Author Topic: Reading Minds: The CoastGab Book Club (Read 3142 times)

danDNA · « **on:** January 13, 2009, 11:42:52 AM »

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood. A Canadian you can be proud of.

EvB · « **Reply #1 on:** January 13, 2009, 12:13:01 PM »

Quote from: danDNA on January 13, 2009, 11:42:52 AM

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood. A Canadian you can be proud of.

She is wonderful, isn't she?

Frys Girl · « **Reply #2 on:** January 13, 2009, 05:25:28 PM »

I have always wanted to read the blind assassin.

danDNA · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2009, 08:58:52 AM »

Quote from: EvB on January 13, 2009, 12:13:01 PM

She is wonderful, isn't she?

she is one of my favourite writers now i think. cant even explain it (well i could but it would be quite a long essay), she is just sooo clever, honestly, if you have never read anything by her you have missed out on a modern genius. and Angela Carter RIP.

now reading: the hidden hand - Ralph Epperson. apparently there is a conspiracy to turn the world communist!

Pirate King Atomsk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2009, 05:04:05 PM »

I just finished Stephen King's "The Gunslinger", and am taking a short break from the "Dark Tower" series to read some William Gibson. My Dad got me his first two books, "Neuromancer" and "Count Zero" for Christmas, which are the basic foundation for most modern "dystopian" cyberpunk. So far, as a fan of Shadowrun the game, the seedy "Blade-Runneresque" world of "Neuromancer" has already deeply captured my interest. I recommend it to all sci-fi fans, as it's won the Hugo, Philip K. Dick, and other prestigious awards from the community over the past 20-something odd years.

danDNA · « **Reply #5 on:** January 15, 2009, 03:33:08 AM »

Quote from: Pirate King Atomsk on January 14, 2009, 05:04:05 PM

I just finished Stephen King's "The Gunslinger", and am taking a short break from the "Dark Tower" series to read some William Gibson. My Dad got me his first two books, "Neuromancer" and "Count Zero" for Christmas, which are the basic foundation for most modern "dystopian" cyberpunk. So far, as a fan of Shadowrun the game, the seedy "Blade-Runneresque" world of "Neuromancer" has already deeply captured my interest. I recommend it to all sci-fi fans, as it's won the Hugo, Philip K. Dick, and other prestigious awards from the community over the past 20-something odd years.

sounds good.

Pirate King Atomsk · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2009, 05:41:26 PM »

Quote from: danDNA on January 15, 2009, 03:33:08 AM

sounds good.

Yeah. It was so popular in the 80's, there was actually an old PC game made for it. Here's the box shot and a screenshot.

Granted, the game was made in like the mid to late 80's, so it looks like a piece of VGA shit. However, it's not bad if you play games for a good story.

PhantasticSanShiSan · « **Reply #7 on:** January 19, 2009, 09:23:13 AM »

I love those games! Classic audio too. I keep putting off reading Neuromancer. Had it for a couple years now, but it keeps getting bumped back in the reading waiting list.

Just After Sunset - Stephen King

PhantasticSanShiSan · « **Reply #8 on:** January 28, 2009, 11:50:25 PM »

Pale Gray For Guilt - John D. McDonald

slipstream · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2011, 08:17:28 PM »

I will finish this book today:

Bloodlines (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 2) by Karen Traviss
Amazon link

SgtRocko · « **Reply #10 on:** October 16, 2011, 04:31:06 PM »

I'm re-reading "The Severed Wing" by Martin Gidron. It's set in an alternate timeline where the Holocaust didn't happen because World War One ended in 1916. Israel was never reborn, Yiddish is the main language of the Jews of the US - even Ladino is still being spoken in Salonika.

It's a bittersweet read - it makes you really think "what IF?" - my mother lost 11 brothers and sisters in the Shoah, and this always makes me wonder what it would be like to have cousins.

There IS a serious twist - hard to explain, but fascinating. Actually makes it a bit more wrenching.

http://www.amazon.com/Severed-Wing-Martin-Gidron/dp/0942979966/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318800410&sr=8-2

Eddie Coyle · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2011, 07:05:59 PM »

Peter Levenda "Sinister Forces, Book 3: The Manson Secret"
Sean Willentz "Bob Dylan in America"
HW Brands "American Colossus: The Trimuph of Capitalism in America 1865-1900"
David Willman "The Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, The Anthrax Attacks and America's Rush to War"
Rob Young "Electric Eden"

CoastCanuck · « **Reply #12 on:** October 30, 2011, 05:47:08 PM »

I am currently reading 'The Terror Conspiracy Revisited' by Jim Marrs.

SgtRocko · « **Reply #13 on:** October 30, 2011, 11:57:16 PM »

I'm back to zombie novels... my Kindle is going to bite me soon

coaster · « **Reply #14 on:** October 31, 2011, 02:55:24 AM »

I just finished Graham Hancock's 'Supernatural - meetings with the ancient teachers of mankind', and Rick Straussman's 'DMT The Spirit Molecule'

General Johnson Jameson · « **Reply #15 on:** November 13, 2011, 02:32:02 AM »

"Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die: Memoirs of a World War I Marine," by Elton E. Mackin

I've just started reading this book. Very captivating, it's going to be a good one.

