OT: SDN - Book Club

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rhinocerotidae

rhinocerotidae

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University is over for the year and summer has started! YAY!
Now it's time to relax, enjoy the summer and read a good book!

I thought it could be fun to start a SDN book club. What do you think?
This could be a place to discuss books we've read or recommend a good book to others. I thought it could be a good break before the next application cycle starts.

I've recently read "The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall. It was a pretty good book. It is one of those puzzle books which keeps you on your toes. It deals with recurring amnesia, word sharks which consume your thoughts, long lost loves, and buildings made of books. The cover of the book says: It's the bastard love child of The Matrix, Jaws and The Da Vinci Code. And it really was!! I couldn't put the book down.

And I'm just about to start "The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes" by Lucy Spelman and Ted Mashima. It's about the world of wildlife veterinarians. Should be good!
 
I loveloveLOVE books!

...though all of mine are packed away because of the flooded house, but whatever. I like fantasy/sci-fi, though I've picked up a couple veterinary-related books, including "If Wishes Were Horses" and "Tell Me Where It Hurts." I doubt any of you are interested at all in human medicine/nursing, but if you are, pick up Echo Heron's books "Intensive Care" and "Condition Critical". They really show the struggle of nurses in healthcare today and how it's so rapidly gone downhill.
 
I still have five weeks plus finals! 🙁 I'm super excited for summer to start so that I can start reading for fun more often. I'm reading Nine Gates by Jane Lindskold right now in the spare time I have and recently read Changes by Jim Butcher. I've been trying to sprinkle in some non-fiction reading in recent years, but fantasy still dominates my leisure reading.

I'd be willing to do a monthly book club thing! Once the quarter is over, though! XD
 
I'll join in I reckon. I primarily enjoy Fantasy books but always willing to spread my wings.

Currently reading "Gardens of the Moon" by Steven Erikson. Pretty good so far. Long series though. Book 1 of 10 🙁
 
I'm in the middle of "Tell Me Where It Hurts". I've really enjoyed it so far. My husband and I were practically shaking we were laughing so hard when I read the part about the jack russell/2 liter bottle of coke/shock collars....

Anyway, I really like the way he wraps in interesting stories with actual facts about vet med: gender differences in the field, debt, suicide, etc. I recommend it!
 
rhinocerotidae said:
And I'm just about to start "The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes" by Lucy Spelman good!
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LOVED that book!!! And Alex and Me is another must read. It is an insightful perspective of the intelligence of African Greys written by Dr. Pepperburg herself. Since it is an emotionally captivating story, be prepared with a box of kleenex! But I was so affected by that book, I had to write to the author (and she wrote back, or one of her PR people did!!!). Of course I am biased, being owned by an African Grey myself, but I feel that it is a must read for anyone interested in reading a truly inspirational story!!!! Best animal book that I have ever read!!!
http://www.alexfoundation.org/Alex_and_me.html
 
"And Alex and Me is another must read. It is an insightful perspective of the intelligence of African Greys written by Dr. Pepperburg herself. "

I just picked this up! I don't know much about birds, but her interview on NPR was very compelling. I'm looking forward to finals being over so I can start reading.

I also picked up "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande. It's about how something as simple as a checklist can drastically reduce medical errors and patient complications. He wrote a New Yorker article a few years back that was either an excerpt from the book or a preview. The results were pretty impressive. At Johns Hopkins, they instituted a checklist for central line placement. Their 10-day catheter infection rate fell from 11% to 0%. 0!!
 
Ausheya said:
and recently read Changes by Jim Butcher.
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First, I'm so in for a book club! I love reading and hated not having time to do so while in school.
Second, I <3 Jim Butcher! Changes and First Lord's Fury are at the top of my summer reading list. It makes me sad that none of my friends here read his books.
 
In the process of reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. Probably all pre-vets should read it. It's a classic!
 
