book recommendations (stuff i can find in my local library rather than the bookstore)

[RogerMexico]

Sicko. Every time. You just have to do it, don't you?

I've been reading a couple books of note lately, both of which I find interesting for different reasons.

How We Are Hungry - Dave Eggers
Jay's Journal of Anomalies - Ricky Jay

EDIT - RogMex, I'm also enjoying Number 9 Dream--thanks for the heads up on that one. Was a steal.

Yeah, dude, it's something of a tradition now. Michelle loaned me her copy of How We Are Hungry so I'll probably hit that up soon. Did you ever read You Shall Know Our Velocity? I didn't really take to it, though not exactly sure why. Glad you're liking Number9dream. I read his earlier book Ghostwritten when I came back, and it's worth a shot too if you're feelin' it.

I stand by O and her mischevious adventures, but if you want some shit you can read in public, Jason, these are all pretty good too:

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen Gold
Snow White by Donald Barthelme
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (play)
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed

They're worth a shot, anyway. Surprised you didn't suggest House of Leaves, Conc. Were you waiting for page three? Still have to finish that bastard.

[Vykromond]

I assume you've read Foundation Vyk, did you like it?

Great ideas, abysmal writing style. I've read the entire series like three times through though, so clearly I enjoy it even though I trash Asimov's writing all the time.

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

Did you ever read You Shall Know Our Velocity? I didn't really take to it, though not exactly sure why.

That's a shame, man... I figured you really would have liked it. Borrowed it from Leah ("Glad to see you're not holding any grudges"-Leah), and once I got past the first few pages, it's a phenomenal book. The whole idea of two nomal guys distributing money in ridiculous ways around the world is fantastic, if nothing more. Give it another shot.

Glad you're liking Number9dream. I read his earlier book Ghostwritten when I came back, and it's worth a shot too if you're feelin' it.

Will do. I have a couple books on my plate right now, but I'll pick that up soon.

Surprised you didn't suggest House of Leaves, Conc. Were you waiting for page three? Still have to finish that bastard.

I guess page two will have to do. Yeah, it's a great book. A little slow at times, but in my opinion books don't have to be non-stop action--that's why Vin Diesel was born.

Speaking of "can't believe you didn't mention that"--why the choice of Lot 49 over Gravity's Rainbow, RogMex? Don't you have any faith that the headiness of it won't make it a lost cause for today's youth, or were you waiting for someone to offer up Joyce's Ulysses? (Hah, Courtney has to read it for one of her classes this semester. I laughed heartily.)

Edit: Oh yeah, I realized that I still have your copy of Rosencrantz, too. Let me know if you want to pick that up when you finish gallivanting around that limey town.

Edit 2: I LIVE FOR THIS SHIT!!

[bloodzombie]

Edit: Oh yeah, I realized that I still have your copy of Rosencrantz, too. Let me know if you want to pick that up when you finish gallivanting around that limey town.

I have that on my bookshelf, I guess it's my wife's. I picked it up once, then realized it was a play and put it back down. worth reading?

[iNgeNfyRe]

i only remember the title- "Blue Light"
also, Albert Camus- "The Stranger"
and "The Samurai('s) Garden"

sure, they were books i had to read in school but still good.

[Volcs]

Wheel of time (Robert Jordan)
Everything by Feist
--> Fantasy books
Try to read some Bill Bryson, best author ever! (writes about his journeys through woods, Great Britain, US; really fun, interesting read)

WOT, don't do it, soooo many books that you can't put down!!!! And it's actually frustrating because you just want to know what happens... so you end up secluding yourself from the world until you finish the series.. ugh.

I have that on my bookshelf, I guess it's my wife's. I picked it up once, then realized it was a play and put it back down. worth reading?

Rozencrantz and Guildenstern? (sp?)
It's actually pretty amusing, if you can believe it.

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

I have that on my bookshelf, I guess it's my wife's. I picked it up once, then realized it was a play and put it back down. worth reading?

