Rate The Last Book You Read or Are Currently Reading - With Synopsis

[codedigital]

I know most of you kids don't read...and that's pretty sad. However, for those cool cats that do, tell me all about it.

Give a rating for your last book or your current book so far and let us know a bit about the book.



The Appeal - John Grisham

3/10

Utter crap...I like John Grisham's yearly books for simple and quick reads. This is the worst I've ever read from him.

The book is basically about a small town that had a plant that dumped shit into the water and it created a cancer cluster. The book is about the court case surrounding it and the manipulation of politics to get it in the favor of big business. Don't read this book. Haha.

I'm currently reading Abarat by Clive Barker...so far it's great but he's like one of my two favorite authors.

[deathbypig37x]

Great idea Code. :)

I'm currently re-reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond(No, not like "He went to Jared" :p)

Since this is my third or fourth time through, I can rate it at a very solid 8/10. Whilest it is not at all a captivating fictional story, it delves deep into a question that seems simple, when the answer is complex: "Why did Europeans settle the world, and why didn't those who were conquered?"
The book goes into the most fundamental reasons why humans are the way they are, and why events played out the way they did.

I consider the book an essential read, something everyone should read in school at the least. ;)

[k_dog]

That's depressing to hear about the new Grisham novel. I'm an avid reader of his.

I am currently reading Eric Clapton's autobiography in Audiobook format as well as text. 9/10 thus far.

[Azeron]

Clive Barker is great. :) That reminds me, I have to finish my reread of Imajica.

Read seven novels last week while on vacation. Last one I read was Philip Kerr - The One from the Other.

Set in 1949, Kerr's excellent fourth novel to feature Bernhard Gunther (after 1991's German Requiem) finds the erstwhile PI managing a failing hotel about a mile from the site of the Dachau concentration camp. After the death of his wife, Kirsten, in a mental hospital, he calls it quits and opens a private detective agency. A series of missing-Nazi cases sets Bernie on a course that becomes increasingly complicated until he's beaten to a near pulp, had his little finger chopped off and is sent to a mysterious private estate to recover. There he's drawn into a nightmare involving the American occupation and the CIA, and soon his life hangs in the balance.

It was a great read, highly suspenseful, witty, and with some of the most beautiful prose I've read in a long time, highly recommended. :)

Now reading Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice. Hobb is a bit inconsistent, sometimes she writes great fantasy and sometimes she bores me to tears. This one is shaping up well so far though.

[codedigital]

Great idea Code. :)

I'm currently re-reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond(No, not like "He went to Jared" :p)

Since this is my third or fourth time through, I can rate it at a very solid 8/10. Whilest it is not at all a captivating fictional story, it delves deep into a question that seems simple, when the answer is complex: "Why did Europeans settle the world, and why didn't those who were conquered?"
The book goes into the most fundamental reasons why humans are the way they are, and why events played out the way they did.

I consider the book an essential read, something everyone should read in school at the least. ;)


That book sounds pretty awesome. I'm going to have to add it to my list.

[v0lum3]

Great idea :D

I just finished reading A Salty Peice of Land by Jimmy Buffet.

Honestly I love Jimmy's music and have since I first heard it, but I didn't expect much from him as a writer. However, I was pleasantly surprised, the book had a lot of depth and painted a great picture in my mind. It was easy to read and had a fun to follow story. By the end of it I felt like I'd truly experienced the whole story.

Thumbs up ;)

[codedigital]

Great idea :D

I just finished reading A Salty Peice of Land by Jimmy Buffet.

Honestly I love Jimmy's music and have since I first heard it, but I didn't expect much from him as a writer. However, I was pleasantly surprised, the book had a lot of depth and painted a great picture in my mind. It was easy to read and had a fun to follow story. By the end of it I felt like I'd truly experienced the whole story.

I love any man that can sing a song with the lyrics "why don't we get drunk and screw".

[Tdchewy]

The last Book that I read was BTK: Bind, Torture, Kill.
It was a retelling of the story of the BTK killer that was caught a few years back. The story is told from the perspective of the local newpaper reporters and the police that were tracking the killer. The guy was able to disappear for years at a time and then resurface to taunt the police who had no clues. In the end, the guy is tricked by the police and gets caught. He asks through personal ads in the newspaper if floppy disks can be traced in any way, the police of course say "No way buddy, send it along". He sends it and the police right click, choose properties and boom, there's his name along with the name of the church at which he was a highly regarded leader. What a retard!

(I'm into killer type books and am currently reading the Green River Killer)

[Comon]

I told Azeron we should have a Books section like a few months ago... This is good enough.

