, and you manage through what you are saying to imply to them what the artifact 'means'.

the artifact may certainly include an implied meaning. which meaning you, if you are clever, may perhaps be able to infer from it.

but just you and the artifact? you cannot 'imply' anything from it. you may only infer.

I am glad my comment was the source of such an intriguing debate.  My thought was nab wanted us to imply meaning for the rest of us to discuss. 
The idea of imply vs. infer is one cannot infer with a comment, but imply.  The person hearing the comment would then infer it's meaning.  Hence, I implied what I thought it was and you could all infer the meaning of implication in your own minds.

But I digress, as discussion of the differences in the English language is not one I enjoy to have over the internet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on November 19, 2009, 04:36:57 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on October 21, 2009, 09:16:49 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on October 20, 2009, 09:40:07 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on October 04, 2009, 06:55:50 PM
just borrowed The Lost Symbol from the buddy lets see how it really is.

Just picked this up also, hope I'm not disappointed.

me too, altho the person i borrowed it from said it took awhile to get into.  :|

This book took me FOREVER to get into (90 pages in), the middle of the book was great though....I can't however get through the last 40 pages of the book, I don't even think I'm gonna read them.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 21, 2009, 02:28:05 AM
The Illustrated
Jane Eyre
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 24, 2009, 01:10:49 PM
Still on the Nat Turner at the moment, but can hopefully finish up by 12/1 so I can start this trilogy:

Book Description:
Quote
Your Face Tomorrow, Javier Marías's daring novel in three parts culminates triumphantly in this much-anticipated final volume. Poison, Shadow, and Farewell, with its heightened tensions between meditations and noir narrative, with its wit and and ever deeper forays into the mysteries of consciousness, brings to a stunning finale Marías's three-part Your Face Tomorrow. Already this novel has been acclaimed "exquisite" (Publishers Weekly), "gorgeous" (Kirkus), and "outstanding: another work of urgent originality" (London Independent). Poison, Shadow, and Farewell takes our hero Jaime Deza—hired by MI6 as a person of extraordinarily sophisticated powers of perception—back to Madrid to both spy on and try to protect his own family, and into new depths of love and loss, with a fluency on the subject of death that could make a stone weep. .

About the author:
Quote
Javier Marías is an award-winning Spanish novelist. He is also a translator and columnist, as well as the current king of Redonda. He was born in Madrid in 1951 and published his first novel at the age of nineteen. He has held academic posts in Spain, the US (he was a visiting professor at Wellesley College) and Britain, as a lecturer in Spanish Literature at Oxford University. He has been translated into 34 languages, and more than six million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. In 1997 he won the Nelly Sachs Award; the Comunidad de Madrid award in 1998; in 2000 the Grinzane Cavour Award, the Alberto Moravia Prize, and the Dublin IMPAC Award. He also won the Spanish National Translation Award in 1979 for his translation of Tristram Shandy in 1979. He was a professor at Oxford University and the Complutense of Madrid. He currently lives in Madrid.


Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 24, 2009, 10:36:00 PM
Also, for the Bolano-philes of the paug, here are excerpts of an interview he gave before his death:

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/stray-questions-for-roberto-bolano/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 24, 2009, 11:14:19 PM
Just finished She Devil in The Mirror. Great read! Thanks for the suggestion!! Now I'm about to start The Skating Rink by Bolano.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 25, 2009, 10:12:07 PM
That's great Sprobeck - his Senselessness is even better imo.

I have The Skating Rink at home on the TBR pile. I think other than that one and By Night In Chile, I've read everything (sans poetry) they've published of Bolano's. Let me kno what you think of TSR.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on November 25, 2009, 11:15:59 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on November 25, 2009, 10:12:07 PM
That's great Sprobeck - his Senselessness is even better imo.

I have The Skating Rink at home on the TBR pile. I think other than that one and By Night In Chile, I've read everything (sans poetry) they've published of Bolano's. Let me kno what you think of TSR.

I'm enjoying it so far Gainsville. Story told by three different people.  Cool stuff.  That interview was interesting too, thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 30, 2009, 09:01:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 15, 2009, 08:16:04 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I have that on deck, as well.

Read that Friday& Saturday.

Amazing book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 30, 2009, 01:42:22 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 30, 2009, 09:01:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 15, 2009, 08:16:04 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I have that on deck, as well.

Read that Friday& Saturday.

Amazing book.

Awesome.  Glad you liked it.  When I finished it, I looked around like "dude, I need someone to talk to about this crazy ass book!"

On the side I am reading (just about finished) The Wave.  It's about a history teacher in the 1960s who does an experiment in his history class to show his students how easily the Germans were swayed into Hitlers ideas as well as turning a blind eye/playing dumb about the atrocities the Nazi were doing in the concentration camps. 
Great read.  Very easy read, as it's young adult, but interesting message and it's based on a true story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 30, 2009, 02:03:07 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on November 30, 2009, 01:42:22 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 30, 2009, 09:01:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 15, 2009, 08:16:04 PM
Quote from: mehead on November 14, 2009, 04:04:30 PM
about to start Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"..I've owned it forever and for some reason I just never got around to reading it..

I have that on deck, as well.

Read that Friday& Saturday.

Amazing book.

Awesome.  Glad you liked it.  When I finished it, I looked around like "dude, I need someone to talk to about this crazy ass book!"


Yeah. And of course I finish it at 1am with no one else awake and not even any internetz to talk at...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 01, 2009, 08:27:46 PM
Thought you folks just finishing up The Road as of late might like this article on McCarthy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/books/01typewriter.html?_r=3&8dpc
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 05, 2009, 02:43:01 PM
I don't kow if anyone bothered to read the link I posted above, but, in the end, the Olivetti went for $250,000.

:-o
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 06, 2009, 01:05:42 AM
I read The Road a while ago, not recently. Thought it was pretty good.  I'm reading a bizarre classic right now--Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. What a mind blower!! Beautifully written and surreal.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on December 06, 2009, 01:23:59 PM
^^^One of the most important American novels--maybe English language novels, even--of the 20th century, imo. I wrote half my master's thesis on Invisible Man.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on December 06, 2009, 02:37:55 PM
Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 07, 2009, 12:51:49 AM
Quote from: sunrisevt on December 06, 2009, 01:23:59 PM
^^^One of the most important American novels--maybe English language novels, even--of the 20th century, imo. I wrote half my master's thesis on Invisible Man.

Nice!! :rawk:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 03:04:49 PM
Just finished this today, glad to have the opportunity to get back to READING during this break:

Review/Summary:
Quote
Three generations feel the pull of the land in tiny Sharon Center, Iowa, yet for all the fecundity of the soil and the river, the Montgomerys do not flourish. Wilson, the town's reticent but kind grocer, lives contentedly enough with schoolteacher Della. Their son, John, seeks truth in his work as a mechanic and marries a profoundly sensual woman. John's son, July, feels safe on the axis between order and wildness. As the Montgomery saga slowly and dramatically unfurls and darkens, Rhodes is mesmerizing, his narrative style at once utterly natural and extraordinarily complex as he shifts points of view, inlays stories within stories, and brings July into the harsh light of the foreground in the wake of shocking deaths that leave him alone and inconsolable. He rises from a resourceful street urchin to a young man of promise, but there is no escaping the "death business"; July's fate is noose-shaped, and no sense can be made of it. Rhodes writes with both symphonic grandeur and down-to-earth humility in this galvanizing novel of "the quick, naked bones of survival." This is a descent into grief as resonant as James Agee's, an embrace of the heartland spirit as profound as Cather's and Marilynne Robinson's, a story that echoes Dreiser, Steinbeck, Gardner, and Bellow--and an authentically great American novel in its own right.

Author Bio:
Quote
As a young man, David Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. After receiving an MFA in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop in 1971, he published three novels in rapid succession: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (Atlantic/Little, Brown, 1972), The Easter House (Harper & Row, 1974), and Rock Island Line (Harper & Row, 1975). A motorcycle accident in 1976 left him paralyzed from the chest down, since which time he continued writing but stopped publishing. He lives with his wife, Edna, in Wonewoc, Wisconsin.

Link to "recent" interview with Poets and Writers:
http://www.pw.org/content/after_flood_profile_david_rhodes
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 22, 2009, 03:11:39 PM
(http://media.cleveland.com/books_impact/photo/year-of-the-floodjpg-046b612590f462d4_medium.jpg)

Brutal, but great. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 03:39:15 PM
Have you read Oryx and Crake?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 22, 2009, 03:43:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 03:39:15 PM
Have you read Oryx and Crake?

But of course.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 22, 2009, 04:51:53 PM
I'm about half way through Aravind Adiga's Between Assassinations. Great read! Had to see what he had for us after White Tiger!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 05:33:39 PM
Quote from: Hicks on December 22, 2009, 03:43:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 03:39:15 PM
Have you read Oryx and Crake?

But of course.

Would you consider that required reading prior to getting into The Year Of The Flood? Would you recommend reading both simultaneously?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 22, 2009, 06:04:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 05:33:39 PM
Quote from: Hicks on December 22, 2009, 03:43:41 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 22, 2009, 03:39:15 PM
Have you read Oryx and Crake?

But of course.

Would you consider that required reading prior to getting into The Year Of The Flood? Would you recommend reading both simultaneously?

Only about 50 pages into The Year of the Flood, but a lot of the stuff that's going on is explained in Oryx and Crake.  However it could be read as its own piece.  Both books go back and forth through time though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 22, 2009, 06:26:46 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on October 16, 2009, 08:54:23 PM
finally getting around to:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/EastOfEden.jpg)

finished that a while back.  amazing stuff.

now a little ways into "PHiSH: The Biography"
i will spare you all a cover pic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 23, 2009, 02:38:33 AM
Crime and Punishment. never read it before. hell of a good book. but i didn't like it as much as i liked The Brothers Karamazov, which is pretty much the greatest book of all time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on December 23, 2009, 09:57:44 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 23, 2009, 02:38:33 AM
Crime and Punishment. never read it before. hell of a good book. but i didn't like it as much as i liked The Brothers Karamazov, which is pretty much the greatest book of all time.

Never read Brothers, but yeah, i enjoyed Crime and Punishment greatly. Maybe I'll see if I can't find Brothers at the used bookstore this afternoon. Was going to make a trip anyhow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 23, 2009, 11:42:54 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 23, 2009, 02:38:33 AM
Crime and Punishment. never read it before. hell of a good book. but i didn't like it as much as i liked The Brothers Karamazov, which is pretty much the greatest book of all time.

Those are both pretty good.  Thank God I started C&P first, and it had an explanation of the style and structure of Russian literature in the foreword/intro.  Otherwise I would have been like "Damn, this guy speaks in huge, melodramatic paragraphs a lot! And mostly about vaguely-related philosophy!  Why doesn't this pansy just off that beyotch?"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 24, 2009, 12:50:49 AM
I just tried to read Brothers and gave up after about 100 pages. It just seemed really dated to me. I didn't want to read about some guys sitting around talking about political issues that were relevant in the 1870s. Something more current seemed better. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 24, 2009, 02:40:57 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on December 24, 2009, 12:50:49 AM
I just tried to read Brothers and gave up after about 100 pages. It just seemed really dated to me. I didn't want to read about some guys sitting around talking about political issues that were relevant in the 1870s. Something more current seemed better.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JW0MR7A7L.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 24, 2009, 09:15:21 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on December 24, 2009, 12:50:49 AM
I just tried to read Brothers and gave up after about 100 pages. It just seemed really dated to me. I didn't want to read about some guys sitting around talking about political issues that were relevant in the 1870s. Something more current seemed better.

what amazed me most about Brothers Karamazov was how it wasn't dated at all in the issues it dealt with, be they philosophical, religious, or just human nature. it's like shapespeare in that regard, and is why it's lasted the way it has, and why i think it's the best novel i've ever read. i do recall that it takes its time really getting to the meat of the murder mystery, but if you stick with it, you will be greatly rewarded.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 25, 2009, 12:35:19 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 24, 2009, 09:15:21 PM
Quote from: sprobeck on December 24, 2009, 12:50:49 AM
I just tried to read Brothers and gave up after about 100 pages. It just seemed really dated to me. I didn't want to read about some guys sitting around talking about political issues that were relevant in the 1870s. Something more current seemed better.


what amazed me most about Brothers Karamazov was how it wasn't dated at all in the issues it dealt with, be they philosophical, religious, or just human nature. it's like shapespeare in that regard, and is why it's lasted the way it has, and why i think it's the best novel i've ever read. i do recall that it takes its time really getting to the meat of the murder mystery, but if you stick with it, you will be greatly rewarded.

Yeah, I don't know the bit about Ecclesiastic Govt was pretty dated. Just wasn't in the mood for a novel where I kept having to go look up annotations in the back. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 26, 2009, 05:07:04 PM
Phish - The Biography.

what a turd of a book. could not be any more bland or generic. reads like an overly long, boring rolling stone article. it's hard to believe this guy was hanging around the band for so long. he talks about the thousands of hours of interviews he used, yet there's barely any new info in the book at all. any journalist could have written almost exactly the same book simply by referring to all of the interviews already out there.

there's no new insight into anything at all. it's just the same things rehashed. we're told, for example, that Page was upset by Trey's playing at coventry and that they didn't talk for a year. and the author throws out a few suppositions for why this was so. um... that's it? where's the interview with Page? it doesn't exist.

as for the music, the few attempts at discussing and analyzing how the band's music evolved is embarassing. i realize this isn't a book about the music--it's a bio of the band--but nevertheless, for a guy who's been seeing them play for so long, he appears to understand little about the music.

speaking of which, if it's a bio of the band, one might expect a little more insight or information about the band members as people. but there is none. everything in the book skims safely long the surface. there is no depth to be found at all.

basically what this is is a re-packaging of everything that's already out there, but watered down and simplified and shortened into one bland book. who could this book be for? the fans? i guess, yet we already know everything in it. for non-fans? maybe, but if you weren't already into the band, why would you read something so bland and lacking in insight? you wouldn't.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 26, 2009, 06:56:39 PM
These are all reasons I haven't burned tread to the bookstore to buy it. I am always leary of bios of people who are still alive. Sadly, we'll probably have to wait until one or more of the band members dies before we get the biography of Phish that the band deserves. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's recent biography was very much like this (by Gerald Martin, amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Gabriel-Garc%C3%ADa-M%C3%A1rquez-Gerald-Martin/dp/0307271773).

However, for a bio of someone which does not pull punches while they are still around, highly recommend V.S. Naipaul's recent bio (by Patrick French, amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/World-What-Authorized-Biography-Naipaul/dp/1400044057).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 27, 2009, 12:29:40 AM
I'm reading a biography of Samuel Adams that my Dad gave me for XMAS. It's really good.  The title is Samuel Adams: A Life by Ira Stoll. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 27, 2009, 03:26:48 AM
My major beef with the Phish Biography is that it is basically a shrunken non pictorial version of the Phish Book that has been updated in a shitty manner.

/end rant.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on December 27, 2009, 07:07:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 27, 2009, 07:13:47 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on December 27, 2009, 07:07:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

good luck!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on December 28, 2009, 01:36:21 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on December 27, 2009, 07:13:47 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on December 27, 2009, 07:07:49 PM
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

good luck!

That's an incredible novel. I really enjoyed it.  Didn't always know what was going on but you just have to go with the flow...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 28, 2009, 12:29:21 PM
In the middle of this one. Not the place to start if you haven't read this writer, but I would encourage all paugers to start somewhere:

Book Description:
Quote
A young English biographer is researching a book about the late South African writer John Coetzee, focusing on Coetzee in his thirties, at a time when he was living in a rundown cottage in the Cape Town suburbs with his widowed father-a time, the biographer is convinced, when Coetzee was finding himself as a writer. Never having met the man himself, the biographer interviews five people who knew Coetzee well, including a married woman with whom he had an affair, his cousin Margot, and a Brazilian dancer whose daughter took English lessons with him. These accounts add up to an image of an awkward, reserved, and bookish young man who finds it hard to make meaningful connections with the people around him.

Summertime is an inventive and inspired work of fiction that allows J.M. Coetzee to imagine his own life with a critical and unsparing eye, revealing painful moral struggles and attempts to come to grips with what it means to care for another human being. Incisive, elegant, and often surprisingly funny, Summertime is a compelling work by one of today's most esteemed writers.

Brief author bio:
Quote
J.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Foe, and Slow Man, among others. He has been awarded many prizes, including the Booker Prize (twice). In 2003, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Review in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/books/review/Dee-t.html?_r=1&ref=review
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on December 28, 2009, 01:09:37 PM
I got the new Phish bio for Christmas so I set down Killing Youself To Live and started this.  I should really just finish one before starting another but once I started flipping through it I couldn't put it down
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 28, 2009, 01:29:39 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 28, 2009, 12:29:21 PM
In the middle of this one. Not the place to start if you haven't read this writer, but I would encourage all paugers to start somewhere:

Book Description:
Quote
A young English biographer is researching a book about the late South African writer John Coetzee, focusing on Coetzee in his thirties, at a time when he was living in a rundown cottage in the Cape Town suburbs with his widowed father-a time, the biographer is convinced, when Coetzee was finding himself as a writer. Never having met the man himself, the biographer interviews five people who knew Coetzee well, including a married woman with whom he had an affair, his cousin Margot, and a Brazilian dancer whose daughter took English lessons with him. These accounts add up to an image of an awkward, reserved, and bookish young man who finds it hard to make meaningful connections with the people around him.

Summertime is an inventive and inspired work of fiction that allows J.M. Coetzee to imagine his own life with a critical and unsparing eye, revealing painful moral struggles and attempts to come to grips with what it means to care for another human being. Incisive, elegant, and often surprisingly funny, Summertime is a compelling work by one of today's most esteemed writers.

Brief author bio:
Quote
J.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Foe, and Slow Man, among others. He has been awarded many prizes, including the Booker Prize (twice). In 2003, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Review in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/books/review/Dee-t.html?_r=1&ref=review

i read Waiting for The Barbarians a while ago and liked it a lot. i'll have to check out some other books by him at some point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 28, 2009, 05:22:31 PM
Just finished this and re-affirmed that I never want to go to jail.  Powerful stuff.

http://www.descottenterprises.com/~alex/ptstory_cont.html
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: flow00 on December 28, 2009, 05:28:27 PM
I love Denis Johnson's work. I'm reading this one now:

(http://biblioklept.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/tree-of-smoke3.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 28, 2009, 05:29:43 PM
Quote from: flow00 on December 28, 2009, 05:28:27 PM
I love Denis Johnson's work. I'm reading this one now:


He was damn good with the Celts in the 80s too.   :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 28, 2009, 09:49:58 PM
Quote from: flow00 on December 28, 2009, 05:28:27 PM
I love Denis Johnson's work. I'm reading this one now:

(http://biblioklept.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/tree-of-smoke3.jpg)

Ditto. Good writer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 29, 2009, 12:11:16 PM
just finished Omnivore's Dilemna.

makes me even happier about our garden..

Starting Paul McCartney, A Life
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eDGC6lhPL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

read John Lennon, A life earlier this year. should be an interesting comparison
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 29, 2009, 01:41:02 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 28, 2009, 09:49:58 PM
Quote from: flow00 on December 28, 2009, 05:28:27 PM
I love Denis Johnson's work. I'm reading this one now:

(http://biblioklept.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/tree-of-smoke3.jpg)

Ditto. Good writer.

i liked Tree of Smoke a lot. he wrote Jesus' Son, right? is that the best one to read next? i've never read any of his other stuff.

just read The Left Hand of Darkness, a '69 sci fi novel by Ursula Le Guin. very good. dreamy and strange.

now reading The Atrocity Exhibition by Ballard. extremely odd in a William S. Burroughs kind of way...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 29, 2009, 10:11:18 PM
Tree of Smoke is a bit like a Rosetta Stone of his output. Many different characters from many of his novels make their way in and out of it. Which is pretty cool given it took him twenty years to write (during which time he, obviously, was publishing those other novels).

I am reading Jesus' Son at the moment, and not a bad next step to take with Johnson at all. I've read The Name Of The World and Nobody Move as well as one other I think. Nobody Move is a great quick read, kind of in the same vein as Pynchon's recent Inherent Vice.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on January 07, 2010, 12:06:18 AM
Finished up Bolano's The Skating Rink tonight. Thought it fun as Bolano always is, but you can tell it is one of his earlier efforts (boxes are 'secreted' into rooms? - might be the translation, but I'm guessing not).

Bolano's Monsieur Pain comes out on 1/12 I think, FYI. 2-3 other works of his, a lot of short stories included - his finest medium imo - are coming out this year. April and June and one later I believe.

Time to finish up Johnson's Jesus' Son, and then move on to something else. The Spring semester is only a couple of weeks away, and there will be no time for all this good stuff  :cry:

Anyone read Norman Rush? I've read his story collection Whites, but not his novels. They are on the to be read pile, but not sure if I can get to one of them before Psych and Pharm start...

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 07, 2010, 12:16:14 AM
(http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/animal-vegetable-miracle.jpg)

impacting me in a big way......
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 07, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Kurt Vonnegut

Slapstick

Great stuff.  Love Vonnegut!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on January 07, 2010, 08:58:24 AM
The Books of Albion - Peter Doherty
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 07, 2010, 09:16:11 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 07, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Kurt Vonnegut

Slapstick

Great stuff.  Love Vonnegut!

thats my fav vonnegut.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 07, 2010, 09:48:05 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 07, 2010, 12:16:14 AM
(http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/animal-vegetable-miracle.jpg)

impacting me in a big way......

Just read a little bit about this. I am going to have to give it a read, especially after seeing Food Inc. I have really started thinking about what I eat and where it comes from, and the impact of processed foods and our way of farming, and the importance of eating locally grown, organic foods instead.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 07, 2010, 11:50:27 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 07, 2010, 09:48:05 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 07, 2010, 12:16:14 AM
(http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/animal-vegetable-miracle.jpg)

impacting me in a big way......

Just read a little bit about this. I am going to have to give it a read, especially after seeing Food Inc. I have really started thinking about what I eat and where it comes from, and the impact of processed foods and our way of farming, and the importance of eating locally grown, organic foods instead.

srsly.

one of my favorite books i own.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on January 07, 2010, 05:57:45 PM
Stephen E. Ambrose--Undaunted Courage. Fascinating!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on January 08, 2010, 09:16:13 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on January 07, 2010, 05:57:45 PM
Stephen E. Ambrose--Undaunted Courage. Fascinating!

Read that many moons ago, Ambrose really does a good job in his books of writing more like a "fiction" writer than a historian.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on January 08, 2010, 09:23:11 AM
1984 - first time, believe it or not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 08, 2010, 09:35:07 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on January 08, 2010, 09:23:11 AM
1984 - first time, believe it or not.

Enjoy. 












I'll be watching you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on January 08, 2010, 12:24:40 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on January 08, 2010, 09:16:13 AM
Quote from: sprobeck on January 07, 2010, 05:57:45 PM
Stephen E. Ambrose--Undaunted Courage. Fascinating!

Read that many moons ago, Ambrose really does a good job in his books of writing more like a "fiction" writer than a historian.

Absolutely! I love his comments about the events!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 15, 2010, 03:56:32 PM
Under The Volcano - Malcolm Lowry

an intense read, a bit hard to get through. beautiful writing. all takes place over one day, focusing on an alcoholic and his often meandering and drunk thoughts. the first chapter was particularly tough to follow, as it turns out it takes place one year after the events in the rest of the book. i had to re-read that chapter once i was done with the book, so i could actually understand what it meant--and it means a lot. kind of hard not to consider this a brilliant book overall, but it's a challenge to see through. great ending, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on January 15, 2010, 04:00:59 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 07, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Kurt Vonnegut

Slapstick

Great stuff.  Love Vonnegut!
I'm reading Slaughterhouse Five right now. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 15, 2010, 04:27:41 PM
Quote from: sophist on January 15, 2010, 04:00:59 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 07, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Kurt Vonnegut

Slapstick

Great stuff.  Love Vonnegut!
I'm reading Slaughterhouse Five right now.

So it goes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 16, 2010, 08:43:25 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 15, 2010, 04:27:41 PM
Quote from: sophist on January 15, 2010, 04:00:59 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 07, 2010, 08:47:29 AM
Kurt Vonnegut

Slapstick

Great stuff.  Love Vonnegut!
I'm reading Slaughterhouse Five right now.

So it goes.

Love that one.  I have his memoir up next, Armageddon in Retrospect.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: twatts on January 16, 2010, 09:22:41 AM
Hilarious stuff...  http://orbooks.com/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on January 16, 2010, 11:20:22 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 07, 2010, 09:48:05 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 07, 2010, 12:16:14 AM
(http://davidswanson.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/animal-vegetable-miracle.jpg)

impacting me in a big way......

Just read a little bit about this. I am going to have to give it a read, especially after seeing Food Inc. I have really started thinking about what I eat and where it comes from, and the impact of processed foods and our way of farming, and the importance of eating locally grown, organic foods instead.

here is the book that changed the way I eat forever:

(http://www.betterschoolfood.org/media/newsletters/081209_files/visual_editor_preview_data_002/84.jpg)

http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263658586&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263658586&sr=1-1)

I saw Food Inc. afterwards, which just solidified the deal.  Pollan is not a scientist, he is a journalist, so some of his claims are just that, claims, but most of it just makes good sense, and works.  His is the movement away from "nutrionism" and back towards eating whole foods. IIRC he was featured in Food Inc. several times.

current read:

http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n24697.jpg (http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n4/n24697.jpg)

Tim Powers - Declare

as with most good Tim Powers books, I'm a quarter of the way through and have no idea what the hell is going on.  A WWII spy novel with an as yet unknown supernatural element.  entertaining stuff.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on January 19, 2010, 11:30:40 AM
Food Inc. is buried somewhere in the Netflix queue so those books might make for good companions.

Right now, two chapters into:

(http://sasquatchradio.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/blood-meridian.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 19, 2010, 11:36:42 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on January 19, 2010, 11:30:40 AM
Food Inc. is buried somewhere in the Netflix queue so those books might make for good companions.

shipping to me today
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 19, 2010, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 19, 2010, 11:36:42 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on January 19, 2010, 11:30:40 AM
Food Inc. is buried somewhere in the Netflix queue so those books might make for good companions.

shipping to me today

Yeah, I'm a couple chapters into
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFGZRlHjL._AA75_.jpg)
and digging it, especially with the recent food related movies I've been seeing, including Food Inc. Thanks for the recommendation mbdub!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 19, 2010, 01:48:29 PM
Finally finished Fast Food Nation. I had put it down someplace and it got buried. Very interesting read.

On to this:

(http://www.fortworthgov.org/uploadedImages/Public_Library/BOOKS_AND_BEYOND/Find_Something_Good/Arugula.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 19, 2010, 10:01:31 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 19, 2010, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 19, 2010, 11:36:42 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on January 19, 2010, 11:30:40 AM
Food Inc. is buried somewhere in the Netflix queue so those books might make for good companions.

shipping to me today

Yeah, I'm a couple chapters into
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFGZRlHjL._AA75_.jpg)
and digging it, especially with the recent food related movies I've been seeing, including Food Inc. Thanks for the recommendation mbdub!
Picked this one up the other day after seeing it recommended here. I've liked Kingsolvers fiction in the past, esp Poisonwood Bible, and having just seen Food Inc. I was pretty psyched to get into this one.
Im beginning to pay serious attention to my and my family's diet. Things will be changing in my kitchen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 21, 2010, 01:06:55 PM
Quote from: birdman on January 19, 2010, 10:01:31 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 19, 2010, 11:46:10 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 19, 2010, 11:36:42 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on January 19, 2010, 11:30:40 AM
Food Inc. is buried somewhere in the Netflix queue so those books might make for good companions.

shipping to me today

Yeah, I'm a couple chapters into
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFGZRlHjL._AA75_.jpg)
and digging it, especially with the recent food related movies I've been seeing, including Food Inc. Thanks for the recommendation mbdub!
Picked this one up the other day after seeing it recommended here. I've liked Kingsolvers fiction in the past, esp Poisonwood Bible, and having just seen Food Inc. I was pretty psyched to get into this one.
Im beginning to pay serious attention to my and my family's diet. Things will be changing in my kitchen.

Yeah, I hear you on that. The more you learn about this, and understand everything that goes on behind the scenes, and start to believe in the basic everyday changes you can make, it's pretty tough to turn your back to it.

For anyone that's interested, here's a great website to learn more, and find a local farmers markets, csa's, etc...

http://www.localharvest.org/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on January 28, 2010, 04:06:38 PM
Life on The Mississippi by Mark Twain
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 29, 2010, 11:56:10 AM
Quote from: postjack on January 16, 2010, 11:20:22 AM


(http://www.betterschoolfood.org/media/newsletters/081209_files/visual_editor_preview_data_002/84.jpg)



i'm about 1/3 into this one.

good stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on January 29, 2010, 12:10:44 PM
SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

(http://unitedfamiliesinternational.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/superfreakonomics.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on January 29, 2010, 11:19:36 PM
The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'amour: The Adventure Stories, Volume Four. Great!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on January 30, 2010, 12:06:28 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Well somebody mentioned the gnashing of teeth over there and you know, it felt like the right thing to do.  :-D
Nah, I read it in the evening from time to time.  I was brought up with that stuff, some of it stuck with me I guess.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 30, 2010, 12:11:49 AM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 30, 2010, 12:06:28 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Well somebody mentioned the gnashing of teeth over there and you know, it felt like the right thing to do.  :-D
Nah, I read it in the evening from time to time.  I was brought up with that stuff, some of it stuck with me I guess.

skip the begat stuff.

as vonnegut would say...
QuoteHow about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ...

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on January 30, 2010, 12:42:09 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 30, 2010, 12:11:49 AM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 30, 2010, 12:06:28 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Well somebody mentioned the gnashing of teeth over there and you know, it felt like the right thing to do.  :-D
Nah, I read it in the evening from time to time.  I was brought up with that stuff, some of it stuck with me I guess.

skip the begat stuff.

as vonnegut would say...
QuoteHow about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ...

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

watch out, they hate it when you use their textbook against them
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 30, 2010, 12:46:32 AM
Quote from: kellerb on January 30, 2010, 12:42:09 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 30, 2010, 12:11:49 AM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 30, 2010, 12:06:28 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Well somebody mentioned the gnashing of teeth over there and you know, it felt like the right thing to do.  :-D
Nah, I read it in the evening from time to time.  I was brought up with that stuff, some of it stuck with me I guess.

skip the begat stuff.

as vonnegut would say...
QuoteHow about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ...

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

watch out, they hate it when you use their textbook against them

who?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on January 30, 2010, 12:50:13 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 30, 2010, 12:46:32 AM
Quote from: kellerb on January 30, 2010, 12:42:09 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 30, 2010, 12:11:49 AM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 30, 2010, 12:06:28 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 29, 2010, 11:58:09 PM
Quote from: Phishy69 on January 29, 2010, 11:56:27 PM
Bible

the whole thing?
Well somebody mentioned the gnashing of teeth over there and you know, it felt like the right thing to do.  :-D
Nah, I read it in the evening from time to time.  I was brought up with that stuff, some of it stuck with me I guess.

skip the begat stuff.

as vonnegut would say...
QuoteHow about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ...

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

watch out, they hate it when you use their textbook against them

who?
people who use the bible as a textbook
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 30, 2010, 03:50:45 AM
blessed are the cheesemakers?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hesthemamba on February 02, 2010, 06:55:46 PM
(http://crownlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/omnivoresdilemma.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hesthemamba on February 02, 2010, 06:57:16 PM
^just like everyone else   :banana:<-- organic genetically modified to be a dancing banana
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 03, 2010, 12:44:26 AM
Quote from: hesthemamba on February 02, 2010, 06:57:16 PM
^just like everyone else   :banana:<-- organic genetically modified to be a dancing banana

I bet that banana was grown from corn fructose syrup.  :shakehead:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on February 05, 2010, 05:39:59 AM
(http://www.oskusoft.com/osku/books/pics/462.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on February 05, 2010, 11:26:23 AM
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea  (again)

loving this whole Kindle thing!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on February 05, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/catch22_cover.jpg)

somehow made it through high school never having to read this.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 05, 2010, 02:37:14 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 05, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/catch22_cover.jpg)

somehow made it through high school never having to read this.


when forced to name my single favorite book ever--- i name this one. hilarious and brilliant. like nothing else.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: hoodie22 on February 05, 2010, 04:25:32 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 05, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/catch22_cover.jpg)

somehow made it through high school never having to read this.

I did have to read it in High school....but I've thought about reading it again, b/c I don't remember much of what I read in high school profoundly, this is definitely one of the ones on my "re-read" list.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on February 09, 2010, 03:11:09 AM
Balthazar by Lawrence Durrell. It was recommended to me by my Mom. I like it so far.  It's part of the Alexandria Quartet. I started Justine and thought it was too melodramatic. This one I'm enjoying though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on February 09, 2010, 11:01:27 AM
Really enjoying this (pasted from the wiki, in case you need to reference it's dewey decimal #  :wink:):

The Soul of a New Machine
 
Author    Tracy Kidder
Country    United States
Subject(s)    Electrical engineering, Electronics
Publisher    Little, Brown and Company
Publication date    July 1981
Media type    Hardcover
Pages    293 pp
ISBN    978-0316491709
OCLC Number    7551785
Dewey Decimal    621.3819/582 19
LC Classification    TK7885.4 .K53

Tracy Kidder's non-fiction book, The Soul of a New Machine, chronicles the experiences of an engineering team racing to design a next generation computer under a blistering schedule and tremendous pressure. Published in 1981, it won a Pulitzer Prize and an American Book Award.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 10, 2010, 09:24:30 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 05, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/catch22_cover.jpg)

somehow made it through high school never having to read this.

I didn't have to read this in HS either but picked it up many years ago. Have started it several times, but never made it past the first few pages. Maybe I'll pick it up again next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on February 10, 2010, 10:45:14 AM
 The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on February 10, 2010, 10:49:19 AM
Quote from: caravan2001 on February 09, 2010, 11:01:27 AM
Really enjoying this (pasted from the wiki, in case you need to reference it's dewey decimal #  :wink:):

UHF Conan The Librarian (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHoHaAYHq8#)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on February 14, 2010, 12:53:56 AM
About 2/3's done with Dave Eggers What Is The What.
The voice of the narrator poses problems, but overall, time well spent. Yet another reminder that those birthed in the US hit the lottery as far as boundaries are concerned.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 14, 2010, 03:00:20 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on February 10, 2010, 09:24:30 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 05, 2010, 11:32:40 AM
(http://ahabsquest.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/catch22_cover.jpg)

somehow made it through high school never having to read this.

I didn't have to read this in HS either but picked it up many years ago. Have started it several times, but never made it past the first few pages. Maybe I'll pick it up again next.

I really only enjoyed the first chapter or two, although most of it is good.  The beginning is the most comedic part, imo.  But worth the read for sure.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 22, 2010, 01:16:22 PM
Taking a break from the sustainable living books, and jumped into A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson. Quick and easy read, lol humor at time, enjoying it greatly.

(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ID2W1r9ZwpTKJM:http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/a-walk-in-the-woods-lr.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on February 22, 2010, 01:19:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on February 22, 2010, 01:16:22 PM
Quick and easy read
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ID2W1r9ZwpTKJM:http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/a-walk-in-the-woods-lr.jpg)

i would think so, its tiny!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 22, 2010, 01:34:02 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 22, 2010, 01:19:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on February 22, 2010, 01:16:22 PM
Quick and easy read
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ID2W1r9ZwpTKJM:http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/a-walk-in-the-woods-lr.jpg)

i would think so, its tiny!

I didn't want the big copy, too heavy to carry around!

(http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/a-walk-in-the-woods-lr.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on February 22, 2010, 02:17:57 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

nice, i have it, and need to read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:52:50 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 22, 2010, 02:17:57 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

nice, i have it, and need to read it.

My expectations were more than met...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on February 22, 2010, 03:14:20 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

One time I was at the book store waiting for my wife to pick me up and I read the first hundred or so pages in an hour.  It was awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 22, 2010, 09:51:17 PM
Raymond Chandler

Farewell, My Lovely
and
The Lady In The Lake

both are awesome. great writing, great mysteries. Marlowe is such a dark character.
next up i'm going to read some Hammett.
been on a noir kick lately...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 22, 2010, 09:56:46 PM
and also:

The Atlas by William Vollmann.
a kind of nonfiction travelogue of the many places around the world Vollmann has traveled. consists of many short chapters. much of the incidents are written as fiction, with him in the third person. as is to be expected, there's a lot of grimness and a lot of whores, but the writing is beautiful and poetic, and there's beauty and longing and sadness in here as well. he has a tendency to go to dangerous places, like sarajevo in '92, where two of his friends were blown up in a car he too was riding in.

if you've never read Vollmann, this is a good place to start.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 24, 2010, 10:55:24 AM
(http://preparednesspro.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/alas-babylon.jpg)

Alas, Babylon

Read it in high school, thought I would give it another read.  Interesting look at the Cold War, survival after nuclear war, and general preparedness for national crisis.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 24, 2010, 10:57:46 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on February 22, 2010, 01:19:18 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on February 22, 2010, 01:16:22 PM
Quick and easy read
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ID2W1r9ZwpTKJM:http://doxxa.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/a-walk-in-the-woods-lr.jpg)

i would think so, its tiny!

:wtu:

Light reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann



Quote from: Mr Minor on February 24, 2010, 10:55:24 AM
Alas, Babylon

Read it in high school, thought I would give it another read.  Interesting look at the Cold War, survival after nuclear war, and general preparedness for national crisis.

I recall reading that when I was much younger... I liked it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on February 24, 2010, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

nice, for me I was a crue head at least through Theatre of Pain before I lost interest mind you as I was around 11-13 during Shout - Theatre.  I really liked the book except for the last part w/ the new guy, kind of snoozy but it had some entertaining parts like Tommy Lee's love for Radiohead. 
The unexplained phenomena at Nikki's apt. during his meditations w/ Satan were entertaining as well.  Definitely parallels w/ Nikki and K. Cobain as well.  Overall good read. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 25, 2010, 10:50:32 AM
I've barely cracked it but I'm intrigued...
I'll report back.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 25, 2010, 10:51:40 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 25, 2010, 10:50:32 AM
I've barely cracked it but I'm intrigued...
I'll report back.

Non-fiction or realistic fiction?

Don't know anything about it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 25, 2010, 10:58:00 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 25, 2010, 10:51:40 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 25, 2010, 10:50:32 AM
I've barely cracked it but I'm intrigued...
I'll report back.

Non-fiction or realistic fiction?

Don't know anything about it.

Non Fiction.
From Publisher's Weekly (via Amazon)
QuoteIn 1925, renowned British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett embarked on a much publicized search to find the city of Z, site of an ancient Amazonian civilization that may or may not have existed. Fawcett, along with his grown son Jack, never returned, but that didn't stop countless others, including actors, college professors and well-funded explorers from venturing into the jungle to find Fawcett or the city. Among the wannabe explorers is Grann, a staff writer for the New Yorker, who has bad eyes and a worse sense of direction. He became interested in Fawcett while researching another story, eventually venturing into the Amazon to satisfy his all-consuming curiosity about the explorer and his fatal mission. Largely about Fawcett, the book examines the stranglehold of passion as Grann's vigorous research mirrors Fawcett's obsession with uncovering the mysteries of the jungle. By interweaving the great story of Fawcett with his own investigative escapades in South America and Britain, Grann provides an in-depth, captivating character study that has the relentless energy of a classic adventure tale.

There's also a review written by John Grisham (yeah, THAT John Grisham) on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Obsession-Vintage-Departures/dp/1400078458 (http://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Obsession-Vintage-Departures/dp/1400078458)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 25, 2010, 11:54:12 AM
Intrigued.  Putting that on the list...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 04:54:26 PM
It has gotten excellent reviews both in the paper and blog presses. I have always enjoyed travel literature or travel writing - V.S. Naipaul, Graham Greene, Paul Theroux, others I am forgetting. Bill Bryson.

I have a MY-NUTE break from school the next few days, so I am halfway through the latest Roberto Bolano:
Quote
Bolaño's brief, wonderfully eccentric novel moves around two themes he developed at length in The Savage Detectives—poets and conspiracies. In 1938 Paris, semirecluse Pierre Pain, the 48-year-old mesmerist narrator, is in love with young widow Marcelle Reynaud, who calls him to request his service in treating a friend's husband. Eager to impress, Pain agrees to treat the man, Oscar Vallejo, a Peruvian poet, who is hiccupping himself to death. Pain's re-entry into normal life soon goes awry: two thuggish Spaniards bribe him to withdraw from the case, Pain experiences auditory hallucinations, Madame Reynaud disappears, and Pain runs into a fellow mesmerist, Plomeur-Boudou, working as a torturer for Franco, who tells Pain an obscure tale about the purported assassination of Pierre Curie. Is all this simply a bizarre swirl of coincidences befalling a lonely and slightly mad bachelor, or are these events links in a chain of murders? One of Bolaño's first novels, this already displays his brilliant, alchemical gift for transmuting the dead-ends of life into sinister mysteries.

Interesting if you have read his other novels, but not required or a good place to start. What is interesting, although the above description does mention poets, is that this is the least involved novel, that I've read, regarding writers, poets, or the writing process. So from that standpoint it is refreshing. This is an early work (other than short stories, what else of his is there to publish?), so leeway must be given.

Also, for any and all who have read his short story collection, Last Evenings on Earth, the beginning story in that collection, "Sensini", relates (a fictional) Bolano's forays into entering provincial literary contests to earn food to live. In Monsieur Pain, he writes a brief introducation talking about that story and the book in question in that short story is Monsieur Pain. So that is pretty neat-o.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on March 02, 2010, 05:31:16 PM
(http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-sci-fi-fantasy-2006/547-1.jpg)

:crazy: finally got these today(this one and the next in the series)  im not even through the first chapter yet mostly from laughing so much.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 02, 2010, 06:53:18 PM
My 12 y.o. daughter has been raving about a series of books for awhile so I finally read through the first two books. Outstanding reads. I was blown away by how violent this "young adult" story was. Kind of a cross between Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and King's "The Running Man".
(http://library.loganutah.org/teens/reviews/covers/hungergames.jpg)
(http://normalteens.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/catching-fire.jpg)
Cant wait for the final book in the series.
Stephen King wrote a great review:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20223443,00.html (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20223443,00.html)
Brief synopsis:As negative Utopias go, Suzanne Collins has created a dilly. The United States is gone. North America has become Panem, a TV-dominated dictatorship run from a city called the Capitol. The rest of Panem is divided into 12 Districts (the former 13th had the bad judgment to revolt and no longer exists). The yearly highlight in this nightmare world is the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show in which 24 teenagers chosen by lottery — two from each District — fight each other in a desolate environment called the ''arena.'' The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only ''unspoken rule'' is that you can't eat the dead contestants. Let's see the makers of the movie version try to get a PG-13 on this baby.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 02, 2010, 09:21:14 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?

Halfway through...
Totally digging it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 03, 2010, 12:06:16 AM
^Nice. Will have to put it onto the to be read list this summer. What caught my eye in the reviews was his weaving together of the historical journey and his current travels. I want to see how he does that.

I don't expect it to, but, if it tanks in the last half, please do let me know. So many books, so little time   :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 03, 2010, 02:47:54 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 02, 2010, 09:21:14 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?

Halfway through...
Totally digging it.

my dad just gave this to me for my birthday. i hope it stays good!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Declan on March 03, 2010, 07:31:39 AM
Barbrah Ehrenreich -- Dancing in the Streets
Ehrenreich -- Nickled and Dimed
John Storey -- Inventing Popular Culture
Michel Foucault -- Discipline and Punishment
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 03, 2010, 07:49:37 AM
Quote from: birdman on March 02, 2010, 06:53:18 PM
My 12 y.o. daughter has been raving about a series of books for awhile so I finally read through the first two books. Outstanding reads. I was blown away by how violent this "young adult" story was. Kind of a cross between Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and King's "The Running Man".

I have a lot of students reading those and they can't say enough about them.  Great comparison to those two other adult short stories, as that is exactly what I thought of when I heard about and read the first one.

For me:

Armageddon in Retrospect
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Armageddon_in_retrospect.jpg)

Awesome.  I really enjoyed the short stories, except for one near the end which was just too predictable.  Other than that I was really impressed and happy with it.  Short stories are such an art, sometimes unappreciated, but I totally think they are more difficult to write than a novel as you need to do so much in so little space.
Fans of Vonnegut or not, I would recommend reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 06, 2010, 11:50:50 PM
Time hasn't been as much of an issue this week as I thought, so I've cracked open a couple of books out of South Africa.

Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black
Author: Nadine Gordimer

Review from PW:
Quote
Thirteen stories from South African Nobel Prize–winner Gordimer offer a staccato demonstration of how people's origins, inheritances and histories—and the loss of them—are inescapable. The title story centers on the white, twice-divorced academic descendant of a London diamond prospector who visits his forebear's mine in Kimberly, South Africa, and wonders about who in the township, black and white, he may be related to. The narrator of Dreaming of the Dead is haunted by famous former companions (the late intellectuals Edward Said and Susan Sontag), while the grieving widow of Allesverloren (or All Is Lost) seeks out her husband's former lover to unearth a message from him. The daughter of A Beneficiary, meanwhile, finds an unsettling letter among the effects of her late mother, an actress. Cultural inheritance shadows the marriage of a Hungarian couple that emigrates to South Africa in Alternate Endings: Second Sense, and also the son of A Frivolous Woman, who resents his flamboyant German-Jewish émigré mother's easy adaptability. Again and again, Gordimer puts big, sweeping disasters (the Holocaust, apartheid) in the pasts of flawed, ill-equipped characters and shows how their choices have been little more than wing beats against history. The results are terrifying, sometimes acidly funny and often beautiful.

I have two stories left here, and although not the best work of hers I've read (July's People, Burger's Daughter, The Pickup), she has such a unique voice, unique structure to her sentences.  It was remarked above about short-stories being difficult to write, but this is one writer who excels at both novel writing and short-story writing. Which is very rare. There are stories in here about a white academic attempting to find a 'native' (this being South Africa) composition to his family tree, what it is to be a tape worm, and one about a woman who seeks the gay lover of her dead husband. Stories are set in South Africa, Germany, southern France, London, and a GI tract.

Secondly, there is this allegory:
Blood Kin
Quote
A spare political fable assesses the contaminating nature of power in both public and private lives.A small cast of nameless characters interacts intricately in Dovey's poised debut, set in an unnamed country in the grip of political turmoil. Three men initially share the narration - a portraitist, a chef and a barber - all of whom have worked for the President and are now swept up in regime change when the Commander launches a coup. Imprisoned in the head of state's Summer Residence, the President is beaten and forced to confront the violence he inflicted on his opponents, while the three captured workers take up their old roles, now in the service of the new leader. The portraitist's wife, eight months pregnant, has also been taken prisoner. The barber recognizes the Commander's wife: Previously she was the fiancee of his brother, who was one of the President's victims. The book is divided into three parts, and in part two the women speak - the chef's daughter and the wives - revealing their pasts and their mixed feelings toward their relations. Simultaneously sensuous and claustrophobic, the novel charts deception, estrangement and the recognition of power's inevitably corrupting tendency. The brief but intense story concludes in a violent cycle of death, birth and grim continuity. A dense, dark, impressively controlled first work. Not for optimists.

I'm at the midway point where the voices flip. Those that likes Bolano's The Skating Rink will like the structure and lay or feel of this novel. Decent debut so far. Claustrophobic is a good word. And not all the time logical in the idea after idea aspect of writing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 06, 2010, 11:56:15 PM
Also, not that it really makes any difference to the written word on the page, Ceridwen Dovey looks like this. In case you see her out and about or something. You'll recognize her.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 08, 2010, 10:03:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

i'll be done when i land in chicago tomorrow.
and i AM a fan....i've loved every page of this book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 08, 2010, 12:31:35 PM
White Light by rudy rucker.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on March 08, 2010, 12:41:44 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 08, 2010, 10:03:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 22, 2010, 02:16:26 PM
Finishing up
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e2/04/83c2e03ae7a033d3fe15e110.L.jpg)
The Dirt : Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

I've never been a huge fan of Motley Crue and this book won't change that but, it's been a fun read.

i'll be done when i land in chicago tomorrow.
and i AM a fan....i've loved every page of this book.

I liked this one too.  Yall should check out The Game for another quick, entertaining read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 08, 2010, 01:39:22 PM
(http://theotheradamford.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/ppz.jpg)

Just received this from another English teacher.  We laughed about the idea when we first saw it last year and she picked it up for me as she knew I would appreciate it.  Should be interesting.  I like literature.  I like zombies.  Sounds like a great combo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 08, 2010, 10:37:26 PM
^Re: The Zombies

From the Millions:
Quote
When Kelly wrote of "remixed" books, many were aghast, envisioning zombified, soulless collages, based on the desecrated works that had been co-opted for profit. They may have been right about the zombie part: At least one book remix has caused quite a stir this year. According to Publishers Weekly, there are "more than 600,000 copies in print of... Jane Austen mashup, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." A graphic novel version is in the works, as is a sequel, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Even though this recent example looms large, when you start thinking about it there is a rich history of literary remixes.

