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Shalashaska Star Player
Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 4091
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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Generations: The History of America's Future.
Great book, basically divides American history from the founding to about 2040 into generational cycles (such as the Liberty generation, Compromise Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation Y, etc.) that have certain common characteristics and traits. Very interesting read, especially if you're into a big picture view. While its predictions for the future might be brushed off as conjecture, its analysis of the past 200 years is pretty thought-provoking and enlightening.
Nixon's Piano
Another great historical book, basically examines the racial policies of every President from Washington to Clinton. You'd be surprised at some of the lesser-known facts that are uncovered in this one.
And of course, cant forget the dystopian classics like Animal Farm, 1984, and A Brave New World. |
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Zhengi Star Player
Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Posts: 6445
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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dirka dirka wrote: | Zhengi wrote: | ^^ I thought you didn't read dirka dirka. |
what gave you that idea??? lol, actually sometimes I don't read because I have a reading problem, if a book is good, I cannot put it down.
end up reading all night, all the next day, etc...
I'm more of a recovering readaholic. |
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that Playboy was literary reading material, although I understand why you'd love reading those articles. _________________ I'm like a Hadouken, down-right Fierce! |
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LakersChamps04 Star Player
Joined: 06 Oct 2003 Posts: 3737
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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KITE RUNNER
NUFF SAID |
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angrypuppy Retired Number
Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 32730
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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DancingBarry wrote: | surfbu wrote: |
Shadow Divers: Robert Kurson. Great read about two American Divers in NJ who risk everything to dive down to a sunken german uboat from ww2. True story. |
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for submarine movies and stories. I'll have to check this one out. |
Have either of you read Iron Coffins, by Herbert A. Werner? Without a doubt the writer of Das Boot borrowed heavily from Werner's first hand account of life aboard a WWII German U-Boat. I read the book when I was 13 years old, and yet I still have vivid recollections of the passages in the book. Werner started service in the early glory days when the U-Boats were all but invincible, then as the war progressed and Allied countermeasures improved, life aboard a U-Boat becomes a death sentence. In addition to the harrowing near escapes from depth charges and strafing runs, Werner portrays a Germany that collapses under the weight of wartime ruin and Nazi immorality. Being that he's at sea for long stretches, he is able to witness the deterioration in snapshots rather than as an ongoing process, which makes the state changes quite vivid. |
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DancingBarry Editor-in-Chief
Joined: 07 Sep 2001 Posts: 40188 Location: O.C.
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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Here's a good site and a link to Herbert Werner. http://uboat.net/men/werner_herbert.htm
I've been meaning to read it, but have not. (I'm ordering it now so I don't forget again). It definitely sounds like it may have had some influence in Das Boot, some of the incidents appear in the movie. A lot of the submarine movies seem to borrow bits and pieces from some of the older movies. I think Das Boot had some influences from previous submarine films, as well. |
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SenorJefe Star Player
Joined: 21 Mar 2004 Posts: 1865 Location: Carlsbad, CA
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 8:04 am Post subject: |
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
in no particular order _________________ Free advertising in Jefe's signature. Inquire within. |
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surfbu Star Player
Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 3294 Location: Hermosa Beach
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 8:26 am Post subject: |
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angrypuppy wrote: | DancingBarry wrote: | surfbu wrote: |
Shadow Divers: Robert Kurson. Great read about two American Divers in NJ who risk everything to dive down to a sunken german uboat from ww2. True story. |
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for submarine movies and stories. I'll have to check this one out. |
Have either of you read Iron Coffins, by Herbert A. Werner? Without a doubt the writer of Das Boot borrowed heavily from Werner's first hand account of life aboard a WWII German U-Boat. I read the book when I was 13 years old, and yet I still have vivid recollections of the passages in the book. Werner started service in the early glory days when the U-Boats were all but invincible, then as the war progressed and Allied countermeasures improved, life aboard a U-Boat becomes a death sentence. In addition to the harrowing near escapes from depth charges and strafing runs, Werner portrays a Germany that collapses under the weight of wartime ruin and Nazi immorality. Being that he's at sea for long stretches, he is able to witness the deterioration in snapshots rather than as an ongoing process, which makes the state changes quite vivid. |
Thanks for the tip....I'll definitley check out Iron Coffins. _________________ I'm really big in Europe. |
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bballfan4life Star Player
Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 1307 Location: Sitting on top of the world... with my laptop!
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Posted: Sat May 20, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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I've read To kill a Mockingbird about 6 times. It's a classic. I also like sidney sheldon books. The Best Laid Plans is one of my favourites _________________ "this game doesnt build character; it reveals it so be strong in body clear in mind and lofty in your ideals."
