Hello Lounge,

Awesome thread.
I am looking for advice on reading materials and think this might be a good place to ask... I'm interested in educating myself on modern history and am looking for opinions. I guess I am looking for thoughts on good books for condensed, essential understanding of:
• History of US Banking 1990-2008
• History of US Finance 1990-2008
• History of US/World Government. UN, IMF, World Bank institutions might be of interest. I have Elwood’s Handbook on Globalization and found it handy
• History of US Law 2000-2008

Something along the lines of Friedman’s "Monetary History of the US", or Zinn's "A People's History" only more modern. Wikipedia is too... sprawling.

Stephen King's After Sunset (short stories, a couple of which are awesome; the rest are good but not spectacular; overall B)

Orson Scott Card's Ender In Exile (still in progress; again good but not spectacular. Headed for a B)

QFT! Read the ones with different main characters, he has also written a series of novels about Myron Bolitar, sportsagent. I liked them a lot less.

He takes a normal family with a tragedy, the loss of a child, spouse, or someone has done something they wasn´t supposed to and then something happens that makes them reevaluate what has happened. The novels are sad, gripping and full of suspense.

For some reason I didn´t like his latest "Hold Tight" as much, maybe I had too high expectations.

jon, if you enjoyed watchmen and are interested in checking out other comics, go to the EDF. there is a long thread on cool comics there.

currently 50 pages into 'the time machine' by H.G. wells. very enjoyable so far. what an imagination he had.

I don't think there's a bad H.G.Wells novel. I've read them all except Kipps I think.

Not at the moment, that was the only comic I've read in recent years. I was just surprised that a comic was held in such a high regard. I just have way too many other books to read at moment, so I'd rather not get caught up in comics for now

BTW IMO Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) from Watchmen had a striking resemblance to Wells' Invisible Man (Griffin).

I heard Alan Moore uses that character in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Glad to hear that After Sunset was midly enjoyable.

Question about Ender in Exile. I have read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, but none of the others (which, I hear, are more political and philosophical, etc.). Will I enjoy Ender in Exile with a base knowledge of Ender's Game, or do I need to check out the other books to really "get it" you think?

I listened to this on my mp3 player on a 2 hour drive. I was amazed that I was able to stay focused on it while driving and not get my mind sidetracked. It was a really enjoyable book and I'm really glad I took the time to read it.

I finished Twilight so that I can get dragged to the movie by a friend. I made her see Jersey Girl when it was released, so I'm willing to concede a trip to Twilight. Besides, like Harry Potter, this seemed like a good phenomenon to check out so that I could better understand my future students.

Anyway, so I finished the novel and I'm a little disappointed. Firstly, the biggest reason this story seems to be a phenomenon with the young ladies is because of their love for Edward (the main character's love interest). Edward, however, is kind of a creepy dude. While he gives off alpha male, mysterious, tall, pale, and handsome qualities, he also has some super creepy things that he does (like watching her sleep at night). Sorry, but that being attractive to teenage girls creeps me out.

Beyond that, the story isn't terrible. The writing seems pretty elementary with some trashy and cliched phrases. The worst part of the novel is probably that it takes about 400 pages before we find some sort of conflict that doesn't involve the phrase "young love." Meh.

Whatever, it was a mildly enjoyable read. I don't understand the reason that it's a huge hit, but it wasn't terrible either. I'll probably only read the other novels as the new movies get released.

For what it's worth, Kristin Stewart is about the best casting choice in the history of casting. I don't know how she'll do, but she seems spot on for Bella considering she's so....empty of emotions.

3*/5.

Currently reading: Hawksong, another YA novel.

Heheh, I've experienced many times a repulsion to the qualities people are attracted to. Maybe the girls think the guy watching them as they sleep is "caring" and/or it fulfills a sleeping in Daddy's arms type of visceral memory.

Chronologically, it follows Ender's Game. You need the knowledge of Julian Delphiki etc. from Ender's Shadow, but that's about it. It'd probably help if you read Speaker For The Dead, but I think you could read Exile and then Speaker if you wanted.

