What Of Book Are You Read?

[Senshi1]

A bit like the "what are you listening to" thread, but with books instead of music.

And apologies in advance if this thread has already been done.

At the moment, I'm reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. For those of you who don't know, Bill Bryson is usually a travel writer (if you haven't read "Notes from a Big Country", please do so for your own good), but this is his first attempt at writing a science book. And for a book that deals with things like stars, atoms, particles and geology, it's one of the funniest books I've read.

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

the hollywood brother wishes you good luck with this post. Many moons ago the hollywood brother had a book thread going but people ignored the hollywood brother thread and it just got buried. The hollywood brother will back you and hope that this thread does not die quickly

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

as far as books the hollywood brother is not reading one right this minute but just finished reading the classic called "GROUCHO AND ME" by Groucho Marx who once sang a duet with alice cooper according to alice cooper on his late night radio show last night. Anyway the hollywood brother found the boo kto be hilarious and encourages everyone on here to read it

 

[SOADRyknow]

i just finished 'the lair of the white worm' by bram stoker.. before that 'draculas guest' also by stoker.. and now im working on 20,000 leagues under the sea by jules verne (again)

 

[Ignatz]

I am finally tackling "War and Peace," in a new translation just published. I'm also working my way through a stack of old westerns by Max Brand, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and others.

 

[nessonite1]

Im currently reading Excel Saga

 

[blackmagicjack1]

Mornings on Horseback - A book about the pre-president days of Teddy Roosevelt.

Also reading a few other books at the same time.

 

[Kalamos]

Woooh! I'm not currently reading anything.
Gotta get me something soon.

 

[a1532b]

HAHAA!! Excel saga rocks.

I'm currently re-reading the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy trilogy. I am up to book 4, right now, so long and thanks for the fish.

And for the people that will inevitably yell "how can there be 4 books in a trilogy!!!!???", Well, there are actually 5.

 

[tickledgirl1]

Mr. Norrell & Jonathan Strange, by Susannah Clarke

 

[TKLVR181]

LOL Errr...Star Trek by William Shatner hisself!!:>

 

[Ignatz]

BTW, what are you mean by these thread title?

 

[leenotler]

HAHAA!! Excel saga rocks.

I'm currently re-reading the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy trilogy. I am up to book 4, right now, so long and thanks for the fish.

And for the people that will inevitably yell "how can there be 4 books in a trilogy!!!!???", Well, there are actually 5.

Oh, Hitchhiker is so great. Huge cosmic ironies. I had wondered if the 42 in the Mad Lib #9 694269 refered to Hitchhiker's "life, the Universe and everything".

I'm reading "The Sandman Preludes and Nocturns", a graphic novel.
"Real Money, Sane Investing in an Insane World" by Jim Cramer.
"The Diamond Age", by Neal Stephenson, a nanotech SF, so-so. Totally different from his previous one, my favorite: "Snow Crash", cyberpunk SF about an information virus that affects both biology and software.

 

[Beaunanza]

My Ishmael

I've been reading My Ishmael on and off for a while. I just can't find time to read anymore. Anyway, I recommend that everyone reads the book that came before it,"ISHMAEL" by Daniel Quinn. It will teach you how you should be living as a human being. The book changed my view of human behavior and how we as human beings are slowly destroying ourselves because we don't know how to live properly. Just read the book and you will see what I mean and you will never be the same.

 

[a1532b]

Leenotler, maybe that number had to do with hhgttg.....

 

[Senshi1]

Hey, I created a popular thread. I rock.*

I'm going to start (for the second time) "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" tonight which is undoubtedly the best book ever written by the best author/actor ever.

BTW, what are you mean by these thread title?

I've always will the fan of Engrish. For many happy site, visit www.engrish.com.


*Not true

 

[tickledgirl1]

Yay Engrish! I love that site. Where else could you find Angel Sweet Asse ?

 

[Sockstickler]

Right now, I'm getting toward the end of "Star Wars: Cloak of Deception" by James Luceno. At least, when I'm taking a break from working on a novel of my own.

 

[leenotler]

Hey, I created a popular thread. I rock.*

I'm going to start (for the second time) "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" tonight which is undoubtedly the best book ever written by the best author/actor ever.

I've always will the fan of Engrish. For many happy site, visit www.engrish.com.


*Not true

Great thread! Visiting amazon.com for details, I found great titles here.

There's a book I want. I don't know the title. I believe it's a true story about a woman who's ambassador father was killed by a Palestinian. She went undercover to find and befriend the assassin's family. She surprised the court at the murder trial, revealing who she was. She sought not vengeance, but some way to break the cycle of revenge.
Amazon searches failed. If someone recognizes it, please let me know the title.

