Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - What's the best book you read in 2005?

My best was "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth.

In this alternative history, we see how Roth's real family was affected when the anti-Semitic Charles Lindbergh was elected president in 1936. Besides the interesting political and historical ideas, the family is portrayed with great power. This book, even with a fairly happy ending, really shook me, even gave me nightmares.

things fall apart

The last book I read: "The Sound Of Waves" by Yukio Mishima. There's none of his wierd ideologies in this one, except perhaps an allusion to the cultural strengths of tradition. Short and excellent, it speaks to me at several different levels, one being my love for the sea.

... the back of the Cocco Puffs box.

"Never Let Me Go"

The best books I read this year were not necessarily published this year...W. Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage".

A very close second was "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose.

... the back of the Cocco Puffs box.
:roflmao:

I tried reading while I was riding, it didn't work.

George Orwell's "Coming Up for Air"

Classic: Proust's Swann's Way

Contemporary: Murakami's Kafka on the Shore

+1 for Plot Against America by Roth. When I saw the title of this thread I thought about this book, then there it was.

Haunting, enlightening, frightening with the condition of politics, media colaboration and propaganda in the United States today. Roth is an amazing writer, how can he top this one?

+1 for Plot Against America by Roth. When I saw the title of this thread I thought about this book, then there it was.

Haunting, enlightening, frightening with the condition of politics, media colaboration and propaganda in the United States today. Roth is an amazing writer, how can he top this one?

I ain't never read a book in my life..............uhm, sorry, I was channeling George W. Bush.

Plot Against America was an exorcise in Talmudic paranoia. It reminded me of something H. L. Mencken wrote, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public".

BTW, I found several cases of Roth's books at a garage sale. I keep them in the bathroom since they are cheaper than toilet paper.

I ain't never read a book in my life..............uhm, sorry, I was channeling George W. Bush.

Plot Against America was an exorcise in Talmudic paranoia. It reminded me of something H. L. Mencken wrote, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public".

BTW, I found several cases of Roth's books at a garage sale. I keep them in the bathroom since they are cheaper than toilet paper.
Did you read it?

Oh. And what was the best book you read last year?

I ain't never read a book in my life..............uhm, sorry, I was channeling George W. Bush.

Plot Against America was an exorcise in Talmudic paranoia. It reminded me of something H. L. Mencken wrote, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public".

BTW, I found several cases of Roth's books at a garage sale. I keep them in the bathroom since they are cheaper than toilet paper.

Is that your analysis? Using old books can give you a pretty bad a$$ rash, figure that out yet?

Did you read it?

Oh. And what was the best book you read last year?

I read part of it, since I'm interested in history. I couldn't finish it because it was such crap. To write a good alternate history, the author needs to know real history. Roth is only concerned with advancing his tired, old, leftist political agenda.

I mostly read technical books and books about history. I'm currently reading "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Green -- sort of an updated version of Machiavelli's "Prince".

Son of a Witch...

Is that your analysis? Using old books can give you a pretty bad a$$ rash, figure that out yet?

They're not very absorbent, that's for sure. The local sewer authority also warned me not to flush anymore of Roth's books, since they are classified as toxic waste.

I read part of it, since I'm interested in history. I couldn't finish it because it was such crap. To write a good alternate history, the author needs to know real history. Roth is only concerned with advancing his tired, old, leftist political agenda.

I mostly read technical books and books about history. I'm currently reading "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Green -- sort of an updated version of Machiavelli's "Prince".
I was most impressed with the characters and their complex interrelationships with each other, as well as the surprising ways in which each responded to events in the dark world outside the family. Maybe you didn't read those parts before you judged the book?

What was the best book about history you read last year?

Son of a Witch...
Is that the name of a book?

Ender's Game

Ender's Game
One of my all-time SF favorites. I read all the books Card wrote in that series, must be 6 or 7 of them? But Ender's Game was the first and the best...a small book with big ideas, a little gem of a book. Do you like games? Some of his ideas about gaming are very original for their time, just now coming out to be true. Same with his version of the internet, written long before the internet even got started.

American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips

My best was "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth.

In this alternative history, we see how Roth's real family was affected when the anti-Semitic Charles Lindbergh was elected president in 1936. Besides the interesting political and historical ideas, the family is portrayed with great power. This book, even with a fairly happy ending, really shook me, even gave me nightmares.

If you’re interested in the subject try my favorite book of 2005:
Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg

Lindbergh was not only an enigmatic man but his life story reads like a history of the 20th century – he was involved so often in key events. The book won the Pulitzer Prize.

'Jarhead' by Anthony Swofford. Being a VN combat vet, certain passages Screamed at me. Haven't seen movie, it would never equal impact of book.

I was most impressed with the characters and their complex interrelationships with each other, as well as the surprising ways in which each responded to events in the dark world outside the family. Maybe you didn't read those parts before you judged the book?

What was the best book about history you read last year?

Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor. Published in 2000, but I only got around to reading last year.

I've got two--one could be seen as therapy for having read the other. "The Great Influenza" by John Barry. Read it last winter before the current hysteria. It's an interesting though chilling chronicle of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Also, "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" by Jan Heine. Magnifique!

"WALDEN TWO" was great.

"Cobb" by Al Stump. Actually bought it last year and just started reading it. I can't put it down! If your a baseball fan you should read this book.

Tortilla Flat. My answer's the same every year.

Da Vinci Code or Cry, the Beloved Country

things fall apart

Chinua Achebe? I haven't read that book since I was a freshman in high school.

Life of Pi
Rounding the Horn
Blue Like Jazz

Re-read: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Coming to a theater near you: DaVinci Code
Contemporary: The Windup Bird Chronicle

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

A Leap in the Dark by John Ferling (I think that's right) about the politics surrounding the American Revolutionary War, Washington's presidency, Hamilton and Jefferson.

Out of Control by Kevin Kelly

The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom.

Started reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series midway through December and am into the third book.... can't wait to get to the latest A Feast for Crows, which was released in 2005.

Great writing for the fantasy genre!

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It
by Jim Wallis

'Jarhead' by Anthony Swofford. Being a VN combat vet, certain passages Screamed at me. Haven't seen movie, it would never equal impact of book.


Did you also read "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell"? I haven't read Jarhead yet, but was pretty blown away by TLTSIEL.

Best book published in 2005 (that I've read) would have to be Bret Easton Ellis' "Lunar Park".

A short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

No Picnic on Mt Kenya

Felice Panucci

One of my all-time SF favorites. I read all the books Card wrote in that series, must be 6 or 7 of them? But Ender's Game was the first and the best...a small book with big ideas, a little gem of a book. Do you like games? Some of his ideas about gaming are very original for their time, just now coming out to be true. Same with his version of the internet, written long before the internet even got started.

Im in the middle of Speaker for the Dead. I havent really had the time to read it all yet, though I have bought the next 3 books in the series. Yeah I like his ideas too, like that ansible<-sp?- for example. =D