What is the best book you've read lately?
I’m looking for something interesting to read.
No specific genre just anything
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The October Country by Ray Bradbury.
It’s a book full of short stories. Check it out on wikipedia for a description of each story.
Thank you for this question. I just finished “Run,” by Ann Patchett, the author of Bel Canto. This is a novel about race, family, politics, religion and written in a masterful and deceptively simple style.
the power of one by Bruce Courtenay
The pillars of the earth by ken follett
@gailcalled: i read run too and i didnt think it was good at all. i have a hunch that bel canto was a fluke after reading Run.
Wow Mokujin ‘The October Country’ sounds really good
@mlt…and I am not a Ken Follett fan…different strokes, of course. Patchett was interviewed on my local public radio station yesterday. She is an elegant and polished ex. temp speaker and she talked about the various changes she made to RUN before it was published. I am now reading SUMMERLAND, by Michael Chabon. I think it was written for children.
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
SRM
@gailcalled: i mean it as no offense to you or ann patchett, all im saying is that i didnt like it. maybe it was because of the expectations it brought with it. also, the pillars of the earth is a completely different style than his usual lot of books. it has nothing to do with guns/CIA/terrorists etc…, which is a change for the good. theres too much of that lately.
No, my pet. I am no longer ever offended and didn’t mean to imply that. Your answer was reasonable and polite. and I will add the Follett to my summer reading list. I stumbled on the Golden Compass on fluther and would have never read it otherwise.
thats one of the key flaws of the internet; the inability to read someone’s body language, which makes up around 92 percent of language.
the general book of ignorance-everything you think you know is wrong
Its a good book, I even got my grandpa to read it.
Nadja by André Breton. It was surreal at times, I dug it. If you haven’t yet read Confederacy of Dunces, I would read that. You won’t be able to put it down until your finished.
Tapping your potential by Ken Lodi. It’s a great book on looking for ways to keep a positive attitude in a non positive environment.
The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller. I stole it from the oncology waiting room (and will
take it back, I guess). I thought it would be a good trash book, but it was better than that.
It’s about a woman whose husband… oh wait, I’ll let you figure it out.
The World as Stage by Bill Bryson This biography of Shakespeare had tons of stuff I never knew and Bryson’s humor makes any subject interesting.
@SRM I was interested in that Michael Pollan book.What do you think of it?
The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul
160 p.
Released April 15, 2008
Preface:
Every election cycle we are treated to candidates who promise us “change,” and 2008 has been no different. But in the American political lexicon, “change” always means more of the same: more government, more looting of Americans, more inflation, more police state measures, more unnecessary war, and more centralization of power.
Real change would mean something like the opposite of those things. It might even involve following our Constitution. And that’s the one option Americans are never permitted to hear. .....
He truly tells it how it is. It is a very easy read with many historical quotes.
Chris, it so happens most of the time that these promises about change only happen on paper before the elections. Once the party is in power, the inertia of wrong doing is so overwhelming b/c the whole system works this way, that it is almost impossible to come up with a true change. There have been good guys with true intentions for change and they have been eliminated from the get go like J.F. Kennedy. On the other hand, you could be a good president who is up for real lasting changes, but you have the house and senate against you, so the whole entity is blown away and if you don’t play the game by the rules, you will be out of the game and even lose your life, so most people accommodate and steer their direction. Recently there have been some countries in South America where left wing parties have been winning the elections. If these presidents were smart they wouldn’t rebel against the US, they could make some drastic changes and still have the US as a friend. That would be the winning combination.
Three Cups of Tea- This is an AMAZING book. It’s about a hard core mountain climber guy that almost dies in Pakistan following an extremely taxing climb. He is nursed back to health by local Pashtun villagers and vows to build them a school the following year. He actually comes back to build the school and ends up starting an international non-profit organization to build scores of schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The work shows how we can really make positive changes around the world- rather than our curent military/political efforts in the region. On a personal level, I was really touched by the book because I have spent time in that part of the world studying Pashtun culture from a very different perspective.
@BCarlyle; my sister has been talking about THREE CUPS OF TEA also, so that is next on my list. She is as enthuastic as you are.
I just finished Mama Makes Up Her Mind, by Bailey White. It’s light reading, and it was hilarious. It would be great fun for anyone dealing with a kooky elderly Mother. It was funny and heartwarming at the same time, and the best way to read it is out loud with a friend. I read it over the phone with my daughter. We took turns reading chapters to each other, and we had a blast doing it.
It’s out of print now, so you would have to get it from the library.
