USMB Book Club

[Modbert]

Hello there fellow USMB members! Modbert here, with a idea to liven up the board a bit without it involving politics. What I'm proposing naturally is something I know that has been tried here before. But hey, figure I'd give it the old college try. (See what I did there? )

That's right, a book club here at USMB! All members are welcome to join in for a discussion on books in general. However, what I also want to try and get off the ground is a biweekly or monthly discussion of least one book specifically. I figured those who are really interested can sound off, and we can see what we get going.

To make it clear though, this thread is also a discussion about various books in general, not just discussion of one book. My recommendations (feel free to sound off and it's good if you mention the page # as we all read at different speeds and have different amounts of free time):

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (Pages vary by copy but mine is 376 pages.)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. (325 Pages)

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. (368 Pages)

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. (416 Pages)

I already know that plenty of people have already read a number of those books, which is good since that means discussing them will be easier.

If you're interested, feel free to state your recommendations. Also feel free to start posting about any book you enjoyed. Who knows, might find someone you totally disagree with enjoyed it as well.

 

[Sherry]

Great idea, except that the book I'm reading is political.

 

[Modbert]

Great idea, except that the book I'm reading is political.

Always the next one. Or can discuss past books you've read.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Hello there fellow USMB members! Modbert here, with a idea to liven up the board a bit without it involving politics. What I'm proposing naturally is something I know that has been tried here before. But hey, figure I'd give it the old college try. (See what I did there? )

That's right, a book club here at USMB! All members are welcome to join in for a discussion on books in general. However, what I also want to try and get off the ground is a biweekly or monthly discussion of least one book specifically. I figured those who are really interested can sound off, and we can see what we get going.

To make it clear though, this thread is also a discussion about various books in general, not just discussion of one book. My recommendations (feel free to sound off and it's good if you mention the page # as we all read at different speeds and have different amounts of free time):

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (Pages vary by copy but mine is 376 pages.)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. (325 Pages)

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. (368 Pages)

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. (416 Pages)

I already know that plenty of people have already read a number of those books, which is good since that means discussing them will be easier.

If you're interested, feel free to state your recommendations. Also feel free to start posting about any book you enjoyed. Who knows, might find someone you totally disagree with enjoyed it as well.

oops!

I came here because my regular Bookie got nabbed. I was going to place a few bets on the Celtics game.

But I like books too.

Let me think about a book I've read that I think others would appreciate.

 

[JW Frogen]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

On the Road.

And Moby Dick, though I am disappointed by Melville’s lack of use of big cocks in the plot.

 

[Modbert]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

On the Road.

And Moby Dick, though I am disappointed by Melville’s lack of use of big cocks in the plot.

I actually have Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas on my want to read list, as well as On the Road. As for Thompson, I've been wanting to read more of his work, he seems like a excellent author.

 

[Madeline]

Humm, stuff I've read that has changed my life:

"Stranger in a Strange Land", Robert Heinlein

"The Gift of Fear", Gavin De Becker

"The Second Sex", Simone de Beauvoir

"The Plague", Albert Camus

I've read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", but not the other two book mentioned in the Op. These two were just wonderful, but totally different experiences.

 

[Modbert]

Humm, stuff I've read that has changed my life:

"Stranger in a Strange Land", Robert Heinlein

"The Gift of Fear", Gavin De Becker

"The Second Sex", Simone de Beauvoir

"The Plague", Albert Camus

I've read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", but not the other two book mentioned in the Op. These two were just wonderful, but totally different experiences.

To Kill A Mockingbird is probably my favorite book, or least has my favorite chapter of any book.

 

[Sherry]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

 

[Modbert]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

Another classic. King would probably consider that his Magnum Opus if not for the Dark Tower series.

 

[Sherry]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

Another classic. King would probably consider that his Magnum Opus if not for the Dark Tower series.

Whoa, that's wicked...I just noticed your sig line.

 

[Madeline]

I used to read "Alice in Wonderland" every summer. Haven't done that in years, and I can't explain why the book moves me so much. But it does.

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

[random3434]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

Another classic. King would probably consider that his Magnum Opus if not for the Dark Tower series.

If "The Stand" was written by an unknown author, and not someone considered "Pop Lit" it would have won a Pulitzer, like "The Road" did a few years ago.

Both are great novels.

There are so many books I've read, you name it and I'll discuss it!

 

[JW Frogen]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

I read that on a drunken and drug fueled camping trip in the Ozarks.

Let me tell you, not a good idea folks.

Do not drink and King.

 

[Modbert]

Whoa, that's wicked...I just noticed your sig line.

Yep, one of my favorite quotes on that subject.

 

[JW Frogen]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

On the Road.

And Moby Dick, though I am disappointed by Melville’s lack of use of big cocks in the plot.

I actually have Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas on my want to read list, as well as On the Road. As for Thompson, I've been wanting to read more of his work, he seems like a excellent author.

Hunter was a true American voice, he could have existed no where else.

 

[Modbert]

If "The Stand" was written by an unknown author, and not someone considered "Pop Lit" it would have won a Pulitzer, like "The Road" did a few years ago.

Both are great novels.

There are so many books I've read, you name it and I'll discuss it!

I always enjoyed how he had written as Richard, as if to see whether his success was merely a fluke or not. Never mind the fact he was producing least two books a year at that point.

 

[Sherry]

I don't really have a favorite anymore, but back in my 20's I read Stephen King's "The Stand" several times.

I read that on a drunken and drug fueled camping trip in the Ozarks.

Let me tell you, not a good idea folks.

Do not drink and King.

Hey, it could have been worse. You could have read "Deliverance" while canoeing in Georgia.

 

[JBeukema]

Just started

Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder - Chirot, D. and McCauley, C

recentlyfinished


[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552"]Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (9780393317558): Jared M. Diamond: Books[/ame]


Before that was

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Race-Card-Resentment-Assault-Justice/dp/0761509429"]The Race Card: White Guilt, Black Resentment, and the Assault on Truth and Justice…[/ame]

 

[Madeline]

Anything by Tom Wolfe. Especially if you like Hunter Thompson.

"Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flak-Catchers"

"Electric Kool Aid Acid Test"

"Bonfire of the Vanities"

"A Man In Full"

But seriously, anything by Wolfe. And anything by Capote and by Stephen King. They are all consistently fantabulous.