General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Serenity on July 12, 2016, 02:29:58 PM
Title: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 12, 2016, 02:29:58 PM
Well, I'm on a warpath of self improvement, and one of the things I wanted to work on was becoming more well read. I realized, when I started trying to check things off of my list, how ambiguous of a goal that is... so I'm coming to you all! For a man on a goal to simply being more "cultured" and "well read", what books would you all recommend? I'm NOT looking for military/WWII/aviation books lol. Lord knows I have enough of those...
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: 8thJinx on July 12, 2016, 02:46:30 PM
Here's what's on my shelf right now:
Historical fiction: The Source (Michener) Chesapeake (Michener) Alaska (Michener)
History: Arsenal of Democracy (Baime) The Big Short (Lewis)
Biographies: Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (Meacham)
Philosophy: Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet (Bayle) The Mind of John Locke (Harris)
Fiction: The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)
Horror: Carrie (King)
Non Fiction: Planet of Slums (Davis) True Believer (Hoffer)
Science Fiction: Everything Asimov ever wrote World War Z (Brooks)
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: MrRee on July 12, 2016, 02:50:50 PM
Well, I'm on a warpath of self improvement, and one of the things I wanted to work on was becoming more well read. I realized, when I started trying to check things off of my list, how ambiguous of a goal that is... so I'm coming to you all! For a man on a goal to simply being more "cultured" and "well read", what books would you all recommend? I'm NOT looking for military/WWII/aviation books lol. Lord knows I have enough of those...
I'd start with the Bible. From there move to War And Peace. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 12, 2016, 04:38:43 PM
Yeesh. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree, it's just one of those books on my list that I know I really SHOULD read, I'm just not looking forward to it lol.
And gentlemen, thank you all for the other recommendations! I'm already putting an order in to Amazon.
And a recommendation of my own, What If, by Randall Munroe.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: APDrone on July 12, 2016, 04:55:55 PM
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The first 3 of the 5 book trilogy, at least.
Seriously.. even though its' humor is way out there, Douglas Adams makes some very astute observations about our species.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLOOB on July 12, 2016, 06:41:52 PM
Shakespeare, at least Julius Caesar, really should know the big four, JC, Hamlet, Macbeth, R&J. That's like cultured and well read 101 prerequisites. Moby Dick Steinbeck Dostoyevsky, The Master and Margarita may be more important than Crime and Punishment imo Anna Karenina
People may tell you Iliad and Odyssey but Homer is overrated imo.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 12, 2016, 07:45:18 PM
Shakespeare, at least Julius Caesar, really should know the big four, JC, Hamlet, Macbeth, R&J. That's like cultured and well read 101 prerequisites. Moby Dick Steinbeck Dostoyevsky, The Master and Margarita may be more important than Crime and Punishment imo Anna Karenina
People may tell you Iliad and Odyssey but Homer is overrated imo.
lol I'm actually surprisingly well versed in Shakespeare, though that was in a different life. Thanks for adding to the list! I've got a LOT of downtime in school, and amazon prime lol.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Devil 505 on July 12, 2016, 08:36:09 PM
Crime novels:
Gone Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Sci-fi/ Alternate History:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury World War series by Harry Turtledove (followed by the connected Colonization series) Foundation series by Issac Azimov
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: USCH on July 12, 2016, 09:40:14 PM
Boyd... And chickenhawk...... come back to me when your done.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: shotgunneeley on July 12, 2016, 10:16:27 PM
I know you're looking to avoid the military theme, but this really falls into your "self-improvement" target. I was at forestry conference two years ago in Savannah, Georgia attending a leadership coaching session. Afterwards, the author had the book version of his presentation available for sale and to sign - you bet I was first in line. He was an F4 Phantom pilot shot down over Vietnam and kept as a POW in the "Hanoi Hilton". He took what he experienced there and used it to form fourteen lessons for leading yourself and leading others.
"Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton" By Colonel Lee Ellis (Retired USAF)
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: ghi on July 12, 2016, 10:57:39 PM
As Shuffler mentioned the Bible, but not all;few chapters only, the prophecies, information about destiny is all that matters most of the rest is history. Jean Paul Sartre once wrote "Hell is other people" , this is why i recommend "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" Sigmund Freud https://www.amazon.com/Psychopathology-Everyday-Standard-Complete-Psychological/dp/0393006115?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc This helps to understand people around you, their actions motivated mostly by instincts, after all we are just some hairless primates. https://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Book-Dead-Liberation-Understanding/dp/0553370901 https://www.amazon.com/Antichrist-Translated-Introduced-H-Mencken/dp/1534607994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468381938&sr=1-1&keywords=nietzsche+the+antichrist https://www.amazon.com/Shogun-James-Clavell/dp/0440178002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468381988&sr=1-1&keywords=sogun
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Brooke on July 13, 2016, 01:45:08 AM
If you want books that give you powerful tools to wield for your benefit:
Life in Half a Second, by Michalewicz <--- suggestions to increase personal success The Power of Habit, by Duhigg <--- how to make habit your servant You Can Negotiate Anything, by Cohen <--- how to negotiate How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie Drive, by Pink <--- what drives people in the age of creativity -- useful if you lead or manage people Bold, by Diamandis and Kotler <--- new opportunities for business growth in the Internet age The One-Sentence Persuasion Course, by Warren <--- very simple techniques for influence
Books that can make anyone a wiser voter and wiser judge of policies:
Basic Economics, by Sowell <--- if more people would take a handful of hours out of their lives to read it, the world would be better Why Government Doesn't Work, by Browne Freakonomics, by Levitt and Dubner <--- examples of applying reasoning and full analysis to various interesting cases
Broad topics in history:
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bryson Civilization, by Furguson Why Nations Fail, by Acemoglu and Robinson With the Old Breed, by Sledge <--- if people read one book on war, this should be the one
And one that is completely different:
The High Frontier, by O'Neill <--- human colonization of space
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Brooke on July 13, 2016, 01:49:45 AM
Boyd... And chickenhawk...... come back to me when your done.
Boyd was indeed interesting.
I was just looking at Chickenhawk the other day. I remember seeing it first about 25 years ago in a college book store and made a mental note to read it. I will probably finally do so in the next several months.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Chalenge on July 13, 2016, 02:01:06 AM
Battlefields & Blessings (all of them). You can get many of them for just $0.01 on Amazon.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: EskimoJoe on July 13, 2016, 02:45:07 AM
Get you some Plato and Aristotle texts to read.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: deSelys on July 13, 2016, 04:50:28 AM
Everything written by Cormac McCarthy. I would love to have his writing skills!
"The Road" was impossible to put down for me, I read it in one sitting.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: deSelys on July 13, 2016, 04:56:59 AM
"The alternative Hypothesis", by french novelist Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.
I'm not a big fan of this other works, but I found this one pretty clever:
"On the 8th October 1909, Adolf Hitler was refused entry to the Fine Art Academy in Vienna. What would have happened if the jury had decided otherwise and accepted him? That decision would have changed the course of a life, the life of a timid, empassioned youth, the life of Adolf Hitler. But it would also have changed the course of the world."
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLS on July 13, 2016, 07:56:27 AM
Many classic works are available for free from Amazon and organizations like http://www.gutenberg.org/
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: JunkyII on July 13, 2016, 08:52:26 AM
David Baldacci has some pretty cool characters that I found interesting...he does a lot of government cover up conspiracy type plots. The Whole Truth is the only book I ever sat down and read straight through start to stop...it was just that good.
I just started reading the Game of Thrones books....got to keep myself busy or I'll end up playing Pokemon Go like the rest of the animals in the world :aok
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Ripsnort on July 13, 2016, 09:51:00 AM
I recently read Empire of the summer Moon; Quanah Parker Rise and Fall of the Comanches I'm not really into old west books but this non-fictional book was probably the best I've ever read~!
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: wil3ur on July 13, 2016, 10:04:02 AM
I'm actually working my way through the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I came across a hard copy twentieth printing in a thrift store for $5. It's pretty interesting, but definitely takes some time. I had to take a break from it, but there's some very interesting footnotes. My personal favorite so far was speaking of Goering jumping on the table and extolling the fuhrer upon news of the unopposed annexation of Czechoslovakia with a little * next to it. The footnote said that Goering vehemently denied ever jumping on the table at the Nuremberg trial.
