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Author Topic:   What do you read?
Apothecus
Member (Idle past 2410 days)
Posts: 275
From: CA USA
Joined: 01-05-2010


Message 1 of 16 (551022)
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


Hey everyone.
I'm all set to take a vacation with my family next Friday and I was wondering if I could get some input on what would be considered good reading material. Must be suitable for beach reading. Fiction/non-fiction, any genre accepted, and no subjective suggestion will go unconsidered. Prizes for the winner(s).
Thanks, and have a good one.

"My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. J.B.S Haldane 1892-1964

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Flyer75
Member (Idle past 2422 days)
Posts: 242
From: Dayton, OH
Joined: 02-15-2010


Message 2 of 16 (551038)
03-20-2010 1:09 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


For just casual reading, I'd recommend the Vince Flynn series. There's a bunch in the series so far and his main character, Mitch Rapp, is loosely portrayed in the Bourne trilogy movie series and Jack Bauer on the TV show 24.....so, if that's your cup of tea, really good books. Disclaimer, very conservative, right wing slant in the story. (just thought I'd warn you)

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 3 of 16 (551041)
03-20-2010 1:35 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


I'm currently reading Bonk: the Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. Funniest book I've read in a long time. I laugh out loud at least once a paragraph. My wife thinks I've gone crazy. An excerpt:
Mary Roach writes:
In the penis paper, Deng mentioned the possibility of one day soon capturing an ultrasound sequence of real-time two-party human coitus...
I sent Dr. Deng an email asking permission to come to London to observe the first scan. He wrote back immediately.
Dear Ms. Roach, Many thanks for your interest in our research. You are welcome to interview me in London. . . .However, to arrange a new in-action would be very difficult, mainly due to the difficulty in recruiting volunteers. If your organization is able to recruit brave couple(s) for an intimate (but non-invasive) study, I would be happy to arrange and perform one.
My organization gave some thought to this. What couple would do this? More direly, who wanted to pay the threee or four thousand dollars it would cost to fly them both to London and put them up in a nice hotel? My organization balked. It called its husband.
"You know how you were saying you haven't been to Europe in twenty-five years?"
On the other hand, if you're looking to return from vacation primed for resuming the creation/evolution debate then I can also recommend this other book I'm reading, Living with Darwin by Philip Kitcher.
--Percy

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Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 4 of 16 (551046)
03-20-2010 1:58 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by Flyer75
03-20-2010 1:09 PM


his main character, Mitch Rapp, is loosely portrayed in the Bourne trilogy movie series and Jack Bauer on the TV show 24
I don't think this means what you think it does, unless you are accusing Robert Ludlum of somehow plagiarising a set of books decades in advance. I can see how Jack Bauer's character could have been influenced since the books started coming out a year before 24 series one, but I don't think the character portrayed in the Bourne series is supposed to be anyone but Jason Bourne.
Actually, looking at the precis of the first Rapp book it certainly reminds me of the plot of 24 season 7.
TTFN,
WK

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Flyer75
Member (Idle past 2422 days)
Posts: 242
From: Dayton, OH
Joined: 02-15-2010


Message 5 of 16 (551051)
03-20-2010 2:06 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by Wounded King
03-20-2010 1:58 PM


Maybe I'm off on the Bourne comparison. I know Vince Flynn has actually done some consulting with the producers of 24 and I thought he had done the same for the Bourne movies. Sorry if I was off on that.

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Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9076
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 3.7


Message 6 of 16 (551053)
03-20-2010 2:10 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


Patrick Rothfuss
Name of the Wind
Best new fantasy in last 10 years(IMHO)

Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts

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Larni
Member (Idle past 163 days)
Posts: 4000
From: Liverpool
Joined: 09-16-2005


Message 7 of 16 (551062)
03-20-2010 3:01 PM
Reply to: Message 6 by Theodoric
03-20-2010 2:10 PM


Seconded. I was really suprised at how much I enjoyed it. Reminded me of the first time I read Magician.
For a holiday I would go for early Dean Koontz.

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Coragyps
Member (Idle past 734 days)
Posts: 5553
From: Snyder, Texas, USA
Joined: 11-12-2002


Message 8 of 16 (551094)
03-20-2010 10:52 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


Sherman Alexie's short stories. Or anything by Mario Vargas Llosa.

