Recommend a great book.

[TakeAStepBack]

I'll Start:

Ishmeal by Daniel Quinn


Very insightful, fun, easy read. I highly recommend.

[HABIT]

the tibetan book of the dead

it changed my life, granted me dreamless sleep and an everlasting peaceful calm

[Luna]

East of Eden

I finished it years ago and it still floats around in my head

[TakeAStepBack]

Life of Pi
by
Yann Martel

This is a really fantastic story.

[Drop_o_Rain]

I am currently reading "Power of One" and I am enjoying it immensely.

[Raynequeen]

Way of the Peaceful Warrior - D. Millman

[TakeAStepBack]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

[TakeAStepBack]

THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand

[TakeAStepBack]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

[sums]

old path, white clouds~ thich naht hanh

a beautiful biography of the buddha

[TEO]

The Power of Myth ~ Joseph Campbell

[TEO]

The Dictionary!

So many versions and authors, it is difficult to pick a favorite.

[TakeAStepBack]

Running with Scissors~ Augusten Burroughs

[TakeAStepBack]

Me Talk Pretty One Day~ David Sedaris

[TakeAStepBack]

The Power of Myth ~ Joseph Campbell

Interesting.

Apparently, this was a 6 part PBS documentary that aired in 1988.

Thanks! I'm going to check both out..

[syd_25]

The Great And Secret Show - Clive Barker

best and weirdest book I ever read.

[SunshineDaydream]

Running with Scissors~ Augusten Burroughs

If you liked this one, I recommend his follow-up, Dry. Its about his life in NYC after he leaves all the craziness of his childhood and adolescence behind in Mass and becomes an alcoholic while working at a fast-paced advertising agency. I actually liked this one better than Scissors!

[Dancinglawstudent]

Catch 22 - there are no words for how great it is.
But here are a few anyway - hilarious! poignant! compelling! tragic! But still hilarious!

[TakeAStepBack]

If you liked this one, I recommend his follow-up, Dry. Its about his life in NYC after he leaves all the craziness of his childhood and adolescence behind in Mass and becomes an alcoholic while working at a fast-paced advertising agency. I actually liked this one better than Scissors!

Yes, another good one.

:wink:

[Spiderweb]

If you liked this one, I recommend his follow-up, Dry. Its about his life in NYC after he leaves all the craziness of his childhood and adolescence behind in Mass and becomes an alcoholic while working at a fast-paced advertising agency. I actually liked this one better than Scissors!


I've read both of these & just finished a Wolf @ the Table. Gives a startling outlook of before Running with Scissors.

[Mr_Pat]

storming heaven
by Jay Stevens

[space cadet]

power of myth, the book, is an adaptation of the pbs special set in a conversational tone, with joseph smith providing insightful knowledge regarding all sorts of varied mythologies that hold a lot of the same archetypal roles for characters from all of these different religions.

in one chapter he relates the virgin birth in christianity (also found in many other religions) as representational of gods and demi-gods being born out of the fourth chakra, the heart chakra and the home of compassion. he describes the bottom three chakras as our animal instincts, food/survival, sexual games, and power structures, and that the point of the virgin births is that these characters transcend the bottom three chakras and are born out of compassion for their fellow beings, living in the top four chakras, the spiritual chakras

[TEO]

Revolutionary Psychology ~ Samael Aun Weor

[TakeAStepBack]

The Tao of Pooh ~ Benjamin Hoff

[TakeAStepBack]

On Bullshit~ Harry G. Frankfurt

[TakeAStepBack]

The Secret~ Ronda Byrne

[vinandtonic]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

[Jam Fan]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

yes, this is my #1 pick.

and today is his 60th birthday

[musicmomma]

Life Lessons By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, David Kessler
http://books.google.com/books?id=iUMFYwO928EC&dq=life+lessons&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=LIjanTsrPZ&sig=QDTxm4luzoMaWb_lBX1PnkOvEY0&hl=en&ei=PBMpSuHEFdCMtgeu06DACA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3

[musicmomma]

tying rocks to clouds by william elliot

http://www.williamelliott.com/HomePage.html

[TakeAStepBack]

~Still Life of Woodpecker
~Skinny Legs and All
~Villa Incognito
~B is for Beer

All by Tom Robbins

[TEO]

