The HA Book Club

[Kabuki]

Can anybody recommend a good book? I was at the library today, and I just couldn't decide on what I should check out. I'm more of a fiction person at the moment.

My current favorite books:

Battle Royale by by Japanese author Koushun Takami

One of Japan's best-selling and most controversial novels. Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline; according to the book's prologue, Japan is a police state, known as the Republic of Greater East Asia (大東亜共和国 Dai Tōa Kyōwakoku). From time to time, fifty randomly selected classes of secondary school students are forced to take arms against one another until only one student in each class remains. The program was created, supposedly, as a form of military research and population control, though the outcome of each battle is publicized on local television. A character discovers that the program is not an experiment at all, but a means of terrorizing the population. In theory, after seeing such atrocities, the people will become paranoid and divided, preventing an organized rebellion.

Made into a movie and graphic novels...manga actually.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

A parallel novel by Gregory Maguire. Based upon the writings of L. Frank Baum, it is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz, best known from Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Wicked, published in 1995 with illustrations by Douglas Smith, presents events, characters and situations from Baum's books and the film in new and surprising ways. The events described in the book rarely contradict anything from the original story, and some detailed events come directly from Baum's book. However, Wicked gives Oz and its inhabitants a new context, which often changes or inverts the meaning suggested by the original texts.

The Footprints of God by Greg Iles

In this compelling, science-based entry, Iles (Sleep No More; 24 Hours; The Quiet Game) gives his own particular spin on biblical mayhem. "My name is David Tennant, M.D. I'm professor of ethics at the University of Virginia Medical School, and if you're watching this tape, I'm dead." Tennant works for Project Trinity, a secret government organization attempting to build a quantum-level supercomputer. Using advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques, Tennant and five other top scientists have supplied Trinity, the experimental computer, with molecular copies of themselves as models for a neurological operating system. As Trinity comes to life, the men who control the experiment begin to split into competing factions, each determined to use the computer for his own ends. When Tennant tries to shut the project down because of ethical considerations, he is marked for death by the beautiful but physically and psychologically scarred Geli Bauer, head of security. Iles writes himself onto a high wire that stretches over a dangerous fictional chasm as Tennant begins to have narcoleptic seizures and see life through the eyes of Jesus Christ. That this talented author makes it to the other side without falling is testament to his ingenuity and intelligence. Armageddon looms as nuclear missiles streak toward the United States, and the fate of mankind rests on Tennant's ability to reason with the omnipotent Trinity. Readers interested in the exploration of religious themes without the usual New Age blather or window-dressed dogma will snap up this novel of cutting-edge science.

I would recommend these books to anyone.

[WendyWilliams]

Autobiography (sp) by Meghan Chavalier:

Confessions of a Transsexual Pornstar

also

Hillary Rodham Clintons book Living History

I enjoyed both!

[stillies77]

Battle Royale is amazing!

I recommend (if you are into Graphic Novels)

Blankets By Craig Thompson

[Kabuki]

Battle Royale is amazing!

I recommend (if you are into Graphic Novels)

Blankets By Craig Thompson

Have you read Battle Royale the book or just the manga? I still haven't read the manga, but I own the first film.

Blankets is a great graphic novel. I see copies of it in various libraries.

[qeuqheeg222]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

[stillies77]

i read the book...best book (non graphic novel) cover i have ever seen i love the all red...the lettering...EVERYTHING its awesome haha

[Kabuki]

Autobiography (sp) by Meghan Chavalier:

Confessions of a Transsexual Pornstar

also

Hillary Rodham Clintons book Living History

I enjoyed both!

I should read Meghan's book. I may have to buy that one. I doubt I'll find a copy at the average library.

[MrsKellyPierce]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

[Kabuki]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

by Jared M. Diamond...sounds interesting...the theories and what not. I think you would enjoy The Footprints of God. Interesting theories in a book of fiction.

[Kabuki]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

I still need to read the Potter series. I'll do it before the next film comes out. I need to buy the series. eBay time :D

[MrsKellyPierce]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

I still need to read the Potter series. I'll do it before the next film comes out. I need to buy the series. eBay time :D The books are so much better than the movies in my opinion. Not that the movies are bad, but they leave stuff out that I liked about the books.

[stillies77]

true...the first book is 10000 times better than the first movie...they butchered the book in the first movie.

[MrsKellyPierce]

true...the first book is 10000 times better than the first movie...they butchered the book in the first movie. I totally agree, I mean it is neat to see how they made certain things come alive from the book. But the books are amazing. I can't believe the manuscript was sitting on someone's desk forever before they even acknowledged it.

George Friedman- America's Secret War

Sam Walton- Made in America

Lee Iacocca- Autobiography

Napoleon Hill- Think and Grow Rich

Jesus and Company- The Bible

[Kabuki]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

I still need to read the Potter series. I'll do it before the next film comes out. I need to buy the series. eBay time :D The books are so much better than the movies in my opinion. Not that the movies are bad, but they leave stuff out that I liked about the books.

