Looking for new books

[RU Rah Rah]

I just read 1973 Nervous Breakdown, which, as the title sort of suggests, is about 1973. It's basically about the collective neurosis afflicting American culture in the mid-1970's. Good stuff.

[samwise]

Thanks for the suggestions. I picked up "Manhunt" last night and I am really enjoying it, but there are a bunch of great suggestions. I have read a fair share (because of my History degree) but I think after I want to go a little farther back in time. Maybe to the Romans.

[bobbledude25]

"Lone Survivor" and "Into Thin Air" great reads I just finished

[Fatter than Joey]

Cicero -- The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest politician. -- Everitt.

 

There are of course a lot of books that deal with Rome -- Reading Gibbon is like watching Claudio Vargas pitch -- I would stay away from that work.

[FIPS133]

Non-fiction is all I read and I'm a very easy audience, but I'll try to narrow it down to a couple of books that I've truly enjoyed over the past year:

- "Everybody Pays" by Rick Kogan and Maurice Pousley - excellent true chicago mafia account of a regular blue collar guy who witnesses a mob hit while walking his dog and the devastating impact it has on his life - great book
- "Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Wiener - a fully on record history of the CIA from the end of the WWII until present. I just finished this book a couple of weeks ago and its sticking with me. Very disconcerting. Completely blows any popular perceptions that our CIA does good things we never hear about - rather it rarely has done anything correctly.
- "Confucius" & "The Teachings of Confucius" by Jonathan Clements - unfortunately to many Westerners Confucius is all about fortune cookie sayings - these two fairly quick reads provide a history of Confucius and his complete writings illustrating his advanced philosophies from 2500 years ago that are peaceful, rational and completely non-threatening to any religious belief systems
- "Rivals" by James Naughtie - for Anglophiles this is a must read on the famous deal between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair at the Granita restaurant in 1994 setting up Blair for the premiership and Brown as the most powerful Chancellor in the history of the UK - particularly insightful considering Brown's recent succession and his early difficulties

This list could keep you busy for a few weeks.

Good reading!

[gypcasino]

Anybody else read The Hardy Boys series when they were a kid? I decided to revisit my youth and checked out a bunch from the library. I've just realized that these books feature the dumbest criminals in the history of crime.

[Fatter than Joey]

Anybody else read The Hardy Boys series when they were a kid?

 

Yeah -- I read through the whole hardcover series -- when I was a kid they made the transition to paperback.

 

Wayyyy to many smugglers for my liking

[gypcasino]

I just checked out some books from the Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators series. Those seemed to be a step up from the Hardy Boys.

[Fatter than Joey]

I read a lot of those as well -- Jupiter Jones was the fat kid -- there was an athletic kid, and then a dork.

[Katuluu]

These should be at the top of any non-fiction must read list.


http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/zombie-survival-guide.jpg http://media.npr.org/programs/totn/features/2006/09/zombies/WorldWarZ_200.jpg

[Fatter than Joey]

yeah -- I have both those books. They are awesome, and without a doubt extend my lifespan some day.

[Thurston Fluff]

If you're looking for a good hisory read relating to Rome try "Rome, The Biography of a City," by Christopher Hibbert. It goes through the entire history of the city up to modern day. Very few cities have as long and rich a history as Rome does.

 

I have to agree The Zombie books are great reads.

[Nader Raider Tim]

If your looking for a book that will make you feel like a horrible person, then I've got it

 

Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales

 

First thing first all of the authors profits go to freetheslaves.com. A non-profit NGO fighting modern slavery.

 

I haven't yet finished the book but I've broken down crying multiple times while reading it.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

Every once in a while I'll read a book that is just ridiculously good. And reading it, I recognize that this book will have a universal appeal - and so, when it blows up, some people will be less inclined to go read it...

 

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

 

First book of the year that I give my full, unabashed approval and recommendation to. Wonderfully written and a fairly unique premise yet told in a way that you'd be hard pressed not to find something to relate to...

 

Go get it now...

[Brewtacular]

http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageType-100/0293-1/%7B66DB641A-E0DD-45BC-96E1-25F3BB8578E9%7DImg100.jpg

 

 

Wow, I thought I was the only person to pick this book up AND read it. That being said it was good.

 

[MickeyDavis]

Manhunt -- James Swanson -- This is about Booth/Lincoln and the 2 weeks or so that followed the assassination. I learned a lot from this book.

Excellent book

 

[Thurston Fluff]

I'm currently reading The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson about the cholera outbreak in 1854 London. It looks at how the development of large cities with very concentrated population masses intertwine with the spread of disease and the nature of scientific inquiry at the time. It's worth the read if only to about Dr. John Snow who not only figured out Cholera was a water bourne disease but he also was the one who, in a matter of weeks, figured out how to administer ether in proper doses and built a machine to do the job. Remarkable man all the way around.

[brewcrewkid14]

These aren't historical fiction or non-fiction, but the Mitch Albom books have some really good lessons for life. I enjoyed those quite a bit.

 

I haven't read any of these, but I am interested in majoring in history in college (I'm a juinor in high school right now) so I think I'm going to have to take a look at some of them over the summer. I'm glad this topic was started. I didn't realize there was so much history background at this site.

[RU Rah Rah]

In no particular order:

 

-- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz (Pulitzer Winner in fiction this year, about Dominicans in New Jersey)

-- What Hath God Wrought, by Daniel Walker Howe (Pulitzer Winner in history, U.S. history 1815-1848, for all of you Martin Van Buren junkies out there)

-- The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin (the Supreme Court under Rehnquist)

-- Nixon and Mao, by Margaret Macmillan (Nixon's groundbreaking trip to China)

-- The Lay of the Land, by Richard Ford (novel, kind of hard to describe)

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

I tried to get into Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.... I really did... but the author's tangents early on in the book (the footnotes, etc.) really dragged me away from connecting with the central story... I will go back and try again at some point though, I think...

[reags24]

Some of my recent favorites have been:

 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

 

I have heard really good things about Devil in the White City and I have always wanted to tackle The Fountain Head and Atlas Shurgged, but havent had the guts yet http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[flosses like fossas]

for something of a recent - if not indirect - historical fiction, i just finished delillo's falling man. as ever, delillo takes reality, looks at some of the ironies and hard truths of it, and spins it viably in a way that you don't necessarily see coming. it's not his greatest book, nor is it a sunshiny read, but it's worth a look as far as post-9/11 lit goes. having stated that, i would be remiss if i omitted mention here of jonathan safron-foer's extremely loud and incredibly close. both are interesting peeks into the fallout of contact with the events of 9/11.

[Oldcity]

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

I'm on a Chuck kick right now. That dude has a pretty twisted imagination, and I love it. I read Lullaby and Diary, and am currently reading Survivor.

[Thurston Fluff]

I have heard really good things about Devil in the White City and I have always wanted to tackle The Fountain Head and Atlas Shurgged, but havent had the guts yet

 

I read the Devil in the White City a while back and it seemed tough to stay interesed in it for some reason. When I finished I was left with the feeling of why the hell did I bother.

[RU Rah Rah]

I tried to get into Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.... I really did... but the author's tangents early on in the book (the footnotes, etc.) really dragged me away from connecting with the central story... I will go back and try again at some point though, I think...

I hear you. It takes a little getting used to. Not nearly as crazy as Infinite Jest, in that regard, though.