Book Recommendations
by Ok, I'll admit it. I'm not much of a book reader these days. I used to enjoy it when I had to read for all my high school and college classes, but now that I'm so busy, I never make the time to read just for fun.
I'd like to change that. I feel, however, that I am VERY "out of the loop" on what books are good lately.
We're leaving for Phoenix in 3 days, and I figured that this vacation (and the 4 hour plane ride out there) would be a good excuse to pick up the hobby of reading for fun once again.
So, can anyone recommend some good reads? I'm not terribly picky, except that I will mention that "slow reads" bore me to tears, and I won't last long on those.
AI Summary
59 Comments
the best american nonrequired reading 2007. edited by dave eggers.
just a random collection of funny and great journalism from the last year that students collected. including a collecting of the best horse names whose owners don't thingk they'll win. including "daddy drinks because i'm slow, god please run faster" and others. also includes one of the most hysterical things i've ever read. a high school commencement speak given by conan o'brien.his advice to not grow a goatee b/c its just a beard with low self esteem. don't sign yearbooks keep in touch. he signed. keep squashing those alligator heads senor cinnamon pants to ensure that they kept in touch. good read.
I'm going away next week for three weeks, and I desperately need some new authors. Anybody read anything worth recommending?
i never said anything.
Not sure what the original rating for the movie was but, I saw some of it on network tv, it creeped me out...I prolly should check the book out so I can make sense of the original plot.
I recommend you don't read and drive at the same time
Don't worry....I only drive and take my Vicodin at the same time. No reading here!! :)
haha the neweste rolling stone has been talking about how in mexico right across the border there are towns that are totally just there for prescriptions.
Ive just finished up Disclosure from Michael Crichton. Pretty good book, i think funky mentioned that it dated it self with the technology mentioned, but i still thought it was a good read. About sexual harresment in the workplace, but this time its a man that was setup. I liked the story, wasnt boring or slow reading ever. Only thing was the language he uses, but other than that..
other than that...what?! Finish your thought, sounds like someone knocked you off as you were typing this!
why would you say th
hehehehe "I don't know! It says ARRRRGH!"
so i just started "a picture of dorian gray" by oscar wilde. is this actually about the myth of dorian gray because i was unaware of this story and i am reading the book to find out more about it. anybody else read it?
I tried reading it but I didn't get very far. That's the 2nd time I ever really couldn't finish a book. I thought it was awful.
yeah i didn't like it very much either. very slow going, dark, and kinda boring. i can give you the short version if you'd like. then you'll know the 'myth' and won't have to waste your time
i feel the same way. i just can't get into it. i put it aside. started a few other books. maybe next snowstrom
I read this in English class in I think 11th grade? I don't really remember that much of it ... I think I enjoyed it though
Just finished "All Families Are Psychotic" by Douglas Coupland. It was about a family going through a lot of turmoil, and it jumps around a bit, but it's easy to follow. I'm really beginning to enjoy his books. I just started "Microserfs" by the same author, which is about a bunch of employees who work for Microsoft who realize they have no lives.....I'll keep you updated.
There's this book called Lukas
it just had this amazing pull, I didn't want to lput it down but...it just wasn't what I was expecting in the end.
"Shampoo Planet" by Douglas Coupland. Very good. Not about one thing in particular, just more or less follows a brief period of time in the life of the main character. Interesting, nonetheless.
i'm finshing up the 3 musketeers. i loved the movie, so i ead thed book and was not dissapointed. i like the way the author writes and all the other little stories that go in the book that would make the movie too long. reccomendation!
if you liked that book, count of monte cristo was fantastic, though i didn't like 'man in the iron mask' much-it's totally not what you think, but if you read it, read it after all the other books.
so i just finished count of monte cristo. good but i think i like 3 musketeers better. i just didn't like the way the counte ended. it really was good and all. people got what they deserved, the edmond is the man!!! not that great though.
Whoah! Why didn't you tell me yesterday that you finished reading it? We could have spoken about it at dinner.
