Read any good books lately?

[!!Comatoa$ted]

I have been a student most of the winter so I have had my nose in all sorts of books. Unfortunatly none have a good storyline to them. I was at the library looking for a good book to read but I had no clue what to look for. I was wondering if some of you had any good book suggestions that aren't published by Lippincott Williams, Pearson educational, and Mosby?

[KingTermite]

Some of my all-time favorites

Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand - Anthem
George Orwell - 1984
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath
Jack London - Sea Wolf
Jack London - The Star Rover
Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara Series
Terry Brooks - Knight of the Word Series
Raymond Fiest - Riftware Saga

[!!Comatoa$ted]

I think I will check out the jack london books, I have read some of his other ones, but not the ones that you have mentioned

[Boogs]

[QUOTE=!!Comatoa$ted]I have been a student most of the winter so I have had my nose in all sorts of books. Unfortunatly none have a good storyline to them. [QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm back at school (in my old age) and am enjoying books *for me* for the first time in three years (I've been in classes and working for 3yrs +summers). I know how you feel!

I'm reading Dave Eggers You Shall Know Our Velocity right now, and it's a scream so far. Just finished Yann Martel's Life Of Pi as well, and it is an incredible, fascinating, uplifting book.

others I'd recommend:
T. Correghessan Boyle - East Is East (very funny book)
Annie Proulx - The Shipping News (a "sneaks up on you" kind of book)
Umberto Eco - The Name Of The Rose (a mystery of the "deep" variety)
Tom Robbins - Jitterbug Perfume (f***ing hysterical...and, um...hysterically f***ing)
Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood (mysterious and beautiful IMO)


Well, that's my stories and I'm sticking to'em.:p ;)

David

[56/12 and 22/28]

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote = straight up pwnage.

[jfmckenna]

A couple of authors I like are, Richard Brautigan (Trout Fishing in America, The Abortion) and Kurt Vonnegut(Slaughterhouse five) to name a few.

I've been reading mostly non fiction lately.

[chromedome]

Mysteries are good. You listed health care related text books. Maybe you'd like medical mysteries. Robin Cook, Bill Pomidor.
Or mysteries in foreign lands. Michael Pierce writes short novelettes about Egypt in the early 20th century, or Naguib Mafous writes about daily life od ordinary Cairenes from the 50's and 60's.
Another author called Qiu Xiaolong writes mysteries with the backdrop of daily life in Shanghai in the 90's.
Travel story anthologies are good. Anything published by Lonely Planet is good. Pico Iyer, Paul Theroux, Tim Cahill.
James Michener's Centennial is a must for all North Americans.
Autobiographies can be quite inspiring.
What's your major?

[chromedome]

Mysteries are good. You listed health care related text books. Maybe you'd like medical mysteries. Robin Cook, Bill Pomidor.
Or mysteries in foreign lands. Michael Pierce writes short novelettes about Egypt in the early 20th century, or Naguib Mafous writes about daily life od ordinary Cairenes from the 50's and 60's.
Another author called Qiu Xiaolong writes mysteries with the backdrop of daily life in Shanghai in the 90's.
Travel story anthologies are good. Anything published by Lonely Planet is good. Pico Iyer, Paul Theroux, Tim Cahill.
James Michener's Centennial is a must for all North Americans.
Autobiographies can be quite inspiring.
What's your major?

[Tmax1]

Any old Martha Grimes.

Inspector Jury and his sidekick Melrose are worthy reads in a bubble gum kinda way. Meaty enough for intrigue and mindless enough for escape, fraught with memorable qoutes, for instance:

"I seldom meet anyone whose mind does not unravel like an old piece of tatting when life becomes problematical".- Melrose Plant

[Namenda]

Some of my all-time favorites

Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand - Anthem
George Orwell - 1984
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath
Jack London - Sea Wolf
Jack London - The Star Rover
Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara Series
Terry Brooks - Knight of the Word Series
Raymond Fiest - Riftware Saga

The best series of fantasy books ever written. And he's still writing them. I've got an autographed/personalized hardcover copy of The Sword of Shannara. By far my favorite writer of all time.

