# Post the last great book you read



## Endless Humiliation (Jan 29, 2009)

i think its time for a book thread

so put down the last book you read that you liked and that wasnt for school

make sure to include author and title and why you liked it/when you read it, if you feel like elaborating

im not going to be a literary snob so if the last book you read and really liked was twilight thats fine even if i am not a fan

as for me i think i am going to list both fiction and non-fiction, just cause i love to discuss literature at length

non-fiction: a tie between _Please Kill Me: __The Uncensored Oral History of Punk_ by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain & _Against Empire_ by Michael Parenti; both finished this past month

i think the best part about please kill me were the fantastic anecdotes about drug trips and debauchery and just how connected everyone in the new york scene was

the book starts with the doors and works its way up until the year punk broke: 1991 so you get stories about the velvet underground and patti smith and all those folks

i would recommend it purely for all the stories about iggy pop and lou reed (lou reed is a weirdo, man)

as for against empire, i dont know how many of you furries are interested in like political science and things, but michael parenti is probably the best leftist political scientist/analyist out there

ive gone on a whole michael parenti kick after i finished it

so if you want to know more about US imperialism, i would definitely "check it out", as the beastie boys sung

fiction: _Kafka on the Shore_ by Haruki Murakami; read this past summer (i know i must have finished another novel before then, but im totally blanking)

excellent stuff if you are a fan of that sort of magical realist type of stuff it does a good job of combining the everyday and the imaginary

i guess you could call it quirky, but it gets really somber at parts

no spoilers, but there was one chapter in the book where the language was just so detailed that it almost disturbed me to read it, but that was only a couple chapters (yeah i know it was translated, so i have to credit some of that to the translator, but i like to assume that they do a pretty much word for word translation, just so i dont strain myself thinking about it)

books i am in the middle of:
_2666: A Novel_ by Roberto BolaÃ±o (i might do a post on this after i get more through it)
_Infinite Jest_ by David Foster Wallace
_Fates Worse Than Death _by Kurt Vonnegut
_War & Peace_ by Leo Tolstoy (actually for a class, but yeah, its the newest translation out there)
_A Confederacy of Dunces_ by John Kennedy Toole
_The Terrorism Trap: September 11 And Beyond_ by Michael Parenti


----------



## Nylak (Jan 29, 2009)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

I really can't describe this book properly, just because it's so unique. It's written in a very simple style (it was written originally in Portuguese), it's short and easy to get through--I finished it in a single day reading it between classes. But it's one of those books that genuinely changes how you view life and the world around you. Rarely do I come across a book that is so philosophical and fascinating that is also a good and entertaining read plot-wise.

I just read it a week ago, and I'm recommending it to everyone I run into. XD It's seriously an excellent read, and even someone who's not that into deep spiritual material will still enjoy it.

Basically, it's about an Andalusian shepherd boy who has a reoccuring dream about a treasure hidden near the Egyptian pyramids, a place he's never heard of nor seen, and how he goes about achieving his life's goals through inner strength, help from acquaintances, fortunate coincidences and spiritual enlightenment.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Jan 29, 2009)

Nylak said:


> The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.



sounds like something my moms would have read

i might ask them about, they do read a lot

i don't have a lot of experience with south american authors, but from what little i know, their books are either bizarre or depressing or both

if its that short i should look for it but i got a ton of stuff out from libraries so im going to try and finish that first


----------



## Nakhi (Jan 29, 2009)

The Stand by Stephen King

I just finished it a day ago. I likd it because I like all Stephen King books, but this one made me not want to put it down. The length (1200 pages) might make some pass it up though.


----------



## Lukar (Jan 29, 2009)

I can't choose...

The Sight by David Clement-Davies (I actually cried a little when... well, I can't remember what her name was, but she fell in a river and was rammed against a rock. )

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (FIRST-PERSON SARCASM FTW)


----------



## Kangamutt (Jan 29, 2009)

Recently finished _On The Road_ by Jack Kerouac.
Currently reading _Fahrenheit 451_ by Ray Bradbury. 
Planning to read _Post Office_ by Charles Bukowski.


----------



## Shark_the_raptor (Jan 29, 2009)

*Wolves of the Calla* by Stephen King.  It is book 5 of *The Dark Tower* series.  I finished it about a month ago.  It was interesting.