Movie versions of the books are always missing something. I read Memoirs of a Geisha, and I don't think the film came close to showing the true essence of the characters.

[MrsKellyPierce]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

I still need to read the Potter series. I'll do it before the next film comes out. I need to buy the series. eBay time :D The books are so much better than the movies in my opinion. Not that the movies are bad, but they leave stuff out that I liked about the books.

Movie versions of the books are always missing something. I read Memoirs of a Geisha, and I don't think the film came close to showing the true essence of the characters. I keep on passing that movie by on Demand...and I've been wanting to watch it real bad since I heard it came out. I just cant muster why I haven't just clicked on the damn movie and watched it.

[stillies77]

also if you havent read it...

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby...awesome book!

[TheGuard]

It's going to be great reading for leisure again, 'Advanced Cognitive Psychology' wasn't as vivid and entertaining as it sounds.

[Kabuki]

How To Be A Pornstar - Jenna Jameson
Kelly Van Der Veer's Autobio
Caroline Bassey's Autobio
All the Harry Potter books lol

I still need to read the Potter series. I'll do it before the next film comes out. I need to buy the series. eBay time :D The books are so much better than the movies in my opinion. Not that the movies are bad, but they leave stuff out that I liked about the books.

Movie versions of the books are always missing something. I read Memoirs of a Geisha, and I don't think the film came close to showing the true essence of the characters. I keep on passing that movie by on Demand...and I've been wanting to watch it real bad since I heard it came out. I just cant muster why I haven't just clicked on the damn movie and watched it.

I actually own the film. I was out of the states when it came out, so I just saw it a few months ago.

[muhmuh]

im currently reading 'the colour of magic' and im loving it
gotta get the whole series

[LG]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

I agree. This is an excellent book. I also enjoyed his earlier book "The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee" and have read another book of his called "Why is sex fun?". Other interesting books on human behaviour are "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, "On Human Nature" by EO Wilson and "Junk Food Monkeys" by Robert Sapolsky.

[LG]

Most of you have probably read it, but for those who haven't:

George Orwell - Animal Farm (http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Farm-Centennial-George-Orwell/dp/0452284244/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8839465-3359908?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173422903&sr=1-1)

Pure classic

I'll second that. First time I read it, I was maybe 10 and just thought it was a really nice fairy tale. Five years later when I re-read it, I finally got what it meant.

One of the few novels I've read more than once, simply because it's so well written.

[qeuqheeg222]

how bout huxley's brave new world-cuz that is what is had come down to....consumers and markets of eternal glamourous youth.....

[Jericho]

Anything Heinlein, but especially "Friday" or "Stranger In A Strange Land".

[Quinn]

I would recommend the following:

1. "Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War." Basically a book about the then known world’s first world war. The dialogue and clarity of thought the Greeks were capable of was phenomenal. The Melian dialogue, for example, is considered one of the foremost examples of realist thinking in international politics. One word: fascinating.
2. "Our Oldest Enemy." A book that traces the history of the French political establishment’s relationship with the US.
3. "Can Asians Think: Understanding the Divide between East and West." A great book on Asian, and particularly East Asian, perspectives of international politics and the West.
4. "Tomorrow’s Gold: Asia's Age of Discovery." A book by economic contrarian Marc Faber that traces the development of investment trends over the centuries and assess the development of new patterns.
5. Regime Shift: Comparative Dynamics of the Japanese Political Economy. A great book that describes the historical underpinnings of Japan’s current economic and political structures.
6. "The 48 Laws of Power." Think Machiavelli’s "The Prince" meets Sun Tzu’s "The Art of War," only better.

-Quinn

[Coroner]

Try the Russian Science-Fiction authors Arkady and Boris Strugazki, Kabuki.

They also put lots of humor into their works, for example "Monday Begins on Saturday". It´s fucking funny. Other great books they wrote are "Far Rainbow" and "Tale of the Troika". After the American movie "The Day After" from 1981, in 1986 was shot another anti-atomic war movie in the Soviet Union written by the the Strugazki brothers. The movie is called "Letters from A Dead Man". I´m pretty sure you ain´t able to buy or rent it except in Russia but you can download it from eMule. That´s where I found it but only in Russian (orig. version: "Pisma myortvogo cheloveka").

[Ecstatic]

Recently read or currently reading:

Lord of the Rings, Tolkien - for the nth time, but the first time in 20 years, finished a few weeks ago

Time Travel in Einstein's Universe, J Richard Gott - fascinating, and intelligible, examination of the possibilities and repercussions of time travel by a professor of astrophysics at Princeton

The Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong - an overview of the Axial Age, the name give by Karl Jaspers to the 700 years between 900 and 200 BCE in four distinct regions which laid the foundation of the world's primary religio-cultural traditions

Mastering Digital Nude Photography, Roderick Macdonald - what it is

[LG]

Do we have to be intellectual? I like reading Dave Barry as much as anything.

