Whatcha readin'?

[skymedic 0]

BONEHEADEDWOMAN.....that russian dudes name is Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol...in case you were wonderin...
marc
BSBD

[SkySurfSnow 0]

Didn't Gogol also write the short story "The Overcoat". That's a funny story.

[skymedic 0]

He'd be da man.....LOL...he has some great stuff....the russians are awesome righters...and philosaphors.
marc
BSBD

[sunshine 2]

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To Kill a mockingbird

One of my faves too!! "I know Cole. He always goes to the outside."

[billvon 3,120]

>Yeah, I love Niven's stuff too.
Read all his stuff. Other great SF authors -
John Varley. Best portrayal of women from the first person I've seen in SF.
David Brin. Great guy, and some very intricate books (if you can navigate his byzantine plots)
Joe Haldeman. The ultimate SF war author. I learned most of what I know about writing from him - took his classes for two years at MIT.
John Steakley. One-book wonder, but his one book (Armor) started a whole new subgenre.
William Gibson, for the same reason as above.
and worthwhile to browse at the bookstore as examples of how _not_ to write SF:
Fred Saberhagen. Flat, one-dimensional blow-em-up books.
John Norman. Pedantic and preachy one-topic author. (Lisa, check out one of his books while you're there - you may actually get a kick out of them.)
David Palmer. His book Emergence is actually worth reading, but he gets lost in his subject matter way too easily, and it quickly turns from scifi to pure fantasy. His later books are worse.
-bill von

[skybytch 273]

Wow, I'm impressed with some of these lists! I'll have to add Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches, nearly all of Tom Clancy's stuff, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone mysteries (A is for Alibi, etc..) and how could I have forgotten Illusions by Richard Bach! Seeing how we're all skydivers, kinda surprised that no one has mentioned Jonathan Livingston Seagull..
pull & flare,
lisa
"But our reality is in fact entire illusion!"
-Gregory Benford

[indyz 1]

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Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson)

Stephenson rocks! If you haven't read it yet, Cryptonomicon is very good (and very long). Zodiac and The Diamond Age are also pretty good, but aren't at the level of Snow Crash. And his new book, Quicksilver, should be out this year.
Top authors:
- Neal Stephenson (sci-fi)
- Simon Singh (math related non-fiction)
- Arthur C. Clarke (sci-fi)
- Donald Knuth (must read for CS types)
- Barbara Tuckman (history)
- Tom Clancy (military fiction)
- Jared Diamond (history)
I don't really read much fiction outside of science fiction or military type stuff. In non-fiction I like history, biographies, science, and just about anything that catches my eye.
--
Brian

[Jumperpaula 0]

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And of course ,
Curious George............

he he, have you read "Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon" ? Kendall and I read it the other night.
Long story short, after he steels the balloon and thinks he's in trouble by the Man with the Yellow Hat, he rescues a wayward worker who is stuck on Mt. Rushmore and he's the hero..
Sorry if I gave away the ending....
Fly Your Slot !

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

Catcher In The Rye
Industry of Souls - Martin Booth
Into the Wild - John Krakauer
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged verison) - Dumas
The Tesseract - Alex Garland
Blind Man's Bluff - Sherry Sontag

Ha ha ha......I had to read almost every one of those in middle school...geez....my list could be the same as yours since it's been about that long since I've read a book.
I read mostly school textbooks and magazines.
That last book I read, and it doubles as one of my favorites is "The Celestine Prophecy."....I LOVE and try to live by it.
A book I read in 5th grade is still one of my favorites, "A Wrinkle in Time."
My last favorite book would have to be "Brave New World."....Scary, that one's not far from becoming reality.
The last five things I've read would have to be:
Time magazine (I subscribe)
Fortune magazine
New York Times
Sociological Theory
Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
A lot of books posted on the lists, I would love to read.....hopefully, after I graduate I'll have more time and might be able to begin to experience what it's like to read for fun.
Much love and blue skies,
Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/

[Haeloth 0]

Favorites:
Bravo 2 Zero (Andy McNab)
Stalingrad (Anthony Beevor)
Ultimate Hitchhikers guide (Douglas Adams)
The Dilbert Future (Scott Adams)
Gods Debris (Scott Adams)
Just finished:
Starship Titanica (Terry Jones)
Reading now:
Guns germs and steel (Jared Diamond)
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[ChromeBoy 0]

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"The Celestine Prophecy."....

I have every book autographed by James Redfield. I attended one of his lectures in Atlanta.

[Jumperpaula 0]

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My last favorite book would have to be "Brave New World."....Scary, that one's not far from becoming reality.

Intense. Check out "Doors of Perception" also by Huxley
Fly Your Slot !

[NathanL100 0]

David Brin is another one of my favorites. I liked the Uplift novels and The Practice Effect too.
Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.

