I need a great book

I just finished Napolean's Pyramids by William Dietrich. I'm going to have to recommend this one, which is the first in a series of stand-alone novels featuring the same character, Ethan Gage, who has been described as an Indiana Jones in the 19th century.

Its historic fiction, with Gage as an American who wins a medallion in a poker game and finds himself being pursued by evil men of power who believe the medallion is the key to a treasure that would make them rulers of the world. And along the way, Gage finds himself part of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and exploring the pyramids. Meticulously researched, very well written, and fully formed characters in a story that keeps you turning the pages at all hours of the night.

In future novels, Gage takes on Lewis and Clarke, Barbary Pirates, and...well, I can't tell, it would give it away.

http://www.amazon.com/Napoleons-Pyr...ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1296700663&sr=1-4

 

Just read Slaughterhouse 5 and then the Passage. Great books.
I absolutely love the passage and am so glad I found this thread. I'm now onto Blood Meridian which looks amazing.

On the shelf:
The Stand, Another Roadside Attraction, Foundation,

On the way:
Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, Shogun, Catch 22, The Gunslinger, A Confederacy of Dunces, Farenheit 451, A couple of Batman comics: Year One and The Killing Joke.

 

Recently finished books that I recommend:

What is the What by Dave Eggers
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son)
The Missing by Tim Gautreaux

Currently Reading:

Hater by David Moody (fucking crazy)

Up Next:

The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard

 

Here are some of my favorites:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz (highly recommended for younger TGGers)

Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe (my favorite book written about NY)

Among the Thugs- Bill Buford (about soccer hooligans and dynamics of group violence- great quick read)

You Can't Win - Jack Black (autobiography about a opium addict and thief in the western united states in the early 1900s)

The Nine - Jeffery Toobin (all encompassing look at supreme court, pre-Obama appointees)

Lush Life - Richard Price (price is probably the best hard boiled crime writer of the past 30 years... I've read everything he has written)

Blue Blood - James Conlon (autobiography written by a Harvard educated NYPD officer, who is still a detective in the Bronx today. You want to know what it's like to be an irish cop in the projects in the Bronx in the late 1990s? check this book out great read very nuanced account of what its like to be a police)

 

I'm right into the 'Flashman' series at the moment. Great reads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Paget_Flashman

In honour of the 'great' man I change my avatar

 

I can see how he came off as arrogant. But I also really admire his ability to stay positive and not only look back at all he managed to accomplish, but also to look forward at how his knowledge will hopefully help his children.

Not as good as Tuesdays With Morrie, but still a good, uplifting read IMO.

Right now I'm reading "One Day" by David Nicholls. Not exactly a manly book, but certainly entertaining and an enjoyable and easy read.

 

I'm reading the Greg Fitzsimmons (Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox) book right now. There's been 2 times on the train now where people have stared at me because I was laughing loudly on the train.

 

As part of my ongoing mission to read more quality American literature and less books with F-15s or nuclear subs on the cover, I recently read John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath. Brilliantly written book, really fantastic, but fuck my old boots is it ever depressing. Misery, poverty, death, on and on and on.

By coincidence, a few days after I'd finished it we were in Chicago for the weekend and ended up going to the Art Institute of Chicago. They had a photography exhibition on showing collections from Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans and Margaret Bourke-White, much of which was done in '20s and '30s America and captured the very time that Steinbeck's book is written.

Also, Abbott's work was very much about the changes in New York as post-Depression America came out of its slump and the skyscrapers started going up, that was really cool. I highly recommend it if you're in Chicago.

 

Redcoat,

American literature is the only literature that should be considered "quality"

 

If you say so.

 

If you haven't already read them, you should read both of Frank Norris's McTeague and The Octopus. I highly recommend especially The Octopus.

 

The only good thing to come out of that book, is the Rage against the Machine cover of 'The Ghost of Tom Joad'

 

ANYTHING by Lewis Grizzard.

EDIT: Grizzard has not written a book called ANYTHING but he has a fine collection of books that are entertaining along the same lines as Will Rogers.

 

Holiday in Bali coming up in less than two weeks.

Looking for a good read around the pool. Crime/suspense or comedy are my favorite

 

No I haven't but was meaning to. Thanks for the reminder. As a bonus as my folks have the books already so no need to purchase.:up:

 

Is McTeague the one about the dentist who goes off the rails? I couldn't get into that when I tried to read it 25 years ago at college, but I'm willing to give it another try.

I'll give a shout out to the Flashman books mentioned earlier as well, but at the moment I can't think any further than A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones). I've read the first three and can't wait to get into the next one.

 

Spoiler Alert:

George R.R. Martins, "A Song of Ice and Fire", was actually written about Dave Coulier from "Full House".

 

bump bump bumpity bump.

Anyone read Stephen King's "Under the Dome"? Need a new book and I'm kind of interested in this one.