Book Club: Suggestions for March

[Matt]

Suggestions close 9th this month since we're starting a little late.

[Matt]

Personal suggestion. I planned to get this book anyways.

Title: The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & Other Stories
Author: Etgar Keret
Genre: Fiction/Short Stories
Pages: 200

Synopsis/Review:
Via Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Bus-Driver-Wanted-Other-Stories/dp/1592641059): Etgar Keret's The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories stings and thrills with fierce fables of modern life. Set in landscapes ranging from "this armpit town outside Austin, Texas" to "this village in Uzbekistan that was built right smack at the mouth of Hell," these stories lay their plots' central tensions out plainly: "Dad wouldn't buy me a Bart Simpson doll," one begins. Then they take off like little roller coasters, careening through the pathos of Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son, the clowning of David Sedaris's Barrel Fever, the in-your-face violence of Quentin Tarantino, and the bewildered alienation of Franz Kafka. But readers need not know any of Keret's sources to enjoy his stories fully. The Israeli writer's aphorisms leap off the page and lodge themselves in the mind: "There are two kinds of people, those who like to sleep next to the wall, and those who like to sleep next to the people who push them off the bed." Keret's vernacular prose is fun to read, and his vision of the world is weirdly comforting. Happiness never really flourishes, but small hopes and graces abound.

[abbey]

Title: Anthem
Author: Ayn Rand
Genre: Fiction (not quite sure what to group it under, maybe sci-fi.)
Pages: 272

Synopsis:
Anthem is written as the diary of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in a future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, to the point of not even knowing words like "I" or "mine." Everyone lives and works in collective groups, with all aspects of daily life dictated by "councils" -- the Council of Vocations, the Council of Scholars, etc. His curiosity leads him to forbidden discoveries and eventually to exile, where he makes the greatest discovery of all.

Review:
In her usage of the English language she combines clarity of expression with prose of poetic grace. Here, indeed, is an anthem-an anthem, not in the idiom of music, but in the more difficult medium of words alone. This is the most beautiful, the most inspiring novel this reviewer has ever read. It is an ethical and philosophical rather than a religious dedication to freedom and the individual.

You can read the first page here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0451191137/ref=sib_fs_bod?ie=UTF8&p=S00J&checkSum=0sIuCleu0nnkmd3eXuGdQq7PeRdd0%2BgLrPC2bjx CniE%3D#reader-link). There's also an excerpt you can read, and the back cover for a bit more synopsis.

[Couch]

Title: The Appeal
Author: John Grisham
Genre: Legal Thriller
Pages: 368

Synopsis:
Politics has always been a dirty game.
Now justice is, too.

In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, a jury returns a shocking verdict against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste into a small town’s water supply, causing the worst “cancer cluster” in history. The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.

Who are the nine? How will they vote? Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided?

The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau. Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their Supreme Court justice.

The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave readers unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again.

Review:
John Grisham will be ending his absence from the New York Times Best Seller's List (fiction) with the arrival "The Appeal." Grisham's first legal thriller since the Broker (2005) is a gripping and compelling read that will be hard to put down. It is also timely since it highlights the underbelly of today's election politics.

The story centers on a small Mississippi law firm who wins a big verdict over a chemical giant, Krane, that has spread carcinogenic pollutants. Krane, fearful that this verdict, if not overturned, would set a precedent that would eventually destroy it, goes into action. It files an appeal that will find its way to the state supreme court, and hires a "dirty tricks" firm to unseat a sitting justice believe to be unfriendly. This is a viable strategy since Mississippi elects their Supreme Court justices and 69% of its voters know little about the court's candidates.

The "Appeal" provides a believable primer on how to rig an election - pick a victim; promote an unknown candidate with no visible record; and ambush the victim by painting him/her as a extreme ideologue (this liberal judge will destroy the family). Done well...and the election process is subverted.

This is Grisham's thirteenth legal thriller since "A Time to Kill" which was published in 1989. He has been a master at putting urgent moral issues on center stage for all to consider. He has succeeded again in "The Appeal."



Given that we have a month for each book, I think we could easily do 350-400 pages. I've a few friends who are fairly slow readers, but even they can finish a 700 page book in about two weeks.

[Matt]

Anthem looks really interesting, but there's several different versions. On Amazon alone, there's a few 60-page Anthems, a 250-page version and a 130-page 50th anniversary edition. What's the main difference between all these (besides the obvious page count)?

[abbey]

Anthem looks really interesting, but there's several different versions. On Amazon alone, there's a few 60-page Anthems, a 250-page version and a 130-page 50th anniversary edition. What's the main difference between all these (besides the obvious page count)?
I'm not sure why there are so many different versions. The only one on the author's website though is the Centennial edition. Seen here (http://www.aynrandbookstore2.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AR69B). So if it does get chosen, I'd suggest everyone try to stick to that version if at all possible.

[Dauntasa]

Title: Expendable
Author: James Alan Gardner
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 352


Synopsis(From Amazon.com):
Under the benevolent leadership of the League of Peoples, there is no war, little crime, and life is sacred...unless you're an Explorer. The ugly, the flawed, the misfit, the deformed, they are the unwanted, flung to the farthest corners of the galaxy to investigate hostile planets and strange, vicious creatures. Out there, there are a thousand different -- and terrible -- ways to die.
Festina Ramos belongs to the well-trained, always-dwindling ranks of ECMs (Expendable Crew Members). Now she and her partner, Yarrun Derigha, have been ordered to escort the unstable Admiral Chee to Melaquin -- the feared "Planet of No Return"-- which has swallowed up countless Explorers before them without a trace.

Obviously, this is meant to be the last mission for Ramos and Derigha. But it won't be, if Festina can help it.


Review(From Amazon.com):


Expendable is an absolute brilliant novel; that it is the debut novel for James Alan Gardner makes it even more spectacular.
Many science-fiction novels, television series, and films present the future as something which should be desired by the people of our present time. Expendable, however, shows the future as not-so-desirable in two pertinent ways: 1.) Humanity can rule itself, but must constantly act within the strict guidelines established and summarily enforced by The League of Peoples, which take on a nearly-mystical, nearly-godlike role, knowing all without ever being seen; 2.) Not everyone is "beautiful," and those with both the aptitude and the lack of beauty are made into Explorers, also known as Expendable Crew Members because of the logic that "no one will miss someone who is not beautiful" - this despite the easy availability of numerous surgical procedures to essentially MAKE someone beautiful.

This second point is what truly grabbed my attention from the second page. The main character, Festina Ramos, was born with a "birthmark" condition which has left "a lurid port-wine birthmark covering the right half of my face from cheekbone to chin." A very close friend of more than a decade has the same "birthmark," so the tale spun by Gardner is particularly personal.

Gardner's writing style is excellent - easy to follow, providing technological explanations without being deeply detailed, and split into short segments (ranging from several paragraphs to - rarely - several pages in length) grouped together as chapters to enable the reader to stop at really any point and feel it is a good stopping point (thus making it a great book for those who are often interrupted when reading). Unfortunately, however, the story is told in the first person in flashback, which takes some of the "danger" element away from the overall mood of the narrative.

Overall, Expendable is a very good read. The primary world Gardner creates is both familiar and foreign, and the narrative twists mostly unexpected. Especially for those with or those who care deeply for someone with the "birthmark" condition, this mark of "disfigurement" takes on a new light and helps to cause the reader to consider concepts of beauty in our present reality.

[Matt]

Remember guys, we want to start this off with a shorter book. 350+ pages isn't the best size to start with.

[BKS]

Title: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Author: Tucker Max
Genre: Nonfiction/Comedy/Memoirs?
Pages: 288 pages

Synopsis/Review: Tales of an asshole, and the pussy he gets. This book is about Tucker Max's sexual exploits, and how he abuses his power as an alpha-male to fuck just about anything he wants. Apart from getting drinking, and fucking, Tucker drinks and fucks more. By far one of the funniest and most entertaining books I have read (still in the process), I recommend it to everyone who has an open sense of humor.

[Pachycephelosaurus]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412QKEKHWNL._AA240_.jpg

Title: "J-Pod"
Author: Douglas Coupland
Genre: General Fiction
Pages: 448, although due to interesting format it's not nearly as long as it seems. Flip through the book to see what I mean.

Synopsis:
Coupland returns, knowingly, to mine the dot-com territory of Microserfs (1996)—this time for slapstick. Young Ethan Jarlewski works long hours as a video-game developer in Vancouver, surfing the Internet for gore sites and having random conversations with co-workers on JPod, the cubicle hive where he works, where everyone's last name begins with J. Before Ethan can please the bosses and the marketing department (they want a turtle, based on a reality TV host, inserted into the game Ethan's been working on for months) or win the heart of co-worker Kaitlin, Ethan must help his mom bury a biker she's electrocuted in the family basement which houses her marijuana farm; give his dad, an actor desperately longing for a speaking part, yet another pep talk; feed the 20 illegal Chinese immigrants his brother has temporarily stored in Ethan's apartment; and pass downtime by trying to find a wrong digit in the first 100,000 places (printed on pages 383–406) of pi. Coupland's cultural name-dropping is predictable (Ikea, the Drudge Report, etc.), as is the device of bringing in a fictional Douglas Coupland to save Ethan's day more than once.

