The 50 book challenge

[max]

1. L'homme à l'envers - Fred Vargas
2. Debout les morts - San Antonio
3. Nous Sommes Tous des Playmobiles - Nicolas Ancion
4. Texas Holdem Poker - Paul Mendelson.
5. La Ligne Noire - Jean-Christophe Grangé.
6. Time's Eye (A Time Odyssey) - Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
7. The Innocent Man - John Grisham
8. The Ghost - George Harris

Nothing noteworthy about this last one.

[bdams19]

Billion Dollar Molecule
Startup - Jerry Kaplan

Both for entrepreneurship; the first one is pretty boring but the second one is about a Silicon Valley start up who competed with Microsoft in a race to put out a pen computer. I thought the second one was very good and it built up my hatred for Microsoft even more. I'd recommend it.

[Jeremy]

1. Breaking The Spell Daniel Dennett 339pg

2. On Chesil Beach Ian McEwan 166pg

3. Church And State; Australia's Imaginary Wall Tom Frame 95pg

4. The Kiwi's Egg; Charles Darwin & Natural Selection David Quammen 253pg

5. The Voyage Of The Beagle Charles Darwin 452pg

6. The Stupid Country; How Australia is Dismantling Public Education Chris Bonnor and Jane Caro 223pg

7. The Lifeboat Zacharey Jane 241pg

8. Psychogeography Will Self (and illustrated by Ralph Steadman) 256pg

9. Crash J. G. Ballard 185pg

10. The Naked Lunch William Burroughs 261pg

11. Neuromancer William Gibson 317pg


I've been reading a lot about transhumanism kind of stuff - mainly from Ray Kurzweil sources (his blog, the singularity blog etc.) and this book seemed to come up a lot, so I thought it was one of those standards that I should read. I guess the problem is that although it was obviously ground breaking at the time, today it's ideas have been used so much that I really didn't get a lot out of it. Definitely enjoyed it, and I've read some Gibson in the past as well which was good, but the concepts are so common now that there wasn't really much to be gained.

I'm now on to American Gods by Neil Gaiman, who I'm going to see do a reading and a talk on Wednesday, so I need to start and finish by then...

[Jeremy]

1. Breaking The Spell Daniel Dennett 339pg

2. On Chesil Beach Ian McEwan 166pg

3. Church And State; Australia's Imaginary Wall Tom Frame 95pg

4. The Kiwi's Egg; Charles Darwin & Natural Selection David Quammen 253pg

5. The Voyage Of The Beagle Charles Darwin 452pg

6. The Stupid Country; How Australia is Dismantling Public Education Chris Bonnor and Jane Caro 223pg

7. The Lifeboat Zacharey Jane 241pg

8. Psychogeography Will Self (and illustrated by Ralph Steadman) 256pg

9. Crash J. G. Ballard 185pg

10. The Naked Lunch William Burroughs 261pg

11. Neuromancer William Gibson 317pg

12. American Gods Neil Gaiman 588 pg

Massive book. I had no idea how big it was when I made my last post. Powerful story. Won a lot of awards.

[Cod]

Wow, you read books like a robot, Jeremy! I googled something about the book you just finished and I must say I'd like to read it some time.

I've just finished John Grisham's "A time to kill". It was a pretty nice book even though a subject wasn't pretty. It allows you to look at the administration of justice from different angles.

Here's my updated list:

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 240pg
2. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, Douglas Adams, 256pg
3. Life, The Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams, 240pg
4. The Game, Neil Strauss, 496pg
5. The Final Detail, Harlan Coben, 399pg
6. The Unadulterated Cat, Terry Pratchett, 116pg
7. The Beach House, James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, 318pg
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 238pg
9. A time to kill, John Grisham, 543pg

PS. It's really funny that almost every book I read has "The" at the beggining of its English title. English is boring .

[Laroche]

I'm a pretty big Grisham fan, I recommend Rainmaker, lots of insurance scams in there and incompetent characters.. his incompetent characters are a great read.

Too bad in real life he's an asshole.

[Cod]

At the moemnt I have about 6 books to read, so maybe after these I'll read this Rainmaker .

