Good Books??

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  • A Confederacy of Dunces
  • .The Children of Men .
  • I Am Legend
  • I, Lucifer
  • Me Talk Pretty One Day
Those are 5 I have read recently that I enjoyed and haven't seen mentioned yet. A Confederacy of Dunces is amazing funny.

You are silly. You don't even recommend your namesake.

Siddhartha - Herman Hesse (amazing, short book. I read it atleast once a year usually in a sitting or two)

Also

Narcissus and Goldmund - Hesse
 
I literally laughed out loud when reading this book. It is awesome!
I actually laughed out loud freuqently at another of Sedaris's books, Naked. The last chapter might actually be the funniest thing ever written.
 
George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Definitely a 👍👍.

I've read the first two so far, amazing. 🙂

Oh, and if you haven't read The Golden Compass...do so. Thank me later. 😉
 
I just ordered "Cutting Remarks," by Dr. Sid Schwab, a general surgeon. I've been reading his blog - http://surgeonsblog.blogspot.com - and I really like it, so I'm guessing his book will be pretty good. I definitely recommend his blog though.
 
I should also say: don't start these books if you're in the middle of finals. Incredibly difficult to put down. They are extremely popular with Amazon customers.

Amazon.com: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1): Books: George R.R. Martin
Amazon.com: A Clash of Kings: Books: George R. R. Martin,John Howe
Amazon.com: A Storm of Swords (Martin, George R. R. Song of Ice and Fire, Bk. 3.): Kindle Store: George R.R. Martin
Amazon.com: A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire): Books: George R.R. Martin

This series is by far the best suggestion you're going to get from this thread. No bias, no exaggeration, no nothing. For time-killing entertainment, nothing compares. You could wait for the HBO series, but why?
It was pretty interesting. I read the first three, never read the fourth though. Maybe i should pick that up hmm.
 
i read A Splendid Thousand Suns by Khaled Hosseini over the summer and recently finished The Kite Runner.
Both are really good if you are into historical fiction (i think that's the genre).
I personally liked Kite Runner better because it was more male directed as Thousand Splendid Suns was more for women.

If you want a light read, Mitch Albom's "For One More Day" was good. Short, but good. 👍
 
It was pretty interesting. I read the first three, never read the fourth though. Maybe i should pick that up hmm.
Yes. Be warned though that the chapters are split up not chronologically in AFFC, but by character. You get only the perspectives of Danaerys, Arya, Sansa, Cersei, Jaime, and Brienne. If you've waited this long, you might as well just wait until the 5th which will include the other characters. They were intended to be a single release but grew too long (AFFC is like 900pg).

To whomever recommended the Northern Lights series (Golden Compass now? I'm confused), I second that recommendation, but only if you can tolerate the horrible, horrible mess that is the third and final book. Pullman took an incredible story/universe and opted to turn it into a fanatical, incoherent anti-theist manifesto of sorts. I am agnostic/atheist and even I find out it to be completely inappropriate and, worse, really poor story-telling.
 
Right now I'm reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, which is about the experience of a former child soldier in Sierra Leone. Reading this book really reminds me to count my blessings!
 
people read for fun 😕

OVER BREAK!!!!!! 😱😱
 
I noticed someone suggested Jane Austen. You either love or hate Austen. Personally, I find her stuff intolerable.

That being said, I would second the earlier post suggesting A Moveable Feast by Hemingway. I would add A Farewell to Arms, as well, or really anything by Hemingway.

Also, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is an intriguing contemporary read. Plus, you get to experience people always saying, "Oh! That's the dog book! I want to read/loved that book!"
 
Everyone in the world should read the giver.

I think it is meant for 5th graders or something but it is my all-time favorite book.
And it won't take you more than a few days to read (at most).
 
anything by Tim O'Brien is good. i really liked 'In The Lake of The Woods'.
 
I've said it many times, but here i go anyways . . .

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

It's not an intellectual, think hard book, but it has a good message, is funny, and you won't want to put it down.

It also happens to be my favorite book. 👍


That's my favorite book too! Amazing! I've probably said that before too...

Right now I'm reading Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik, one of the few female neurosurgeons in the US. I'm only about 75 pages in, but I like it so far.

