What are you reading?

[JamesSavik]

MARINE- the Life of Chesty Puller

 

by Burke Davis

 

ISBN: 0-553-27182-2

 

Chesty Puller joined the Marines in 1918. He chased bandits in Haiti and Nicaragua (horse-thieves and child-rapists that would later become the legendary Sandinistas under Commie-stodge Ortega).

 

He fought all the way through WWII in the Pacific from Guadalcanal, the Palaus and Cape Gloucester. In Korea he was at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir.

 

Puller was one of the "Old Breed" Marine officers that knew how to fight and win. He had little patience with officer/politicians.

 

He made quite a lot of history. He was at the Battle of Edison's Ridge on Guadalcanal which turned the tide and of particular interest is his work in Korea and afterwards.

 

To this day, he's the only man that has ever won five Navy Crosses.

[BlueSoxSWJ]

I'm reading the Honor Harrington series by David Weber (the first book, On Basilisk Station, is available online in the Baen Free Library). He's a conservative, which is often a red flag for me (Orson Scott Card had some great books, but his recent work has deteriorated into outright preaching his religious worldview), but he doesn't get preachy, and if you watch interviews with him online, he's not a Palin/Beck/Hannity type antagonistic conservative. I just ordered the next few books in the series, so I'll be reading him for a while.

[Daisy]

Wars, Guns and Votes. Democracy in dangerous places. By Paul Collier.

When I can actually be bothered.

[Former Member]

The Hellbound Heart - Clive Barker.

 

It is the story of a man named Frank who, tired and bored with conventional existence, seeks other means through which to fulfill his desires. Frank has lived a strange life full of colorful characters and shady dealings, and having tasted nearly every form of carnal pleasure as well as savoring the adrenaline packed moments afforded from a life at odds with law enforcement, he turns to the occult to satisfy his desires. He gains a tool to this end: a storied puzzle box.

 

Summary from - Enlightenment Festival Website.

[Y_B]

The Bob Loblaw Law Blog

 

(betcha can't say that 5 times fast)

[JensenC]

Fallen by Lauren Kate

 

Some angels are destined to fall

 

Re reading the stand by stephen King too

[Johnathan Colourfield]

Regeneration By Pat Barker

 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

 

Barry Trotter 1 lol

 

 

[TetRefine]

Acting Straight By Robin Reardon

 

Its about a gay teen who gets sent to "Straight Camp" after he tells his overzealous Evangelical parents he is gay. Its disturbing to know that this kind of stuff actually happens to thousands of these poor kids every year.

[Arpeggio]

The Book Thief

 

very very good ^^

[JamesSavik]

Next on my Pile:

 

Anthem by Ayn Rand

 

ISBN: 0-452-28635-2

 

 

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

 

by William Manchester

 

ISBN: 0-316-02474-0

[JamieD]

I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, its really good

[Cheyenne]

Betrayed-P.C Cast and Kirsten Cast

 

and one of my friends gave me the link for the Lost Boys Book <3 <3

 

This Lullabye-Sarah Dessen

 

Lock and Key-Sarah Dessen

 

And I think that's all! :-)

[Y_B]

Next on my Pile:

 

Anthem by Ayn Rand

 

ISBN: 0-452-28635-2

 

You read Ayn Rand?

Have you read Atlas Shrugged?

Edited January 20, 2010 by Yang Bang

[JamesSavik]

You read Ayn Rand?

Have you read Atlas Shrugged?

 

Yes. I've also read the Fountainhead and am now reading some of her less well known works.

[Prince Duchess]

Im currently just started reading The Lovely Bones because I like to read the book before I go see the movies.

[glomph]

Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis by Eric Myers

 

I've just started reading it, but I bet it turns out to be the best biography of an author who had three books on the NY Times best seller list, one of which was made into two hit broadway plays, one hit movie, and one flop, and who then became Ray Croc's butler.

[thatboyChase]

i'm not reading anythign, i haven't read anything good in a while. i think i last ended with perks of being a wallflower, so anything amazing like that

 

i like lonely characters i want some good titles you hear

[Jack Frost]

I just finished this last night.

 

Le dernier homme qui parlait catalan

-Carles Casajuana

 

