Official PPOT Book Recommendation thread (fiction/literature)

[Christien]

Thanks to jyl's suggestion in another thread, let's hear your recommendations. I'm always interested in hearing about what other people are reading.

My thread, my rules:
1. fiction/literature: NO political books - by that I mean no "why liberals suck/why conservatives are jerks" stuff. Doesn't mean it can't be a political thriller, but let's stick to fiction here.

That's it for rules.

I'll start:

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

A friend of my wife's passed this book on to her for their bookclub. I was, erm, using the facilities one day and wanted something to read, so I picked this up and didn't put it down. The first page was one of the most beautifully written pieces of prose I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

The book is somewhat of an hommage to New York City and its people. It jumps around time frames from late 19th/early 20th century to 1995-1999 and can be confusing but that's very deliberate and part of its mystique. The city is a full-blown character in the book, not in a literal sense but in the sense that it couldn't possibly take place in any other city. While it doesn't pretend to hide the underbelly of the city, (in fact it rejoices in it) it really romanticizes everything that's magical and unique about NYC.

The characters are all very in-depth and the reader truly gets drawn into their lives, which for me is the single most important aspect to any book. I looked forward to reading it in the way you look forward to seeing and spending time with good friends.

Definitely one of the best books I've ever read - in my top 3. (my other 2 would be the Shipping News by Annie Proulx and Hemmingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls)

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Currently on my night stand.

[FastCarFan]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Currently on my night stand.

A little Porsche connection story related to Calvin & Hobbs...In 2001, at my first DE at Nelson Ledges, I was parked next to a nice gentleman who happened to be an intellectual property attorney. Drove a nice 993.

We had a mutual friend & I later told the friend who I had met. My friend said, "Did he tell you who his son is?". No he didn't. Turns out his son is Bill Watterson, the author of "Calvin & Hobbs". He never mentioned it.

Book recommendation...I highly recommend "The Last Open Road" series by Burt "B.S." Levy. So far he has written 4 in the series: "The Last Open Road"; "Montezuma's Ferrari"; "The Fabulous Trashwagon"; "Toly's Ghost".

They are historical fiction -- you learn about sports car racing as it evolves in the U.S. through the eyes of Buddy Palumbo, a young pump jockey in N.J. They are worth it for the racing history alone, but they are highly entertaining -- you will find yourself laughing out loud.

A great read. Can't wait for the next book....

[berettafan]

bit low-brow for this crowd but pretty much anything written by M. Chrichton is worth the time. Jurassic Park was WAAAY better than the movie (as is often the case) and same goes for Congo.

[Christien]

I wouldn't say Crichton is low-brow - it may not be classified as literature, but it has its time and place and is certainly much better researched and written than say Grisham or Steven King. I love pulp fiction for killing time: airports, long train rides, etc. Cricton's best, IMO, is Rising Sun - a really good whodunit.

[berettafan]

To me he's the Clancy of sci-fi. Love his stuff.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by FastCarFan

Book recommendation...I highly recommend "The Last Open Road" series by Burt "B.S." Levy. So far he has written 4 in the series: "The Last Open Road"; "Montezuma's Ferrari"; "The Fabulous Trashwagon"; "Toly's Ghost".

They are historical fiction -- you learn about sports car racing as it evolves in the U.S. through the eyes of Buddy Palumbo, a young pump jockey in N.J. They are worth it for the racing history alone, but they are highly entertaining -- you will find yourself laughing out loud.

A great read. Can't wait for the next book....

Agreed. Great reads for sportscar fans. So far, I'm only on Montezuma's Ferrari. I started with The Last Open Road when I stayed at the Racebrook Lodge at Lime Rock. I'd borrow it from their little library, and read a chunk every time I went back to stay another weekend. We've since moved from the East Coast, so no more visits to the Berkshires. I finally had to go buy these for myself, and it's been well worth it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Reading "Atlas Shrugged" right now. Pretty good.