Did you really like 3 Musketeers better? Hmm..perhaps I shall have to read that for myself now and see.
yeah definitely a big Boooo on the ending, but i thought the rest was so well written and revenge so perfectly exacted.
the ending isn't the same as the movie ending? oh wait i don't rmember the movie ending anyway.. hmm.
don't want to give anything away for anyone who hasn't read it. but most of the movie is different from the book.
The guy who wrote the movie screen play obviously only read the first few chapters of the book. Once he busts out of prison it's like he just threw the book down and wrote his own story.
hahaha oh my goodness, i thought the same exact thing. either that or he was like 'this book is so good i need to turn it into a completely asinine hollywood spectacle that has nothing to do with the actual story.' b/c that is what hollywood ususally does to good literature.
wow.. interesting. Now i want to read it. a lot.
So, I read 2 books while on vacation, both borrowed from my husband. The first was "Girlfriend in a Coma" byt Douglas Coupland.....LOVED it. He's a great writer, very similar in style to Douglas Adams. Good book, and funny too.
The second was "Vertical Run," by Joseph R. Garber. Very much an "action" book. It was actually supposed to have been made into a movie a while ago...not sure about that. Anyways, both books were good starters for me, to see if I still enjoyed reading as much as I used to....and I do. :)
The Phantom Tollbooth!
the phantom tollbooth rocks!!! i read that aloud to my lil-est sis.
hahah i remember this book and i remember loving it. my lil sisters always ask me for book reccommendations but i never remember them. i'll have to remind her of this.
i really used to love that book. i think i read it every summer in elementary school. that is the years i knew how to read.
how about some "brit lit"?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
or for something more frivolous:
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Rebecca Bloomwood just hit rock bottom. But she's never looked better....
Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it -- not any of it.
Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank -- letters with large red sums she can't bear to read -- and they're getting ever harder to ignore.
She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something....
Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life -- and the lives of those around her -- forever.
Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times -- and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood's hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her "confessions" are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.
I started Curious Incident yesterday and really did not appreciate it at all.
In what way?
I just wasn't enraptured by it. It just kind of annoyed me, and not because of the way it's written. I don't know, it just wasn't entertaining for me.
interesting. you were the first person from bookclub to say they didn't like it right away.
Really? Hmm..like, I dislike it so much I may not finish it which is unusual for me because I hate leaving stories un-done.
I read this book in like, 3 days; I couldn't put it down.
It's a love story, about a college guy who falls in love with this girl (Claire Marvel), but she's got problems and doesn't want to be with him, then she marries one of their professors, they have an affair... it's really good. It's not scandalous, or anything, it's about how in love with her he is. Very highly recommended.
Hmmmm....I may have to check this one out. :)
Ella Minnow Pea
Just finished reading it. Loved it.
sounds like a little kid saying the alphabet. "l m n o p". (btw, my sister used to come to this part and say "l o l o p".
Hahaha...Tyler STILL says "m n m op"....too cute.
it's supposed to =)
What's it about? This sounds cute.
This is about an island off the coast of SC where the live their life by the alphabet. The famous sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" was written by a man that they have a statue to along with the sentence tiled along the base. They reject technological advances and are more or less independent of the US. One day when the tiles begin to fall down, the council decides to ban each letter as it falls. If a person is caught saying or writing a banned letter, they suffer the consequences...
It's a quick, fun read.
MY JOURNAL - THAI PHAM : COMEDY GOLD / SAD PANDA
Send it to me by Thursday. Thanks. :)
I think guys would like the first 2 more than girls, but here's what I've got:
Ender's Game -amazing story of a boy
Halo - Fall of Reach -adventure
Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Universe -funny
Hitch Hiker's Guide was the most recent one I finished.......about a year ago. That's why I'm desperate for help, hahhaaha. :)
you guys talked about it so much i just had to read it. finished it in a couple of days it was so good. so absurdly funny
I'm glad you liked it!