Quote
Returning to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, silly as it may be, one wonders if the book's success doesn't prove there is an appetite – in our heavily remixed, mashed up culture – for freer rein to be afforded writers who want to experiment in this vein. It's also clear that the public domain offers an unending font of material for those inclined to use it (for a more highbrow example, think of the relationship between Tom Stoppard and Shakespeare). Meanwhile, the Salinger case would seem to indicate that when it comes to books under copyright and the cross-linking, clustering, and reassembling that Kelly prophesied, we are still very much at the whim of the copyright holder.

Enjoy!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 08, 2010, 10:43:53 PM
emma thompson always seemed a little zombie-ish, in my opinion
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 09, 2010, 12:43:42 AM
Quote from: kellerb on March 08, 2010, 10:43:53 PM
emma thompson always seemed a little zombie-ish, in my opinion

i see what you mean. then again, i used to think of her as a sort of... zilf.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 09, 2010, 09:23:35 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on March 09, 2010, 12:43:42 AM
Quote from: kellerb on March 08, 2010, 10:43:53 PM
emma thompson always seemed a little zombie-ish, in my opinion

i see what you mean. then again, i used to think of her as a sort of... zilf.

Oh def.

zilf...With Xtreme Prejudice!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 09, 2010, 02:50:05 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?

Totally dug this book. finished it last night.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on March 09, 2010, 03:16:52 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 08, 2010, 01:39:22 PM
(http://theotheradamford.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/ppz.jpg)

Just received this from another English teacher.  We laughed about the idea when we first saw it last year and she picked it up for me as she knew I would appreciate it.  Should be interesting.  I like literature.  I like zombies.  Sounds like a great combo!

Should check out the follow up if you enjoy it:

"Sense and Sensibility and Seas Monsters"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594744424/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1594743347&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=03G8J83PA3X0Y1VWA9PH (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594744424/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1594743347&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=03G8J83PA3X0Y1VWA9PH)

Different author, but my last girlfriend was a huge fan of the first and really liked this one too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 09, 2010, 10:20:12 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 09, 2010, 02:50:05 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?

Totally dug this book. finished it last night.

Rawk. Thanks RJ. Will check it out this summer. Now, back to CBC values.....  :angel:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 19, 2010, 10:35:02 PM
I saw that book in the bookstore tonight and almost picked it up.  Maybe next time since you guys are saying good things about it.

I'm not reading it yet, but I picked this one up tonight
http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Find-Way-Home-1945-2000/dp/0743230108 (http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Find-Way-Home-1945-2000/dp/0743230108)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y7YBV0HWL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on March 20, 2010, 06:47:52 AM
(http://theband.hiof.no/band_pictures/mystery_train_5th_ed.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 20, 2010, 03:07:37 PM
Quote from: Gol D. Roger on March 20, 2010, 06:47:52 AM
(http://theband.hiof.no/band_pictures/mystery_train_5th_ed.jpg)

I read that one a few months ago.  It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was interesting.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 23, 2010, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 09, 2010, 02:50:05 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on February 25, 2010, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 24, 2010, 11:06:07 AM
(http://www.wtps.org/wths/imc/staff%20picks/Graphics/2009%20pix/lost-city-z.jpg)
The Lost City of Z
by David Grann

I've heard good things. What's the verdict thus far?

Totally dug this book. finished it last night.


i don't know... this didn't grab me. seemed to be a book mostly full of padding. there really wasn't much known about this explorer Fawcett. his city of Z was just his name for El Dorado, i.e. the Lost City of Gold. Fawcett was one of these gentlemen explorers who was obsessed to the point his hubris got him killed. the author just seems to really be sweating trying to make Fawcett sound important for believing in this 'city.' that it has come to light that much larger populations lived in south america than has been previously thought doesn't make these fantasies about cities of gold somehow prescient.

and for actual scientific into about the fact of larger populations, there's a much better book that came out a few years ago, called 1491.

hearing about the author's own dull travels to brazil was especially boring. his writing style is very flat, suitable for the magazine articles he normally writes, but not for a whole book. then again, it's a massive best-seller everyone loves... so maybe i'll just shut up now.  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on March 23, 2010, 02:13:53 PM
I am a huge follower of theoretical physics.  M Theory, super strings, extra dimensions, etc. etc. is my shit.  So I just picked this up:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RbOFl7htL._SS500_.jpg)

"From Here to Eternity" by Sean Carroll
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 23, 2010, 05:47:30 PM
Quote from: thatfargone on March 23, 2010, 02:13:53 PM
I am a huge follower of theoretical physics.  M Theory, super strings, extra dimensions, etc. etc. is my shit.  So I just picked this up:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RbOFl7htL._SS500_.jpg)

"From Here to Eternity" by Sean Carroll

i also love books about this stuff.
will have to pick this one up.


by the way, i'm curious about the thelonious monk "quote" you have there. that particular quote, and variations on it, have been attributed to damn near everyone, and there is nothing definitive on the web that i can find showing an actual first citation of its use. more often than not, it's attributed to steve martin or frank zappa.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on March 24, 2010, 07:05:50 AM
Here's where I'm at
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on March 24, 2010, 08:36:53 AM
First time reading this one. So far so good.
(http://www.plumjoe.com/storage/ASAGN.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on March 24, 2010, 09:12:16 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on March 23, 2010, 05:47:30 PM

by the way, i'm curious about the thelonious monk "quote" you have there. that particular quote, and variations on it, have been attributed to damn near everyone, and there is nothing definitive on the web that i can find showing an actual first citation of its use. more often than not, it's attributed to steve martin or frank zappa.

Interesting.  I have never heard it outside of Monk.  I just googled the exact wording as I have quoted and get multiple hits listing Monk as a source....however I do believe it is a miss quote of "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"  Which is attribulted to everyone.

Take a read:http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/they/tamildaa.htm (http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/they/tamildaa.htm)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 24, 2010, 10:17:05 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 24, 2010, 07:05:50 AM
Here's where I'm at
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=18290;image)

Dharma Bums is one of my favs. You should read Desolation Angels immediately afterward as it follows directly in the chronology.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 24, 2010, 11:41:21 AM
<3
(http://www.therockdose.com/files/2008/10/the-heroin-diaries.jpg)

it's insane how big of a crush i had on this guy when i was little...
kinda still do  :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: crnl4bn on March 24, 2010, 11:46:01 AM
In the middle of a few right now.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513O3Z8cxLL._SS500_.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T9FJEJ0QL._SS500_.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K6NBSTVSL._SS500_.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 24, 2010, 11:53:32 AM
It's hard buying books for other people.  I picked out something for my mom while I was at the bookstore the other day.  Took me about an hour of looking around to finally settle on something.  Not sure how much she will like it but it got a lot of 5star reviews
http://www.amazon.com/NurtureShock-New-Thinking-About-Children/dp/0446504122 (http://www.amazon.com/NurtureShock-New-Thinking-About-Children/dp/0446504122)
(http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/172/891/400000000000000172891_s4.png)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 24, 2010, 12:13:03 PM
Quote from: JustJezmund on March 02, 2010, 05:31:16 PM
(http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-sci-fi-fantasy-2006/547-1.jpg)

:crazy: finally got these today(this one and the next in the series)  im not even through the first chapter yet mostly from laughing so much.

Just breezed through this.  Hilarious!  If its a series, I'll have to look for others.

Also just finished Slash's [auto]biography, which was a fun read
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on March 24, 2010, 12:24:21 PM
I need to go on a book buying hiatus.  I have so many that I need to finish still
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on March 24, 2010, 01:09:15 PM
Quote from: whyweigh4.0 on March 24, 2010, 12:24:21 PM
I need to go on a book buying hiatus.  I have so many that I need to finish still

I feel like this at times.  But then I'd stop DL music, buying movies etc.  Ah....to be a part of a commercialized/capitalist society!  Mmmmmm it just feels so good to buy things!!! :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 24, 2010, 02:40:16 PM
Quote from: thatfargone on March 24, 2010, 09:12:16 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on March 23, 2010, 05:47:30 PM

by the way, i'm curious about the thelonious monk "quote" you have there. that particular quote, and variations on it, have been attributed to damn near everyone, and there is nothing definitive on the web that i can find showing an actual first citation of its use. more often than not, it's attributed to steve martin or frank zappa.

Interesting.  I have never heard it outside of Monk.  I just googled the exact wording as I have quoted and get multiple hits listing Monk as a source....however I do believe it is a miss quote of "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"  Which is attribulted to everyone.

Take a read:http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/they/tamildaa.htm (http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/they/tamildaa.htm)

yes, i saw that page in my earlier search, which points out that the attribution to monk appeared in usenet posts, with no actual citation as to where it might have come from.

i also googled the exact wording as you have it, and there's only one link that actually has the quote attributed to monk, which is then appended with a question mark. one of the links goes to a post of yours on the paug!

anyhow, not trying to bust you or anything, i'm just interested in that quote. i liked it a lot when i first heard it years ago... but then i kept reading it attributed to different people, often with different wording, and started to wonder.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on March 24, 2010, 03:02:29 PM
LOL!  No problem, now you got me on the hunt! :laugh:

Actually the whole Furthur/Garcia issue I was involved in and then the Dylan = guitar innovator "discussion" :roll: :-D  I went searching for a pertinent quote.  Got it from wikiquote or some other quote site, but had thought I had read it in a cheap "Book of Jazz Quotes" before...but I always search out Jazz quotes so who knows.   After discussing it a bit a friend, and jazz scholar of mine, he though Mingus.  LOL!  May never know, especially if one of my quick looked at sources is....me.  HA!

It just sounded like Monk to me, that's why I never questioned it. Hmm...gotta dig up some Monk references see if I can find an actual source.  Interesting so many people are attributed to it.

Interesting that Miles, Monk and Mingus all have been attributed at some point.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on March 29, 2010, 04:34:44 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 24, 2010, 10:17:05 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 24, 2010, 07:05:50 AM
Here's where I'm at
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=18290;image)

Dharma Bums is one of my favs. You should read Desolation Angels immediately afterward as it follows directly in the chronology.


Cool thanks
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 30, 2010, 09:32:27 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 29, 2010, 04:34:44 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 24, 2010, 10:17:05 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 24, 2010, 07:05:50 AM
Here's where I'm at
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=18290;image)

Dharma Bums is one of my favs. You should read Desolation Angels immediately afterward as it follows directly in the chronology.


Cool thanks

Only Jack Kerouac I read was On the Road, and all I remember is, it was all over the place, and I don't think I got it. Oh well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on March 30, 2010, 03:32:03 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 30, 2010, 09:32:27 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 29, 2010, 04:34:44 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 24, 2010, 10:17:05 AM
Quote from: Guyute on March 24, 2010, 07:05:50 AM
Here's where I'm at
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=18290;image)

Dharma Bums is one of my favs. You should read Desolation Angels immediately afterward as it follows directly in the chronology.


Cool thanks

Only Jack Kerouac I read was On the Road, and all I remember is, it was all over the place, and I don't think I got it. Oh well.

Re-read.  Enjoy.  Repeat.



As for me, The Rum Diary, Hunter S.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 01, 2010, 05:17:23 PM
Money by Martin Amis

really liked this. a sort of book-long rant by a pretty unseemly character, a fat, sexist, hard drinking commercial director as he attempts to get a big budget movie started, all centered around money, and lots of it. and yet-- he's sympathetic just the same. great writing. supposedly inspired by Amis' time working on the script for the notorious piece of shit movie Saturn 3.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on April 01, 2010, 10:58:49 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 01, 2010, 05:17:23 PM
Money by Martin Amis

really liked this. a sort of book-long rant by a pretty unseemly character, a fat, sexist, hard drinking commercial director as he attempts to get a big budget movie started, all centered around money, and lots of it. and yet-- he's sympathetic just the same. great writing. supposedly inspired by Amis' time working on the script for the notorious piece of shit movie Saturn 3.

Have you read anything else by him? He has a new-ish book out, and seems pretty polarizing as a personality (e.g. recently endorsed euthanasia booths on street corners in his home country, continuously takes pisses on other writers heads to name a couple). Didn't know if he was someone you read faithfully or not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 02, 2010, 01:14:35 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on April 01, 2010, 10:58:49 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 01, 2010, 05:17:23 PM
Money by Martin Amis

really liked this. a sort of book-long rant by a pretty unseemly character, a fat, sexist, hard drinking commercial director as he attempts to get a big budget movie started, all centered around money, and lots of it. and yet-- he's sympathetic just the same. great writing. supposedly inspired by Amis' time working on the script for the notorious piece of shit movie Saturn 3.

Have you read anything else by him? He has a new-ish book out, and seems pretty polarizing as a personality (e.g. recently endorsed euthanasia booths on street corners in his home country, continuously takes pisses on other writers heads to name a couple). Didn't know if he was someone you read faithfully or not.

yeah, i guess i'm vaguely aware of his being kind of a bastard. i don't really follow him. but i've read two other books of his, both very good. one was London Fields, similar in a sense to Money, in that it follows a pretty unsavory character, and is as such very character based, not much in the way of plot. but a great read. Amis has a beautiful way with words.

the other is a really fascinating short novel called Time's Arrow. it's narrated in the first person by a sort of consciousness of a man who experiences that man's life in reverse. so it opens with the man coming alive as doctors look down on him, and goes until his birth. there are some other cool twists along the way. might sound similar to that benjami button thing, but it's actually quite different, with a very different purpose in mind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on April 02, 2010, 01:20:04 AM
I'm still working on the new Phish bio.  I tend to put books down and forget and pick up other books.  Tonight though I took out a big chunk of it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on April 04, 2010, 05:02:08 PM
(http://www.podularity.com/wp-content/images/lesh.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 05, 2010, 11:53:45 AM
Charles Mann's 1491 per cactusfan's suggestion.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Alumni on April 05, 2010, 01:19:39 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 02, 2010, 01:14:35 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on April 01, 2010, 10:58:49 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 01, 2010, 05:17:23 PM
Money by Martin Amis

really liked this. a sort of book-long rant by a pretty unseemly character, a fat, sexist, hard drinking commercial director as he attempts to get a big budget movie started, all centered around money, and lots of it. and yet-- he's sympathetic just the same. great writing. supposedly inspired by Amis' time working on the script for the notorious piece of shit movie Saturn 3.

Have you read anything else by him? He has a new-ish book out, and seems pretty polarizing as a personality (e.g. recently endorsed euthanasia booths on street corners in his home country, continuously takes pisses on other writers heads to name a couple). Didn't know if he was someone you read faithfully or not.

yeah, i guess i'm vaguely aware of his being kind of a bastard. i don't really follow him. but i've read two other books of his, both very good. one was London Fields, similar in a sense to Money, in that it follows a pretty unsavory character, and is as such very character based, not much in the way of plot. but a great read. Amis has a beautiful way with words.

the other is a really fascinating short novel called Time's Arrow. it's narrated in the first person by a sort of consciousness of a man who experiences that man's life in reverse. so it opens with the man coming alive as doctors look down on him, and goes until his birth. there are some other cool twists along the way. might sound similar to that benjami button thing, but it's actually quite different, with a very different purpose in mind.

Curious to hear about the new Amis novel also. I've always wanted to enjoy his work, just a little bit more than I've actually enjoyed them. Maybe I've read the wrong work (most recently The House of Meetings and The Moronic Inferno).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 05, 2010, 02:05:05 PM
I don't know if Graphic Novels count in this thread, But Dagny came home from work with the the first three books of Preacher for me on Saturday. She looked at them while checking in all the books that day and thought I would like it.
I read them about 15 years ago, but I'm still really enjoying them the second time through.

(http://www.efavata.com/CBM/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/preacher-gone_to_texas.jpg)
Book 1
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:16:33 PM
Comics and graphic novels are usually much better written than the average genre fiction (crap) or biography book.  I certainly approve! 

Big comic fan?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 05, 2010, 02:21:51 PM
Quote from: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:16:33 PM
Comics and graphic novels are usually much better written than the average genre fiction (crap) or biography book.  I certainly approve! 

Big comic fan?

Used to read them all the damn time. It's been quite a while since I've read any though. Last time I did was on the plane to San Fran when I read a lot of the Fables graphic novels. I should have her see if her library has those so I could finish out the series.

You'll still see me wearing my Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern shirts all the time though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:25:25 PM
Right on, lot of that Vertigo stuff is fantastic.  I typically read anything by Bendis, Morisson, Loeb, and Millar.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 05, 2010, 02:31:26 PM
Quote from: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:25:25 PM
Right on, lot of that Vertigo stuff is fantastic.  I typically read anything by Bendis, Morisson, Loeb, and Millar.

I do enjoy all of those guy's work. Is Morrison still doing Batman?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:37:27 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 05, 2010, 02:31:26 PM
Quote from: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 02:25:25 PM
Right on, lot of that Vertigo stuff is fantastic.  I typically read anything by Bendis, Morisson, Loeb, and Millar.

I do enjoy all of those guy's work. Is Morrison still doing Batman?

Yeah (Batman & Robin) I still think his New X-Men run has yet to be topped.  He is slated to write the return of Bruce Wayne (but I actually don't like Batman...so haven't been following.) 

I'm more of a Marvel guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 05, 2010, 02:42:07 PM
(http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/8558/@DC-VS-MARVEL-Image.jpg)

To each his own. I've teetered back and forth between the two, but have always been more a DC kinda guy.  Image really kicked ass back in the '90s too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on April 05, 2010, 03:07:28 PM
Yep, I have just about every Image #1...too bad everyone else does too. :shakehead:  :-D

I read both companies, just seems like DC has been ripping off Marvel for the past 5 years and it's the only reason I like them.  Ripping off as in philosophy...Marvel had always been the "flawed hero" company.  Real people with real problems, while DC took the role model on a pedestal approach where their hero's were infallible, god-like archetypes.  Identity Crisis changed everything for DC and I do really enjoy their books now...just sad they had to copy Marvel's approach to do it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 05, 2010, 08:56:49 PM
speaking of comics, i was really into Cerebus for a long time, until the author just plain went crazy about halfway through the 300 issue run. but for that first half, it was great. beautiful black and white art and very smart, funny writing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on April 05, 2010, 09:15:37 PM
Just finished The Rum Diary and am starting Slaughterhouse-Five
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on April 05, 2010, 11:55:39 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on April 05, 2010, 09:15:37 PM
Just finished The Rum Diary and am starting Slaughterhouse-Five

Two great reads.  Slaughterhouse Five is one of my favorites.  I love Vonnegut.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 06, 2010, 03:51:45 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 05, 2010, 11:53:45 AM
Charles Mann's 1491 per cactusfan's suggestion.

nice. hope you like it.
if you're still into south american jungle reading, check out One River by Wade Davis. a brilliant book about Richard Schultes, the most amazing ethnobotanist of the 20th century, who classified literally thousands of unknown plants, with a special eye towards all things hallucinogenic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 06, 2010, 01:11:02 PM
For those that have enjoyed the "food" books, here's an interview of the author of a pretty interesting one. Haven't picked it up yet, but am going to soon,

http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0330ab10.mp3/mediafile_view (http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0330ab10.mp3/mediafile_view)

Animal Factory, by David Kirby

(http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0330ab10.mp3/image_mini)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on April 06, 2010, 08:48:19 PM
(http://subbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/psnuff.jpg)

pretty twisted and great so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 08:02:34 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 06, 2010, 08:48:19 PM
(http://subbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/psnuff.jpg)

pretty twisted and great so far.

I read that a while back... Typically crazy stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on April 07, 2010, 12:32:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 08:02:34 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 06, 2010, 08:48:19 PM
(http://subbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/psnuff.jpg)

pretty twisted and great so far.

I read that a while back... Typically crazy stuff.

its the only one of his i have left to read....
but i am going to a reading of his next month downtown.... totally excited for it :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 01:35:03 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on April 07, 2010, 12:32:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 08:02:34 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 06, 2010, 08:48:19 PM
(http://subbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/psnuff.jpg)

pretty twisted and great so far.

I read that a while back... Typically crazy stuff.

its the only one of his i have left to read....
but i am going to a reading of his next month downtown.... totally excited for it :)

Cool.

You know he used to make people pass out at readings all over the country when he was reading the first story from Haunted...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on April 07, 2010, 01:40:06 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 01:35:03 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on April 07, 2010, 12:32:18 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 07, 2010, 08:02:34 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 06, 2010, 08:48:19 PM
(http://subbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/psnuff.jpg)

pretty twisted and great so far.

I read that a while back... Typically crazy stuff.

its the only one of his i have left to read....
but i am going to a reading of his next month downtown.... totally excited for it :)

Cool.

You know he used to make people pass out at readings all over the country when he was reading the first story from Haunted...

i remember reading that.. and that he used to use flavored smells, like meat air freshener and the like.
should be interesting.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 11:32:19 AM
i think i just found my summer reading... RJ, sophist.. you might enjoy this as well...

(http://media.us.macmillan.com/jackets/500H/9780312381080.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on May 11, 2010, 12:08:12 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 11:32:19 AM
i think i just found my summer reading... RJ, sophist.. you might enjoy this as well...

(http://media.us.macmillan.com/jackets/500H/9780312381080.jpg)

Adding that to my list.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 11, 2010, 12:29:16 PM
I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone

(http://www.jazzfm.com/wp-content/uploads/I-Put-A-Spell-On-You-Nina-Simone.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on May 11, 2010, 01:05:04 PM
Just started The Art of Racing in the Rain. Not a big fan of anthropomorphism but it is... pretty good so far. Before that I read 1776 which was great. I ordered more McCullough's. They should arrive tomorrow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 11, 2010, 12:08:12 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 11:32:19 AM
i think i just found my summer reading... RJ, sophist.. you might enjoy this as well...

(http://media.us.macmillan.com/jackets/500H/9780312381080.jpg)

Adding that to my list.

i'll probably buy it in the next week or two...
if you want, i can send it to you when i'm done?

...unless you do the ereader-type thing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 11, 2010, 02:30:52 PM
e-readers, lol
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 11, 2010, 02:31:59 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on May 11, 2010, 02:30:52 PM
e-readers, lol

Easy, now. I'm a Kindle-man!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 11, 2010, 02:32:39 PM
kindle, lol
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thatfargone on May 11, 2010, 02:58:15 PM
I HATE that ereader and kindle stuff...give me paper and ink!!!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 11, 2010, 03:05:07 PM
I could go on and on about how much I love my Kindle... I travel a lot, so books are a pain... plus I read every New Yorker Magazine cover-to-cover and they come every week... to stop that constant flow of paper into my house through to the recycling center is a great feeling.

Plus, I have the Kindle for Blackberry app, so I can pick up reading whatever book I'm in the middle of right where I left off on the Kindle at any time. Great for sitting on the john!!

Don't knock it 'til you try it!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 11, 2010, 03:15:25 PM
I've thought about a kindle but i like books to much. I just ordered some epic comic book series off amazon i'm pumped for. But first i have to start a book and finish by friday for a huge book report for class  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on May 11, 2010, 03:28:25 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on May 11, 2010, 03:05:07 PM
I could go on and on about how much I love my Kindle... I travel a lot, so books are a pain... plus I read every New Yorker Magazine cover-to-cover and they come every week... to stop that constant flow of paper into my house through to the recycling center is a great feeling.

Plus, I have the Kindle for Blackberry app, so I can pick up reading whatever book I'm in the middle of right where I left off on the Kindle at any time. Great for sitting on the john!!

Don't knock it 'til you try it!

I won't knock it.  However, I seem to remember hearing about an incident at a hotel that involved replacing a phone....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 11, 2010, 03:38:13 PM
yeah, but the replacement phone is so much nicer than the "lost" phone... worked out just fine!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 15, 2010, 08:57:11 AM
A Man in Full

by Tom Wolfe

I love his detailed, almost ridiculously detailed, writing.  He goes so deep into the characters it really makes you love or hate them.

I would recommend I Am Charlotte Simmons to anyone who likes Tom Wolfe.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on May 17, 2010, 04:21:28 PM
Anyone reading or have read the new Yann Martel (Life of Pi) book, Beatrice and Virgil? Thinking about picking it up.....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on May 18, 2010, 01:08:37 AM
 textbook on learning and adaptive behavior. fuck finals

i suppose the good news is that i can now tell you all you need to know about mowrer's two process theory of avoidance :frustrated:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on May 19, 2010, 04:51:24 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 11, 2010, 12:08:12 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 11:32:19 AM
i think i just found my summer reading... RJ, sophist.. you might enjoy this as well...

(http://media.us.macmillan.com/jackets/500H/9780312381080.jpg)

Adding that to my list.

i'll probably buy it in the next week or two...
if you want, i can send it to you when i'm done?

...unless you do the ereader-type thing.
I'm adding that to my reading list as well. 
---------------------------------------------------------
I just started Acid Dreams last night. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 19, 2010, 05:01:45 PM
I read the first Dark tower book like a year ago and i have nothing else to read so i decided to read them this summer. And i'm on the second one now. It's a great book
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on May 19, 2010, 06:17:35 PM
Quote from: sophist on May 19, 2010, 04:51:24 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 11, 2010, 12:08:12 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 11, 2010, 11:32:19 AM
i think i just found my summer reading... RJ, sophist.. you might enjoy this as well...

(http://media.us.macmillan.com/jackets/500H/9780312381080.jpg)

Adding that to my list.

i'll probably buy it in the next week or two...
if you want, i can send it to you when i'm done?

...unless you do the ereader-type thing.
I'm adding that to my reading list as well. 
---------------------------------------------------------
I just started Acid Dreams last night.

I read a similar book about the history of x number of Rum drinks, which was really interesting history-wise, and made me alternately thirsty and drunk.

Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 19, 2010, 05:01:45 PM
I read the first Dark tower book like a year ago and i have nothing else to read so i decided to read them this summer. And i'm on the second one now. It's a great book

Enjoy!  Be happy you didn't have to wait 15~20 years to finish reading those books, like some of us did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on May 19, 2010, 09:55:25 PM
I'm reading the Dark Tower series on my ipod and a physical copy of Blood Meridian.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 19, 2010, 10:47:04 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 19, 2010, 09:55:25 PM
I'm reading the Dark Tower series on my ipod and a physical copy of Blood Meridian.

Excellent on both fronts.

Reading James Agee - A Death In The Family.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on May 20, 2010, 12:18:50 AM
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough.  Crazy!!  :crazy: :crazy:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 20, 2010, 11:00:20 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 17, 2010, 04:21:28 PM
Anyone reading or have read the new Yann Martel (Life of Pi) book, Beatrice and Virgil? Thinking about picking it up.....

I myself have not. It has not been getting good reviews, so much so that the publisher sent an open letter to independent bookstores to push the book on Yann's behalf, and stick it to all the publications which have panned it. Not sure what the point of that is, but.... Check the New York Times Book Review for an average review.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 20, 2010, 09:45:19 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 19, 2010, 09:55:25 PM
I'm reading the Dark Tower series on my ipod and a physical copy of Blood Meridian.

I know many folks, not just RJ, love Blood Meridian or have at least read it. So, wanted to pass this along:

Quote
Blood Meridian Film Announced for 2011



Internet movie resource imdb.com reveals that the film version of Blood Meridian has been announced with a release date sometime in 2011.

Todd Field, who previously directed In the Bedroom (2001) and Little Children (2006) will direct from his own screenplay.

Field is credited as writer of In the Bedroom and co-writer of Little Children, each of which received Oscar nominations for screenwriting. In the Bedroom was also nominated for best picture, but lost to A Beautiful Mind.

Casting information about Blood Meridian is not yet available.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on May 20, 2010, 10:23:12 PM
Interesting.
I'm just a bit into the book but I will be curious to see how it is translated to the screen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 20, 2010, 10:55:00 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 20, 2010, 10:23:12 PM
Interesting.
I'm just a bit into the book but I will be curious to see how it is translated to the screen.

As will I. I think the fact that the screenwriter and the director are one and the same bodes well, although I admit I haven't seen either movie associated with this particular person.

Also, McCarthy's novel Cities Of The Plain (the third book of the trilogy which also features John Grady Cole from All The Pretty Horses) is also being shot with release sometime in 2012.

I can't imagine the amount of money McCarthy is sitting on with these movie deals. But, the man couldn't even afford toothpaste at one point in his career, so, he is getting his $$ due.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sophist on May 21, 2010, 08:21:23 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 17, 2010, 04:21:28 PM
Anyone reading or have read the new Yann Martel (Life of Pi) book, Beatrice and Virgil? Thinking about picking it up.....
I've read Life of Pi.  I highly recommend it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 22, 2010, 11:29:22 PM
Jonathan Littell
The Kindly Ones
Translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell

Summary:
Quote
Littell opens his Second World War novel, told through the recollections of a German officer named Max Aue, with a breakdown of how many Germans, Soviets, and Jews died, minute by minute, in the conflict. As Aue travels to Stalingrad, Auschwitz, and Hungary to report on morale and efficiency, long sections of bureaucratic analysis alternate with moments of mind-numbing sadism. Aue, a caricature of moral failure (he fantasizes at length about sodomizing his twin sister), encounters a cast of unintentionally comic characters, such as an obese and flatulent proponent of the Final Solution, who surrounds himself with Teutonic beauties. The Holocaust is recast as an extended bout of office politics, with German officials quarrelling over who is responsible for prisoners� hygiene. As the novel draws to a violent close, its story seems nearly as senseless as the horrors it depicts.
From The New Yorker

Reviews:
Quote
Indeed, the large success of the book, the way in which Littell draws us into Aue's mental world, has much to do with a striking technique he employs throughout, which is to integrate, with more and more insistence as the novel progresses, scenes of high horror (or scenes in which characters coolly discuss horrific acts or plans) with quotidian, even tedious stretches, conversations about petty military intrigues and official squabbling and so forth that go on and on, thereby weaving together the dreadful and the mundane in an unsettlingly persuasive way—the tedious somehow normalizing the dreadful, and the dreadful seeming to infect the tedious. (There is a remarkable and entirely characteristic passage, fairly early on, in which the topic of conversation among a group of officers yo-yos between extermination policy and the quality of the roast duck with apples and mashed potatoes that they're eating. "'Yes, excellent,' Oberländer approved. 'Is this a specialty of the region?'")

At first these juxtapositions horrify, and you may resent what feels like a striving for shocking effects; but then you get used to them—the sheer length and banality of the "everyday" stretches (of which there are far too many: some readers will give up) numbs you after a while. But this is, of course, the point: Littell has written a Holocaust novel that renders evil just as banal as we have been told it is—which is to say, not "banal" in the sense of boring or ordinary, but banalisé : rendered quotidian, everyday, normal.
From the New York Review of Books

Quote
But after nearly 1,000 pages, Herr Doktor Aue, for all his alleged coldness and self-hatred and self-indulgent ruminations, amounts to nothing more than a bloodless conduit for boasting the breadth of Littell's research (i.e., a nine-page digression on the history of Caucasian linguistics). The text itself is notable for its towering, imposing paragraphs that often run on for pages. Unfortunately, these paragraphs are loaded with dream sequences marked by various unpleasant bodily functions, a 14-page hallucination where a very Céline-like crackpot cameos as Dr. Sardine and dozens of numbing passages in which SS functionaries debate logistical aspects of the Jewish Question. Also, nary an anus goes by that isn't lovingly described (among the best is one surrounded by a pink halo, gaped open like a sea anemone between two white globes). Most crippling, however, is Aue's inability to narrate outside his one bulldozing, breathless register, and while it may work marvelously early on as he relates the troubles of trying to fit the maximum number of bodies into a pit, the monotone voice quickly loses its luster. In the final 200 or so pages, Berlin is burning, the Russians and Americans are making rapid advances, Hitler is nearly assassinated and SS brass are formulating their personal endgames. But, alas, this massive endeavor grinds to its conclusion on a pulp conceit: two German cops, against all odds, are in hot pursuit of Aue for a crime he may or may not have committed.Littell's strung together many tens of thousands of words, but many tens of thousands of words does not necessarily a novel make. As the French say, tant pis.
From Publisher's Weekly
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on May 23, 2010, 08:58:21 AM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on May 20, 2010, 09:45:19 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on May 19, 2010, 09:55:25 PM
I'm reading the Dark Tower series on my ipod and a physical copy of Blood Meridian.

I know many folks, not just RJ, love Blood Meridian or have at least read it. So, wanted to pass this along:

Quote
Blood Meridian Film Announced for 2011



Internet movie resource imdb.com reveals that the film version of Blood Meridian has been announced with a release date sometime in 2011.

Todd Field, who previously directed In the Bedroom (2001) and Little Children (2006) will direct from his own screenplay.

Field is credited as writer of In the Bedroom and co-writer of Little Children, each of which received Oscar nominations for screenwriting. In the Bedroom was also nominated for best picture, but lost to A Beautiful Mind.

Casting information about Blood Meridian is not yet available.

Nice, Blood Meridian is easily one of my top 3 alltime reads. Absolutely outstanding.  Im interested to see how it plays out on the big screen.
Also, The DT series is my favorite King. I started book I back in 90'. There were some long waits for new books over the years, plus the scare that the series may not have been completed when King was in his accident years ago.
Almost finished with Kesey's Sometimes A Great Notion. Less than 50 pages to go. I haven't been so affected by a book in years. Highly recommend it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 23, 2010, 12:20:01 PM
Just finished...

I Put A Spell On You: The Autobiography Of Nina Simone

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WTDvj3wDL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

Just started...

The Dharma Bums by JACK KEROUAC

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mJ6P12lSL._SL500_AA266_PIkin2,BottomRight,-18,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on May 23, 2010, 01:16:26 PM
No Country for Old Men

we all know the movie was amazing but the book, like always, gives a much broader perspective.   

Pie Guy, Dharma Bums is one of my favs of all time, i go back to that one once every few years
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 23, 2010, 07:17:41 PM
Quote from: whatapiper on May 23, 2010, 01:16:26 PM
No Country for Old Men

we all know the movie was amazing but the book, like always, gives a much broader perspective.   

Pie Guy, Dharma Bums is one of my favs of all time, i go back to that one once every few years

Yup - I can't believe it's escaped me for this long. I've read On the Road at least 3 times.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on May 23, 2010, 11:32:49 PM
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It's book one of the "Wheel of Time" series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 24, 2010, 12:05:39 PM
I'm still reading the new Phish bio.  I've been on this one forever.  So much going on in my head lately that its hard for me to sit down and read a book.  But I only have a couple of chapters left.

Next on my bookshelf I am going to finish up this one
(http://mikeberard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/killing_yourself_to_live.large_.jpg)

and then on to this
(http://i.biblio.com/z/100/230/9780743230100.jpg)
QuoteMartin Torgoff came of age just about the same time as the drug boom, a circumstance that informs his overview of America's "Great Stoned Age." Chronicling the irrepressible onslaught of mind-altering substances from the end of World War II through the close of the century, Torgoff (whose previous publishing efforts have centered around rockers Elvis Presley and John Cougar Mellencamp) intersperses the personal with the historical. Laying the groundwork with his own recollections of indulgence beginning in the late 1960s, the author flashes back to the Beat era, which he asserts opened the door for all that followed. Interviews with the obscure and celebrated add color and detail to the chronicle. Here's Herbert Huncke, the unapologetic hustler and heroin addict who lurked on the periphery of '50s bohemian scene and turned up as a character in William Burroughs' pulp memoir Junkie. Into the 1960s, there's acid guru Timothy Leary, poet Allan Ginsburg, record producer Paul Rothchild, Woodstock MC Wavy Gravy, and others caught up in a wave of revolutionary experimentation and excess. The '70s leads to the cocaine craze (embodied here by party girl Suzie Ryan), which begets drug wars (with plenty of casualties on both sides), Just Say No, the crack epidemic, and rave culture. While Torgoff's tome is too capricious to serve as the final word on America's drug obsession, it's eminently readable and entertaining, thanks to its expansive, pop-culture-informed tone. There's an almost insane momentum to this tale, with dozens of astonishing twists and turns. Imagine Jimmy Carter's drug czar, Dr. Peter Bourne, snorting cocaine at a party thrown the by pot legalization group NORML. Then picture George H.W. Bush's point man on drugs, William Bennett, remarking in an interview that it would be "morally plausible" to behead drug dealers. So much for moderation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on June 18, 2010, 06:09:07 PM
Don Delillo
Omega Point
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JPhishman on June 18, 2010, 11:20:26 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51520mHgsYL._SS500_.jpg)

Lovin it. Hence the new avatar...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on July 10, 2010, 11:07:54 PM
Thread hasn't been updated in a few, so I'll toss a couple in. Started these today.

Book 1:
Author: Sofi Oksanen
Title: Purge

From the Jacket:
Quote
Soon to be published in twenty-five languages, Sofi Oksanen's award-winning novel Purge is a breathtakingly suspenseful tale of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them.

When Aliide Truu, an older woman living alone in the Estonian countryside, finds a disheveled girl huddled in her front yard, she suppresses her misgivings and offers her shelter. Zara is a young sex-trafficking victim on the run from her captors, but a photo she carries with her soon makes it clear that her arrival at Aliide's home is no coincidence. Survivors both, Aliide and Zara engage in a complex arithmetic of suspicion and revelation to distill each other's motives; gradually, their stories emerge, the culmination of a tragic family drama of rivalry, lust, and loss that played out during the worst years of Estonia's Soviet occupation.

Sofi Oksanen establishes herself as one the most important voices of her generation with this intricately woven tale, whose stakes are almost unbearably high from the first page to the last. Purge is a fiercely compelling and damning novel about the corrosive effects of shame, and of life in a time and place where to survive is to be implicated.

Reviews:
Quote
"This is a novel of big issues—the sex industry, the Soviet annexation of Estonia after World War II, the Chernobyl disaster, the tumultuous years immediately after the breakup of the USSR. It's a lot to take on, but Oksanen manages to keep her focus tight . . . handling a complicated, tricky story with deftness and skill. Purge is a serious book, but not a dour one. It has a thriller's air of suspense . . . but there is a tragic core to this story that will reward closer attention."—Bookslut

Quote
There can be no real absolution for Aliide. This fact may be difficult for American readers, who have perhaps become accustomed to narratives of trauma and emotional distress which end in redemption—in the characters achieving some sort of closure, if not an out and out resolution to their suffering. In reality, however, true healing is extraordinarily difficult to achieve, and impossible, the novel reminds us, if the victims involved are not able to discuss their experiences. --Three Percent

Book 2:
Author: Sebastian Barry
Title: The Secret Scripture

Reviews:
Quote
The latest from Barry (whose A Long, Long Way [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - gainesvillegreen] was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker) pits two contradictory narratives against each other in an attempt to solve the mystery of a 100-year-old mental patient. That patient, Roseanne McNulty, decides to undertake an autobiography and writes of an ill-fated childhood spent with her father, Joe Clear. A cemetery superintendent, Joe is drawn into Ireland's 1922 civil war when a group of irregulars brings a slain comrade to the cemetery and are discovered by a division of Free-Staters. Meanwhile, Roseanne's psychiatrist, Dr. Grene, investigating Roseanne's original commitment in preparation for her transfer to a new hospital, discovers through the papers of the local parish priest, Fr. Gaunt, that Roseanne's father was actually a police sergeant in the Royal Irish Constabulary. The mysteries multiply when Roseanne reveals that Fr. Gaunt annulled her marriage after glimpsing her in the company of another man; Gaunt's official charge was nymphomania, and the cumulative fallout led to a string of tragedies. Written in captivating, lyrical prose, Barry's novel is both a sparkling literary puzzle and a stark cautionary tale of corrupted power. -- Publisher's Weekly

Quote
Barry, in effect, is making one operatically extended fiction comprising discrete but interrelated novels and plays, often inspired by his real-life ancestors. It is an astoundingly ambitious body of work, which establishes that family trees, like national histories, sprout "the strange fruits in the cornucopia of grief".

He writes with a dramatist's timing and a poet's exactitude. (One character, a priest, is "cleaner than the daylight moon"; panic is "blacker than old tea".) The result is a richly allusive and haunting text that is nevertheless jagged enough to avoid the anaesthetic of high lyricism. This is a novel in which swans enduring a rainstorm are "like unsuccessful suicides" and the accents of Sligo corner-boys are "like bottles being smashed in a back lane". The setting is the western Ireland of traditional literary depiction - subtle Yeatsian references abound in the novel - but Barry's destabilising of inherited images gives the book a punkish energy as well as fiery beauty.-- The Guardian

Can't recommend Sebastian barry highly enough. If you have read and liked Ondaatje, then you will like this guys prose.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on July 11, 2010, 06:41:22 AM
(http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/6b5c/music_roundup3.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on July 11, 2010, 11:46:21 AM
Fun read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on July 18, 2010, 09:08:18 PM
(http://media.rei.com/media/576035Lrg.jpg)

If you're a fan of Krakauer's, like I am, this is a must-read.  It's a collection of short stories, all but one of which were written for magazines.  Included are tales of fatal adventures, profiles of certain eccentric climbers and terrifying mountains, and stories of Krakauer's own adventures, which, as you might guess, are at times hilarious and at times harrowing.  Can't recommend this enough.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on July 27, 2010, 12:02:47 PM
Chasin' the Trane, old school biography on Coltrane, and I've heard there are better ones out there, but I found this in a used bookstore the other day so grabbed it. I'm enjoying it so far.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41L2tqkfm1L.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 27, 2010, 01:31:08 PM
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn
(http://blog.ssis.edu.vn/hainj/files/2010/02/ivan.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on August 01, 2010, 09:51:08 PM
^Read The Cancer Ward by him a few years ago. Good writer, although I don't know about Nobel worthy.

Right now, reading Philip Roth's The Counterlife. I read one Roth book a year as it is all I can do, and this one had been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for long enough.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ThePhanastasio on August 02, 2010, 05:29:16 AM
(http://blog.inexactitu.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AtlasShruggedBK.jpg)

I'm actually digging this one more than The Fountainhead.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DoW on August 02, 2010, 10:31:37 PM
http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Lessons-Grateful-Dead-Business/dp/0470900520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280802422&sr=8-1-spell (http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Lessons-Grateful-Dead-Business/dp/0470900520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280802422&sr=8-1-spell)

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead.

quick, easy read but not bad to enjoy and remember the simple little things to apply to marketing yourself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on August 03, 2010, 12:59:09 AM
Dark tower book III took me forever to get through the second. if was a great book just hard to find the time to read which sucks. But anyway. I love this series, its so good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ThePhanastasio on August 03, 2010, 01:41:51 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 03, 2010, 12:59:09 AM
Dark tower book III took me forever to get through the second. if was a great book just hard to find the time to read which sucks. But anyway. I love this series, its so good.

Way nice! The Dark Tower series is pretty sweet - book III is great. Book IV will probably take a while when you get to it, though - but you get a lot more of Roland's story. V-VII are definitely enjoyable too. VII is one of the most intense reading experiences I've had.

Hope you dig the rest of the series!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on August 03, 2010, 11:45:01 AM
This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century

on my iPad.

(http://www.bigbaer.com/assets/talking_heads.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on August 03, 2010, 04:28:37 PM
Quote from: ThePhanastasio on August 03, 2010, 01:41:51 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 03, 2010, 12:59:09 AM
Dark tower book III took me forever to get through the second. if was a great book just hard to find the time to read which sucks. But anyway. I love this series, its so good.

Way nice! The Dark Tower series is pretty sweet - book III is great. Book IV will probably take a while when you get to it, though - but you get a lot more of Roland's story. V-VII are definitely enjoyable too. VII is one of the most intense reading experiences I've had.

Hope you dig the rest of the series!
Book III is a great read. I hated waiting 6 years before the next book came out. Honestly, book IV may be my favorite of the whole series (although VII is  close second) I love the whole love story. Sorry, Im a sap :-P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on August 03, 2010, 06:06:38 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 03, 2010, 04:28:37 PM
Quote from: ThePhanastasio on August 03, 2010, 01:41:51 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 03, 2010, 12:59:09 AM
Dark tower book III took me forever to get through the second. if was a great book just hard to find the time to read which sucks. But anyway. I love this series, its so good.

Way nice! The Dark Tower series is pretty sweet - book III is great. Book IV will probably take a while when you get to it, though - but you get a lot more of Roland's story. V-VII are definitely enjoyable too. VII is one of the most intense reading experiences I've had.

Hope you dig the rest of the series!
Book III is a great read. I hated waiting 6 years before the next book came out. Honestly, book IV may be my favorite of the whole series (although VII is  close second) I love the whole love story. Sorry, Im a sap :-P

Yeah, that cliffhanger was a bitch.  I enjoy book 4 a lot too.  Book 7 loses a couple points in my opinion--there are some storylines that are resolved shittily.  Horse-forced might be a good description.  However, the main characters' resolutions and the end of the book are pretty much perfect.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on August 03, 2010, 09:08:33 PM
(http://nothing-better.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pevear_karenina.jpg)
Just starting a book club here at work, this is our first undertaking.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on August 03, 2010, 09:45:19 PM
Quote from: aphineday on August 03, 2010, 09:08:33 PM
(http://nothing-better.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pevear_karenina.jpg)
Just starting a book club here at work, this is our first undertaking.

Does the book explain why those purple flowers are growing out of her butt?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on August 03, 2010, 10:18:38 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 03, 2010, 09:45:19 PM
Quote from: aphineday on August 03, 2010, 09:08:33 PM
(http://nothing-better.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pevear_karenina.jpg)
Just starting a book club here at work, this is our first undertaking.

Does the book explain why those purple flowers are growing out of her butt?
I'm on the case dude. I'll report back. Also, I'm not saying you're wrong on any level here, but that has to be the oddest shaped ass I've ever seen. That said, I have no idea wtf it is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gol D. Roger on August 04, 2010, 05:48:51 AM
(http://www.looksandbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/just-kids.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on August 04, 2010, 01:39:20 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 03, 2010, 06:06:38 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 03, 2010, 04:28:37 PM
Quote from: ThePhanastasio on August 03, 2010, 01:41:51 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 03, 2010, 12:59:09 AM
Dark tower book III took me forever to get through the second. if was a great book just hard to find the time to read which sucks. But anyway. I love this series, its so good.

Way nice! The Dark Tower series is pretty sweet - book III is great. Book IV will probably take a while when you get to it, though - but you get a lot more of Roland's story. V-VII are definitely enjoyable too. VII is one of the most intense reading experiences I've had.

Hope you dig the rest of the series!
Book III is a great read. I hated waiting 6 years before the next book came out. Honestly, book IV may be my favorite of the whole series (although VII is  close second) I love the whole love story. Sorry, Im a sap :-P

Yeah, that cliffhanger was a bitch.  I enjoy book 4 a lot too.  Book 7 loses a couple points in my opinion--there are some storylines that are resolved shittily.  Horse-forced might be a good description.  However, the main characters' resolutions and the end of the book are pretty much perfect.
I love the Dark Tower love around here.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on August 06, 2010, 02:03:07 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......

I haven't gotten to that one yet, but I highly recommend Another Roadside Attraction.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on August 06, 2010, 02:33:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......

that's oh so very good...

but Villa Incognito, FTW! :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on August 09, 2010, 04:00:20 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on August 06, 2010, 02:33:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......

that's oh so very good...

but Villa Incognito, FTW! :)

I liked both, but yah, Villa Incognito, FTMFW!

I started A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick on my trip this past weekend. It's my first time reading Dick. So far i really dig the writing. Of course, I've seen the movie a few times, so I know what's happening already. Still, so much more in the book!

I know there are other fans of Dick on this board (no homo). What should I read next?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 09, 2010, 04:48:46 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on August 09, 2010, 04:00:20 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on August 06, 2010, 02:33:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......

that's oh so very good...

but Villa Incognito, FTW! :)

I liked both, but yah, Villa Incognito, FTMFW!

I started A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick on my trip this past weekend. It's my first time reading Dick. So far i really dig the writing. Of course, I've seen the movie a few times, so I know what's happening already. Still, so much more in the book!

I know there are other fans of Dick on this board (no homo). What should I read next?

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 09, 2010, 08:15:42 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on August 09, 2010, 04:00:20 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on August 06, 2010, 02:33:31 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 05, 2010, 02:20:11 PM
my first Tom Robbins book, Still Life with Woodpecker......

that's oh so very good...

but Villa Incognito, FTW! :)

I liked both, but yah, Villa Incognito, FTMFW!

I started A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick on my trip this past weekend. It's my first time reading Dick. So far i really dig the writing. Of course, I've seen the movie a few times, so I know what's happening already. Still, so much more in the book!

I know there are other fans of Dick on this board (no homo). What should I read next?

the movie is a total fail compared to the book.
i've read a lot of his stuff, and this one, which i came to rather late, is my favorite.
up next for you, try:
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
The Man In The High Castle
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (might as well see where bladerunner came from)

PKD went a little nutty in a sort of strange religious sense somewhere around the early '70s. A Scanner Darkly is interesting in that it was written sort of at the beginning of this phase of his, though it still has one foot in his earlier pure science fiction stuff.
the one to read after his transformation is Valis.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on August 15, 2010, 06:07:43 PM
Reading Roberto Bolano's The Return which is a short story collection. About 4 stories into it, and while I am enjoying it, it isn't bolwing me over like the stories in Last Evenings on Earth did - however, I;ve read probably 3000 pages of him since that time, so the shock factor is no longer present.

