Best book you've read this year?

The 48 laws of power by Robert Greene - a Joost Elfers book.

The bestselling book for those who want power, watch power or want to defend themselves against power.

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power into forty-eight well explicated laws.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014...okstorenow57-20

 

Easy, "The Bible" Daniel and Revelation are my favorite. The rest I'm sure you know.

Wildkow

 

Click for the link to Amazon.com</a>

 

Alpha and Omega : The search for the beginning and the end of the universe by Charles Seife.

http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Omega-Search-B...e/dp/0670031798

Good to see how bad the Catholic church was treating scientists of the day. I read the book at the suggestion of a friend who works for JPL in Pasadena. Although I read the book last year, I think of it often when I go camping and stargazing in the wee hours of the morning.

This year I have tried several times to finish reading Bush at war part II by Bob Woodward, but I must say I am getting sick of the war and all that it's doing to this great country. Needless to say, I have put the book down many times this year. Currently into it around chapter thirteen. Generals are yelling at each other and pointing fingers about who had the ball on the reconstruction efforts. You break it you bought it in a nutshell. Colin Powell is brilliant, and the book so far clearly depicts juniors obsession with the invasion of Iraq.

I am dabbling in Podcasts on the Lecture circuits for ivy league university professors discussing the possibilities of impeachment. Personally, I don't think there will be any. Especially since the Dems just caved in and signed the warrantless wiretapping and email bill into law....just another reason for me to consider changing my voter registration from Democrat to Independent.

 

Marley and Me

 

Best:
I find it's a tie between Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky's novel of France under Nazi occupation, and Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a post-apocalyptic tale of a father and son attempting to survive and retain their humanity. These were both incredibly gripping novels that I had trouble putting down and are every bit as good as the hype attached to them.

Runners-up
Historical Fiction:
The Master of Verona by David Blixt. The first in a series of books imaging a historical Romeo and Juliet, this book lays the groundwork of the Montague-Capulet fued among their then teen-aged parents. The book centers around the relationship between an Italian warload of Verona (and I'm guessing father to the imagined Mercutio) and one of the poet Dante's sons, who serves as our guide and witness to the events of Medieval Verona. A very fun book full of fights, races, duels, and, of course, ill-pondered romance.

Science Fiction:
Blindsight by Peter Watts. If you're not a little geeky, you can stop reading here. This novel is really a meditation on consciousness, presented in the action packed format of a cybernectically altered spaceship crew (including a vampire ressurected from ancient DNA) attempting first contact with an alien spaceship. The author is a marine mammel biologist, and the attempts and methods used to communicate with the aliens really reflect the experience of someone who understands the difficulty in communicating with other species.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Aug 6 2007, 09:38 AM) [snapback]491209[/snapback]</div>

Oooo, that was good.

You might try Ella in Europe for a light read. Also Amazing Gracie (from the guys at the Three Dog Bakery about their canine muse.)

I'm currently reading Dog by Daniel Pennac. It's told from the dog's point of view. Dog was drowned at birth as being too ugly and ended up in the landfill. He wasn't quite dead and was rescued by Black Nose and taught the ways of the landfill. After Black Nose dies he heads to town and is caught by the dog catcher. He learns about the pound from Woof, who is left behind when Dog is adopted by Plum, the daughter of Mr. Muscle and Mrs. Squeak.

The names show Dog's point of view. The girl smells like Plums and hence her name. Muscle and Squeak describe their most obvious attributes.

Two other great books about dogs being adopted are Sheep! and Listen. Another fun book is Jinky: Diary of a Hollywood Dog. Jinky has his own blog. I Toto, the story of the dog that played Toto in the Wizard of Oz is another interesting book.

Yes, you do see a theme going through here.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darwood @ Aug 6 2007, 07:38 AM) [snapback]491209[/snapback]</div>

I second this one! If you've ever had a dog/puppy, you'll have to read it!
Marly & Me

 

I just couldn't pair it down to one:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
God is not great by Christopher Hitchens
The New Testament Teaching Company course and Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

Harry Potter of course..

The Omnivore's Dilemma.

And finally,

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link.

 

I've been reading series books lately myself. I've finished up the last of the Mrs. Murphy mystery series by Rita May Brown and the Joe Grey mystery series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Both have cats as the crime solvers.

Currently I'm near the end of the second set of the Warriors series by (pen name) Erin Hunter. It's sounds like what godiva was talking about the book Dog plus some elements of Watership Down.

Like godiva, there's a trend here.

I've also been reading Harry Potter.

 

Don't think of an elephant by George Lakoff, professor of linguistics at UCB.
Demonstrating how conservatives, for the last 40 years, have mastered linguistics to further their cause while at the same time using linguistics to devalue their rivals. He demonstrates the technique of 'framing' your words to be most effective. A 'must read' for effective communication in this era. I've considered opening a thread and demonstrating these very effective techniques. An intelligent read.

Last Confederate widow tells all
Allan Garganus
This is your 800+ page novel that you want for your summer vacation reading escape. Feisty, irreverent and with a caustic tongue--even in recounting the most tragic incidents, her outspoken opinions crackle with dark humor--Lucy, the main character, distills the essence of the Civil war, evokes the atmosphere of the small town of Falls, N.C.--interspersing social commentary about the South, its women and the institution of slavery--and draws the portrait of a singular marriage. It's simultaneously down-to-earth and grand.

The Tao of Pooh
Benjamin Hoff
Demonstrates how the popular Winnie-the-Poo character is consistent with the principals of living the Tao. This book has been on my shelf for 20 years and I finally got around to reading it.

Hotel Honolulu
Paul Theroux
A funny, cranky look at hotel visitors depicted by a hotel manager. Light reading.

Thinner
Stephen King
The main character runs over a Gypsy woman and is cursed to keep losing weight. A "junk read", fun but insignificant.

 

"I second this one! If you've ever had a dog/puppy, you'll have to read it!"

Esp. when you have a 120 pound weimeraner!

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Rowling is brilliant. Yet another book from her that I couldn't stop reading...had to keep going and finish. Great series of books. Potter movies are good, but the books are sooo much more.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Aug 6 2007, 01:11 PM) [snapback]491329[/snapback]</div>

Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner is a good book.

I just finished Honeymoon with my Brother: A Memior by Franz Wisner. It's an easy read, quote humorous and bluntly honest. I was surprised I liked it.

 

Just finished "The City of Falling Angels" non-fiction about Venice by John Berndt (who wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil")

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Aug 6 2007, 01:13 AM) [snapback]491140[/snapback]</div>

River of Gods
by Ian McDonald

a post cyberpunk societal novel set in india in 2047

currently i have Willam Gibson's new book
Spook Country in route via pre-order

excellent question
my compliments

Froley

 

Not sure I can answer having read too many new ones and re-read old ones and mixing them all up . But at this moment two of the most memorable were Faded Sun (trilogy in one book) & Foreigner,
both by C.J. Cherryh. Science fiction, heavy on the pschology of being an outsider (a la PK Dick, but with less irony). Not your typical SF fare.