If you could read a book over the next few months...

Everyone here is raving about this "Da-Vinci Code" book. I might pick that up.

I had got an autobiography about Enzo Ferrari which i really want to pick up....

 

I decided to read some of the old adventure books in my home library . I just finished and enjoyed "Vagabonding Down the Andes" by Harry Franck, 612 pages, from 1917. I have a couple of his other books, just started "A Vagabond Journey Around the World". He just packs his knapsack and sets off on walking tours, living among the common folk, not wasting his time on the regular tourist attractions. Fun reads.

I haven't read in new book in ages. My wife reads tons of them. She also enjoyed "Da Vinci Code", but she couldn't talk me into trying it.

 

For a historical book; The Killer Angels.
A detailed and vivid account of the battle of Gettysburg.

 

Following Miltonian's thread, last summer I got onto a travel kick...more or less.

Easy fun reads were

On the Road by Jack Kerouac First Published in 1957
then
Into the Wild by John Krakauer 1996
then
Catch Me if You Can by Frank Abagnale, written in 1980.


around 250-300 pages each, and all fun reads.

Tookcare of my travel bug since I did not go anywhere last year.

 

I'm slowly working my way through The Civil War by Shelby Foote. All three volumes of it...

 

Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.

They are both epics. Must reads.

 

Finnegans Wake again, which I do every 5 years just to kill some brain cells.

I'm reading it backwards this time, doing so does not impact its readability as much as one would think.

 

pick one by david mccullough:
john adams
truman
path between the seas (about the panama canal)

or the latest one about ben franklin.

all of these are absolutely stellar.

 

I'll strongly second that!!

 

I came across a Dale Carnegie book and just started reading that. I'm not big on self-help books but am always up for something new. The one I'm reading now is "How to develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking". It's definately old school but I'm finding it interesting.

 

That's a tough question. So many good books, so little time! My latest are two books by Jared Diamond. They are "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and "Collapse, Why Societies Fail" both of which deal with why certain societies thrive or fail. Very well written, lots of cogent thought.

Another book I highly reccomend to all is by Bjorn Lundstrum (Sp may be off.) It is called "The Skeptical Environmentalist" This guy is a professor of statistics in Denmark (I think.) and has done an absolutely brilliant job looking at the cause of environmentalism in a truly unbiased light. He uses masses of data and proper analysis to debunk most of the rot being put out about the environment (On either side.) He is an ex greenpeace member and wanted to do a book about the failing environment but in his research he soon realized that most all of the data used by the "tree hugger" people is fatally flawed or is simply misrepresented in order to support a particular cause.
The book is quite amazing--definitely a must read for anyone who is interested in the state of the world environment.

 

Amen! Roark is my hero. For you and David S:

Did you guys find that Atlas Shrugged was just an extend scaled up version of Fountainhead? Did you guys read Anthem?


Getting back on subject:

I'm trying to finish reading A plot against America.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0618509283/qid=1106230532/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-7727793-3993634?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

It's good from what I've read so far.

 

A book for a semester ? hmm i dunno any book that big.

The last books i read were :

"Rich dad , poor Dad "
"The Odessa file" ( great fiction (?) about how old nazis are helped to survive after WW2..)
Da Vinci code ( still reading ..It didnt catch me..)

 

It depends on what you're looking for. Because I have to read so much technical stuff, I normally read way out of the box for fun.

If you like higher level stuff that makes you think --

* Guns, Germs & Steel
* Emergence


If you like to know more about the beat/hip generation --

* On the Road followed by the Electric Koolaid Acid Test


If you want to learn about investing --

* Random Walk + Bogle's book


If you want to start a depressing history series (because it is the same story over and over and over again) that you will never finish --

* History of Civilizaton by Will Durant


If you want some junk food for the mind --

* The Travis McGee series by John McDonald


That's all for now --

Dale

ps Did you ever work it out with Chapman?

 

I am a medieval english history fanatic. I have an extensive collection on the subject and can not get enough. I am just getting into the Civil War and am reading a few different books on the subject- The Making of Robert E. Lee, History of the 24th Michigan of the Iron Brigade, and Lee's Lieutenants, vol 1. If you would like a recommendation on a certain personality or period in medieval history, let me know in this post. I prefer a rigid scholarly approach with tons of references and notes vs an easy read, but I can offer some interesting books based on how specific you want to be. Some of my favorite authors in medieval history- C.T Allmand, M. Powicke, J. Gillingham, K.B. Mcfarlane, G. Duby, too numerous to list, the hits just keep coming. Try a Desmond Seward book, very readable, not burdened by excessive notes or references, but well researched. Also try the Knight in History by Frances Gies. A good introduction about the evolution of knighthood with a small biography for each different period of the knights developmnet. Happy Reading.

 

Good book, recomend it.

If you want an epic, read the Illaid or the Odyssey. Timeless

 

I third that - Atlas Shrugged is one of the best books of all times. Not for the faint of heart - this book is a few thousand pages - once you get past the first 100 pages - you will be hooked. I think I read that it was voted one of the most influencial books of the century (just behind the bible).

 

Mon Ami Mate......Collins and Hawthorne

The Cobra Ferrari Wars....

The Miller Dynasty

 

I'll fourth this - Atlas Shrugged is a very powerful book.

Just finished Da Vinci Code. An interesting read, but quite frankly, didn't think the book warranted the amount of hype it got.

For a biography, I'd suggest Titan, by Ron Chernow. It is a biography about JD Rockefeller.

 

I read the DaVinci code when it first came out and subsequently read all of Dan Brown's books before most people even heard of The DaVinci Code. I enjoyed it a great deal, but its absolutely no where as good as the hype its getting.

Right now, I'm on the 12th Bond book, You Only Live Twice. Granted, they are all fiction, but there is quite a bit of modern history and Ian Fleming has a keen sense of detail. You learn a lot more than you'd except from the books. The Bond novels also show Fleming's love for cars.

In terms of biographies... I just read Bob Dylan's new autobiography; if you enjoy Dylan, you'll enjoy that.

 

NNO the biography, 4 volumes 30.000 pages in each one.

 

Been finshing about 2 books / week. Done with political / bus. books for now.

Either get yourself a nice collection of Shakespear in total (i found a leather-bound at BN for $18!) - that'll last you more than a semester i dont care how fast you read.

Otherwise, find some John LeCarre - arguably the best novelist alive. His prose alone is worth reading about dog ****, and yet his ability to weave a story is brilliant and then some. Look into the Smiley Trilogy (start with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and then I think it's The Honourable Schoolboy and finally Smiley's People). Guy write more than spy stories - he's got a Salinger-esque ability to play with your heart.

Otherwise, I recently discovered PG Wodehouse and have literally been beside myself. 5am, I'm still up reading, and honestly laughing a fit out loud. I dunno where to start there, found a compendium, plowed through it (the books are short), and bought 10 more. Mastery of language and the characters are superb!

--Dan

 

Hitchiker's Guide to the Galexy triliogy. All 5 books.