GatoGris said:
"I also picked up "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande. It's about how something as simple as a checklist can drastically reduce medical errors and patient complications. He wrote a New Yorker article a few years back that was either an excerpt from the book or a preview. The results were pretty impressive. At Johns Hopkins, they instituted a checklist for central line placement. Their 10-day catheter infection rate fell from 11% to 0%. 0!!
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I actually took an Emerging Diseases class this semester. This book came highly recommended. I heard it's really well-written too 🙂
 
Tco87 said:
First, I'm so in for a book club! I love reading and hated not having time to do so while in school.
Second, I <3 Jim Butcher! Changes and First Lord's Fury are at the top of my summer reading list. It makes me sad that none of my friends here read his books.
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Changes was so good. But I don't think I'm going to be able to wait a year for the next book! XD At least First Lord's Fury was the last of the series, so there's no waiting to see what happens next. None of my friends here read anything besides textbooks. They're missing out on so much and don't even realize it!
 
I'm so up for a Book Club! I've read Tell Me Where It Hurts and loved it. I need to hunt down Alex and Me, after reading some of your other posts about African Grays, lyndaelyzoo, it sounds fascinating! I had a friend that I've known since elementary school whose parents had exotic parrots (not that I'm advocating it just as pets, but it was fascinating seeing them when I was younger).

I mostly read sci-fi/fantasy, but am currently on a historical fiction stint (with some nonfiction scattered in). The Tudors got me hooked on that time period and the Wars of the Roses, so...that's where I am now.
 
I'll be up for it next month, once my organic chemistry class is finished. I can't remember the last time I read a book for pleasure... I've got several lying around that I purchased during undergrad and haven't gotten a chance to touch!
 
silymnd said:
In the process of reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. Probably all pre-vets should read it. It's a classic!
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Seconded. His books are wonderful! They're such a time warp as well-vetting in the days before the vast majority of medicines we have today were available.

It's a little dry, but I'm completely addicted to the BBC series as well.
 
silymnd said:
In the process of reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. Probably all pre-vets should read it. It's a classic!
Click to expand...

I third it. I loved the entire series. Read them as a child, re-read them prior to my interview.

I'm just finishing up reading the Bridget Jones' Diary: Edge of Reason and I love it! She's so silly, and it's so much better than the movies.
 
I'm in for a book club!! I also love fantasy/sci-fi but haven't had the time to read in ages (though will have a fancy English diploma to show for it). I am remodeling my room, to cope with having to live in my parents' house for the next two years, and it's basically turned into a library!

I have decided that in celebration of graduation, I'm going to re-read all of the Dragonriders of Pern novels-- they were my favorites in middle school and I know they'll be the perfect (and embarrassing) beach read.

If anyone has any better fantasy suggestions, please tell me!!
 
Oh, my goodness, the Pern series is probably one of my all-time favorites! And I've reread pretty much all of them except the really recent ones with her son...those are so-so. Have you read any of her others?

As for other series, Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is amazing. I also really like Mercedes Lackey-she definitely writes young adult-ish, so they're a pretty easy read, but not like sixth-grade reading level easy, and they're great stories.

For something different, Stephen Lawhead wrote this absolutely brilliant trilogy based on the Robin Hood mythology (Hood, Scarlet, and Tuck) and I can't say enough good things about it.

And this thread has some awesome suggestions:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=688180
 
marycatherine said:
I'm in for a book club!! I also love fantasy/sci-fi but haven't had the time to read in ages (though will have a fancy English diploma to show for it). I am remodeling my room, to cope with having to live in my parents' house for the next two years, and it's basically turned into a library!

I have decided that in celebration of graduation, I'm going to re-read all of the Dragonriders of Pern novels-- they were my favorites in middle school and I know they'll be the perfect (and embarrassing) beach read.

If anyone has any better fantasy suggestions, please tell me!!
Click to expand...

I really like George R.R. Martin - but his series is unfinished. For classic fantasy, try David Eddings (Belgariad is his first and is about 1000-1500 pages all told - 5 books).

I also like the Lies of Locke Lamora and there is second book by the same author.