I'm also a fan of anything by Milan Kundera or Salman Rushdie.

"Godel Escher Bach" (Douglas Hoffstader) is pretty fun reading too.

[Jim Sims]

A fiction suggestion from my library:

"The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara

[Christien]

Originally Posted by Christien

1. fiction/literature: NO political books - by that I mean no "why liberals suck/why conservatives are jerks" stuff. Doesn't mean it can't be a political thriller, but let's stick to fiction here.

That's it for rules.

I made that rule to avoid this thread degenerating into yet another left vs right mudsling fest, but you get a free pass because your awesome tranny rebuild articles helped get me through my rebuild

[red-beard]

Sun-Tzu - The Art of War

I'm re-reading it now

[onlycafe]

i really enjoyed this.
oops......non-fiction. sorry.

ok, anything by dash hammett or raymond chandler. add conan doyle and mark twain too.
that should keep anyone busy

[Jim Sims]

Okay, I'm back.

I find political books (from all across the political spectrum) generally worthless and lacking substance.

Below are some recent non-fiction suggestions from my library; I find non-fiction infinitely more interesting than most novels - the real stories are much better.

"Enriching the Earth, Frtiz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production," by Vaclav Smil

"Ice Bound, A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole", by Dr. Jerri Nielsen with Maryanne Vollers.

"Mirage, Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt", by Nina Burleigh.

"The Battle of Salamis, The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece - and Western Civilization", by Barry Strauss.

"the not so big life, making room for what really matters", by Sarah Susanka.

"Misquoting Jesus, The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why", by Bart Ehrman.

"A World Lit Only by Fire, The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance", by William Manchester.

And this weekend while taking breaks from learning my 7th CAD software package, Solidworks (I started with ANVIL 1000 in 1981 running on a VAX), I'm reading "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Jim Sims

"A World Lit Only by Fire, The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance", by William Manchester.

Man, I couldn't get through this one. It was such a great idea, but so disjointed and incoherent. His series on Churchill makes this book look like it came from a completely different author.

[Jim Sims]

"but so disjointed and incoherent."

True but I "chalked that up" to the breadth of time and topics and personalities he was trying to cover. Probably too ambitious for a single book. The text about Magellan's Flota losing a day is a classic bit of history though - the undeniable proof that the earth was turning eastward at a 1000 miles per hour.

[Rikao4]

few weeks back a few fellow Pelican's where going thru a tough time with their fourlegged kids . I hope this tail made it easier and made you smile during difficult times.

The Art of Racing in the Rain / Garth Stein
the world seen thru a Dogs eyes..
folks it's not War and Peace..it's a very good read, if it doesn't touch you..
you need a new heart.

Rika

[onewhippedpuppy]

Several I enjoyed are "The Millionaire Next Door" and "The Millionaire Mind". Both have a lot of good lessons regarding investing, saving, debt, and financial independence. Based on surveys of high net worth individuals, so it's not someone's opinion as to how you should live your life.

[Porsche_monkey]

Lawrence Saunders - Tenth Commandment

[pookie]

For just entertainment W.E.B. Griffin- Badge of Honor series. One of the main characters goes from driving a VW bug to different Porsches. What's not to like?

My current read (a recommendation) from this board is Brock Yates, Cannonball. I wasn't even a twinkle when the Cannonball's happened, all I remember was the movie. I can see how it would have given car lovers a sleepless night though.

I'm following this thread to see what I should read next.

[id10t]

I really enjoyed "My Side of the Mountain" as a kid, and still think of it. Maybe I should get another copy... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain

Cory Docktrow's books are all good,a nd available free online. I really enjoyed "Little Brother" - http://craphound.com/littlebrother/

More free online - Lights Out - http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/lightsout1-10.pdf and http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/lightsout11-20.pdf

And somewhat political, but not really - "Battle of Jakes" - http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/fiction/battleofjakes.pdf