RodeoSchro said:

I believe I have read every single fictional work, or collection of fictional stories, by the great Louis L'Amour!

Now what?!?

Start here;

PurpleJedi said:

SlowNslipp3ryGr00vy said:

i have like 6 books that are unfinshed/unread...but i would say. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer

Never read that. Isn't it Old English?

yes it is..i think thats why i like it lol

Of what I’ve read in the last ½ year or so, my strongest recommendation would go to ‘Nothing To Envy – Ordinary Lives in North Korea’ by Barbara Demick. It’s very simple & powerful.

I just finished Predictably Irrational (about behavioral economics) and I thought it was fine: it went over a lot of territory that wasn’t new to me, but it was still an interesting read. I’m now halfway through Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test. It was criticized for flippant treatment of a serious topic, and it’s certainly a lightweight book, but the story it tells is very interesting and it’s made me LOL five or six times.

[Edited 8/20/13 5:38am]

Orange is the New Black

I'm excited to watch it on Netflix, but I've got to finish the book first.

PurpleJedi said:

RodeoSchro said:

I believe I have read every single fictional work, or collection of fictional stories, by the great Louis L'Amour!

Now what?!?

Start here;

Looks cool! I'll make a run to Half Price Books and see if I can find it.

RodeoSchro said:

PurpleJedi said:

Start here;

Looks cool! I'll make a run to Half Price Books and see if I can find it.

You won't regret it.

babynoz said:

namepeace said:

Just finished Gil Scott-Heron's "The Last Holiday."

How was it?

Compelling backstory, disjointed in the last chapters, but a fun read from beginning to end.

This thread.

There is a series of books that I finished awhile back and really enjoyed.

The author is Terry Brooks and the series is the Shannara series.

The first book in the series is "First King of Shannara".

Another series of books he wrote is about the Magical Kingdom of Landover. The first book is "Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold". It's a fun set of books and can even be read to the kids. Seems to appeal to all ages.

FormerlyKnownAs said:

I am reading Dan Simmons' "The Terror."

Here's a summary:

The Terror is the name of a 2007 novel by American author Dan Simmons.^[1] The novel is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to the Arctic to force the Northwest Passage in 1845–1848. In the novel, while Franklin and his crew are plagued by starvation and scurvy and forced to contend with mutiny and cannibalism, they are stalked across the bleak Arctic landscape by a monster.^[2]

The characters featured in The Terror are almost all actual members of Franklin's crew, whose unexplained disappearance has warranted a great deal of speculation. The main characters in the novel include Sir John Franklin, commander of the expedition and captain of Erebus, Captain Francis Crozier, captain of Terror, Dr Harry D.S Goodsir, and Captain James Fitzjames.^[3]

In the final chapters of the book, Simmons explores and uses various aspects of Eskimo mythology to explain the existence of the monster (called the Tuunbaq) as a mythological creature made flesh, as well as its reasons for stalking and preying on the men of the Franklin Expedition.

The Terror was nominated for the British Fantasy Award in 2008.

The Terror

I love Dan Simmons literally read everything he has written

I finally finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Shadow of the Wind Loved it

endymion said:

FormerlyKnownAs said:

I am reading Dan Simmons' "The Terror."

Here's a summary:

The Terror is the name of a 2007 novel by American author Dan Simmons.^[1] The novel is a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to the Arctic to force the Northwest Passage in 1845–1848. In the novel, while Franklin and his crew are plagued by starvation and scurvy and forced to contend with mutiny and cannibalism, they are stalked across the bleak Arctic landscape by a monster.^[2]

The characters featured in The Terror are almost all actual members of Franklin's crew, whose unexplained disappearance has warranted a great deal of speculation. The main characters in the novel include Sir John Franklin, commander of the expedition and captain of Erebus, Captain Francis Crozier, captain of Terror, Dr Harry D.S Goodsir, and Captain James Fitzjames.^[3]

In the final chapters of the book, Simmons explores and uses various aspects of Eskimo mythology to explain the existence of the monster (called the Tuunbaq) as a mythological creature made flesh, as well as its reasons for stalking and preying on the men of the Franklin Expedition.

The Terror was nominated for the British Fantasy Award in 2008.

The Terror

I love Dan Simmons literally read everything he has written

I finally finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Shadow of the Wind Loved it

I am finally on the 12th chapter. It's a thick book - but nicely detailed. It's a great combo of fiction and nonfiction. With AMC (TV channel)'s success with the show The Walking Dead (TV series), the network is planning to make a horror TV series based on this novel.