----------



## Gavrill (Jan 29, 2009)

I Am America, And So Can You! by Stephen Colbert

A funny read. Don't take it seriously, ever.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Jan 29, 2009)

Orchestra said:


> I Am America, And So Can You! by Stephen Colbert
> 
> A funny read. Don't take it seriously, ever.



honestly, that book was nowhere near as good as america (the book) by jon stewart and the writers for the daily show

i think it may be that colbert's schtick requires that you hear AND see him, considering that i also have the book on tape and he reads it REALLY dryly

of course that may be on purpose

EDIT: all this is imo OF COURSE


----------



## Gavrill (Jan 29, 2009)

I haven't read Jon Stewart's version. I'll have to find it. Thanks.


----------



## Irreverent (Jan 29, 2009)

Nouyorus said:


> The Stand by Stephen King
> 
> I just finished it a day ago. I likd it because I like all Stephen King books, but this one made me not want to put it down. The length (1200 pages) might make some pass it up though.




His best, by far!

Just finished, "The Art and Science of Fencing" by Nick Evengelista.  Before that, Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card.


----------



## Aden (Jan 30, 2009)

Empire by Orson Scott Card.

An interesting vision of one future of this country, that's for sure. Supposedly this book is the first in a trilogy, but the next two installments will be in a videogame and a movie.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Jan 30, 2009)

Kangaroo_Boy said:


> Recently finished _On The Road_ by Jack Kerouac.
> Currently reading _Fahrenheit 451_ by Ray Bradbury.
> Planning to read _Post Office_ by Charles Bukowski.



Wow, a lot of sci-fi. I guess I should have expected it


But yeah, Kangaroo Boy, are you into the whole beat period? I know _On The Road_ is supposed to be like a life-changing book, but if I had a choice I would probably read _Junky_ instead.

Also, read 451 a while ago. It was good. I should find it again.


----------



## ninetails390 (Jan 30, 2009)

_Annie On My Mind_ by Nancy Garden

I love love LOVE this book. It's about an upper middle class girl in new york who befriends, and then falls in love with, a rather adorably quirky girl who lives in the lower-class part of the city... and it follows the various stages and problems throughout their relationship. It is possibly my new favorite book EVER. <3 First off, it's an incredibly sweet, romantic story with adorable characters and a beautiful writing style. Second off, the emotional portrayals and... situations in the story are so perfectly spot-on and REAL seeming. It's just wonderful. 83

Another good one I read recently waaas...

_The Girls_ by Lori Lansens

This one's the story of a pair of conjoined twins. It's so adorable and happy and sad and beautifully emotional all over~ (It's fiction, but it's written like it's their autobiography. It's arranged in a really interesting way. =3)


----------



## Kangamutt (Jan 30, 2009)

Load_Blown said:


> Wow, a lot of sci-fi. I guess I should have expected it
> 
> 
> But yeah, Kangaroo Boy, are you into the whole beat period? I know _On The Road_ is supposed to be like a life-changing book, but if I had a choice I would probably read _Junky_ instead.
> ...



Yeah, I'm way into the beat era. On The Road is definitely a coming of age tale. Junky really good. Although my favourite writer of that era is Bukowski, even if he wanted nothing to do with the beat culture. Maybe it's his straighforwardness on everything. Kerouac wrote things in such a romantic Hemingway-esque fashion, but Charles just put it out, and only put it out. And it's that frankness that he uses that makes him one of the funniest writers ever.


----------



## Eleziek (Jan 31, 2009)

The last book I've read outside of my music textbooks was... Well, actually another book about music xD Granted, a fictional one.

The book was titled The Mozart Season, and despite being a children's book I absolutely loved it. The catch is, one must be a musician at heart to truly appreciate it. 

To anyone other than a musician it is merely another coming-of-age type story about a 12 year old Violinist, aptly named Allegra Shapiro, who is competing to earn a soloists spot in an orchestral performance. However, she learns it is not about the competing, and is instead about loving music and growing closer to it.

As a musician, it was something I was able to connect with. I can recall spending hours and hours looking at a sheet of music or a score trying to see what is there behind all of the notes. 

For most, not recommended, but if you are a lover of music and have a basic understanding of theory and reading notation (There are excerpts throughout the book), then it can definitely be an enjoyable read :]


----------



## foxmusk (Feb 5, 2009)

_The Heroin Diaries_ by Nikki Sixx. i cried. so so so much.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 5, 2009)

psychweasel said:


> _The Heroin Diaries_ by Nikki Sixx. i cried. so so so much.



HAHAHAHAHAHA


Are you serious?

If you are, why?