Review:
Already dubbed Microserfs 2.0 by some pundits--a winking allusion to Douglas Coupland's previous novel Microserfs, which similarly chronicled pop-culture-damaged twentysomething misfits flailing, foundering, and occasionally succeeding in the high-tech sector--JPod is, like all of Coupland's novels, a byproduct of its era and yet strangely detached from it. Only this time with a bold and very crafty narrative device: Douglas Coupland, novelist, is a character in Douglas Coupland's novel. Which, when you think about it, makes sense since the type of people Coupland depicts are precisely the type of people who consume Coupland novels. As the once-great comedian Dennis Miller might holler, "Stop him before he sub-references again!" Readers familiar with Coupland's oeuvre know what to expect with the characterizations here. They also know that Coupland on a roll is both savagely observant and laugh-out-loud funny: "Bree was showing someone photos of her recent holiday visiting Korean animation sweathshops. She was bummed because she couldn't get into North Korea: too much legal juju. [She said] 'I just wanted to know what it's like to be in a society with no technology except for three dial telephones and a TV camera they won from Fidel Castro in a game of rock paper scissors.'" Much of the book is like that, built on granular and meandering exchanges between characters about . . . stuff. While JPod's flow is hobbled by some preposterous twists and character traits and by random words, phrases, and numbers splattered gratuitously across successive pages in oversized typeface, it's hard to imagine Coupland fans walking away disappointed. --Kim Hughes

[Matt]

Bump for more suggestions!

[Homemaster]

Title: War of the Worlds
Author: H.G.Wlles
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 224

Synopsis: Set in England, follows an alien invasion seen through the eyes of one man. Better than the movie. By a lot.

[Pachycephelosaurus]

Title: War of the Worlds
Author: H.G.Wlles
Genre: Sci-fi
Pages: 224

Synopsis: Set in England, follows an alien invasion seen through the eyes of one man. Better than the movie. By a lot.

No classics. That's definitely a classic.

[abbey]

It's not one of the classics that everyone has to read in highschool though. When the rules say "no classics", it means no Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird. Stuff like that. Unless everyone in the States has to read War of the Worlds in highschool?

[GCBC]

I went to HS in the States, no War of the Worlds here!

[green rubber bands]

Unless everyone in the States has to read War of the Worlds in highschool?

I read it in middle school. :ahe:

[NVM]

I know the title is generic but it sounds really interesting.

Title: Survivor
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Genre: "Psychological & Suspense"
Pages: 304

Sypnosis/Review:
Some say that the apocalypse swiftly approacheth, but that simply ain't so according to Chuck Palahniuk. Oh no. It's already here, living in the head of the guy who just crossed the street in front of you, or maybe even closer than that. We saw these possibilities get played out in the author's bloodsporting-anarchist-yuppie shocker of a first novel, Fight Club. Now, in Survivor, his second and newest, the concern is more for the origin of the malaise. Starting at chapter 47 and screaming toward ground zero, Palahniuk hurls the reader back to the beginning in a breathless search for where it all went wrong. This time out, the author's protagonist is self-made, self-ruined mogul-messiah Tender Branson, the sole passenger of a jet moments away from slamming first into the Australian outback and then into oblivion. All that will be left, Branson assures us with a tone bordering on relief, is his life story, from its Amish-on-acid cult beginnings to its televangelist-huckster end. All of this courtesy of the plane's flight recorder.

Speaking of little black boxes, Skinnerians would have a field day with the presenting behavior of the folks who make up Palahniuk's world. They pretend they're suicide hotline operators for fun. They eat lobster before it's quite... done. They dance in morgues. The Cleavers they are not. Scary as they might be, these characters are ultimately more scared of themselves than you are, and that's what makes them so fascinating. In the wee hours and on lonely highways, they exist in a perpetual twilight, caught between the horror of the present and the dread of the unknown.

[Matt]

As long as it hasn't been read by a bunch of the members, Survivor would be my choice for the coming month. But I have a feeling a few people already have. We'll see how the voting goes.

3 days left for suggestions!

[Pachycephelosaurus]

I read it in middle school. :ahe:

As did I. Also, it's a pretty well-known book, and probably on of the most-read sci-fi books written in quite a long while.

I've been wanting to read Chuck Palahniuk for a long while. I'd be very okay with that.

[abbey]

I've read Survivor and I hated it. None of the other books by Palahniuk that I've read (Choke, Lullaby, Survivor) have been half as good as Fight Club, so don't expect it to be amazing just because it's by the same author.

[John Travolta]

Palahniuk is a really mediocre writer, at best. Regardless, I'm pretty sure the majority of users here have read him.

[Matt]

Just out of curiosity, why do you think he's "really mediocre at best?" That's not really a description given to national bestsellers very often. And please don't say it's because his use of the english language sucks or something along those lines.

I actually read a user review of Choke by some chodemuncher who complained about his use "for serious." He actually said "what kind of person says for serious?" THE FUCKING CHARACTER DOES, YOU COCKBAG. Sure, Palahniuk's writing contains a lot of dialogue that your english teacher would frown on, but that's part of the character he's presenting.

[Hypnotic]

I realize this is sort of a classic, but it obviously isn't that classic if we've never read it. And yes, I'm aware the movie is very popular, but the book is usually better than the movie since you catch a greater depth of everything through the written word.

Title: Breakfast at Tiffany's: A short novel and three stories
Author: Truman Capote
Genre: Fiction/Short Stories
Pages: 176

Synopsis/Review:

This is from a longer review on Amazon.com

The well-known short novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and three of Truman Capote's most famous short stories make for a continually fresh and exciting look at how human beings successfully connect with one another. No matter how many times you read these stories, you will be moved by Mr. Capote's marvelous sense of and appreciation for the specialness of each life and the ways we belong to each other. Having not read Breakfast at Tiffany's for about 30 years, I came away much more impressed with the novel than I was the last time I read it. Perhaps you will have the same reaction upon rereading it as well. If you are reading it for the first time, you have a very nice surprise ahead of you!

Breakfast at Tiffany's revolves around Holly Golightly, the former starlet and cafe society item, who floats lightly through life (like cotton fibers in the wind) looking for where she belongs. Ms. Golightly is and will remain one of the most original and intriguing characters in American fiction. Like a magician, she is both more and less than she seems. But she has an appreciation for people and animals that goes to the core of her soul that will touch you (if you are like me), especially in her desire that they and she be free.

The novel has a harder edge and is more revealing about human nature than the movie is. Of the two, I suggest you start with the novel and graduate to the movie. You will appreciate the portrayal by Audrey Hepburn of the inner Holly more that way. The same humor is in both the novel and the movie, as well as the innocent look at life for what it can be, believing in the potential of things to work out for the best.

[Phrozt]

Title: Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?: A Professor And a Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity (Paperback)
Author: Preston Jones (and Greg Graffin of Bad Religion)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 164

Synopsis:

Greg Graffin is frontman, singer and songwriter for the punk band Bad Religion. He also happens to have a Ph.D. in zoology and wrote his dissertation on evolution, atheism and naturalism. Preston Jones is a history professor at a Christian college and a fan of Bad Religion's music. One day, on a whim, Preston sent Greg an appreciative e-mail. That was the start of an extraordinary correspondence.For several months, Preston and Greg sent e-mails back and forth on big topics like God, religion, knowledge, evil, evolution, biology, destiny and the nature of reality. Preston believes in God; Greg sees insufficient evidence for God's existence. Over the course of their friendly debate, they tackle such cosmic questions as: Is religion rational or irrational? Does morality require belief in God? Do people only believe in God because they are genetically predisposed toward religion? How do we make sense of suffering in the world? Is this universe all there is? And what does it all matter?In this engaging book, Preston and Greg's actual e-mail correspondence is reproduced, along with bonus materials that provide additional background and context. Each makes his case for why he thinks his worldview is more compelling and explanatory. While they find some places to agree, neither one convinces the other. They can't both be right. So which worldview is more plausible? You decide.

Editorial Reviews:
—Doug Van Pelt, editor of HM Magazine, and author of Rock Stars on God
"This collection of back-and-forth debate concerning the worldviews of a naturalist and a Christian is fascinating, compelling, educational, and relational."

—David Naugle, professor of philosophy, Dallas Baptist University, and author of Worldview: The History of a Concept
"In books that seek to commend the Christian faith, often conversation is one-sided, lacking 'apologetic tension.' Not so with this.."

—Denis D. Haack, Director, Ransom Fellowship, Editor, Critique, and visiting instructor in practical theology, Covenant Seminary
"I've overheard numerous conversations but none as captivating. This book needs to be not just read, but discussed."


