Trout Fishing in America Richard Brautigan
one of my favourite authors.
I especially liked Revenge of the Lawn
and The Abortion

his later work (hawkline monster etc.) were not so great.

Marty

I'm busting out my old faves... Hop on Pop, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and then some Castaneda.

My two-year old is a 'Hop on Pop' fanatic. She can't get enough.

"Pup is down. Where is Brown? Mr. Brown is out of town..."

I have the thing memorized.

"....eat a snack with Brown and Black."

Is (or has) anybody read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? Eleven volumes and counting... it's become a guilty pleasure not unlike a soap opera. I'm almost sorry I started the thing, but I keep reading the new ones. If Jordan drops dead before he finishes the story, I hope I see him in hell.

Is (or has) anybody read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? Eleven volumes and counting... it's become a guilty pleasure not unlike a soap opera. I'm almost sorry I started the thing, but I keep reading the new ones. If Jordan drops dead before he finishes the story, I hope I see him in hell.

I have read 5 or 6 of them.... they are maddening! It's so detailed and there are so many characters, plots, sub-plots, worlds, alternate-worlds, etc., that the story never goes anywhere. Once in a while I start them over to see where the thing will go, but after the first three books (which kind of hold their own as stand-alone stories), it seems to just stall out. When the heck will it get to some sort of ultimate resolution? Maybe it's Jordan's joke... his version of Ravel's "Bolero" if you will.... a piece that sounds good, but doesn't go anywhere. I mean, what happens in books 6-10 that will enrich the story? I get to a point where I hope Rand goes totally mad and Mat gets taken out and the women can all stop acting so (how do I put this lightly?) mad/unhappy with the men and the men can stop acting so naive about why the women are mad....

Sorry for the rant, but fantasy genre series usually get to a satisfying conclusion at some point....

Once in a while I start them over to see where the thing will go,

I just go to one of the fan sites and read synopses.... even that takes a couple of hours.

I'm reading more again in Bernard McGrane's The Un-TV and the 10mph Car. This is one of those books that falls into the category of "life-changing" in the same sort of way that Pirsig's ZAMM was for me. I think it's the sort of thing a lot of people here would dig. Also reading a couple books on Aikido and (as ever) reading bits and pieces of The Complete Walker IV.

I love old sci-fi. I'm currently reading Arthur C. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names of God (1967)
Just finished a copy of The Philip K. Dick Reader last week.

Old sci-fi seems so much more imaginative, and Clarke is one of the best. Have you read Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. It's a stand-alone collection of short stories strung together into a coherent whole.

I just finished Slaughterhouse 5 (Schlunkthoff Funf) and Fairwell to Arms. Now I'm in need of a decent sci-fi. I really want to read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before I see the movie, but I can't find a copy.

At the moment I'm reading The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond.

Really an interesting book, takes a look at the theory of human evolution from an obscure branch of chimpanzees. Kind of blunt, everything is from a logical/scientific viewpoint.

Old sci-fi seems so much more imaginative, and Clarke is one of the best. Have you read Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. It's a stand-alone collection of short stories strung together into a coherent whole.
A great book. The best story, is of the astronauts and the martian psychiatrist. "There's only one cure" :eek:

Now I'm in need of a decent sci-fi.

If you haven't read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, pick it up right away. Also, the 'Mars' series by Kim Stanley Robinson; I'd call these two works the best sf of the past ten years or so.

Beekeeping for Dummies

"The Race" by Dave Shields
"The Physics Of Star Trek" by Lawrence Krauss
and
"The Fingerprint Of God" by Hugh Ross

I just finished "Battle Cry Of Freedom" by James McPherson

TO HAVE OR TO HARM: True Stories of Stalkers and Their Victims, by Linden Gross

angels & demons :D

Bill Bryson

A Short History of Almost Everthing

I really want to read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before I see the movie, but I can't find a copy.

I wouldn't recommend that, but it's up to you. I think seeing the movie and then reading the book might lead to less piss-offedness overall. It's been years since I read the book and the movie still irked me in places.