Alice in Wonderland ~ Lewis Carrol

[TEO]

The Divine Comedy ~ Dante Alighieri

[TakeAStepBack]

~Cat's Cradle
~Slaughterhouse Five
~Slapstick
~Jailbird

All by K. Vonnegut

[In A Silent Way]

Destructive Generation: Second Thoughts About the Sixties by Peter Collier & David Horowitz

[sicknasty]

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

[50whitebaronNasty]

Schizophrenia Revealed: From Neurons to Social Interactions by Michael Foster, PhD

[50whitebaronNasty]

Old Louisville Recipe Book - Tapioca Pudding. Traditional recipes for puddings

[deadheadskier]

There's a Plunger in My Tree by Alan Handwerger


It is a series of short stories from my good friend Alan's life and there is no more hilarious collection of short stories anywhere. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Plunger-Other-Remembered-Tranquility/dp/0981757227

[vinandtonic]

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell--my favorite book of all time!

[TakeAStepBack]

The Trial~ Franz Kafka

[TakeAStepBack]

The Divine Comedy ~ Dante Alighieri

Can anyone recommend the best translation for this?
I'd like to pick it up, but the translation choices are daunting.

[TEO]

I cannot tell you the best, but if no one else replies, I'll look to see which one it is I have, unless I did that one as books on cd, hmmm...I don't remember, other than loving it.

[nique]

I'm reading Phil Lesh's book, "Searching for the Sound," and really liking it!

[SunshineDaydream]

Just finished eat pray love by elizabeth gilbert.
after her messy divorce and messier breakup with her rebound love, she goes off to live in italy, india and indonesia for 4 months each to "find herself."
looooved it.

[TEO]

I cannot tell you the best, but if no one else replies, I'll look to see which one it is I have, unless I did that one as books on cd, hmmm...I don't remember, other than loving it.


Confirmed audio cds.

[TEO]

I'm reading Phil Lesh's book, "Searching for the Sound," and really liking it!

I very much enjoy this book!

[TakeAStepBack]

The Divine Comedy ~ Dante Alighieri

Can anyone recommend the best translation for this?
I'd like to pick it up, but the translation choices are daunting.

Confirmed audio cds.

Thanks for checking!
A friend recommended this version:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation. He did the first American translation.

[Slave Self Promoted]

~Slapstick


K. Vonnegut

this is my all-time favorite book and my favorite author!! i could read it over and over again.

cat's cradle is my least favorite vonnegut.

also awesome kurt works:

mother night
timequake
a man without a country
& breakfast of champions (best saved until after you've read a lot of his works, as he ties in many of his recurring characters- but still an awesome read if you're fresh to his books)

chuck palahniuk's books are mesmorizing to me too! especially rant. by far my favorite of his to date.

[TakeAStepBack]

Post Office
Pulp
Barfly (script/screen write)

~Charles Bukowski

[Condormania]

Just off the top of my head...

Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
Skeletons on the Zahara, Dean King
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill
Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why Greeks Matter, Thomas Cahill
When the Sleeper Wakes, H.G. Wells

...and if you're into poetry, check out Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover's Hands and City of Coughing and Dead Radiators, Martin Espada

[Nevrmore]

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

[SunshineDrummer]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

OMG, what an amazing read!!! I read this a few months back and I just finished "World Without End" which is kind of a sequel to "Pillars". Takes place in the same setting, but a few hundred year later. Also an amazing book.

[folderolderiddle]

Brave New World
The Doors of Perception
Heaven and Hell
by Aldous Huxley

A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess

1984
by George Orwell

Farenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

[Nevrmore]

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

[Slave Self Promoted]

Brave New World
The Doors of Perception
Heaven and Hell
by Aldous Huxley




thank you for these! i'm reading mortal coils by aldous, but it's a really slow start. hard for me to find the motivation to pick it back up, ya know? i'll look into these my next trip to the library!


prozac nation - elizabeth wurtzel
the belljar - sylvia plath

[sums]

chuck palahniuk's books are mesmorizing to me too! especially rant. by far my favorite of his to date.

i loved palahniuk up until "haunted" which i couldn't even make it through. i was so disappointed... i skipped "rant" and recently picked up "pygmy" which just pissed me the fuck off! :lol: i only made it through about 2 chapters before i gave up...

i need to go back and read "rant"

[zuno]

The Road To Woodstock by Michael Lang

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5140Dk7BAiL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

If you enjoy books about the festival like I do, you'll find that this may be one of the better books out there

[PeaceDude17]

I read "The Power of Now" and it was pretty interesting if your into that spiritual belief that we all live in a single moment of eternity and that life is much better once you realize this.
It was a good book but I found it to be pretty repetitive.

