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Books....

Jan. 23, 2009, 12:37 p.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

Anyone reading anything interesting lately? I've been reading a lot lately…on a pretty good run of good books. Just looking for some more titles to consider. Thanks for sharing.

Karen.

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

Jan. 23, 2009, 12:52 p.m.
Posts: 10010
Joined: March 11, 2003

in the last couple months I've read.

Christopher Moore:
Lamb, Dirty Job, Fluke, and You Suck

Lamb is great, about Biff, Christ's best buddy

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Prestige by Christopher Priest [HTML_REMOVED]awesome[HTML_REMOVED]

Tom Robbins is awesome: [HTML_REMOVED]new book in april, I love Fierce Invalids, and Half asleep[HTML_REMOVED]

Another Roadside Attraction (1971)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
Jitterbug Perfume (1984)
Skinny Legs and All (1990)
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994)
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000)
Villa Incognito (2003)
Wild Ducks Flying Backward (2005

Is there a Vancouver in Taiwan?! I had no idea!!

Nothing sums up my life's achievements like my stuffed corpse, suplexing a cougar.

Jan. 23, 2009, 2:33 p.m.
Posts: 420
Joined: July 8, 2005

Currently reading "Women dont ask" http://www.womendontask.com/

BTW, I've got some fabric I've been meaning to give you…

Jan. 23, 2009, 11:36 p.m.
Posts: 63
Joined: July 10, 2008

I've just started reading Beyond Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden and can barely put it down.

One of the best books I've read lately is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Its a beautiful read. It was also made into a movie about a year ago that is also wonderful. A bit of a tear-jerker though!

I also liked White Tiger by Arvind Adiga.

Every Christmas I get lots of great books under the tree and go on a bit of a reading binge! How about you, Karen? What have you been reading [HTML_REMOVED] recommending?

Jan. 24, 2009, 12:33 a.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

Right now I'm reading "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. He also wrote "I Know This Much Is True"; I really like his stories.

Recent reads:
I'm a big Allman Brothers fan so I read "Midnight Riders:The Story of the Allman Bros. Band" by Scott Freeman.
"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory
"World Without End" by Ken Follett

I read "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle"…I don't know what the fuss was about…I would have rather chewed on barbed wire…

Thanks everyone for sharing! I'm going to check some of these out!!!:beer:

Karen.

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

Jan. 24, 2009, 12:35 a.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

Currently reading "Women dont ask" http://www.womendontask.com/

BTW, I've got some fabric I've been meaning to give you…

Thanks, Penny! Hope you are doing well!

Karen.

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

Jan. 26, 2009, 6:14 p.m.
Posts: 3989
Joined: Feb. 23, 2005

Found this last night just browsing around the seedier corners of the internet:

If you like Science-Fiction and/or Fantasy, the following torrent has most of the works of the following approximately 260 authors, as e-books (PDf, doc lit files etc).

Nice thing is they are all separate RAR files so you can dl the whole lot at 5.6 GB (only 14 hours on o so shaweet shaw) or you can just download whichever authors you want.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3778378/Sci-fi_and_Fantasy_Library

(This is an excellent torrent, so please, be nice, don't hit and run)

Adams,Douglas
Adams,Robert
Ahern, Jerry
Aldiss,Brian
Alexander,Lloyd
Allston,Aaron
Anderson,Kevin J.
Anderson,Poul
Anthony,Piers
Anvil,Chris
Applegate,K.A.
Armstrong,Kelly
Arthur,Keri
Asaro,Cathrine
Asimov,Isaac
Asprin,Robert
Attanasio,A.A.

Bain,Darrell
Banks,Iain
Bardsley,Michele
Barker,Clive
Barnes,Arthur K.
Baum,L.Frank
Baxter,Stephen
Beagle,Peter S.
Bear,Greg
Benford,Gregory
Berg,Carol
Bester,Alfred
Betancuort,John Gregory
Bishop,Anne
Blake,Anita
Bova,Ben
Bradbury,Ray
Bradley,Marion Zimmer
Brennan,Marie
Briggs,Patricia
Brin,David
Brockmann,Suzanne
Brooks,Terry
Brown,Mary
Brunner,John
Brust,Steven
Bujold,Lois McMaster
Bull,Emma
Bunch,Chris
Burroughs,Edgar Rice
Busby,S.M.
Butcher,Jim
Butler,Octavia

Cadigan,Pat
Caidin,Martin
Caine,Rachel
Callander,Don
Canavan,Trudi
Card,Orson Scott
Carey,Jacqueline
Carver,Jeffrey
Castaneda,Carlos
Chalker,Jack I.
Cherryh,C.J.
Chester,Deborah
Christopher,John
Clarke,Arthur C.
Clement,Hal
Cook,Glen
Cook,Rick
Cooper,Louise
Cooper,Susan
Crichton,Michael

Dahl,Roland
Daley,Brian
Dalmas,John
Darren Shan
Davidson,Mary Janice
DeCamp,I.Sprague
DeChancie,John
Deitz,Tom
DelRey,Lester
Delany,Samuel
DeLint,Charles
Dick,Philip K.
Dickson,Gordon
Dietz,William C.
Donaldson,Stephen R.
Douglas,L.Warren
Douglass,Sara
Doyle[HTML_REMOVED]McDonald
Drake,David
Duane,Diane
Duncan,Dave

Edding,David
Elliot,Kate
Ellison,Harlan
Elrod,P.N.