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AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 9 of 16 (551101)
03-21-2010 12:43 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


Don't know where your head is at but if you want to wrap it around something profound, deep and edifying, try The Prophet, Khalil Gibran. No facet of life is left out in this series of well crafted conversations.
Something a little lighter but still with intellectual purpose might be The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould. Always loved his stuff.
But then you say you're going on vacation. So as long as you're relaxing your body and spirit, relax your brain: David Barry's Money Secrets or Babies and Other Hazards of Having Sex. Delightful little tittles.
For engrossing novels, if you haven't already done so, try Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or Nelson DeMille's The General's Daughter.

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Coyote
Member (Idle past 2105 days)
Posts: 6117
Joined: 01-12-2008


Message 10 of 16 (551108)
03-21-2010 1:51 AM


What I read...
For pleasure I read primarily science fiction, preferably old science fiction -- with emphasis on 1940-1965.
I have a library of several thousand titles, new and old.
This makes for excellent escape reading.
I can't make any recommendations as tastes vary so widely.

Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.

  
ZenMonkey
Member (Idle past 4510 days)
Posts: 428
From: Portland, OR USA
Joined: 09-25-2009


Message 11 of 16 (551148)
03-21-2010 3:15 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Apothecus
03-20-2010 11:03 AM


Random.
Well, if its not too late, here are some random suggestions from among my own recent reading choices.
One Red Paperclip. A guy trades his way up from a paperclip to something somewhat bigger.
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue. English and how it got to be as weird as it is, in ways that we don't think about.
The Walking Dead. Zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.
World War Z. Even more zombies.
Mistakes Were Made (but not by me). Why people continue to believe stuff that is totally wrong. Kinda appropriate for this forum.

I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die.
-John Lydon

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Apothecus
Member (Idle past 2410 days)
Posts: 275
From: CA USA
Joined: 01-05-2010


Message 12 of 16 (551163)
03-21-2010 3:46 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by ZenMonkey
03-21-2010 3:15 PM


Re: Random.
Thanks, everyone.
Actually, my trip starts this coming Friday the 26th, so keep 'em coming! Great suggestions, all.
If I might expand upon my request, maybe this thread could be extended to any 'ol thoughts on reading--I, for one, could always use reading suggestions which are not just vacation-motivated...
I just finished reading "John Adams" by David McCullough, which, if you like history and biographies, was a great read. Another recent one was "Running with Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs. Hilarious.
I agree anything by Dan Brown is a great page turner. I haven't read his latest Robert Langdon book, I forget what it's called... Anyone ever read anything by Neal Stephenson? "Cryptonomicon" is one of his best, IMO. Any fiction which highlights graphs, diagrams and equations as an integral part of the story is great, cerebral fun. My wife, however, thinks I'm a total and complete nerd.

"My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. J.B.S Haldane 1892-1964

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Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 13 of 16 (551206)
03-21-2010 6:59 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by Apothecus
03-21-2010 3:46 PM


Re: Random.
I'm a big Neal Stephenson fan, I really enjoyed his pseudoprequel trilogy to 'Cryptonomicon'. I haven't tried his latest book 'Anathem' yet, but apparently if you thought the graphs and equations were the best bits of 'Cryptonomicon' you should love it.
TTFN,
WK

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Apothecus
Member (Idle past 2410 days)
Posts: 275
From: CA USA
Joined: 01-05-2010


Message 14 of 16 (551213)
03-21-2010 8:36 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by Wounded King
03-21-2010 6:59 PM


Re: Random.
I really enjoyed his pseudoprequel trilogy to 'Cryptonomicon'.
Y'know, for all the comments about that trilogy about it being such a slog to get through, I never saw it that way. And I read it twice. I haven't read Anathem either, but I'll put it on my list...
Thanks.

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Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9076
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 3.7


Message 15 of 16 (551289)
03-22-2010 9:10 AM
Reply to: Message 14 by Apothecus
03-21-2010 8:36 PM


Neal Stephenson
Stephenson's Baroque Cycle was probably the most amazing modern literature I have ever read. The scope is amazing. From Newton(he effectively shows, Newtons crazy obsession with religion and alchemy), to pirates, to the Ottoman empire. I am gearing up to read it again, because I know I missed a lot the first time.
Anathem is nothing like it but is also a fantastic book. He creates a completely alien world and culture. Truly stunning.

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