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i'm going where the sun keeps shining, thru' the pouring rain, going where the weather suits my clothes. backing off of the north east wind, sailing on summer breeze, and skipping over the ocean like a stone.
Post by trippindaisy on May 13, 2007 22:19:57 GMT -5
There was a thread a while back which I can't find. I followed the advice of some here who recommended The Alchemist and Sophie's World.
I read the Alchemist and loved it and passed it around my office - The boy is Santiago, a Spanish shepherd who wants to fulfill his dream of seeing the world. When he meets some people who tell him that he will find his treasure near the Pyramids, he decides to take the risk and sheds his old life like a snake shedding skin. The boy's journey and metamorphosis are subjects of the tale. The book is peopled with gypsies, old men, kings, warriors, desert-dwellers, and an alchemist, who describes Santiago's fate if he decides to settle for less than his dream.
I bought Sophie's World but have not read it yet.
I also just read The Road (an Oprah's bookclub choice). It was pretty interesting. Per the below post - this book is a post-apocalyptic story about a father and son who are among few survivors and are just trying to stay alive where there are no resources.
My all time favorite books Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, - this is very lengthy historical novel set in Europe in the 12th century about a cathedral builder and his family. Great great book - and I normally would never read a book like this
and Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - here is the summary from Amazon: From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.
Last Edit: May 13, 2007 22:55:01 GMT -5 by trippindaisy - Back to Top
i'm going where the sun keeps shining, thru' the pouring rain, going where the weather suits my clothes. backing off of the north east wind, sailing on summer breeze, and skipping over the ocean like a stone.
Post by sparklybecca on May 13, 2007 22:42:11 GMT -5
I go thru reading phases.. Just got done reading Augusten Burroughs - Dry (i suggest this one and running with scissors)
both dry and running with scissors are true accounts of Augusten's life. Running is about his crazy-ass childhood and is WAY better than the movie which I couldnt even sit thru - you will LOL alot! and Dry takes place later in his life - when he is going thru alcoholism and drug addiction and he goes to rehab. now im looking for something I can really sink my teeth into.. .
Post by oatmealschnappz on May 14, 2007 9:04:52 GMT -5
^Great choice! Don't forget to read "Hearts In Atlantis" and "Insomnia"! They are essential for any "Dark Tower" fan!
For anyone who is not familiar with it, I strongly suggest Stephen King's "Gerald's Game"! It is one of the creepiest stories ever written! A real-life horror story! Brief synopsis: A couple is having some kinky sex while out at their lake house. He gets a little carried away, she kicks him in the balls and he has a heart attack. For the remainder of the book she is handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere, going crazy. Simple but, horrifying! A great book!
Last Edit: May 14, 2007 9:05:29 GMT -5 by trippindaisy - Back to Top
Post by oleander124 on May 14, 2007 9:19:07 GMT -5
I just started "The Time Travelers Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.
"...a rather dashing librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago, finds himself unavoidably whisked around in time. ... During one of these migrations, he drops in on beautiful teenage Clare Abshire [his "future" wife], and a lifelong passion is born. The problem is that while Henry's age darts back and forth according to his location in time, Clare's moves forward in the normal manner, so the pair are often out of sync."
Post by stallion pt. 2 on May 14, 2007 12:50:47 GMT -5
My reading has been almost exclusivly non-fiction for awhile.
Still working on this one. an essential for fans of the good doctor. If you thought HST only loathed Republican politicians, wait til you hear him savage Bill Clinton. But don't take my word for it!
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Post by billypilgrim on May 14, 2007 12:56:49 GMT -5
"What Is the What" by Dave Eggers
Eggers is best known for "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." His latest is a novel about one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Valentino Achak Deng. I saw Deng speak a couple weeks ago and much of the story is true. It tells about the attacks on his village in Southern Sudan that caused him, as a boy of about 9, to flee and join a group of other boys heading to Ethiopa. The hardships on the journey (wild animals, rebels, government backed militias, starvation, dehydration, disease, to name a few), the difficulties in the refugee camps, and his eventual relocation in the U.S. make for a moving story -- especially when you realize that the conflicts are still going on and that he's one of the lucky ones. A share of the proceeds go to help the Sudan relief effort.
Finished Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali a few weeks back. It is the memoir of Ms. Ali as she grows up in Somalia, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia. It also tells the story of her decision to ask for asylum in Holland after she decides to rebel against the marriage that has been arranged for her by her family. She rises to become a member of Parliament and an outspoken critic of women's roles in Islam. A great story by an amazingly brilliant woman.
That book completely changed my ways of thinking and looking at the world, and it's probably the only book I can say that about. I'd highly recommend it, whether or not you have an interest in psychedelic substances (I didn't).
