The Zone

by **Fievel** on Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:48 pm

Just listened to "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore (read by Fisher Stevens).
Friggin' hilarious.
I absolutely love this guy's writings so far (having only "read"... okay, listened to, one other - "Lamb").

by **The Todd** on Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:22 am

100 pages into Duma Key and loving it-FIVE!!!!!

by **Fievel** on Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:39 pm

The Todd wrote:100 pages into Duma Key and loving it-FIVE!!!!!

That book was a LOT better than I would have guessed it to be.

by **Wiccan Woman** on Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:06 pm

The Vicar wrote:Started in on Whitley Shreiber's 2012.
I've never read Shreiber before, so if this book blows I'll never let Wiccan Women hear the end of it.
Heh heh.

Uh-huh....you won't be able to put the book down once you get to the last third. I'll betcha a Long Island iced tea on it.

And, yes, I *would* hear the end of it. You forget about my ability to mute mere mortals. You know I can do it. You've been left speechless before :wink:

by **so sorry** on Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:16 am

Needed to grab a book from my bookshelf for "waiting room" material yesterday, and I took my Godfather paperback (1970 printing). I hadn't read it in a few years, and I forgot how much I loved loved loved the novel...

by **Ribbons** on Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:53 pm

Currently I am reading "Othello" by The Bard himself, William Shakespeare! I'm enjoying it a lot, and am pleased to find that Othello is nowhere near as big of a dumbass in the original version as his adaptations make him seem. There are actual, like, philosophical discussions about whether or not his fiancee could plausibly be unfaithful rather than him going off at the mere intimation of it (see: O, countless other movies like The Punisher that ripped off the storyline). Anyway Shakespeare is a man of his time, so I'm not sure how much credit to give him with possibly-racist plays like "The Merchant of Venice" or possibly-chauvinist plays like "Taming of a Shrew," but this one is definitely progressive in its stance against racism and racial profiling, which is pretty awesome, although kind of depressing since it's still relevant even today.

by **Maui** on Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:37 pm

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Part of my book club, which I have to complete by Jan 21st.

Here's what Amazon has to say about the novel:

Katherine Neville's debut novel is a postmodern thriller set in 1972 ... and 1790. In the 20th century, Catherine Velis is a computer expert with a flair for music, painting, and chess who, on her way to Algeria at the behest of the accounting firm where she is employed, is invited to take a mysterious moonlighting assignment: recover the pieces of an old chess set missing for centuries.

In the midst of the French Revolution, a young novice discovers that her abbey is the hiding place of a chess set, once owned by the great Charlemagne, which allows those who play it to tap into incredible powers beyond the imagination. She eventually comes into contact with the major historical figures of the day, from Robespierre to Napoleon, each of whom has an agenda.

Looks promising. I need something light after reading "What is the What" by Eggers.

by **Ribbons** on Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:41 am

Thanks for chiming in Maui -- and when are you coming back for good?! The Zone needs you! The book forum needs you!!!

[/gets on knees and grovels pathetically]

by **caruso_stalker217** on Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:43 am

I... I think I'm still only sixty pages into Duma Key. And I think I bought Just After Sunset two months ago. Where is it... I know I was reading that...

by **Maui** on Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:07 pm

Ribbons wrote:The book forum needs you!!!

[/gets on knees and grovels pathetically]

I'm here, I'm here. Bring forth the books. :wink:

Website · by **Bayouwolf** on Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:33 am

Just finished up "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

I'm not sure how to review this. I know it's a classic and all, but I just couldn't get into it. I liked the overall tone of the book. For me though, it was like reading a short story that got fleshed out and went on for far too long. I found myself skimming quite a few times to get slightly ahead of the monotonous pseudo-scientific bits that had been explained over and over again. Just as I would find myself drawn into something new, a page later I was reading something that had been gone through just a chapter before. The level of explanation for most of the book went from non-existent (Electromagnetic Golf/other assorted sports) to excessively and repetitively detailed (the decanting process). It was like knowing exactly what kind of clothing Captain Nemo wore every day, but only getting brief glimpses at the fantastic craft he piloted.
The ending was a bit milquetoast for me. I was kinda hoping for something more exciting or world changing. Instead I got the theme from M.A.S.H. ...