[Slave Self Promoted]

i loved palahniuk up until "haunted" which i couldn't even make it through. i was so disappointed... i skipped "rant" and recently picked up "pygmy" which just pissed me the fuck off! :lol: i only made it through about 2 chapters before i gave up...

i need to go back and read "rant"


i was warned not to read his "invisible monsters", so i'm steering clear of it.

you definitely won't be sorry for reading rant. the way it's written, as an oral biography from several different people's perspectives, is really impressive. plus the story line is just... unreal. :thumbsup: i've also read that he's turning it into a series, which would be really cool!

his "choke" is great, too. dirty, but entertaining. :thumbsup:

"diary" was kind of cool, but a slow read for me. i like his concepts a lot, but this one seemed like it was tough for him to translate from his head to paper.

[holysmokes]

Walden - Henry David Thoreau

[sums]

i was warned not to read his "invisible monsters", so i'm steering clear of it.

you definitely won't be sorry for reading rant. the way it's written, as an oral biography from several different people's perspectives, is really impressive. plus the story line is just... unreal. :thumbsup: i've also read that he's turning it into a series, which would be really cool!

his "choke" is great, too. dirty, but entertaining. :thumbsup:

"diary" was kind of cool, but a slow read for me. i like his concepts a lot, but this one seemed like it was tough for him to translate from his head to paper.

i absolutely loved invisible monsters! choke was my 1st so it's special. i loved diary too. but i really didn't fully get it until the 2nd time through.

[TakeAStepBack]

A Brief History of the Dead ~ Kevin Brockmeier

READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!

[midnight]

http://aim.search.aol.com/search/redir?src=websearch&s_req=c2a356f0525c83cd&s_cr=5&s_cq=this+is+your+brain+on+music&s_cid=96053491538413839979614170956805039482&s_cim=1251660500789&s_cu=http%3A%2F%2Fblogcritics.org%2Fbooks%2Farticl e%2Fbook-review-this-is-your-brain3%2F&s_cd=web&s_cm=matchingsites.M.xml&s_ct=Book+Review%3A+%3Cb%3EThis+Is+Your+Brain+On+M usic%3C%2Fb%3E+-+The+Science+of+a+Human+%3Cb%3E...%3C%2Fb%3E&s_cp=1&s_cpr=5

This Is Your Brain on Music
The Science of a Human Obsession
Daniel J. Levitin - Author



http://www.joanwickersham.com/Site/welcome.html

The Suicide Index

[HABIT]

Brave New World
The Doors of Perception
Heaven and Hell
by Aldous Huxley



I found huxley to be boring, over-rated and boarders the line between appropriatly writing about naked children and pedophilia.

[TakeAStepBack]

World War Z and the Zombie survival guide by Max Brooks.

World War Z is phenom read and the survival guide has a good touch of hilarity.
I just finished both.

[holysmokes]

Shaving the Inside of Your Skull
Mel Ash

[holysmokes]

The Essential
Alan Watts

[holysmokes]

Journey to the Heart/Discourses on the Sufi Way
Osho

[Nevrmore]

I'm reading "The Dresden Files" by Jim Butcher. I just finished the first book "Storm Front" :clapping:

[HappieKamper]

Just finished eat pray love by elizabeth gilbert.
after her messy divorce and messier breakup with her rebound love, she goes off to live in italy, india and indonesia for 4 months each to "find herself."
looooved it.
I am currently reading this.

[HappieKamper]

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. This is a fantastic story!

[TakeAStepBack]

I'm currently plowing through Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.
This book should be on everyone who wants to understand the world over the last 40 years' list.

[sarah b.]

A tooth from the tiger's mouth (by tom bisio) (Chinese medicine content)

[Jersey Thug]

The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb

i read She's Come Undone many years ago and loved Lamb's writing, but never looked into his other books for some reason until i found this one at the library recently. it's fiction, but based on real occurrences (Columbine, Katrina, Civil War, etc) that shape the lives of the book's characters. i loved it...maybe not quite as much as She's Come Undone, but i enjoyed it immensely.

