Anyone read anything good lately?

[mav]

I just picked up a copy of "Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century" by Thomas E. Woods Jr. I will start reading it tonight. I don't normally read political books since all they do is tend to tick me off, but this one looked pretty good and had some good reviews.

Vince Flynn's new novel is coming out next week. That is definitely on my buy list. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Flynn. He writes action/espionage-type books. If you liked the show "24" and like to read, then I highly recommend Flynn's books.

[Punisher84]

I've got a few novels sitting on the shelf that I need to read. I did just finish Under and Alone by William Queen awhile back. Great book about going undercover with the Mongols motorcycle gang.

[wipfel]

i've gotten on a classic sci-fi kick since i got my kindle. i'm working on the Foundation series at the moment, and they're not too bad. finished Neuromancer and Snow Crash recently...both of which are pretty good as well.

[Guest Grot]

Sci-Fi Favorite: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Has a whole series, Ender's Shadow is also good, the rest kinda go downhill.

[StPatrick]

I've got a few novels sitting on the shelf that I need to read. I did just finish Under and Alone by William Queen awhile back. Great book about going undercover with the Mongols motorcycle gang.

That was a solid airport book - a very fun read...If anyone is interested in the nerdier stuff, here's what's in my queue: "The Scientists" by Gribbin - I'm almost finished with it, and if you're interested in the development of science since the enlightenment as told through the lives of the scientists themselves, I recommend it. "Free to Choose" by Milton and Rose Friedman (almost finished, an easy and informative read), and "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman - easy to access books on the relationship between government and economics, with an emphasis on the individual. "The Road to Serfdom" by Friedrich Hayek - more of the same (being a chemist, I've never had class in economics; seems like a good idea to learn something on the subject). "The Last Chevalier" by Alexandre Dumas - his last novel, only recently discovered. Since I loved the "Musketeer" novels, and even moreso "The Count of Monte Cristo", this is a no-brainer for me to get into at some point. "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie - I just want to see what the fatwa was all about.

Recently read recommendations: for fiction, you can't beat Steven Hunter for a page-turner, nor Robert Ludlum (the stuff he actually wrote, not the trash continued by others after his death). Nonfiction, "House to House" by David Bellavia is an excellent account of one infantryman's experience in the 2nd battle of Fallujah.

[mav]

(being a chemist, I've never had class in economics; seems like a good idea to learn something on the subject).

I'm a chemist as well. I took two courses in economics, Micro and Macro. That was a long time ago, and I can't recall anything I did in the classes. I read three books earlier in the year on economics, Freakanomics, Basic Economics (Thomas Sowell), and Applied Economics (Thomas Sowell). Freakanomics was an interesting read. The two Sowell books were good, but very boring. They weren't quite as boring as Atlas Shrugged, but boring nonetheless.

[wipfel]

Sci-Fi Favorite: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Has a whole series, Ender's Shadow is also good, the rest kinda go downhill.

Ender's Game is one of my all-time favorite books. I agree with you about the downhill part. The latter books, especially the last in the Ender series were disappointments.

[mav]

I am currently halfway through George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Fire and Ice. HBO made a mini-series of the first novel, Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones (TV Series 2011) - IMDb I watched the entire series and loved it. Therefore, I decided to read the books since the books are usually better than the movies.

Although fantasy isn't my normal cup of tea and the books are very long (avg. length ~1000 pages), they have been very enjoyable.

Does anyone do the Kindle thing? I have to admit I am sort of old school in that I still prefer paper.

Anybody else read, or is reading, anything worth mentioning?

[Oh Shoot]

My eclectic list over last few months:

The Coming of Rain - Richard Marius

Broca's Brain, The Dragons of Eden - Carl Sagan

Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Canto for a Gypsy - Martin Cruz Smith

Jurassic Park, The Lost Word, Timeline, Disclosure - Michael Crichton

The Golden Orange - Joseph Wambaugh

few others I can't recall right this second

(currently reading) The Big Sky - A.B. Guthrie

- OS

[Lumber_Jack]

Gideon's War - Howard Gordon.

For those that don't know he was the writer for the TV series 24. Some say it's a bit trite, which may be true but I thought it was a fun read. Very fast, some might even finish in a day or so. I'm a slow reader and finished it over a weekend.

[Rightwinger]

Another Card fan here. Was waiting patiently when I heard they were going to turn Ender's Game into a movie but apparently it's been shelved for the time being. Of late, reading everything John Ringo (Posleen War and Ghosts series) but being a hard core SF fan, Frank Herbert is still my favorite. His son Brian and Kevin Anderson have continued the Dune series pretty well and he has a new one out called Hellhole. Almost the same lines as Dune but with a more modern theme to it. Can't say I'm overly impressed in re-creating a Dune style universe but it keeps me interested. I also grabbed A Brief History of Time by Hawking and Massive to stoke my love for physics but to stupid to study it in school fires.

