Good reads for the summer

[tigress]

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I suggest House of God. I read it and really liked it. I will also be reading Harry Potter 6 this summer but right now i'm reading The diving bell and the butterfly. It's interesting.

I suggest not reading House of God. I know some people like it, but I would never inflict that on another person. I kept seeing people mention it on here, and I would see it in the library and read the dust jacket and think nah, doesn't look good. But then finally after people kept mentioning it I checked it out and I got about 1/2 of the way in before I stopped reading. I think it's sick. I don't even care if sometimes people feel like medicine is like that, I just don't think any of it is funny or insightful or even worth reading. All of the extreme sexual scenes are over the top. The hatred for your own patients might be real, but it's nothing to laugh about. Maybe it gets better later in the book, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out. And I rarely give up on books.

So I guess I'd never tell somebody NOT to read a book,but I'm just saying read at your own caution. It might make you hate the idea of medicine, or it might just sicken you. Or maybe you'll actually like it (seems like lots of people do).

 

[LadyBulldog]

as anyone read arrowsmith?.....i remember someone recommeding that to me once long ago as a must read for pre-meds, but i never got around to it....

 

[tank you]

Complications: A surgeon's notes on an imperfect science (Atul Gawande)
Interpreter of maladies, The namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

 

[miss bean]

We are so well rounded!! and I do not mean that in any sort of sarcastic mocking way. The book suggestions on this thread have been excellent!

I would highly suggest "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. It is an amazing book about a doctor who teaches infectious disease at Harvard/started a clinic in haiti/ lobbied the WHO to treat TB more effectively/ is one of the most amazing people in the world, in my humble opinion. This was literally the book that made me realize that I had to be a doctor. Very good.

Also, for the person looking for history books, "people's history of the United states" by Howard Zinn is an interesting one for an overview and when you get to more specific topics, anything by david Halberstam, but especially "War in a time of Peace" about the US intervention in Bosnia is VERY good and very relevant as it talks about many of todays military leaders and diplomats earlier in their careers.

 

[lulubean]

Two profoundly great reads that I think every aspiring physician should read. Both are very very very eye-opening. Both of these books will talk about aspects of medicine you will not hear very much about in med school

"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman
great book about a Hmong girl who has epilepsy and the medical care she receives. really demonstrates how much a clash between cultures can affect the quality of patient care.

"Powerful Medicines" by Jerry Avorn
A must-read about prescription drugs, how prescribing practices are shaped by pharmaceutical companies, and what physicians need to know to provide the best care for their patients.

 

[LabMonster]

We are so well rounded!! and I do not mean that in any sort of sarcastic mocking way. The book suggestions on this thread have been excellent!

So when we become M1s we lose this?

 

[Avenue Q]

This book is by David Eggers. My friends and I looked at it, because we heard it was like "THE SCENE THING TO READ", but we couldn't imagine the hours wasted, reading his whiny, wallowing, BS, no offense, Larsitron. (This guy experienced a great loss. However, he is or was on MTV. )
Instead you could read David Sedaris' whiny,wallowing, BS. His prose is more entertaining, in my opinion. He's been on NPR a bunch.

My favorite book is Magazine. Anyone read Vice magazine?

I loved Heatbreaking Work. And I didn't find it whiny, i found it postmodern, which is a very differnt prose style than Sedaris. And Eggers is very well established at this point - he founded McSweenys, and an amazing non profit, http://www.826valencia.org/ that fronts as a pirate supply shop! A recent branch was just founded in nyc last summer, and 3 others are in the works in other locations in the US.

Anyway, the book is great. And he wasn't on MTV, he auditioned for Real World with the hopes that it could bring attention and revenue to his publication at the time, he didn't get on the show though.

 

[Kazema]

I'm reading "Becoming a Doctor" by Melvin Konner right now. I almost stopped during the first chapter because of his very thinly veiled arrogance but I'm glad I continued; it's really a good, detailed book about 3rd year. His arrogance only leaks through every once in a while after the first chapter. I'd say it's a must-read for any non-trad.

After this I'm done with medical non-fiction for a while. Eco has a new book out, I impulse-bought it so I'll be reading that, which will probably take me several weeks to wade through.

