OS Book Club Pt II

[mburke2]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Hey guys, I've never been much of a reader, but want to get into it. I'm specific about what genres I'm looking for and hoping maybe some of you might have suggestions.

I don't want to read the fictional sci-fi stuff like Harry Potter or Twilight. Just not interested in that. I'm thinking more... something like reading a documentary about a real life mystery such as Oak Island, ley lines, stonehenge, the Georgia guidestones, DB Cooper, Easter Island, or anything thought-provoking about real or theorized events. "Chariots of the gods?" is one I'm considering. Anyone have recommendations?

I see you listed a couple things that were investigated in Brad Meltzer's Decoded on the History Channel. If you watch that show (or even if you don't but like those types of stories) you might want to pick up one of his books. I've been thinking about doing it, as they seem pretty good.

BTW, I'm about 100 pages away from finishing A Clash of Kings, even though I haven't read any of it since August. I'm really slacking here.

[l3ulvl]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I love the show, and also Ancient Aliens, even though the ideas are kinda out there, it can be fun to explore other avenues, whether you believe them or not.

[jonpt]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Been on a reading kick this past year
the best ones I've read so far this year are:

The Book Thief (awesome book..set in WW2 Germany.... even though it's in the young adult section, I recommend it to anyone)

Unbroken (best non-ficton book I've ever read..couldn't put it down)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire

The Man in the Woods (It was ok)

Seabiscuit (read it because it was written by the same person that wrote Unbroken..Laura Hillenbrand...good book)

The Hunger Games (all 3 books...1st two were very good...can't wait for the movie)

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (both very good books set in war torn Afghanistan by the same author Hosseini..books are not related to each other, just have the same author)

Water for Elephants (good book..same as above..can't wait for the movie)

currently reading Matterhorn and Game of Thrones...not far into them enough for an opinion

[chilli311]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

So freakin' awesome:

INCREDIBLE book. I read it last March, and couldn't stop laughing. It's a tragedy about what happened to the writer though.

You should give Brave New World a shot if you enjoy 1984.

1984 was good, but Brave New World blew me away. Not to get this into a political discussion, but if you look at the times, BNW seems much more plausible than 1984 at this point in time.

Thanks to BNW, I'm reading some more Aldous Huxley right now. Time Must Have a Stop. It's an interesting take on religion vs. philosophy, although the story itself is pretty slowly paced.

[Gibbz]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I've read like 8 books this semester since I have 2 literature classes. Most recently was Sense and Sensibility which I found tough to get through. I enjoyed the majority of the other books though.

INCREDIBLE book. I read it last March, and couldn't stop laughing. It's a tragedy about what happened to the writer though.

I agree that it's fantastic. Toole's suicide likely robbed us of a whole catalog of great works like it.

[BestServedCold]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

INCREDIBLE book. I read it last March, and couldn't stop laughing. It's a tragedy about what happened to the writer though.



1984 was good, but Brave New World blew me away. Not to get this into a political discussion, but if you look at the times, BNW seems much more plausible than 1984 at this point in time.

Thanks to BNW, I'm reading some more Aldous Huxley right now. Time Must Have a Stop. It's an interesting take on religion vs. philosophy, although the story itself is pretty slowly paced.

That's funny, it was the opposite for me. Brave New World was really interesting, but it didn't inspire as profound emotions in me as 1984 did.

[chilli311]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

That's funny, it was the opposite for me. Brave New World was really interesting, but it didn't inspire as profound emotions in me as 1984 did.

I could see both sides of it, and both are incredible works, but to each their own. I'll never say a bad thing about 1984, but BNW seemed to be more relevant to me based on my personal experiences.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I could see both sides of it, and both are incredible works, but to each their own. I'll never say a bad thing about 1984, but BNW seemed to be more relevant to me based on my personal experiences.

