Greetings Literary Comrades!
This week in new book releases is a sparse one, at best, so I’ve opted not to put together a post. Mostly because there isn’t a post to put together! There’s a whole slew of romance releases, Nora Roberts and maybe some other namely persons that I do not know of, but nothing that was particularly standout for a Nerdist.com sort of head’s up. A rather depressing day for literature, methinks, unless I’m missing something. That is ENTIRELY possible! If you know of any good books coming out this week, give us a head’s up on them in the comments, eh?
Since it’s a slow week, why don’t we try something fun for this Tuesday? A mini book review, of sorts! What’s your favorite title? What’s it about? Why do you love it so much? WHY DON’T YOU MARRY IT — errr. Right. Let’s hear it, nerdlings! Favorite book, reasons why: this is your assignment.
Now go! Illuminate our minds!
Image: Brett Jordan/Flickr
不懂妳的意思….Speaking of 2nd language users, it is ecepxted for them to make grammatical error(s)…each language has its distinctive pronunciation and gramma, so what do u expect? ‘course there’re languages that are very similiar or come from the same root, say, e.g. portugese and spanish; then? no one will mistake one from the other.language is a tool, as long as one can express him/herself clearly, that’s more than enough. if u don’t believe me, try listen to Mandiba’s speech… all i can say is: what the ……my highschool eng. teacher told me: C.J., your problem is that you always treat eng. as second language, but u r living in an english county now…think about it ^^
Pop 1280 by jim thompson, cant remember why, other than that it shocked me. I thought it the most twisted thing Id read, and I laughed. Better than the killer inside me. Apart from that rilkes duino elegies, but only a lovely austrian translation i had, other translations left me cold. My last sigh by luis bunuel. All good booksseem to get stolen or given & never returned but thats ok
I am reading The Shorter Pepys http://www.amazon.com/Shorter-Pepys-Robert-Latham/dp/0520034260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278585095&sr=8-1 The 10 year exploration of a 30-something Naval Bureaucrat/lothario as he navigates the fascinating class structure of 1660’s Britain. This abridged edition is a great way of seeing into the heart of a man and realizing that all of the trials and tribulations that we go through were felt in a very similar way by a man almost 350 years ago. His dalliances and love of vice permeate this man’s struggle to make it in a very stratified society.
He was the Don Draper of the plague era, ladies.
My favorite book is the extraordinary adventures of Alfred Kropp.
It may be a bit of a kids book but it has strong themes of redemption, love, and sacrifice. Also the titular Alfred kropp is a lovable klutz of a hero and a great character.
Extraordinary adventure indeed.
Pillars of the Earth: It’s just totally and completely satisfying. I’ve read it repeatedly, and never tire of it. And it’s FAT. How I love a great, huge read. In fact, I think it’s time to read it again…
One of my favorite books for sort of light reading is Sammy’s Hill by Kristen Gore. It’s laugh-out-loud hilarious, which is not something I say about many books, and really an interesting look into the government from someone I’m sure knows a lot about it. Kristen Gore is Al Gore’s daughter, so I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was, but it turns out that she has written for Futurama and Saturday Night Live in the past.
I recently read Waiter Rant by The Waiter (I think his real name was released recently, but I don’t remember it) and it was really interesting. A lot of restaraunt exposes are intriguing, like Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain or Waiting by Debra Ginsberg.
And I can’t finish a book reccomendation post without mentioning Chuck Palahniuk. Even though I haven’t really been able to get into the last book or two that he’s published, a lot of his stuff is excellent. Fight Club, Lullaby, Diary, Survivor, and Choke are my favorites. Haunted is mostly just a gross-out story, but I guess it’s worth reading just so you can talk about Guts (one of the short stories in the book).
So that’s what I have to offer, I guess, haha.
There is a wonderful new book that came out this week called “Suck It Wonder Woman!: The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek” by G4’s very own Olivia Munn! I recommend everyone pick it up.
As for my favorite book, I would have to say it is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It is a brilliant portrayal of love and work and how man can have vastly different ideals and still achieve the same end.
tom robbins really struck a cord for me.
my 2 fave’s of his are:
still life with woodpecker
and
jitterbug perfume
I finally tackled my first Neal Stephenson book and lurved it. So, Snow Crash is my favorite book right now. It was written in 1992, but still feels very cutting edge. Some of the technologies that he created seem like they could be under development in some dark corporate megalith right now bwahahaha.
Wow! What great recommendations. I’m going to second a few folks on this list and say “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card. I love how the story revolves around the ethical choices leaders must make.
Yes, Jane! “A Wrinkle in Time”! I read that a few years back. Lovely book.
As a kid “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle was my favorite book and the book that got me interested in reading.
The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde (“The Eyre Affair” is the first book in the series) is great, it’s like a book lover’s detective story. It’s got book jumping, the Crimean War, mammoths, and great names like ‘Jack Schitt.’ And a whole bunch of other plot twists and word play too numerous to mention.
In another series of his, The Nursery Crimes, the main character is Jack Sprat, a police detective and occasional giant killer. In the first book of the series, “The Big Over Easy,” he is investigating the murder of a womanizing Humpty Dumpty.
All of Jasper Ffordes books are great fun and good summertime reading.
This has become such a fabulous thread. I can’t WAIT to dig into some of your recommendations and there are so many here that I already love, I’m glad you do too!
As for my all time favorite? It is It Happened in Boston? by Russell H. Greenan and I wrote up a post about it a month or so ago. (HERE! http://www.nerdist.com/2010/06/book-review-it-happened-in-boston/) If you pick it up, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
Keep the books coming, nerdlings! I LOVE THIS!