ushope777
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4 August 2011 - 12:38am

Read any Good Books, Lately

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Hello Friends!

Since there is a movie thread, I thought I would start a similar thread for books! I LOVE to read, and I am always looking for new titles and authors.

I love to read for my profession, I love poetry, and I love all genres of literature and for all ages. I like to sink my teeth into something "deep," then follow that with a good mystery or other easier book designed for pure entertainment.

I just finished, "Water for Elephants," and I REALLY loved the book. It's way better than the movie, people! In fact, they combined TWO separate characters into ONE for the movie. That was a disappointment, although I am glad I watched the movie.

I have "The Help," on the way, because I want to see the movie AFTER I read the book. I also have my first Jody Piccoult (sp?) book on the way. It is called, "Sing Me Home." My mom has been raving about her books, so I thought I would start with that one. She is known to write about controversial topics, yet presents them in the way where she does not have all the answers, but makes us question. Sounds interesting. My mom read her book about a young man with Autism and she loved it. I ordered that one, too, but the place on Amazon just wrote and said they no longer carry it so they are refunding my money.

Anyway, through the years I have enjoyed reading Patricia Cornwell, Dean Koontz, Anne Tyler, Toni Morrison, Pat Conroy, Robert Anton Wilson and many more! I love the poetry of Robert Bly and the poet doctor, William Carlos Williams. I have too many to list, but I will post as I think of good authors and books.

I look forward to the readers in our group posting more titles and authors for me to check out!

Thanks, everyone!

Cheers!

Hope 🙂

2 CL-Ed, barbadosslim93

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4 August 2011 - 12:48am
#1

Consider me low-brow, but I recently read "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" by Tucker Max and found it to be one of the greatest books I have ever read. Word of warning, it is raunchy as heck, but really funny!

Some other books I recommend are My War: Killing Time in Iraq by Colby Buzzell, and Carter Beats the Devil, which is a tad older but still great.

I am big on non fiction books, and love history. My take on fiction (most of the time) is"Why do we need made up stories when there are so many great true ones?"

Great thread idea!

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4 August 2011 - 7:24pm
#2

Thanks, barbados!

This is why I started this thread. There are so many books and authors out there I have never heard of, and the books you listed are all new to me and some sound really good!

I also agree with you about nonfiction. Truth can truly be stranger than fiction as "they" say, right?

Finally, older books are FINE to list. I have some old favorites I will list eventually. I always love finding that lost title or author that I should have read years ago, but failed to do so.

Thanks for your contribution! 🙂

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5 August 2011 - 12:36am
#3

I don't read as many books as I used to years ago when I caught the train to and from work. I actually enjoyed that because it gave me some quiet time to sit and read or listen to music.

I have been trying to get through the final book in a trilogy I started maybe a couple of years ago now. Its the Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb. She wrote a couple of fantastic trilogies - The Farseer trilogy and the Liveship Traders ones. They are fiction, kind of fantasy with magic and dragons and stuff. But they are so much better than the majority of that kind of thing. Really intelligent writing and interesting sub-plots. This one is not as good though, and its a bit of a slog to get through .. but I've invested my time into the first two so I'm trying to see it through!

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5 August 2011 - 6:35pm
#4

great thread hope, very timely!

we all are so busy nowadays, can't find time for books. The last one I read was 'Casino Gambling For Dummies' by Kevin Blackwood

A good one, indeed.

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5 August 2011 - 6:52pm
#5
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5 August 2011 - 8:12pm
#6

Hmmm....Casino Gambling for Dummies sounds like a fun one. Did you learn some great tips, Sophia? lol!

I am an avid reader, but I rarely read in the day time. My habit, for years, has been to read every single night before bed. Even when a teen, I had the flashlight under the covers after "lights out" time, lol. When I first got my first laptop, I became neglectful of reading for the first time in my life! I started bringing my computer to bed at night! 😢

In January, I made a resolution to leave the computer OUT of the bedroom, except on VERY rare occasions where I want to watch a movie before bed (for a treat, lol!). I have kept my promise and I am back to reading before I turn the light out for the night, and I am much happier to have kept my resolution.

I started The Help last night, but was sleepy, so only got through Chapter One. I real treat for me is to spend any amount of time reading during the day...by the lake or the pool or even on the couch. This book is so good, I may have to sneak in some day time hours to read it. It is amazing for a first novel, including the attention it is receiving and the movie, etc. I heard an interview with the author,. and she received FORTY rejections for the book. I am sure some publishing houses are kicking themselves now. I will report back when I finish.

