@Dan, I also loved Water for Elephants. If you figure out how to share Kindle content, can you post instructions on here? I have not figured it out and would love to be able to share my books. When I bought paper books I always passed them around (I don't read my books twice) and would get books from friends too. But now that I read almost exclusively on the Kindle (as does my mom and my reading friends) it is sort of a drag.
Just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - very cool story about the first line of human cells to be grown indefinitely for use in science.
Read Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer winner A Visit from the Goon Squad. It's modern and innovative and original. I really liked it.
Months ago my son gave me Just Kids by Patti Smith, chronicling her life and relationship with Robert Mappplethorpe. I had zero interest in reading it--until--I picked it up and read the first page. It is so moving, so beautifully written. A real look and exploration of love and the artistic drive. Highly recommend--even if I still don't like the cover.
Am reading Finding your Zone by Michael Larden. of my fitness goals for 2012, besides being fit using the EN plans, is to contol the entrance into the Zone. It believe it impacts performance as much as anything. Instead of it happening by accident, have it happen by design
I've had too many business trips and concomitant long flights since finishing my season in Oct. Useful byproduct of those long haul flights has been the chance to at least read more, in particular a few noteworthy titles lately:
Life of Pi. A bit dated, recommended by my teenage daughter. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. A bit dense, but a great read. If you like Ian McEwan or early Tom Wolfe, I'm betting you'll like it.
In the Garden of Beasts. Same author as Devil in the White City (Erik Larson (sp?)). Interesting and quite intriguing fictionalization of the life and times of US diplomats during WWII in Germany.
Perhaps a few stocking stuffers for your holiday lists or the EN secret Santa
Reading It's So Easy by Duff McKagan of Guns and Roses. Quite good, I read the steven adler book as well. Also reading Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer it is about Pat Tillman.
I've been on a science fiction binge for a while, just reading for entertainment. Finish the Plague Series by Carlson last week. Best part is you can find a lot of decent SciFi books for the Kindle for $0.99
Just finished Skippy Dies. Not what I was expecting and kinda out there! But I enjoyed it. Where else do multidimensional worlds, World War I, Irish fairies, and the denizens of a boys private school in Ireland with laugh out loud humour come together??
Also read The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides- not as good as Middlesex, but not bad - and The New Miss India also OK and an interesting insight into call centres in Bangalore!
Just finished K2: Savage Mountain, and beginning IRONWAR the new Matt Fitzgerald piece on Dave Scott-Mark Allen epic.. Savage Mountain was not the best K2 climbing epic but is well written.
Just finished Where Men Win Glory, The Things They Carried, and Clash of Kings. Where Men Win Glory lives up to Krakauer's usual terrific blend of human portrait and interesting and compelling information. The Things They Carried is a semi-fictional collection of stories by Tim O'Brien about his real experiences in Vietnam. Clash of Kings is from the Song of Ice and Fire series and was nowhere near as good as Game of Thrones IMHO. I'm not terribly impelled to finish the series.
Currently reading:
The Survivor's Club: a very interesting look into what makes survivors in all sorts of circumstances, from situational awareness to deep mental resources. Lots of fascinating case studies from the guy who punched out of an F-15 going faster than Mach1 to a woman who accidentally stabbed herself in the heart with a knitting needle.
Jesus and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ: A series of essays from biblical scholars on all sides of the issues surrounding this controversial portrayal of The Passion.
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger which is (so far) a quite beautifully written story of a young boy whose brother has been charged with murder and the journey his family undertakes.
Just finished IRONWAR the story of the greatest race ever run....1986 Ironman battle between "the man" Dave Scott and "the grip" Mark Allen...I would call this REQUIRED READING....some great follow through chapters on physiology & psychology of human performance in Endurance Athletes...can not recommend this enough.
Just finished _Cutting For Stone_, one of the best novels I've read in years. Highly recommended.
On my non-fiction shelf, I'm reading _Hackers and Painters_ by Paul Graham. If you're any kind of techy geek at all, this is required reading. The chapter on nerds and school alone was worth the price of admission. Graham is a quirky out-of-the-box thinker, and I'm enjoying his insights.
