Read any good books lately?
 

I recently read Generation X by Douglas Coupland. It was really good, i recomend it.
Im currently reading 'Children of the Albion Rovers' which is a collection of short stories by youngish Scottish writers like Irvine Welsh. Its pretty good- very gritty.
What have you been reading lately?

Just started "A Game of Thrones" by George RR Martin, pretty good so far

ooh you actually LIKED a Doug Coupland book? you poor lost soul..

If you liked GenX try reading Shampoo Planet, and Miss Wyoming. I've read most of his books, and i think he's a fucking hack.Him and Palahuniuk (sp?) bleh.. modern writers :)

Last book I read was Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix this past summer. Most excellent!

-Lasereth

Bringing Down the House (How 6 MIT students took Vegas for Millions)

I recently read "Ghost of Sonora" by Morgan Hill.
It's a fictionalized account of Joaquin Murieta and his travails in Old California.
(It's a Western.) :)

I am reading "Wizard and Glass : The dark tower IV" im getting set for the release of the 5th dark tower book, in November, next month! w00 i cant wait

its Stephen King of course...btw

Recently finished books that were great:

American Gods-Gaiman

Thief of Time-Pratchet

Of Saints and Shadows-Golden

and currently, the first book in the "dresden chronicles" although I can't remember it's name...quite good if you like anita blake books, similar vein.

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan one of the best new sci-fi writers on the market.

Slowly making my way through Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson.

Great book. One of the best fantasy books ive ever read. Apparently George is working on the latest installment right now.

Currently reading The Choice A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism by Russell D. Roberts. Great book, really moving.

[/sarcasm]

Horrible book. The entire 100 pages is just a conversation between two guys. Every ten pages you feel the instinctive urge to gouge your guys out.

If for some reason you absolutely love economics though and you are a freak of some kind, you might enjoy this book.

mm. I'm currently re-reading Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. most excellent book, if you're into Russian lit. reminiscent of Tolstoy, though more concise, and less... detailed than Solzhenitsyn. though for fantasty books, I'd suggest the Song of Albion Trilogy or the Hall of the Dragon King Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead, as well as his 5 part series Taliesin; Merlin; Arthur; Pendragon; Grail, if you're into Arthurian legend. For that, too, Jack Whyte has a 7 book series out (I forget the titles offhand) that's excellent for arthurian myth.

Just finished the three books by Dan Brown:

Deception Point...a NASA involved thriller

Angels and Demons
The Da Vinci Code...two books featuring the same protaganist, a symbologist, Robert Langdon finds himself in a super-fast paced adventure with a wealth of information coming at you. These are great in their writing and action and STILL make you think!

"Choke" and "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk

I just started Laurell Hamilton's 'Anita Blake' series, and for anyone who is a fan of fantasy / vampire literature, this is an absolute must for you! From the first chapter I fell in love, and I just can't put the books down! I think I read the first one, Guilty Pleasures, in about 6 hours total, and the second of the series I've just started is every bit as good as the first.

I'm re-reading some best of H.P. Lovecraft book that I bought a while back.

now some of my friends want to read it solely because of the Cradle of Filth song 'Cthulhu Dawn'

Hehe, I read most of those book you've just mentioned, and i liked all of them!!! Especially "Generation X"!

Last book I've read was Paul Auster's Oracle Night, I recommend it strongly, just as anything he has ever written! :D

If you like Russian literature or culture gwr_gwir, I HIGHLY recommend Natasha's Dance by Orlando Figes.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Very interesting and so well written...


Mr Mephisto

Personally I prefer non-fiction. With that in mind, I recommend the following.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Extremely well written history of this herculean effort by the Allies in World War Two. This book deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize.

The Civil War trilogy by Shelby Foote
Probably the best written, most enjoyable, comprehensive and altogether enjoyable history of the American Civil War. Foote has a beautiful style and you really get drawn into this amazing story.

An Anatomy of Thought - The Origin and Machinery of the Mind by Ian Glynn
One of the best introductions to the human brain, conciousness and neurology. Very readable, very interesting and very well written.


On the fiction side, I recommend

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Recent Booker Prize winner and a very deserving one at that. Uplifting, fantastic story on the physical and spiritual journey of a ship-wreck survivor as he floats across the ocean on a life-raft... alone except for a tiger for company... :)

Catch 22 by Joeseph Hellar
The best satirical anti-war novel you are ever likely to read. Laugh out loud funny, whimsical, passionate, heart-breaking, thought provoking. A true 20th century masterpiece.