This is one of those books that I'll probably never pick up again, but I am definitely better for reading it.
After all, a gramme is better than a damn.

by **havocSchultz** on Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:02 pm

Maui wrote:
Ribbons wrote:The book forum needs you!!!

[/gets on knees and grovels pathetically]

I'm here, I'm here. Bring forth the books.

The last time I got on my knees and groveled to Maui I just got slapped...

by **Ribbons** on Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:47 pm

Not made to stand in the corner? ;-)

Sorry to hear you didn't like Brave New World, Bayou. I read it a few months back and really enjoyed it. The stuff at the beginning about decanting is a little on the technobabble side, but I think it was supposed to be. I do agree that the ending is pretty weak though.

by **havocSchultz** on Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:08 pm

Ribbons wrote:Not made to stand in the corner?

It was a round room...

by **Wiccan Woman** on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:02 am

Bayou wrote:Just finished up "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

I'm not sure how to review this. I know it's a classic and all, but I just couldn't get into it. I liked the overall tone of the book. For me though, it was like reading a short story that got fleshed out and went on for far too long. I found myself skimming quite a few times to get slightly ahead of the monotonous pseudo-scientific bits that had been explained over and over again. Just as I would find myself drawn into something new, a page later I was reading something that had been gone through just a chapter before. The level of explanation for most of the book went from non-existent (Electromagnetic Golf/other assorted sports) to excessively and repetitively detailed (the decanting process). It was like knowing exactly what kind of clothing Captain Nemo wore every day, but only getting brief glimpses at the fantastic craft he piloted.
The ending was a bit milquetoast for me. I was kinda hoping for something more exciting or world changing. Instead I got the theme from M.A.S.H. ...

This is one of those books that I'll probably never pick up again, but I am definitely better for reading it.
After all, a gramme is better than a damn.

I first tried Brave New World when I was 17, and would have agreed with your synopsis at that time, Bayou.

I went back to the book about 6 years later, after a discussion of the book with my grandmother (and 4 years of English Lit behind me). Huxley's writing hadn't gotten any better, but I understood better the satiric nature of the book in the context of the societal changes in the U.S. that Huxley wanted to rant about, 70-odd years ago.

From Huxley, I went on to Ayn Rand. Thus my fate as a cynic was sealed.

Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it as I please.... :wink:

by **Maui** on Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:37 pm

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

So far a very captivating read - part of a trilogy from the late Swedish author. The second book is titled "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and the third book is not titled yet, set to release this spring.

Here's some positive reviews from Amazon:

"A remarkable first novel . . . Wildly suspenseful . . . The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has been a huge bestseller in Europe and will be one here if readers are looking for an intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller that is variously a serial-killer saga, a search for a missing person and an informed glimpse into the worlds of journalism and business . . . It's a book that lingers in the mind . . . Lisbeth is a punk Watson to Mikael's dapper Holmes, and she's the coolest crime-fighting sidekick to come along in many years." —Patrick Anderson, Washington Post

"A super-smart amalgam of the corporate corruption tale, legal thriller and dysfunctional-family psychological suspense story. It's witty, and unflinching in its commonsense feminist social commentary . . . A veteran mystery reader could spot the clues to this novel's runaway popularity as easily as Poe's detective, Auguste Dupin, spotted that purloined letter . . . Larsson's multi-pieced plot snaps together as neatly as an Ikea bookcase, but even more satisfying is the anti-social character of Salander . . . I'm betting that this offbeat bad girl will win a lot of readers' affections." —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air (NPR)

"Imagine the movies of Ingmar Bergman crossed with Thomas Harris's novel The Silence of the Lambs. Larsson's mesmerizing tale succeeds because, like P.D. James, he has written a why-dunit rather than a whodunit." —Deirdre Donahue, USA Today

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a striking novel. Just when I was thinking there wasn't anything new on the horizon, along comes Stieg Larsson with this wonderfully unique story. I was completely absorbed." —Michael Connelly

AND....they plan on making this into a movie!!!

by **Spandau Belly** on Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:12 pm

I read

BEYOND BLACK
by Hillary Mantel

For the first half of this book I thought Mantel was working up some modern psychic take on Sherlock and Watson, only no real mystery or anything ever happened. What you mostly get is a personal drama about an eccentric psychic in modern England and her relationship with her tightly-wound accountant/business manager.

