sprouted from the musical acts. curious to know what y'all read, cuz i always need recommends. can tell a lot about a someone. of course this is challanging.

1 the good soldier svejk- jaroslav hasek
2 atlas shrugged- ayn rand
3 don quixote- miguel de cervantes
4 sometimes a great notion- ken kesey
5 catch 22- joseph heller
6 the brother's karamazov- fyodor dostoevsky
7 grapes of wrath- john steinbeck
8 1984- george orwell
9 war and peace- leo tolstoy
10 fountainhead- ayn rand
11 steppenwolf- hermann hesse
12 the trial- franz kafka
13 dharma bums- jack kerouac
14 one flew over the cuckoos' nest- ken kesey
15 the jungle- upton sinclair

honorable mention

cat's cradle- kurt vonnegut
the sound and the fury- william faulkner

Are there any good books you've read that have come out in the last 40 years? I thought Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was a great read, and any of Hampton Sides' books are thrilling reads.

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", I forget the author. I read it in high school and it changed my life.

"Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph", Dennis Pragar

"Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto", Mark Levin

1) Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
2) The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
3T) The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
3T) The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe - Douglas Adams
3T) Life, The Universe, And Everything - Douglas Adams
3T) So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish - Douglas Adams
3T) Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
8) Emergency - Neil Strauss
9) I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell - Tucker Max
10) The Game - Neil Strauss
11) The Revolution: A Manifesto - Ron Paul
12) Sphere - Michael Chrichton
13) 1984 - George Orwell
14) Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
15) Liberty Defined - Ron Paul


I'm *enormously* behind on reading. Part of the problem is I read in my head at a slow southern talking pace. It's VERY immersive, but very slow. I welcome suggestions for picking up the pace without losing the experience.

Lets see...not in any particular order top 10.

A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man----James Joyce
Man of Straw----------------Heinrich Mann
Good Soldier Svejk---------Jaroslav Hasek
Yiddish Policeman's Union--Michael Chabon
The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao---Junot Diaz
Spark of Life-----Erich Marie Remarque
Anathem------Neil Stephenson
The Long Nineteenth Century-----David Blackbourn
A Farwell To Arms------Earnest Hemingway
Child of God------Cormac McCarthy

Hon. Mention
The Trial
Mysteries of Pittsburgh
World War Z

(11-30-2012 07:45 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Are there any good books you've read that have come out in the last 40 years?

Limited response to works of fiction:

The Killer Angels (1974) by Michael Shaara
The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco
My Search for Warren Harding (1983) by Robert Plunket (*has become extremely politically-incorrect after 30 years)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) by Tom Wolfe
Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004) by Marilynne Robinson
Plus anything by Howard Bahr ("Year of Jubilo", etc.)

Their work is more in the realm of pop-fiction, but I think the works of Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park", etc.) and Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn/Chee mysteries) will grow in critical esteem as years go by.

(12-01-2012 10:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(11-30-2012 07:45 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Are there any good books you've read that have come out in the last 40 years?

Limited response to works of fiction:

The Killer Angels (1974) by Michael Shaara
The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco
My Search for Warren Harding (1983) by Robert Plunket (*has become extremely politically-incorrect after 30 years)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) by Tom Wolfe
Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004) by Marilynne Robinson
Plus anything by Howard Bahr ("Year of Jubilo", etc.)

Their work is more in the realm of pop-fiction, but I think the works of Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park", etc.) and Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn/Chee mysteries) will grow in critical esteem as years go by.

Jurassic Park was actually a quality novel that brought in a lot more big ideas than the movie could touch. I wish there was a way to make that book into a movie that could actually touch those themes. Unfortunately, it costs so much to make that you really have to make it into a dumbed down blockbuster.

(12-01-2012 12:09 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Jurassic Park was actually a quality novel that brought in a lot more big ideas than the movie could touch. I wish there was a way to make that book into a movie that could actually touch those themes. Unfortunately, it costs so much to make that you really have to make it into a dumbed down blockbuster.

All true. JP was a great summer kid-flick, but it could have been so much more, as you describe. Also, despite casting Connery and Snipes in the leads, "Rising Sun" was a Crichton novel with similarly "big ideas" that got absolutely mutilated in the translation from page to screen. Solid performances from the stars but a script that is almost impossibly incoherent.

