72 replies to this topic

[Tony]

okay, this is not even remotely close to sci-fi or fantasy, but it's a very interesting read. at least i thought so: moneyball, by michael lewis.

it's non-fiction, and it's about the economics of baseball. the long standing notion was that nobody could compete with the rich teams (like the yankees) because they could go buy the best talent. but the oakland a's consistently made the playoffs with 1/7th the payroll, and it turns out it's because their GM decided to use new statistical analysis to figure out who the best values were in baseball, and then go get them. anyway, it's the most interesting book based on statistics and economics i've ever read. and if you like baseball it will totally fuck with the way you perceive the game.

[church]

tom robbins books are great


on every must read list : a confederacy of dunces

[Quezo]

oh yeah

Dune by frank herbert

duh

[/Mr DNA/]

i just finished reading William Blum's Rogue State: a guide to the world's only superpower and am currently reading Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival. SCARY SHIT.

i too could use some good escapist fiction about now. unfortunately, my copy of The New Pearl Harbor should be at my doorstep any day now instead.

[skeksis]

oh yeah

Dune by frank herbert

duh

hah! when I read the posting for 'confederacy of dunces', I saw dune not dunces and thought "oh yeah, what about frank herbert". dune is awesome, other frank herbert a little inconsistent. when he's on, he's one of the best. stories get dragged out too long sometimes, get too 'out there' by the end for my tastes. but yes. Dune, duh

[Quezo]

i've only read through to
god emperor of dune

are the rest any good?

the appendices make my head spin
but they do explain a bit of back story
(at least in the original)


ps read "neuromancer"
i can not recommend it enough

[unluckycharm]

] and am currently reading Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival. SCARY SHIT.

I bought this last year and still have to read it......not sure really if I want to! I should just immerse myself in Alice in Wonderland.

[larah]

Through the Looking Glass is awesome!


I have a book that was bought for me almost two years ago and I, for some reason, cannot get through it. Not that it is bad, I just can't get through the second chapter. Anyone want to give me the Cliffs notes on "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?

[transonic]

I'm quite partial to reality=fantasy/fantasy=reality fiction, such as:
"East/West" is a pretty good introduction to Salmon Rushdie,
Italo Calvino is great, "If Upon a Winter's Night a Traveler" is amazing, i've been amazed by everything i've read by each of these guys

Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is one of the most creative books I have ever read. The premise is a conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. All they talk about are imaginary cities. Brilliant!

[glitterbot]

I just finished reading The Mad Cook of Pymatuning by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt. It kind of melded a sort of coming of age tale with vicious killing. It was not what I expected going into it (straight horror/thriller) but I really dug it.
I also really enjoyed a book called The Straw Men by Michael Marshall Smith. Serial killer thing, fast moving.
Another good one The M.D. by Thomas Disch.


nothing all high brow and cool, but good reads. (I read the entire Straw Men on a flight from Vermont to AZ, and it made me foget I was supposed to be having a panic attack.)

[Andrew James Matthews]

last month:
"Against Interpretation" - Susan Sontag
"Romancer Erector" - Diane Williams
"Aporias" - Jacques Derrida
"A Perfect Solitude," "Drame" - Phillipe Sollers
"Death Sentence" - Maurice Blanchot

i work at Bookman's on 19th Ave. and Northern - if anyone wants to come in and look for cool books, I can help -