What was the last good book you read?

[DudeEMETIB]

The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick

Probably closer to a short story than a book, it's only about 60-70 pages long, but it's a pretty good story about a traumatized holocaust survivor's inability to assimilate into society once she's moved to America with her niece, after being in a concentration camp and having her child killed before her eyes (in a kind of epic way).

[Insomniac108]

World War Z by Max Brooks

It's a fictional post-zombie apocalypse narrative detailing how people survived and rebuilt after the zombie uprising,

The thing I liked about this book was that the major events of the zombie apocalypse were discussed from the viewpoint of individuals. It's a bit funny, a bit sad and overall, a wonderful story. I highly recommend it.

[MountainMcc]

Originally Posted by dannyhatch

So, I took a break from Neuromancer to read more crazy science-fiction. "A Boy and His Dog": Fucking shit, Harlan Ellison. I loved it.

Have you seen the movie starring Don Johnson? I saw it when I was about thirteen. Twisted my head up pretty good!

[MountainMcc]

Originally Posted by Rhian

I agree with that one. I read that with the Power of One at the same time.

I've started The Kite Runner and love it so far. I started the Life of Pi, but I can't get past him on the raft.

I have a huge romanticism with books, and have a number unfinished but I find holding books hurts quite a bit since I got so sick.

If you have an iPhone , droid or blackberry, you can get software to read on those. It's pretty easy to find ebooks and not too bad to read that way. I like paper books but this way I can take a book with me anywhere. Just sayin'.

[MonsteroftheId]

Finished The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge (the first Soviet writer to call the Stalin regime "totalitarian") offers a lot insight into the purges of prominent party leaders and the Soviet zeitgeist of the late 30s. Also read James Jones' From Here to Eternity.

Originally Posted by DudeEMETIB

The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick

Probably closer to a short story than a book, it's only about 60-70 pages long, but it's a pretty good story about a traumatized holocaust survivor's inability to assimilate into society once she's moved to America with her niece, after being in a concentration camp and having her child killed before her eyes (in a kind of epic way).

Read this a few months ago. I must admit I take issue with non-survivors treating the Holocaust as a literary genre. Ozick seems like a fine writer but, aside from my complaint, the topic is well trod by now.

[siric]

Just finished the Dresden Files. Good series, starts out really dark, gets a bit lighter, but awesome ending for the latest book.

[DarkKnightJared]

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi--great hard military sci-fi.

[MonsteroftheId]

Recently finished 'The Rings of Saturn' by the late (brilliant) W.G. Sebald -- also enjoyed 'Loving' by Henry Green and 'Là-Bas' by Joris-Karl Huysmans last month.

[slacker]

Grwoing up on methamphetamines by nic sheff. An elaborate, possibly slightly exaggerated biography of a fucked up kid. Very interesting. Definitely may reconsider hard drugs and if you've ever done them before may have a relapse.

[MonsteroftheId]

Read Palace Walk by the great Naguib Mahfouz. It follows the lives of an Egyptian family living under the rule of their heavy handed patriarch, Al-Sayyid Ahmad, during the political upheavals and events surrounding the Great War and the Egyptian nationalist revolution. Great book.