Rangerland Forum Information

[Beamer]

I do more reading than watching, so I figured this was a good thread.

Books, magazines, message board threads, add whatever you think is worth reading.


Currently I'm reading this:

"The most wonderfully idiotic love song to swashbucklers ever set to Korngold trumpets. Fraser again proves himself a master."
--The New York Times

Thus far I love it. The cover is absolutely perfect to describe the book, too. It's a classic pirate illustration, but then someone sarcastically doodled on it to add color and make it ridiculously harmless.
It pretty much takes every pirate stereotype, most defined in Errol Flynn films, throws them in, then mocks them lovingly. It also adds 1980s consumerism (it was written in 1983), sprinkled very lightly but kept modern, not historical (one pirate loves yves saint laurent.) When the plot threatens to take a turn you don't care about, the narrator makes a point of asking who would possibly care.
I'm enjoying it.

[xcheck24]

Heh. I read a lot. But I've been reading a lot of garbage lately. Although some of it is entertaining.

I'm just about finished with "The Writing Class" by Jincy Willett and I like it although some of it is tedious. It's about a mystery that unfolds around a writing class. I can relate since I've been in so many writing classes/groups and it describes them well. I don't know if I'd recommend it.

[rightbug]

If you like humorous books about Pirates than you should definitely get The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe. It's two novels for the price of one. When you finish with the first, turn the book upside down and read it from the back for the second. I see there are two new books out in the series that I will have to read. These will take you like 1 day or two tops.

As opposed to the book I'm reading now, John Adams by David McCullough whioch is excellent but a bit slow. This is the second book I've read by McCullough, (the first being the excellent and highly recommended 1776) and I love his style. I have not seen the HBO series yet so I am fascinated by Adams who deserves to be regarded as highly as Washinton and Jefferson. Indeed, of the three, he is the one that I most relate to.

[toc93]

I have a history degree and a future teacher so I am a reader as well. Im doing alot of reading on the Bush family and their influence in the Middle East mostly Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Also, I am in possession of a book called "Ghost Wars" and it talks about the U.S. presence in that area until 9/10/2001.

For fun, I like to read about the Mafia. Currently I am reading a book called "MobStar" that is about John Gotti. This is really what im interested in. Ive read numerous books on Gotti, Paul Castellano, Sammy Gravano. The lives that these men lead a fascinating to me.

[Beamer]

Heh. I read a lot. But I've been reading a lot of garbage lately. Although some of it is entertaining.

It's summer; you're supposed to read garbage. Between the heat and the distractions... no one wants to sit on the beach reading Tolstoy. You need something you can throw down mid-sentence and pick up later without missing a beat. This is when you go with NY Times Bestseller BS (hopefully not the extreme BS, like the modern James Patterson or Michael Crichton, but...)

I went through 15 books in June. 7 were Harry Potters, as I finally gave them a shot. I think 4 or 5 of the remaining ones were zombie books. Zombie books!




My big idea in college was to write a book about zombies and pirates. Then Disney beat me to it by making a movie about zombie pirates. Way to steal my thunder, Eisner you prick!

[Mike B.]

I can't remember the last complete novel (i.e. fiction) that I read. I'm pretty avid with The Economist and Esquire, and that's about it. I even have a hard time keeping up with both of those, especially the Economist. It's just way too dense to read in a week's time. In some issues, every single article is worth reading.

This post has been edited by Mike B.: Jul 15 2008, 01:10 PM

[Kusand]

I read Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle and Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol. 1 recently. They're both a ton of fun. The Howl's book is actually superior to the movie, which was pretty awesome in and of itself.

[bobselectric]

Now reading McCulloughs' "The Path Between the Seas", and just finished "A Lion in the White House" by Donald. The Lion book is about T. Roosevelt and is fascinating, as TR was a very progressive republican, instituting a lot of reforms on business and labor. The Path book is about the Panama canal which also features TR.

In reading about the post colonial history of the world, I come to realize that a lot of the problems we face today are a direct result of the US cleaning up European mistakes

[bobselectric]

Hey Toc93,

What are some titles on the Bush Legacy that you would recommend?

