got the idea from the "what's in your CD player thread," figured it'll be a good way to get some book reviews and new ideas for reading matter.
anyway, here goes...

"Utopia" - by Thomas Moore
Actually, I just finished it and reading "The Life of Sir Thomas Moore" by William Roper (Moore's son in law). It's actually pretty boring. Utopia was a pretty interesting read. I've wanted to read it for a long time, just never got to it. amazing how progressive Moore was for his time (1500's), although it's hard to tell from the book whether he's actually advocating those Utopian ideas expressed by Hoytholday, since the book is written in the form of a dialogue - probably to protect himself for expressing those radical ideas.
bottom line - not exactly a great read, but is a must-read because of its later impacts on the intellectual history of Europe.

oops, sorry - didn't realize I posted this in the Surfing forum. hopefully a mod will help me out and move it to the NSR.
thanks.

Just started Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver - Baroque Cycle Volume 1. It'll be a long journey, but I'm already sucked in.

Tried to read A Confederacy of Dunces but found Ignatius too disgusting to put up with.
Maybe I'll try again some other time.

Just finished Tim Dorsey's Hammerhead Ranch Motel, it was fun. Everyone in Florida is a sleazebag.
Also working on Dylans Chronicles.




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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

I tried Confederacy of Dunces twice and just could not finish it. Ignatius reminded me too much of my brother in law.

Tim Dorsey's books are hysterical - every Florida resident should be required to read them.

Right now I'm reading Fan Tan. It was written as a collaboration between Marlon Brando and a screenwriter friend of his and sat in a drawer for a long time before being released recently. I was skepitcal but read some really good reviews and decided to give it a shot. I'm about halfway through and am really enjoying it. Its definitely light reading but its a good adventure story.

On the other hand, I want to steer people clear of Tony Garcia's line of surf related novels. You may have heard of them (Ollie's Point, Tracks of the Tiger) as they have been mentioned in various surf publications and actually got some ok reviews. Let me be honest about these books - they are positively awful. I hate to put them down as the guy is just trying to make a living writing novels about what he loves (something I've daydreamed about myself) but he's just not a writer. Sorry about that but its true.

definitely give Confederacy of Dunces another try. I finished it about a month ago. Ignatious is definitely a disgusting fellow, but I just love the way he talks and thinks - it's like a breath of fresh air. and his scheme to bring about world peace by infiltrating the world's militaries with gays just cracked me up.

WG, Loved that Hammerhead book! Try Aloha, Mr. Lucky by Hirschfeld... another one similar in style.


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/

Spinoza - Ethics, for my philosophy class. unbelievably difficult reading, written in geometrical order.

The Laws of Change, I Ching and the Philosophy of Life by Jack M. Balkin, for my own interests.

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I wanted seltzer! not salsa!

yeah Spinoza is incredibly difficult - especially if you don't have the benefit of a philosophy professor helping you through it.

what are Tim Dorsey's FL books about? fiction or non-fiction? FL history?

New surfer!

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It's not how big the wave is! It's how you surf it!

Primus sucks!
PLayalinda sucks!!!!

GO BRONCOS!!

The #1 cause of accidental death 4 yrs and younger is drowning!! 407-855-SAFE!!! infantswim.com

Yes, Dorsey is all about Florida history.....and one of Florida's finest sons,
Mr. Serge A. Storms.

I've learned a lot from Serge, he's my idol.

If your a Floridian, Dorsey and Hiaasen are a must!!!!



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www.timebaughdesigns.com

Edited: 09/29/2005 at 06:42 AM by Timinator

Just started reading Robinson Caruso.

Just finnished "On Bull$hit" - mildly insightful

Amazing read!

Just started reading Jerry Seinfeld's "Seinlanguage" ...I guess I look at life
kind of like Jerry, and not take life too seriously! ...lol

My Smithsonian subscription

The Wounded Generation: America after Vietnam

aside from the monthly maxim's i'm in the middle of John Grisham's The Broker.