Mantel does a good job getting all the details of the lifestyle of somebody who tours around psychic fairs and does personal readings and communicated with the spirit world, but the book just wasn't all that interesting to me. A lot of it is the two leads slowly revealing how damaged they are and the psychic lady coming to grips with her own sexual abuse as a child.

The dialogue was pretty good, it had a good workingclass English roll to it and seemed very conversational.

But I dunno, it was one of those books that I kept wanting to give up on but kept reading hoping something bigger would happen and even though it never did, it wasn't all bad. I wouldn't recommend it, and only regret how long it took me to read. I'm now going to move onto something that will hopefully move along a little faster.

Website · by **Bayouwolf** on Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:25 pm

Orson Scott Card's "Seventh Son"

As there isn't a BOTM to read, I thought I'd revisit the first book in a series that I haven't read in a while.
I loved this when I first read it, But then again, I was 16.
Time to see if it holds up as well as I remember.

by **Bill Cutshaw** on Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:01 am

Just started The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. Looks very promising!

by **Smasher** on Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:17 pm

The 42nd Parallel: Vol. One of the U.S.A. Trilogy, by John Dos Passos

by **stepdada** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:32 pm

Smasher wrote:The 42nd Parallel: Vol. One of the U.S.A. Trilogy, by John Dos Passos

Now THATS a book! Have you read The Big Money?

by **Smasher** on Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:45 pm

No, not yet. But my friend who lent me The 42nd Parallel hopefully has the full trilogy, and if so, I will again be borrowing, as I expect to finish reading this in a month.

by **Bloo** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:51 am

I'm reading both TWILIGHT and DEAD UNTIL DARK

Twilight because my best friend told me I should read it and give it a chance instead of mocking it

Dead Until Dark because I've seen some eps of True Blood and wanted to read the books it was based on

by **Maui** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:48 pm

Bloo wrote:Twilight because my best friend told me I should read it and give it a chance instead of mocking it

The Twilight series are enjoyable reads. I certainly wouldn't call Meyers the best writer on the planet though. I consider them beach books - incredibly light and quick to read. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the book once you're done.

by **Bloo** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:51 pm

Maui wrote:The Twilight series are enjoyable reads. I certainly wouldn't call Meyers the best writer on the planet though. I consider them beach books - incredibly light and quick to read. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the book once you're done.

yeah it's got a lot of pages but pretty easy reading so far

by **Maui** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:57 pm

Bloo wrote:yeah it's got a lot of pages but pretty easy reading so far

You seen the movie?

by **Bloo** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:04 pm

Maui wrote:You seen the movie?

I haven't, again merciless mocking of the idea behind it made me unwilling to see the movie

by **Maui** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:06 pm

Bloo wrote:I haven't, again merciless mocking of the idea behind it made me unwilling to see the movie

If at all possible, go to a showing when the teeny boppers are in school. It minimizes the squealing and "OH MY GOD" outbursts.

by **Bloo** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:12 pm

Maui wrote:If at all possible, go to a showing when the teeny boppers are in school. It minimizes the squealing and "OH MY GOD" outbursts.

my friend's husband read the book before watching the movie and hated it, then went and saw the movie and enjoyed it much more, so much that he went ahead and read the other books, so I've heard good things about it, I'm just one of those get stuck in my own opinon kind of guys, and I hate admiting I"m wrong LOL

by **Maui** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:03 pm

Bloo wrote:my friend's husband read the book before watching the movie and hated it, then went and saw the movie and enjoyed it much more, so much that he went ahead and read the other books, so I've heard good things about it, I'm just one of those get stuck in my own opinon kind of guys, and I hate admiting I"m wrong LOL