[hoser]

Usually don't read fiction but yesterday just finished The Kite Runner and enjoyed it. Hopefully the movie does a decent job of depicting the book.

[LeNea]

Today, I'm reading papers about alkyltransferases. I'm also reading on escape from x-chromosome inactivation on the side.

Don't recommend those, really.

[Beamer]

I can't remember the last complete novel (i.e. fiction) that I read. I'm pretty avid with The Economist and Esquire, and that's about it. I even have a hard time keeping up with both of those, especially the Economist. It's just way too dense to read in a week's time. In some every issues, every single article is something worth reading.

My Economist subscription ended a few months ago and I've neglected to renew it.
I think right now I subscribe to:

Daily:
The Bergen Record
The Wall Street Journal

Weekends:
The New York Times

Weekly:
Newsweek
Time
BusinessWeek

Monthly:
GQ
Details
Esquire
Automobile
Car & Driver
Discover
Seed
Games for Windows
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Red Herring
Fast Company


I think that's it now. That's down quite a bit from when I was in school.

[Alitaki]

I go through cycles where I don't read anything other than a newspaper for months then read about 20 books at a time. I'm currently at the end of non-reading cycle and started to move into a reading cycle. I've got about 5 books lined up and that should keep me going till next weekend when I make a run to B&N.

On deck:



I ended up getting some books for Christmas that I didn't get around to reading during my previous reading cycle so they're on deck too:



And because I never read all 5 books:

[Kusand]

And because I never read all 5 books:

There are only four books. I don't acknowledge the so-called fifth.

[Kusand]

There are only four books. I don't acknowledge the so-called fifth.

Ugh. I sound like a jerk here. I just really really got a terrible taste in my mouth from the fifth book. I don't remember laughing at all. Adams himself said he wrote it during a bad year in his life, so it ended up as a very bleak book. ::shrugs:: I guess it can't hurt you to read it.

[Alitaki]

Ugh. I sound like a jerk here. I just really really got a terrible taste in my mouth from the fifth book. I don't remember laughing at all. Adams himself said he wrote it during a bad year in his life, so it ended up as a very bleak book. ::shrugs:: I guess it can't hurt you to read it.

Well I tend to read all books in a series whether I've heard good or bad about them. Case in point - Chung Kuo by David Wingrove. First 6 books were great. Books 7 & 8? Not so much. Still read them though. I'm like that.

[Kusand]

Well I tend to read all books in a series whether I've heard good or bad about them. Case in point - Chung Kuo by David Wingrove. First 6 books were great. Books 7 & 8? Not so much. Still read them though. I'm like that.

That's how I made it through books 8-10 of the Wheel of Time. Being stubborn.

[Andy from the LE...]

'Taki - I'd keep my expectations low for Haunted.

[gougers]

I'm almost done with The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. I'm sure it was amusing back in the day, but having to flip to the end notes every other sentence to understand the jokes doesn't do it for me.

[HDH]

If there are any Giants fans out there (or sports fans in general), I recommend "GM", a biography on Ernie Accorsi. It was written up to the end of the season preceding this last Super Bowl, so it actually makes some of the stories, particularly those about Eli Manning, that much more interesting. It's great, mindless, easy reading for the beach or whatever.

There are a couple of great anecdotes, including how Accorsi got word on Elway's baseball scouting report when the Colts wanted to draft him and he threatened to play baseball for the Yankees instead . . . the report said the scouts didn't believe he could hit anything higher than AA baseball and that he had a below average arm.

My favorite, though, was the story of how in 1957 Paul Brown, the then coach and GM of the Cleveland Browns, desperately wanted to draft Len Dawson. When the Steelers selected Dawson at #5, Brown had his head on the table when his son asked him "Who do you want to pick now?" His response: "I guess we're stuck with Jim Brown".


Classic.

This post has been edited by HDH: Jul 15 2008, 01:55 PM

[Alitaki]

'Taki - I'd keep my expectations low for Haunted.

eh, i've heard both good and bad about it. Truth be told, I'm not too thrilled with his writing style. Fight Club was a chore to read for me so if Haunted feels the same I might just put it down.