If you're looking for some good entertaining zero educational value reading I recently reread The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. So far two books in the series, but pretty quick reads and overall fun books.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: deSelys on July 13, 2016, 11:43:26 AM
"To kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee "In Cold Blood" - Truman Capote The whole Aubrey & Mathurin serie (20 novels) - Patrick O'Brian The Accursed Kings (just skip the terrible 7th and last novel) - Maurice Druon (This serie about the french dynasty was the inspiration for GoT according to George RR Martin)
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLOOB on July 13, 2016, 11:45:43 AM
Various companies used to sell a "The Classics" set of books. I remember back in the day when encyclopedias were a thing we had a couple of these sets. Often times they came as part of the encyclopedia deal. You can probably find them pretty cheap nowadays.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 13, 2016, 05:16:06 PM
Fantastic assortment of recommendations gents! Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: morfiend on July 13, 2016, 05:33:34 PM
Dont forget the classic, Dick and Jane!
The opening paragraph will grab you and there's no turning back!
See dick run,run dick run.......
:salute
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Hungry on July 13, 2016, 05:33:49 PM
Just hit the Notify button, not a reader but want to be, great lists guys,
GHI how long did it take you to compile that list with links, hats off and <S>
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Oldman731 on July 14, 2016, 08:45:25 AM
So there I was, trying to remember what non-history book(s) I read over and over again. And the only one that came to mind was Rudyard Kipling's "Captains Courageous." I read it once a year, same as "Twelve O'Clock High."
...makes me feel a little bit like a dunce....
- oldman
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Hajo on July 14, 2016, 10:31:48 AM
Out of many books I have, mostly on History, Baseball and WWII air and ground combat the complete works of Mark Twain and F Scott Fitzgerald, two of the three greatest American Authors I enjoy the most. After I've read a book on any sort of history it becomes a reference book. But for pure enjoyment and discerning what an author shines at, the Twain and Fitzgerald books draw me back again and again to smile, see their differences in story telling, and generally learn more about the times in which they lived just by reading their descriptive narratives.
Along with Hemmingway..............all three authors deserve your attention. Reading them is a joy. To me this is obvious and mostly overlooked.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Motherland on July 14, 2016, 01:02:03 PM
For Whom the Bell Tolls ! ! ! One of the best books, impossible to put down, edge of your seat kind of stuff, heartbreaking, etc. etc.! It's set in a war of course but I don't think I'd necessarily consider it a 'war novel' especially set against stuff that's basically memoirs.
You should reread Grapes of Wrath even if you read it in high school because it's so good and it's easy to miss artistry and beauty when you're forced to read something for a high school English class! If you don't mind something a bit longer I just finished East of Eden which is really incredible in breadth and somehow manages to be fairly concise (?) and consistently compelling, and is one of those novels that is so basically and classically American.
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell is a really interesting companion to For Whom the Bell Tolls, Orwell actually fought in the Spanish Civil War and he fights from sort of the 'other side' of the Republican forces. Orwell's writing is also funny and clever and is really the picture of what journalism should be, making his biases (there's no such thing as writing without bias etc.) very clear. It also puts other Orwell which you may have read into a bit better context, plus it's neat to read an author who's so deeply associated with satirical/allegorical writing doing something so plain and straightforward.
If you want to read stuff that you can talk to people about, Haruki Murakami has been really popular for a while and his books are nice and clever and entertaining, not too dense, if a bit formulaic once you've read a bunch (he is - to use an unfortunate cultural pigeonhole - kind of a Miyazaki for lit). I think 'Kafka on the Shore' is a good starting place and the short story collection 'the Elephant Vanishes' is really fun, too.
