so I've heard from others!! Have to put it on my reading list. Tx

Darn you for the spoiler! ;)

I didn't want to be the spoiler.

I'm glad to hear you've read it. It's easily the most thought-provoking book I've read in many years, perhaps because in six years I'll qualify. Even non-fiction doesn't stick with me like The Unit.

Whoopsie. I was hoping to delete that post and replace it with this one before anyone replied to it.

Anyway, the premise for The Unit isn't as far-fetched as it may seem. News stories out of Denmark this past year could have been the prologue. The recent national elections in Sweden could also be paving the way.

Being an architect, I really enjoyed The Devil in the White City, too.

I love all of Irving's books, with the possible exception of the couple that were pre-Garp. If you haven't read it, you might try his sort-of memoir, Trying to Save Piggy Sneed. It's really very good.

Many years ago, I read Owen Meany aloud to my wife, complete with what I thought his (Meany's) voice would sound like. I was especially fond of using that voice to repeat ad nauseum the line "Your mother has the best breasts of all the mothers." Several years later, Irving was here in Indy, speaking at a library event, and during the Q&A someone asked him if he could do the voice of Owen Meany. My wife and I just about fell out of our chairs when he made the same exact voice that I did, and used the same exact line to demonstrate it!

Here is a real life website for you. I happen to know a couple of the folks involved in this effort - "Not Dead Yet."

http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/factsheets.html

Can't say that I've read all, or even most, but some of them are among my favorites. Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment are right near the top of my list, though my Dickens of choice is Our Mutual Friend. I loved Heart of Darkness and am constantly amazed that Conrad was writing in something other than his native language. Some people think me odd at times, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that my favorite Faulkner was As I Lay Dying.

:lol::lol:What a great story! A friend of mine works for a publisher and got the book signed for me. He said he's a real nice man.
I also like Nick Hornsby's books, he has an offbeat writing style, too.

CraigB,

English was Conrad's third language. His first was Polish and his second was French. He is an amazingly intelligent and insightful writer whose other novels are among the best in English. A personal favorite is Victory, though critics rank Nostromo as his best. It doesn't matter, everything he wrote is first rate. As for Dickens, you can't go wrong with just about anything, though most readers and critics would agree that his later novels are greater achievements than his earlier ones. David Copperfield is my personal favorite, but each reader has his/her own.

I'm also a Hornby fan, though I haven't read all or even most of his stuff. I was particularly impressed with Fever Pitch, not that it was tremendously profound but it did help me make sense out of a bunch of things that went way beyond the purported topic of the book, and it's also funny and elegantly written, one of the relatively few books that I've found myself coming back to time after time with pleasure.
It's interesting that you like his books -- he has always struck me as a pretty guy-oriented writer, and I doubted that he'd get (or is worthy of) a sympathetic reading on the ladies' side...

Funny is funny. Sometimes it is quite interesting for a woman to hear a man's perspective of things, especially when it is funny. If I didn't appreciate that, it's doubtful that I'd frequent a forum that is predominantly male. I find many posts here amusing--not the vulgar ones, mind you, but some people here are quite witty and insightful.

I believe it was you, Pobble, who gave me a list of Japanese authors, yes?

Yep, message #56 in this thread. I hope that you get a chance to check some of them out...

I enjoyed French Revolutions and The Rider too.

Why not form a proper BF book/DVD club?

A group of us on a more UK-based forum (CycleChat) regularly share cycling books and DVDs. When a book is finished, it is offered to the forum members in a dedicated thread. Names are collected for a few days, then one name is drawn at random. That forum member sends his/her delivery address by PM to the person with the book. I've sent out 2 or 3 books so far, and have had a few sent to me.

I've also passed on cycling tapes and DVDs that I am finished with. One member got a large box of videotapes from me containing 20 years worth of the Classics and Grand Tours. That cost me about £10 in postage ($16) which the recipient paid me by PayPal. Normally though, the sender pays the postage; that's okay - 'What goes around, comes around'.

I really enjoy history. A while back, I saw mention of "From The Cape To Cairo" The First Traverse of Africa from South to North by Ewart S. Grogan and Arthur H. Sharp in the newspaper. I tracked it down and am about 3/4's of the way through. It is an interesting look into the British Empire at the turn of the last century.

Back in 1898 Mr. Grogan, in an effort to impress the disapproving stepfather of his beloved, Gertrude, decided to walk the length of Africa. It will take him 2 ½ years, along the way; he shoots a couple dozen elephants, (and any rhinoceros, hippo, antelope…actually anything & everything with 4 legs that is unlucky to get close enough), has a close encounter with cannibals, is constantly battling bouts of “fever”, says very disparaging things about the Portuguese & Belgium-ese, but admires the orderliness of the Germans. His casual, ingrained racist attitude towards the Africans makes me gasp. On one level, I know that is how things were back in 1898, but to actually read it in ‘real time’ is eye opening.
Ewart Grogan lived until 1967 - I was 7 in '67 - I get a kick out of the idea that he was still alive when I was.

A few of my favorite history books I've read are AJ Langguth's Patriots, Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly and James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom (part of the Oxford U series on American history). I also thought Michael Maclear's The Ten Thousand Day War was one of the best histories of America's involvement in Vietnam.

I don't mean to disrupt this literary discussion, but Craig, I like the new avatar!

Thanks, Miss K. It's a close crop from a shot my friend Lar got of me at the TdC at the Speedway. He was my support crew - he provided conversation during my two fuel (PBJ sandwich) breaks. ;)

I have begun some summer reading and I went on a Florida author kick, so I read Tim Dorsey's "Florida Roadkill," Carl Hiaasen's "Nature Girl," and I'm now reading Edna Buchanan's "Miami, It's Murder." Good stuff.

Lee A Martinez does funny scifi. If you like noir, start with The Automatic Detective.

I just started Nature Girl, my fave Hiassen is Striptease.

Alice in Wonderland... is not for kids. In fact, a lot of it sails right over the head of most adults.
Lewis Carrol pokes fun at the brits at a time when that could land you in jail, and his satire
reminds me of the problems we face at times.

A book for history lovers.... Lords of Finance. Warning, this will leave you feeling.. unsettled.
There are some parallels between La Belle Epoque and our time.
http://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-.../dp/159420182X

Recently read, The Fallen Angel and City of Fear by David Hewson. These are detective procedurals set in Rome. They feature an interesting cast of characters, surprising plot twists, and good writing. Hewson is new to me and worth looking into.

I have the new James Bond book -- Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver to start one of these days.... I've read some of the reviews and it sounds like a good addition to my collection, which ranges from Ian Fleming paperback originals up to the current ones, written by others.

I didn't know they were still doing Bonds. I like the Ian Fleming books when I was a kid but would have blown right by new ones until you mentioned Deaver. I like him so I put a hold on this one at the library. Thanks.

I think there have been more post Fleming books, then there were Fleming books, at this point, some are quite good, some are moderate, haven't seen them all, but haven't seen any that were truly awful, the Ian Fleming Publications has been quite good about picking capable authors, most have been British, although Deaver and Raymond Benson are American.

I second the Tuchman recommendation. Look for her essay collection Practicing History, which is a mix of shorter articles and pieces on her working methods.

I am currently reading this. I have not heard of Abbey before i went to Sedona on a MTB this spring. Good book.

I have recently found another author I can not believe I wasn't exposed to and consequently didn't read when he was active.

Ross Thomas.

This writer is Oh, So much fun.

Talk about writing the best page turner. Just brilliant stuff!

Here's an appreciation written after his death in 2005

So far I've read The Fools in Town Are On Our Side and Briarpatch and Cast a Yellow Shadow and I'll put these works up there with Graham Greene, Raymond Chandler or John LeCarre.

Here's the Wiki, I hope you pick up any of these titles, read and enjoy!