Borrowed from Amazon:
Wally Lamb's two previous novels, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, struck a chord with readers. They responded to the intensely introspective nature of the books, and to their lively narrative styles and biting humor. One critic called Wally Lamb a "modern-day Dostoyevsky," whose characters struggle not only with their respective pasts, but with a "mocking, sadistic God" in whom they don't believe but to whom they turn, nevertheless, in times of trouble (New York Times).

In his new novel, The Hour I First Believed, Lamb travels well beyond his earlier work and embodies in his fiction myth, psychology, family history stretching back many generations, and the questions of faith that lie at the heart of everyday life. The result is an extraordinary tour de force, at once a meditation on the human condition and an unflinching yet compassionate evocation of character.

When forty-seven-year-old high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his younger wife, Maureen, a school nurse, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, Caelum returns home to Three Rivers, Connecticut, to be with his aunt who has just had a stroke. But Maureen finds herself in the school library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed, as two vengeful students go on a carefully premeditated, murderous rampage. Miraculously she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the trauma. Caelum and Maureen flee Colorado and return to an illusion of safety at the Quirk family farm in Three Rivers. But the effects of chaos are not so easily put right, and further tragedy ensues.

While Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers a cache of old diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in an upstairs bedroom of his family's house. The colorful and intriguing story they recount spans five generations of Quirk family ancestors, from the Civil War era to Caelum's own troubled childhood. Piece by piece, Caelum reconstructs the lives of the women and men whose legacy he bears. Unimaginable secrets emerge; long-buried fear, anger, guilt, and grief rise to the surface.

As Caelum grapples with unexpected and confounding revelations from the past, he also struggles to fashion a future out of the ashes of tragedy. His personal quest for meaning and faith becomes a mythic journey that is at the same time quintessentially contemporary—and American.

The Hour I First Believed is a profound and heart-rending work of fiction. Wally Lamb proves himself a virtuoso storyteller, assembling a variety of voices and an ensemble of characters rich enough to evoke all of humanity.

[Condormania]

I love Wally. When I was at UConn in the mid-90s, I was in his fiction workshop. He's a great writer and a great teacher.

[Jersey Thug]

i've got to admit that makes me a little jealous. when i finished She's Come Undone i actually looked him up to see if he was a woman utilizing a pseudonym because he wrote Dolores Price from a voice i didn't believe a man capable of at the time, to be honest.

[Condormania]

i've got to admit that makes me a little jealous. when i finished She's Come Undone i actually looked him up to see if he was a woman utilizing a pseudonym because he wrote Dolores Price from a voice i didn't believe a man capable of at the time, to be honest.

Yeah, they say he's a master of character and voice. I have to admit that I agree. Somewhere, I have a copy of a short story that he wrote in grad school. Again, excellent.

[sweet potato]

Can anyone recommend the best translation for this?
I'd like to pick it up, but the translation choices are daunting.

He didn't translate Purgatorio or Paradiso, but Pinsky's translation of the Inferno is by far my favorite.

[sweet potato]

The Liars' Club - Mary Karr....one of my favorite memoirs

American Gods - Neil Gaiman....one of the best books I've read this year

[Jersey Thug]

i was warned not to read his "invisible monsters", so i'm steering clear of it.

you definitely won't be sorry for reading rant. the way it's written, as an oral biography from several different people's perspectives, is really impressive. plus the story line is just... unreal. :thumbsup: i've also read that he's turning it into a series, which would be really cool!

his "choke" is great, too. dirty, but entertaining. :thumbsup:

"diary" was kind of cool, but a slow read for me. i like his concepts a lot, but this one seemed like it was tough for him to translate from his head to paper.

i finally picked up Rant and you're right, it's a great read. i'm flying through it! so much better than the only other book of his i've read - Snuff.

[Tim The Beek]

Saw title. Was going to mention Wally Lamb. Was beaten to it.