The green rider series is good, too
 
If anyone has any better fantasy suggestions, please tell me!!
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Some of my favorite fantasy books:

Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Livership Trader Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Technically Tawny Man and Farseer are directly related, while Liveship is not, but you'll understand Tawny Man a lot better if you read Liveship in the middle. I read it after Tawny Man and realized that I missed a lot of references by doing so. Also, it's a good trilogy in its own right.


I second George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Some day he'll even continue it! And I await with baited breath.


There's the Death Gate Cycle by Margarett Weiss and Tracy Hickman and it's really good. 7 books long.

I enjoyed the RAMA series by....someone. It's not really Fantasy, but it's very good Sci-Fi. Usually people who like fantasy like sci-fi too so just throwing it out there.

Uhm....Sword of Darkness Trilogy by Margarett Weiss and Tracy Hickman is another good one, as well as the Sovereign Stone Trilogy (actually liked this one better than Sword of Darkness).

The Riftwar and Serpentwar sagas by Raymond E Feist are quite good, though his books can take a bit to get 'into'.

Currently I'm reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. It was described to me as the 'thinking man's fantasy' and, while I don't see that yet, it's still a good book and likely series (it's the first of 7 books).

Let's see.....Oh! The Temeraire series is a unique mix of Napoleonic war and dragons, of all things. Naomi Novik does it very well though and it's a great series, if a bit predictable at times.


Hrm...that's all that comes to mind right off the bat. Should get you started though.
 
TexasTiger said:
Oh, my goodness, the Pern series is probably one of my all-time favorites! And I've reread pretty much all of them except the really recent ones with her son...those are so-so. Have you read any of her others?
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I read the Ship Who Sang/etc books a while back, and the series with Killashandra/Crystal Singer/etc-- loved them both!! Oh, and I didn't care for the ones with her son. I was very excited for new books to come out and found them a little disappointing.

And THANK YOU everyone for suggestions. I'm so excited to have a little more free time to read now-- since I'm taking exclusively science classes for a while, reading will actually be a pleasure rather than something to force myself to do!
 
I suggest "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White.

"Swing spinnerettes, let out the thread.
The longer it is, the better it's read."
 
It's more Urban Fantasy but I love Patricia Briggs's Mercy Thompson Series.
 
yay!
I'm glad that there is so many of you interested in a SDN book club!

If we still want to do a monthly (for the summer) book club, how about we aim to start in June?

Now that hard part… Deciding on a book.

My suggestion would be "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - by Stieg Larsson

But we could always just use this thread to give suggestions to others for novel ideas - if that works better.
 
I second "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo," my mom's been trying to get me to read it for ages, I just haven't gotten around to it, so this will be motivation 😀. Besides, isn't there a movie coming out? Or maybe already out?

And marycatherine, I'm pretty sure no one mentioned these because, of course, everyone's already read them, but if you haven't read Harry Potter, shame on you! 😉
 
What's the dragon tattoo book about? Is it a chick fl-...uh, novel?

Ooh ooh, or chick fic(tion)!
 
What's the dragon tattoo book about? Is it a chick fl-...uh, novel?

Ooh ooh, or chick fic(tion)!
Click to expand...

haha, no it's not a chick fic(tion) - at least I don't think…
It's a crime/murder novel. I don't know to much about it, I just heard it was really really good. It is book 1 in the trilogy and it's also been made into a movie - which is already out.

This is what the back of the book says:

"Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption."
 
I'm in for "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo". My dad just finished reading it and couldn't stop raving about it. I like the idea of an actual book club. I could use an excuse to read some books this summer!
 
I'm in, definitely heard of GWDT although I haven't had a chance to pick it up.

Now that my main class is done (1 more speech class left) I am all about summer time fun reading!!!!

Although I will shamelessly admit most of my personal reading is paranormal and romance fluff.
 
marycatherine said:
I'm in for a book club!! I also love fantasy/sci-fi but haven't had the time to read in ages (though will have a fancy English diploma to show for it). I am remodeling my room, to cope with having to live in my parents' house for the next two years, and it's basically turned into a library!

