What are y'all reading?

spoonrobot

spoonrobot

Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
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i just finished the book Generation Kill; about the recon marines that served as the "tippity-tip" of the spear leading into iraq and since finishing it i haven't really been able to find anything that sparked my interest so i figured i'd solicit some advice from fellow knife guys.

i'm open to anything, fiction/nonfiction/classic or anything else so long as it is written well. i'm really interested to see what some of you consider essential reading for college-age man these days but pretty much any good book will do for me.
 
Currently reading the fourth book in the Entide series by Sean Russell.

Books I would recommend for a college aged man?

Non-Fiction
Demon Haunted World -- Carl Sagan
Guns, Germs, and Steel -- Jared Diamond
The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker
Flim-Flam! -- James Randi
The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins

(If you're into design/engineering, then...)
Normal Accidents -- Charles Perrow
The Design of Everyday Things -- Donald Norman
To Engineer is Human -- Henry Petroski

Fiction: (this is mostly sci-fi, btw)
Ender's Game -- Orson Scott Card
Neuromancer -- William Gibson (The book in which the term "cyberspace" was coined)
The Forever War -- Joe Haldeman
Starship Troopers -- Robert Heinlein
 
The ingredients off a bag of Doritos.

Underaged, I'll save you the suspense.

He farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Marries an ugly chick.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Gets rich, gets himself a whore, has other people farm for him.
His father dies and he buries him in a log.
The end.
 
Planterz said:
The ingredients off a bag of Doritos.

Underaged, I'll save you the suspense.

He farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Marries an ugly chick.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Gets rich, gets himself a whore, has other people farm for him.
His father dies and he buries him in a log.
The end.
Click to expand...


Im going to have to quote you in my book report, is that ok? :D


I want to get that Spydie book. I think it's around $70 at boarders overhere.
 
Just Read "American Evita" a very interesting book on Mrs. Clinton and "Penisula of Lies" a strange book about an English author who moved to Charleston SC and became a woman then married an African American in the 1960's . Next on the list is a biography of Chiang Kai-shek.
 
Funny you metioned Generation Kill. That is the next book on my list. I only read non-fiction and I just finished Inside Delta Force. Great book. It' by Eric Haney. He was a founding member of Delta Force and he was also my battalion Seargent Major in the 193 Infantry Brigade. I highly suggest this book. Not only is it great reading, but it's also full of useful information.
 
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stevenson is one of the coolest book I've ever read. No life changing moments and also very long but just superb.

For Non-Fiction and if you're into the oast I'd recommend anything by Daniel J. Boorstin. Great historian. I have a series (The Creators, The Discoverers, The Seekers) the is very interesting. Creators is all about man's drive to create and goes through many artists, writers, musicians, inventors that have shaped our culture.......I have to go my wife is kicking me off I'll write more later.
 
I tend to read a lot of fiction as a stress-reliever, which all started when I was in college when I needed a break from heavy-duty study sessions. Lately I've been reading a lot of these authors:

James Rollins. He has I think 6 books out now, all excellent - if you like archeaology/lost species/etc. then you'll love his works. I'm currently reading his book "Ice Hunt".

Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston: these guys are fabulous, similar genre to Rollins, all of their book are page-turners

Lee Child (Jack Reacher series, ex-MP who wanders around the country getting into all sorts of trouble, lots of cool details on weapons and tactics...)

Michael Connelly: series of books based on the L.A. detective Harry Bosch; great crime mysteries

Christopher Reich, Stephen Frey - high-finance thrillers

John Grisham (his older works), Brad Meltzer - legal thrillers

Stephen J. Cannell - love this guy, hell he wrote/produced many of the popular television series in the 80s/90's - think A-Team, The Commish, 21 Jump Street, Rockford Files, Wiseguy

The list goes on and on, but a few more:

Tom Clancy (especially his older works - chilling how much of his "fiction" scenarios ends up being reality...)

Robin Cook - "the" medical thriller writer

James W. Hall - psychos and serial killers

Patricia Cornwell - the Kay Scarpetta medical examiner series

OK I'll stop now :D
 
Foxhole...Your reading list might well be mine!

I'm currently reading China Miehville's newest, The Iron Road. The lad is one of the more inventive writers around currently, and his two previous titles, Perdido Street Station and The Scar, are excellent as well.
Science Fiction? Fantasy? hehe- you decide.

For those interested in the history of early Christianity, and how 127+ gospels were whittled down (over 400 years) to just four, read:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195141830/102-3578293-0605728?v=glance

A second vote for Stephen Pinker's The Blank Slate as well.
 
Recent reads other then my 6 month old's books (can furnish that list as well),

Sci-Fi
Robin Hobb: Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies
King's the Dark Tower series, I've read books 1-4 and have purchased the rest of the series.
Simon Green: a few of each the Deathstalker and Hawk & Fisher series
David Gemmel: White Wolf &The Swords of Night and Day
R.A. Salvatore: The Highwayman and most of his Forgotten Realm stuff

Non-fiction
Dave Lowry: Autumn Lightning
Jay Gluck: Zen Combat
Oscar Ratti: Secrets of the Samurai
 
Planterz said:
He farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Marries an ugly chick.
Farms.
Farms.
Farms.
Gets rich, gets himself a whore, has other people farm for him.
His father dies and he buries him in a log.
The end.
Click to expand...
Wait, it's him (the main character, Wang Chung or whatever) that dies and his sons bury him in a log.
 
Some good stuff I've read recently:

Fiction
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Doyle
• The Hound of the Baskervilles – Doyle
• Up Country – Nelson DeMille
• By the Shores of Babylon – Nelson DeMille
• Best Short Stories of Dostoevsky
• Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle – Appleton
• The Martian Chronicles #1 – Princess of Mars – Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Patrick – Stephen R. Lawhead
• Byzantium – Stephen R. Lawhead
• The Last Days – Joel Rosenberg
• Teutonic Knights - Henryk K. Sienkiewicz
• Screwtape Letters – CS Lewis

Non-Fiction
• The Cost of Discipleship – Bonhoffer
• The Divine Conspiracy – Dallas Willard
• Defense of Virginia – RL Dabney
• Wild at Heart – Eldridge
 
"Four Arguments for the Elimination Of Television" by Gerry Mander
Have had this book for over 20 years, never fails to get me thinking on a whole range of topics, though the enviro/sierra club stuff seems a bit dated, maybe because I think we are doing better protecting the envrionment now. No way is tv going to be eliminated, but it makes a good warning.
Also "The Tangled Wing..Biological Restraints on the Human Spirit" Sorry author's name escapes me.
Anything by Fernand Braudel
 
Just read Stephen King's "Night Shift", I'm currently reading his book "Insomnia", and I've also taken a liking to writing some short stories.
 
"The Moon Maid" by Edgar Rice Burroughs

It's really just a nostalgia trip. I just finished re-reading all the Barsoom novels in sequence. I remember being crazy about them when I was a 15, but sadly they don't hold up so well now that I'm a middle aged geezer.

Still fun to go over 'em again, brings back a lot of memories.

I will say that characters like John Carter and Carson Napier had a lot of influence on me as far as what values I wanted to possess as a man - the whole honor and integrity thing. Those guys were pretty good role models.
 
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