Funny side note on Haunted. The version I got has a glow in the dark cover, although I didn't know it at the time. I had picked it up with the intention of starting it a few months ago and forgot it on the hamper in the bathroom. The next morning I found the book in the hallway and my wife was mad at me. Apparently she got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and the first thing you see when you open the door and go for the lights is the hamper. Its right there next to the door. Well I think you can figure out what happened next. I couldn't stop laughing when she told me this.

[xcheck24]

Taki, Bloodsucking Fiends is one of my favorite Moore books. As I've said numerous times on this board, Moore is one of my favorite authors.

That reminds me that I loaned my copy of "Lamb" to one of my friends, and he has not returned it. And he has sort of fallen off the face of the Earth over the last few weeks.

[toc93]

Hey Toc93,

What are some titles on the Bush Legacy that you would recommend?

House of Bush, House of Saudi by Craig Unger
Circle in the Sand by Alphonse( i dont have a first name)
Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast

That should get you started. Any other questions, let me know.

[Beamer]

'Taki - I'd keep my expectations low for Haunted.

As would I, but I pretty much consider Palihniuk one of the bottom of the barrel.

[Alitaki]

Taki, Bloodsucking Fiends is one of my favorite Moore books. As I've said numerous times on this board, Moore is one of my favorite authors.

That reminds me that I loaned my copy of "Lamb" to one of my friends, and he has not returned it. And he has sort of fallen off the face of the Earth over the last few weeks.

Yeah I'm working my way through his books. I started with Practical Demonkeeping but couldn't find the next books in the series so I jumped to Lamb, Fluke and Dirty Job. Loved every single one of them. They're simple to read and man are they funny. The friend who got me onto his books is now trying to get me onto the Discworld series. Haven't gotten around to them yet.

[xcheck24]

i've loaned Lamb to a few people and every single person has laughed out loud while reading it.

[Sed]

Today, I'm reading papers about alkyltransferases. I'm also reading on escape from x-chromosome inactivation on the side.

Don't recommend those, really.

I'm in kind of the same boat, in that just about all of my reading is work-related. Most of my material lately deals with program evaluation and CPTED implementation projects.

Oh, but I am reading Watchmen for about the 80th time - that, and an H. P. Lovecraft collection (still love The Rats In The Walls).

[rightbug]

The Disc World books are pretty great. I hadn't read one in years but then I finished Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and was looking for something light so I read Interesting Times. It was one of the weaker Disc World books I've read and I still very much enjoyed it. I'm not a fantasy guy at all but Pratchett is just plain funny.

[Sed]

The Disc World books are pretty great. I hadn't read one in years but then I finished Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and was looking for something light so I read Interesting Times. It was one of the weaker Disc World books I've read and I still very much enjoyed it. I'm not a fantasy guy at all but Pratchett is just plain funny.

Speaking of McCarthy, would you guys recommend The Road? It's been on my list for some time now, and I've just never gotten around to it.

[rightbug]

Speaking of McCarthy, would you guys recommend The Road? It's been on my list for some time now, and I've just never gotten around to it.

Yes -- I would highly recommend it. It's a good introduction to McCarthy and who doesn't love a good post-apocalyptic yarn? As you're reading it and wondering if you should read more of McCarthy's books, just remember that The Road is one of the most optomistic things I've read by McCarthy.

[Beamer]

The Road is no Blood Meridian, but it's still excellent.
Very grim, very desolate, but it's a story about the love between of a father for his son.

[Kusand]

I read The Road and loved it.

Also, the latest entries in Discworld, Going Postal and Making Money are phenomenal. The series can really be jumped into at any point, though. But if you really want to go in order, refer to this map. Personal favorites include Going Postal, Reaper Man, and Night Watch, as they focus on my three favorite characters from the series (so do several others, but those are the ones I remember loving).

[bobselectric]

I read The Road and loved it.

