Read any Good Books Lately?

[Skinsfan1311]

I wouldn't recommend it if you don't want to be a little grossed out about what you've been eating all this time...

Which is exactly why I won't read it....

 

[Jugband McGillicuddy]

Just finished Tell No One by Harlan Coben. I'm not much of a reader, but this was an absolutely phenomenal book. If you like intense suspense, ridiculously wild plot twists, and not truly understanding what's going on until the author is damned good and ready to tell you, I HIGHLY recommend it.

I just started Medusa by Clive Cussler. It's starting a little slow, but I have enough respect for him to know to stick with it.

Once I finish that, I really want to get a good biography of Thomas Jefferson. If anyone can recommend one, I'd really appreciate it. I guess I'm becoming a reader after all!

 

[Boone]

Right now, I'm reading Bob Leckie's 'Helmet for my Pillow' - which inspired 'The Pacific' series. It was a Father's Day gift from my kids. Takes you on Leckie's journey from Parris Island to some of the most brutal fighting in the island hopping campaign. Enjoying it a lot so far.

 

[Jugband McGillicuddy]

Right now, I'm reading Bob Leckie's 'Helmet for my Pillow' - which inspired 'The Pacific' series. It was a Father's Day gift from my kids. Takes you on Leckie's journey from Parris Island to some of the most brutal fighting in the island hopping campaign. Enjoying it a lot so far.

Good kids.

 

[fansince62]

1) two years old...but Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism (NYT #1 best seller) offers a fascinating historical look into the progenitors of modern progressivism as practiced by Woodrow Wilson and FDR...among others. It's also fun to sport the book on periodic flights to Boston and California........

2) putting aside some of his political/religious philosophies...Tom Bethell's book Questioning Einstein is a great and condensed read that turns accepted dogma on its head by arguing that Special Relativity Theory is suspect and unneeded.....

3) various hacking books....just in case Boone and Om really, really, really tick me off.....JUST KIDDING.

 

[fansince62]

Once I finish that, I really want to get a good biography of Thomas Jefferson. If anyone can recommend one, I'd really appreciate it. I guess I'm becoming a reader after all!

stand by on this one....my mother is reading same and I'll get the title for you.

 

[Yusuf06]

Most recently:
Foxy: My Life in Three Acts I was surprised at how active she's been in a variety of areas. Prior to reading the book, I only knew her as "the old school chick from the blacksploitation movies".

In the last six months or year...
Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating A little preachy but lots of good info about what's in our food and how to improve one's diet without too much pain.
Beware of God: Stories Hi-freaking-LARIOUS!!
Ghost World
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Perhaps the best book I've read in the last decade
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

On deck:
I Just ordered Not That Kind of Girl: A Memoir, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, & American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America and can't wait to read/listen to them.

After that...
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story

FYI, I like my Kindle a lot too but rarely buy books that way. Why not? Well, I'm a cheapskate. Why would I spend $10 on a Kindle book when I can usually get the same book used on Amazon at about half the cost?

 

[Yusuf06]

I guess I'm becoming a reader after all!

You might want to give audio books a try. They're great for filling the commute with something more worthwhile than the latest lousy music/shockjock fare.

 

[Yusuf06]

Lastly, read the Lovely Bones:
http://www.amazon.com/Lovely-Bones-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269207352&sr=1-1

Interesting book, kind of a psychological study, but didn't go deep enough for me.

I read this a few years ago and as you say, it didn't really go deep enough. It was a very readable and captivating story but after all was said and done, it was just an incredibly sad, almost depressing experience...not much more there than that. Then again, perhaps that was the author's point, i.e. that such tragedies have no real meaning and result in nothing but sadness for all touched by them.

 

[Jugband McGillicuddy]

You might want to give audio books a try. They're great for filling the commute with something more worthwhile than the latest lousy music/shockjock fare.

You're absolutely right, Yusuf. Thanks. But fortunately, my 3-hour-each-way commute is a thing of the past. UNfortunately, so is the job that went along with it.

 

[Boone]

Right now, I'm reading Bob Leckie's 'Helmet for my Pillow' - which inspired 'The Pacific' series. It was a Father's Day gift from my kids. Takes you on Leckie's journey from Parris Island to some of the most brutal fighting in the island hopping campaign. Enjoying it a lot so far.

Yeah. I just quoted myself

Finished this up yesterday. Very good book - gives you a real sense of what these guys went through as they sloshed and fought their way across the Pacific. Highly recommend it if you've never read it.

 

[fansince62]

Yeah. I just quoted myself

Finished this up yesterday. Very good book - gives you a real sense of what these guys went through as they sloshed and fought their way across the Pacific. Highly recommend it if you've never read it.

Boone....I've been to Iwo Jima. Every Marine in creation has left a pair of tags atop Mt Suribachi

 

[Boone]

My buddy participated in a full-blown Marine Division reenactment of the assault on Iwo...he said even to this day, you run your hands through a random patch of sand, you'll come up with brass... Leckie never made it to Iwo...biggest battles he participated in were on Guadalcanal and Pelelieu (which was apparently as close to hell as the living could get). The Marines of WWII were some of the toughest SOBs in history.

 

[fansince62]

i once had to retrieve a jet that had to "bingo" to the beach and while we were there they said they had found something they thought was live and had to rope everything off. they said it wasnt uncommon either. all i know is that while i was there i was on my best behavior and really, REALLY aware of what went on.

kind of like when i manned the rails riding in to pearl harbor. if that doesnt move you then you are not human.

west coaster...eh? what CVW/CVN at that time?

I was there for FCLPs due to local opposition in Tokyo (Atsugi) to night FCLPs. on initial fly-by I could see a ton of sharks in the agua. next flight I briefed no way in hell we were going to ditch at sea. if we had to punch out it was going to be over that speck of rock in a vast ocean. wherever the plane augered in was going to be handled by providence...I was going to hit terra firma!

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I broke down a little visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial - I can't imagine going in as a US Navy member. Such a powerful sight, and you can almost feel the presence of all the sailors beneath you.

 

[Goaldeje]

For an alternative view on the War on Terror, I suggest reading "3 Cups of Tea." The US would be a better place if that was required reading.

Wow. That is an amazing story. My wife is in education, teaching one of the poorest school systems in VA, and I am having her read this as well. Immediately, she noticed the difference that in Pakistan, the parents (and thus the kids) want education. In America, not always the case.

Anyway, excellent read Lanky, thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Wow. That is an amazing story. My wife is in education, teaching one of the poorest school systems in VA, and I am having her read this as well. Immediately, she noticed the difference that in Pakistan, the parents (and thus the kids) want education. In America, not always the case.

Anyway, excellent read Lanky, thanks for the recommendation!

Glad you liked it!

Its sad that a lot of people are too close-minded to even read it.

 

[Goaldeje]

Glad you liked it!

Its sad that a lot of people are too close-minded to even read it.

Learned a lot from it, actually. Remarkable story, and very eye-opening, if one is open enough to read it.

 

[Elephant]

Just began reading The Official LSAT Super Prep: The Champion of LSAT Preparation. This book is terrible! I hate it.

Oh man, what am I thinking? I will be 42 when I start Law School next fall.

 

[Sisyphus]

Just finished Falling Down by Nick Hornby. A very funny novel about four people who meet when they decide to commit suicide on New Year's Eve.