Has anybody read any Ted Bell? I was thinking about picking up his newest book, Tsar: A Thriller... because from what I can gather, it sounds like a Dirk Pitt-esque Clive Cussler book which are a pretty easy read and I like that sort of subject matter. Would this be a correct assessment of his books?

9/24/2008 1:00:08 PM

shit, i just now realized that i read stone cold out of order. apparently the collectors goes in between them? i only did it because at the end of camel club, the first few chapters of stone cold were in there

for anyone who's read them, did i ruin much of anything by reading stone cold first?

9/25/2008 8:38:33 PM

custom of the sea by neil hanson

9/25/2008 8:45:47 PM

We the Living by Ayn Rand

9/25/2008 9:53:26 PM

[Edited on September 26, 2008 at 12:41 AM. Reason : Also, Love is a Mix Tape was very good. Sad, but good.]

9/26/2008 12:40:44 AM

Book 1

[Edited on September 26, 2008 at 1:00 AM. Reason : 1]

9/26/2008 12:58:56 AM

No one ever reads the same things I do but oh well...
I am reading Karin Salughter's latest book "Fractured"

She's one of my favs

9/26/2008 9:34:20 AM

RIP DFW


...

and

...



Kinda hilarious, kinda aggravating. Kinda weird my g/f wants me to read it, but ... moving along nicely.

9/26/2008 10:10:46 AM

finally got some time to dig into New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goodbye: Bands, Dirty Basements, and the Search for Self today.

Really liking it. Im about 75% through and though the beginning of the book is all about straight up punk rock (which I still liked a lot of the bands he talked about at some point) the last half of this book has been awesome for me because it is moving into the time period that I really began getting into hardcore/metal/post hardcore yadda yadda yadda. Some of the bands he talks about seeing at house shows, or playing their first show are some bands that were the first to really impact me and some of them I was already introduced to as his friends and characters in the story before they formed these bands so it was cool to be like "oh man so this guy ive been reading about this whole time actually is the guy that started xxx band??"

Or heck one of his friends pressing some local bands 7" who eventually was the guy that started a record company I loved.

Actually emailed the author to ask him something today and he emailed me right back too.

9/28/2008 12:38:33 AM

10/20/2008 11:13:35 PM

10/20/2008 11:15:01 PM

War Dogs: The Modern Mercenary in Combat by Al Venter.

It's pretty good, reading about Sierra Leone conflict right now.

10/21/2008 7:06:06 AM

10/21/2008 7:49:05 AM

Mohammed and Charlemagne by Henri Pirenne

10/27/2008 7:27:31 PM

10/27/2008 10:18:28 PM

10/28/2008 9:31:22 AM

^^haha, I just finished that yesterday (Speaker for the Dead). I hate a lot of the characters in the Ender series but I still enjoy the stories. I'm gonna start Xenocide after I read a few other things, starting with:



[Edited on October 30, 2008 at 9:31 PM. Reason : ]

10/30/2008 9:29:59 PM

The radicalism of the american revolution by Gordon S. Wood

11/3/2008 8:08:27 PM

^ Awesome book

Gordon Wood 4 life

11/3/2008 8:24:07 PM

I just started Speaker for the Dead too Alee!

11/3/2008 8:48:16 PM

Just finished "Blindness" by Jose Saramago...

Just started "A Happy Death" by Albert Camus.

11/3/2008 8:50:48 PM

The Unbearable Lightness of Being



But I'm only reading it cause it's for my Lit class.

11/3/2008 8:51:08 PM

then you have a good Lit class

11/3/2008 8:58:28 PM

My Dad suggested Twilight so I thought I'd give it a shot. Has anyone here read it? I'm hoping it will actually be a good book, and not just something made "popular" by all the hype surrounding it without literary reasonings.

[Edited on November 3, 2008 at 9:41 PM. Reason : ]

11/3/2008 9:38:18 PM

Zoe's Tale by John Sclazi

It follows some really great books of his-
-Old Man's War
-The Ghost Brigades
- The Last Colony

Some of the best scifi books I've ever read. They really show off Scalzi's range as an author since the style and nature of each story is starkly different.

11/3/2008 10:06:08 PM

Quote :

"something made "popular" by all the hype surrounding it without literary reasonings"

as far as I can tell, that's exactly what it is

but report back

11/3/2008 10:10:20 PM

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini.

11/4/2008 7:42:55 AM

The Twilight books are horrible.

But it's the kind of horrible that's super fun to laugh at.

11/6/2008 1:59:17 AM

I laugh at my girlfriend when she reads those. She gets pretty mad at me.

11/6/2008 6:42:13 AM

Since my previous post, I've read:

The first novel in the Arkady Renko series. Good mystery-crime novel, written back when the Cold War was still on.

Then,

Absolutely fascinating novel, about a man who suffers a traumatic head injury, receives a large settlement, and then puts that to use in search of what is "real". Somewhat existential, strange at times and shocking at others, but an incredibly interesting read. I highly recommend it.

Currently working on:

Gibson set in contemporary times rather than the future. I really like his writing style, and so far the plot is holding my interest as well.

[Edited on November 7, 2008 at 2:54 PM. Reason : image]

11/7/2008 2:53:14 PM

really freaking good

11/7/2008 4:40:03 PM

11/7/2008 5:13:32 PM

Alright, I read Twilight yesterday, and as I promised I'd report back...

I liked the book as a story. It was original, easy to read, and intriguing. However, that's about the extent of the virtues. Good mind candy, not a lot of depth. I would describe it as a book to read when you don't want to deal with something taxing. Again, I liked the story, I just would describe it as the "Best Book of the Decade."

11/8/2008 12:09:05 PM

finally getting around to this

11/8/2008 1:02:17 PM

11/12/2008 1:27:46 PM

soooo many books on this page I want to read.

I own Seeing, but haven't gotten around to it. I loaned Blindness to someone a few weeks ago.

11/12/2008 3:37:02 PM

another roadside attraction by Tom Robbins and the things they carried by Tim O'brian

11/12/2008 4:45:46 PM

^^^^^^^

good call on Caught Stealing. really enjoying that.

11/14/2008 2:15:54 AM

Yeah Blindness was a great book, I've been meaning to see Seeing but I haven't gotten around to it.

11/14/2008 2:26:56 PM

Ronny
That was a good one, have you read any other Lewis books?

11/14/2008 4:16:47 PM

What is Seeing about? I loved Blindness

Now I'm reading:

11/14/2008 4:20:50 PM

11/14/2008 4:32:06 PM

11/14/2008 4:37:28 PM

now reading...
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian - so far it's been really easy to get absorbed into.

recently finished...
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - an old co-worker raved about it. it was good, but didn't live up to her hype for me.
The Twighlight series... I'm not usually into books of these types... anti-Harry Potter, I won't even watch the movies.... but someone let me borrow the first one and i read it in like a day & a half. finished the series in like a week. I agree with to person a little above who said it's a good story, but it's not like literary genius of course. very easy read, read most of it at work b/t calls.

can't wait to read....
Wally Lamb's new book; The Hour I First Believed

11/15/2008 1:30:13 AM

Beethoven's Hair

11/15/2008 4:43:47 AM

Picked up a few today:

The Plot Against America, Philip Roth
Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
Lay of the Land, Richard Ford

11/16/2008 2:27:27 PM

The Song of Roland
dover edition

11/16/2008 4:48:00 PM

Wally Lamb - The Hour I First Believed

11/16/2008 5:17:11 PM

11/24/2008 1:48:55 PM

Feudalism by F. L. Ganshof

11/24/2008 2:25:51 PM