Bill Bryson

A Short History of Almost Everthing

Fascinating stuff...I need to revisit that one for sure.

candyfreak & the world is flat.

the world is flat is too friggin heavy to carry on a plane, so i started candyfreak last weekend - its friggin hilarious.

Just located

Disclosing the Past.... Mary Leakey ..........heading to Tanzania in September, to do Kili and the Olduvai Gorge, Gombe Park and the Serengeti, maybe Zanzibar

Just finished "I Am Legend"-Richard Matheson. Excellent.

I just finished Atlas Shrugged, probably one of the most amazing books i've ever read.
I'll second that and add that it has got to be the most complicated plot ever put to a story!!!

Right now? Just picked up:
Core Perl
Perl Debugged

Was trying to reread "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" before the movie came out....barely got through a 1/3 of the book when movie came out. I "never" seem to have enough time to read anymore.


Other recent ones:
Perl for Win32 systems
Design Patterns
WinForms in C#

Have you figured out what I do for a living yet? :D :rolleyes:

Oh....and for the record, some of my all-time favorite books of all-time are:

Drumroll please.....

Anthem by Ayn Rand
1984 by George Orwell
The Sword of Shannara - by Terry Brooks
The C programming language by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Night by Elie Weisel
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Elric Series by Michael Moorcock
and of course.....
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

Half Slave and Half Free | Bruce Levine

Oh....and for the record, some of my all-time favorite books of all-time are:

Drumroll please.....

Anthem by Ayn Rand
1984 by George Orwell
The Sword of Shannara - by Terry Brooks
The C programming language by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Night by Elie Weisel
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Elric Series by Michael Moorcock
and of course.....
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

1984 is my favorite fiction book of all time.
In a close second is "The Day of the Jackal" by Frederick Forsythe.

Night is also a good one, so is the entire Hitchhiker's series
Jurassic Park is pretty nifty as well

So what am I reading now? Errr....nothing!

1984 is my favorite fiction book of all time.
In a close second is "The Day of the Jackal" by Frederick Forsythe.

Night is also a good one, so is the entire Hitchhiker's series
Jurassic Park is pretty nifty as well

So what am I reading now? Errr....nothing!

Anthem by Ayn Rand is my fave of all-time. It would be a wonderful thing to read that and then 1984 back to back. They both attack the same problem (communism) but from completely differnt angles.

Unfortunately I haven't read the entire Hitchhiker's series; just the first two. One day I'll get back and read the whole shebang!

Jurassic Park? I tried to read it when it first came out (few years before movie) and couldn't even make it through the book. I read about 1/3 of the book and there was still no "story" to speak of going on.

Jurassic Park? I tried to read it when it first came out (few years before movie) and couldn't even make it through the book. I read about 1/3 of the book and there was still no "story" to speak of going on.
My girlfriend own's Anthem, so maybe I'll borrow that from her and read it.

Jurrasic Park I read back in 3rd grade, so I may have just been caught up in Dinosaurs and technobabble, as at the time I really wanted to be a Palientologist.

Still working on finishing Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Soon to be finishing up Swann's Way. Then, I'm taking up Gravity's Rainbow.

My girlfriend own's Anthem, so maybe I'll borrow that from her and read it.
Please do.....you won't regret it. More symbolism than you can shake a stick at. It's a very small book....even a slow reader like me could read it in a few days tops.

If you feel ambitious, I'd recommend reading 1984 by George Orwell right behind it......they would be AWESOME books to read back to back.

american political thought | collection of essays

Must be a short one...

C'mon, somebody had to say it!

i have been super addicted to the library since i paid off my late balance. so good...

just read
sex, drugs and cocoa puffs by chuck klosterman- very funny read

dharma punx by noah levine- liked this book a lot.

sweetness and light: the mysterious history of the honeybee by hattie ellis- i want to go out and start a hive

birdsong by don stap- i love birds.

i just realized that i have been focusing on the birds and the bees lately... hmn...

also just read a bunch of haruki murakami- amazing stuff.

reading
hardcore zen by brad warner- so far he seems a bit angry at things, not sure if i like that or not.

going shopping by ann satterthwaite- havent gotten too far but it is a good read.

on my couch waiting to be read

city dharma by arthur jeon

somewhere in america by mark singer

i need to go to the library again to get some more books. any suggestions?

