Rate the last Book you read

[J35J]

Forgot about this thread... Well I finished the two I said I would

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 8.5/10 -> Very goofy, but very funny at points. It's the first in a series of 5 or 6 books. I read the second and third after this one and they left much to be desired. I recommend reading the original Hitchhiker and then stopping. It is certainly English humor, so if you are a fan of Monty Python you would probably enjoy this book also.

Crime and Punishment 9.5/10 -> Simply amazing! Should definitely be considered a classic; and it is enthralling and easy to follow. I would put this in my Top 3 books that I have read and it has inspired me to read The Brothers Karamazov next. It is the story about a student named Raskolnikov who feels he is above the moral law and decides to murder someone in order to prove it to himself. You then follow Raskolnikov's psychological journey following the murder.


Up Next:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Watership Down by Richard Adams

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

Crime and Punishment and Watership Down are on my to read list as well. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is on my list as well but its a little further down that list as I have other things I'm more interested in!

I'd think you would like Swan Song if you haven't read it already!

[knapplc]

Never read Crime & Punishment. I cruised through a chapter or two a while ago at Barnes & Noble but it didn't really catch my attention. Maybe I'll have to check it out again.

Watership Down is #3 on my all-time favorite books list (LOTR #1, Count of Monte Christo #2). I freakin' cried when I finished that book, and I was like 30 years old. Seriously good book, that.

Hitchhiker's Guide, et al - good reads, but not nearly as great as everyone makes them out to be. I certainly recommend the entire series. They're lively and funny and won't bog you down with lots of deep thought and hidden meanings. Just good fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[RyanK]

No classical novel enthusiast here?

I enjoy Dickens a lot.. I didn't read him till last year, when I had to read Great Expectations for class, that got me to read Hard Times, Tale of Two Cities and Christmas Carol (which i think im gonna read again when i go home due to the christmas spirit).

I also enjoyed reading Huck Finn, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, etc in high school and want to start reading other classical works before reading newer books.

So if anyone has some good suggestions for college aged reading or just some classic novels you feel everyone should read, im open to all suggestions. Crime and Punishment has been a book ive been meaning to read for awhile.


The last book i read was "Into the Wild", im half hesitant to check out the movie, but i most likely will rent it when it comes out on video soon due to sean penn directing and the reviews its gotten.

I suggest everyone reads it, i could connect to it in more ways than others, which could be why I enjoy the book so much, but its a thrilling story about the life of Chris McCandless and his journey to find himself through living off the land and his journey to get to alaska. The book recollects a lot of the people he meet along his journey to try and do the best to tell a story that no one really knows (he was found dead in van in alaska).

[J35J]

So if anyone has some good suggestions for college aged reading or just some classic novels you feel everyone should read, im open to all suggestions. Crime and Punishment has been a book ive been meaning to read for awhile.

A couple of my favorite books I've read this year are The Secret History and The Magus, both of which I have mentioned in this thread. I think you would probably really enjoy these books.


Here's just a few on my "too read" list....

Currently reading Swan Song

....next book will be Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

...others...
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Druid of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Elf Queen of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Talismans of Shannara - Terry Brooks
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Stand - Stephen King
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Catcher and the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The World Without Us - Alan Weisman
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
1984 - George Orwell
Slaughterhouse - Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
MiddleSex - Jeff Eugenides
Blood Sport - Robert F. Jones
Earth Abides - George Stewart
The Virgin Suicides - Jeff Eugenides
The Time Traveler's Wife
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
Alas Babylon - Pat Frank
The Queen of Darkness - Miguel Connor
Straight Man - Richard Russo
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

[RyanK]

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess never read, but have heard great things
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey one of the few books i actually read in HS, great book, Kesey is a great writer
The Catcher and the Rye - J.D. Salinger another book i actually read in HS, im sure you know about it
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck same as above... i read more than i thought in HS, but not enough
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card one of my favorite books, and i hate sci fi
Catch 22 - Joseph Hellernever really read it, skimmed it for school, wouldnt mind going back and reading it now
1984 - George Orwell same thing as above
Slaughterhouse - Five - Kurt Vonnegut read it in tenth grade, was a little above my mindset then, another book i want to read again
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury another tenth grade book
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon great book

[AussieDodger]

The last book I read?

The User's Manual for the Sony Handycam DCR-HC27E/HC28E!!!!!
Because my gf bought me that for Christmas!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(We opened presents early because we are traveling over Christmas).

If you are a technological retard like me the pictures are very handy

[Phatferd]

I'm reading The Case for Creation by Lee Strobel.

I'm really enjoying this book. It really presents the case for creation in an interesting way. It uses science to try and prove that the world was created by an intellegent creator. Even if someone doesn't support the claims from the book, they would at least begin to question a lot of the things we are being taught in our textbooks, which hopefully leads to more people searching for the truth (regarding any subject) about our history.

[RugbyD]

Recent Reads:
The Law - Frederic Bastiat - 9/10
A refresher for me. Very quick read. Puts in plainspoken terms the nature of the relationships between, goverment, the individual, power, and rights. Excellent primer for reading deeper into political economy.

Capitalism and Freedom - Milton Friedman - 9/10
Another refresher. It's short but reads slow and is well suited for underlining/note-taking. The title tells your everything you need to know about the content: the relationship between capitalism and freedom.

A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation - Richard Bookstaber - 8/10
Combination of first- and second-hand account of verious episodes of financial innovation and the associated risks and perils that sometimes follow. He goes into details about seen and unseen risks, how reactions to events made things better or worse, risk management systems, etc. The amazon reviews do it far more justice, so just follow the link.

Currently Reading
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game - Michael Lewis

[deerayfan072]

I read Playing for Pizza from John Grishman last weekend. It was an entertaining read about a third strung quarterback that costs the Browns a game in the playoffs and goes to play football in Italy. I thought it was going to be a bit hokie when my wife brought it home, but it was actually pretty cool.

[Tavish]

I'm reading The Case for Creation by Lee Strobel.

I'm really enjoying this book. It really presents the case for creation in an interesting way. It uses science to try and prove that the world was created by an intellegent creator. Even if someone doesn't support the claims from the book, they would at least begin to question a lot of the things we are being taught in our textbooks, which hopefully leads to more people searching for the truth (regarding any subject) about our history.

In an interesting counterpoint to this, I read Nothing in This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are by Bob Frissell recently. Throwing science and religion to the wind Frissell puts together almost every New Age belief and conspiracy theory together into a single book that expands on the ideas of consciousness expansion and evolutionary progress. It has it all, from dimension traveling Atlanteans, rebirthing, crop circles, Sacred Geometry, colonies on Mars, secret governments, etc. The book goes from strange to bizarre to jaw-droppingly kooky but for anyone who has any interest in some of the New Age concepts it serves as a decent entry point.