Author Topic: Rate the last book you read.  (Read 194222 times)

ses

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #680 on: April 04, 2011, 08:45:46 PM »
I am not sure then.  I will ask my boyfriend, he has also read a bunch of moutaineering books.
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

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worm@work

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #681 on: April 05, 2011, 07:42:42 PM »
The War for Late Night (Bill Carter)

A mostly journalistic account of what went down during the Leno/Conan/Tonight Show debacle. The writing is accomplished and smooth but simple as journalistic writing should be, I support. But the story is fascinating and I was engaged throughout. Conan seems like a really swell guy and the Maron interview only conforms that hypothesis. Fun read overall.

jbissell

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #682 on: April 06, 2011, 10:40:29 AM »
Finally finished Patton Oswalt's Zombie Spaceship Wasteland. I could've easily finished it in one sitting but decided to spread it out to maximize my entertainment. If you like his comedy (and if you don't, you're a damn fool) I can't see not really liking his book.

munchin

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #683 on: April 06, 2011, 12:12:23 PM »
Just finished Louis de Berničres' epic Birds Without Wings an account of the lead up, devastation and aftermath of World War I as seen through the eyes of the diverse inhabitants of a small Turkish town. It was alternately gruesome, hilarious and fascinating. Featuring a wide cast of characters, we experience the war from the trenches to a harem. It was an absolutely wild ride. The only issue is that it starts very slowly and introduces a lot of characters very quickly. You look at a 600 page book where the first 50 pages are perplexing and meandering and you may not want to continue, but in this book, it is entirely worth it.

9 out of 10.

philip918

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #684 on: April 08, 2011, 01:40:56 PM »
Bambi vs Godzilla by David Mamet

Entertaining read with a few nuggets of screenwriting wisdom. Goes off on quite a few tangents and he seems to have a compulsion to explain just how incredibly macho he is.

Which Lie Did I Tell by William Goldman

This guy is such a great writer and has such an endearing voice. Lots of hilarious anecdotes and very open accounts of his life as a writer. The small section on Andre the Giant is incredibly touching. Great stuff.

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer

Kind of a let down. Love his fiction and heard amazing things about this, but I didn't think he took his examination and vegetarian philosophy far enough. I'm lucky enough to live in Seattle and be able to go to a farmer's market every weekend where I can buy pasture-raised, grass-fed beef, poultry, pork and lamb from small, organic, family farms. Foer limited his argument to nationally sold products and how few and far between those farms are and that factory farmed animals account for 99% of all US meat consumption. Well, I'm in the other 1% and would have really liked to read a logical and impassioned argument for still not eating those animals.

MartinTeller

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #685 on: April 08, 2011, 02:27:05 PM »
Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt - Kind of disappointing.  Oswalt's one of my favorite stand-ups, but this is definitely a mixed bag.  Some of the autobiographical sections are greatly entertaining ("The Victory Tour") and some meander without anything of substance ("Ticket Booth").  The more humor-oriented segments are hit ("Wines by the Glass") or miss ("The Song of Ulvaak") as well.  The central piece about Zombie/Spaceship/Wasteland mentalities feels really inconsequential and not fleshed out well enough.  On the whole, there's more good than bad, but I was often left with the feeling that Oswalt's literary aspirations were impeding his natural sense of humor.  6/10 

St. Martin the Bald

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #686 on: April 17, 2011, 01:20:04 AM »
The Hangman's Daughter - Oliver Pötzsch

Very interesting thriller, especially from a historical perspective. You are treated to what seems to be a forensic type thriller set in the middle ages complete with 2 very unlikely partners - Jakob  - the local hangman who is as good at fixing bodies as he is breaking them and Simon - the son of the local physician, or at least what passed for a physicians in that time period. Both are men of science and reasoning, Jakob is self taught and Simon is rebelling at the stagnant lessons passed down in his universities studies. A local midwife is accused of witchcraft and murder and Jakob, while in the process of torturing her confession out - tries to actually solve the crime with the aid of Simon. Through all of this they must contend with the religious and societal norms (stupidity) of the day.
An engrossing and quick read.
Hey, nice marmot!

Jared

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #687 on: April 18, 2011, 12:36:51 AM »
Life, the Universe, and Everything
These books have their moments, but overall Ive felt pretty lukewarm to the series.

War & Peace
Started January 31st and finished today. Just a flat out amazing achievement. Tolstoy gives a big time war layman like me a fantastic tutorial on military strategy, movements, politics, etc then swoops seemlessly into brilliant drama in the lives of his brilliant fictional characters. Just a fun and interesting read. One of the best books Ive ever read.

FroHam X

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #688 on: April 18, 2011, 01:14:10 AM »
Life, the Universe, and Everything
These books have their moments, but overall Ive felt pretty lukewarm to the series.

But that's the book with Agrajag, possibly the funniest concept for a fictional character ever conceived.
"We didn't clean the hamster's cage, the hamster's cage cleaned us!"

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Jared

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #689 on: April 18, 2011, 10:23:11 AM »
I like all the middle men of another planet's society using leafs as currency at the end of the 2nd book the best so far.