The Iron Tower Trilogy by Dennis L. McKiernan Best trilogy I ever read. A lot like the Lord of the Rings, but a lot shorter and more action. The Long Walk by Stephen King Only Stephen King book I ever finished.
I just finished Villages by John Updike. Updike is my favorite "contemporary" writer, although he died some months ago, hence no longer technically contemporary. Great, great book. Man that guy could write. No one can render a portrayal of the way people really live and think in recent times than he could/did. A fair bit of sex in the story, it really follows the life of an alter ego character growing up in PA, spending his middle years in CT, and his later years in Cape Cod, living in a succession of villages. Highly recommended.
I have that book sitting in one of my boxes somewhere--as soon as I settle in I fully play on reading it, then I'll let you know my opinion.
"O! Jerusalem" is a very good read and offers great insight into the Arab-Israel conflict by showing how it all started.
I heard about this book on NPR this morning. Sounds interesting The Man from Beijing One cold January day the police are called to a sleepy little hamlet in the north of Sweden where they find the vitcim of a savage murder lying in the snow. As they begin their investigation they notice that the village seems eerily quiet and deserted. Going from house to house, looking for witnesses, they uncover a crime unprecedented in Swedish history. When judge Birgitta Roslin reads about the massacre she realises that she has a family connection to one of the couples involved and decides to investigate. A nineteenth-century diary and a red ribbon found in the forest nearby are her only clues. What Birigtta eventually uncovers leads her into an international web pf corruption and a story of vengeance that stretches back over a hundred years. The Man from Beijing will be released in US, UK and Canada in
I just started reading Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman (Fargo Rock City , Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs) I've read about 40 pages and still have no idea what the hell it's about although he does talk about Kurt Cobain forcing Courtney Love to return a Lexus to the dealer and how In Utero is "Guilt Rock" ... so far so good but it's weird.
Dark Alliance by Gary Webb http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Alliance-Contras-Cocaine-Explosion/dp/1888363932
I've been reading a lot of Dennis Lehane's stuff lately. I'd recommend anything by him - Shutter Island, The Given Day, Mystic River, any of his books about Patrick Kenzie. No one will ever pass Cormac McCarthy as my favorite author, but guys like Lehane and Stephen King come pretty damn close.
George RR Martin - Song of Ice and Fire series (Starts with "A Game of Thrones") Neal Stephenson - Anathem, Cyptonomicon
Its not to say that King hasn't put forth some great books in years past. But I'm reading "Under the Dome" on my cell phone Kindle Ap right now, and I swear I think a 5 year old with a box of Crayolas could have created something more intelligent than this drivel.
I finished Under the Dome a few months ago. C'mon hiker, you didn't laugh your ass off when the "dome" came down and cut that woman's hand off while she was gardening? I understand what you're saying, but it wasn't THAT bad. Still books like the Dark Tower series, The Stand, The Shining, and Salem's Lot are fucking amazing.
Recently read Rod Laver's autobiography called "An Education in Tennis." Really good, but not as good as John McEnroe's, "You Can't Be Serious." Another great nonfiction work I read was "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling." Best fiction I read lately was John Gardner's "Grendel."
I've been reading through some of Hunter S. Thompson's articles, and I'm looking to pick up one of his books, either a collection of essays or a novel--I've read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," was wondering if anybody had a suggestion on another one to pick up.
Just finished The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I'm probably late to the party on this one but if you have never read it before I would definitely recommend that you read it RIGHT NOW!