It means "The Last Man who Spoke Catalan". There is no English version yet as it's rather new (published originally in Catalan last year). Basically, it's about two writers living in an almost empty run-down apartment building in central Barcelona (both were being pressured to sell the apartment to the owner so the latter could resell the whole building at a profit due to rising estate prices). One of which writes in Castellan (Spanish spoken in Spain) and other writes in Catalan (native language of Barcelona and several surrounding regions in Spain and France) and both defend with passion their choice of language in books (one argument, Castellan is spoken by hundreds of millions whereas Catalan only had about seven-eight millions). It's a mixture of friendships, rivalries, love (both tried to compete for the girl, but failed as at the end she got sick of writers who put books before everything; not necessarily a flaw), linguistic and cultural philosophies, and a hint of nationalist ideologies. Also the Catalan writer speaks in details about Catalan on verge of extinction later this century due to various, sometimes imagined, reasons (centuries of oppression and subornation from the late 18th century until the end of the Franco regime in the 1970s) in goal of alerting readers to take more interest in and appreciate centuries of rich history of Catalan literary works. All to avoid Castellan from taking too much foothold in Catalan culture (literature, events, books, films, etc.). It is exaggerated because Catalan, unlike other European minority languages, is getting stronger and recovering from decades of Castellan-based nationalist dictatorships in the 20th century, but the author, from a narrative point of view, wanted to put the readers in another prescriptive of what could've happened to Catalan if the language hadn't gotten such strong support from the Catalan government now. Hence the title, the last man was a 99 year old villager in the Pyrenees and a professor from Boston, not believing that the language has completely died out, found him and interviewed him for months before the last speaker, and the language as well, died.

 

 

 

Now I'm moving on to...

 

Vers l'est

-Mathieu Handfield

 

"Towards to the East". I haven't started yet, but the back says (literal translation): "Paul spat out blood that came back up out of his mouth and let himself slide down to the ground. The two others took him by shoulders and put him on the bench. Hauteville slid a hoodie under his head to make a pillow out of it.

- He's going to get sicker and sicker, Normandin. We gotta get moving.

- It could've been quicker if we had known where we were going.

- No, it could've not been quicker. It would just be less scary. Drive, it's your turn and I'll deal with him."

Edited January 21, 2010 by Jack Frost

[Wynter]

I just finished 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy, which you've probably heard of by now if you haven't been living in a hole

 

It's a very different take on the whole apocalypse story. It's beautifully written and very haunting. Frankly, I had to stop reading for a while part way through because it was depressing me. It's incredibly sad but well worth the perseverance.

 

"The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed all civilization and, apparently, almost all life on earth. The novel was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006."

 

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road

 

I also highly recommend 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. It's a kind of dark modern fantasy with a good dose of humour. If you don't know Gaiman, slap yourself, and then go find a book store. He's brilliant.

 

"American Gods is a Hugo and Nebula Award-winning[1] novel by Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious and taciturn protagonist, Shadow."

Wikipedia

[JamesSavik]

The Android's Dream

 

By John Scalzi

 

ISBN: 978-0-7653-4828-9

 

Rarely have I found a book to be as funny. In fact, I laughed my ass off at the novel method of "murder" used to set up the plot.

[Phantom]

Currently:

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

 

I read this in school what seems like ages ago, but recently stumbled upon it again. I forgot how good it was and well, now can't seem to put it down

 

Here's the Wikipedia entry for it:

My Side of the Mountain

 

 

Next Book:

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

 

I heard a lot about this and it seems that it's a very intresting take on the subject of Electromagnetic Pulses and how they can affect not only the American way of living, but how it can affect a country as a whole.

 

The Wikipedia entry for it:

One Second After

 

 

and I guess I should mention that I'm also reading a book for school as well, it's kinda a mix between required reading and personal reading (what can I say, I'm a dork like that )

 

MCSA/MCSE: Windows Server 2003 Network Security Administration Study Guide by Russ Kaufmann and Bill English

 

WARNING: May contain technobable and more information about computers then you ever want to know

 

The Amazon entry for it:

MCSA/MCSE: Windows Server 2003 Network Security Administration Study Guide

 

 

 

 

Eric

[John Doe]

Fallen by Lauren Kate

 

Some angels are destined to fall

 

 

Oh you have to tell me how that book is. I want to read that book but am having reservations about it for soem reason. You should leave a comment on my profile.

 

I just finished 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy, which you've probably heard of by now if you haven't been living in a hole

 

It's a very different take on the whole apocalypse story. It's beautifully written and very haunting.Wikipedia

 

 

I also highly recommend 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. It's a kind of dark modern fantasy with a good dose of humour. If you don't know Gaiman, slap yourself, and then go find a book store. He's brilliant.

 

 

Both are excellant recommendations. The Road is written with elegance. Neil Gaiman is a great author. I love his quirky novels.

 

 

I am reading:

 

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley (a historical novel)

 

First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher (fantasy novel based on ancient roman era)

 

On my read list:

 

The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfield

 

The Maze Runners by James Dashner

[JamesSavik]

Plague of the Dead 978-1-4391-7673-3

 

Thunder and Ashes 978-1-934861-01-1

 

 

The Morningstar Virus Series by Z.A. Recht is a good zombie apocalypse yarn. It is still being written but these two titles are available now. It combines elements of horror and action adventure for a fast moving story. Best of the emerging "Zombie Apocalypse" genre.

[Tomas]

I've started re-reading Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga and will likely continue on through the rest of the series of books that take place on the world of Medkemia. That should keep me busy until the next book in the Demonwar Saga is out.

 

I thought about re-reading Atlas Shrugged, especially with the way things are going in the US these days, but decided that I was more in the mood for Feist. Wonder if a John Galt will appear and save the country.