| Author | Message | ||
     Thumper74 |
I haven't had a lot of time to read recently with school. I'm ditching cable. I'd love to expand my mind and start another book or two. Recommendations? I'm leaning towards something about US history, but the nitty gritty, ie. guerilla warefare of the revolutionary soldiers, state rights, etc. Ideas? | ||
| Two_seasons |
Greg Gutfeld...The Joy of Hate | ||
| Cataract2 |
What're your studying? | ||
| Thumper74 |
Electrical Engineering. I need a break from math. | ||
| Orman1649 |
It's not US history....but I just finished (what's released) in the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series and highly recommend it. | ||
| Babired |
I'm reading the HOST has nothing to do with history and it is a good scifi recent history 2 good books on middle east The Kite Runner and its sequel A Thousand Splendid Suns | ||
| Hootowl |
"A Song of Fire and Ice" Do you mean "A Song of Ice and Fire"? If so... +1 Massively good books. Not for children. | ||
| 86129squids |
I'm a sci-fi fan- of course, Frank Herbert's "Dune" series is great- he did several other very good novels as well. Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" is one of my all-time faves, the main character even rides a futuristic Yamaha! The pacing of the book is great, and it works in tons of crazy but plausible ideas. Highly recommended, it will flush out all the #'s fo sho! Orson Scott Card is best known for his "Ender's Game" series, which is great, but I once read an historical fiction work of his- I love his style. And- although he started a crackpot religion in "Scientlology", L. Ron Hubbard's book "Battlefield Earth" was a very entertaining read if kinda long... UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU WATCH THE MOVIE.  | ||
| Hootowl |
"an historical". Thank you. Battlefield Earth, the book, is a great read. Nothing to do with Scientology. The movie only covers the first half of the book. It missed the mark badly. Hubbard says his intent was to create a work of pure science fiction. According to him (and I agree) sci-fi is about people, and how a scientific discovery, the application of a technology, or an event that dramatically changes the way people understand the universe affects society. It is not Star Wars, which is technically fantasy. | ||
| Reepicheep |
C'mon, you are on vacation... Read World War Z. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Thump, I feel your pain. Studying EE here as well. Right in the middle of finals right now. Circuits Analysis is kicking my rear. Least that one is on wed with nothing in between. Lot's of studying time. | ||
| Strokizator |
I just finished "The Admirals" a history of the four 5-star admirals from WWII (Leahy, King, Nimitz and Halsey). After a little background on each, it follows them through the academy, their early commands and their roles in The Big One. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
funny, i wrapped up my school reading last week and that how i felt, "finally, i get to read for ME" I read "JR" by Jeremy Roenick, NHL player. Was really good. Picking up "Americas Secret War" by Friedman on the 9/11 stuff, read about half and then had to stop cause of school, so getting back into it George Friedman rules. A political scientist, man is smart and good and predicting the future (real stuff, not 'You'll find a one dollar bill....') "the next 100 years" is amazing. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Any of the "Discworld" books by Terry Pratchett. After that, "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. | ||
| Teeps |
"Yeager" http://www.amazon.com/Yeager-Autobiography-Chuck/d p/0553256742 "Skunk Works" http://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Lockhee d-ebook/dp/B00A2DIW3C/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&q id=1355174418&sr=1-3&keywords=skunk+works+ben+rich Marine-Sniper-93-Confirmed-Kills http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Sniper-93-Confirmed-K ills/dp/0425103552 All are easy reads, if you're voracious, shouldn't take more than a few days to read each. Several times while reading Marine Sniper, I found myself "in the moment" with Sergeant Carlos Hathcock. | ||
| Mtnmason |
"Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Myth, The Soldier" by James I. Robertson (perhaps THE preeminent civil war scholar alive today) Its a long one but it will change your life. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I've read WWZ cover to cover a bunch of times. My copy is on loan. | ||
| Argentcorvid |
I am enjoying How the Scots Invented the Modern World. (in)Directly touches on American History. I also just got done reading the Ringworld series not too long ago, that was an OK read. (Message edited by argentcorvid on December 10, 2012) | ||
| Cataract2 |
Well Thump, how about Borderlands 2? I promised myself after wed I am firing up the XBOX and going to town. That or I'm riding my bike to my hearts content. | ||
| Argentcorvid |
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. That was pretty good. | ||
| Hootowl |
Sorry for this bit of thread hijack, but I just found out that Ender's Game is in post production. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1731141 Read the book before you see the movie. I really hope they don't screw this up. I used to think anything with Harrison Ford in it would be good, but then I saw the last few Indiana Jones movies. | ||
| Pwnzor |
After that, "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. +1!!!! One of my all time favorites... along with "Neverwhere". I just got done with Mark Hodder's "The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack -- Burton & Swinburne, Book 1" followed by "The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man -- Burton & Swinburne, Book 2". Grumpy, I think you might like those if you're a fan of Neil Gaiman. If you're into Cyberpunk at all, William Gibson's "Neuromancer", "Johnny Pnemonic", etc... | ||
| M1combat |
Read the "Black Company" series... It's told from an odd perspective for a book. Mostly fist person like the reader is telling the story. Quite interesting. | ||
| Thumper74 |
Squids, I read Cryptonomicon a while back. Snow Blind might be the ticket. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Diamond age rocks as well... | ||
| Thumper74 |
I think I'm going to start with the Joy of Hate... It sounds interesting and touches base on stuff I'm interested in. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
states rights vs federal American self reliance, Walden - and its Companion Civil Disobedience Thoreau It was banned when I was in High School - I am really beginning to understand why. | ||
| Roderick |
Since we are all guys here... http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Its-Own-Cultural-Histor y/dp/0709089333
Highly recommend. | ||
| Hootowl |
"I think I'm going to start with the Joy of Hate" He's currently on a book tour, if you're interested in getting a signed copy. He's going to be at my local book store on Monday. I'm going to bring a shovel and a tarp  | ||
| 86129squids |
Thump- that's "Snow Crash"... IMHO the pacing of that book is better than the couple he did afterward. The plot and story structure is similar in "Cryptonomicon", but "Snow Crash" has a much better pace. I decided once to start looking for female sci-fi writers, discovered Sheri Tepper- read most of her books, all recommended. Another good book is "Primary Inversion" by Katherine Asaro- I read that at least a couple of times. If you have a well-run used bookstore to head to, just go blow an afternoon looking around at whatever you may find! Knoxville and Nashville have some great ones... | ||
| Jb2 |
Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey Quick read, great stories. | ||
| 86129squids |
Just remembered another Card book, very enjoyable: "The Worthing Chronicles". He ranks right up there with Herbert as one of the greats. I'd also heard that "Ender's Game" was being made into a movie... gawd I hope they don't butcher it! "Starship Troopers" was a miserable experience. |