Also:

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Straight Man - Richard Russo

[sums]

i finally picked up Rant and you're right, it's a great read. i'm flying through it! so much better than the only other book of his i've read - Snuff.

jeez, guess i'll have to give him another try! :lol:

i'm reading an amazing, dark and brutal sci fi book called "the wind up girl" by paolo baccigalupi. i haven't read this kind of book in a long time but i'll tell ya, if you're into this sort of thing, it's excellent!

it takes place in bangkok far enough into the future where the oil is all gone and food has been so altered that it easily develops diseases that kill and, in instances, cause plagues. "calories" are what is precious and trade is corrupt.

the author has an amazing way of having the reader experience the story through the thoughts, feelings and senses of the characters. in a lot of books i feel like i'm watching what's going on but in this book i feel myself there.

[Jersey Thug]

i am still enjoying it but needed a little break from the dark humor, so in between chapters i'm now reading Happy For No Reason - a recommendation from Jason. it seemed like it might be a lighter read than Rant, somehow :lol:
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-No-Reason-Steps-Inside/dp/141654772X


Summer if you like future 'eek' stuff, maybe check out Nature's End by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. it's out of print but available used via Amazon - i actually just ordered a new copy since i lost mine to a friend who borrowed it and never returned it like 10 years ago. i first read it as a teenager (published in 1984) and many times since.
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-End-Consequences-Twentieth-Century/dp/044651344X

if you haven't read it by next summer i'll give you mine at Vibes and get another :)

[sums]

lately i haven't been so much into the future 'eek' stuff but this book is changing my mind. i used to read tons of it when i was a kid. one of my favorite things ever was a friend let me read his 1st edition hardcover of 'brave new world' when i was like 17. i had to read it at his house though. "this book does not leave my house!!" :lol:

i will definitely check that book out. at the very least, the husband will love it ;)

[TakeAStepBack]

jeez, guess i'll have to give him another try! :lol:

i'm reading an amazing, dark and brutal sci fi book called "the wind up girl" by paolo baccigalupi. i haven't read this kind of book in a long time but i'll tell ya, if you're into this sort of thing, it's excellent!

it takes place in bangkok far enough into the future where the oil is all gone and food has been so altered that it easily develops diseases that kill and, in instances, cause plagues. "calories" are what is precious and trade is corrupt.

the author has an amazing way of having the reader experience the story through the thoughts, feelings and senses of the characters. in a lot of books i feel like i'm watching what's going on but in this book i feel myself there.

Gonna grab this after work. I just finished the shock doctrine and need something similar, but less real. This book will throw you into a mental funk if you arent prepared for the content....readers discretion is advised.

[sums]

it is brutal and dark! but fiction. for now ;)

[TakeAStepBack]

Thanks for the recommend, sums!! :jamguy:

[sums]

i hope you like it as much as i do :) i'm about 3/4 of the way through. i read reeealllly slow!

[sums]

so tasb, did you ever get this book? i'm almost done... trying to figure out what to read next. my husband has a couple of neil gaiman books so i'm thinking one of those... he really liked "good omens" w/terrry prachet (?) as the co-author.

[TakeAStepBack]

I picked it up, but haven't cracked it yet. I'll likely start it up Monday on the ride into prison....er ah, I mean work..

[cj]

the secret life of bees -- sue monk kidd easily the best book i have read in a few years. it took my breath away, such a powerful story and such poetic language.

the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society - mary ann shaffer and annie barrows i just finished this and loved it. :clapping:

[sums]

i really loved "the secret life of bees". it had such a powerful message. i'm afraid to see the movie they made because i loved the book so much!

same thing with "my sister's keeper" and "the time travelers wife". i just know the movie versions couldn't live up to the books.

[georgi]

My Sister's Keeper and The Time Traveler's Wife are on my list of books to read!!! :) I want to see the movies, but refuse to do so until I read them! I alwaysl ike the books better!

[sums]

"my sister's keeper" is heavy duty but excellent.

i just loved "the time traveler's wife" although my husband couldn't get through it, too "chickish" for him but it's not really. he's read other chick books of mine, even laurie notaro :funny1:

i'm reading another book by "the time traveler's" author right now, "her fearful symmetry". it's good, but so far not near as good. but it is compelling and i do want to keep reading it.

i also started reading "breakfast with buddha" by roland merullo which is funny and touching (but definitely not in a chick lit way :lol: ) and i love it so far!

[DayStar]

i LOVED 'secret life of bees'.

i'm currently reading 'house of leaves'.

