book recommendations

• j_crazy

  

  It's last minute but i'm looking for something to load onto the kindle before i take off for the GOM for the next few days.
  
  what are you guys reading?
  
  i'm thinking of going with the tried and true great shark hunt. I've never actually finished it but have read about 2/3 of it at various points in my adult life.
• Fab1b

  

  What type do you like? I love human misery and one of the best books I have ever read was The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom. Also Columbine is very good, alot of what you probably heard or know will change after reading that. Tucker Max is great for laughs if you want comedy. Just a couple I read over the past few years that really stood out to me.
• Gardens35

  Just finished "Stan Musial...An American Life" by George Vecsey, and a few month back I read "Last Man Out (surviving the Burma-Thailand death railway:a memoir) by WW2 Vet H. Robert Charles.
• j_crazy

  

  hunter s. thompson, tucker max, chuck palahniuk, and the like are the kinds of authors i'm into.
  
  i just finished they call me baba booey and private parts so yeah i'm down for a good laugh. strangely enough one of my favorite books was the prize (its like the history of the oil industry of the world).
  
  so either goofball crazy stories or a good history book will work for me.
• Rotinaj

  

  Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes and the Horror at camp jellyjam.
• swamisez

  

  Reading Crime and Punishment, would advise you to stay away.
  
  Enjoyed Bullpen Gospels by Dick Hayhurst, current starting pitcher for AAA Durham Bulls.
  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was a great read. Louie Zamperini made me feel like a little girl in terms of mental physical toughness
  
  always recommend Picture of Dorian Gray or Brave New World. Love both of those books, especially Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde rocked.
  
  Working though David McCullough's new one, The Greater Journey. It is quite interesting, its about the first Americans to study in Paris from 1800-1830.
• dlazz

  If you like Sci-Fi you could read Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.
  
  It would remind you of that dipshit on here named Ender Wiggin while you're on your trip.
• I Wear Pants

  Literally anything by Cormac Mccarthy.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Pears is good (Instance of the Fingerpost, Stone's Fall) - they take a while to read so you aren't finishing it in transit.
• swamisez

  

  I Wear Pants;822153 wrote:Literally anything by Cormac Mccarthy.

  
  I am muddling through Blood Meridian. It is a tough read for me. Lots of detail and quite verbose. It is too time consuming I find. Then again I am a simpleton.
• I Wear Pants

  I love the prose in it. But I like language a lot so maybe it's just me. Plus his imagery is outstanding.
• swamisez

  

  No argument there. Chapter 4 of Blood Meridian where the kid in the midst of the fight with the sw indians. The graphic depictions made in the final paragraphs are some of the best things I have ever read.
• tcarrier32

  

  I Wear Pants;822153 wrote:Literally anything by Cormac Mccarthy.

  
  i took a thematic literature course at OSU a few years ago, and the "theme" was Cormac McCarthy. We read Child of God, Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Of those, The Road was the one that stuck with me the most. I'd recommend any of those to the OP, if you haven't read them before.
  
  Also, the Rum Diaries by Hunter Thompson would be good if you haven't read it before.
• Dr Winston O'Boogie

  

  True Grit by Charles Portis. I haven't seen the recent Coen brothers movie. The book itself is absolutely outstanding. A couple of great, great characters.
• Sonofanump

  Atlas Shrugged
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Dr Winston O'Boogie;822227 wrote:True Grit by Charles Portis. I haven't seen the recent Coen brothers movie. The book itself is absolutely outstanding. A couple of great, great characters.

  
  Good movie, better than I expected.
• thavoice

  Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
• Fab1b

  

  thavoice;822296 wrote:Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  
  Yes fantastic book!
• thavoice

  Fab1b;822302 wrote:Yes fantastic book!

  
  Was supposed to make a movie out of it. He wanted to be very involved in the making of it so Hollywood didnt, well, fuck it up. Dont know what all happened for sure. Unsure if the Govt had a hand in it, or producers not wanting him to be that involved, or what, but last I heard it is not in the works.
• iclfan2

  

  From to that have been mentioned - Lone Survivor and Unbroken. The latter being a true story about an Olympic hopeful who goes to the military and is captured by the Japs. The rest of the story is his life in various POW camps and how his life is changed once he gets rescued.
• Heretic

  

  I'm reading Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. II-B.
  
  Came out in the early 70s, I think. When the Nebula Award was created in '66, some people were upset that older works couldn't be recognized, so they created two volumes of them. Volume II had too much to be put in one book, so it was split. I got it in a garage sale a few years back and decided to give it a go. Some of the more classic writers like Asimov, but you have to be a bit on the patient side if you're like me and aren't particularly knowledgeable about science, as older writers really put the SCIENCE in science fiction.
  
  After I finish that, I also have a collection of Robert Heinlein's "Future Earth" stories.
• swamisez

  

  iclfan2;822331 wrote:From to that have been mentioned - Lone Survivor and Unbroken. The latter being a true story about an Olympic hopeful who goes to the military and is captured by the Japs. The rest of the story is his life in various POW camps and how his life is changed once he gets rescued.

  
  Don't forget the 40+ days he spent lost at sea in a dingy, fending off shark attacks and attacks by Japanese airplanes.
• ksig489

  As mentioned above...Columbine by Dave Cullen is one of the best books in print.
  
  I am finishing up a 4 book Historical fiction series about Julius Ceasar by Conn Iggulden All the books have "Emperor" in the title. It is very hard to put down.
  
  I am Legend...so much better than the movie
  
  Troy series by David Gemmell
• I Wear Pants

  tcarrier32;822195 wrote:i took a thematic literature course at OSU a few years ago, and the "theme" was Cormac McCarthy. We read Child of God, Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Of those, The Road was the one that stuck with me the most. I'd recommend any of those to the OP, if you haven't read them before.
  
  Also, the Rum Diaries by Hunter Thompson would be good if you haven't read it before.

  The Road is an absolute masterpiece of a book. Concise and yet incredibly detailed and amazingly haunting.
• cbus4life

  Read the Song of Ice and Fire series, by George R. R. Martin.
  
  Good stuff.