[noodles]

It is the sort of anthropology peace that I had no patience for in high school, but enjoy the hell out of now. As a teenager, I just wasn't all that interested in anything that was not a computer or a guitar. I Netflix'ed the PBS miniseries a few years back, and felt like I needed to know so much more than they could fit onto a television show. It would be a great place to start, since if you don't enjoy it, you're not going to enjoy the book; the author narrates the show.

 

[Vince]

Essay Collection: A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
This a collection of brilliant essays by my favorite writer ever on everything from the Bush Administration to why we are here to the joys of being a Luddite. This beyond recommended. I reread it every so often just because I love it so much.

This was the first thing I bought on my kindle. Why did I never read this guy before? 4 chapters in and I can't stop reading. He just has a great writing style and the pages fly by.

 

[distressed_romeo]

Fifty pages into Red Shift by Alan Garner. I have no idea where it's going yet, but he's a fucking fantastic writer.

 

[ohio_eric]

This was the first thing I bought on my kindle. Why did I never read this guy before? 4 chapters in and I can't stop reading. He just has a great writing style and the pages fly by.

Vonnegut is the man. He's my favorite writer ever.

 

[DelfinoPie]

Everything I've read this week so far:

Art of Travel - Allan de Botton:

An interesting perspective of how we spend our time when we travel. It looks at case studies from the past including Van Gogh and Wordsworth on how they conducted themselves in new environments to gain the greatest enjoyment. A little verbose at times, and a bit repetitive in the first chapter, but stick with it and you come away with something to think about.

Soldiers of Light - Daniel Bergner:

A non-fiction journalistic report on one reporter's experience of the Sierra Leone civil war. Bergner comes in contact with previous child soldiers - some of whom have engaged in acts of cannibalism as well as the mutilation and murder of their own families and others; an act that became a calling card of the RUF - as well as British marines, victims of RUF attacks, a previous president of Sierra Leone, expatriates, and one particularly bad ass South African mercenary. The mercenary comes across as nothing less than an amazing man. He practically single-handedly held the capital from rebel invasion with nothing more than a helicopter gunship and balls of fucking steel.

The Last Expedition - Daniel Liebowitz and Charlie Pearson:

A recount of Henry Morton Stanley's last expedition to Africa; a relief mission to find Emin Pasha. It's an intricate yarn of accounts both from Stanley himself and from the officers he employed to accompany him on the expedition. Many of the journal entries of the officers show how much of a cunt Stanley was, massacring villages of native tribes, flogging his Zanzibari, Sudanese and Somali porters - some to death - for minor offences; he even hanged some out of pure frustration towards the end of the mission. An amazing tale of a man who was striving for success to abolish previous failures and insecurities. Recounts of the expedition itself from various points of view make the book a very insightful read.

Started reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"...about 15 pages in and already learned some stuff I never knew before.

 

[343]

They closed the Borders near(ish) me and they had everything marked 40% off. Its probably a god thing I got there later instead of sooner or I would have ended up spending a whole lot more money... Stuff was pretty picked over actually but I did come away with a few books.

The Skin Map BY Stephen Lawhead. (Bright Empires Part1)

Excellent book _ I actually read it in a day.

The premise is that Lay Lines are actually lines where alternate universes meet ours. For those that know how you can use the lines to travel back in time or go to some alternate reality.

As you can imagine with all of those alternate realities it would be hard to figure out just where (or when) you are traveling to. One person begins mapping them all and has the map converted to a secret alphabet that he has tattooed on his body.. Well you come to learn that sometime in the past this guy was killed and someone peeled the map off of him - which was then cut into sections... Basically everyone in the book are after pieces of the map,

It was really very well done and I am quite looking forward to the next Volume (wont be out til this fall)

Bright Empires

Also Picked up a new Steampunk book
The Horns OF Ruin by Tim Akers

I am only part way through it but so far it is pretty enjoyable,

Eva Forge is the last paladin of a dead god, Morgan, god of battle and champion of the Fraterdom. When a series of kidnappings and murders makes it clear that someone is trying to hasten the death of the Cult of Morgan, Eva must seek out unexpected allies and unwelcome answers in the city of Ash. But will she be able to save the city from a growing conspiracy, one that reaches back to her childhood, even back to the murder of her god?

Lastly I picked up a New Michael Stackpole book
Crown Colonies Book 1: At the Queen's Command
I really like his Star Wars and Especially his Battletech/mechwarrior books - I haven't read this yet but I hope it is good.

1763: The Crown Colonies of Mystria are in turmoil, trapped between warring empires and facing insurrection from natives and colonists alike...

Captain Owen Strake, a wounded and battle-weary Redcoat of the Queen's Own Wurms, has come to this untamed land. At the Queen's command, Owen's mission is to survey this vast, uncharted territory, performing reconnaissance of rival Tharyngians and the savage Twilight People of the wilderness.

Prince Vladimir is a Norillian noble, nephew to the Queen. Though he has little real political power, he struggles to ensure the colonists' interests are represented back in Norisle. The one thing he does have is a wurm... one of the few existing "dragons" from a clutch of eggs discovered in the old world, hundreds of years ago.

As Mystria swirls into chaos, Owen becomes prisoner of a Tharyngian necromancer. Meanwhile, Vlad is to be married off to an old world princess, an alliance supposed to help supply money and mercenaries to put down the various insurrections. But, nobody suspects that Vlad's wurm is about to undergo a change that will impact the world's delicate political balance...