Side note: Actually includes a study/discussion guide

[ComboMove]

Title:The Hot Zone
Author: Richard Preston
Genre: Non-Fiction (Horror)
Pages: 448

Synopsis: In 1976, in the rain forests near Mount Elgon in Kenya, a young nurse named Mayinga N. died of a Marburg-type virus. Karl Johnson of the CDC discovered that it varied from Marburg and earned the right to name the organism: he called it Ebola. Mayinga's strain became known as Ebola Zaire.

In 1989, a shipment of wild monkeys came to Reston Virginia into a quarantine facility, from a farm outside Manila: the monkeys were found to be infected with Ebola Zaire. One of the most deadly viruses on the planet had just landed inside the USA.

Preston's account of the Virginia outbreak closely follows veterinarian Dan Dalgard, whom upon discovering something wrong with the monkeys at the facility notifies USAMRIID, a military center equipped to handle Level 4 (deadly) viruses. Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Jaax, previously experienced in handling Ebola, becomes a key player in the containment, along with her husband Colonel Jerry Jaax.

Preston has done an amazing job of bringing this story to life in a readable, fiction-style tale, breathing life into the characters and events. You'll feel you know the Jaax's personally, and will cringe at the accounts of the military's fumbling collaboration with civilian agencies, using power plays and CYA's as both facilities work against a containment timeframe.

Review: With its crisp language and pacing, THE HOT ZONE reads like an expert thriller novel, making its reality that much more horrifying. Not for the faint-hearted, this book will likely alter the way you view viruses and epidemics.

[llamaface]

Many people have recommended this book to me and I've been meaning to read it for months now. I'll read it whether it gets picked or not.
Title: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Author: Tucker Max
Genre Biography/comedy
Pages: 288
Synopsis: My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world. —from the Introduction Actual reader feedback:
"I am completely baffled as to how you can congratulate yourself for being a womanizer and a raging drunk, or think anyone cares about an idiot like you. Do you really think that exploiting the insecurities of others while getting wasted is a legitimate thing to offer?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you—for sharing with us your wonderful tales of drunken revelry, for teaching me what it means to be a man, for just existing so I know that there is another option; I too can say ‘screw the system’ and be myself and have fun. My life truly began when I finished reading your stories. Now, when faced with a quandary about what course of action I should take, I just ask myself, ‘What Would Tucker Do?’—and I do it, and I am a better man for it."

"I find it truly appalling that there are people in the world like you. You are a disgusting, vile, repulsive, repugnant, foul creature. Because of you, I don’t believe in God anymore. No just God would allow someone like you to exist."

"I’ll stay with God as my lord, but you are my savior. I just finished reading your brilliant stories, and I laughed so hard I almost vomited. I want to bring that kind of joy to people. You’re an artist of the highest order and a true humanitarian to boot. I'm in both shock and awe at how much I want to be you."

"You are the coolest person I can even imagine existing. If you slept with my girlfriend, it'd make me love her more."

Review: Overall 4 1/2 stars.

By Yossarian (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

I happen to have had the great fortune to attend law school for two years with Tucker Max (I graduated in the class following his), and although I never had any particular interaction with him there I can assure you that the man tells the absolute truth. Even during his tenure at the school he was legend, constantly roiling the gossip networks and cheerfully rendering the rest of us less employable through indirect association with him. While he may never surpass a certain other alum in overall infamy (Richard M. Nixon), his transition to internet god can only be described as preordained. This book, an inevitable extension of Tucker's boundless and virulent ego, is an entertaining romp through all the frathouse experiences you wish you could forget, chaperoned by a man with no conscience and no regrets.

It is true that it is only a matter of time before Tucker Max dies at the age of 43 after his grotesquely swollen liver and prostate conspire to doom him. Our lives will be lessened at the loss. Tucker demonstrates, perhaps inadvertently, that the health of a democracy is best measured at its extremities. In everything from running roughshod over his fellow humans to defending, albeit for his own purposes, the fundamental First Amendment rights so many of the rest of us never truly exercise against the predations of self-appointed Internet censors, Tucker is self-contained, self-made, and self-supported in a manner few individuals in history have managed. He is the best and the worst of America, and could not have sprung from any other nation. You'll have to wade through a lot of get-drunk-grope-bimbo-fall-down stories to get there, but in the end I hope you appreciate the boundless scope and energy of such activities, as puerile and beer-stained as they individually appear. Tucker, keep on rocking in the free world.

[ComboMove]

Title: Slaughterhouse Five
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Genre: Fiction (I believe Sci-Fi)
Pages: 288

Synopsis:A disoriented and ill-trained American soldier named Billy Pilgrim is captured by German soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge. Trained as a Chaplain's assistant, he arrives in Belgium just as his unit is overwhelmed by the Germans. There is not even time to issue him with combat gear. He and other prisoners are sent far from the front to live in a makeshift prison, a disused slaughterhouse in the city of Dresden. During air raids the prisoners and their guards take shelter in a deep cellar, originally built to keep meat cool. Because of this shelter they are among the few survivors of the firestorm which consumes the city after an air raid.

Billy has become "unstuck in time" for unexplained reasons (though it's hinted towards the end that his surviving a plane crash left him with mild brain damage) so he randomly and repeatedly visits different parts of his life, including his death. He meets, and is later kidnapped by, aliens from the planet Tralfamadore, who exhibit him in a Tralfamadorian zoo with Montana Wildhack, a pornographic movie star. The Tralfamadorians see in four dimensions, the fourth dimension being time. Tralfamadorians have seen every instant of their lives already; they believe that they can't choose to change anything about their fate, but can choose to focus on any moment in their lives that they wish.

Throughout the novel, Billy hops back and forth in time, reliving various occasions in his life and fantasy life; this gives him a constant sense of stage fright, as he never knows what part of his life is coming up next. He spends time on Tralfamadore; in Dresden; numbly wading through deep snow in WWII Germany before his capture; living married in America after the war; up to the moment of his murder on Earth many years later. By the time of his murder, Billy has adopted Tralfamadorian fatalism, which has given him great personal peace; he has spread this philosophy to millions of humans and has become a popular public figure on Earth.

Billy's fatalism appears to be grounded in reality (at least in the reality which Billy perceives); after noting that Billy had a copy of the Serenity Prayer in his office, the narrator says, "Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future." One of his Tralfamadorian captors, who seems sympathetic to humans, says that out of 31 inhabited planets it has visited, "only on Earth is there any talk of free will."

The book examines many events in Billy's life, including the death of his wife, his capture by the Nazis in World War II, and the infamous bombing of Dresden that was the inspiration for the book. Although the narrative of Billy's time in Dresden anchors the book, a major secondary theme is his easy and affluent life as an optometrist in the city of Illium, New York (Vonnegut's fictional stand-in for Troy, New York) which contrasts sharply with both his war experience, and with the life he knew before the war in what was post-Depression America. This also parallels Vonnegut's own transition from the dismal years of the 1930's to, as he describes it, a life where he is "fabulously well-to-do". In a sense this further parallels the experiences of many Americans of the time, for whom the post-war period was one of great and to some extent unexpected affluence.
Review:Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor.

[Hruka]

Title: A Dirty Job
Author: Christopher Moore
Genre: Comedy (with a lot of other things)
Pages:405
Synopsis: Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.

But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .

People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.

[NVM]

Title:The Hot Zone
Author: Richard Preston
Genre: Non-Fiction (Horror)
Pages: 448

[
I'm not sure you know what non-fiction means.

[abbey]

People! Are you reading the rules? We are not starting off with a 400 page book. Stop suggesting them!

[Pachycephelosaurus]

"Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?: A Professor And a Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity (Paperback)" (obviously copied and pasted) looks VERY interesting. I'm also a huge Vonnegut fan, yet somehow haven't read "Slaughterhouse 5."

[BKS]

Many people have recommended this book to me and I've been meaning to read it for months now. I'll read it whether it gets picked or not.
Title: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Author: Tucker Max
Genre Biography/comedy
Pages: 288
Synopsis: My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole. I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead. But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way: I share my adventures with the world. —from the Introduction Actual reader feedback:
"I am completely baffled as to how you can congratulate yourself for being a womanizer and a raging drunk, or think anyone cares about an idiot like you. Do you really think that exploiting the insecurities of others while getting wasted is a legitimate thing to offer?"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you—for sharing with us your wonderful tales of drunken revelry, for teaching me what it means to be a man, for just existing so I know that there is another option; I too can say ‘screw the system’ and be myself and have fun. My life truly began when I finished reading your stories. Now, when faced with a quandary about what course of action I should take, I just ask myself, ‘What Would Tucker Do?’—and I do it, and I am a better man for it."

"I find it truly appalling that there are people in the world like you. You are a disgusting, vile, repulsive, repugnant, foul creature. Because of you, I don’t believe in God anymore. No just God would allow someone like you to exist."

