Favorite books

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 5:02 pm

lixnaw wrote:here's a different view on another irish nation http://www.qub.ac.uk/iis/publications/C ... ellers.htm

Sadly,a much maligned race.Liam Weldons song "The Blue Tar Road" is often played in this house.

Slan,
D.

dapple · Post by **dapple** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 5:57 pm

I am a slow reader and carefully choose what I read. In contrast, a good friend reads very quickly and does not choose carefully. Consequently, he reads more and occasionally discovers an unknown gem that I wouldn't find by my method.

Sometimes I tend to read by author rather than book and am currently reading the following:

José Saramago: “Blindness” was first. Gripping and hard to put down. Then “The Cave” and “All the Names.” Saramago creates characters we could know living in unreal worlds we could not possibly know. Saramago is 82 years old and still writing; his latest book, “The Double,” which was released last month, and his previous one, “The Raft,” are waiting for me on my shelf. I wish him longevity and health.

Patricia Highsmith: A few years ago I watched the movie, “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” and enjoyed it very much. Since then I have read Highsmith’s five Ripley novels and eight or so other of her novels and short story collections. Highsmith creates great characters, mood, and suspense. Born in Ft. Worth, Texas, Highsmith lived much of her adult life in Switzerland and France.

T.C. Boyle: Quirky, well written short stories. I haven’t read any of Boyle’s novels yet.

I recently obtained two Irvine Welsh novels, “Trainspotting” and “Porno” and am looking forward to them.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 6:48 pm

kga26 wrote:
Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass Trilogy. Read it to kids a few years ago, and found I couldn't stand not to read ahead, so I actually read it twice.

I loved the 'his dark materials' trilogy have you read that ? Kids will love it.

same as what I mentioned: the 3 books are The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Phenomenal story.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 7:00 pm

Darwin wrote:
Walden wrote:I enjoyed the Bunnicula books.
Are there more than one? I only found Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery.

{I've got to switch my browser to Firefox. I went looking for Bunnicula and ended up with half a dozen popup ads.)

Howliday Inn, and The Celery Stalks at Midnight were other Bunnicula books. There are more, but by a different author.

And I must have been away from home for way too long, because I have no idea what that MIDI file was all about. (Or, was it just part of an Oklahoman plot?)

The MIDI is the University of Oklahoma song, "Boomer Sooner," inasmuch as, though I don't generally watch football, they beat the Longhorns for the 5th straight year, and Texas didn't even score a single point. Today was the 99th Oklahoma-Texas game.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 7:47 pm

Walden wrote:
Darwin wrote:
Walden wrote:I enjoyed the Bunnicula books.
Are there more than one? I only found Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery.

{I've got to switch my browser to Firefox. I went looking for Bunnicula and ended up with half a dozen popup ads.)
Howliday Inn, and The Celery Stalks at Midnight were other Bunnicula books. There are more, but by a different author.

Thanks. I have a granddaughter in Texas who is just about the right age for that kind of thing. (Very funny titles, by the way.)

And I must have been away from home for way too long, because I have no idea what that MIDI file was all about. (Or, was it just part of an Oklahoman plot?)
The MIDI is the University of Oklahoma song, "Boomer Sooner," inasmuch as, though I don't generally watch football, they beat the Longhorns for the 5th straight year, and Texas didn't even score a single point. Today was the 99th Oklahoma-Texas game.

Ah. No wonder I didn't recognize it. I don't follow sports, myself. I went to one UT game (vs. Rice) back in the late '50s. I think that's the only non-high school football game I've ever attended. I've also been to only one baseball game, ever (Astros vs. Cardinals in the Astrodome, in the mid '90s). I played one year of football in high school, but I find watching other people engage in team sports intensely boring.

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 7:59 pm

izzarina wrote:
blackhawk wrote:I picked up one in Ireland that I liked a lot, Seek the Fair Land by Macken.
Macken is fantastic (imho anyway). He's one of my favorites.

I'm planning on getting the other two books in that trilogy. Have you read them? Are they as good as Seek the Fair Land?

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Sat Oct 09, 2004 8:00 pm

I'm a "slow" reader too, since I'm usually so busy that my reading time is when I get in bed at night and I'm often falling asleep after only a couple of pages....

Right now, I am working my way (slowly) through Pride and Predjudice.

The best books I have ever read tend to be popular fiction:

Lonesome Dove (has to be at the very top of my list ~ wonderful cast of characters that absolutely come alive ~ if you've only seen the television series, you're truly missing something wonderful)

The Gates of the Alamo: Again, wonderful cast of characters, and a meticulously researched story, may actually surprise you!

A few others I would heartily recommend....

The Secret Life of Bees, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Gone With the Wind, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Good Earth.

For a while there, I read lots of true Crime, but I'm over that, now.

Mary

toughknot · Post by **toughknot** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:17 am

The last book I read was Moby Dick.Talk about multiple personalities,how many wrote that?