I read the first 3/4 and found it pretty good. The last 1/4 I read while I was doing an alcohol study for work--anything's good when your BAC is way over legal.

[RogerMexico]

That's a shame, man... I figured you really would have liked it. Borrowed it from Leah ("Glad to see you're not holding any grudges"-Leah), and once I got past the first few pages, it's a phenomenal book. The whole idea of two nomal guys distributing money in ridiculous ways around the world is fantastic, if nothing more. Give it another shot.

Great idea, but it got on my nerves for some reason. Need to give it another chance.

I guess page two will have to do. Yeah, it's a great book. A little slow at times, but in my opinion books don't have to be non-stop action--that's why Vin Diesel was born.

Vin was born to fulfill The Prohecy. He is the Omen, the Allmighty One, and his path in this world is not ours to understand.

Speaking of "can't believe you didn't mention that"--why the choice of Lot 49 over Gravity's Rainbow, RogMex? Don't you have any faith that the headiness of it won't make it a lost cause for today's youth, or were you waiting for someone to offer up Joyce's Ulysses? (Hah, Courtney has to read it for one of her classes this semester. I laughed heartily.)

I save that recommendation for special occasions these days, like bar mitzvahs or no-hitters. I did sneak Pynchon in there, though. That has to be worth partial credit. Best of luck to Courtney, by the way. That book's fantastic if somebody who's in the know is there to hold your hand.

Edit: Oh yeah, I realized that I still have your copy of Rosencrantz, too. Let me know if you want to pick that up when you finish gallivanting around that limey town.

Dick.

Edit 2: I LIVE FOR THIS SHIT!!

Yours in 'North American xXx Fan Club' membership,

Rog

ps - It's a great play, Dave, but reading plays is always a bit shit. The idea is priceless, though: it's a revision of Hamlet, but from the perspective of two side characters who don't understand where they are or what they're doing there. Sort of Truman Show-ish

[Vykromond]

Reading plays is shit, but 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern' particularly so- it's just so much better on the stage and screen, without any of the gymnastics required to read it and really appreciate it as much as one could easily in translated (acted-out) form.

I haven't read any Pynchon. Are there any reference points you could throw at me so I know what I'm getting into if I check him out?

[ZeUs!!]

Anything and everything by Dave Gorman

[RogerMexico]

Reading plays is shit, but 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern' particularly so- it's just so much better on the stage and screen, without any of the gymnastics required to read it and really appreciate it as much as one could easily in translated (acted-out) form.

I haven't read any Pynchon. Are there any reference points you could throw at me so I know what I'm getting into if I check him out?

Never saw Rosencrantz and Guildenstern actually. Heard it's great. And not sure how Conc would describe Pynchon's writing, but if Ulysses, Catch-22, and The Illuminatus Trilogy all fucked without wearing protection, and one of them got pregnant, giving birth to a literary super-child, with all of the traits of its three fathers, then it'd be like that. Crying of Lot 49 is the only short one. Try that on first, and read more if you like it.

[Verthanthi]

I've been told that Whores for Gloria is a lot like Pynchon's <i>V</i>, but that was by a dust jacket, and they're lying bitches.

[Troll King]

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The "Good Parts" Version), abridged by William Goldman.

If you've seen the classic film then you'll love the book which is much more cynical and mature. I just taught a unit on this and if you've only seen the film you will be surprised at how well the underlying conceit of the novel works.

[bloodzombie]

I haven't read any Pynchon. Are there any reference points you could throw at me so I know what I'm getting into if I check him out?

If you read to relax, I wouldn't suggest getting involved with Pynchon. I bought Gravity's Rainbow and never made it. It's about ten million pages long, and there's actually a companion book published that you can read alongside it that explains the book chapter by chapter.

I might give it another shot sometime, I dunno.

[jeem]

i'm going to have to go ahead and say that all you pseudo-intellectuals who suggested some banal high school required reading books, you are a douchebag