Alot of people are quick to criticize these books without having read them. I wouldn't say they are fantastic but I wouldn't call them bad reading either. Twilight piqued my interest enough that I wanted to continue on with the series.

by **Bloo** on Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:06 pm

Maui wrote:Alot of people are quick to criticize these books without having read them. I wouldn't say they are fantastic but I wouldn't call them bad reading either. Twilight piqued my interest enough that I wanted to continue on with the series.

honestly what piqued my intrest enough to agree to read the books was Orson Scott Card's endorsment of them, now that I'm reading it it's not as bad as I thought

by **Maui** on Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:48 pm

Bloo wrote:honestly what piqued my intrest enough to agree to read the books was Orson Scott Card's endorsment of them, now that I'm reading it it's not as bad as I thought

Didn't know he endorsed the series. Interesting.

by **Bloo** on Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:33 pm

Maui wrote:Didn't know he endorsed the series. Interesting.

I guess he's been doing some mentoring with her as well, read that in...USA Today back when Breaking Dawn came out

by **Maui** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:51 am

Bloo wrote:I guess he's been doing some mentoring with her as well, read that in...USA Today back when Breaking Dawn came out

Interesting tidbit!

I wonder if he was any inspiration for her other novel "The Host" which is Sci Fi.

by **Bloo** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:59 am

Maui wrote:Interesting tidbit!

I wonder if he was any inspiration for her other novel "The Host" which is Sci Fi.

oh I didn't know she had anything but Twilight, crap man she's a fast writer, is that al she does

I mean like I know she's a housewife and soccor mom type...but dayum

by **Maui** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:50 pm

Bloo wrote:oh I didn't know she had anything but Twilight, crap man she's a fast writer, is that al she does

Seems to me that would be a fairly lucrative business. Write a few books a year, take the kids to soccer practice, um, spend money! Sign me up, minus the rugrats!

by **Bloo** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:07 pm

Maui wrote:Seems to me that would be a fairly lucrative business. Write a few books a year, take the kids to soccer practice, um, spend money! Sign me up, minus the rugrats!

crap I'll do it WITH the rugrats

by **Maui** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:08 pm

Bloo wrote:crap I'll do it WITH the rugrats

It just all sounds too MiniVanISH for my tastes. lol

by **Bloo** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:11 pm

Maui wrote:It just all sounds too MiniVanISH for my tastes. lol

yeah but still...multimillion dollars in sales and merchandise and movie rights, writing all day long just living the life

of course if I ever get published/produced, I'll know I'll just spend the money on coke and hookers...coca-cola of course

by **Maui** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:13 pm

Bloo wrote:yeah but still...multimillion dollars in sales and merchandise and movie rights, writing all day long just living the life

of course if I ever get published/produced, I'll know I'll just spend the money on coke and hookers...coca-cola of course

by **Retardo_Montalban** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:23 pm

I read a book called "Talk of the Devil" by Riccardo Orizio. Orizio is an Italian journalist who interviewed 9 deposed dictators, but was only given permission to quote 8. It's a shame that Orizio couln't publish his interview with the 9th dictator, Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone. Instead Strasser's story is told in the introduction to the book in the form of a couple paragraphs about his rise fall and current circumstances living homeless in London at the age of 35. Each chapter of the book focuses on interviewing one dictator. The interview is fleshed out with back ground information on the dictator usually as a counterpoint to fallacies and inconsistencies brought up by the interviewee.

The most interesting stories, probably because they are the stories I am most familiar with are Idi Amin (Uganda), Enver Hoxha (Albania), Jean Claude Duvalier aka Baby Daddy (Haiti) and Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia & Yugoslavia). The one Question that Orizio asks all these deposed dictators is " Do you have any regrets". It was amazing the levels of denial that these former dictators possess in response to this question. It shows just how far the human psyche will insulate itself in order to commit horrible evils. Another thing I caught in the book which may not have been intentional is how complicit Italy's involvement was in keeping these horrible dictators in power. Orizio always writes form the Italian perspective, so there is no telling how much of a role the other world powers had in keeping these 3d world countries in turmoil. There is also a lot of talk of the U.S.A's involvement, but that is a country that is hard to ignore in these types of stories.

