What Books Have You Read Recently?

[Enrique]

Trying to mimic the successful thread on recent movies, I think a book thread would be a good idea.

Here are the latest two I've read:

The Progress Paradox by Gregg Easterbrook. Easterbrook is my favorite NFL columnist. His weekly columns on the NFL are the best out there full of comedy and very practical. His touch on how the world is getting better uses his same pragmatism applied to life in general. Life is getting better in every aspect, yet we are not happier, why? This book, with many references, analyzes the problem and is a nice optimistic view of life. An enjoyable book that makes you feel good, but at the same time makes you want to keep improving life. A great read.

The Fig Eater by Jody Shields. The book is very good. It is about a murder in 1910 Vienna. You follow the inspector's investigation. The book has this great atmosphere of 1910 with superstition elements coming from the character Erzsebet (the inspectors wife). A fun read. I probably liked a bit more because Erzsebet is hungarian and since I lived in Hungary for a semester I feel a connection to their culture and love reading hungarian words whenever they pop up.

[SL__72]

The last book I actually finished was The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser. I picked it up at a used book store because it was really big, cheap and had some mentions of Dickens somewhere on the cover. It is an epic novel set in 19th-century English and while it was first published in 1989, it did remind me a lot of some of the 19th century novels I have read, particularly Dickens.

I was impressed that this was Palliser's first novel as it was 800+ large/dense pages and had a rather intricate plot and well thought out plot.

For the most part I really enjoyed it as this is one of my favorite periods to read about, I love epic novels and it was pretty well written. I'd give it a 4/5.

[JohnAndersen]

Catch-22, I really love Heller's style of writing and I dig the wit that is used in the book as well. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it after the first two chapters but it really grew on me

[CappyAA]

[ QUOTE ]
Catch-22, I really love Heller's style of writing and I dig the wit that is used in the book as well. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it after the first two chapters but it really grew on me

[/ QUOTE ]

I have the same sentiments. Finished it a week ago and I loved it. I definitely found myself laughing out loud a few times on the metro reading it. I will be starting 'Good to Great' tomorrow, as my boss gave it to me as a gift, and it looked rather interesting.

[Blarg]

Catch-22 was a slow start for me, and I know someone else who found it really hard to get into for the same reason, but I wound up really loving it. Well worth the plow.

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
Catch-22 was a slow start for me, and I know someone else who found it really hard to get into for the same reason, but I wound up really loving it. Well worth the plow.

[/ QUOTE ]

It took me about 4 tries to read Catch 22, and it is now my favorite book. It is one of the few books I actually re-read periodically. The others are the the GRRM Song of Ice and Fire books.

[gimmetheloot]

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins
Discusses the international corporations and how they and governments run corrupt schemes all over the world. Cites many many many examples, specifically his own 'hits' in places like Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, and others.

[Enrique]

[ QUOTE ]
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins
Discusses the international corporations and how they and governments run corrupt schemes all over the world. Cites many many many examples, specifically his own 'hits' in places like Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, and others.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read this in October of last year in a book club. I thought the book was great. One of those books that make you see things differently in the world around you. It is sad learning about the greediness that drives so much of human misery. The murder of the Panamanian president was really painful to read.

[Dominic]

I'm in the middle of the fourth book in George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. While it is different than the first three, with new characters and less fighting, I'm still enjoying it....I like all the palace intrigue.

I just finished Barry Greenstein's Ace in the Hole. Good book, if a bit scattershot. Very high-quality presentation. I expecially liked his strategy section and would love to see a whole book on poker strategy by Greenstein in the future.

I'm also re-reading Robert Penn Warren's classic, All the King's Men. What a phenomenal book.

[DerrtySlime]

The Game by Neil Strauss ... amazing read.