Fallon,Jennifer
Farland,David
Farmer,Phillip Jose
Feehan,Christine
Feintuch,David
Feist,Raymond E.
Flewelling,Lynn
Flint,Eric
Flint,Kenneth
Foley,Gaelen
Forstchen,Wiliam
Forsyth, Kate
Forward,Robert
Foster,Alan Dean
Frankowski,Leo
Friedman,C.S.
Freisner,Esther
Furey,Maggie

Gabaldon,Diana
Gaiman,Neil
Gardner,Craig Shaw
Garland,Mark
Gear,W.Michael
Gemmell,David
Gentle,Mary
Gerrold,David
Gibson,William
Goodkin,Terry
Green,Sharon
Green,Simon
Greenberg,Martin H.

Haldeman,Jack C.
Haldeman Joe
Hambly,Barbara
Hamilton,Laurell K.
Hamilton,Peter F.
Hardy,Lyndon
Harper,Tara K.
Harris,Charlaine
Harrison,Harry
Harrison,Kim
Hawke,Simon
Haydon,Elizabeth
Heinlein,Robert A.
Hendee,J.C.[HTML_REMOVED]Barb.
Herbert,Frank
Hobb,Robin
Hodgell,P.C.
Hogan,James P.
Howard,Robert E.
Hubbard, L.Ron

Ing,Dean

Jacques,Brian
Jones,D.F.
Jones,Diana Wynne
Jones,J.V.
Jordan,Robert

Kay, Guy Gavriel
Kearney, Paul
Kenyon,Sherrilyn
Kerr,Katherine
Keyes,J.Gregory
Knight,Angela
Knight,E.F.
Koontz,Dean
Kurtz,Kathrine
Kuttner,Henry

Lackey,Mercedes
Laumer,Keith
Lawhead,Stephen
Lazarevich,Alexander
Lee[HTML_REMOVED]Miller
Lee,Tanith
LeGuin,Ursula K.
Leiber,Fritz
Leinster,Murray
Lem,Stanislaw
L'Engle,Madeline
Lindskold,Jane
Lisle,Holly
Long,Duncan
Longyear,Barry
Lowecraft,H.P.
Lumley,Brian
Lustbader,Eric Van

MacAvoy,R.A.
Martin,George R.R.
May,Julian
McCaffrey,Anne
McDevitt,Jack
McIntyre,Vonda
McKillip,Patricia A.
McKinley,Robin
Miller,Walter M.
Modesitt,L.E.
Moon,Elizabeth
Moorcock,Michael
Murphy,C.E.

Neale,Donald
Niles, Douglas
Niven,Larry
Norman,John
Norton,Andre
Novak, Kate

Paolini,Christopher
Paterson,Derek
Perry,S.D.
Pierce, Tamora
Pike,Christopher
Piper,H.Beam
Pohl,Frederik
Pollotta,Nick
Pournelle,Jerry
Powers,Tim
Pratchett,Terry
Prater,Ian
Pullman, Philip

Rawn, Melanie
Reichert,Mickey Zucker
Resnick,Laura
Resnick,Mike
Rice,Anne
Ringo,John
Robb,J.D.
Roberson, Jennifer
Roberts, John Maddox
Robinson,Kim Stanley
Robinson,Spider
Rowley,Christopher
Rowling,J.K.
Russell,Sean

Saberhagen,Fred
Sage,Angie
Saintcrow,Lillith
Salvatore,R.A.
Saundby,Kate
Sawyer,Robert J.
Scarborough,Elizabeth Anne
Schmidt,Dennis
Schmitz,James
Scott,Martin
Sellars,M.R.
Shatner,Williams
Sheffield,Charles
Shinn,Sharon
Silverberg,Robert
Simak,Clifford D.
Simmons,Dan
Simmons,William Mark
Smeds,Dave
Smith,E.E.Doc.
Smith,Wilbur
Snicket,Lemony
Spencer,Wen
Stableford,Brian
Stackpole,Michael
Stasheff,Christopher
Steakley,John
Stephenson,Neal
Sterling,Bruce
Stirling,S.M.
Stross, Charles
Stroud,Jonathan
Sturgeon,Theodore

Tepper,Sherri
Tilley,Patrick
Tolkien,J.R.R.
Troop,Alan
Turtledove,Harry

VanVogot,A.E.
Vance,Jack
Varley,John
Verne,Jules
Vinge,Joan D.
Vinge,Vernor

Watt-Evans,Lawrence
Weber,David
Weis,Margaret [HTML_REMOVED] Hickman
Wells,H.G.
Wentworth,K.D.
West,Michelle
White,Steve
Whyte,Jack
Wilbur,Smith
Wilhelm,Kate
Wilks,Eileen
Williams,Tad
Williamson,Michael Z.
Wilson,Colin
Wingrove,David
Wolfe,Gene
Wrede,Patricia C.
Wurts,Janny

Yarbro,Chelsea Quinn
Yolen,Jane

Zahn,Timothy
Zelazny,Roger

Star Trek

Star Wars

Please let me demonstrate the ride around; really it's no trouble.