I have decided that in celebration of graduation, I'm going to re-read all of the Dragonriders of Pern novels-- they were my favorites in middle school and I know they'll be the perfect (and embarrassing) beach read.

If anyone has any better fantasy suggestions, please tell me!!
Click to expand...

I third George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Of course, it is currently unfinished. To give you an idea, book 4 was due out, oh, about five years ago.

There is a fourth book out now (published in fall of 2005), but it is actually half of what was supposed to be book 4. The other half is still in progress. However, what has been published has been superbly written.

Other suggestions:

R. A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms stuff (I know, we're getting into super-nerd territory here 😉 ). I recently read The Cleric Quintet, which was fun (definitely had me nostalgic for my D&D days). I also just finished the first book of The Dark Elf Trilogy, and I really loved it.

I also hear the Icewind Dale Trilogy is very good, but I haven't gotten to them, yet, so that's not a personal recommendation. (And evidently, I am just learning from Wikipedia, the Icewind Dale Trilogy follows the events of the Dark Elf Trilogy, though the Icewind Dale Trilogy was published first.)

Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are also a must read. Very funny books.
 
Love the thought of being able to read books again.

"The Rhino with Glue on Shoes" is good and I'm definitely going to have to find and read "All Creatures Great and Small".

For fantasy, I've been reading The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Lots of characters and plenty of character development over the dozen or so books out.

I haven't heard about GWTDT.

Looking forward to more about this book club.
 
rhinocerotidae said:
yay!
I'm glad that there is so many of you interested in a SDN book club!

If we still want to do a monthly (for the summer) book club, how about we aim to start in June?

Now that hard part… Deciding on a book.

My suggestion would be "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - by Stieg Larsson

But we could always just use this thread to give suggestions to others for novel ideas - if that works better.
Click to expand...

I could not put that Larsson book down! I read it in 1.5 days. Not starting book 2 of the trilogy until I'm done with finals, though 😉
 
Just saw that they are making a movie for Water For Elephants...Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon are gonna be in it. I never would have thought that would happen hah
 
I started watching True Blood on HBO and saw that is was based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I picked up the first one and read the nine that were out in like a week and a half. If you are looking for a really addictive/non-intellectual series I highly recommend it!
 
Lissarae06 said:
I started watching True Blood on HBO and saw that is was based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I picked up the first one and read the nine that were out in like a week and a half. If you are looking for a really addictive/non-intellectual series I highly recommend it!
Click to expand...

👍 Loved those books!
 
Has anyone read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold? Despite the incredibly boring title, it is one of the best books I have ever read - ecological principles written in simple, beautiful form. Also, Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall is quite good. With all of the doom and gloom in the world, it provides an uplifting perspective - written by an amazing woman!
 
racccjlm said:
Has anyone read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold? Despite the incredibly boring title, it is one of the best books I have ever read - ecological principles written in simple, beautiful form. Also, Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall is quite good. With all of the doom and gloom in the world, it provides an uplifting perspective - written by an amazing woman!
Click to expand...

I'll second the recommendation for "A Sand County Almanac". Read it during a wildlife management class and it really gave a sense of depth and beauty to the field.

Hadn't heard about "Reason for Hope". I'm going to have lots of reading to do this summer! 😀
 
Quite a few of these are already on my reading list... I'm game for pretty much everything--just no vampires, please. I'm not a huge one for fantasy, but I think might be able to expand my horizons. I read a lot of classics, some mysteries, some historical stuff, some nonfiction, some poetry, etc. Right now I'm rereading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Next on my list is Born Free which I hear is totally awesome.

If this is going to be a formal book club (reading the same thing at the same time), rhinocerotidae, since this was your idea (very good one!), how about you choose a selection of books and make a new thread w/poll.
 
I must be one of the few people on here who didn't really enjoy The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes! I just couldn't get into it for some reason.

