OT: Best Book You Have Ever Read
by Agreen07 on Aug 23, 2008 6:58 PM CDT
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PrintScrew baseball, screw politics....
What is the best book you have ever read?
I'll start it off....
Fiction: The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Non-Fiction: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis
Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are fun Books are funv
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This shpuld be interesting
Fiction: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling: Great series overall, but this was my favorite book
Nonfiction: Football by Peter King: Alot of NFL history that I never knew of
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
Hmmm
Sci-Fi: Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
Fiction: Beach Music – Pat Conroy
Non-Fiction: Band of Brothers – Stephen Ambrose
I'd love for part of the "new look" to be a return to the red uniforms of the 1990s. - Ian Kinsler
LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW_SKWjrE2U
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
I get a lifetime subscription to the Source
through the name Rob Van Winkle because I have a relationship with him.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
When I was a senior in high school...
…I went, along with some other guys, to Padre Island for spring break.
UT and A&M were also on spring break, and virtually every high school in Texas had had their spring break the week before, so we were the youngest people on the beach.
Except for a few people we met at our hotel, who went to high school in, I think, Lewisville.
They kept telling us we needed to go to this club called Park Place Monopoly’s, and see this white guy they were friends with who could rap and dance, and who went by the handle “Vanilla Ice,” because they said he was going to end up being famous.
We were like, uh huh, whatever.
Then, that summer, on Video Jukebox, I saw him. It was trippy.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 8:12 PM CDT up reply actions
My brother kicked his ass in high school
Not that kicking Robbie’s ass was all that difficult.
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama
by LSBUser on Aug 23, 2008 8:32 PM CDT up reply actions
Details please
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Park Place Monopoly's
If that’s in Dallas I think that’s where my friends took me for my 16th birthday.
O yes.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 25, 2008 8:14 AM CDT up reply actions
Moneyball and Fantasyland
Also forget all the shit surrounding it, fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, true, not true, whatever the case I thought that A Million Little Pieces was an amazing read and it definatly got my emotions going.
hmm
fiction -
a case of need by michael crichton (as jeffrey hudson)
nonfiction -
american prometheus by kai bird and martin j. sherwin
http://www.buchanan4pres2008.org/
NIXON: NOW MORE THAN EVER
Hemingway
I’ll go with The Sun Also Rises.
"You’re the only here who contributes schtick only." - brettgardner
Hmm
Sun Also Rises over A Farewell to Arms? That’s tough.
To me, though, his best work is undoubtedly The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
by brettgardner on Aug 23, 2008 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions
You do realize that many consider
Hemingway to be racist, anti-semetic and a homophobe, correct?
Starting to see a pattern here.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
I'm partial to "For Whom The Bell Tolls"
But really, I enjoy his writing style, so they’re all good.
To Have and Have Not
Not his best book, but it is my favorite of his.
I love the line about going broke in TSAR:
How did you become a bankrupt?
Gradually, and then suddenly…
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions
Lets see...
Fiction: The Holy Bible
Non-Fiction: The Brass Wall
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama
by LSBUser on Aug 23, 2008 7:29 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Way to start up the controversy.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Dude come on....
this is supposed to be a fun thread.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
The Brass Wall is a good book
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama
by LSBUser on Aug 23, 2008 8:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Cute...
As someone with eight years in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies in the Bible I can agree that many sections of the Bible are fictional (and often intentionally so). Others are clearly historical, many times in some of the most critical parts. But, as I’ve often said, and you and I have discussed before, baseball boards aren’t the best place to get into these discussions, so I’ll refrain from saying much more on my opinions about it!
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:17 AM CDT up reply actions
Cryptonomicon?
Is that a real thing?
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 23, 2008 7:36 PM CDT up reply actions
It is a novel...
…by the Great Neal Stephenson, about cryptography in WWII and ubergeeks in the early 21st century involved in a tech startup in the Philippines.
Something like 1100 pages in the paperback version. Incredible book.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 7:45 PM CDT up reply actions
Is it one of those books you have to work at and labor through?
I don’t mind dense fiction, but some of the stuff I’ve been recommended and checked out lately (like, say, Gravity’s Rainbow) has just seemed like it was dense for density’s sake. Those kinds of literary shenanigans make me go a big rubbery one.
Like, would I have to buy a guide to get through it is what I’m asking?
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 23, 2008 7:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Dense for density's sake.
Perfect way to describe it.
by brettgardner on Aug 23, 2008 7:55 PM CDT up reply actions
You've misunderstood my pronoun.
“It” refers to the phenomenon he was describing, not the book.
But no, I haven’t.
by brettgardner on Aug 23, 2008 8:19 PM CDT up reply actions
No
It requires a certain amount of focus, but I, personally, didn’t find it to be laborious…I wouldn’t put it in nearly the same category as Gravity’s Rainbow, or, say, even Infinite Jest.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 8:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Cryptonomicon
It’s long but I didn’t have to labor through it. When you step back and look at all of the ground that book covered it’s ridiculous though.
Time magazine said: “Stephenson has a once-in-a-generation gift: he makes complex ideas clear,” which is pretty spot on.
"Then you an idiot you dont expect lefties to with as much power against lefties" -blueballlefty to me
Cryptonomicon
Wasn’t that the book Bruce Campbell was supposed to secure in Army of Darkness?
He forgot some of the words to the magic spell and tried to just mumblecough the last part?
Venne Victu Veratu…coughblahblahcough…
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions
Asimov’s Guide to the Bible
What exactly is it?
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
It is basically...
…Isaac Asimov taking the Bible, and going through and explaining the historical and geographical contexts of each of the books, attempting to put the events that are described in each in its proper historical setting and clarify or correct what he perceives to be any errors in terms of chronology, geography, etc.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 7:52 PM CDT up reply actions
It might have been you...
I actually read this book because someone mentioned it on the ESPN message boards back whenever I was a senior in high school. My dad, who wasn’t a Christian at the time, loved it so I thought I would check it out. I was also both a fan of science fiction and the Bible so it seemed the perfect fit. The good thing about it was that it forced me to begin looking at the Bible with critical reading and not simply the old mindset of “the bible says it therefore I believe it.”
In retrospect though, this isn’t the best book in terms of historical analysis. I know more about the New Testament and Christian origins, so I could especially critique his work in that regard. It pales in comparison to the much better work that’s been done by JP Meier, FF Bruce, M. Hengel, L. Hurtado, R. Stark, etc. Still, it’s an interesting read nonetheless and probably good for the layperson who’s interested in learning something (although not always correct) about the historical setting of the Bible.
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:07 AM CDT up reply actions
Oh yeah...
My books are:
Fiction: “The Prodigal Son” as told by Jesus in Luke 15 and various other fictional stories in the Bible, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) and the Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), “The Source” by James Michener…and of course, that great classic “Old Man and the Sea” by Hemingway.