 

[tigress]

We are so well rounded!! and I do not mean that in any sort of sarcastic mocking way. The book suggestions on this thread have been excellent!

I would highly suggest "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. It is an amazing book about a doctor who teaches infectious disease at Harvard/started a clinic in haiti/ lobbied the WHO to treat TB more effectively/ is one of the most amazing people in the world, in my humble opinion. This was literally the book that made me realize that I had to be a doctor. Very good.

Also, for the person looking for history books, "people's history of the United states" by Howard Zinn is an interesting one for an overview and when you get to more specific topics, anything by david Halberstam, but especially "War in a time of Peace" about the US intervention in Bosnia is VERY good and very relevant as it talks about many of todays military leaders and diplomats earlier in their careers.

Thanks for the history recommendations! Hopefully my library has these books.

I also just read Mountains Beyond Mountains recently. It's a great book. I think Paul Farmer is an interesting dude. Certainly most people can't do the kinds of things he does, but it's pretty amazing. Also it seems like he might be sort of arrogant, but on the other hand maybe you have to be to believe you can single-handedly change the world. The amazing thing is that he's actually doing it!

I also want to second When the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It's a different perspective on medicine which is really interesting.

I guess I'm due for another trip to the library to pick up an armful of books! Thanks everybody 🙂

 

[Amorphisgirl]

I loved Heatbreaking Work. And I didn't find it whiny, i found it postmodern, which is a very differnt prose style than Sedaris. ...

Oh yeah, post-modern! We go way back. Po-mo is a $5 word I picked up at college like the Moxie. 😀

I'm sure Mr. Eggers is a great guy--afterall he's suffered a terrible hardship-- I just don't like his book. 😉

 

[Syranope2]

I recently went through all of Orson Scott Card's books except the Ender series.

But the Ender series is awesome! i don't even like science fiction normally, but I couldn't put down Ender's Game. Plus, if you like them, as I do, there are seven more books in the series, all of them great but very different, so you don't get bored reading 8 books by the same guy about the same characters. I would definitely reccommend these to everyone 🙂

 

[tigress]

But the Ender series is awesome! i don't even like science fiction normally, but I couldn't put down Ender's Game. Plus, if you like them, as I do, there are seven more books in the series, all of them great but very different, so you don't get bored reading 8 books by the same guy about the same characters. I would definitely reccommend these to everyone 🙂

Yeah, I want to read it. My problem is the library keeps pretending to have Ender's Game and then when I look on the shelf it isn't there. I kept myself busy with all of his other series and the few individual books. I guess now next time I go to the library I'll actually ask a librarian what's up with the phantom book.

Is the Ender series full of Mormonism too? I have to say, a good thing has come out of it, because now I've spent a bunch of time reading about Mormonism and the Book of Mormon, which I hardly knew anything about before.

 

[Kazema]

There are some touches of Mormonism in all of Card's books. The Ender series is relatively free of them; but if you read his other books, like the Homecoming series, he literally pounds you in the face with Mormon analogies.

 

[Avenue Q]

Oh yeah, post-modern! We go way back. Po-mo is a $5 word I picked up at college like the Moxie. 😀

I'm sure Mr. Eggers is a great guy--afterall he's suffered a terrible hardship-- I just don't like his book. 😉

its discursive, it is self reflective, and it breaks down the "fourth wall". it pretty much is the definition of postmodern. meanwhile, sedaris is linear, albeit funny, and fairly traditional in his narrative style.

postmodern may be a catch phrase that is overused (making it worth far less than $5), but it does have an actual meaning - epecially in the arts, and eggers is it.

Most people who don't like his book, don't like it because of its style, and that style can pretty much be summed up in one $5 word.

 

[AxlxA]

I definitely recommend Ender's Game. -> i bought the newly released follow up to Bean's story titled: Shadow of the Giant

I also recommend this LOVELY romantic book for the ladies or guys called: Time Traveller's Wife.

 

[fpr85]

Pride and Prejudice is the most boring book you will ever read.