FormerlyKnownAs said:

endymion said:

I love Dan Simmons literally read everything he has written

I finally finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Shadow of the Wind Loved it

I am finally on the 12th chapter. It's a thick book - but nicely detailed. It's a great combo of fiction and nonfiction. With AMC (TV channel)'s success with the show The Walking Dead (TV series), the network is planning to make a horror TV series based on this novel.

The Hyperion series has also been optioned as a movie, would love to see that happen

I've been reading The Road to Ar Ramadi by Camilo Mejía, his memoir charting his journey from Staff Sergeant dutifully serving in Iraq, to military resistor and prisoner of conscience, which tells the story of the growing sense of guilt and doubt about the endeavour in which he was engaged that led to his personal transformation. He's a thoughtful and likeable narrator, and his account of the everyday violence and injustice of imperial war is revealing without being too grizzly or even polemical. Timely, too, as another truth-teller is locked up for letting too many of that war's dirty secrets out into the light.

I've been reading this for the past couple of months and it will probably be several more months before I'm able to finish it but it will be worth it. I have already seen positive changes in my life.

Trying to finish up Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. We had to read a couple of Hemingway works in high school and I found them so boring, but last year I decided to read The Sun Also Rises which is partially set in Paris in the 1920s -- I'm a sucker for books set in France in the early 20th century -- and I actually really enjoyed it. So now I'm reading A Moveable Feast which is comprised of a bunch of short stories about the time Hemingway spent living in Paris in the 20s.

If you want to save money on books you could join www.paperbackswap.com. You post books you are willing to swap and if you send one to someone, you earn a credit. You can then use your credits to "buy" books that other people are willing to swap. You have to pay for the postage (media mail) when you mail the book, but not when one is mailed to you.

I've been using it for a couple of years -- unlike the library you can keep the book for as long as you want (you don't have to swap it when you're done). I like it because I have too many art history books the way it is, so this way I can keep leisure books to a minimum and request books that I wouldn't necessarily want to buy.

endymion said:

FormerlyKnownAs said:

I am finally on the 12th chapter. It's a thick book - but nicely detailed. It's a great combo of fiction and nonfiction. With AMC (TV channel)'s success with the show The Walking Dead (TV series), the network is planning to make a horror TV series based on this novel.

The Hyperion series has also been optioned as a movie, would love to see that happen

I remember you telling me about The Hyperion series. I think I bought the first book or two, but got stuck on a different series after that and never finished them. :-/

You still sneaking into the bathroom to read?

prittypriss said:

This thread.

honesty at last!

I am reading Dan Brown's Inferno, and it just is not engaging me at all like his other books did. I know they are essentially cheesy action books, but they were immensely enjoyable. I just can't get into this one. Actually, Lost Symbol was not great either.

jone70 said:

Trying to finish up Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. We had to read a couple of Hemingway works in high school and I found them so boring, but last year I decided to read The Sun Also Rises which is partially set in Paris in the 1920s -- I'm a sucker for books set in France in the early 20th century -- and I actually really enjoyed it. So now I'm reading A Moveable Feast which is comprised of a bunch of short stories about the time Hemingway spent living in Paris in the 20s.

If you want to save money on books you could join www.paperbackswap.com. You post books you are willing to swap and if you send one to someone, you earn a credit. You can then use your credits to "buy" books that other people are willing to swap. You have to pay for the postage (media mail) when you mail the book, but not when one is mailed to you.

I've been using it for a couple of years -- unlike the library you can keep the book for as long as you want (you don't have to swap it when you're done). I like it because I have too many art history books the way it is, so this way I can keep leisure books to a minimum and request books that I wouldn't necessarily want to buy.

@paperbackswap

That sounds like a really cool idea!

jone70 said:

Trying to finish up Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. We had to read a couple of Hemingway works in high school and I found them so boring, but last year I decided to read The Sun Also Rises which is partially set in Paris in the 1920s -- I'm a sucker for books set in France in the early 20th century -- and I actually really enjoyed it. So now I'm reading A Moveable Feast which is comprised of a bunch of short stories about the time Hemingway spent living in Paris in the 20s.

