Books You've Read in 2007 (merged) (1 Viewer)

[Adam_S]

Mayflower - Nathanial Philbrick

An utterly superb piece of history, compelling and fascinating. Immensely fair, great analysis and always mindful of the human element Philbrick outlines clearly the first 60 or so years of the Plymouth colony from before it's founding until the events of King Philip's War.

Great literature. Great history.

Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card
Read this many times before, a favorite of this series and wonderfully readable. I love Card's invention and the series is at it's strongest point here with Alvin's personality undergoing all the events that will most firmly shape it and three other leading characters with the force of personality to compete with Alvin for center stage. Alvin Maker is Card's version of Superman/Christ/Smith and in the later books he's about as interesting as Brian Singer's Superman, which is to say he's not all that compelling, but in this book he has betters and equals to stand against and it makes all the difference.

Adam

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali
The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

 

[Holadem]

Whoa Adam, this is the last book I expected to find in this thread (or HTF for that matter). Whatever made you read this? School? I am very interested in your assessement, good or bad.

I mentioned it here a couple of years ago: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ta#post1836541

--
H

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm taking an African American History class, and the professor believes in using primary sources, as it were, rather than a textbook. Enjoyed Sundiata mainly for the difference between written history and oral history: written history gets all of the dates and facts right, but loses all the meaning. Oral history, I believe, gets the meaning and emotion right even as the reality passes into myth. It's a strange dicotomy. I wonder, however, what value we'd have in historical fiction and films if western history had a soul like this did.
If anything, though, I liked Equiano more. A Robinson Curuso-style black adventure novel that just happens to be a (mostly) true autobiography within an (unfortunately entirely) true stain on history. It's a more intense cirriculum than I'd expected, but since there's no way in hell I would have read a textbook, it's also a much more successful one.

Forgot to add: read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers for pleasure back in Albany.

 

[Holadem]

Classic . Soundjata* was required reading in Junior high, I would say just about everywhere in West Africa. I sorta figured you were taking an African Lit class or some such.

I recommend this rousing epic to anyone willing to expand their horizons a bit. It's a short and easy read.

(*) there are various ways of spelling this name. Incidentally "Djata" means "Lion" in my native language as well.

--
H

 

[Radioman970]

Only one.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NIght-time. By Mark Haddon.

It's about an autistic boy in england who wants to get to the bottom of what happened to a neighbor's pet poodle so he begins "detecting" for clues. The menthod of storytelling is unlike anything I've ever encountered. The subject matter goes beyond the film Rainman. Excellent stuff! I plan to read it again after I loan it out for a bit.

I love to read but I'm very slow and often put one down for another then pick the other one back up and so on....

 

[Jeff Pryor]

The I Chong--Tommy Chong
Cell--Stephen King
Godless--Ann Coulter
The Political Zoo--Mike Savage
Freakonomics--Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
Starship Troopers--Robert A. Heinlein
Yeager:An Autobiography--Chuck Yeager, Leo Janos

 

[Buzz Foster]

So far, I have been slowly chewing my way through Dawkin's latest, "The God Delusion". Great stuff.

 

[Holadem]

I hope it's OK to ask for recommendations here rather than starting a new thread: I need suggestions for two novels set in Japan... one in the feudal era (beside Shogun), one contemporary. Stuff that might be of interest to a tourist (no ponderous introspection and existentialist meditations ). All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

--
H

 

[Ruz-El]

feudal? all 26 volumes of Lone Wolf & Cub, of course

 

[JonZ]

Right now Im reading Ethan Coens book of short stories Gates Of Eden.

Next is Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian Or the Evening Redness in the West

 

[Andy Sheets]

That's good stuff.

I'm still very much in a pulp mood: just finished Doc Savage: The Devil Genghis and The Shadow: Malmordo. I'm thinking about re-reading the John Carter of Mars books.

 

[McPaul]

finished: Sam Walton - Made in America.

starting tonight: Laurie Gough - Kiss the Sunset Pig, (it's about a canadian's road trip through america)

 

[KurtEP]

So far I've completed In Search of Memory by Eric Kandel and started A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel. This is, of course, on top of the usual torrent of daily readings from class.

By the looks of it, I'm going to have to throw some of the African Lit mentioned above onto my list. That's one area I have little or no exposure to.

 

[Buzz Foster]

I picked up a couple of used tomes at hasting's for when I finish "The God Delusion". Both are about ten years old, but aparently Haward Bloom's "The Lucifer principal" still holds up well. Should be a good read.

 

[Will_C]

Does anyone know a site where you can type in a description of the story and it will list likely candidates? There are several stories I read back in the early and mid '80s and I can't remember the titles or authors. The main one that's been bugging me involves a boy who is an orphan or has amnesia. A 'mad' scientist is trying to apprehend him because the boy is developing several psy ablilities. In the end, I think the boy is reunited with his family, who also posess these mind powers. One part of the book I remember distinctly, the kid points his finger at a bird and literally wills it to die. The cover of the paperback had the kid in this weird chair with restraints and lights all on it, and the scientist was standing next to him. I read this as a child back in '82-'83. Anyone recognize this or can tell me a good book search site to look? Thanks.

 

[Lucia Duran]

I read a lot. I spend every Sat/Sun at the bookstore.

Recently finished:

Life As We Knew It ... author escapes me

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene


Recently Started:

Cell by Steven King


Other types of reading material I enjoy:

Mother Earth News

Mental Floss

The Skeptic

How To books on pretty much any subject

Wilderness Survival Guides

Cook books

Trash Magazines ( People, Us Weekly, Entertainment)

National Geographic

Outdoors

Mens Journal

Surfers Journal ( I do not surf nor have I ever attempted it, but I am fascinated by it nontheless)

Math books

 

[Ray Chuang]

I just finished re-reading Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince and found the latter book VASTLY superior. Order of the Phoenix had a bit too much angst and just went a bit too long.

 

[KurtEP]

I just took a detour and finished The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Interesting, like pretty much everything he writes.

 

[Adam_S]

nobody likes angsty Harry. I love Order of the Phoenix, but the Caps lock was a bit much, on the other hand, JK nicely compressed all of Harry's teenage angry angst into one book so we don't have to suffer it in the other six. My favorite of any is still Half Blood Prince and I'm terribly excited for Deathly Hallows.