"I’ll stay with God as my lord, but you are my savior. I just finished reading your brilliant stories, and I laughed so hard I almost vomited. I want to bring that kind of joy to people. You’re an artist of the highest order and a true humanitarian to boot. I'm in both shock and awe at how much I want to be you."

"You are the coolest person I can even imagine existing. If you slept with my girlfriend, it'd make me love her more."

Review: Overall 4 1/2 stars.

By Yossarian (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

I happen to have had the great fortune to attend law school for two years with Tucker Max (I graduated in the class following his), and although I never had any particular interaction with him there I can assure you that the man tells the absolute truth. Even during his tenure at the school he was legend, constantly roiling the gossip networks and cheerfully rendering the rest of us less employable through indirect association with him. While he may never surpass a certain other alum in overall infamy (Richard M. Nixon), his transition to internet god can only be described as preordained. This book, an inevitable extension of Tucker's boundless and virulent ego, is an entertaining romp through all the frathouse experiences you wish you could forget, chaperoned by a man with no conscience and no regrets.

It is true that it is only a matter of time before Tucker Max dies at the age of 43 after his grotesquely swollen liver and prostate conspire to doom him. Our lives will be lessened at the loss. Tucker demonstrates, perhaps inadvertently, that the health of a democracy is best measured at its extremities. In everything from running roughshod over his fellow humans to defending, albeit for his own purposes, the fundamental First Amendment rights so many of the rest of us never truly exercise against the predations of self-appointed Internet censors, Tucker is self-contained, self-made, and self-supported in a manner few individuals in history have managed. He is the best and the worst of America, and could not have sprung from any other nation. You'll have to wade through a lot of get-drunk-grope-bimbo-fall-down stories to get there, but in the end I hope you appreciate the boundless scope and energy of such activities, as puerile and beer-stained as they individually appear. Tucker, keep on rocking in the free world.

http://forums.explosm.net/showpost.php?p=374572&postcount=9


Mine can be as long if I cut and pasted articles too.

[ryannayr]

Title:ShadowFires
Author:Dean Koontz
Genre:Sci-Fi Horror
Pages:Part 1-150, Part 2-226, Part 3- 58 436 total

Synopsis:

A woman's exhusband is hit by a truck and killed. Hours later the body goes missing from the morgue. Now she must run from a malevolent force out to kill her, with help from her boyfriend she must flee across the state from the twisted abomination her husband has become. Combining Sci-Fi with a psychological horror this was a great read for me.

[abbey]

Title:ShadowFires
Author:Dean Koontz
Genre:Sci-Fi Horror
Pages:Part 1-150, Part 2-226, Part 3- 58 436 total

Synopsis:

A woman's exhusband is hit by a truck and killed. Hours later the body goes missing from the morgue. Now she must run from a malevolent force out to kill her, with help from her boyfriend she must flee across the state from the twisted abomination her husband has become. Combining Sci-Fi with a psychological horror this was a great read for me.
People! Are you reading the rules? We are not starting off with a 400 page book. Stop suggesting them!

[Candystripe]

Title: Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 336

Synopsis:
Humbert Humbert is a European intellectual adrift in America, haunted by memories of a lost adolescent love. When he meets his ideal nymphet in the shape of 12-year-old Dolores Haze, he constructs an elaborate plot to seduce her, but first he must get rid of her mother. In spite of his diabolical wit, reality proves to be more slippery than Humbert's feverish fantasies, and Lolita refuses to conform to his image of the perfect lover.

Reviews:
`Lolita' is both beautiful and sickly depraved. Written from the point of view of our villain Humbert Humbert you are immersed in his longing, calculating, and intoxicating thoughts of his love and attraction to Lolita. Set in post WWII American, Nobokov writes of the contrast between the new American of post World War II and the old world European culture that exists between Lolita and Humbert.

At times Lolita came across as much older to me than 12 years old but then again I had to remember who was telling this story, Humbert Humbert, of course. I am sure if Lolita were the narrator a much different and painful book would have emerged. Humbert Humbert describes with ease and affliction his darkest desires and realities while painting a darkly comedic and justified point of view of his time with Lolita.

I am always in awe of such wonderful writing as `Lolita' depicts. At times it read like poetry and then blunt like a dull knife but of course always in the proper places.


I don't think this is a classic, as they probably wouldn't allow this in schools (anymore)...
It might be a little long (?) but it's a very good read.


Also, as a side note, I never read The War of the Worlds in school, but I still think it's kind of a classic as I had read it three times by the time I was in high school, and I had heard about it many times (still haven't seen the movie, though...don't want to ruin the story for myself).

[MistyTehMoose]

It seems like alot of people have already read Chuck Palahniuk. I would also suggest Douglas Adams, but I am sure everyone has read them. Has anyone read 'Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency? If not, I'll post some stuff up about that.

[Jallen]

Title: Native Son
Author: Richard Wright
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 392

Dont worry, Abbey, the book is easy as hell to read and although it's 392 pages, it doesn't take long.

Synopsis:

The book is split into three parts, Fear, Flight, and Fate. It follows a 20 year old black man named Bigger Thomas who has had it rough and has been heading for jail his entire life. Bigger has his life spin out of control as he, in a fit of panic, kills a young rich white woman. The story is set in Chicago during the depression, and shows how much racism was still around at that time and in that location.It also shows how the Communist party (which the author, Richard Wright was a part of) is discriminated against along with blacks.

My Sales Pitch:

The book is completely naturalist in the fact that it shows that Bigger had no control over his life, and his fate was written out for him before he was able to help himself. It is an extremely powerful story and has opened my eyes to many things in the world.

Although I am reading this book for school, along with my class, I don't believe that it is required reading. It is probably on the banned book list for many states, because of its frequent use of the word "Nigger." I will have to be completely honest when I say that this story is not for the faint hearted, because some scenes will make you sick to your stomach by being so graphic.

We could also read this book and discuss it between the sub-books. It'll maybe take two weeks to read, if you are working full time or have school. But trust me, it's worth the read.

Edit: One more thing to display to you the awesomeness of this book. People in my school who have never read before (and hate reading with a passion) actually read this book and could not put it down. They loved it.

[GoldfishInAJarOfPickles]

Title: War and Peace
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Genre: World Literature > Russian
Pages: 1296 pages

Review
Via Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0307266931/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202439923&sr=8-1):
“Shimmering....[it] offers an opportunity to see this great classic afresh, to approach it not as a monument but rather as a deeply touching story about our contradictory human hearts.” —Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

“Excellent....an extraordinary achievement....wonderfully fresh and readable....The English-speaking world is indebted to these two magnificent translators for revealing more of its hidden riches than any who have tried to translated the book before.” —Orlando Figes, New York Review of Books

“Stunning....Pevear and Volokhonsky have mastered Tolstoy's shorter lines, his elliptical impressions.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Reading the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation, it is the artistry that leaps out, even on the first page.” —Wall Street Journal

“A major new translation . . . [which] brings us the palpability [of Tolstoy’s characters] as perhaps never before. . . . Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky’s new translation gives us new access to the spirit and order of the book.” —James Wood, The New Yorker

Book Description

From Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the best-selling, award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov, comes a brilliant, engaging, and eminently readable translation of Leo Tolstoy’s master epic.

War and Peace centers broadly on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the best-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves behind his family to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman, who intrigues both men. As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy vividly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.

Pevear and Volokhonsky have brought us this classic novel in a translation remarkable for its fidelity to Tolstoy’s style and cadence and for its energetic, accessible prose. With stunning grace and precision, this new version of War and Peace is set to become the definitive English edition.

[GoldfishInAJarOfPickles]

In all seriousness, the only one I'm interested in is the first post with the twenty two short stories. Once I read the art of intrusion, and this crap book I have to read for class called "The Black Swan: Some retarded shit about statistics and probability" I am going to read it.

[abbey]

Title: War and Peace
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Genre: World Literature > Russian
Pages: 1296 pages
NO. That is way too long.

Read the rules!

[GoldfishInAJarOfPickles]

NO. That is way too long.

Read the rules!

Abbey, it was clearly a joke, and it clearly went over your head. Generally when you follow something up with "In all seriousness" it means one isn't being serious prior to saying "In all seriousness"

USER WAS PUT IN TIMEOUT FOR THIS POST. (http://forums.explosm.net/bankamp/)
Reason: Post boosting.

[abbey]

It's not a very funny joke, putting in a fake suggestion. You never know around here, some people in the forums are just that stupid to post something like that and mean it.