Also:
Yoko Ogunwa
The Housekeeper and The Professor

From PW:
Quote
Starred Review. Ogawa (The Diving Pool) weaves a poignant tale of beauty, heart and sorrow in her exquisite new novel. Narrated by the Housekeeper, the characters are known only as the Professor and Root, the Housekeepers 10-year-old son, nicknamed by the Professor because the shape of his hair and head remind the Professor of the square root symbol. A brilliant mathematician, the Professor was seriously injured in a car accident and his short-term memory only lasts for 80 minutes. He can remember his theorems and favorite baseball players, but the Housekeeper must reintroduce herself every morning, sometimes several times a day. The Professor, who adores Root, is able to connect with the child through baseball, and the Housekeeper learns how to work with him through the memory lapses until they can come together on common ground, at least for 80 minutes. In this gorgeous tale, Ogawa lifts the window shade to allow readers to observe the characters for a short while, then closes the shade. Snyder—who also translated Pool—brings a delicate and precise hand to the translation.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on August 15, 2010, 11:50:17 PM
Just started: Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out by Bill Graham and Robert Greenfield. Good so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 17, 2010, 12:48:49 PM
Paul Auster  - New York Trilogy

really good. consists of three sort-of-detective stories, which really end up being about identity and about writing. his style is low key and kind of detached, yet very involving nonetheless.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 17, 2010, 03:39:22 PM
(http://www.stevenwbeattie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/james_joyce_dubliners.jpg)

gonna work my way up to and take a stab a finnegans wake.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 17, 2010, 03:43:18 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on August 17, 2010, 03:39:22 PM
(http://www.stevenwbeattie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/james_joyce_dubliners.jpg)

gonna work my way up to and take a stab a finnegans wake.

Having trouble sleeping lately?  :tte:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 17, 2010, 05:40:04 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 17, 2010, 03:43:18 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on August 17, 2010, 03:39:22 PM
(http://www.stevenwbeattie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/james_joyce_dubliners.jpg)

gonna work my way up to and take a stab a finnegans wake.

Having trouble sleeping lately?  :tte:

nah, i just really want to be a member of the c.r.a.f.t. club
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on August 18, 2010, 11:38:19 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 17, 2010, 12:48:49 PM
Paul Auster  - New York Trilogy

really good. consists of three sort-of-detective stories, which really end up being about identity and about writing. his style is low key and kind of detached, yet very involving nonetheless.

First books of his you've read? I like him too, would recommend Book Of Illusions if you haven't read it. 
A less than stellar review of his work, but it is recent:
http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html (http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 18, 2010, 12:30:24 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on August 18, 2010, 11:38:19 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 17, 2010, 12:48:49 PM
Paul Auster  - New York Trilogy

really good. consists of three sort-of-detective stories, which really end up being about identity and about writing. his style is low key and kind of detached, yet very involving nonetheless.

First books of his you've read? I like him too, would recommend Book Of Illusions if you haven't read it. 
A less than stellar review of his work, but it is recent:
http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html (http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html)

people seem to really love or hate auster. interesting.
i previously read Moon Palace and liked it quite a bit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on August 18, 2010, 10:38:06 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 18, 2010, 12:30:24 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on August 18, 2010, 11:38:19 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 17, 2010, 12:48:49 PM
Paul Auster  - New York Trilogy

really good. consists of three sort-of-detective stories, which really end up being about identity and about writing. his style is low key and kind of detached, yet very involving nonetheless.

First books of his you've read? I like him too, would recommend Book Of Illusions if you haven't read it. 
A less than stellar review of his work, but it is recent:
http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html (http://www.themillions.com/2010/08/old-tricks-finally-come-together-a-review-of-paul-austers-invisible.html)

people seem to really love or hate auster. interesting.
i previously read Moon Palace and liked it quite a bit.

Yeah, seems to me he is what he is, and asking him to be more (or less) is silly. I think his next book is his 25th or thereabouts, and at that point, writers aren't going to change what they do (look at Philip Roth or V.S. Naipaul - writing about the same things all the time). For me, I've read about 5-6 of his books, and enjoyed them, and will read Invisible if I can get my hands on it at the library. Which is a good distinction - he is a writer I "borrow" more than I "buy" I guess.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on August 27, 2010, 11:34:19 PM
Working my way through this one right now.. it's really good, if you're into WWII history.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CWVDR9yiL.jpg)

Just finished this a couple days ago... amazing, disturbing, and fascinating. Not for the faint of heart, though.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/AmericanPsychoBook.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on August 28, 2010, 09:29:23 AM
Currently reading WAR by Sebastian Junger.
"Sebastian Junger, the author of the bestselling "Perfect Storm," has a new book out called "War," based on the time he spent with an army platoon in Afghanistan and chronicling the experiences of the men in that platoon.

Junger gets at some huge questions about war in the book, from its relation to love and to fear to why people desperately miss it when they leave the army. What it comes down to in most cases, said Junger, is brotherhood. "There are guys in the platoon who straight-up hate each other, but we'd all die for each other," one soldier told him. When they leave, they miss that brotherhood. They miss being fundamentally necessary. "That is a very very reassuring place to be," Junger said."
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pPPE8AEMXDk/TAhkqwrPNAI/AAAAAAAAAIg/ItzNXuq54Rw/s1600/war-sebastian.jpg)

Pretty great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on August 28, 2010, 03:25:14 PM
(http://silverfysh.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/dylan-chronicles1.jpg)

Enjoying this right now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: justjezmund on August 29, 2010, 09:19:07 PM
buddy of mine let me borrow this.  i have never dived in deep in readings of  :syf:  but ive heard good things bout this so wtf.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5109ZE8977L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 08, 2010, 10:59:58 AM
Still working my way through Churchill's book on WWII, and reading this book by neuroscientist Oliver Sacks as well. Really fascinating stuff about how the brain processes music, how memory and music work, and how music is used in therapy for people with brain injuries or disorders.

(http://musicophilia.com/pics/musicophilia.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 08, 2010, 11:09:32 AM
Quote from: DeviousGelatin on September 08, 2010, 10:59:58 AM
Still working my way through Churchill's book on WWII, and reading this book by neuroscientist Oliver Sacks as well. Really fascinating stuff about how the brain processes music, how memory and music work, and how music is used in therapy for people with brain injuries or disorders.


Solid, I mentioned that awhile back. I haven't checked this other one out that people mentioned, but am adding it to my list right now. You might be interested in that one too...

Quote from: goodabouthood on July 09, 2009, 12:27:01 PM
Quote from: Sophist on July 09, 2009, 09:37:04 AM
Quote from: mattstick on July 09, 2009, 08:29:31 AM


(http://a2.vox.com/6a00cd96fbfbe14cd500d09e5361eabe2b-500pi)

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Heady stuff.
I read that a few years back, that is a great book imo.  Real insightful into the science behind how our brains hear music. 

I know I mentioned it in here awhile back, but you both should pick up Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, I think you guys would dig it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 08, 2010, 12:12:39 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 08, 2010, 11:09:32 AM
Solid, I mentioned that awhile back. I haven't checked this other one out that people mentioned, but am adding it to my list right now. You might be interested in that one too...

Awesome, thanks! This one (Musicophilia) is definitely a bit over my head, but it's really interesting nonetheless. It'd be cool to read something similar that's aimed at a layman's understanding rather than a neurologist's.   :-P

I'll definitely add that to the list. +K for you, sir.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on September 08, 2010, 01:21:21 PM
Dylan- Chronicles Vol 1 was excellent, and i really enjoyed that Rock Scully book too.

Already finished Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Girl Who Played With Fire, now up to the final book of the trilogy and am totally loving it.  too bad he had to go and die...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on September 08, 2010, 09:57:19 PM
Quote from: tet on September 08, 2010, 01:21:21 PM
Dylan- Chronicles Vol 1 was excellent, and i really enjoyed that Rock Scully book too.

Already finished Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Girl Who Played With Fire, now up to the final book of the trilogy and am totally loving it.  too bad he had to go and die...

Word on the street is there is another book out there. Stay tuned..
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on September 08, 2010, 11:49:24 PM
Just started Sweet Chaos: The Grateful Dead's American Adventure by Carol Brightman. Picked it up at the GD Archive Exibit at the New York Historical Society when I was out there for the Jones Beach shows. Good so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 09, 2010, 11:33:51 AM
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison. Apparently it's one of the preeminent books on manic-depression / bipolar spectrum disorders. Written by a woman who is both an expert in the psychiatric field and a bipolar patient.

(http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestsellers-2006/578-1.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 09, 2010, 11:36:37 AM
Quote from: DeviousGelatin on September 08, 2010, 12:12:39 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 08, 2010, 11:09:32 AM
Solid, I mentioned that awhile back. I haven't checked this other one out that people mentioned, but am adding it to my list right now. You might be interested in that one too...

Awesome, thanks! This one (Musicophilia) is definitely a bit over my head, but it's really interesting nonetheless. It'd be cool to read something similar that's aimed at a layman's understanding rather than a neurologist's.   :-P

I'll definitely add that to the list. +K for you, sir.

once you get the swing of it, it'll start to make a lot of sense.
i'm actually finishing it up right now :)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 09, 2010, 11:41:22 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 09, 2010, 11:36:37 AM
once you get the swing of it, it'll start to make a lot of sense.
i'm actually finishing it up right now :)

Yeah, it's not inaccessible or anything. And I did finish it the other day, very glad I read it - it was sort of a random purchase and turned out to be different than I thought it would be, but still really interesting. I just had to brush up on my neurology a bit.   8-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 09, 2010, 11:43:35 AM
Quote from: DeviousGelatin on September 09, 2010, 11:41:22 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 09, 2010, 11:36:37 AM
once you get the swing of it, it'll start to make a lot of sense.
i'm actually finishing it up right now :)

Yeah, it's not inaccessible or anything. And I did finish it the other day, very glad I read it - it was sort of a random purchase and turned out to be different than I thought it would be, but still really interesting. I just had to brush up on my neurology a bit.   8-)

you and me both, sir. i got discouraged at first and had put it down for a long while.
picked it up when i moved home and i'm def. glad i did...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 09, 2010, 12:04:12 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on September 09, 2010, 11:43:35 AM
you and me both, sir. i got discouraged at first and had put it down for a long while.
picked it up when i moved home and i'm def. glad i did...

I didn't get discouraged really, but I definitely had that moment of "whoah, okay... heady, brah" when I first started it. But I ended up kind of doing the same thing you did - I was reading 2-3 other books at the same time, so I'd just read a bit of Musicophilia here and there, between the WWII memoirs and some fiction.

I never used to read multiple books at the same time, but lately that's been working great, especially as I try to get myself into reading more non-fiction along with all the novels and such.

(We need a nerd smiley face for this kind of stuff.)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 09, 2010, 12:44:04 PM
heh, this is probably my most used smiley on the forum for my work.  (http://www.aperionaudio.com/community/emoticons/emotion-15.gif)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on September 09, 2010, 10:38:01 PM
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YE7pgwC-Brs/SrY2zWkNSRI/AAAAAAAAANY/r-d7YnLYgQY/s200/his+fathers+son.jpg)

horror - Little's books can be a little off the wall, sometimes borderline cheesy but I love it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on September 15, 2010, 10:00:21 PM
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0307459691.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)

interesting view of inside the Fed. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on September 21, 2010, 10:08:45 PM
(http://www.hollywoodactorprep.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/in-cold-blood1.jpg)

Really enjoyed this one.  But then I saw an interview w/Capote discussing the book, and the guy came off as a real pompous asshole, so it's like I don't want to give him any more props.. but it was a good book.  Good piece of nonfiction journalism.


next up, Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test... yeehawwwww
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 23, 2010, 01:03:34 AM
better book titles: 

http://betterbooktitles.com/ (http://betterbooktitles.com/)

(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5tf8jtRjE1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5k4wbgtzJ1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5wu48Mkdn1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l4zs391I2R1qczxc6o1_400.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on September 23, 2010, 01:04:52 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 23, 2010, 01:03:34 AM
better book titles: 

http://betterbooktitles.com/ (http://betterbooktitles.com/)

(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5tf8jtRjE1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5k4wbgtzJ1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5wu48Mkdn1qczxc6o1_500.jpg)

(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l4zs391I2R1qczxc6o1_400.jpg)


F'ng Hilarious
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on September 23, 2010, 01:06:44 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on September 21, 2010, 10:08:45 PM
(http://www.hollywoodactorprep.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/in-cold-blood1.jpg)

Really enjoyed this one.  But then I saw an interview w/Capote discussing the book, and the guy came off as a real pompous asshole, so it's like I don't want to give him any more props.. but it was a good book.  Good piece of nonfiction journalism.


next up, Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test... yeehawwwww


Not quite how I would describe this book or EKAAT, enjoyable reads nonetheless. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on September 23, 2010, 08:08:52 AM
Friend of mine just lent me 'The Heroin Diaries', gonna start it this weekend.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 23, 2010, 08:53:20 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Awolfat_thetable.JPG)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on September 23, 2010, 08:59:53 AM
Quote from: nab on September 23, 2010, 01:06:44 AM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on September 21, 2010, 10:08:45 PM
(http://www.hollywoodactorprep.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/in-cold-blood1.jpg)

Really enjoyed this one.  But then I saw an interview w/Capote discussing the book, and the guy came off as a real pompous asshole, so it's like I don't want to give him any more props.. but it was a good book.  Good piece of nonfiction journalism.


next up, Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test... yeehawwwww


Not quite how I would describe this book or EKAAT, enjoyable reads nonetheless.

But that's exactly what they are -- In Cold Blood is the product of six years of tireless journalistic reporting from Capote.  He said his notes for the book filled an entire room, and what he used (you'll remember the entire book is filled with incredible detail - all true) was 20% of what he'd gathered from those six year.  EKAAT is also basically Wolfe's funky way of reporting what was going on with Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
1.  I'm cheating and listening to "How to win friends & influence people" on mp3 audiobook.  But I'm more interested in what all of you are doing.

2.  Anyone else get the press release about the Dark Tower Movies/TV series now in development?!

3.  My clearest memory of Electric Koolaid Acid test's prose is the early bit about the undercovers and their shiny shoes, which I recalled yesterday when I was reading that pt thread about "Real W00ks of Genius" and there was an Undercover Cop post.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on September 23, 2010, 06:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
1.  I'm cheating and listening to "How to win friends & influence people" on mp3 audiobook.  But I'm more interested in what all of you are doing.

thats so nice of you.  hey, how about i get us tix, airfare and a place to stay for NYE?  my treat.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on September 23, 2010, 06:46:18 PM
in the middle of Eyeless In Gaza by Huxley. very good. never read anything by him aside from Brave New World, and that was years ago.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zTlNl-wJL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:46:24 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 23, 2010, 06:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
1.  I'm cheating and listening to "How to win friends & influence people" on mp3 audiobook.  But I'm more interested in what all of you are doing.

thats so nice of you.  hey, how about i get us tix, airfare and a place to stay for NYE?  my treat.

IT'S FUCKING WORKING!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 24, 2010, 10:30:55 AM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:46:24 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 23, 2010, 06:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
1.  I'm cheating and listening to "How to win friends & influence people" on mp3 audiobook.  But I'm more interested in what all of you are doing.

thats so nice of you.  hey, how about i get us tix, airfare and a place to stay for NYE?  my treat.

IT'S FUCKING WORKING!

comedic genius!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

(there must be higher amounts of funny in the water you midwest boys drink)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on September 24, 2010, 10:40:20 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 24, 2010, 10:30:55 AM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:46:24 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on September 23, 2010, 06:37:18 PM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
1.  I'm cheating and listening to "How to win friends & influence people" on mp3 audiobook.  But I'm more interested in what all of you are doing.

thats so nice of you.  hey, how about i get us tix, airfare and a place to stay for NYE?  my treat.

IT'S FUCKING WORKING!

comedic genius!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

(there must be higher amounts of funny in the water you midwest boys drink)

I thought that water tasted funny last night.  And this morning, my head hurts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DeviousGelatin on September 24, 2010, 10:46:52 AM
Quote from: kellerb on September 23, 2010, 06:33:51 PM
2.  Anyone else get the press release about the Dark Tower Movies/TV series now in development?!

Homiesaywhat?!?  *runs to Google*   :crazy:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on October 16, 2010, 12:39:16 AM
just finished The Godfather and I have The Sicilian on hold at the library, cant wait for that one!

while I'm waiting for The Sicilian it's time to head to one of the most beautiful parts of our country, in Edward Abby's "Desert Solitaire"

so far I'm really enjoying his not giving a shit style of writing, to the point, a little bit of a tangent writer at times, but still a good read...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on October 16, 2010, 01:12:09 AM
Just read the Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick. 

It was interesting because it concerns a candidate attempting to become the first black president. . .      in the year 2080.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on October 16, 2010, 01:17:06 AM
Quote from: Hicks on October 16, 2010, 01:12:09 AM
Just read the Crack in Space by Philip K. Dick. 

It was interesting because it concerns a candidate attempting to become the first black president. . .      in the year 2080.

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on November 17, 2010, 09:16:07 PM
"The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner

I'm a sucker for all things Faulkner. Revisiting this one, it is WILD.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on November 29, 2010, 05:42:46 PM
Starting the foundation Series By Asimov
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on November 29, 2010, 10:35:47 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZ8h2POQFu4ZOYkP_bUj1ySZsKP8BT8H36N3U5PqRL2SQLLJ_qxw)

if you watch the TV show "Bones" which i'm all about, considering it's close to the field i want in... this is the book series it's based off of.... first one of many. Awesome, so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on November 29, 2010, 10:45:15 PM
Omnivore's Dilema by Micheal Pollan
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on November 29, 2010, 10:49:28 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on November 29, 2010, 10:45:15 PM
Omnivore's Dilema by Micheal Pollan

i liked it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: qop24 on November 30, 2010, 11:42:05 AM
Quote from: phil on November 17, 2010, 09:16:07 PM
"The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner

I'm a sucker for all things Faulkner. Revisiting this one, it is WILD.

Same here, love me some Faulkner.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on November 30, 2010, 01:00:42 PM
Quote from: qop24 on November 30, 2010, 11:42:05 AM
Quote from: phil on November 17, 2010, 09:16:07 PM
"The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner

I'm a sucker for all things Faulkner. Revisiting this one, it is WILD.

Same here, love me some Faulkner.

hmmm... My senior thesis class in college was Faulkner's Fiction in Southern History - I was a US History major. It was actually a brilliant class. We used Faulkner's stories as secondary sources to better understand what was happening in Mississippi around the Civil War and after.

Love Faulkner, but he was a crazy fuck!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on December 01, 2010, 01:38:25 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on November 30, 2010, 01:00:42 PM
Quote from: qop24 on November 30, 2010, 11:42:05 AM
Quote from: phil on November 17, 2010, 09:16:07 PM
"The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner

I'm a sucker for all things Faulkner. Revisiting this one, it is WILD.

Same here, love me some Faulkner.

hmmm... My senior thesis class in college was Faulkner's Fiction in Southern History - I was a US History major. It was actually a brilliant class. We used Faulkner's stories as secondary sources to better understand what was happening in Mississippi around the Civil War and after.

Love Faulkner, but he was a crazy fuck!

Batshit crazy. My favorite thing about his writing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on December 02, 2010, 04:21:51 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on November 29, 2010, 10:45:15 PM
Omnivore's Dilema by Micheal Pollan
My Sociology Professor said it's amazing so i picked it up. Next on my list of books to read. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 03, 2010, 01:05:51 PM
On the Shoulders of Giants- My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance

By Kareem Abdul-Jabar

Has a ton of stuff with the jazz music coming out of Harlem in the 30s.

Combines both basketball and music in what looks like a good read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on December 03, 2010, 04:52:57 PM
"God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" - Kurt Vonnegut
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 03, 2010, 05:08:12 PM
Just started V. by Pynchon. Easily the most readable Pynchon I've taken on. I feel like Im flying through this rather than slogging along in a stupor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on December 03, 2010, 09:25:47 PM
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on December 04, 2010, 02:08:21 PM
Quote from: phil on December 01, 2010, 01:38:25 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on November 30, 2010, 01:00:42 PM
Quote from: qop24 on November 30, 2010, 11:42:05 AM
Quote from: phil on November 17, 2010, 09:16:07 PM
"The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner

I'm a sucker for all things Faulkner. Revisiting this one, it is WILD.

Same here, love me some Faulkner.

hmmm... My senior thesis class in college was Faulkner's Fiction in Southern History - I was a US History major. It was actually a brilliant class. We used Faulkner's stories as secondary sources to better understand what was happening in Mississippi around the Civil War and after.

Love Faulkner, but he was a crazy fuck!

Batshit crazy. My favorite thing about his writing.

Yeah, its one of the cooler stories of famous people from the north ms area...and a good bit of it is based on actual families in the area, but if you lived around so much of htat crazy shit, who needs to make stuff up, when you can just fluff it.   His house is quite a nice spot for a picnic too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 22, 2010, 08:38:55 PM
Keeeef
Life

a must read

(http://thebeachsideresident.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/10v6_Keith-Richards_Life.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on December 22, 2010, 10:52:22 PM
HST's 'Kingdom of Fear'.

This was the first HST book I ever read and I decided to give it another read last night. I don't remember too much of it, as I've read several HST books since, but I remember really enjoying this one, so I'm looking forward to giving it another read.

Psyched.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on December 24, 2010, 12:41:53 AM
Quote from: slslbs on December 22, 2010, 08:38:55 PM
Keeeef
Life

a must read

(http://thebeachsideresident.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/10v6_Keith-Richards_Life.jpg)

I dug this...another must read that I got out of the library and ripped through in two days: Orange Sunshine....If you like acid (who doesn't?), surfing, and epic tales of smuggling and stacking loot, this book is for you.....get it...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JPhishman on December 24, 2010, 02:35:20 AM
Quote from: slslbs on December 22, 2010, 08:38:55 PM
Keeeef
Life

a must read

(http://thebeachsideresident.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/10v6_Keith-Richards_Life.jpg)

Nice, I just picked this up. First chapter is very promising.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on December 24, 2010, 09:59:34 AM
Quote from: slslbs on December 22, 2010, 08:38:55 PM
Keeeef
Life

a must read

(http://thebeachsideresident.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/10v6_Keith-Richards_Life.jpg)
Need to get my hands on this, sounds great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 24, 2010, 02:40:46 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/413-Qw%2BIEpL._SS500_.jpg)

Just finished this the other day.  Fun read.  And hits a good spot as it's about an English professor.

Good review of it here:
http://www.curledup.com/straight.htm (http://www.curledup.com/straight.htm)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 24, 2010, 06:07:20 PM
got this for xmas.
looks amazing.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xtdp5eq0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 24, 2010, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Read that a few years back. I went to Vanderbilt and it is pretty much identical to the school Wolfe describes.It really hit home for my wife and I.  Great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on December 25, 2010, 09:06:23 AM
Quote from: birdman on December 24, 2010, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Read that a few years back. I went to Vanderbilt and it is pretty much identical to the school Wolfe describes.It really hit home for my wife and I.  Great read.

"Vanderbilt... it even sounds expensive."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on December 25, 2010, 09:13:03 AM
Keith Richards Biography
My dad got it for me for christmas...first chapter is already entertaining
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 25, 2010, 09:41:48 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on December 25, 2010, 09:06:23 AM
Quote from: birdman on December 24, 2010, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Read that a few years back. I went to Vanderbilt and it is pretty much identical to the school Wolfe describes.It really hit home for my wife and I.  Great read.

"Vanderbilt... it even sounds expensive."
You should read this if you haven't already. Take a trip in the time machine and go back and hate on frat boys and sorostitutes all over again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on December 25, 2010, 08:48:43 PM
^^^My wife read it a couple years ago too, and she loved it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on December 25, 2010, 09:08:50 PM
Supposed to be about Duke..

I went to Union College ('08) and it reminds me of that too - guess that's just college these days.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on December 25, 2010, 10:31:48 PM
I just started to read this
(http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/warnercover.jpg)
Zen monk and punk rocker Warner offers a "big snarly ball of confessional vomit" in his third book, following Hardcore Zen and Sit Down and Shut Up. The snarly ball is his own suffering, fodder for the Zen cushion: his mother's and grandmother's deaths, the dissolution of his marriage and lots of day-job insecurity when the Japanese monster-movie company he works for downsizes and gets sold. As ever, Warner is unafraid to smash idols, including his own celebrity status as a Zen master. "Not only am I not that thing, but no one is," he writes, and that means everybody from the Dalai Lama to fellow students of his Japanese teacher who disliked his being picked as the teacher's successor. Warner is honest—he would say his attitude is seeing things as they are, a Zen bent. Those familiar with his previous work will find this book exceptionally plainspoken and pungent, in keeping with his idiosyncratic vow "to be an a**hole for the rest of my life." That's a lot of honesty.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 26, 2010, 10:36:24 AM
Quote from: birdman on December 25, 2010, 09:41:48 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on December 25, 2010, 09:06:23 AM
Quote from: birdman on December 24, 2010, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Read that a few years back. I went to Vanderbilt and it is pretty much identical to the school Wolfe describes.It really hit home for my wife and I.  Great read.

"Vanderbilt... it even sounds expensive."
You should read this if you haven't already. Take a trip in the time machine and go back and hate on frat boys and sorostitutes all over again.

Great novel!
It's like watching a trainwreck and not being able to look away.
The depth of description and details that Wolfe puts in his novels is awesome.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 29, 2010, 10:26:01 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517%2B0s%2BuSvL._SS500_.jpg)

i'm usually a bit hesitant to begin reading his latest/posthumous books, thinking it might be the last of his writing that i get to read, but it looks like another one is coming out next year so i dove in.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 31, 2010, 03:01:21 PM
just finished "freedom" by jonathon franzen..

about to read "Decision Points" by George Bush
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on January 01, 2011, 12:19:12 AM
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on January 01, 2011, 12:37:26 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 31, 2010, 03:01:21 PM
just finished "freedom" by jonathon franzen..

about to read "Decision Points" by George Bush
Funny, I just finished Decision Points, and am now halfway through Freedom. Franzen is the fucking man.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on January 02, 2011, 11:47:38 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5125VFZUTtL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

School Days by Patrick Chamoiseau.

I'm reading it for my interim (january term) class. The class is a two and a half week trip to Martinique and Guadeloupe. I get four credit hours simply for reading this book and then lying on a beach. Suck it bitches!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: qop24 on January 02, 2011, 05:35:02 PM
Some damn good articles in Playboy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 02, 2011, 06:20:20 PM
Quote from: aphineday on January 01, 2011, 12:37:26 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 31, 2010, 03:01:21 PM
just finished "freedom" by jonathon franzen..

about to read "Decision Points" by George Bush
Funny, I just finished Decision Points, and am now halfway through Freedom. Franzen is the fucking man.

I was kinda underwhelmed by "Freedom".  I haven't read "The Corrections" yet, so I don't know how it stands up.

I thought that "Freedom" was a little bit more "fluffy" than I was expecting.

"Decision Points" is rather interesting.  Reading it, it's very easy for me to reconcile that the version of events projected by Bush is a credible point of view even though I would have handled things differently in his position and did desperately want him to have handled things differently as well.

It's funny, because reading the Bush Administration memoirs that are coming out, I think paints Condi Rice in a totally favorable light and even makes Karl Rove seem likeable.

I wonder if D. Cheney will ever get around to publishing his version of events.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on January 02, 2011, 09:33:22 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 02, 2011, 06:20:20 PM
Quote from: aphineday on January 01, 2011, 12:37:26 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on December 31, 2010, 03:01:21 PM
just finished "freedom" by jonathon franzen..

about to read "Decision Points" by George Bush
Funny, I just finished Decision Points, and am now halfway through Freedom. Franzen is the fucking man.

I was kinda underwhelmed by "Freedom".  I haven't read "The Corrections" yet, so I don't know how it stands up.

I thought that "Freedom" was a little bit more "fluffy" than I was expecting.

"Decision Points" is rather interesting.  Reading it, it's very easy for me to reconcile that the version of events projected by Bush is a credible point of view even though I would have handled things differently in his position and did desperately want him to have handled things differently as well.

It's funny, because reading the Bush Administration memoirs that are coming out, I think paints Condi Rice in a totally favorable light and even makes Karl Rove seem likeable.

I wonder if D. Cheney will ever get around to publishing his version of events.
I really liked The Corrections, and have really been enjoying Freedom. I can definitely see what you mean by fluff, though I'm not sure that's really fair. Franzen is incredibly descriptive, and as a result he gets painted in that light quite often. You are definitely not the first person I have heard this from, I just kind of enjoy his way of being so descriptive.
As for Bush, I guess the book certainly helps make him more of a person as opposed to a figure. That being said, even his mentality seems very fake to me as I read through the pages of the book. I'll have a better assessment of this after I complete it, but I'm not exactly blown away with new images of George W. Bush the person at the moment.
As for Condi, she is tremendously smart (as is Rove). Rove is a damn genius, and knows the political landscape better than just about anyone. I think he's a POS for the most part, but he's a genius. I'd read Cheney's memoir if he wrote it, I'm sure it would be entertaining to say the least.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on January 03, 2011, 03:07:51 PM
Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 04, 2011, 11:53:49 AM
Rove's pretty open about being a piece of shit really...

...I did sometimes get the "slimy" vibe from the Bush memoir...however...if he is great at one thing it's appearing ignorant as opposed to slimy...

I kind of end up believing Bush when he speaks of his own motivations as opposed to disbelieving him.

He seems too ignorant/arrogant to really even know to lie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on January 04, 2011, 01:10:10 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on January 04, 2011, 11:53:49 AM
Rove's pretty open about being a piece of shit really...

...I did sometimes get the "slimy" vibe from the Bush memoir...however...if he is great at one thing it's appearing ignorant as opposed to slimy...

I kind of end up believing Bush when he speaks of his own motivations as opposed to disbelieving him.

He seems too ignorant/arrogant to really even know to lie.

I think overall he ended up being a puppet. The movie "W" captures this pretty accurately.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 11, 2011, 01:05:50 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 24, 2010, 06:07:20 PM
got this for xmas.
looks amazing.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xtdp5eq0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

great book. and seeing how Empire is everyone's favorite movie around here, y'all might like it. full of behind the scenes photos and production drawings. it tells the story of the making of the movie in incredible detail, with lots of contemporary interviews.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on January 11, 2011, 08:34:37 PM
(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQr2xpo6GyeA4xL2cQCBj8MYKAAVXGBh5QaY1ELr7icYX9VsuZCF80-1fIbMA)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on January 12, 2011, 01:41:22 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 11, 2011, 01:05:50 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 24, 2010, 06:07:20 PM
got this for xmas.
looks amazing.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xtdp5eq0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

great book. and seeing how Empire is everyone's favorite movie around here, y'all might like it. full of behind the scenes photos and production drawings. it tells the story of the making of the movie in incredible detail, with lots of contemporary interviews.
Strikes my interest, and i do love the empire strikes back, A lot, but who doesn't. I think i'll check this out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 12, 2011, 01:44:23 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 11, 2011, 01:05:50 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 24, 2010, 06:07:20 PM
got this for xmas.
looks amazing.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xtdp5eq0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

great book. and seeing how Empire is everyone's favorite movie around here...

lol.  um, nooooooooooo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: StCarl on January 12, 2011, 01:48:39 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 12, 2011, 01:44:23 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on January 11, 2011, 01:05:50 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 24, 2010, 06:07:20 PM
got this for xmas.
looks amazing.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xtdp5eq0L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

great book. and seeing how Empire is everyone's favorite movie around here...

lol.  um, nooooooooooo!

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on January 13, 2011, 12:59:12 PM
Quote from: birdman on December 25, 2010, 09:41:48 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on December 25, 2010, 09:06:23 AM
Quote from: birdman on December 24, 2010, 10:58:22 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on December 24, 2010, 09:11:27 PM
I Am Charlotte Simmons

Tom Wolfe
Read that a few years back. I went to Vanderbilt and it is pretty much identical to the school Wolfe describes.It really hit home for my wife and I.  Great read.

"Vanderbilt... it even sounds expensive."
You should read this if you haven't already. Take a trip in the time machine and go back and hate on frat boys and prostitutes all over again.

Suggested I Am Charlotte Simmons to my book club and we're reading it for our next meeting.

Thanks for a great suggestion :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 26, 2011, 11:29:36 AM
Last post in here I was on Still Life w Woodpecker. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to my next Tom Robbins book.

Just finished Anthony Bourdain's A cook's Tour. Need to pick up Kitchen Confidential too. Hoping to see him in a few weeks when he comes around here. I don't knwo what to expect, a discussion? A Speech? Comedy?

Currently picked up The Alchemist (Coelho) and Ishmael (Quinn), both of which I've read before, but felt the need recently to revisit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 26, 2011, 12:36:47 PM
  I just finished Tom Robbins' "B is for Beer". Billed as a "children's book for adults, An adults book for children." I read it in two sittings and now my 13 yo is reading it. Pretty entertaining.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on January 27, 2011, 11:08:31 PM
I'm currently about halfway through 'Robinson Crusoe.' I'm shocked that I haven't read this until now, shit is reaaal good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on January 27, 2011, 11:17:53 PM
I quit reading that Karma Wrapped in Chocolate and dipped in something or whatever it was.  I couldn't get into it.  Maybe it would have picked up a little more into it but I didn't want to wait it out and see

So now I am reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on January 28, 2011, 01:47:50 PM
i "read" Keith Richards' book. meaning i skimmed a good deal of it. it's absurdly long and boring. obviously the publisher told him to write about drugs, because that's mostly what the book's about, and however many drugs Keith has done, he doesn't have a single new or interesting thing to say about them. and of course he didn't write the book, he was just interviewed by a writer who then wrote everything down, so it just reads like Keith talking.

as for the music, here and there he talks about it with some depth. those are the best parts of the book. but as far as albums go, he barely has anything to say about them, mostly it's just 'and then we recorded those songs,' and the it's back to heroin being a real bitch. yawn.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is ok. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is ok. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 30, 2011, 05:38:48 PM
when I was a kid someone gave me the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a gift, i think it was for my Bar Mitzvah.
just started reading it recently
so far read A Study in Scarlet, now on The Sign of Four
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 31, 2011, 10:32:22 AM
Quote from: slslbs on January 30, 2011, 05:38:48 PM
when I was a kid someone gave me the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a gift, i think it was for my Bar Mitzvah.
just started reading it recently
so far read A Study in Scarlet, now on The Sign of Four

:-o

It took you 40 years to finally get around to "opening" your gift. Awesome!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on January 31, 2011, 10:46:30 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 31, 2011, 10:32:22 AM
Quote from: slslbs on January 30, 2011, 05:38:48 PM
when I was a kid someone gave me the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a gift, i think it was for my Bar Mitzvah.
just started reading it recently
so far read A Study in Scarlet, now on The Sign of Four

:-o

It took you 40 years to finally get around to "opening" your gift. Awesome!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

Serves them right for not just giving cash... like normal people do for Bar Mitzvahs .
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 31, 2011, 10:51:43 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on January 31, 2011, 10:46:30 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 31, 2011, 10:32:22 AM
Quote from: slslbs on January 30, 2011, 05:38:48 PM
when I was a kid someone gave me the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a gift, i think it was for my Bar Mitzvah.
just started reading it recently
so far read A Study in Scarlet, now on The Sign of Four

:-o

It took you 40 years to finally get around to "opening" your gift. Awesome!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

Serves them right for not just giving cash... like normal people do for Bar Mitzvahs .

Ser. I made mad loot at mine!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on January 31, 2011, 03:06:39 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 31, 2011, 10:51:43 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on January 31, 2011, 10:46:30 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 31, 2011, 10:32:22 AM
Quote from: slslbs on January 30, 2011, 05:38:48 PM
when I was a kid someone gave me the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a gift, i think it was for my Bar Mitzvah.
just started reading it recently
so far read A Study in Scarlet, now on The Sign of Four

:-o

It took you 40 years to finally get around to "opening" your gift. Awesome!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

Serves them right for not just giving cash... like normal people do for Bar Mitzvahs .

Ser. I made mad loot at mine!

I thought Hindus waited for their "Super-Sweet-Sweet-Sixteen" parties.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on February 02, 2011, 09:39:19 PM
The Wave by Susan Casey. Thanks Mom!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on February 02, 2011, 10:12:06 PM
Quote from: phil on January 27, 2011, 11:08:31 PM
I'm currently about halfway through 'Robinson Crusoe.' I'm shocked that I haven't read this until now, shit is reaaal good.
My dad read that to my brother and I when we were kids.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 03, 2011, 01:22:36 PM
Thomas Pynchon - V.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61vw25u%2B7YL._AA300_.jpg)

great book, Pynchon's first. hadn't read it since college, long ago.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 07, 2011, 12:15:05 PM
Just picked this up over the weekend.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bz9p-GMKL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on February 11, 2011, 03:41:59 PM
Well I got bored reading Fear And Loathing on The Campaign Trail '72.  It's not that it's a bad book.  Just not in the mood to read something that political right now.  So I went to the bookstore the other night and grabbed this.  Been meaning to pick this one up for a little while.  I've read that if you like The Big Lebowski then you'd really like this, so I had to get it to see.

Im only about two chapters in but so far it's been pretty good
http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Inherent_Vice (http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Inherent_Vice)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519ar6ElRGL._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.

AND

"The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II" by Gregory A. Freeman (personal choice)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fM6tREl7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)


Bombing of the Ploiesti, Romania, oil refineries, a key German resource, started in 1942. Allied pilots sustaining damage frequently bailed out over Serbia in German-occupied Yugoslavia, where the resistance and others hid them. By 1944, more than 500 were stranded and slowly starving. The OSS concocted the daring Operation Halyard to airlift them, but they had to construct a landing strip without tools and without alerting the Germans or endangering local villagers, and then the rescuers had to avoid being shot down themselves. The operation's story is an exciting tale, but it was kept from general knowledge for decades; the resistance leader most responsible was a rival to Tito. Nazi-baited by a Stalinist mole in British intelligence, he was executed in 1946 with the consent of Britain and America, which thereafter refused to acknowledge having been snookered (the State Department kept many details classified more than 50 years). Evoking the rescuees' successive desperation, wild hope, and joy, and their gratitude to the Serbians who risked their lives to help, Freeman produces a breathtaking popular account.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 12, 2011, 08:01:37 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.


Sorry Charlotte didn't live up to the hype.   :|  I liked it b/c I liked the basketball aspect of JoJo and the trainwreck of Charlotte's college experience.  Tom Wolfe is a stickler for detail, hence the many pages.  It's something you either love or can pass up.  I went on to read A Man In Full and loved it.  But again, lots of pages.  Of course, some say his best books are Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff.  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is alright, but you have to be in the mood for it.  Not light reading by any means...

The Shadow of the Wind sounds interesting.  You will have to let me know how it is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on February 15, 2011, 12:54:07 PM
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0345479734/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0)
"Reading" this one in the car, as it's an audiobook on CD from the library.

Real book at home:
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/1847081401/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on February 17, 2011, 03:45:26 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51C5VP4VZTL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

Ken Kesey - Sometimes A Great Notion

a really good book. i'd forgotten how great a writer kesey is. haven't read Cuckoo's Nest since high school, though i think i'll re-read it soon.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on February 17, 2011, 03:51:36 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on February 17, 2011, 03:45:26 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51C5VP4VZTL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

Ken Kesey - Sometimes A Great Notion

a really good book. i'd forgotten how great a writer kesey is. haven't read Cuckoo's Nest since high school, though i think i'll re-read it soon.
Read SAGN this summer. Blew me away.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on February 17, 2011, 04:35:23 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 12, 2011, 08:01:37 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.


Sorry Charlotte didn't live up to the hype.   :|  I liked it b/c I liked the basketball aspect of JoJo and the trainwreck of Charlotte's college experience.  Tom Wolfe is a stickler for detail, hence the many pages.  It's something you either love or can pass up.  I went on to read A Man In Full and loved it.  But again, lots of pages.  Of course, some say his best books are Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff.  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is alright, but you have to be in the mood for it.  Not light reading by any means...

The Shadow of the Wind sounds interesting.  You will have to let me know how it is.

No worries on Charlotte...the booked ended exactly how I wanted it to so it did make the read worth it. I have Electric Kool-Aid lined up to read soon but I think I'm gonna but a little more distance between that and Charlotte Simmons.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on February 17, 2011, 04:45:36 PM
heh
I was looking through a box of books of mine in the basement and came across a book of Wavy Gravy's.  Signed by him.  I remember when I got this.  Met him at a festival and talked a bit.  He signed my book and took a picture.  He has some bad handwriting
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on February 17, 2011, 07:49:15 PM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on February 17, 2011, 04:45:36 PM
heh
I was looking through a box of books of mine in the basement and came across a book of Wavy Gravy's.  Signed by him.  I remember when I got this.  Met him at a festival and talked a bit.  He signed my book and took a picture.  He has some bad handwriting

I have to assume he's into cursive letters
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on February 17, 2011, 11:04:09 PM
 :mrgreen:
kinda cheesy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on February 18, 2011, 08:14:16 AM
Mastering Exchange Server 2010

Such tension... I can't wait to see how they resolve it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on February 18, 2011, 02:06:21 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on February 18, 2011, 08:14:16 AM
Mastering Exchange Server 2010

Such tension... I can't wait to see how they resolve it.


SPOILER ALERT:









































(the machines win)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on February 18, 2011, 05:03:36 PM
Life: The Keith Richards Autobiography


SPOILER ALERT:




























He lives.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on February 20, 2011, 09:32:07 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 12, 2011, 08:01:37 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.


Sorry Charlotte didn't live up to the hype.   :|  I liked it b/c I liked the basketball aspect of JoJo and the trainwreck of Charlotte's college experience.  Tom Wolfe is a stickler for detail, hence the many pages.  It's something you either love or can pass up.  I went on to read A Man In Full and loved it.  But again, lots of pages.  Of course, some say his best books are Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff.  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is alright, but you have to be in the mood for it.  Not light reading by any means...

The Shadow of the Wind sounds interesting.  You will have to let me know how it is.

Finished "The Shadow of the Wind" this afternoon and I HIGHLY recommend it. The first half of the book was a little hard to get into but I had to find out where the book was going and couldn't walk away from the book without finishing it. The second half made it all worth it. There are a lot of twists and turns and just when you think you've figured stuff out it all changes on you. I would definitely pick the book up if you get a chance.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on February 20, 2011, 10:15:08 PM
excellent story thus far
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 20, 2011, 11:05:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 20, 2011, 09:32:07 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 12, 2011, 08:01:37 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.


Sorry Charlotte didn't live up to the hype.   :|  I liked it b/c I liked the basketball aspect of JoJo and the trainwreck of Charlotte's college experience.  Tom Wolfe is a stickler for detail, hence the many pages.  It's something you either love or can pass up.  I went on to read A Man In Full and loved it.  But again, lots of pages.  Of course, some say his best books are Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff.  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is alright, but you have to be in the mood for it.  Not light reading by any means...

The Shadow of the Wind sounds interesting.  You will have to let me know how it is.

Finished "The Shadow of the Wind" this afternoon and I HIGHLY recommend it. The first half of the book was a little hard to get into but I had to find out where the book was going and couldn't walk away from the book without finishing it. The second half made it all worth it. There are a lot of twists and turns and just when you think you've figured stuff out it all changes on you. I would definitely pick the book up if you get a chance.

Putting it on the list.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 21, 2011, 11:32:13 AM
Quote from: whatapiper on February 20, 2011, 10:15:08 PM
excellent story thus far

Awesome book. You're going to enjoy that. You definitely get caught in that world and it's almost sad when it comes to a close.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on February 21, 2011, 02:16:50 PM
My behavioral neuroscience textbook...exam friday on the basics (cranial nerves, limbic system, basal ganglion, basal forebrain, HPA axis, neural signaling in its entirety, biosynthesis and effects of each neurotransmitter and neuropeptide)



Fuck. Me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on February 21, 2011, 02:45:19 PM
I just read "O" by Anonymous.

I was a little underwhelmed by it.

(http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2011/01/23/img-book---o-a-presidential-novel_221737961903.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on February 23, 2011, 10:32:36 PM
Just finished "True Love" by  Thich Nhat Hanh.  I highly recommend it for a quick, inspiring read.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a128/ThaDemagogue/19TrueLove.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on February 24, 2011, 12:53:54 PM
I've been on a WWII kick lately so I'm currently reading:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519WStkHvCL._SS500_.jpg)

I started it earlier this week and haven't been able to put it down.

Quote from: iamhydroJen on February 23, 2011, 10:32:36 PM
Just finished "True Love" by  Thich Nhat Hanh.  I highly recommend it for a quick, inspiring read.

Looks good, I added "You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment"  by Thich Nhat Hanh to my wish list.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: natronzero on February 24, 2011, 01:11:22 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on February 23, 2011, 10:32:36 PM
Just finished "True Love" by  Thich Nhat Hanh.  I highly recommend it for a quick, inspiring read.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a128/ThaDemagogue/19TrueLove.jpg)
My GF just gave me "Being Peace" (probably because I need it  :| :-)) but I haven't really gotten to it yet. I'll look for this one next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on March 02, 2011, 03:45:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 24, 2011, 12:53:54 PM
I've been on a WWII kick lately so I'm currently reading:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519WStkHvCL._SS500_.jpg)


Finished this earlier this week..if you have any interest in WW2 and want to learn even more about what happened in the far east during the war pick this book up.

I've read a lot on WW2, mostly on Germany and the Nazis but the crimes they committed pale in comparison to what the Japanese did to there own people, neighbouring countries and the Allied POWs.

Quote
From Laura Hillenbrand, the bestselling author of Seabiscuit, comes Unbroken, the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. In evocative, immediate descriptions, Hillenbrand unfurls the story of Louie Zamperini--a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned-Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie's plane crashed into the ocean, and what happened to him over the next three years of his life is a story that will keep you glued to the pages, eagerly awaiting the next turn in the story and fearing it at the same time. You'll cheer for the man who somehow maintained his selfhood and humanity despite the monumental degradations he suffered, and you'll want to share this book with everyone you know.



Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on March 03, 2011, 09:30:59 PM
Hey if anybody is a A Song of Ice and Fire Series fan, they announced that the next one will be out July 12th. Seems like a good story. Some of my friends rave about it. So i'm gonna check it out once i'm done with other stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 04, 2011, 01:17:22 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on March 03, 2011, 09:30:59 PM
Hey if anybody is a A Song of Ice and Fire Series fan, they announced that the next one will be out July 12th. Seems like a good story. Some of my friends rave about it. So i'm gonna check it out once i'm done with other stuff.

it's a brilliant series. and i generally hate that kind of stuff.

we've been waiting years for the new overdue book. finally it's coming!

and the HBO series adapting the first book starts airing in april.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is ok. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is ok. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 07, 2011, 10:52:03 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that's exactly how i've described it!  :-D

ok, let's see here..... since i've last been around these parts,

for me:
one flew over the cuckoo's nest - Kesey.... loved it all over again.
even cowgirls get the blues - Tom Robbins... made me want to hitch-hike the world.
the colorado kid - stephen king... was suggested to me, it was alright.

deja dead, devil bones, bones to ashes... and i'm currently on 206 bones - Kathy Reichs
         If you dig the show 'Bones' or medical examiners in general, you'll dig these books... it's not too detailed to gross you out, but it's fascinating of her examinations of bodies along with a little of her personal life and the crazy shit she always gets herself into.... i'm in school to be a P.A. but not what you're thinking, it's a Pathology Assistant... same as the P.A. you were thinking but on the laboratory side, i'd like to be a M.E.'s assistant or a coroner... hence the reason i'm in love with these books.... Break No Bones is anxiously awaiting me next to my bed after i finish 206 bones  :-D  and there's like 10 more for me to read, plus she's still writing!!!!

ok, and now onto school readings:

Beowulf - Anon.      ...i've always enjoyed this story. so it was nice to read it in a college setting, and my teacher despised the movie :)
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory          ...typical King Arthur stuff, we only read bits and pieces but i always enjoy medieval stuffs...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon.    ...Quick, easy read if you dig medieval stuff with a little magic in there.
The Inferno - Dante    .... i dearly love this book.... so much that i now listen to it, Paradiso and Purgatorio in the car driving to work  :-D hello, my name's                                     mandi and i'm a HUGE nerd.
Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe    ..... loved it.
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli    .... hated it. i want my weekend back.
Hamlet - Shakespeare       ..... Hamlet plays a great nut. i've always liked this play...

now we're onto Macbeth and Othello to round out the Quarter. Renaissance Lit has been an interesting endeavor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 08, 2011, 10:11:26 AM
^^^ That's too much lady. You clearly haven't been partying enough.  :wink:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on March 08, 2011, 11:20:22 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 07, 2011, 10:52:03 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that's exactly how i've described it!  :-D

ok, let's see here..... since i've last been around these parts,

for me:
one flew over the cuckoo's nest - Kesey.... loved it all over again.
even cowgirls get the blues - Tom Robbins... made me want to hitch-hike the world.
the colorado kid - stephen king... was suggested to me, it was alright.

deja dead, devil bones, bones to ashes... and i'm currently on 206 bones - Kathy Reichs
         If you dig the show 'Bones' or medical examiners in general, you'll dig these books... it's not too detailed to gross you out, but it's fascinating of her examinations of bodies along with a little of her personal life and the crazy shit she always gets herself into.... i'm in school to be a P.A. but not what you're thinking, it's a Pathology Assistant... same as the P.A. you were thinking but on the laboratory side, i'd like to be a M.E.'s assistant or a coroner... hence the reason i'm in love with these books.... Break No Bones is anxiously awaiting me next to my bed after i finish 206 bones  :-D  and there's like 10 more for me to read, plus she's still writing!!!!

ok, and now onto school readings:

Beowulf - Anon.      ...i've always enjoyed this story. so it was nice to read it in a college setting, and my teacher despised the movie :)
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory          ...typical King Arthur stuff, we only read bits and pieces but i always enjoy medieval stuffs...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon.    ...Quick, easy read if you dig medieval stuff with a little magic in there.
The Inferno - Dante    .... i dearly love this book.... so much that i now listen to it, Paradiso and Purgatorio in the car driving to work  :-D hello, my name's                                     mandi and i'm a HUGE nerd.
Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe    ..... loved it.
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli    .... hated it. i want my weekend back.
Hamlet - Shakespeare       ..... Hamlet plays a great nut. i've always liked this play...

now we're onto Macbeth and Othello to round out the Quarter. Renaissance Lit has been an interesting endeavor.