@Robin, glad you liked Cutting For Stone. Great book! I am just about finished Where Men Win Glory. Also terrific. Over the holidays, I went back and finished Unbroken - I had had to quit reading it because it just got so awful. Thanks, @Joe for encouraging me to go back! So glad I did. Great story. And to complete my current obsession with war books, I am just about 2/3s of the way through Matterhorn, a story of soldiers serving in Vietnam.
Over the holidays I was introduced to Greatreads.com. If you don't know this website, go check it out. You rate the books you have read (across multiple categories) and it suggests others that you might like. My "Want to Read" shelf is now filled through about 2018!
Best book I read in 2011: "The Art of Fielding", a first novel with multiple vantage points: small college life, MaySeptember romance, coming-of-age, baseball, the role of mental focus and preparation in athletic success and failure. An intelligently written page-turner which treats it characters honestly and in-depth.
I just finished reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. It truly is an extraordinary story that covered the parallel lives of President James A. Garfield and the mad man who assassinated him. Prior to reading this book I knew little about Garfield except that his presidency lasted less than a year. The bullet that hit Garfield did not initially kill him. He lingered on for three months and it was the wrong headed medical help that essentially killed him. Alexander Graham Bell plays a part as well as he labors to create a primitive metal detector to locate the bullet. The concurrent tale of the mentally deranged killer is also compelling. Garfield was a brilliant, humble man who led an amazing life and if not for the assassin, he could have truly been a great president. I highly recommend this terrific book. After seeing the upcoming movie previews, I recently started reading Incredible Loud and Extremely Close by Jonathan Foer. It is a moving story that I expect will generate some tears by me before it is finished. It is written from the perspective of a young boy and alternately makes me chuckle, think, ponder and choke up.
@Al, +1 on "The Art of Fielding". Honestly wasn't expecting to like it, but I couldn't put it down!
@Ann, it sounds like you and I read a lot of the same stuff. Loved "Matterhorn" and "Cutting for Stone". I'm going to go look up Goodreads.com right now!
Working my way through Steve Jobs' biographyby Walter Isaacson. Compelling read, but makes me re-think buying Apple products, being an AAPL shareholder and the high health cost of high-stress career choices.
Also just picked up 'Thinking, Fast and Slow'. A very interesting read -- sort like a more practically applicable Malcolm Gladwell. Makes you re-examine not only choices you make, but more importantly, how you make them. Good (if deflating) read.
Working my way through Slash (guitar player from GNR). After I read Steven Adler's and Duff McKagen's books I figured why not. Slash is quite bit longer at 480 pages. It has taken me quite a while to get through it. I'm going to Belize Monday for 10 days and could use some ideas. I am pretty good at laying in the sun and reading. I've got a kindle and 50 dollar amazon gift card burning a hole in my amazon account right now. Feel free to give me some ideas as I've posted a ton of books I've read and liked. I am getting the Steve Jobs book already. thanks
Due to the Sci Fi recommendations from this thread, I've been on a crazy Sci Fi kick for a while now. Got through some classics like the Foundation trilogy (not sure how I missed that when I was younger!), and a great new one called Leviathan Wake by Corey. Just recently finished Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein, a very good read, though not quite up there with his best (which are all time greats). Next up is likely to be The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and then I might read Stranger in a Strange Land again just because it's been a long time.
Probably the best book I read in 2011 was Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. That one is available on Kindle. I just started The Final Storm, A novel of the war in the Pacific by Jeff Shaara. It's good so far. If you like SciFi or Harry Potter, The Dresden Files is an excellent series. Also the Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia. That series is not my favorite, but my husband really likes it.
This is kind of a chick book, but I just finished Day After Night by Anita Diamant. It's a story about what happened to a group of women who escaped Nazi Germany after WWII, and ended up in an internment camp in Israel. It's a good read.
Mike, I found a list of the 100 Best SciFi Books on the net somewhere and have been hitting a few of those. Can't believe you missed Asimov growing up...
Pick up the Ringworld stuff, fun reading. I just started the Game of Thrones series a couple days ago. I hope it picks up soon...
I am still on a long sabbatical from SciFi. So I decided to just go for Science --- I am (re-)reading 'Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea.' I really like the history part of the book and how the concept of the number Zero was considered either the realm of the holy, or conversely the un-holy. I understand what he is saying there. When it gets to some of the Science of what happens when you introduce Zeros ..... then I get a bit glassy-eyed and have to read and re-read in order to sort of understand. But it is a great book regardless.