I also think Kurt Vonnegut is great, super short reads (even if the page length starts to swell his writing is really straightforward) that I think are socially and culturally relevant still and like, come on, everyone loves some Vonnegut. So, if you've already read some but haven't read Mother Night or Breakfast of Champions those are definitely two of my favorites. I was initially turned off by Cat's Cradle which seemed like your standard obnoxious 'i'm a writer hard sciences are silly' kind of thing but he actually went to Stanford for chemistry and Carnegie Mellon for mechanical engineering and comes from a really important scientific family, and finding that out kind of lead to me reassessing and really liking that aspect of what he was saying as well (it's more nuanced than it may initially seem).
As far as Russian lit goes I would say don't just jump in and read Crime and Punishment and War and Peace because they're slogs (well, especially War and Peace). Dostoyevskiy and Tolstoy also have a tendency to create these really interesting complicated moral quandaries and then at the end be like 'lol nvm god's cool' which I imagine can be frustrating for a first time reader after 800-odd pages. Also just from an artistic standpoint Russian literature is very referential and it's a completely different cultural vocabulary as far as allusions to previous works go so you can miss a lot of interesting stuff as a foreign reader. The real treasure trove for an American is the Russian short story/novella which every important Russian author wrote plenty of and they're really consumable and accessible. There's a saying that 'if you haven't read Gogol then you can't read Russian literature' which is really speaking to the fact that you should read short stories like Poor Liza (Karamzin), the Overcoat (Gogol), the Nose (Gogol), Bobok (Dostoyevskiy), Queen of Spades (Pushkin), etc. before launching into the 'great novels'. Doing a little bit of research into Orthodox Christianity probably also wouldn't really hurt for understanding some subtlety but I'm also a nerd for that sort of stuff so it's probably not important. Also if you decide you're going to read something and you can manage to find it, look for a translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, they're really good and translation makes all the difference for how much you're going to enjoy what you're reading. They also maintain the Russian system for addressing people which is important for understanding how characters are interacting in my opinion (I don't really like reading translations where this is simplified) but also kind of confusing, but they have explanations at the beginning of their books.
And have fun because reading a book you don't like is lame!
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLOOB on July 14, 2016, 01:17:35 PM
For Whom the Bell Tolls ! ! ! One of the best books, impossible to put down, edge of your seat kind of stuff, heartbreaking, etc. etc.! It's set in a war of course but I don't think I'd necessarily consider it a 'war novel' especially set against stuff that's basically memoirs.
You should reread Grapes of Wrath even if you read it in high school because it's so good and it's easy to miss artistry and beauty when you're forced to read something for a high school English class! If you don't mind something a bit longer I just finished East of Eden which is really incredible in breadth and somehow manages to be fairly concise (?) and consistently compelling, and is one of those novels that is so basically and classically American.
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell is a really interesting companion to For Whom the Bell Tolls, Orwell actually fought in the Spanish Civil War and he fights from sort of the 'other side' of the Republican forces. Orwell's writing is also funny and clever and is really the picture of what journalism should be, making his biases (there's no such thing as writing without bias etc.) very clear. It also puts other Orwell which you may have read into a bit better context, plus it's neat to read an author who's so deeply associated with satirical/allegorical writing doing something so plain and straightforward.
If you want to read stuff that you can talk to people about, Haruki Murakami is super hot right now and his books are nice and clever and entertaining, not too dense, if a bit formulaic once you've read a bunch (he is - to use an unfortunate cultural pigeonhole - kind of a Miyazaki for lit). I think 'Kafka on the Shore' is a good starting place and the short story collection 'the Elephant Vanishes' is really fun, too.
I also Kurt Vonnegut is also great, super short reads (even if the page length starts to swell his writing is really straightforward) that I think are socially and culturally relevant still and like, come on, everyone loves some Vonnegut. So, if you've already read some but haven't read Mother Night or Breakfast of Champions those are definitely two of my favorites. I was initially turned off by Cat's Cradle which seemed like your standard obnoxious 'i'm a writer hard sciences are silly' kind of thing but he actually went to Stanford for chemistry and Carnegie Mellon for mechanical engineering and comes from a really important scientific family, and finding that out kind of lead to me reassessing and really liking that aspect of what he was saying as well (it's more nuanced than it may initially seem).
