Have you read any good books lately?

Favorite book that I read in College that I just could not put down...East of Eden by John Steinbeck It's a long read but very entertaining. The Stranger was an interesting short read.



Worst book I read was Crime and Punishment...what torture to have to read, avoid like the plague.
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1243947674]Favorite book that I read in College that I just could not put down...East of Eden by John Steinbeck It's a long read but very entertaining. The Stranger was an interesting short read.



Worst book I read was Crime and Punishment...what torture to have to read, avoid like the plague.</blockquote>


Have you read 'of mice and men'? They made a movie out of it with John Malkovich. I refused to watch the movie because the book is just too sad
 
[quote author="Stuff It" date=1243906462]1984 is a very good book to read. If you like horrifying books that I suggest you check out The wasp factory. This will give you nightmares for months.





<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Factory-Novel-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243881171&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Factory-Novel-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243881171&sr=8-1</a></blockquote>


Wait... whoa... we have another Iain Banks fan on IHB? I read Wasp Factory a long time ago, great book, but <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complicity-Iain-Banks/dp/0743200187/">Complicity was/is one of my favorite books of all time</a>. I even have a copy I haven't touched because I lost my original. It was the first book that I stayed up until the sun nearly rose to finish. Have you read it?
 
[quote author="Stuff It" date=1243949210][quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1243947674]Favorite book that I read in College that I just could not put down...East of Eden by John Steinbeck It's a long read but very entertaining. The Stranger was an interesting short read.



Worst book I read was Crime and Punishment...what torture to have to read, avoid like the plague.</blockquote>


Have you read 'of mice and men'? They made a movie out of it with John Malkovich. I refused to watch the movie because the book is just too sad</blockquote>
Yeah, I read Of Mice and Men back in High School and really enjoyed the movie as well.
 
I agree - Of Mice and Men is a wonderful book. Good movie as well. I think it has been discussed before on this blog, but The Grapes of Wrath is a good book to read right now (with the way the economy is). It made me realize that we really don't have it so bad these days - times during The Great Depression were so much worse.
 
[quote author="graphrix" date=1243955512][quote author="Stuff It" date=1243906462]1984 is a very good book to read. If you like horrifying books that I suggest you check out The wasp factory. This will give you nightmares for months.





<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Factory-Novel-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243881171&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.com/Wasp-Factory-Novel-Iain-Banks/dp/0684853159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243881171&sr=8-1</a></blockquote>


Wait... whoa... we have another Iain Banks fan on IHB? I read Wasp Factory a long time ago, great book, but <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complicity-Iain-Banks/dp/0743200187/">Complicity was/is one of my favorite books of all time</a>. I even have a copy I haven't touched because I lost my original. It was the first book that I stayed up until the sun nearly rose to finish. Have you read it?</blockquote>


I haven't read that one. I will have to check it out - the reference to Hunter Thomson makes it intriguing - anyone seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?</a>



I have mostly read his Culture series - favourite being the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Player-Games-Iain-M-Banks/dp/0316005401/ref=pd_sim_b_4">Player of games</a>
 
[quote author="Stuff It" date=1243986787]



I haven't read that one. I will have to check it out - the reference to Hunter Thomson makes it intriguing - anyone seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?</a>



</blockquote>


I just finished the book and it was interesting. I loved 1984, and as for another pick, I recently read A Confederacy of Dunces and it was pretty amusing.
 
About halfway through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Death-Featuring-Original-Rawlins/dp/0743451767/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244176901&sr=8-1">Walter Mosley's 'A Red Death'</a>. My copy looks like a well-thumbed yellowing paperback from 1991. Smells good though :) Great story so far. Another 'Easy Rawlins' mystery...
 
Been into reading a lot the last few weeks and have finished Memoirs of a Geisha & The Kite Runner, both great reads.



Just started The Road, and it is intense. I don't scare easily but while reading it in bed late at night, my husband turned on the TV - not knowing the volume was kinda loud. Scared the bejeezus outta me.
 
[quote author="trip.threat" date=1245973676]Been into reading a lot the last few weeks and have finished Memoirs of a Geisha & The Kite Runner, both great reads.