Also, the latest entries in Discworld, Going Postal and Making Money are phenomenal. The series can really be jumped into at any point, though. But if you really want to go in order, refer to this map. Personal favorites include Going Postal, Reaper Man, and Night Watch, as they focus on my three favorite characters from the series (so do several others, but those are the ones I remember loving).

I could never get into the Discworld books. I don't get into fantasy a lot, but I love sci-fi, and especially alternative history. I think I will try the Moore though.

I liked The Road, but very bleak. I started "All The Pretty Horses" but never finished it because it seemed like it was written in a run on sentence

[RedHerring]

*snip*
Monthly:
GQ
Details
Esquire
Automobile
Car & Driver
Discover
Seed
Games for Windows
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Red Herring
Fast Company
I think that's it now. That's down quite a bit from when I was in school.

Anyway, I just finished The Eagle has Flown by Jack Higgins. Sequel to The Eagle has Landed. Both were expertly paced and fun reads. Up next is another Higgins novel Thunder Point.

In the shit pile, I picked up this piece of garbage called The Religion by Tim Wollocks. I saw it in line at a CVS and it was like #12 on the NYT Bestsellers or something. I read the back and thought it sounded really cool - but then I started reading it. Talk about a snail's pace, this book is almost unreadable. It isn't just the $2 words he throws in there for no reason, or the fact that he likes to randomly comment about the hero's male appendage, the story is just annoyingly contrived and bloated.

[Pymonte]

Some beautiful ideas in here. And some godawfully gaudy ones as well. Joël Robuchon is the man.

[Andy from the LE...]

eh, i've heard both good and bad about it. Truth be told, I'm not too thrilled with his writing style. Fight Club was a chore to read for me so if Haunted feels the same I might just put it down.

The writing style isn't so much the issue as is the overall quality. The setup is like a deranged Canterbury Tales, which sounds like a good idea at first until you start reading and realize that the framing device is crap.

As for the stories themselves - some, like "Guts" are truly disgusting, creepy, and good. Others are disturbingly decent, like "The Nightmare Box." Still others are crap.

[Andy from the LE...]

H. P. Lovecraft collection (still love The Rats In The Walls).

Lovecraft kicked ass, although the fact he was a raving, lunatic racist (and reflected a lot of it in his writing) kinda dulls the shine on him.

[Sed]

Lovecraft kicked ass, although the fact he was a raving, lunatic racist (and reflected a lot of it in his writing) kinda dulls the shine on him.

Yeah - his stories are great, but the man was an epic douche.

[teddyc]

Snow Country- Yasunari Kawabata
I like the Japanese writers. They do misery beautifully.

[Rhino]

And because I never read all 5 books:

There are only four books. I don't acknowledge the so-called fifth.

Ugh. I sound like a jerk here. I just really really got a terrible taste in my mouth from the fifth book. I don't remember laughing at all. Adams himself said he wrote it during a bad year in his life, so it ended up as a very bleak book. ::shrugs:: I guess it can't hurt you to read it.

Yeah, it's not my favorite Hitchhiker book, but it's Mostly Harmless.

...

What?

Alright, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. So right now I'm plowing through my Tom Clancy collection for the third or fourth time. Before that I got talked into the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. The books read like old pulp novels where the main character is a schlub detective living in Chicago. Except he happens to be a wizard. I know how it sounds, but it's actually pretty darned entertaining.

[DetroitHockey]

Before that I got talked into the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. The books read like old pulp novels where the main character is a schlub detective living in Chicago. Except he happens to be a wizard. I know how it sounds, but it's actually pretty darned entertaining.

I finished blowing through that series about a month ago, having been inspired by the TV show. Nothing mindblowing but great fun.

[Sideshow Raheem]

The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi was excellent.

[bobselectric]

I finished blowing through that series about a month ago, having been inspired by the TV show. Nothing mindblowing but great fun.

I really like the Dresden series, and would recommend Kim Harrison or the Mercy Thompson series from Patricia Briggs

[Frankie5Angels]

I read The Road and loved it.