Happy reading!
 
Right now I'm reading Another Day in the Frontal Lobe by Katrina Firlik, one of the few female neurosurgeons in the US. I'm only about 75 pages in, but I like it so far.

Happy reading!

I thought that was a pretty good read.
 
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is a good read as well.
I disagree. That is one of the most poorly written books I've ever read. It seemed like the work was slapped together in a weekend. His sequel was somewhat better written.

If you want to read something targeted at the same age range, The Giver, Flowers for Algernon, and almost any book by Madeline L'Engle are much more worth rereading.

1984 is one of the books that I'll probably wind up reading several times during my life. It always seems to be written for whatever is going on in the world at that moment. It's one of the best books of the 20th century.
 
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

http://www.amazon.com/Season-Migration-North-African-Writers/dp/0435900668

Book Description

  • An Arabian Nights in reverse; the brilliant student of an earlier generation returns to his Sudanese village; obsessed with the mysterious West and a desire to bite the hand that has half-fed him, has led him to London and the beds of women with similar obsessions about the mysterious East.

    - The Observer
A beautifully constructed novel set in the Sudan.

Recommended if you're a fan of Fitzgerald or like lyrical prose and larger-than-life characters with a distanced narration.
 
Don't Bet Against Me, by Deanna Favre.
 
I disagree. That is one of the most poorly written books I've ever read. It seemed like the work was slapped together in a weekend. His sequel was somewhat better written.

If you want to read something targeted at the same age range, The Giver, Flowers for Algernon, and almost any book by Madeline L'Engle are much more worth rereading.

1984 is one of the books that I'll probably wind up reading several times during my life. It always seems to be written for whatever is going on in the world at that moment. It's one of the best books of the 20th century.

I LOVED the wrinkle in times series when I was younger. They were pretty dark for childrens' books from what I can remember.

Man... I think there is something wrong with my mitochindria.
 
I read "Complications" by Atul Gawande that book is excellent and I highly recommend it and right now i'm reading "Hot Lights, cold stell, Life & Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years" by Micheal Collins its also very good thus far.


Both good books. Dr. Collins, the author of Hot Lights Cold Steel, is actually my sports medicine doc- he reconstructed my ankle- great guy, great book

Have you read "Better" by Atul Gawande? Similar to Complications, also a great book
 
Now that I am done with finals I am looking for a couple good books to read over the break. Any suggestions?

READ ANGELAS ASHES TIS AND TEARHERS MAN YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED or james bond books
 
I am currently reading "The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Pyschiatry of Genicide" Very fascinating but long and detailed...

for fun-
Gilbert Morris Books
Cross and the Switchblade
Night (or any Elie Wiesel book)
The Reader (new movie with Kidman to come out next December based on this one)
Memoirs of a Geisha

just a few hopefully you can get some enjoyable reading done! I know I am 🙂
 
READ ANGELAS ASHES TIS AND TEARHERS MAN YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED or james bond books

Yes, Frank McCourt's memoirs are worth reading, particularly Angela's Ashes. Another good one is Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen, in which he retells his life as a youth in China during tumultuous times.

DROGBA - Yes, I think Wrinkle in Time has been a favorite of every member in my family. It actually was where and how I learned about mitochondria when I was in, what, 4th grade? :laugh: I had to go on a search to find out if they were real or something made up for the book. L'Engle also introduced me to tesseracts. Oh, and the possibilities of limb and organ regeneration in her book Arm of the Starfish. She was an excellent writer for youth.
 
East of Eden - Steinbeck
Mother Night, Slaughterhouse Five, or Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut
Norwegian Wood - Murakami
All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque

Murakami for the win!👍👍

people read for fun

OVER BREAK!!!!!!

When you're a bookseller, you pretty much get paid to!
 
Hah, I need to reread the Giver. I'd also recommend I Am Legend, before the movie ruins the story.

It's a shame not many people know about Murakami. He weaves poetry.
 
Be

Because most of us tend to chime in on active threads even if we don't have much to contribute.

