Book Recommendations

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
for non-fiction, i'd recommend stuff like "the united states of arugula" by david kamp

this looks awesome

You're both so gay and you don't even like boys.

if you can read it from an "observer" point of view and not take it too seriously, anything by edward alexander crowely. his writings "take you there." book of the law is the best example of this. where 'there' is, i'm not smart enough to translate yet, but i know it does alter your subconscious dream state and can lead to inner fights of depression, rage against classes, and a desire to think you are better than others. remember, just read them for the fun of it.

Second on American Pastoral. It's a great story. Do you like golf and humor? If so, check out Dan Jenkins The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist. It's about an average pro on the tour and his life off the course (two ex wifes and a rocky relationship with his girlfriend).

I wish I could offer something in the graphic novel genre but I haven't looked a a comic book since GI Joe in like 1985.

Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
for fiction- i've recently enjoyed "american pastoral"

I'm on a Chuck Pahlniuk binge right now. I've read like 4 or 5 of his books and I think he's amazing. My favorite so far is Choke. I finished Snuff not too long ago and I think I'm gonna read Lullaby or Survivor next.

Originally posted by DeathFromAbove1979:
I'm on a Chuck Pahlniuk binge right now. I've read like 4 or 5 of his books and I think he's amazing. My favorite so far is Choke. I finished Snuff not too long ago and I think I'm gonna read Lullaby or Survivor next.

lullaby is great. snuff isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

None of us know anything and television can only entertain.

Originally posted by nmsles:
just read neil postman's "amusing ourselves to death," it was very, very interesting.

Read Survivor first, I think you get more enjoyment from it than Lullaby. I started Lullaby and put it down about 35 pages into it. Avoid Diary as well.

Originally posted by DeathFromAbove1979:
I think I'm gonna read Lullaby or Survivor next.

or these:

dictionary of theories - jennifer bothamley

(fm 21 - 76) us army survival manual

the terror - dan simmons

small town restaurants in virginia - joanne anderson

people of the lie - m. scott peck, m.d.

angels a-z - matthew bunson

Check out Mark Trail or Rex Morgan, MD.

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan was very good.

Originally posted by renton007:
Read Survivor first, I think you get more enjoyment from it than Lullaby. I started Lullaby and put it down about 35 pages into it. Avoid Diary as well.

I diagree that survivor is better than lullaby, but both Diary and Snuff are useless.

Originally posted by terry:
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan was very good.

this looks right up my alley, thanks

Anything by David Sedaris for fiction is great. If you like Mystery, you have to read Nelson Demille (The General's Daughter) - his writing is just bloody brilliant.

of course, i'm a huge poetry freak, so if you haven't ever read anything by Bukowski, Kerouac, or Ginsberg, just do it. Even if you don't like it. It'll make you think.

as for non fiction, everyone should check out Patrick K. O'Donnell. I had the pleasure of meeting him when I was working at Borders, and he's as nice of a guy in person as his writing would suppose.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Patrick%20K.%20O%27Donnell

I'd personally suggest "We Were One" and "Operations Spies..".

Devil in the White City is great. Other recommendations for non-fiction (Forgive me if I can't remember all the author's names)

King Leopold's Ghost - crazy story
Fast Food Nation and Black Market - I enjoyed both of these. Black Market isn't as good, but the chapter on porn is hilarious.
A Short History of Almost Everything - Bill Bryson
Encounters with the Archdruid - John McPhee (does get a little political about environmentalism, but is all in context of the discussion between the men on the hikes)
Desert Solitare - Edward Abbey (about his time at Arches National Park)
The Secret Life of Lobsters - interesting read.
Rats - About a guy who followed a colony of rats for 10 years in NYC. Interesting, if you can stomach it.

Fiction:

I have been enjoying the Scott Pilgrim series, so I'll second that.

I really like the Fables series.

Also a big X-Men and Watchmen fan.

I know you didn't say anything about novels, but I've just recently read these and found them to be enjoyable:

The History of Love (my husband says this is a "chick" book, but it's extremely well written. The Author's husband wrote Everything is Illuminated)

The Secret History - kind of on the thriller aspect of books, but a good read

Breakfast of Champions - for some reason, it's taken me 30 years to get around to reading Vonnegut. I'm almost finished and love this book.

DON'T recommend - any of those stupid ass vampire books by Stephanie Meyer. I found the first one to be completely infantile and horrible.

Joe College by Tom Perotta.

Anyone else here on Goodreads?

Oh, and The Road is one of the best books I've read in the past 10 years. Don't skip out on it just because it was an Oprah book.

Originally posted by K8teebug:
Oh, and The Road is one of the best books I've read in the past 10 years. Don't skip out on it just because it was an Oprah book.

It was an oprah book? I find it hard to imagine her audience reading certain parts.

Originally posted by K8teebug:
The Secret History - kind of on the thriller aspect of books, but a good read

I liked Calamity Physics, which is allegedly a total rip-off of Secret History.

Originally posted by K8teebug:

DON'T recommend…

Joe College by Tom Perotta.

I thought Perotta's Bad Haircut was great. But then again, I hold a deep affinity for New Jersey.

I read Little Children and loved it. But, this one is just not very good. Perhaps his books are hit or miss?

Yeah, The Road was an Oprah Book. Apparently, it caused some controversy, because Cormac McCarthy went on the show, and he rarely gives interviews.

http://www.oprah.com/search.jsp?query=Cormac+McCarthy

"Guests of the Ayatollah" by M. Bowden is one of the best reads that have come out in the past few years. Its now in paperback. Its about the 1979 Iranian Hostage affair.

Besides that, I'm currently reading "Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader", about the creepy North Korean Kim dynasty. Pretty good look at the totalitarian state and the weird people that run things there.

The new Sedaris book is about as funny as the others he's written. However that might not be the type of thing you are looking for. I don't read much fiction at all…I teach history.

Good luck.