Deja Dead and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues added to my reading list. :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 08, 2011, 12:19:18 PM
^^ NICE!


Quote from: goodabouthood on March 08, 2011, 10:11:26 AM
^^^ That's too much lady. You clearly haven't been partying enough.  :wink:

oh hai.
i'm mandi, have we met?

i ALWAYS have time to party  :angel:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 08, 2011, 12:49:48 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 08, 2011, 12:19:18 PM
^^ NICE!


Quote from: goodabouthood on March 08, 2011, 10:11:26 AM
^^^ That's too much lady. You clearly haven't been partying enough.  :wink:

oh hai.
i'm mandi, have we met?

i ALWAYS have time to party  :angel:

Don't I know it! Get down girl!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sprobeck on March 08, 2011, 01:32:32 PM
In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America by Edward L. Ayers. This is partly for school, partly because I'm going to a few civil war sites during my break coming up. Good so far!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on March 08, 2011, 01:55:16 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 07, 2011, 10:52:03 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that's exactly how i've described it!  :-D

ok, let's see here..... since i've last been around these parts,

for me:
one flew over the cuckoo's nest - Kesey.... loved it all over again.
even cowgirls get the blues - Tom Robbins... made me want to hitch-hike the world.
the colorado kid - stephen king... was suggested to me, it was alright.

deja dead, devil bones, bones to ashes... and i'm currently on 206 bones - Kathy Reichs
         If you dig the show 'Bones' or medical examiners in general, you'll dig these books... it's not too detailed to gross you out, but it's fascinating of her examinations of bodies along with a little of her personal life and the crazy shit she always gets herself into.... i'm in school to be a P.A. but not what you're thinking, it's a Pathology Assistant... same as the P.A. you were thinking but on the laboratory side, i'd like to be a M.E.'s assistant or a coroner... hence the reason i'm in love with these books.... Break No Bones is anxiously awaiting me next to my bed after i finish 206 bones  :-D  and there's like 10 more for me to read, plus she's still writing!!!!

ok, and now onto school readings:

Beowulf - Anon.      ...i've always enjoyed this story. so it was nice to read it in a college setting, and my teacher despised the movie :)
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory          ...typical King Arthur stuff, we only read bits and pieces but i always enjoy medieval stuffs...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon.    ...Quick, easy read if you dig medieval stuff with a little magic in there.
The Inferno - Dante    .... i dearly love this book.... so much that i now listen to it, Paradiso and Purgatorio in the car driving to work  :-D hello, my name's                                     mandi and i'm a HUGE nerd.
Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe    ..... loved it.
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli    .... hated it. i want my weekend back.
Hamlet - Shakespeare       ..... Hamlet plays a great nut. i've always liked this play...

now we're onto Macbeth and Othello to round out the Quarter. Renaissance Lit has been an interesting endeavor.

Mandi, I'm reading Hamlet for a second time and am about to start writing a paper about Ophelia and how flowers are associated with her, their significance in relation to life and birth, etc.  It's going to go deeper than that obviously, but let me know if you have any insight!  :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 08, 2011, 10:45:22 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on March 08, 2011, 01:55:16 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 07, 2011, 10:52:03 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that's exactly how i've described it!  :-D

ok, let's see here..... since i've last been around these parts,

for me:
one flew over the cuckoo's nest - Kesey.... loved it all over again.
even cowgirls get the blues - Tom Robbins... made me want to hitch-hike the world.
the colorado kid - stephen king... was suggested to me, it was alright.

deja dead, devil bones, bones to ashes... and i'm currently on 206 bones - Kathy Reichs
         If you dig the show 'Bones' or medical examiners in general, you'll dig these books... it's not too detailed to gross you out, but it's fascinating of her examinations of bodies along with a little of her personal life and the crazy shit she always gets herself into.... i'm in school to be a P.A. but not what you're thinking, it's a Pathology Assistant... same as the P.A. you were thinking but on the laboratory side, i'd like to be a M.E.'s assistant or a coroner... hence the reason i'm in love with these books.... Break No Bones is anxiously awaiting me next to my bed after i finish 206 bones  :-D  and there's like 10 more for me to read, plus she's still writing!!!!

ok, and now onto school readings:

Beowulf - Anon.      ...i've always enjoyed this story. so it was nice to read it in a college setting, and my teacher despised the movie :)
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory          ...typical King Arthur stuff, we only read bits and pieces but i always enjoy medieval stuffs...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Anon.    ...Quick, easy read if you dig medieval stuff with a little magic in there.
The Inferno - Dante    .... i dearly love this book.... so much that i now listen to it, Paradiso and Purgatorio in the car driving to work  :-D hello, my name's                                     mandi and i'm a HUGE nerd.
Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe    ..... loved it.
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli    .... hated it. i want my weekend back.
Hamlet - Shakespeare       ..... Hamlet plays a great nut. i've always liked this play...

now we're onto Macbeth and Othello to round out the Quarter. Renaissance Lit has been an interesting endeavor.

Mandi, I'm reading Hamlet for a second time and am about to start writing a paper about Ophelia and how flowers are associated with her, their significance in relation to life and birth, etc.  It's going to go deeper than that obviously, but let me know if you have any insight!  :-)

"they got your number, scared and running... but i'm still waiting for the second coming..."

sweet idea for a paper. I think she's totally a murky character like Gertrude.  beautiful part written for a male actor, tho. you got to look at her two different ways... her father and brother saw her as a virgin, ehhh like a vessel of morality who was to be a wonderful wife and steadfast mother. on the other hand, Hamlet saw her only sexually and kind of a deceitful lover. she has a beautiful sense of renaissance romanticism, tho, that rules her daily. her shitty dilemma with  the whole Polonius deal makes her crazy. she's almost bipolar really, because she tries to live one life, picks the other and is never able to retain equilibrium. in the end, her madness never allows her to heal.
modern day Ophelia? = anorexic or severely depressed woman.

(can you tell i had to write about her in my class, too?  :wink:)

hope that helps! let me know if you need anything else!

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 10:48:02 AM
oh oh, as a continuum of that stuff above... i'm in class and it just came to me...

in act 4, scene 5.... in my book it's line 179... it's imagery/talk with Ophelia and flowers.


the distribution of flowers in the ensuing lines has symbolic meaning, but the meaning is disputed....
the footnote here calls what she talks of Fennel may be flattery, columbines is cuckoldry, rue is sorrow of Ophelia and repentance for the Queen, daisy's are dissembling and violets are faithfulness...

it says to also check out J.W.Lever in Review of English Studies new series 3, p. 123-129
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on March 09, 2011, 11:20:33 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 10:48:02 AM
oh oh, as a continuum of that stuff above... i'm in class and it just came to me...

in act 4, scene 5.... in my book it's line 179... it's imagery/talk with Ophelia and flowers.


the distribution of flowers in the ensuing lines has symbolic meaning, but the meaning is disputed....
the footnote here calls what she talks of Fennel may be flattery, columbines is cuckoldry, rue is sorrow of Ophelia and repentance for the Queen, daisy's are dissembling and violets are faithfulness...

it says to also check out J.W.Lever in Review of English Studies new series 3, p. 123-129

Thank you for all of the help!

I have a lot of quotes about flowers being mentioned, including that... now I just need to read into the deeper meaning associated with them and find that source from the footnotes!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 09, 2011, 11:27:40 AM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on March 09, 2011, 11:20:33 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 10:48:02 AM
oh oh, as a continuum of that stuff above... i'm in class and it just came to me...

in act 4, scene 5.... in my book it's line 179... it's imagery/talk with Ophelia and flowers.


the distribution of flowers in the ensuing lines has symbolic meaning, but the meaning is disputed....
the footnote here calls what she talks of Fennel may be flattery, columbines is cuckoldry, rue is sorrow of Ophelia and repentance for the Queen, daisy's are dissembling and violets are faithfulness...

it says to also check out J.W.Lever in Review of English Studies new series 3, p. 123-129

Thank you for all of the help!

I have a lot of quotes about flowers being mentioned, including that... now I just need to read into the deeper meaning associated with them and find that source from the footnotes!!

aacb IS the footnotes...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 09, 2011, 12:13:10 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 09, 2011, 11:27:40 AM
aacb IS the footnotes...

Totally not cool to make fun of her height like that.... :evil:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 12:15:19 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 09, 2011, 12:13:10 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 09, 2011, 11:27:40 AM
aacb IS the footnotes...

Totally not cool to make fun of her height like that.... :evil:


:cry:

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 09, 2011, 01:15:04 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 12:15:19 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 09, 2011, 12:13:10 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 09, 2011, 11:27:40 AM
aacb IS the footnotes...

Totally not cool to make fun of her height like that.... :evil:


:cry:

:shakehead:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 09, 2011, 01:31:11 PM
 :?
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 09, 2011, 01:15:04 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on March 09, 2011, 12:15:19 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on March 09, 2011, 12:13:10 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 09, 2011, 11:27:40 AM
aacb IS the footnotes...

Totally not cool to make fun of her height like that.... :evil:


:cry:

:shakehead:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on March 09, 2011, 01:58:42 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that should have been the point where you realized how awesome you sounded.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 09, 2011, 03:30:37 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on March 09, 2011, 01:58:42 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on March 02, 2011, 03:22:41 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on January 26, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 26, 2011, 11:40:33 AM
given your mutual likes of robbins and sake, you should read 'villa incognito.'

Solid. Added to my list of books to look for from the local used book shop I hit up.

Started this. Actually, was describing this to someone yesterday, yeah, it's about a badger thats floated down from this other world of animal ancestors, and he's parachuted down on his scrotum, cause it's so big, and drinks lots of sake and is a bit of a womanizer, and gets all these chicks pregnant...oh because he can transform to human form, kind of...and at this point i realized how ridiculous I sounded so changed the subject  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard

that should have been the point where you realized how awesome you sounded.

It's true. But this was before the whole Charlie Sheen thing happened. If it happened after, I could have easily ended with, "and that's why I'm a winner!"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 03:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is OK. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.

Ended up finishing the whole Hunger Games series a couple of weeks back and I'm glad I read all 3. I really enjoyed the whole series and would recommend it to anyone. They are all a very easy read but something totally different.

I'm looking for some book recommendations now. I like the whole concept of the Hunger Games and was hoping to find something along the same lines. The elements I am looking for are something that takes place in the future in America or what America has become, oppressing the majority of the population by an out of touch government/ruler, etc and how the country revolts <--- I'll be honest I am not sure if that all makes sense and I'm not even really sure in my head what types of genres, authors, etc I should be looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on April 01, 2011, 04:13:55 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 03:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is OK. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.

Ended up finishing the whole Hunger Games series a couple of weeks back and I'm glad I read all 3. I really enjoyed the whole series and would recommend it to anyone. They are all a very easy read but something totally different.

I'm looking for some book recommendations now. I like the whole concept of the Hunger Games and was hoping to find something along the same lines. The elements I am looking for are something that takes place in the future in America or what America has become, oppressing the majority of the population by an out of touch government/ruler, etc and how the country revolts <--- I'll be honest I am not sure if that all makes sense and I'm not even really sure in my head what types of genres, authors, etc I should be looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Try Stephen Kings short story "The Long Walk" . Its part of the Bachman Books compilation (kings pseudonym). Great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 04:29:34 PM
Quote from: birdman on April 01, 2011, 04:13:55 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 03:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is OK. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.

Ended up finishing the whole Hunger Games series a couple of weeks back and I'm glad I read all 3. I really enjoyed the whole series and would recommend it to anyone. They are all a very easy read but something totally different.

I'm looking for some book recommendations now. I like the whole concept of the Hunger Games and was hoping to find something along the same lines. The elements I am looking for are something that takes place in the future in America or what America has become, oppressing the majority of the population by an out of touch government/ruler, etc and how the country revolts <--- I'll be honest I am not sure if that all makes sense and I'm not even really sure in my head what types of genres, authors, etc I should be looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Try Stephen Kings short story "The Long Walk" . Its part of the Bachman Books compilation (kings pseudonym). Great read.

Thanks!

Looked up on Amazon and its exactly what I am looking for. I've only read "The Green Mile" by Stephen King so I am interested to see how this one is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 02, 2011, 01:29:07 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 03:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is OK. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.

Ended up finishing the whole Hunger Games series a couple of weeks back and I'm glad I read all 3. I really enjoyed the whole series and would recommend it to anyone. They are all a very easy read but something totally different.

I'm looking for some book recommendations now. I like the whole concept of the Hunger Games and was hoping to find something along the same lines. The elements I am looking for are something that takes place in the future in America or what America has become, oppressing the majority of the population by an out of touch government/ruler, etc and how the country revolts <--- I'll be honest I am not sure if that all makes sense and I'm not even really sure in my head what types of genres, authors, etc I should be looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

try The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on April 02, 2011, 02:04:39 PM
The First 3 Minutes
The Runaway Universe

Bother for my "In the Beginning" class, its about the beginning of the universe and all the theories that surround it (mainly the big bang though). It seems like its gonna be a SICK class.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on April 03, 2011, 01:30:14 PM
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel.
--Highly recommended for those that like short stories.

The Rings Of Saturn by W.G. Sebald.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: natronzero on April 03, 2011, 01:56:07 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 02, 2011, 01:29:07 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 01, 2011, 03:29:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on March 07, 2011, 03:59:40 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on March 07, 2011, 01:31:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 30, 2011, 11:39:33 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 29, 2011, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on January 29, 2011, 09:16:27 AM
Although it was an easy read, still a really cool story.

The Hunger Games

Recommend for anyone with middle school age kids that want to read a book with their kid.

Or for anyone that appreciates an interesting story that's just a fun read.

I loved this book. My daughter read it and recommended I read it. Really lots of fun, think S. Jackson's The Lottery combined with S. King's The Long Walk.
The next book in the series is OK. The third is downright horrible. Apparently a movie version is in the works. Hopefully they just stick to book I.

Yes!  I forgot about The Long Walk!  What a great short story.  I am going to have to go back and reread that.

I just started the 2nd book, and isn't looking good.

I imagine the movie version will be 'kid friendly' but could be so much better if they make it intense and more PG-13 ish.

Picked up "The Hunger Games" last Thursday and I'm pretty much done with already. Very good read, I was a little apprehensive at first based on the book description but its turned into a book I can't put down.

Even though it sounds like books 2 & 3 aren't great I might pick them up when I'm done to see how everything turns out.

I ended up really liking the 2nd and 3rd books.  Cool story, interesting conflicts.   Definitely finish the series.  Won't take long to bust through them.

Ended up finishing the whole Hunger Games series a couple of weeks back and I'm glad I read all 3. I really enjoyed the whole series and would recommend it to anyone. They are all a very easy read but something totally different.

I'm looking for some book recommendations now. I like the whole concept of the Hunger Games and was hoping to find something along the same lines. The elements I am looking for are something that takes place in the future in America or what America has become, oppressing the majority of the population by an out of touch government/ruler, etc and how the country revolts <--- I'll be honest I am not sure if that all makes sense and I'm not even really sure in my head what types of genres, authors, etc I should be looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

try The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on April 03, 2011, 04:44:33 PM
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_images/ISBNCovers/Covers_HiRes/9780446569897_1681X2544.jpg)

Pretty hilarious.  Nice bathroom reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on April 13, 2011, 06:35:32 PM
Still on the Collected Stories of Amy Hempel. Recommended if you like Raymond Carver type writing.

Also started -
The News From Paraguay
by Lily Tuck
Winner of the 2004 National Book Award for Fiction

From Publisher's Weekly:
Quote
Beautiful Ella Lynch left her native Ireland at 10 and married a French officer at 15; by 19, she is divorced, living with a Russian count and struggling to pay her embittered maid. Thus she's in prime shape to appreciate the quick and ardent attentions of Francisco Solano Lopez, aka Franco, the future dictator of Paraguay, when he spies her on horseback in a Paris park in 1854. Rich, generous and not unhandsome, he makes an appealing lover, and soon Ella is off with him to Paraguay, which he vows to make "a country exactly like France." The story unfolds through Tuck's elegant narration (she flits from one character's point-of-view to another in short segments) and Ella's impassioned diaries. The author's research is impressive (Ella was a real 19th-century courtesan) but never overbearing as she explores the life of a spoiled kept woman in a foreign land, as well as the lives, both high and low, of those around her. Established as Franco's mistress in Asunción, Ella bears Franco many sons, while Franco succeeds his father as ruler and acquires mistress after mistress. Tuck (Siam; Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived) weaves in the stories of Franco's fat, jealous sisters; a disgraced Philadelphia doctor; Ella's wet nurses; and a righteous U.S. minister, among many others, in a richly layered evocation of a complicated world. When Paraguay finds itself at odds with neighboring countries, the novel chronicles the various tragedies and defeats with a cool and unswerving eye. Tuck's novel may not be for the faint of heart, but it is a rich and rewarding read.

From Booklist:
Quote
The news isn't so good, at least by the end of this saga by the author of the award-winning Siam (2000). The focus of her new novel is shared by two actual nineteenth-century historical figures: Paraguayan caudillo Francisco Solano Lopez and his Irish-born mistress, Ella Lynch. From the boulevards of Paris, where Ella meets the magnetic but uncouth South American, she follows him to the very provincial Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, and plays Madame de Pompadour to his Louis XV--but her sexy Franco is a small-time dictator trying to make more of his patria than it can support. A catastrophic war with Brazil and Argentina completely flattens the country. Ella ends her days back in Europe, to live on in history as one of those famous paramours of powerful leaders--always good fodder for historical fiction. This novel moves along swiftly but, unfortunately, not very deeply; characterizations seem more image than substance. Still, this is an interesting time and place, so expect requests from historical-novel lovers

The bold above is what I would make of it. Edward P Jones' The Known World it is not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 13, 2011, 11:41:51 PM
recently read two very different L.A. noirs:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FM2nUWACL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy.
written in the '80s, set in '50, this book is insane. really complex, detailed story. ellroy packs an incredible amount of info into every sentence, you need to pay serious attention. the story is deeply dark and fucked up. two strands which meet up, one about a series of ghastly murders, the other about supposed communist infiltration of hollywood. the various detectives working the cases are all totally screwed up and it all ends badly for almost everyone. good times!


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZXfSWBlZL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
his most recent book, set in L.A. in about '71, a pretty breezy and ridiculous noirish book about a stoner hippie private dick and the complicated mystery he unravels while smoking amazing amounts of weed. a very easy read for Pynchon, with his usual humor. pretty light overall, but entertaining.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on April 14, 2011, 10:09:36 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on April 13, 2011, 11:41:51 PM
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
his most recent book, set in L.A. in about '71, a pretty breezy and ridiculous noirish book about a stoner hippie private dick and the complicated mystery he unravels while smoking amazing amounts of weed. a very easy read for Pynchon, with his usual humor. pretty light overall, but entertaining.

She kidnapped herself, man.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 25, 2011, 10:58:13 PM
Quote from: khalpin on April 03, 2011, 04:44:33 PM
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_images/ISBNCovers/Covers_HiRes/9780446569897_1681X2544.jpg)

Pretty hilarious. Nice bathroom reading.

Hmm.... I'm really no Ozzie aficionado, but I can see this one being good for a few laughs. His "Ask Dr. Ozzy" columns in Rolling Stone are generally a hoot.

Me, right now:

(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/030738604X.01.LZZZZZZZ.JPG)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on April 25, 2011, 11:08:32 PM
double dipping....

the Demonology of King James....
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0738723452.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)


and

My Appetite for Destruction by Steven Adler
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515CHriIHrL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)


kinda the same book \m/

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 09:27:33 AM
I just finished reading "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fCMKw8UjL._SS500_.jpg)

If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability. Much like Denny, however, Stein is able to salvage some dignity from the over-the-top drama.


I highly recommend this book to dog owners and dog lovers. The book is told through the eyes of a dog and if you ever wanted to know what your dog is thinking when they look at you, watch you, etc this book does a great job of showing that point of view.


______________________________________________


I tired reading "The Long Walk" but ended up putting it down about halfway through. I was hoping by then I would have gotten some answers to my questions, why they were walking, how they got chosen, etc, but they were never answered and it created no suspense for me and I ended up not caring why they were walking.




Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on April 26, 2011, 01:01:23 PM
Still reading Everything Is Illuminated.  i didn't get started on it really until about a week ago so I am only about 1/2 way through.  I'm enjoying it a lot so far.  Has anyone seen the movie?  Is it worth seeing?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 07:06:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.

You're talking about the Bachmann (Stephen King) novella right? I think it's a part of the beginning where they explain that it is a contest for a cash prize.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 26, 2011, 07:21:58 PM
(http://www.howtobrew.com/images/home/htb3cover.jpg)


A little 'educational' reading. Plus I have the green light from Dagny to start brewing in our kitchen!  :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 26, 2011, 07:46:18 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 26, 2011, 07:21:58 PM
(http://www.howtobrew.com/images/home/htb3cover.jpg)


A little 'educational' reading. Plus I have the green light from Dagny to start brewing in our kitchen!  :beers:

Bravo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on April 26, 2011, 08:26:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 07:06:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.

You're talking about the Bachmann (Stephen King) novella right? I think it's a part of the beginning where they explain that it is a contest for a cash prize.
I believe the prize was "anything the winner wanted". All your questions are answered by the end of the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 09:43:52 PM
Quote from: birdman on April 26, 2011, 08:26:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 07:06:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.

You're talking about the Bachmann (Stephen King) novella right? I think it's a part of the beginning where they explain that it is a contest for a cash prize.
I believe the prize was "anything the winner wanted". All your questions are answered by the end of the book.

That's the impression I was starting to get about the prize also.

I'm sure at some point I'll eventually finish the book, but for the time being it really wasn't holing my attention.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 11:01:44 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 09:43:52 PM
Quote from: birdman on April 26, 2011, 08:26:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 07:06:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.

You're talking about the Bachmann (Stephen King) novella right? I think it's a part of the beginning where they explain that it is a contest for a cash prize.
I believe the prize was "anything the winner wanted". All your questions are answered by the end of the book.

That's the impression I was starting to get about the prize also.

I'm sure at some point I'll eventually finish the book, but for the time being it really wasn't holing my attention.

The point wasn't really what the prize was or the ending, from what I remember, it was more about what happened to the people as they walked.

It was kind of like a character study.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on April 29, 2011, 09:12:45 AM
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_v-3gbtENGj8/S9inaxCRxAI/AAAAAAAAGzA/pN85QBxmAgk/s1600/THE+FRIENDS+OF+EDDIE+COYLE.jpg)

Just finished, now on to:

(http://www.comingsoon.net/gallery/62779/Winters_Bone_1.jpg)

both from the Anthony Bourdain book club. :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 29, 2011, 10:02:48 AM
Just picked up:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41977kGCTmL._SL210_.jpg)

Looks like a quick, easy read. It's his memoir about the first 20 years of his life in NOLA, up until he headed up to Chicago.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on April 29, 2011, 10:55:34 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 11:01:44 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 09:43:52 PM
Quote from: birdman on April 26, 2011, 08:26:31 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 07:06:52 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on April 26, 2011, 11:38:03 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 26, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
There was a large cash prize for walking.

If that's what really happens I'd be pretty disappointed in the book.

You're talking about the Bachmann (Stephen King) novella right? I think it's a part of the beginning where they explain that it is a contest for a cash prize.
I believe the prize was "anything the winner wanted". All your questions are answered by the end of the book.

That's the impression I was starting to get about the prize also.

I'm sure at some point I'll eventually finish the book, but for the time being it really wasn't holing my attention.

The point wasn't really what the prize was or the ending, from what I remember, it was more about what happened to the people as they walked.

It was kind of like a character study.

Maybe it came across wrong but I'm not really concerned with the "prize" is, but rather what would drive them to walk.

Just some of my unanswered questions: How has the country changed that this is okay? Is it really so bad that people need to volunteer for this? Are people volunteering? If so what are the parameters to become a volunteer? Why does the country think its okay? Why are people supporting the long walk? ......... I have many more but you get the idea.

I think that at 200+ pages into a 371 page book some of these questions should have been answered but for me they weren't so overall King just didn't make me care about the characters and why they are walking.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 30, 2011, 07:09:29 PM
Yeah, they never really answered those questions.  Like I said, that wasn't really the point from my standpoint.

I think he just wanted you to fill in those sorts of "details" on your own.  Or just to give you something to think about.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on April 30, 2011, 10:42:59 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 30, 2011, 07:09:29 PM
Yeah, they never really answered those questions.  Like I said, that wasn't really the point from my standpoint.

I think he just wanted you to fill in those sorts of "details" on your own.  Or just to give you something to think about.

I haven't read the book in question, and I haven't read Stephen King in 15 years or more, but this does sound like him - he brackets the writing in such a way that you do have to bring something to his work. Does phuzzy have a point? I think she does - by such bracketing, he can come off as lazy (in the psychological sense, obviously his output is incredible and he must spend 8 hours a day everyday slumped over a typewriter, or something like it).

That being said, if the answers were provided to phuzzy's questions, would there be anything less to think about?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 30, 2011, 10:59:03 PM
It's a novella tho, he only had so much room to work with.

Answering those questions would have added nothing but tedium to the work, imo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 01, 2011, 10:00:26 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 20, 2011, 09:32:07 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on February 12, 2011, 08:01:37 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on February 11, 2011, 04:47:09 PM
Finished reading "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe a couple of weeks back and I was a little underwhelmed by it. I think the story could have been told in less pages and I didn't like the lead character but overall I would say its a pretty good read.

Now I'm reading:

"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (book club read)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg/175px-TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)

The novel, set in post–Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man – calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil – who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them.


Sorry Charlotte didn't live up to the hype.   :|  I liked it b/c I liked the basketball aspect of JoJo and the trainwreck of Charlotte's college experience.  Tom Wolfe is a stickler for detail, hence the many pages.  It's something you either love or can pass up.  I went on to read A Man In Full and loved it.  But again, lots of pages.  Of course, some say his best books are Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff.  Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is alright, but you have to be in the mood for it.  Not light reading by any means...

The Shadow of the Wind sounds interesting.  You will have to let me know how it is.

Finished "The Shadow of the Wind" this afternoon and I HIGHLY recommend it. The first half of the book was a little hard to get into but I had to find out where the book was going and couldn't walk away from the book without finishing it. The second half made it all worth it. There are a lot of twists and turns and just when you think you've figured stuff out it all changes on you. I would definitely pick the book up if you get a chance.

Finished The Shadow of the Wind this morning.

Such a great story.  Turning point/falling action was amazing!

Thanks for the recommendation!
Ironically, my dad dropped off Art of Racing the other day.  Phuzzy, you and I are definitely on the same page with some great books lately.  I will  have some recommendations for you soon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 02, 2011, 04:06:33 PM
^^^ Glad you enjoyed it Mr. Minor. Can't wait for some recommendations.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 02, 2011, 06:51:58 PM
The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy.

one of the better ones i've read of his. i always love the writing. but for me nothing has come even close to Blood Meridian, which i thought was just completely brilliant.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on May 02, 2011, 06:58:15 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on April 30, 2011, 10:42:59 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on April 30, 2011, 07:09:29 PM
Yeah, they never really answered those questions.  Like I said, that wasn't really the point from my standpoint.

I think he just wanted you to fill in those sorts of "details" on your own.  Or just to give you something to think about.

I haven't read the book in question, and I haven't read Stephen King in 15 years or more, but this does sound like him - he brackets the writing in such a way that you do have to bring something to his work. Does phuzzy have a point? I think she does - by such bracketing, he can come off as lazy (in the psychological sense, obviously his output is incredible and he must spend 8 hours a day everyday slumped over a typewriter, or something like it).

That being said, if the answers were provided to phuzzy's questions, would there be anything less to think about?

Would The Road have been as powerful if we knew what brought about the apocalypse?

I think not.

Reading is about using your imagination and the best authors force you to fill the blanks with your own interpretation.

Hell the best art in general does that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 02, 2011, 07:21:01 PM
Now that classes will be done soon. More reading!!!!!!  :banana:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on May 02, 2011, 10:25:29 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 02, 2011, 07:21:01 PM
Now that classes will be done soon. More reading!!!!!!  :banana:

Looking forward to this, I still have almost three weeks until graduation though
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DoW on May 04, 2011, 08:37:05 PM
intelligent reading came in the mail today
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511aqtSfaJL._AA115_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:15:05 PM
I'm responsible for my book clubs book selection this month and I'm looking for some ideas.

The last 3 books we read:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain

The only requirement is that the book is that it is less then 500 pages.

Greatly appreciate any suggestions.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on May 06, 2011, 03:39:27 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:15:05 PM
I'm responsible for my book clubs book selection this month and I'm looking for some ideas.

The last 3 books we read:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain

The only requirement is that the book is that it is less then 500 pages.

Greatly appreciate any suggestions.

If you just read The Hunger Games, you should pick Mockingjay it's the next book in the series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 03:45:53 PM
Always thought The Hunger Game was for kids......but I keep seeing it coming up everywhere. Would you guys recommend it?

Also just read The Wind and the Willows. I love that book. It's always been one a favorite of mine.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:55:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on May 06, 2011, 03:39:27 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:15:05 PM
I'm responsible for my book clubs book selection this month and I'm looking for some ideas.

The last 3 books we read:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain

The only requirement is that the book is that it is less then 500 pages.

Greatly appreciate any suggestions.

If you just read The Hunger Games, you should pick Mockingjay it's the next book in the series.

Thanks! My fault I should have said the group blew through all 3 books in the series.

Multibeast: The book is for young adults. I would recommend the whole series though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatthecello42 on May 06, 2011, 04:24:08 PM
(http://thenonbeliever.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/book_dan_barker_godless.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 06, 2011, 04:27:24 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:15:05 PM
I'm responsible for my book clubs book selection this month and I'm looking for some ideas.

The last 3 books we read:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain

The only requirement is that the book is that it is less then 500 pages.

Greatly appreciate any suggestions.

here's four great books good for plenty of discussion that come to mind:

Kurt Vonnegut - The Sirens of Titan
Paul Bowles - The Sheltering Sky
Raymond Chandler - The Long Goodbye
John Wyndham - The Day of The Triffids

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
Love Chandler. The Big Sleep is incredible.

I say the Maltese Falcon as a recommendation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 06, 2011, 07:30:15 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:55:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on May 06, 2011, 03:39:27 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 06, 2011, 03:15:05 PM
I'm responsible for my book clubs book selection this month and I'm looking for some ideas.

The last 3 books we read:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain

The only requirement is that the book is that it is less then 500 pages.

Greatly appreciate any suggestions.

If you just read The Hunger Games, you should pick Mockingjay it's the next book in the series.

Thanks! My fault I should have said the group blew through all 3 books in the series.

Multibeast: The book is for young adults. I would recommend the whole series though.

I would suggest The Road or No Country for Old Men.

Another one would be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

If you want something easy but super interesting, you could also read Life of Pi.

John Irving- The World According to Garp (might be more than 500 pages though).  Otherwise Hotel New Hampshire, Setting Free the Bears, or The Fourth Hand.  Irving is my favorite author, so i am a little biased.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 06, 2011, 07:37:41 PM
Finished up Everything Is Illuminated this morning.  Great book.  Now I don't know what to start on :?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 07:56:47 PM
If anybody is looking for something awesome to read order War with the Newts. Some crazy Czech science fiction. it's my next book to read. can't wait to read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 06, 2011, 08:10:56 PM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 06, 2011, 07:37:41 PM
Finished up Everything Is Illuminated this morning.  Great book.  Now I don't know what to start on :?

If you are in the mood for more heartwrenching tragic tales, check out "Little Bee" by Chris Cleve.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 07, 2011, 09:32:57 AM
I still have a couple of books here that I haven't read yet.  I'll read those before I buy more... or at least try to.  I might read this one next
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142003166/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0140043519&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GZVGVNYYTJPP7BX4CYM
(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167484339l/23940.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 07, 2011, 09:34:37 AM
and I wish that I didn't lose my copy of On The Road.  A while ago I bought it and never even cracked it open before I lost it :?  Forgot about that until just now.  I wonder where it went... or who took it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 07, 2011, 04:19:33 PM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 07, 2011, 09:34:37 AM
and I wish that I didn't lose my copy of On The Road.  A while ago I bought it and never even cracked it open before I lost it :?  Forgot about that until just now.  I wonder where it went... or who took it

Probably hitched a ride out west...
:|

/terrible joke, i know.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 09, 2011, 03:03:32 PM
Thanks everyone for the book ideas. I'm narrowing it down to 3 choices for my book club to pick from this weekend.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 11:59:11 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.

Not too surprising considering his notes were found in completely random order after his death.

I definitely want to read it though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 10, 2011, 01:00:27 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.

yeah, i'm curious, but i'll wait for the paperback.

currently reading Ada by Nabokov.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 01:14:52 PM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 11:59:11 AM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.

Not too surprising considering his notes were found in completely random order after his death.

I definitely want to read it though.

Yeah, I know.  The writing is however, nowhere near the level of genius of Infinite Jest.  Also, the humor is there in flashes, but isn't even up to the level of "The Broom of The System".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 10, 2011, 04:48:50 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 25, 2011, 11:08:32 PM
the Demonology of King James....
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0738723452.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)


this has been pretty interesting so far... from what i can make out of seeing double over the past 2 days...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: MiamiPhish on May 10, 2011, 05:00:06 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.

I'm reading DFW too - my first time reading his work.  "Consider the Lobster" is the name of the collection of essays I'm reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 05:55:25 PM
Quote from: MiamiPhish on May 10, 2011, 05:00:06 PM
Quote from: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 10, 2011, 11:51:04 AM
I'm reading _The Pale King_ by David Foster Wallace.


I love the writing.  However, it is very lacking when it comes to any type of "narrative" or story.

I'm reading DFW too - my first time reading his work.  "Consider the Lobster" is the name of the collection of essays I'm reading.

You should probably just go ahead and jump in and read "Infinite Jest".  "Consider the Lobster" is a good collection, but I don't know if I woulda gotten nearly as much out of it without having read "Infinite Jest".  The McCain piece is very sweet, tho.  Reading this was part of the reason I was such a McCain defender during the 2008 election.  (Even though he had obviously changed since 2000...)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on May 11, 2011, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.

:-o Might have to add that to my queue...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:09:55 AM
Decided to go with this one
(http://www.styleceo.com/images/stores/722/t/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-7860097)
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 11, 2011, 10:22:28 AM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:09:55 AM
Decided to go with this one
(http://www.styleceo.com/images/stores/722/t/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-7860097)
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html

I was thinking about picking this one up also, love to hear what you think about it once you finish reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:26:54 AM
I just got it yesterday.  I was in town and had some time to kill so I walked into the bookstore.  Walked out with a book, even though I have 4-5 here that I haven't read yet.  I'm only two chapters in so far.  Once I get a little more into it I will post my thoughts
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on May 11, 2011, 12:12:33 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 11, 2011, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.

:-o Might have to add that to my queue...

Yeah.  It's pretty mandatory.  Probably the greatest novel in the last 30 years.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 11, 2011, 05:10:52 PM
I've never read any Wallace but maybe i'll check it out.

just finished this
(http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/0/73/776/073776be-07bd-11df-93ec-001cc4c03286.preview-300.jpg)
Really cool, good book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on May 11, 2011, 06:38:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 11, 2011, 05:10:52 PM
I've never read any Wallace but maybe i'll check it out.

just finished this
(http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/0/73/776/073776be-07bd-11df-93ec-001cc4c03286.preview-300.jpg)
Really cool, good book.

I watched a speech of his on (what he calls) "stupid design".  I'd highly recommend it.  Pretty sure you can find it on youtube.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 11, 2011, 08:17:40 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on May 11, 2011, 06:38:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 11, 2011, 05:10:52 PM
I've never read any Wallace but maybe i'll check it out.

just finished this
(http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/0/73/776/073776be-07bd-11df-93ec-001cc4c03286.preview-300.jpg)
Really cool, good book.

I watched a speech of his on (what he calls) "stupid design".  I'd highly recommend it.  Pretty sure you can find it on youtube.
Awesome. I'll watch it tonight. Also, Dr. Tyson is one of my hero's and his books are incredible. He makes all the complexities of space nice and easy for somebody to understand.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: thechad on May 12, 2011, 02:45:32 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 11, 2011, 10:22:28 AM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:09:55 AM
Decided to go with this one
(http://www.styleceo.com/images/stores/722/t/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-7860097)
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html

I was thinking about picking this one up also, love to hear what you think about it once you finish reading it.

I've been thinking about getting this as well.  I've read another book about H. H. Holmes that was written in 1986 called "The Scarlett Castle."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 12, 2011, 09:53:27 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 11, 2011, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.

:-o Might have to add that to my queue...

def.  thanks for the recommendation faux and hicks!  ordered the ink on paper version.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on May 16, 2011, 04:18:37 PM
Book Club Pick:

I suggested the below 5 books for my book club this month (we picked the one in bold):

Little Bee: A Novel – By: Chris Cleave
Life of Pi – By: Yann Martel
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe – By: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Half Broke Horses – By: Jeannette Walls
Sarah's Key – By: Tatian de Rosany

(http://blog.mawbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/sarahs-key.JPG)

De Rosnay's U.S. debut fictionalizes the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver outside the city, then transported to Auschwitz. Forty-five-year-old Julia Jarmond, American by birth, moved to Paris when she was 20 and is married to the arrogant, unfaithful Bertrand Tézac, with whom she has an 11-year-old daughter. Julia writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél' d'Hiv' roundups. Julia soon learns that the apartment she and Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand's family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand's family, about France and, finally, herself. Already translated into 15 languages, the novel is De Rosnay's 10th (but her first written in English, her first language). It beautifully conveys Julia's conflicting loyalties, and makes Sarah's trials so riveting, her innocence so absorbing, that the book is hard to put down.


Personal Pick of the moment:
2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America – By: Albert Brooks

(http://www.borders.com/ProductImages/products/00/64/93/b/64931005_b.jpg)

Comedian and filmmaker Brooks welcomes the reader to the year 2030 in his smart and surprisingly serious debut. Cancer has been cured, global warming is an acknowledged reality, people have robot companions, and the president is a Jew--and oy vey does he have his hands full with an earthquake-leveled Los Angeles and a growing movement by the young to exterminate the elderly. And when the Chinese offer to rebuild L.A. in exchange for a half-ownership stake in Southern California, President Bernstein is faced with a decision that will alter the future of America. Brooks's sweeping narrative encompasses a diverse cast of characters, including an 80-year-old Angelino left homeless by the earthquake, a trust fund brat with a grudge against the elderly, and a teenage girl saddled with debt after her father's death, all of whom get brought together just in time for a climactic hostage crisis. Brooks's mordant vision encompasses the future of politics, medicine, entertainment, and daily living, resulting in a novel as entertaining as it is thought provoking, like something from the imagination of a borscht belt H.G. Wells.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on May 16, 2011, 06:45:31 PM
Quote from: thechad on May 12, 2011, 02:45:32 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 11, 2011, 10:22:28 AM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:09:55 AM
Decided to go with this one
(http://www.styleceo.com/images/stores/722/t/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-7860097)
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html

I was thinking about picking this one up also, love to hear what you think about it once you finish reading it.

I've been thinking about getting this as well.  I've read another book about H. H. Holmes that was written in 1986 called "The Scarlett Castle."
Read "Devil" a few years back. Great story plus I share the Holmes name. The World's Fair sections of the book are a bit long winded but overall it was worth the read. Im surprised how few people are aware of what went down during those years surrounding the World's Fair. Pretty remarkable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on May 19, 2011, 01:15:52 PM
A Void by George Perec

this was originally a french novel written entirely without using the letter e.
years later some madman translated it into english. also without using e.
it's a weird book so far. good, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 19, 2011, 01:24:15 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on May 12, 2011, 09:53:27 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 11, 2011, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.

:-o Might have to add that to my queue...

def.  thanks for the recommendation faux and hicks!  ordered the ink on paper version.


heh, ditto... i need a beach book because by the time i go i'll be done with the two i'm reading now...

thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on May 19, 2011, 02:43:55 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
Love Chandler. The Big Sleep is incredible.

I say the Maltese Falcon as a recommendation.

Reading The Big Sleep now per your recommendation. just the kind of thing I want to read now, really enjoying it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on May 24, 2011, 01:10:07 AM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on May 11, 2011, 10:22:28 AM
Quote from: whyweigh5.0 on May 11, 2011, 10:09:55 AM
Decided to go with this one
(http://www.styleceo.com/images/stores/722/t/the-devil-in-the-white-city-murder-magic-and-madness-at-the-fair-that-changed-america-7860097)
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html

I was thinking about picking this one up also, love to hear what you think about it once you finish reading it.

I'm about 3/4 through this one and I am enjoying it.  It focuses a lot on the preparations of the worlds fair.  Planning and execution.  Lots of architecture talk.  But it's not boring... at least not for me.  I'd recommend it.  I like how it's all true too.  Lots of little interesting facts throughout
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on May 24, 2011, 01:06:46 PM
^^read that one a while ago also. really enjoyed it.

right now this one - which might explain my post in last album(s) listened to
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F%2B0HjDtNL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on May 24, 2011, 01:17:36 PM

I wanted something trashy for the long weekend we just had...

(http://ifelicious.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DoesTheNoiseInMyHeadBotherYou_Cover.jpg)

It's a little long, the drug stories are plentiful, and it's definitely trashy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: zimbra on May 24, 2011, 03:31:13 PM
Since classes have been done I have been reading so much more and I'm loving it.  This 2 books a week pace is great!  I have never read any of the Gonzo papers so on Sunday I borrowed "The Great Shark Hunt" from Lifeboy.  Pretty entertaining read, it's hilarious. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 24, 2011, 05:43:55 PM
Quote from: postjack on May 19, 2011, 02:43:55 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
Love Chandler. The Big Sleep is incredible.

I say the Maltese Falcon as a recommendation.

Reading The Big Sleep now per your recommendation. just the kind of thing I want to read now, really enjoying it.
Great book. Also the movie with Humphrey Bogart is amazing as well. I went through a period of hardboiled detective books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on May 24, 2011, 08:48:20 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 24, 2011, 05:43:55 PM
Quote from: postjack on May 19, 2011, 02:43:55 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on May 06, 2011, 04:43:21 PM
Love Chandler. The Big Sleep is incredible.

I say the Maltese Falcon as a recommendation.

Reading The Big Sleep now per your recommendation. just the kind of thing I want to read now, really enjoying it.
Great book. Also the movie with Humphrey Bogart is amazing as well. I went through a period of hardboiled detective books.

Bogart is in the movie? Super sweet, I'll have to check it out when I'm done.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: runawayjimbo on June 03, 2011, 12:52:10 PM
Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity - David Foster Wallace
(http://davidfosterwallacebooks.com/images/everything.png)

I just started this and I've never read DFW before, but it's already obvious to me why I've read such good reviews on some of his other works here. His style has a way of communicating a very complex concept so simply and directly. If you hate math, this might be a tough read but there is also some pretty interesting insight with regard to logic and abstract thought.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on June 03, 2011, 03:13:22 PM
Quote from: runawayjimbo on June 03, 2011, 12:52:10 PM
Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity - David Foster Wallace
(http://davidfosterwallacebooks.com/images/everything.png)

I just started this and I've never read DFW before, but it's already obvious to me why I've read such good reviews on some of his other works here. His style has a way of communicating a very complex concept so simply and directly. If you hate math, this might be a tough read but there is also some pretty interesting insight with regard to logic and abstract thought.

nice!

my favorite book of his. but then in general i like his non-fiction better than his fiction.
this book rules.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on June 03, 2011, 11:06:50 PM
(http://biggzipp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo.jpg)

Read this in 3 days!  Kind of creepy, but great book.  Definitely looking forward to reading the next two
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on June 07, 2011, 08:53:31 AM
just finished this:

(http://static.igossip.com/photos_2/april_2011/Book_Review_Sixth_Man_sff_highlight_prod_affiliate.jpg)


and am now onto this:

(http://www.daemonsbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Jefferson-Key.jpg)

i'm finding that i really love conspiratorial thrillers and such...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: fauxpaxfauxreal on June 07, 2011, 12:20:23 PM
(http://newauthors.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/executive-orders-by-tom-clancy.jpg)

I just read this.  It has a similar plotline to what happened on 9/11.  I wonder if this book inspired the terrorists.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: postjack on June 07, 2011, 12:22:50 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on June 03, 2011, 11:06:50 PM
(http://biggzipp.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo.jpg)

Read this in 3 days!  Kind of creepy, but great book.  Definitely looking forward to reading the next two

i'm reading this one now. also just saw the trailer this weekend at the movies, looks cool.

i know i'm going to enjoy a book when i'm completely enthralled in the writing, even though nothing is really going on. this happened early in the book, and now that things are happening, combined with the high quality of the writing, makes for a really great reading experience.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: tet on June 07, 2011, 03:13:22 PM
Quote from: postjack on June 07, 2011, 12:22:50 PM

i'm reading this one now. also just saw the trailer this weekend at the movies, looks cool.

i know i'm going to enjoy a book when i'm completely enthralled in the writing, even though nothing is really going on. this happened early in the book, and now that things are happening, combined with the high quality of the writing, makes for a really great reading experience.

yeah, it's real quality - you'll quickly head into the 2nd and 3rd books after you finish this, i guarantee you - they only get better and better!!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: roggae on June 08, 2011, 04:35:53 PM
I just finished "catch a fire" a bob marley bio and before that i read "exodus" about the making of the bob marley album of the same name. I highly recommend the latter.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on June 09, 2011, 09:38:30 AM
Quote from: roggae on June 08, 2011, 04:35:53 PM
I just finished "catch a fire" a bob marley bio and before that i read "exodus" about the making of the bob marley album of the same name. I highly recommend the latter.


Ooohhhh! I didn't even know about this book! Added to my amazon wishlist for future reading, thanks for the heads up!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on June 09, 2011, 10:07:46 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on June 09, 2011, 09:38:30 AM
Quote from: roggae on June 08, 2011, 04:35:53 PM
I just finished "catch a fire" a bob marley bio and before that i read "exodus" about the making of the bob marley album of the same name. I highly recommend the latter.


Ooohhhh! I didn't even know about this book! Added to my amazon wishlist for future reading, thanks for the heads up!

Same here, it'll be my next read after I'm done with my current book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on July 23, 2011, 12:23:05 PM
Every Borders has to sell everything.They are going out of business. Everything is 10% off some shit even more.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on July 23, 2011, 12:35:26 PM
Quote from: roggae on June 08, 2011, 04:35:53 PM
I just finished "catch a fire" a bob marley bio and before that i read "exodus" about the making of the bob marley album of the same name. I highly recommend the latter.

wait, if you read exodus before catch a fire, which one is the latter?   :crazy:

currently reading:

(http://www.imgjoe.com/x/1463622804e7.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 23, 2011, 02:19:09 PM
Just started the third in the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

Great story all the way through all three novels.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on July 25, 2011, 08:16:48 AM
if I was still single I'd have finished this by now.  instead I'm on page 70

(http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110302/a-dance-with-dragons_240.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on July 25, 2011, 08:24:31 AM
Re-reading The Hobbit now in anticipation of the movies next Christmas.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on July 25, 2011, 01:25:51 PM
Quote from: blatboom on July 25, 2011, 08:16:48 AM
if I was still single I'd have finished this by now.  instead I'm on page 70

(http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110302/a-dance-with-dragons_240.jpg)

finished it yesterday. great stuff. enjoyed it more than the last one. although since it's really just the other half of the last one, it's similar in that it's all about bringing us to new lands and new characters and setting things up for the big push to the end (however damn long it takes him to write it).

if i ever re-read this one and the last one, which might happen whenever the next book is published, i think i'll try to flip back and forth and kind of read them as one book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 30, 2011, 12:38:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 25, 2011, 01:25:51 PM
Quote from: blatboom on July 25, 2011, 08:16:48 AM
if I was still single I'd have finished this by now.  instead I'm on page 70

(http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110302/a-dance-with-dragons_240.jpg)

finished it yesterday. great stuff. enjoyed it more than the last one. although since it's really just the other half of the last one, it's similar in that it's all about bringing us to new lands and new characters and setting things up for the big push to the end (however damn long it takes him to write it).

if i ever re-read this one and the last one, which might happen whenever the next book is published, i think i'll try to flip back and forth and kind of read them as one book.

I'm midway through this as well... Digging it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 30, 2011, 01:55:20 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 25, 2011, 08:24:31 AM
Re-reading The Hobbit now in anticipation of the movies next Christmas.