Oh...and one more call for a classic fav, Starship Troopers by Heinlein. The movie bites but it's one I'll pick up to read if everything else has been read.

[Murgatroy]

I don't read as much as I used too, but I recently picked up a handful of Jerry Ahern's Survivalis novels, I think seven or so of them, and reread them.

I don't have the time to devote like I used to, and I enjoy short books, where I don't have to devote more than a few hours.

[daddyo]

I used to enjoy reading books. As I age, it seems my attention span gets shorter. It's all I can do anymore to even get through a newspaper article.

[10-Ring]

Check out anything by C.J. Box, most everything is outdoor themed fiction. I especially like the Joe Pickett series. Joe Pickett is a somewhat clumsy Wyoming game warden. Always outspoken, always on the edge of getting fired, and always solves the case and comes out a hero. His sidekick Nate Romanowski should have his own series, Nate is a mysterious fellow with some sort of top secret government background, he is eventually portrayed as a fugitive in the series. Nate carries his .454 everywhere. Once after Nate is arrested and gets out of prison he borrows Joe's truck without his permission and returns with a new .454, Joe asked him how he bought a firearm being a felon and he replies "I didn't, you did!" very good series of books, lots of accurate gun references and very good reading I usually blaze through one of his novels in 1 or 2 days.

[Midnight Smoker]

Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer......I've never been into reading other than truck mags ect, picked this book up the other day because I thought it would be a good read since it involved "The War on Terror" and a Pro NFL Player. About 280 pages in so far but has been an awesome read

Edited November 2, 2011 by Midnight Smoker

[Caster]

My wife just bought me a leather bound hard copy of the complete fictional works of H.P. Lovecraft. The father of modern fictional horror. I like the fact that most stories are short stories, but many of them loosely fit one another after a fashion.

[Oh Shoot]

When Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer........

Where Men Win Glory, actually.

I read his Into Thin Air, enjoyed it very much. Controversial, too.

He also wrote Into The Wild, from which the movie about McCandless was adapted.

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

My wife just bought me a leather bound hard copy of the complete fictional works of H.P. Lovecraft. The father of modern fictional horror. I like the fact that most stories are short stories, but many of them loosely fit one another after a fashion.

I ate those up as a teenager.

Yog-Sothoth!

- OS

[Guest bkelm18]

Currently working through the latest Steve Jobs biography. Very good so far.

[Mike.357]

Thirteenth Valley by John del Vecchio.

Fictional piece based on his real life experience in the Viet Nam war.

It was hard to put down.

Men Without Woman by Hemingway.

It is a book of short stories written in 1927.

I love his writing style. All of the stories are fairly fast reads.

[Guest bkelm18]

Thirteenth Valley by John del Vecchio.

Fictional piece based on his real life experience in the Viet Nam war.

It was hard to put down.

I remember reading that some time ago. Very good book.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

Almost finished with Charles Mann's 1493. Just finished American Gods and Neverwhere by Neil Gaimon. Not sure what's next, but perhaps The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson.

[hipower]

Live Free od Die by John Ringo. Very good writer of military sf. Just picked up his latest...Citadel, a continuation of Live Free or Die.

[waynesan]

Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush: Secret History of the Far North by Lael Morgan.

I went to Alaska this summer on a two week vacation with my wife and ran across this book. It is a very entertaining report on the lives of the "soiled doves" who moved to the far north during the gold rush days in the Yukon and Alaska. Here is a short description:

In the boomtowns of the Alaska-Yukon stampedes, where gold dust was common currency, the rarest commodity was an attractive woman, and her company could be costly. Author Lael Morgan takes you into the heart of the gold rush demimonde, that "half world" of prostitutes, dance hall girls, and entertainers who lived on the outskirts of polite society. Meet "Dutch Kate" Wilson, who pioneered many areas long before the "respectable" women who received credit for getting there first ... ruthless heartbreakers Cad Wilson and Rose Blumkin ... "French" Marie Larose, who auctioned herself off as a wife to the highest bidder ... Georgia Lee, who invested her earnings wisely and became one of the richest women in the North ... and Edith Neile, called "the Oregon Mare," famous for both her outlandish behavior and her softhearted generosity.

Edited November 2, 2011 by waynesan

[jtmaze]

Rolling Thunder by Mark Berent. Historical fiction about the air war in Vietnam. Great read hard to put down.

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