RIP Jayden Odom |
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ToughKarl Star Player
Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 1101 Location: Orange County
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Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 3:39 am Post subject: |
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prisma8slg wrote: | I read the Da Vinci Code last summer. and once I started I couldn't put it down. usually books with heavy religious themes completely turn me off, but I don't know...I really enjoyed this book and I'll probably read it again before I see the movie |
After reading some mixed previews about the book in this thread,
I decided to read it. I finished the book in two days, I just couldn't
put it down. From the opening scene, it captured my interest.
I don't know why some people hate it so much, but I simply
enjoyed reading it. |
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8750 Star Player
Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 1591 Location: milan, italy
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Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:03 am Post subject: |
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tao te ching...
friedrich nietzsche, thus spoke zarathustra...
tom robbins, still life with woodpecker...
in recent years:
chuck palahniuk, invisible monsters, choke..
dave eggers, a heartbreaking work...
jonathan lethem, the fortress of solitude...
neil gaiman, american gods...
toni bentley, the surrender...
thrillers:
michael connelly, robert crais, joe lansdale, james crumley...
essays:
kevin kelly: out of control
steven johnson: everything bad is good for you...
and -if i am allowed- my family:
daniele bolelli, my son: on the warrior's path...
gloria mattioni, my ex wife: reckless... |
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lakersfreak Franchise Player
Joined: 11 Apr 2001 Posts: 12389 Location: Riverside Rescue
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mike_dee23 Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 11703
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:26 am Post subject: |
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Hey, you guys should all read the book, "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell.
It's a great book on how our initial impressions affect the way we look at things. When you apply it to work, policing, etc., it's downright alarming the effects first impressions have. Applied to the Lakers, I think it's a reason why so many people dislike certain players. They get a bad first impression - the way they look, a mistake in a game - and then every judgment of that player is based on that first impression. |
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lakers0505 Franchise Player
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 10701
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:53 am Post subject: |
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Last book i read Angel and Demons, by Dan Brown. IMO , blows The Da Vinci Code out of the water, an i personally loved reading the Da Vinci Code. I hate the movie but loved the book. Better written book, robert langdon, is once again the main charcter, and this the prequel in a sense for the Da Vinci Code. While both books dont tie into each other very much, this is the first book with Robert Langdon.
"World-renowned Harvard symbolgist Robert Langdon is summoned too a Swiss Research Facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. When he discover the unimaginable: a deadly vandetta against the Catholic Church by a centuis-old Vatican organizarion-the illumanti."
Above is part of the basic of the book.
Bottomline: If u were so , so on the Da Vinci Code book, i suggest reading this one, if u loved it, you definitely need too read Angels and Demons, you wont be able too put i down. And if u didnt like the Da Vinci Code, u will hate this book because its written in the same style.
My rating :
Last edited by lakers0505 on Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:57 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Socks Franchise Player
Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 10761 Location: Bay Area, CA
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Geek Love by Katherine Dunn - novel about a family of circus freaks and the relationships between them.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - A comic masterpiece
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - my favorite book of all time
You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn - OK, basically I'd recommend reading anything by Howard Zinn. One of the most interesting modern historians out there.
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson - Fiction, and interesting if you're into sci-fi (though it's not really a sci-fi book) or marketing (real interesting use of word of mouth marketing). |
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mike_dee23 Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 11703
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:10 am Post subject: |
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Socks wrote: | You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn - OK, basically I'd recommend reading anything by Howard Zinn. One of the most interesting modern historians out there. |
"Zinn on War" is a great collection |
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ALF Starting Rotation
Joined: 14 Jul 2001 Posts: 331
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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I bought Moneyball recently and finished it in 4 days. I'm not even a big baseball fan but it was very easy and fun to read. The book revolves around the Oakland As and their struggle to compete with teams like the Yankees despite not having the money to sign big name players. That may not sound too entertaining but it involves some very colorful characters with interesting backstories.
I highly recommend it. |
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Jesseca328 Star Player
Joined: 28 Sep 2004 Posts: 2488 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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SenorJefe wrote: | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
in no particular order |
That's what i'm talking about yo!!! _________________ PDTP: where legends are made
ALPHA ~ LakerSanity ~ 24 ~ Exick ~ ElginBaylor ~ TheBigRuski ~ re4ee ~ JerryMagicKobe ~ mbloves L.A. ~ unggoy ~ encina1~ Jesseca328 ~ phayze one ~ Flo'z |
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ToughKarl Star Player
Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 1101 Location: Orange County
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:25 am Post subject: |
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lakers0505 wrote: | Last book i read Angel and Demons, by Dan Brown. IMO , blows The Da Vinci Code out of the water, an i personally loved reading the Da Vinci Code. I hate the movie but loved the book. Better written book, robert langdon, is once again the main charcter, and this the prequel in a sense for the Da Vinci Code. While both books dont tie into each other very much, this is the first book with Robert Langdon.