BTW, I finished Exile this morning. Worth a B, maybe B+. I like parts of Card's style immensely, but this one (like some of his others) feels a little contrived.

I've read all the rest except for this new one, and I agree about Card's sometimes heavy-handed treatment of religion in his books. Still, they're fun, though, and worth reading. They also provide a great take on both special education and gifted programs.

Loved Crime and Punishment, and now moved onto Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground. Absolutely blown away by how brilliant it is. Incredibly fascinating existentialist piece, seems like it was the predecessor for Fight Club (which I haven't read, only seen the movie). If it keeps up at this rate, I'll be tempted to set all other authors aside just so I can read through Dostoevsky's whole body of work...

You could sure do one hell of a lot worse even among the most esteemed writers. Doing better is harder.

They do, although he falls prey to "the brightest guy always wins."

Now that I'm done with two volumes of cotton candy (King's After Sunset and Card's Ender In Exile), I'm turning to the three-short-novel volume from Agota Kristof. The three short novels consist of The Notebook, The Proof, and The Third Lie.

I finished The Notebook this morning. The writing is simple, direct, and very clear, but the story is tragic, troubling and ambiguous. Very worthwile thus far; I think it's getting an A-, trending towards A.

Yes The Notebook was a good book but sad. Particularly the mother's part in the whole thing.

I'm reading The Pillars of the Earth by Follett. Somehow I expected it to be greater than it is. Its good just not as phenomenal as I was expecting.

Howard,

Thanks for the words. I'll probably be checking it out then. As I mentioned, I'm a bit tentative to attack the other books in the series because of their heavy nature in religion, politics, etc. I would like to, but I feel like it's just easier to read other things on my list.

Of course, that most recently was Twilight, so...

War and Peace

Still reading 'War and Peace'....

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

absolutely amazing novel. quick read too

Just saw this, great suggestion. I had to read some of his writings for some music class my senior year at college. Specifically Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. I love the writing style and there were some great insights into both really popular bands and obscure ones.

Also, it was cool to see Philip Seymore Hoffman play him in Almost Famous.

FWIW, I just picked up World War Z by Max Brooks, seems interesting so far (~100 pages in).

I finished Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.

On the heels of reading Twilight, I can say without a doubt that I enjoyed Hawksong considerably more. Twilight is about vampire romance and Hawksong isn't all that different of a novel. It's essentially like Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is a shapeshifting cobra and Juliet is a shapeshifting avian. The serpents and the avians have been at war for as long as anyone can remember, but they can't remember why they're fighting at all. The plan is hatched that connecting the two royal families, young Zane of the serps and young Danica of the avians, will bring peace and end the war.

It's clearly a novel for the young adult readers. I read it because it is also a Lincoln Award nominee for 2008. I thought that it was starting off pretty slow and I'm generally not one for fantasy elements. However, this one gets pretty interesting all things considered. Even though, like Twilight, there isn't a ton of action and it's mostly about the tension between the two leads, the story is a lot more engaging and a pretty fun read, especially if you're into that sort of thing.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the story I learned when I finished. Atwater-Rhodes is only a year old than me (she's 24) and had her first book published at like 15 or something. She's now written like 10 novels, five of which are in the series that Hawksong begins. Pretty amazing stuff. I'm pretty impressed with her being that well published and being a Lincoln Award nominee, among others.

4*/5


Next up: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. I've seen the movie, but I wanted to read the source material and freshen up on the fine play.

Solo, are you planning to see Twilight the movie?

Dave, yes. I'm going to go see it with a friend of mine. She really liked Twilight and I'm going partially to give her someone to see it with and partially because I'm curious. I really do like Kristin Stewart, but I expect this movie to be a terrible flop (in my review). Although, I guess it is hard to call it a flop when I have such low expectations.

Also, I recently watched Never Back Down with Cam Gigandet, and I can't believe he's a character in Twilight. It seems like such a weird casting choice.

Well, it is doing great at the box-offices, so I don't know. It has a 43% on www.rottentomatoes.com

Here are some highlights.

It seems like the critics aren't too keen on seeing another version of vampire. Never mind that Bram Stoker's Dracula isn't what many would consider a "hottie."