I'd also highly recommend Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. If you have any interest in music and pop culture you have to read this book. Hip hop is the newest wave of music we've got and I think it's really interesting to trace its evolution. tinyurl.com/2w373d
EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK It's called A Short History of Nearly Everything. It's the funniest, most interesting, least put-downable science book you will ever read, hell you can even leave out the science part of the description, it's just that good. If you haven't read any Bill Bryson your life is not yet complete. Read A Walk in the Woods as well, but this one is an absolute top priority. I can't stress it enough. READ THIS BOOK!!!!
Franny and Zooey Invisible Cities The Great Gatsby House of Leaves Play it as it Lays The Perks of Being a Wallflower The Basketball Diaries Permanent Midnight A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know about Mind-Altering Drugs
I'll be lucky to get through half, but I can dream.
Post by hippiehippieshake on May 14, 2007 16:31:48 GMT -5
^ invisible cities is fantastic. if you want to read something by the same author, italo calvino, try 'cosmicomics'. i've read both books, and i'd say cosmicomics is better, but they're both very very good.
i'm going where the sun keeps shining, thru' the pouring rain, going where the weather suits my clothes. backing off of the north east wind, sailing on summer breeze, and skipping over the ocean like a stone.
I recently read and really enjoyed White Noise by Don Delillo. Here is the amazon review:
Something is amiss in a small college town in Middle America. Something subliminal, something omnipresent, something hard to put your finger on. For example, teachers and students at the grade school are falling mysteriously ill:
"Investigators said it could be the ventilating system, the paint or varnish, the foam insulation, the electrical insulation, the cafeteria food, the rays emitted by microcomputers, the asbestos fireproofing, the adhesive on shipping containers, the fumes from the chlorinated pool, or perhaps something deeper, finer-grained, more closely woven into the fabric of things. "
J.A.K. Gladney, world-renowned as the living center, the absolute font, of Hitler Studies in North America in the mid-1980s, describes the malaise affecting his town in a superbly ironic and detached manner. But even he fails to mask his disquiet. There is menace in the air, and ultimately it is made manifest: a poisonous cloud--an "airborne toxic event"--unleashed by an industrial accident floats over the town, requiring evacuation. In the aftermath, as the residents adjust to new and blazingly brilliant sunsets, Gladney and his family must confront their own poses, night terrors, self-deceptions, and secrets. DeLillo is at his dark, hilarious best in this 1985 National Book Award winner, a novel that preceded but anticipated the explosion of the Internet, tabloid television, and the dialed-in, wired-up, endlessly accelerated tenor of the culture we live in. He doesn't just describe life in a hypermediated society, he re-creates it. His characters repeat phrases, information, and rumor gleaned from television, radio, and other media sources like people speaking in code. And DeLillo has seeded the book with short gemlike episodes that demand to be read aloud, and that haunt the imagination years after their first reading: a visit to the Most Photographed Barn in America. A plane that nearly falls out of the sky. An hour in a classroom, canonizing Elvis. These vignettes are vivid and unique, yet, like the phrases from television shows that interject themselves, out of context, into Gladney's consciousness, they are strangely unconnected to one another--reflections of the lives DeLillo is showing us we lead
I'd also highly recommend Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. If you have any interest in music and pop culture you have to read this book. Hip hop is the newest wave of music we've got and I think it's really interesting to trace its evolution. tinyurl.com/2w373d
I wholeheartedly second the Can't Stop Won't Stop recommendation. If you are at all interested in hip-hop or really American culture in general over the last 30 years, you should check it out. One of the better music books I've read. There is a great mix-tape associated with it if you can track it down.
In addition to a bunch of "How to be a parent" books, I've recently dug this one:
The way its titled/marketed is a bit off to me. It's a lot more "how your brain works" and a lot less "self-helpy" than it seems. Basically I'm really interested in the emerging science around "mirror neurons" and this is the best layman explanation I could find.
Post by threesticks on May 21, 2007 14:08:47 GMT -5
"The Children of Hurin" by JRR Tolkein. It's supposed to be a stand alone book, but there are a number of references that relate to The Silmarillion so....I dunno. That said, Tolkein= Best. Author. Ever.
Post by suspendedzen on May 21, 2007 14:34:21 GMT -5
Currently reading:
Robert Caro- Master of the Senate (3rd volume in his 'Life of LBJ')...this book is a bit over 1000 pages and it didnt even get into Johnson until page 104. While I consider him among the worst Presidents in US history he was a very interesting fellow.
Allen Brinkley - Liberalism & Its Discontents...a collection of essays on twentieth-century American liberalism.
Irene Coates- Who's Afraid of Leonard Woolf? A Case for the Sanity of Virginia Woolf..a bio of Virginia Woolf's husband, Leonard, that theorizes his role in her death.
Nelson Algren - The Man With the Golden Arm...a novel about hustling & heroin in Chicago's South Side. Algren was a tremendous talent.