While reading that one, I also decided to give my brain a rest and read '17 Hours.' That was a good read also.
@Mike -- when you are done with the Foundation Trilogy, be sure and read all the prequels. In fact, go in the way back machine and start with 'Caves of Steel'. If you like Foundation, I think you will like its predecessors.
I thought the first Game of Thrones book was okay, but book two seriously bogged down and I started book three and then put it down. I rarely do this, but I think I'll wait to watch it in the mini-series, it's sure to be tightened up a bit plot-wise and probably better than the books.
Right now I'm reading Golf in the Kingdom, which is a bit of a metaphysical "Illusions" type book, but about a mystical golf mentor instead of a mystical flying mentor. It's okay. And Ed King by David Gutterson, which is also just okay, nowhere near the quality of his Snow Falling on Cedars.
Rich, I think somehow as a kid I got the impression that, because Asimov's stuff was written in the 40's and 50's, it was somehow dated. Wow, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Disappointed to find that the prequels to Foundation don't seem to be available in an ebook format that I can find. Same is true of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Don't read much paper these days, might need to go and get a library card.
Just downloaded some Vonnegut and some Stephenson (per Al's reco) for a couple of long flights coming up.
Comments
Just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - very cool story about the first line of human cells to be grown indefinitely for use in science.
---Ann.
Read Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer winner A Visit from the Goon Squad. It's modern and innovative and original. I really liked it.
Months ago my son gave me Just Kids by Patti Smith, chronicling her life and relationship with Robert Mappplethorpe. I had zero interest in reading it--until--I picked it up and read the first page. It is so moving, so beautifully written. A real look and exploration of love and the artistic drive. Highly recommend--even if I still don't like the cover.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200549320_find?nodeId=200549320&#find
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200549320_find?nodeId=200549320&#find
I've had too many business trips and concomitant long flights since finishing my season in Oct. Useful byproduct of those long haul flights has been the chance to at least read more, in particular a few noteworthy titles lately:
Life of Pi. A bit dated, recommended by my teenage daughter. Surprisingly enjoyable.
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. A bit dense, but a great read. If you like Ian McEwan or early Tom Wolfe, I'm betting you'll like it.
In the Garden of Beasts. Same author as Devil in the White City (Erik Larson (sp?)). Interesting and quite intriguing fictionalization of the life and times of US diplomats during WWII in Germany.
Perhaps a few stocking stuffers for your holiday lists or the EN secret Santa
Also reading Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer it is about Pat Tillman.
I've been on a science fiction binge for a while, just reading for entertainment. Finish the Plague Series by Carlson last week. Best part is you can find a lot of decent SciFi books for the Kindle for $0.99
Zone One by Colson Whitehead. Amazing, well-written, thinky zombie book. Really. Whitehead writes good sentence.
Also read The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides- not as good as Middlesex, but not bad - and The New Miss India also OK and an interesting insight into call centres in Bangalore!
---Ann.
Just finished K2: Savage Mountain, and beginning IRONWAR the new Matt Fitzgerald piece on Dave Scott-Mark Allen epic.. Savage Mountain was not the best K2 climbing epic but is well written.
Just finished Where Men Win Glory, The Things They Carried, and Clash of Kings. Where Men Win Glory lives up to Krakauer's usual terrific blend of human portrait and interesting and compelling information. The Things They Carried is a semi-fictional collection of stories by Tim O'Brien about his real experiences in Vietnam. Clash of Kings is from the Song of Ice and Fire series and was nowhere near as good as Game of Thrones IMHO. I'm not terribly impelled to finish the series.
Currently reading:
The Survivor's Club: a very interesting look into what makes survivors in all sorts of circumstances, from situational awareness to deep mental resources. Lots of fascinating case studies from the guy who punched out of an F-15 going faster than Mach1 to a woman who accidentally stabbed herself in the heart with a knitting needle.
Jesus and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ: A series of essays from biblical scholars on all sides of the issues surrounding this controversial portrayal of The Passion.
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger which is (so far) a quite beautifully written story of a young boy whose brother has been charged with murder and the journey his family undertakes.