[obiwan00377]

Title: Jennifer Government
Author: Max Barry
Genre: Fiction (I don't know how to classify this book)
Pages: 336

Synopsis:

In the horrifying, satirical near future of Max Barry's Jennifer Government, American corporations literally rule the world. Everyone takes his employer's name as his last name; once-autonomous nations as far-flung as Australia belong to the USA; and the National Rifle Association is not just a worldwide corporation, it's a hot, publicly traded stock. Hack Nike, a hapless employee seeking advancement, signs a multipage contract and then reads it. He discovers he's agreed to assassinate kids purchasing Nike's new line of athletic shoes, a stealth marketing maneuver designed to increase sales. And the dreaded government agent Jennifer Government is after him.

Review:
Viz Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Government-Max-Barry/dp/1400030927/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202442527&sr=8-1)

[Zach22]

Title:World War Z
Author:Max Brooks
Genre:fiction
Pages:352

Okay so some of you might know Max Brooks from The Zombie Survival guide. A funny little book about what to do if there is ever a Zombie attack. This book ( as you may have guessed ) is also about zombies. But this is a real novel, characters, plot, climax the whole nine yards. And let me tell you this book is good.

Plot Overview: This book takes place 10 year post World War Z ( the zombie world war ) Todd Wainio is given the task by the UN to write an official report of the War i.e what happened, why it happened and what we did wrong. ( kind like the 9/11 Commission Report ) This book is filled with the omitted stories of people who's accounts were cut of the report because they were found to be to "personal" and diverted from the actual facts of the war.

Story line: This story line is probably one of the most in depth Ive ever read. It really captures human emotion. There are over 40 different interviews with key people involved in the war, from organ smugglers to common everyday people. Every story ties perfectly into the next. The text it self is so intelligently written I found myself forgetting that I'm reading a book about Zombies. Each character has his/her own different personality which compliments the story perfectly. My personal favorite parts of the book are when high ranking government officials are interviewed. Brooks gives they a really good 3 dimensional characteristics and you can really feel like this is how governments would act if this should happen.

Chapters:The chapters are organized into different stages of the war or key point rather. For example the 1st chapter is called "warnings" the seconded chapter is call "blame" and so on. Each chapter if about 50-60 some odd pages, and the title gives you a little preview of what everybody in that chapter's role is and what it's about.

Writing Style: One world...creepy. Not creepy in the fact that there's zombies but more so in the fact that it really feels like this is the way people would act. Goverment Cover Ups, riots, Marshal Law, Finger Pointing. And in the point of view, and the "colorful" discriptive language that Brook's uses is perfect.

[John Travolta]

Just out of curiosity, why do you think he's "really mediocre at best?" That's not really a description given to national bestsellers very often. And please don't say it's because his use of the english language sucks or something along those lines.

I actually read a user review of Choke by some chodemuncher who complained about his use "for serious." He actually said "what kind of person says for serious?" THE FUCKING CHARACTER DOES, YOU COCKBAG. Sure, Palahniuk's writing contains a lot of dialogue that your english teacher would frown on, but that's part of the character he's presenting.

Are you saying I should love him because everybody else does? I don't like him because he has no depth. With the exception of Fight Club(which, I have no idea how he pulled that one off) the books of his that I have read(Choke and Lullaby) were just silly.

I have no problem with the language he uses. Fucks, cocks and bodily fluids are fine by me, but if I threw shit at a piece of paper and told you it was written by Palahniuk you probably couldn't tell the difference. The fucks and the sucks are great but without something to go with it the book is essentially the same thing he's writing about.

[toolazy]

Well,this is one of my All time fav books,if its considered to be a "high school classic" then please have it in your heart to forgive my ignorance :P

Title :Demian
Author : Hermann Hesse
Genre : literature
Pages : 176

Book Description

In Demian, one of the great writers of the twentieth century tells the dramatic story of young, docile Emil Sinclair's descent--led by precocious shoolmate Max Demian--into a secret and dangerous world of petty crime and revolt against convention and eventual awakening to selfhood.

"The electrifying influence exercised on a whole generation just after the First World War by Demian...is unforgettable. With uncanny accuracy this poetic work struck the nerve of the times and called forth grateful rapture from a whole youthful generation who believed that an interpreter of their innermost life had risen from their own midst."
-- From the Introduction by Thomas Mann

[BilkEmDanno]

Title: Born to Steal: When the Mafia Hit Wall Street
Author: Gary Weiss
Genre: Nonfiction/Crime
Pages: 336 (text is larger then average, however, and there is a good couple of pages dedicated to pictures, as this is based on a true story.)

Synopsis:
Louis Pascuito grew up as the son of hard-working parents, but he never thought they were smart. He never believed in God, or right and wrong. To Louis, the crime was in getting caught. If people were willing to let you steal from them, they had whatever losses you caused coming to them.

Louis began his career in crime by stealing from his parents' savings. His father never seemed to know. Louis progressed to credit card scams when he noticed a guy coming into the gas station where he worked with all kinds of stolen credit cards. He kept his mouth shut for a cut of the take. Then he met Roy, the man who always looked sharp and drove a variety of expensive cars. When Roy offered to show Louis how to make that kind of money, Louis accepted in a hurry.

The deal was a stock scam. Louis would sell stocks over the phone. The stocks existed, but not at the prices Louis quoted. He scammed some people over and over. This was the scam that brought about the dot-com disaster.

Then, a man named Charlie Ricotone came into his life. He knew how to make people afraid, very afraid. Louis wanted him gone. But how could he just get rid of the Mafia?

Born to Steal is an eye-opening look at how the Mafia and lesser criminals cost honest, hard-working people enough money to feed America. It will make you furious. But we all need to know what is happening to our country.
(http://www.myshelf.com/miscellaneous/03/borntosteal.htm)

Review:
Average Customer Score on Amazon: Four and a half stars.
Average Customer Score on Barnes and Nobles: Four and a half stars.
Barnes and Nobles Review from a reader: A spellbinding look at Wall Street's underworld, through the eyes of a teenage kid turned superbroker named Louis Pasciuto. In a career that has amazing parallels with Henry Hill, the protagonist of Goodfellas, this young punk is initiated into the rituals and perks of organized crime, while ripping off thousands of investors throughout the country. But this is not a sympathetic or glamorized look at organized crime. Author Gary Weiss has a cynical, wry perspective that strips the gaudy fuzz off the Mob, and he is merciless in his treatment of Wall Street. A must-read!
(http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=0446613983&itm=1)


Notes: I have read this before and want an excuse to read it again. It was a very interesting read and I do recommend it for this month's book club.

[timbot]

Title:Rats
Author:Robert Sullivan
Genre:Nature/History
Pages:220 (not counting the afterword, notes and acknowledgments)
Review:
Surprisingly good and insightful. It's not as gross or boring as the title might suggest. It all starts with a guy sitting in an alley in New York, observing the rats. But, as he researches and investigates to find out more about the rats, how they behave, where they live, where they eat, he finds out a lot about New York, America, and the human population. Sullivan gets into everything from quirky historical facts to heavy issues like unemployment, poverty and politics. But, even then he keeps it pretty light and easy to read.
Fair warning, though, this isn't the best book if you really want to learn a lot about rats. As one Amazon reviewer said, "This book is not about rats so much as the author's adventures as he learns about rats." Of course, that exactly the reason I think it's good, and definitely enjoyable by a wide audience.

[Homemaster]

I'm excited by the suggestions, though ill just say i have in fact read world war z...but a good suggestion, definitely people should read it. i think that if people have read a book it could still be put to the polls cause those who have read it can still discuss it!

EDIT: it was the last book i read, so its fresh, and if someone has read a book, but a long time ago, they could re-read it!

[SpencerA]

OH OH!
TITLE: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!
AUTHOR: Mark Twain
GENRE: History/Fiction
PAGES: 250-300

REVIEW: One of the great literary works of our time, Huckleberry Finn follows the tale of a young boy on his mission to escape both the strict and unruly governance of his foster parent, The Widow Douglas and his father, "Pap". The story takes an odd turn as Huck meets up with an escaped slave, Jim, who is on the run. The adventures they share will have you heaving with laughter and thoughtfully pondering the lessons learned by Huck himself. This book is considered one of the first Great American Novels, and has won critical acclaim from literati all over the world. It's soft, moral and ethical undertones are sure to leave you questioning many of our standards, and also the historical places we have originated from.

*****

[BilkEmDanno]

OH OH!
TITLE: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!
AUTHOR: Mark Twain
GENRE: History/Fiction
PAGES: 250-300

REVIEW: One of the great literary works of our time, Huckleberry Finn follows the tale of a young boy on his mission to escape both the strict and unruly governance of his foster parent, The Widow Douglas and his father, "Pap". The story takes an odd turn as Huck meets up with an escaped slave, Jim, who is on the run. The adventures they share will have you heaving with laughter and thoughtfully pondering the lessons learned by Huck himself. This book is considered one of the first Great American Novels, and has won critical acclaim from literati all over the world. It's soft, moral and ethical undertones are sure to leave you questioning many of our standards, and also the historical places we have originated from.

*****
It was specifically stated that classic books need not be suggested. That is a high-school book, my friend. No need to read it again. And I'm sure almost all, if not all, of us that are in the Book Club have read it. If you are even semi-serious about reading, you probably have already read it.