[PLFXpert 0]

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Intense. Check out "Doors of Perception" also by Huxley

Jumperpaula....yea, "Brave New World" was one of the few required readings I actually enjoyed in high school.
ChromeBoy~~So you must love the prophecies as much as I did! I gave a copy of "Celestine Prophecy" to my AFF instructor after I graduated (he let me graduate after 5 levels so I gave it to him as a thank you gift.) He said it was the best book he's ever read and has changed his life. A hippie friend of mine gave it to me, I read it in two days, and then passed it to a friend of mine and bought my own copy. It's wonderful. I love that it doesn't go against any religion but ties EVERYTHING together into one big existence.
Much love and blue skies,
Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/

[GrumpySmurf 0]

5 Favorites::
1) Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Levy - Machiavelli and of course it wouldn't be complete with the Prince as well.
2) Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo
3) Neuromancer - William Gibson
4) Gorin No Sho - Miyamoto Musashi and defacto companion, the First of the 7 Chinese Military Classics, Sun Tzu's Art of War.
5) O Alquimista - Paulo Coelho - There is an English version, quite a cute fable about following your dreams and fulfilling your destiny.
Current -
1) The Rommel Papers - B.Liddell-Hart - a collection of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's memoirs and letters.
2) Stuff that is far too painful to describe - Lucent's T8100/8102/8105 and Agere's T8110 chip Data Path Routing spec's and of course the good ol' ITU-T Q.703 SS7 Layer 2 Spec.

[skip 0]

The Gypsy Curse – Harry Crews
Anything else by – Harry Crews
Imajica – Clive Barker
The Electric Coolaide Acid Test – Tom Wolf
East of Eden – Steinbeck
Very hard question.
.:skip

[skip 0]

Oh yeah recently:
Citrix MetaFrame XP: Advance Technical Design Guide
Programming with Visual Basic 6.0
Psychology: Myers in Modules
Biology: Seventh Edition
The Skydiver’s Survival Guide: Emerson and Antebi
And
Recipes to Remember: Written by my own very Mother… It’s pretty cool to have a cook book full of the food you were raised on
.:skip

[MarkF 0]

I come from a family of HARD CORE bookworms which means that I'll read almost anything. There has to be a line drawn somewhere and Mills and Boon is most certainly on the other side of it.
5 books...hmmmmm... I give up, how about 5 authors....nah....bugger it here's a list of standouts.
Terry Pratchett. The Discworld series is an all-time standout. Plagarism at it's best, you can't tell me that Wyrd Sisters isn't MacBeth and that The Patrician isn't Lee Quan Yew (Singapore)...:-)
Robert Rankin. Really strange hilarious stuff. The Book of Ultimate Truths is a must, as is Nostradamus Ate My Hamster.
Tom Sharpe. The Throwback had me crying with laughter on the train on the way home from work one arvo. I kid you not - I was getting some _strange_ looks..:-) ("........the golfer with the now terminal slice.....") . I've read 'em all and they're all brilliant.
Just about any science fiction. Stanislaw Lem is about the only one I just can't deal with. Standouts...
E. E. Doc Smiths' Lensman series. Bunches of interesting ideas.
Anything by Niven and / or Pournelle.
Clarke ? I've read most of his stuff but.......I dunno, not riveting. Good ideas though.
I've got boxes of SF, some good, some absolute crap but mostly ho-hum.
The Emporers New Mind by Roger Penrose is a _heavy_ read but worth the effort.
The Worst Journey in the World by Appsley Cherry-Garrard. For my money the best record of the last, lethal, Scott led disaster trip to the South Pole.
Anything by Ranuph Fiennes. Widely regard as the last real polar explorer along with his off-sider Mike Stroud. Mind Over Matter is a standout.
Anything about Oz. explorers. They were for the most part such a mob of fuckwits. Sturt taking off into the desert with a boat in the middle of summer... Burke and Wills...at least the navigation was good. Expedition leadership was rooted though. And that's just two of 'em.
At the moment.... Us Mob by Mudrooroo. It's a sort of intro to indigenous Oz.
And (at last they all cry) Robert Jordans WOT series and most Janny Wurts / Raymond E. Fiest stuff.
The first skydiving related thing I read was The Falcons Disciples Parchutings Unforgetable Jumps by Howard Gregory
There, that orta do it.
Ooroo
Mark F...
Getting DANGEROUSLY close to getting off newbie status....damn

[ChromeBoy 0]

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ChromeBoy~~So you must love the prophecies as much as I did! I gave a copy of "Celestine Prophecy" to my AFF instructor after I graduated (he let me graduate after 5 levels so I gave it to him as a thank you gift.) He said it was the best book he's ever read and has changed his life. A hippie friend of mine gave it to me, I read it in two days, and then passed it to a friend of mine and bought my own copy. It's wonderful. I love that it doesn't go against any religion but ties EVERYTHING together into one big existence.

I am like you PLF, I bought an additional copy of the book, signed it, and gave it to a friend who was to read it, sign it, etc. I have no idea where it is now but I wrote by my name that if someone reads it a doesn't have anyone to send it to they should e-mail me and I will ship it back to me so I can give it to someone else.
Hold the Vision...Looking forward to the next Insight.

