OT: What are the last 3 books you've read?
Brian's latest post about bears killing people... errr, Lloyd Carr's legacy, got me to thinking about what sorts of books I read. So, what are the last three books you've read? I'll admit that it's not Kipling or Keats or Joyce.
3) "Human resource champions" by Dave Ullrich (who happens to be a professor at Ross), which was a landmark book in the mid-90s about HR theory, blah blah blah that none of you care about. I consult in this space, so thought I should read up on some of the more impactful literature.
2) "The world is flat: a brief history of the 21st Century" by Thomas Friedman, about how the world has changed so significantly in terms of business, communication, technology.
1) "If we were gone: The world without us" by Allan Weisman, about what would happen if humans suddenly disappeared from the earth. How would nature react, what lasting impacts would we leave behind, etc.
Current: "Running with the Demon" by Terry Brooks (scifi/fantasy) - just started it yesterday now that the dang olympics are finally over, so haven't gotten far yet.
Next: Probably going to be "The Unthinkable: Who survives when disaster strikes - and why" by Amanda Ripley - I have it on hold at the library, which is where I get ALL my books. Supposed to be a fascinating study on the "psychology of fear" and how humans react during a true catastrophe (fires, hostage situations, plane crashes, and 9/11).
EDIT: Just checked the library website and saw that they have Bo's Lasting Lessons on the shelf! I'll have to hurry and get through Running with the Demon and check out Bo's lasting lessons. It'd be a great way to kick off the season!
August 25th, 2008 at 10:06 AM ^
I'm a big reader....but never thought I'd post anything on a College Football Blog about it! I stick to goodreads.com for those subjects.
Anyhoo.....
1) "Bo's Lasting Lessons" by Bo of course and John Bacon. It was great! I was prepared to be annoyed because generally whenever an athelete or anyone else in the sports world writes a book it tends to be horrifyingly bad (for example, Barry Sanders book is awful). But Bo's storys are so great!
2) "The Lives of John Lennon" by Albert Goldman. I love The Beatles and I love John Lennon, so this was great for me. This book is like 700 pages, I can't believe how much info the author has! In the end, John Lennon was a complete lunatic. I never knew he was so selfish, violent and insane.
3) "Rising Sun" by Michael Crichton. I'm really into Crichton books, so whenever I get a chance I read one of his books. This one is about the early 1990's and what was seemingly Japan's take over of the US economy. I suppose some of that stuff is still going on, what with our automotive industry being so beaten....but Crichton sure seems to pose it as a "doomsday" senario....not sure he was correct.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:21 AM ^
1. The structure of scientific revolutions
2. The Motorcycle diaries
3. Rich Dad, Poor Dad
August 25th, 2008 at 10:29 AM ^
1. collapse - jared diamond
2. offsides - a re-read of a book from the sports and society class taught by Markovits at UM
3. how soccer explains the world
August 25th, 2008 at 1:15 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 1:34 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 10:46 AM ^
Lush Life - Richard Price
The Zero - Jess Walter
I Am America (And So are You) - Steven Colbert
August 25th, 2008 at 10:47 AM ^
Absurdistan by Gary Shtenygart - awesome and hilarious
A Prayer for Owen Meany (don't ask)
I can't remember the third one. I read a bit. I am in the middle of Bo's Lasting Lessons though and Shteyngart's first book. I need to find more modern authors who are good because I tend to read older stuff.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:48 AM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 11:11 AM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 12:57 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 11:11 AM ^
1- the corrections- franzen
2- futebol: the brazilian way of life - bellos
3- supercapitalism - reich
August 25th, 2008 at 11:23 AM ^
Lamb - Moore
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Carver
The New Manufacturing Engineer - Termani
August 25th, 2008 at 11:24 AM ^
"Unduanted Courage" by Stephen E. Ambrose - About Meriwhether Lewis and Thomas Jerfferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Discovered that George Drouillard, the expedition's main tracker and hunter, is my great, great, uncle. That was pretty cool.
"Timeline" by Michael Crichton - Not a huge fan of Crichton but this was pretty good.
"The Ruins" by Scott Smith - Pretty far fetched but definately creepy. I am living on a small Caribbean island with plenty of vines so I could relate.
