Time for a new book - any suggestions?

[Steven S. Dallas]

can anyone rec. a van gogh biography?

Lust For Life, by Irving Stone. There are more recent books but they're all judged in relation to this one.

[boarddad]

"Ready Player One" is my current favorite book. Really just a fun read all the way through. It does help if you grew up playing with an Atari game system. I'm having a really hard time finding a book I like even 1/2 as much since finishing it.

I'll add another vote to "The Art of Racing in the Rain". The story is told from the POV of a dog recounting his life on the day he dies (not a spoiler - you find this out on page 1). If you've ever loved a dog you will LOVE this book.

"A Dogs Purpose" is another great read if you like dogs. Read this BEFORE you read "Art of Racing..." or you will think it's not very good. That's not a fair assessment though as both books have stuck with me long after I finished reading them.

[nogophers]

Reading this now. Really enjoying it.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-of-Fie...-+chad+harbach

[charles martel]

I'm partial to this one, but I know the author:Fly Like the Wind: http://goo.gl/50m2fr

[Like a Boss]

Just read Machiavelli's The Prince . Really good and really quick (if you like nonfiction/history/politics/philosophy etc.).

Also, The Greatest Game Ever Played was really good but you have to be interested in golf. The movie looked shite. Plus, Shia Labeouf.

[PNWbrit]

Solo by William Boyd released this week is quite good so far.

The original James Bond character set in 1969 (six years after You Only Live Twice was set) written in the (almost exact) style of Ian Fleming.

I wouldn't suggest you try it unless you'd read and enjoyed some of the Fleming novels though.

[nogophers]

Fantastic book. Reads like a novel.


http://www.amazon.com/The-Guns-Last-...zg_bs_5031_5#_

[Chuxson]

I've been re-reading surf books waiting for the snow to fly in Colorado.

A couple of novels by Kem Nunn:
The Dogs of Winter -- takes place in/around PNW at a mythical big wave spot accessed via American Indian tribal land. Good characters, gritty with a surprise twist at the end.

Tapping the Source -- CA desert kid searches for his missing sister in a southern California surf town. He struggles to learn to surf, finds a mentor who takes him to the fictional "Ranch" where some weird shit goes down.

[Hugh Conway]

haven't read it in a bit but The Lost Tribes of Palos Verdes (highbrow) and Gidget Must Die (highjinx) aren't bad for the surf list.

I reread Solo Faces, as well as some other James Salter works. Well worth the time.

[Like a Boss]

Cadillac Desert was mind blowing, and one of the most excellently written non-fiction books I've ever read.

[Dhelihiker]

Orphan Master's Son- OMG, North Korean dude that went thru all types of shenanigans. I'd tell you about it but it would ruin it. read that shit.

[justr]

Orphan Master's Son- OMG, North Korean dude that went thru all types of shenanigans. I'd tell you about it but it would ruin it. read that shit.

I'll second this. Good book.

Also: Cutting for Stone. Though the first 100 pages should be 20. After that it is brilliant.

And if you want something nobody has heard of but should know: Gould's Book of Fish.

[PassTheDutchie]

Orphan Master's Son- OMG, North Korean dude that went thru all types of shenanigans. I'd tell you about it but it would ruin it. read that shit.

I went through a North Korean read-spell earlier this year--good book. If you're looking for non-fiction on the subject, check out "Escape from Camp 14." Bio of a dude who was born and raised in a NK prison camp, later escaping to China and S. Korea, now Cali. Quick and haunting. He's like a feral human.

[Chuxson]

If you read no other book for the rest of your life, then you can't really go wrong, in my opinion, with Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
It's one of those books that you will remember for a very long time.
--

I just finished Ishmael and agree with Alaskan Rover; the ideas stick with you. I found the dialog to be kind of plodding in places, but it's short and a quick read. It's a perspective-changer, for sure.

[GiBo]

I'm reading The Sportswriter by Richard Ford. Pretty good. If you're 40 plus, have lived a little and are starting to wonder WTF is this all about, it will hit close to home.

[stfu]

Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

I'm in it.

[Gripen]

The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester. Kind of a counter pointish book to all the founding father books that have been coming our. Brings the uniting of the US through technology.

Fantastic read. Highly recommend Atlantic also by him, a history of the Atlantic Ocean.

[Labcabin]

http://www.amazon.com/We-Die-Alone-E.../dp/1599210630


We Die Alone.

A Norwegian resistance fighter is running from the Nazi's after being shot out of a boat in the frozen north of the Norwegian Fjords. The locals try and hide him from the Germans. Amazing true story of survival from the elements. He survives in a snow bank alone for weeks, too weak to move and cuts his own toes off do to frostbite.

[Gripen]

http://www.amazon.com/We-Die-Alone-E.../dp/1599210630


We Die Alone.

A Norwegian resistance fighter is running from the Nazi's after being shot out of a boat in the frozen north of the Norwegian Fjords. The locals try and hide him from the Germans. Amazing true story of survival from the elements. He survives in a snow bank alone for weeks, too weak to move and cuts his own toes off do to frostbite.

x2. Amazing tale.

[goldenboy]

Any of you armchair mountaineers want to win Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968? Patagonia books is letting us give a copy away. Beautiful book. Details Here.

[Chugachjed]

Days of war, nights of love published by CrimethINC.

[The AD]

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell; it's like 4 stories intertwined in a not very entwined way. Historical-nautical, broke (financially and morally) bi-sexual english composer through to socially aware semi-sci-fi and further out the door combining...things, which you simply won't be able to picture until you've read it.

Bump because I'm reading this now. I'm just past the halfway point and I've got to say it is excellent so far.

[buttahflake]

anyone else reading Furious Cool?
wow!

[Dhelihiker]

Nothing to Envy- North Korea Non-Fiction.

It follows the life of 6 different N Korean. I need to stop reading about N Korea.

Anyone have any good books to recommend on Japan. I just ordered Haikkado Blues Hwy, Im going there is a few weeks and want to have some knowledge.

[The AD]

"Shogun" by James Clavell was awesome, but it probably won't give you much useful knowledge for your trip.