OT: Books

So admittedly I am not a big reader. Most of the books I've read have been for school and I don't read at all in my free time and I am trying to change that. I have the Da Vinci Code, the Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Big Trouble and those are the next books I'm gonna read.

Any recommendations after that?

I don't read much, and if I do, it usually isn't a narrative. Right now I'm reading Breakfast of Champions, a Photoshop design book, and a philosophy book in my spare time.

Kurt Vonnegut-Cat's Cradle

Adam Mansbach-Angry Black White Boy: A Novel

George Berkeley-An Essay Towards A New Theory On Vision (yeah, it's philosophy, but it's a cool mind ****)

Fight Club (great book even if you've already seen the movie)

Jonathan Ames-The Alcoholic (Graphic Novel, but the writer is an acclaimed novelist, and this is just suburb)

Tim O'Brien-Going After Cacciato

Hubert Selby Jr-Last Exit to Brooklyn (Author of Requiem for A Dream, this book is REALLY messed up though)

im almost done with this book. If you liked Assasins Creed or kinda liked it you should read this book

Playboy
 

I'm currently reading:

At home: Musashi

And at work:

Mr Nice

I also started off with The Da Vinci Code and then onto his next book, Angels & Demons. Both decent books to start off with, good for talking about because they are both well known novels. Since reading Watchmen (everyone should read it..) however, I'm interested more in grahpic novels/mangas.

I do English Literature, Classics and Philosophy at university so I'm pretty much reading all the time.

Right now I'm reading What Is Literature? by Jean-Paul Sartre which seems too idealistic and optimistic compared with the current dominant literary theory, post-Structuralism.

For fiction I'd recommend Shakespeare, John Donne and the Romantic poets: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats and Shelley and some Greek Tragedy - Aeschylus' Oresteia and Sophocles' Theban plays.

For 'non-fiction' texts (which I tend to read more and find more interesting) I'd recommend reading Plato, Marx and Nietzsche and then just expanding from there.

I have the wu tang manual on my desk and never read it.mowz00

So admittedly I am not a big reader. Most of the books I've read have been for school and I don't read at all in my free time and I am trying to change that. I have the Da Vinci Code, the Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Big Trouble and those are the next books I'm gonna read.

Any recommendations after that?

Orlando_Magic

The books you listed are entertaining reads, but you can never go wrong with the classics ('The Catcher in the Rye,' '1984,' 'The Great Gatsby').

If you are a patient reader, Charles Dickens' works can be rewarding. Many will point you to 'A Tale of Two Cities,' but my favorite Dickensian work is 'Great Expectations,' and it isn't a close race.

If you're looking for a title more in line with the books you've already listed, I would very much recommend 'Devil in the White City' by Erik Larson. It's a highly-entertaining page-turner, buoyed by a brisk narrative and fascinating historical tidbits.

I do a lot of reading :) 

Kite Runner is awesome,

I've loved: 1984, A Heartbreaking work of Staggering Genius, Bright Lights-Big City.

Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe

The Chancellor Manuscript by Robert Ludlum 

anything by Hunter S. Thompson

So admittedly I am not a big reader. Most of the books I've read have been for school and I don't read at all in my free time and I am trying to change that. I have the Da Vinci Code, the Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Big Trouble and those are the next books I'm gonna read.

Any recommendations after that?

Orlando_Magic

Good man, Hosseini is a very good author, you should enjoy both of those books.

Read American Psycho; Fight Club; Pimp (another brilliant read recommend it to all). I also went through a phase of reading a lot of autobiographies about true crime i.e, ex L.A. gangbangers like tookie's and "monster", quite an insight into gang culture.

I don't read fiction as much as I'd like to these days because there's just too much out there I need to learn how to do (wiring, fixing cars, plumbing, etc), so I spend most of my time reading non-fiction.

As far as fiction is concerned, though, the most recent book I read was "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff. Fantastic book and one of the best pieces of historical fiction I've ever read. There's really nothing I could tell you about this book that would make it sound like something you'd want to read, but it's great; especially the audio book version of it.

My favorite book of all-time is "High Fidelity". We can go in-depth about why if you want, but for now, just take that for what it is.

I'd also recommend reading books by Haruki Murakami; most noteably "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles". I really believe he is one of the best modern writers out there.

comic books ftw :lol:Anti-Venom

this ftw, I read some regular books too but not many I've read The Kite Runner though. :P

I'm like 70 pages into the Da Vinci Code and it feels like an adult version of Harry Potter...

btw some of my fave books are To Kill A Mockingbird, Things Fall Apart, and Heart of Darkness... but those were just books I had to read for school. I never had to read Catcher in the Rye or the Great Gatsby but I guess those will be next on my list as far as the cIassics go.

any hip-hop books? I have Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and There's a God on the Mic.

and thanks for the recommendations guys, I'm gonna keep referencing this thread whenever I'm looking for something to read

Bah, Davinci Code...Dan Brown is a great story teller, but a very bad writer.

A good hip hop book is E.A.R.L., The Autobiography of DMX. It's pretty good if your into him.

What type of books are you into, Orlando?  With my college graduation less than 10 months away (****), I've been on a self-improvement/mindfullness rampage.  The Power of Now, Stumbling Upon Happiness, etc.

A recent book that I've enjoyed more than most is Neill Strauss's The Game.  He talks about the life of a pick-up artist, and it's pretty insane stuff (especially considering it's non-fiction).  Definitely check that out.

any hip-hop books? I have Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and There's a God on the Mic.

Orlando_Magic

I'm working on two books at the moment...

Crime and Punishment for school
Autobiography of Malcolm X for leisure

I just finished Native Son for the second time. My favorite book of all time.
Toriko42

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a brilliant book.

I read Crime and Punishment too but didn't really get much out of it tbh.

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'm working on two books at the moment...

Crime and Punishment for school
Autobiography of Malcolm X for leisure

I just finished Native Son for the second time. My favorite book of all time.
bradleybhoy

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a brilliant book.

I read Crime and Punishment too but didn't really get much out of it tbh.

[QUOTE="bradleybhoy"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'm working on two books at the moment...

Crime and Punishment for school
Autobiography of Malcolm X for leisure

I just finished Native Son for the second time. My favorite book of all time.
Toriko42

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a brilliant book.

I read Crime and Punishment too but didn't really get much out of it tbh.

Definitely worth reading if you have the time. I found it advances a pretty conservative ideology though. New abstract European philosophy and theories are seen as fuelling a kind of moral/spiritual crisis, which Raskolnikov himself experiences, until he is ambiguously redeemed by religion and love at the end.

[QUOTE="Toriko42"][QUOTE="bradleybhoy"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'm working on two books at the moment...

Crime and Punishment for school
Autobiography of Malcolm X for leisure

I just finished Native Son for the second time. My favorite book of all time.
bradleybhoy

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a brilliant book.

I read Crime and Punishment too but didn't really get much out of it tbh.

Definitely worth reading if you have the time. I found it advances a pretty conservative ideology though. New abstract European philosophy and theories are seen as fuelling a kind of moral/spiritual crisis, which Raskolnikov himself experiences, until he is ambiguously redeemed by religion and love at the end.

I'm currently running through When Hollywood Had A King. It's all about Lew Wasserman, a man who changed how power was leveraged and brokered in the entertainment history. It's roughly 500 pages long. It goes on to tell his story of how he rose from the streets of Cleveland and became one of Hollywood's most influential power players. Details about his relationship with actors, musicians, politicians, and mobsters.

So far it's pretty good. I'm still in the first chapter (each chapter is roughly 100-200 pages long). It goes on to talk about the atart of MCA (Music Corporation of America) and the major power players of the time. Right now I'm reading a brief history on the Chicago mobs during the Capone era, and how Capone himself had a hand in the early music industry. 

There's a book called Check the Technique which covers a bunch of classic rap albums based off of interviews and stuff with the artists themselves. Sounds interesting, has anyone read it?TheHimura

A recent book that I've enjoyed more than most is Neill Strauss's The Game.  He talks about the life of a pick-up artist, and it's pretty insane stuff (especially considering it's non-fiction).  Definitely check that out. nutDAVE3

Just finished reading this last week actually, pretty good story with the success they receive eventually and its quite funny at the beginning.