[vinandtonic]

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I waited a long time to read this b/c my dad had Alzheimer's for 10 years before he passed away and I thought it would hit too close to home. I really, really liked it. Definitely sad but at least I could get sort of a persepctive on what he went through.

sums, I started the WindUp Girl but only got about halfway through. It was a little too scifi for me.

[sums]

yeah, it's really hard core sci fi.

i just read "breakfast with buddha" by roland merullo. its a very modern day siddhartha meets on the road. i thoroughly enjoyed it!

also just read "her fearful symmetry" by the woman who wrote "the time travelers wife". very disappointing. she writes so well but i really disliked parts of the story line and where it went. i did finish it though.

just started, "getting stoned with savages" by maarten troost. i read his 1st book "sex lives of cannibals" which was extremely entertaining. they are "travel guides" of sorts with lots of humor. warning: do not read these books if you plan on living on a small island in the south pacific. you'll never want to :lol:

[TakeAStepBack]

My latest reads:

the wind up girl by paolo baccigalupi (thanks sums!)
eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Climategate: The CRUtape letters by Steve Mosher aand Thomas Fuller

And right now I'm reading the best political satire I've ever read and i highly recommend it:
Idiot America: how stupidity became a virtue in the land of the free by Charles P. Pierce

I've actually been LOL on the train from this read...it's amazingly insightful and hilarious to boot.

[jamiebear]

Are you there Vodka, It's Me Chelsea-was incredibly funny:wink:

[sums]

someone lent the husband, "the places in between" by rory stewart. it's a story about a journalist from scotland who literally walks across afganistan a few months after 9/11. i've only been reading it when i'm at work so i'm not that far into it. so far it's great and i don't even read that much non-fiction.

[sums]

My latest reads:

the wind up girl by paolo baccigalupi (thanks sums!)


i'm glad you liked it! :)

[In A Silent Way]

Custying 3.0 & Furthur Gneubs for Dummies

[TakeAStepBack]

Custying 3.0 & Furthur Gneubs for Dummies

is this one authored by :halfstar:?
:huh:

[sums]

:lol:

[TakeAStepBack]

I am on the market for a new read.

WP: What should I download
1. Electrogravitic​s Systems: Reports on a New Propulsion Methodology
by Thomas Valone (Paperback)
2. The Works: Anatomy of a City
by Kate Ascher (Hardcover)
3. Civilization One: The World is Not as You Thought It Was
by Christopher Knight (Paperback)
4. The Giza Power Plant : Technologies of Ancient Egypt
by Christopher Dunn (Paperback)

thoughts?

[TakeAStepBack]

OK, well i just went ahead and made a choice because there were WAY too many replies to this WP.

:lmao:

[sums]

those all sound way too non-fiction for me :coffee:

;)

[sums]

although i just realized the two books i'm reading right now are non-fiction :lol:

:blush:

[TakeAStepBack]

:lol:

Yes, no nonfiction in that group. I ended up with "the works". It is about city infrastructure planning/development. Right up my alley.

(I am a seriously boring dude)

Loser'd.

What are you reading, sums?

[sums]

same books i've been reading. i haven't been too gung-ho on them but they are both excellent books.

the post at the top of the page is one and i'm still reading "getting stoned with savages" by maarten troost.

sometimes i tear through books and other times it takes me forever to read one...

[mountain mama]

Just Kids by Patti Smith

...a very gentle and artistic biography - highly recommended!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[gregoir]

Lamb: The Apostle of Biff Christ's Childhood Pal-Christopher Moore

[Jam Fan]

i just finished
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSkYrfZDf5XM-Q0SGjilJli7Q28x_D4JUXOEUCKYJNROex31H9E and loved it. can hardly wait for the next book.

In future volumes of the Century trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the twentieth century, changing themselves – and the century itself

[sums]

i just started scarlett thomas' "our tragic universe". i love it so far. years ago i read her book, "the end of mr y" which was awesome. she is wicked smart and loves playing with time/space.

[TEO]

Outliers, although a bit boring at times, has some interesting information and perspective on success to explore.

[TakeAStepBack]

The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living by Mark Boyle

I havent read this yet, but it is on the rotation and looking to get bump tot he next read. Anyone read this?

[TEO]

Nope

Next on my list is Life by Keith Richards.