I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks. 😀 ... but seriously, anything by Crichton is good. I can't believe he's an MD. How cool is that? Latest one was Next about genetic engineering, one before that was Prey, about nanobots. All good.

Also, have to second the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Hilarity abounds.
 
Hah, I need to reread the Giver. I'd also recommend I Am Legend, before the movie ruins the story.

It's a shame not many people know about Murakami. He weaves poetry.

Ah, now there's an idea. I need to check that out from work if we've got any trade cloth editions running around... do I finish The Subtle Knife first, though?

Murakami's short stories are pretty nice too, if you haven't had a chance to read them.😀
 
I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks. 😀 ... but seriously, anything by Crichton is good. I can't believe he's an MD. How cool is that? Latest one was Next about genetic engineering, one before that was Prey, about nanobots. All good.

Also, have to second the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Hilarity abounds.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was mighty amusing as well.👍
 
Now that I am done with finals I am looking for a couple good books to read over the break. Any suggestions?

"the crying of lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon and "cat's cradle" by kurt vonnegut. Both are amazing and will change your life
 
Oh god 1984 is so amazing. If you liked it you would also love "brave new world" by aldous huxley" its not exactly AS good as 1984, but its still freaking amazing
 
Oh god 1984 is so amazing. If you liked it you would also love "brave new world" by aldous huxley" its not exactly AS good as 1984, but its still freaking amazing

Random side note, I LOVE that med students (or pre-med, whatever) are so significantly less ******ed then the average person I interact with. It's quite wonderful. Thanks to all of you. 😍
 
Ah, now there's an idea. I need to check that out from work if we've got any trade cloth editions running around... do I finish The Subtle Knife first, though?

Murakami's short stories are pretty nice too, if you haven't had a chance to read them.😀

I Am Legend's a novella. Quick read. 😉

I haven't read any of Murakami's shorts. So far, I've only read Norwegian Wood and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I have Windup Bird Chronicles sitting by my bed. Will read that after I finish Breakfast of Champions and House of God.
 
I Am Legend's a novella. Quick read. 😉

I haven't read any of Murakami's shorts. So far, I've only read Norwegian Wood and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I have Windup Bird Chronicles sitting by my bed. Will read that after I finish Breakfast of Champions and House of God.

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle's next to my bed as well, but it's not quite in English and will therefore take somewhat longer to digest. Oh, hey, now there's a winter break plan...
 
I Am Legend's a novella. Quick read. 😉

I haven't read any of Murakami's shorts. So far, I've only read Norwegian Wood and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I have Windup Bird Chronicles sitting by my bed. Will read that after I finish Breakfast of Champions and House of God.

This one is also on my list of books to read this break. 👍
 
First thing that comes to mind: why visit (and share a paragraph of your thoughts in) a thread about books? 😕

Surely there's a great videogames or great movies thread that would provide more "stimulation?"

DulyNoted, I have to say that was duly noted! Well done! 😎
 
I actually laughed out loud freuqently at another of Sedaris's books, Naked. The last chapter might actually be the funniest thing ever written.

Yes, read Sedaris books in private, not on the Metro like me! They're great too because you can just read a chapter here and there . . . although I'm always tempted to read another . . . and another . . . and another!

The two chapters on his brother - Rooster at the Hitching Post and Baby Einstein - in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" are hilarious. Messed up, of course, but hilariously so!
 
Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene
 
Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene
I love to read Dawkins. Have you read The Ancestors' Tale? Reading authors like Dawkins, Ridley, Carroll, and Wilson while I was in high school shaped my thinking. They still sit within reach on my bookshelf. Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra was the other most influential work I read at the time.
 
The lovely bones....

kind of depressing but an excellent book I couldn't put down.

Also Under the Banner of Heaven...
Fundamental Mormonism...you'll be shocked by some of the things in this book.
 
Yes, read Sedaris books in private, not on the Metro like me! They're great too because you can just read a chapter here and there . . . although I'm always tempted to read another . . . and another . . . and another!

The two chapters on his brother - Rooster at the Hitching Post and Baby Einstein - in "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" are hilarious. Messed up, of course, but hilariously so!

If you like him, he isalso a regular on what possibly could be the best radio show in the world: this American life.
 
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