I really want to read "The Five People You Meet In Heaven"

stef

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Surf naked. It brings out the color in your cheeks.

Don't hate me because I'm a Dolphins fan.

Just some light trash...Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.

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Keep your yap shut and let your surfing do the talking, Everything else will take care of itself.

MAHALO!

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

I've never read them before, and I want to finish the books before I watch the movies.

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The internet is serious business.

"Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman.

A collection of pop culture essays. While sometimes overanalytical and over-intellectual, the viewpoints are very funny, and eye-opening, but not in a life changing manner. Good read for those who are 25-35 years old.

"Waves and Beaches" I forget the author. And I'm still waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

This book, about the science of...waves and beaches, was reccommended to my by a poster on the Dade Country Surf website. It's been called a "must read" for any surfer.

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Goin' where the climate suits my clothes

The Great Shark Hunt
Hunter S Thompson

Re reading it for about the 20th time. Mostly the articles from the McGovern campaign to Nixon resignation.

Conspiracy of Fools. It's a difficult read but worth the effort. It's about the Enron scandal and how badly those guys screwed the investors and how they did it.

Way, way, WAY too many books. A sampling:

Precious Essence - the autobiography of the first Terchen Barway Dorje tulku.
The Christian Conspiracy, by Dr. L. David Moore.
Nourishing Destiny, by Lonny Jarrett
The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, by Lonny Jarrett
Mountain Dharma, by Karma Chakme (as taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche)
The Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight, by Thom Hartmann
Medicinemaker, by Hank Wesselman
Dora Lives, by drew Kampion and Craig Stecyk III
Ganges Mahamudra, by Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche




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"We do not possess an 'ego'. We are possessed by the idea of one." -Wei Wu Wei

When Good Negroes Do Bad Things - by Barbara Bush

"Libertarianism in One Lesson"

i'm reading "ruminations" if any of you are a fan of hip hop it is by krs-one and talks about urban inspirational metaphysics. you realize in the book that yes your ideas that krs-one might be crazy are true and he is indeed crazy but it is definitely a good read so far. I want to read "in cold blood" by truman capote after seeing the movie the book looks awesome.

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r u gonna do it; i'm not sure if i'm gonna do it but i'm gonna try it.

Rereading Trout Fishing In America by Richard Brautigan.

Just finished A Salty Piece of Land, by J buffet

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So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

Just finished Kelly Slater's book, good read especially the 1st 1/2 about the "old" Florida Cocoa Beach area, now I'm reading "Who's Rocking the Boat" by Mark Balmer, a trip with the Apostle Paul to Rome, so far it's excellent



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Romans 1:15-17 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes".

The Great Shark Hunt
Hunter S Thompson

Re reading it for about the 20th time. Mostly the articles from the McGovern campaign to Nixon resignation.

40 Days of Community, by R. Warren

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Proud member of the ACP mafia since 1975

Believing God by Beth Moore

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Romans 1:15-17 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes".

Just finished the new Harry Potter (I know it's a kids book but addictions are addictions) and now I'm on to Michael Crichton's Travels.

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I was right.

Jeep, I'm a third of the way through and it's quite good. If you like travel check out Tristan Jones " The Incredible Voyage", it's the best factual adventure book I've ever read, in fact after reading it I went and bought his whole series.

-------------------------
I was right.

Slamm - check out the Eternity thread over on the NSR. curious as to what your thoughts are on the subject.

Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman

Dude had spirit

a very large spirit indeed - large enough to encompass all things - living and otherwise.

monkey wrench gang by edward abbey

You are lucky, Cole - I have the new one, but Peter won't let me read it till I finish my school reading .

I'm reading some visual rhetoric stuff (pretty good, sounds boring but it's actually talking about the rhetoical choices behind ads and other commercial visuals) and some Human Factors stuff (Boooring - lots of physnometry, which is the measurements of all things human, like the burning question - how long is the average human arm?) as well as some Information Literacy stuff (even more boooring). Honestly, I am beginning to wonder why I'm doing this.