I could go on, but that's enough to keep you busy for some time!



Mr Mephisto

Ill second Catch 22. Incredible piece of work.

I read Born on the Fourth of July this weekend. Very good, moving book.

Howard Zinn - People's History of the United States.

First book I actually read outside of class, and enjoyed. Along with Animal Farm and Catcher in the Rye.

Straight Man, by Richard Russo, is a great comedic novel. Basically about a middle aged eccentric english professor at a low-grade state university in the middle of Pennsylvania's rust belt. Those of you connected in some way to academia will especially appriciate it.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown...it held my interest

Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett. Life's hard right now and I'm in escapist mode and reading a lot of Pratchett's Discworld fantasies, like SG. But Small Gods really has got a lot of important thinks to say about belief and religion -- with a good plot and a lot of Monty Python-like humor thrown in (watch for the penguin).

go with Animal Farm by George Orwell or better yet: 1984

I just finished The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. I bought Ulysses by James Joyce last night. One chapter in and I can already see why there are so many "Ulysses companion reader" books out there.

I've been on a tear lately. In the last week I have read <i>American Psycho</i>, which was the most loathesome thing I have ever soiled my eyes and mind with. Not a good book (though well written), and then, to counteract that, I read the following:

Raymond Feist: <i>King of Foxes</i> (The second Conclave of Shadows book) As usual, it is well written and uplifting, and a pretty standard quasi-medaeival sword and sorcery type of book. Light reading. Very light. I got ahold of a galley copy, so it should be out generally in the summer.

Steven Brust: <i>Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill</i> - This is Brust's favorite among his own work, and I can see why. It is remeniscent of Zelazney at his best, and Alfred Bester too, but not so introspective, and far more playful. The ending could have been a bit stronger, but the rest of the book more than makes up for that. I highly recommend it.

Neil Gaiman et. al. - <i>The Sandman - vol. 4, Season of Mists</i> and <i>vol. 5 - A Game of You</i> - Fantastic! I completely understand why he won a science fiction award for these. I really can't say much about these without giving away an unacceptable amount of plot, but they has excellent continutity with the first several books, and the world Gaiman has built takes root and grows in your head. Everyone should read these books. Everyone.

Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. Though I'm not sure if it was intended to have a moral or an underlying theme, it was a very enjoyable page-turner. I read it in a day.

After having its mass glower at me from a shelf for the last six months, I finally picked up Don Quixote. Like a lot of classics, it's something I really felt an obligation to read, and it's been a lot of fun. (The fact that Sancho was tossed in a blanket is not half as funny as the fact that he found it incredibly humiliating). :D

Before that, I read Venus on the Half-Shell, that Vonnegut-inspired scifi story by "Kilgore Trout". Also fun, but the intentionally campy social-commentary probably came across better in the 70's.

I read Moby Dick for my humanites class. Very good when you have a group to discuss it. It's very philisophical.

I'm reading about Socrates and his philosophies as recorded by Plato and others right now. Very interesting.

Just Finished Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right...

GREAT Book...well researched, impactful and FUNNY!!

I read To Kill a Mockingbird at least 2 or 3 times a year. It is by far the best book I've ever read.

The Virgin Suicides was a good one too. The subject matter is way out in left field, but the writing is absolutely amazing, very lyrical.

Also, I've just started reading Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen. It's shaping up to be pretty good...

I just finished reading Gaiman - American Gods. Great Book and one of the most original books that come out in a while.

Diergray - The sequel to Altered Carbon just came out, Broken Angels. I would recommend that you pick it up. Kovacs is just a great character.

Right now Im reading The Black Company by Glen Cook. It reminds me of GRRM only a little more feeling of doom and gloom.

Just read Stupid White Men by Michael Moore- I know I know. I actually really enjoyed it though, if you havn't read it I think it will open your eyes.

Trash: the Dead until Dark series. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I do.

Not quite so trash: The New HP Lovecraft Circle. Wow, this has got some great stuff in it.

Romance of Three Kingdoms

its a chinese story but had been translated in many other languages, I read it in vietnamese. I really recommend this book (3 books actually) to any one who's interested in chinese history and literature. English version is available.

I just started "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins...so far it's good.

