"Revolutionary Road" - by Richard Yates is about the best novel I have ever read.

They made a big movie of it last year, but apparently changed the story to one of the "conformist 1950's". This really is the great American post-war novel, and although it is set in 1955 (and written in 1963), it still rings true today.

I deals with common American themes as family, corporate life, suburbia, commuting, drinking too much, cheating and dreams bigger than reality or ability.

Read it and find something you won't like about yourself, your co-workers or the world you inhabit.. As for it's relative lack of popularity (besides the subject matter), is that it worthless to read in High School or college, as you just don't have the life experience to appreciate it.

As for the misbehaving characters - yup - all members of the "greatest generation". Read this and you might forgive the boomers of some of their idiocies..

'The Last Open Road' and 'Montezuma's Ferrari' by Burt Levy.
Great novels about the early '50's sports car racing as seen through the eyes of a 18yr old mechanic. There are couple of more books in this series, but I have not read them yet.

Craig

If you don't like Old Boys, I recommend you read a book you'll need that I just finished: Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales.

"Who Lives
Who Dies
and Why"

All the best,

Paul

The Dragon at the Edge of the World.
Or, for one that I didn't write, Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen

Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt.

Interesting look at why we drive the way we do.

Just ordered it, Chas, your work. Better be good;)

I agree
 

Agree completely! I went to high school with Bryson and know who the real characters are in Thunderbolt. Water fot Elephants great and The Art of Racing in the Rain was as acurate a description of race driving I've read.
Add Atlas Shrugged to the list too....

books
 

anything by Jon Krakauer, "Into thin air" " Under the Banner of Heaven" and "Into the Wild". The latter almost too sad to enjoy. "Where men Win Glory" about Pat Tillman in Afghanistan I have but haven't read yet. I like his style and find his books easy to read. I think he only has these four books published, I could be wrong.

Recently finished The forgotten soldier, again.
It tells the story of Guy Sajer, a French teenager who joins the German Wehrmacht and is sent to the eastern front during WW2. The story is one of the most amazing I have ever read.

"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". A story involving precocious child detective Flavia de Luce.

"Lamb". A humorous account of Christ's life as a child.

Tom Clancy's "Hunt For Red October," finished last week. I am now reading "Patriot Games."

i just finished 'on stranger tides' by tim powers. good, fun read.

Scratch Beginnings

The first volume of 3...Lees Lieutenants...published in the early 40's.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Not a lite happy read, but very powerful.

To each their own. I tried to read A Game of Thrones last year, and it bored me to tears. I tried to give it a chance, and kept reading hoping it would get better, but finally gave up about 300 pages in.

The most recent book I've recommended to someone is Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell. It's about designing software user interfaces so probably not something most of you are interested in.

The last novel I recommended to someone was The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

"Easy Company Soldier" By Sgt. Donald Malarkey

A great read...written by a kindly old gent who hangs out near the snooker table @ The Cue Ball, Salem, Oregon. He's easy to spot...he's the toughest S.O.B. in the place. ;)

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein

This is a must read for everyone on the list. It is about a mech's life through the eyes of his dog Enzo.

I dont read modern fiction at all but prefer military and historical subjects. I Actually read War and Peace, Rise and Fall of the Third Riech followed by Les Miserables a few years ago when I was flying all over the country for work.

My last two books I read are below and would recommend them both.

Agent Zigzag- by Ben Macintyre
True account of a British double agent during WW II. Dropping in behind enemy lines and loving every minute of it.

Amazon.com: Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal (9780307353412): Ben Macintyre: Books

Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger:
I read this after All Quiet on the Western Front. Its a spectacular account of WW I through the eyes of a German recruit fighting in the trenches against the Allies.

Amazon.com: Storm of Steel (9781607961895): Ernst Junger: Books