"World-renowned Harvard symbolgist Robert Langdon is summoned too a Swiss Research Facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. When he discover the unimaginable: a deadly vandetta against the Catholic Church by a centuis-old Vatican organizarion-the illumanti."
Above is part of the basic of the book.
Bottomline: If u were so , so on the Da Vinci Code book, i suggest reading this one, if u loved it, you definitely need too read Angels and Demons, you wont be able too put i down. And if u didnt like the Da Vinci Code, u will hate this book because its written in the same style.
My rating : |
Yup, Angels and Demons is a very good book. Also, you should try Digital Fortress. I finished both in a week. When you've started you can't stop. |
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Polish_Bastard Starting Rotation
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 106 Location: India baby!
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:52 am Post subject: |
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madprophet - very good list
Rand is simplistic and boring, too much propaganda, newspaper-style. Dan Brown is repetitive and predictable. Then again Orwell is too but in a far more interesting way.
Michail Bulgakov (also spelled Bulhakov) - The Master and Margarita |
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Money$hot! Star Player
Joined: 18 Dec 2002 Posts: 5911
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:05 am Post subject: |
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The Coming Economic Collapse: How We Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrell. by Stephen Leeb, Glen Strathy
First 2/3rds are preachy, last 1/3 will save you and your families arse when everyone else is losing theirs. A must read.
And I finished Digital Fortress and wished that I didn't. It was more of a screenplay, definately not a book. |
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mike_dee23 Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 11703
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:05 am Post subject: |
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SenorJefe wrote: | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
in no particular order |
here, I'll put them in order
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - HARRY KICKS BOOTY IN THIS ONE
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Shocking
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Most action-packed book
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - O.G.
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban - Sirius Black introduced
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. said it's the most important one, but I dunno... I like all the others better. |
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mike_dee23 Franchise Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Posts: 11703
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:13 am Post subject: |
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Polish_Bastard wrote: |
Brown is repetitive and predictable. Then again Orwell is too but in a far more interesting way.
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Brown sucks. He is a gimmicky writer who uses short chapters that end on cliffhangers to get people to keep reading. It's sort of like if I start a sentence here,
But finish it here.
I think if people want to read good, well researched books, read Michael Crichton. The Jurassic Park books are awesome. They are what got me into reading as a youngster. |
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F Snaq Star Player
Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 1094 Location: Somewhere in The Khyber Pass
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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My favorite of the classics is "The Count Of Monte Cristo" ... this book is amazing.
Also one of my all-time favorites is "The Beach" by Alex Garland. This book actually inspired me to skip two quarters of college and leave the country for 2 months, backpacking throughout South East Asia.
A book I'm reading right now is "The Constant Gardener" by John Le Carre and so far it's been thoroughly engaging.
Check out "The Alchemist" by Paul Coelho as well. I read this a few months ago and I liked it.
Also, if you like poetry, check out any of Charles Bukowski's collections. This guy was "somethin'." _________________ NBA referees are a detriment to the integrity and essence of the game of basketball. It is our duty, as fans of this sacred game, to eviscerate each and every one of these treacherous maggots, if ever we cross paths with any of them in our lives. |
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F Snaq Star Player
Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 1094 Location: Somewhere in The Khyber Pass
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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p.s.
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. I had to read this like 3 times in order to get a good understanding of it. LOL. It's very hard to read but once you get used to it, you'll be so immersed into its story that you'll never want to put it down. _________________ NBA referees are a detriment to the integrity and essence of the game of basketball. It is our duty, as fans of this sacred game, to eviscerate each and every one of these treacherous maggots, if ever we cross paths with any of them in our lives. |
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Zhengi Star Player
Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Posts: 6445
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:34 am Post subject: |
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mike_dee23 wrote: | Polish_Bastard wrote: |
Brown is repetitive and predictable. Then again Orwell is too but in a far more interesting way.
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Brown sucks. He is a gimmicky writer who uses short chapters that end on cliffhangers to get people to keep reading. It's sort of like if I start a sentence here,
But finish it here.
I think if people want to read good, well researched books, read Michael Crichton. The Jurassic Park books are awesome. They are what got me into reading as a youngster. |
I pretty much have to agree.
The DaVinci Code is a badly written book and I'm having trouble getting through it with all the jumping around he does.
This book is supposed to be good? _________________ I'm like a Hadouken, down-right Fierce! |
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