[sums]

lawrence is reading "life" right now. he's really enjoying it :)

[TakeAStepBack]

A few recent reads that I highly recommend. Sorry, no fiction here either.

The Praetorian guard: the U.S. role in the new world order by John Stockwell (political science)
Where did the Towers go? by Dr. Judy Wood
Common Sense by Thomas Paine


I need to grab a copy of Mark Boyles book

[TakeAStepBack]

Brotherhood of Darkness by Dr. Stanley Monteith

Which turned me on to
Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time by Carroll Quigley
It can be read here for free.....
http://www.archive.org/stream/TragedyAndHope/TH#page/n0/mode/2up

[bizzle]

~Cat's Cradle
~Slaughterhouse Five
~Slapstick
~Jailbird

All by K. Vonnegut

I know that I am way late on this, but Slaughterhouse Five is one of my absolute favorite books. Just read Timequake recently as well. I love his humor in the darkness. I still use "So it goes" often in my day to day... i like the reasoning behind the phrase.
The world lost a brilliant writer when Vonnegut passed on, so it goes.

[Drop_o_Rain]

I can't read this whole thread.. not sure if someone mentioned this already.

I am enjoying "secret history" by donna tartt

I am not at the end yet though.. so maybe I will hate it. HAHA!

[Karen]

Here is what I read recently and really liked/loved:

Swamplandia
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
Water for Elephants
Walking on Broken Glass

[Karen]

If you liked this one, I recommend his follow-up, Dry. Its about his life in NYC after he leaves all the craziness of his childhood and adolescence behind in Mass and becomes an alcoholic while working at a fast-paced advertising agency. I actually liked this one better than Scissors!

If you liked Dry (I did!) I just read a similar (but even better) book about the same subject: Drinking, A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

[TEO]

Aldous Huxley, A Biography by Nicholas Murray

Quite interesting and informative, has me ready to dive into more Huxley.

[TakeAStepBack]

Some of my last reads i'd recommend:

(not in order of consumptionn)

The Economics of freedom By Frederic Bestiat;Clark Ruper; Tom Palmer
Liberty Defined & End the Fed by Ron Paul
Human Action: Scholars Addition by Ludwig von Mises

Currently into Socialism by Ludwig von Mises

Probably way too boring for most peoples pleasure reading but i throoughly enjoyed all of these and the perspective they provide. Recommended for anyone interested.

[gregoir]

Some of my favorites
The Hotel New Hampshire-John Irving
Weaveworld-Clive Barker
Lamb The Gospel According to Biff Christ's Childhood Pal-Christopher Moore
Are You Experienced-William Sutcliffe
Shot in the Heart-Mikal Gilmore
Rule of the Bone-Russel Banks
Number 9 Dream-David Mitchell
The Rules of Attraction-Bret Easton Ellis
Drop City- TC Boyle

[sums]

i saw tc boyle on tv awhile back. can't remember the context but i do remember thinking he was really weird! maybe it was on bill maher...?

[Raynequeen]

i loved drop city - but not a boyle fan - that's only one i could get past page 30 for...and glad i did :)

[TEO]

Brave New World Revisited ~ Aldous Huxley

Currently about 60% through the book, and wow! We really need to open our eyes to what is going on behind the curtains.

Review
"A message which, enforced by Mr. Huxley's seriousness and clear dialectic on dealing with social problems, we cannot ignore.... The last pages carry a somewhat tragic node about his misgivings whether man himself wishes ot be saved." -- Time and Tide, London

"A thought jabbing, terrifying book." -- -- Chicago Tribune

"Brilliantly written.... Should appeal to readers of all breeds." -- -- Kirkus Review

"It is a frightening experience.... to discover how much of his satirical prediction of a distant future became reality in so short a time." -- New York Times Book Review"
Product Description
Huxley looks backward and forward in this brilliant extended essay published a quarter of a century after his controversial, dark visionary novel. Analyzing America at mid-century against the tomorrow of the BRAVE NEW WORLD, Huxley finds some answers and asks more questions.

[TakeAStepBack]

Thanks, it's been a many moon since i read that. A revisit should be interesting.

[TEO]

Thanks, it's been a many moon since i read that. A revisit should be interesting.

Thought provoking, and may open the eyes a bit wider if that is possible.