Here's my updated list:

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 240pg
2. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, Douglas Adams, 256pg
3. Life, The Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams, 240pg
4. The Game, Neil Strauss, 496pg
5. The Final Detail, Harlan Coben, 399pg
6. The Unadulterated Cat, Terry Pratchett, 116pg
7. The Beach House, James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, 318pg
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 238pg
9. A Time to Kill, John Grisham, 543pg
10. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 341pg

I finished the last one yesterday. I really liked this book! I have to say I'm a big fan of this kind of King's books. I mean, psychological thrillers.

[full nelson]

Song of Susannah Stephen King
The Dark Tower Stephen King
The Catcher in the Rye Salinger
Autobiography John Stuart Mill
Play Piano in a Flash! Scott Houston
The Good Citizen Russell Dalton
Burr Gore Vidal

I haven't had much time or desire to read leisurely due to how much I have to for class, but I got around to reading Burr a few weeks ago. It's a hilarious interpretation of the Founding Fathers and a historical fiction about the misunderstood villain, Aaron Burr. Excellent read. I recommend it to Americans because you're more familiar with the "mythology" of our country's origin. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed unless someone unduly idolizes figures like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington or Alexander Hamilton. For everyone else, it will be really funny and entertaining.

Edit: I guess you also have to like history or politics to enjoy it. Thanks C

[Cod]

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 240pg
2. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, Douglas Adams, 256pg
3. Life, The Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams, 240pg
4. The Game, Neil Strauss, 496pg
5. The Final Detail, Harlan Coben, 399pg
6. The Unadulterated Cat, Terry Pratchett, 116pg
7. The Beach House, James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, 318pg
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 238pg
9. A Time to Kill, John Grisham, 543pg
10. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 341pg
11. Along Came a Spider, James Patterson, 429pg

I've just finished it! What an awesome book! I think I'm going to be a big fan of James Patterson.

[max]

1. L'homme à l'envers - Fred Vargas
2. Debout les morts - San Antonio
3. Nous Sommes Tous des Playmobiles - Nicolas Ancion
4. Texas Holdem Poker - Paul Mendelson.
5. La Ligne Noire - Jean-Christophe Grangé.
6. Time's Eye (A Time Odyssey) - Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter
7. The Innocent Man - John Grisham
8. The Ghost - George Harris
9. Sunstorm (A Time Odyssey) - Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

Great read. The third in the "A Time Odyssey" series is available on the 29th of May. It's Arthur Clarke's penultimate novel, he passed away in March this year. I'm currently reading another of his novels..

[bigdirtyfoot]

I wish I had known about this sooner! This sounds like a great idea. I just brought home all my books that I had at my college apartment so I'm just going to post the ones that I've read so far off the top of my head and I'll add the others and page numbers later.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. Thompson
Caro Michele, Natalia Ginzburg
Covering Islam, Edward W. Said
All-American Yemeni Girls, Loukia K. Sarroub
Songs of the Doomed, Hunter S. Thompson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenace, Robert Pirsig
A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich

I know there are some others, but I'll have to go through my books when I go back home this weekend. Currently I'm reading Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and The Wheel of Time by Carlos Casteneda.

Covering Islam and All-American Yemeni Girls were books I read for class. Caro Michele is an Italian novel written in the '70s in the style of absurd theatre, and it was very good - had to read it for Italian class. Songs of the Doomed is a collection of HST's works from the '60s to the '90s. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 was a very enlightening book on political processes in America, and very funny at times. A Brief History of Time gave me some more information on basic scientific principles that I picked up on in college. Nickel and Dimed is an amazing book on the lives that the impoverished live in America today. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a book on philosophy, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.

At any rate, great thread on you Jer.

[PegLegHolly]

"the boy detective fails" joe meno

[Cod]

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 240pg
2. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, Douglas Adams, 256pg
3. Life, The Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams, 240pg
4. The Game, Neil Strauss, 496pg
5. The Final Detail, Harlan Coben, 399pg
6. The Unadulterated Cat, Terry Pratchett, 116pg
7. The Beach House, James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, 318pg
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 238pg
9. A Time to Kill, John Grisham, 543pg
10. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 341pg
11. Along Came a Spider, James Patterson, 429pg
12. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, 461pg

Another totally awesome book! This one was a science fiction novel. I read somewhere that it won the most important science fiction awards. It deserved it for sure! Everybody has to read it .