Diamond Age by Stephenson.
going to give quicksilver another go.

marty

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata.

Vivid imagery and delicate crafting of language.

the cheese monkeys
-chip kidd

Please do.....you won't regret it. More symbolism than you can shake a stick at. It's a very small book....even a slow reader like me could read it in a few days tops.

If you feel ambitious, I'd recommend reading 1984 by George Orwell right behind it......they would be AWESOME books to read back to back.
1984 is my favorite fiction book, actually. I'll take a stab at Anthem.

I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through William Gibson's Idoru. I read Virtual Light a few months ago so I guess it makes sense that I'd read this one next. After I finish it I'll dig up a copy of All Tomorrow's Parties.

Just finished up Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was OK, but too sentimental about 9/11. It should have been a political bombshell, or at least a sneaky dirty bomb, but it was not. Not at all.

Am now finishing up Swann's Way.

Then, I'm taking up Gravity's Rainbow.

Skit,

Gravity's Rainbow is one of my all time favourite books.
Pynchon is so damned good it's scary.

Marty

Skit,

Gravity's Rainbow is one of my all time favourite books.
Pynchon is so damned good it's scary.

Marty

Ain't that the fuggin' truth. I was in complete awe of The Crying of Lot 49.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Ain't that the fuggin' truth. I was in complete awe of The Crying of Lot 49.

I'll let you know how it goes.
Did you read V (five or vee?) another one of pynchons better books.
The crying of Lot 49 was one of the last books I had to
read for college.
another good read
"Been Down so Long looks like up to me" by Richard Farina .
Scary what he predicts (the 60s, college protests),
but then it's satire, my personal favourite genre.

I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through William Gibson's Idoru.

I've gotten about 2/3rds of the way through three times. I just lose interest and set it aside for a year. *shrugs*

LAST: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
NOW: The Meq by Steve Cash
NEXT: Sethra Lavode by Steven Brust
AWAITING: Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

Battleground for the Union | William L. Barney

I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through William Gibson's Idoru. I read Virtual Light a few months ago so I guess it makes sense that I'd read this one next. After I finish it I'll dig up a copy of All Tomorrow's Parties.

I read them in that order as well. I really like Virtual Light, Idoru is decent, All Tomorrow's Parties was too slow for me, I didn't finish it--maybe another time.

Me Talk Pretty One Day | David Sedaris

Me Talk Pretty One Day | David Sedaris

I'm working on Dress Your Family in Cordouroy and Denim. Good stuff. Funny and sad. Sedaris has a unique voice.

I'm also reading a book called Stairway to Heaven: The Spiritual Roots of Rock 'N' Roll. The authors' names escape me at the moment and I'm too lazy to go downstairs to look at the book. I picked it up in a used bookstore. It dates back to the mid-or-late 80s. Fascinating and flawed analysis.

There are some mpegs of Sedaris' essays on NPR.org or gov or whatever it is. The one about his experiences as one of Santa's elves at Macy's is hysterical.

Wrapping up 'The Devil in the White City'.

Did you read V (five or vee?) another one of pynchons better books.
The crying of Lot 49 was one of the last books I had to
read for college.
another good read
"Been Down so Long looks like up to me" by Richard Farina .
Scary what he predicts (the 60s, college protests),
but then it's satire, my personal favourite genre.


I haven't yet. I figure GR should be enough Pynchon for the time being. But thanks, I'll keep it in mind.

For Whom the Bell Tolls -- Papa H.
University Physics 11 ed. Chapter 27

writings on civil disobedience and nonviolence by leo tolstoy
homage to catalonia by george orwell (anouther spanish civil war book gapowermike!)

The Aeneid

']The Aeneid
Please tell me you're in school. You don't seem like a masochist, apart from the whole "fixed gear"-thing. Regardless, I'm proud of you. ;)