I also used to buy Playboy for the interviews. :)

[ILuvGurls]

damn i feel like a dunce most of what i read are murder mysteries or some type of action adventure

John Sandford
Michael Connelly
WEB Griffin
James Patterson
Clive Cussler
Michael Crichton

many, many more. i average a book a week, which with every thing else i get into ain't to bad.

[trish]

Hi Kabuki;

It's been ages since i read it...but i remembering really really liking Robertson Davies Deptford Trilogy (i think the first book in the series is Rebel Angels). come to think of it...i just plain recommend Robertson Davies. I tore through everything he wrote in about a year.

Also recommend Marge Piercy's He, She and It. It's a fantastic piece of high brow cyberpunk fiction.

Another "science fiction" book i really like is Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It's the first of a trilogy. I have to find the time to read the other two.

I loved Lee M. Silver's take on science and religion in Challenging Nature.

Also liked Amy Chua's perspective on globalization vs democracy in World On Fire.

Reza Aslan's No God but God is a must read for our decade.

Happy hunting.

kisses,
trish

[chefmike]

Any noir fiction fans?

Check out James Ellroy.

[tonkatoy]

i like the Samurai Cat books by Mark E Rogers. They are very enjoyable.

[LoadedRevolver66]

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger...So we all read it in high school? Re-read it!

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk...His first novel, written before Fight Club but he couldn't get it published due to content, like a TS heroine (and felching).

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson...America needs HST now more than ever, too bad he died.

Howl by Allen Ginsburg...Technically a poem, but no less amazing. Read Naked Lunch if you want something a bit longer.

[Kabuki]

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger...So we all read it in high school? Re-read it!

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk...His first novel, written before Fight Club but he couldn't get it published due to content, like a TS heroine (and felching).

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson...America needs HST now more than ever, too bad he died.

Howl by Allen Ginsburg...Technically a poem, but no less amazing. Read Naked Lunch if you want something a bit longer.

I haven't read Invisible Monsters. I've read Choke, Diary, Haunted, and Lullaby by Palahniuk though. I can't believe that I still haven't read Fight Club.

I really didn't like Naked Lunch. It was all over the place. Too much for me. I own the book though :shrug

[Somedude21]

Let me see, my favorite books...

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. A synopsis has already been posted, so I don't need to give one. I must say though, I have all the manga, and while it may be over-dramatic sometimes, it's still a great read.

The Worldwar tetraology, followed by its sequel, the Colonization trilogy, and the Homeward Bound standalone. All by Harry Turtledove. Great series about what happened if lizard-like aliens with 1980s-1990s technology invaded Earth around the height of World War II. Doesn't sound like the most original series, but the way that it's pulled off is nothing short of great. Lots of sex in those books, too. ^_^

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guangzhong. A historical fiction (or rather, a romanticized version of actual historical events), following the events in China around the Yellow Turban Rebellion, up until the rise of the Jin Dynasty. Lots of warfare, killing, duels, honor...even some romance. All what you would expect from a great novel. It's REALLY long, spanding somewhere around 2,000 pages (three volumes in the version that I have), but it's really a great read.

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. When I was a kid, this was my favorite series. Still is one of my favorite. Since each book is so different, it would be hard to post a synopsis of the whole series...so I'll refrain from doing it and only suggest that you people read it, even if it is somewhat child-like.

Star Wars, by various authors, but particularly Timothy Zhan. I'm a total Star Wars nerd, and I've enjoyed just about every book written after Return of the Jedi.

Hellsing, written by Kouta Hirano. In modern-day England, there exists an agency known as Hellsing, who's mission it is to hunt vampires and ghouls. This graphic novel series mainly follows the exploits of Hellsing's trump card, an engineered Nosferatu vampire known as Alucard, and his apprentice Seras Victoria. It's a bit deeper than that, but I don't want to spoil anything of this great series. Tons (and I mean TONS) of gore and violence, not to mention highly entertaining dialogue. I recommend this to anyone looking for an entertaining read--assuming that they can stomach the violence.

Shogun, by James Clavell. A historical fiction loosely based on the exploits of the first Englishman to land in Japan in the 16th century, William Adams (named in the book as Blackthorne). While it's written from the perspective of a Westerner, James Clavell as far as I know has studied the Japanese psychology and sociology (especially considering that he was a Japanese POW during WWII--I think that he was even a part of the Baton Death March, but I'm not sure on that one), so for the most part the man knows what he's writing about. A great read, filled with action, intrigue and the strife politics that was the norm during the waning days of the Sengoku Jidai, or the Warring States period.

And that's about it for me.

