What book are you reading now, or what was the last book you read?

[WrestlerV]

Yeaah!! One thousandth post!!! I am book smert!!

[chuck]

Finished

Who Killed Palomiro Moreno? - Mario Vargas Llosa

Brilliant detective story.

A History of Brazil - always good to learn more

Starting

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ - Jose Saramago
A History of Colombia
Understanding Criminal Law

[The Kraken]

Recently finished "Painted Desert" by Frederick Barthelme. It's kind of a dry but entertaining "on the road" book about searching for authenticity in a comfortable commercialized society. I thought it was good, but his book "Bob The Gambler" (you can guess the subject matter...) is better, imo.

Next up is "The Vintage Book of Amnesia", edited by Jonathan Lethem--a collection of writings on memory loss, both fiction and nonfiction. Coincidentally Frederick Barthelme's late brother Donald has a story in this.

[chuck]

The Crystal Frontier - Carlos Fuentes

Mildly disappointed. A collection of 10 short stories. Seemed rather rambling at times, clearly written to highlight the cultural grievances of Mexicans in the States but didn't hit the mark for me. I couldn't really get into it but I'll look for something better from him.

[Tapout2GJJ]

I just finished reading Millenium Falcon by James luceno. Good read about the past history of everyone's favorite YT-1300 freighter. Fun stuff.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Animal Farm, by George Orwell. It's one of his classic masterpieces, depicting the lives of animals, after they had overthrown the humans and had taken over a farm. It's a very good satire on society and humanity and how social and political forces manipulate the dumbed-down masses. It also contradicts the notion of a utopian society, where everybody is considered equal, or in this novella: where every animal is considered equal. It shows how corruption and ignorance can brainwash a society and its citizens; where the past and present are lies. It's truly an amazing story, which is very easy to read (Orwell writes in a way that anyone can understand), and entertaining. I was very upset when I finished this novella, because it stirs up so many emotions. Everyone can relate to its meanings and purposes. It holds many parallels with the Stalin era, Democracy, Socialism, Independent Labor parties, WW2, and so on.

I just started reading Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. So far, this book is hilarious and highly entertaining.

[Oliver Klosov]

Still working on "The Ultimate History of Video Games"

[kcb]

Twilight.

[Skean]

The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Forrest Gump by Winstron Groom. This is a very entertaining, funny, and sometimes powerful book, that's very different from the film. I could simply not put this book down. Last night, I burned through 200 pages and wanted more. Winston Groom uses his life experiences and talents from other books to create a unique satire. From the mind of a simple man, the reader journeys through the lives of many people: astronauts, soldiers, veterans, fishermen, wrestlers, promoters, women, presidents, chess champions, orangutans, idiots, football players, pot-heads, and so on.

The next novel I will be starting is Life On The Mississippi, by Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens. This book is an autobiographical account on Twain's early steamboat days. This is said to be his finest novel. I will find out if the hype is true.

[dragomort]

I finished reading Forrest Gump by Winstron Groom. This is a very entertaining, funny, and sometimes powerful book, that's very different from the film. I could simply not put this book down. Last night, I burned through 200 pages and wanted more. Winston Groom uses his life experiences and talents from other books to create a unique satire. From the mind of a simple man, the reader journeys through the lives of many people: astronauts, soldiers, veterans, fishermen, wrestlers, promoters, women, presidents, chess champions, orangutans, idiots, football players, pot-heads, and so on.


The sequel is downright depressing. My brother made me read the books before taking me to see the movie......pretty much completely dulled the impact in full of the movies.

[WrestlerV]

The sequel is downright depressing. My brother made me read the books before taking me to see the movie......pretty much completely dulled the impact in full of the movies.

So the sequel isn't as good as the original novel?

I heard that Groom followed the plot of the film, instead of the first novel, where Jenny and Forrest's mother are dead. In the first novel, they are both alive and well.

There were speculations of turning the second novel into a film. I think there was some disputes with Paramount pictures and the written script and the money involved.

[dragomort]

So the sequel isn't as good as the original novel?

I heard that Groom followed the plot of the film, instead of the first novel, where Jenny and Forrest's mother are dead. In the first novel, they are both alive and well.

There were speculations of turning the second novel into a film. I think there was some disputes with Paramount pictures and the written script and the money involved.

Not that so much as it has a completely different tone. In the first everything goes right even when it goes wrong, in the sequel it's a lot of the opposite. It's been ages since I've read it though, so I can't remember many specifics at all. Good work, just the change in tone threw me for a loop with that, iirc.

[FRANKIE]

Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, and A Dangerous Man. A trilogy by Charlie Huston. Very fun and extrememly enjoyable. I've said it before but he has a knack for dialogue that just makes his books flow and read easy. Highly recommended.

I read these a while back. Good fun. I haven't been able to bring myself to read his vampire mob books though. If you like these you should check out Adrian McKinty's Dead Trilogy. Crazy fun stuff.

[TrickyNicky]

The vampire Vyrus Joe Pitt books are great too. They are a bit darker (besides A Dangerous Man, maybe) than the Hank Thompson books. I recommend them as well.

[Tauvington]

It's a very good satire on society and humanity and how social and political forces manipulate the dumbed-down masses. It also contradicts the notion of a utopian society, where everybody is considered equal, or in this novella: where every animal is considered equal. It shows how corruption and ignorance can brainwash a society and its citizens; where the past and present are lies.

I don't know about all of that, man...I mean, I genuinely believed that Jones would have indeed came back had all those animals not done exactly what Squealer and Napoleon wanted. lolz

[Z A C H E R]

Stephen King Stories Just After Sunset...good book

[WrestlerV]

I don't know about all of that, man...I mean, I genuinely believed that Jones would have indeed came back had all those animals not done exactly what Squealer and Napoleon wanted. lolz

Napoleon was a dick. I would cut some bacon off his back and eat the hen's eggs.

[Tauvington]

Napoleon was a dick. I would cut some bacon off his back and eat the hen's eggs.

Napoleon rocked. He totally pwned that retard Snowball when he walked up to his plans for the windmill and pissed all over them.

[WrestlerV]

Napoleon rocked. He totally pwned that retard Snowball when he walked up to his plans for the windmill and pissed all over them.

Boxer was the biggest sucker of all. Napoleon pwned him hard, forcing him to work on the windmill all his life, fight in the animal wars, and so on. He then bought booze, with his dirty pig money, by selling Boxer to the butcher. I bet Napoleon ate his ass, while snorting lines with Squealer and fucking one of the cows in Jone's bed.

[chuck]

Just started Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives. Going very well.

[kcb]

Just picked up Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World.

[WrestlerV]

Just picked up Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World.

Inhumane Bondage: The Rise of Human Trafficking in the New World.

[kcb]

Inhumane Bondage: The Rise of Human Trafficking in the New World.

Uh, what?

[chuck]

My law book have just arrived. Holy shit I am fucked for months.

[Animal Squabbles]

''On Boxing'' - joyce carol oates. Worst boxing book ive ever read, im about 20 pages in and its been 20 pages of her tryin to make glorified metaphor of life, just shut up. Cant beleive i put ''Battling Siki'' back and bought this gay shit instead.

[SerialKiller]

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy was the last book I read. I have been to busy snowboarding to read much lately. "The Road" was really good, won a Pulitzer, and apparently they are making it into a movie.

[chuck]

Read The Road earlier this year. Quality book indeed. I think Viggo is playing The Man in the film.

[Dirty]

"How to lose friends and alienate people" I've lived my life by the title of this book since I reached puberty.


It, wasn't actually that bad, kind of boring, but it read fast.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk, a few days ago. The book could be considered a horror or a thriller, but it's definitely satirical of humanity, like most of Palahniuk's works. It's written in the first person perspective of Carl Streator. He is the protagonist in this story and is a reporter and is cursed with the culling song. There are many twists in this book, where the reader isn't sure of what is right or wrong, and more importantly, who is good or evil. This novel delves into Streator's past and present to uncover more facts about the culling song, his life, and the lives of the characters around him. In this case, the culling song is a poem, used in Witch Craft, to have a magical affect on humanity; the ability to change bodies, kill people, recieve immortality, and so on. I don't want to reveal the plot, so I will not give any information. This book is entertaining and easy to read. It's not my favorite Palahniuk novel, but it's worth a read.

This novel I'm reading now is called Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.

[Dirty]

I just listened to "choke" by Palahniuk on cd, it reminded me an awful lot of fight club.

[Mia]

Who Moved My Cheese -by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Fahrenheit 451 a while back. Ray Bradbury wrote it years ago, but a lot of the themes still hold true to modern times. It's an entertaining short read. Bradbury wrote a dystopian Science-Fiction story about the future American society. It's about free thought, war, and censorship. The story centers around a book-burner named Guy Montag. In the future, firemen start fires instead of putting them out. Montag is a fireman that burns books and houses and people, but he slowly learns about what he is burning. This futuristic society is controlled and its participants are brainwashed. The past is biased and the present is no better. I will not say the plot, but this book has a lot of profound parts to it. Great read.

I'm reading Tucker Max: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. Hilarious and entertaining.

Today, I bought The Portable Film School: Everything You'd Learn in Film School (Without Ever Going to Class)

[pants]

I am reading the unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera and have been for a while due to lack of reading time, but after this i am gonna read.. MOBY DICK!

[Zigga-Zagga]

In my quest to attempt widening my knowledge on some institutions of modern literature, I devoured Lord of the Flies by William Golding in a day.

Obviously I've met the theme of modern men losing humanity in an orderless society many a time, but it was pretty interesting to see one of the founding books of that theme.

The story itself is of a group of kids stranded on an island (yes, sad, I got some Lost vibes) admits a heated-up cold war. The theme is how these kids slowly fade away from the civilized manners that are so far away, and descend to the dark side. Sure more powerful works have been done later on that theme, but still it's a nice compact view on the matter. And a fast read, recommended.

[chuck]

I am reading the unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera and have been for a while due to lack of reading time, but after this i am gonna read.. MOBY DICK!