From New York Times-bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole (Rogue Squadron, I, Jedi) comes At the Queen's Command, the first book of The Crown Colonies, a new fantasy series re-imagining the events of the American Revolutionary War.

 

[Reverend 7 Strings of Hate]

In the last month i'v read(well, listened to):

All 4 "The gates of Rome" Series by Conn Iggulden. Its loosely written about Julius Ceaser and Brutus. Awesome series.

The universe in a nutshell, and a Breif history of time by Stephen Hawking. Good read if your into cosmology.

Physics of the impossible by Michio Kaku. Very cool, talks about future technology and current technology(that is on the cutting edge, shit you didnt know they have done already)

Contact by Carl Sagan - Cool book. I was a fan of the movie, and imo, the book is better, but you get the visuals easier if you've seen the movie first.

Packing for mars - Mary Roach. Another cool one about the practicalities of space travel. Such as going to the bathroom or eating or dealing with other people/nationalities in close quarters for extended periods of time. A very different take.

Getting ready to read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

 

[Connor]

Getting ready to read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

I couldn't stand that book, I tried to get into it but I just couldn't.

I just started reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky and I'm really enjoying it so far.

 

[Fillifax]

This sumer, I read:

1984, George Orwell
Absolutely brilliant book, needs no introduction.

Diary, Chuck Palahniuk
His worst work, which actually makes it apretty good book.

Invisible Monsters, Chuc Palahniuk
ZOMG! Truly one of the best books I have ever read. The plot twists in this will blow your mind! This is to books what Devin Townsend Project's Deconstruction was to metal.

Choke, Chuck Palahniuk
Very well written, but the story isn't as brilliant as he normally makes them.

Survivor, Chuck Palahniuk
Right up there with Invisible Monsters, and one of the most exciting books I've ever read.

And Another Thing, Eoin Colfer
The sequel to Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide-series.
Trying to follow that series is a completely ridicilous idea. Yeah, the ending sucked, but I don't think anyone's ever come close to making a sci-fi book series this good. Eoin does a pretty good job, but ultimately, I think the story is too convoluted, whereas Douglas often went completely random and made his stories giant and epic.

Right now I'm reading
Tell All, Chuck Palahniuk
Almost done. Perhaps his funniest work, and great if you're looking for a comedy, but if you're going for his usual philosophic, nihilistic, dark novels, you'll be dissapointed.

 

[Naren]

I couldn't stand that book, I tried to get into it but I just couldn't.

I just started reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky and I'm really enjoying it so far.

Everything by Dostoyevsky is excellent. :yesway: My favorite is The Brothers Karamazov, but Crime and Punishment is another amazing novel. I love how psychologically deep his novels are.

 

[Daniel]

Fiction:

Interview With a Vampire By: Anne Rice

The Vampire Lestat By Anne Rice

Queen of the Damned By Anne Rice

 

[1]

Over the course of about 5 weeks, I read everything this guy has published:

http://ddalglish.com/wp/

And it's all awesome.

Start with the Shadowdance Trilogy, then the Half-Orcs (5 books), then The Paladins (3 books, another on the way). The first two series are done.

 

[jaxadam]

Over the course of about 5 weeks, I read everything this guy has published:

http://ddalglish.com/wp/

And it's all awesome.

Start with the Shadowdance Trilogy, then the Half-Orcs (5 books), then The Paladins (3 books, another on the way). The first two series are done.

Just started A Dance of Cloaks. So far, not too bad.

 

[1]

Wool (Hugh Howey)

Finished this last night. Fantastic read:

Wool - Omnibus Edition: Hugh Howey: 9781469984209: Amazon.com: Books

Someone else summed it up as "Like the story of Fallout 3, if they never left the vault". :lol: Pretty damn solid dystopian fiction that written extremely well. Definitely recommend it.

 

[1]

Sci-fi/Military/Magic drama (not sure how the hell to classify this).

I read this recently too. Pretty good for a first effort. My only gripe is that the main character is the least interesting/likable person in the book, but otherwise it's a pretty good page-turning read.

 

[metalheadpunk]

I'm in the middle of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Pretty good so far. About a month ago I started a bit of a book club with a group of 7 friends, we read about 10 chapters a week and then meet at a bar Sunday night to drink beer/talk about the book. :nerd:

 

[distressed_romeo]

Horns, by Joe Hill.

Also working my way through the Horus Heresy series.

 

[mission_fail]

Anyone who hasn't read "catcher in the rye", I highly recommend this novel.

Isaac Asimov's "the foundation trilogy" Great sci fi series written in the 1940's.

"Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk.

"Metro 2033" by Dmitry Glukhovsy. sci fi/horror. Great world he constructed in this one. Metro 2033 video game is based on this.

"The Third Chimpanzee" by Jared Diamond. Non fiction

 

[1]

Ready Player One:

Ready Player One: A Novel: Ernest Cline: 9780307887443: Amazon.com: Books

This is straight up awesome. Anyone in their 30s who was a geek back in the day will LOVE this book. It's totally full of awesome video game nostalgia and oldschool references. Fantastic read.

At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut-part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.

 

[HaGGuS]

Titus Crow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epic reading.