[N.O.Kayla]

How could you forget Anne Rice in particular Cry to Heaven If you like gender bending characters Cry to heaven is the one Its my favorite

[Ecstatic]

Hey tonkatoy, welcome to HA! I don't know anything about Samurai Cat, sounds interesting.

[Kabuki]

How could you forget Anne Rice in particular Cry to Heaven If you like gender bending characters Cry to heaven is the one Its my favorite

I've read a handful of Anne Rice novels. Just one from her vampire series, and all of her Erotica written under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure:

* The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (1983)
* Beauty's Punishment (1984)
* Beauty's Release (1985)?


Beauty is awakened from her hundred-year sleep by the Prince, not with a simple kiss, but with an initiation into a Satyricon-like world of sexual adventures. He takes her to his kingdom, ruled by his mother, the Queen, and Beauty is stripped naked and trained as a slave and a plaything. The rest of the naked slaves, dozens of them, in the Queen's palace are princes and princesses sent by their royal parents from the surrounding kingdoms as tributes. In this palace they spend several years learning to become obedient and submissive sexual property, accepting being spanked, being publicly displayed, crawling around on their hands and knees, servicing their masters and mistresses, until they return to their own lands "being enhanced in wisdom".

[SkyTwo]

As someone living in Japan (much less posting to this site), I can't believe that you aren't devouring Tanizaki-- in Diary Of A Mad Old Man he even describes sex with an onna-gata. That's in addition to being a world-class author, of course...

[SkyTwo]

And as long as you're talking about sleeping beauties, why not tackle Kawabata's "House of Sleeping Beauties"?

[blackmagic]

..................MAD......................

[TomSelis]

"I am Legend" by Richard Mathesson
damned near anything by Chuck Palahniuk
Stepphenwolf Herman Hesse
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy

[atkms7]

I'm sorry people but I'm gonna have to class this thread up a little bit...ahem...I would recommend
1.The Agony and The Ecstasy by Irving Stone (you cant put it down)
2.Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte(Interesting Story)
3.1984 by George Orwell (The best book ever...period.)

Anyway, read those please and Kabuki...is that really you in your avatar???? You is one gorgeous girl!

[qeuqheeg222]

yeah lg playboy is really for the writing..i sometimes like the articles in penthouse too...curious i know a lot of people who read pl.boy for this same reason!!!but what is with hef and those dumb blondes on that tv show!

[Felicia Katt]

Since I love to read mysteries, what did you remove from this picture?

FK

[redtiger]

I'm making at least 3 recommendations of my own.

1. Best Made Man-Norah Vincent

2. The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold-Acharya S

3. The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into The Forces Of History-Howard K. Bloom

[ron30bi]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

Jared Diamond. Have the book right next to me.

[Aragon21]

Being a sci-fi/fantasy fan, I recommend:
Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series
Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series
L.E. Modesitt, Jr's "Saga of Recluse" series
:!: J.R.R Tolkien anything - don't just read "The Lord of the Rings"
:!: Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

General Fiction:
:!: Jean M. Auel's "Earth's Children" series - rent the movie "Clan of the Cave Bear", it is the first book of the 5 book series.
Charles Dickens anything, that man is hilarious

To atkms7 and Silvester, I own a first US edition of "Animal Farm" 8)

[Kabuki]

Being a sci-fi/fantasy fan, I recommend:
Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series
Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series
L.E. Modesitt, Jr's "Saga of Recluse" series
:!: J.R.R Tolkien anything - don't just read "The Lord of the Rings"
:!: Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

General Fiction:
:!: Jean M. Auel's "Earth's Children" series - rent the movie "Clan of the Cave Bear", it is the first book of the 5 book series.
Charles Dickens anything, that man is hilarious

To atkms7 and Silvester, I own a first US edition of "Animal Farm" 8)

Hitchhiker's Guide was a good read. I read that one, and the next two books in the series I believe.

[Jack59]

If you like historical, nautical, or romance novels you might give Uncommon Valour by John Stevens a try. It combines all three. The dialogue in particular is great. It's out of print but the author has a few copies available for sale.

Here's a link to his website:

http://www.geocities.com/blademaster01757/UV_start.html

[Kabuki]

bump

[Kriss]

how bout huxley's brave new world-cuz that is what is had come down to....consumers and markets of eternal glamourous youth.....

Well worth reading is Brave New World-RE-VISITED, also by Aldous Huxley.
Written in 196? it is about 7 short essays in retrospect of his previous book and taking into account scientific and social progression, re-evalutes his previous perspective. interestingly he emphasises the growing importance of propaganda in peacetime becoming advertising. same methods, different result. He also suprisingly downplays the future reliance on 'test-tube' and genetically modified reproduction since his original 1936 novel (B.N.W.) which as we now know is perhaps his most accurate prediction of impending distopia. Another great book by Huxley is ISLAND. A kind of counterpart to brave new world, the tale of a cynical london journalist , marooned on a tropical utopian paradise where he is enlightened by the free love and effective social stuctures that exist there, (kind of like going to holland for a day)
Doors of perception is not worth the read. It makes no sense at all if you have not ever taken LSD or Mescalin and if you have, you don't need to read this book. You will already know how fascinating the folds in a piece of cloth can be (like for 6 hours, it's like, totally like, wow)
Most of Huxley's books written Before he went off his mash on drugs are pretty dull high society tales of dull rich characters living dull rich lives


Since I love to read mysteries, what did you remove from this picture?