Two great books. There is a ection though in Moby Dick about 120 pages long where he just goes on about the different types of whales. The sections either side especially the concluding pages are brilliant.

Loved Kundera's The Joke and Ignorance too.

[pants]

Two great books. There is a ection though in Moby Dick about 120 pages long where he just goes on about the different types of whales. The sections either side especially the concluding pages are brilliant.

Loved Kundera's The Joke and Ignorance too.

haha damn 120 pages long just on types whales, I've watched a documentary on bbc recently about Herman Melville and it was really interesting, so i am looking forward to reading it.

[Chivo]

I was given "Villa Incognito" when I left the Army but I just started reading it. Right off the bat I get a scrotum parachute... interesting indeed. :eek:

[WrestlerV]

I just finished the infamous Tucker Max: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. Right now, I'm reading Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, by Anthony Bourdain.

[FRANKIE]

Kitchen Confidential is great.

I recently read The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, about bootleggers in Franklin County, VA. It's based on the lives of the author's grandfather and great uncles. I wanted it to be amazing, but it wasn't. Definitely not bad, but not great.

After that was Welcome to Hard Times by E. L. Doctorow. It's an excellent, short, atypical western. Highly recommended.

The last thing I finished was The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It's set it the Canadian Wilderness in the 19th Century. It has a girly title, and one of the worst pull-quotes ever on the cover, but it's a hell of a good book. It's also a first novel, which is promising, but also irritating because I can't go out and get more from her.

Currently I'm finally getting back to Catch-22, which I started years ago but got distracted about 50 pages in. It's fucking hilarious. I don't know what I was thinking when I put it down before.

After that I think I might reread my favorite book that I read last year, Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell.

[adamn]

Making Europe. History ftw.

[Skick]

World War Z

Right now i'm juggling Guns, Germs, and Steel and The Rum Diaries.

[Tricky Dog]

My law book have just arrived. Holy shit I am fucked for months.

Are you in law school?

[Mia]

Are you in law school?

He is law school homeschooling himself.

[Tricky Dog]

Ouch.

[chuck]

He is law school homeschooling himself.

no, I am not!

[Mia]

no, I am not!

:p

[chuck]

The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano

Oh yes, excellent read. Some sections just kept you reading and reading.

[J@ckson]

Fingerprints of the Gods-Graham Hancock

[J@ckson]

Here's the audio version of the entire book if anyone's interested. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Smash]

JavaScript and AJAX for the web, Database Systems, A Practical guide to Ubuntu and The C++ Standard Library.

They all bring a tear to the eye.

[chuck]

Using a form of Ubuntu right now. My pidgin has fcuked up and completely disappeared. Any ideas?

[Mad Processor]

Been reading a lot of Warhammer 40K lately, but I've ordered Eric L. Hayney's "Inside Delta Force". Anyone read it?

[Smash]

Using a form of Ubuntu right now. My pidgin has fcuked up and completely disappeared. Any ideas?


Pidgins great.

Dunno though, I would try opening the Terminal and entering:

sudo apt-get update

let it update the programs list, then enter:

sudo apt-get upgrade

log out, then log back in again. I had programs disappear from the GUI, but that was another version of Ubuntu.


Do/did you have Skype running successfully with it? That seems to be the only issue with it, everything else works great.

[WrestlerV]

I'm reading a lot of books right now. I usually read a few chapters from one book, read a few from another, and continue until I've read a couple books at the same time. It's a refreshing exercise that keeps me interested and motivated.

The Portable Film School - This book is basically about the process of learning film. It explores the ideas and techniques one might use when screenwriting, directing, editing, producing, managing money, acting, shooting independent films, and the harsh world of the film business. There are so many helpful hints and tips that I use regularly with my films.

Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas - Most people know what this book is about. It's written by the late and great Hunter S. Thompson, compiled with his coherent and incoherent adventures through the heartland of America, with great pictures by Ralph Steadman. This book explores the generation and society of the 70's and also describes social classes and different drugs in ways most authors haven't dreamed of. It's such a fun book to read. I'm going to pick up Hell's Angels after this one.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly - If anybody has worked in a kitchen or in the restaurant business, they should definitely read this book. Anthony Bourdain takes us through his experiences with the business, because he worked his way up from a dishwasher to prep cook to line cook to head chef to an international television celebrity. He explains what happens behind the scenes and gives great tips for aspiring chefs and foodies alike.

The Sirens Of Titan - This is another addictive Kurt Vonnegut tale, depicting a society from 1959 that people can still relate to. He takes us from the past, to the present, to the far reaches of space. The reader examines the characters and in turn, examines part of his or her own morality. It follows around a few main characters: a depraved multi-millionaire wife of a distant psychic husband and a once successful billionaire losing everything and himself. Distant worlds, beautiful women, and a dark prophetic tale of fate illuminate this story.

[Sway]

Just read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I enjoyed it. Just picked up The Alphabet of Manliness.

[Lappari]

Mostarin tien liftarit by Luca Moconesi (Hitchhikers on the Road of Mostar - a Finnish Mercenary in the War of Bosnia by Luca Moconesi)

Controversial book about a guy who volunteered to the Bosnian Croat Defence Forces, HVO, in 1993 to fight in the Bosnian war.
It's a pretty harsh story about the international detachment of the Bosnian-Croat forces.

When the book was published, the real name of the author was found out and he was accused of war crimes, based on the events in the book.
As a defence, he stated that the book was in fact a work of fiction, and the charges were dropped.

I was bored and that lead me to do some research. You don't have to be a smart person to find some testimonials by HVO soldiers made in 2006 that reveal certain situations and individuals that are described accurately in the book that was written in 1997. So I'm pretty sure the events are real.

[chuck]

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

Seminal novel written in the 1960s of Christianity 'modernising' and controlling Africa for their own benefit. Economically written and excellent read.

[CHH]

The Holographic Universe by Michael Tablot:

In case anyone is unfamilar with the holographic universe paradigm, it's essentially a "unified theory of life" that kinda of explains everything (although it's totally untestable. It's the synthesis of Bohm's "implicate order" theory and a few neuro-docs theories on the way the brain works.

The analogy for both is they operate in a way similar to how a hologram operates, with waves of information being recorded, then filtered into existence. The paradigm lies in the fact that "if your brain is a hologram, and the universe is a hologram, then is anything real?". This theory sort of puts objective reality on trial (although, in defense of objective reality, SUBJECTIVE reality is absolutely unverifiable scientifically).

Anyways, the book is OK, but the book starts out with a hypothesis and attempts to prove it, not disprove it. I don't really like that, the information is slanted towards proving the para-normal, mostly because the author wants to believe. But the information and the history behind it is all correct, so it's pretty interesting so far.

I give it a B at this point

[Don]

Devil May Care by sebastian faulkes. 007 James Bond adventure, written in the style of Ian Fleming. Real easy to read and not bad. It kinda let me down when i could tell the nemesis lair was a rip off of Han's lair in Enter the Dragon, the end was a bit lame also.

[WrestlerV]

I am reading Hunter S. Thompson's Better Than Sex: CONFESSIONS OF A POLITICAL JUNKIE and The Proud Highway: SAGA OF A DESPERATE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN.

[Ebeneezer]

Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I've held off reading it for years but I seen a Penguin Classics version of the book for next to nothing and decided to finally get it.

[WrestlerV]

Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I've held off reading it for years but I seen a Penguin Classics version of the book for next to nothing and decided to finally get it.

The next book you should read is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Flashfire by Richard Stark. This book is so much fun to read. Anybody who likes the film Payback will like Flashfire. This is one of the best from the Parker series. Parker is a professional criminal who's very intelligent, calculating, and blunt. This book delves into Parker's life, showing how he commits crimes and his thoughts behind each action he takes. The crimes are very detailed and this book has a mixture of suspense and humor. The first few chapters build up his persona, until he is stabbed in the back by his associates. He must find the people who betrayed him and kill them. There are a few good twists in this story which keep the action fresh and heightened.

[Mad Processor]

Just finished reading Inside Delta Force by Eric L. Hayney. Interesting stuff, though I didn't find it as compelling as "Rogue Warrior".

Besides that I'm reading a shitload of Warhammer 40K rule stuff as well as SOA Design Patterns and "God is not great". Switching between non-fiction and science fiction.

[chuck]

Palace Walk - Naguob Mahfouz

Excellent novel set in revolution Egypt written by a master. I have the trilogy so the next book is the sequel Palace of Desire. This collection is my bedtime book.

On the way to work I am reading Madame Bovary by Flaubert. A Penguin classic.

Finished Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan - Thought it would be of more incisive but it was pretty introductory and looks fairly naive in the present economic climate. Very eco-centric too despite its claim to be otherwise and seem to miss huge historical points in explanations of human development. And thats often the issue with economics. Like anthropology, its explains what is already happening and so not on the same scientific level as other sciences.

[chuck]

Finished

Palace Walk
Madame Bovary - excellent build and very easy read.

Now reading

Palace of Desire by Mahfouz (in bed)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne (on my way to work)

[WrestlerV]

I'm reading The Proud Highway: Saga of A Desperate Gentleman, by Hunter S. Thompson. It has every letter he had ever written: to publishers, neighbors, girlfriends, brothers, friends, mother, bosses, soldiers, writers, landlords, editors, and so on. He kept every letter from the time he began seriously writing until death. In this time, his style of writing evolved from many influences: Orwell, GB Shaw, Fitzgerald, Quixote, Rand, Frost, Hemingway, Kerouac, and so on. He even copied, word-for-word, some famous author's writings, to learn grammar. This book is so incredible, because he was the persona that was his life. He stirs up shit with everyone, drinks whiskey, shoots boars and writes on his T-writer along the way. The man traveled religiously and saw many aspects of crazyness; from illegally traveling with convicts on boats to South America to running from the debts of many people. This book is a glimpse into his psyche. It's about 700 pages, but well worth the read.

I also just started on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

[WrestlerV]

I went to the book store today and for thirty dollars, I bought three excellent books.