Nice.  I am teaching a class on The Hobbit second semester next year.  Lot's of cool activities and projects to extend the comprehension and enjoyment of a fantastic story.  Looking forward to the movies as well!
Title: "THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 30, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
I started once and didn't get far. The second time, I read the Introduction, where Zukav encourages the reader to persist even if the physics is outside our comprehension. So that's what I did and it was a richly rewarding read. Often, I would be unable to grasp simpler concepts, but the more complex ones would make sense. Although, when I looked up S-matrix theory on wikipedia, it seemed a lot different than the concept I felt so in tune with in the book.
A few cool quotes: "Time irreversibility is an artifact of the measurement process."
"A subatomic particle [quantum] is a set of relationships, or an intermediate state."
"Non-substantial fields are the substance of the universe, not matter. Matter is simple the momentary manifestations of interacting fields."
"At the subatomic level, there is no longer a clear distinction between what is and what happens, between the actor and the action."
"What we experience is not external reality, but our interaction with it."
"True love of all dances is dancing."
"If we accept the mechanistic determination of Newtonian physics, - if the universe really is a great machine - then from the moment the universe was set in motion, everything that was to happen in it already was determined."
"Don't confuse the type of dance they are doing with the fact that they are dancing."
"Languages are useful for conveying information, but if we try to communicate experiences with them, they simply do not work."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books (ftp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on July 30, 2011, 03:26:30 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 30, 2011, 01:55:20 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 25, 2011, 08:24:31 AM
Re-reading The Hobbit now in anticipation of the movies next Christmas.

Nice.  I am teaching a class on The Hobbit second semester next year.  Lot's of cool activities and projects to extend the comprehension and enjoyment of a fantastic story.  Looking forward to the movies as well!
I'd love to take that class!
Title: Re: "THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav
Post by: gah on August 01, 2011, 03:03:28 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on July 30, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
I started once and didn't get far. The second time, I read the Introduction, where Zukav encourages the reader to persist even if the physics is outside our comprehension. So that's what I did and it was a richly rewarding read. Often, I would be unable to grasp simpler concepts, but the more complex ones would make sense. Although, when I looked up S-matrix theory on wikipedia, it seemed a lot different than the concept I felt so in tune with in the book.
A few cool quotes: "Time irreversibility is an artifact of the measurement process."
"A subatomic particle [quantum] is a set of relationships, or an intermediate state."
"Non-substantial fields are the substance of the universe, not matter. Matter is simple the momentary manifestations of interacting fields."
"At the subatomic level, there is no longer a clear distinction between what is and what happens, between the actor and the action."
"What we experience is not external reality, but our interaction with it."
"True love of all dances is dancing."
"If we accept the mechanistic determination of Newtonian physics, - if the universe really is a great machine - then from the moment the universe was set in motion, everything that was to happen in it already was determined."
"Don't confuse the type of dance they are doing with the fact that they are dancing."
"Languages are useful for conveying information, but if we try to communicate experiences with them, they simply do not work."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books (ftp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)

This sounds incredibly difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

I'm actually reading the Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective, by the Dalai Lama. It's incredibly slow going, as I only read 5-10 pages a day, then re-read them the next day, contemplate, read them once more before starting the next few pages...good news is, I think it's working  :-) I think I'll have to send it to bvaz next.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on August 01, 2011, 04:58:49 PM
Recently finished:

2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks
Comedian and filmmaker Brooks welcomes the reader to the year 2030 in his smart and surprisingly serious debut. Cancer has been cured, global warming is an acknowledged reality, people have robot companions, and the president is a Jew--and oy vey does he have his hands full with an earthquake-leveled Los Angeles and a growing movement by the young to exterminate the elderly. And when the Chinese offer to rebuild L.A. in exchange for a half-ownership stake in Southern California, President Bernstein is faced with a decision that will alter the future of America. Brooks's sweeping narrative encompasses a diverse cast of characters, including an 80-year-old Angelino left homeless by the earthquake, a trust fund brat with a grudge against the elderly, and a teenage girl saddled with debt after her father's death, all of whom get brought together just in time for a climactic hostage crisis. Brooks's mordant vision encompasses the future of politics, medicine, entertainment, and daily living, resulting in a novel as entertaining as it is thought provoking, like something from the imagination of a borscht belt H.G. Wells.

Recommend this book. While reading it I could see the storyline playing out in real life. Not sure how I feel about the ending though.

A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
De Rosnay's U.S. debut fictionalizes the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver outside the city, then transported to Auschwitz. Forty-five-year-old Julia Jarmond, American by birth, moved to Paris when she was 20 and is married to the arrogant, unfaithful Bertrand Tézac, with whom she has an 11-year-old daughter. Julia writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél' d'Hiv' roundups. Julia soon learns that the apartment she and Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand's family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand's family, about France and, finally, herself. Already translated into 15 languages, the novel is De Rosnay's 10th (but her first written in English, her first language). It beautifully conveys Julia's conflicting loyalties, and makes Sarah's trials so riveting, her innocence so absorbing, that the book is hard to put down.

HIGHLY recommend this book. Book has been made into a movie being released this month.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, Kamila became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and created a thriving business of her own.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the Taliban. Former ABC News reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon spent years on the ground reporting Kamila's story, and the result is an unusually intimate and unsanitized look at the daily lives of women in Afghanistan. These women are not victims; they are the glue that holds families together; they are the backbone and the heart of their nation. Afghanistan's future remains uncertain as debates over withdrawal timelines dominate the news.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana moves beyond the headlines to transport you to an Afghanistan you have never seen before. This is a story of war, but it is also a story of sisterhood and resilience in the face of despair. Kamila Sidiqi's journey will inspire you, but it will also change the way you think about one of the most important political and humanitarian issues of our time.

HIGHLY Recommend this book. Talk about opening up my eyes to what's going to the women in Afghanistan.

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.

Don't recommend - I am still trying to figure out this is on the best sellers list. This was a book club read and only one girl in my group enjoyed it. Another couldn't get past page 40.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on August 01, 2011, 05:05:27 PM
Currently Reading:

The Passage: A Novel by Justin Cronin
You don't have to be a fan of vampire fiction to be enthralled by The Passage, Justin Cronin (http://www.amazon.com/gp/entity/store/B001H6J17E)'s blazing new novel. Cronin is a remarkable storyteller (just ask adoring fans of his award-winning Mary and O'Neil (http://www.amazon.com/Mary-ONeil-Justin-Cronin/dp/0385333595)), whose gorgeous writing brings depth and vitality to this ambitious epic about a virus that nearly destroys the world, and a six-year-old girl who holds the key to bringing it back. The Passage takes readers on a journey from the early days of the virus to the aftermath of the destruction, where packs of hungry infected scour the razed, charred cities looking for food, and the survivors eke out a bleak, brutal existence shadowed by fear. Cronin doesn't shy away from identifying his "virals" as vampires. But, these are not sexy, angsty vampires (you won't be seeing "Team Babcock" t-shirts any time soon), and they are not old-school, evil Nosferatus, either. These are a creation all Cronin's own--hairless, insectile, glow-in-the-dark mutations who are inextricably linked to their makers and the one girl who could destroy them all. A huge departure from Cronin's first two novels, The Passage is a grand mashup of literary and supernatural, a stunning beginning to a trilogy that is sure to dazzle readers of both genres.

400 pages into this book and can't put it down. 1st book out of a trilogy - can't wait for book two in 2012

Bossypants by Tina Fey
Tina Fey's new book Bossypants is short, messy, and impossibly funny (an apt description of the comedian herself). From her humble roots growing up in Pennsylvania to her days doing amateur improv in Chicago to her early sketches on Saturday Night Live, Fey gives us a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of modern comedy with equal doses of wit, candor, and self-deprecation. Some of the funniest chapters feature the differences between male and female comedy writers ("men urinate in cups"), her cruise ship honeymoon ("it's very Poseidon Adventure"), and advice about breastfeeding ("I had an obligation to my child to pretend to try"). But the chaos of Fey's life is best detailed when she's dividing her efforts equally between rehearsing her Sarah Palin impression, trying to get Oprah to appear on 30 Rock, and planning her daughter's Peter Pan-themed birthday. Bossypants gets to the heart of why Tina Fey remains universally adored: she embodies the hectic, too-many-things-to-juggle lifestyle we all have, but instead of complaining about it, she can just laugh it off.

This months book for my book club. Haven't started it yet.
Title: Re: "THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav
Post by: Mr. Natural on August 01, 2011, 05:13:47 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 01, 2011, 03:03:28 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on July 30, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
I started once and didn't get far. The second time, I read the Introduction, where Zukav encourages the reader to persist even if the physics is outside our comprehension. So that's what I did and it was a richly rewarding read. Often, I would be unable to grasp simpler concepts, but the more complex ones would make sense. Although, when I looked up S-matrix theory on wikipedia, it seemed a lot different than the concept I felt so in tune with in the book.
A few cool quotes: "Time irreversibility is an artifact of the measurement process."
"A subatomic particle [quantum] is a set of relationships, or an intermediate state."
"Non-substantial fields are the substance of the universe, not matter. Matter is simple the momentary manifestations of interacting fields."
"At the subatomic level, there is no longer a clear distinction between what is and what happens, between the actor and the action."
"What we experience is not external reality, but our interaction with it."
"True love of all dances is dancing."
"If we accept the mechanistic determination of Newtonian physics, - if the universe really is a great machine - then from the moment the universe was set in motion, everything that was to happen in it already was determined."
"Don't confuse the type of dance they are doing with the fact that they are dancing."
"Languages are useful for conveying information, but if we try to communicate experiences with them, they simply do not work."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books (ftp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)

This sounds incredibly difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

I'm actually reading the Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective, by the Dalai Lama. It's incredibly slow going, as I only read 5-10 pages a day, then re-read them the next day, contemplate, read them once more before starting the next few pages...good news is, I think it's working  :-) I think I'll have to send it to bvaz next.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
I have a book I read in the same manner - I AM THAT by Nisargadatta Maharaj. I'll probably be reading it for the rest of my life, lol. I'll read a passage and it will be so dense and applicable to my life that I spend more time holding the book "staring into space" than actively reading it. I'm a big 'contemplater,' too.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
DANCING WU-LI I was able to read pretty regularly, which helped big time. If it was spread out over a while, I would get lost and do a lot of back-tracking.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 01, 2011, 07:27:10 PM
The Man In The High Castle - Philip K. Dick
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NcanZ5p5L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

I've slowly but surely been reading a lot of PKD over the last few years, getting to some of the more weird and random ones. This one is one of his most famous. I read it in college long ago, thought I'd give it another try. It's great. An alternate history assuming Germany and Japan won WWII and partitioned the USA between them. Great characters with heads full of PKD's usual trippy thoughts and questions as to the nature of reality, which are further confused by a popular but illegal book everyone's reading which offers an alternate history of reality wherein Japan and Germany lost the war.

now reading On The Beach - Nevil Shute
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oAC7J0c-L._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)

The classic cold war book about the aftermath of a massive nuclear war, written in '57. Takes place in Melbourne, Australia, where the last living humans wait for the radiation from thousands of nukes to slowly make its way down to the southern hemisphere and kill them. I'm assuming everyone dies in the end, but I'm not there yet...

Along the same lines, I've been into end of the world books recently. If you've got any interest in such books, here's three of the most famous, all well-worth reading:

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K1THVKN9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)


Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-fhlPUz4L._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)
This is the one that inspired Stephen King's The Stand.


The Day of The Triffids - John Wyndham
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51n33kb9lyL._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: "THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav
Post by: gah on August 02, 2011, 09:59:46 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on August 01, 2011, 05:13:47 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 01, 2011, 03:03:28 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on July 30, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
I started once and didn't get far. The second time, I read the Introduction, where Zukav encourages the reader to persist even if the physics is outside our comprehension. So that's what I did and it was a richly rewarding read. Often, I would be unable to grasp simpler concepts, but the more complex ones would make sense. Although, when I looked up S-matrix theory on wikipedia, it seemed a lot different than the concept I felt so in tune with in the book.
A few cool quotes: "Time irreversibility is an artifact of the measurement process."
"A subatomic particle [quantum] is a set of relationships, or an intermediate state."
"Non-substantial fields are the substance of the universe, not matter. Matter is simple the momentary manifestations of interacting fields."
"At the subatomic level, there is no longer a clear distinction between what is and what happens, between the actor and the action."
"What we experience is not external reality, but our interaction with it."
"True love of all dances is dancing."
"If we accept the mechanistic determination of Newtonian physics, - if the universe really is a great machine - then from the moment the universe was set in motion, everything that was to happen in it already was determined."
"Don't confuse the type of dance they are doing with the fact that they are dancing."
"Languages are useful for conveying information, but if we try to communicate experiences with them, they simply do not work."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books (ftp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)

This sounds incredibly difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

I'm actually reading the Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective, by the Dalai Lama. It's incredibly slow going, as I only read 5-10 pages a day, then re-read them the next day, contemplate, read them once more before starting the next few pages...good news is, I think it's working  :-) I think I'll have to send it to bvaz next.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
I have a book I read in the same manner - I AM THAT by Nisargadatta Maharaj. I'll probably be reading it for the rest of my life, lol. I'll read a passage and it will be so dense and applicable to my life that I spend more time holding the book "staring into space" than actively reading it. I'm a big 'contemplater,' too.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
DANCING WU-LI I was able to read pretty regularly, which helped big time. If it was spread out over a while, I would get lost and do a lot of back-tracking.

Oh man! Just read the description and some reviews of that on Amazon. Looks like where I'm exactly at. Definitely need to grab that one. I'm actually kind of surprised I've never heard of the author before. Thanks for the heads up!  :clap:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on August 02, 2011, 10:49:42 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 01, 2011, 07:27:10 PM
The Man In The High Castle - Philip K. Dick
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NcanZ5p5L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

I've slowly but surely been reading a lot of PKD over the last few years, getting to some of the more weird and random ones. This one is one of his most famous. I read it in college long ago, thought I'd give it another try. It's great. An alternate history assuming Germany and Japan won WWII and partitioned the USA between them. Great characters with heads full of PKD's usual trippy thoughts and questions as to the nature of reality, which are further confused by a popular but illegal book everyone's reading which offers an alternate history of reality wherein Japan and Germany lost the war.

now reading On The Beach - Nevil Shute
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oAC7J0c-L._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)

The classic cold war book about the aftermath of a massive nuclear war, written in '57. Takes place in Melbourne, Australia, where the last living humans wait for the radiation from thousands of nukes to slowly make its way down to the southern hemisphere and kill them. I'm assuming everyone dies in the end, but I'm not there yet...

Along the same lines, I've been into end of the world books recently. If you've got any interest in such books, here's three of the most famous, all well-worth reading:

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51K1THVKN9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)


Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-fhlPUz4L._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)
This is the one that inspired Stephen King's The Stand.


The Day of The Triffids - John Wyndham
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51n33kb9lyL._BO2,204,203,200_.jpg)

Gonna add these to my list, thanks :-)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on August 02, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
I'm still on the Third one. I never have time to read anymore.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 01:45:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 02, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
I'm still on the Third one. I never have time to read anymore.

Well if you read that third one slow enough, you may be able to read the eighth book where it goes in the series. The new book, The Wind Through the Keyhole,  should be out sometime in the next year and it falls chronologically between the third and fourth books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on August 02, 2011, 03:26:04 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 01:45:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 02, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
I'm still on the Third one. I never have time to read anymore.

Well if you read that third one slow enough, you may be able to read the eighth book where it goes in the series. The new book, The Wind Through the Keyhole,  should be out sometime in the next year and it falls chronologically between the third and fourth books.
How can it fall between books 3 and 4 when there is no gap in time between the end of book 3 and the beginning
of book 4? Also might I add that I am super psyched for this.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 03:46:07 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 02, 2011, 03:26:04 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 01:45:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 02, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
I'm still on the Third one. I never have time to read anymore.

Well if you read that third one slow enough, you may be able to read the eighth book where it goes in the series. The new book, The Wind Through the Keyhole,  should be out sometime in the next year and it falls chronologically between the third and fourth books.
How can it fall between books 3 and 4 when there is no gap in time between the end of book 3 and the beginning
of book 4? Also might I add that I am super psyched for this.

Oops, It falls between 4 & 5.   :oops:

QuoteThe major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)? [7]
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on August 02, 2011, 05:33:28 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 03:46:07 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 02, 2011, 03:26:04 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 02, 2011, 01:45:14 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 02, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on August 01, 2011, 06:26:26 PM
Decided to re-read The Dark Tower series. Finished The Gunslinger on the plane rides to and from the Virgin Islands and just started on The Drawing Of The Three this morning. This is the first time I've re-read the earlier books since the last 3 came out.
I'm still on the Third one. I never have time to read anymore.

Well if you read that third one slow enough, you may be able to read the eighth book where it goes in the series. The new book, The Wind Through the Keyhole,  should be out sometime in the next year and it falls chronologically between the third and fourth books.
How can it fall between books 3 and 4 when there is no gap in time between the end of book 3 and the beginning
of book 4? Also might I add that I am super psyched for this.

Oops, It falls between 4 & 5.   :oops:

QuoteThe major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)? [7]

Even less time for him to catch up!
Title: Re: "THE DANCING WU-LI MASTERS: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav
Post by: Mr. Natural on August 03, 2011, 12:08:53 AM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 02, 2011, 09:59:46 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on August 01, 2011, 05:13:47 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 01, 2011, 03:03:28 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on July 30, 2011, 03:10:19 PM
I started once and didn't get far. The second time, I read the Introduction, where Zukav encourages the reader to persist even if the physics is outside our comprehension. So that's what I did and it was a richly rewarding read. Often, I would be unable to grasp simpler concepts, but the more complex ones would make sense. Although, when I looked up S-matrix theory on wikipedia, it seemed a lot different than the concept I felt so in tune with in the book.
A few cool quotes: "Time irreversibility is an artifact of the measurement process."
"A subatomic particle [quantum] is a set of relationships, or an intermediate state."
"Non-substantial fields are the substance of the universe, not matter. Matter is simple the momentary manifestations of interacting fields."
"At the subatomic level, there is no longer a clear distinction between what is and what happens, between the actor and the action."
"What we experience is not external reality, but our interaction with it."
"True love of all dances is dancing."
"If we accept the mechanistic determination of Newtonian physics, - if the universe really is a great machine - then from the moment the universe was set in motion, everything that was to happen in it already was determined."
"Don't confuse the type of dance they are doing with the fact that they are dancing."
"Languages are useful for conveying information, but if we try to communicate experiences with them, they simply do not work."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books (ftp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001SRQNUK/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)

This sounds incredibly difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

I'm actually reading the Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective, by the Dalai Lama. It's incredibly slow going, as I only read 5-10 pages a day, then re-read them the next day, contemplate, read them once more before starting the next few pages...good news is, I think it's working  :-) I think I'll have to send it to bvaz next.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
I have a book I read in the same manner - I AM THAT by Nisargadatta Maharaj. I'll probably be reading it for the rest of my life, lol. I'll read a passage and it will be so dense and applicable to my life that I spend more time holding the book "staring into space" than actively reading it. I'm a big 'contemplater,' too.  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
DANCING WU-LI I was able to read pretty regularly, which helped big time. If it was spread out over a while, I would get lost and do a lot of back-tracking.

Oh man! Just read the description and some reviews of that on Amazon. Looks like where I'm exactly at. Definitely need to grab that one. I'm actually kind of surprised I've never heard of the author before. Thanks for the heads up!  :clap:
I feel kind of silly starting it from the beginning and proceeding towards the end, since it is definitely not a book that requires that sort of thing. Actually, I had it for a little while and would flip to random passages - then I got freaked out that I might be "randomly" opening to the same parts of the book each time and decided to go cover to cover.
Check out a passage or two at a bookstore and see what you think.
I just now realized that you find a book called THE POWER OF PATIENCE to be "incredibly slow-going". hahaha!
I watched a video of TNH's called MINDFUL MOVEMENTS, and also saw an interview he did with Ram Dass on youTube. While he seems to be a very high being, he wasn't very engaging. But then again, neither was Prabhupada, and I've been moved/changed by plenty of his ISKCON writings.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 05, 2011, 09:29:14 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on July 30, 2011, 12:38:08 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on July 25, 2011, 01:25:51 PM
Quote from: blatboom on July 25, 2011, 08:16:48 AM
if I was still single I'd have finished this by now.  instead I'm on page 70

(http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/110302/a-dance-with-dragons_240.jpg)

finished it yesterday. great stuff. enjoyed it more than the last one. although since it's really just the other half of the last one, it's similar in that it's all about bringing us to new lands and new characters and setting things up for the big push to the end (however damn long it takes him to write it).

if i ever re-read this one and the last one, which might happen whenever the next book is published, i think i'll try to flip back and forth and kind of read them as one book.

I'm midway through this as well... Digging it.

Just wrapped this up today.

Damn.
Shit went down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on August 05, 2011, 10:51:57 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.

That's how it went for me too. I read it after climbing Desolation Peak, it was very cool to know exactly what he was talking about. Probably my favorite by Kerouac.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on August 05, 2011, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: phil on August 05, 2011, 10:51:57 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.

That's how it went for me too. I read it after climbing Desolation Peak, it was very cool to know exactly what he was talking about. Probably my favorite by Kerouac.

Agreed, def my fav Kerouac. I got through it pretty quick though, I loved it. Desolation Angels on the otherhand...not so much.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 05, 2011, 11:53:57 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on August 05, 2011, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: phil on August 05, 2011, 10:51:57 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.

That's how it went for me too. I read it after climbing Desolation Peak, it was very cool to know exactly what he was talking about. Probably my favorite by Kerouac.

Agreed, def my fav Kerouac. I got through it pretty quick though, I loved it. Desolation Angels on the otherhand...not so much.

Dharma Bums is an amazing book. It's been my fav since I first read it.
Desolation Angels is a bit darker but I love it too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on August 06, 2011, 09:25:45 AM
The Road by Cormac Macarthy. Not the most uplifting at the beach read, but really good and can't put it down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 06, 2011, 10:08:22 AM
Quote from: Igbo on August 06, 2011, 09:25:45 AM
The Road by Cormac Macarthy. Not the most uplifting at the beach read, but really good and can't put it down.

Read that last summer on my vacation.
Super heavy page-turner.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on August 18, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.

I like the 4th one a bunch.  Now you'll catch up!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on August 18, 2011, 08:07:49 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 18, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.

I like the 4th one a bunch.  Now you'll catch up!
Probably my favorite of the series. Although, book 7 is the tits too.


I Just finished this. Cant remember who recommended it here, but thank you. Awesome read.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Casey Lenahan on August 18, 2011, 11:19:39 PM
Read the first twilight books in prison, now im on the 3rd.

also if anyone gets the chance read Hotel New Hampshire, I found it in my jail cell, great book, weird, but good!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 18, 2011, 11:40:41 PM
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick

hadn't read it since high school. very weird book, even by PKD standards. interesting how entirely different from the movie it is. i forgot that the terms 'blade runner' and 'replicant' weren't even in the book. of even greater note, the entire meaning of the book is the opposite of the movie. while the movie is all about showing how metaphorically we humans are the same as the replicants, the point of the book is to show what separates humans from the androids--empathy. this is why in the movie it works that Deckard is himself a replicant. in the book that would make no sense at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blatboom on August 19, 2011, 06:11:34 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 18, 2011, 11:40:41 PM
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick

hadn't read it since high school. very weird book, even by PKD standards. interesting how entirely different from the movie it is. i forgot that the terms 'blade runner' and 'replicant' weren't even in the book. of even greater note, the entire meaning of the book is the opposite of the movie. while the movie is all about showing how metaphorically we humans are the same as the replicants, the point of the book is to show what separates humans from the androids--empathy. this is why in the movie it works that Deckard is himself a replicant. in the book that would make no sense at all.

the concept of Blade Runner changed drastically once Ridley Scott was brought on board.  you should get your hands on "Dangerous Days", which is the 2.5 hour long feature on the making of Blade Runner. fascinating stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on August 20, 2011, 09:43:00 AM
Dexter by Design

On the fourth book of the series.  Interesting reads.  Better than the show, imo, and so much darker.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on August 22, 2011, 01:00:32 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on August 05, 2011, 11:53:57 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on August 05, 2011, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: phil on August 05, 2011, 10:51:57 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.

That's how it went for me too. I read it after climbing Desolation Peak, it was very cool to know exactly what he was talking about. Probably my favorite by Kerouac.


Agreed, def my fav Kerouac. I got through it pretty quick though, I loved it. Desolation Angels on the otherhand...not so much.

Dharma Bums is an amazing book. It's been my fav since I first read it.
Desolation Angels is a bit darker but I love it too.

I like them both, but Dharma Bums is the best....you guys should check out Big Sur if you havent, it's a good one....it took me a long time to get through The Subterraneans, not sure even if I have actually finished it and it is short.....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 22, 2011, 07:41:46 AM
Quote from: Caravan2001 on August 22, 2011, 01:00:32 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on August 05, 2011, 11:53:57 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on August 05, 2011, 11:00:13 PM
Quote from: phil on August 05, 2011, 10:51:57 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 05, 2011, 10:49:16 PM
Finally finished Dharma Bums.  the first half took me forever, but the 2nd half took about a day.

That's how it went for me too. I read it after climbing Desolation Peak, it was very cool to know exactly what he was talking about. Probably my favorite by Kerouac.


Agreed, def my fav Kerouac. I got through it pretty quick though, I loved it. Desolation Angels on the otherhand...not so much.

Dharma Bums is an amazing book. It's been my fav since I first read it.
Desolation Angels is a bit darker but I love it too.

I like them both, but Dharma Bums is the best....you guys should check out Big Sur if you havent, it's a good one....it took me a long time to get through The Subterraneans, not sure even if I have actually finished it and it is short.....

Big Sur is the dark heartbreaker.

Subterraneans is a great anti-love story.

I've read 90% of Jack's books and, now that I've mentioned On The Road and Town and The City, all of my favorites are in this post.

Dharma Bums being #1.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 22, 2011, 10:15:15 AM
Starman: David Bowie
Paul Trynka

(http://www.trynka.net/trynka.net/Reviews_files/Starman%20cover.jpg)

Well written, funny at times and the writer isn't afraid to point out which of his albums suck. I agree with him mostly, but I stlll hate Let's Dance.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 22, 2011, 02:09:01 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 18, 2011, 08:07:49 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 18, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.

I like the 4th one a bunch.  Now you'll catch up!
Probably my favorite of the series. Although, book 7 is the tits too.


I Just finished this. Cant remember who recommended it here, but thank you. Awesome read.

Shantaram is a helluva book. And apparently, it was supposed to be the first of 3, but I never heard anything about the next two. Johnny Depp did buy the rights tho and they'll be making a movie based on this first one. Also haven't heard anything more on that though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on August 22, 2011, 03:13:05 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 22, 2011, 02:09:01 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 18, 2011, 08:07:49 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 18, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.

I like the 4th one a bunch.  Now you'll catch up!
Probably my favorite of the series. Although, book 7 is the tits too.


I Just finished this. Cant remember who recommended it here, but thank you. Awesome read.

Shantaram is a helluva book. And apparently, it was supposed to be the first of 3, but I never heard anything about the next two. Johnny Depp did buy the rights tho and they'll be making a movie based on this first one. Also haven't heard anything more on that though.
I was thinking what a great movie the book would make. It also really makes me want to visit India. Someday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 22, 2011, 03:43:58 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 22, 2011, 03:13:05 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on August 22, 2011, 02:09:01 PM
Quote from: birdman on August 18, 2011, 08:07:49 PM
Quote from: kellerb on August 18, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on August 18, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
Finally finished the third dark tower and haven't been able to put this 4th one down.

I like the 4th one a bunch.  Now you'll catch up!
Probably my favorite of the series. Although, book 7 is the tits too.


I Just finished this. Cant remember who recommended it here, but thank you. Awesome read.

Shantaram is a helluva book. And apparently, it was supposed to be the first of 3, but I never heard anything about the next two. Johnny Depp did buy the rights tho and they'll be making a movie based on this first one. Also haven't heard anything more on that though.
I was thinking what a great movie the book would make. It also really makes me want to visit India. Someday.

Paug trip for 2025! We can all stay with my cousins!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on August 25, 2011, 06:05:03 PM
Just finished reading "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss... I highly recommend it if you're looking for a creative and quick read.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Histoflove.jpg)


Now onto "The Girl Who Played with Fire" just because I feel like I should finish the series since someone left the whole series with my señora.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on August 26, 2011, 02:00:49 AM
Quote from: blatboom on August 19, 2011, 06:11:34 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on August 18, 2011, 11:40:41 PM
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick

hadn't read it since high school. very weird book, even by PKD standards. interesting how entirely different from the movie it is. i forgot that the terms 'blade runner' and 'replicant' weren't even in the book. of even greater note, the entire meaning of the book is the opposite of the movie. while the movie is all about showing how metaphorically we humans are the same as the replicants, the point of the book is to show what separates humans from the androids--empathy. this is why in the movie it works that Deckard is himself a replicant. in the book that would make no sense at all.

the concept of Blade Runner changed drastically once Ridley Scott was brought on board.  you should get your hands on "Dangerous Days", which is the 2.5 hour long feature on the making of Blade Runner. fascinating stuff.

thanks. found it on the interwebs. lot of interesting info in there.

i was going to college in southern california when the workprint was unearthed and played at the Nuart in L.A. in '91. went and saw it and was blown away. the two things i'd always hated about the movie--the voiceover and the ending--were gone, and it was the movie it was so clearly always supposed to be. (well, not quite, it still needed all the final tweaking and the vangelis score put back in, but you know what i mean).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on August 26, 2011, 11:03:57 AM
Just checked out Les Claypool's South of the Pumphouse from the library. It should be a quick read, it's a pretty short book, but with Les's strange point-of-view and eclectic use of words I'm expecting it to be pretty entertaining.

(http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060713/16126__south_of_the_pumphouse_l.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 29, 2011, 10:58:05 AM
23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, by Ha-Joon Chang. Very interesting stuff.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41V-Edzr%2B4L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whyweigh5.0 on September 01, 2011, 12:14:51 AM
Finishing this one up right now
(http://www.thecaptainsmemos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/JUNKY1.jpg)



and I was at the book store today and picked this one up
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Books-Dream-Eaters-Two/dp/0553385860/ref=pd_sim_b_2
(http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/97/80/55/33/85/9780553385861_500X500.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.

I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on September 01, 2011, 05:02:05 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on August 25, 2011, 06:05:03 PM
Just finished reading "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss... I highly recommend it if you're looking for a creative and quick read.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Histoflove.jpg)


Now onto "The Girl Who Played with Fire" just because I feel like I should finish the series since someone left the whole series with my señora.

Finished "The Girl Who Played with Fire" on Monday... I liked it so much better than "Dragon Tattoo" surprisingly.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.

I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.

I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on September 02, 2011, 03:51:34 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.

I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.

I have been enjoying a slow read of this over the last few weeks.  Great perspectives and insight to some interesting history of the band.

Now i have started to reread the Dark Tower series.  All this talk of it in this thread has piqued my interest again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on September 03, 2011, 12:36:08 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on September 02, 2011, 03:51:34 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.

I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.

I have been enjoying a slow read of this over the last few weeks.  Great perspectives and insight to some interesting history of the band.

Now i have started to reread the Dark Tower series.  All this talk of it in this thread has piqued my interest again.
Also it being the greatest series ever could of done that  :-D. Me and my friends have arguments over whats better A Song of Fire and Ice series or the Dark Tower. Granted i havent finished either but by the 4th dark tower it's just incredible, and basically have heard a lot of ASOFAI and Dark Tower seems better. My friend said a Feast for Crows was boring as hell.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Casey Lenahan on September 03, 2011, 01:32:13 AM
twilight the 3rd book. I enjoy the series !
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on September 03, 2011, 05:09:50 PM
Quote from: tehdead on September 03, 2011, 01:32:13 AM
twilight the 3rd book. I enjoy the series !

I didn't realize you were a 14 yr old girl.

:evil:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 06, 2011, 11:23:02 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on September 03, 2011, 05:09:50 PM
Quote from: tehdead on September 03, 2011, 01:32:13 AM
twilight the 3rd book. I enjoy the series !

I didn't realize you were a 14 yr old girl.

:evil:

HA!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on September 06, 2011, 11:58:28 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.
Read it right after the Gorge shows. I wish there could be a video of some of those funky musical exercises they do/did. Reading about them is one thing, but I'd love to watch & hear them.
Gave me a few shows to track down, too.
I hadn't known about TRACKING (that video Mike edited about the making of HOIST) - which is kickass. Thanks, youTube.
I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on September 06, 2011, 06:36:49 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 06, 2011, 11:58:28 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.
Read it right after the Gorge shows. I wish there could be a video of some of those funky musical exercises they do/did. Reading about them is one thing, but I'd love to watch & hear them.
Gave me a few shows to track down, too.
I hadn't known about TRACKING (that video Mike edited about the making of HOIST) - which is kickass. Thanks, youTube.
I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.

It's a think-piece about a mid-level band struggling with their limitations in the harsh face of stardom.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: natronzero on September 06, 2011, 09:11:31 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on September 03, 2011, 05:09:50 PM
Quote from: tehdead on September 03, 2011, 01:32:13 AM
twilight the 3rd book. I enjoy the series !

I didn't realize you were a 14 yr old girl.

:evil:

(http://surfgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/chris-hansen.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: barnesy305 on September 11, 2011, 10:34:53 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on September 06, 2011, 06:36:49 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 06, 2011, 11:58:28 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.
Read it right after the Gorge shows. I wish there could be a video of some of those funky musical exercises they do/did. Reading about them is one thing, but I'd love to watch & hear them.
Gave me a few shows to track down, too.
I hadn't known about TRACKING (that video Mike edited about the making of HOIST) - which is kickass. Thanks, youTube.
I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.

It's a think-piece about a mid-level band struggling with their limitations in the harsh face of stardom.

I like what we're saying.
Title: IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS by P.D. Ouspensky
Post by: Mr. Natural on September 13, 2011, 11:53:03 AM
(http://www.transcendencies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/In_Search_of_the_Miraculous-188x300.jpg)

Been sort of on my list, sort of on the backburner since I read all the mentions it gets in BE HERE NOW. Several interesting and useful points, I thought; but they are pretty spread out - being it's a 400+ page Russian book, I should have assumed that going in. It's worth working out in your own notebook if you really want to study it - charts and categories to look at your thoughts, actions and emotions.
There have been a few postulations I flat-out disagree with, which is cool and challenging. I'm only 130 pages in so far, but a couple other books came in (my first InterLibrary Loans!) so I'll probably put this one down for a little while.
The philosophies are presented as second-hand lectures, and they would all make for good discussion-starters if you have a discussion group or circle of 'seeker' friends.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on September 13, 2011, 01:13:58 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 11, 2011, 10:34:53 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on September 06, 2011, 06:36:49 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 06, 2011, 11:58:28 AM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on September 02, 2011, 12:42:57 PM
Quote from: barnesy305 on September 01, 2011, 05:25:19 PM
Quote from: phuzzyfish12 on September 01, 2011, 11:11:11 AM
Quote from: barnesy305 on August 31, 2011, 11:53:18 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on August 31, 2011, 11:33:22 PM
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpWxeFcGnjTb8KiiwD2g_C1MHW-01nNGtUp5aNg7F26UNDJuDZZQ)

Just finished it myself.
Read it right after the Gorge shows. I wish there could be a video of some of those funky musical exercises they do/did. Reading about them is one thing, but I'd love to watch & hear them.
Gave me a few shows to track down, too.
I hadn't known about TRACKING (that video Mike edited about the making of HOIST) - which is kickass. Thanks, youTube.
I read that over Christmas this past year. What'd you think?

I enjoyed it.

I really liked it, it seemed to be pretty honest and legit.
I can echo those sentiments. Great book. super easy read. read it in two 8 hour shifts in the Food Court where i work.

It's a think-piece about a mid-level band struggling with their limitations in the harsh face of stardom.

I like what we're saying.

Same here. Makes me look at the band in a different way now.

Just finished Bossypants by Tina Fey - mehtastic at best.

Reading "Game of Thrones" right now. Took a little while to get into, but really starting to enjoy it now (150 pages into the book).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on September 14, 2011, 10:55:19 PM
Bruce Machart
The Wake Of Forgiveness

Quote
On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of "the only woman he's ever been fond of" when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple's fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horseraces against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father's eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse "wants the whip the same way he wants his pop's strap . . . the closest he ever gets to his father's touch." In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father's fortune, his brother's futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of the race still driven hard between him and his brothers, Karel is finally forced to dress the wounds of his past and to salvage the tattered fabric of his family.

Reminiscent of Kent Haruf's portrayals of hope amidst human heartbreak and Cormac McCarthy's finely hewn evocations of the American Southwest, Bruce Machart's striking debut is as well wrought as it is riveting. It compels us to consider the inescapable connections between sons and their mothers, between landscape and family, and between remembrance and redemption.

I don't know about the Haruf link, as I've never read him, but the only thing this writer has in common with McCarthy is some of their books take place in Texas.

Commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq5RWQFZgLM

From the L.A. Times:
Quote
Yet Bruce Machart's "The Wake of Forgiveness" is also Greek tragedy, art based on universal human suffering, joy and pain. It is an extraordinary novel in which the characters are watched and not just by their author or their readers. The clouds in the dramatic Texas sky beat out the time; the trees look down on the action and pronounce their moral judgments, and the moon, well, the moon holds the long view. The moon in so many scenes is the calm, the wise antidote to the crazy human drama unfolding below. It is a rare novel that makes a reader feel he has fallen through a crack in the earth and is swimming in the subconscious aquifer. How did he do it?

That's a little purple, but it has been a good read so far. Recommended. Especially if you like horses in your fiction.



Also reading short stories by Alice Munro and Tobias Wolff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on September 15, 2011, 12:10:28 AM
Mining Archaeology in the American West

Don Hardesty


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wGH2UWpUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)



The utility of archaeology is poorly understood in our society.  Part of the problem is that its relationship with history is ambiguous, even for scholars.  Part of the problem is that what archaeologists do is poorly understood by those outside the discipline.  Yet another part of the problem is that archaeological data interpretation is rooted in statistical analysis, and as such, is subject to the well known problems of statistical interpretation, even manipulation.


That is one of the reasons I like books like this so much.


So often the industrial landscape is written off as one of the mistakes of humankind.  And why not?  The price paid by the environment is easy to quantify outside of the human community, through such things as loss of species number in a given mined area.


What is less quantifiable, and certainly more open to political conversation, is how industrial landscapes affect human beings; both those that create those landscapes and those that interpret their aftermath.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on September 15, 2011, 05:37:50 AM
Just started reading this this morning.

Jack Kerouac - Dr. Sax

(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1264464570l/311712.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on September 15, 2011, 07:55:19 PM
The Waste Lands

Flying through these books.  Forgot how good they were/are.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 24, 2011, 11:27:15 AM
Just got Taibbi's Griftopia yesterday. Already hooked...

(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/11/05/griftopia-jacket-art_custom.jpg?t=1312443808&s=15)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM
(http://www.maps.org/books/mpc/secondedition/lsdmyproblemchild_front.jpg)
Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now

This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: DoW on October 03, 2011, 12:24:11 PM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM
(http://www.maps.org/books/mpc/secondedition/lsdmyproblemchild_front.jpg)
Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now

This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals
drink lots of beer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: UncleEbinezer on October 03, 2011, 02:00:16 PM
Quote from: bvaz on October 03, 2011, 12:24:11 PM
drink lots of beer.

:hereitisyousentimentalbastard  So true.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on October 03, 2011, 06:45:15 PM
(http://blackbirdbookreviews.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/gunslinger.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on October 03, 2011, 06:55:09 PM
just got Keith Richards: Life and Clive Barker: Abarat 3, thanks to a b&n gift card I've been sitting on since christmas.  Stoked for some reading-centric days
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JPhishman on October 03, 2011, 10:38:08 PM
Just finished Bukowski's "Post Office" this weekend. It was a bit dark and depressing for my taste, if amusing at times.


Started this one up right away and I'm loving it about 100 pages in....

(http://psypressuk.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/hpc.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 03, 2011, 11:21:19 PM
Quote from: JPhishman on October 03, 2011, 10:38:08 PM
Just finished Bukowski's "Post Office" this weekend. It was a bit dark and depressing for my taste, if amusing at times.


Started this one up right away and I'm loving it about 100 pages in....

(http://psypressuk.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/hpc.jpg)
There is a whole chapter about Leary in LSD: My problem child... I think I might read that for more depth
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on October 04, 2011, 12:06:42 AM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on May 19, 2011, 01:24:15 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on May 12, 2011, 09:53:27 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on May 11, 2011, 10:06:01 AM
Quote from: Hicks on May 10, 2011, 07:16:42 PM
Infinite Jest is probably the best book I've ever read. 

Broom of the System is good too.

I remember that McCain piece, it was great, doesn't change the fact that he was replaced by a cylon in 2004.

:-o Might have to add that to my queue...

def.  thanks for the recommendation faux and hicks!  ordered the ink on paper version.


heh, ditto... i need a beach book because by the time i go i'll be done with the two i'm reading now...

thanks!

finally started diggin into this beast.   :-o
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:17:10 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:21:19 PM
Quote from: JPhishman on October 03, 2011, 10:38:08 PM
Just finished Bukowski's "Post Office" this weekend. It was a bit dark and depressing for my taste, if amusing at times.


Started this one up right away and I'm loving it about 100 pages in....

(http://psypressuk.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/hpc.jpg)
There is a whole chapter about Leary in LSD: My problem child... I think I might read that for more depth

I'd been curious about Andy Weil's role in the "Harvard Drug Scandal" when I started this one.
Oddly enough, as I began ruminating, I starting seeing Weil's entire career as an imitation of Ram Dass'. RD travels India searching for spirtual masters, AW goes to South America to peruse the Amazon basin for shamen; BE HERE NOW vs. THE NATURAL MIND; the beards; bringing Eastern practices into the contemporary American health scene. It's just that AW has that profit motive a little harder than RD.
And maybe I'm a bit prejudiced by Lattin's BookTV reading (I thought he came across a bit weasle-y), but i thought it was poor taste to introduce Leary into the book via the tragedy of his 35th birthday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM
(http://www.maps.org/books/mpc/secondedition/lsdmyproblemchild_front.jpg)
Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on October 06, 2011, 08:04:10 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.

Meditation can help control your ADD.
Trust me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 06, 2011, 10:18:53 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on October 06, 2011, 08:04:10 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.

Meditation can help control your ADD.
Trust me.
I just always assumed the oppisite since you kinda just sit there with a blank mind for a while, thats really hard for me. Then again I'm sure there are other methods of meditation haha.

Is there a certain kind you know of?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on October 06, 2011, 10:43:55 PM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 06, 2011, 10:18:53 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on October 06, 2011, 08:04:10 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.

Meditation can help control your ADD.
Trust me.
I just always assumed the oppisite since you kinda just sit there with a blank mind for a while, thats really hard for me. Then again I'm sure there are other methods of meditation haha.

Is there a certain kind you know of?

Mr. Natural is the guy to ask but I've used meditation and yoga to get myself centered at times and I'm definitely a classic adhd case.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 07, 2011, 12:46:52 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.
That book is called JOURNEY TO AWAKENING. It's cool, and available in audiobook format. Actually, that's how I got my practice started back in '07*. Totally written for beginners. There aren't a lot of specific styles in it, mainly Vipassana, but that will give you plenty to work with, I'm sure. My advice, should you feel so inclined ask for it, is to start small. And break rules. I remember starting off with 4-minute sits, talking with my son & wife, listening to music, smoking & reading - all of which were specifically designated no-nos. I waited until I felt drawn to sit silent, or not read, or whatever - instead of refraining from any of those things because I 'should'. Most yogic philosophers will agree that the best authority is yourself and your own experience - teachers can be great, but ultimately you'll be checking in with yourself. What doesn't work today will be just what the doctor ordered tomorrow, and vice versa. Some will fade in & out several times.
And there are meditations for walking, eating, breathing, sitting, all sorts of things.
Per ADD - If you go in trying to 'defeat' it, I don't know how successful you'll be. But if you go in ready to just observe it (and yourself reacting to it) i.e. hang out with it, you'll start to notice some amazing shit. RD talks about how he's never gotten rid of a single one of his neuroses, but now he's able to invite them for tea & pleasantries, which is how I feel about my own anxieties. Most of the time.
As for sitting there with a blank mind, you'll find that's actually the opposite of what meditation is.
* a whole other story

p.s. How do you use psych's to gain spiritual enlightenment? I'm just curious. I have a few of my own procedures/environments/etc., but I'm interested to know some of your methods.
p.p.s. If I come across like I'm trying to convince you I'm an expert or telling you what to do (or worse, telling you to do what I do/did) - please call me out on that shit. Blech!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 07, 2011, 04:11:45 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 07, 2011, 12:46:52 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.
That book is called JOURNEY TO AWAKENING. It's cool, and available in audiobook format. Actually, that's how I got my practice started back in '07*. Totally written for beginners. There aren't a lot of specific styles in it, mainly Vipassana, but that will give you plenty to work with, I'm sure. My advice, should you feel so inclined ask for it, is to start small. And break rules. I remember starting off with 4-minute sits, talking with my son & wife, listening to music, smoking & reading - all of which were specifically designated no-nos. I waited until I felt drawn to sit silent, or not read, or whatever - instead of refraining from any of those things because I 'should'. Most yogic philosophers will agree that the best authority is yourself and your own experience - teachers can be great, but ultimately you'll be checking in with yourself. What doesn't work today will be just what the doctor ordered tomorrow, and vice versa. Some will fade in & out several times.
And there are meditations for walking, eating, breathing, sitting, all sorts of things.
Per ADD - If you go in trying to 'defeat' it, I don't know how successful you'll be. But if you go in ready to just observe it (and yourself reacting to it) i.e. hang out with it, you'll start to notice some amazing shit. RD talks about how he's never gotten rid of a single one of his neuroses, but now he's able to invite them for tea & pleasantries, which is how I feel about my own anxieties. Most of the time.
As for sitting there with a blank mind, you'll find that's actually the opposite of what meditation is.
* a whole other story

p.s. How do you use psych's to gain spiritual enlightenment? I'm just curious. I have a few of my own procedures/environments/etc., but I'm interested to know some of your methods.
p.p.s. If I come across like I'm trying to convince you I'm an expert or telling you what to do (or worse, telling you to do what I do/did) - please call me out on that shit. Blech!
Lets take this to PM...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on October 08, 2011, 09:59:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 07, 2011, 04:11:45 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 07, 2011, 12:46:52 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 05, 2011, 11:34:43 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 05, 2011, 12:37:57 AM
Quote from: phishhead92 on October 03, 2011, 11:47:03 AM

Just started reading this on my kindle this morning.

It is the start of a long line of spiritual/psychoactive substance books im gonna read. Some others
DMT: The Spirit Molocule
The Doors of Perception
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (I just grabbed the penguin translation)
Be Here Now
Be Love Now
This year I want to look into myself and figure out how I can change my lifestyle so I can control my anxiety and depression without the help of pharmaceuticals

Just my opinion, but I expected more from Hoffman's book. Granted, he's a chemist, so writing for laymen isn't exactly his forte - I was just expecting him to have a lot more to say about a lot more things. Having said that, his perspective is so unique there's really no room for me to complain.
I've only read three of these all the way thorugh (started TBD, skimmed over SPIRIT MOLECULE a few times), but I'd be willing to talk your ear off (and listen, of course) about any of them. As for controlling anxiety & depression, meditiation works best for me* (with psych's as an adjunct), but if psychedelics agree with you more, I'd recommend two contemporary books after you finish those classics: THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORER'S GUIDE by James Fadiman and PSYCHEDELIC HEALING by Neal Goldsmith. And if you want to run an honest-to-goodness psychedelic session, THE SECRET CHIEF REVEALED by Myron Stolaroff describes how a psych therapist ran his [underground] sessions after these molecules were taken away from professionals. What I've read of that one really laid it all out. You can read it in it's entirety on deoxy.org.
* also, listening to Ram Dass lectures (there are tons online). He's my #1 homeboy. He went psychology > psychedelics > yoga; and I went psychedelics > psychology > yoga, so he makes a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, it seems more of like a big overview on the topic, he touches on like every aspect of his discovery and how it effected the world. And actually The Psychedelic Expolorer's Guide is on my list (well on my amazon list). I will add those others.

Ram Dass has a book, I cant remember what its called but its a guide on how to meditate in many different styles. I might pick that one up as well. And its not that I'm against meditating or anything its just I am kinda sorta busy, also I need to control my ADD better before I can really peruse that path. And also, I do really enjoy psychedelics :-D, but it is not the only thing I do to gain spiritual enlightenment.
That book is called JOURNEY TO AWAKENING. It's cool, and available in audiobook format. Actually, that's how I got my practice started back in '07*. Totally written for beginners. There aren't a lot of specific styles in it, mainly Vipassana, but that will give you plenty to work with, I'm sure. My advice, should you feel so inclined ask for it, is to start small. And break rules. I remember starting off with 4-minute sits, talking with my son & wife, listening to music, smoking & reading - all of which were specifically designated no-nos. I waited until I felt drawn to sit silent, or not read, or whatever - instead of refraining from any of those things because I 'should'. Most yogic philosophers will agree that the best authority is yourself and your own experience - teachers can be great, but ultimately you'll be checking in with yourself. What doesn't work today will be just what the doctor ordered tomorrow, and vice versa. Some will fade in & out several times.
And there are meditations for walking, eating, breathing, sitting, all sorts of things.
Per ADD - If you go in trying to 'defeat' it, I don't know how successful you'll be. But if you go in ready to just observe it (and yourself reacting to it) i.e. hang out with it, you'll start to notice some amazing shit. RD talks about how he's never gotten rid of a single one of his neuroses, but now he's able to invite them for tea & pleasantries, which is how I feel about my own anxieties. Most of the time.
As for sitting there with a blank mind, you'll find that's actually the opposite of what meditation is.
* a whole other story

p.s. How do you use psych's to gain spiritual enlightenment? I'm just curious. I have a few of my own procedures/environments/etc., but I'm interested to know some of your methods.
p.p.s. If I come across like I'm trying to convince you I'm an expert or telling you what to do (or worse, telling you to do what I do/did) - please call me out on that shit. Blech!
Lets take this to PM...

