Summer reading suggestions

by breakfast of champions 10 Replies latest social entertainment

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    A GREAT read for this summer @the beach is:
    The Origin of the Brunists by Robert Coover

    This is one of the best books that no one has ever read or heard of. You will certainly not find it at your local big box bookstore. Check your library or Amazon.
    In short, it's about the origin and evolution of a small apocalyptic cult (sound familiar?)
    Why is it important to me? It was the first book that forced me to look at my own beliefs with a critical eye. It's also a great read!
    Enjoy!

    Any and all other suggestions for summer reading welcome....

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    The Life of Pi is awesome.

    C.S. Lewis, Narnia Chronicles are fun. The Screwtape Letters are also fun.

    Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

    A collection of short stories from the New Yorker.

    Any cartoons from the New Yorker - no one else comes close to this humor.

    Bad historical novels - Pope Joan, Phillipa Gregory. They center on a femalel heroine. the book reflects all thie minute historical research in the period but the stories are lame and the characters are poorly defined.

    The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency -- fun

    Charles Dickens

    Shakespeare's comedies

    Sherlock Holmes

    And if you become sick of light reading, there is always Dostoevsky lurking around.

    Ernest Hemmingway-The Old Man and The Sea.

    Fitzgerald.

    Recently, I read Dante's Inferno in English with a heavy annotation explaining things. It was fun. Of course, it wasn't for school, just for pleasure.

    Moby Dick

    All those young adult books for junior high and high school reading. They are excellent.

    Jack London, Call of the Wild and White Fang.

    The Finkler Question- won a major award in England.

    Middlesex

    Wolf Hall, about Cromwell -Henry Tudor.

    The Kite Runner

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    BOTR - Thank you for your suggestions! I will definitely put Life of Pi on my short list.
    I also love the New Yorker and usually flip thru it at the library. I was even thinking of getting a subscription on my iPostatePad...

    ...and I am totally serious guys, Origin of the Brunists is a great one!

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    The Life of Pi was so different from anything I read. It is fantastic, literally.

    Salmon Rushdie also writes fantastical books. A recent one had Florence in the title. Maybe the Magician of Florence.

    I love reading where the manipulation of ordinary English is extraordinary. It is something I have no talent to accomplish. Hemmingway and others blow me away. With age, I am focusing on the author more than the actual story. English can be an amazing language.

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    Authorwise, Vladmir Nabokov amazes me- his writing is virtually superhuman! He writes flawlessly and elegantly in at least Russian, English and French. 'Speak, Memory' is an absolutely gorgeous quasi-autobiographical piece- yet another good one!

  • FirstLastName
    FirstLastName

    I love to read and I am going to look for that Origin or Brunist - sounds very interesting!

    I am a runner, picked up Born to Run by Christoper McDougall and I was inspired.

    Also, any books by John Krakauer are a great read. If you have to pick one - Under the Banner of Heaven is about the Mormon faith - and have some simularities to JW.

  • MrFreeze
    MrFreeze

    Im currently reading The Blind Side. Movie is based on the book. Ive never seen the movie but the book is absolutely fantastic, especially if you like football.

  • mummatron
    mummatron

    I wish I had more time to read, it's a bit difficult with 2 very young children.

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - this is written from the point of view of a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome and gives a fascinating and accurate insight into the mind of someone with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and how they perceive our very confusing World. As well as being an entertaining story with a good plot, the maths problems add a little something for the intellectual reader.

    The Seven Daughters of Eve by Prof. Bryan Sykes - This is a fascinating account of a genetiscist's work on mitochondrial DNA and how he discovers that the majority of Europeans can be genetically traced to 7 female ancestors.

    A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - A future classic. I'd recommend reading it as the film based on the book isn't anywhere near as good.

    Mustaine: A Life in Metal by Dave Mustaine - The Megadeath and former Metallica thrash metal artist gives a candid auto-biographical account of his years in the music business but covers his early life - the problems with his Dad, persecution as a JW child - giving an insight as to the reasons behind his problems with addictions and becoming a Born-again Christian.

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me - Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

    Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

    American Gods - Neil Gaiman

    The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

    Wokini, A Lakota Guide to Happiness - Billy Mills

    Anything by Joseph Campbell

    Mary Stewart's "Merlin" Trilogy + The Wicked Day

    Pullman's "His Dark Materials" Trilogy

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    FirstLastName-- go for it! If you enjoyed Banner of Heaven I think Brunists is up your alley. Ordering Born to Run from our library system as I speak. I could use some inspiration to start running again.

    MrFreeze-- I hate football! But it seems as if Blind Side's story kind of transcends the game itself. Interesting. Hmmmm...

    Mummatron--- read Curious Incident myself, incredible book, suggested by my sister who has a friend with an autistic child.

    Mad Sweeney--- Yes, Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, another book that changed the way I see the world.

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