Books

For those with a soft spot for the Irish, I would definitely recommend Round Ireland With a Fridge, by Tony Hawks.

It's an extremely funny travelogue. Basically, Tony Hawks makes a drunken bet in a pub one night that he can hitchhike all the way around Ireland in one month….with a refridgerator in tow. He actually pulls it off and the book describes his adventure. It gives people on this side of the pond a great feel for the genuine hospitality and humour of the Irish.

yup, read it - funny stuff - much better than 'McCarthys bar' which some people say is similar but which I found boring

Originally posted by xcanuck:
For those with a soft spot for the Irish, I would definitely recommend Round Ireland With a Fridge, by Tony Hawks.

It's an extremely funny travelogue. Basically, Tony Hawks makes a drunken bet in a pub one night that he can hitchhike all the way around Ireland in one month….with a refridgerator in tow. He actually pulls it off and the book describes his adventure. It gives people on this side of the pond a great feel for the genuine hospitality and humour of the Irish.

Originally posted by callat703:
I'm reading Michael Chabon's "The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," and thus far its great. Won the Pulitzer - very easy to read and entertaining.

But keep a dictionary handy; Chabon has a thing for obscure words. His mind probably works such that they come naturally for him but I often had to put down the deckled tome to look up words such as "deckled" (as used in "Wonder Boys," which is wonderful, by the way).

Recently I've enjoyed:
"Fortress of Solitude" - Jonathan Letham
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" - Jonathan Safran Foer (His first novel, "everything is illuminated" is great too)

I'd also throw in another vote for Middlesex and any Sedaris stuff. If you haven't read it, Chuck Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" is excellent. For anthologies of shorter articles any of DaCapo's Best Music Writing books or the Dave Eggers edited "Best American Non-Required Reading" books are damn good.

Julia Alvarez "Time of the Butterflies"

Mario Vargas Llosa "Feast of the Goat"

"Freakanomics" quick read but a lot of cool points about different cause/effect relations in the real world.

Originally posted by brennser:
yup, read it - funny stuff - much better than 'McCarthys bar' which some people say is similar but which I found boring

Originally posted by xcanuck:
For those with a soft spot for the Irish, I would definitely recommend Round Ireland With a Fridge, by Tony Hawks.

It's an extremely funny travelogue. Basically, Tony Hawks makes a drunken bet in a pub one night that he can hitchhike all the way around Ireland in one month….with a refridgerator in tow. He actually pulls it off and the book describes his adventure. It gives people on this side of the pond a great feel for the genuine hospitality and humour of the Irish.

I enjoyed that one also…..the fact that nobody thought it weird that someone would be hitchiking round Ireland with a fridge in tow is typical of the all accepting Irish. (Well, apart from the refugees, but that's for another topic)

Just asked her indoors, she says round Ireland is better than Jaywalking, but jaywalking is still worth a read.

ended up with this

absolutely brilliant - a must for music fans or anyone who's been in a band

<img src="http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0718146328.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by brennser:
ended up with this

I too enjoyed that.

If you really want to understand the world today (quickly becoming my bible):

<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1593977514.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" alt=" - " />

It's not overly technical, but an insightful look at how technology and most importantly global fiber-optic networks are quickly changing the world's economic landscape.

Originally posted by vansmack:
If you really want to understand the world today (quickly becoming my bible):

&lt;img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1593977514.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" alt=" - " /&gt;

It's not overly technical, but an insightful look at how technology and most importantly global fiber-optic networks are quickly changing the world's economic landscape. [/QB]

This is on my short list right now…his columns are great…the kind of stuff that gets me really energized on a morning flight (if i had coffee before getting on the plane).

I just finished Pattern Recognition by William F. Gibson. It was a quick fun read (as his stuff usually is).

For what it's worth, I'd definitely agree with the host of recommendations for 'Middlesex'. Really enjoyed it when i read it a couple of years ago. Kudos also to whoever suggested 'The Dante Club'.
If you like your fiction to have a historical context, I would recommend Edward Rutherford's 'London: The Novel'. Basically it's a huge novel following a number of families down the ages from Roman times to present day against the back drop of the growth of London. He's also recently done the same sort of thing with Dublin in 'Princes of Ireland'.
At the moment I'm reading 'Crytonomicon' by Neal Stephenson, which I'm really enjoying. Story flips between the activities of the code-breakers at Bletchley Park in WWII and the efforts of one of their decendents to set-up a data haven in South East Asia.

Whatever you end up taking with you, have a safe journey and a great time.

Sorry, but I totally forgot about my favourite author, Christopher Brookmyre! If you like your humour pitch black and very British, he's well worth looking out for. He's got a great website (www.brookmyre.co.uk) where he's posted several short stories. He's been likened to a Scottish Carl Hiassen and for my money he's one of the funniest men writing at the moment.

I just got back from the beach and loaded up on semi-brainless easy to understand when more than semi-intoxicated and sunstroked literature.

London Bridge by James Patterson - Yet another chapter in the Alex Cross series. 400 pages leads up to a dumb ending that makes the whole thing seem pointless. C-

Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos - Set in D.C. around the time of the '68 riots about a black rookie cop and his drug addict brother. Good read and a good insight into what prompted the riots if you don't know much about it. A-

Soul Circus by George Pelecanos - Flash forward the rookie cop from Hard Revolution to modern day. Good story about gangs, drugs and firearms in D.C. References lots of bars and restraunts about town as well as gun shops in Virginia. B

The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley - Maverick detective tracks down serial killer with wisecracking black partner in tow. Terrible. F

A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin - Embittered detective Jon Rebus smokes cigarettes and drinks beers while solving a multiple murder at a toney prep school in Scotland. I like the whole Rebus series and this was a good one. B

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen - Guy throws wife off a cruise ship to get rid of her, she survives and hooks up with crusty ex-cop to torment him and save the Everglades. Very entertaining. B

Flashman by George Fraser - First in the incredibly awesome series of historical fiction books about a highly decorated and totally cowardly 19th century british soldier who whores and drinks his way inadvertently into every significant world event from 1845 - 1890. Probably the 10th read for me. A+

am reading this right now:

<img src="http://a1204.g.akamai.net/7/1204/1401/04082615011/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/8170000/8176085.jpg" alt=" - " />

would have been reading this if stupid UPS had bothered to try to actually deliver this to me on saturday:

<img src="http://a1204.g.akamai.net/7/1204/1401/05030808011/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/9190000/9196145.jpg" alt=" - " />

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:

would have been reading this if stupid UPS had bothered to try to actually deliver this to me on saturday:

Samckette's arrived at 8 AM this morning, but she had already left for work. Maybe I should hide it from her and say it hasn't arrived yet…..

Got my copy of HP6 from Safeway on Sat with my bacon and eggs. Finished it that night.

It's an alright read, but I get the distinct impression it's just setting everything up for the final book.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:

would have been reading this if stupid UPS had bothered to try to actually deliver this to me on saturday:

Samckette's arrived at 8 AM this morning, but she had already left for work. Maybe I should hide it from her and say it hasn't arrived yet…..

perhaps you should direct her here, that might buy you some time.

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
perhaps you should direct her here, that might buy you some time.

I'm going to edit that, and when they show Hermione growing up, I'm going to splice the Old Lindsay Lohan on SNL. Then, and only then, will I go see the movie.

My Harry Potter didn't arrive on time, either. *annoyed*

As for reading, lately I've been hooked on Arturo Perez-Reverte.

anybody have any thoughts on George Washington biographies? what is a good one? I'm not talking about a "rah rah rah he was the greatest man ever" type bio either..