 

[SOADRyknow]

I've been reading My Ishmael on and off for a while. I just can't find time to read anymore. Anyway, I recommend that everyone reads the book that came before it,"ISHMAEL" by Daniel Quinn. It will teach you how you should be living as a human being. The book changed my view of human behavior and how we as human beings are slowly destroying ourselves because we don't know how to live properly. Just read the book and you will see what I mean and you will never be the same.

haha thats funny man.. a hippy buddy of mine tried to get me to read ishmael.. and he gave me this book called 'be here now' which is like the hippy 'bible'.. i never got around to reading it though.. books about concepts of human behavior and functionality dont sit well in my head.. ive met alot of people throughout my life that say they are 'in tune' with spirituality and theological things.. and you can learn alot of weird things from people like that.. like for example, if you believe that everyone has an 'aura' about them.. i was told my aura is green.. and i looked up what a green aura entails, and it was really accurate to me.. kinda freaky.. but it didnt make me all like WHOA i need to change the way im living and change my beliefs.. and im sorry dude, but even if EVERYONE IN THE WORLD read that book, do you really think that everyone would just change their ways and everything would be fine? theres always a bad apple in the orchard.. and how about the chaos theory?

 

[Beaunanza]

haha thats funny man.. a hippy buddy of mine tried to get me to read ishmael.. and he gave me this book called 'be here now' which is like the hippy 'bible'.. i never got around to reading it though.. books about concepts of human behavior and functionality dont sit well in my head.. ive met alot of people throughout my life that say they are 'in tune' with spirituality and theological things.. and you can learn alot of weird things from people like that.. like for example, if you believe that everyone has an 'aura' about them.. i was told my aura is green.. and i looked up what a green aura entails, and it was really accurate to me.. kinda freaky.. but it didnt make me all like WHOA i need to change the way im living and change my beliefs.. and im sorry dude, but even if EVERYONE IN THE WORLD read that book, do you really think that everyone would just change their ways and everything would be fine? theres always a bad apple in the orchard.. and how about the chaos theory?

Well, ISHMAEL has nothing to do with spirituality. More with evolution actually. If anything, its against spirituality in a way. It has nothing to do with auras or finding your spiritual self or any of that bullshit. I guess a pre-requisite for getting the most out of this book is that you believe in evolution. It won't get you to change the way you live, just get you to become more aware of how we as a society live. Actually, after reading the book, I was ready to move to a deserted island somewhere.

An sampling from the book: We are the only species that keeps its food under lock and key. There is food all over the world, and it grows everywhere and its free, yet we lock it up and have to work our asses off to get it back. Sounds pretty stupid to me. Another concept that stems from this idea is the way argiculture has shaped our society, and not in a good way. Concepts like these are brought up in the book and when you are done reading it, I'm sure you will see that the way we live is preposterous.

 

[Beaunanza]

Also, I think if everyone in the world read the book, that there WOULD be changes, perhaps not to the extent that should be taken...mainly because people with power would be hard-pressed to relenquish what they have. Christians would also resist because of what they believe along with other religious groups.

 

[Beaunanza]

When I get a chance, I will try to post a snipet from the audio book, and you can decide for yourself. I know I'm talking a lot about this, but I'm telling you, once you read it, you will know why.

 

[Fiend1]

...and on a thoroughly non-hippie related note, I'm just reaching the end of 'The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse' by Robert Rankin.

As you can imagine, with a title such as this, it's not exactly a literary masterpiece, nor a highbrow classic. It is however, extremely funny. The author appears to have nailed my offbeat sense of humour to a tee. (I call it offbeat, anyway. It's the only thing that helps me sleep at night).

There are far too many things happening in this book to give a detailed rundown, however I can tell you that it's a blend of very silly comedy and murder/mystery. It's certainly different, however, in that a vast majority of the characters with the exception of the principal character, are either nursery rhyme characters or living, breathing toys. This may lead some to believe that it's a children's book, however a look at the blurb on the back will prove otherwise.

"Once upon a time Jack set out to seek his fortune in the big city - but when Jack finally gets there, it is Toy City, formerly known as Toy Town. And there is a serial killer loose upon the streets.

One by one, the old, rich nursery rhyme characters are being brutally slaughtered. The Toy City police are getting nowhere, Bill Winkie, Private Eye, has also mysteriously vanished, leaving only his sidekick, Eddie Bear, to take care of business

But Eddie's ready, and when he teams up with Jack, the two set out on an epic adventure. Not to mention a lot of heavy drinking, bad behaviour, fast car chases, gratuitous sex and violence, bizarre toy fetishism and all-round grossness of a type not normally associated with Toy Town"

The amount of creativity and imagination that went into this book is just staggering. A highly enjoyable, if slightly oddball, read.

 

[Beaunanza]

Here's an audio clip from the audiobook Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Its a scene where Ishmael the ape and his student are discussing the Creation Myth, which you and I know so well. Hope it works.

http://h1.ripway.com/beaunanza/CreationMyth.mp3