As far as Russian lit goes I would say don't just jump in and read Crime and Punishment and War and Peace because they're slogs (well, especially War and Peace). Dostoyevskiy and Tolstoy also have a tendency to create these really interesting complicated moral quandaries and then at the end be like 'lol nvm god's cool' which I imagine can be frustrating for a first time reader after 800-odd pages. Also just from an artistic standpoint Russian literature is very referential and it's a completely different cultural vocabulary as far as allusions to previous works go so you can miss a lot of interesting stuff as a foreign reader. The real treasure trove for an American is the Russian short story/novella which every important Russian author wrote plenty of and they're really consumable and accessible. There's a saying that 'if you haven't read Gogol then you can't read Russian literature' which is really speaking to the fact that you should read short stories like Poor Liza (Karamzin), the Overcoat (Gogol), the Nose (Gogol), Bobok (Dostoyevskiy), Queen of Spades (Pushkin), etc. before launching into the 'great novels'. Doing a little bit of research into Orthodox Christianity probably also wouldn't really hurt for understanding some nuance but I'm also a nerd for that sort of stuff so it's probably not important. Also if you decide you're going to read something and you can manage to find it, look for a translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, they're really good and translation makes all the difference for how much you're going to enjoy what you're reading. They also maintain the Russian system for addressing people which is important for understanding how characters are interacting (I don't really like reading translations where this is simplified) but also kind of confusing, but they have explanations at the beginning of their books.
And have fun because reading a book you don't like is lame!
You didn't mention Bulgakov you son of squeak! :angry:
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Motherland on July 14, 2016, 01:23:46 PM
You didn't mention Bulgakov you son of squeak! :angry:
Well he's a bit late in Russian literary history to be foundational in the same sense as Gogol or Pushkin but beside Master & Margarita which was already mentioned he's got a fun short story cycle called 'a Young Doctor's Notebook' from like right after the Revolution which I like
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Brooke on July 14, 2016, 03:42:34 PM
For books that forewarn of uncomfortably possible futures:
1984, by Orwell Brave New World, by Huxley
They are doubleplus good.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: The Fugitive on July 14, 2016, 04:38:38 PM
Well, I'm on a warpath of self improvement, and one of the things I wanted to work on was becoming more well read. I realized, when I started trying to check things off of my list, how ambiguous of a goal that is... so I'm coming to you all! For a man on a goal to simply being more "cultured" and "well read", what books would you all recommend? I'm NOT looking for military/WWII/aviation books lol. Lord knows I have enough of those...
First off, I don't see why any one would WANT to SEEM more "cultured" and "well read". Be yourself.
Second, read the books those you hang out with read. If your interested in hanging out with these people then you should share likes and dislikes. No point reading "the Glory Hole" if your hanging out with a bunch of christians :devil
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: BFOOT1 on July 14, 2016, 05:00:16 PM
If into historical fiction I recommend the Look Away series by Harold Coyle. It's about the Civil War, and in my opinion a very well written set of novels about the conflict. I'd also recommend One Second After, it's about a electromagnetic pulse attack on the US, and how the US and the world gradually turns into hardcore survival mode. If you're into nature stuff I recommend Ranger Confidential.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Ratsy on July 14, 2016, 06:18:25 PM
I recently read Empire of the summer Moon; Quanah Parker Rise and Fall of the Comanches I'm not really into old west books but this non-fictional book was probably the best I've ever read~!
+1 :aok
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 14, 2016, 07:15:03 PM
First off, I don't see why any one would WANT to SEEM more "cultured" and "well read". Be yourself.
Second, read the books those you hang out with read. If your interested in hanging out with these people then you should share likes and dislikes. No point reading "the Glory Hole" if your hanging out with a bunch of christians :devil
I'm not trying to SEEM anything, I'm trying to become lol. There's only so much personal growth I can accomplish reading Star Wars novels and Message to Garcia lol
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: The Fugitive on July 14, 2016, 09:12:42 PM
I'm not trying to SEEM anything, I'm trying to become lol. There's only so much personal growth I can accomplish reading Star Wars novels and Message to Garcia lol
What does "cultured" mean to you?