But if I'm REAAALLY good this weekend, I get to read about Harry's adventures instead .

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

High Power GaAs FET Amplifiers, Walker.

Not my idea of pleasure reading, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Deception Point by Dan Brown. It's taking a little while to get through it cause it's not the best book I've read, but not too bad either. I'm also reading this skateboarding history book called Scarred for Life. I actually like that one quite a bit for short "in between" reads.
Looking forward to trying to finally get through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance next.

Thanks for all the suggestions....nice topic, now I can research a couple of these and see what will come next!

kumon- I couldn't trudge through the bad writing of monkey wrench though I appreciated many of the sentiments.

Currently reading: Gurcharan Das's ''India Unbound''
Pretty interesting history of India's economic policy and why there economy didn't take off like many of the east asian countries.

Cole, do you have any more info on Michael Crichton's Travels? how far are you into it?
I love travel books, that's why I'm asking.
Thanks.

Red Storm Rising- Tom Clancy


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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind
Dr. Suess

Faith, form and time by Kurt Wise. Want to get the BS book.

Red Storm was my favorite Clancy.
Straight forward old fashioned good guys vs bad guys techno war.

-------------------------
"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

NSR by rusty truck, forward by Happy digits

Pay attention and you might learn something.

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Lol Cheater never read a book in his life. I'd put money on him never reading a comic book either. His grammar is so poor, I doubt he read a warning label on an OTC bottle.

Thanks Cole. I love travel/adventure books.

I just started Brain Droppings by George Carlin on the recommendation of a friend. really easy read, and the guy is hilarious - very common sense in some things and nonsensical in others. I love his railings on sports and all the teary-eyed human interest stories that ESPN has been running ever since Disney took over – glad I’m not the only one fed up!!!

He takes on NASA too - and in light of Griffin's recent statements about the Shuttle, they seem almost prophetic:
"You know something I could really do without? The Space Shuttle. Why don't these people go out and get real jobs? It's the same $hit over and over. They get delayed, they blast off, they get into orbit, something breaks, they fix it, the President says hello, Mission Control wakes them up with a song no one has listened to in twenty years, the science experiment paced on board by the third-graders of Frog Balls, Tennessee, is a big success, and blah blah blah. It's time to end this $hit. Besides, it's irresponsible. The last thing we should be doing is sending our grotesquely distorted DNA out into space."

it's funny, but I guess he didn't anticipate Columbia. his view demonstrates just how routine the Space Shuttle had made space travel (at least in most people's minds) - that's why Columbia was such a tragedy and such a surprise to most Americans I guess - especially the landing part.

I picked up Lamb in the airport over the weekend. Also just finished Life of Pi and Angels and Demons. Lamb is a pretty funny leisure read. It is an exploration of the life of Jesus as told be his childhood friend Levi who is called Biff.



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If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Got the kids interested in reading the Tolkien Trilogy after they saw the movies. Figured I would try reading "The Silmarillion." If you need something to help you go to sleep, this is the one.

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“Are you smarter than a half term governor?"

Just finished Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw, and started Candida by the same author yesterday. not as funny as I anticipated Shaw from some of his well-known quips. it's alright though, just not a big fan of reading drama.

a passage from Shaw's Candida

"I go about in search of love; and find it in unmeasured stores in the bosoms of others. But when I try to ask for it, this horrible shyness strangles me; and I stand dumb, or worse than dumb, saying meaningless things - foolish lies. And I see the affection I am longing for given to dogs and cats and pet birds, because they come and ask for it. It must be asked for: it is like a ghost: it cannot speak unless it is first spoken to. All the love of the world is longing to speak; only it dare not, because it is shy, shy, shy. That is the world's tragedy."