Sounds like the strippers trying to take you to the back room....wait, what?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on October 11, 2011, 07:54:54 PM
About to start "Hunger Games"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on October 12, 2011, 12:59:04 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on October 11, 2011, 07:54:54 PM
About to start "Hunger Games"

So you can have a conversation with a tween?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: twatts on October 12, 2011, 03:23:48 PM
http://week4paug.net/index.php
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on October 12, 2011, 03:26:07 PM
Quote from: mattstick on October 12, 2011, 12:59:04 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on October 11, 2011, 07:54:54 PM
About to start "Hunger Games"

So you can have a conversation with a tween?

One of the few books my Spanish host mom has in English...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on October 12, 2011, 03:27:22 PM

My girlfriend is a Grade 6 teacher and she read all 3 in about 8 days to see if they're appropriate for her class.

I thought I lost her for a few days there...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on October 12, 2011, 06:11:47 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on October 12, 2011, 03:26:07 PM
Quote from: mattstick on October 12, 2011, 12:59:04 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on October 11, 2011, 07:54:54 PM
About to start "Hunger Games"

So you can have a conversation with a tween?

One of the few books my Spanish host mom has in English...

Is she hot?

(I know the answer)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phuzzyfish12 on October 12, 2011, 06:53:20 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on October 11, 2011, 07:54:54 PM
About to start "Hunger Games"

Good books.

Just finished "Game of Thrones", on to the 2nd book of the series. Really enjoying the series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on October 12, 2011, 08:27:58 PM
Quote from: mattstick on October 12, 2011, 03:27:22 PM

My girlfriend is a Grade 6 teacher and she read all 3 in about 8 days to see if they're appropriate for her class.

I thought I lost her for a few days there...

Def. easy reads, but a great story. 
Title: "Dead Letters: Grateful Dead Fan Mail"
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 15, 2011, 01:24:53 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Wg4ZX4e4L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

Just found out about this one, from the same editors who put out THE OFFICIAL BOOK OF THE DEADHEADS back in '85.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VA $l!m on October 21, 2011, 02:18:32 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gWqaZ%2BacL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

well, i must have hit ground zero on my boredom level, because i actually cracked a book last night.
probably the third book i've attempted to pick up in the last 15 years.
its fairly relevant with the Occupy wall street stuff goin on.
economics make good reading!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on October 21, 2011, 02:32:46 PM
Quote from: VA $l!m on October 21, 2011, 02:18:32 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gWqaZ%2BacL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

well, i must have hit ground zero on my boredom level, because i actually cracked a book last night.
probably the third book i've attempted to pick up in the last 15 years.
its fairly relevant with the Occupy wall street stuff goin on.
economics make good reading!
This was my textbook for high school economics.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on October 25, 2011, 08:27:08 PM
Finished 'Phish' last week.  Good book that definitely taught me a few things about the band, especially the way the business side of things ran.  I think Puterbaugh was pretty candid about some of the tough times Phish went through but was a little 'Mr. Minerish' with his opinion on a lot of their performances.  Would definitely reccomend to any fan of the band.
Thanks again nab  :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on November 04, 2011, 09:47:57 PM
Entertaining, a bit humorous, and a bit maddening

(http://img2-1.timeinc.net/ew/i/2011/09/09/Here-Comes-Trouble_219.jpg)

I respect Moore a lot - I don't agree with everything he says but I get where he is coming from
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on November 09, 2011, 12:48:06 PM
Finished "The Help"... and now a friend is lending me:

(http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Enders_Game/cover.jpg)

Has anyone read this?  Heard it's a really good book even if you aren't into sci-fi novels
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 09, 2011, 01:19:47 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on November 09, 2011, 12:48:06 PM
Finished "The Help"... and now a friend is lending me:

(http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Enders_Game/cover.jpg)

Has anyone read this?  Heard it's a really good book even if you aren't into sci-fi novels

people seem to love this book. it won lots of sci fi awards back in the day. i found it to be badly written, pro-war junk. but maybe that's just me. let us know what you think...


i just started Murakami's new 1000 page doorstop, 1Q84. good so far...

(http://www.apalog.com/kurita/img/1242/MVE4NDEgfQ.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on November 10, 2011, 09:15:54 PM
Just read The Apothecary by Maile Meloy. Great book, handing it off to the kids now :). Have to see if her brother's novel is up to snuff next.

(http://cache1.bookdepository.com/assets/images/book/large/9780/3992/9780399256271.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on November 13, 2011, 09:13:26 AM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on November 09, 2011, 12:48:06 PM
Finished "The Help"... and now a friend is lending me:

(http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Enders_Game/cover.jpg)

Has anyone read this?  Heard it's a really good book even if you aren't into sci-fi novels

It's interesting, but nothing mind blowing.  Great if you are a 13 year old boy...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on November 13, 2011, 10:27:02 AM
Quote from: shoreline99 on November 10, 2011, 09:15:54 PM
Just read The Apothecary by Maile Meloy. Great book, handing it off to the kids now :). Have to see if her brother's novel is up to snuff next.

(http://cache1.bookdepository.com/assets/images/book/large/9780/3992/9780399256271.jpg)

Don't know about her brother, but I've read all of her novels and short stories this year, and would recommend most of it. Both Ways is pretty close to deserving the hype and awards it has received. The opening story "Travis, B" is one of the best stories I've read this year, and I've read 40 or more collections of short stories this year (been a focus of mine - gets me reading American lit again rather than lit in translation, also was a good way to read more women writers). The Children and Two Step are good stories in that collection too.

Her "adult" novels are good, but not great, and work off one another, as they have the same characters in both.


Right now, I am reading Richard Ford's "Rock Springs" story collection:
Quote
From Publishers Weekly
"The stories in this collection read like textbook exercises in classic short story form . . . Ford approaches the genre with reverent precision and delivers an array of haunting, enduring images," maintained PW of these portraits of violence and betrayal among the unemployed in rural Montana.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
In these ten stories, Ford mines literary gold from the wind-scrubbed landscape of the American West--and from the guarded hopes and gnawing loneliness of the people who live there. Rock Springs is a masterpiece of taut narration, cleanly chiseled prose, and empathy so generous that it feels like a kind of grace.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on November 27, 2011, 05:09:01 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 09, 2011, 01:19:47 PM
Quote from: iamhydroJen on November 09, 2011, 12:48:06 PM
Finished "The Help"... and now a friend is lending me:

(http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Enders_Game/cover.jpg)

Has anyone read this?  Heard it's a really good book even if you aren't into sci-fi novels

people seem to love this book. it won lots of sci fi awards back in the day. i found it to be badly written, pro-war junk. but maybe that's just me. let us know what you think...


Just finished this.  I read a different book halfway through this one so it took me a little while.

I didn't enjoy this at all.  I thought the writing was extremely boring... honestly just adding more descriptive words (or any sort of intriguing vocabulary) could have painted a better picture of what was going on.  The only part I thought was somewhat interesting was when he describes the "End of the World" game.  And if I had to read the word "fart-eater" one more time.........
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on December 04, 2011, 07:22:55 PM
Finished Rain Pryor's JOKES MY FATHER NEVER TAUGHT ME. Boy are you glad you're not that motherfucker's kid.  Her story is engrossing for the first half, but you'll hate both her and her father by the end. She does that thing where she repeats large chunks of text later on in the book, and since it doesn't work, you just think 'do you remember? you put that in, already.' ? The best part is the quick talk her dad gives her after she walks in on him "fuckin'." It's actually a good talk.
Was listening to Spalding Gray's MONSTER IN A BOX in the car and picked up his published DIARIES. I've always been morally opposed to reading diaries of the deceased, but I also had the feeling that he wrote in there for outside readers, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 06, 2011, 11:58:20 AM
Finished the 7th Dark Tower novel.

Enjoyed the series.  I will miss reading about Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. 

I was happy with the ending.  I have talked with a few who were not.  But I think it was solid.

I was not as thrilled with books 5 and 6 as the others (they were good but took some odd turns in good ole Stephen King fashion), but book 4 was my favorite of the series.

I don't want to go into detail and spoil anything, but if you have started the series, finish it.  I think the payoff is worth it in the end, big-big.  And I say thankya.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 06, 2011, 06:56:29 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 06, 2011, 11:58:20 AM
Finished the 7th Dark Tower novel.

Enjoyed the series.  I will miss reading about Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. 

I was happy with the ending.  I have talked with a few who were not.  But I think it was solid.

I was not as thrilled with books 5 and 6 as the others (they were good but took some odd turns in good ole Stephen King fashion), but book 4 was my favorite of the series.

I don't want to go into detail and spoil anything, but if you have started the series, finish it.  I think the payoff is worth it in the end, big-big.  And I say thankya.

I agree on the ending.  I think people get angry about the "right before the ending parts", and book 5-6 to a lesser degree.  There's a few character-builds that do not peak properly, if you will.  But the ending-ending is perfect.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on December 06, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 06, 2011, 11:58:20 AM
Finished the 7th Dark Tower novel.

Enjoyed the series.  I will miss reading about Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. 


Not to worry, The Wind Through The Keyhole will come out on April 24th. It's supposed to be set between books 4 and 5.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on December 07, 2011, 03:49:29 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on December 06, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 06, 2011, 11:58:20 AM
Finished the 7th Dark Tower novel.

Enjoyed the series.  I will miss reading about Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. 


Not to worry, The Wind Through The Keyhole will come out on April 24th. It's supposed to be set between books 4 and 5.

Have you guys heard about the television series that's going to air on HBO?

http://www.slashfilm.com/dark-tower-tv-series-air-hbo/

I'm still on The Gunslinger. I'm about half way through (I know, I'm waaayy behind) but I had a bunch of other books on my list to read first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on December 08, 2011, 09:12:36 AM
Quote from: Lifeboy on December 07, 2011, 03:49:29 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on December 06, 2011, 11:03:37 PM
Quote from: Mr Minor on December 06, 2011, 11:58:20 AM
Finished the 7th Dark Tower novel.

Enjoyed the series.  I will miss reading about Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake. 


Not to worry, The Wind Through The Keyhole will come out on April 24th. It's supposed to be set between books 4 and 5.

Have you guys heard about the television series that's going to air on HBO?

http://www.slashfilm.com/dark-tower-tv-series-air-hbo/

I'm still on The Gunslinger. I'm about half way through (I know, I'm waaayy behind) but I had a bunch of other books on my list to read first.

I think there are a lot of problems with actually making it happen, but I hope someone puts it together.  I would really like to see Javier Bardem as Roland.  Obviously Clint Eastwood is too old (the horror!) but he would have been more than perfect in his prime.  I know King has often said Eastwood was one of the people in his mind when writing about Roland.

I would love to see this become a reality though!

And yes, I am excited about The Wind Through the Keyhole.  Also, I would like to check out (short storynovella?) Sisters of Eluria.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on December 08, 2011, 09:49:46 AM
finished the entire Kathy Reichs library.

Read Dead like you by Peter James and i'll find more in this series :)

onto:
(http://i43.tower.com/images/mm117363024/i-love-you-im-leaving-anyway-memoir-tracy-mcmillan-paperback-cover-art.jpg)

story of my life in the title. almost done with it and started this morning... it's got good points.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on December 12, 2011, 04:09:33 PM
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. It's a simple and quick read, but more pleasurable if you take your time and contemplate it's poetry.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W8BB1VDNL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 01, 2012, 10:02:28 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on December 12, 2011, 04:09:33 PM
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. It's a simple and quick read, but more pleasurable if you take your time and contemplate it's poetry.

"and you see - The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, with all the important passages underlined. Every word in the book is underlined"

David Bromberg, Bullfrog Blues, on How Late Will You Play 'till?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on January 02, 2012, 11:05:48 AM
Quote from: slslbs on January 01, 2012, 10:02:28 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on December 12, 2011, 04:09:33 PM
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. It's a simple and quick read, but more pleasurable if you take your time and contemplate it's poetry.

"and you see - The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, with all the important passages underlined. Every word in the book is underlined"

David Bromberg, Bullfrog Blues, on How Late Will You Play 'till?

HA! It's true. I've got at LEAST one or 2 passages underlined on EVERY single page. And I've quoted various lines to a number of people in completely different situations.

I'm really bad at starting books, but then getting distracted by being interesting in something else and starting other books, and at any given time having 4-6 going at once. Eventually they all get read, but it takes forever when you're only reading a chapter here or there, so one of my new years resolutions is to finish the stack of books I've already started before picking up anything new. Working on finishing up Omnivores Dilemma right now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on January 02, 2012, 06:33:26 PM
"The Best of the Kudzu Telegraph"  by John Lane.

An english and environmental science professor I took in college. It's a collection of some of the best editions of his syndicated news paper column. If you like the south and you're environmentally conscious, you'd like this guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on January 02, 2012, 08:52:20 PM
I got 'Life' by Keith Richards for Christmas and am about 100 pages in.
Love it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 02, 2012, 08:58:25 PM
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5182/5646992208_4bd5984822.jpg)

Fun read.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41tmo4oPPzL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/A_Rumor_Of_War.jpg)

Ive been getting interested in reading about the years my father spent in Vietnam. Both of these books blew me away.
The guy that wrote Dispatches helped work on both Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. Many of his anecdotes and some characters make it into both movies.
Phiip Caputo won the Pulitzer for his book and, oddly enough, is the father of a friend of mine from boarding school.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 02, 2012, 09:08:34 PM
Finished 'child of god' by cormac maccarthy.
fun little read, if you like stories about necrophiliac southern hill jacks... and who doesn't?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 02, 2012, 09:13:40 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 02, 2012, 09:08:34 PM
Finished 'child of god' by cormac maccarthy.
fun little read, if you like stories about necrophiliac southern hill jacks... and who doesn't?
You had me sold at necrophiliac.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on January 03, 2012, 04:07:55 PM
Keef's book is a blast
Omnivore's Dilemma is a good book, but got me angry.

Speaking of getting angry, I have a hard time with reading about Nam. just gets me upset and pissed off.

Right now I'm reading Steve Jobs biography. enjoying it so far - he's been joining communes, going to India, meditating, etc.
One of my best friend's brother is the exact same age and did a lot of the same stuff around then. except he didn't go on to form one of the most successful companies in history.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 04, 2012, 09:32:21 AM
Quote from: birdman on January 02, 2012, 08:58:25 PM
Ive been getting interested in reading about the years my father spent in Vietnam. Both of these books blew me away.
The guy that wrote Dispatches helped work on both Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. Many of his anecdotes and some characters make it into both movies.
Phiip Caputo won the Pulitzer for his book and, oddly enough, is the father of a friend of mine from boarding school.

Read this one. Friend gave it to me. It's about one guy's [armored cav] experiences leading up to and during the Tet.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FFKHXBZ1L._SS500_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on January 04, 2012, 05:06:20 PM
Quote from: birdman on January 02, 2012, 08:58:25 PM
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5182/5646992208_4bd5984822.jpg)

Fun read.



Cool.  Might be the only book of his I haven't read.  I'll have to get my hands on this one.

Right now, I'm reading the following...

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Mockingjay.JPG/200px-Mockingjay.JPG)

My wife bought the series and said it was awesome so I gave it a shot.  This is the third of the 3 book series.  It's very good.  The first book is being released as a movie, in March I think.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 04, 2012, 06:02:21 PM
Quote from: mehead on January 04, 2012, 05:06:20 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Mockingjay.JPG/200px-Mockingjay.JPG)

My wife bought the series and said it was awesome so I gave it a shot.  This is the third of the 3 book series.  It's very good.  The first book is being released as a movie, in March I think.

my special lady friend just finished this series and was trying to get me into it.
it sounded a little too 'young adult-y' for me.

if it gets the mehead seal of approval i might just give it a go.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 04, 2012, 06:04:24 PM
oh, and btw, infinite jest was the most tedious thing i have ever read.
i only got through about 300 pages, and by the skin of my teeth.

the thought of having to read another 400 was torturous, so i happily set it down.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 05, 2012, 09:31:39 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 04, 2012, 06:04:24 PM
oh, and btw, infinite jest was the most tedious thing i have ever read.
i only got through about 300 pages, and by the skin of my teeth.

the thought of having to read another 400 was torturous, so i happily set it down.

Glad I'm not the only one. I was happy to return it to the library unfinished.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on January 05, 2012, 09:37:26 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 04, 2012, 06:02:21 PM
Quote from: mehead on January 04, 2012, 05:06:20 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Mockingjay.JPG/200px-Mockingjay.JPG)

My wife bought the series and said it was awesome so I gave it a shot.  This is the third of the 3 book series.  It's very good.  The first book is being released as a movie, in March I think.

my special lady friend just finished this series and was trying to get me into it.
it sounded a little too 'young adult-y' for me.

if it gets the mehead seal of approval i might just give it a go.

Iwas thinking the same way and it did take some convincing to get me to read them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: runawayjimbo on January 05, 2012, 09:46:58 AM
Quote from: mehead on January 05, 2012, 09:37:26 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 04, 2012, 06:02:21 PM
Quote from: mehead on January 04, 2012, 05:06:20 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Mockingjay.JPG/200px-Mockingjay.JPG)

My wife bought the series and said it was awesome so I gave it a shot.  This is the third of the 3 book series.  It's very good.  The first book is being released as a movie, in March I think.

my special lady friend just finished this series and was trying to get me into it.
it sounded a little too 'young adult-y' for me.

if it gets the mehead seal of approval i might just give it a go.

Iwas thinking the same way and it did take some convincing to get me to read them.

Ha, my wife just tore through the first book and told me I had to read them too. I responded in similar "young adult-y" fashion, but maybe I'll give it a shot.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on January 05, 2012, 10:00:28 AM
I really enjoyed the whole hunger games trilogy. The first book was the best in the series. Def worth the 2 or 3 nights it takes to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on January 05, 2012, 10:37:36 AM
Quote from: runawayjimbo on January 05, 2012, 09:46:58 AM
Ha, my wife just tore through the first book and told me I had to read them too. I responded in similar "young adult-y" fashion, but maybe I'll give it a shot.

My wife read them last summer. I just went and watched the running man instead.

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uAgLSM9VhDY/TSH4NTNlu0I/AAAAAAAAAFk/QJUs3_oXnus/s1600/the_running_man_killian.png)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on January 05, 2012, 10:31:20 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 02, 2012, 09:08:34 PM
Finished 'child of god' by cormac maccarthy.
fun little read, if you like stories about necrophiliac southern hill jacks... and who doesn't?

I would recommend dialing it back one and reading Outer Dark, because the only thing better than reading about necrophiliac southern hill jacks is reading about brothers and sisters fucking each other and the infanticidal southern hill jacks who follow them around Appalachia.

Also, I like Outer Dark the best of the 'southern' novels he has written.

If it is too soon for more McCarthy, then I would recommend either of these by this guy:

Donald Ray Pollack

Short Story Collection: Knockemstiff
Quote
In this unforgettable work of fiction, Donald Ray Pollock peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted but resilient lives of its residents. Knockemstiff is a genuine entry into the literature of place.Spanning a period from the mid-sixties to the late nineties, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are irresistibly, undeniably real. A father pumps his son full of steroids so he can vicariously relive his days as a perpetual runner-up body builder. A psychotic rural recluse comes upon two siblings committing incest and feels compelled to take action. Donald Ray Pollock presents his characters and the sordid goings-on with a stern intelligence, a bracing absence of value judgments, and a refreshingly dark sense of bottom-dog humor.

Novel (which I am currently reading as I am typing this): The Devil All The Time
Quote
In The Devil All the Time, Donald Ray Pollock has written a novel that marries the twisted intensity of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers with the religious and Gothic over­tones of Flannery O'Connor at her most haunting.  Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. There's Willard Russell, tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can't save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrifi­cial blood he pours on his "prayer log." There's Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial kill­ers, who troll America's highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There's the spider-handling preacher Roy and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte's orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.
Donald Ray Pollock braids his plotlines into a taut narrative that will leave readers astonished and deeply moved. With his first novel, he proves himself a master storyteller in the grittiest and most uncompromising American grain.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: barnesy305 on January 05, 2012, 11:44:20 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on January 05, 2012, 10:31:20 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 02, 2012, 09:08:34 PM
Finished 'child of god' by cormac maccarthy.
fun little read, if you like stories about necrophiliac southern hill jacks... and who doesn't?

I would recommend dialing it back one and reading Outer Dark, because the only thing better than reading about necrophiliac southern hill jacks is reading about brothers and sisters fucking each other and the infanticidal southern hill jacks who follow them around Appalachia.

Also, I like Outer Dark the best of the 'southern' novels he has written.

If it is too soon for more McCarthy, then I would recommend either of these by this guy:

Donald Ray Pollack

Short Story Collection: Knockemstiff
Quote
In this unforgettable work of fiction, Donald Ray Pollock peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted but resilient lives of its residents. Knockemstiff is a genuine entry into the literature of place.Spanning a period from the mid-sixties to the late nineties, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are irresistibly, undeniably real. A father pumps his son full of steroids so he can vicariously relive his days as a perpetual runner-up body builder. A psychotic rural recluse comes upon two siblings committing incest and feels compelled to take action. Donald Ray Pollock presents his characters and the sordid goings-on with a stern intelligence, a bracing absence of value judgments, and a refreshingly dark sense of bottom-dog humor.

Novel (which I am currently reading as I am typing this): The Devil All The Time
Quote
In The Devil All the Time, Donald Ray Pollock has written a novel that marries the twisted intensity of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers with the religious and Gothic over­tones of Flannery O'Connor at her most haunting.  Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s. There's Willard Russell, tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific, who can't save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrifi­cial blood he pours on his "prayer log." There's Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial kill­ers, who troll America's highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate. There's the spider-handling preacher Roy and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, running from the law. And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte's orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.
Donald Ray Pollock braids his plotlines into a taut narrative that will leave readers astonished and deeply moved. With his first novel, he proves himself a master storyteller in the grittiest and most uncompromising American grain.

Have you guys read " And The Ass Saw The Angel" by Nick Cave? It's got some fucked up shit in it along these lines. I mean, it is Nick Cave and all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatapiper on January 06, 2012, 12:53:01 AM
Quote from: runawayjimbo on January 05, 2012, 09:46:58 AM
Quote from: mehead on January 05, 2012, 09:37:26 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on January 04, 2012, 06:02:21 PM
Quote from: mehead on January 04, 2012, 05:06:20 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Mockingjay.JPG/200px-Mockingjay.JPG)

My wife bought the series and said it was awesome so I gave it a shot.  This is the third of the 3 book series.  It's very good.  The first book is being released as a movie, in March I think.

my special lady friend just finished this series and was trying to get me into it.
it sounded a little too 'young adult-y' for me.

if it gets the mehead seal of approval i might just give it a go.

Iwas thinking the same way and it did take some convincing to get me to read them.

Ha, my wife just tore through the first book and told me I had to read them too. I responded in similar "young adult-y" fashion, but maybe I'll give it a shot.

heh, my wife finished these 3 a few months back, she was hooked.   I assumed it was more for the ladies but now that I see some respectful paugers having read them, maybe it's time to give them a shot.

As for me I am trying to decide whether to read "Deadwood" or "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy",  both were gifts over the holiday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on February 11, 2012, 02:44:30 PM
(http://books.google.com/books?id=MJNi0uU8kdoC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&l=220)

Steven King
11/22/63
cool time travel story about one of the defining days in our time
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on February 13, 2012, 01:48:58 PM
I've been on Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello. Enjoying the journey.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: twatts on February 13, 2012, 02:00:12 PM
Quote

Hunger Games Series


Being a big fantasy and sci-fi reader as a kid, I had the first book figured out before my wife had finished the first chapter...  Rehashed premises and themes...  Its been repackaged to empower teenage girls, a group that has tended to avoid fantasy and sci-fi... 

But my wife enjoyed the series...  Of course she thought Harry Potter was awesome but refuses to read Tolkein...

Terry
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on February 28, 2012, 02:31:45 PM
Finished the Hunger Games series, and finally reading:

(http://i43.tower.com/images/mm115057426/phish-biography-parke-puterbaugh-paperback-cover-art.jpg)

... when I have time between class assignments and tests  :frustrated:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on February 29, 2012, 08:19:54 AM
Quote from: twatts likes ghoti on February 13, 2012, 02:00:12 PM
Quote

Hunger Games Series


Being a big fantasy and sci-fi reader as a kid, I had the first book figured out before my wife had finished the first chapter...  Rehashed premises and themes...  Its been repackaged to empower teenage girls, a group that has tended to avoid fantasy and sci-fi... 

But my wife enjoyed the series...  Of course she thought Harry Potter was awesome but refuses to read Tolkein...

Terry

:-o
That's a shame, almost blasphemous.   :wink:   Such a master of literature.

I just finished Game of Thrones.  On to A Clash of Kings.  What an interesting series!

(http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/%7BD201CFAE-BE5A-4A50-A7D4-B9A6CB87B4C2%7DImg100.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on February 29, 2012, 09:24:45 AM
Just finished this...

(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168914678l/37380.jpg)

Brilliant but very depressing

Now Im working on Andre Dubus' biography. He grew up in the city I now live in. Interesting to read about how the town has changed so much.

(http://andredubus.com/images/cover_townie.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 18, 2012, 10:13:32 PM
Been meaning to read the Collected Stories of Daddy Dubus, I assume he talks about him some in Townie?

Right now, reading:
Thom Jones
The Pugilist At Rest (short stories)

Beginning a week of Jones reading, anyone know or read this writer before?

Also wanted to HIGHLY recommend to anyone who likes short stories the collection Corpus Christi by Bret Anthony Johnston:
http://www.amazon.com/Corpus-Christi-Bret-Anthony-Johnston/dp/0812971876
Interview in The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/07/stories-to-break-our-hearts/3381/

There is a story in the collection, "Outside The Toy Store", which is one of the best I've read this year. So simple, just two people talking on a bench in a mall, but it is extremely tight, and shows what can be done with just imagination and some dialogue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 10:03:48 AM
QuoteThe Fourteenth Book is entitled, "What can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?"
It doesn't take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period.
This is it:
"Nothing.

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on March 20, 2012, 01:01:16 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 10:03:48 AM
QuoteThe Fourteenth Book is entitled, "What can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?"
It doesn't take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period.
This is it:
"Nothing.

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

tiger got to hunt
bird got to fly
man got to sit and wonder, why why why?
tiger got to sleep
bird got to land
man got to tell himself he understand
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 01:20:47 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on March 20, 2012, 01:01:16 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 10:03:48 AM
QuoteThe Fourteenth Book is entitled, "What can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?"
It doesn't take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period.
This is it:
"Nothing.

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

tiger got to hunt
bird got to fly
man got to sit and wonder, why why why?
tiger got to sleep
bird got to land
man got to tell himself he understand

No cat, no cradle!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on March 20, 2012, 01:36:54 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 01:20:47 PM
Quote from: cactusfan on March 20, 2012, 01:01:16 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 20, 2012, 10:03:48 AM
QuoteThe Fourteenth Book is entitled, "What can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?"
It doesn't take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period.
This is it:
"Nothing.

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

tiger got to hunt
bird got to fly
man got to sit and wonder, why why why?
tiger got to sleep
bird got to land
man got to tell himself he understand

No cat, no cradle!

Bokonon's 53rd Calypso

Oh, a sleeping drunkard
Up in Central Park, 
And a lion-hunter 
In the jungle dark, 
And a chinese dentist, 
And a British queen - 
All fit together 
In the same machine. 
Nice, nice, very nice; 
Nice, nice, very nice; 
Nice, nice, very nice - 
So many different people 
In the same device.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on April 04, 2012, 08:37:24 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/09/Under_the_Dome_Final.jpg/200px-Under_the_Dome_Final.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 08:57:06 AM
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V73c9Avfduk/TVFQXtlMFUI/AAAAAAAAAnA/7EOPJjEJQOU/s1600/american_godsPB.jpg)

Neil Gaiman's American Gods

I've been meaning to read this book for years and am just now getting to it. I am liking it so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on April 04, 2012, 09:03:17 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 08:57:06 AM
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V73c9Avfduk/TVFQXtlMFUI/AAAAAAAAAnA/7EOPJjEJQOU/s1600/american_godsPB.jpg)

Neil Gaiman's American Gods

I've been meaning to read this book for years and am just now getting to it. I am liking it so far.

my 10 yr. old daughter is reading this in class right now...

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/TheGraveyardBook_Hardcover.jpg/200px-TheGraveyardBook_Hardcover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 09:17:56 AM
Quote from: mehead on April 04, 2012, 09:03:17 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 08:57:06 AM
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V73c9Avfduk/TVFQXtlMFUI/AAAAAAAAAnA/7EOPJjEJQOU/s1600/american_godsPB.jpg)

Neil Gaiman's American Gods

I've been meaning to read this book for years and am just now getting to it. I am liking it so far.

my 10 yr. old daughter is reading this in class right now...

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/TheGraveyardBook_Hardcover.jpg/200px-TheGraveyardBook_Hardcover.jpg)

American Gods is much more adult-oriented than The Graveyard Book.

My wife just finished reading The Graveyard Book for a project she's doing for the kids at the Central Library downtown. That's kinda what made me finally pick up American Gods.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on April 04, 2012, 10:31:51 AM
Just started this last night. I was at the book store and looked up recommendations for a good science fiction novel, and this was recommended several times, so I went with it. After doing some more research once I got home, I saw where this is being made into a movie starring Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley that will be released in March 2013. Perfect timing.

(http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/enders_game_book_cover_orson_scott_card.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 04, 2012, 10:38:27 AM
I saw American Gods on the bookshelf at home recently, guess the wife picked it up. I haven't read any of his books but I think it's kind of funny seeing Neil Gaiman's name floating around considering I think of him as a comic book writer first, going back to my comic-nerd adolescence.

I am reading:

(http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/099/551/400000000000000099551_s4.jpg)

Follows the Chatham A's during a season in the Cape Cod League (amateur college summer baseball). If you're a baseball fan you'll like it. And in my case, having visited my grandparents on the Cape every summer growing up and going to CCL games, it's particularly enjoyable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 10:52:24 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on April 04, 2012, 10:38:27 AM
I saw American Gods on the bookshelf at home recently, guess the wife picked it up. I haven't read any of his books but I think it's kind of funny seeing Neil Gaiman's name floating around considering I think of him as a comic book writer first, going back to my comic-nerd adolescence.


Hell, Sandman was so much more than just a comic book. In my opinion Sandman changed the face of comic book story telling from there on out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 04, 2012, 11:21:34 AM
American Gods is pretty good.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 04, 2012, 01:56:13 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 10:52:24 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on April 04, 2012, 10:38:27 AM
I saw American Gods on the bookshelf at home recently, guess the wife picked it up. I haven't read any of his books but I think it's kind of funny seeing Neil Gaiman's name floating around considering I think of him as a comic book writer first, going back to my comic-nerd adolescence.


Hell, Sandman was so much more than just a comic book. In my opinion Sandman changed the face of comic book story telling from there on out.

Sorry, "graphic novel."  :-P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 02:03:29 PM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on April 04, 2012, 01:56:13 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 10:52:24 AM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on April 04, 2012, 10:38:27 AM
I saw American Gods on the bookshelf at home recently, guess the wife picked it up. I haven't read any of his books but I think it's kind of funny seeing Neil Gaiman's name floating around considering I think of him as a comic book writer first, going back to my comic-nerd adolescence.


Hell, Sandman was so much more than just a comic book. In my opinion Sandman changed the face of comic book story telling from there on out.

Sorry, "graphic novel."  :-P

No, it was a comic book, it was just so much more.


The term "graphic novel" is misused a lot these days. A graphic novel is a story told in comic book format that is released all at once in a single book. The collected issues of comics are actually called "trade paperbacks". While Allen Moore's Watchmen is considered a 'graphic novel' nowadays, it was originally released as twelve separate issues, making it a "limited series" (a comic book series that has a planned number of issues to tell the story), and the collected editions of it are really just 'trade paperbacks'.

/end rant
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 04, 2012, 02:08:47 PM
Usually, people use the term 'graphic novel' incorrectly because they don't want to admit to themselves or others that they are reading and *gasp* enjoying a comic book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 02:09:49 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on April 04, 2012, 02:08:47 PM
Usually, people use the term 'graphic novel' incorrectly because they don't want to admit to themselves or others that they are reading and *gasp* enjoying a comic book.

The truth, this man speaks it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 04, 2012, 02:48:56 PM
Ah yes, trade paperback, I remember that term.

Side note, my parents are planning to move soon so they're trying to get all the kids' old crap out of the house. When I see them this weekend I will be taking possession of several boxes of my brother's and my old comics. I'm kinda looking forward to leafing through those to see how they'll have held up to the older me.

I can say that, on a trip home sometime during the last couple years, I pulled out an issue of -- it might have been -- Rob Liefield's Supreme, and I was a little surprised by how dumb it was.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 04, 2012, 02:56:56 PM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on April 04, 2012, 02:48:56 PM
I can say that, on a trip home sometime during the last couple years, I pulled out an issue of -- it might have been -- Rob Liefield's Supreme, and I was a little surprised by how dumb it was.

Liefield was a cool artist, but a bad writer. He was better when he just did the artwork for x-force.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on April 18, 2012, 01:33:09 PM
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0140291997.jpg)

I've read almost every  :syf: book out there except this, great, fun read so far. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on April 24, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
Started this yesterday and should finish it up tonight.  We own pretty much everything King has written yet I have never started this series.  Here we goooo......

(http://bokunosekai.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-gunslingers.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on April 24, 2012, 07:22:36 PM
Quote from: mehead on April 24, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
Started this yesterday and should finish it up tonight.  We own pretty much everything King has written yet I have never started this series.  Here we goooo......

(http://bokunosekai.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-gunslingers.jpg)

I started this one a while back, but still haven't finished it. I left in at a buddys house about an hour away, so I went ahead and started 'Ender's Game', which is also great. I'll probably start reading it again once I finished the one I'm on meow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on April 25, 2012, 08:00:12 PM
Quote from: Lifeboy on April 24, 2012, 07:22:36 PM
Quote from: mehead on April 24, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
Started this yesterday and should finish it up tonight.  We own pretty much everything King has written yet I have never started this series.  Here we goooo......

(http://bokunosekai.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-gunslingers.jpg)

I started this one a while back, but still haven't finished it. I left in at a buddys house about an hour away, so I went ahead and started 'Ender's Game', which is also great. I'll probably start reading it again once I finished the one I'm on meow.

You guys should be psyched about the journey you're departing on.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on April 25, 2012, 08:07:49 PM
(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328001524l/12341557.jpg)

The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King

Dark Tower book 4.5!!! It came yesterday but I didn't see the box on the porch until today.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: zimbra on April 27, 2012, 05:51:19 PM
I know I'm a little behind but read the first installment of Steig Larsson's trilogy.  Watching the swedish movie right now then starting the second book tonight with a little Hop Czar.

ETA:  I thought the book was outstanding btw.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on April 27, 2012, 06:12:39 PM
I wanna read Dark Tower Series and the Enders Games this summer...dont know which to start yet.
Dont know much about the enders games.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Lifeboy on April 27, 2012, 06:19:54 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on April 27, 2012, 06:12:39 PM
I wanna read Dark Tower Series and the Enders Games this summer...dont know which to start yet.
Dont know much about the enders games.

I didn't know shit about Enders Game, nor had I even heard of it prior to my buddy named Google showing me the best Sci-Fi books of all time. This was near the top of the list, and sounded the most intriguing, so I went to Hastings and bought it.

Definitely don't regret dishing out the 12 bucks or whatever it cost, because it's fucking awesome so far. Highly recommended.

And as for The Dark Tower series, as I stated earlier, I'm only about 1/4 into The Gunslinger, but I can already tell it's going to be a fucking awesome read, and make me drop everything else and read the other books.

So you can't really go wrong with either, but if I were you I would probably start with the Dark Tower series.


Also,

Quote from: birdman on April 25, 2012, 08:00:12 PM
Quote from: Lifeboy on April 24, 2012, 07:22:36 PM
Quote from: mehead on April 24, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
Started this yesterday and should finish it up tonight.  We own pretty much everything King has written yet I have never started this series.  Here we goooo......

(http://bokunosekai.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-gunslingers.jpg)

I started this one a while back, but still haven't finished it. I left in at a buddys house about an hour away, so I went ahead and started 'Ender's Game', which is also great. I'll probably start reading it again once I finished the one I'm on meow.

You guys should be psyched about the journey you're departing on.

Quote from: Lifeboy on April 27, 2012, 06:19:54 PM
I'm only about 1/4 into The Gunslinger, but I can already tell it's going to be a fucking awesome read, and make me drop everything else and read the other books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on April 30, 2012, 10:12:55 AM
(https://ddkpmexz7bq23.cloudfront.net/images/production/723/2012-01-28%2022:50:40%20-0800/large/FeverChart_paperback.jpg)

QuoteHaving spent most of his life medicated, electroshocked, and institutionalized, Jerome Coe finds himself homeless on the coldest night of the century — and so, with nowhere else to go, he accepts a ride out of New England from an old love's ex-girlfriend. It doesn't quite work out, but he makes it to New Orleans, and a new life—complete with a bandaged hand, world-champion grilled-cheese sandwiches, and only the occasional psychotic break. Things get better, and then, of course, they get worse. From a writer who's worked as a debt collector, book restorer, toilet scrubber, and door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salesman, Fever Chart is filled with a cast of Crescent City denizens that makes for one of the most vivid ensembles since Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.

really good so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on April 30, 2012, 10:42:30 AM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 30, 2012, 10:12:55 AM
(https://ddkpmexz7bq23.cloudfront.net/images/production/723/2012-01-28%2022:50:40%20-0800/large/FeverChart_paperback.jpg)

QuoteHaving spent most of his life medicated, electroshocked, and institutionalized, Jerome Coe finds himself homeless on the coldest night of the century — and so, with nowhere else to go, he accepts a ride out of New England from an old love's ex-girlfriend. It doesn't quite work out, but he makes it to New Orleans, and a new life—complete with a bandaged hand, world-champion grilled-cheese sandwiches, and only the occasional psychotic break. Things get better, and then, of course, they get worse. From a writer who's worked as a debt collector, book restorer, toilet scrubber, and door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salesman, Fever Chart is filled with a cast of Crescent City denizens that makes for one of the most vivid ensembles since Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.

really good so far.

Goddamn it! I just spent 2 hours yesterday in the bookstore, and one of the things I wanted to pick up was a book with NOLA as the background, and this would've been perfect. Ironically, I debated grabbing another copy of Confederacy of Dunces, which then lead me to this instead:

Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces

QuoteThe saga of John Kennedy Toole is one of the greatest stories of American literary history. After writing A Confederacy of Dunces, Toole corresponded with Robert Gottlieb of Simon & Schuster for two years. Exhausted from Gottlieb's suggested revisions, Toole declared the publication of the manuscript hopeless and stored it in a box. Years later he suffered a mental breakdown, took a two-month journey across the United States, and finally committed suicide on an inconspicuous road outside of Biloxi. Following the funeral, Toole's mother discovered the manuscript. After many rejections, she cornered Walker Percy, who found it a brilliant novel and spearheaded its publication. In 1981, twelve years after the author's death, A Confederacy of Dunces won the Pulitzer Prize.

In Butterfly in the Typewriter, Cory MacLauchlin draws on scores of new interviews with friends, family, and colleagues as well as full access to the extensive Toole archive at Tulane University, capturing his upbringing in New Orleans, his years in New York City, his frenzy of writing in Puerto Rico, his return to his beloved city, and his descent into paranoia and depression.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AR2a30YXbHs/TxTsVO8JD_I/AAAAAAAAAEA/cit9wEn9SeY/s320/New%2BPicture.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on May 01, 2012, 10:46:06 AM
Quote from: mehead on April 24, 2012, 06:55:19 PM
Started this yesterday and should finish it up tonight.  We own pretty much everything King has written yet I have never started this series.  Here we goooo......

(http://bokunosekai.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-gunslingers.jpg)

On to book #2...

(http://images.wikia.com/darktower/images/6/63/The_Drawing_of_the_Three5.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on May 01, 2012, 08:47:08 PM
(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1314747729l/11293842.jpg)

This dude takes the D&D/I-Ching/comicbooks/alchemy angle on his psychedelic career. Mainly, he has all these pop cultural (and occult curiosity) benchmarks for his progression which abrupty leaves soft drugs and takes up drinking & cocaine. It's kind of an addict's linear logic to their whole life story as readable signposts.
Overall, lots of right-on spots in the writing and lots of weak spots. Some of his mini history lessons are too long for their relation to the story he's telling; but he's clearly searching for a transcendence he knows to be reachable.

(http://www.straightandalert.com/805-860-large/spray-paint-the-walls-the-story-of-black-flag-stevie-chick.jpg)

All the Amazon reviews said there was nothing new in here, but I learned all kinds of stuff. The author conducted lots of new interviews with Kieth, Chuck, Kira, Joe Carducci, Glen E. Friedman, Mike Watt and a bunch of other people - plus a ton of citations from old punk zines and newspaper articles.

(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173311841l/271925.jpg)
Just got reissued, but I couldn't wait, so I interlibrary loaned one of the old ones. Top academic writing on the topic. Can't wait to start citing it in my class papers.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mfIbCW9-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
The Neurosoup girl's story. Granted, I wasn't expecting too too much going in, but what is it with editors these days? I know they still have 'em. I actually took more notes on, what were at first, humorous oversights. A couple there/theirs and questions ending with periods - but they got really distracting. The apex was when she wrote about having a feeling of "deshavoo." Proofreader, editor, spellcheck, nobody noticed that?!
There's some insightful bits here & there, and I appreciated her lab specifics, but I can see how her Kansan New Ageism might get on some people's nerves.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on May 02, 2012, 09:22:08 AM
Black Flag book looks cool, will have to try to find it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on May 07, 2012, 01:17:59 PM
Started Game of Thrones. Not bad so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on May 19, 2012, 03:27:44 PM
Just finished Ticketmasters by Dean Budnick. It was good, not great. It's written like an academic work. Lots of footnotes and resources used. Reads like it, too. There are some great anecdotes, but the writing definitely gets dry and tedious.

Still, if you want to know more about how we got to where we are today in the ticketing world, I would suggest it. There is definitely no better resource.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Tomapella on May 19, 2012, 04:41:45 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on April 27, 2012, 06:12:39 PM
I wanna read Dark Tower Series and the Enders Games this summer...dont know which to start yet.
Dont know much about the enders games.

Haven't actually read Dark Tower myself, I should get to that, but as for Ender, the first two books are definitely worth reading.  I think I like the sequel better, actually, but the series went downhill from there IMO.  Ender's Shadow is good, too, it runs parallel to Ender's Game but from a different character's viewpoint.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on May 19, 2012, 07:58:03 PM
Quote from: Tomapella on May 19, 2012, 04:41:45 PM
Quote from: emayPhishyMD on April 27, 2012, 06:12:39 PM
I wanna read Dark Tower Series and the Enders Games this summer...dont know which to start yet.
Dont know much about the enders games.

Haven't actually read Dark Tower myself, I should get to that, but as for Ender, the first two books are definitely worth reading.  I think I like the sequel better, actually, but the series went downhill from there IMO.  Ender's Shadow is good, too, it runs parallel to Ender's Game but from a different character's viewpoint.

Thanks for the input!
Think I am gonna start with Ender.
Dark Tower is next on the list, or maybe Game of Thrones...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on May 19, 2012, 08:19:21 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on April 30, 2012, 10:12:55 AM
(https://ddkpmexz7bq23.cloudfront.net/images/production/723/2012-01-28%2022:50:40%20-0800/large/FeverChart_paperback.jpg)

^^that was a lot of fun.  def recommended.

now on to...

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Jonathan-franzen-freedom.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on May 20, 2012, 04:01:32 PM
So looks like Game Of Thrones just jumped to the top of my list.
Saw it at the store when I was getting some food and it was 25% off. So I dropped the 4 bucks on it and about to crack into it now. I was hesitate about reading it because I have already seen the first season and been watching the 2nd. But reading the book is gonna be much different
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on May 23, 2012, 12:45:30 PM
Just finished this:

(http://www.hhholmesthefilm.com/images/devilinthewhitecity.jpg)

Fascinating simultaneous account of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and a serial killer who was operating there at the time.

Movie rights have been purchased (yay!) by Leonardo DiCaprio (boo!).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on May 23, 2012, 12:58:37 PM
So I stepped back from the Game of Thrones series after book 3 to take a break.  Went through a couple books:
(http://atolim.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/untilifindyou.jpg)

Love John Irving, but this one did not really do it for me.  Had some great parts and I enjoyed the story, but not enough to say it was one of his better novels.  Glad to hear he has another new novel out now!

(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171805651l/119747.jpg)

Saw The Last Best League earlier in the thread and went and checked it out.  Great read.  Very interesting story.  Recommend to anyone who enjoys baseball or has an interest in the sport and it's facets.

And now on to book 4 of Song of Ice and Fire series:
(http://www.bookcounty.com/148-165-large/a-feast-for-crows-a-song-of-ice-and-fire-book-four-by-george-r-r-martin.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on June 11, 2012, 10:57:40 AM
Me and my friend are reading Fahrenheit 451 as a tribute to Ray Bradbury, But after that going to finish up the foundation series.   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on July 21, 2012, 12:40:36 PM
(http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/becomingjimi-large-400x600%20nov22.jpg)

I've read every Jimi book published, this one is new.  only 6 chapters in however its interesting reading about Jimi's experiences in Nashville and the year or 2 right after he exited from the Army.  He had some decent gigs and fair income where his contemporaries were content, Hendrix wanted more and took risks at every opportunity to further his music and individuality.  one of the main reasons Hendrix played w/ such sheer volume was in 1962 or '63 he had been defeated in a guitar duel, not because he lacked technique or musicianship rather his competitor had more volume, something Jimi would never forget.  when he arrived in NYC for the first time in 1963, he stayed at the same Harlem Hotel where Malcom X had an office. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on August 07, 2012, 11:58:54 AM
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.spinner.com/media/2010/11/just-kids-patt-smith-200x330.jpg)

Outstanding, and that's coming from a guy who was never very interested in her music, until now at least.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on August 13, 2012, 06:04:14 PM
^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH-sZRtOgSc
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on August 14, 2012, 10:41:48 AM
Tackling "Flags in the Dust" by William Faulkner. I found it for two bucks in a coffee shop when I was at the beach last week. It's the original piece that the publishers pared down to make "Sartoris," so there's that story and then some. Faulkner rules.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on August 14, 2012, 11:06:01 AM
Quote from: phil on August 14, 2012, 10:41:48 AM
Tackling "Flags in the Dust" by William Faulkner. I found it for two bucks in a coffee shop when I was at the beach last week. It's the original piece that the publishers pared down to make "Sartoris," so there's that story and then some. Faulkner rules.

Love Faulkner - been a long time since I've ready any of his stuff - I need to dive back in again. My senior thesis class was "Faulkner's fiction in Southern History." I was a history major. We basically used his writing as a secondary source on history of Mississippi. My thesis explored the months immediately following the emancipation of the slaves.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on August 14, 2012, 11:25:18 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on August 14, 2012, 11:06:01 AM
Quote from: phil on August 14, 2012, 10:41:48 AM
Tackling "Flags in the Dust" by William Faulkner. I found it for two bucks in a coffee shop when I was at the beach last week. It's the original piece that the publishers pared down to make "Sartoris," so there's that story and then some. Faulkner rules.

Love Faulkner - been a long time since I've ready any of his stuff - I need to dive back in again. My senior thesis class was "Faulkner's fiction in Southern History." I was a history major. We basically used his writing as a secondary source on history of Mississippi. My thesis explored the months immediately following the emancipation of the slaves.

I'm a sucker for any of those Southern Gothic authors, but Faulkner takes the cake. I'm thinking I might just run through all of his shit, I own a good 60-70% of his works and could probably find the others relatively easily. I have a few duplicates as well that I'd be happy to share if you need em.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on August 14, 2012, 12:19:02 PM
A lot of Faulkner scholars believe most of his stories are based fact. He hung around in front the courthouse in Oxford everyday drinking with the old men and listening to their stories. Then he'd walk home and sit down and write all night.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Igbo on August 14, 2012, 12:24:50 PM
My vacation beach read.....

(http://www.gearculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/the-walking-dead-rise-of-the-governor.jpg)

Loved it!!! All action.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 14, 2012, 12:41:00 PM
Currently enjoying this on a nice Tuesday off...