(And yes, I realize this may just be a joke.)

[Matt]

Are you saying I should love him because everybody else does? I don't like him because he has no depth. With the exception of Fight Club(which, I have no idea how he pulled that one off) the books of his that I have read(Choke and Lullaby) were just silly.

I have no problem with the language he uses. Fucks, cocks and bodily fluids are fine by me, but if I threw shit at a piece of paper and told you it was written by Palahniuk you probably couldn't tell the difference. The fucks and the sucks are great but without something to go with it the book is essentially the same thing he's writing about.

Not at all. You're entitled to your own opinion, but calling him "mediocre at best" is a bit of a stretch. And don't think I'm just some Palahniuk kissass or something. I just think it's unfair to stretch your dislike to such an extreme, especially in a thread where were giving suggestions for books a group of people all plan to spend time (and possibly money) to read.

[BilkEmDanno]

Are the books going to be chosen today, Matt? The seventh has come and gone. Not to be rushing the process, or anything.

I think Survivor and Anthem should definitely be up there. And with a touch of bias, Born to Steal, too. :P

[Bergserker]

I'd like to suggest anything by Tim Dorsey. He's a really funny author, and his novels follow a serial killer that kills mean people.

[breakitdeown]

Well if Anthem and War of the Worlds are acceptable, why not:

Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 176

Synopsis: The plot is an allegory in which animals play the roles of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and overthrow and oust the human owners of the farm, setting it up as a commune in which, at first, all animals are equal; soon disparities start to emerge between the different species or classes. The novel describes how a society's ideologies can be changed and manipulated by individuals in positions of power, including how the idea of utopia is seemingly impossible with the corruption of power.

Link: http://www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451526341/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202459523&sr=8-2)

[BilkEmDanno]

I read Animal Farm as part of a Bolshevik study in school. I doubt it would be what we're looking for.

[Matt]

Since we started this a little after the 1st, we're waiting until the 9th. Abbey will be making a poll when it's time.

I'm rooting for either "The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God" or "Breakfast at Tiffany's." "Anthem," "Survivor," and "Slaughterhouse Five" would make good choices, too, but it seems like we've already got quite a few people who have already read them.

[smerdlap]

title: [U]The Zombie Survival Guide[U]
author: Max Brooks
genre: fiction, historical fiction, infromational
pages: 288


synops: infromation on how to survive a zombie outbreak.
Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

[jimrazor]

well I guess we all know the show, but the book is supposed to be even better :)

Title: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 304

Synopsis/Review:
Via Amazon: Meet Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely calls attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment.

Mind you, Dexter's the good guy in this story.

Adopted at the age of four after an unnamed tragedy left him orphaned, Dexter's learned, with help from his pragmatic policeman father, to channel his "gift," killing only those who deal in death themselves. But when a new serial killer starts working in Miami, staging elaborately grisly scenes that are, to Dexter, an obvious attempt at communication from one monster to another, the eponymous protagonist finds himself at a loss. Should he help his policewoman sister Deborah earn a promotion to the Homicide desk by finding the fiend? Or should he locate this new killer himself, so he can express his admiration for the other's "art?" Or is it possible that psycho Dexter himself, admittedly not the most balanced of fellows, is finally going completely insane and committing these messy crimes himself?

Despite his penchant for vivisection, it's hard not to like Dexter as his coldly logical personality struggles to emulate emotions he doesn't feel and to keep up his appearance as a caring, unremarkable human being. Breakout author Jeff Lindsay's plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that will keep readers glued to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, as well as making it one of the most original and highly recommended serial killer stories in a long time.

[Not RobD]

Title: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
Author: Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Author)
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Pages: 350

Synopsis: This book is a jewel. One would be hard pressed to find a more comical and enjoyable book to read - anywhere. Feynman is the scientist who breaks (or should I say, shatters?) the stereotype of the lab-coat physicist who wears thick, taped up glasses. The great Richard P. Feynman is a testament to how great we as a race can me. I like to think of him as a cross between Goethe & Robin Williams (and I do NOT mean that in any sort of deragatory way). As a physicist, he was top notch, but as a person he was something even more. He had a marvelous sense of humor & enjoyed playing pranks on people. His love of life spilled over to all the people he met during his sojourn on the planet. I only wish that I had been one of those lucky few to have met & known him personally. Perhaps what is most remarkable about him is that he had friends from all walks of life. Many were scientists, yes, but many more were "ordinary" people off the street. That is rather noteworthy given the fact that so many Ivy league-calibre professors feel that they too "intellectually gifted" to associate with the rest of we mere mortals. Someone once said that Edwin Hubble wasn't a humble man, but then again, Hubble didn't have very much to be humble about. I would argue that one could say the latter of Feynman as well, but not the former. READ THIS BOOK and share the experiences of one of the most extraordinary and yet fun loving personages of the 20th century (if not all time). I guarantee it will make you laugh like few other books you will ever read.

Link:http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041

[Xankou]

Isn't war and peace a Shakespearian book?

[Oofie]

Isn't war and peace a Shakespearian book?

Dear god.

EDIT: I thought copyfag would suggest The Kite Runner but since he hasn't, I will.

Author: Khaled Hosseini
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 324

Synopsis: The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime.

Review: It's a Shakespearean beginning to an epic tale that spans lives lived across two continents amid political upheavals, where dreams wilt before they bud and where a search for a child finally makes a coward into a man. The Kite Runner is the shattering first novel by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan doctor who received political asylum in 1980 as civil conflict devastated his homeland. (Observer)

[Banthis]

Title: A Scanner Darkly
Author: Philip K. Dick
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 288

Synopsis:
Mind- and reality-bending drugs factor again and again in Philip K. Dick's hugely influential SF stories. A Scanner Darkly cuts closest to the bone, drawing on Dick's own experience with illicit chemicals and on his many friends who died from drug abuse. Nevertheless, it's blackly farcical, full of comic-surreal conversations between people whose synapses are partly fried, sudden flights of paranoid logic, and bad trips like the one whose victim spends a subjective eternity having all his sins read to him, in shifts, by compound-eyed aliens. (It takes 11,000 years of this to reach the time when as a boy he discovered masturbation.) The antihero Bob Arctor is forced by his double life into warring double personalities: as futuristic narcotics agent "Fred," face blurred by a high-tech scrambler, he must spy on and entrap suspected drug dealer Bob Arctor. His disintegration under the influence of the insidious Substance D is genuine tragicomedy. For Arctor there's no way off the addict's downward escalator, but what awaits at the bottom is a kind of redemption--there are more wheels within wheels than we suspected, and his life is not entirely wasted.

Review:
It's good, I need a reason to read it again.

[Cob450]

Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 384

Synopsis:
(Amazon.com)
New York Times
Intense is the word for Ender's Game. Aliens have attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses -- and then training them in the arts of war... The early training, not surprisingly, takes the form of 'games'... Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games... He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?

Review:
(Amazon.com)
"Card has taken the venerable sf concepts of a superman and interstellar war against aliens, and, with superb characterization, pacing and language, combined them into a seamless story of compelling power. This is Card at the height of his very considerable powers—a major sf novel by any reasonable standards."
As for myself, I swear it's not cheesy and chichéd as it sounds.

[wniffene]

Title: The Color of Magic
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Pages: 240

Synopsis:
This is the first novel of the Discworld series. Rincewind a failed wizard gets saddled with Twoflower the Discworld's first tourist. In the course of their adventures they manage to burn down a city, tangle with dragons, and upset Death.

Review:
I picked this book up after reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The Color of Magic is one of the few books that has ever made me laugh out loud in a public place. Even if it doesn't make the book club everyone should read it.

[Phrozt]

I've got to say that I'm pretty impressed by the list so far, and find several that I would actually want to read, even if they don't get picked...

[GoldfishInAJarOfPickles]

As far as decent science books:

The Richard Feynmen one above is fairy good. Also Genome and The Red Queen by Matt Ridley are good.

[_cynosure_]

Title: Geek Love
Author: Katherine Dunn
Genre: Weird/Cult Fiction
Pages: 368

Synopsis:
(from back cover of book)
Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out-with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes-to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There's Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious-and dangerous-asset.
As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.


Review :
(from amazon.com)
A wild, often horrifying, novel about freaks, geeks and other aberrancies of the human condition who travel together (a whole family of them) as a circus. It's a solipsistic funhouse world that makes "normal" people seem bland and pitiful. Arturo the Aqua-Boy, who has flippers and an enormous need to be loved. A museum of sacred monsters that didn't make it. An endearing "little beetle" of a heroine. Sort of like Tod Browning's Freaks crossed with David Lynch and John Irving and perhaps George Eliot -- the latter for the power of the emotions evoked.