I am looking to tackle a number of classics that I neglected to read in the past:
Wuthering Heights (just finished and what a great story)
War and Peace (about a third of the way through)
Anna Karenina
Jane Eyre
Pride and Prejudice

Of course, Harry Potter too. 😉

 

[abraxas]

my goal in life is to build a time machine.....

to gain riches you say, no not to gain riches

to gain honor and fame, no

to rule the world with an iron fist, i must admit it has passed my mind but no

my goal in life with this time machine is to go back far far back to the time of Jane Austin and killing the annoying life long virgin b**ch, i just want to stab her and stab her and maybe hit her with a baseball bat. With a *wack* and a *crack* and then stab her a few more times...






sorry about that got a little over excited but i'm ok now...

 

[jamesrd]

Some of my favorites are:

Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond
-amazing book that will change the way you view a map of the world if nothing else
The Great Influenza - John Barry
-about the "Spanish Flu" that killed 50+ million in 1917-1918. Incredible book, has elements of virology, epidemiology, and medical and public health history with a well written story
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
-my favorite book of all time. Toole was an amazing writer.
Bad Blood - James Jones
-a chonicle of the infamous Tuskeegee experiments.
Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo
-an absolute classic. Will keep you up at night.
Bejamin Franklin: An American Life - Walter Isaacson
-great biography of one of the most intriguing men in American history.
Fat Land - Greg Critser
-currently reading. Very good so far.
A Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide - Samantha Power
-stumbled across this while researching foreign policy in Colombia. Very good book about American foreign policy, political expediency, and unforeseen consequences.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I definitely recommend Ender's Game. -> i bought the newly released follow up to Bean's story titled: Shadow of the Giant

I also recommend this LOVELY romantic book for the ladies or guys called: Time Traveller's Wife.

Time Traveler's Wife was very good. I second that.

I also suggest Wicked, by Gregory Maguire and if you haven't read it yet, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston.

 

[Amorphisgirl]

its discursive, it is self reflective, and it breaks down the "fourth wall". it pretty much is the definition of postmodern. meanwhile, sedaris is linear, albeit funny, and fairly traditional in his narrative style.

postmodern may be a catch phrase that is overused (making it worth far less than $5), but it does have an actual meaning - epecially in the arts, and eggers is it.

Most people who don't like his book, don't like it because of its style, and that style can pretty much be summed up in one $5 word.

My problem then is not really with the book, per se, it's his whole discourse. (I'm having too much fun.)

I used to have this prof that went around talking about the "discourses" and how they "talk to each other". He also taught me that everything was "problematic". When you don't know what to say about a reading, or an argument, just say "its problematic", and then you are understood.

So what if Sedaris is "linear"? He is certainly non-traditional (he's gay). The mood of a book, or music for that matter, rubs off on me. If the guy is thinking crazy, after reading him, I tend to "feel" crazy. Ugh, I need a shower. Nice points, Embily.

 

[Amorphisgirl]

We might like similar books Embily--I promise I will give them the benefit of the doubt-- can you suggest some for me?

 

[Wahooali]

I am currently reading Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons"

Next up for the summer is:
* Life of Pi
* Finishing the Lord of the Rings series (never read them, a crime I know, and I am currently 1.5 books)
* Harry Potter 6 of course! (and maybe re-read HP5 to refresh my memory if the spirit moves me)
* Poisonwood Bible
* Madame Bovary
* The Red Tent

My reading list just keeps growing!!! There are so many things I want to read. 🙂

 

[wetlightning]

XY(check the avatar). I know how that list must look. But I assure you I am a red-blooded, meat eating, beer drinking hetero. 😀

GOOD FOR YOU!

wuthering heights is possibly my favorite book ever (next to dune), and i have not yet met a man who likes it (or at least can admit it)

and three cheers for harry potter ---if sirius doesn't make some sort of appearance in these last two books, i'm gonna go AWOL

 

[wendywellesley]

I am currently reading Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons"

Next up for the summer is:
* Life of Pi
* Finishing the Lord of the Rings series (never read them, a crime I know, and I am currently 1.5 books)
* Harry Potter 6 of course! (and maybe re-read HP5 to refresh my memory if the spirit moves me)
* Poisonwood Bible
* Madame Bovary
* The Red Tent

My reading list just keeps growing!!! There are so many things I want to read. 🙂

The Red Tent is an interesting book. it made me cry.

