What are you reading?

[cactusfan]

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.

[alcoholandcoffeebeans]

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...

[kellerb]

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

[shoreline99]

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.

[Caravan2001]

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  .  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.....

[shoreline99]

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  .  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.

[August]

Chi Running
by Danny Dreyer



a

[antelope19]

Are you still on hiatus?

[August]

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

[antelope19]

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.

[August]

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

[antelope19]

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. 

[August]

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

[antelope19]

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!

[Caravan2001]

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...