If you want to save money on books you could join www.paperbackswap.com. You post books you are willing to swap and if you send one to someone, you earn a credit. You can then use your credits to "buy" books that other people are willing to swap. You have to pay for the postage (media mail) when you mail the book, but not when one is mailed to you.

I've been using it for a couple of years -- unlike the library you can keep the book for as long as you want (you don't have to swap it when you're done). I like it because I have too many art history books the way it is, so this way I can keep leisure books to a minimum and request books that I wouldn't necessarily want to buy.

There is a really interesting insight to Hemingway 's relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald in Moveable Feast. The chat with, I think it's a hotel porter about Fitzgerald is worth the price of the book alone.

You should read The Shadow of the wind that has a fair bit about Paris and Barcelonain the 20s and 30s

prittypriss said:

endymion said:

The Hyperion series has also been optioned as a movie, would love to see that happen

I remember you telling me about The Hyperion series. I think I bought the first book or two, but got stuck on a different series after that and never finished them. :-/

You still sneaking into the bathroom to read?

I actually read about 70% of Crime and Punishment in the bath!

malcolm x autobiography

endymion said:

prittypriss said:

I remember you telling me about The Hyperion series. I think I bought the first book or two, but got stuck on a different series after that and never finished them. :-/

You still sneaking into the bathroom to read?

I actually read about 70% of Crime and Punishment in the bath!

HA! I knew that wouldn't change! It's been way too long Simon.

endymion said:

jone70 said:

Trying to finish up Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. We had to read a couple of Hemingway works in high school and I found them so boring, but last year I decided to read The Sun Also Rises which is partially set in Paris in the 1920s -- I'm a sucker for books set in France in the early 20th century -- and I actually really enjoyed it. So now I'm reading A Moveable Feast which is comprised of a bunch of short stories about the time Hemingway spent living in Paris in the 20s.

If you want to save money on books you could join www.paperbackswap.com. You post books you are willing to swap and if you send one to someone, you earn a credit. You can then use your credits to "buy" books that other people are willing to swap. You have to pay for the postage (media mail) when you mail the book, but not when one is mailed to you.

I've been using it for a couple of years -- unlike the library you can keep the book for as long as you want (you don't have to swap it when you're done). I like it because I have too many art history books the way it is, so this way I can keep leisure books to a minimum and request books that I wouldn't necessarily want to buy.

There is a really interesting insight to Hemingway 's relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald in Moveable Feast. The chat with, I think it's a hotel porter about Fitzgerald is worth the price of the book alone.

You should read The Shadow of the wind that has a fair bit about Paris and Barcelonain the 20s and 30s

Yes, there are a couple of vignettes about Hemingway and Fitzgerald. Especially the one where they go to Lyon(?) to drive Fitzgerald's car back to Paris. That one made me kind of sad because Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors and Hemingway's description of him sort of disappointed me. (Not the way H. wrote the description, but the way he made F. seem disappointed me in F.)

As an art historian, I also appreciated the vignettes about Gertrude Stein, particularly the one where she talks about art.

Will definitely check out The Shadow of the Wind; thanks!

Okay, now I wanna go watch "City of Angels".

^^That's one of my "feel good" movies, especially when I start getting down on love. Nothing like torturing oneself into thinking that there is some great love out there that would be willing to give up being an angel to be with you.

[Edited 8/22/13 15:33pm]

prittypriss said:

There is a series of books that I finished awhile back and really enjoyed.

The author is Terry Brooks and the series is the Shannara series.

The first book in the series is "First King of Shannara".

Another series of books he wrote is about the Magical Kingdom of Landover. The first book is "Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold". It's a fun set of books and can even be read to the kids. Seems to appeal to all ages.

I enjoyed The Elves of Cintra and The Gypsy Morph. I should check out the others since I could use some light reading for a while.

NDRU said:

prittypriss said:

This thread.

honesty at last!

I am reading Dan Brown's Inferno, and it just is not engaging me at all like his other books did. I know they are essentially cheesy action books, but they were immensely enjoyable. I just can't get into this one. Actually, Lost Symbol was not great either.

Ha. See my reply #12

namepeace said:

babynoz said:

How was it?

Compelling backstory, disjointed in the last chapters, but a fun read from beginning to end.

Thanks.

kitbradley said:

I've been reading this for the past couple of months and it will probably be several more months before I'm able to finish it but it will be worth it. I have already seen positive changes in my life.

I read this several years ago. It's worth another read.