Charles Bukowski's The Flash of Lightning Behind The Mountain: New Poems.

Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels.

Jack Kerouac's On The Road.

I'm going to be very busy for the next few months.

[fightguy]

Ann Rule: The Want Ad Killer

[Ebeneezer]

I've just began reading "The Complete Chronicles Of Conan" by Robert E Howard.

930 page hardback edition. I'll never be stuck for anything to read for the next while.

[SonofaCrowBar]

Just finished "The Daybreakers" by Louis L'Amour with with the kids. I have the next two coming through paperbackswap.com - it's a great site I found by accident.

[Global Honored]

Micheal Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

[tak]

I went to the book store today and for thirty dollars, I bought three excellent books.

Charles Bukowski's The Flash of Lightning Behind The Mountain: New Poems.

Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels.

Jack Kerouac's On The Road.

I'm going to be very busy for the next few months.

i've been thinking about picking up a copy of hell's angels for a while now. let me know if it's worth the read.

as for myself, i was reading malcolm gladwell's outliers (huge gladwell fan), but i only made it about half way through before i misplaced it and i can't find it for the life of me. now i'm reading palahniuk's survivor, but i've been so busy lately that i'll read a couple of chapters in a night and then not have time to pick it up again for another couple of days.

[the chairman211]

The Princess Bride- William Goldman
Thought I'd give this one a try, but I found it impossible to separate it from the movie. As with any adaptation there are a number of details and scenes present in the book that do not appear in the film. But for the most part I found the film alterations to be improvements on the source material. Motives and character back stories are fleshed out to a much greater depth, but having grown up with the movie I felt like I knew the characters already. It's a shame to have to judge a potentially good book from a backwards vantage point, but I didn't gain much new insight here as opposed to say reading The Godfather.

Outliers- Malcolm Gladwell
As usual Gladwell analyzes trends in both serious subjects (e.g. preventing plane crashes) and fun ones (predicting elite hockey players). I've read and liked The Tipping Point and Blink but this may have been my favorite Gladwell so far. He still cherry-picks on occasion when reaching a conclusion, but perhaps less so than in previous works. However it also may just be that I agreed with his themes more than usual, such as cultural heritage significantly shaping our perceptions and societal opportunities being necessary for individual greatness. If you like his other work you should enjoy this as well. If you haven't read his priors this would be a good jumping point.

[pants]

I've just brought the first 4 books from the Earthsea series by Le Guin, I usually tend to avoid reading more than one or two books by the same author, but the whole lot was only 9 pounds from amazon.

[IX Equilibrium]

"Sin Killer" - Larry McMurtry

[WrestlerV]

The Great Gatsby - A sharp satire on American society in the 1920's. This story is a tale of love, murder, and social interaction from a simple and precise perspective. There is a mix of eloquent descriptions and observant commentaries. The book reads like Orwell with a grip of poetic response.

[pants]

Time Machine by H.G Wells

[Ebeneezer]

Agitator - the cinema of Takashi Miike

I'm only three chapters in. Fascinating book about a truly fascinating director

[dragomort]

Re-re-reading the 'Song of Ice and Fire' set by George R R Martin. Still the best fantasy books ever written, imo.

[chuck]

Finished Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne. What a bloody, great book. Genuinely exciting.

[SonofaCrowBar]

Read "The Sunflower", by Simon Wiesenthal. It was for a class, but I genuinely enjoyed it.

I've read one of his before, but it's a good book to read if you're ever feeling like you life is hard, or sorry for yourself.

[chuck]

Just bought David Copperfield by Dickens and some Jane Austen. Never It's not easy to get foreign books here unless I ship them. But I'll just wait until I get to Helsinki or Prague and hit some second book shops. My favourite kind of shop.

[Tricky Dog]

Just finished this: and once again I've read every word the author has published.

http://www.midvatten.se/blog/uploaded_images/spook_country-730826.jpg

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Bukowski's The Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain. This is the second volume in his series of unpublished poems. Most of it was written when he was close to death. There are less bar fights, parties, gambling stories and more poems about writing, politics, his wife, leukemia, music, growing old, and the question of life and death. Of course, there still is stories about his everyday life: drinking, writing, gambling, fucking, fighting, and so on. He is more sentimental than in his previous works, but he is still raw, blunt, and honest.

Now, I'm reading Mother Night and Hell's Angels and On The Road. I'll probably finish Mother Night first.

[jiddu]

Trotsky: Eternal Revolutionary

Fanatics make for fantastic reading material, also didn't learn much at school so I learn now, also also these biographies are a fun way to learn about that part of history.

[chuck]

Mate just gave me Shantaram. Fluid read so far but I am reading it as fiction rather than autobiography.

[Fenix]

Just bought David Copperfield by Dickens and some Jane Austen. Never It's not easy to get foreign books here unless I ship them. But I'll just wait until I get to Helsinki or Prague and hit some second book shops. My favourite kind of shop. There should be an english bookshop in every major city in Poland. Warsaw had a few... you should google english bookstore and your city name

[S.R.]

I'm a germaphobe so I always have to buy my books new. It sucks because there are a lot of great used book stores here in Albuquerque.

I finally read Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' this weekend. It had been sitting on my shelf for a year and I had never gotten to it. Finally I just banged it out over the course of the weekend and I'm glad I did.

A lot of people told me they found it a difficult read, but I thought it was very engrossing. The ending was kind of a cop-out, but beggars can't be choosers.

[SonofaCrowBar]

Robert Ludlum, The Ambler Warner. Decent read, it was my first Ludlum.

[uberfighter]

i'm reading 'lies my teacher told me." it's awesome and depressing. whites have such guilt over african slavery, but the shit columbus did to the indians is unquantifiably worse.

i'm so ashamed.

[WrestlerV]

I finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night in two days. It's a very entertaining read about American/German/Japanese societies, patriotism, Nazism, Communism, World War II, writing, art, spies, morality, and love. The book bends the notion of black-and-white perceptions and shows there are good and bad people on both sides of war. The story is about a man named Howard W. Campbell Junior, who is a Nazi propagandist, previous playwright, and spy for the American government. The novel starts with Campbell in an Israeli prison for crimes against humanity. The most important moral of the story is, as Vonnegut states, "We are who we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Another funny but true moral is, "Make love when you can. It's good for you."

I'm reading Hell's Angels for the first time and A Man Without a Country, for the second time.

[Lord Prawn]

I'm reading the operating manual for my SY-77 synth. Fun? No, but I love the synth.

[WrestlerV]

I completed Vonnegut's always hilarious, and sometimes wise, Man Without A Country two days ago. Thompson's Hell's Angels is not engaging me anymore...

It's an excellent book, filled with different perspectives about the truth of the Angels. Thompson has his own story to tell, as do the outlaws, police officers, reporters, and so on. One really understands more about the Hell's Angels and their history... why they did this or that. Thompson really delved into research for this book and did something no other writer, photographer, or media personality could come close to. However, at times, the book becomes very redundant. I'm only half-finished, so my opinion may change.

I searched my local library and found Bukowski's Pulp. It's sad what a library only has one George Orwell, Shaw, or Bukowski work. I started reading Pulp yesterday and really enjoy it so far. The story is a parody on Private-Dicks, with a nice mixture of violence and crime and sex and dark humor from the belly of a sub-society.

[WrestlerV]

Finished: Pulp, Choke.

Started: This Side of Paradise.

[Don]

want to pick up fighter's heart by sam sheridan.

[The Kraken]

Currently reading Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". I'd read the short story by the same name (both by O'Brien and about Viet Nam) and was blown away. The book looks to be even better. You really get a sense of their physical and mental fatigue.

Also reading (off and on) Donald Barthelme's "City Life". Has anybody written better post-modern short fiction?

[Ebeneezer]

I just finished The Hound Of The Baskervilles today. Tremendous read and I'll be checking out more of Conan Doyle's work in the near future.

Also : Is Elmore Leonard's stuff worth checking out?
I noticed today that a bookshop near me has a shitload of his books for cheap and I'm seriously toying with the idea of getting a few if they are any good.

[dragomort]

I just finished The Hound Of The Baskervilles today. Tremendous read and I'll be checking out more of Conan Doyle's work in the near future.

Also : Is Elmore Leonard's stuff worth checking out?
I noticed today that a bookshop near me has a shitload of his books for cheap and I'm seriously toying with the idea of getting a few if they are any good.

Some love him and some hate him. I guess it's a stylistic thing. I'd say flip through a couple of them and go from there based on how readable you find it.

[chuck]

I treat Leonard as airport reading You can get through one in a few days. A fun read but you won't learn much. Raymond Chandler is a far better read.

[S.R.]

I think of Elmore Leonard the way I think of Chuck Palahniuk. It's good reading, but the older you get the more you realize there is just way better stuff out there. Both have great ideas but sometimes execute them to disastrous effect. Elmore Leonard less so. Palahniuk is so frustrating in the fact that he has TOO MANY good ideas that some of the best ones sometimes get lost in the shuffle. If he just focused on a few good ideas he could be a legend.

[WrestlerV]

Finished: This Side of Paradise.

Started: The Brothers Karamazov.

[Tauvington]

Elmore Leonard is fantastic--I wouldn't trade the time I've spent bending his paperbacks in half on the coffee table to hold my page while I go take a piss over the years for anything. He never writes anything particularly great or deep, granted, but the guy has a very intriguing and unusual handle on how different people in different circles talk to one another. Some of the dialogue he conjures up between his characters is just hilarious--I've paused mid-page and imagined myself saying shit like that to people in various unrelated situations hundreds of times during his books.

[chuck]

Finished

The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz. - Masterful storytelling of 3 generations of a family in Cairo.

"These people are talking about beauty. What do they know about its essence? They like certain colours, the whiteness of ivory and gold of precious ingots. If you ask me about beauty I won't speak of a pure bronze complexion, tranquil black eyes, a slim figure, and Parisian elegance. Certainly not! All those are pretty but they're nothing but lines, shapes and colours subject to investigation by the senses and open to comparison. Beauty itself is a painful convulsion in the heart, an abundance of vitality in the soul, and a mad chase undertaken by the spirit until it encounters the heavens. Tell me about this, if you can..." - Naguib Mahfouz.