Non-Fiction: The other parts of the Bible which wouldn’t be classified as fiction, “Jesus: A Marginal Jew” by JP Meier, “Jesus and the Victory of God” by NT Wright, Rodney Stark’s histories of Christianity, “Lord Jesus Christ” by Larry Hurtado…books by Bauckham, Hengel, Jungel, Barth…too many different books to count. I prefer non-fiction personally.
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:13 AM CDT up reply actions
Best book I've ever read
Fiction:
“Gettysburg” by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen.
It’s an alternate “what if” fantasy scenario of how the battle of Gettysburg could have gone much differently. Very well researched and very well written, it’s only the first of a series of such books.
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
I met Gingrich
at the Borders and Preston and Royal when he was there doing a book signing for that book. Was pretty nice to me.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
have you ever read "The Killer Angels"?
that was a terrific showing of Gettysburg as well
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
Yep
I also have the 1993 movie that was based off of that book. There’s some excellent reenactments in that film.
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
Ya
I had to read the book in US Hist last year and watched the movie in there as well. Martin Sheen is great as Robert E Lee
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
Actually, I thought Sheen was kind of weak myself
But I’m not really a big Martin Sheen fan period, so I could be a little biased.
Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain made the movie for me.
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
For me
the reason that I liked him was because imo he pulled off the look and voice (with that Southern accent) of Lee perfectly. But yes, Daniels was very good as well….
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
Alternate history
Ever ready any Harry Turtledove? He does a lot of that.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
No I haven't actually
I’ll have to pick up some of his stuff from the library or something.
We need to hire Chuck Norris to kick the ass of any Ranger fan caught booing one of our young pitchers at the RBiA.
Boring history...
Non-Fiction : Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”
Fiction : Homer’s(?) “Iliad”
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
oh yeah
case of need by michael crichton (as jeffrey hudson)
and
american prometheus by kai bird and martin j. sherwin
i’ll add a nonfiction book i read for a class in college called the cult of the nation in france by david bell
http://www.buchanan4pres2008.org/
NIXON: NOW MORE THAN EVER
I'll say
Fiction: The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov)
Non-Fiction (neutral tone): The Body and Society (Peter Brown)
Non-Fiction (polemical tone): The City of God Against the Pagans (St. Augustine)
Hmmm...
Off the top of my head…
Fiction: 1984
Recent Fiction: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Airport Fiction: Jurrasic Park
Short Story: The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Modern Short Story: The First Thing the Baby Did Wrong… by Donald Barthelme (It’s very short if you’re bored and lazy.)
Fantasy: Lord of the Rings
Play: Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Life of Pi
Started it. Got bored and kind of annoyed with it, and gave up.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 7:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Starts off really, really slow
But it’s good. I was definitely happy I powered through the slow beginning.
I’ve read other good fiction lately, but that’s the one that popped to mind first, so I rolled with it.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 23, 2008 7:55 PM CDT up reply actions
God Damn You, Jason Kirkpatrick Parks!
I’ve never seen it performed, only read the manuscript my Lil’ Sister brought me back from her trip to London where she saw it at the national theater or wherever it is they stage plays over there. I fell in love with it. Didn’t even know it was performed on Broadway until I googled it after your comment.
I’m insanely jealous.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 23, 2008 8:04 PM CDT up reply actions
My Vanilla Ice moment, I guess.
I grew up with Billy Crudup.
by Jamey Newberg on Aug 23, 2008 8:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Billy Crudup
He’s going to play Dr. Manhattan in the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen next spring. I’m absolutely stoked that it’s finally being made.
Watch out for Billy Crudup.
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
Watch out?
He’s been around for quite some time.
by brettgardner on Aug 23, 2008 11:32 PM CDT up reply actions
he was in one of my all time favorite films
Almost Famous
Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
ElectricOkra.com
Steve Prefontaine
One of my guilty pleasures, watching that movie.
Smile when you call me Beat Weed!
What does Billy Crudup have to do with Prefontaine, Beat Weed?
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Crudup played Prefontaine
in the movie “Without Limits” (1998).
Good bio of one of the greatest long-distance runners ever.
Smile when you call me Beat Weed!
Beat Weed??
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 26, 2008 8:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Watchmen is okay
Horribly overrated, imo, but I’m open to the idea that that might be a sort of personal backlash on my part against all the fanboys who trumpet it as the end-all be-all of graphic novels.
I know they’re doing a flick, but haven’t heard much of it. Are they doing it was just one movie? Seems like an awful lot of story to cram into 2-2 and 1/2 hours. I might see it just to see what choices they make to keep the running time down.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:07 AM CDT up reply actions
Watchmen
Yep, one movie, around 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Zach Snyder (300) is directing.
From the previews and the stories I’ve seen or read, it looks like he’s doing everything he can to get as much of the book into the film as possible.
I won’t say it’s the end-all-be-all of graphic novels- the Dark Knight Returns and the Sandman, Preacher, and Invisibles series were all just as good, IMO- but it’s a great story, with a ton of detail packed into a 12-issue comic.
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
Trailer looks insane
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
That trailer
is amazing.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
Crudup
Him in Waking The Dead is one of my favorite acting performances ever.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 25, 2008 8:26 AM CDT up reply actions
Bartheme
Picked up a collection of his short stories. Good stuff. I’ll look for the one you mention.
"You’re the only here who contributes schtick only." - brettgardner
Yah, he's sort of hit or miss
He has so many stories and most of them are as short as they are strange. But that one has always been a favorite of mine. Don’t know why. Guess it just hit me the right way.
Not sure what you meant by looking for the one that I mentioned, but I linked to a page where it’s reprinted with the author’s permission in case you didn’t see/notice it.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 23, 2008 10:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Barthelme
For all of you who attended Texas A&M, Donald Barhelme’s wife is (was?) a professor of English literature there.
by Excel Hearts Choi on Aug 24, 2008 7:50 AM CDT up reply actions
Barthelme
My favorite short story of his is “The School,” which is also very short and excellent in a funny/disturbing kind of way. I had my students read it for a class I taught this summer.
Also a completely and totally excellent story
The guy was crazy good. Some of his stories seem like he was being weird for weird’s sake, but he has some truly great stories.
Plus most of them are really short so even a lazy low-attention-span-having slug like me can get down on ’em.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:09 AM CDT up reply actions
Lonseome Dove...
…by far. Pretty much everything Larry McMurtry has ever done is pure greatness.
hmmm
Fiction – Skinny Legs and All (Tom Robbins)
Sci-Fi – Dune (Frank Herbert)
Non-Fiction – Titanic: End of a Dream (Wyn Wade)
Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
ElectricOkra.com
Tom Robbins
I have mixed feelings about him. I like his work, but I find him a little too cute. He’s good, though.
I really liked all 6 of Frank Herbert’s Dune books (except for #4, which was okay, but tedious), but his son’s “extensions” of the Dune series are execrable.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 8:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Robbins
His tone is perhaps a little upbeat at times, but I love his metaphors and his characters.
Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
ElectricOkra.com
k
Fiction:
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Non-Fiction:
Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
trainspotting
i tried to read that before and man it was tough to work through the Scottish dialect writing.
i should try it again
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
agreed...
it was difficult. Great book though.