In any case:

  • The Trouble With Lions, by Jerry Haigh
  • Appointment at the Ends of the World, by William Karesh
  • The Obsidian Trilogy and Enduring Flame Trilogy, by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
  • The Twelve Kingdoms series, by Fuyumi Ono
  • Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik
  • Heralds of Valdemar series, by Mercedes Lackey
  • Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, by Douglas Adams
  • Anything by Terry Pratchett (Discworld novels, Nation, Good Omens)
Anne McCaffrey's books are also good, but the Pern books written by her son are filled with plagues, plagues, and more plagues. And the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan is supposed to be good; I've never read them, but my brother has (which is like a miracle, since he's not an avid reader so they must be decent) and several others have recommended them to me.

There are also a ton more that I'd recommend if I could remember what they were!

Also, here are some older threads to browse through:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=688180&highlight=book+recommendations
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=691943&highlight=book+recommendations
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=682580
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=609938

...come to think of it, I probably recommended the same books here that I did in one of those threads. I'll blame it on my small library and inability to remember series titles unless the book is right in front of me 🙄
 
I'm currently in the middle of "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and I'd say it's pretty good. It's about a medical anthropologist (the famous Paul Farmer) who spends his time in Haiti, Peru, and I think Russia (though I haven't gotten to that yet). Right now it's talking about multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and his ways of tackling it.. incredibly interesting stuff!

Though I MUST MUST MUST recommend Robert Sapolsky's books as a neuroscience major/ pre-vet student. My favorite is "A Primate's Memoir," which is about his field study work with baboons in Africa. I love this book.. it's hilariously entertaining and incredibly heartwrenching at the same time. Also super intriguing and he explains his research pretty well in layman's terms. I think Sapolsky is my hero if I have ever had one. 😍
 
Hey Everyone!

Sorry I haven't been on SDN for a while! Summer started getting a little busy! Hope you are all enjoying your summers so far! Is everyone still up to start reading a book??

I don't know how to make a poll, so I looked through this thread and picked the top three books that were discussed for us to choose from.

1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
2) A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
3) Song of Ice and Fire series - George RR Martin

In all honesty, I started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last week, (although I'm only on page 70.), so my suggestion would be GWTDT. haha

I think some of you have already read a few of those books, but it's really hard to find a book that everyone would be interested in reading!

My one last suggestion...
4) Mr. Peanut - Adam Ross. (This Book doesn't come out until June 22)
 
Thanks to you guys who suggested Alex and Me! It was a great read, that I just finished about 10 minutes ago. Now to find a new book...
 
I really loved both The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes and Tell Me Where It Hurts, actually preferring the latter. I thought he was a really good storyteller. Another vet-related book I read recently was A Country Practice by Douglas Whynott. It was written by this author who shadowed the three vets at this mixed animal practice for at least a year (or more). I enjoyed reading about the workings of a mixed animal practice but I didn't enjoy the book as much as those other two.
 
rhinocerotidae said:
p three books that were discussed for us to choose from.

1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
2) A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
3) Song of Ice and Fire series - George RR Martin

In all honesty, I started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo last week, (although I'm only on page 70.), so my suggestion would be GWTDT. haha
Click to expand...



i'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!!! that's my rec 🙂
 
rileyroo said:
i'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!!! that's my rec 🙂
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So many comments on the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so I borrowed it yesterday, and finished it today! I guess you could say it kept my attention.

Maybe it is only me, but Salander really reminded me of Nyanko!
 
I really want to read that series and I do have it available to me currently to borrow and read but I'm already in the middle of like 3 different books right now....I really need to just choose one and stick with it. There are just so many books I want to read....
 
Risika said:
...I really need to just choose one and stick with it. There are just so many books I want to read....
Click to expand...


me too!!! i'm reading on my nook right now and i had an "e-wish list" that quickly turned into me just purchasing the books and starting each one instead of waiting until i finished one. 😀
 
StartingoverVet said:
So many comments on the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so I borrowed it yesterday, and finished it today! I guess you could say it kept my attention.
Click to expand...


im definitely enjoying it. but the beginning was a little slow for me.
 
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