The Outsider by Albert Camus - 4th time reading it. Always inspirating and quirky.

Re-reading Brave New World by Huxley

[IX Equilibrium]

"By Sorrows River" - Larry McMurtry

[WrestlerV]

Finished:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Hell's Angels

My Brother's Karamazov

Reading:

Catch 22

and

re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five

[nywrestler]

Just finished "Facing Ali". Great book, really got me interesting in boxing history. Its about fifteen different fighters who faced Ali of the course of his career. Each fighter has a chapter telling his background, his feelings leading up to and fighting Ali, and his feelings after the fight.

Really cool read. Some chapters are much more interesting than others. Obviously the Frasier, Foreman and Norton chapters are awesome. I would have really liked to have had a Sonny Liston chapter, but he died of a "mysterious" drug overdose a long, long time ago.

Apparently they are releasing a documentary of the book now too. Its going to be all interviews with the fighters from the book. Can't wait to see it, there were some really cool stories.

The fighters in the book are Tunney Hunsaker, Henry Cooper, George Chavulo, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, Joe Frazier, Jorgen Blin, Joe Bugner, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Jean Pierre Coopman, Earnie Shavers and Larry Holmes.

Also, an interesting little bit that I learned from the Chuck Wepner chapter. Apparently his fight with Ali was the story that the first Rocky movie was based on. Wepner was Rocky and Ali was Apollo. I had no idea.

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

I started and finished Tolkien's Children of Hurin. It's pretty good though depressing, you can tell where his son filled in the gaps here and there but it's hardly noticeable. It's in paperback now and I totally recommend it for any Tolkien fan.

[chuck]

Finished:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Hell's Angels

My Brother's Karamazov

Reading:

Catch 22

and

re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five

dont know Hells Angels but the rest are classics. Read them all twice.

[Don]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ost45tmkvuk/R5aF8b7TBsI/AAAAAAAAAgE/fEmG1rLy3lc/s320/Londonstani.jpg

i found the first 100 or so pages herd going, but after that i couldn't put it down. fantastic.

[Ebeneezer]

I'm about to start The Sea Wolf by Jack London

[WrestlerV]

dont know Hells Angels but the rest are classics. Read them all twice.

After reading the book twice, I developed a great appreciation for the topic. Hunter S. Thompson not only drives at his own experiences with the Hell's Angels, he attacks the philosophy and psychology behind their personas. The gang's hierarchy is exposed and altered within the scope of time. He puts forth great effort to show a variety of perceptions involving this notorious gang; from views of citizens, news media circulations, other motorcycle gangs, authorities, Hell's Angels and so on. Statistics are given and opinions vary between numerous peoples. One receives the run-down on the entire scene.

What intrigued me was when Thompson dabbled into certain famous events with legends in gang, such as Barger, and confrontations between Ken Kesey, Alan Ginsberg and the intellectual crowd. What is amazing is his grasp at the culture or counterculture of the time, involving many forms of debauchery. One learns not only about sub-societies of the ’60s but the mass movements of the time… where the edge is pushed and there is separation between freedom and conformity.

[Oliver Klosov]

just picked up "Ghosts of Manila" haven't read it. will update when I do.

[chuck]

Finished The Vatican Cellars by Gide

Now reading Herzog by Saul Bellow

[Ebeneezer]

Finished The Vatican Cellars by Gide


What was it like?

[DCBooks]

The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Great book. If you love thrillers with deep historical background information try it. The made a pretty mediocre film with Johnny Depp called 9th gate that completely throws out 2/3rds of the book.

[chuck]

Also picked up

Anthills on the Savannah by Achebe
A short biograpghy of Achebe who has had an interesting life. Brave man.
A book on African anthropology.

African kick!

[chuck]

What was it like?

It was good. Meandered a bit but went at a decent pace. Essentially Gide taking apart the Catholic Church and its hypocrisy with 5 overlapping stories.

[Alfuh]

Currently rereading (for the 3rd? time) How to Win Friends and Influence People
-I like to read a chapter every few nights, slowly work through it

Also going straight through
Influence
a book on marketing and psychology

[nywrestler]

I've recently gotten into boxing, and boxing history. I've always kinda been a fan, I watch fights every now and then, but not too into it. Boxing has such a rich history, and I'm beginning to want to read every book that I can about the subject. A few months ago I read "Facing Ali" about fifteen fighters who faced Ali, including their stories and info about their lives.

About a week ago, I picked up "Ringside: A Treasury of Boxing Reportage", by Budd Schulberg. The book is a combination of articles and essays that he has written over his 50+ years of being one of the leading boxing journalists in the world. Its great, because you get to see how things in the sport change, how opinions and views on fighter change as time goes on. An excellent book, I'd highly recommend it for anyone interested in the sport.

After finishing that in a day and a half, I went back and picked up another book I had my eye on, "My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing", by Angelo Dundee. It is basically an autobiography, going through his life, but spending about 3/4 of it dealing with the time of his life when he trained Muhammad Ali, and about 1/4 dealing with after Ali, when he began training Sugar Ray Leonard. A tiny bit at the beginning and end deal with his family, other parts of his life, etc. It was a great book though. I like to hear stories of those great fights from many different points of view. For the Ali-Frazier fights (and lead-ups to the fights) I've now heard about it from Ali's point of view, Frazier's point of view, Schulberg's point of view, and Dundee's point of view. Its interesting to see how the story varies from person to person.

Anyway, I'd highly recommend picking up either of these two books if you enjoy boxing. Both great reads, about 300 pgs a piece, but they are quick reads. I went through both of them in three days.

[chuck]

Finished Anthills on the Savannah by Achebe. Excellent novel and concise, literary summary of the present failures of African states.

[chuck]

Finished a History of Indonesia which was damn informative. I am interested in doing my Masters based on Indonesia and learnt a lot of background. Its always disturbing how much global powerplays, geo-politics and economic concerns override the concern for democracy.

Finishing....

1. a series of lectures by Chinua Achebe given at Harvard in 1998 called Home and Exile.

2. Stories of Africa by Rzchard Kapcusincki, the famed Polish journalist from his years working in Africa. Really enlightening stories. Reminds you that Africa is a continent of diverse people, cultures, religions and landscapes.

Starting Solaris by Stanislaw Lem after that.

[chuck]

Just read Animal Farm again this week. Ahh the folly of politics. Nothing has changed even now. The pigs are talking about change but fall into the same patterns and are still at the trough.

[Z A C H E R]

So A while ago I set a goal to re-read all of SKs works, Clive Barker's, and Anne Rices, and now I am on Rice's 4th book, The Vampire Lestat, one of my favorite books ever.

[SonofaCrowBar]

A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide..., by Mark Siljander. I'm about half-way through, well worth the read - I actually went out and bought a Qur'an today to do some research of my own.

[chuck]

Let me know how that book works out. I am reading alot about Saudi Arabia right now and had been reading about Iran. The amount of common ground is considerable between the religions. the issues spring up from Western exploitation particularly since the oil era, western support of autocrats, the long Jerusalem debate and exploitation of the masses by the complicit autocrats who have plunged their country into orthodoxy a a buffer against their own mis-management.

[ground control]

I'm reading Dexter Filkins, "The Forever War", Dexter could be the war correspondent of our time....

Gripping book..


O'ya.... btw.... Happy 8th Anniversary Afghanistan War!!

http://s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/books/forever_war/dexter_filkins

[pants]

The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck.

[DCBooks]

Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

[SonofaCrowBar]

Let me know how that book works out. I am reading alot about Saudi Arabia right now and had been reading about Iran. The amount of common ground is considerable between the religions. the issues spring up from Western exploitation particularly since the oil era, western support of autocrats, the long Jerusalem debate and exploitation of the masses by the complicit autocrats who have plunged their country into orthodoxy a a buffer against their own mis-management.

Re: A Deadly Misunderstanding

Finished it last night, definitely a kick in the butt to "conservative-flag-waving-Christians",.... like myself. The issue of the America's strong-arm foreign diplomacy is definitely in there, but.... you'd just have to read it.

[chuck]

Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

I hate to break it to you but....

Same of Rubbish...just new wasted paper........, 13 Oct 2009

I did not buy this book because I don't own a canary and if I did own a canary, I could use free newspapers that come through my letterbox to line the cage of my canary.
I managed to get an audio copy of this book and put myself through the excruciating pain of having to endure listening it through.

Listening/reading Mr. Dawkins `The Greatest Show on Earth' is pretty much like reading through Jehovah's Witness watchtower literature.
You get little dots of truth scattered throughout reams of pure heresy; but in Mr. Dawkins case, some good science dotted through reams of pure fantasy and wishful thinking as usual.

I really wish he would come up with something really new that creationists could challenge but sadly it's all the same dribble as before.

Sadly, he still brings up the usual `proofs' for evolution despite the fact that all these `proofs' that he has presented have already been proven false eg: Lucy, vestigial tail bone at the base of human spine, vestigial legs on whale etc. etc..........zzzzzzzz.

I thought it was quite hilarious how he refers to creationists as `history deniers' because we don't believe in millions of years.

The actual truth of the fact is that evolutionists are the `history deniers' because if you break up the work `history', it is `his' `story' ie: the story of the recorded past of man that we actually have a record of and not some distant fantasy mystical fairy tale past extending into millions of years.

I really find it hard to believe that someone as intelligent as Richard Dawkins can believe the stuff he has concocted. A man of his intelligence surely cannot be so deceived into believing what he teaches.
The only conclusion I can draw is that this is not an intellectual matter but rather a spiritual matter as the Bible clearly says in Romans 1 vs 22 - `Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...'.

I wish Mr. Dawkins would put all his energy and time into doing something useful with his degree(s) like researching a cure for cancer or something.

I wish people like Mr. Dawkins would realise that the study of the origin of the universe and life etc. has nothing to do with science and falls completely into the realm of theology. This is NOT a SCIENTIFIC issue Mr. Dawkins.