[!!Comatoa$ted]

Thank you for all your suggestions, I have a lot to go on now on my next trip to the library.

I just got stuck in a rut. It seems that the only thing that I notice are books on physical examination and med/surg. That is stuff that I do not want to read since I have many years of mandatory reading to do. But it has been programmed in my mind that, that is the stuff I am supposed to read. Now that I do not have class till September I do not want to read that stuff. I still feel guilty that I am not reading it and am spending all my time doing stuff I wanna do, not stuff that I have to do. Sometimes I stop what I am doing and think of the stuff I have to read in the next week or so, then I realise that I do not have to do anything except enjoy the summer. It still feels strange; it does not register that I am not in school and that I do not have to read about this and that. It is so nice not to have to read research papers. I can't wait to read something with a plot.

[KingTermite]

The best series of fantasy books ever written. And he's still writing them. I've got an autographed/personalized hardcover copy of The Sword of Shannara. By far my favorite writer of all time.
Oh man!! I'm jealous....he's *MY* favorite writer of all-time too. :)

[chromedome]

I just got stuck in a rut............ I still feel guilty that I am not reading it and am spending all my time doing stuff I wanna do, not stuff that I have to do. Sometimes I stop what I am doing and think of the stuff I have to read in the next week or so, then I realise that I do not have to do anything except enjoy the summer. It still feels strange; it does not register that I am not in school and that I do not have to read about this and that.


No reason to feel guilty about having some time off. Recharge your batteries by doing something alot more fun than reading text.
I once worked 178 days in a row. I was so keyed up on that first day off in such a long time that I basically wasted the day by looking for stuff that had to be done, instead of doing some of the stuff I had been wanting to do.
In the long run, it pays off in the end.

[Boogs]

I can't wait to read something with a plot.

Dig that. Never thought I'd be so excited to read, but it's been three straight years of work and reading for classes (summer too). I didn't ride my bike all Spring either, except commutes - I'm living it up right now! :D

Enjoy your summer!


David

[Crono]

I just finished Life of Pi, about a boy that gets stuck on a life raft with a tiger. It took a while to get going, and it's slow at times, but I thought it was still pretty good. The ending is worth it.

Before that was Confessions of Max Tivoli, it's about this dude that ages in reverse and makes a woman fall in love with him thrice. I was interested because the author is local, and the story is set in old San Francisco. I liked it a lot.

Other than that, the non-fiction books I'm reading are The Elegant Universe and Guns Germs and Steel; you probably won't be interested in those :p

[Boogs]

I just finished Life of Pi, about a boy that gets stuck on a life raft with a tiger. It took a while to get going, and it's slow at times, but I thought it was still pretty good. The ending is worth it.

Yeah, that took a while to get cookin', but I loved it.


... The Elegant Universe...

Actually, this sounds interesting - do you mind describing it?


David

[Second Mouse]

Funny, I thought Life of Pi kind of petered out at the end. If you can get past the premise, it is a good read.

John Irving's books are good fun. I especially liked Cider House Rules. There's kind of a medical tangent in there somewhere, but not enough to put you off, !!Comatoa$ted.

Anyone ever read Laurie Lee? It's kind of prose, like Wallace Stegner. Takes forever to read, because you need to stop and kind of soak up the way the words go together.

Anything by Bill Bryson.

Let us know what you end up with, !!Comatoa$ted.

Cheers.

[Boogs]

John Irving's books are good fun. I especially liked Cider House Rules. There's kind of a medical tangent in there somewhere, but not enough to put you off, !!Comatoa$ted.


Wow. I had an Irving attack and read a bunch of his books when I was a teen. I loved the Hotel New Hampshire and The 158-pound Marriage (hope I'm remembering the names right!) best, but liked all of them. Don't think I ever read Cider House Rules, though...mental note...

[pigmode]

The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu - John Stevens

Yet another reading.

[skitbraviking]

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

It's good and quick and compelling.