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qs-lbL4XCjI/T5_5DhriyEI/AAAAAAAAATM/vm24wsmMeLc/s1600/Steinbeck-to_a_god_unknown_bookcover%5B1%5D.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: anthrax on August 14, 2012, 12:52:39 PM
just picked up my cross to bear by gregg allman from the library
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 14, 2012, 01:23:39 PM
Quote from: mirthbeatenworker on August 14, 2012, 12:41:00 PM
Currently enjoying this on a nice Tuesday off...

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qs-lbL4XCjI/T5_5DhriyEI/AAAAAAAAATM/vm24wsmMeLc/s1600/Steinbeck-to_a_god_unknown_bookcover%5B1%5D.jpg)

Quite enjoyed that book back when I was reading all of his stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on August 15, 2012, 01:45:22 AM
Quote from: anthrax on August 14, 2012, 12:52:39 PM
just picked up my cross to bear by gregg allman from the library

My wife checked this one out. I skipped the beginning and went straight to the formation of the ABB and read from there. Apparently, I missed a lot of awesome stuff. He slagged the WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW album, which I have fond college memories of. Overall, he seems like a pretty cool dude. He uses a bit of slang that I didn't always understand. It's cool to read his side of the Cher years. I was hoping for a bit more relating his role in the RUSH movie to the big Macon county drug bust which he was largely considered the narc of, but he didn't really place those two together.
It was nice to read it, though, since the ABB are my summer festival driving music and I had their 2nd album, W, L, or D, and a live '91 disc to listen to on the way out last weekend.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on September 04, 2012, 08:16:16 PM
Just re-read the hobbit. Forgot how incredible that book was.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on September 20, 2012, 12:04:39 AM
(http://resources.macmillanusa.com/jackets/500H/9781403965325.jpg)

Brown asks luminaries from various fields (physicists, neuroscientists, political historians, linguists, satirists, robotic engineers, media theorists, software developers, astronauts, Robert Anton Wilson) a similar set of questions. Topics include: Will the human species survive? What happens to consciousness after death? Are we alone in the universe? The evolution of future species. Lots of different answers and he follows tangents, which adds some variety. Lots of references to published studies and experiments, as well as lots of informed conjecture.
Each interview is it's own chapter, so I was able to read bits & pieces at my own leisure. Some of the interviewees have opinions about one another's work, as well, which is fun.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 20, 2012, 09:00:46 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 20, 2012, 12:04:39 AM
(http://resources.macmillanusa.com/jackets/500H/9781403965325.jpg)

Brown asks luminaries from various fields (physicists, neuroscientists, political historians, linguists, satirists, robotic engineers, media theorists, software developers, astronauts, Robert Anton Wilson) a similar set of questions. Topics include: Will the human species survive? What happens to consciousness after death? Are we alone in the universe? The evolution of future species. Lots of different answers and he follows tangents, which adds some variety. Lots of references to published studies and experiments, as well as lots of informed conjecture.
Each interview is it's own chapter, so I was able to read bits & pieces at my own leisure. Some of the interviewees have opinions about one another's work, as well, which is fun.

Might have to check that out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 20, 2012, 10:25:42 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 20, 2012, 09:00:46 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 20, 2012, 12:04:39 AM
(http://resources.macmillanusa.com/jackets/500H/9781403965325.jpg)

Brown asks luminaries from various fields (physicists, neuroscientists, political historians, linguists, satirists, robotic engineers, media theorists, software developers, astronauts, Robert Anton Wilson) a similar set of questions. Topics include: Will the human species survive? What happens to consciousness after death? Are we alone in the universe? The evolution of future species. Lots of different answers and he follows tangents, which adds some variety. Lots of references to published studies and experiments, as well as lots of informed conjecture.
Each interview is it's own chapter, so I was able to read bits & pieces at my own leisure. Some of the interviewees have opinions about one another's work, as well, which is fun.

Might have to check that out.

Agreed. Interest Piqued.

I'm currently reading The Road Less Traveled, y M. Scott Peck, Wherever You Go There You Are, by John Kabat Zinn, and The Complete Works of Swami Vivekanada, vol 1. (of an 8 vol series)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on September 20, 2012, 09:50:48 PM
Quote from: goodabouthood on September 20, 2012, 10:25:42 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 20, 2012, 09:00:46 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on September 20, 2012, 12:04:39 AM
(http://resources.macmillanusa.com/jackets/500H/9781403965325.jpg)

Brown asks luminaries from various fields (physicists, neuroscientists, political historians, linguists, satirists, robotic engineers, media theorists, software developers, astronauts, Robert Anton Wilson) a similar set of questions. Topics include: Will the human species survive? What happens to consciousness after death? Are we alone in the universe? The evolution of future species. Lots of different answers and he follows tangents, which adds some variety. Lots of references to published studies and experiments, as well as lots of informed conjecture.
Each interview is it's own chapter, so I was able to read bits & pieces at my own leisure. Some of the interviewees have opinions about one another's work, as well, which is fun.

Might have to check that out.

Agreed. Interest Piqued.

I'm currently reading The Road Less Traveled, y M. Scott Peck, Wherever You Go There You Are, by John Kabat Zinn, and The Complete Works of Swami Vivekanada, vol 1. (of an 8 vol series)

Hmm. JKZ's name has been buzzing around my like a fly lately. I don't know much about him. (or Peck  :|) I have seen Vivekananda's World's Fair speech on video, or a little bit of it; and I ran out and read PATHWAYS TO JOY. Reading it was a clarifying experience.
8 volumes, whoa. I didn't know he published that much. Check you out, Viv.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 13, 2012, 02:06:59 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/ReneDaumal_MountAnalogue.jpg/200px-ReneDaumal_MountAnalogue.jpg)

Allegory for the spiritual journey as a mountain-climbing expedition. I was diggin' where it was going, but forgot in the Introduction that they mentioned that Daumal died before he could finish it, so it 'ended' abruptly. I guess it's a good sign that I was thrown off by that - I was pretty invested in where it was going.
Now I'm pumped to read Camus' THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS. It'll have to wait until after this semester is over, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on October 26, 2012, 09:54:01 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QxZo7EP%2BL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Here, There, and Everywhere
My Life Recording Music of the Beatles
Geoff Emerick

A great read about the Beatles recording sessions. Emerick wasn't there for all of them (he quit in the middle of the White Album, came back for Abbey Rd) but witnessed most of it. He started as an assistant engineer the day of their very 1st session, and became the recording engineer for Revolver, Pepper, MMT, the White Album (until he quit) and Abbey Rd.
A story of the most important part of the Beatles legacy, their recordings.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on November 07, 2012, 12:59:15 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61llV0TPb3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

The Compleat Ankh-Morpork (Discworld Artefact)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Compleat-Ankh-Morpork-Discworld-Artefact/dp/0857520741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351530994&sr=8-1

On its way:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5133%2BJo9BeL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

Guitar Masters: Intimate Portraits

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Masters-Portraits-Alan-Perna/dp/1423489888

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 06, 2012, 11:17:51 AM
Woes Of The True Policeman

Roberto Bolano

Features a character from 2666, and judging by the first 40 pages should be good Bolano fare (even if it is technically unfinished). Wasn't really taken with The Third Reich.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: aphineday on December 06, 2012, 12:16:18 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lFH4gF4SL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
If you're a Neil fan, this is a great memoir.
He talks a lot about his life, inspirations, public perceptions, etc.
It's a little random, and he even acknowledges that his "form" doesn't really exist.
If you can handle him skipping around, and sometimes not even finishing a thought, it's a really cool ride.
I'm also extremely pumped about his new Pono lossless music. He is waging war on lesser quality formats, and I'm totally behind him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on December 07, 2012, 10:01:01 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/91/SmallIsBeautiful1973.jpg/200px-SmallIsBeautiful1973.jpg)

Great read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on December 14, 2012, 01:42:37 PM
(http://i43.tower.com/images/mm117187938/social-innovation-inc-5-strategies-for-driving-business-jason-saul-hardcover-cover-art.jpg)

I was supposed to read this for a book club that happened yesterday, but seeing as how Amazon didn't deliver the book until Wednesday, I am still reading it.  Pretty interesting CSR statistics so far
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on December 23, 2012, 04:51:59 PM
(http://timeentertainment.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/i-want-my-mtv.jpg?w=600&h=400&crop=1)


Oral histories are always a fun read. My wife & I have been passing this one back & forth for the last couple weeks. She was there for MTV's first day and watched it all the time; I got it the summer after 7th grade ('87) and watched a ton of it, too. The book covers the first 12 or so years. The interviewees are mostly: executives, directors or artists. It's given us some good ideas of stuff to look up on youTube. That Martha-Quinn-as-sex-symbol thing still gives me the creeps, though.  :?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXNe75_Vijc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXNe75_Vijc)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on December 23, 2012, 06:38:15 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Junot_wao_cover.jpg)
   Interesting story about a fat, slovenly, Dominican Uber Nerd. Lots of shocking Dominican history which I was absolutely oblivious to. Diaz won the Pulitzer for this book. Not sure it was worthy of the award but what do I know. Im looking forward to reading some of his other stuff.
 
Just getting into the new John Irving:
(https://literarytreats.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/9780307361783.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 23, 2012, 08:30:02 PM
Quote from: birdman on December 23, 2012, 06:38:15 PM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Junot_wao_cover.jpg)
   Interesting story about a fat, slovenly, Dominican Uber Nerd. Lots of shocking Dominican history which I was absolutely oblivious to. Diaz won the Pulitzer for this book. Not sure it was worthy of the award but what do I know. Im looking forward to reading some of his other stuff.
 
Just getting into the new John Irving:
(https://literarytreats.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/9780307361783.jpg)

Diaz's new story collection This Is How You Lose Her is supposed to be quite good. I read his first collection Drown, and if you like Wao, you will like it too (assuming you like short stories).

I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.



Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 25, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 23, 2012, 08:30:02 PM
I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.
haven't read all of them, but most of the "big ones". GW, Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, TR, FDR,Truman, and JFK iirc.
a really enjoyable way to learn history (for me)
the wife just gave me a Jeffersion bio for the holidaze

I should probably go back and re-visit GW, it's been a while.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 26, 2012, 07:54:53 AM
Quote from: slslbs on December 25, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 23, 2012, 08:30:02 PM
I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.
haven't read all of them, but most of the "big ones". GW, Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, TR, FDR,Truman, and JFK iirc.
a really enjoyable way to learn history (for me)
the wife just gave me a Jeffersion bio for the holidaze

I should probably go back and re-visit GW, it's been a while.

Nice. Which one is it? Jon Meacham's The Art Of Power?

This Washington bio is good (it is New Yorker/New Republic level reportage type writing, with not a little bit of gush about its' subject). Definitely learning a lot, but at 900 pages, I risk burn out before getting off the ground  :| For instance, I am getting more information regarding what Washington ordered from his London tailor at age 23 than I really need.

It will pick up during the AR and Presidency periods I'm sure.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 26, 2012, 11:27:59 AM
I heard that GW had quite the wardrobe. I was hoping if I improved mine, I might get lucky, so maybe that information about the tailor is helpful.

Yes - the book on TJ is the one by Meachem
I just started reading Who Am I (I alternate between musicians and world leaders), then Art of Power is next
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on December 27, 2012, 06:33:27 PM
Almost bit on the Meacham today with a GC I received but will wait to hear your prelim thoughts on it once you begin.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on March 29, 2013, 03:03:16 PM
(http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-dude-and-the-zen-master/9780399161643_custom-d4ace4700a9ea44c8ca32b8cc8f5b2da724ac9aa-s6-c10.jpg)

While I was reading it, and when I finished it, I didn't think it lived up to my expectations. But then I started looking back over it and now I've decided I like it. I think I was a little disappointed that it was half JEFF BRIDGES AND THE ZEN MASTER, and half THE DUDE AND THE ZEN MASTER (he talks a lot about his own career, not just THE BIG LEBOWSKI). But there is a lot of good stuff in here - "The Dude isn't uncomfortable with his discomfort," and "The Dude has thoughts, frustrations and everything that we all have, but he doesn't work from them."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on April 09, 2013, 09:12:48 PM
Three books at the moment:

A Map Of Tulsa by Benjamin Lytal. (Fiction/Novel)
-- Not very good, unless perhaps you live or are from Tulsa. 19 year old boy moves back home for summer after freshman year, starts to chase and bang an oil heiress meanwhile trying to write poetry and doing what 19 year olds do. The actual writing reminds me of a 19 year old in many places.

What Happened To Sophie Wilder by Christopher Beha. (Fiction/Novel)
-- Very good. 28 year old writer in a stagnant phase after first novel published to lukewarm reception, bumps into woman - also a writer who was very successful in his college class - he hasn't seen in many years at a party. She has since given up writing after converting to Catholicism. They were once a couple, but she has since married and divorced prior to the encounter. She leaves shortly after the reunite for unknown reasons and he goes off to find her. Compared to Graham Greene is what made me pick it up hesitantly - generally I hate books set in New York City - and I haven't read a bad review of it anywhere. Recommended.

Island: Complete Stories of Alistair Macleod. (Fiction)
-- Not sure yet. Takes place mostly in the Nova Scotia coast area. On a sentence level it is brilliant (think James Salter) but the stories seem dated and overly sentimental. Only read a few so far though.

Since moving to Tallahassee it has been hard to find a rhythm for reading, hard to find a rhythm for a lot of things, but I am hopefully finding a stride again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on April 09, 2013, 09:55:33 PM
Quote from: gainesvillegreen on December 27, 2012, 06:33:27 PM
Almost bit on the Meacham today with a GC I received but will wait to hear your prelim thoughts on it once you begin.

up to where he became Sec of State during the GW admin, about 1/4 - 1/3 in.
I like it, well written, informative, good commentary that seems supported by the data he presents
you can't sit and just slam through it - 1/2 chapter here, 1 chapter there, etc. Expected for this type of book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on April 10, 2013, 02:29:33 AM
if you guys want to read a truly brilliant U.S. history book, check out The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menand. won the history Pulitzer in '02. it's an amazing read. here's the write-up on it:


The Metaphysical Club was an informal group that met in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1872, to talk about ideas. Its members included Oliver Well Holmes, Jr., future associate justice of the United States Supreme Court; William James, the father of modern American psychology; and Charles Sanders Peirce, logician, scientist, and the founder of semiotics. The Club was probably in existence for about nine months. No records were kept. The one thing we know that came out of it was an idea -- an idea about ideas. This book is the story of that idea.

Holmes, James, and Peirce all believed that ideas are not things "out there" waiting to be discovered but are tools people invent -- like knives and forks and microchips -- to make their way in the world. They thought that ideas are produced not by individuals, but by groups of individuals -- that ideas are social. They do not develop according to some inner logic of their own but are entirely depent -- like germs -- on their human carriers and environment. And they thought that the survival of any idea deps not on its immutability but on its adaptability.

The Metaphysical Club is written in the spirit of this idea about ideas. It is not a history of philosophy but an absorbing narrative about personalities and social history, a story about America. It begins with the Civil War and ends in 1919 with Justice Holmes's dissenting opinion in the case of U.S. v. Abrams-the basis for the constitutional law of free speech. The first four sections of the book focus on Holmes, James, Peirce, and their intellectual heir, John Dewey. The last section discusses some of the fundamental twentieth-century ideas they are associated with. This is a book about a way of thinking that changed American life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on April 10, 2013, 10:51:47 AM
Finally got around to starting the recent Phish biography. It's an easy read and I'm nearly through it. There are basically no huge revelations here for anyone who's watched the band closely -- the story is familiar, but the book does a good job of filling in space with little details or anecdotes you might not have known about, which keeps it engaging.

One interesting thing I read last night, that doesn't quite jibe with the popular narrative, is that on Summer Tour 2003, the band members made a point of toning down the partying and not "enabling one another." The book states that Trey swore off everything, including caffeine, and stuck to a strict yoga regimen. We know not everyone was 100% clean that tour (see: Mike Gordon, Atlanta aftermath in Raleigh), but I think this does conflict with (what I take to be) the prevailing belief that all of post-hiatus was one big fuck-up fest, with Trey and his opioids playing the lead role. So actually, that's the most revelatory thing I've found in the book so far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on May 16, 2013, 01:38:01 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/Wagingheavypeacecover.jpg)
Waging Heavy Peace
Neil Young

Neil is a weird guy, but I guess we all knew that. Also, I guess I would be more surprised if he wrote a standard birth to present day book than the one he did. A good read, but at times it's a little tough to follow his stream of consciousness.

The story of him catching up with Stills in LA is reminiscent of the way Miles caught up with Bird in NYC.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on May 25, 2013, 10:37:03 PM
"Kasher in the Rye" by Moshe Kasher
(http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/157400000/157400071.JPG)

Great, great read. At first it was entertaining. Then I started losing my empathy for him. Then I was like 'What the hell are you doing, dude?' and I got to thinking he was a piece of shit.
However, once he takes the turn toward taking control of his life (sobriety being a significant part), the book really takes off. It was unexpected, but all these very moving passages at the end just bang!bang!bang! in a row.
I don't remember any books that have provoked tears like this one. And for half of the book, I didn't even like the guy.

* oddly, his stand-up comedy is mediocre at best. But wrapping up his life story the way he does in this book makes his lukewarm jokes totally redeemable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on May 30, 2013, 09:30:07 PM
The Orphan Master's Son
Author: Adam Johnson

The Map And The Territory
Author: Michel Houllebecq
Translated from the French by Gavin Bowd
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on June 10, 2013, 12:36:58 PM
Big in China, by Alan Paul.

The author is a free lance writer / columnist / edito for Guitar World and Slam. His wife was head of the WSJ office in Beijing for 3 years. The book is about their experience as ex-pats and also the blues band that he formed which aparantly became very popular.

It's a very enjoyable read and now on sale at Amazon, the Kindle version is $1.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Big-China-Adventure-Reinventing-ebook/dp/B004HD61JA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on June 11, 2013, 11:21:40 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tyO3HMBqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)

This could be a good introduction to both Katz' work, and the gender-cognizant approach to violence prevention. His breakdown of the Kobe Bryant rape case is excellent. I've been a 'fan' of his since I saw TOUGH GUISE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2PP76_PxQ (ftp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2PP76_PxQ)), which deals more specifically with male socialization and masculine identity-formation. He utilizes popular culture and popular response to that culture (as well as audience comments from his own presentations), instead of solely citing published studies. The world would be a better place if we all had some Jackson Katz around.

(http://i0.wp.com/hypebeast.com/image/2012/06/christian-hosoi-hosoi-my-life-as-a-skateboarder-junkie-inmate-pastor-book-01.jpg?w=930)
At first, I really liked his 1st-person / present-tense approach. Each chapter, even when he's a kid is told that way. "My second grade teacher is giving me 10 minutes tomorrow to show the class how to Ollie." I thought that was a pretty cool narrative move. His acceptance of ol' J.C. as his Lord&Savior is really abrupt, though. He goes from meth-smoking slut to born-again Christian in the blink of an eye. It was kind of strange when he began quoting the movie HOSOI which is this exact story and came out the same year. There were some editing errors that got on my nerves, too. He paraphrased his wife on one page, and on the facing page is her direct quote and it's the same sentence word-for-word. And when he's talking about smuggling things into prison, it's spelled "up the poop shoot." (!?!) What is it with editors, these days? And he's the "Chutes & Ladders" generation, no less.

(http://cb.pbsstatic.com/l/13/4313/264313.jpg)
A grandmother classmate of mine recommended this to me after we had a heart2heart in class one day. The author is a therapist who was noticing trends in his clients, so he put those trends into theory and published them. The book is broken up by decades (age 25 - 35, 35 - 45), into Major False Assumptions (which seem obvious when you read the table of contents) and Component Assumptions (which seemed like no-brainers, while also inapplicable to me). But then I started reading and it all started to make a lot of sense. Pretty soon, I was able to view a lot of my own life through these almost archetypal bids & battles. And I thought I'd looked at my life from every which angle there was. Lots of examples from his own practice. I saw a lot of my friends and their lives/struggles/issues in here, as well.

(http://ccstore.cannabisculture.com/files/files/Spiritual%20Growth%20with%20Entheogens%20Psychoactive%20Sacramentals%20-%20from%20the%20Good%20Friday%20Experiment%20to%20the%20Direct%20Experience%20of%20the%20Divine.jpg)
Another great compendium from Tom Roberts. Although there are plenty of clinicians, academics and religious scholars in here, Roberts writes for the everyman. The last few chapters are plans & prophesies for the near future, so it's not all review of the past. If someone I cared about expressed interest in exploring psychedelics, this would be one of the first resources I'd steer them toward.

(http://www.dougfine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TooHighToFail-198x300.jpg)
I'm gonna start off this summer's light reading with this one. I wish it had a different title. I didn't read his first book, but this dude definitely writes like a journalist. By that I mean that he tries too hard to include too much information in each sentence - and be funny at the same time. Don't know if I'll make it to the end, since I've got some other books coming in, like ...

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41-Hx0xoqvL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
I've wanted to read this one for years. (I mean, how fucking cool were the Diggers?) I thought it was out of print, but I looked it up at my library on a whim and there is was. It's a lot longer than I thought. Hopefully it will pick up the pace. Grogan's a great writer, but he suffers from NewYorkCity-itis - 2/3 of his writing is street names, bridges and landmarks. I'm sure if you know the city really well (i.e. you've lived there long enough to be 'a New Yorker') it will paint a vivid picture, but it's starting to come off a little self-congratulatory to me. Yes, Emmet, I'm sure you have always been very down. Peter Coyote's intro is fantastic - same quality writing style as his autobiography "Sleeping where I Fall."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 08, 2013, 09:15:41 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLevdqcOEIM
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on August 09, 2013, 01:10:49 AM
Currently reading  The First Four Notes.    Very interesting as it hits music theory, history, philosophy and relates it to the first 4 notes of Beethoven's Fifth.
Very thick, not real summer reading.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412r3XBCghL._SY346_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_.jpg)

Just before was The Cassandra Project.  Light, nice read, good twist at the end, but it seems to just wrap up all of the sudden.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ypQ0neDML._SY346_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on September 13, 2013, 11:57:33 PM
(http://quarterlyconversation.com/images/the-road.jpg)

During a quick road trip up to Seattle, a friend let me borrow this and James Baldwin's THE FIRE NEXT TIME.
I'm about 3/4 in. It wasn't grabbing me much at first; but I don't read many novels these days, so my imagination is pretty atrophied. I'd read the word "ash" a hundred times, but I didn't have much of a picture in my head until half-way through the book.
Now, even though I wouldn't say I like the book a whole lot, I realize I'm quite invested in how these two are going to make out.
My friend also gave me this interesting theory that makes the read very intriguing. He doesn't think the boy actually exists. So I'm kind of reading it like the boy is some sort of apparition resulting from a prolonged fever-dream. Like, the man needs it to keep going on, like a post-traumatic multiple-personality, yet does battle with it in some ways, too.
Not only am I excited to read how it turns out, I'm also trying to finish it by tomorrow night so I can watch the movie. I haven't even watched the trailer or seen any photos from it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Gundo on September 14, 2013, 03:11:57 AM
I definitely made a huge mistake seeing the movie before reading the book.  :frustrated:
At the time, I had no idea.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: whatthecello42 on September 14, 2013, 04:10:23 AM
(http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9780670825370_p0_v1_s260x420.jpg)
just finished it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 08, 2013, 10:01:49 PM
^^ I need to read that just because I remember when it came out (I was in middle school) and the furor that ensued. At that age, I didn't think literature was a provocative art form any longer ("Books are dead, man"). It was refreshing to be proven wrong. Plus, his new book is all about the aftermath ... like getting onstage with Bono!

MO' META BLUES: The World According to Questlove 
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_b2c/media/cache/f8/73/f8737f0927841a6cf4e71c9285341a83.jpg)
My wife is reading this, actually, but I've been checking random passages and they've all been awesome. ?uestlove is not throwing the word 'meta' around, either. He's a serious philosopher on the trajectory of black music/identity/culture. At the gym the other day, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" came on and I wondered if ?uest was going to address it in the book.

And then while I was expecting to catch up on some academic reading in Barnes & Noble, I found MINISTRY: The Lost Gospels of Al Jourgensen
(http://www.urchicago.com/storage/ministry-jourgensen-wiederhorn-cover.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1375119513047)
Some pretty cool memories of the goth/industrial scene back in the '80s. I read the chapter on THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE since that's one of my desert-island-discs - not especially revealing. Lots of good on-the-road mayhem stories, though. I imagine a whole book of them would get old, but it certainly held my attention for an hour or two.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on October 10, 2013, 08:09:54 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e9/Doctor_Sleep.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on October 10, 2013, 09:01:01 AM
I finally decided to grab 'Searching for the Sound' off Amazon.  I've read a couple different  :syf: bios but I've always wanted to give this a read so I'm pretty stoked for it to get here.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on October 10, 2013, 10:02:01 AM
Just finished this:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WGLLmq0eL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Of Dice And Men: the Story of Dungeons And Dragons And The People Woo Play It - by David Ewalt

It's a pretty cool history of the game and exploration into its popularity; written for non-players with many easter eggs for those who do play.


Now I'm on to:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BdNuc6qoL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
The Last Colony - by John Scalzi
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on October 10, 2013, 12:55:47 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5137WJMXxpL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Michael Crichton - Pirate Latitudes

I didn't know anything got published after he died.  I'm just happy to be able to read one last Crichton book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on October 11, 2013, 04:08:48 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on October 08, 2013, 10:01:49 PM


MO' META BLUES: The World According to Questlove 
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_b2c/media/cache/f8/73/f8737f0927841a6cf4e71c9285341a83.jpg)
My wife is reading this, actually, but I've been checking random passages and they've all been awesome. ?uestlove is not throwing the word 'meta' around, either. He's a serious philosopher on the trajectory of black music/identity/culture. At the gym the other day, "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" came on and I wondered if ?uest was going to address it in the book.



someone just sent me this. Haven't started it yet though...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on November 05, 2013, 10:03:47 PM
Another one nicked from my wife's library cue.
Marc Maron - ATTEMPTING NORMAL
(http://www.wtfpod.com/uploads/blog/Marc-Maron_ATTEMPTING-NORMAL_bookcover-cover1s2.jpg)

At first, I kind of felt like he was stuck in the same self-mythologizing existentialist misanthropy I gave up in my early 20s. Like the smallest of life's minutiae are all about him and his neuroses.
But the more I read, the more I started to appreciate his talent as a writer. Sure, it can be predictably pessimistic at times, but a lot of the times it's actually uplifting. And he really knows how to wrap a story up into a cool little Life Lesson he's learned in a weird funny way. Plus, you can skip around all the chapters since there's no chronology.
Man, that podcast has done him (and his abilities) a world of good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 09, 2013, 03:57:17 PM
Food of the Gods - Terence McKenna

Here's a great quote: "The psilocybin intoxication is a rapture whose breadth and depth is the despair of prose."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on November 11, 2013, 11:53:06 PM
Never read any W. Somerset Maugham before. Unfortunately, I ran out of patience after the first 25 pages. Maybe it gets cool later.
(http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348127938l/31196.jpg)

So I'm on to Aldous Huxley's ISLAND, instead, which is astonishingly ahead of its time. Guess I'll have to check out BRAVE NEW WORLD soon.
(http://firstdraftofanything.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/island-by-aldous-huxley.jpg)

Also picked up THE ODYSSEY, which I think I might enjoy now that it's not assigned, and I'm no longer a 14 year-old who hates reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on December 29, 2013, 07:38:48 PM
(http://img1.imagesbn.com/p/9781599951508_p0_v3_s260x420.JPG)

Fans of art and/or military history will enjoy Monuments Men, which I recently finished. It tells the story of a handful of art experts who were tasked with hunting down and preserving the many thousands of priceless pieces of art and cultural heritage stolen by the Nazis during WWII.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:01:45 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.

So it's Sartre: No Exit?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 29, 2013, 09:04:19 PM
Quote from: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:01:45 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.

So it's Sartre: No Exit?

almost word for word.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:07:47 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 09:04:19 PM
Quote from: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:01:45 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.

So it's Sartre: No Exit?

almost word for word.

Breakfast club has Emilio Estevez pretending he's high on marihuana, which is the high point of his acting career
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on December 29, 2013, 10:11:32 PM
Quote from: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:07:47 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 09:04:19 PM
Quote from: kellerb on December 29, 2013, 09:01:45 PM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.

So it's Sartre: No Exit?

almost word for word.

Breakfast club has Emilio Estevez pretending he's high on marihuana, which is the high point of his acting career

in this book the main character is in hell after OD'ing on the same substance.  chicks can't hold their smoke, that's what it is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on December 30, 2013, 12:32:42 AM
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/DoAndroidsDream.png/220px-DoAndroidsDream.png)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Phillip K. Dick

I've read this before but I just picked it up recently when I was cleaning out a closet. It's perfect timing cause my girlfriend gave me A Scanner Darkly by him for Christmas!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on December 31, 2013, 09:29:59 AM
Quote from: mbw on December 29, 2013, 08:57:42 PM
(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/images/books/damned-us-1.jpg)

pretty good so far.  it's essentially The Breakfast Club, but in hell.

wifey got this for xmas as well as his latest.....

(http://chuckpalahniuk.net/files/styles/book-cover-lg/public/images/books/doomed-us_0.jpg?itok=XcxJE1NA)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on January 18, 2014, 10:57:38 AM
(http://www.thedisasterartistbook.com/global%20graphics/bookcover.png)

I just finished The Disaster Artist, a first-hand account of the making of The Room, an incredibly bad, and compelling, film, and also of the crazed man responsible for it.

If you've seen this movie you should read it. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it, then read the book, then watch the movie again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on January 18, 2014, 12:23:46 PM
the Palahniuk book was ok.  That's pretty much how I feel about all his books.  I have the sequel, will probably read it.

Currently reading:

(http://www.ncregister.com/images/sized/images/editorial/zealot-255x388.jpg)

I find the subject matter interesting, but I just had to read it after this interview on Fox Noise...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt1cOnNrY5s

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: barnesy305 on January 18, 2014, 12:56:55 PM
Quote from: mbw on January 18, 2014, 12:23:46 PM
the Palahniuk book was ok.  That's pretty much how I feel about all his books.  I have the sequel, will probably read it.

Currently reading:

(http://www.ncregister.com/images/sized/images/editorial/zealot-255x388.jpg)

I find the subject matter interesting, but I just had to read it after this interview on Fox Noise...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt1cOnNrY5s

Stupid bitch is stupid. Dude shuts her down.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on January 18, 2014, 07:47:36 PM
That FN interview is hilarious. From the people who brought you "Jesus is white."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on January 18, 2014, 09:02:49 PM
Quote from: V00D00BR3W on January 18, 2014, 10:57:38 AM
(http://www.thedisasterartistbook.com/global%20graphics/bookcover.png)

I just finished The Disaster Artist, a first-hand account of the making of The Room, an incredibly bad, and compelling, film, and also of the crazed man responsible for it.

If you've seen this movie you should read it. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it, then read the book, then watch the movie again.

Okay. So when this movie was out a couple years ago, I had several friends in different cities telling me that not only was it the best movie in the world, but that there had never been anything like it before. Real groundbreaking stuff. I was told I had to see it in the theater; so when I missed the chance I was kicking myself.
Nowadays, I'm hearing how it's a complete turd and probably the worst movie ever made and that the writer/protagonist is a self-aggrandizing embarrassment.
I guess my question is - Is it worth watching outside the theater, i.e. in my house?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on February 14, 2014, 07:46:13 AM
Geeking out with the Stones.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yVKyPzH_2lc/UvzIvE__tRI/AAAAAAAAPa4/w0IR2kf2Zu4/w781-h586-no/20140213_142930.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on March 08, 2014, 09:53:00 AM
Morrissey: Autobiography

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Morrissey_Autobiography_cover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on March 08, 2014, 09:55:24 AM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on March 08, 2014, 09:53:00 AM
Morrissey: Autobiography

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Morrissey_Autobiography_cover.jpg)

That's a Penguin Classic?   :?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: anthrax on March 10, 2014, 08:50:04 PM
My Life with Deth - by David Ellefson
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on March 10, 2014, 09:18:22 PM
Quote from: mbw on March 08, 2014, 09:55:24 AM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on March 08, 2014, 09:53:00 AM
Morrissey: Autobiography

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Morrissey_Autobiography_cover.jpg)

That's a Penguin Classic?   :?

The cover is a painting of the punchline of one of my favorite jokes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on March 10, 2014, 09:55:39 PM
Quote from: mbw on March 08, 2014, 09:55:24 AM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on March 08, 2014, 09:53:00 AM
Morrissey: Autobiography

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Morrissey_Autobiography_cover.jpg)

That's a Penguin Classic?   :?

I don't know about Penguin these days.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bobafett on April 01, 2014, 10:28:58 PM
Just picked up annihilation by Jeff vandermeer... Can't put it down.  So far it's like a great outdoor acid trip!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on June 14, 2014, 04:05:54 PM
THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY by Alejandro Jodorowsky

(http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1364137366l/2296112.jpg)

Great read. It's kind of preposterous, in a way; as in, it's hard to believe all the stories he tells really happened. Regardless, the teachings he conveys are awesome.
He has one Japanese Zen master who he comes back to regularly, but the rest of his 6 teachers are women. And he's very candid.


PRESENT SHOCK: WHEN EVERYTHING HAPPENS NOW by Douglas Rushkoff

(http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/Present-Shock.jpg)

Wonderfully provocative read. It's hard to follow all of his theories, so I let some of them pass or wash over me if I can't grasp them right away. The pop culture references keep the reader engaged and some of his ideas are, dare I say, important. Great fodder for conversation with fellow heads.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gainesvillegreen on July 22, 2014, 09:38:36 PM
I am reading my first Le Carre novel, The Constant Gardner, and would give it a C+ so far (1/3 finished). I think I was expecting something more Graham Greene-ish, so that is on me and not fair to the writer.

I was able to recently acquire his entire output. Are there any Le Carre lovers on this forum who can make a rec on what else to read by him? I started this one as he specifically listed it as one of his best (Tailor of Panama was also listed), and the movie was decent. As an aside, I have started Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the movie) three times and fallen asleep all three.

TIA.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 24, 2014, 02:30:42 AM
Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind (20)

(http://neufutur.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Book-Review-Last-Night-at-the-Viper-Room.JPEG-00da9.jpg)

Great bedside smut, or bathroom read. Moves quick, and has some hilarious/classic moments - like when River hits on Ione Skye, who won't leave Anthony Keidis for him. On the serious, though - I put in a library request for MOSQUITO COAST. I never watched it and I think I'm gonna like it.
My morbid side is fascinated with alt-rock supergroup p (A. Jourgensen, Gibby Haynes, Flea). According to Wikipedia - "While the band were in the middle of their song "Michael Stipe", which includes the lines "I'm glad I met old Michael Stipe, I didn't get to see his car. Him and River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow" and "but we didn't have a part, not a piece of our heart, not Michael, River Phoenix or Flea or me." Phoenix (unbeknownst to the band at the time) was outside the venue having seizures on the sidewalk."

Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy  by  Alejandro Jodorowsky

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VVBYhlQSL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Only 50 or 60 pages in, right now. I'm in for this ride, man. I've been having Jodorowsky moments all summer, so reading this is just more of how much of his rap I can take before I break off into disbelief, but continue following/pursuing. It's the type of read I want to wash over me - I'm not considering a philosophy or evaluating. Just splashing it over me until I get out to see a couple of his movies in the cinema this week.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on July 24, 2014, 07:43:40 AM
(http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0284/1216/products/Beyond-Category-Duke-Ellington_large.jpg?v=1385772249)

so far so good.  I bought a vinyl box of his earliest recordings, nice to read about their genesis here. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 18, 2014, 01:53:35 PM
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_n8GmUTGUQ/U1_ZaQof8KI/AAAAAAAACkk/b4kDGc8WKXE/s1600/whofaq.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on December 24, 2014, 07:15:33 PM
went outside earlier and found a copy of this in my mailbox:

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t31.0-8/10863893_10204216430669395_9154699438384487921_o.jpg)

Thanks converse29, Merry Xmas eve!  Stoked to have another copy of this gem as I lost/misplaced mine a long time ago.  Thanks buddy!   
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 29, 2014, 09:18:25 AM
got a copy of this for Chanukah - tearing through it.
great book by one of the most innovative musicians of my lifetime

(http://www.booksigningcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/81SVymm-5qL.jpg)


this one is next
(http://books.google.com/books/content?id=wnZ0qL3QdkgC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE73B9xmHxcL1r6byi1xSr15_K6YGSZKsFPc_ruXn3uYGmqvv-cUxBwQKW8gxXlin6A8_1vAO0UysGtn-5HZ8RwpNnW3ZOA7_lr0Ei9XXNc2ULH70JIElvV3QbZmSXZiCdXXRFzH_)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on December 30, 2014, 08:54:27 AM
Just ordered this one ...

(https://www.dustandgrooves.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/KN4A0593.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on April 11, 2015, 11:23:46 PM
Kerouc - Big Sur  (1962)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/BigSur.jpg)

Drove south through the California coast over spring break, so I thought I'd read this one before I left. I kept forgetting to look up who was who (with the pseudonyms, and all), but I could figure out most of the main ones.
I might try watching the movie version tonight.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on April 12, 2015, 09:20:51 AM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on April 11, 2015, 11:23:46 PM
Kerouc - Big Sur  (1962)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/BigSur.jpg)

Drove south through the California coast over spring break, so I thought I'd read this one before I left. I kept forgetting to look up who was who (with the pseudonyms, and all), but I could figure out most of the main ones.
I might try watching the movie version tonight.

Love that book although it makes me sad.

There's a good album by Jay Farrar (Son Volt) & Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) called "One Fast Move".  It's built on the text from the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on April 12, 2015, 11:34:26 AM
HG Wells - Time Machine
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: anthrax on April 13, 2015, 07:22:34 PM
Dee Snider - Shut Up and Give Me the Mic
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on April 13, 2015, 07:37:45 PM
(http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328316630l/12599811.jpg)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13707734-the-swerve
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on June 24, 2015, 09:28:01 PM
Quote from: anthrax on April 13, 2015, 07:22:34 PM
Dee Snider - Shut Up and Give Me the Mic

How was it? I bet that dude has some hilarious fellow-80s-celebrities war stories.


I started LIFE OF PI this week. Never saw the movie, so it's all brand new to me. So far, I'm into it.

(http://pradeepamohan.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/life-of-pi-book-cover.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: zimbra on July 15, 2015, 11:23:24 AM
In the last two weeks I finished:

Bukowski's "Post Office"
Maugham's "Razor's Edge"

I just purchased Maugham's "The Painted Veil" which I will start on my plane to Vegas on Friday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on July 15, 2015, 03:16:18 PM
Ready Player One

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1bCf-Xhe4L.jpg)

A great read for fans of sci-fi, 80s pop culture, computers, video games and dorks in general.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 18, 2015, 12:28:58 AM
I remember this soundtrack being pretty hip backNtheday.
Saw the movie a bunch of times - good stuff.
Then I saw the new paperback cover,  -
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rGt8%2BPs0L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

and remembered that I had never read the book. It was a fast, deep read. Even with the movie-actors in my head as I read the story, it was still really good. Mainly because, as several book/literary critics have pointed out - there's not a word of that book in the movie. Right away, I noticed that Clay was hardly a moral compass in the book. At 18, he's so slutty he can't even remember which boys at a party he's already had sex with (and he isn't even considered gay or bi by any of the other characters). The Julian character is a practically ghost in the book. While RDJr. is fantastic in the movie, he's barely in the book at all. And his 'rock bottom' in the movie is not only far less freaky than in the book, it's not even the lowest of how low these kids get.
It was also cool, having ready AMERICAN PSYCHO when it came out, to see BE-E flex a couple of the literary moves he would later be recognized for.
Although I was a bit bummed that the Elvis Costello song "Less Than Zero" doesn't bear too much resemblance to the themes of the book unless you really stretch it.


I'm trying to read the KEBRA NEGAST next, but it's really dense.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on July 18, 2015, 07:48:12 PM
Quote from: Mr. Natural on July 18, 2015, 12:28:58 AM
I remember this soundtrack being pretty hip backNtheday.

SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!     :rawk:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr Minor on July 19, 2015, 12:47:27 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 15, 2015, 03:16:18 PM
Ready Player One

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1bCf-Xhe4L.jpg)

A great read for fans of sci-fi, 80s pop culture, computers, video games and dorks in general.

Read that in May.  Great story. Great references.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on August 01, 2015, 06:06:31 PM
(http://www.jazzbooks.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/HHP.jpg)

started it last night, so good. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on August 03, 2015, 07:29:30 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 19, 2015, 12:47:27 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 15, 2015, 03:16:18 PM
Ready Player One

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1bCf-Xhe4L.jpg)

A great read for fans of sci-fi, 80s pop culture, computers, video games and dorks in general.

Read that in May.  Great story. Great references.

Read it last year. Great book.
Soon to be a motion picture.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on August 04, 2015, 08:16:39 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on August 03, 2015, 07:29:30 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 19, 2015, 12:47:27 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 15, 2015, 03:16:18 PM
Ready Player One

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1bCf-Xhe4L.jpg)

A great read for fans of sci-fi, 80s pop culture, computers, video games and dorks in general.

Read that in May.  Great story. Great references.

Read it last year. Great book.
Soon to be a motion picture.
Didn't realize it was getting the film treatment.  Looks like Spielberg is slated to direct it per IMDb.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on August 04, 2015, 08:31:53 AM
Quote from: susep on August 01, 2015, 06:06:31 PM
(http://www.jazzbooks.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/HHP.jpg)

started it last night, so good.

Slammed through most of this over the weekend. It's easy to read and can feel a little simplistic but I really enjoyed it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on October 10, 2015, 02:05:13 PM
OCCUPY SPIRITUALITY  (2013)  -  a dialogue between Adam Bucko and Mathew Fox

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CtjqY4XxL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Imbues/grounds 21st-century political reform movements with spiritual practice. Very contemporary, which is a novelty in the 'spirituality' genre. Fox's text can be pretty academic at times, but he's still got some personality shining through.


DEAL: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead (2015) - Bill the Drummer

(http://www.jambands.com/images/2014/10/27/52984/10636724_10153293895895031_7817680460266173353_o-353x.jpg)

We all know the main plot points, but Bill is pretty candid regarding his opinions about those plot points, i.e. not being down with Mickey coming back into the band. I appreciated his willingness to express views which probably won't be very popular amongst 'Heads. Best of all, he knows which war stories have already been told, so he makes sure to include new ones.


BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME (2015)  -  by Ta-Nehisi Coates

(http://joemadison.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Between-the-World-and-Me-0-290x370.jpg)

Sparse.
Yet dense.
In a slightly voyeuristic way, this met my curiosity about The Talk that black parents have to give their kids about making their way through a white-normative society. The format is a letter to his son, and it focuses on who the black body belongs to, how that ownership is enforced, and the effects it has over generations, leading up to (although he hasn't mentioned it by name yet) the BlackLivesMatter movement.
Even when I was challenged, or I disagreed, I kept on reading - and have been handsomely rewarded. It is not necessarily a book to be agreed with, just absorbed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on November 04, 2015, 03:00:33 PM
Not bad, not great. Guy can't  resist to go overly academic.

(https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/61pmeniusll.jpg?w=806&h=1104)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 04, 2015, 03:51:33 PM
I just read the 331/3 book on "A Live One" by Walter Holland.
It's fucking great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on November 11, 2015, 05:08:01 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 04, 2015, 03:51:33 PM
I just read the 331/3 book on "A Live One" by Walter Holland.
It's fucking great.

Indeed. On a par with Joe Harvard's book on The Velvet Underground & Nico and Philip Shaw's Horses.


Next one for me in this series: Bitches Brew.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on November 12, 2015, 08:14:53 AM
I've just finished my re-read of the Song of Ice and Fire series. Come on G.R.R.M, finish the next book already, and then instantly get started on the next one so we can read it in another ten years.  :roll:

Quote from: khalpin on August 04, 2015, 08:16:39 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on August 03, 2015, 07:29:30 AM
Quote from: Mr Minor on July 19, 2015, 12:47:27 PM
Quote from: khalpin on July 15, 2015, 03:16:18 PM
Ready Player One

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/A1bCf-Xhe4L.jpg)

A great read for fans of sci-fi, 80s pop culture, computers, video games and dorks in general.

Read that in May.  Great story. Great references.

Read it last year. Great book.
Soon to be a motion picture.
Didn't realize it was getting the film treatment.  Looks like Spielberg is slated to direct it per IMDb.

I go this book in Loot Crate awhile back. I read the opening chapter but then forgot about it. I think I'll grab it off the shelf and give it a read through.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 15, 2015, 09:08:55 PM
Started Ready Player One on audio book in the car this weekend. So far so good.

Also a friend left the 33 1/3 ALO here recently so I'm looking forward to taking my time returning that to him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 16, 2015, 10:26:14 AM
Started reading ALO last night. It is, indeed, super.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on November 21, 2015, 06:38:26 PM
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES - Jeffrey Eugenides  (1993)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cDbyPSvNL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

God damn.
I think this is my favorite book now. I saw the movie in the theater and liked it alot. Last month, I saw its soundtrack at the library, which brought me back.
So good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on November 25, 2015, 11:15:07 PM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on November 11, 2015, 05:08:01 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 04, 2015, 03:51:33 PM
I just read the 331/3 book on "A Live One" by Walter Holland.
It's fucking great.

Indeed. On a par with Joe Harvard's book on The Velvet Underground & Nico and Philip Shaw's Horses.


Next one for me in this series: Bitches Brew.

Wow. The ALO book really is excellent. Wanky writing of that sort if hard to pull off, but he does a great job. Anyone read his book on fall '97? I might have to check that one out too.

Before that I read the Bitches Brew book. It was okay. Seems better suited for those who are only vaguely familiar with Miles and with the album. This author's wanky writing often feels forced, and though he's knowledgeable and loves the music, I didn't get much insight from it.

Haven't read any others in the series. And other really good ones people have sampled?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 26, 2015, 09:45:02 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 25, 2015, 11:15:07 PM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on November 11, 2015, 05:08:01 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 04, 2015, 03:51:33 PM
I just read the 331/3 book on "A Live One" by Walter Holland.
It's fucking great.

Indeed. On a par with Joe Harvard's book on The Velvet Underground & Nico and Philip Shaw's Horses.


Next one for me in this series: Bitches Brew.

Wow. The ALO book really is excellent. Wanky writing of that sort if hard to pull off, but he does a great job. Anyone read his book on fall '97? I might have to check that one out too.

Before that I read the Bitches Brew book. It was okay. Seems better suited for those who are only vaguely familiar with Miles and with the album. This author's wanky writing often feels forced, and though he's knowledgeable and loves the music, I didn't get much insight from it.

Haven't read any others in the series. And other really good ones people have sampled?

I haven't read Wally's Fall '97 book but he does talk kind of the way he writes. Check out his recent appearance on HFPod.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 26, 2015, 10:14:16 AM
Re-reading this, after inhaling it back in May. This guy's 5th novel.

I may have crowed about him before--can't say enough good things about this guy's work. He's a literary child of Toni Morrison & Robert Frost.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 18, 2015, 06:16:50 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 26, 2015, 09:45:02 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on November 25, 2015, 11:15:07 PM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on November 11, 2015, 05:08:01 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 04, 2015, 03:51:33 PM
I just read the 331/3 book on "A Live One" by Walter Holland.
It's fucking great.

Indeed. On a par with Joe Harvard's book on The Velvet Underground & Nico and Philip Shaw's Horses.


Next one for me in this series: Bitches Brew.

Wow. The ALO book really is excellent. Wanky writing of that sort if hard to pull off, but he does a great job. Anyone read his book on fall '97? I might have to check that one out too.

Before that I read the Bitches Brew book. It was okay. Seems better suited for those who are only vaguely familiar with Miles and with the album. This author's wanky writing often feels forced, and though he's knowledgeable and loves the music, I didn't get much insight from it.

Haven't read any others in the series. And other really good ones people have sampled?

I haven't read Wally's Fall '97 book but he does talk kind of the way he writes. Check out his recent appearance on HFPod.

i tried the Fall '97 book. it's borderline unreadable. it's just a bunch of childish bullshit, mostly cribbed from his own interweb posts, with little coherent discussion of the music, plus a lot of bitching about songs he hates. don't play this guy Sand or Bug, i guess.

he clearly got older, upped his writing game, and actually gave a shit for the 33 1/3 book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mehead on January 07, 2016, 09:54:02 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tu8-yBRAL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Starting this today.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on January 13, 2016, 07:45:35 PM
DANCING WITH THE DEAD - Rosie McGee

(http://www.rosiemcgee.com/images/final.ebook.cover.300x200.jpg)

First surprise (good) - The book is primarily text. Not a whole lotta news, but it takes you to a time & place, when it works well.
2nd surprise (not so good) - The photos, which were the selling point when this came out as an eBook last summer and which I was really looking forward to, are fucking photocopied black&whites in the print edition.


ALMOST INTERESTING - David Spade

(http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/KP8AAOSw~otWeVbm/s-l225.jpg)

I don't think I've ever read a book and heard the author's voice speaking in my head so clearly. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, too. He's harsher on himself than anybody else; and it's hilarious. Plus, he's got some great celebrity stories from before he was famous.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: GBL on January 13, 2016, 11:29:01 PM
Started reading the goldfinch, because birdman told me too
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on March 29, 2016, 06:59:16 AM
Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America
by Jesse Jarnow

I woke up at about 4:30 this morning unable to sleep (it happens) and saw the email from Amazon that this was ready to read in ebook form. I had preordered it.