Please leave this to accredited theologians and go and do something useful for mankind. You are a disgrace to science when you write literature like this and have the audacity to call it SCIENCE !

[chuck]

Just finished

A History of Modern Libya - a country with a lot of potential, revolutionised into total apathy.

A History of Modern Saudi Arabia - a country created by warlords and an accompnaying order still using the same methods except violence has bene replaced by stricture and subsidy.

Summertime - J.M Coetzee - Brilliant fictionalised autobiography, honest, brutal and revealing.

Just picked up/ordered

Unforgivable Blackness - the story of Jack Johnson.

Hands of Stone - about Roberto Duran

Death in the Andes - Mario Vargas Llosa

By Night in Chile - Robero Bolano

Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon

Gonna be a busy month!

[chuck]

Oh and I also read in an afternoon

A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams - fun read.

The Trillion Dollar War - Joseph Stiglitz - Boring. And endless list of numbers. We get it. Its a fuck-up. Could be just a paper (as I susepct it was initially). I ended up skim-reading it.

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the 3rd Crusade. Pretty good, definitely the most balanced history of the Crusades I've ever read, gives a very fair account of the Muslim side of the wars. I've always been amazed at how fast the Latin Kingdom sprang up and built all those castles in the Holy Land.

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

Let me know how that book works out. I am reading alot about Saudi Arabia right now and had been reading about Iran. The amount of common ground is considerable between the religions. the issues spring up from Western exploitation particularly since the oil era, western support of autocrats, the long Jerusalem debate and exploitation of the masses by the complicit autocrats who have plunged their country into orthodoxy a a buffer against their own mis-management.

I'd say Muslims are very aware of the similarities between Islam and Christianity, they honor Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as prophets. I'd say 1 out 100 Christians (living in the West) know that Islam is an Abrahamic religion or that Islam is technically a Western religion.

[WrestlerV]

I forgot about this thread. Beside my painful textbooks, I have recently finished:

Dostoevsky's The Gambler, Burrough’s Running With Scissors and Magical Thoughts, Hemingway's Dangerous Summer.

Books I am currently reading:

Hemingway's Farewell To Arms and Burrough's Naked Lunch (Jesus fuck; strange read).

[DCBooks]

I hate to break it to you but....

Same of Rubbish...just new wasted paper........, 13 Oct 2009

I did not buy this book because I don't own a canary and if I did own a canary, I could use free newspapers that come through my letterbox to line the cage of my canary.
I managed to get an audio copy of this book and put myself through the excruciating pain of having to endure listening it through.

Listening/reading Mr. Dawkins `The Greatest Show on Earth' is pretty much like reading through Jehovah's Witness watchtower literature.
You get little dots of truth scattered throughout reams of pure heresy; but in Mr. Dawkins case, some good science dotted through reams of pure fantasy and wishful thinking as usual.

I really wish he would come up with something really new that creationists could challenge but sadly it's all the same dribble as before.

Sadly, he still brings up the usual `proofs' for evolution despite the fact that all these `proofs' that he has presented have already been proven false eg: Lucy, vestigial tail bone at the base of human spine, vestigial legs on whale etc. etc..........zzzzzzzz.

I thought it was quite hilarious how he refers to creationists as `history deniers' because we don't believe in millions of years.

The actual truth of the fact is that evolutionists are the `history deniers' because if you break up the work `history', it is `his' `story' ie: the story of the recorded past of man that we actually have a record of and not some distant fantasy mystical fairy tale past extending into millions of years.

I really find it hard to believe that someone as intelligent as Richard Dawkins can believe the stuff he has concocted. A man of his intelligence surely cannot be so deceived into believing what he teaches.
The only conclusion I can draw is that this is not an intellectual matter but rather a spiritual matter as the Bible clearly says in Romans 1 vs 22 - `Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...'.

I wish Mr. Dawkins would put all his energy and time into doing something useful with his degree(s) like researching a cure for cancer or something.

I wish people like Mr. Dawkins would realise that the study of the origin of the universe and life etc. has nothing to do with science and falls completely into the realm of theology. This is NOT a SCIENTIFIC issue Mr. Dawkins.

Please leave this to accredited theologians and go and do something useful for mankind. You are a disgrace to science when you write literature like this and have the audacity to call it SCIENCE !

Wow, I'm just going to put you on ignore and back away.

[Fighting_Irish1]

I hate to break it to you but....

Same of Rubbish...just new wasted paper........, 13 Oct 2009

I did not buy this book because I don't own a canary and if I did own a canary, I could use free newspapers that come through my letterbox to line the cage of my canary.
I managed to get an audio copy of this book and put myself through the excruciating pain of having to endure listening it through.

Listening/reading Mr. Dawkins `The Greatest Show on Earth' is pretty much like reading through Jehovah's Witness watchtower literature.
You get little dots of truth scattered throughout reams of pure heresy; but in Mr. Dawkins case, some good science dotted through reams of pure fantasy and wishful thinking as usual.

I really wish he would come up with something really new that creationists could challenge but sadly it's all the same dribble as before.

Sadly, he still brings up the usual `proofs' for evolution despite the fact that all these `proofs' that he has presented have already been proven false eg: Lucy, vestigial tail bone at the base of human spine, vestigial legs on whale etc. etc..........zzzzzzzz.

I thought it was quite hilarious how he refers to creationists as `history deniers' because we don't believe in millions of years.

The actual truth of the fact is that evolutionists are the `history deniers' because if you break up the work `history', it is `his' `story' ie: the story of the recorded past of man that we actually have a record of and not some distant fantasy mystical fairy tale past extending into millions of years.

I really find it hard to believe that someone as intelligent as Richard Dawkins can believe the stuff he has concocted. A man of his intelligence surely cannot be so deceived into believing what he teaches.
The only conclusion I can draw is that this is not an intellectual matter but rather a spiritual matter as the Bible clearly says in Romans 1 vs 22 - `Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...'.

I wish Mr. Dawkins would put all his energy and time into doing something useful with his degree(s) like researching a cure for cancer or something.

I wish people like Mr. Dawkins would realise that the study of the origin of the universe and life etc. has nothing to do with science and falls completely into the realm of theology. This is NOT a SCIENTIFIC issue Mr. Dawkins.

Please leave this to accredited theologians and go and do something useful for mankind. You are a disgrace to science when you write literature like this and have the audacity to call it SCIENCE !

hope your quoting someone else because if this is your work you need a good hard cunt punting.

[WrestlerV]

Fucking Christians. God Bless them. :)

[BobbyBrez]

http://www.urbanmonarch.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/ben-mezrich-rigged.jpg

[Doktor Sharpness]

Empire by Orson Scott Card. I'd read some of his stuff in college and enjoyed it, then heard about this one after playing Shadow Complex. Tough to find, but it's back in print now, and very engaging.

[tak]

i need to start reading again. i always go through periods where i'll read four or five books in a month and then all of the sudden i'll just completely lose interest in books and i won't read anything for a couple months. aside from my grilling recipe book, i haven't opened a book in about 4 months now.

[Doktor Sharpness]

i need to start reading again. i always go through periods where i'll read four or five books in a month and then all of the sudden i'll just completely lose interest in books and i won't read anything for a couple months. aside from my grilling recipe book, i haven't opened a book in about 4 months now.

tl, dr


Fuk Tak.

[Z A C H E R]

Anne Rice's The Witching Hour

[chuck]

hope your quoting someone else because if this is your work you need a good hard cunt punting.

Wow, I'm just going to put you on ignore and back away.

LOL.

yeah its on amazon.co.uk

[Don]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JjorEGZGL._SS500_.jpg

[chuck]

The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime by John J. Donohue III & Steven D. Levitt

Part-written by the guy who wrote Freakonomics, this paper produces either pretty convincing or at least massively co-incidental evidence. The reduction of unwanted births by teenager mothers, single parents and/or those living in poverty strongly correlates with falling crimes levels in the 1990s, long before zero tolerance policing came into fashion. The social-economic benefits of reduced crime were estimated at $30bn a year (1996) and coupled with increased incarceration levels accounts for alomost all of the reduction in crime in the US. The authors also point out that they are analysing data and not seeking encourage abortion or state limitation on female fertility rates.

[Cell]

http://i36.tinypic.com/29nuliq.jpg

[dragomort]

http://i36.tinypic.com/29nuliq.jpg

the first book was ok.....after that don't bother.

[Cell]

the first book was ok.....after that don't bother.

I like the TV show that's apparently very loosely based on it, so we'll see. If I end up liking season 2 of the TV show I'll probably keep on checking out the books just for curiosities sake.

[dragomort]

They made a tv show out of it? blah. There's an epic transcript directly from the series that describes it all though-

The bird let out a slow chicken cackle. It sounded like a chicken, but in her heart she knew it wasn't. In that instant, she completely understood the concept of a chicken that was not a chicken. This looked like a chicken, like most of the Mud People's chickens. But this was no chicken.

This was evil manifest.

seriously

The first book was ok, but when you go into book 2 it becomes apparent that he's a one-trick pony as an author and is milking it as a series. Kind of like Jordan in the WoT come book 7 or so where the action was all missing and even the tension was all skipped over at that point.


Good fantasy for current authors comes down to one name. George R R Martin. There are undoubtedly others worth reading, but his Song of Ice and Fire set is the best going on right now with nothing else coming close.

[Cell]

They made a tv show out of it? blah.

Legend Of The Seeker, it's produced by Sam Raimi and is actually pretty darn good.



Good fantasy for current authors comes down to one name. George R R Martin. There are undoubtedly others worth reading, but his Song of Ice and Fire set is the best going on right now with nothing else coming close.

I'm partial to the works of Matthew Stover and the Caine series, for my money that is hands down the best fantasy you will ever find, from this or any era.

[dragomort]

Legend Of The Seeker, it's produced by Sam Raimi and is actually pretty darn good.





I'm partial to the works of Matthew Stover and the Caine series, for my money that is hands down the best fantasy you will ever find, from this or any era.