I would SO like to hear what an F.B.I. profiler has to say about that photo

:popcorn


Hitchhiker's Guide was a good read. I read that one, and the next two books in the series I believe.

Hitch hikeR's is GOOD. Have you heard the BBC radio version? Exellent and some would say even better than the bbc TV show. Douglas Adams was involved heavily in the radio production. One friend used to love to take a bunch of LSD and lie on his bed listening to the whole six hour long cassette version in the dark! God bless our welfare state!

Other good stuff

The Famished Road - BEN OKRI. trippy, flowery dreamy stuff set in delightful parallel spirt worlds and crushing hopeless poverty in politically volatile Africa. written from a child's perspective, a spirit child of course whose miscHevous spectral siblings want him to rejoin them in the spirit world and taunt him with fever dreams and hallucinations, they whisper him all the answers in school so that he gets beaten by teacher for cheating. He rebels by choosing to stay with his mother and father. Okri's short stories are GOLD. he has 2 or 3 collections of these.

BUKOWSKI. ANY Bukowski is GOLD. that man was a genius. A bitter, misoginistic, drunken gambler, but a genius still. He saw the humanity but mostly the in-humanity of man and worshipped the sexual power and confounding peculiarity of women. LOVE this guy, whenever I feel I have lost my way, I read old BUK and he reminds me why everyone but me is a total wanker and I am always right and they are wrong. Good old BUK. couldn't have put it better myself.

One of the most enjoyable books i read was called the OXFORD COLLECTION OF CARRIBEAN SHORT STORIES. or something like that. does what it says on the tin, various authors from most of the islands and a few coastal mainland regions like suriNaM. I like short stories. maybe because i tend to forget what i just read if i am stoned. With a short story i can read it in one night before bed. with loinger books i pick it up where i left off and realise i dont know what is going on so then backtrack 6 or 7 pages to a bit i remember. (Why BEN OKRI is good is that he is so tripped out and abstract in his writing that you can read it stoned no problem, somehow it all seems to go in, i think he WRITES it stoned on weed)

BIOGRAPHIES. Artists, rock stars, porn stars, criminals, nutcases, i love em all. THE FILTH- story of rock band Motley Crue is a great read, easy to get into and written from four different perspectives. I love how each chapter totally contradicts the last with another band members egotistical view and selective memory of history. Can't WAIT for the comic book version, oh hang on, they WERE the cartoon version.

JUNKY by William Burroughs is particularly good for an analysis of how addiction works, mentally , physically and socially. great read for the characters, observational stuff not a million miles from BUK. better than his nonsensical 'cut-up' crap like soft machine or naked lunch.

Phillip K Dick is the MAN!! Drugs! Deception! Police state! Paranoia! Anything by him is good, esp SCANNER DARKLY, MAN IN THE HIGH TOWER, EYE IN THE SKY, DR BLOODMONEY (or how we learned to get along after the bomb), THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH, "FLOW MY TEARS" THE POLICEMAN SAID.
Its ALL whacked out, paranoid 'reality is not as it seems' stuff but Two books dealt with Dick's mental breakdown/insane revalations, RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH and VALIS.

Bradbury is hot on his tail. Didnt do so many marathon speed sessions tho

How could I forget......
THE ELECTRIC KOOLAID ACID TEST by TOM WOLFE!
the definitive account of the LSD explosion in 1960's america. Features a great 'cameo' role from 'beat' icon Neil Cassidy who actually drives the acid fuelled hippy bus. You may remember him from Jack Keroac's over-rated and unbearably pretentious 'on the road'. Know your history people(you only got to learn about 200 years worth). :wink:

[chefmike]

THE ELECTRIC KOOLAID ACID TEST by TOM WOLFE!


Ahh yes...the origins of Ken Kesey, Augustus Stanley Owsley and the Grateful Dead....But I think that the Hell's Angel's steal the show...

Although it can't compare with HST's tale of his travels with the old-school Hell's Angels...

[Kabuki]

Interesting stuff here :popcorn I have number of books I would love to read. Of course the library is a pain. I may have to purchase some books, since the library fails to deliver.

[Hara_Juku Tgirl]

http://www.charlottekasl.com/dated.jpg

I LOVED "If the Buddah Dated" (first in a series). A handbook about finding love on a spiritual path. Good book geared about all types of relationships. ;)

~Kisses.