Just finished IRONWAR the story of the greatest race ever run....1986 Ironman battle between "the man" Dave Scott and "the grip" Mark Allen...I would call this REQUIRED READING....some great follow through chapters on physiology & psychology of human performance in Endurance Athletes...can not recommend this enough.
For SciFi buffs, I read the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons over Xmas. Good read, entertaining.
Just finished _Cutting For Stone_, one of the best novels I've read in years. Highly recommended.
On my non-fiction shelf, I'm reading _Hackers and Painters_ by Paul Graham. If you're any kind of techy geek at all, this is required reading. The chapter on nerds and school alone was worth the price of admission. Graham is a quirky out-of-the-box thinker, and I'm enjoying his insights.
Over the holidays I was introduced to Greatreads.com. If you don't know this website, go check it out. You rate the books you have read (across multiple categories) and it suggests others that you might like. My "Want to Read" shelf is now filled through about 2018!
---Ann.
---Ann.
Best book I read in 2011: "The Art of Fielding", a first novel with multiple vantage points: small college life, MaySeptember romance, coming-of-age, baseball, the role of mental focus and preparation in athletic success and failure. An intelligently written page-turner which treats it characters honestly and in-depth.
I just finished reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. It truly is an extraordinary story that covered the parallel lives of President James A. Garfield and the mad man who assassinated him. Prior to reading this book I knew little about Garfield except that his presidency lasted less than a year.
The bullet that hit Garfield did not initially kill him. He lingered on for three months and it was the wrong headed medical help that essentially killed him. Alexander Graham Bell plays a part as well as he labors to create a primitive metal detector to locate the bullet.
The concurrent tale of the mentally deranged killer is also compelling.
Garfield was a brilliant, humble man who led an amazing life and if not for the assassin, he could have truly been a great president.
I highly recommend this terrific book.
After seeing the upcoming movie previews, I recently started reading Incredible Loud and Extremely Close by Jonathan Foer.
It is a moving story that I expect will generate some tears by me before it is finished. It is written from the perspective of a young boy and alternately makes me chuckle, think, ponder and choke up.
@Ann, it sounds like you and I read a lot of the same stuff. Loved "Matterhorn" and "Cutting for Stone". I'm going to go look up Goodreads.com right now!
Also just picked up 'Thinking, Fast and Slow'. A very interesting read -- sort like a more practically applicable Malcolm Gladwell. Makes you re-examine not only choices you make, but more importantly, how you make them. Good (if deflating) read.
I'm going to Belize Monday for 10 days and could use some ideas. I am pretty good at laying in the sun and reading. I've got a kindle and 50 dollar amazon gift card burning a hole in my amazon account right now. Feel free to give me some ideas as I've posted a ton of books I've read and liked.
I am getting the Steve Jobs book already.
thanks
This is kind of a chick book, but I just finished Day After Night by Anita Diamant. It's a story about what happened to a group of women who escaped Nazi Germany after WWII, and ended up in an internment camp in Israel. It's a good read.
Pick up the Ringworld stuff, fun reading. I just started the Game of Thrones series a couple days ago. I hope it picks up soon...
While reading that one, I also decided to give my brain a rest and read '17 Hours.' That was a good read also.
@Mike -- when you are done with the Foundation Trilogy, be sure and read all the prequels. In fact, go in the way back machine and start with 'Caves of Steel'. If you like Foundation, I think you will like its predecessors.
I thought the first Game of Thrones book was okay, but book two seriously bogged down and I started book three and then put it down. I rarely do this, but I think I'll wait to watch it in the mini-series, it's sure to be tightened up a bit plot-wise and probably better than the books.
Right now I'm reading Golf in the Kingdom, which is a bit of a metaphysical "Illusions" type book, but about a mystical golf mentor instead of a mystical flying mentor. It's okay. And Ed King by David Gutterson, which is also just okay, nowhere near the quality of his Snow Falling on Cedars.
Disappointed to find that the prequels to Foundation don't seem to be available in an ebook format that I can find. Same is true of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Don't read much paper these days, might need to go and get a library card.
Just downloaded some Vonnegut and some Stephenson (per Al's reco) for a couple of long flights coming up.