Jan. 26, 2009, 6:47 p.m.
Posts: 8553
Joined: Nov. 15, 2002

What does it mean to hit and run a torrent?

While I'm here I may as well contribute to this thread.

Before Xmas I read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. One of the best and most satisfying reads in recent memory. Zipped through Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell over the holidays. Just as fascinating and compelling as his previous two.

I've got Through Black Spruce and On Chesil Beach (Ian McEwan) lined up and I'm looking forward to both.

Right now I'm reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo. A writer I hadn't heard of before but I'm enjoying it. I'm not sure I'll run out and pick up another of his soon though.

I've been labouring through several weighty non-fiction tomes as well. How the Mind Works by Stephen Pinker is quite readable when he's not fending off competing theories and Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond has been a slog but well worth the effort. He attempts to explain why some societies became technologically advanced (Western Europe, Japan, China) while others (Australian and American indigenous peoples as well as those in the South Pacific for example) did not.

I'm a big Robbins fan as well Connor. If I had to choose a favourite writer it would likely be him - but I think he peaked at Skinny Legs and All. I saw him speak in Vancouver a few years ago and he was everything you'd expect. He even stayed until every book was signed. John Irving in contrast was evasive, ornery and unavailable. He didn't answer any questions nor did he sign any books. It was interesting hearing him talk about the process though. He writes his books backwards - chapter by chapter until he gets to the beginning. A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favourite books.

How is The Hour I first Believed Karen? I loved his other two.

Jan. 27, 2009, 8:02 a.m.
Posts: 0
Joined: June 10, 2003

I'm reading a book by a local author called "Interred with their Bones: Bill Miner in Canada". Very interesting. Especially if you live in the Kamloops area.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King are my all time favorites.

ESC 4 Life.

I create feelings in people that they themselves don't understand.

"Perhaps it was the Noid who should have avoided me." - Mayor West

Jan. 27, 2009, 9:32 a.m.
Posts: 18059
Joined: Nov. 19, 2002

What does it mean to hit and run a torrent?

i think it means to d/l, and then close the torrent. be kind..leave your torrent open for others to d/l (seed)

Jan. 27, 2009, 9:42 a.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

Cam…I liked "Middlesex" as well; try his first novel…"The Virgin Suicides"; it is a good read too. My bookclub read "Middlesex"…most were lukewarm about it…but I thought it very good.

"The Hour I First Believed" is going well; I'm enjoying it a lot.
I want to read that germ book as well.

The Rob…thanks…that book sounds good as well…I really like reading about B.C. history. Have you read any books about the gold rushes and the stories of how early settlers/explorers navigated the Fraser Canyon? Good stuff.

Thanks all for sharing!

Karen.

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

Jan. 27, 2009, 10:46 a.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

Knnn…Wow. That list may take me a bit to get through. ;)

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

Jan. 27, 2009, 3:06 p.m.
Posts: 0
Joined: Nov. 17, 2005

The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson: Great read thus far…
The Long Emergency - James Howard Krunstler: Really interesting to read, as he mentions the crash before it came.
The Golden Spruce - John Vaillant
Tree - David Suzuki
Good News - David Suzuki
David Suzuki: The Autobiography
The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein

I know the controversy but they were great books,

Million Little Pieces
My Best Friend Lenard,
both by James Frey

I don't read as much as I would like to…

Have to pick up and read instead of watching the TV.

Dan

www.steedcycles.com

Jan. 28, 2009, 9:49 a.m.
Posts: 8553
Joined: Nov. 15, 2002

The Golden Spruce was awesome.

I haven't checked out James Frey because all the press left a bad taste in my mouth. I have to re-visit that.

I do have The Virgin Suicides Karen. It's on my 'to be read' shelf - which is quite full right now.

The anti-Frey is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. He rips down all the conventions of the memoir in his introduction - and then proceeds with his tale. Very refreshing.

I don't read as much as I'd like to either Dan. I only seem to read when I get into bed and by then I don't have much time before I crash for the night.

Jan. 28, 2009, 10 a.m.
Posts: 190
Joined: Dec. 11, 2005

The Golden Spruce is great!

I did read A Million Little Pieces…after all the ugly media..it is an okay read…it was definitely tainted by the spotlight.

The Kite Runner is great.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is very powerful and chilling.

Dead Man Walking.
The Glass Castle.
Schindlers List.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time…a great read.
A Brothers Blood.

I'm volunteering as fast as I can.

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