Enjoy!

At the bottom of the mountain that is Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. See you at the summit.

Keep reading Dumas until you get tired of him (you wont)

re: "old books." They arent all good. They definitely arent all easy. But they are probably all valuable. It would be quite unlikely for a book to have stood the test of centuries without having something to offer just about every reader. But it makes you truly treasure the "old books" that are both valuable and just a goddamn fun time. Count of Monte Cristo tops that list for me, but Three Musketeers, Lolita, Crime and Punishment, and others fit the bill as well.

Your right, I definitely wouldn't argue their value, just my will to suffer the slogs that some of them are. Actually I can handle a slog, it's just that + the "older" language (prob translation issues as well sometimes) is when my determination to power through gets broken. Glad to hear from a fellow 'Count of Monte Cristo' lover that 'Crime and Punishment' is in a similar league, that was one of the next on my list. Probably after an easy fantasy buffer

c & p is an unbelievably good read. didn't feel too heavy or arduous for me either. an absolute must

I'm reading a biography of John Wooden called Wooden, written by Seth Davis. Pretty good so far, still in his Indiana childhood.

Anyone read any of the Mary Roach books (Gulp, Stiff, etc)? I just started "Packing for Mars" now. Good one to start with?

Thanks. Kind of an odd list...mostly pretty good, but with a handful that clearly are only there because 1-2 of the voters have them as childhood favorites or sort of "guilty pleasures". Two Salingers, neither of which is Catcher? Nevertheless, I may use it as a rough reading guide in the future.

Was browsing my localist used bookstore the other day. Peeked into the first editions case, and eye level, standing right where I first looked, was a true First Edition of "A Fan's Notes". Couldn't resist.

just started Sam Cutler's bio-- you can't always get what you want. He was road manager for the rolling stones and then the grateful dead.

Ive read Stiff, fantastic for laypersons. Honestly even pretty good for people in medicine, though it is clear that is not the target audience.

Count had my heart racing for almost the entire book because of the passion and energy and the intense plot. Crime and Punishment had my heart racing the entire book, but for an entirely different palette of emotions.

After reading mostly non-fiction for the last four or five years, I'm back reading some novels. Starting with rereading "Joe" by Larry Brown. He was such a great southern writer. Wrote about the rural poor like nobody else. Oxford, MS has really turned out some great writers for a town its size.

Did you get CAP on kindle? If so which one? which translation? There is way too many options on amazon I'm nervous I'll end up with a junk one.

Count of Monte Cristo tops that list for me, but Three Musketeers, Lolita, Crime and Punishment, and others fit the bill as well.



These are all great. Lolita is so tense through out the book.

I also like Hugo's writing as well.

If you were asking about Count of Monte Cristo, doing some online research convinced me that the Robin Buss translation is the choice.

CAP = crime & punishment, my step father in law mentioned once something about translations of Dostoevsky being dodgy in the 70s but more recent ones being improved. I've no idea how authoritative he is on the subject.

Sorry, I get a little excessive with the abbreviating sometimes, I meant Crime and Punishment.

Currently in the middle reading Unbroken, the story of Olympian turned WWII vet who served some years in several Japanese "prison" camps Louis Zamperini.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this book as I'm reading it any free time I have. Louis, outside of his plane crash, sure is a "lucky" (I guess I use that lightly) S.O.B. to have endured all that I read about so far.

I also enjoyed Unbroken. Louis Zamperini is a very charismatic character to root for.

The POW stories in the book are incredible. Very sad stories. It's crazy how the book goes from a lost-at-sea story to a prisoner-of-war story to a post-traumatic-stress disorder story. It goes from one to the other and it's always interesting.

'Unbroken' is really good

Someone else recommended the Mcduff version earlier ITT. Not sure if Kindle is the same as Nook but avoid the Monas translation if possible. I bought it just the other day trying to get the Mcduff one but for some reason was given the Monas one. It is full of typos and obvious misuse of words. He also does this weird Russian thing with the names that I don't think is present in other translations.

But yeah, just as a general PSA be very careful buying translations on Nook because who it says is the translator on the bn.com page isn't necessarily the translator you will get in ebook form.

Edit: I am half finished reading and thoroughly enjoying in spite of the poor translation.

anyone else in here a fan of Mark Haskell Smith?
I've enjoyed all his books but baked was def my fav.

also have liked all of don winslow's books (haven't read savages yet as I thought the movie was terrible) but have read like 5 of his other books n they've all been good fun.

I don't read much fiction but def enjoyed everything I've read from those guys.

Thanks, I feel kinda fishy spending a few more bucks then some others but I'll trust ya'll ITT.

I read the B&N classics version which is apparently translated by Garnett. No idea if thats a good one or not.