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5 August 2011 - 8:14pm
#7

I have read that Dummies book as well (have a version on my ebook reader). It is really good and gives you an idea of what to expect when you walk into a casino in addition to basic strategy to play games.

Overall, a great resource and definitely worth the 10-15 bucks you would spend on it at Amazon.

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5 August 2011 - 8:14pm
#8

The trilogy sounds interesting, Ed. We have to MAKE time to read, but I know it is difficult to fit it in, sometimes. I love it so much, though, that I make sure I make time. I missed the year or so that I slacked on my reading.

Funny story: when my Aunt, who was an avid reader and writer of poetry, turned 40, she sat down and cried, because she realized she would never be able to read all the books she wanted to read before she died. She passed away in her early seventies, and I always imagine her sitting in a giant library in heaven, lol.

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12 August 2011 - 6:41pm
#9

Has anyone read any of Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trilogy? Books two and three are best of all. This author makes you THINK for yourself, and this former Playboy writer/editor (?) writes with great humor. This man had great influence over many free thinkers of his time. He was a genius, IMHO. My middle son adored him, and he is the one who told me to read some of his many books. RAW died on my sons birthday a few years back. There are also videos of him speaking. A man of many ideas.

http://rawilson.com/

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14 August 2011 - 12:27pm
#10
hope777 wrote:

Funny story: when my Aunt, who was an avid reader and writer of poetry, turned 40, she sat down and cried, because she realized she would never be able to read all the books she wanted to read before she died. She passed away in her early seventies, and I always imagine her sitting in a giant library in heaven, lol.

That's like considering trying to read every page on the internet! It doesn't matter how many books you read, there will always be more. Its amazing though how just a few centuries ago there were guys like Da Vinci who knew practically everything worth knowing in that day and age. But nowadays even the greatest human mind can't comprehend all the knowledge that is out there.

I forgot to say before most of the reading I get to do these days is children's books! My little girl is almost 5 and we are tying to tech her to read which is equal parts fun and frustrating. But she is getting there and can read some simple sentences, so she'll be good to go when she starts school next year. And our other little fellow (about 15 months) is obsessed with flip the flap books. Doesn't matter what the book is about, he just loves finding the pictures hidden under the flaps.

Wilson wrote the Illimantus books right? I tried reading them many years ago but they were a bit odd for my taste and I never really stuck it through. All the conspiracy theory and paranoia stuff reminded me a little of Philip K Dick though and I enjoy his books a lot.

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14 August 2011 - 5:45pm
#11

I'm happy to report that I'm doing some beach reading these days and that I've been reading a very good book - Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It challenges a lot of the commonly-held notions about what it is that makes people successful. Gladwell points out a lot of interesting facts using a lot of very good data and, in keeping with his style, makes it all very 'readable.'

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gladwell, he wrote The Tipping Point and Blink, two books whose theories I support wholeheartedly. I guess one would refer to him as a kind of 'pop-sociologist.' His books are excellent all in all.

More about Gladwell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Gladwell
More about Outliers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)

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15 August 2011 - 5:58pm
#12

Hi CL-Ed,
In fact, RAW was a huge fan of Phillip K. Dick and James Joyce and others. His writing is so unique, and my son just plows through, but I really have to think about it. I have read a few by Phillip K Dick and enjoyed them. Much of why I like Robert Anton Wilson is that he writes a lot that is "tongue in cheek," and you never really know when he is serious or not. He also references a lot of literature and I never catch it all. Finally, he doesn't ever say this is my reality and it should be yours, too, but he lays a lot out there for us to just think about and create our own realities. I especially enjoy his humor. He is really never to be taken too seriously. 🙂

Ed, I LOVE children's literature and also young adult literature. I miss the days of my three boys and I cuddling on the couch reading them books before bed. My middle son taught himself to read, he "cracked the code" at a very early age, but the other two had to work a little harder at it. I always had tons of library books around and my boys even took part in children's book discussion groups at the library. That is when I started reading young adult literature, so I could read what they were reading and discuss the books with them, too. I still have a big box of their favorite picture books marked, "books to read to my grandchildren," lol. Now, waiting for those grandchildren!

Children's books are not as easy to write as some think, and I have read many a high-quality young adult novel. Treasure these years, but it is SO true that they go WAY TOO FAST! 🙂

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15 August 2011 - 6:00pm
#13

Hello BB84,

Thank you for sharing! This author sounds very interesting, and I am going to check out your link. I am not familiar with this author, and I am always open to learning about new authors.