I try to read a lot of historical fiction but the pulpy stuff seems to always draw me in with their covers.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:27 AM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 11:30 AM ^
Galapagos - Vonnegut (Vonnegut = winnar)
The Darwin Conspiracy - John Darnton (pulpy, but decent)
In Cold Blood - Capote (finally got around to it)
All-time favorites are Joyce's Ulysses and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man for what its worth.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:35 AM ^
1. Erotic Manga: Draw Like the Experts by Ikari Studio
2. Manga Sutra -- Futari H, Vol 2 by Katsu Aki
3. Techniques for Drawing Female Manga Characters by Hikaru Hayashi
August 25th, 2008 at 11:36 AM ^
1. Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions by Ben Mezrich
2. Devil May Care by Sebastian Fawlkes
3. The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara
August 25th, 2008 at 11:38 AM ^
Blood Meridian- McCarthy. Unbelievably, breathtakingly violent. First rate.
Gravity's Rainbow- Pynchon. I'm taking a break on this one for now.
Catch 22- Heller- Re-reading it. One of my favorites.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:47 AM ^
3. Words That Work - Frank Luntz - Interesting take on how language influences what people think. Saw him as a guest on Real Time with Bill Mahr and could see he had some interesting things to share.
2. Apollo: The Epic Journey To The Moon - David Reynolds / Wally Schirra - Wish I could say it was inspired by Michigan's "Space MF!" commercial, but in reality just a fascinating topic to me. Highly recommended read of a time when we (& NASA) thought much bigger than we do now.
1. A Feast For Crows - George RR Martin - I don't typically read fantasy, but this series has a hard edge to it.
Currently reading - The Gaudi Key - A blatant, blatant rip-off of the Da Vinci Code. Maybe the authors thought if they wrote it in Spanish, no one would notice. Unfortunately, someone translated it. (I love Gaudi and was in Barcelona last year, so I'm plunging ahead.)
August 25th, 2008 at 12:12 PM ^
1.) America 1908 by Jim Rasenberger (A look at events in 1908 from the New York Times...quick read, good stuff in there).
2.) Shock Doctrine by Namoi Klien (Shock economics at work)
3.) Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust (death/dying in the 1860's with empahisis on the Civil War).
August 25th, 2008 at 12:25 PM ^
1) Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast
2) Cool Stuff and How It Works by Chris Woodford, Ben Morgan, Clint Witchalls, and Kevin Jones
3) Kingdom Coming by Michelle Goldberg
August 25th, 2008 at 12:38 PM ^
1. For Love of the Game - Michael Shaara
2. The Audacity of Hope (Re-read) - Obama
3. Battle Cry of Freedom - James McPherson
August 25th, 2008 at 1:05 PM ^
Cool Stuff and How It Works by Chris Woodford, Ben Morgan, Clint Witchalls, and Kevin Jones (West Texas Blue)
Shock Doctrine by Namoi Klien (Shock economics at work) (SI_Grad)
Apollo: The Epic Journey To The Moon - David Reynolds / Wally Schirra and A Feast For Crows - George RR Martin (wolverine32)
Everything from LordFoul
And, of course, everything from MRG. I'll just have to hide it from the wife and kids, lol. Think the public library has copies???
August 25th, 2008 at 1:07 PM ^
I'm new to the board. I've been reading since last year, but started to participate now.
As for books, I've been on a classics kick:
1. The Jungle
2. Slaughterhouse 5
3. Catch 22
August 25th, 2008 at 1:33 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 1:48 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 3:36 PM ^
August 9th, 2009 at 12:48 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 1:21 PM ^
1)Back On The Streets (transmet vol 1) - Warren Ellis
i've read through transmet all the way probably 3 times and i think i'm going to start again
2)Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut
Read this once but gave my copy to...someone. Re-bought and re-read.
3)The Dalkey Archive - Flann O'Brien
Highly underrated contemporary of Joyce. The Third Policeman is still my favorite (i keep trying to re-read, but forget or whatever), but this had some funny overlaps, including Selby as an actual character.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:03 PM ^
I haven't been reading many books lately -- too much time spent on mgoblog instead. Perhaps if MRG keeps updating his reading list I'll get through a bunch more books. Anyway, here are my last 3:
1) The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
Somebody told me that this was Chabon's best work. It was available at the library before I found The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay, which I had been interested in reading for a while. I found it incredibly uninspiring...
2) Naked by David Sedaris
More uneven than some of his other books, but it still had hilarious parts. Especially his time at a nudist colony.
3) Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
I was surprised by how tremendous this memoir was. It is by a former food critic of the New York Times. She had to wear disguises at the high-end restaurants in order to avoid getting recognized and having special treatment that would ruin her reviews. If you like cooking, food or eating you will probably like this book.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:52 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 3:26 PM ^
No, I'm currently bogged down in Atonement...
in the second chapter!
I doubt I'll get through it during football season. I'll also be very busy the next few months.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:26 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 2:40 PM ^
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson - not as good as some of his later stuff (hello, Cryptonomicon!), but still an entertaining story.
Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco - also a good story, but soooo hard to read. The whole book feels dense - not in the 'stupid' sense, but just that there's so much stuff in it.
Before that I think I reread American Gods by Neil Gaiman - I highly recommend this one. Good concept, well written, fairly easy read.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:40 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 4:52 PM ^
Yeah, when I finished the book, it was almost a relief. I really did enjoy the story, but I felt like I was trudging through it one page at a time. I've heard that 'Name of the Rose' is a little better, but I need to recharge a bit before I read anything else too complicated.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:47 PM ^
1. Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama (stopped reading a couple chapters in, if I didnt waste so much time on Mgoblog maybe I would finish it)
2. Are you there Vodka? Its me, Chelsea - Chelsea Handler (my wife read it and recommended it to me, its pretty freaking hilarious)
3. Me talk Pretty one Day - David Sedaris (Mostly short stories about him growing up and also about learning how to speak French while living in France...sounded boring from the outside but the style and content was funny and a very good read)
PS I love that there is a topic about this on MgoBlog...I doubt very many other College Football boards have these kinds of discourses
August 25th, 2008 at 6:05 PM ^
Audacity of Hope was ok, I think at that point inside Obama knew he was going to run for president, so if you can plow through it you get an understanding of what his ideal policies are like. I'm also fairly certain that the book was also ghostwritten, which is kind of a letdown.
I'd be much more interested in reading an Obama memoir in 20 years or so, regardless of the outcome of the election.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:58 PM ^
Sirens of Titan was good, but not my favorite Vonnegut work. Is Cat's Cradle the novel with the substance Ice 9?
Subrosa - I never finished Gravity's Rainbow. I'd like to pick it up again and dominate it, but that was one of the hardest plots to follow.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:28 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 4:05 PM ^
Bo's Lasting Lessons
Bo -- Bo and Mitch Albom. I wanted to see what a younger Bo looked like. Not much difference.
The Big House.
I am ready for Saturday. Back to real reading after Labor Day.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:15 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 4:26 PM ^
Books I have started that were too retardedly obtuse to finish:
1. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce
2. Everything ever written by Thomas Pynchon
FWIW, MRG, I really liked Kavalier and Klay.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:39 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 6:54 PM ^
I essentially only read non-fiction and am currently reading Wine and War The French, The Nazis & the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure by Don and Petie Kladstrup. Added illustration of the criminality/thuggery of the 3rd Reich. [I'm also a wino, but I am not chunks nor related to him]
- A World Lit Only by Fire The Midieval Mind and the Renaissance by William Manchester. Incredibly illuminating (no pun intended) book on the transition and its causes.
- The Big House Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium by Robert M. Soderstrom. Been discussed, nuf said.
- 1976 by David McCullough. Excellent book on a very tenuous period in American history. Could have gone either way.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:28 PM ^
August 25th, 2008 at 8:41 PM ^
Imperial Grunts by Robert Kaplan, a look at the everyday soldiers around the world policing the "American Empire".
Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose, a story about the soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
In the Presence of Mine Enemies by Harry Turtledove (real name), fantastic alternative history book about Jews living hidden among Germans in a post-World War II Germany in which the Reich won the war.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:03 PM ^
The Kite Runner - Very nice surprise for a book I was hesitant to read
The Bourne Identity - A really good page-turner. Someday I'll finish the series. Much different than the movies.
Eaters of the Dead (13th Warrior) - First Crichton book for me and I liked that it was written as a translated historical document complete with footnotes on the text. This was also different than the movie.
I was going to tackle Atlas Shrugged next but considering its length and the fall semester starting shortly I think I'll save it for winter or next summer break. I I'll give Timeline a shot instead.