Book Recommendations

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by renton007:
  Read Survivor first, I think you get more enjoyment from it than Lullaby. I started Lullaby and put it down about 35 pages into it. Avoid Diary as well.  

I diagree that survivor is better than lullaby, but both Diary and Snuff are useless.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by terry:
  The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan was very good.

this looks right up my alley, thanks

[taperkat]

Anything by David Sedaris for fiction is great. If you like Mystery, you have to read Nelson Demille (The General's Daughter) - his writing is just bloody brilliant.
 
 of course, i'm a huge poetry freak, so if you haven't ever read anything by Bukowski, Kerouac, or Ginsberg, just do it. Even if you don't like it. It'll make you think.
 
 as for non fiction, everyone should check out Patrick K. O'Donnell. I had the pleasure of meeting him when I was working at Borders, and he's as nice of a guy in person as his writing would suppose.
 
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Patrick%20K.%20O%27Donnell
 
 I'd personally suggest "We Were One" and "Operations Spies..".

[K8teebug]

Devil in the White City is great.  Other recommendations for non-fiction (Forgive me if I can't remember all the author's names)
 
 King Leopold's Ghost - crazy story
 Fast Food Nation and Black Market - I enjoyed both of these.  Black Market isn't as good, but the chapter on porn is hilarious.
 A Short History of Almost Everything - Bill Bryson
 Encounters with the Archdruid - John McPhee (does get a little political about environmentalism, but is all in context of the discussion between the men on the hikes)
 Desert Solitare - Edward Abbey (about his time at Arches National Park)
 The Secret Life of Lobsters - interesting read.
 Rats - About a guy who followed a colony of rats for 10 years in NYC.  Interesting, if you can stomach it.
 
 Fiction:
 
 I have been enjoying the Scott Pilgrim series, so I'll second that.
 
 I really like the Fables series.
 
 Also a big X-Men and Watchmen fan.
 
 I know you didn't say anything about novels, but I've just recently read these and found them to be enjoyable:
 
 The History of Love (my husband says this is a "chick" book, but it's extremely well written.  The Author's husband wrote Everything is Illuminated)
 
 The Secret History - kind of on the thriller aspect of books, but a good read
 
 Breakfast of Champions - for some reason, it's taken me 30 years to get around to reading Vonnegut.  I'm almost finished and love this book.
 
 DON'T recommend - any of those stupid ass vampire books by Stephanie Meyer.  I found the first one to be completely infantile and horrible.
 
 Joe College by Tom Perotta.
 
 Anyone else here on Goodreads?

[K8teebug]

Oh, and The Road is one of the best books I've read in the past 10 years.  Don't skip out on it just because it was an Oprah book.

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by K8teebug:
  Oh, and The Road is one of the best books I've read in the past 10 years.  Don't skip out on it just because it was an Oprah book.

It was an oprah book? I find it hard to imagine her audience reading certain parts.

[ggw]

Originally posted by K8teebug:
 The Secret History - kind of on the thriller aspect of books, but a good read
 

I liked Calamity Physics, which is allegedly a total rip-off of Secret History.
 
 

Originally posted by K8teebug:
 
 DON'T recommend...
 
 Joe College by Tom Perotta.
 

I thought Perotta's Bad Haircut was great.  But then again, I hold a deep affinity for New Jersey.

[K8teebug]

I read Little Children and loved it.  But, this one is just not very good.  Perhaps his books are hit or miss?

[K8teebug]

Yeah, The Road was an Oprah Book.  Apparently, it caused some controversy, because Cormac McCarthy went on the show, and he rarely gives interviews.  
 
 http://www.oprah.com/search.jsp?query=Cormac+McCarthy

[PigIron]

"Guests of the Ayatollah" by M. Bowden is one of the best reads that have come out in the past few years.  Its now in paperback.  Its about the 1979 Iranian Hostage affair.  
 
 Besides that, I'm currently reading "Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader", about the creepy North Korean Kim dynasty.  Pretty good look at the totalitarian state and the weird people that run things there.
 
 The new Sedaris book is about as funny as the others he's written.  However that might not be the type of thing you are looking for.  I don't read much fiction at all...I teach history.  
 
 Good luck.

[renton007]

I'm reading God Save the Fan now. It's pretty awesome. Please Kill Me or Touching from a Distance are next on my list.

[vansmack]

<img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WA9LBW-wL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 September 8 release date

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WA9LBW-wL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 September 8 release date

i can't wait to cringe at part of it and nod in agreement at part of it.

[ratioci nation]

here is a shot from the movie of The Road, didnt know they were making one, guess it figures
 
   <img src="http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/08/07/road-mortensen.jpg" alt=" - " />

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by pdx pollard:
  here is a shot from the movie of The Road, didnt know they were making one, guess it figures
 

you didn't???  charlize theron is playing the mother. . .yeah. . .it's being released 5 days after harry potter and the half blood prince. . .
 
 ridley scott is apparently hording the rights to blood meridian.
 
 everyone wants to adapt a cormac mccarthy novel...too bad the studios ruined "all the pretty horses" already. . .