For some reason BNW sticks out to me moreso, but I found 1984 just as compelling. As weird as it sounds, I tend to group Lord of the Flies in with those books because I like to consider it a utopia/dystopian novel considering the kids are practically alone and that is every kid's fantasy. Reading it in high-school it really blew my mind.

[matt8204]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I treated myself to a helping of books on Amazon, which should arrive any day. I'm basically a history, sports and bio guy. Fiction never did anything for me...here's what I bought.

-The Steve Jobs bio that just came out

-John Madden's bio

-Super Bowl Monday, which chronicles the Giants/Bills 1990 Super Bowl, what happened before and after and profiles of the involved players, coaches, etc.

[chilli311]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

For some reason BNW sticks out to me moreso, but I found 1984 just as compelling. As weird as it sounds, I tend to group Lord of the Flies in with those books because I like to consider it a utopia/dystopian novel considering the kids are practically alone and that is every kid's fantasy. Reading it in high-school it really blew my mind.

I can not stand LotF. I read it in high school, and hated it. Last year, I found my old copy at my parents house and thought that maybe I would understand it better 12 years later. I understood it, but still hated it. Not sure why, but I could not wait for that book to be over (thankfully, it's extremely short).

[yankeesgiants]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Currently reading this now (Halfway through). It's 731 pages but it's a great read. Really facinating stuff. What makes it great is the sheer amount of people they got to go on the record.

[Bellsprout]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Just finished Bossypants by Tina Fey last night. Really, really funny book. She swears a lot more than I thought she would.

There are times where it feels like you're reading a book targeted towards women, as her feminism stuff tends to creep in, and there are times where it seems a little self-congratulatory (she spends a whole chapter lauding her writers on 30 Rock), but for the most part it's really enjoyable and funny. Especially the chapter where she picks random comments from articles about her on the internet and responds to them. Definitely would recommend it to anyone that enjoys her other work, whether it be 30 Rock or her time on SNL.

I've got Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg and Sleepwalk With Me by Mike Birbiglia waiting for me now. Any chance any of you have read Birbiglia's book? Is there new stuff in it? Because the first few pages seem like they're just a rehash of the jokes in his stand-up album by the same name.

[HealyMonster]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

Finishing up A Feast for Crows and then Ive got this waiting, looking forward to taking a break from George RR Martin for a little bit:

[chilli311]

Just finished Bossypants by Tina Fey last night. Really, really funny book. She swears a lot more than I thought she would.

That one is on my list. My wife read it last month, but I've got a list a mile long right now. Next up for me is Inheritance. Not give on fantasy, but this series has been really well done.

through music, you can live forever...

[aukevin]

Re: OS Book Club Pt II

I've read nearly 100 of the extended universe Star Wars novels. Most have been really good, some have been mediocre. I've read almost all of the ones that take place after Return of the Jedi and really got interested on where everyone went from there. The books are on out 40+ years from the original trilogy now. Since the prequels came out there has been a lot of stuff dealing with the Old Republic but I haven't gotten into those other than the ones directly tied as prequels and sequels to the new trilogy (focused around Anakin and Kenobi mainly), although there is one coming out very soon called Darth Plagueis which has to do with how Palpatine learned the Dark Side of the Force. It is on the top of my to-read list when it comes out.

Anyway, just wanted to share that I recently finished Death Star which was written about 4 years ago. Even if you don't want to get into the huge extended universe of Star Wars, but you are a fan of the original movies, then this book might really interest you. I thought it was great. It is basically the story of the first Death Star. It is set up like those movies where you have a bunch of unrelated characters that eventually come into contact with each other. The story focuses around an architect of the Death Star, a stormtrooper, a fighter pilot, a gunnery soldier, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and a couple other characters. The first half of the book is all about bringing these characters to the Death Star and its construction while the second half goes right in line with A New Hope. Kind of like a behind the scenes of what is happening on the Death Star while our heroes are trying to save the Princess and then the space battle against the Death Star and how they indirectly affect it.

A great read for Star Wars fans, even if you don't want to get into the daunting extended universe.