His followup to that (Porno) using the same characters was great as well.
Also, I’m a big fan of Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy, and Fever Pitch were all great).
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
high fidelity was really good
better than the movie (which is one of my favs – the story)
GREAT quotes in the book.
Every pitch thrown to Josh Hamilton is recorded as an E1. -- clark
by knockoutking on Aug 25, 2008 2:39 PM CDT up reply actions
OK
American Fiction: Light in August – Faulkner
World Fiction: Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky
Recent Fiction: Insomnia – Stephen King
Non-Fiction: Confession of an Economic Hitman – John Perkins
Light in August
One of my absolute favorites. I have to put it behind Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!, though.
by brettgardner on Aug 23, 2008 7:59 PM CDT up reply actions
As I Lay Dying
Was a real chore.
"I’ll say something that doesn’t need context: anyone who is a Mariner’s fan is a douchebag." - FuturePants
by inactive lsb user on Aug 26, 2008 11:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Read it 5 years ago
I’m all for stream of consciousness, but I didn’t have the patience.
Should I give it another try now or go with Light in August?
"I’ll say something that doesn’t need context: anyone who is a Mariner’s fan is a douchebag." - FuturePants
by inactive lsb user on Aug 26, 2008 11:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Big fan of Dostoevsky.
Which is kind of like being a big fan of water, but still. I really wish I could speak Russian, just to appreciate the nuances in his works, which I’ve heard are just gorgeous.
"One man, five scoops." -- shroomer
I agree
I can’t imagine what artistry is lost in translation. The translated version was a tough read for me, mainly because it was difficult to keep up with all of the characters, whose names seemed so similar, but it was completely worth it. Even from Russian to English, the words painted a vile picture of St. Petersburg and of how one can completely lose his mind.
Dosoevsky
Anyone that reads him without cliff notes has a delusional view of their own interpretive reading skills.
I liked Brothers best.
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions
I watched it...it was great
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
Good idea for a thread.
Fiction: The Stranger by Albert Camus. If you’ve never read it, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It’s a quick read, and at times you’ll wonder where the hell it’s going, but the last chapter will leave you totally fulfilled.
Non-Fiction: The Paradox of American Power, by Joseph Nye Jr. It makes an incredible argument about America’s role in the world entering the 21st century.
It should also be noted that I found Freakonomics really interesting.
"One man, five scoops." -- shroomer
Camus
I really enjoy Camus. The Growing Stone and The Renegade are great short stories. But if you like The Stranger, then check out Caligula. It’s a play, but good nonetheless. Camus originally wrote a trilogy of the absurd, which consisted of The Myth of Sisyphus (essay), The Stranger, and Caligula.
by Excel Hearts Choi on Aug 24, 2008 7:56 AM CDT up reply actions
more Camus
One of the most engaging books I’ve ever read was Camus’s The Fall. I think it may have been the first novel I read straight through in one sitting. It’s not excellent in the way The Stranger is, but it is strangely exciting in an incriminating way.
Camus is outstanding
"I’ll say something that doesn’t need context: anyone who is a Mariner’s fan is a douchebag." - FuturePants
by inactive lsb user on Aug 26, 2008 11:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Foundation Triliogy/Series
by Asimov. He wrote on many different topics from mathematics to the Bible to Sci Fi to children’s books. A master of the simple sentence, and IMO, an under-rated writer primarily due to the fact that he wrote Sci-fi; plus most of his fiction hinged on solving a mystery.
Non: Blood Will Tell: The murder trials of T. Cullen Davis. A little old school Ft. Worth drama.
Many of Asimov's
books were mysteries in a futuristic setting.
Nolan Ryan should be the Rangers president, GM, manager and pitching coach.
Good stuff
Tough to choose just one, but:
Fiction: Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan. Maybe not the best book I’ve read, but the most enjoyable for me.
Nonfiction: Europe, a History, by Norman Davies. Damn long, you read it in pieces.
I used to belong to the History Book Club, was thinking about joining again.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
History Book Club...
I’ve done that before as well, but found that I could get most of what I wanted and Barnes and Noble for just as cheap, if not cheaper.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I particularly liked
betting several books for like $1, all of them newer releases. Harder to find exactly what I want to read at Half Price books, and often Barnes and Noble has a limited selection.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
B & N
in store, I mean about the selection. I’ve had good success ordering used books online through them and Amazon, though. Sometimes very good deals.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
Yep...
always have more selection online.
I do the same thing with the book club as I do with columbia house for DVD’s. Get all the books/DVD’s for cheap up front, buy their minimum, then cancel. Then they send you another offer to re-join. Wash, rinse, repeat.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I'm a minister
so most of the books I read are theology and things for my ministry.
Best book I have read overall is probably Harry Potter. Loved all 7 and couldn’t put them down.
I have just finished a book I would highly recommend. It’s called “Same Kind of Different as Me”. It is about an unlikely friendship between a homeless man and an international art dealer that takes place here in Fort Worth. Fascinating book and very eye opening about the plight of homelessness in our country.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
As a ministry student...
What are some books you would recommend reading while in school?
"Either we need to re-calibrate our rectangle, or Alfonzo Marquez is not having a good night." - Josh Lewin
by utlonghorn24 on Aug 24, 2008 12:10 AM CDT up reply actions
Anything...
by NT Wright. That guy is a genius. Also I have loved what I have read from Miroslav Volf. Brilliant, brilliant man. Another book that shaped me, though it is not theological in nature was The Blank Slate by Stephen Pinker. That one will make you think about human nature.
It just depends on what your interests are. If you like theology that’s one thing but if you like textual studies or some other branch of religion that’s another thing.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
Right!
I agree completely with what you said about interests. I’m a gospels, history and Christian origins guy who dabbles in theology, but also a minister, so I have pretty wide interests in this as well.
I am also a complete fan of Wright’s work. I’d suggest Larry Hurtado and Martin Hengel if you haven’t read much of their work (and of course Jimmy Dunn, Francis Watson and the rest of Wright’s “Durham Posse”).
I also am a fan of Volf. I just finished reading his “End of Memory” which was fascinating. I love the interplay between contemporary science, theology and history. I think he’s doing some great things in engaging the culture through his work at Yale.
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:44 AM CDT up reply actions
This isn't really the place to talk about this in depth...
Longhorn,
If you are looking to go into ministry, or are simply interested in theology, we could start e-mailing back and forth and I could give you some pretty good suggestions if you’re interested (as could Kent). So I don’t know if there is a way to send a private message on these boards or not, but send me your e-mail and we can start talking, okay?
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:47 AM CDT up reply actions
Sure thing.
That sounds great. I’d rather not post my e-mail here, but I don’t think there’s any kind of PM system set up here either. Does anyone know if there is any kind of PM’s we can use here?
"Either we need to re-calibrate our rectangle, or Alfonzo Marquez is not having a good night." - Josh Lewin
by utlonghorn24 on Aug 24, 2008 12:48 PM CDT up reply actions
essary has his email on his profile...