"Wicked people...have no love: therefore they have no shame. They have the power to ask for love because they don't need it: they have the power to offer it because they have none to give. But we, who have love, and long to mingle it with the love of others: we cannot utter a word."

hey jeep grill, thanks for the link. I am currently reading "in search of captain zero."

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If you want to hit a home run, you have to swing the bat.

I was just given copies of Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" and Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael" as birthday presents.
Hope to start reading one of them tonight.

-------------------------
"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Thanks 0iiii0, I think I'll go check that one out at my library. I like that passage.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/

Lurker turned poster....

Reading "My Friend Leonard" by James Frey and just re-read "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk.

From Man and Superman by Shaw - an interesting perspective of the artist:

"The true artist will let his wife starve, his children go barefoot, his mother drudge for his living at seventy, sooner that work at anything but his art. To women he is half vivisector, half vampire. He gets into intimate relations with them to study them, to strip the mask of convention from them, to surprise their inmost secrets, knowing that they have the power to rouse his deepest creative energies, to rescue him from his cold reason, to make him see visions and dream dreams, to inspire him as he calls it. He persuades women that they may do this for their own purpose whilst he really means them to do it for his. He steals the mother's milk and blackens it to make printer's ink to scoff at her and glorify ideal women with. He pretends to spare her the pangs of child-bearing so that he may have for himself the tenderness and fostering that belong of right to her children. Since marriage began, the great artist has been known as a bad husband. But he is worse: he is a child-robber, a blood-sucker, a hypocrite and a cheat. Perish the race and wither a thousand women if only the sacrifice of them enable him to act Hamlet better, to paint a finer picture, to write a deeper poem, a greater play, a profounder philosophy! For mark you, Tavy, the artist's work is to show us ourselves as we really are. Our minds are nothing but this knowledge of ourselves; and he who adds a jot to such knowledge creates new mind as surely as any woman creates new men. In the rage of that creation he is as ruthless as the woman, as dangerous to her as she to him, and as horribly fascinating. Of all the human struggles, there is none so treacherous and remorseless as the struggle between the artist man and the mother woman."

The End of the Road - by Tom Bodett (of Motel 6 fame)

a collection of stories of some really unique individuals in a small Alaskan town. funny how all the characters of a typical American town are so well represented. fairly short at about 250 pages and an easy read.

Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson

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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind
Dr. Suess

Left Behind. I've heard a lot of praise for these books, just hope I don't get too hooked.

Thought I'd bring this thread back up to see the latest good read....

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/

The Watchmen

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The cops never think it’s as funny as you do.

WHat's your favorite cookbook, Kombona?

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/

The Peter Principle by Dr. Laurence J. Peter. Have you been promoted to your level of incompetence?

I recently finished the Chronicles of Narnia series. Read it in 1 week sitting next to my computer while in training class @ my new job. Definitely a kids series. Had to scout it for the little ones.
Yesterday I finished the DaVinci Code, fun read. see the other thread.
I have to get to the bookstore or library. The only thing in my house I haven't read is a Stephen King/Peter Stroub novel, The Black House. I don't think I'll bother...

Every night, I go back and forth between "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?" Both are literary classics of our time. They can really shake your religious and philosophical beliefs to the core.

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Our position is tax cuts for the middle class. Theirs is tax cuts for millionaires.

I do not have any cookbooks.

Well Actually the Joy of Cooking is good because it covers all of the basics.

There is a cool magazine called Cooking Light. My Mom subscribes to it and she gives me the old issues. They have lots of really good recipes for all types of food.

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The cops never think it’s as funny as you do.

On the Road by Karouak (sp?)

Fire by Sebastian Junger

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw

I've read Blue Latitudes too - great read. I read it right after reading a book about Cook (not sure what the name was), so it was nice to have modern day perspective of what he saw.

Deception Point- Dan Brown...

and a Contamination Assessment Report

-------------------------
Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

I am currently reading “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawkings. Basically talking about the origins of the universe, space/time, general theory of relativity. He does a pretty decent job of dumbing it down, but it is still pretty challenging. Really, really interesting, but slow going. I read two pages then have to pause for 20 minutes to try to wrap my mind around what I have just read.