(11-30-2012 11:44 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Part of the problem is I read in my head at a slow southern talking pace. It's VERY immersive, but very slow. I welcome suggestions for picking up the pace without losing the experience.

“Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.” - Walden

(11-30-2012 11:44 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  I'm *enormously* behind on reading. Part of the problem is I read in my head at a slow southern talking pace. It's VERY immersive, but very slow. I welcome suggestions for picking up the pace without losing the experience.

I'm just about the same on this. It takes me forever to read a book because I have to totally immerse myself in a story. I'm also really anal about reading every word and I tend to read some lines twice.

(11-30-2012 07:45 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Are there any good books you've read that have come out in the last 40 years? I thought Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was a great read, and any of Hampton Sides' books are thrilling reads.

excellent question. i have no idea where to start with contemporary fiction. i'd like to get into junot diaz, david foster wallace, and haruki murakami. i have enjoyed

david sedaris- dress your family in corduroy and denim (also holidays on ice)
chuck klosterman- sex, drugs, and coco puffs
rex pickett- sideways
mitch albom- tuesdays with morrie

(12-01-2012 12:21 AM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Lets see...not in any particular order top 10.

A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man----James Joyce
Man of Straw----------------Heinrich Mann
Good Soldier Svejk---------Jaroslav Hasek
Yiddish Policeman's Union--Michael Chabon
The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao---Junot Diaz
Spark of Life-----Erich Marie Remarque
Anathem------Neil Stephenson
The Long Nineteenth Century-----David Blackbourn
A Farwell To Arms------Earnest Hemingway
Child of God------Cormac McCarthy

Hon. Mention
The Trial
Mysteries of Pittsburgh
World War Z

man, i've only gotten a little over a third into ulysses before putting it down. first time i've ever done that. hopefully i can pick it back up. the beginning started off fine, i was enjoying it. but damn did it get dreadfully boring

(12-02-2012 09:00 AM)Lush Wrote:  

(12-01-2012 12:21 AM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Lets see...not in any particular order top 10.

A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man----James Joyce
Man of Straw----------------Heinrich Mann
Good Soldier Svejk---------Jaroslav Hasek
Yiddish Policeman's Union--Michael Chabon
The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao---Junot Diaz
Spark of Life-----Erich Marie Remarque
Anathem------Neil Stephenson
The Long Nineteenth Century-----David Blackbourn
A Farwell To Arms------Earnest Hemingway
Child of God------Cormac McCarthy

Hon. Mention
The Trial
Mysteries of Pittsburgh
World War Z

man, i've only gotten a little over a third into ulysses before putting it down. first time i've ever done that. hopefully i can pick it back up. the beginning started off fine, i was enjoying it. but damn did it get dreadfully boring

Understandable. Ulysses is a bit decadent for my tastes. Joyce has undeniable quality but his gaelic stubbornness didnt allow for true introspection of his craft. Basically, he thought he did something well so he decided to go with to the point of overkill. The last half of Ulysses is that overkill. POTAAAYM, however, is Joyce at his sentence structure destroying best.

(12-01-2012 10:16 AM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

(11-30-2012 07:45 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Are there any good books you've read that have come out in the last 40 years?

Limited response to works of fiction:

The Killer Angels (1974) by Michael Shaara
The Name of the Rose (1980) by Umberto Eco
My Search for Warren Harding (1983) by Robert Plunket (*has become extremely politically-incorrect after 30 years)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) by Tom Wolfe
Housekeeping (1980) and Gilead (2004) by Marilynne Robinson
Plus anything by Howard Bahr ("Year of Jubilo", etc.)

Their work is more in the realm of pop-fiction, but I think the works of Michael Crichton ("Jurassic Park", etc.) and Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn/Chee mysteries) will grow in critical esteem as years go by.

The Killer Angels was great. The 20th Maine saved the U.S.!

(12-02-2012 12:14 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(12-02-2012 09:00 AM)Lush Wrote:  

(12-01-2012 12:21 AM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Lets see...not in any particular order top 10.