Also, the latest entries in Discworld, Going Postal and Making Money are phenomenal. The series can really be jumped into at any point, though. But if you really want to go in order, refer to this map. Personal favorites include Going Postal, Reaper Man, and Night Watch, as they focus on my three favorite characters from the series (so do several others, but those are the ones I remember loving).

I started off with Going Postal, my wife bought it for me for Christmas because I am a mailman, I think she got it confused with another book about a mailman slowly going nuts, anyway I was hooked and began buying up The Discworld books. I have to read an author in order he/she puts them out, its my lil OCD. I have lucked out at yard sales.

Currently reading American Scream: The Bill Hicks Story by Cynthia True. Great read about the one of the best comics of our time.

[LeNea]

I've been reading James Reynold's China Blog for the BBC. As someone who readily admits that she doesn't "get" China, I find it to be really informative and makes me think.

[Bavoo]

Great Thread! I know I'm a late comer but I do a lot of reading and I'm always looking for new ideas in books to read.

Recently:
The Road by McCarthy (Currently reading No Country For Old Men) I know McCarthy's writing style is different, but he's able to convey images and ideas better then most traditional authors.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Pales in comparision to The Kite Runner. Suns is a good read, but it is very light and I found myself not caring about the plight of the characters, unlike Runner.

The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follet. WOW epic storytelling here. Two great, great reads. This series (if you want to call it that...the characters in World are DISTANT relatives of the characters in Pillars) has it all:Sex, violence, war, politics, Church doings...just a great read. Funny that a Follet spy novel (the genre he originally started writing), Code to Zero, led me to his histrical fiction. I found Code to be Hackneyed BTW...he should stick to historical fiction.

Speaking of historical fiction...Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl was an excellent book. Gives a real view of Henry VII's court and is based on historical fact moreso than the Follett books. The follow-up, The Virgin's Lover I couldn't finish.

I've also read a few of Robert Ludlum's Covert One novels. Each one has a different co-author and a nice, light read.

Reagan: A Life in Letters I read last summer. A good book, but it's more of a reference piece than a book you could read cover to cover. I loved Ronnie so it was really nice to see the real man.

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian. This was an excellent read and I'm convinced that this will be a movie someday. You really feel for this character's plight. It can be a little confusing, but the ending is worth it.

Running With Scissors : A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs, Wow talk about heavy. You want child abuse and how one deals with it? Read this book. Don't see the movie as the book delves much deeper into Augusten's experiences.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Another great book. A girl's expericences in WWII Germany. Heavy, but memorable.

On deck is Bag of Bones ny Stephen King and The Host by Stephenie Myer.

So there you have it. I've tried to be as brief as possible with the book descriptions so as not to bore.

This post has been edited by Bavoo: Jul 22 2008, 03:30 PM

[RufusTFirefly]

I recently read:
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - I thought this was a great portrayal of a tortured soul.
Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama - Interesting story but was a bit long wided.

I am currently on a business trip to Malaysia so I brought the following novels with me (though I am not sure I will get to all of them):
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway - on a bit of a Hemingway kick
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming - never read Bond before figured I would start in the beginning
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - maybe I am on a more of a Lost Generation kick than a Hemingway kick
The Golden Compass by Philip Kaufman - I want to see how much the movie toned down the anti-church sentiment
Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard - Awesome movie.

[gougers]

I just finished Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart. Very entertaining. And topical.

[Dunc]

Yeah I'm working my way through his books. I started with Practical Demonkeeping but couldn't find the next books in the series so I jumped to Lamb, Fluke and Dirty Job. Loved every single one of them. They're simple to read and man are they funny. The friend who got me onto his books is now trying to get me onto the Discworld series. Haven't gotten around to them yet.

I thought 'A Dirty Job' was excellent. I am listening via Audible to 'The Fifth Elephant' - #24 (I think) of the Discworld series. I enjoy these very much.

I also highly recommmend 'Thank You for Smoking' by Christiopher Buckley.

[DancingLarrySux]

I am reading "I hope they Serve Beer in Hell" by Tucker Max.

He claims all his stories are true, and as accurate as he can be. If so, this guys is a maniac.