[Zennie 0]

Heh, lessee top 5...
1. The Stand, Stephen King
2. LOTR, JRR Tolkein
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
4. The World's Religions, Huston Smith
5. The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine
Actually, I just finished The Age of Reason. Very powerful, but not for everyone.
I'm currently reading The Tao of Zen. Very good read as well. I have about another 10 books backlogged on my "To Read" list.
"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[Michele 1]

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List your top 5 or so all time favorite books, the book you most recently finished and what you're reading now...

Top 5:
Dune series
The Stand, Stephen King
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat
Madelaine L'Engles' A Wrinkle in Time series (Meg rawks!)
Book(s) Most recently Finished (read since the beginning of February)
Why They Kill
Sexual Homicides: Patterns and Motives
The Stand
Bag of Bones
Currently reading
Executive Orders (Tom Clancy)
IT (Stephen King)
A Return to Love and A Woman's Worth
I could go on - depending on my mood, I have different and most favorite books. My favorite to read to my nephew just before bed is "Where the Sidewalk Ends", for example.....
Ciels and Pinks-
Michele
If you really want to, you can seize the day; if you really want to, you can fly away...
~enya~

[PLFXpert 0]

Chromeboy~~That's a good idea; signing it. It has been passed along but I didn't sign it and neither did my friend who gave it to me. Perhaps I'll have to start a new one.
It's amazing after reading it the things around you that you notice, like coincidences (there's no such thing.) I just really love that every existence in this world is tied together and every religion, theory, ect. is correct in a sense. It'd really be beautiful if all the world were to read that book....maybe world peace wouldn't be so far-fetched after that.
It's been a year and a half and my old AFF instructor still tells me it's the best *tip* he ever received, even though another student he had at the same time as me gave him a $200 tip. I thought of it because of the things he would say to me when he was teaching me....it kept reminding me of the book which I knew was no coincidence and I needed to give him a copy. I kept fininshing everything I was supposed to do on my level early and so I'd just go ahead and do the sequence for the next level which I thought was just going to practice for me but after I did that twice, he said he really didn't see the point in me spending the money for the last two levels and graduated me. I was stoked because that left me some money to buy some gear. I knew I was supposed to tip but when that other girl gave him $200, I felt pretty bad. It makes me feel so good that that book has made a difference in his life. Money isn't everything, which is a good thing because most skydivers don't have any. Ha ha ha!
Much love and blue skies,
Carrie http://www.geocities.com/skydivegrl20/

[Donna 0]

I love to read and I have so many favorites it's hard to name them. Stephen King is my favorite and I just got his latest release, a book of short stories called "Everything's Eventual", yesterday and I'm already buried in it. I've read all his previous books except The Dark Tower Series. The short story "The Long Walk" was one of my favorites of his. Moving beyong King, "The Bridges of Madison County" was one of my most favorites. I love Mauve Binchy books... and Nicholas Sparks... and Sandra Brown... and John Grisham.... and Barbara Delinsky... The Harry Potter Books. Yah. I know. Deep reader here. I also love true medical drama and adventure stories. And "Where The Red Fern Grows" was my all time favorite as a kid and I read it to my kids when they were younger and they loved it, too. And of course I love Skydiving books. The Endless Fall, Skydivers with their Pants on Fire, The Skydiver's Handbook, Double Malfunction, Skydiving in Eight Days. Let us know how Sky Blues is Lisa and The skydiver's Survival Guide, Skip. I also plan on getting "Mental Training for Skydiving and Life" soon.
Well off to read! Great idea for a thread, Lisa! I have a $50 certificate for B&N and now I have new ideas to look for!
Blue Skies,
D

[skycat 0]

Favorite Books:
Anything written by Tami Hoag
The 2 Laura Zigman books, Animal Husbandry and Dating Big Bird
See How they Run, James Patterson
"The Cronicals of Narnia" (haven't read them in years, but I loved them when I was younger) by C.S. Lewis
Currently Reading:
The Proffessor and the MadMan
DNS and Bind by O'Rielly
Bone Appetit! (Trying to make homemade dog treats)
Whatever parachute manuals or rigging books Derek has laying around his place when I'm bored and he is tinkering.

[Donna 0]

I have an autographed copy of Stephen King's "IT". My husband and I both started reading a paperback copy of it around the same time. On night we both wanted to read it and were arguing. I was quite a bit further ahead so we ripped the book in half at that point and both got to read. Months later I wrote to King to ask him if he had experienced a child dying because it comes up in his books and when I saw him on a talk show and he was asked what was the scariest thing he could think of he replied that it was the death of a child. It turns out he hadn't experienced it but he thought it was funny about what happened to the book so he sent a signed hard cover copy of "IT" for us. "IT" was good but not as good as "The Stand" especially the uncut version. Sometimes I think his books end a little weak but I love his character developments.
Blue Skies,
D