HTG

[posty]

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/palahniuk/haunted/html/index.html


Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is a novel made up of stories: Twenty-three of them, to be precise. Twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter-sometimes all at once. They are told by people who have answered an ad headlined "Writers' Retreat: Abandon Your Life for Three Months," and who are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of "real life" that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them. But "here" turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world-and where heat and power and, most important, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more extreme the stories they tell-and the more devious their machinations become to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/nonfiction blockbuster that will surely be made from their plight.

Haunted is on one level a satire of reality television-The Real World meets Alive. It draws from a great literary tradition-The Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, the English storytellers in the Villa Diodati who produced, among other works, Frankenstein-to tell an utterly contemporary tale of people desperate that their story be told at any cost. Appallingly entertaining, Haunted is Chuck Palahniuk at his finest-which means his most extreme and his most provocative.

[posty]

Also Vonnegut. Slaughter House Five and Cat's Cradle are good starts.

[Kabuki]

Bumped because reading is fundamental :P

[Kabuki]

If anybody needs a good zombie fix...I would highly suggest World War Z by Max Brooks.

The book charts the war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to the eventual armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a patchwork of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres.

Definitely a good read.

[Tanuki]

the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene and
The art of seduction by Robert Greene.

[Jericho]

Acid Casuals by Nicolas Blincoe.

Great book.
If you've ever been to Manchester, you'll love it!



Estela, who used to be Paul but has just had the operation, returns to Manchester on a business trip. The job - to kill her ex-boss, a club owner and money launderer - entails encounters with a whole posse of Mancunian lowlifers, dodgy bouncers, bent coppers, Moss Side gangsters, DJs and, of course, various kinds of drugs, and sex.

[Kabuki]

Acid Casuals by Nicolas Blincoe.

Great book.
If you've ever been to Manchester, you'll love it!



Estela, who used to be Paul but has just had the operation, returns to Manchester on a business trip. The job - to kill her ex-boss, a club owner and money launderer - entails encounters with a whole posse of Mancunian lowlifers, dodgy bouncers, bent coppers, Moss Side gangsters, DJs and, of course, various kinds of drugs, and sex.

This sounds like an interesting read. How is the transgender aspect of the book handled? Is it believable? I wish one of our lovely HA girls could read this book first, and give me a critique. I found some cheap copies of this book, so I might just purchase it.

[Jericho]

This sounds like an interesting read. How is the transgender aspect of the book handled? Is it believable? I wish one of our lovely HA girls could read this book first, and give me a critique. I found some cheap copies of this book, so I might just purchase it.

Depends what you mean by 'believable'. In a cheasy sleazy kind way.
The whole book's really sleazy, but funny as well.
I was creased over, laughing, reading parts of it.

You can get a 'feel' for the author, here:
http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/nicholasblincoe.html

[Kabuki]

If you want a fun read, check out "Monster Island: A Zombie Novel" by David Wellington. I just read the 282 pg book in one day. For whatever reason, I'm all about some good zombie films and books lately. "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks was another good zombie novel. "Monster Island" had me reading non-stop though.

This is a zombie novel--a fantastic zombie novel. Most of the world has fallen to the undead, with pockets of survivors clinging to a precarious existence. At the behest of the leader of the Free Women's Republic of Somaliland, a shipload of those makes the ludicrous trip from Africa to New York in a desperate quest for medicine. New York is a wasteland, and everything depends on a small, incredibly dedicated band of teenage girls, armed to the teeth, and native guide Dekalb, formerly a UN arms inspector. Also, in NYC there is Gary, a zombie who, completely unexpectedly, retains live human mental faculties. The questers get ringside seats for some of the apocalypse's finest moments, and no matter how prepared they thought they were, something worse awaits in the depths of New York. When zombies have already overrun everything, that's saying something. There are many layers to this zombie apocalypse, and this book just gets things rolling. Stay tuned. Regina Schroeder

[BrendaQG]

"The Principle of Relativity" by Albert Einstein

Understand it and you understand the universe.

[Quinn]

the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene and
The art of seduction by Robert Greene.

A really great book that represents an absolute must for the ambitious businessman. For years, I studied this book like a theologian might study the bible. It makes the works of authors like Sun Tzu, Clausewitz, Machiavelli, and Mushashi look like See Spot Run.

-Quinn

[ARMANIXXX]

I do read alot, but I was never able to read thick books or novels.

I prefer to read newspapers, periodicals, magazines and stuff like that.

I am able to read short multiple story type books though.

[SkyTwo]

I do read alot

Not enough to know that 'a lot' is two words, but alot. Just funnin' ya, pal.

[sexyredman]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

Jared Diamond. Have the book right next to me.

One of my favorites as well.


Just got finished reading "Wildseed" by Octavia Butler (R.I.P.) for the 3rd time.