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 7:39 am

Right now I'm reading; 1066; The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry by Andrew Bridgeford. He claims that the tapestry is actually a secret Anglo-Saxon history of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and not a Norman one and made under the eyes of the Normans.

Brunelleshci's Dome: How a Rennaisance Genius Reinvented Architecture, by Ross King. This is a great book for non engineers to look into the genius of a man who built the first great dome.

1421: The year China discovered the world, by Gavin Menzies. His thesis is that China, with it's great treasure fleets, actually circumnavigated the world in 1421, and that Columbus was Gino come lately.

http://www.1421.tv/

Also over the last seven years, books, journals, papers etc dealing with the coming fresh water crisis, here in North America, and around the world and all that will be involved with it. You think that you are paying high gasoline prices now, wait for the cost of a litre of water in the not so distant future. I have no intentions of moving away from the Great Lakes area, what so ever.

MarkB

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 8:05 am

s. ambrose;nixon , also two ambrose books on Eisenhower,
the presidency and now The Supreme Commander,
about wwii. Trying to understand American history
during my lifetime

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 8:54 am

blackhawk wrote:
izzarina wrote:
blackhawk wrote:I picked up one in Ireland that I liked a lot, Seek the Fair Land by Macken.
Macken is fantastic (imho anyway). He's one of my favorites.
I'm planning on getting the other two books in that trilogy. Have you read them? Are they as good as Seek the Fair Land?

I thought they were. Very sad and tragic, but entertaining at the same time. I think my favorite was The Scorching Wind, which is the last in the trilogy. He also has written children's books: The Flight of the Doves and Island of the Great Yellow Ox. My kids really loved them. Macken spins a good tale, and is well worth the time to read.

moxy · Post by **moxy** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:29 am

I've just started reading Martin Millar's The Good Fairies of New York.

These fairies play some tunes we know!! Like Banish Misfortune...

It's really cool - punk fairies from Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall, somehow get to New York and have quite an adventure.

The Irish fairies play uillean pipes and tin whistles!!

Miwokhill · Post by **Miwokhill** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:59 am

The Sea Wolf----To Kill a Mockingbird----Wind In the Willows---The Pickwick Papers----Alaska---The Sot Weed Factor---Here Comes Noddy Again----Tamalpais Trails-----The Beethoven Quartet Companion

lonewhistler · Post by **lonewhistler** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:10 pm

I LOVE to read... although, I'm not doing it as much as I'd like because I'm too busy with college work.
Here's some of my favorites (in no particular order):

Life of Pi- a married couple (living in India) decided to take thier child (Pi) and their zoo to Canada by boat. Halfway through the cruise, the ship sinks and everyone and every animal dies, except for Pi, a zebra, a hyena, and a siberian tiger. The kid and the three animals manage to stow away on a small life boat. What follows is truly an original, exhilirating story of survival. A must read.

The Demon Haunted World by Caral Sagan- I love science, and I also love the idea that anything might be possible. There are many of us who lack the skepticism to accuartly weigh an issue and therefore deem it as truth. This book pits science against pseudoscinece. Many questions are raised and firmly answered by scientifical thinking. Are there really aliens? Is the person who claims to be channeling a spirit really telling the truth? How can I, in my own life, seperate the "wheat from the chaff" and draw a sound, reasonable conclusion about such matters? Carl Sagan answers all of these questions thoroughly. I can't tell you how important this book is. Unfortunately, there is a tendancy in our society to believe in something without really taking the time to see if it actually is founded on any basis of truth. Yes, it may be fun to believe in alien abductions, and granted that may be happening, but we shouldn't let ourselves be swayed by just anyone's account. Read this book.

Cosmos by Caral Sagan- an account about our solar system and the universe we live in. Very informative, and written in layman's terms. If you are facinated by the stars, planets, etc. or are just curious about what's up there in the skies, read this book.

Weird Tales and Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood- This is the first book I've read by Blackwood and I must say that it is some of the more downright creepier stories on horror/supernatural fiction that I"ve read. His style is somewhat slow, but the way he describes the stories, characters, natural settings, etc. make you feel as if you're lost in some weird dreamland...and you're never sure just what's going to come out and grab you.

Chronicles: Vol. I by Bob Dylan- Well, I must admit that I haven't even read it yet, but I'm sure it's gonna be great!! I just wanted to let all of you other Dylan fans out there now that this book has recently come out. Enjoy!!

...well, that's about all I feel like putting down for now. There are many others, but I thought I'd just name a few...

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:18 pm

toughknot wrote:The last book I read was Moby Dick.Talk about multiple personalities,how many wrote that?

Good thing I didn't stop after reading Moby Dick. That was about 1955-56, when I was in the 10th grade. I l iked it so well that I read it twice.

That was unusual for me because, as a rule, I don't seem to enjoy the "classics". I never did quite make it through Vanity Fair, and I still don't get the appeal of Hemingway and Faulkner.