Anyone reading good books?

Discussion in 'The Bookshelf' started by .ViciouS., Sep 7, 2006.

  1. hey all, i've noticed that this section rarely ever has any threads about books.. isn't the stoner community getting our read on? c'mon..

    anyways, i've been reading like crazy these past 2 months, probably read more books that i did in my whole life, not including shit from school.

    TOM ROBBINS, he is the man. I've read these books by him:
    Jitterbug Perfume *
    Even Cowgirls get the blues *
    Another Roadside attraction **
    Skinny Legs and All *
    Still Life with Woodpecker

    CHRISTOPHER MOORE, crazy, funny guy. I've read:
    Practical Demonkeeping *
    Island of the Sequined Love Nun
    Fluke, or I know why winged whales sing *
    Lamb, the Gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal **

    HARUKI MURAKAMI, Japanese writer with pretty good sense of style. the 2 books i've read deal a lot with the metaphysical:
    Dance Dance Dance **
    Kafka on the shore

    CHUCK PALAHNIUK, fuckin hilarious. I've only read 1 of his books, but I definitly am going to read more. He is the writer of Fight Club:
    Choke **

    The ones in (**) are must reads, and * are just recommendations. the others doesn't mean there shit, just not as good imo.

    Anyone else read any of these guys, or know some other good books? please post them! i'm always looking for new books
     
  2. I usually read alot.

    Currently, I'm reading 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov. Been meaning to do that for a while.

    I ended up buying 'Word Virus' a collection of excerpts from William S. Burroughs - I read through that all the time, even if it's a book i've already read.

    And also started 'The Informers' By Bret Easton Ellis.

    For Reccomendations. Definately

    Willaim S. Burroughs :

    Naked Lunch
    Junky
    The Soft Machine
    The Nova Express
    The Ticket That Exploded

    Bret Easton Ellis:
    Glamorama (one of the best books i've ever read)
    American Psycho
    Lunar Park

    Stephen King:
    (I've read alot of King, but only a few of his books stuck in my head. They are,)
    Bag of Bones (I heard they were gonna make a movie, but i guess not)
    Rose Madder
    Salem's Lot
     
  3. well i just ordered \t
    Under the Glacier - Halldor Laxness
    Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin A. Abbott

    both ought to be good

    and I'm always rereading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Sogyal Rinpoche
     
  4. I've been reading Monte Roberts books and I 'm loving them.
     
  5. My favorite book of his. Just plain awesome. The movie really sucked though.

    I just finished Louisiana Power and Light by John Dufresne. It was really good. I dont know what Im going to start next.

    In Haunted by Chuck
    Palahniuk they have this really graphic story about mastarbation, but I didnt really enjoy the book.
     
  6. My latest reading material...In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote. So far it's good, very very detailed and descriptive...Also I picked up the latest issue of High Times when I went to Waldenbooks, just bc I can.
     
    • Questions Of Heaven : The Chinese Journeys of an American Buddhist by GRETEL ENRLICH
    • Deception Point by Dan Brown
    • Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps
    • Life After Life by Raymond A. Moody Jr
     
  7. I'm gonna have to look into a lot of these books, most of them I never even heard of them.

    As for stephen king, I never really thought much of him. After i saw the movie dreamcatcher, I stayed away from him haha. Probably a bad judgement though. I'll make sure to check out Salem's Lot.

    anyways, good to see people in GC are keeping our brains active, other than just flooding it with THC.. ha
     
  8. Stephen King is brilliant. You really can't judge his writing by the movies that they make based on his books. The movies are almost always terrible..not sure why (except for Misery, that was badass).

    But right now I'm re-reading Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I love this book.
     
  9. I don't read much fiction allmost never but Stephen King is a good author. I like Douglas Adams books when it comes to light fiction. Movies most of the time suck hard core but I watch one every night , they put me to sleep.
     
  10. I've read all of the Stephen King stuff. Definitely better than the films. The Dark Tower series is one of my favourites, after The Stand and It.
    If you're into King try Imajica by Clive Barker - bloody good read that is, a bit more cerebral than the Hellraiser stuff.