Have to watch that I guess and I've had the first of those books on my wishlist for a while. I've heard some good things on it at least, but didn't know it was part of a series, thought it was just the one book. Here's an excerpt from an interview with him for what it's worth to promote Martin and himself :p http://www.sfsite.com/04a/mws101.htm

You also once told me that you thought George R.R. Martin was the only writer now who may save the epic fantasy series. Can you tell me a bit more? What do you see in Martin's work that you don't see in... oh, David Eddings?

First of all, Martin is a brilliant technician; there is not a single scene in Game of Thrones that is slow or superfluous. He is also willing to highlight a lot of the brutality and twisted sexuality that most fantasies leave buried. I admire the way he manipulates the conventions of traditional epic fantasy -- he knows his audience has been reading this stuff for years, so we have certain expectations. He sets up traditional situations, then pays them off in extremely un-traditional ways. He's writing for grown-ups, and setting a high standard -- those books sell a TON, and when they're all gone, his fans are gonna start looking for something that can move them the same way. That's what I mean about saving epic fantasy: teaching the fans to insist on better books.

I'm not going to dis the Eddingses, either -- they're ploughing a different part of the field, that's all. What they seem to be up to is fulfilling the expectations that Martin subverts, and working very hard to do so in satisfying ways. The Eddingses operate more through archetypes -- I believe David E. himself has described the archetype as the "crack cocaine of heroic fantasy." Their stuff is much more in the traditional vein, but they manage to generate a pretty convincing aura of mythic inevitability. To a classicist like myself, that has its own value.

[Cell]

Have to watch that I guess and I've had the first of those books on my wishlist for a while. I've heard some good things on it at least, but didn't know it was part of a series, thought it was just the one book.

Yeah, it's a four book series at this point, with a fifth on the way. Heroes Die is the first and the best of the bunch, but you really can't go wrong with any of them, as far as raw, visceral fantasy goes I've never read anything like it. Stover's a really cool guy too, he writes the fantasy he wants to write, regardless of sales, writes Star Wars novels that piss off a lot of Star Wars fans with how dark and gritty they are, all while holding down a regular 9 to 5 job.

Who knows, once I get around to Game of Thrones I'll probably end up liking it, may even replace Caine as my favorite series, can never read too many great books.

[dragomort]

Yeah, it's a four book series at this point, with a fifth on the way. Heroes Die is the first and the best of the bunch, but you really can't go wrong with any of them, as far as raw, visceral fantasy goes I've never read anything like it.

Who knows, once I get around to Game of Thrones I'll probably end up liking it, may even replace Caine as my favorite series, can never read too many great books.

Game of Thrones is excellent on it's own and the 3rd book of the series is likely the best thing I've ever read. The fact that it actually gets better as a series on re-reads with new things popping out you really wouldn't have noticed before becoming apparent is astounding. The way he screws with tropes is a wonder as well and all of it is secondary to the character he gives to his creations and the way his words flow off the page obscuring what needs to be hazy and revealing what is needed to be known is unbelievable. It's a true rarity in fantasy for someone to do such things so well. He makes the politics in the situations actually realistic and more impressively, interesting for those who pay attention to it. I believe Stover takes a page out of his book on some of it from what I've heard and so I'm definitely interested in checking out his work. As far as fantasy goes little has compared to the depth Martin has reached imo, but those that even come close or have at least tried to do the same are worthy of attention, certainly. Anyone else have any fantasy to recommend? I've heard good things about Patrick Rothfuss, Dan Simmons and Joe Abercrombie as well that are on my 'to order' list..... of course, I also have 50 or so books in my 'to read' pile at home before I can get to anything (most of which are not fantasy or close to it, although there are some) ...not sure if that's a great thing or a horrible one at this point :p

[TrickyNicky]

I've read Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. It's a solid fantasy. To tell you the truth, the whole school of magic with an evil, rich classmate nemesis is a bit overwrought, but it's well written and has some interesting ideas.

I'm a bit into Abercrombie's first, but I put it aside to finish Charlie Huston's last Joe Pitt book(which was very good). I'm going to have to re-read the first 150 pages because its all running together.

I'll just echo Drago's thoughts and say that of all the Fantasy I've read, nothing even comes close to GRRM. The characterization and world-building are second to none. The fourth book is the only one which disappoints because its been over 4 years since we should have been given the other half of the story. It's a waiting game at this point. We will have a new Dunk and Egg short story coming out in the Spring and the HBO pilot shortly after.

[dragomort]

Yeah, the 4th was a bit of a change-up. I found it a lot, lot better upon a re-read for what it's worth. It's very different from the previous ones, but it was a necessity and there's a lot in the details if you're paying attention. I still think it's the weakest of the series, but that's basically the same as saying it's only the 4th best fantasy book ever written :p The original short story I think was what got me into reading the books, as it was in the Legends anthology and he wrote a better short story than everyone else put together. I'm hoping the HBO series will give him some new motivation, as it will necessitate him finishing the books before they can film the appropriate seasons to it. And I still think he'll need at least one more book than he's thinking to wrap it up neatly, but that's likely just my hope for more to read from him :p

Also, on my recently read books-

Shinto: The Way Home

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Tao - The Way

Predictably Irrational

Currently reading:

The Neverending Story

[Marshal G.K. Zhukov]

http://i36.tinypic.com/29nuliq.jpg

It's crazy but I just bought this the other day and I'm a few hundred pages into it. It's not compelling reading. I was actually hoping it would improve as the series went on. I love Tolkien so I guess I'm put off by the idea of wizards actually shooting fireballs. I think I'll give it another hundred pages but it's slow going.

[WrestlerV]

I finished Magnificent Mind at Any Age, Jailbird, and Is Anyone There.

I am reading Men's Health and Wellness Encyclopedia, Firebreak.

[dragomort]

Currently on 'Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets'. Excellent book that spawned an excellent tv show. Intriguing read for sure. Internal reporting from a guy that spent a year in a homicide unit in Baltimore and delved into those detectives on a lot of levels and relates them to the reader in a matter-of-fact manner from the good, the bad and the ugly.

[Skean]

Currently on 'Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets'. Excellent book that spawned an excellent tv show. Intriguing read for sure. Internal reporting from a guy that spent a year in a homicide unit in Baltimore and delved into those detectives on a lot of levels and relates them to the reader in a matter-of-fact manner from the good, the bad and the ugly.

I was reading that a few months ago. Never finished it though. Very interesting book. Baltimore is a pretty messed up place.

Now I'm reading The Finishing School.

[chuck]

The Crying Lot of 49 - Thomas Pynchon

The Human Stain - Phillip Roth

[WrestlerV]

Finished: Dirty Money and Firebreak. Reading: Men's Health and Wellness Encyclopedia.

[CHH]

Current reading "the 4 hour workweek" newest edition. Pretty good book, lots of great tips about streamlining your time and outsourcing your personal work so far.

[Don]

Had Digital Fortress by Dan Brown sitting in my car for a while now...

[PickleDick]

The Damage Done - 10/10 maybe the best book ive ever read
http://www.cheatingthehangman.com/images/the-damage-done.jpg
I cut & pasted someone elses review
"I could not put this book down, my life totally stopped for a day. There is not one single other book on this planet that has effected me as much as "The damage done".
This book is certainly not a means for warren fellows to make you think him innocent, he freely admits his guilt, but by the last page you will certainly think that this man, or any other prisoner in the three thai prisons you visit with Mr Fellows along the way, did not deserve the severe punishment inflicted upon him daily, in the most horrific conditions imaginable.
You can almost smell feel and hear everything that Fellows describes he is truly a talented writer and anyone will admire this amazing man for dragging up the worst twelve years of his life from the depths of his soul, and putting it down on paper for everyone to experiance.
I will now never ever set foot in Thailand and anyone who reads this will certainly never smuggle any drug in or out of Thailand.
This book will definitley shock you and may very well break your heart but it will most certainly make you question the nature of the human race and the depths of depravity mankind will sink to given the oppurtunity."

Subtract the "i will never visit thailand" I fucking love thailand. but i definitely wont be doing any crime over there.

[chuck]

Read

The Red Badge of Courage - loved it

About to head on some travels and gonna take

The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
Short Stories - Borges
A psychological- anthropological history of Japan
And my old book of Raymond Carver stories.

[Deaths Head]

turning the tide one man against the medellin cartel

[dragomort]

Just read the 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' book and started up 'The God Delusion' based on recommendations here. The first was pure excellence and I have to agree that if science was taught more like how it was written I'd be a lot better off for it and likely a lot of others as well. Within the first chapter or so of Dawkins' work I've just figured out that my own view of religion was independently reached and seemingly the same as Einstein's... that just strikes me as very off....but awesome. I'd say there are differences, but I'm not sure where all they lie and the closeness at what I've read on it thus far is compelling me to learn more, as often happens with books on such deep issues when they're written well.

[I, Colossus]

Wow, how did I manage to miss this thread?

Anyway recently I read a big chunk of Chuck Klosterman's newest book Eating the Dinosaur. Incredibly entertaining and funnny. His normal mashup of pop culture, philosophy, and strange personal anecdotes. Unfortunately I left it at my brother's house with a chapter or two left. :(

[Oliver Klosov]

Just got "How the states got their shapes" in the mail. I saw a show by the same name on History channel and am now starting the book, so far I have read "Alabama" it would appear I'm going alphabetical through this bitch.

[SonofaCrowBar]

I'm about half-way through "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. A great classic of stoic thought, and great for the bathroom since it's a composition of short thoughts.

Also reading "Young Nietsche: Becoming a Genius", by Carl Pletsch. It's written with some admiration, but I can't help but feel sorry for Nietsche and anyone who would take their cues from him.

[fightguy]

Just finished "Son" by Jack Olsen, and now I am reading "I: The Creation of a Serial Killer" by the same author

[DCBooks]

Just finished Falling Angel by Hjortsberg. The book they based the Angelheart movie on.

