the books we read

[ali]

Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash

now THAT would be an interesting autob to read... not normally into them, but what a life the man lead!!

trainspotting was good, once you got into the way of reading it

[Form91225]

i recently read the kite runner and found it interesting. it, too, would make a great movie. nice character development and interesting insight into afghan life, which, as a whitebread american, i was glad to gain.

one of the best books i have ever read is jon krakauer's "into thin air" about the mt everest disaster that occurred 10 years ago this week...or maybe 11 years ago this week. either way, a riveting story.

krakauer also wrote a fascinating but scathing look at the mormon church and its followers in "under the banner of heaven." the guy is a phenomenal reporter/writer.

currently i am reading "1776" about g. washington. it shames me that i am so out of touch about u.s. history of this era.

another great historic read is stephen ambrose's "undaunted courage" about the lewis and clark expedition. these guys did something truly amazing!

[dragonboy]

i recently read the kite runner and found it interesting. it, too, would make a great movie. nice character development and interesting insight into afghan life, which, as a whitebread american, i was glad to gain.

one of the best books i have ever read is jon krakauer's "into thin air" about the mt everest disaster that occurred 10 years ago this week...or maybe 11 years ago this week. either way, a riveting story.

krakauer also wrote a fascinating but scathing look at the mormon church and its followers in "under the banner of heaven." the guy is a phenomenal reporter/writer.

Thanks Form91225! I've had Kite Runner on my to-buy list for a while now.

The only book I've read by Jon Krakauer was Into The Wild, which was very good.

[FarmerYoda]

to whomever mentinoed kite runner:
i read it last year, being fouteen, and i enjoyed it a lot however i found some parts quite disturbing, i was grossly entranced... but, (this is directed to whomever has read it) did you find that towards the end it got less itneresting and more... well... as if the author had sort of run out of steam? I think it was an overall excellent book, though I DO Think that towards the end he lost it.  SOrt of like he had to finsihs...

I don't know. Agree? Disagree?

[tomEisenbraun]

okay, i read the foreward of Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" today, and half of it with this lump in my throat. i cannot explain what Bradbury does to me except that he stirs my soul. this man is in touch with something very very beautiful about humanity, and he is a genius. i wish i could express what he makes me feel, maybe that's why i want everybody to read him, so that they understand it so i don't have ot use words to express it. he just sets forth this yearning in my soul that has no words and no kind of earthly satiation. it's like, that yearning for life that points to nothing on this earth, and almost serves as proof of God's existence. How could we yearn for something that doesn't exist on this earth? you know...the answer points heaven-ward. it's that kind of feeling. i don't knwo how to explain it at all, but that's what his writing does to me, that's what it fills me up with.

[ali]

wow tom, you've made me want to check this book out now!! sounds like pretty stirring stuff...

[tomEisenbraun]

haha, both "The Martian Chronicles" and "Dandelion wine" have done it for me. I haven't read dandelion wine in a few years, but I just finished the Martian Chronicles, and there's so many places in that book that always just choke me up and grip me. I'd highly suggest checking that one out. I'll post my review (five stars, no doubt) of Dandelion Wine when I finish it in a couple weeks.

[ali]

that's bizarre - some friends of my brother have a band called dandelion wine!!  :)

[tomEisenbraun]

and with good cause. i'd like to hear their music.

also interesting, there's a somewhat popular band called Rocket Summer, which is the name of one of the stories from the Martian Chronicles.

[whothrewthecake]

anything by alice hoffman is sure to stir your imagination.

[primushead]

I rarely read fictional books,  I stick mainly to historical stuff, whatever strikes me at the time.

I love Stephen Ambrose's books.  D-Day and Citizen Soldiers are probably two of the best books about World War II.

I also just finished reading The Secret Lives of U.S. Presidents by Cormac O'Brian.  It really makes me feel better about the current administration...We had plenty of worse presidents than ol' W.  

[marktwain]

Some great books here!

I'll vouch for Kite Runner - I read it a couple of months ago and really liked it.  I liked _Into The Wild_ a lot, too, and I'm a big fan of Bill Bryson.  

Recent reads (all recommended):
-Hell at the Breech - Tom Franklin: gritty Southern fiction
-A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby: would-be suicides accidently meet on a rooftop, and debate whether they should go through with it
-Apex Hides the Hurt - Colson Whitehead:  a consultant is hired to rename a town in North Carolina (but the book is really about race)
Everything is Illuminated - Jonathon Safran Foer: I don't know what to say about this one.  It's just wonderful.

Now I'm working on a thick-ass biography of Ben Franklin.

NExt up:  JOhn Barleycorn (memoirs by Jack London about his alcoholism)

[ali]

just finished:
the highest tide - jim lynch

reading:
The White Spider - Heinrich Harrer (a bit grisly in places, but he has such a great writing style, and definitely knows exactly what he's writing about - the first ascent of the Eiger)
The Beach - Alex Garland

I really enjoyed everything is illuminated - it took me a while to get into it, but he's got such a different writing style. i've also read The History of Love by his wife Nicole Krauss - veeeery similar writing style, but i actually think i enjoyed hers more.

anyone seen the film of everything is illuminated? i've heard its a bit different to the book (minus all the "past" storylines)

[dragonboy]

Yesterday I read George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl at the gym, today I'm going to read Fantastic Mr Fox!
I'm really pushing myself with my reading choices, as you can see  ;)

[FarmerYoda]

just finished:
the highest tide - jim lynch

reading:
The White Spider - Heinrich Harrer (a bit grisly in places, but he has such a great writing style, and definitely knows exactly what he's writing about - the first ascent of the Eiger)
The Beach - Alex Garland

I really enjoyed everything is illuminated - it took me a while to get into it, but he's got such a different writing style. i've also read The History of Love by his wife Nicole Krauss - veeeery similar writing style, but i actually think i enjoyed hers more.

anyone seen the film of everything is illuminated? i've heard its a bit different to the book (minus all the "past" storylines)

i've seriously been trying to get into everything is illuminated for about a half a month... i can't get it at all. i REALLY want to read it, too, and it's unlike me to put a book down so many times....

aljsbelkajsbne,ljaselkjt23ktj62g. when does it start getting... well... good. i heard it's great.

[rob]

After CAPOTE, I really need to read In Cold Blood.

[dragonboy]

After CAPOTE, I really need to read In Cold Blood.

I did it the other way, both the book & the movie are excellent  :)

[ali]

 

i've seriously been trying to get into everything is illuminated for about a half a month... i can't get it at all. i REALLY want to read it, too, and it's unlike me to put a book down so many times....

it did take me a little while to really get into it, especially how the book jumps around between past & present (and how the past story is so weird)

stick with it, it's worth it in the long run!

[EC]

I just started The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  About a 7th into it now.  I'm quite enjoying it.

[MMJ_fanatic]

I´m reading "Angela´s Ashes" by Frank McCourt. Great book. I´ve seen the movie years ago and thought that it was also great!

that movie left me depressed for like a week