    Another good 'un is Wild Swans: 3 daughters of China - Jung Chang, an absolute cracker if you're into factual/historical stuff.

    My prize for oddball-weirdy-drug induced shit goes to Will Self. Interesting if somewhat baffling at times! lol

    Stuff I'm chugging through at the moment:

    A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
    The Unconsoled - Kazuo Ishiguro
    A Town like Alice - Nevil Shute (I probably read this once every year or so - one of my faves)

    I read probably 3 or 4 books a week. I don't sleep a lot - lol
     
  11. I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.It's a very good read,and seeing as I only got up to the Prisoner of Azkaban when I was younger,I look forward to reading each volume.Highly recommended to those who haven't checked these out,but I'm sure most people have.Nice thread by the way .ViciouS.
     
  12. haha Harry Potter, despite all the stereotypes and such about it, it really is a good series, although I think i stopped at the 4th book. Good reminder for me to read the rest though. It's pretty crazy how Rowlings can imagine such a world of fantasy and describe it so thoroughly as she does, much props to her for that. And thanks, I just thought the GC community could use a good thread for what books to get into.

    godiva, i looked into the books you posted a little, and damn those are some long books. how can you read 3 of them at the same time? haha The unconsoled seems pretty interesting, might give it a chance sometime soon.

    Think i'm gonna go get Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk next since i need a good laugh.

    Anyone read Jack Kerouac/Allen Ginsberg/Albert Camus ? I'm thinking about reading into them soon also.

    I also forgot to mention that I read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, a science fiction novel, which I would also recommend. It's pretty funny and interesting. And just in case anyone was wondering, all the novels I mentioned are fiction and all have humor, which I love. Can't get enough of it..
     
  13. Palahniuk is great, I like the reality of his writing. Choke was good, if u like him. On The Road was spectacular, but I thought Kerouac's other works were crap but hey, if you're into buddhism it's def worth a look...Vonnegut is way too weird for me, crazy science fiction satirist...I'm more of a literary fiction nut...
     
  14. I used to read that many until I had a son. No time for that anymore :rolleyes: *sigh* Now it takes me about a week to get through a 6-7 hundred page novel because I can only read an hour or so a day. Plus I'm horrible at returning books to the library. :eek:
     
  15. I'm crap at libraries too! :eek:

    My Mum and a few of my friends read loads so we can pass stuff along. I buy a lot of books at charity shops (cuz they're cheap and the dosh goes to a good cause) or secondhand bookshops. This works out well as when we've all read them I can exchange them at the secondhand place for more!

    Charity shops are a great place to offload books if you're moving house, they weigh a ton and are a pain in the arse to shift! I remember when I came back to UK from Germany - I had close on 800 books to move - the removal men were not happy bunnies!
     
  16. haha damn, next time you move and don't feel like taking your books, just ship them to me and i'll pay for the shipping :)

    I never even heard of charity shops for books around, otherwise I would buy all my books from them rather then giving my money to corporations. But trading in books for more books sure sounds like a sweet deal to me.

    I just started reading Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore and so far so good. Damn I love this guy, he needs to write more books.
     
  17. Really? I bought this book a while back and suddenly stopped reading fiction - (it's been about a year since i've read any of my usual authors: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc.)

    I thought i made a mistake, but i guess i'll have to read it :) I havent read anything by two authors working together.

    BTW. has anyone read the Frankenstein series from Koontz and the other guy?(i dont remember his name) I was going to read this after Odd Thomas but never got around to buying it.
     
  18. Lots of tokers dont realize how beautiful books are, especially when stoned.

    I recently read a couple of Chuck Palahniuk, he writes twisted stories...beautifully twisted I would say.

    Stephen Kings Everything Eventual is AWESOME,as is Anthony Kiedis's autobiography, Scar Tisue.

    Anyone else read these?
     
  19. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Great book. It has almost nothing to do with Zen or motorcycle maintenance; it's basically a crazy trip through the history of thought, all through the mind of an incredibly rational, intelligent biker during his trip across the country. Everyone I know who've read it have enjoyed it.
     

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