 

[Wahooali]

The Red Tent is an interesting book. it made me cry.

That is the general impression that I have heard about it, and I am intrigued.

 

[Thundrstorm]

That is the general impression that I have heard about it, and I am intrigued.

I love it. Definitely read it.

 

[wisteria]

On Call : A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency -- by Emily R. Transue

Complications is a must-read though.

If you're up for some sophisticated trash, try Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons.

 

[doctorjoy]

My Summer reading list besides working on MCAT stuff 😀

Complication: A surgeon's note on an imperfect science
On Call : A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency: Just recently finished great book
Stiff: Started it already. A great read so far
Doctors-Can't think of the author but it is about the history of medicine
Hitchhikers guide: saw the movie now I want to read the book

 

[lumaya]

I definitely recommend Ender's Game. -> i bought the newly released follow up to Bean's story titled: Shadow of the Giant

I also recommend this LOVELY romantic book for the ladies or guys called: Time Traveller's Wife.

What is Time Traveller's Wife about?I've seen it and passed b.c I thought it was all sci fi.

The Orson Scott Card's books however, are AWESOME. I also enjoyed Ender's Shadow and Xenocide. He's so amazing, each one has such a different story but they're all pageturners! Has any read his book Women of Genesis?

 

[tigress]

I am currently reading Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons"

Next up for the summer is:
* Life of Pi
* Finishing the Lord of the Rings series (never read them, a crime I know, and I am currently 1.5 books)
* Harry Potter 6 of course! (and maybe re-read HP5 to refresh my memory if the spirit moves me)
* Poisonwood Bible
* Madame Bovary
* The Red Tent

My reading list just keeps growing!!! There are so many things I want to read. 🙂

It's great that you're readint the Lord of the Rings series. I"ve always loved those books! The Poisonwood Bible is one of my favorite fiction books of all time. And The Red Tent is really well written and worth the read. I actually ought to re-read some of these books. Recently I started keeping a list of books I read and writing a summary/review for each one, so I can just go to that file and look it up if I want to refresh my memory. Unfortunately some of the books I read years ago I just can't remember too well.

 

[tigress]

wuthering heights is possibly my favorite book ever (next to dune), and i have not yet met a man who likes it (or at least can admit it)

I always loved the original Dune movies but never got around to the book. Is it worth reading? I mean I know you say it's your favorite book, but do you like it just for the story or is it also written well and worth reading rather than just watching the movie?

 

[PineappleGirl]

I'm so psyched to see so many people reading Dostoevsky, or Dosto, as I affectionately refer to him. 🙂 Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov are two of my absolute favorites.

To the person who mentioned Arrowsmith, yes, you should definitely read it. It's a great book although at times it's really depressing. There's actually a worthwhile article on books that inspired med students now in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article is called "The Calling" by Abraham Verghese (Volume 352:1844-1847). If you're at school you can probably read it at online at http://content.nejm.org/. It metions Arrowsmith as well as Of Human Bondage, another good, yet sometimes quite depressing book.

As for me, I'm on this weird business reading kick right now.
I'm reading The Smartest Guys in the Room on the rise and fall of Enron and Jack Welch's book Winning.

 

[laurafinn]

A third (or fourth) for Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. And Infinite Jest -- what fun!

City of Dreams: A Novel of Nieuw Amsterdam and Early Manhattan by Beverly Swerling is a great book too, especially for history (and history of medicine) lovers.

For all Russophiles, I recommend The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Also, We by Eugene Zamyatin -- it's like 1984, but it was written before. And The Island of Crimea by Vassily Aksyonov.

What I'll be reading this summer... Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway, The Camelid Companion by Marty McGee Bennett, and whatever I come across that looks interesting.

 

[wetlightning]

I always loved the original Dune movies but never got around to the book. Is it worth reading? I mean I know you say it's your favorite book, but do you like it just for the story or is it also written well and worth reading rather than just watching the movie?

