Books

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

I just finished a great book: Sting like a Bee: The Muhammad Ali story by Jose Torres. It's a really interesting read, because I found that being so young, the only stuff you hear now about Ali is how great and funny he was. This one was published in 1971, and ends right after Ali-Frazier 1. It gives a lot of perspective into the life of one of the greatest, most influential and most controversial athletes of all time. Despite being a good friend to Ali, he seems really honest about everything. He says in the book that he actually picked Frazier to win the fight with Ali, and gives solid reasoning to it as well. It's not a big book either, just a little over 200 pages, and it was pretty cheap.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Twiddler

Never said little.

I could have sworn you did... gebus I'm insane.

[LizardState]

Originally Posted by A Perfect Score

I think Breakfast of Champions might be his best book. Personal opinion, but its awesome

I really liked the Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, the apocalyptic black comedy decades ahead of its time Cat's Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, & the best is ......

Slaughterhouse 5 !!

Billy Pilgrim time travel (being "stuck/unstuck in time") & Vonnegut's WW2 autobiog experience as a Battle of Bulge POW who survived the fire-bombing of Dresden by being locked into Schlachthof Funf underground..... great stuff, unlike other comic existentialists & black humorists, Vonnegut, an ex-tech writer at IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY, has some punch in his prose. Movie version was kind of meh, BoC film was worse with Bruce Willis, book was good with his hand drawn cartoons mixed into the text.

Everything after Galapagos sucked though. There are 2 new collections of previously unpublished works, one fiction & one nonfiction, released for the Xmas mkt. Def made my Xmas list.

If you can find it, KV's 1st & best short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House is a great read, Harrison Bergeron the best short story IMO, unusual great film version with Sean Astin. It's never come out in hardback to my knowledge.

[hobbes2053]

Bukowski is so awesome.

[Whistler6]

Originally Posted by BufFan71

just finished the Inheritance series

(eragon, eldest, brisingr)


great series

Yeah some people hate Paolini, but I think it's a pretty awesome series. Reminds me of Lord of the Rings, and I guess I'm into that stuff so. The only part that sucks is waiting for him to release the next book or ATLEAST let us know when it will be released...

[Bob Sanders Dreadlock]

Got a late christmas gift, the blindside. Looking forward to reading it after seeing the movie.

[ElectricEye]

Still ******* waiting for the Windup Girl to come. Pumped, but it's taken Borders more than a week to get it. Ordered it Christmas night, didn't even ship it until four days later. Also ordered the Etched City. I'll rage if it's not here by Sunday.

[Giantsfan1080]

Anyone read Crichton's pirate book?

[JeffSamardzijaIRISH]

Soccernomics is a great book for anyone interested in soccer.

[Whistler6]

Originally Posted by ElectricEye

Still ******* waiting for the Windup Girl to come. Pumped, but it's taken Borders more than a week to get it. Ordered it Christmas night, didn't even ship it until four days later. Also ordered the Etched City. I'll rage if it's not here by Sunday.

Oh God, I plowed through that book in about a week. Having a book that I'm legitimately interested in makes reading fun...yes, I said fun.

[Whistler6]

Originally Posted by Bob Sanders Dreadlock

Got a late christmas gift, the blindside. Looking forward to reading it after seeing the movie.

The movie does a great job of portraying how great of a story the Michael Oher situation really is. But, even as Oher pointed out, the movie makes him look 'stupid' when he started high school football.

Thankfully the book shows how it really was...He was a natural and dominated almost from the start. A little too much Hollywood made him look confused when he strapped on a helmet, not true.

In this case, the book is better in my opinion.

[Shiver]

WATCHMEN!

[Giantsfan1080]

Books are 95% better than the movie usually.

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by Whistler6

Oh God, I plowed through that book in about a week. Having a book that I'm legitimately interested in makes reading fun...yes, I said fun.

I've heard nothing but GLOWING things about it and I've been so broke I haven't been able to read a book in a month. Really want it to arrive :(

[Dr. Gonzo]

Finished Last Words the George Carlin semi autobiography. Spent all of today reading it and **** it was fantastic. I already respected the hell out of Carlin and consider him an inspiration but the book just made my love the man even more.

[tjsunstein]

Originally Posted by Dr. Gonzo

Finished Last Words the George Carlin semi autobiography. Spent all of today reading it and **** it was fantastic. I already respected the hell out of Carlin and consider him an inspiration but the book just made my love the man even more.

I considered picking that up.

On another note, I'm 150 pages into Tucker Max's book and literally bored. It's all the same after a while.

[Splat]

Originally Posted by Giantsfan1080

Books are 95% better than the movie usually.

That goes with out saying.

[Shiver]

Originally Posted by Giantsfan1080

Books are 95% better than the movie usually.

I would go 70%, actually. There are more movies that are superior than you would think.

[Brent]

the book series which true blood is based off of is not great, the show is way better

[A Perfect Score]

Originally Posted by tjsunstein

I considered picking that up.

On another note, I'm 150 pages into Tucker Max's book and literally bored. It's all the same after a while.

Thats because Tucker Max is the epitome of what is wrong with the current generation and contributes to the stupid frat boy stereotype which not only gives guys actually able to hold a conversation about something other then beer, sex, or their dick size an awful reputation by gender alone, while also influencing several other important mediums as well.

I hate that ****.

Also, just read The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. Been wanting to read it for a while, but never got round to it till the holidays. Nice read, if you want to learn to bury and and all opponents both military and political.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by A Perfect Score

Nice read, if you want to learn to bury and and all opponents both military and political.

I love The Prince. I dont know why, because I'm not the aggressive/motivated type.

[LizardState]

Appropriate for this thread, not a New Yr's resolution: How many books did you read last yr? List them here if you wish.

My best guess was 8:

• Tijuana Straits, Kem Nunn
• Up In Honey's Room, LaBrava, & Road Dogs, Elmore Leonard
• Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon
• Wicked Plants, Amy Smart
• Best American Mystery Stories of 2000
• I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed By Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World, Trevor Paglen

I will enter pleas of laziness & too much cable, like they said back in the 80s about cable, 500 CHANNELS & NOTHING IS ON!! Really, really sick of reruns.....

I'm hoping to break a dozen books read in 2010.

[A Perfect Score]

I bet between university and my own personal reading, I must have burned through about 40 novels last year.

[Paranoidmoonduck]

Originally Posted by Shiver

I would go 70%, actually. There are more movies that are superior than you would think.

This I don't believe. There are a very large number of movies made based off of books and considering that, in general, the large percentage of movies suck anyway, very very few wind up even living up to the book, much less surpassing it.

[Job]

Well a large percentage of books suck too.