CoastCanuck · « **Reply #16 on:** December 03, 2011, 12:45:41 PM »

Family of Secrets by Russ Baker.

Frys Girl · « **Reply #17 on:** December 03, 2011, 02:42:49 PM »

Shaq Uncut: My Story

slipstream · « **Reply #18 on:** December 09, 2011, 05:30:21 AM »

The 13th Hour: A Thriller by Richard Doetsch

Amazon link

Eddie Coyle · « **Reply #19 on:** December 11, 2011, 03:58:49 PM »

"The Fence: A Police Cover-Up Along Boston's Racial Divide" by Dick Lehr
"Arguably: Essays By Christopher Hitchens" by...duh
"Dirty! Dirty! Dirty!" by Mike Edison (about Playboy/Penthouse/Hustler/Screw)

slipstream · « **Reply #20 on:** December 13, 2011, 08:58:03 PM »

How many people here use e-readers, and which one do you use?

I have a Kindle (first gen) a family member gave me. I find it handy for traveling, but I still like to hold a physical book in my hands. I feel torn between the convenience of e-books, and actually having a physical book on the self.

Vatar · « **Reply #21 on:** December 13, 2011, 10:13:17 PM »

Judas Unchained By Peter F. Hamilton

It is the sequel to the space opera Pandora's Star.

The General · « **Reply #22 on:** December 13, 2011, 10:30:27 PM »

Jacques Pepin- "The Apprentice: my life in the kitchen"

Really interesting book about this guy. He was Charles de Gaulle's personal chef. I love his TV cooking shows.

Frys Girl · « **Reply #23 on:** December 14, 2011, 03:34:09 PM »

Quote from: slipstream on December 13, 2011, 08:58:03 PM

How many people here use e-readers, and which one do you use?

I have a Kindle (first gen) a family member gave me. I find it handy for traveling, but I still like to hold a physical book in my hands. I feel torn between the convenience of e-books, and actually having a physical book on the self.

I have a nook color. I love it! I had to stop buying physical books. I ran out of room on my shelves. However, I do miss physical books sometimes. When I do, I just go to the library. You can also borrow ebooks for your ereader.

slipstream · « **Reply #24 on:** December 20, 2011, 04:08:03 AM »

Quote from: Frys Girl on December 14, 2011, 03:34:09 PM

I have a nook color. I love it! I had to stop buying physical books. I ran out of room on my shelves. However, I do miss physical books sometimes. When I do, I just go to the library. You can also borrow ebooks for your ereader.

Do your eyes get tired reading on the LCD screen, and if so, do you wish you'd bought a e-reader with and e-ink screen?

Treading Water · « **Reply #25 on:** December 20, 2011, 06:35:37 AM »

Quote from: slipstream on December 20, 2011, 04:08:03 AM

Do your eyes get tired reading on the LCD screen, and if so, do you wish you'd bought a e-reader with and e-ink screen?

I'm trying to save up for a Kindle Fire. Some time after the new year, I hope. I like the "feel" of books, too--an old comfort I don't want to lose. Anyway, the only bad thing I've heard about the Fire is the "ease" of ordering buttons that children apparently use. My kids are old enough to "pay" for their own purchases.

Of course, maybe a laptop would be a better choice. Dunno.......

aldousburbank · « **Reply #26 on:** December 25, 2011, 12:28:16 PM »

I have been very pleased, and disturbed by the "Sinister Forces" Peter Levenda trilogy, and also by Russ Baker's "Family Secrets".

My latest reading venture is "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History" by S.C. Gwynne.
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591052
It's the straight, non-PC dope on American manifest destiny and the last bothersome tribal elements that stood in the way. Quanah Parker has always been one of my American heroes (named one of my sons after him)- the story of the Bin Laden of his day, who was neither assassinated or gitmoed, but actually successfully integrated into territorial American culture. Shorthand version of the story: The son of a kidnapped white woman and a Comanche warrior, Quanah did a lot of damage to Texan and Mexican pioneers, his people effectively keeping the Spanish from laying claim to the Great Plains. Following his (near) death-bed conversion from killer to peyote prophet, his acquiescence to the Dawes Act essentially opened up the west to the new immigrants whose descendants many of us are.

Frys Girl · « **Reply #27 on:** December 25, 2011, 05:42:01 PM »

The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Frys Girl · « **Reply #28 on:** December 25, 2011, 05:43:03 PM »

Quote from: slipstream on December 20, 2011, 04:08:03 AM

Do your eyes get tired reading on the LCD screen, and if so, do you wish you'd bought a e-reader with and e-ink screen?

Sorry for not responding sooner. The display is great. No pain or strain.

slipstream · « **Reply #29 on:** January 03, 2012, 05:31:24 AM »

I have always liked B&N. I think they will remain competitive in the e-book market. If I were to buy a new e-reader I would go with the Nook, because it supports the epub format.

Any good reads over the holidays, anyone?

I have a few but I'll have to post them another time.