The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry
@boffin Yes i read the Venetian Betrayal it was excellent
Anything by Terry Pratchett- absolutely brilliant, you’ll giggle to yourself every paragraph, chuckle every page and burst into laughter every chapter :P
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party
by M.T. Anderson (also wrote Feed, an amazing young adult book)
- ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ by Sue Monk Kidd
– ‘The Lovely Bones’ by Alice Sebold (It has a bit of a weird ending, which ruined it a tiny bit for me, but I still think it is worth reading!)
– ‘The Pact’ and ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ by Jodi Picoult
– ‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ by Kim Edwards
– ‘The Clan of the Cave Bear’ by Jean M. Auel (First book in a series)
These books have a thing in common – they toughed my heart and made me cry. In my opinion – that makes a great book.
Dune! If you like sci fi/fantasy you will love this book.. and maybe even if you don’t!
Mexican Survivors by Rebecca West. Obscure and fabulous.
nora roberts – blood brothers, awesome, it’s a trilogy and i can’t wait to read the second book the hollow. if you like romance, mystery, and a lil scary, then you should definately read that book.
Something Comes To Town, Something Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow. I kept thinking to myself, “This is the weirdest book I’ve ever read”, but I couldn’t put it down. His Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a darn good read as well.
I just reread “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” still vey good.
Has anyone else read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke? It’s about two magicians in 19th Century England. I thought it was fabulous – a combination of a great fantasy book with a large canvas 19th century background. Not too many people I talk to have read it; it may be only appeal to quirky readers.
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. This is a truly original novel peopled by multi-dimensional characters and laced with mystery, humor, and brain-teasers that linger long after. My book group had one of our best discussions after reading this first novel. The next day, we were e-mailing each other with more thoughts and insights.
anything by Jonathan Safron Foer—I love his work.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It will change your life! Genre: Spirituality.
I am reading BLINK right now (by the same guy who wrote the tipping point) and I really like it!
Janbb—read it, liked it alot. Didn’t want it to end!
@Larssenabdo That’s how I felt about Jonathan Strange too. It had such imaginative sweep, an unusual tone, humor and real emotional novel. Glad someone else read it and liked it too. I gave it to my sister-in-law and she loved it too.
The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. It’s a short read, but really changed the way I relate to my wife and kids.
@gailcalled – I looooved ‘Run’, even more than ‘Bel Canto’ because its force does not depend quite so much on an extreme situation.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, it completely changed the way I think about food.
I just fnished “Saraha.” by Michael Palin, who is apparently multi-skilled. He did a four-part TV series for the BBC about traveling around Gibralter, Morocco, West Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. He then wrote a fascinating (and hilarious) travelog. Never mind the sand and extreme heat; he gets severe food (camel) poisoning in an area where there isn’t a bush visible for miles.
@as: Near the end of the book, as Palin is working his way thru Tunisia, he writes, “Oh, wait. I was crucified here.”
@gail: Ah, I really should get around to my stack of reading, I’m usually reading 10+ books at a time and I always think I’m catching up…then I plunder Barnes & Noble again. And bring home another 30. Thank for that quote, I think I’m gonna move his book to the top of the pile. :)
The cycle never ends.
I just finished a series of essays by Adam Gopnik; “Thru the Children’s Gate,” a series of long essays about NYC, his young children, trying to find an apartment, imaginary friends, old age and death, etc. He is a clever writer ( on staff at the New Yorker for ages), although occasionally too cute for words. But I still enjoyed it.
@As: Since I am never allowing another new possession into this house, I get all books and audios from our library.
@Gail: The library ends up more expensive for me than Barnes & Noble. I end up keeping them and paying ridiculous fees after a year of avoiding that old librarian like the plague. I get attached to the copy I read, every torn page or crumb stuck in the middle I remember as much as the words no the page. When I borrowed, then bought the new one always felt like a stranger despite having the same content. It seemed new and pretentious. As if it was saying I’m just as smart as that other crappy book, but look how much hotter I am? Second copies have attitude problems. I like to break my books in, and buy hardcover so one day I can revisit an old favorite and smell those fantastic pages. It’s like coming home to an old friend.
I might have romanticized reading as a child. I might be a bit odd.
No, you are simply too young to feel possessed by your possessions. Here we have an annual book fair; one donates sacks of books and then buys sacks of other people’s books.
And it is true.. You can’t spill tea or write in the margins with library books. (Well, you can, but as you say, it defeats the purpose.)
Other possessions? Sure. I get it. Books? Never. My love of books is so very serious.
Then We Came To the End by Joshua Ferris. Sort of like Office Space in a book format.
I just finished reading Watchmen for the first time and was completely blown away. I didn’t think I was going to dislike it, but I definitely didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.
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