Vhat Booke Arrr Ye Reedin'?

[JohnT]

Nonfiction: A History of the American People, Paul M. Johnson.

Fiction: The Evening Star, by Larry McMurtry.

[JohnT]

Re: Vhat Booke Arrr Ye Reedin'?

Originally posted by Space05us
Im reading "The Works of HG Wells". I finshed reading "The Time Machine" yesterday and started on "The Island of Dr Moreau" today.

edit: the book includes the following stories:

The Time Machine
The Island of Dr Moreau
The Invisible Man
The First Men in the Moon
The Food of the Gods
The War of the Worlds

Believe it or not, that, or a similar compilation, was the first "adult" piece of fiction I ever tackled. I was in the second grade. I liked The Invisible Man the best, The War of the Worlds was #2, there were some good parts in FotG and Island, and found Time Machine and Moon to be totally unreadable.

[Hueij]

I almost bought Da Vinci Code, but I heard that it was a load of drivel. And it seems people believe what's written in it...

I bought it It made me buy Gabriel Knight 3 though

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Pekka
Listen buddy, I told you a long time ago I read books. What is it with you? Maybe you should read a bit slower, you know, if you read 100 books a day, it really doesn't matter if you can't remember half of it..

Pekka? I've got a warning for you:

Spoiler:

You're in danger of becoming the Finnish Fez.

[Ramo]

Skinny Legs and All by Tim Robbins
Something of a cross between Christopher Moore and Kurt Vonnegut, I'd say. Highly absurdist satirical novel about... I'm not really sure yet, but something to do with the South and the Middle-East, with religious overtones. Good ****.

A Turn in the South by VS Naipaul
Really interesting memoir from Naipaul (a Nobel Prize winning writer, of South Asian descent from the Carribean), about his travels in the American South. Just started it, but seems good.

The Short Stories of Vladimir Nabokov translated by his son and himself
One of my favorite authors, with ****loads of short stories throughout his career. The great thing about these stories is that they're really short but still pretty damn profound. And really beautiful writing, despite being originally written in Russian (unlike Lolita, etc.).

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by HS Thompson
Sometimes, nothing's better than a drug-induced paranoid rant against Nixon. And this book's chock full of them. Sad to say, it took his death to get me to read this book.

Some not terribly enlightening books for classes (a Plasma book written by the teacher for that class that never bothers to show any steps, a 19th century Euro history book written by the teacher for that class that's so facile that I could've written a better book, a book on the origins of segregation and a biography of John B Rayner, both of which are mediocre).

Recently finished:
Moyers on America by Bill Moyers
Basically a compilation of speeches by Moyers (one of my favorite journalists, recently retired from his PBS show). I found an autographed copy in a used book story on sale for $6, so that kicked ass. Moyers writes some incredibly articulate prose about democracy, economic justice, war, etc. Highly recommended.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
A novel based on the premise that Charles Lindbergh (a Nazi symp) won the Republican nomination for the President in 1940, focusing on the author's lower middle class Jewish family from New Jersey. It has a rediculous ending. It's a decent read, not a waste of time, but not a great work of literature by any measure.

More not terribly interesting books for classes.

[Ramo]

Incidentally, I'm looking for a book on learning German. I've got ~2 months to learn it before I'll be in Germany. I don't know any German, or any languages closer to German than English. Any suggestions?

[Verto]

I finished Hitchhiker's Guide, waiting for the next one to become available at the library.

[alva]

Eugh, there's a bit of obstacle to overcome if you're expecting any new releases there, Verto...

[Verto]

Hah. I'm just waiting for it to be checked back in.

[Nostromo]

I finished Hitchhiker's Guide, waiting for the next one to become available at the library.

The first two books in the series are good. The other ones, meh.. Unfortunately, we all know the jokes before reading it. Damn spoilers!

[alva]

Originally posted by Verto
Hah. I'm just waiting for it to be checked back in.

Dirk Gently isn't bad either.

[ColdWizard]

Dragon by Clive Cussler.

[Immortal Wombat]

The autobiographical works of Gerald Durrell, in chronological order.

[Pekka]

JohnT, And at which point did you think I was actually serious? In the part where I claim I wrote my own autobiography, or in the part where I claim to be the ubermaster?

Thanks for the warning but I have another one for you:

Don't take the world so seriously. Most of us are here for the ride anyway.

You can say it's stupid, which it prolly is. But smart is overrated if you ask me. But shame on you if you think I have been serious on all week. Just bored. Admitted troller. So? Got milk?

Anyway RIGHT now I'm actually reading this book about finnish MP in the FFL.

[Donegeal]

Destination: Void by Frank Herbert

Only a couple chapters into it and its already very compelling.