Personal Comments:
I've already read The Kite Runner, Slaughter-House Five, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, Ender's Game, Animal Farm, and Lolita. I don't want to sound like I'm being coercive, but at the same time I would really prefer not to reread. I can see this becoming a recurrent problem since I read a lot (and was an English major in college). Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, I have a feeling that a lot of responses will be "why can't u reread, suc it up". So, in my defense, I've read 4 of them recently (a year or two ago, enough so they're still fresh in my mind), and others I would loathe to reread because I had an intensely violent reaction to them.

[phrysen]

Title: Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran
Author: Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Genre: Drama
Pages: about 64

Synopsis:
Momo is a young Jewish boy growing up without a mother and with a father afflicted by crippling depression. He is fascinated by the elderly Muslim man, Ibrahim Demildji, who runs a grocery store across the street from his apartment. Their relationship develops and soon Momo feels closer to Ibrahim than to his father. Ibrahim adopts Momo when his father leaves and commits suicide.

Review:
(from amazon.com)
"Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran" seemed at first a simple uninterrupted line, but gradually the small pathways took me on a journey that brought tears, shouts of laughter, and more than the occasional re-read of a sentence or paragraph.

Other than that i really am interested in reading Kite runner or World War Z.
If it would get picked in the book-club, I might finally have an excuse for picking the damn book up.

[Hypnotic]

Why are people suggesting I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell? It's not a bad book or anything, but its nothing worth discussing. First off, half of it can be read on his website, and the other material in it, while entertaining works of fiction (yes, fiction), don't really provoke a discussion.

So I got drunk with my buddy at some bar and this skank was sitting there. I went up to her and bragged about how I'm an internet celebrity and she totally digged me. I felt more famous than Twisted Sister. After a few drinks with her and her tolerating my ass hole antics, I noticed her lazy eye making its way to my crotch. Yeah, I have a small dick, but I fuck so many low self-esteem sluts that it's irrelevant.

His writing is very entertaining and I've gotten a lot out of reading it, but it's just for personal consumption. It's not a discussion book.

And I agree with Matt on the favored books so far. Let's keep it short for the first time just to make it successful. We can step up the game next month.

[Demoir]

Title: Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (part of the Different Seasons collection of novellas)
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Drama
Pages: 113

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Hayworth_and_Shawshank_Redemption

Or, maybe instead of that, Apt Pupil, The Body and The Breathing Method which are the other stories in the book.

Just so you know, these stories aren't really horror, although they all have elements of it in them.

[Maderek]

Title: Men of Iron
Author: Howard Pyle
Genre: Fiction/FolkLore
Pages: 370(some other copies of the book may differ in # of pages)

Synopsis:
"Here is a fine old tale of brave deeds and knightly adventure in the time of Henry IV. In our imaginations we are transported to the days of great, turreted, fortress-like castles; elaborate and prolonged festivities and pageantry; thrilling tournaments; quests of knightly daring.


This story of high adventure is set in those Medieval days of 1400. Myles Falworth, the boy hero, sets out to clear the good name of his father, Lord Reginald Falworth, falsely accused of attempting to overthrow the new king, Henry IV."

[abbey]

I'm starting to narrow down the ones that are going to be included in the poll for tomorrow. Get your last-minute suggestions in!

[Ruggergirl418]

Title:The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author:Stephen Chbosky
Genre:Contemporary Fiction
Pages:256

Synopsis/Review:
Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.


Personal Input
I loved this book. It's an easy read (I read it in 1 day) and the format of the story really gets you into the book. At times, it seems as if you know the character and are sharing his story with him. Even though it's not set in 2007, it still touches issues that are dealt with in everyday life. Great book, even if not picked, I still recommend that you read it!

[abbey]

I've been wanting to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower for a while now, but I haven't gotten around to it. Several of my friends have suggested it to me.

[hotdogvendr4life]

Title: "J-Pod"
Author: Douglas Coupland
Genre: General Fiction
Pages: 448, although due to interesting format it's not nearly as long as it seems. Flip through the book to see what I mean.


I second this. The humor should be in line with most of the people on explosm.
Also I suggest "All Families Are Psychotic" (288 pp) by the same man.

title: The Zombie Survival Guide
author: Max Brooks
genre: fiction, historical fiction, infromational
pages: 288


synops: infromation on how to survive a zombie outbreak.
Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Own it and it's entertaining

[llamaface]

Well if Anthem and War of the Worlds are acceptable, why not:

Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 176

Synopsis: The plot is an allegory in which animals play the roles of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and overthrow and oust the human owners of the farm, setting it up as a commune in which, at first, all animals are equal; soon disparities start to emerge between the different species or classes. The novel describes how a society's ideologies can be changed and manipulated by individuals in positions of power, including how the idea of utopia is seemingly impossible with the corruption of power.

Link: http://www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451526341/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202459523&sr=8-2)

And yet another Classic/High School Book suggestion...

[abbey]

JPod is too long. I can tell you right now that anything over 350 pages isn't even going to be considered.

As for The Zombie Survival Guide, it seems like there won't be anything about it to discuss. It might be entertaining, but it doesn't have a story to it. It's not book club material.

[Audioslave]

Yeah. I don't want to impose myself on your and Matt's show, Abbey, but it's my opinion that the book should have some significance. I think the ones that will be devoted to this won't be all that interested in something like J-Pod, simply because it seems (to me) like a book with no major depth, targeted at people who tend to read less serious literature (I could be wrong, that was just my impression.)

I like Slaughterhouse-Five, but it's true that an awful lot of people have read it. Maybe we could do one of his other books? Or perhaps skip it for this month, and next month take on Catch-22 (very reminiscent of Vonnegut, about 450 pages. Funny and interesting.) I'd like to take on some philosphy at some point (The Republic) and maybe some older epics (The Illiad, the Tain.)

But the problem remains; what do we read this month? There's a book that I've been staring at for awhile called The Time Traveler's Wife, but I won't recommend it because I have no idea how good it is. If somebody has read it and likes it; feel free. We could always take on the first part of the Divine Comedy by Dante, but that would seem unfulfilling without doing the other parts.

So, after basically making no contribution so far, I'll put a few possibilites that I'd be interested in, I won't write long reviews because I really don't want to/I really haven't read all of them/that's what Amazon is for.

Title: The Devil and the Disappearing Sea: A True Story About the Aral Sea Catastrophe (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1551925990/105-5600083-2346028?SubscriptionId=0AM07842GGE1QVDN6KR2)
Author: Rob Ferguson
Genre: Non-fiction/Historical/Noiresque
Pages: 270

A Canadian recounts his story of being on a team that is given the responsibility to try and stop the Aral Sea from disappearing forever. Even though the plot is a little "dry", the quirky characters more than make up for it.

Title: Waiting For Godot (http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Godot-Tragicomedy-Two-Acts/dp/0802130348/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202510382&sr=8-2)
Author: Samuel Beckett
Genre: Tragi-comedy/Play
Pages: 128

Once said to be "The play where nothing happens..twice." An interesting look at mid-century existentialism.

Title: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/081091493X/105-5600083-2346028?SubscriptionId=0AM07842GGE1QVDN6KR2)
Author: Thomas Cathcart
Genre: Jokebook/Philosophy
Pages: 208

Very entertaining book, good light read, while at the same time being quite in-depth in every aspect of philosophy. Good starter for anybody planning on doing any sort of philosophy course.

Title: Fahrenheit 451 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345342968/105-5600083-2346028?SubscriptionId=0AM07842GGE1QVDN6KR2)
Author: Ray Bradbury
Pages: 208

Never actually read it, perhaps a bit too much of a high-school necessity to be considered, but I thought I'd mention it.

[Triple J]

Title: King Dork
Author: Frank Portman
Pages: 368


You may have heard of this amazing piece of literature. It is probably the ONLY book I have have ever known to not have ONE bad review, not one. Everybody loves this book who has read it so what better place to REALLy judge it then explosm. You should check out the website too if you want to know more here's the website
http://frankportman.com/

It is an incredibly hard book to explain without giving away anything. Really it is the worlds most true book about rock and roll, high school, and how to get semi-hot girls.


but I'll just use a few quotes from his little Glossary at the back of the book.

Led Zeppelin (leads a-PEEL-in):
Hey gang! Let's all get stoned and head down to the Mississippi Delta and watch four goofy-ass English guys in wizards' hats and girls' blouses play "the blues" and teach us everything there is to know about elfin princesses, gossamer wings, the tooth fairy, the land of winkin', blinkin', and nod, the wise and dark and mystic Pilgrim brooding in the mist, and Puff the Magic Dragon. Come on, it'll be magical.

homoeroticism (home-AY-oh RAW-tick-iz-um):
dudes being turned on by dudes, or dudes ridiculing other dudes by behaving as they believe dudes who really are turned on by dudes behave with respect to those dudes they are turned on by, under the impression that this is hilarious or otherwise worthwhile. As irritating as this is for dudes who in fact are not turned on by dudes, it must be even worse for those who are.