----------



## Shark_the_raptor (Feb 5, 2009)

The Dark Tower "Wolves of the Calla" by Stephen King


----------



## Tryp (Feb 5, 2009)

"Hell's Angels" by Hunter S. Thompson.  He was on top of his game back then.

*Currently reading*:

-"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy
-"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins
-"Keeping Our Cool" by Andrew Weaver
-"Not Wanted On the Voyage" by Timothy Findley

*Reading for literature class:*
-"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Konrad


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 5, 2009)

Tryp said:


> *Currently reading*:
> -"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy



AHAHAHAHAHA

You too?

Well, you're not reading it for class, but what translation is it?

I have the Pevear/Volokhonsky version


----------



## Sernion (Feb 5, 2009)

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen.

Read that book like few months ago.. I need to pickup a new book to read.


----------



## Tryp (Feb 5, 2009)

John_Galt said:


> AHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> You too?
> 
> ...


It's the Signet Classics one, Anne Dunnigan translated it.  I'm about halfway through but I keep getting side tracked by other books.


----------



## dragonfire89 (Feb 5, 2009)

Fallen Host by Lyda Morehouse. A sci-fi book combined with Christian mythology, detailing the story of the Devil, a church inquisitor and an AI who might be the anti-Christ. Yeah its that odd.

Also, I must have missed something with the Alchemist, everyone said it was so deep and meaningful, but I really wasn't feeling it.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 5, 2009)

Tryp said:


> It's the Signet Classics one, Anne Dunnigan translated it.  I'm about halfway through but I keep getting side tracked by other books.



Yeah, same thing here

At least I can (sort of) remember where I left off in other books

Does that edition have any French or German or anything like that?

Because mine is supposed to be super-faithful & has just pages of French with translations on the bottom in tiny type

I wouldn't mind it so much except that:

1. I'm already a fairly slow reader, as far as reading for school goes, and the French just slows me down more

2. I took French for 6 years pre-college (and one misguided advanced French class last semester) and it just reminds me how little I understand it, even after all this time


----------



## foxmusk (Feb 5, 2009)

John_Galt said:


> HAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> 
> Are you serious?
> ...



it was really sad. he talks about how everyone abandoned him, and how it got to the point that he wasn't even doing his drugs for fun anymore. i'm not totally soulless. :U


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 5, 2009)

psychweasel said:


> it was really sad. he talks about how everyone abandoned him, and how it got to the point that he wasn't even doing his drugs for fun anymore. i'm not totally soulless. :U



I'm not soulless...

:C

I was just surprised that Nikki Sixx cared about other people


But yeah

That's pretty much every drug

Heroin'll fuck you up

Just look at Kurt Cobain

!!!

Don't do drugs kids



But, if you do, know your dealer


----------



## Vore Writer (Feb 5, 2009)

I finished "You've Been Warned" by James Patterson. Needless to say it was good. I have yet to read one of his books that's bad.

Starting tomorrow I'll be reading "The Black Ice" by Michael Connelly.


----------



## Teracat (Feb 6, 2009)

Guh, I haven't finished a book in quite a while. I think the last one I finished was *Kicked, Bitten and Scratched* by Amy Sutherland. It was a great book, really piqued my interest in the school I plan to attend.

I'm currently reading:
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Born Free by Joy Adamson
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

My reading habits really suck.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 6, 2009)

Teracat said:


> The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand



Great book


















Nah, I'm just kidding, Ayn Rand is a crazy ass bitch


----------



## Teracat (Feb 6, 2009)

John_Galt said:


> Great book
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, her philosophy's just a way for selfish pricks to justify themselves, but I'm kinda liking the story so far.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (Feb 6, 2009)

Teracat said:


> Yeah, her philosophy's just a way for selfish pricks to justify themselves, but I'm kinda liking the story so far.



Someday I am going make myself read _The Fountainhead_ and _Atlas Shrugged_ just so I can understand what all the fuss is about, but Objectivism, as it stands now, is basically a cult on par with Scientology.

At least, those Objectivists who buy into the officialness of it all


----------



## Kit Parcal (Feb 7, 2009)

Last book I finished was _Amber and Blood _by Margaret Weis, Volume 3 of _The Dark Disciple _trilogy.
I really enjoy reading Dragonlance novels.


----------



## Tijala (Feb 8, 2009)

Last book I read was I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg.

Can't find my current book I'm reading. How odd...


----------



## NerdyMunk (Feb 8, 2009)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


----------