Absolutely! Actually, the book makes the movies seem quite disappointing, so if you loved the movies, I think you'll really enjoy the book. There's just this wondeful combination of mystical thought, science, economics, politics, and spirituality that characterizes the books...something really difficult to capture in the movie. Plus, the writing is fantastic: ranges from convoluted to heart-wrenchingly simplistic at times.

I know I'm biased, but the books are definitely worth a try; one caveat: the first one, Dune, is the best...the books go downhill after that. I still haven't read the last few in the series, however, so they could be an exception.

Have fun with all your summer reading!

 

[gdk]

i'd suggest an easy read that will maybe take you back to when you were younger... why not read "the lion, the witch and the wardrobe"? you'll be ready for the movie to come out at the end of the year
that's still my favorite book

 

[maddscientist]

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was my favorite read last year.

Dave Eggers is for people who can't handle David Foster Wallace or Thomas Pynchon. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Ego doesn't hold a candle to Infinite Jest or even Gravity's Rainbow.

 

[Overeducated]

i'd suggest an easy read that will maybe take you back to when you were younger... why not read "the lion, the witch and the wardrobe"? you'll be ready for the movie to come out at the end of the year
that's still my favorite book

I was thinking about rereading that. I remember loving those books as a kid but I literally can't remember anything about them now.

btw, has anyone read "The Last King of Scotland" by Giles Foden? (Don't be misled, it's not about Scottish royalty 🙂 ) I heard today it was being made into a movie and it sounded interesting (and the story is narrated by a doctor).

 

[Avenue Q]

My problem then is not really with the book, per se, it's his whole discourse. (I'm having too much fun.)

I used to have this prof that went around talking about the "discourses" and how they "talk to each other". He also taught me that everything was "problematic". When you don't know what to say about a reading, or an argument, just say "its problematic", and then you are understood.

So what if Sedaris is "linear"? He is certainly non-traditional (he's gay). The mood of a book, or music for that matter, rubs off on me. If the guy is thinking crazy, after reading him, I tend to "feel" crazy. Ugh, I need a shower. Nice points, Embily.

🙂 I was worried you were going to think I was attacking you or something... message boards (especially this one) scare me like that 😛

Discursive - lengthy and including extra material that is not essential to what is being spoken about

Discourse - the type of language used in a particular context

I had an entire class that was about putting texts in dialogue, it was awesome.

"problematic" doesn't bother me, things are problematic, as long as you explicate why and then talk about the consequences. "Social construction" on the other hand...

For the sake of full disclosure, I LOVE David Sedaris. But I would never put him in the same genre as Eggers. Eggers is far more in the same family as Michael Chabon... both of whom I love as well.

By the way, do you know about Egger's books that he wrote with his younger brother (whom you may remember from heartbreaking work)? They are putting together a children's encyclopedia with incorrect information, and it is completely histerical. Their first one, "Giraffes? Giraffes!" includes information like the fact that they control everything we see in mirrors, and includes a giraffe to english dictionary (not to mention a little cut out giraffe that you can hold up to a suspected giraffe to see if it indeed is one). I cannot rave enough about them (and listening to David reading them is one of the funniest things I have ever heard).

The website for them includes sample pages...
http://www.haggis-on-whey.com/index.php

Oh wow, now I'm going to look at my Dr. Doris Haggis-on-whey books instead of writing my paper... 🙂

 

[tigress]

So I went to the library this afternoon and finally tracked down Ender's Game, and I just finished it. It's a really great book. I kept thinking about the issue of child soldiers in the world today. I think the psychological aspects of the book are very interesting. Some of Orson Scott Card's typical themes come through, but less so than in the other books and series I've read by him. And after the twist in the story, I was thinking to myself that it ought to have been predictable, but I was so caught up in the telling that I wasn't thinking ahead to predict. One thing that Card tends to do which I sort of don't like is at some point later on in a book when he wants to advance the story quite a bit he has the characters go through years and years of their lives without really saying much about them. So by the end of the book, Ender is what, 20? 21? and I still felt like he was 11. A lot of the end felt like it was tacked on and wasn't as good as the rest of the book. I didn't really like the part where the dead bugger queen was basically communicating with Ender 50 years after her entire race was destroyed.