I am currently reading The Bourne Betrayal. Im on the first chapter so far, so I don't have a clue where its going.

The last book I read was Clifford goes to school. This book gets a 10 out of 10 because of its amazing storyline. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Recomended read for anyone.

Last 5 books I read.
- Harry Potter 2 - 7

[botafogo007]

Unfortunately most of what I read right now is finance related, and I'm sure none of you want a synopsis on "Way of the Turtle." But when I can I read historical nonfiction and some literature, though I hardly read any fiction that was published after WWII. If you guys read only new fiction I definitely encourage you to mix it up :).

Anyway, I recently started re-reading "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain, which is quite possibly the funniest thing ever written. It's basically a travel journal from a cruise around the world he took, and a lot of it points to both the absurdity of the tourism industry (example: every church he visits in Italy claims to have an actual nail from Jesus's cross) and the tendency of Americans to make absolute fools of themselves whenever they go abroad. If you're an American and can laugh a little at yourself and your countrymen it's a very entertaining read, and it's amazing how most of his observations from 150 years ago still fit people and places.

[deathbypig37x]

Anyway, I recently started re-reading "The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain, which is quite possibly the funniest thing ever written. It's basically a travel journal from a cruise around the world he took, and a lot of it points to both the absurdity of the tourism industry (example: every church he visits in Italy claims to have an actual nail from Jesus's cross) and the tendency of Americans to make absolute fools of themselves whenever they go abroad. If you're an American and can laugh a little at yourself and your countrymen it's a very entertaining read, and it's amazing how most of his observations from 150 years ago still fit people and places.

I heard of the book, but never read it, but it sounds like Twain. :p I've only read the classics, but that looks like a fun read.

Twain's very good at satire, and so his Orwell, in the political sense. If anyone hasn't read Animal Farm, you should. It's quite funny if you know the allegorical AND metaphorical side to the story.
After I finish GGaS again, I'll probably start on another Net Force book from Clancy. I have't read half the ones I own. :rolleyes:

[Anti Hero]

At the moment I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird..It's not that bad, I'm about halfway through and I'm not falling asleep. Then again, I have to read it..

Last book I read for school was The Shack - 9/10 I'm pretty sure a few members on this site wouldn't enjoy this book much.

@ Code, you should check out The Testament by John Grisham. It was pretty good.

[Turbo VDuB 44]

Pig - Clancy is an amazing writer. I personally loved Hunt for the Red October (Sean Connery was great in the movie too:p)

Code - I'm a bit surprised the new Grisham book was disappointing. It sounds like an Erin Brokovich story only in reverse. Since that's what I want to do, I should read it.


My last book I finished was: Harry Potter #7 (they all blend in). Everyone knows about the books and the main plots. I thought the ending was very anti-climatic and kind of shitty.
- 7 out of 10.

Currently I am almost done with: The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn Jr.
This book is based on a 60s tv show and was written in 1970 about first year law school students at Harvard School Of Law. It is a random book filled with ideas that feel like a novel, but like a diary at the same time. It's quite good if you are into the Law idea and is fairly short (240-something pages).
- 8 out of 10.


I also recently just got 2 books from my parents for my birthday as an early gift which I will start by this weekend.
1.) Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas
- Overview: Possibly the most graphic treatment of global warming that has yet been published, Six Degrees is what readers of Al Gore's best-selling An Inconvenient Truth or Ross Gelbspan's Boiling Point will turn to next. Written by the acclaimed author of High Tide, this highly relevant and compelling book uses accessible journalistic prose to distill what environmental scientists portend about the consequences of human pollution for the next hundred years.

In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report projecting average global surface temperatures to rise between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius (roughly 2 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. Based on this forecast, author Mark Lynas outlines what to expect from a warming world, degree by degree. At 1 degree Celsius, most coral reefs and many mountain glaciers will be lost. A 3-degree rise would spell the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, disappearance of Greenland's ice sheet, and the creation of deserts across the Midwestern United States and southern Africa. A 6-degree increase would eliminate most life on Earth, including much of humanity.

Based on authoritative scientific articles, the latest computer models, and information about past warm events in Earth history, Six Degrees promises to be an eye-opening warning that humanity will ignore at its peril.

And Book 2:
The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) by Mark Bauerlein
Overview - This shocking, lively exposure of the intellectual vacuity of today’s under thirty set reveals the disturbing and, ultimately, incontrovertible truth: cyberculture is turning us into a nation of know-nothings.

Can a nation continue to enjoy political and economic predominance if its citizens refuse to grow up?

