Dr. Fong Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Always looking for book suggestions so why not have a discussion. Personally I like to relax when I read and like fiction better than non-fiction. But there're always exceptions. I particularly enjoy horror and sci-fi. Here's a list of my latest reads: Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman I love everything Gaiman has done. Now I have to go back and read American Gods again because I felt like I might have been missing stuff while reading Anansi Boys. City Infernal Nothing special, but a good solid page turner about hell. I love books about the devil and such. World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War Cool book written as if it were a history book about a worldwide Zombie outbreak. Wasn't as good as it should have been, but parts were really interesting and compelling. I'm a big zombie mark so I loved it. As an interesting side note the author is the son of Mel Brooks. Early Bird: A Memoir of Early Retirment - Rodney Rothman Funny book about a guy that moves to a retirement community in Arizona. And the series that I always recommend to everyone starts with A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin. It's an excellent fantasy series coming from someone that absolutely hates fantasy series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Always looking for book suggestions so why not have a discussion. Personally I like to relax when I read and like fiction better than non-fiction. But there're always exceptions. I particularly enjoy horror and sci-fi. Here's a list of my latest reads: Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman I love everything Gaiman has done. Now I have to go back and read American Gods again because I felt like I might have been missing stuff while reading Anansi Boys. City Infernal Nothing special, but a good solid page turner about hell. I love books about the devil and such. World War Z - An Oral History of the Zombie War Cool book written as if it were a history book about a worldwide Zombie outbreak. Wasn't as good as it should have been, but parts were really interesting and compelling. I'm a big zombie mark so I loved it. As an interesting side note the author is the son of Mel Brooks. Early Bird: A Memoir of Early Retirment - Rodney Rothman Funny book about a guy that moves to a retirement community in Arizona. And the series that I always recommend to everyone starts with A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin. It's an excellent fantasy series coming from someone that absolutely hates fantasy series. 837977[/snapback] I read a very good history of mud recently. Titled "Mud", unsurprisingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffan00 Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Read a few recently: "Dread and dead filled the Dunnam house" - very good true accounting of a haunting in Florida. Was made into a Discovery channel movie, now soon to be a Big screen hit. Very spooky! Juiced "how baseball got big" Jose Canseco- Actually a good read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 My favorite book is "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis. Pretty deep, emotional stuff. Fiction wise, I enjoy John LesCroarts. Very talented guy....also a musician. He writes mostly legal thrillers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I recently read a really great short story collection by David Benioff called When The Nines Roll Over. Also, if you like crime fiction, George Pelecanos has a bunch of great novels. Highly recommended. I've been really into his stuff lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Nice book about Lincoln and his cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'm immersed in a couple of books about the Negro Leagues in baseball [right now, [u]Shades of Glory[/u], by Lawrence Hogan], and a good one about Mumbai (Bombay) called Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta, an Indian-American who moved back in the late 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 The series of books by Alexander McCall Smith are quite good. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries...all-smith.shtml I also - heartily - recommend the late Robert Heilbroner's "Worldly Philosophers" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Heilbroner Also, the autobiography of Ben Franklin, John Woolman's journal, in Volume 1 and Marcus Aurelius in Volume 2 of the 51 volume Harvard Classics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMadCap Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 There is a new Dune novel out. Written from the allegeded Dune 7 outline Herbert left before his death. Hunters of Dune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 There is a new Dune novel out. Written from the allegeded Dune 7 outline Herbert left before his death. Hunters of Dune 838071[/snapback] Too bad the son and his co-author are hacks. It's also too bad I never got past page 3 of Heretics of Dune. It might be good...I don't know...I'm just so unmotivated to read it, after struggling through the piece of dreck that was "God Emperor of Dune". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'm immersed in a couple of books about the Negro Leagues in baseball [right now, [u]Shades of Glory[/u], by Lawrence Hogan], and a good one about Mumbai (Bombay) called Maximum City, by Suketu Mehta, an Indian-American who moved back in the late 90s. 838062[/snapback] I'm looking at my baseball autographed by Buck O'Neil and Butch McCord. Gonna give it to my grandson someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'm looking at my baseball autographed by Buck O'Neil and Butch McCord. Gonna give it to my grandson someday. 