Read any good books lately ?

[srs ghost]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

A bunch of college kids kill one of their friends--they
just have to--and you'll be glad they do by the
time they get around to it.

One warning: the characters get drunk and chain
smoke so often that you'll start to crave whiskey
and cigarettes, regardless of what your normal habits
are.

[HGFB]

yeah but read the golden compass first

It's called Northern Lights in the UK. I wonder why that is.

I'm currently finishing off my re-read of the Mission Earth series by mad as a bucket of soapy frogs L. Ron Hubbard. Up to book 9 of 10 at the moment and loving every minute.

[Istar]

Recently read and recommended:

Eon - Greg Bear
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
Dude, Where's my Country? - Michael Moore

Currently reading:

The Universe in a Nutshell - Stephen Hawking
First Casualty - Phillip Knightley

Next up:

Ringworld's Children - Larry Niven
The Alan Clark Diaries - Alan Clark
The Dark Knight Strikes Back - Frank Miller
Watchmen - Alan Moore

I.

[Ely]

I can't remember It was about some MIT Students who took Vegas for some serious sums of money at the BlackJack Tables. It's a Real Story as well. Can I remember the title or author, no

[Jimmy T. @]

Eon or Blood Music
By Greg Bear

Another vote for Mr Bear from here, simply sublime

One of those authors though, where I wish I'd staggered his work a little more; as, apart from some of the older harder to get hold of novellas, I'm all done with him now

Banks, Niven and Harrison all worth a look too; if you're into your Sci-Fi of course.

I'm tending to read books in tandem now; a novel of some description, along with something factual/biographical at the same time. At the moment I'm reading Anthony Beevor's books about the second world war battles; I've finished "Stalingrad", and I'm now on "Berlin, The downfall". They make for some grim, yet morbidly fascinating reading.

[IronGiant]

You really should read The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pulman.


:-)

Have read that ta, and the others in the series. Very nice books.

[Nerdsville]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

About halfway through this, initially thought wtf!, but then got into it and really enjoying it now.

Recently read some Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons and Deception Point) and really enjoyed them.

[sty]

I can't remember It was about some MIT Students who took Vegas for some serious sums of money at the BlackJack Tables. It's a Real Story as well. Can I remember the title or author, no

sounds similar to the story of sone students who went to Vegas to take serious sums from the casinos at Roulette, using simple electronices to predict where the ball will stop.

The Newtonian Casino

[fro]

diamond dogs/turquoise days by alastair reynolds. very short, but very good too.

[rowan]

Ta for the suggestions so far.

Bubba (and all) - doesn't have to be a new book. Anything will do as long as you think it's extremely good (I'm currently reading Moonfleet for example).

J Meade Falkner I believe; I loved that book when I was a child, not read it for years.

My favourite children's book is "The Box of Delights" by John Masefield.

Right now I'm reading "The Outsider" by Colin Wilson. It's a serious book and quite a lot of it goes over my head at various levels but I feel it's one of the most important books I've ever read. If you've ever felt 'different' to most other people in life or 'alone' then read this book!

edit: Amazon link here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 15-6210804

I can hardly rate this book highly enough. It's inspiring to know the author was years younger than me when he wrote it.

[Flabio]

If you've not read Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' do so. Best book I've read in many a year.

[f0zz]

Seemingly staid journal of events with some genuine hand to mouth shock moments. Left me with feelings of dark unease. Well worth a read.



Not one of his best, but still a fine, thought-provoking read.

f0zz

[Jac]

I can't remember It was about some MIT Students who took Vegas for some serious sums of money at the BlackJack Tables. It's a Real Story as well. Can I remember the title or author, no

Bringing Down The House by... er... Ben Mezrich. (Thank goodness for Amazon.)

As to why Northern Lights is The Golden Compass and vice versa, Pullman lives in the UK (about 4 miles from here, in fact) and the book is called Northern Lights. It was retitled for the US market partly to fit with the other two books (Subtle Knife/Amber Spyglass) and partly because the publishers seemed to think that US audiences wouldn't know what a book called Northern Lights could be about and wouldn't buy it. Whereas buying a book called The Golden Compass tells them exactly what they're getting. not. This decision brought to you by the same people who thought that Americans couldn't understand Philosopher's Stone (but that Sorceror's Stone makes any more sense).

[Ely]

I can't remember It was about some MIT Students who took Vegas for some serious sums of money at the BlackJack Tables. It's a Real Story as well. Can I remember the title or author, no

Bringing Down The House by... er... Ben Mezrich. (Thank goodness for Amazon.)

That's the kiddie It was a really easy read, had nice quick pace to it, and for me it had that 'can't put it down, just one more chapter' feel

[Zathras]

Eon or Blood Music
By Greg Bear

Another vote for Mr Bear from here, simply sublime

One of those authors though, where I wish I'd staggered his work a little more; as, apart from some of the older harder to get hold of novellas, I'm all done with him now

I'm just reading Greg Bears Darwin's Radio, and have Darwin's Children ready to rock afterwards... Its looking good so far!