"Flight To Canada" by Ishmael Reed stands out

"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

"Anansi's Boys" by Neil Gaiman

[crayons]

do a title search for "guns,germs and steel" -i dont know the author but this is a great book of history and anthropology.

i love that book. my mom bought it for me.

[cshkuru]

So I read a lot -

My opinion -

Guns Germs and Steel was interesting, but the guy (Jared Diamond) has a fetsih for hunter gatherer cultures that I found off putting. There is another book of the same type called Civilization A new History of the World that would probably be a good complement to this selection.

Brave New World was just a rip off of Plato's Republic.

Catcher in the Rye - Highly overrated. The kid is a whiney little jerk, Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar was much better.

1984 and Animal House both good reads but 1984 is superior in my opinion.

OK enough of that -

If you are into non-fiction Thucydides History of the Peloponesian war was recommended earlier and it is worthwhile but hard going.

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is pretty good but again fairly dense.

How The Scots Invented the Modern World is a good book on the Scottish Enlightenment but being 7/8 Scottish I am biased.

Fiction -

Starship Troopers - Don't be put off by the movie the book is much better
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Basically a libretarian wet dream :-)
Voice of the Whirlwind - The single most readable cyberpunk novel out there I think.
American Tabloid - I am not a conspiracy theorist, but this almost had me believing in a Kennedy assassination plot.
Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, and A Dangerous Man - Action galore and a hidden redemption story.

[Mugai_hentaisha]

If anybody needs a good zombie fix...I would highly suggest World War Z by Max Brooks.

The book charts the war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to the eventual armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a patchwork of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres.

Definitely a good read.

Took one of my books babe :lol:
try reading his other one the Zombie survival guide

the master and the Margarita

some of nonfiction ones


End of Faith

and

Letter to a christian nation


there are many many more

[SkyTwo]

So I read a lot -

My opinion -

Guns Germs and Steel was interesting, but the guy (Jared Diamond) has a fetsih for hunter gatherer cultures that I found off putting. There is another book of the same type called Civilization A new History of the World that would probably be a good complement to this selection.

Brave New World was just a rip off of Plato's Republic.

Catcher in the Rye - Highly overrated. The kid is a whiney little jerk, Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar was much better.

1984 and Animal House both good reads but 1984 is superior in my opinion.

OK enough of that -

If you are into non-fiction Thucydides History of the Peloponesian war was recommended earlier and it is worthwhile but hard going.

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is pretty good but again fairly dense.

How The Scots Invented the Modern World is a good book on the Scottish Enlightenment but being 7/8 Scottish I am biased.

Fiction -

Starship Troopers - Don't be put off by the movie the book is much better
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- Basically a libretarian wet dream :-)
Voice of the Whirlwind - The single most readable cyberpunk novel out there I think.
American Tabloid - I am not a conspiracy theorist, but this almost had me believing in a Kennedy assassination plot.
Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, and A Dangerous Man - Action galore and a hidden redemption story.

Hey, check it out-- a bunch of my friends came over to comment on your post!

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
Uh oh-- too much for you, Stretch? Wha-- no! Look ou! :puke

I'm not much for malicious posts, but this post managed to cram in a mind-boggling amount of arrogance, ignorance and faux-intellectualism I just had to do it.

One example: Donald Kagan has written the definitive account of the Peloponnesian War. Twice. It's not only much better prose than Thucydides, but more historically accurate. But it probably wouldn't make you feel as superior when you're taking the bus to your next shift at Denny's.

[cshkuru]

deep down inside where it doesn't count.

Jeez anytime someone starts a post with I have no life I think you can safely assume they have no intellectual pretensions faux or otherwise.

Now excuse me I have to swamp out the men's room before I catch the bus home. (It is kind of interesting that you accuse me of arrogance and faux intellectualism but you automatically assume that anyone working at a "menial job" is beneath you, kind of lets me know where you're coming from)

[cshkuru]

His primary source is, of course, Thucydides' epic history, but Kagan draws on Aristotle, Xenophon, and others to provide an objective, nuanced perspective on the military drama.

Primary Source - Fundamental, authoritative documents relating to a subject and used in the preparation of later works.

I haven't read Kagan's work the only two reasons I read Thucydides were

1. He is on a professional development reading list - us dishwashers have stringent standards you know.

2. The B&N classics series cost $4.99 to $7.99 each. So by the pound I was getting a hell of a deal. When Kagan's books hit that price point I will give them a whirl.

[Kabuki]

Starship Troopers - Don't be put off by the movie the book is much better

I read that book a few years ago. It was ok. I'm currently reading Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard casually. It's good, but it has over 1000 pgs. I've been too swamped with other things lately, so I really haven't dived into the book. I've only read a little over 200 pgs.

[lumberjack]

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (already mentioned)

[SkyTwo]

It is kind of interesting that you accuse me of arrogance and faux intellectualism but you automatically assume that anyone working at a "menial job" is beneath you, kind of lets me know where you're coming from

Is that what I was doing? Wow. And here I thought I was just sorta calling you a douche.

