dlazz;1303507 wrote:The Bible.

/Isadore'd

Fify

Commander of Awesome;1303430 wrote:LMAO, nice fail by judging if a book is good or not depending on the movie. Great Gatsby is a classic, and a great piece of literature. Nice fail.

Also, the movie looks horrendous, and obv strays from the book.

I just came back to this thread and saw your post. I'm not sure I follow you. Are you saying that your impression is that I disliked The Great Gatsby movie and thus determined that the book was bad? I thought it was pretty clear from my previous post that (1) I read the book, and while I thought it was fine, it's not the great piece of AmLit it's made out to be, and (2) it'll be interesting to see if the movie is any better this time around.

Nice fail.

If I were picking my favorite AmLit, it'd be something like (1) The Poisonwood Bible, (2) Of Mice and Men, (3) Huck Finn, (4) Slaughterhouse-Five, and (5) The Catcher in the Rye. The Great Gatsby is a good book, like I said, but I don't understand why people act like it's the most amazing piece of literature ever written.

Manhattan Buckeye;1303456 wrote:On the lighter side I enjoyed this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Alone-Undercover-Infiltrated-Motorcycle/dp/1400060842

It's a guy's recollection of his undercover work with the Mongol outlaw motorcycle gang. Obviously it is one-sided since it is, well, HIS recollection but it is a short and fun read. Recommended.

That's a good book. I picked it up in a bookstore on a layover and read the whole thing there. Pretty compelling read.

"War Path" It's a book by British historian David Irving and it tells the story of the lead up to, and conducting of WWII from Hitler's perspective. I was somewhat skepticle before starting it, but so far I've found it interesting. It posits that Hitler was no doubt ruthless in many ways. BUt that he wasn't the pshycho nut case he's been turned into. I've always thought this. Because a fool couldn't have acheived what he did. Also, history is told from the perspective of the victors. SO I just wanted to learn a different perspective as to why the Germans did certain things leading up to and during the war.

The what are You reading thread

Just finished Cloud Atlas earlier this week, thought it was a great book, and will likely see the movie sometime soon (though I'm expecting to be disappointed by the movie). Now reading Nate Silver's "The Signal and the Noise". I'm 100 pages in and it's very interesting so far, cover's the art of prediction and why we are so bad at it.

I'm about a 100 pages into 11/22/63.

thavoice;1303428 wrote:Been wanting to pick up No Easy Day from that SEAL who was on the raid that killed Bin Laden, but been hesitant to do so and give him legitmacy. Looked at it at the airport this weekend and the print looks a little bigger, and big margins so I wonder how long that book really is.

Prolly wait until its in paperback

Good book, easy read. He wrote it to set the damn record straight. Whole lotta bullshit thrown out there. I'm glad he did.

fan_from_texas;1304894 wrote:I just came back to this thread and saw your post. I'm not sure I follow you. Are you saying that your impression is that I disliked The Great Gatsby movie and thus determined that the book was bad? I thought it was pretty clear from my previous post that (1) I read the book, and while I thought it was fine, it's not the great piece of AmLit it's made out to be, and (2) it'll be interesting to see if the movie is any better this time around.

Nice fail.

If I were picking my favorite AmLit, it'd be something like (1) The Poisonwood Bible, (2) Of Mice and Men, (3) Huck Finn, (4) Slaughterhouse-Five, and (5) The Catcher in the Rye. The Great Gatsby is a good book, like I said, but I don't understand why people act like it's the most amazing piece of literature ever written.

For Am Fiction.

Atlas Shrugged</SPAN>
To Kill a Mockingbird</SPAN>
Of Mice and Men</SPAN>
The Frontiersman</SPAN>
The Great Gatsby</SPAN>


Catcher and Salughterhouse are both on my need to read list. Admittedly I have alot of book I've never read.

Other than work stuff, I am currently starting to go back and read all the Ian Fleming novels. Just started Casino Royal.

I'm currently reading The Prize, a non-fiction book detailing the history of the oil industry. Decent, not great. 909 pages, so it's taking awhile.

Is anyone else on Goodreads?

Sonofanump;1338518 wrote:For Am Fiction.

Atlas Shrugged</SPAN>
To Kill a Mockingbird</SPAN>
Of Mice and Men</SPAN>
The Frontiersman</SPAN>
The Great Gatsby</SPAN>


Catcher and Salughterhouse are both on my need to read list. Admittedly I have alot of book I've never read.

Slaughterhouse-Five is a strange read--almost like an anti-novel. It's very 'meta' in its approach. I thought it was great, but it's a bit difficult to describe fully.

I loved Atlas Shrugged.

If I could add foreign to my list, The Millennium Series would be my second favorite and The Prince would be seventh.

No Easy Day. It was written about the guy from DEVGRU who was on the raid.
Finished it in 3 sittings.....was alot better than I thought. It covered the UBL killing of course but other ops he had went on that were prettty good.

Def worth the read

I just finished The Essay by Robin Yocum. It is a good novel based in SE Ohio. It provides a "cleaner" description of the poor Ohio hills then say Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollack. Yocum is not as good a writer perhaps, but it was an enjoyable story.

I am currently reading Pat Conroy's My Reading Life. I've always liked Conroy's writing and this little memoir gives some history to how his literature worldview was shaped.

fish82;1338319 wrote:I'm about a 100 pages into 11/22/63.

i heard this was a good book...its on my list for 2013

ptown_trojans_1;1338604 wrote:Other than work stuff, I am currently starting to go back and read all the Ian Fleming novels. Just started Casino Royal.

Nice. I found them surprisingly good.

Gblock;1339715 wrote:i heard this was a good book...its on my list for 2013

I'm liking it so far...although I liked Under The Dome a little better.

I just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry (I know, wife is an elementary teacher), I thought that I read it before, it was called Anthem by Ayn Rand.

Just finished American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon

Very compelling read.


---
Last week I read The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169354.The_Prize

Decent read. Comprehensive. Long. Not super interesting, but worth reading.

bases_loaded;1338326 wrote:Good book, easy read. He wrote it to set the damn record straight. Whole lotta bullshit thrown out there. I'm glad he did.

Kind of making a large assumption here?

fan_from_texas;1347517 wrote:Just finished American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon

Very compelling read.


---
Last week I read The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169354.The_Prize

Decent read. Comprehensive. Long. Not super interesting, but worth reading.

I will try these. I have read a few about Carnegie and Rockefeller. It always interested me in how they got away with some of the crooked stuff they did. I guess I am looking at it from todays standards. In those days it was the way things were done though. Titan was a good one about Rockefeller. I also thought the house of Morgan was pretty good as well.

Hope to read The Time Keeper soon.

Currently devouring Where I'm Calling From, an anthology of short stories by Raymond Carver. It's probably the third time I've read the collection. "What's In Alaska" is one of the great short stories ever written. The amount of time it takes to finish is tantamount to polishing off a cigarette, but in all its concision and simplicity the story delivers a state of suspense and surreality the entire way through that evokes the very best of Hitchcock. It's without a doubt my favorite ending to any work of fiction.

Just finished Good Behavior . Not bad if you want a quick, biting novel set in Ireland and about a fat girl. But not the best thing I've ever read.

FFT- How do you read so quickly? Don't you get burnt out from reading case law all day?

Sonofanump;1349478 wrote:FFT- How do you read so quickly? Don't you get burnt out from reading case law all day?

I don't watch much TV. And I have a newborn, so I'm stuck sitting there holding him often. I also try to read before I go to bed while Mrs. FFT is still getting ready. All told, I aim to read 1,000-1,500 pages a month. It's a good way to get away from the rest of what I do in my daily life.