Summer Reading

[metallicat]

I'm currently reading Valerie Plame Wilson's autobiography. So far, the first few chapters have been devoted to her early days in the CIA, training, and her first "mission" if you will. The rest of it is going to have a different spin, as it talks about the events leading up to and her eventual outing as a CIA operative. Problem with this book, is the CIA censored a lot of it, and in the book, you see the areas that were censored, so it has the words blacked out basically. It makes things a little difficult to follow at times, but the afterword at the end of the book is long and fills in a lot of the holes that are created by the CIA censors. Good read so far, we'll see how much I like it though when it gets into the other aspects of the book.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by peter12

That is a great book but it also makes me want to do myself in. Holy smokes. I cannot think of a main character with so much pathos and literally such a small outlet.

Yeah, I'm not quite finished it yet, but I'm close. Everything about the book is great. The imagery Hemingway paints of 1920s Europe and that particular generation is phenomenal. The characters in the book are equal parts fascinating and unlikable.

[Ruttiger]

Men for the Mountains by Sid Marty, Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush by Pierre Berton, anything from Bill Bryson

[troutman]

Originally Posted by rubecube

for a good summer read, i'd recommend hunter s. Thompson's "the rum diary." it's fiction, but based largely on his time as a journalist in san juan, puerto rico in the late 50s.

+1

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, I'm not quite finished it yet, but I'm close. Everything about the book is great. The imagery Hemingway paints of 1920s Europe and that particular generation is phenomenal. The characters in the book are equal parts fascinating and unlikable.

Hemingway's books always have copious amounts of drinking too. For Whom the Bell Tolls made me want to hike in the mountains drinking liters of wine out of a leather bag. Of course I don't think all that drinking really worked out for him...

[Magnum PEI]

I just finished The Lives of Lennon by Albert Goldman. Pretty crazy stuff if its true. The author spent a decade researching it and came up with some wild tales about the man.
Now I'm reading The Regiment By Michael Asher. Chronicles the history of the British SAS. Im still on the WWII part, but Im not really sure how the SAS became so renowned. All they do is sneak behind enemy lines and blow up airplanes, or toss grenades in enemy sleeping quarters and shoot up drunken Germans in officers' bars. It seems more like murder than bravery.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by peter12

That is a great book but it also makes me want to do myself in. Holy smokes. I cannot think of a main character with so much pathos and literally such a small outlet.

Read Hemingway's "A Farewell To Arms."

I threw it across the room - seriously - in disgust as I neared the end. . . . . that's how good it was. Also, semi-autobiographical and a great anti-war book.

I've noticed a lot of literature out of the 1920's, 1930's seemed to be like that. Dark. A fatalistic view.

Cowperson

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Read Hemingway's "A Farewell To Arms."

I threw it across the room - seriously - in disgust as I neared the end. . . . . that's how good it was. Also, semi-autobiographical and a great anti-war book.

I've noticed a lot of literature out of the 1920's, 1930's seemed to be like that. Dark. A fatalistic view.

Cowperson

The 20s were a really weird decade in a lot of ways. Promiscuity and substance abuse seemed to be pretty widespread and, for the most part, somewhat socially acceptable.

[MacDaddy77]

You should definitely read Shantaram. it is an awesome book and a true story.

[MacDaddy77]

Bryce Courtney; The Power of One and then book two Tandia

[ma-skis.com]

J-bo I've read 2 out of the 3 books you've mentioned and have been pretty interested in the third, but anyways, so i figure you might be interested in Monster Island, originally a web book, you can still read it online here or you can buy it, it's part one of a trilogy, easy read, entertaining, all three are online so you can at least sample the writing to see if it catches your eye.

You might also be interested in Patrick Roy's biography too if you read fleury's book.

geez i hate zombies.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

For a bit of a different twist, if you're into graphic novels, I want to add two books to my previous list:

Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner (he recently passed away)

Palestine by Joe Sacco

[Mike F]

I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I really enjoyed. US military experiments with a virus that escapes and decimates society, leaving tiny, stranded pockets in a hostile environment. (It's better than it sounds.)

Depending on your tastes, other recommendations:

Einstein - His Life and Universe;
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao;
And Then We Came to the End;
The Elenium Series by David Eddings - not my all time top fantasy series, but a thoroughly enjoyable one that I haven't seen mentioned 'round here
The Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon - another enjoyable fantasy series;
The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy - definitely not fantasy, but coming-of-age stories in early 1900's border region between US and Mexico;
Fabric of the Cosmos - physics, which is stranger than fantasy

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Mike F

ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279772032&sr=1-2"]The Elenium Series[/URL] by David Eddings - not my all time top fantasy series, but a thoroughly enjoyable one that I haven't seen mentioned 'round here

Seeing David Eddings' name takes me back! I read his Belgariad and Mallorean series way back in the day (mid to late 80s?). I went through a brief fantasy kick at that time and devoured the Terry Brooks "Shanhara" series and the Thomas Covenant series from Stephen Donaldson. The latter was my favorite simply because of his use of the classic "unwilling" hero: a leper in the real world who is transformed to a reluctant and unwilling hero in the alternate world.

[Antithesis]

Just finishing off The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons - and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Mike F

I just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin, which I really enjoyed. US military experiments with a virus that escapes and decimates society, leaving tiny, stranded pockets in a hostile environment. (It's better than it sounds.)

Depending on your tastes, other recommendations:

Einstein - His Life and Universe;
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao;
And Then We Came to the End;
The Elenium Series by David Eddings - not my all time top fantasy series, but a thoroughly enjoyable one that I haven't seen mentioned 'round here
The Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon - another enjoyable fantasy series;
The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy - definitely not fantasy, but coming-of-age stories in early 1900's border region between US and Mexico;
Fabric of the Cosmos - physics, which is stranger than fantasy

Have you read Justin Cronin's other books? I ask because I've seen The Passage almost everywhere these days. I don't know anything about any of the books, but am wondering if they're any good.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

Seeing David Eddings' name takes me back! I read his Belgariad and Mallorean series way back in the day (mid to late 80s?). I went through a brief fantasy kick at that time and devoured the Terry Brooks "Shanhara" series and the Thomas Covenant series from Stephen Donaldson. The latter was my favorite simply because of his use of the classic "unwilling" hero: a leper in the real world who is transformed to a reluctant and unwilling hero in the alternate world.

I started reading the Belgariad and Mallorean when I was in gr. 7 or so (all but the last 2 books were out at that time) and have probably read them 10-12 times over the years. No great works of literature, but some darn fine storytelling IMO. I also read many of the Shanara books at the same time, which I quite enjoyed.

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Have you read Justin Cronin's other books? I ask because I've seen The Passage almost everywhere these days. I don't know anything about any of the books, but am wondering if they're any good.

I haven't read any other than the Passage, but likely will look into them and report back if any are as good as the Passage.

[socalwingfan]

Current: Dillenger: The Untold Story by G. Russell Giradin and William Helmer
On Deck: Soccernomics by Simon Kuper/Simon Szymanski
In the Hole: James Ellroy Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, Blood's a Rover

Sprinkled in with a with few Graphic novels