Personally Im a Sci-Fi/Fantasy nut. I have hundreds of books and have given away more (donated to libraries, second hand book shops and so on) then I now have. During my Navy days I would go through a book or two a week. It's slowed do now, just don't have the time.
Does it make my "cultured"? Well read? in some circles I guess so, but the important thing is not to do something to impress, do it because you like it. In the end wasting time to impressing people just isn't worth the trouble.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLOOB on July 14, 2016, 10:07:37 PM
The History Channel does something actually entertaining.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 14, 2016, 10:11:42 PM
Personally Im a Sci-Fi/Fantasy nut. I have hundreds of books and have given away more (donated to libraries, second hand book shops and so on) then I now have. During my Navy days I would go through a book or two a week. It's slowed do now, just don't have the time.
Does it make my "cultured"? Well read? in some circles I guess so, but the important thing is not to do something to impress, do it because you like it. In the end wasting time to impressing people just isn't worth the trouble.
I guess I should say I'm attempting to become more well-rounded. I can talk for days in a sci-fi circle, or surrounded by aviation nuts, but I don't have much to say when in conversation with "normal" people lol.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: 8thJinx on July 15, 2016, 08:55:46 AM
For books that forewarn of uncomfortably possible futures:
1984, by Orwell Brave New World, by Huxley
They are doubleplus good.
You should read One Second After, and it's follow up, One Year After, by Forstchen. He writes a little ham-fistedly, but it's intriguing stuff. The prepper crowd apparently loves it.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Ratsy on July 15, 2016, 10:50:56 AM
You should read One Second After, and it's follow up, One Year After, by Forstchen. He writes a little ham-fistedly, but it's intriguing stuff. The prepper crowd apparently loves it.
An old favorite in that genre is Canticle for Leibowitz, by Robert Heinlein.
An observation about Warrior Culture: Well-roundedness is quite different than effete-snobishness. The first is to be sought over a career/lifetime and the second is to be avoided at all costs. It's clear to me that Serenity understands the distinction. Let no man dishonor that. You start any journey at the beginning and this is a great beginning - asking questions of friends in a 'safe place'. Let's keep it that way.
Then, of course, a (large) number of us are (at this moment) are taking away book titles from this thread that we've never heard of and are enthusiastically researching them on Amazon, et al. Who's a loser here?
I apologize for any sins committed while belaboring the obvious.
:salute
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Shuffler on July 15, 2016, 12:23:27 PM
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Guppy35 on July 15, 2016, 12:43:53 PM
"Illusions" by Richard Bach. Just to get you thinking 😀 "Nanette" by Edwards Park. Just because👍
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Randall172 on July 15, 2016, 12:57:16 PM
GAME OF THRONES!
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Brooke on July 15, 2016, 03:55:38 PM
I read the first book, then didn't want to read the series and watch the series both at the same time.
It's worth reading the books, the series leaves out a lot or tries to cover it all in a 5 minute lesbian sex scene with introspective dialogue. I haven't watched the last two seasons of the show... but apparently it starts to stray even further from the books.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Meatwad on July 16, 2016, 08:59:32 AM
ARRG! You are correct, of course. I was confusing Canticle for "Farnham's Freehold", I think.
How old does one have to be to cease apologizing for being wrong? Oh! I know - 130. :)
:salute
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: saggs on July 16, 2016, 01:47:16 PM
Too many books to mention. So I'll just mention some of authors who fit the bill as far as "make you think" books. Like many I enjoy the likes of Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler, or Brad Thor or Robert Ludlum, but those are just entertainment for me. Besides religious scripture (Bible and Book of Mormon) Some authors I recommend and my favorites of their works, to get the grey matter working are in no particular order:
George Orwell -1984, Animal Farm
Charles Dickens -Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, many others.
C.S. Lewis -Chronicles of Narnia, Space Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity
J.R.R. Tolkien -LOTR
Victor Hugo -Les Miserables
Author C. Clarke -2001, 2010
Alexander Dumas -Count of Monte Cristo, Man in the Iron Mask
Ray Bradbury -Fahrenheit 451, Martin Chronicles, Something Wicked this Way Comes
Isaac Asimov -Foundation Trilogy, I Robot
Phillip K. Dick -Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Penultimate Truth, Minority Report, The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly
Orson Scott Card -The Worthing Chronicle, the Ender Quartet, Lost Boys, Hart's Hope
Larry Niven -The Draco Tavern (I love the Ringworld series, but it's more pure entertainment)
Lots of other good books, but off the top of my head, these are the ones that made me "think".
