Question #211 Book Report
What was the last good book that you read? Tell us about it and spread the word.
If you haven't read a good book recently feel free to report on an old favorite.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
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I am currently enjoying 'Alamut' by Vladimir Bartol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamut_(1938_novel)
I'm just wrapping up "Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945" by Catherine Merridale. Non-fiction, of course. It's quite good, if you're into that kinds of stuff (which I am).
Im reading "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates. A great writer. Its a really slow book that is the type where the story is secondary to the overall feeling & message of the book...they call it the "Great Gatsby of our time." It was written in the early sixties so that comment is a little outdated, but its similar (i like it more so far).
I am reading the Engineer Trilogy right now- just finished Devices and Desires, and now I'm reading Evil for Evil.
Its good if you like swords and wars and battlefields and siege warfare..
http://tinyurl.com/ywhfxz
and I'm also reading Driving With the Devil. Which is about the moonshine roots of racing.
I thought I'd lay off the Teddy bios for a while, but then I found "When Trumpets Call" in the candle section of a Marshall's in Newton, MA for $5.99.
I'm also reading "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy.
I am currently reading Studies in Words by CS Lewis; it is a dry read but very fascinating in its explanation of how we have bastardized words.
The last two good books I read were
Atonement (you may have heard of it)
and
The Peabody Sisters of Salem by Meghan Marshall
(a biography about 'America's Brontes' which I found thoroughly intriguing and not simply because I'm descended from them).
i just finished reading confederacy of dunces. bOO-Ring. my friend said "i would like it" it really never stood a chance. right now i'm reading the fuck-up. its good, much better. two books in a row about loser fucks who can't keep a job. i think i'm going to try fantasy next.
The best thing I've read in a long time was The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He really made me think more deeply about the way my dietary choices impact the world. The book is so good it actually convinced me to abandon being vegetarian. Now I do eat meat from time to time, but only if I have bought it from the farmer's market and feel like it was raised well, etc. Also, meat should be a special treat -- we should eat it less often and buy better quality stuff and pay more for it.
Being vegetarian = Not voting
Buying meat responsibly = Supporting the good guys against the bad guys
That was the epiphany I had while reading it.
Also, George Saunders collection of essays, "The Braindead Megaphone" made me laugh out loud more than any book I can remember. The man is a genius.
i forgot that i read the blood meridian until phoebe mentioned it. that book is awesome. currently i'm reading foucault's history of sexuality, macor's annual reports in medicinal chemistry and van de waterbeemd's structure-property correlations in drug research. i think i need some new ficition.
the last fiction book i read that i really enjoyed was gun with occasional music by john letham. it's a sci-fi book noir about a detective with turrets. it's amazing.
Good, but not great: Catch 22.
I haven't read a book since the last Harry Potter, haha. I have a lot of books that people keep giving me but I never make time for them. My resolution was to read at least one book a month. I am on chapter 2 of the Golden Compass. So far so good, it has talking animals. I like that.
I am reading 'The Corner' right now. It is written by the producers of 'The Wire' (the show on HBO). It depicts all the same scenarios that the TV show does but with even more heartbreak and depth... I can see why these two men were approached to do a show. Great story telling.
Am now reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. It is a novel about the building of a cathedral in the middle ages.
I just finished Flags of Our Fathers and before that His Excellency, George Washington. Before that I read 1776 and Washington's Crossing, which I thought were excellent books.
And before that, I don't remember and probably shouldn't.
the golden compass is awesome. Plus if you like it you can read the two sequels/installments that came after which are also awesome.
Thirty years old but still a good read is dune by frank herbert.
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