Just started The Road, and it is intense. I don't scare easily but while reading it in bed late at night, my husband turned on the TV - not knowing the volume was kinda loud. Scared the bejeezus outta me.</blockquote>


I loved those books too. I read Kite Runner when it first came out and I thought it was a memoir until the Taliban scene. This post reminded me of a book I read many years ago called <em>Life and Death in Shanghai</em>. It was a great memoir.
 
[quote author="Sunshine" date=1246025814][quote author="trip.threat" date=1245973676]Been into reading a lot the last few weeks and have finished Memoirs of a Geisha & The Kite Runner, both great reads.



Just started The Road, and it is intense. I don't scare easily but while reading it in bed late at night, my husband turned on the TV - not knowing the volume was kinda loud. Scared the bejeezus outta me.</blockquote>


I loved those books too. I read Kite Runner when it first came out and I thought it was a memoir <strong>until the Taliban scene</strong>. This post reminded me of a book I read many years ago called <em>Life and Death in Shanghai</em>. It was a great memoir.</blockquote>


It did read like non-fiction, and there's not much in the book I'd find far-fetched, even the stadium scene. I also picked up Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author.
 
[quote author="ohnelly" date=1243595772]I just finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/product-reviews/074324754X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1">The Glass Castle</a>. It was a good read; it sucked me in pretty quickly and I finished the book within a week (I'm not a particularly fast reader, nor do I have a ton of time to devote to reading). The book was kind of like Amy Tan books - painfully tragic but somehow inspiring...this was even more so since it was a memoir. It was shocking and difficult to read but captivating.</blockquote>


I just finished this in three days - a new record for me. It was wonderful. Thank you for the recommendation!
 
Im going to post some of my favorite books of all time an then you can decide if its something you might be interested in:



1. In the Eye of the Sun - by Ahdaf Soueif

2. In the Distant Land of my Father - by Bo Caldwell - takes place in the 30's in Shanghai and moves over the next 25 years or so to Pasadena Ca.

3. The Devil in the White City - by Erik Larson - Some of you may have read this already, but its about the Chicago Worlds fair from 1893, and it talks about the architects that helped to create it, almost all of whom became luminaries of architecture later in their careers.

4. Almost anything be Emile Zola - But most favorably L'assommoir (the dram shop)



All of these are available via Amazon or most bookstores with the exception of L'Assomoir which I believe is currently out of print. However used copies are easily found and shouldn't be too expensive.



Also anyone that likes reading about Elizabethan history; I can recommend tons of books about Henry VIII, and any or all of his wives, most notoriously Anne Boleyn. Just ask, I have read at least 12 books on these topics in the last year.
 
Is that the Philippa Gregory series? Those are fun reads. Thanks for the other recommendations :)



Just recently finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and Flash Forward. Picked up the latter when I saw the preview for the series coming out this Fall on ABC. The concept was cool, the book, meh - I have better hopes for the show.



Just picked up Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and I have Almost Moon by the same author waiting...
 
[quote author="trip.threat" date=1251152773]Is that the Philippa Gregory series? Those are fun reads. Thanks for the other recommendations :) </blockquote>




No there are many novels about the Elizabethan period much better and less... cheesy than Phillippa Gregory. But my preference has been for actual history books. Margaret George did a great one. Allison Weir is very respected as well.
 
[quote author="GraceOMalley" date=1251153593] Margaret George did a great one. Allison Weir is very respected as well.</blockquote>


I'll be looking into those. The Gregory books piqued my interest in the Tudor family, but it would be nice to read a series that I didn't feel compelled to hide from my book club :) Not that there's anything wrong with them, or Maeve Binchey, for that matter... but still.
 
Yay for Iain Banks fans! Complicity typically makes my recommended books list. I tore through most of the Culture series (including Matter, the newest one) a couple of months ago. Made me rethink whether or not Brave New World should retain its title as my personal utopia. ;)



I usually suggest



Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson (Diamond Age is also quite engaging)

Shibumi - Trevanian (very slow start but so worth it)

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein (because everyone should learn what grok means)





I'm currently reading <em>Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution</em> and <em>Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters</em>, and though required reading for a philosophy class I'm taking, if you're even vaguely interested in the subject matter, they're well done. Genome is great for bridging the gap between the science and day to day life, and Posthuman Future recognizes the trends toward Huxley's dystopia in our society.



I'm going to pick up a copy of The Road, thanks for the suggestion. :)
 
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