If you haven't read Digital Fortress yet, do so, it's outstanding-- it's a little technical in the beginning, but then the story just rolls along.

Basic gist of the story -- a renegade programmer invents an encryption algorythm that is impossible to break --

It's got enough tech stuff to satisfy my math geek side, but it's also got government intrigue, some funny moments, a little romance...

I love Dan Brown's writing style - -he best come out with a new books soon

Also reading Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George.

This is a recreation of Mary Magdelene's life story taken. I'm not sure how much of it is really true - but it's fascinating reading so far.

Wasn't a book I would have normally selected for myself, but on my way thru the airport, I stopped in the bookseller, and asked for a book, I really didn't care what it was - it was only a 2 hour flight, and I had read practically everything in the genre I liked-- so they picked me this book - -Excellent suggestion.

I could not get past the first 50 pages of this book, the writing style was just awful to follow. This book went into the "eventually I'll resell it on Amazon" pile - -cause it was too painful to read.

There was a Civil War Series that was outstanding -- Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure, there are two other books in the series as well -- the first three were written by Jeffrey Shaara the last book in the series, was written by Michael Shaara.

Movies were made of the first two books, but the books were so much better than the movies.

Marine Sniper- Charles Henderson- Biography of Carlos N. Hathcock II, great read reccommend it to anyone interested in military reading

The Passing Of The Night- Robinson Risner, As a prisoner in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" General Risner endured 7 years of torture, another great read.

Glory Denied- Tom Philpott- The saga of Jim Thompson Americas longest- held POW

I have a small fixation with reading about Vietnam and the wars that have been fought there

Just started "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown...so far it's great...like The da Vinci Code

I'm reading All Tomorrow's Parties by william gibson. Seems pretty good so far. Neuromancer was definitely a good read.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is an good but strange book to read.

Voltaire! I thought it would be boring but he's amazing!

I recently read War & Peace too, & I must say it is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

Spite House- by Monika Jensen-Stevenson: It's the story of PVT Robert Garwood who was captured by the VC 10 days before the end of his tour and wasn't released until 1979, 6 years after all the POWS were released. It also touches on Col. Tom McKinney who was part of hunter-killer teams set out to kill captured American prisoners Garwood included thought to be helping the enemy, which Garwood was suspected of doing.

I read War and Peace last year and what a fantastic read, also try The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky another gread read.

I'm also currently reading the Gunslinger series. It's awesome!!! I'm on the 4th book.

Why Courage Matters - by John McCain -- this book is awesome, it's kinda like Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, but he relates peoples courage to everyday life.

The Traveller's Gift - Andy Andrews - This is perhaps the most uplifting book I have read in a long time, I have bought and given to friends at least 8 copies of this book and counting. Depressed, feeling like your life sucks, that you've got nothing to live for, read this book, your mind will be completely changed.

The Five People YOu Meet in Heaven -Mitch Albom (he wrote Tuesday's With Morrie) - Another uplifting book. THink your life has no meaning, that you don't touch people. Reading this book will change your mind completely.

It's not even like I am depressed, read these books in a series, that just made a world of difference in personal happiness.

I'm currently reading Anna Karenina again for the second time. I loved this book - totally wraps you up in it. And for everyone out there, I highly recomend 'The Bell Jar'. If any of you are familiar with Sylvia Plath, this book will blow you away. Truly makes you feel her pain...

I just finished William Gibson - Pattern Recognition. Not as good as Neuromancer but still good.
Im now reading Legends II. Its a collection of short stories by modern fantasy writers and includes GRRM, Tad Williams, and Neil Gaiman.

Well currently being in China, I have access to Penguin Books, and the couple of books I brought with me, plus whatever I can download of the net.
So in the past couple of weeks:
Quicksilver by Neal Stevenson
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Les Miserables by Hugo
Currently reading Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.
will probably read Choke by Palahniuk next week, maybe the Davinchi Code this week, since I just found it.
As well as my Communist Propaganda book on the revolution, and a Managerial Accounting book I recently found. (I'm desperate for reading material if you can't tell)
I agree Voltaire is quite good, Candide is an excellent little novel.

Im currently about 75% done with the Icewind Dale Trilogy. If you're a fan of fantasy novels at all you owe it to yourself to read these books.

For some really off the wall reading, try Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Don't watch the movie before, it will let your imagination come up with much better pictures of what is going on in this crazy ass book. It's not long either.