Pretty solid read. Very quick. Some slight variations from the film, which I think improved dramatically on the novel by changing the main setting to New Orleans.

[Ebeneezer]

Just finished Falling Angel by Hjortsberg. The book they based the Angelheart movie on.

Pretty solid read. Very quick. Some slight variations from the film, which I think improved dramatically on the novel by changing the main setting to New Orleans.

I read that book for the first time late last year. I disagree with you on the setting, I thought the move to New Orleans didn't add anything at all to the story and it was better off remaining in the cold, grimy 1950's New York.

[Ebeneezer]

And I'm just about to start on the devil and the white city.

[Global Honored]

Devil in White City is excellent. Historical horror well researched.

I just picked up Elmore Leonard's PRONTO after enjoying the new FX show Justified. It seems to be like all Leonard novels, highly entertaining with a band of schemers, gangsters and ne're-do-wells that speak cool dialogue.

[DCBooks]

I read that book for the first time late last year. I disagree with you on the setting, I thought the move to New Orleans didn't add anything at all to the story and it was better off remaining in the cold, grimy 1950's New York.

Really? I thought the sacrifice/orgy in Central Park was unrealistic, and so much of the Jazz/Voodoo imagery fits much better in New Orleans.

And I'm just about to start on the devil and the white city.

If you enjoy it, I highly recommend Caleb Carr's The Alienist.

Just finished King's Blockade Billy. Also readying Martin Cruz Smith's Wolves eat Dogs. Another of his Arkady Renko books following Gorky Park, and Palahniuk's new one Tell All. Tell All's only good for a chapter or two at a time. Not that into the topic, but Chuck's amusing.

[Global Honored]

Also from Larson (or is it Larsen?)...Thunderstruck is quality. This novel takes on a historical international murder mystery, done with remarkable research much like DEVIL IN WHITE CITY, and throws in Marconi's quest to be the first to make wireless communication possible across the sea at that time....interweaving the stories up until the final clear connection. I preferred DEVIL but this was a decent follow up.

[fightguy]

Just finished "I: The Creation of a Serial Killer". Wow, that book is insane!! It's different than most true crime books in that most of it is written in the actual words of the killer, really giving a unique insight into what made him tick

Now I am reading "The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer"

[Ebeneezer]

Really? I thought the sacrifice/orgy in Central Park was unrealistic, and so much of the Jazz/Voodoo imagery fits much better in New Orleans.

I thought the city setting suited the noir nature of the story. Also the subway brawl with Ethan Krusemark was much more climactic and effective than killing him by sticking his head in a vat of gumbo.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I don't believe it: Some dickhead sold me a stolen library book. I ordered "A Very Private Gentleman" off ebay after seeing the trailer for "The American" in theater. I'd read about the movie in production, liked the trailer, and knew it was based on a novel, so I found out what it was and ordered it. Shit arrived in the mail, it had been stolen from the Houston public library a day or two after I bought it (the stamp on the back showed it was due for return from the last checkout the day AFTER I clicked "Buy Now" on Ebay.

Oh, well. No wonder it was only 99 cents, when every other copy, either Ebay or Amazon, was around $10.

[DCBooks]

I don't believe it: Some dickhead sold me a stolen library book. I ordered "A Very Private Gentleman" off ebay after seeing the trailer for "The American" in theater. I'd read about the movie in production, liked the trailer, and knew it was based on a novel, so I found out what it was and ordered it. Shit arrived in the mail, it had been stolen from the Houston public library a day or two after I bought it (the stamp on the back showed it was due for return from the last checkout the day AFTER I clicked "Buy Now" on Ebay.

Oh, well. No wonder it was only 99 cents, when every other copy, either Ebay or Amazon, was around $10.

Report the seller to Ebay, and they'll get banned. If you paid by PayPal you'll get your money back.


I'm reading Dimiter by Blatty. Hoping to glean some of his Exorcist and Legion glory from the book, but so far very little joy in hell.

also reading The Secret History of Star Wars which is an uber-geeks scrutiny of all the Star Wars screenplays and revisions leading up to Lucas's first film. It seems more of a treatise on how Darth was not Luke's father until after the first movie came out.

[Bishop]

"A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex" - the Chris Jericho autobiography

This was a fantastic read. Not only is Chris Jericho my favorite wrestler, since I first saw him in ECW back in 1995/1996 (I think), he is also one of my favorite entertainers today. This guy oozes charisma and is a silly person as well. This is a great book for not only wrestling fans, but for those who like to get a nice understanding on how wrestlers start from the bottom and work their way up. It tells his story on how he trained at the Hart Dungeon/Bowling Alley with no Hart in sight. His friendships with Lance Storm, Eddie Guerrero (RIP), Chris Beniot (RIP), Art Barr (RIP), Dean Malenko, and a few other notable names. He talks in detail of his rise from Mexico to Europe. His brief stint with Smoky Mountain Wrestling, with Lance Storm as the Thrillseekers....and wrestling with a broken arm against the Heavenly Bodies. His venture to Japan and learning the stiff style, before being noticed in the US by ECW/Heyman....thanks to Mick Foley. It all culminated with his run in WCW where he was able to hang out with his best friends on the road, at the bars, and in Disney World after filming "WCW World Wide". He was very vocal about how he was treated in WCW, but how Bischoff was very respectful to him and wanted to keep Jericho as long as he could, before he finally decided to jump ship to WWE/F. Bischoff could've buried him on tv, but either forgot or just didn't care thinking that Jericho wasn't that hot of a performer/wrestler/entertainer.

The only downside to this book is that it ends with him walking through the curtain in Chicago for his debut at it ends abruptly right there. The book was finished in 2007, so I understand that's why he ended it there so he could most likely write another book on the WWE alone....hopefully soon.

Great read, very cheap as you can find it at Barnes and Nobles for only $6 (bargain bin) instead of paying $26 for the full price charge. I highly recommend this to wrestling fans and to those who just like a great read on chasing your dream.

[Bishop]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

I picked it up on sale at Target....this is going to be a classic!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516SJwX53qL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61w8LuD5urL.jpg

[Ebeneezer]

Started on Already Dead by Charlie Huston.

After that it's Child 44

[DCBooks]

The Whisperers by Jon Connolly.

[TrickyNicky]

Started on Already Dead by Charlie Huston.

After that it's Child 44

I liked the whole series. He has a knack for dialouge although he doesn't use much punctuation so it can be confusing.

[Global Honored]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

I picked it up on sale at Target....this is going to be a classic!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516SJwX53qL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61w8LuD5urL.jpg

I read where they are adapting this to film. Should be crazy.

[Global Honored]

I just picked up
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/GunSeller.jpg
Yep, written by Brit comic turned american TV doctor House....and so far it's delightfully good.

[Lappari]

Prosenttijengit - Moottoripyöräkerhot ja järjestäytynyt rikollisuus Suomessa (One percent gangs - Biker clubs and organized crime in Finland)

Really good book about the very first chapters of Hell's Angels and Bandidos on Finnish soil.
I was surprised that it started with basically normal biker clubs(well, a bit punchy guys but nothing serious) trying to be the first Hells Angels club in Finland. They were affiliated with Danish and Swedish HA chapters, who got their orders from USA, and wanted to make sure that their respected club was the first to transform, and not the competitor. So, shit got serious... All shit broke loose in Scandinavia, and our boys wanted a piece of the action. There's a character in the book who is a member of a club trying to get the HA vests first, but he ends up fighting foreign members of HA in Sweden in a biker party and after that leaves his club, which becomes the first Finnish HA chapter in a few months. But... that dude is for real. After months of meeting the right people around Scandinavia and USA he establishes the first chapter of Bandidos in Finland pretty much out of nothing. Now he's the president of his own biker gang and gives orders instead of taking them. The real fight between Bandidos and HA starts when Bandidos fires an RPG into the HA clubhouse... I've read almost half of the book at this point.

[Don]

A Fighters Heart - Pwn!

[CHH]

Just read Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, one of the great thinkers of our time.

[Sid-art]

dave mustaine - a life in metal - gr8 book, very honest, must read for mustaine/megadeth fans

[pants]

i am reading less and less these days.. but current book is
http://bookcoverarchive.com/images/books/metamorphosis_and_other_stories.large.jpg

[pants]

*edit*

[Sway]

My Life With the Taliban by Abdul Salam Zaeef. One of the original Taliban, pretty interesting read.

[fightguy]

Helter Skelter

[Don]

I want to read chuck Liddell's book.

[makiwara]

Reading George Carlin's Last Words and then Forrest Griffin's Got Fight? after that.

[Randjob]

I just recently got a Kindle, starting to get back into reading after a very long time of not reading anything but internet crap. Just finished Super Freakonomics, which was awesome. One of the most interesting non fiction books Ive read.

Im now starting Game of Thrones, the first book from A Song of Ice and Fire. Read about 10% of it so far, and its living up to the hype

[Bishop]

The new Chris Jericho book, "Undisputed". I'm about half way through it after a couple of days and there are a lot of funny stories. So far, it's just about his band Fozzy :-/

[TrickyNicky]

^^^^Yeah. A whooooooooole lotta Fozzy. I read the first one first, and it flew by. Undisputed seems to be taking forever as I keep reading other stuff and forgetting about it. Still, it is much easier to read than Bret Hart's book.

Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series is damn good so far. I finished The Last Kingdom (part 1) the other day, and had to jump right into the next one. No one else writes battles quite like him. If you like medieval history, Vikings and Saxons, or warfare then you should give them a shot.

[Bishop]

I think all the Fozzy material is behind me. Just finished MC Hammered chapter and hope it starts turning "froot" here shortly.

A Lion's Tale was an amazing read. I guess that is the reason for my impatience for Undisputed.

[dragomort]

My last one was The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Quality work and very educational, but very referential by its nature and that can get draining when reading in quick spurts as I was doing.

Current one is the Once and Future King where I'd like to follow it up with 'Pendragon: The Definitive Account of the Origins of Arthur ' for obvious reasons.