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: saggs on July 16, 2016, 01:54:56 PM
I tried, you know how every chapter is written from the POV of a different character? I got to I think the 4th book, and saw that most of the chapters where "Cersei" and said screw it. I never liked her storyline, and found her chapters to be the most boring in the previous novels.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: APDrone on July 16, 2016, 04:58:16 PM
Another one that I'm kinda surprised has made any comment:
Stranger in a Strange Land.. Heinlein Quite controversial for its time. Grok?
<Edit>. Getting old sux... I think.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Zoney on July 16, 2016, 05:30:25 PM
I tried, you know how every chapter is written from the POV of a different character? I got to I think the 4th book, and saw that most of the chapters where "Cersei" and said screw it. I never liked her storyline, and found her chapters to be the most boring in the previous novels.
shes the most bad-ass character non-physically and all the other characters are playing checkers while she is playing chess.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: JunkyII on July 18, 2016, 07:47:34 AM
It's worth reading the books, the series leaves out a lot or tries to cover it all in a 5 minute lesbian sex scene with introspective dialogue. I haven't watched the last two seasons of the show... but apparently it starts to stray even further from the books.
Season 6 is an emotional roller coaster....so much death.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: FLOOB on July 21, 2016, 09:56:38 AM
Kind of, sort of related.. Just saw an article "If you like Harry Potter you're less likely to vote for this presidential candidate" or something like that. And as I scrolled by it the hilarity of what the headline was suggesting struck me and I was like. "Whoa.. stop the bus! You're old enough to vote and you're reading Harry Potter?!"
And don't get political with your replies please.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Brooke on July 21, 2016, 11:57:15 AM
I would not say that it's the finest literature in the world, but I enjoyed the Harry Potter books.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: hgtonyvi on July 21, 2016, 12:36:26 PM
No one mentioned Play Boy magazines? :devil
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Serenity on July 21, 2016, 03:21:53 PM
The Sixth Battle by Barrett Tillman (Yes the one who does some military aircraft books and was involved with the Tailhook society) This is one of my all time favorite books, I am on my second copy having bought one when it first came out years ago. Modern Naval Aviation strategy is examined inside of a novel setting. Very well written.
The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day by Ed Ruggero 82nd Airborne's all but forgotten fight to secure the area behind Utah. Freaking awesome book. Ruggero writes great fiction too.
Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle The aliens come and start blowing the crap out of us. However the monkey boys know how to fight. Best seller when it came out.
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle * Anything by either of these two and you won't go to far wrong One of the best sci-fi books ever written.
Anything by Douglas Reeman is a great read if you are into Naval Combat. Especially "Winged Escort" and "The Destroyers".
Grey Eagles by Duane Unkefer This is what we all dream about to some extent... the Luftwaffe comes back, in 1976... in Arizona and the only people that can stop them seemingly are the CAF, their warbirds, and a bunch of old WWII fighter pilots. Ignore the crap about Marta she is not central to the story.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: Gman on August 03, 2016, 04:37:07 PM
Funny you mention the 6th Battle, one of my favorite books too which I just finished re reading again, Tillman also wrote another great book called "Warriors", featuring the F20 Tigershark. The 6th Battle is probably my favorite naval combat novel, better than Red Storm Rising was even back then. It can be tough to find, no epub version was ever created of it that I've ever found, it's for sale on Amazon in the used paperback 1 cent section often, but that's it.
Title: Re: Need a book recommendation
Post by: RJH57 on August 26, 2016, 10:36:11 PM
Well, I'm on a warpath of self improvement, and one of the things I wanted to work on was becoming more well read... goal to simply being more "cultured" and "well read", what books would you all recommend?
read the classics by Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau ("On Walden Pond"), Herman Melville ("Moby Dick")
The 10 Greatest Books of all Time: http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1578073,00.html