But here's a tip-- go to half.com and pick up Kagan's book for $2.50. Hardcover. That's so reasonable I might even pick up a spare. (I got curly-fry grease all over mine.)

[cshkuru]

as long as you were insulting me and not all the hard working dishwashers out there.

Just out of curiosity, how does

If you are into non-fiction Thucydides History of the Peloponesian war was recommended earlier and it is worthwhile but hard going.

rate an attack as inaccurate when it was posted in response to

1. "Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War." Basically a book about the then known world’s first world war. The dialogue and clarity of thought the Greeks were capable of was phenomenal. The Melian dialogue, for example, is considered one of the foremost examples of realist thinking in international politics. One word: fascinating.

I mean that seems a pretty low bar for inaccuracy, arrogance and faux intellectualism.

[bulldog]

The entire Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton (Impossible to put down)

The Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Flags of our Fathers (The only book that has ever made me cry in my entire life)

Flyboys (by the same author who wrote Flags of our Fathers)

The Longarm series

The Gunsmith series

and no matter how old I get I still love the Garfield comic books lol

Ben

[Kabuki]

Since I'm posting once again, I thought I would resurrect one of my favorite threads :P

I'm always looking for a good book to read. Any suggestions?

I just finished The Delivery Man by Joe McGinniss Jr.

From Publishers Weekly
Sex, lies, crushed dreams and slot machines are paramount in McGinniss's flashy, fast-moving debut. Chase is a struggling artist who couldn't hack NYU and moves back to Vegas, where he is reunited with his adolescent flame, Michele. After being fired from his teaching job for beating up a student, Chase plans to hook up with his girlfriend, Julia, in California, but instead spends his summer as a chauffeur for Michele's call-girl business. Michele has plans for herself (buying a house, getting an advanced degree in women's studies), but for the time being is running the call-girl service out of a suite in the Versailles Palace Hotel and Casino with her boyfriend, Bailey. Girls too young for the job, readily available cocaine, untrustworthy business partners, memories of a family tragedy and glammed-out Vegas goons make Chase's summer more stressful than he had hoped for as he attempts to finish a few paintings for a group gallery show. The novel is action-packed, though the character development—particularly with the women—is sometimes superficial. McGinniss (son of another Joe McGinnis you may have heard of) successfully gambles with the notion that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what does that mean for Chase and his plans to escape? (Jan.)

[dussillo]

David Weber with Honor Harrington
David Gemmell with all this books
Kim Harrison
Laurell K Hamilton with Anita Blake and Meredith Gentry

[trish]

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf
by Victor Pelevin

[Kabuki]

I'm bumping this topic once again.

[rockabilly]

I reccomend IT by Stephen King. I mean it's old but still eerie.

[Quiet Reflections]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies — Pride and Prejudice and ZombiesPride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen’s classic novel to new legions of fans. features the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice.

At a book-signing Q & A held at California State University Fullerton on April 23, 2009, Grahame-Smith reported that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies had now officially been purchased by an undisclosed major film company to be produced as a feature film. It is also rumored that Summer Glau will star as Elizabeth Bennett.

[muhmuh]

recently read
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
very enjoyable book (the first half anyway) and one of the few books that made me laugh almost every chapter

Josh: "What is this thing?"
Gasper: "It's a Yeti. An abominable snowman"
Biff: "This is that what happens when you fuck a sheep?"
Josh: "Not an abomination, abominable."

[trish]

Currrently in the middle of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Rief Larsen. So far I love it. It presents a slice of the world through the eyes of a brilliant, geeky, obsessively observant boy.

on the other side of the spectrum, I plan to read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. I'm told it ranks in the top twenty of twentieth century literature. I'll let you know after I read it.

P.S. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies looks like a must read. Thanks for the recommendation.

[thefrakkincaptain]

These are just a few that I've read over the past couple of years. Anyone interested in sci-fi will find them EXTREMELY enjoyable.


Books by John Ringo
A Hymn Before Battle
Gust Front
When the Devil Dances
Hell's Faire
Watch on the Rhine
Yellow Eyes

March Upcountry
March to the Sea
March to the Stars
We Few

There Will Be Dragons
Emerald Sea
Against the Tide
East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Books by Eric Flint
1632
1633
1634: The Galileo Affair
1634: The Baltic War

Books by Glen Cook
The Black Company
Shadows Linger
The White Rose
Shadow Games
Dreams of Steel
Bleak Seasons
She is the Darkness
Water Sleeps
Soldiers Live

Books by John Birmingham
Weapons of Choice
Designated Targets
Final Impact

[stillies77]

I am currently reading these 2 mofos...

http://www.comicsreporter.com/images/uploads/129incrediblecomics.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-comics-2008/581-1.jpg

[southern81]

Anything by Terry Goodkind