What are some good BOOKS to read for leisure?

[sheepunite]

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I don't think the casting could be any more appropriate for Dagny. Not sold on Pitt, think they could do better there. For a Fountainhead movie, Jude Law would make a good Roark.

I don't know, a lot of stuff she gets into as far as valuing medicrity and valuing failure is interesting (i like her culture of life/culture of death thing), and sounds very good, but opperating a society on the assumption that everyone has the same ability to achieve, and damning the rest just doesn't fly with me.

Edit: how ironic would Jolie as Rand's female hero be?!

has she even read the book, i wonder?
agree on the jude law vs. brad pitt comment.

 

[pacma]

Just look at my profile picture: Tom Robbins!

I love all of his books, especially "Skinny Legs and All." However, "Jitterbug Perfume" is often called his best work. I'm saving the best for last 😉 and will read it this summer as my undergrad graduation present to myself.

Also an Ayn Rand fan. Liberal Robbins, 0bjectivist Rand - I like them both! Their fiction books have themes, not just plot. Plus, Robbins has an amazingly unique and beautiful grasp on language.

 

[KenDoll]

The thing i've found w modern authors is that their "writing" isn't as heavy or tight as some of the older pieces i have read..has anyone found this? maybe i havent looked enough...

Funny, I've always sort of thought this myself. I'm also a big fan of Austen and other oldies - Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. Try anything by J.M. Coetzee, a contemporary South African author; Disgrace was particularly good.

And I second whoever recommended Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. That book totally cracked me up! If you've been turned off by any of his earlier stuff, seriously try this one. It's not as ridiculously wacko.

 

[mrs_lady]

i adore _the counte of monte cristo_!
also, i agree with mr. belding's recommendation of _midnight's children_.

personal favorites:

_jane eyre_
_the time of our singing_ (richard powers)
_the dispossessed_ (ursula le guin)
_a tree grows in brooklyn_ (betty smith)
_angle of repose_ (wallace stegner)
_his dark materials_ (trilogy, by philip pullman)
_the blind assassin_ (margaret atwood)
_atonement_ (ian mcewan)

um, and neil gaiman's _neverwhere_. i'm a geek.

Hey, yeah. LOVE Jane Austen and wish the woman would have had the chance to write a few more books. Along the same lines but sadder, the book version of

Howard's End
The English Patient

British, tangled love story w/ political backdrop, suberb.

Also, for sheer fun, reread:

The Anne of Green Gables books!

I just did, and they gave me such escapist pleasure.

I agree with the above,

His Dark Materials triology (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, the Amber Spyglass) Again, so said when I turned to the last page.

And A Tree Grows in Brooklyn never grows old.

Finally, if you're a liberal Christian, Annie LaMott's Traveling Mercies is the best book ever. Enjoy your break! I love sharing great books.

 

[Lurchdubious]

i'm currently reading False Memory by Dean Koontz. pretty crazy book. i also occaisonally jump into anything Stephen King, Robin Cook, or John Grisham.

 

[weathertalk]

How about some light reading like "Against the Day" by Thomas Pynchon?

 

[ryandote]

Nonfiction---Freakonomics--But it is a great book that explains the oddities that occur in the nation.

I've heard the methodology is horrendous! All difference-in-difference estimation, etc..

 

[in.a.nutshell]

Books:
Walk on Water: Inside an Elite Pediatric Surgical Unit by Michael Ruhlman

Absolutely incredible book!!! I love it and recommend it to everyone! Seriously, it's awesome, especially if you're thinking about peds cardio.

 

[LizzyM]

Here's a link to last summer's thread on books:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=293681

 

[zimmie256]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but I'm reading "Devil in the White City" - Erik Larson and loving it!

 

[vernal equinox]

I don't know if it has already been mentioned but:

The Spirit Catches you and you fall down by Anne Fadiman (sp?)

The mysterious stranger by Mark Twain

The Stranger by Albert Camus

 

[vernal equinox]

The Poisonwood Bible

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (personal favorite)

he is one of my favorites as well. Memoria de mis putas tristes is very good. the English title escapes me at the moment.

 

[Darjeeling]

Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian

This book was hidden in that giant list earlier in the thread but is is worth repeating because it is FABULOUS. Very very long, very very fictional, but also manages to have great perpective into hospital life, med student life, and human nature. Plus I couldn't put it down- it is not a heavy read at all, except for the length.

Also- The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The World according to Garp, Until I Find You- all John Irving.

(harry potter wil never be replaced, of course)

 

[Rubles]

It's been about 7 years but I still remember Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand as being fabulous. It was written by a French doctor before WWII. It's a pretty dark read though.

I always felt like Ayn Rand was required reading for Young Republicans or something. Don't get me wrong, I mostly enjoyed what I read but subtlety certainly isn't her strong suite.

 

[Rubles]

Louis-Ferdinand Celine that is...😳

 

[sagemedecon]

I've heard the methodology is horrendous! All difference-in-difference estimation, etc..

Nothing inherently wrong w/ d-in-d estimation. Steven Levitt is legit. He is well respected in academia and a research powerhouse among economists.

 

[chevaliermalfet]

Bump (because I love getting new ideas for reading material!)

And for anyone who is into a little intellectual cross-training, I would highly recommend:

John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage"

It also helps remind you that sometimes, there really are good people in government . . .