I’d say send an email to that one.
Stars in a Texas Night Sky, a Dallas Stars blog from a fan's perspective.
If you're on Facebook,
we could talk through that about books for ministry. Add me as a friend. My name is Kent Benfer. Or my email should show through my profile. Email me. I would love to talk about things with you. Always good to find people to talk to and share common experiences.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
I sent you an add =)
"Either we need to re-calibrate our rectangle, or Alfonzo Marquez is not having a good night." - Josh Lewin
by utlonghorn24 on Aug 24, 2008 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions
My e-mail
It’s in my profile. Please send me a note, and we can talk some more…maybe you, Kent and I could have a three way discussion which could benefit us all.
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Aug 24, 2008 8:41 PM CDT up reply actions
was it
BaD radio or Ben and Skin for you today?
"You’re the worst poster here I think."--- brettgardner
by red shoe ranger on Aug 25, 2008 9:17 PM CDT up reply actions
My picks
There are so many good choices, so I’ll throw out a few favorites for each one:
Fiction: The Watchmen, by Alan Moore; A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess; Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
Nonfiction: Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer; Zodiac, by Robert Graysmith; Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser; The Numbers Game, by Alan Schwarz
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
Krakauer
Ben was, for a time, a huge “Into the Wild” fan. I thought he was going ot change his name to Benjamin Supertramp.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 23, 2008 11:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Krakauer
I’ve been meaning to watch the movie of “Into the Wild”- the book was almost as good as Into Thin Air. His last book, Under the Banner of Heaven, was also excellent, particularly in light of the recent Mormon fundamentalist goings-on out in West Texas.
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
Into the Wild
a good, not great movie. It makes McCandless into an impossibly nice character. It was filmed almost entirely at the actual locations from Mexico to Alaska.
by Randy Richardson on Aug 24, 2008 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions
Somehow, Ben doesn't strike me as the outdoorsy type
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions
mine
fiction: beach music – pat conroy, life of pi, everything is illuminated
non-fiction: Motley Cure True Confessions…, How Soccer Explains the World, Into the Wild, The Devil in the White City.
by Apes and Androids on Aug 23, 2008 11:45 PM CDT reply actions
i am a big jonathan safran foer fan
both everything is illuminated and extremely loud & incredibly close were great books. Anything by Larson and Krakauer is also highly recommended.
I have three to add, all of which i read one summer in college: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Catch 22, and The Confederacy of Dunces. All three walk the line between laugh out loud hilarity and heartbreaking sadness. I am also a fan of David Mitchell and Bret Easton Ellis.
nice
devil in the white city!
Every pitch thrown to Josh Hamilton is recorded as an E1. -- clark
by knockoutking on Aug 25, 2008 2:58 PM CDT up reply actions
Great idea for a thread Agreen...
Fiction: 3-way tie between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rowling, Left Behind by LaHaye/Jenkins, and The Sword of Truth by Goodkind. Honorable mention would go to Eragon by Paolini.
Non-Fiction: I’m really not much into NF, but I’d say the Bible is always an amazing read no matter how many times you pick it up. Pretty tough to top that in my book =)
"Either we need to re-calibrate our rectangle, or Alfonzo Marquez is not having a good night." - Josh Lewin
Two
Histonovel – Exodus, by Leon Uris.
SciFi – Solaris, by Wladislaw Lem
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Aug 24, 2008 12:14 AM CDT reply actions
…surprised nobody has mentioned One Hundred Years Of Solitude…
Oprah doesn’t just let her book club read shit… alright?
There's
No worse feeling than going to a bookstore, searching for a book you’ve been wanting to read for a long time, finding it, and seeing that gigantic fucking Oprah sticker on the cover. It might as well just sound an alarm when you pick it up saying, “I’m a gigantic pussy with no mind of my own!”
It makes me glad that Half Price has a “shitty quality/old” version of their fiction. Books from a purer time.
by brettgardner on Aug 24, 2008 12:27 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm such a super huge fan of what Oprah is doing though
I agree that it’s annoying looking for a book only to pick it up for yourself and find out you’re not the rugged individualist you thought you were. (“God damn it. If I take this up to the counter the clerk is gonna look at me like I watch fucking Oprah. If he looks like I watch Oprah I’m gonna face punch that dude. Really. I am. I don’t watch Oprah!”)
But her cloying little club is introducing a bunch of people who would probably otherwise never touch legitimate fiction to some really great works. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?
I doubt her motives are that pure (I’m guessing she gets a big wet greasy gob of cash for every book she allows to don her “prestigious” sticker), but, still.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:19 AM CDT up reply actions
i purchased a copy of One Hundred Years with the Oprah tag at Barnes And Nobels…
the clerk didn’t seem to notice. most don’t… they’re too busy trying to sell you a membership card.
by oc on Aug 24, 2008 1:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah...
B&N is pushy with their memberships, which is why I rarely go there. I prefer Half Price Books, good prices, and if you search around a bit you can find something decent.
Stars in a Texas Night Sky, a Dallas Stars blog from a fan's perspective.
Cashier: Will you be purchasing this with your Barnes & Nobles card today?
Me: No.
Cashier: Would you like to sign up for one?
Me: Not really.
Cashier: You can save 10% off your purchases.
Me: That’s all?
Cashier: You’d be saving $2.00 on your purchase today.
Me: OK…
Cashier: It’s a great deal.
Me: I guess.
Cashier: So, do you think you’d be interested?
Me: No.
by oc on Aug 24, 2008 2:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Wal-Mart might be the sleaziest, corporate monster in all of retail...
…but, at least i don’t have to be a member to shop there.
by oc on Aug 24, 2008 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions
You'd feel better if there
was a white woman’s face on the sticker instead of a black woman’s face?
Rather hypocritical there, BG.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
Hmm?
“Why didn’t you just say you had nothing?”
You do realize that it’s just her name, right? I know, I know—you’re not too familiar with anything other than glossy Nolan Ryan coffee table books, but in the grown-up world of books, most people know what I’m talking about.
by brettgardner on Aug 26, 2008 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions
That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen anyone right
I realize that you’re trying really hard to call BG a racist cause you think it’ll make him look bad, but that’s just so freaking dumb.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Heh
and of course as I’m trying to call someone else out for abject stupidity I use “right” when I mean “write”.
Oh well.
I guess Josey will say that makes me a racist.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 4:17 PM CDT up reply actions
My point was that the
notion of complaining about Oprah stickers / admiring the work of a suspected anti-semetic homophobe racist like Hemingway is just as stupid as BG calling me racist for saying the black artists of the 1970s were making great music.
It’s time to move forward and learn from mistakes.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
You know
I actually had no idea Oprah was black until you made that point, Josey. See, that sticker is yellow, so I guess if anything, I should think she was Asian, right? The real point is, with my sophisticated LIBERAL mind, I don’t see color. I’m post-racial. I certainly couldn’t classify all the artists of a particular skin color in one way or another. But hats off to keeping the Dixie dream alive.
by brettgardner on Aug 26, 2008 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh I've wandered into some long smoldering feud
I thought he was just calling you racist for not wanting to look like you were buying something just because Oprah had recommended it like so many middle-American plebeian types seem to do.
Carry on then.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions
He was.
And it was just a response to a valid claim, Pretty sad, really.
by brettgardner on Aug 26, 2008 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions
One Hundred Years of Solitude
I should have put both that and Love in the Time of Cholera on my fiction list. Both excellent books.
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
"Love in the Time of Cholera"
is on my to-do list also.
"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08
"When it comes to Jeff Mathis, the story ends with us putting one in his earhole." - AJM, 7.7.08
Magical realism
Not a fan…
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions
Hm
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t read much. I have trouble sticking with a book to the end, much like my hero in my avatar. On that note.
Fiction: Ishmael. A Farewell to Arms. Others I’m forgetting.
Nonfiction: Anything related to history. I don’t know. I’m pretty brain dead after driving all day, finally making it to Arlington, sitting through a rain delay and then watching that shit-tastic game.
Plaschke: Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, is the model manager who has created an atmosphere of winning.
Junior:It's that simple. Mike Scioscia brings a Glade Plug-In labeled "Winning™" into the clubhouse and everyone who breathes it in gains 15 points in average.
Well
I think most novels are not good, and are only long because the publisher wants a long book, or the author becomes too involved with the work, so that he can’t cut out unnecessary chunks.
I’m with you on the novels. Short stories are the real challenge. You’ve got to fit in the same amount of life in an eighth of the space. Authors who can do that are the ones worth reading. Flaubert, Chekhov, Maupassant, Carver, Poe, Faulkner and Hemingway stand out from all the rest to me.
by brettgardner on Aug 24, 2008 12:37 AM CDT up reply actions
throw Asimov and Bradbury in there too
some amazing short stories from those men
Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
ElectricOkra.com
I used to read...
Bradbury all the time in hs, really liked his short stories.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
you should read some
Barry Hannah’s Airships…best collection of short stories since Hemingway, in my opinion. Truly a masterpiece of modern fiction.
I've read Airships.
And while I do respect your opinion of it, and God knows there are plenty of incredibly thoughtful people who agree with you, I couldn’t stand the stuff myself.
The greatest American short story writer since Hemingway was Carver. Right now, I’m not sure who would have that title.
In my opinion, the best author out there right now is Jhumpa Lahiri. I’m one of those who can’t stand to pick up a New Yorker and read another Munro or Updike.
by brettgardner on Aug 24, 2008 1:57 AM CDT up reply actions
Lahiri
Yah you recommended me his/her collection a while back and I put in a reservation for it at the local library and I finally got an e-mail saying it was on reserve for me on Friday. They had three copies but all three were out plus maybe there was a queue. I don’t know how reliable the Greenville Public Library web based reservation system is. Regardless, I need to go by and pick it up. It better be good, Brett Gardner, or I’m gonna one man flame war you so freaking hard…
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 24, 2008 3:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Interpreter of Maladies is a good start…
Lahiri is a woman, by the way… and a foxy one at that.
by oc on Aug 24, 2008 1:59 PM CDT up reply actions
I live for the written word
This is tough, but here are my favorites…
Best Fiction: War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy (seriously, it’s worth the read…so amazing)
Favorite Fiction: All My Friends Are Going To Become Strangers by Larry McMurtry
Short Story/Novella: William Faulkner’s story “The Bear” in Go Down Moses
Nonfiction: A Nomad Poetics by Pierre Joris
Poetry: Dancing In Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky
x
Fiction: Doctor Zhivago
Non-fiction: The Road to Serfdom
by Randy Richardson on Aug 24, 2008 3:54 AM CDT reply actions
Hmm
Science fiction: Foundation Trilogy, Asimov; 2001 Series, Clarke, Lord of the Rings
Fiction: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; The Good Earth, Pearl Buck; Plato’s Republic
Short stories: Anthem, Ayn Rand; Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway
Nonfiction: Ruffian: Running from the Start; Jane Schwartz (pretty moving story of a filly racehorse).
I used to read all the time, but since becoming an attorney, all I want to do at night is do things that do not require reading. A bit sad.
Nothing pithy here. Please move long.
As a researcher
I have to physically restrain myself from reading good works of fiction, otherwise I will find the research journal articles to be utterly unreadable.
I'll play
Fiction: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Non Fiction: The Art of War by Sun Tzu…this was tough for me, I haven’t heard non fiction in a long time so this is probably a give up answer.
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
*read non fiction
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
by Dirk Diggler on Aug 24, 2008 12:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Several books in no particular order,
The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe
Moneyball, Michael Lewis
Jim Murray; An Autobiography by Jim Murray (my favorite writer, ever)
A Season on the Brink, John Feinstein
The Godfather, Mario Puzo
Jim Bouton, Ball Four
The Fifties, David Halberstram
The Breaks of the Game, David Halberstram
October 1964, David Halberstram
Summer of ’49, David Halberstram
When All the Laughter Died in Silence, Lance Rentzel
The Bronx Zoo, Sparky Lyle
North Dallas Forty, Pete Gent
The Franchise, Pete Gent
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
David Halberstam
He was supposed to speak at my college graduation in 2007 but passed away just before the event. Thomas Friedman stepped in and gave a great speech.
"Sooner or later, prospects kill you, because you hang onto them." - Greggo, 11/22/2005
The Franchise
I really didn’t like that book. Too soap opera-y and melodramatic. And the “twist” at the end was silly.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 24, 2008 1:11 PM CDT up reply actions
North Dallas Forty was very good, I thought
Did you read it?
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions
Been 20+ years since I have read either book but didn't
both NDF & The Franchise end rather abruptly and violently?
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
Based on your selections
I would assume that you’ve read Seasons in Hell?
Not saying it’s fantastically written, but there’s a lot of funny stuff — very similar to Bronx Zoo, IMO.
by robert_d_wilfong on Aug 24, 2008 4:27 PM CDT up reply actions
I read Seasons in Hell..
it was okay. Not a big fan of the Shropshire style of writing.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
I haven't really read many books the last few years...
due to being in college and all…
However Moneyball is always a good one.
Yesterday while getting my car’s state inspection done, I made it about 20 pages into an interested book called How Soccer Explains the World: An unlikely theory of globalization by Franklin Foer. He’s using soccer as a metaphor to describe the failure of globalization to dispel the hatreds of long past, how migration has affected economies, and also defending nationalism. Seems to be an interesting book so far.
Stars in a Texas Night Sky, a Dallas Stars blog from a fan's perspective.
I also should have added...
Joseph Wambaugh’s The Golden Orange and Lines & Shadows (my favorite Wambaugh book dealing with border cops and illegal immigrants).
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
I think I'm the only girl to chime in here, so I'm definitely going to be different
Fiction: “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks (wayyyy better than the movie), “Lovely Bones” by Alice Scebold or “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Piccoult
Non-fiction: “The Ryan White Story” or “A Child Called ‘It’”
Self-help: “You Didn’t Complete Me” by JoAnna Harris
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Davis with 3 ribbies ... you can't hold a good man down." - LonestarJon
"Maybe not, but I'd like to." - Me
I'll jump in as a major book geek:
Fiction:
Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco
Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood
Bright Lights, Big City – Jay McInerney
Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
Island – Alistair McLeod
I Am Charlotte Simmons – Tom Wolfe
The Foundation Series – Isaac Asimov
The Way Through the Woods – Colin Dexter
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Mordecai Richler
The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
Non-Fiction:
No Logo – Naomi Klein
Common Wealth: Economics For a Crowded Planet – Jeffrey Sachs
A Life Decoded: My Genome, My Life – J. Craig Venter
America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy – Francis Fukuyama
A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
Heh
I have a friend named Ryan White. As you may can imagine, he hates everything about that book/movie.
I would find it hard to hate
the story about someone who battled not just AIDS, but the controversy he had to overcome.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Davis with 3 ribbies ... you can't hold a good man down." - LonestarJon
"Maybe not, but I'd like to." - Me
by The Best Micah on Aug 24, 2008 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions
I DO know how cruel kids can be.
But I still couldn’t hate on it.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Davis with 3 ribbies ... you can't hold a good man down." - LonestarJon
"Maybe not, but I'd like to." - Me
by The Best Micah on Aug 24, 2008 6:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson’s currently at work on the movie version, kind of surprised me.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 25, 2008 9:14 AM CDT up reply actions
I know
Whenever they make a book into a movie, I’m nervous. Thus I am nervous about this one. But Peter Jackson is probably not the worst option for adaptation there.
-- Micah
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"Davis with 3 ribbies ... you can't hold a good man down." - LonestarJon
"Maybe not, but I'd like to." - Me
by The Best Micah on Aug 25, 2008 10:03 AM CDT up reply actions
Um, did you see King Kong?
That was the worst shit I’ve ever seen in my life. I could make a movie about butt-smuggling Nambla pamphlets into Iran and it would be better than that shit. It almost made Million Dollar Baby look like art.
And as for Lord of the Rings… He should be shot in the face for that shit. Well, perhaps not the face. Like the foot maybe. It had its moments, and he at least put in a lot of effort and did a lot of things right. But as a LOTR fanatic I don’t know how you can look at that movie trilogy as anything but an epic fucking fail.
Peter Jackson needs to be deported back to fat bearded guy island or wherever he’s from.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 25, 2008 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions
LoTR
certainly was no Transformers.
What's the secret to a long life? "I masturbate a lot"-Ernest Borgnine. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/14/icymi-ernest-borgnine-reveals-his-secret-for-everlasting-youth/#onepage
You're very clever
They’re different types of movies.
I’d say Transformers was more successful at being the type of movie it was made to be… a movie where giant robots blow each other up. It was nowhere close to being high art, but it was never meant to be. Dumb action movies have their place. It’s like trying to compare Tommy Boy to the Shawshank Redemption.
LOTR was a classic and they didn’t do it as well as the source material deserved, so that’s a fail, imo.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 25, 2008 7:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Transformers
I think LOTR needed a 20 minute scene where the giant trees tip-toe around the house while Frodo’s parents ask him what’s going on.
Oops wrong movie.
Plaschke: Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, is the model manager who has created an atmosphere of winning.
Junior:It's that simple. Mike Scioscia brings a Glade Plug-In labeled "Winning™" into the clubhouse and everyone who breathes it in gains 15 points in average.
Shia Labuff sucks so hard
I hate him so much. Why are people in Hollywood trying so hard to make him happen? He sucks. He’s terrible. He’s the worst actor in Hollywood… and Paul Walker and Dane Cook work in Hollywood, so that’s saying something.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 12:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Preaching to the choir
I’d say he ruined the new Indiana Jones movie, but it ruined itself. He gets an assist though.
Indy: Whats your name?
Shia LaDouche: Mutt.
Indy: That’s your name?
Shia LaDouche: It’s the name I chose, you got a problem with that?
Indy: Yes I do, you cocky mother fucker pistol whips LaDouche into a coma
Plaschke: Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, is the model manager who has created an atmosphere of winning.
Junior:It's that simple. Mike Scioscia brings a Glade Plug-In labeled "Winning™" into the clubhouse and everyone who breathes it in gains 15 points in average.
indy
one of the biggest reasons i havent rushed to see it yet (and im a huge indy fan) is that i cant stand shia labuff.
i just saw transformers on hbo yesterday and it was ok, would have been much better with a less douchy lead
"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg
Sweet Jesus, Huntressa
WTF? You are the only person I have ever met who read the books (Tolkien) and found the adaptation anything other than a B+, at worst.
Epic fail?
I was near astounded at how good/true a film Jackson made. Do you think that was easy? If you do, perhaps you haven’t seen The Chronicles of Narnia.
What would you have done differently/added?
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 6:16 PM CDT up reply actions
I'd call it a solid B-
Which for how good the source material was is an epic fail, imo.
There are too many little gripes to get into here, but rest assured there are many to be made. Subtely changing some characters for the worse, pushing some way into the background, cutesefying large portions of the movie to make it more commercial, not giving enough screen time to the Ents, making Frodo and Sam as gay as the night is long, choosing Elijah freaking Wood to play Frodo, eschewing Tom Bombadil entirely… there’s a lot of shit that bothered me.
You’ve apparently never run into an LOTR freaks like me who’ve read the series 9 or 10 times (I’ve kind of lost track).
He did a lot of things right, and it’s obvious he tried really hard so I’ll give him that. But it still just pales in comparison to the books. Although I’ll openly admit there was basically no way he could have satisfied me without doing six movies, one for each actual book in the series (there are two “books” per "book").
Tell me you agree with me about Kong though. Pee Fucking You that thing stunk.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 25, 2008 7:12 PM CDT up reply actions
LoTR
I hear your concerns, but I think your passion for the greatness of those books is blinding you. There is no way any filmmaker could really do any justice to books like that, and Jackson did about as good a job as anyone else would have. Someone else would do things differently, but they’d still have to make choices about what to leave in/out. You cannot have a commercially viable major release film that includes Tom Bombadil, more Ent scenes, etc. etc. Something has to go. Of course they pale in comparison to the books. Even six movies would have paled and they still would have had to leave many things out. A lengthy mini-series would be the only approach that could be inclusiveof every worthy scene, but that would have it’s own problems.
Enjoy the movies for what they are, and don’t expect them to be picture versions of the books and you’ll be much happier. I love the Wheel of Time series, and it was recently optioned for film. The movies are of course going to leave out much of what makes the books so enjoyable to me. But I will expect that and be happy anyway as long as they make decent movie experiences.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
Not blinded at all
I realize that it’s unrealistic to anticipate anyone doing justice to a series as long and deep as LoTR.
But just because I realize my expectations are too high doesn’t mean I still can’t get upset when they aren’t met. I’d honestly have rather they had never made those movies if they weren’t gonna go all the way… which was of course unpossible.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 12:27 AM CDT up reply actions
LOTR
Breathtaking all the way through, you ask me.
Kong looked like a turd from the trailer, but past a certain expense movies have to get obvious (ie, dumb) or risk putting a large-scale audience off.
Which is why LOTR was amazing.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 28, 2008 1:51 PM CDT up reply actions
...and the setting is Ft. Worth...
I would urge everyone to read, “Same Kind of Different as Me”, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. True story of how an international art dealer came to befriend a homeless man.
II Cor. 4:17-18
here's little ole dstar's
non fiction: Moneyball
fiction: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
and of course the Bible is the key to life…
"You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns." - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain
loved A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's COurt
Mark Twain is epic
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
I love
the rebuilding (or just building) process which takes place. Reminds me of Jon Daniels.
"You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns." - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain
Yup, except
for the part where it all gets torn down and chaos breaks lose….I can see it already, JD trades Feliz for Livan Hernandez
"Well, the Dallas Mavericks got beat by the New Orleans Hornets last night ending their season. Word is that someone on the team is dating Jessica Simpson." - Jay Leno
LSB facebook group ---->>> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33345329288
by MayurP on Aug 24, 2008 5:35 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Books
Replay by Ken Grimwood is probably my favorite book.
Also really do like:
Fiction
1984 by Orwell
all of Stephen King’s short story collections (love his novels as well but his best work is his short stories in my opinion)
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
Timeline by Crichton (was obsessed with Crichton as a teen)
Fantastic Voyage by Issac Asimov (read as a kid… and was part of the reason I got interested in medicine)
Nonfiction
Moneyball
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
Freakanomics
I also love random trivia books… like the Imponderable series, or the Straight Dope series… or whatever.
Already commented
But I have to say I’m impressed at the range of interest and readership posted.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
by Ed Coffin on Aug 24, 2008 11:34 PM CDT reply actions
every hotel room should not
only have a Gideon Bible but The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract as well.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
by Josey Wales on Aug 24, 2008 11:43 PM CDT up reply actions
Good idea
to have a mix of fiction and nonfiction.
What's the secret to a long life? "I masturbate a lot"-Ernest Borgnine. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/08/14/icymi-ernest-borgnine-reveals-his-secret-for-everlasting-youth/#onepage
A lot of baseball writers
would probably differ with you as to which is which.
Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
heh
I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles
by Dirk Diggler on Aug 25, 2008 5:53 PM CDT up reply actions
come on dude
it ain’t necessary.
"You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns." - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain
I already issued that line in this thread
-1
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama
by LSBUser on Aug 25, 2008 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions
The Historical Abstract
Who do you think is more likely to have read it?
Nolan or Daniels?
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions
Nolan doesn't need to "read"
He knows baseball cause he played baseball.
You can’t read book while you’re throwing Texas High Heat!
THE EXPRESS!!!
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 25, 2008 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions
Given how
JD hired the anti-Moneyballer, Ron Washington I’m not sure either one them have read it.
"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."
"I’ll say something that doesn’t need context: anyone who is a Mariner’s fan is a douchebag." - FuturePants
by inactive lsb user on Aug 26, 2008 11:17 PM CDT up reply actions
If I'm reading that right...
…wow.
Let’s try and keep the ADL out of this community, dude.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Aug 28, 2008 1:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Fave stories
Hyperion by Simmons – I think this may be the best scifi has ever been. The 30th century Canterbury tales. It’s a shame that it just kinda ends and then the sequel is unable to do justice to the build up. The consul’s tale makes me tear up every time (which was first a stand alone short story).
Sin City:Hell and Back by Miller – stands above the rest of the fantastic series just like Wallace stands above the rest of the city.
I, Claudius by Graves – obviously a truly all time great
Just from stuff i read recently, ie what is sitting on my besk right now
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom, if you never read it, its better than the movie
Helter Skelter
Anything by John Douglas, but best to start with Anatomy of Motive
The Divine Comedy
Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
Principles of non-linear programming with stair stepping algorithms
Now that I've commented I guess I have to step up:
and like some of y’all, I’ll have to list several – I have so many books it’s a major consideration now that we are looking to buy a house.
Science Fiction: The Hitchhiker trilogy by Douglas Adams, the Future History series by Robert A. Heinlein, Mother of Storms by John Barnes, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, The Stand by Stephen King, The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams
Fantasy: The Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey, the first Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
General fiction: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Biography: Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey
Non-fiction: Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes, Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick
Self Help: Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli
So Bad They’re Good: Dallas Down, by Richard Moran. Seriously, this is a hilarious novel about Dallas being swallowed by a giant sinkhole.
Okay, I think I have to stop myself there…..of those I re-read a few every year – The Stand, the Earth’s Children series, Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre for sure.
"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08
"When it comes to Jeff Mathis, the story ends with us putting one in his earhole." - AJM, 7.7.08
Brave New World is a good one
I love Aldous Huxley, but my favorite, just barely over Brave New World, is After Many A Summer Dies The Swan—it just totally blew me away. My friend in Wichita Falls named his dog Huxley, and I personally think it’s the best name for a dog ever.
I loved The Stand too, but I haven’t read it in a long time. I live just one block away from Mother Abigail’s house from the movie (the one in Boulder, not the one in the corn). My friend lived there for a couple months, but has since moved to Denver.
Picking your favorite book is like choosing your favorite song.
I don’t know how anyone could have one “favorite.”
The Shipping News, Blood Meridian, The House of Mirth by Wharton, Father and Son by the sadly overlooked Larry Brown, Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr., Red Harvest by Hammett, Madame Bovary, American Tabloid by James Ellroy, Couples by Updike, Maggie by Stephen Crane, All the King’s Men, To Have and Have Not.
Lighter fare: Dan Jenkins, John D. McDonald, Elmore Leonard, James L. Burke, Pat Conroy, McMurtry.
No doubt I am forgetting many…
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
Still waiting for your desert island albums
Plaschke: Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, is the model manager who has created an atmosphere of winning.
Junior:It's that simple. Mike Scioscia brings a Glade Plug-In labeled "Winning™" into the clubhouse and everyone who breathes it in gains 15 points in average.
Sorry, I went out of town and then figured it would be too late to be relevant...
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 12:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Guess again
Now is as good a time as any!
Plaschke: Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, is the model manager who has created an atmosphere of winning.
Junior:It's that simple. Mike Scioscia brings a Glade Plug-In labeled "Winning™" into the clubhouse and everyone who breathes it in gains 15 points in average.
Larry Brown!
I’m so glad someone else here has read Larry Brown. Haven’t gotten to Father and Son yet, but I love Dirty Work…one of the best books I’ve read in the last two years. About nine months ago I walked into a used book store and found an autographed first edition of his first book, Face The Music, and it is now sitting proudly on my bookshelf. I met his family in Oxford about a year after he passed away, and they’re nice people.
A cool story about Larry Brown that Barry Hannah told us in class one day when I was still at Ole Miss: When Larry first started writing, he would go in to the bar and have Barry look over what he’d written. He was writing a lot, and getting nothing but rejections for years. Eventually Barry started leaving out the back door of the bar when he saw Larry coming, so he wouldn’t have to tell him how bad his writing was. Of course, he finally did become an excellent writer, but it took awhile. His resilience was pretty amazing…he just really loved writing.
That anecdote
That’s a good one. He mentions that in the foreword to Brown’s unfinished novel, A Miracle Of Catfish.
I loved all his novels, but Father and Son and Joe are his best. The Rabbit Factory was the one book he seemed to stumble in a little, but reading Larry Brown is like Woody Allen’s old line about sex…
If you ever were looking for some good passages to teach/illustrate descriptive writing, I’d highly recommend A Miracle of Catfish. He really seemed to have grown in that area.
I remember when he died, and how little mention he received from the MSM. Disappointing. I always figured he had another book about Fay or Joe in him. FYI, Billy Bob Thornton bought the rights to Joe awhile back, although I think it hasn’t gotten much further than that.
Can you recommend a Barry Hannah book? I have Ray at home, but never started it.
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions
Hannah
Ray is really good, but it’s a lot more jumbled than the rest of his work—mostly because he wrote it during the worst of his alcoholism at Alabama. If you want to read a good introductory book to his work, I’d suggest Geronimo Rex, which is his first novel and my favorite of his. Airships, a collection of short stories, is also really good.
Yonder Stands Your Orphan is his most recent, and, from what I’ve seen in stores, it’s the easiest to come by. It’s good, but not great. Worth a read for sure, but I’d start with Geronimo Rex.
Thanks
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 25, 2008 2:39 PM CDT up reply actions
Annie Proulx
You got that right …
"I’ll say something that doesn’t need context: anyone who is a Mariner’s fan is a douchebag." - FuturePants
by inactive lsb user on Aug 26, 2008 11:26 PM CDT up reply actions
Not too hard for me
Fiction:
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (surprised more people don’t feel this way)
Non-Fiction:
The Hunting of the Quark by Michael Riordan
other great baseball non-fiction:
Any Baseball Prospectus Annual
Lords of the Realm
Seasons in Hell
The Beer and Whiskey League
Ball Four
Moneyball
A Whole Different Ballgame
Physics Non-Fiction:
In search of Schroedinger’s Cat
A brief history of Time (I recommend it, but haven’t read it, though I will soon)
Other Fiction:
Anything by Robert Heinlein.
Almost everything non-Xanth by Piers Anthony
The first 3-5 books of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony (then it gets weird).
Early Myth Adventures by Robert Aspirin (lately its also gotten a bit wierd)
Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings (10 books + 3 more source books)
The Silmarillian and all the other Tolkien back story books.
All of the Honor Harrington books by David Weber
The Vorkorsigan Books by Lois McMaster Bujold
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (better than the movie)
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (should be made into a movie)
I guess
I’ll go ahead and list mine out.
Fiction:
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clarke
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
The Talisman – Stephen King
Lord of the Rings trilogy – Tolkien
The Dark Tower series – Stephen King (although it got a little weak towards the end)
Non-Fiction:
I don’t really read a whole lot of non-fiction other than newspapers and magazines. I can’t think of a specific non-fiction book I’ve really liked other than text books and such.
he’s still hitting better than Saltalasuckia—while playing vastly superior defense...Athos
Dark Tower
Good read. I started reading that 15 years ago and just finished the last book earlier this year. It’s probably my third favorite behind Insomnia and The Stand.
I have a feeling JJ Abrams is going to slaughter it on the big screen, though.
Dark Tower series
Saying it got a little weak towards the end is like saying Jeffrey Dahmer got a little crazy.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been more disappointed with a book than with the final book in that series. Really, it peaked with “Wizards and Glass,” and went downhill after that.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 25, 2008 6:54 PM CDT up reply actions
fwiw
Fiction – The Foundation Trilogy, Asimov
Non-fiction – Blindman’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew
Nolan Ryan should be the Rangers president, GM, manager and pitching coach.
x
Non-fiction – Blindman’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew
Weird. I picked that up at Half Price Books for like 25 cents, and have had it in my car and read it off and on at lunch.
Interesting book.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 25, 2008 6:55 PM CDT up reply actions
You eat lunch alone in your car reading submarine books?
That’s a little sad, AJM.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 25, 2008 7:18 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
heh
"You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns." - from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain
Sad
And not very surprising. :)
"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states" - Barack Obama
by LSBUser on Aug 25, 2008 10:22 PM CDT up reply actions
No
I keep a book in my car that, when I go to lunch by myself, I take in the restaurant with me to read.
My current one is “London Fields,” by Martin Amis.
It also comes in handy for anytime I have to go somewhere I have to wait for a while.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 26, 2008 8:12 PM CDT up reply actions
Why do you go to lunch by yourself?
Are the older kids in the law firm being mean to you?
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 8:13 PM CDT up reply actions
There are times...
…when I want nothing more than to sit for 30-45 minutes by myself in a restaurant, with a book, eating in peace…
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 26, 2008 9:56 PM CDT up reply actions
heh
I more than understand that sentiment.
I just like making fun of the blog bosses. Give me that nice, disrespectful-of-authority type feeling.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
by thedirkatron on Aug 26, 2008 11:13 PM CDT up reply actions
London Fields is hysterical
Have you read Money?
Shorter and less broad, but perhaps better.
Martin Amis >>> Kingsley Amis.
Do you want wine with lunch?
No, if I do, I feel bad all through the afternoon.
Yes, but if I don’t, I feel bad all through lunch.
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 26, 2008 8:25 PM CDT up reply actions
I have not
I’ve read Time’s Arrow, though, which I thought was terrific.
by Adam J. Morris on Aug 26, 2008 10:00 PM CDT up reply actions
And I'm w/ you
Nothing bugs me more than having to wait somewhere with nothing to read…
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
by Brian Thomas on Aug 26, 2008 8:27 PM CDT up reply actions
One other thing from windbaggyville
A couple of you mentioned The Godfather as your favorite book.
Obviously, first off, I recommend that you read more books. More good books. Ha ha. I keed. I liked it, too.
That said, I’d recommend Fools Die (by Puzo). Appears to be somewhat autobiographical, but also an excellent look at Vegas and the gambling rackets. Kind of sputters in the third act, but still, very memorable.
Best opening line of any book eva:
“On the luckiest day of his life, Jordan Hawley betrayed his three best friends.”
Check it out.
Last week I took a pleasure trip. I drove my wife to the airport.
I have no idea what my favorite book is
But I just finished reading Slapstick by Vonnegut and I’m not sure what I think about it.
www.mavsmoneyball.com
one of my favorites that i don't think has been mentioned is :
A Confederacy of Dunces … by John Kennedy Toole
Currently reading .. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.. not bad
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