A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man----James Joyce
Man of Straw----------------Heinrich Mann
Good Soldier Svejk---------Jaroslav Hasek
Yiddish Policeman's Union--Michael Chabon
The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao---Junot Diaz
Spark of Life-----Erich Marie Remarque
Anathem------Neil Stephenson
The Long Nineteenth Century-----David Blackbourn
A Farwell To Arms------Earnest Hemingway
Child of God------Cormac McCarthy

Hon. Mention
The Trial
Mysteries of Pittsburgh
World War Z

man, i've only gotten a little over a third into ulysses before putting it down. first time i've ever done that. hopefully i can pick it back up. the beginning started off fine, i was enjoying it. but damn did it get dreadfully boring

Understandable. Ulysses is a bit decadent for my tastes. Joyce has undeniable quality but his gaelic stubbornness didnt allow for true introspection of his craft. Basically, he thought he did something well so he decided to go with to the point of overkill. The last half of Ulysses is that overkill. POTAAAYM, however, is Joyce at his sentence structure destroying best.

i've been told to have a companion book to better enjoy (or comprehend) ulysses. i'll give portrait a fair shake, though i'm almost terrified of the man

(12-02-2012 12:26 PM)Lush Wrote:  

(12-02-2012 12:14 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(12-02-2012 09:00 AM)Lush Wrote:  

(12-01-2012 12:21 AM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Lets see...not in any particular order top 10.

A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man----James Joyce
Man of Straw----------------Heinrich Mann
Good Soldier Svejk---------Jaroslav Hasek
Yiddish Policeman's Union--Michael Chabon
The Brief, Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao---Junot Diaz
Spark of Life-----Erich Marie Remarque
Anathem------Neil Stephenson
The Long Nineteenth Century-----David Blackbourn
A Farwell To Arms------Earnest Hemingway
Child of God------Cormac McCarthy

Hon. Mention
The Trial
Mysteries of Pittsburgh
World War Z

man, i've only gotten a little over a third into ulysses before putting it down. first time i've ever done that. hopefully i can pick it back up. the beginning started off fine, i was enjoying it. but damn did it get dreadfully boring

Understandable. Ulysses is a bit decadent for my tastes. Joyce has undeniable quality but his gaelic stubbornness didnt allow for true introspection of his craft. Basically, he thought he did something well so he decided to go with to the point of overkill. The last half of Ulysses is that overkill. POTAAAYM, however, is Joyce at his sentence structure destroying best.

i've been told to have a companion book to better enjoy (or comprehend) ulysses. i'll give portrait a fair shake, though i'm almost terrified of the man

Portrait actually gets easier to read the farther you get into it. Since it follows the early life of the protagonist the prose becomes more "grown up" as the story goes on.

BTW, there is a dream sequence in the middle that is incredible.

Best new science fiction I've read in years is

the unincorporated man by Dani Kollin & Eytan Kollin

X-Men
Wolverine
Playboy
Fantastic Four
Spawn
Spiderman
Superman
Entanglement
Paradox
Field and Stream
Guns and Ammo
Hustler
Cherry
Bazooka Gum Wrappers
Snapple Caps

(12-03-2012 03:46 PM)ImMoreAwesomeThanYou Wrote:  X-Men
Wolverine
Playboy
Fantastic Four
Spawn
Spiderman
Superman
Entanglement
Paradox
Field and Stream
Guns and Ammo
Hustler
Cherry
Bazooka Gum Wrappers
Snapple Caps

hahaha

(12-03-2012 03:46 PM)ImMoreAwesomeThanYou Wrote:  X-Men
Wolverine
Playboy
Fantastic Four
Spawn
Spiderman
Superman
Entanglement
Paradox
Field and Stream
Guns and Ammo
Hustler
Cherry
Bazooka Gum Wrappers
Snapple Caps

I would emphasize that Ultimate Spider-Man is the best. Brian Michael Bendis is a friggin' genius. He's better than Chris Claremont, and that's not a knock on Claremont.

I'd also recommend Fables, by Bill Willingham.

I'm definitely enjoying Legion Super Heroes v. 5. The updated origins and interplay has been great.