In any case I'll go get the sequel, Speaker for the Dead. I'm a bit wary of it, though. Ender's Game could really stand on its own, unlike Card's other series like Homecoming and Alvin Maker (each book in those series can't really be understood without the others, and each begs for a sequel). But the problem with sequels when the first one was really good and doesn't really need following up is that you never know what to expect. So I just hope that Speaker for the Dead is good!

Has anybody read Card's books Sarah and Rebekah. It's an interesting concept, to tell a fictionalized version of the stories of the women in the Bible. Might be worth looking at. Actually the idea sort of reminded me of The Red Tent, though I very much doubt Card's books could be on the same sort of level (emotional? literary? not sure how to express what I mean here). After all, they are shelved in the Young Adult section. (I was slightly embarrassed to be checking out books with a big yellow YA sticker on them, but I'm not quite sure why, since they're good books so who cares really)

 

[epalantequevoy]

i recommend the following.

mountains beyond mountains (i met my girlfriend because of this book...plus it's about paul farmer)
the brothers mayo (amazing story about the development of the clinic and of medicine)
the sun also rises (great, quick read about expats in france and spain)

i'm planning on reading the following.
collapse by jared diamond
a book about pirates
a book about the british royals
a book about the middle ages in germany

i'm not planning on touching the following.
netter's

 

[lulubean]

Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini (sp?)

Middlesex: Jeffery Eugenides

Love in the Time of Cholera: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

House of the Spirits: Isabel Allende

 

[wisteria]

Middlesex: Jeffery Eugenides

This is a incredible book!!! Probably the best thing i read last year.

 

[Amorphisgirl]

Dave Eggers is for people who can't handle David Foster Wallace or Thomas Pynchon. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Ego doesn't hold a candle to Infinite Jest or even Gravity's Rainbow.

Oh! Now I get it.

Here's a review of
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
courtesy Amazon.com

Note the first sentence is: Tyrone Slothrop, a GI in London in 1944, has a big problem. Whenever he gets an erection, a Blitz bomb hits.

OMG YES, where do I sign up?!!!!11111
It seems to be saying you need a "guide" to understand all of the pop-culture references. Tell me is this book worth my time?


You're wrong, its really all about Bret Easton Ellis for ego. 😉

 

[Amorphisgirl]

🙂 I was worried you were going to think I was attacking you or something... message boards (especially this one) scare me like that 😛

No problem.

Discursive - lengthy and including extra material that is not essential to what is being spoken about

Discourse - the type of language used in a particular context

Oh yeah, my bad.

I had an entire class that was about putting texts in dialogue, it was awesome.

"problematic" doesn't bother me, things are problematic, as long as you explicate why and then talk about the consequences. "Social construction" on the other hand...

I think I was being facetious (about problematic)....or maybe not. I may have had "social construction", but I can't recall, can you give me the Cliff's, Embily?
Did you also have "postcolonialism", bell hooks, and "feminist" readings of Freud? I mean, I got in a car accident last month, and I can't help but feel I got this horrible backlash. (Yeah I know)

For the sake of full disclosure, I LOVE David Sedaris. But I would never put him in the same genre as Eggers. Eggers is far more in the same family as Michael Chabon... both of whom I love as well.

By the way, do you know about Egger's books that he wrote with his younger brother....

Thanks for the rec.

 

[Wahooali]

Recently I started keeping a list of books I read and writing a summary/review for each one, so I can just go to that file and look it up if I want to refresh my memory. Unfortunately some of the books I read years ago I just can't remember too well.

That is a really great idea! I should consider doing that! I am awful with remembering anything about a book later on. For the most part I will only remember that I read it, and whether or not I liked it.