For decades, concern has been brewing about the dumbed-down popular culture available to young people and the impact it has on their futures. At the dawn of the digital age, many believed they saw a hopeful answer: The Internet, e-mail, blogs, and interactive and hyper-realistic video games promised to yield a generation of sharper, more aware, and intellectually sophisticated children. The terms “information superhighway” and “knowledge economy” entered the lexicon, and we assumed that teens would use their knowledge and understanding of technology to set themselves apart as the vanguards of this new digital era.

That was the promise. But the enlightenment didn’t happen. The technology that was supposed to make young adults more astute, diversify their tastes, and improve their verbal skills has had the opposite effect. According to recent reports, most young people in the United States do not read literature, visit museums, or vote. They cannot explain basic scientific methods, recount basic American history, name their local political representatives, or locate Iraq or Israel on a map. The Dumbest Generation is a startling examination of the intellectual life of young adults and a timely warning of its consequences for American culture and democracy.

Drawing upon exhaustive research, personal anecdotes, and historical and social analysis, Mark Bauerline presents an uncompromisingly realistic portrait of the young American mind at this critical juncture, and lays out a compelling vision of how we might address its deficiencies.


I'm honestly particularly interested in reading the latter of these 2 books (although both do peak my interest), because, had it not been for our parents, we would not be in the situation we are in. Don't invent text messaging and encourage it via advertising, and we wouldn't have this pre-disposition towards these tendencies that are supposedly "dumbing us down". I'll keep you guys posted as to how they are.

Also if anyone wants any good books check out:

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
It's an excellent book about the growth of fast food in our nation, a detailed look into the practices in the slaughter houses of the US, and just how much fast food we consume and how bad it really is for us. This book is the reason I eat fast food maybe once a month. Definitely an interesing read which you should check out.

Schlosser also wrote a book called Reefer Nation which is about the underground drug ring that pretty much runs the United States, how the government has their hand in importing cocaine from South America, and how if we taxed even just marijuana, our national debt would erase seemingly overnight.

[codedigital]

At the moment I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird..It's not that bad, I'm about halfway through and I'm not falling asleep. Then again, I have to read it..

Last book I read for school was The Shack - 9/10 I'm pretty sure a few members on this site wouldn't enjoy this book much.

@ Code, you should check out The Testament by John Grisham. It was pretty good.

I've read every John Grisham book.

[Anti Hero]

I've read every John Grisham book.

Soooo did you like The Testament?

[codedigital]

Soooo did you like The Testament?

Yes....still not as good as his earlier work though.

[Razor]

The last book i read was the Titanic. It was a novel study for school so of course i had to read it.

I didn't really like the book Titanic, but i did like the movie. I learned a lot about the Titanic on the novel study :)

[deathbypig37x]

At the moment I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird..It's not that bad, I'm about halfway through and I'm not falling asleep. Then again, I have to read it..

Well, when I read it several years ago, I really liked it, and when I had to re-read it for school 2 years ago, I appreciated it a LOT more, especially after watching the movie as well.
Both the film and book are essential pieces of art to enjoy. Gregory Peck was perfect as Atticus. :) And Robert Duvall as Boo Radley was very good, even though he was in the moive for like 10 minutes, and had less than 5 lines. It really helps you appreciate how aged and experienced he is as an actor.
Anyway, Harper Lee did good with the book, so I think you'll enjoy the rest.

I've read every John Grisham book.

ROFL :D

[Turbo VDuB 44]

I spent 20 minutes writing that and everyone skipped over it :(

[Anti Hero]

Your 16 right? So you read To Kill A Mockingbird when you were 9 years old?

[Phenom]

Your 16 right? So you read To Kill A Mockingbird when you were 9 years old?

He said several not seven nub. I read To Kill a Mockingbird and that book turns fantastical after the 11th chapter.

[deathbypig37x]

He said several not seven nub.

Not when I was 9, but when I was 12...the reading level isn't high at all in the book, it's better of course to pick up subtle nuances reading it with a broader perspective of course, but I've been reading books for a long time now, and I read all the best of Dicken's around the same time I read To Kill a Mockingbird...it's just that I enjoy more contemporary stuff, not that I don't have an appreciation for classic books and authors.

I don't see why that's surprising. You don't think I was reading Green Eggs and Ham when I was 9 do you? :p I'm sure everyone else on the site read higher level reading when they were young too.

[Veritas347]

The Last book I read:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Its about a Seagull who does no share the same thoughts and ways of every other seagull who only lives life to fight for food and survival.

8.5 out of 10

I liked it even though it is a quite short book. Here's the Wikipedia page if you want to know more about it... I'm not much into books though so I dont really know what makes a great book so this might help your decision to read it or not. Click Me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Livingston_Seagull)

[Turbo VDuB 44]

The Last book I read:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Its about a Seagull who does no share the same thoughts and ways of every other seagull who only lives life to fight for food and survival.