Vicodin (Vick Odin):
medicine to help mothers forget they are mothers.

[Andyrew120]

Yeah, I think The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God sounds like a good book or else you could pick this free book off the web After the Seige (http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/after-the-siege.html) , it got a review in Wired magazine.

Its set in the future and its not just mp3's and movies that can be copied its physical things as well like life saving drugs and stuff. Then the Western world starts a war with third world countries for copying life saving medicine and not paying them royalties.

I haven't read it but it sounds interesting and its free!!! and i think only about 50 Pages long, so just print it off in your office.

[GCBC]

But the problem remains; what do we read this month? There's a book that I've been staring at for awhile called The Time Traveler's Wife, but I won't recommend it because I have no idea how good it is. If somebody has read it and likes it; feel free.


The Time Traveler's Wife is fucking excellent. It's my second favorite book of all time, after Pride and Prejudice. I like it a lot cuz it has the girly love story aspects to it, but there's a lot of adventure and such as well (so the males on here might like it too.) Although it's a fast read in my opinion, it's 542 pages, so it probably won't work the first round. However, a neat thing is that in the back (at least in my copy), it has a guide for reading groups.

I can't believe I didn't even think to recommend it!

Here's the back of the book cuz I am rushed for time and don't have time to write a summary/review like everyone else has:

"A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who involuntarily travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love."

Audio, if we don't do it for the book club, then definitely read it in your spare time. I hear they are making a movie out of it, but movies are never as good as the book...

[abbey]

Yeah. I don't want to impose myself on your and Matt's show, Abbey, but it's my opinion that the book should have some significance. I think the ones that will be devoted to this won't be all that interested in something like J-Pod, simply because it seems (to me) like a book with no major depth, targeted at people who tend to read less serious literature (I could be wrong, that was just my impression.)

I like Slaughterhouse-Five, but it's true that an awful lot of people have read it. Maybe we could do one of his other books? Or perhaps skip it for this month, and next month take on Catch-22 (very reminiscent of Vonnegut, about 450 pages. Funny and interesting.) I'd like to take on some philosphy at some point (The Republic) and maybe some older epics (The Illiad, the Tain.)
Your comment about depth: As I go through the suggestions, depth is one of the things I'm looking for, as well as length, and overall interest. Not every book is going to be in the poll.

Slaughterhouse 5: If people have read the book, they won't vote for it unless they want to read it again.

Philosophy: If you want to get into philosophy, you'd probably like to read some Ayn Rand. Have you heard of her? Not only do her books incorporate her own personal philosophy (Objectivism), they're also extremely well written.

I'd suggest reading those other books (The Republic, The Illiad, The Tain) on your own and just posting a thread about it if you want discussion.

I want to remind people that even if the book club doesn't pick a book you want to read, you can still read it anyways. And if you do want discussion there's bound to be someone on here who's read it so post a thread about it. And if the book club picks a book you don't want to read, don't read it! It seems like people are kind of antsy about what gets chosen.

[Matt]

Also don't forget that if this the book you vote for doesn't end up being the one we read, there's still a very good chance that'll be in the running again next month. Just suggest it again for the next month and people can vote all over again.

[John Travolta]

Not at all. You're entitled to your own opinion, but calling him "mediocre at best" is a bit of a stretch. And don't think I'm just some Palahniuk kissass or something. I just think it's unfair to stretch your dislike to such an extreme, especially in a thread where were giving suggestions for books a group of people all plan to spend time (and possibly money) to read.

It's not to a horrible extreme. At least I didn't go as far as to say "Palahniuk is the worst author in the history of literature and anybody who reads his works is a retard," because that would just be untrue. Fair enough though.

I'm for Fahrenheit 451 and The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God.

[BilkEmDanno]

So how many books will we be polling? You said 5, but with so many good books, I think 10 or so would really be a nice poll.

[abbey]

My list of potentials has 13 books in it so I'll see how many I can eliminate. I'll take out the ones that no one has shown any interest in other than the person who suggested it.

EDIT: 9 books now. I'll even it out to 8 though I think.

There's still a few hours left for suggestions though.

[Cob450]

Title: Company Commander
Author: Charles B. MacDonald
Genre: Non-fiction/War
Pages: Paperback - 288, Hardcover - 320

Synopsis:
R.A. Forczyk (Amazon.com)--
Captain Charles B. MacDonald first commanded I Company, 3-23rd IN, 2nd ID from October 1944 to January 1945 and later G Company, 2-23rd IN from March to May 1945. This memoir was written a few years after the war when recollections were still sharp and resulted in a very detailed account of what it was like to take command of a line infantry company and lead it into battle.
Me--
It follows MacDonald's journey from the Siegfried Line to Czechoslovakia, through Belgium and Germany on the way.

Review:
Nick Dowling (Amazon.com)--
His book is probably the finest memoir of any junior officer in WW2. Unlike so many war memoirs, MacDonald keeps his focus firmly on his own experiences, and doesn't waste his readers time by speculating on `the big picture' or describing incidents which he didn't personally take part in. He sticks to what life was like for a junior officer in command of an infantry company - disorientating, stressful and very dangerous.

On the strength of this book MacDonald was selected to work on the famous Official History of the US Army in World War Two, and produced two of the best regarded volumes in that definitive series.

[Matt]

We could do up to maybe eight, any more might be a little too much. Allow people to vote on multiple books, too, which ones they'd most like to read. Maybe ask people to vote for 3 tops or so. We'll see what works.

It's not to a horrible extreme. At least I didn't go as far as to say "Palahniuk is the worst author in the history of literature and anybody who reads his works is a retard," because that would just be untrue. Fair enough though.

No, "the worst author in the history of literature" is the extremest possible extreme. "Mediocre at best" is still very much an extreme slant of an opinion.

For now on, let's try to keep our discussions of possible authors as balanced as possible. If you dislike an author, explain why as if you were a reporter, not an angry dude on the internet.

[GoldfishInAJarOfPickles]

Title:The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Author:Stephen Chbosky
Genre:Contemporary Fiction
Pages:256


Personal Input
I loved this book. It's an easy read (I read it in 1 day) and the format of the story really gets you into the book. At times, it seems as if you know the character and are sharing his story with him. Even though it's not set in 2007, it still touches issues that are dealt with in everyday life. Great book, even if not picked, I still recommend that you read it!

I assume this is a joke, This book is TERRIBLE, it's like written for middle school girls, who want to feel emotional about a imaginary person. That's for like a yaya sisterhood book club



Title: King Dork
Author: Frank Portman
Pages: 368


You may have heard of this amazing piece of literature. It is probably the ONLY book I have have ever known to not have ONE bad review, not one. Everybody loves this book who has read it so what better place to REALLy judge it then explosm. You should check out the website too if you want to know more here's the website
http://frankportman.com/

@Triple J, you sound as if you're getting royalties or something from the way you wrote that.

I went and looked at amazon and it had, not one, but 5 bad reviews (8 if you count 2 stars), and only a total average of four stars, which isn't bad but isn't great. Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385732910/qid=1136008113/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3185947-5520012?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)

Not that reviews mean anything, but your hype is a bit much.

[abbey]

Voting is now open (http://forums.explosm.net/showthread.php?t=21931).

[WhatsaGeno]

Crap, it's like 11:52 eastern time, I hope it's not too late.


Title : Sophie's World
Author : Jostein Gaarder
Genre : Fiction
Pages : 508

Synopsis :
It's pretty much a big philosophy lesson, that ties in very well with a very interesting story that you slowly unravel as you read on.

[BilkEmDanno]

Voting is now open (http://forums.explosm.net/showthread.php?t=21931).
It's too late, Geno, sorry. You will probably have to wait until next month. And for future reference, you also needed to include the link to a review and it's also been said 508 pages is too long for our ADD-infested minds. Atleast for the first book.

[Matt]

You're way too late. That book is way too long. There is no review. Your synopsis is awful. I use short sentences to make points.

[BilkEmDanno]

You're way too late. That book is way too long. There is no review. Your synopsis is awful. I use short sentences to make points.
Blasphemy. It was the best story I have ever read and the synopsis really sold the book.

[ryannayr]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ryannayr
Title:ShadowFires
Author:Dean Koontz
Genre:Sci-Fi Horror
Pages:Part 1-150, Part 2-226, Part 3- 58 436 total

Synopsis:

A woman's exhusband is hit by a truck and killed. Hours later the body goes missing from the morgue. Now she must run from a malevolent force out to kill her, with help from her boyfriend she must flee across the state from the twisted abomination her husband has become. Combining Sci-Fi with a psychological horror this was a great read for me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abbey
People! Are you reading the rules? We are not starting off with a 400 page book. Stop suggesting them!

you don't have to read all the parts at the same time, you could read book 1 first then parts two and three, plus mine was a compact pocket novel, so the hardcover would have a lot less.

[abbey]

You're too late anyway, the poll is up and that's not one of the choices.