 

[jrae]

So I went to the library this afternoon and finally tracked down Ender's Game, and I just finished it. It's a really great book. I kept thinking about the issue of child soldiers in the world today. I think the psychological aspects of the book are very interesting. Some of Orson Scott Card's typical themes come through, but less so than in the other books and series I've read by him. And after the twist in the story, I was thinking to myself that it ought to have been predictable, but I was so caught up in the telling that I wasn't thinking ahead to predict. One thing that Card tends to do which I sort of don't like is at some point later on in a book when he wants to advance the story quite a bit he has the characters go through years and years of their lives without really saying much about them. So by the end of the book, Ender is what, 20? 21? and I still felt like he was 11. A lot of the end felt like it was tacked on and wasn't as good as the rest of the book. I didn't really like the part where the dead bugger queen was basically communicating with Ender 50 years after her entire race was destroyed.

In any case I'll go get the sequel, Speaker for the Dead. I'm a bit wary of it, though. Ender's Game could really stand on its own, unlike Card's other series like Homecoming and Alvin Maker (each book in those series can't really be understood without the others, and each begs for a sequel). But the problem with sequels when the first one was really good and doesn't really need following up is that you never know what to expect. So I just hope that Speaker for the Dead is good!

Has anybody read Card's books Sarah and Rebekah. It's an interesting concept, to tell a fictionalized version of the stories of the women in the Bible. Might be worth looking at. Actually the idea sort of reminded me of The Red Tent, though I very much doubt Card's books could be on the same sort of level (emotional? literary? not sure how to express what I mean here). After all, they are shelved in the Young Adult section. (I was slightly embarrassed to be checking out books with a big yellow YA sticker on them, but I'm not quite sure why, since they're good books so who cares really)

Ender's game rocks.....the rest (speaker, Xenocide, Children of the Mind) are okay. I would recommend reading the parallel serries to Ender's Game which is all about Bean. I believe the first one is Ender's shadow. They are much more in the spirit of the original.

 

[EvoDevo]

I like Dave Eggers but sometimes he gets too precious.

I'm reading several things:

Evening in the Palace of Reason"

Trashy military sci-fi: The "Starfist series.

Geeky med stuff: Surgical Secrets

- The "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" compendum

Upcoming:

-"The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology"
- Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man."
- "The Soul of Battle : From Ancient Times to the Present Day, Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny" by Victor Davis Hanson

🙂

 

[EvoDevo]

i recommend the following.

mountains beyond mountains (i met my girlfriend because of this book...plus it's about paul farmer)
the brothers mayo (amazing story about the development of the clinic and of medicine)
the sun also rises (great, quick read about expats in france and spain)

i'm planning on reading the following.
collapse by jared diamond
a book about pirates
a book about the british royals
a book about the middle ages in germany

i'm not planning on touching the following.
netter's

I also read "Mountains Beyond Mountains." 😀 Simply put, Paul Farmer is awe-inspiring.

Jared Diamond's an excellent read. I read "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and loved the intellectual brilliance of it. What's "Collapse" about?

 

[BDiesel]

I haven't read anything too heavy lately... too much studying for finals. I have been doing a lot of flying lately, travelling around Europe on my year abroad. Here are a few recommendations

American (the book): by the Daily Show writers. Hilarious book, especially for lefty Jon Stewart-lovers. It's in the style of a textbook, but filled w/ funny little quips. I actually laughed out loud.

They Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers - really touching, very well-written, it really struck a chord with me, given the current situation

The Dan Brown books - Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons (better than DVC, I thought), and Deception Point - really great to read write after you've been to Paris or Rome. I really hate giving him more money though, he's too successful!

I've pre-ordered HP6, looking forward to reading it in July. I really want to read Hitchhikers' and Trainspotting cause I'm a mad Anglophile. Also, more Ellis, cause American Psycho is just so good.

This thread is great! I'm always looking for good books to read, but I don't know what good books are...

 

[saffronrain]

Several good books I've read:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Last Song of Dusk by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
Nectar in a Sieve
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Wodehouse is the Best Medicine by P.G. Wodehouse
Any of the Harry Potter books
Any book by Charles Dickens
First They Killed My Father
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Good Earth
Goodnight Steve McQueen (halfway through it..it's okay)
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Bringing Down The House (story of several MIT kids & the system of blackjack-- really good)

Those are just a few... some are pretty vague, I know- like the Harry Potter and Dickens I mentioned. Have fun!! 🙂
~S~