838075[/snapback] That's awesome. I'm sure you'll also give him something even more valuable -- the stories behind the names on that ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agilen Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Well, it sounds like you read similar stuff to me...I just finished Anansi Boys as well, and I love the Martin series. Do you read any Neal Stephenson? I just finished Zodiac, and thought it was one his best books outside of the Baroque Cycle, which were also fantastic books. I'm also currently reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer. Its non-fiction about fundamentalist Mormons, but its really fascinating and isn't dry like a lot of non-fiction...I can't put it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanInTexas Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Classic book - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole More modern books (non-fiction) - Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt and Dubner A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas - Chuck Klosterman Fiction - William Bernhardt (particularly the Ben Kincaid series) or Harlan Coben (especially the Myron Bolitar series) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I'm not a big sci-fi guy because most of what I've read is fit for the litter box. But somebody gave me a book recently call The Woken Furies by a Brit name Richard Morgan that was actually well-written and pretty entertaining. Do you read any Neal Stephenson? I just finished Zodiac, and thought it was one his best books outside of the Baroque Cycle, which were also fantastic books. I think his last two works have made him the best writer of this generation. Although I didn't much care for his previous works of fiction (sort of choppy and transparent imo) he did write a couple earlier works under the penname "Stephen Bury" that weren't too bad. Check them out if you haven't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyMark Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Classic book - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole More modern books (non-fiction) - Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt and Dubner A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas - Chuck Klosterman Fiction - William Bernhardt (particularly the Ben Kincaid series) or Harlan Coben (especially the Myron Bolitar series) 838099[/snapback] Absolutely one of the best books I have read for a while. Certainly makes one think about societal issues regarding either (or both) causal or correlational relationships otherwise overlooked in a whole new light. The book is humorous, informative, and educational. For those of us who spend a lot of time on dry statistical interpretation and application this was refreshing science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Classic book - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole 838099[/snapback] Agreed. It's great. I also recently read his other book, The Neon Bible. It's pretty damn good too. He supposedly wrote it when he was 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 The Last Good Season by Michael Shapiro is about the Brooklyn Dodgers last pennant in Brooklyn and how the team ended up leaving. It's definitely my favorite baseball book of all time and maybe my favorite book period. It covers a lot of the social changes in Brooklyn at the time too. It's a great read. Salem's Lot by Stephen King. I finally read this one earlier this year and it was incredible. Pick it up in paperback for a few bucks. The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd and The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 both by Richard Zacks were really cool reads as well. I'll think of more. I'm trying to come up with books that I really, really liked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Fong Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 Well, it sounds like you read similar stuff to me...I just finished Anansi Boys as well, and I love the Martin series. Do you read any Neal Stephenson? I just finished Zodiac, and thought it was one his best books outside of the Baroque Cycle, which were also fantastic books. I'm also currently reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer. Its non-fiction about fundamentalist Mormons, but its really fascinating and isn't dry like a lot of non-fiction...I can't put it down. 838094[/snapback] I've got Quicksilver and just haven't settled on reading it yet. Under the Banner of Heaven sounds good. I read Into Thin Air by Krakauer and liked it so I'll give him another shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMadCap Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Too bad the son and his co-author are hacks. It's also too bad I never got past page 3 of Heretics of Dune. It might be good...I don't know...I'm just so unmotivated to read it, after struggling through the piece of dreck that was "God Emperor of Dune". 838073[/snapback] Very surprised to hear that Tom. I would have thought that series would have been right up your alley. Those novels are certainly not for the mildly interested, or those who speed read. I found myself having to read and reread portions in each book. While God Emperor of Dune is not my favorite book, it does advance the story. I suppose it makes much more sense once you read the other two stories, but it seems you have already given up on that. Ah well, Dune is not for everyone. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Herbert and Anderson are hacks. They certainly aren't Frank Herbert, and are not so foolish as to attempt to mimic his writing style. They have thier uses, but I would not really be that interested in reading any of thier non-Dune material. I have read some of Anderson's Star Wars stuff and was not impressed. Then again, it's hard to follow Zahn too. I read so little fiction these days. I think you would like "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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