At the end of the book there is a letter written by Manuel Noriega turning down an interview, because Noriega doesn't feel that he is in the same position as the other dictators. I'm a little disappointed that There isn't more on Noriega, as his turn from America's darling to evil drug runing king pin seemed to turn on the head of a pin. I also visited one of Noriega's houses when I took a trip down to Panama back in 2007.

by **Bloo** on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:27 pm

Retardo_Montalban wrote:I read a book called "Talk of the Devil" by Riccardo Orizio. Orizio is an Italian journalist who interviewed 9 deposed dictators, but was only given permission to quote 8. It's a shame that Orizio couln't publish his interview with the 9th dictator, Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone. Instead Strasser's story is told in the introduction to the book in the form of a couple paragraphs about his rise fall and current circumstances living homeless in London at the age of 35. Each chapter of the book focuses on interviewing one dictator. The interview is fleshed out with back ground information on the dictator usually as a counterpoint to fallacies and inconsistencies brought up by the interviewee.

The most interesting stories, probably because they are the stories I am most familiar with are Idi Amin (Uganda), Enver Hoxha (Albania), Jean Claude Duvalier aka Baby Daddy (Haiti) and Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia & Yugoslavia). The one Question that Orizio asks all these deposed dictators is " Do you have any regrets". It was amazing the levels of denial that these former dictators possess in response to this question. It shows just how far the human psyche will insulate itself in order to commit horrible evils. Another thing I caught in the book which may not have been intentional is how complicit Italy's involvement was in keeping these horrible dictators in power. Orizio always writes form the Italian perspective, so there is no telling how much of a role the other world powers had in keeping these 3d world countries in turmoil. There is also a lot of talk of the U.S.A's involvement, but that is a country that is hard to ignore in these types of stories.

At the end of the book there is a letter written by Manuel Noriega turning down an interview, because Noriega doesn't feel that he is in the same position as the other dictators. I'm a little disappointed that There isn't more on Noriega, as his turn from America's darling to evil drug runing king pin seemed to turn on the head of a pin. I also visited one of Noriega's houses when I took a trip down to Panama back in 2007.

sounds very interesting, I'll have to look it up

by **Bloo** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:35 am

WICKED

having listened to the music from the musical and making plans to see the musical this May, I wanted to read the source material, found it at a Target in Salina, KS of all places, picked it up and started it after rereading WATCHMEN

it's an interesting deconstruction of the Oz myth, and I'm not that deep into yet, but the opening section with the witch's parents I didn't enjoy that much, but so far the stuff in school is good

kind of gives you an idea where I'm at in the book too after starting it a little over a day ago

by **Chris a.k.a StuntMike** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:24 pm

Just re-read Schrader on Schrader.

by **King Of Nowhere** on Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:16 pm

Still reading Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis.
Got sidetracked by a bunch of books, but now i've picked it back up.
On page 372 i think.
Gotta give it a huge WTF? at this moment in time.
Should have it finished in an hour or so.

by **DennisMM** on Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:19 am

Surprisingly, I am not reading any books right now. I have two sitting on the bed waiting for me to open them: You Don't Know Me: Republican Family Values and Hollywood vs. Superman. I've peeked at both but not sat down for a solid look at either.

by **Nancy** on Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:19 am

I am reading "The Golden Compass" and "Generation Hex".

by **Smasher** on Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:34 pm

Imbibe! by David Wondrich

by **Maui** on Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:18 pm

Just got my book (import from the UK) today, had to pay a bit more but I couldn't wait for it's North American release date of July 28th - these books are that good. I'll likely be buried in this book for the next few days!

The Girl Who Played with Fire part 2 of Stieg Larsson's trilogy (Millennium Series).

Check out the author's site:
http://www.stieglarsson.com/

by **Bloo** on Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:34 pm

rereading WATCHMEN, 2nd time in 2 months LOL, squeezed in WICKED in between there

my bathroom reading right now is NEW MOON, I hear the writing gets better from TWILIGHT, not likig the Romeo and Juliet symbolism being shoved right in my face though