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17 August 2011 - 7:43pm
#14

OMGosh! "The Help" is causing severe sleep deprivation. My new goal was to try to be sleeping before midnight (I am a night person and hate when I get my days and nights mixed up), but last night that book kept me up until 2a.m.! 😢

I could barely keep my eyes open, yet I kept struggling to read just one more page, lol! That's what I get for always reading before bed. Anyway, wow, this is a great book!

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19 August 2011 - 1:41am
#15

I love those moments you get when you're reading and you nod off then you wake up and think "just one more page" then you nod off again and then you realise that you have to read the same page over and over again because you keep falling asleep.

It happens to me anyway... 😴

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19 August 2011 - 2:24am
#16

Yeah I know that feeling when your brain feels fuzzy as the sun comes up because you just want to finish whichever story you were reading 🙂 Done that too many times after a long reading session.

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23 August 2011 - 12:40am
#17

Lol, yes! I do that, too (just recently, lol). Well, finally finished The Help and it has to be on my top 10 faves of ALL time. I can't wait to see the movie now. I wish I could see it on the big screen. I heard it is a very good portrayal of the book (of course the book is always better). The theatres are packed and there is already Oscar talk related to this film. An amazing story, all the way around, from a first time author who received over forty rejections to her choosing a fairly new and inexperienced director (a friend of hers, from what I have heard) to do the movie.

Some announcers were raving about it on the radio today, saying the audience was mainly women, but there were a few men. She brought her husband, even though he wasn't super interested, and he was truly glad he went, even said he "teared up" a couple of times, so guys, please don't shy away from this book and/or movie, just because the characters are mainly women, because you will miss an incredible story.

Now reading: Sing Me Home by Jody Piccoult

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5 September 2011 - 10:26am
#18

Great thread, and very rare to find in any of the forums nowadays 🙂

I've just read The Picture of Dorian Gray - amazingly involving, frustrating and ......... simply GREAT! Has anyone also read it ? It's by Oscar Wilde. Please share

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9 September 2011 - 10:15am
#19

I've recently read the really good book " My name is Red" by Orhan Pamuk, it was really enjoyable, as was really absorbing and all the days I wanted to read more and more, unstoppable. However, the feeling after finishing it was not as good as I expected. Thus, I highly recommend it

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19 October 2011 - 6:20pm
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I'm reading Godfather and I like it. Actually I know many facts and the storyline from the movie series, but the book is still good.

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20 October 2011 - 12:57am
#21

I am reading the Harry Potter books to my little girl who is quickly becoming obsessed with them. To my surprise they are actually quite good - good enough that if my wife reads her some one night, I have to go back and read the part I missed!

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20 October 2011 - 6:56am
#22

ooh, I'm a big fan of Harry Potter books 😂 actually I love the style of different secrets revealed and the hints and etc. I love the lifestyle and etc. I adore it! but in my opinion, as of almost every potteroman, the movies are not as good 😢

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20 October 2011 - 8:38am
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CL-Ed wrote:

I have to go back an read the part I missed!

I love that part of your comment! I too love Harry, ad the way the books are written. I think the story is not just for children, quite a lot of adults enjoy that too. MAny criticize the book, but muggles are everywhere 😂

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20 October 2011 - 9:17am
#24

yes, there are many things that adults also find attractive 😉 It's very absorbing, when I was first reading Harry Potter books, I can't stop for a second.

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20 October 2011 - 6:08pm
#25

Oh, I love Harry Potter books, but agree with films being less interesting 😢 They have lost the spirit that is in the books. My sister has won tickets for the last Harry Potter movie premiere and when I was watching it, I nearly fell asleep 😢

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21 October 2011 - 4:32am
#26

First rule of books turned into movies: the movie is never as good as the book!

I saw a couple of the Harry Potter movies years ago when they first came out and thought they were just ok - a little bit childish. But now reading the books i can see what the fuss was about, the stories really are quite good. Obviously I understand a lot more about what is going on than my daughter (she is 5) but it is great that we can read the books together and both enjoy them.

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21 October 2011 - 8:20am
#27

Yes, people of different ages can find something interesting for them in those books.

p.s. actually, I think that Gone with the Wind is better movie than the book is, IMHO. maybe it's because that the movie means a lot for me, with childhood memories and me and my mother traditions of watching this movie, but anyway 🙂

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21 October 2011 - 12:59pm
#28

I agree with you Ed about the rule, although I liked to watch movies rather than read when I was a child, I should admit that no movie is better than the book!

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22 October 2011 - 5:42pm
#29

i finished GOdfather and now i`m reading Tofuria ( writer in my country) he has fantastic books . i love chapter 9 about pitagore and in first tome chapter 10 systems

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24 October 2011 - 7:04am
#30

ooh, i think that you would like the chapter about the Functions, it's very interesting