Books I've read recently

[Enrique]

Speaker for the Dead Written by Orson Scott Card, this is the first sequel to his very popular Ender's Game. I thought it was brilliant, I enjoyed it more than Ender's Game. Even though I wasn't too delighted with the whole piggie storyline, I really liked the characters, specially the Speaker for the Dead. I like much of his philosophy.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man A book by John Perkins a person who claims he was an "economic hit man" for a big company in America. The book was very good and it made dislike the government a lot more than I had before. It talks about government ties with dictators, exploitation of third world countries and many other awful things. It was an eye opener, I think my view of the world changed after reading it.

Forces of Nature The last book in The Lounge Book Club. I didn't see any discussion of it (only the first chapters) but I went ahead and read it back in November. I liked the book, probably liked it a bit more because I had just read "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", I could relate globalization as an enemy a little better. The book is very pessimistic, but it entertained me. I was frustrated seeing how Chris kept going in that downward spiral of meanness. Particularly towards his wife, but also as a person willing to use other people for his gains. It was interesting seeing a good person rationalizing doing bad things.

A Mathematician's Apology The famous book by G.W Hardy, an early 1900s mathematician. He wrote an essay describing why it was good to be a mathematician. A lot of the things he writes come out as arrogant, but many things make a lot of sense and are in a way inspiring. I guess any mathematician should read it.

Watchmen The graphic novel by Alan Moore. I thought it was excellent. I really enjoyed Ozymandias character, it reminded me a lot of Alexander the Great. One of my favorite books is Persian Boy by Mary Renault, which is a fiction biography of Alexander the Great.

Letter to a Christian Nation A lot of very good arguments against religion (note: not against spirituality, but against organized religion). Books like this make my belief that religion is bad for society stronger.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy So far, I have only read the first one. I liked it a lot, laughing a lot while reading it. A lot of the crazy ideas are hilarious and his choice of words seems perfect.

Those are the books, I read the last two months of 2006.

[diebitter]

Read more hitchhikers, it's good stuff.

And the Watchmen never gets boring, no matter how often you read it. Can I recommend 'Arkham Asylum' with Batman for some psychological food for thought?


Here's mine...

Stephen King - On writing - I reviewed it in here, but overall an invaluable writing resource

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy Not a big fan of Hardy - too much description for my liking, but this is very nicely written. Very, very, very sad though.

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier brilliant writer, and the first half of the book is stunning right up until the unnamed herione nearly throws herself out of the window...then it gets a little plainly melodramatic to be a classic.

Wuthering Heights - Bronte - read this a while back and didn't like it that much, and was hoping a reread would improve my view of it. Nah, didn't like it much again.

Oliver Twist - Dickens - Great storyteller, sometimes tortuous phrasing. Some GREAT characters though. A twisty work, but the twists are written well enough to make it a nice, enjoyable read.

[rothko]

finish the first four in the hitchhiker trilogy. do not read mostly harmless.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
finish the first four in the hitchhiker trilogy. do not read mostly harmless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually thought that each Hitchhiker book was steadily worse and than the previous one. The first one is just plain brilliant, though.

[Enrique]

[ QUOTE ]
finish the first four in the hitchhiker trilogy. do not read mostly harmless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think I would be capable of stopping at four without reading the fifth one. It's not that much of a time waste even if it is very bad.

[Deorum]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
finish the first four in the hitchhiker trilogy. do not read mostly harmless.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think I would be capable of stopping at four without reading the fifth one. It's not that much of a time waste even if it is very bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did. I do not know why.

[Deorum]

[ QUOTE ]
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier brilliant writer, and the first half of the book is stunning right up until the unnamed herione nearly throws herself out of the window...then it gets a little plainly melodramatic to be a classic.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have read Rebecca a few times. It is a rather odd book, but certainly entertaining in a mysterious way. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in gothic type literature.

[JuntMonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
Read more hitchhikers, it's good stuff.

And the Watchmen never gets boring, no matter how often you read it. Can I recommend 'Arkham Asylum' with Batman for some psychological food for thought?

[/ QUOTE ]

Arkham Asylum is amazing. I read it in an English class freshman year of college - wrote a paper on it too. You read that and you'll vomit in disgust next time you see Nicholson's Joker.

[Slow Play Ray]

[ QUOTE ]

Letter to a Christian Nation A lot of very good arguments against religion (note: not against spirituality, but against organized religion). Books like this make my belief that religion is bad for society stronger.

[/ QUOTE ]

I need to add this to my next Amazon order - has anyone else read it?

[SoloAJ]

Sadly I haven't read much lately. (Though I'm currently reading for class now)...

However, I really liked the last book I read. Cracked by Dr. Drew Pinsky (of Loveline fame). I found it to be a really interesting insight to a world that I am totally unfamiliar with. While I've known people who did drugs (and certainly never did rehabs) it was really interesting to read about that side of society. That, in general, I think very few people are familiar with unless they are directly affected...

I'm currently reading "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.