I just recently got a Kindle, starting to get back into reading after a very long time of not reading anything but internet crap. Just finished Super Freakonomics, which was awesome. One of the most interesting non fiction books Ive read.

Im now starting Game of Thrones, the first book from A Song of Ice and Fire. Read about 10% of it so far, and its living up to the hype

These are the ones my mind is wanting to jump back into (and I need to before long so I can be on point for the next one in a couple months). It's a bit late to suggest, but read carefully and re-read at some point as well. One of the very few series to get significantly better from a re-read while still being great the first time through. Bumped an old thread on the HBO show for it as well.... I can talk on these for ages.

[GuidedByVoices]

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ourbandcouldbeyourlife.jpg

Read it many times, but one more time - why not..

[Randjob]

Read The Name of the Wind last month, almost done with the follow up A Wise Man's Fear now. Name of the Wind was good, Wise Man's Fear is awesome

[Randjob]

Hey if anyone is interested Goodreads.com is a great site for rating books and finding more books similar to ones you've already read and liked. If anybody signs up let me know so I can add you to my friends list

[dragomort]

Hey if anyone is interested Goodreads.com is a great site for rating books and finding more books similar to ones you've already read and liked. If anybody signs up let me know so I can add you to my friends list

Might have to do that. I'm just not sure that it'd do any good, as I already have about 100 books on the shelf to read and 200-300 on my wishlist already.... never hurts to have more things to read though!

[Doktor Sharpness]

Did I mention House of Leaves yet?

[Randjob]

Might have to do that. I'm just not sure that it'd do any good, as I already have about 100 books on the shelf to read and 200-300 on my wishlist already.... never hurts to have more things to read though!

Its also a great site to share what you liked with friends and find out what friends liked that you might like

[Randjob]

Did I mention House of Leaves yet?

I gotta buy this, I downloaded it but I could only find the pdf so Im probably just gonna end up buying the real book

[dragomort]

Its also a great site to share what you liked with friends and find out what friends liked that you might like

On it now. Need to update it and all that and not sure how much I'll get out of it really, but I want to like it at least.

[Randjob]

On it now. Need to update it and all that and not sure how much I'll get out of it really, but I want to like it at least.

Whats your name on there or your email, Ill add you. PM if you rather do it that way. Im loving it so far, got a ton of new books to read

[dragomort]

should be found under dragomort, I think. If not, just add @gmail.com to it and you've got the email. Still not quite used to it and I'm not exactly captain social on facebook etc (think I made an account and never bothered to go back) to get as much out of it as it's designed for I'm guessing, but I do really like the idea.

[clitty]

I'm reading Frederick Forsyths' The Cobra, mainly cos i enjoyed The Avenger. Also got a thing for Jack Reacher at the moment.

[adamn]

Thomas Harris-Red Dragon

[DCBooks]

Thomas Harris-Red Dragon

Lucky bastard, that's one of the best.

[Dirty]

I'm reading Frederick Forsyths' The Cobra, mainly cos i enjoyed The Avenger. Also got a thing for Jack Reacher at the moment.

A work buddy was talking about this book, sounded mehish, but is it one of those that's kind of like a guilty pleasure? Like... I dunno, watching rambo first blood part 2.

[adamn]

Lucky bastard, that's one of the best.

About half way through and realizing how well they put the movie together. True to the book so far.

[DCBooks]

About half way through and realizing how well they put the movie together. True to the book so far.


You'll get a bit more of Francis's childhood, and the final outcome differs, but I won't spoil it.

If you haven't read Silence, then obviously that's next,but the first half of Hannibal is my favorite part of the series.

[adamn]

You'll get a bit more of Francis's childhood, and the final outcome differs, but I won't spoil it.

If you haven't read Silence, then obviously that's next,but the first half of Hannibal is my favorite part of the series.

Read Hannibal when it came out. I have Silence, it's next in line to read.

Is Black Sunday worth the read?

[DCBooks]

Absolutely. It's prophetic and very well done.

When you finish Thomas Harris, I recommend The Alienist by Caleb Carr.

[clitty]

A work buddy was talking about this book, sounded mehish, but is it one of those that's kind of like a guilty pleasure? Like... I dunno, watching rambo first blood part 2.

A fair assumption. I like to be entertained with a book, a light read that won't have you contemplating the meaning of life.

[Randjob]

Daemon - A billionaire pc game developer who also happens to be a genius dies of brain cancer. After his death a malicious daemon program is unleashed on the world causing death destruction and financial chaos. Great book, this is without a doubt going to become a movie at some point. Really enjoyed it, would recommend to anybody who likes thrillers, computers, or gaming.

Also I have the first half of the new Ice and Fire book Dance With Dragons if anyone is interested. Its camera shots of the hardcopy book, but its very readable. PM me if you want it

[Gutsy]

Security Analysis

[Raposa]

5 Years to Freedom- James N. Rowe
Starship troopers- Heinline

[CHH]

Wealth of Nations-Adam Smith

It's a 230 year old treatise on economics that people still have a hard time understanding to this day

[Oliver Klosov]

just started "The Sportsman" by Dhani Jones

[DeltaSigChi4]

Currently

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq1vswM8eh1qcnsz0o1_400.jpg


Previously

http://www.o-mama.com/img/assets/beauty.jpg

http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/183/306/400000000000000183306_s4.png

http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/6485040-L.jpg

http://www.primaryignition.com/wp-content/uploads/rubber_balls_and_liquor_480x.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/greatest-book-covers/947-4.jpg

E

[DCBooks]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51U9YW7sQML._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Got the review copy of Jim Genia's book out later this month, about the fight scene in New York (underground) and New Jersey (MFC, ROC, IFL, Bodog, etc)

I was there for a lot of it, covering Atlantic City for the BK, and it's pretty interesting. I'll be doing a big review hopefully for the New York Patch papers, and of course for here.

[Randjob]

http://raymondpronk.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/freedom.jpg

Sequel to this
http://codecrackx15.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/daemon.jpg
Which was awesome. Can't wait for them to make a movie out of this. Badass technological thriller

[Don]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yCf5mw0HL._SL500_.jpg

Funny. Damn funny.

[DeltaSigChi4]

Currently

http://images.indiebound.com/712/346/9780061346712.jpg

Previously

http://ifiwasperfect.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/jay-z-decoded.jpg?w=475

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_296w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/09/12/Style/Images/books0918chaney.jpg

http://www.gabmonkey.com/books/images/PennAndTellersHowToPlayI1464_f.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61DA9saOn+L.jpg

http://schulerbooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/9780061936463.jpg

http://images.betterworldbooks.com/098/Angel-Face-9780984295135.jpg

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/188069_173273736052809_1304752_n.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq1vswM8eh1qcnsz0o1_400.jpg

E

[DCBooks]

Damned by Palahniuk
11-22-63 by King

[Randjob]

How was 11-22-63? I was thinking about reading it.

Just finished Mistborn: The Final Empire
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8U5YGYinltk/TTiPu8gLFbI/AAAAAAAAGjw/eI6dPPkRUSE/s1600/Mistborn+The+Final+Empire+%2528published+in+2008%2 529+-+A+fantasy+novel+by+Brandon+Sanderson.jpg

[S.R.]

Anyone else read these books when they were younger?

http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/6541409-L.jpg

I can confirm that they are still scary. The original illustrations (which unfortunately you can't get anymore since parents had them banned) are still frightening.

[CHH]

Currently


http://www.gabmonkey.com/books/images/PennAndTellersHowToPlayI1464_f.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61DA9saOn+L.jpg



E

Please post critiques of their conservative (libertarian) idealism.

[Doktor Sharpness]

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/boneshaker.jpg
http://sunshineanddesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/imperial-bedrooms.jpg?w=371&h=544
http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/cvr9781439140901_9781439140901.jpg

and, for like the ninth time...

http://www.binnallofamerica.com/pix/tbtm.jpg

[Gabriel]

http://www.wasteland-online.co.uk/ekmps/shops/tokyootaku/images/the-dream-cycle-of-h.p.-lovecraft-hardback--21529-p.jpg

[Doktor Sharpness]

http://www.wasteland-online.co.uk/ekmps/shops/tokyootaku/images/the-dream-cycle-of-h.p.-lovecraft-hardback--21529-p.jpg

Good shit; I have this one:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i3jkmey6L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

[TrickyNicky]

Anyone else read these books when they were younger?

http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/6541409-L.jpg

I can confirm that they are still scary. The original illustrations (which unfortunately you can't get anymore since parents had them banned) are still frightening.

Wha??? They are banned? Those illustrations are some definite nightmare fuel. I remember the stories being corny and some intentionally funny, but the art was bat-shit crazy. Like the lady who had spiders in her hair and ears, fuuuuuuuck.

[DCBooks]

Good shit; I have this one:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i3jkmey6L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Can't beat the Whelan covers.

[Sid-art]

4 hour body - tim ferris

[Rauger]

Read 2 Bukowski books recently, one a compilation of shorts called the most beautiful woman in town. The other was a novel called post office. Both pretty solid.

Now Im reading a peoples history of the united states by howard zinn. Its super fucking long, I think itll take like a month to read at least.

[DeltaSigChi4]

Currently

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RWJ5q574L._SS500_.jpg



Previously

http://thelesseroftwoequals.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/darkly_dreaming_dexter.jpg

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/546883/lesnar-book.jpg

http://images.indiebound.com/712/346/9780061346712.jpg

http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/104120000/104127887.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NtYL0Lq0OgE/TnB_N3HyHMI/AAAAAAAAi0U/t7JvOb-4sdI/s1600/michael_moore_here_comes_trouble.jpg

E

[adamn]

Previously

http://thelesseroftwoequals.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/darkly_dreaming_dexter.jpg

E

Only Dexter book I really enjoyed, Lindsay tried way to hard to be funny in the other books. Only one I haven't read yet is "Dexter By Design"

[Randjob]

Dexter in the Dark was so terrible

[Doktor Sharpness]

Just finished-

http://www.themoviebanter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/hunger-games.png
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/97/80/80/65/32/9780806532257_300X300.jpg