I've been reading adolescent fiction lately because of my granddaughters. Just finished "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins. Extraordinary book. A good book for all ages.
Just finished Glen Beck's Common Sense. At the moment I'm kind of on a politics jaunt but in my heart I'm a classics guy. Hemingway, Thoreau, Twain, Emerson, Whitman, those guys. I'm also a fan of Richard Brautigan and Carlos Castinada
After trudging through Dune, I started on the second book in the Gabriel Hunt series. After only a few days of light reading I'm almost half-way through the book! The blurb on the book says, "escapism at it's best" and that's pretty accurate. The first sentence has the hero dodging a bullet in the middle of a sword fight. Then the action starts.
I just finished a couple of months ago Twains "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" I want to read more of him but was looking for suggestions on which to read next. Also I <3 Hemingway. Defiantly my favorite dead author. I suggest everyone read "Papa Hemingway" by A.E. Hotchner. "Hotch" was one of Hemingways best friends. His book is a very honest portrayal of his life. The biography is more of a narrative, unlike most biographies. I think it is 1 of only 2 or 3 books that have ever made me tear up a little. Even if you don't like Hemingway still a great book. C. S. Budzi
I love shorts in general. I am somewhat familiar with them from this, I believe to be, childrens movie from 1984. It's a weird plot Twain builds a flying machine to the moon and tom sawyer stows away on it and antics ensue. And on this flying machine are doors that lead to Twains stories. There is one that stuck with me especially. The movie covers a lot of is stories and essays. I suggest that if you have a couple hours to relax to watch it. It seems more adult of a movie rather then a childrens.
Just finished Hunt:Through the Cradle of Fear. It was pretty good. Action packed. It leaned a little more to the supernatural side of things than the first Hunt book, but it was still a nice light read. I found that it had more foul language than the earlier book, too. I'm hoping that's just a characteristic of this particular author and not an emerging trend in the series. After the main story, there's a short novelette by the author about a guy searching for the golden calf of biblical fame. I found it to be a fun little exercise as well. Now I'm at a literary crossroads. I'm not sure what I want to read next. I'm thinking I might just go ahead and pick up the newest Hunt novel, At World's End. Otherwise I just don't know. I really should try to finish Lolita, I suppose, but I've also got "the Poe Shadow" looming in the pile. Dante's Inferno has also been calling. Decisions, decisions.
I've finally done it. I've finally given in. I've started reading The Da Vinci Code. So far, so good.
Pretty decent book, but man, it has 20 endings! It just seems to keep tripping over itself at the end... I found myself shouting at the book, "Finish already!"
I've re-read the entire Hitchhiker's guide 3 or 4 times and every time I find something I've missed. You can't read those books too many times. I'm curious about the newest one "And Another Thing" by the guy who wrote the Artemis Fowl series. I can't imagine that he can hold up the magic of Adams's writing, but it might still be fun to revisit that galaxy. Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul is an excellent book! It's amazing the way he sets up these long drawn out, seemingly disconnected scenarios, and then at the end of the book, he just pulls out the pegs and everything falls perfectly into place. If you haven't already read it, I'd suggest Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, too. It precedes LDTTOTS, and gives you a real feel for what Dirk's all about.
Almost forgot! I finally settled on something to read and it has been a real joy, so far. Steve Martin has a real talent for writing down the inner workings of a neurotic schizophrenic with OCD. His style and prose rings so true that it's hard to imagine that he doesn't intimately know someone like the main character. edit: Finished! It's a great read, and I highly recommend it. The ending kind of sneaks up on you, which is great. A very touching read. Now, I'm off to Farenheit 451 click for more details.
I always keep a copy of Charles Bukowski's Women handy John Fante's The Wine of Youth is another favorite. Of course this is the best time of year to dust off the Complete Sherlock Holmes while puffing a Calabash of English blend....:happy088
Finished Farenheit 451. Interesting book. I found that some of the analyses I've heard of it over the years kind of missed the mark. I didn't find it to be so much a commentary on government sponsored censorship as more of a commentary of technology leading us away from literature and deep thought. Quite frankly, I found it disturbing how close to home some of the more shocking elements of the book hit with modern society. It's a thinker. I'm shifting gears for a little while now, and I'm gonna give this book a shot: Click for details
Rereading Scott Turow's Burden Of Proof. Turow reminds me of George Simenon in the care and detail he expends on the interior lives of his characters. Turow is likely to tell you what the character is thinking before he tells you what the character is doing. That makes for a fascinating legal procedural. goshawk
is this a fiction only book discussion thread? I don't feel like paging through old posts to see if we ever set down any rules. Anyway, if you're into Christian theology these are excellent: Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn. Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI Veritatis Splendor by Pope John Paul II
There's no specific genre/category targeted here. Just talk about your current/recent reads. It's always interesting to find what holds the interest of our fellow shavers. If you're looking for something on the lighter side of Christian theology, I'd recommend Brad Stine's Being A Christian Without Being an Idiot. If you want something on the even lighter side I highly recommend The Church Case Scenario by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz but definitely read it with a good sense of self-deprication and tongue planted firmly in cheek.