8.5 out of 10

I liked it even though it is a quite short book. Here's the Wikipedia page if you want to know more about it... I'm not much into books though so I dont really know what makes a great book so this might help your decision to read it or not. Click Me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Livingston_Seagull)

Amazing book. I remember reading it a few years ago and it was excellent.

[codedigital]

I spent 20 minutes writing that and everyone skipped over it :(

I didn't skip it...in fact I think you deserve +rep for such a well thought out post.


I'm really interested in that second book "The Dumbest Generation". I think it would help me learn a bit more about most of our "members".

[Turbo VDuB 44]

I didn't skip it...in fact I think you deserve +rep for such a well thought out post.


I'm really interested in that second book "The Dumbest Generation". I think it would help me learn a bit more about most of our "members".

:p I was kidding, but thank you. I started the other book, but The Dumbest Generation definitely would seem to fit most of the younger people on this website.

[heidiness]

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

i've read the first book... The Golden Compass, which most of you should know from the awful movie.... the book is really good. i'm at the second book which is the The Subtle Knife... i'm about half way through, i stopped reading it because of classes and it tends to get boring then pick back up again then get boring again... and so on... it's still good so far.

[Khaos x3h]

I'm reading the Night Shift by Stephen King. It's alright, nothing great but that's cause it's a book.

[Azeron]

I'm reading the Night Shift by Stephen King. It's alright, nothing great but that's cause it's a book.
You fail at life and at this thread.

Edit: TRIPLE FAIL. (see below)

[Khaos x3h]

I just read the Graveyard Shift. I'm starting the Mangler part of the book tonight.

[codedigital]

You fail at life and at this thread.

Edit: TRIPLE FAIL. (see below)

I agree...he saddens me.

[Khaos x3h]

How is that a triple phail? I actually like the book :omg: I know.

[Azeron]

How is that a triple phail? I actually like the book :omg: I know.
Try reading the thread title again.

[codedigital]

How is that a triple phail? I actually like the book :omg: I know.

No synopsis.

[Khaos x3h]

Oh okay. I just started it so I can't really say much about it ATM.

[Bluntman]

I'm not so much into fiction. I look to books mostly for education rather than entertainment.

The last book I read was A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.

It's an autobiography written by a former child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. It describes how he was taken from his family as a kid and forced to join the rebel RUF(Revolutionary United Front) army. He ran from the rebels with a group of other young boys and lived in the wilds of Africa for years in hiding. Later, he was found and forced to rejoin the RUF. The rest of the book describes his time in the RUF, and his eventual nighttime escape from the wartorn capitol of Freetown to come to the United States.

This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become the soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What does war look like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But it is rare to find a first-person account from someone who endured this hell and survived.

In A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and, finally, to heal.

This is an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

This was pretty much the best book I've read in ages. On top of being flat out entertaining, it gave me a different perspective on Africa and its problems. It also humanized the people of the region in a whole different way. It's hard to imagine what it's really like to be in their shoes.

So please, for just 5 cents a day, adopt this child and save him from a lifetime of fighting malaria and crocodiles.

http://www.lynchburg.edu/images/news/african-child.jpg

[BigZ7337]

Infected by Scott Sigler - 9.5/10

This is a really good book, it's a genre hybrid with parts science fiction, horror, thriller, and plague/medical mystery. There are virus/contagion infected middle class people that are going crazy and killing their families and themselves. This deadly symptom is just a side affect of the contagion, with the true purpose being something much worse. There are CIA agents and scientists searching for live hosts to research, but every body they've found has been in a rapid state of decay, with triangle growths being the only known symptom. This is when you're introduced to a new host, as you follow the contagion through it's life cycle on a microbiological level. The new host is an ex-football player, whose multi-million dollar NFL career was ended by a devastating knee injury. The triangles think he's the perfect breeding ground, but he could turn out to be their worst enemy, and a hope for humanity.

There are some gruesome parts to this book, Saw/Hostel esque, but I immensely enjoyed it. It was a very quick and easy read for me, and I just couldn't put it down until it was finished. The science is very detailed, but it also includes laymen terms so it isn't confusing. This is the authors first book, but he's a very famous podcaster, and you can actually subscribe to the full audio book on itunes for free.
Here are two of his sites, with links to purchase the book, or to download it for free:

http://www.scottsigler.com/

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/infected/infected.html

[Phenom]

Animal Farm by George Orwell 9.5/10

No it is not a picture book. It's a story about animals on a farm that subtly hints at the types of governments at that time. (Marxism and others)