I'm one chapter in and it's really good.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on March 29, 2016, 08:42:53 AM
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=30152;image)

Got the hardcopy last week and I'm about to finish it. Dude covers so much ground- some very familiar, some completely foreign to me- it's amazing.
I'm really enjoying the book and am looking forward to interviewing him for HFPod.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on March 29, 2016, 08:52:04 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LwT4vG75L._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

really interesting read, and highly recommended whether or not you are a video game person (she does a really good job of making it about all types of games, not just modern videogaming). Really cool because it's given me a new and much deeper appreciation of things I already *kind of* knew, while also exploring the relevance/application of those lessons to everyday life
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on April 30, 2016, 07:46:11 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 29, 2016, 08:42:53 AM
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=30152;image)

Got the hardcopy last week and I'm about to finish it. Dude covers so much ground- some very familiar, some completely foreign to me- it's amazing.
I'm really enjoying the book and am looking forward to interviewing him for HFPod.

Had to return this one to the library today without finishing it. I'm less than 100 pages in, but totally digging it. I can't wait to get to the early '90s.
That's superkickass that you get to interview the author.


Most of my reading time has been spent on
"In the Shadow of the Banyan Tree" by Vaddey Ratner
(http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346714589l/15768648.jpg)

First person account of the Khmer Rouge 'takeover' of Cambodia.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on May 16, 2016, 09:16:39 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517CXPG4JXL.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 16, 2016, 02:34:08 PM
I think in the past 5 years, I've read this at least once a year... back at it as of last night.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on June 18, 2016, 07:37:42 AM
welcome back
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 18, 2016, 08:44:16 AM
Quote from: slslbs on June 18, 2016, 07:37:42 AM
welcome back

:) <3
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 08, 2016, 10:25:17 PM
Quote from: alcoholandcoffeebeans on June 16, 2016, 02:34:08 PM
I think in the past 5 years, I've read this at least once a year... back at it as of last night.

My best friend & I used to read this every summer so that we finished on his deathday July 3rd.
12-, 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old me loved it.
I'm a sucker, though - I'll still read any biography on that dude that comes out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 08, 2016, 10:28:48 PM
(http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338829729l/13542726.jpg)

Interesting read. The author (whose first two books are bios on Belushi and Farley) revisits his alma mater to talk with his old teachers about their experiences when desegregation went down. More surprising revelations than I'd originally thought.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on July 08, 2016, 11:44:17 PM
 American Nations - A History of the Eleven Rival Cultures of North America

really good read about the general historiography of this continent BUT they lump most of Virginia (e.g. the piedmont of Va. and parts of West Va.) into the Tidewater region which is plain ol bullcorn to me. Honestly though it's fascinating if you've ever driven from one state to the next and noticed a marked difference in culture/accent/ect. and wondered why.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on July 09, 2016, 11:14:16 PM
Quote from: phil on July 08, 2016, 11:44:17 PM
American Nations - A History of the Eleven Rival Cultures of North America

really good read about the general historiography of this continent BUT they lump most of Virginia (e.g. the piedmont of Va. and parts of West Va.) into the Tidewater region which is plain ol bullcorn to me. Honestly though it's fascinating if you've ever driven from one state to the next and noticed a marked difference in culture/accent/ect. and wondered why.

I just read the sample pages on Amazon and decided to order it.  I want to say I read a review of it when it came out, because I definitely have seen that map before.  Now that I think about it, I might have seen it posted here in one of the political threads. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the read.  Thanks for the recommendation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: phil on July 10, 2016, 05:54:06 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on July 09, 2016, 11:14:16 PM
Quote from: phil on July 08, 2016, 11:44:17 PM
American Nations - A History of the Eleven Rival Cultures of North America

really good read about the general historiography of this continent BUT they lump most of Virginia (e.g. the piedmont of Va. and parts of West Va.) into the Tidewater region which is plain ol bullcorn to me. Honestly though it's fascinating if you've ever driven from one state to the next and noticed a marked difference in culture/accent/ect. and wondered why.

I just read the sample pages on Amazon and decided to order it.  I want to say I read a review of it when it came out, because I definitely have seen that map before.  Now that I think about it, I might have seen it posted here in one of the political threads. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the read.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Nice! Looking forward to comparing notes
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 16, 2016, 08:00:00 PM
Occasionally high-falutin', but digging it so far.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GZ9244kNL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: anthrax on July 19, 2016, 02:19:09 PM
Heads by Jesse Jarnow
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on July 19, 2016, 02:36:08 PM
Quote from: anthrax on July 19, 2016, 02:19:09 PM
Heads by Jesse Jarnow

I plowed through the first half, got to about 84/85 where the focus turns to Phish and put it down - been meaning to pick it up again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Mr. Natural on July 20, 2016, 05:56:22 PM
Good for thinkin'.

(https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/05/23/arts/23BOOKZEISLER1/23BOOKZEISLER1-master180.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on July 30, 2016, 05:19:45 AM
Quote from: phil on July 10, 2016, 05:54:06 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on July 09, 2016, 11:14:16 PM
Quote from: phil on July 08, 2016, 11:44:17 PM
American Nations - A History of the Eleven Rival Cultures of North America

really good read about the general historiography of this continent BUT they lump most of Virginia (e.g. the piedmont of Va. and parts of West Va.) into the Tidewater region which is plain ol bullcorn to me. Honestly though it's fascinating if you've ever driven from one state to the next and noticed a marked difference in culture/accent/ect. and wondered why.

I just read the sample pages on Amazon and decided to order it.  I want to say I read a review of it when it came out, because I definitely have seen that map before.  Now that I think about it, I might have seen it posted here in one of the political threads. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the read.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Nice! Looking forward to comparing notes

I enjoyed it very much.  My biggest issue with it was that he seemed to gloss over the significance of the rural/urban divide -- particularly in today's climate.  But, then again, it was meant to be more about the dominant culture/politics of these "nations," so that complaint isn't all that valid I suppose.  He also seemed to gloss over the post-Reconstruction history rather quickly, too.  But, overall, I really dug it and thought it was a good read. 

So, you disagree that your area of Virginia is in Tidewater?  For the most part I think he got the boundaries correct in my general area (though I'd maybe adjust his map by a county here and a county there). 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on July 30, 2016, 03:16:25 PM
(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/13614935_10206705016811550_9010182418810911246_n.jpg?oh=a65bcc99b55b766b5c2fee1251a74f9a&oe=58105791)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: zimbra on July 31, 2016, 02:08:49 PM
Although it is not for everyone, everyone should read this..

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41WQljvLVvL._SX301_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on July 31, 2016, 05:16:37 PM
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on September 04, 2016, 10:20:29 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xBqLtZ-NL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Just finished this over the weekend, it's a really well done satire on tribalism.  As it states on the cover, his style reminds me a lot of Kurt Vonnegut.  I'd definitely recommend it. 

From the jacket:

Quote"In the ghetto there is a mansion, and it is my father's house."

Warren Duffy has returned to America for all the worst reasons: His marriage to a beautiful Welsh woman has come apart; his comics shop in Cardiff has failed; and his Irish American father has died, bequeathing to Warren his last possession, a roofless, half-renovated mansion in the heart of black Philadelphia. On his first night in his new home, Warren spies two figures outside in the grass. When he screws up the nerve to confront them, they disappear. The next day he encounters ghosts of a different kind: In the face of a teenage girl he meets at a comics convention he sees the mingled features of his white father and his black mother, both now dead. The girl, Tal, is his daughter, and she's been raised to think she's white.

Spinning from these revelations, Warren sets off to remake his life with a reluctant daughter he's never known, in a haunted house with a history he knows too well. In their search for a new life, he and Tal struggle with ghosts, fall in with a utopian mixed-race cult, and ignite a riot on Loving Day, the unsung holiday for interracial lovers.

A frequently hilarious, surprisingly moving story about blacks and whites, fathers and daughters, the living and the dead, Loving Day celebrates the wonders of opposites bound in love.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on November 15, 2016, 08:50:04 PM
(http://rockandrollcollection.com/images/pink-floyd/Nick%20Mason%20-%20book%20-%20Inside%20Out%2001.png)

nice score for $13.00. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 16, 2016, 01:14:09 PM
Nice. I bet you get an interesting insider's perspective from him as opposed to the two big guns.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on November 16, 2016, 01:38:22 PM
just started this one
pretty interesting stuff

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61YO1%2BhE92L._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 16, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
^ If that's about what I think it is, I'm sure it's depressing as hell.



I just finished this novel:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wCNYSZVyL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

It's a science-y thriller that deals with quantum physics and its implications. Some pretty good mindfuck fodder in here. Very fast read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on November 16, 2016, 03:52:25 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BU33Tf8NL.jpg)

I figured I would check this out because of all of the buzz and awards, and I'm very glad I did. 

The main character is a communist double agent embedded within the South Vietnamese government.  It picks up with him and his fellow southern officers fleeing the country in '75 after the fall of Saigon.  They begin a new life as refugees in the Vietnamese community in Los Angeles.  The main character's mission is to basically spy on his superiors' efforts in LA to quietly rebuild an army/resistance movement with the help of the US government, while reporting back to his communist agents in Vietnam.  That's the plot, in a nutshell. 

It deals with a lot of issues and themes -- from love and friendship, to the ethics and effectiveness of torture, to whether it's a gift or a curse to be able to sympathize with "both sides" of an issue or conflict -- but at its heart it's a fast-paced, kick ass spy novel that challenges the common American narrative of the Vietnam War.  With a decent amount of humor to cut all the darkness, it makes for both a fast and enjoyable read that will likely leave you with a new understanding of the war.  Or, you know...you'll at least be entertained.  I'd definitely recommend it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on November 16, 2016, 03:56:27 PM
Quote from: VDB on November 16, 2016, 01:56:00 PM
^ If that's about what I think it is, I'm sure it's depressing as hell.


I find it pretty interesting, theres a little gloom as far as everyone is tied into a piece of technology these days but does help understand the business model in the tech world these days. The main point of the book is that platforms are currently the best way to organize tech based start up companies. Basically, platforms-like Amazon, Facebook, iTunes, SnapChat, etc.-move beyond the the linear business model (where products move through suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and THEN customers, buy for a nickel sell for a dime) and instead present commerce and information in a more easily accessible way that benefits both buyers and sellers at the same time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on November 16, 2016, 04:56:20 PM
I just started re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Although I've read them quite a few times, this is my first time reading 'The Revised Edition' of The Gunslinger. Right from the start I can pick out the changes, that's how many times I've read the first book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: kellerb on November 17, 2016, 09:57:11 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on November 16, 2016, 04:56:20 PM
I just started re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Although I've read them quite a few times, this is my first time reading 'The Revised Edition' of The Gunslinger. Right from the start I can pick out the changes, that's how many times I've read the first book.

He takes out the Parsecs reference!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on November 17, 2016, 10:01:03 AM
Quote from: kellerb on November 17, 2016, 09:57:11 AM
Quote from: mistercharlie on November 16, 2016, 04:56:20 PM
I just started re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Although I've read them quite a few times, this is my first time reading 'The Revised Edition' of The Gunslinger. Right from the start I can pick out the changes, that's how many times I've read the first book.

He takes out the Parsecs reference!

WHAT!?!?! Blasphemy! That's like making Greedo shoot first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on November 30, 2016, 07:00:17 PM
Recently finished Keef's autobiography:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51stPOZi6mL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Needless to say, there are some great stories in here. But what I took away the most was what a dedicated and talented artist he really is. And what a phenomenon the Stones were/are.

Guitarists might also appreciate those moments where he talks about how some of his more iconic riffs and guitar bits were developed. Apparently he messed around with a lot of different tuning and whatnot based on tips and tricks derived from how some of the old bluesmen did things. As I was reading these passages, it made me wonder how that might have affected Trey in trying to pull off Exile on Main Street. Then I went back and rewatched the set and, sure enough, Trey is switching guitars quite often between songs.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on December 01, 2016, 04:18:58 PM
^ good read.

Indeed some crazy stories in there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: McGrupp on December 01, 2016, 05:04:59 PM
Been really digging Ryan Holiday's stuff lately. Got turned on to him via Tim Ferriss' podcast. Ryan is all about stoic philosophy. His writing is great, filled with lots of historical anecdotes. These books have really helped me to think about the way I live differently.

The Obstacle Is The Way
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KiJBZg5%2BL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Ego Is The Enemy
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51YfVCoRFcL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Definitely recommend checking these out if you're into philosophy, history, or self-improvement type stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: GBL on December 01, 2016, 09:45:19 PM
Thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on December 03, 2016, 11:35:09 AM
Quote from: VDB on November 30, 2016, 07:00:17 PM
Recently finished Keef's autobiography:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51stPOZi6mL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Needless to say, there are some great stories in here. But what I took away the most was what a dedicated and talented artist he really is. And what a phenomenon the Stones were/are.

Guitarists might also appreciate those moments where he talks about how some of his more iconic riffs and guitar bits were developed. Apparently he messed around with a lot of different tuning and whatnot based on tips and tricks derived from how some of the old bluesmen did things. As I was reading these passages, it made me wonder how that might have affected Trey in trying to pull off Exile on Main Street. Then I went back and rewatched the set and, sure enough, Trey is switching guitars quite often between songs.

Read this when it first came out. Great stories. Also remember reading a review of it that ended with the line, "spoiler alert: he survives!"

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on December 03, 2016, 05:41:16 PM
Quote from: PGLHAH on December 03, 2016, 11:35:09 AM
Quote from: VDB on November 30, 2016, 07:00:17 PM
Recently finished Keef's autobiography:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51stPOZi6mL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Needless to say, there are some great stories in here. But what I took away the most was what a dedicated and talented artist he really is. And what a phenomenon the Stones were/are.

Guitarists might also appreciate those moments where he talks about how some of his more iconic riffs and guitar bits were developed. Apparently he messed around with a lot of different tuning and whatnot based on tips and tricks derived from how some of the old bluesmen did things. As I was reading these passages, it made me wonder how that might have affected Trey in trying to pull off Exile on Main Street. Then I went back and rewatched the set and, sure enough, Trey is switching guitars quite often between songs.

Read this when it first came out. Great stories. Also remember reading a review of it that ended with the line, "spoiler alert: he survives!"

Same, totally loved every minute of this read.
I've ripped on Keith's talent and style in the past but this really opened my eyes to how tuned in he was with the music and what he was trying to create.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 06, 2016, 03:44:50 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on December 03, 2016, 05:41:16 PM
Quote from: PGLHAH on December 03, 2016, 11:35:09 AM
Quote from: VDB on November 30, 2016, 07:00:17 PM
Recently finished Keef's autobiography:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51stPOZi6mL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Needless to say, there are some great stories in here. But what I took away the most was what a dedicated and talented artist he really is. And what a phenomenon the Stones were/are.

Guitarists might also appreciate those moments where he talks about how some of his more iconic riffs and guitar bits were developed. Apparently he messed around with a lot of different tuning and whatnot based on tips and tricks derived from how some of the old bluesmen did things. As I was reading these passages, it made me wonder how that might have affected Trey in trying to pull off Exile on Main Street. Then I went back and rewatched the set and, sure enough, Trey is switching guitars quite often between songs.

Read this when it first came out. Great stories. Also remember reading a review of it that ended with the line, "spoiler alert: he survives!"

Same, totally loved every minute of this read.
I've ripped on Keith's talent and style in the past but this really opened my eyes to how tuned in he was with the music and what he was trying to create.
agree, great book
I see his style as more to create a feeling or a groove than to do a great solo. He explains it well, and was one of the best at that.

In an interview somewhere, Trey said that he learned a lot from both Keith and Mick Taylor when learning Exile, especially the open tunings (from Keith)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on December 06, 2016, 10:03:06 PM
Quote from: slslbs on December 06, 2016, 03:44:50 PM
In an interview somewhere, Trey said that he learned a lot from both Keith and Mick Taylor when learning Exile, especially the open tunings (from Keith)

Do you mean learned directly, to prep for the show, or just "learned from them" indirectly by learning the material?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sls.stormyrider on December 07, 2016, 02:13:03 PM
indirectly, studying the album to prep for the show
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on January 17, 2017, 03:09:13 PM
Recently finished:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41qEIJYipiL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

If you're not familiar with this series (there's also an edition for A Live One), these are little books that talk about classic albums and the artists who made them. Pretty educational -- I've enjoyed Bitches Brew for years but knew little about its production. And more than just being about the album itself, the author here also spends a considerable amount of time talking about Miles and jazz in general, which helps to establish the context around and leading up to the creation and release of Bitches Brew.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jam> on January 19, 2017, 09:02:22 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 29, 2016, 08:42:53 AM
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=30152;image)

Got the hardcopy last week and I'm about to finish it. Dude covers so much ground- some very familiar, some completely foreign to me- it's amazing.
I'm really enjoying the book and am looking forward to interviewing him for HFPod.

Finally reading this now and I'm hooked. It's required reading in my opinion.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on January 19, 2017, 11:18:11 AM
Quote from: VDB on January 17, 2017, 03:09:13 PM
Recently finished:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41qEIJYipiL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

If you're not familiar with this series (there's also an edition for A Live One), these are little books that talk about classic albums and the artists who made them. Pretty educational -- I've enjoyed Bitches Brew for years but knew little about its production. And more than just being about the album itself, the author here also spends a considerable amount of time talking about Miles and jazz in general, which helps to establish the context around and leading up to the creation and release of Bitches Brew.

If you dug that you should dive into this one:

Listen to This Miles Davis and Bitches Brew
by Victor Svorinich

https://www.amazon.ca/Listen-This-Miles-Davis-Bitches/dp/1628461942

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/listen-to-thismiles-davis-and-bitches-brew-miles-davis-by-ian-patterson.php
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jam> on January 19, 2017, 12:53:25 PM
Quote from: mattstick on January 19, 2017, 11:18:11 AM


If you dug that you should dive into this one:

Listen to This Miles Davis and Bitches Brew
by Victor Svorinich

https://www.amazon.ca/Listen-This-Miles-Davis-Bitches/dp/1628461942

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/listen-to-thismiles-davis-and-bitches-brew-miles-davis-by-ian-patterson.php

Duly noted. Thanks!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Guyute on January 23, 2017, 02:29:10 PM
Throwing it back, actually first time reading this:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: alcoholandcoffeebeans on January 25, 2017, 08:47:20 AM
^^ I love that book.

Quote from: jam> on January 19, 2017, 09:02:22 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on March 29, 2016, 08:42:53 AM
(http://week4paug.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4845.0;attach=30152;image)

Got the hardcopy last week and I'm about to finish it. Dude covers so much ground- some very familiar, some completely foreign to me- it's amazing.
I'm really enjoying the book and am looking forward to interviewing him for HFPod.

Finally reading this now and I'm hooked. It's required reading in my opinion.

gonna start this in the next few days.... anyone wanna throw anything else on this subject matter out there for me to read?
I can always use new books.  :-D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mattstick on January 25, 2017, 08:59:47 AM
I quit reading Heads sometime around '86 in his chronological timeline. Maybe I will jump back in this weekend.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jam> on January 25, 2017, 09:07:58 AM
Quote from: mattstick on January 25, 2017, 08:59:47 AM
I quit reading Heads sometime around '86 in his chronological timeline. Maybe I will jump back in this weekend.

I did some skimming here and there but overall found it worthwhile.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on January 26, 2017, 05:06:33 PM
Quote from: Guyute on January 23, 2017, 02:29:10 PM
Throwing it back, actually first time reading this:

I don't think I've read that since it was assigned to me in high school.  I should probably go back and read it again, I'm sure I would appreciate it much more than I did at the time. 


As for me, I'm almost done with this:

(https://readingforrobin.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/4ddcc993-6884-48b8-a654-472c85551732img100-alt.jpg)

It's a very moving story that takes place (mostly) in NYC shortly before, during and after WWII.  It's follows two Jewish cousins in Brooklyn, one of whom escaped from Nazi-occupied Prague to get there, who go on to become key players in the golden age of comic books.  I knew next to nothing about that industry before digging into it and, while I can imagine that a comic book nerd would really love the premise, you don't need to know anything about it to enjoy the book, as it's really a story about family and friendship.  There's also a lot of stuff about magic/escapism -- Harry Houdini shit -- so if that also interests you, then this is the book for you.  But, again, those are really just plot devices that are used to tell a much bigger story, so I would still recommend it to anyone really, regardless of your interest (or lack thereof) in comics/magic. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on January 26, 2017, 05:22:11 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on January 26, 2017, 05:06:33 PM
Quote from: Guyute on January 23, 2017, 02:29:10 PM
Throwing it back, actually first time reading this:

I don't think I've read that since it was assigned to me in high school.  I should probably go back and read it again, I'm sure I would appreciate it much more than I did at the time. 


As for me, I'm almost done with this:

(https://readingforrobin.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/4ddcc993-6884-48b8-a654-472c85551732img100-alt.jpg)

It's a very moving story that takes place (mostly) in NYC shortly before, during and after WWII.  It's follows two Jewish cousins in Brooklyn, one of whom escaped from Nazi-occupied Prague to get there, who go on to become key players in the golden age of comic books.  I knew next to nothing about that industry before digging into it and, while I can imagine that a comic book nerd would really love the premise, you don't need to know anything about it to enjoy the book, as it's really a story about family and friendship.  There's also a lot of stuff about magic/escapism -- Harry Houdini shit -- so if that also interests you, then this is the book for you.  But, again, those are really just plot devices that are used to tell a much bigger story, so I would still recommend it to anyone really, regardless of your interest (or lack thereof) in comics/magic.

Great book, reminds me that I need to read Telegraph Avenue which is about a record store in Berkeley. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on January 26, 2017, 06:30:11 PM
I'll have to add Telegraph Avenue to my list.  I had never read anything by Chabon before, and I figured it was time to finally check him out, so I picked up used copies of "Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" on the cheap.  Best four dollars I've spent on books in quite a while! 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on February 02, 2017, 12:22:19 AM
Quote from: ytowndan on January 26, 2017, 06:30:11 PM
I'll have to add Telegraph Avenue to my list.  I had never read anything by Chabon before, and I figured it was time to finally check him out, so I picked up used copies of "Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" on the cheap.  Best four dollars I've spent on books in quite a while!
Don't know why I never check this thread out.  I read a ton and am always looking for new stuff.  I want to check out Kavalier and Clay.  I have had Telegraph Ave on my Kindle for about a month.  It was on the staff picks shelf of a local bookstore so I threw it on the Kindle but haven't gotten to it yet.  Finished the Owsley bio a few weeks back (highly recommend) and have gotten through about 3/4 of Heads but haven't picked it up in a month.  Kind of lost steam for me but I'll finish it I'm sure.  Have to go back and look at this thread to see what's already been discussed.  Need to check out those Bitches Brew books too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on March 20, 2017, 10:35:28 PM
Just finished:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61qEq7s02uL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Fans of violence and whaling will enjoy this one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on April 12, 2017, 06:36:03 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on January 26, 2017, 06:30:11 PM
I'll have to add Telegraph Avenue to my list.  I had never read anything by Chabon before, and I figured it was time to finally check him out, so I picked up used copies of "Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" on the cheap.  Best four dollars I've spent on books in quite a while!

After taking a little break, I decided to dive back into Chabon's stuff.  I'm currently a little more than halfway through Telegraph Avenue, and I'm enjoying it just as much as I did Kavalier and Clay and Yiddish Policemen's Union.  I can imagine that you Vinyl Thread regulars will go bonkers over the subject matter (there's also a bunch of goodies for jazz fans and film buffs)!

I have his latest novel (Moonglow) on deck.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on June 12, 2017, 04:56:07 PM
Quote from: VDB on March 20, 2017, 10:35:28 PM
Just finished:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61qEq7s02uL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Fans of violence and whaling will enjoy this one.

I just picked this up at the library, and I'm looking forward to it!




I just finished Ill Will by Dan Chaon.  It's an awesome psychological thriller about two sets of murders that's being billed as a "literary thriller," which I suppose is an appropriate description, because it's very addictive and has the pace of a thriller, but it certainly doesn't spoon-feed you every last detail like most works of popular fiction in that genre.  On the contrary, it makes you work a bit and doesn't answer everything neatly.

The narrative structure is also kind of experimental: It is told through multiple points of view; has several timelines; uses first, second, and third-person narration; jumps from traditional prose to chains of emails and text messages; and it has a funky format that uses empty spaces to simulate broken or abandoned thoughts and will sometimes throw text into several vertical columns per page to simulate multiple tracks of thought. 

Depending on how fast you read and how much time you have, you might just devour this mind fuck of a novel in a night or two. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on June 13, 2017, 10:03:14 AM
Ill Will sounds interesting. Added to the list!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on August 18, 2017, 01:24:06 PM
(https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780394408736-us-300.jpg)

Interesting (and coincidental) timing on me reading this book, what with recent events and all. If you've seen Ken Burns's "The Civil War" (if you haven't, why haven't you?) then you're already a fan of Shelby Foote. Turns out he's just as good on the page as he is on the TV screen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 19, 2017, 01:48:25 AM
(https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/20590167_181563692384556_8626433808196960256_n.jpg)

Tony Visconti - The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy

Published in 2007. Fun read. Should be updated to cover the final two Bowie albums he worded on.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 31, 2017, 09:26:56 PM
Quote from: VDB on August 18, 2017, 01:24:06 PM
(https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780394408736-us-300.jpg)

Interesting (and coincidental) timing on me reading this book, what with recent events and all. If you've seen Ken Burns's "The Civil War" (if you haven't, why haven't you?) then you're already a fan of Shelby Foote. Turns out he's just as good on the page as he is on the TV screen.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZZ51qrH.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on January 27, 2018, 11:47:59 AM
(https://www.stonesthrow.com/uploads/images/product/detail/check-the-technique-book.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: iamhydroJen on March 22, 2018, 10:57:03 AM
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/380540000114-0-1/s-l1000.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on March 22, 2018, 11:26:28 AM
^^^ Phenomenal book. I just listened to it on audible, 15 years after initially reading it, and it was just as good and well worth the second go around. Enjoy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on August 18, 2018, 07:41:12 AM
(https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328752006l/8460375.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on August 21, 2018, 05:07:40 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DxOnePpWL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on August 21, 2018, 07:23:41 PM
Quote from: emay on August 21, 2018, 05:07:40 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DxOnePpWL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Any good? 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on August 21, 2018, 10:26:43 PM
Quote from: khalpin on August 21, 2018, 07:23:41 PM
Quote from: emay on August 21, 2018, 05:07:40 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41DxOnePpWL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Any good?

I like it. Very good background on the writers, hidden jokes, and all around behind the scenes stories of making the show. Goes into detail on how they produce episodes too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mbw on August 21, 2018, 11:40:24 PM
(https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/11/29/arts/29BOOKNOAH/29BOOKNOAH-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)

Really great autobiography of his childhood in South Africa during and after apartheid.  Being half black and half white was essentially illegal, thus the title.

I actually listened to the audiobook, which is the preferred format as it is narrated by him, and he weaves in and out of various languages and is really cool to hear that.  Dude is fluent in 8 languages, crazy.

Needless to say, it was a fucked up situation and you really get a feel for the history and the daily life of apartheid in S.Africa then, which was pretty recent, and is still a pretty fucked up place racially.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on August 22, 2018, 10:46:27 AM
^^^ I did the audible of that too...second the rec. Especially cool to hear him narrate it.

Other recent audible's narrated by the author I enjoyed:

Recovery by Russell Brand
Fascism by Madeleine Albright
I Forgot to Die by Khalil Rafati
A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on September 10, 2018, 10:13:04 AM
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Ready_Player_One_cover.jpg/220px-Ready_Player_One_cover.jpg)

My eldest recommended this one. He got most of the gaming and Monty Python references, Now I am boring with all the music and movie references.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on September 16, 2018, 04:56:26 PM
Quote from: gah on March 22, 2018, 11:26:28 AM
^^^ Phenomenal book. I just listened to it on audible, 15 years after initially reading it, and it was just as good and well worth the second go around. Enjoy.

Yeah, Shantaram is so awesome.  Didn't think about the audible version.  Will check that out as a re-read is a pretty big time commitment lol.  As for what is currently on my Kindle and I am in various stages of progress.  Enjoying all of them!

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on September 16, 2018, 06:48:39 PM
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Brushing up on some philosophical and spiritual readings, most are repeats.
On my list:
The Four Agreements
The Fifth Agreement (new)
Drop The Rock
The Spirituality of Imperfection *** Highly recommend!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 17, 2018, 04:54:52 PM
Quote from: Caravan2001 on September 16, 2018, 04:56:26 PM
Quote from: gah on March 22, 2018, 11:26:28 AM
^^^ Phenomenal book. I just listened to it on audible, 15 years after initially reading it, and it was just as good and well worth the second go around. Enjoy.

Yeah, Shantaram is so awesome.  Didn't think about the audible version.  Will check that out as a re-read is a pretty big time commitment lol.  As for what is currently on my Kindle and I am in various stages of progress.  Enjoying all of them!

dude, even listening to it again is a big commitment...40 hours I think! Also, i got how to change your mind, on audible going right now as well.

Quote from: ph92 on September 16, 2018, 06:48:39 PM
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Brushing up on some philosophical and spiritual readings, most are repeats.
On my list:
The Four Agreements
The Fifth Agreement (new)
Drop The Rock
The Spirituality of Imperfection
*** Highly recommend!

both of these are on my to read list.

Currently reading the Te of Piglet...a companion book to the Tao of Pooh.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 17, 2018, 05:27:17 PM
The 'Newbury & Hobbes series' by George Mann. British turn of the century Steampunk murder/mysteries. Pretty good series, the first trilogy is out, as is the first book in the second.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ph92 on September 17, 2018, 09:11:40 PM
Quote from: gah on September 17, 2018, 04:54:52 PM
Quote from: Caravan2001 on September 16, 2018, 04:56:26 PM
Quote from: gah on March 22, 2018, 11:26:28 AM
^^^ Phenomenal book. I just listened to it on audible, 15 years after initially reading it, and it was just as good and well worth the second go around. Enjoy.

Yeah, Shantaram is so awesome.  Didn't think about the audible version.  Will check that out as a re-read is a pretty big time commitment lol.  As for what is currently on my Kindle and I am in various stages of progress.  Enjoying all of them!

dude, even listening to it again is a big commitment...40 hours I think! Also, i got how to change your mind, on audible going right now as well.

Quote from: ph92 on September 16, 2018, 06:48:39 PM
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Brushing up on some philosophical and spiritual readings, most are repeats.
On my list:
The Four Agreements
The Fifth Agreement (new)
Drop The Rock
The Spirituality of Imperfection
*** Highly recommend!

both of these are on my to read list.

Currently reading the Te of Piglet...a companion book to the Tao of Pooh.


I read Te of Piglet in my first treatment, didn't even realize there was another one! I'll have to nab it.

Drop the rock is fire. I make all my sponsees read it as a part of their 6&7. Real quick read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on September 18, 2018, 01:02:41 AM
I just finished reading an interview with my favorite drumming pauger...

https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/ (https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: birdman on September 18, 2018, 05:51:29 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on September 18, 2018, 01:02:41 AM
I just finished reading an interview with my favorite drumming pauger...

https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/ (https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/)
Great interview. Very cool :wtu:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: shoreline99 on September 18, 2018, 07:30:32 AM
Quote from: birdman on September 18, 2018, 05:51:29 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on September 18, 2018, 01:02:41 AM
I just finished reading an interview with my favorite drumming pauger...

https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/ (https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/)
Great interview. Very cool :wtu:

Dunno, man. That drummer seems suspicious :wtu:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on September 18, 2018, 10:06:37 AM
Quote from: birdman on September 18, 2018, 05:51:29 AM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on September 18, 2018, 01:02:41 AM
I just finished reading an interview with my favorite drumming pauger...

https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/ (https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/interview-jauntee-scott-ferber-2018/)
Great interview. Very cool :wtu:

solid interview. good exposure. like the b line, blowing up. "keep going"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on October 18, 2018, 02:16:17 PM
I just learned about Libby and sending library books to my Kindle. So I have finally gotten around to reading A Song of Ice and Fire. I am on book 3 at the moment and damn I cannot believe it took me this long to read these books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on November 07, 2018, 11:34:32 AM
The Beastie Boys Book - dude - a must read!! It is sofa king great!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on November 07, 2018, 12:23:01 PM
Just cracked Jesse Jarnow's new book: Wasn't That A Time: The Weavers, The Blacklist and the Battle For The Soul Of America
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: PIE-GUY on November 07, 2018, 12:48:46 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 07, 2018, 12:23:01 PM
Just cracked Jesse Jarnow's new book: Wasn't That A Time: The Weavers, The Blacklist and the Battle For The Soul Of America

oh yeah - that's next on my list!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on November 07, 2018, 10:44:10 PM
Just finished Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis' biography.
With the stories he recounts, it's hard to imagine he was able to recall such detail (although I may have said the same about Keith's book 'Life' too, lol)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on November 08, 2018, 01:47:06 PM
Quote from: PIE-GUY on November 07, 2018, 12:48:46 PM
Quote from: rowjimmy on November 07, 2018, 12:23:01 PM
Just cracked Jesse Jarnow's new book: Wasn't That A Time: The Weavers, The Blacklist and the Battle For The Soul Of America

oh yeah - that's next on my list!

Good call. Ordered it just now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: gah on November 08, 2018, 03:40:23 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on November 07, 2018, 10:44:10 PM
Just finished Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis' biography.
With the stories he recounts, it's hard to imagine he was able to recall such detail (although I may have said the same about Keith's book 'Life' too, lol)

I'm in the middle of listening to this on audible. It makes me wanna do drugs!  :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Caravan2001 on November 09, 2018, 09:52:08 PM
Man, the Beastie's book is amazing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on December 18, 2018, 07:26:54 AM
Way too late to the game, but just finished up A Storm of Swords. Great read. But also, everybody says don't waste your time with books 4 and 5. So....I might just watch the show for everything else.

Started Restaurant at the end of the Universe. Really liking it. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 12:12:02 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on December 18, 2018, 07:26:54 AM
Way too late to the game, but just finished up A Storm of Swords. Great read. But also, everybody says don't waste your time with books 4 and 5. So....I might just watch the show for everything else.

Started Restaurant at the end of the Universe. Really liking it.

Nononononononono
Read the books 4 & 5.

After your Douglas Adams fix.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on December 18, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
Every so often I threaten to read those Hitchhiker's sequels, yet I never get around to it.  Maybe over Christmas I'll finally do it.  It would be a great excuse to re-read the OG.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 01:46:05 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on December 18, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
Every so often I threaten to read those Hitchhiker's sequels, yet I never get around to it.  Maybe over Christmas I'll finally do it.  It would be a great excuse to re-read the OG.

They're good.
I've read nearly every published word from Douglas Adams and I honestly wouldn't be the same person had I not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on December 19, 2018, 11:39:29 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 12:12:02 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on December 18, 2018, 07:26:54 AM
Way too late to the game, but just finished up A Storm of Swords. Great read. But also, everybody says don't waste your time with books 4 and 5. So....I might just watch the show for everything else.

Started Restaurant at the end of the Universe. Really liking it.

Nononononononono
Read the books 4 & 5.

After your Douglas Adams fix.
Will do.

Also, I have never really been much of a high fantasy fan but have been digging it lately. My friends tell me The Storm Light Archives by Brandon Sanderson is really good. I was thinking about grabbing them on audible or something. Has anybody checked them out?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: cactusfan on December 20, 2018, 01:09:01 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 01:46:05 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on December 18, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
Every so often I threaten to read those Hitchhiker's sequels, yet I never get around to it.  Maybe over Christmas I'll finally do it.  It would be a great excuse to re-read the OG.

They're good.
I've read nearly every published word from Douglas Adams and I honestly wouldn't be the same person had I not.

Ditto.

Also, Restaurant is hardly some later 'sequel.' It's the second half of the story begun in Hitchhiker's Guide. They're basically one book. Only with the third book, Life the Universe and Everything, does the story, and writing style, go off in a new direction.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on December 20, 2018, 09:09:41 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 20, 2018, 01:09:01 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 01:46:05 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on December 18, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
Every so often I threaten to read those Hitchhiker's sequels, yet I never get around to it.  Maybe over Christmas I'll finally do it.  It would be a great excuse to re-read the OG.

They're good.
I've read nearly every published word from Douglas Adams and I honestly wouldn't be the same person had I not.

Ditto.

Also, Restaurant is hardly some later 'sequel.' It's the second half of the story begun in Hitchhiker's Guide. They're basically one book. Only with the third book, Life the Universe and Everything, does the story, and writing style, go off in a new direction.

And it's a worthy direction, imo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: ytowndan on December 20, 2018, 10:50:51 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on December 20, 2018, 09:09:41 AM
Quote from: cactusfan on December 20, 2018, 01:09:01 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on December 18, 2018, 01:46:05 PM
Quote from: ytowndan on December 18, 2018, 12:38:05 PM
Every so often I threaten to read those Hitchhiker's sequels, yet I never get around to it.  Maybe over Christmas I'll finally do it.  It would be a great excuse to re-read the OG.

They're good.
I've read nearly every published word from Douglas Adams and I honestly wouldn't be the same person had I not.

Ditto.

Also, Restaurant is hardly some later 'sequel.' It's the second half of the story begun in Hitchhiker's Guide. They're basically one book. Only with the third book, Life the Universe and Everything, does the story, and writing style, go off in a new direction.

And it's a worthy direction, imo.

You guys have sold me.  I just checked out the ebooks from the library!  :beers:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on December 25, 2018, 03:41:06 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/6168ZZtRKpL._SX337_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Just finished this one today, which is the third in the Broken Earth trilogy.  Really enjoyed the hell out of it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: JPhishman on December 25, 2018, 04:16:32 PM
Just got the whole set for xmas! Stoked!

(http://i.imgur.com/cGOxdXl.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on December 25, 2018, 06:13:02 PM
My mother in law got me the Beastie Boys Book.

Of course it rules. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: zimbra on January 05, 2019, 04:22:04 AM
I just finished "The Lunatic Express".  Great book if you haven't read it. Currently reading "Of Human Bondage."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on January 05, 2019, 06:15:08 PM
Got Springfield Confidential. Fantastic read for any Simpsons lover.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on January 11, 2019, 12:23:28 PM
Quote from: Multibeast12 on January 05, 2019, 06:15:08 PM
Got Springfield Confidential. Fantastic read for any Simpsons lover.


Yeah read that a couple months ago, great book. Got me interested in more books on screenwriting and TV production so I picked up The Wire All the Pieces Matter and been making my way through that. Not as well written as the Simpsons book, its more just a collection of interviews with the cast/writers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on April 30, 2019, 02:57:59 PM
(https://zabriskie.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/zabriskie_rob_young_can_all_gates_open-1-700x700.jpg)

Just ordered this one. Dirt cheap hardcover edition of All Gates Open: The Story of Can  by Rob Young  and Irmin Schmidt.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on April 30, 2019, 03:35:21 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4148RnatxhL._SX337_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on September 12, 2019, 10:25:17 AM
Bump!

(https://scontent.fams1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70575967_2401379639898271_4076001080041799680_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeHhV1vNdyb5ELN86EHh16hbRlczMiLc4XI4rcimBeUTh2nviOKHipHUHPQg9Rw5kdLvQZNKuBXcthi51flgiTr0_ZGpeNB7L_M5XADrRxoOjA&_nc_oc=AQmmb2HzdN4orv9oLYsCKGXIf7FtJzIv57Vz900FynvMCVundXjFlKseLBK6c6ahCsaNlESqX0xdESXmqjHsAuuR&_nc_ht=scontent.fams1-2.fna&oh=2dfaa2e7944f0402d8a7484948daed38&oe=5E1195B9)

Rob Jovanovic - God Save The Kinks: A Biography

Finally bought this one. Not bad. I will go on record that The Kinks were the second greatest UK band in the Sixties. And no, they are not trailing behind The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Hicks on September 12, 2019, 11:56:58 AM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on September 12, 2019, 10:25:17 AM
Bump!

(https://scontent.fams1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70575967_2401379639898271_4076001080041799680_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeHhV1vNdyb5ELN86EHh16hbRlczMiLc4XI4rcimBeUTh2nviOKHipHUHPQg9Rw5kdLvQZNKuBXcthi51flgiTr0_ZGpeNB7L_M5XADrRxoOjA&_nc_oc=AQmmb2HzdN4orv9oLYsCKGXIf7FtJzIv57Vz900FynvMCVundXjFlKseLBK6c6ahCsaNlESqX0xdESXmqjHsAuuR&_nc_ht=scontent.fams1-2.fna&oh=2dfaa2e7944f0402d8a7484948daed38&oe=5E1195B9)

Rob Jovanovic - God Save The Kinks: A Biography

Finally bought this one. Not bad. I will go on record that The Kinks were the second greatest UK band in the Sixties. And no, they are not trailing behind The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

Let me guess, you put Hermans Hermits at the top of the heap?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on September 12, 2019, 12:10:24 PM
Quote from: Hicks on September 12, 2019, 11:56:58 AM
Quote from: mopper_smurf on September 12, 2019, 10:25:17 AM
Bump!

(https://scontent.fams1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/70575967_2401379639898271_4076001080041799680_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeHhV1vNdyb5ELN86EHh16hbRlczMiLc4XI4rcimBeUTh2nviOKHipHUHPQg9Rw5kdLvQZNKuBXcthi51flgiTr0_ZGpeNB7L_M5XADrRxoOjA&_nc_oc=AQmmb2HzdN4orv9oLYsCKGXIf7FtJzIv57Vz900FynvMCVundXjFlKseLBK6c6ahCsaNlESqX0xdESXmqjHsAuuR&_nc_ht=scontent.fams1-2.fna&oh=2dfaa2e7944f0402d8a7484948daed38&oe=5E1195B9)

Rob Jovanovic - God Save The Kinks: A Biography

Finally bought this one. Not bad. I will go on record that The Kinks were the second greatest UK band in the Sixties. And no, they are not trailing behind The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

Let me guess, you put Hermans Hermits at the top of the heap?

My big brother played "No Milk Today" ad nauseam after he broke up with the milkman's daughter. It put me off milk and that band for life. Guess again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on September 12, 2019, 01:05:19 PM
^^^LULZ!!

Half way through this...

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4148RnatxhL._SX337_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: pcr3 on September 12, 2019, 04:52:15 PM
(https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1466537603l/7905917.jpg)

I saw the play in Providence about a month ago, and I needed to read the book that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda.  So far, it's really interesting, though I'm only about 10% into it...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: khalpin on September 12, 2019, 06:30:25 PM
Quote from: Buffalo Budd on September 12, 2019, 01:05:19 PM
^^^LULZ!!

Half way through this...

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4148RnatxhL._SX337_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Worth reading?  I imagine it's awfully depressing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on September 12, 2019, 10:47:09 PM
Quote from: khalpin on September 12, 2019, 06:30:25 PM

Worth reading?  I imagine it's awfully depressing.

If you were a hockey fan in the 80s-90s, then you'll love it.
It is pretty heavy shit that he went through and still perform at the highest level.
He has obviously done his homework as far as recounting great moments from that era of hockey.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: rowjimmy on September 13, 2019, 08:20:55 AM
At home, I'm reading this Neil Rosenberg's Bluegrass: A History
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZhFhHntmL._SX314_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

on the train, I'm reading Jeanette Leach's Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BMVVJ2iAL._SX346_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on September 13, 2019, 09:32:08 AM
(https://scontent.fams1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/69928873_2403283829707852_1562054845068738560_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_eui2=AeEqVK-KuZgyb24iZ-fBvccqApAMrVaiQhXyKPVyIu0r4k2fDdjhwYOZGm1-qBtZ5T67LftPTbElZaQnDEOSb7W2fqym1qHnE_XDxaul8SfAvQ&_nc_oc=AQlSdHKH3iH74efD9VwUM280lVNnDivQKwOSi1Oq3pb-IM466EaZ2h9WL5rS7t39SAz0vXVZb6IUkW8XdXw7fMOM&_nc_ht=scontent.fams1-2.fna&oh=443c6fc3cb9a05837a62a7b059916f39&oe=5E0056BC)

This is just in: Neil Young & Phil Baker - To Feel the Music: A Songwriter's Mission to Save High-Quality Audio
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Buffalo Budd on September 13, 2019, 10:00:46 AM
Quote from: rowjimmy on September 13, 2019, 08:20:55 AM
At home, I'm reading this Neil Rosenberg's Bluegrass: A History
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZhFhHntmL._SX314_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

on the train, I'm reading Jeanette Leach's Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BMVVJ2iAL._SX346_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

Both of these look like they'd be right up my alley.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: anthrax on October 02, 2019, 12:33:07 PM
Bruce Dickinson-What Does This Button Do
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Multibeast12 on January 15, 2020, 09:54:05 PM
I just finished Dune Messiah. I know the movie won't cover it but it was good and I am now more hyped to see this world on a screen. Might take a break before the third and read something else. I haven't decided yet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: susep on November 19, 2020, 06:57:58 PM
(https://covers.audiobooks.com/images/covers/full/9781607886457.jpg)

Pretty fun so far.  Only recently have I really began to enjoy their music outside of Hot Rocks for example.  Sticky Fingers definitely helped open a few more doors, now I'm walking all over their house/mansion!  Its fun comparing bands as well, their timelines and evolution.  Keith is a great story teller, very clear recollections and insights.  Looking forward to more. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 04, 2021, 02:24:32 AM
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSHPGJuI37x/

Jennifer Otter Bickerdike - You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on August 04, 2021, 10:49:58 AM
I read a couple Haruki Marukami books - Norwegian wood and South of the border, West of the sun.
Now I am reading Beats and B-Sides by Laurent Fintoni & Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on August 04, 2021, 12:09:45 PM
Currently on a non-fiction kick, scholarly works for popular readership:

"These Truths: A History of the United States" by Jill Lepore;

"A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam" by Karen Armstrong; and

"Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States" by James C. Scott.

Interesting material and easy to put down/pick up again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: VDB on August 04, 2021, 09:28:39 PM
Quote from: emay on August 04, 2021, 10:49:58 AM
I read a couple Haruki Marukami books - Norwegian wood and South of the border, West of the sun.
Now I am reading Beats and B-Sides by Laurent Fintoni & Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What did you think of those Marukami books? I recently read his collection of stories "Men Without Women" and enjoyed it, but I have no other experience with the author.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on August 05, 2021, 02:39:55 PM
Quote from: VDB on August 04, 2021, 09:28:39 PM
Quote from: emay on August 04, 2021, 10:49:58 AM
I read a couple Haruki Marukami books - Norwegian wood and South of the border, West of the sun.
Now I am reading Beats and B-Sides by Laurent Fintoni & Midnight Library by Matt Haig

What did you think of those Marukami books? I recently read his collection of stories "Men Without Women" and enjoyed it, but I have no other experience with the author.


I enjoyed them. They were easy to read even though it wasn't the most captivating story. Some elements of Realism throughout and a lot of introspect with main characters.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on August 08, 2021, 01:44:35 AM
(https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525293523l/39834428.jpg)

Mark Blake - Bring It On Home: Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin and Beyond: The Story of Rock's Greatest Manager
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on September 04, 2021, 05:26:04 AM
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTZHmxqoO6t/

Warren Ellis - Nina Simone's Gum
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mopper_smurf on November 10, 2021, 01:51:28 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWGcfM9I6jt/?utm_medium=copy_link
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 10, 2021, 02:28:00 PM
Once it gets dark in a couple hours, I'm gonna post up next to my woodstove & start in on this... just finished rereading its predecessor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: mistercharlie on November 10, 2021, 03:10:45 PM
That should be good! I read the first L.A. Quartet back in the late 90's. I need to start the new Quartet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: sunrisevt on November 10, 2021, 04:40:41 PM
Quote from: mistercharlie on November 10, 2021, 03:10:45 PMThat should be good! I read the first L.A. Quartet back in the late 90's. I need to start the new Quartet.

If I'd actually written my PhD. dissertation, Ellroy would have been at least a chapter; the project was shaping up as a paired study of the first LA Quartet & Walter Moseley's Easy Rawlins novels.

I can't say enough about Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood's a Rover.

American Tabloid alone contains this in the epigraph: "American was never innocent. We popped our cherry on the boat over and looked back with no regrets."

*AND* this line in an imagined screed delivered by Jimmy Hoffa:

"Bobby Kennedy is an avalanche of dog shit."

Ellroy is a depraved goddamn genius.

Eta some more jewels of prose from American Tabloid:

"Guatemala City by twilight: strictly the rat's ass."

"The band was half on the nod. They played loud, shitty music."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on November 12, 2021, 12:46:52 PM
American kingpin. Story of Ross ulbricht and the Silk Road. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: nab on May 20, 2022, 10:43:04 PM
Just listened to this book to and from the worksite this week.

Highly recommended for all who were trading music online at the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century.

Or anyone else who is interested in that era of online trading. It was a time, and a cyberspace, and most of us were there. Really cool to hear it as a historical narrative.

 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: emay on May 21, 2022, 03:48:40 PM
That looks like a book I'd enjoy.

Just finished Talib Kweli's book Vibrate Higher which was a great read. Nice insight into hip hop In 90s-00s and some good life lessons along the way.

Onto Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury