What are you reading? What was the last book you enjoyed?

Monuments Men by Robert Edsel

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Pretty sure someone else has written this up but I grabbed it for $1 at my HPB. Great read. Author did a lot of research and tells a bare skin narrative mostly concentrating on the facts and the main players uncovered by his research. The movie told a great story but this did a fantastic job at telling a single angle of the war and within it you can see just how far the Nazi concept was willing to go (since you know murdering whole races of people isn't enough). Highly recommend to flush out war knowledge.
 
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Another book I found on my recommended reading list on Amazon. Glad I found it. Its a great read and I really enjoy the way it's told. If you were to pick it up you might think after the first couple chapters that it's just a collection of short stories involving a few different characters. As you move on things start to clear up and it sucked me in. I gave this 4 stars on Amazon instead of 5 only because I was a little disappointed with the ending, I probably shouldn't give that part up though. Either way a great find. After reading it I saw that the author basically wrote this using stories he had written on creepy pasta, I love hearing crap like that. Unfortunately this is the authors only book right now. I'l be looking out to see if he puts another one out.
 
The Master by Colm T?ib?n

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I really enjoyed this one! It's a novel about Henry James, who is an American writer known for stories like The Turn of the Screw. It deals with his work, his relationships with people and his family. What's really effective is that the novel loosely resembles a Henry James novel which allows you to get into the world and mindset of the world.

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

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I've read some of the stories in this collection, but this is my first time reading the whole shebang. It's a pretty good set, but not quite as good, in my opinion, as his first collection, Night Shift. The Mist is still all sorts of epic.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Pretty interesting science fiction nove about a physicist who travels to another planet to share his theories and work as he attempts to find a way to bring the people from his home closer to the people from the visiting planet.

Saga, Volume 1 (Saga: Collected Editions #1 ) by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

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A science fiction tale about an inter species couple who are taking care of a recently born daughter in a universe full of war. I really enjoyed this and will continue to read this series. :good:

Dead to the World by Chris Roberson (Goodreads Author), Mike Allred (Illustrator)

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I've been enjoying the television series, which lead me to get this, which I hadn't read. The general idea of a zombie woman who eats brains and acquires the memories of the deceased is the same in the book as it is in the tv series, but the story deviates a lot in the comics. The woman works at a mortuary and she is friends with other supernatural beings. Either way, I am enjoying both the show the this book.
 
Secretariat by William Nack

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The first 50-100 pages would probably be pretty dry for anyone that doesn't follow the horse industry as they go through the various wheelings and dealings of the people that bought the horses that eventually sire big red. I thought the narrative unfolded well and generally honest enough. Life on the backstretch is a bit fluffed up but otherwise it did an excellent job of capturing the various emotions and industry background that the public would never see on a TV broadcast.
 
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Starlight - An old man who was once the savior of an alien world (think Buck Rogers or Adam Strange) returned to earth to be with his wife and have children, but no one ever believed him when he told them what happened. Won't they be surprised when a spaceship lands on his front lawn and an alien kid crawls out and tells him he's needed again? One off, 6 issue mini-series. Tons of fun.


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Jupiter's Circle - Another Mark Millar book. This one is about the 2nd generation of super heroes. The children of Superman and Wonder Woman. They're huge celebrities, and it has a certain affect on how they do their super-heroing. A 6 issue series, but the first of a few related ones. Liked it a lot, eager to read the rest.
 
OK,this is tricky. I was in Ralphs and saw a book that was based on time travel. The description said something about the inventor of time had to now "fix" it and the cover I think showed a time piece that was bent.

Hows that for a description. I want to find it because when I saw it I thought that it looked like a good read. any ideas would be fantastic.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that it was a couple years ago I saw this at Ralphs?
 
OK,this is tricky. I was in Ralphs and saw a book that was based on time travel. The description said something about the inventor of time had to now "fix" it and the cover I think showed a time piece that was bent.

Hows that for a description. I want to find it because when I saw it I thought that it looked like a good read. any ideas would be fantastic.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that it was a couple years ago I saw this at Ralphs?

You'd think it was a best seller or a romance novel but man that has got me stumped.
 
You'd think it was a best seller or a romance novel but man that has got me stumped.

Well it definitely wasn't a romance but when I saw it it was on a small display of paperbacks so obviously wasn't a best seller, at that time anyways. Might find myself at a used bookstore in the near future seeing if I can find a needle in a hay stack
 
Another book I assumed someone had tossed in here but I guess not.

Flatland by Edwin Abbot

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You have to remember that the book was written in 1884 as satire but many of the themes it brings up ring as increasingly familiar to todays sentiments. Maybe todays society mirrors more of Victorian society than we care to admit. In any case it's a very fast read with resounding philosophical themes that have been expanded on but may be viewed as the simpler forms of todays arguments. Folks that want to delve into the connections between the revelations and Einstein's work are probably reaching, but it could be fun fodder for an impaired discussion.
 
Another book I assumed someone had tossed in here but I guess not.

Flatland by Edwin Abbot

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You have to remember that the book was written in 1884 as satire but many of the themes it brings up ring as increasingly familiar to todays sentiments. Maybe todays society mirrors more of Victorian society than we care to admit. In any case it's a very fast read with resounding philosophical themes that have been expanded on but may be viewed as the simpler forms of todays arguments. Folks that want to delve into the connections between the revelations and Einstein's work are probably reaching, but it could be fun fodder for an impaired discussion.

huh?
 
I am trying to catch up. I'll do one entry about books and then another about the comic book TPBs I've been reading. ;)

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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This is the second Murakami novel I've read and it's considerably different from Kafka on the Shore since it lacks Fantasy elements. It's a coming of age story about a college student and his relationship with his girlfriend and then another young woman whom he meets. I enjoyed it and wish that I would've read it as an undergrad, and not because I went through the exact same thing, mind you, (I was balancing 4 women ;)) haha, but rather because this novel does a really good job in addressing a lot of the thoughts and problems young men of that age deal with.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

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I decided to revisit this and still enjoy it. I still would like to see a Del Toro movie version of this, but dunno, it is a rather hard story to adapt largely due to Lovecraft's tone and language. This edition had an intro by China Mieville, which I enjoyed reading. And it had Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature," which I've actually never read. I found the essay enjoyable and it is informative and Lovecraft doesn't sound like the complete weirdo he was reported as being. :P

Divergent by Veronica Roth

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It's a novel about a future in which people are divided into five factions based on their personality traits, but when people get to a certain age, they can switch, which is exactly what the protagonist does. The novel then follows her initiation process, and of course, things become complicated and society isn't quite as stable as it seems. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This is the first novel of three, but I've heard that the series gets progressively weaker with each book. That seems to be a trend with YA books.

Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret

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This is the second collection of Etgar Keret's stories I've read. I've enjoyed it more probably since I've gotten accustomed to his odd stories, but also since even though the stories are still short, they are longer than those in the previous collection, which means ideas are more developed. Still these are odd stories about a variety of issues often pertaining to life in Israel.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

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This is my second time reading this. I first read it as a college student. I don't know if I enjoy this as much as hipsters, haha, but I like its oddness. It's set in Algeria, and deals with a young man, who's indifferent about his mother's death, life, a murder he commits against an Arab, and the ensuing trial. This is the only thing by Camus that I've read and now want to read more.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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I've read two other books by Morrison, Beloved and Sula. This is her debut novel about a Black girl wishing he had blue eyes, but really, it's about growing up, gender, and race, including different shades of Black skin. I am in awed of Morrison's skills and really enjoyed this novel.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

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I've been wanting to read Chabon for a while and decided to start with this. It's about an alternative universe in which a Jewish settlement gets created in Alaska after WWII as opposed to Israel, which results in a state in which Yiddish is officially spoken as opposed to Hebrew. The novel then centers around a detective, his half Jewish/Indian partner, and ex wife as they attempt to solve a mysterious murder. I did enjoy it, but am still trying to digest it. It does pay tribute to noir-ish detective stories, but it's more than anything an examination of a variety of aspects relating to Jewish history and culture and an attempt of trying to fit in and adapt to different regions, the Middle East, Europe, and in this novel, Alaska.
 
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finally picked this up. About when the formics first arrive long before Ender's Game.

Started a little slow, but is picking up..
 
In my continuing effort to understand the wife I'm just finishing up

Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg

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For anyone that has a professional female spouse its a nice easy introduction into the world of the professional woman empowered and what they are probably going through. It isn't an all men are rapists book, nor too heavy on what a woman has to be book. Its actually a good book for examining management methods considering she worked both in the stuffy east coast federal bureaucracy before the internet and then came to Silicon valley. In any case its a bit eye opening on how a woman has to frame things, particularly in negotiations to improve success. There are also traps women set themselves that I think apply directly to men as well. Women aren't the only ones with a case of sleeping beauty syndrome.

In any case its a way to start the conversation for any guy over the age of 30 without getting your head torn off by a feminazi who has no patience for you. Oddly enough when Mrs Jammer asked younger women who read the book about it their arguments about it were very much on a generational division and her opinion was that as they aged they would come to agree more with the contents of the book vs an idealized idea of "what should be".
 
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TPB Time! :D

Saga Volume 2-4 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist)

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This series is really GOOD and the art is great! It's about a couple from two warring races and their daughter who meet a variety of interesting characters along the way. There is a lot of great suspense and cliffhangers along the way. I want more! :punk:


Silver Surfer, Vol. 1: New Dawn by Dan Slott (writer) Mike Allred (Illustrator)

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It's a New Dawn, it's a New Day, and I am feeling fine!! mhihi:

Anyhooow, this is a really fun book. I like the character of Dawn and since some of the issuess take place in space, we get a lot of Allred Cosmic and Alien Goodness! And the Hulk makes an appearance! :D

detective element,
iZombie 2-3 uVampire, Six Feet Under and Rising, Repossession by Chris Roberson (Goodreads Author), Mike Allred (Illustrator)

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Speaking of Allred, his work here is good, but different to fit the darker more horror oriented style. I kept up with the first season of the iZombie tv show, but as the comic goes along, it deviates from the tv series considerably. The series starts somewhat similar to the tv show, but without the detective element. But this series starts to include female vampires, an old group that hunts monsters, and good old Lovecraft madness. It is a convoluted story, but I enjoyed it and think that it ties together.


Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal & Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Whyby G. Willow Wilson (Goodreads Author), Adrian Alphona

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This is a series about a teenage girl who develops Ms. Marvel's powers, well, sort of. She's Muslim and from Pakistan and the story deals with usual teenage issues, her culture, and how she adopts to her powers, and her battle with some weirdo name The Inventor. I am warming up to this. I'll see where it goes.
 
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