Also, Cadillac Desert – The American West and its Disappearing Water. Very interesting read on why we have huge cities in the middle of the freaking desert (Las Vegas, LA) and where they have “borrowed” all their water from. Also talks about the absolutely useless (in a C/B sense) gigantic dams that are built all over the American West. If you want to be enraged by learning about gigantic corporate farm subsidies and why you pay a thousand times as much for water as farmers do, check it out.

Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut - pretty good book - been at it for a while now, just not enough time to read with all the sports on TV and holiday crazyness. kind of reminds me of Catch-22 a little. the RAMJAC corporation sounds a like Milo's M&M Enterprises.

Evolution: Triumph of an idea -Carl Zimmer

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

The Tatoo Artist- I'm enjoying it.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

V for Vendetta

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The cops never think it’s as funny as you do.

just finished "skinny dip" by hiaasen. it was the first one of his that i read. entertaining, but i think maybe my expectations were too high?

halfway through "life of pi"--yann martel. this review sums it up: "although the book reverberates w/ echoes from sources as disparate as Robinson Crusoe and Aesop's fables, the work it most strongly recalls is Hemingway's own foray into exitentialist parable, The Old Man and the Sea." NTYBR good stuff, and i think a lot of forumers would enjoy this one.

jean baudrillard: selected writings


-------------------------
Wetness is the essence of beauty--Derek Zoolander

worksux - what the book about? what do you think of it?

It's a modern Orgin of Species type book. Stephen Gould had input to it also. There was a special on PBS some time ago about it.

Very interesting if you are into that type reading, but it can be difficult at some parts. I'm reading about the evolution of eyes and the different functions right now so it's pretty amazing stuff.

-------------------------
Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

life of pi sounds awesome. would have never thought of reading it but for your post. exactly what I had in mind when I started the thread. thanks sumrbabe.

Sunglow, Trout Fishing is an awesome read. Love the story on the Kool Aid junkie.

Just finished Whitman's poem Song of Myself. Transcends decades.

did you celebrate yourself while reading Song of Myself?

That was rude!

I didn't mean it in that way, I swear! just in a general sort of celebratory way.

"The Screwtape Letters" ( ) by C.S. Lewis.

I read it a few years ago, and felt compelled to pick it up again. (The devil made me do it? )
Written in 1942, but still very relevant and amazingly insightful.

Anyone else read it?


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That boy's got somethin' wrong with his medulla oblongata.

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Interesting argument that the environment, not biology, influenced the outcome of the modern world's have's and have not's.

Im enjoying a new magazine on video called "Always Right" by the fine folks at ESM.

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friends dont let friends ride surftechs.

About to delve into the "The Beastie Boys Book' by Mike D and Adam H. One of the most influential bands of my generation, in my opinion. Glad I'm one of the only people in the lab today and nada on the schedule!

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

Picked up a great score last night at Costco....

H.G. Wells-six classics in one very cool bound book:

The Time Machine
The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Invisible Man
The War of the Worlds
The first Men in the Moon
The Food of the Gods

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

A People's History of Florida, 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781442167094

-------------------------
“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Edited: 04/18/2019 at 01:09 PM by Spanky

A Speck in the Sea: A Story of Survival and Rescue BY John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski A true story and harrowing adventure-at-sea memoir recounting the heroic search-and-rescue mission for lost Montauk fisherman John Aldridge.

Currently reading:
-Let My People Go Surfing: The education of a reluctant businessman-Yvon Chouinard

A few of my favorites:
-Wind from the carolinas, Robert Wilder
-A land Remembered, Patrick D. Smith (required reading for floridians)
-The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman
-Investment Biker-Jim Rogers
-Adventure Capitalist-Jim Rogers
-In Search of Captian Zero-Allan Weisbecker
-Blue Latitudes-Tony Horwitz