Can anyone recommend a good book?

Anything by Dan Brown

PostSecret : Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives

All poetry by Wislawa Szymborska and/or Wallace Stevens

 

The real question is, is whether the kite book is "pretentiously correct", or something someone genuinely wants to read... :lol:

...totally analogous to "Bush-Bashing"... h34r:

 

I read a lot. Try to keep up with the popular press, researching, reading in an effort to keep informed.

Motherless Brooklyn. Good writing - great characters, pacing, dialogue that moves the plot along. Recommended if you like mysteries.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Pultzer prize winning story about Gettysburg.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Powerful writing about being a US soldier in Vietnam. The chapter titles are poetry:
Love. Spin. On the Rainy River. Enemies. Friends. How to Tell a True War Story. The Dentist. Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong. Stockings. Church. The Man I Killed. Ambush. Style. Speaking of Courage...The Lives of the Dead.

Diamond's books are fascinating: Guns, Germs and Steel; Collapse. Haven't read his latest yet.

Blowback - the Costs and Consequences of American Empire. By Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute and prof. emeritus at UC San Diego.

Write Away by Elizabeth George. The writer's life.

Re-reading CS Lewis' Narnia chronicles. They are as enchanting as I remember.

Best American Short Stories (published annually). Nice collections, worth keeping on the shelf and going back to.

State of the World. Also published annually. Worldwatch Institute's yearly report on the economies, population trends, environment, and other pulse points, of multi-national areas of the world.

 

One that should be required reading by anyone who lives on planet Earth A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold



Two great sci-fi books The Sheep Look Up and The Stone That Never Came Down, both by John Bruner, very obscure but very good.



Of course we can't forget 1984 or Animal Farm. By the way, does anyone know why 1984 was chosen as the title? On the same note, what is Orwell's real name?

 

Anything Bill Bryson writes. He is, bar none, the #1 sarcastic humor writer. All his travel books are great. We even have some on CD for long road trips and it's just funny stuff...plus ya learn about the places he visits. Very entertaining reads and listens. My favorite is the Appallachian (sp?) trail one that he and a friend walked. "A Walk in the Woods" is the title I think.

 

Loved Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

David Sedaris is another funny author (Me Talk Pretty One Day, Barrel Fever, Naked, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denin). Douglas Adams, already mentioned on this thread, is always good for a laugh. Don't forget Calvin and Hobbs cartoons!

 

I'll wager you'll like The Devil in the White City. Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/060960844...glance&n=283155

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(floydenheimer @ Apr 4 2006, 12:06 AM) [snapback]234563[/snapback]</div>

I love the book and Kaufman's filming of this masterpiece.

Certainly in the pantheon of greatest literary works, thanks for mentioning as it is a fantastic read!

 

"Shadows in the Sun" by Wade Davis

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767904028

"If there is one lesson I have drawn from my travels, it is that cultural and biological diversity are far more than the foundation of stability; they are an article of faith, a fundamental truth that indicates the way things are supposed to be.... There is a fire burning over the Earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills, and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame and reinventing the poetry of diversity is the most important challenge of our times."

also "One River" and "The Serpent and the Rainbow" of his also recommended.

 

Consolidate all the leftist political posts on this site into book form, and you'll have a highly entertaining read...

...be sure to include the flame wars though... h34r:


Edit:

I think Spunky should write a book.

Title: "Putting the Spunk Back Into the E : A Collection of Androgenous Essays, A View from the Phlebotomist of Life"


h34r: