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I shoulda started this thread at the beginning of the summer like I use to but been a pretty busy season but I always make time for reading....

My current book is by Jeremy Rifkin The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis.
I saw him speak at a Sustainability conference and I was intrigued by his work. A positive force in a world seemingly without positivity. His work in Europe is well regarded and known but can he have an impact on the North American man?

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

Just finished The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. A good explanation of how some trends stick and others don't. Fancinating examples like serial killing...

http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/

I will talk about comics in Mëds thread but I wanted to recommend a graphic novel (like always ) that some of you might be interested in as it has as much to do about hockey as anything.

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

It was nominated for CBCs Canada Reads along with regular novels and very nearly beat them all..
A great Canadian read of of hockey mythology, family and community...

http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/201 ... ounty.html

That is all..

Just finished "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo.

Found it interesting.

Earlier this summer I re-read Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions".

(wifey picked me up a copy because I'd been talking about Vonnegut a lot)

I've been thinking a lot about "Steppenwolf" by Herman Hess.

As well as his "Glass Bead Game".

I haven't read those for about 25 years.

I was his biggest fan once upon a time.

Yep, gotta get around to re-reading some Hess!

Time to start talking to wifey about the dude.....

The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil.

It's science, which is usually not my gig, but this one is intriguing. The author is a certified genuis who has been on the cutting edge of the computer industry since the 60's. It explains how real AI is close and that it will explode our progress a thousandfold in a short time. Basically we will be almost unlimited in our power and ability with the advent of nanotech and the construction of computer minds far more powerful than our own which will be able to think and process in three dimensions. Yeah yeah, I know. The Terminator. Skynet. Judgement Day. But this guy explains why that is an incredibly unlikely scenario.

Pretty fucking interesting.

Rumsfeld wrote:The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil.

It's science, which is usually not my gig, but this one is intriguing. The author is a certified genuis who has been on the cutting edge of the computer industry since the 60's. It explains how real AI is close and that it will explode our progress a thousandfold in a short time. Basically we will be almost unlimited in our power and ability with the advent of nanotech and the construction of computer minds far more powerful than our own which will be able to think and process in three dimensions. Yeah yeah, I know. The Terminator. Skynet. Judgement Day. But this guy explains why that is an incredibly unlikely scenario.

Pretty fucking interesting.

Nanotech is real? Wow, I didn't realize how life like Ratchet and Clank really was.

Are Zoni's for real too?

The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore

It covers the biblical missing years between birth and and 30 as told by his best friend. As Biff says, life is good when your best friend is a celibate chick magnet.

Topper wrote:The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore

It covers the biblical missing years between birth and and 30 as told by his best friend. As Biff says, life is good when your best friend is a celibate chick magnet.

You're just like all the other Lambs being led to slaughter

Topper wrote:The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore

It covers the biblical missing years between birth and and 30 as told by his best friend. As Biff says, life is good when your best friend is a celibate chick magnet.

Haha, I don't think I laughed so much reading a book about "God". A lot of Moore's books are in my library, funny and fun reads.

One book I liked a lot was I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. Satan decides to live out his life in a certain human...

Just finished Adventures in Solitude by Grant Lawrence.

Great read for anyone who has had experience in the remote vacation areas on BC's coast.

Has anyone read "The Devil in the White City"? - Holy!
It's a fascinating book based around Chicago's 1893 World Fair, with the overlapping stories of Daniel Burnham, the fair's architect, and serial killer H. H. Holmes...

Other older favourites:
"Into Thin Air" Jon Krakauer's account of the tragic climb up Everest in 1996. Read "The Climb" by Boukreev which provides some rebuttal.
"A Walk in the Woods" Bill Bryson's funny story about hiking the Appalachian Trail
"Dead Men do Tell Tales" William Maples' forensic anthropology book, including accounts of his most famous cases (Tsar Nicholas).
"The Fountainhead" Ayn Rand - great story with underlying objectivism.
"Dead Eye Dick" Vonnegut...

To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for life.

I have caught life. I have come down with life. I was a wisp of undifferentiated nothingness, and then a little peephole opened quite suddenly. Light and sound poured in. Voices began to describe me and my surroundings. Nothing they said could be appealed. They said I was a boy named Rudolph Waltz, and that was that. They said the year was 1932, and that was that. They said I was in Midland City, Ohio, and that was that.

They never shut up. Year after year they piled detail upon detail. They do it still.



S_C

Southern_Canuck wrote: They never shut up. Year after year they piled detail upon detail. They do it still.



S_C

...that Ballard trade has yet to work out like we all hoped.



"Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" sound interesting, I'll have to check them out, thanks.

Have 'The Devil in the White City' on my short list of books to read, Southern Canuck.

I'm a huge fan of Christopher Moore, Topper. I'm gonna be needing a Moore fix soon, been a while since I've read anything from him.

I'm still going through my Gothic Americana, just picked 'The Devil All the Time' at Chapters yesterday written by my new favorite author - Donald Ray Pollock, after being wow'ed by his debut book 'Knockemstiff'. Sort of like Cormac McCarthy meets Raymond Carver. Another one of my favorite authors - William Gay describes 'The Devil All the Time' "hits you like a telegram from Hell slid under your door at three o'clock in the morning". Speaking of William Gay, and no he is not gay, I highly recommend his book 'Twilight', which is sort of like To Kill a Mockingbird but more twisted.

Been reading up a storm lately, just finished:

James Crumley's - The Last Good Kiss (classic detective noir)
Patrick DeWitts- Sisters Brothers (higly recommend)
S.J. Watson - Before I Go To Sleep (suspenseful)
Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (My new favorite Scandinavian Mystery writer)

Books I'm interested in

Chris Adrien - The Great Night
Boice - The Good and the Ghastly
Thomas Pynchon - Inherent Vice
Larry Brown - Facing the Music
The Last Wolf (forget authors name)
More Nesbo

KeyserSoze wrote:"Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" sound interesting, I'll have to check them out, thanks.

You won't be able to put "Into Thin Air" down - most people I know read that book in 2-3 days, and then re-read it.

Krakauer also wrote "Into the Wild" which is pretty spellbinding as well.

Another fascinating mountain climbing book is "Touching the Void" - an amazing story.

And in other suggestions, "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch is a pretty inspiring read.

S_C

Strangelove wrote:Just finished "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" by Todd Burpo.

Found it interesting.

Earlier this summer I re-read Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions".

(wifey picked me up a copy because I'd been talking about Vonnegut a lot)

I've been thinking a lot about "Steppenwolf" by Herman Hess.

As well as his "Glass Bead Game".

I haven't read those for about 25 years.

I was his biggest fan once upon a time.

Yep, gotta get around to re-reading some Hess!

Time to start talking to wifey about the dude.....

Very iRonnic Doc, the original German Steppenwolf is sitting on my shelf. Given to me by mien Frau as a birthday gift after she saw my old worn English copy on the shelf. I will read the Deutsch version one day. We are going to Germany for Christmas (Frohe Weihnachten) so Spidey Jr. and I are taking lessons and I hope to be able to converse fluently by then...

Ich mag Mädchen mit großen Hintern. Sie mag Mädchen mit großen Hintern? Werden Sie mein Freund?



Und Galapagos is in the 'on deck' shelf...

Spiderman loves first editions of Vonnegut....

Arachnid wrote: Very iRonnic Doc, the original German Steppenwolf is sitting on my shelf. Given to me by mien Frau as a birthday gift after she saw my old worn English copy on the shelf. I will read the Deutsch version one day.

Read a chapter in English, then read it in German!

Good way to learn to the language one would think, wouldn't one?

Arachnid wrote:
Ich mag Mädchen mit großen Hintern. Sie mag Mädchen mit großen Hintern? Werden Sie mein Freund?

Ja mein freund

... in jedem fall!!

Arachnid wrote: Und Galapagos is in the 'on deck' shelf...

Spiderman loves first editions of Vonnegut....

Galapagos pissed off alotta Vonnegut fans!

Not yours truly of course... but LOTS.

I can't believe how many people are offended at his suggestion humans might eventually Evolve into (basically) dolphins!

Like omg Vonnegut kills!

Me Mate got me Steve Jobs last night, was up most the night...excellent insight into the motivation of a very talented, driven and secretive man...