[Asmus]

I read it a couple of years ago! Definitely one of my favorite books!
I wanna read it again soon!

I have "The Game" laying around. Been thinking about reading it for ages.

[bigdirtyfoot]

Ender's Game is my favorite book of ALL time and the only book I've read more than three times! (I read it four times.) Glad to hear you enjoyed it - I've let so many friends borrow that book and I always like hearing that people have enjoyed it.

[max]

I fully agree with BDF.

Ender's game is a great read

[Cod]

Wow, I didn't know this book is so well known. I bought it by accident .

[Jeremy]

1. Breaking The Spell Daniel Dennett 339pg

2. On Chesil Beach Ian McEwan 166pg

3. Church And State; Australia's Imaginary Wall Tom Frame 95pg

4. The Kiwi's Egg; Charles Darwin & Natural Selection David Quammen 253pg

5. The Voyage Of The Beagle Charles Darwin 452pg

6. The Stupid Country; How Australia is Dismantling Public Education Chris Bonnor and Jane Caro 223pg

7. The Lifeboat Zacharey Jane 241pg

8. Psychogeography Will Self (and illustrated by Ralph Steadman) 256pg

9. Crash J. G. Ballard 185pg

10. The Naked Lunch William Burroughs 261pg

11. Neuromancer William Gibson 317pg

12. American Gods Neil Gaiman 588 pg

13. Scorcher Clive Hamilton 230 pg


I'm such a massive fan of Clive Hamilton. This is the second book of his I've read. Basically it's an analysis of the politics surrounding climate change over the last decade and especially in Australia. Very insightful and I learned so much about what's been happening. It's incredible how dishonest and deceitful the so called "anti-climate change" movement is, and also how untrustworthy most of the information against climate change is. I think a good rule to take from this book is whenever anybody claims something is a scientific fact, go find the peer reviewed journal article that this fact comes from, and if that's not easy to find, dismiss it until they can give you this reference. Basically since the 1990s there's been no serious scientific debate about climate change (in terms of actual evidence presented) but the oil companies have made up some enormous lies in order to try and create uncertainty on the issue. Just go through Nathan Oates posts to see what those lies are.

[bigdirtyfoot]

1. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. Thompson
2. Caro Michele, Natalia Ginzburg
3. Covering Islam, Edward W. Said
4. All-American Yemeni Girls, Loukia K. Sarroub
5. Songs of the Doomed, Hunter S. Thompson
6. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenace, Robert Pirsig
7. A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
8. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, 230 pg.
9. Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, 334 pg.

Eat Pray Love is the most recent book I've read. It is the tale of a woman's journey through Italy, India and Indonesia. I found the first two thirds of the book to be excellent, as I love Italy and took Italian for two years, and have recently begun practicing meditation in November 2007. I got a lot of good meditation techniques from the India section of the book. The Indonesia section of the book was good for the most part, but there was a lot of sappy lovey-dovey woman stuff that I wasn't wild about. Regardless, I read the whole book and got a lot out of it that I've been incorporating into my own life as of late.

I'm going to work on finding the other books so I can include page numbers and also I think I read some other books since January - I just moved and it's going to take some time and effort.

[Cod]

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 240pg
2. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, Douglas Adams, 256pg
3. Life, The Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams, 240pg
4. The Game, Neil Strauss, 496pg
5. The Final Detail, Harlan Coben, 399pg
6. The Unadulterated Cat, Terry Pratchett, 116pg
7. The Beach House, James Patterson and Peter de Jonge, 318pg
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 238pg
9. A Time to Kill, John Grisham, 543pg
10. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 341pg
11. Along Came a Spider, James Patterson, 429pg
12. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, 461pg
13. Kiss The Girls, James Patterson, 399pg

The third Patterson's book I've read. And the second from the serie with Alex Cross. I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. I'm happy that after Coben's Myron Bolitar (I read all the books with him which where translated into Polish) I finally found another cool character!

PS. I realized that in this month I am a read-machine . I love books!