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Whats a good book to read?

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Jake...
Posts: 11976 - Karma: 296
I cant say i have ever actually read a book on my own. I have maybe finished 5 books my entire life, one being each year of highschool and i think we read 2 in grade 12. And even those, its nothing i wanted to read, so i didn't enjoy it at all.

So something made me think about reading and i want to read a book this summer. But i have no idea what to read. Im 18, into pretty much all sports, hockey, golf, skiing to name a few, i really dislike anything about history or religion, so yeah... anyone think of something i would enjoy? Ill try to list all the books i have read:

to kill a mocking bird
life of pi
dessert storms (maybe its desert sands)
fahrenheit 911


thats all i can think of.

Thanks.
May 25 2008 8:50PM
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Scolson
Posts: 2904 - Karma: 92
fight club is enjoyable and short
May 25 2008 8:53PM
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Jake...
Posts: 11976 - Karma: 296
and im really not into harry potter, lord of the rings, any of that kind of shit. Any mystical wizardry stuff... not my deal.
May 25 2008 8:53PM
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1080ski
Posts: 4424 - Karma: 191
i just read bringing down the house. it was sooo sick. its about the MIT kids who own in blackjack in vegas.

the da vinci code was great. im not into religion at all and i still loved it.
May 25 2008 8:54PM
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Rainbow*Stylin
Posts: 1042 - Karma: 24
I would suggest "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, "My side of the mountain" by Jean Craighead George, or maybe "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, all of those are pretty fucking sick... or the chronicles of narnia series by C.S. Lewis, they have been some of my favorites since I was like 8
May 25 2008 8:57PM
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no_steeze
Posts: 23992 - Karma: 4,272
the power of one is my favorite book, it's about a south african kid who becomes a sick boxer during pre WWII, it's totally sick and an action packed book, it's kept me paying attention the whole time and i don't usually do that with books, so yeah, it's a good one
May 25 2008 8:58PM
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doritos
Posts: 7368 - Karma: 53
Ender's Game, trust me, this book is fucking amazing.
May 25 2008 8:59PM
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doritos
Posts: 7368 - Karma: 53
Big ups to this one as well, so good.
May 25 2008 8:59PM
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Jake...
Posts: 11976 - Karma: 296
tell me what the books are about, a name means nothing really
May 25 2008 9:02PM
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Scolson
Posts: 2904 - Karma: 92

Fight Club is about fight club, project mayhem and tyler durden

May 25 2008 9:04PM
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Rainbow*Stylin
Posts: 1042 - Karma: 24
"The TIpping Point" is about how little things make a huge difference when deciding what will happen on a larger scale and what will eventually become popular, "My side of the mountain" is about this little kid who ditches out on "civilized life" to go live in the mountains for a while, super sick. and "On the road" is about drugs and adventuring and being awesome in a time where being awesome was frowned upon
May 25 2008 9:05PM
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skeedle
Posts: 6156 - Karma: 628
good omens by neil gaymen and terry pratchett...
its basically a spoof of the omen. absolutely halarious

May 25 2008 9:07PM
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dr.jib
Posts: 209 - Karma: 11
the lords of discipline is a good "action" book. I read it awhile ago, but it's about the brotherhood at a military academy, a little bit of love, some pranks, and w/o ruining too much of it, there's a suicide and a secret racist society is exposed. that wasn't a good sell, but the plot is really good and it keeps you wanting to read it. I shamefully feel the same way about reading, but I actually read ahead with this book. almost everyone in my class liked it.
May 25 2008 9:07PM
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Scolson
Posts: 2904 - Karma: 92
Shawshank Redemption (about prison) and The Body (coming of age story) are really good too.
May 25 2008 9:08PM
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ax_murderer
Posts: 3322 - Karma: 30
a seperate peace- about two boys growing up in boarding school during world war 2. probably my favorite book

the great gatsby- a classic, will get you thinking and incredible writing

shogun - super super sick action movie of a shipwrecked westerner in japan during samurai times. very accurate of culture, sick battles, crazy suspensful fucking classic must read

dune -scie-fi book but ABSOLUTLY INCREDIBLE/. you will have no problem getting through it
May 25 2008 9:08PM
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TerminatorX
Posts: 3087 - Karma: 169
i am america (and so can you) by stephen colbert. i haven't read it yet, but my friend has and i plan on buying it. here is the barnes and noble description.

On the title page of the galleys of this ironically strident, annoying, repetitive, dishonest, priggish, self-congratulatory, exploitational, celebrity-driven, offensive -- and often extremely funny -- book, it says, in the credits, "Additional material: Ipsum Lorem." Do you know what that means? Well, I do -- now, A.G. (After Google). It's a two-word snip of dummy text -- meaningless Latin-sounding words used from the 1500s to this day by typesetters, to give the appearance of printed words without the distraction of real content.
May 25 2008 9:11PM
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doritos
Posts: 7368 - Karma: 53
OK OK...

Here's a blurb I found online because I am lazy...

--- It's 2070, forty years since a devastating alien invasion was barely turned back, and the world is desperately searching for soldiers to lead them to victory when the "Buggers" come again. That's why they're drafting young children who pass a rigorous screening, and sending the best of them to the orbiting Battle School, where they are trained from childhood to be ready for war in the vertiginous reaches of space.

Into the unending pressure of military training comes six-year-old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, who struggles to keep his humanity even as the adult teachers, rivals among his fellow students, and the strange unseen influence of the alien invaders all threaten either to destroy him or to make him into someone he can't bear to be.

His genius raises him to the top of the intensely competitive games in the Battle Room, an immense null-gravity chamber where armies of youngsters engage in mock combat. But his real struggles are off the playing field - with a dangerous older boy named Bonzo Madrid who is determined that both he and Ender cannot survive in this place; with his teacher, Mazer Rackham, who won the last war on a fluke and now is trying to prepare Ender to win the next one by skill rather than luck; and with himself, as Ender wrestles with his own demons, desperate to remain a decent human being even as he sees himself being transformed into exactly the same kind of monster as the buggers themselves. ---

This is probably my favorite book of all time, if not it's in my top three, and I don't even like science fiction. It's incredibly well-written, will grab you by the throat from the very beginning, and the ending will blow your mind. So sick. Ender's Shadow is nearly as good.


May 25 2008 9:13PM
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 370
monkey wrench gang

bunch of hippies blow shit up
May 25 2008 9:15PM
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smooticus
Posts: 1798 - Karma: 27
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams. By far the best book of all time,, super funny dude. Yea i know there was a movie. and it was fucking retarded, but the book is really good
May 25 2008 9:15PM
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aculbs
Posts: 226 - Karma: 12
rule of the bone by russel banks, its about this kid who runs away to Jamaica and befriends a rasta man and they smoke alot and have alot of sex with rasta bitches in his rasta house. other things happen too, i dont wanna spoil it
May 25 2008 9:19PM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,199
If you're into easy reading action type books anything by Tom Clancy usually fits that description....also the entire "a series of unfortunate events" books (there are 13) written by lemony snicket (its a pseudonym) are maybe for a slightly younger audience but prove to be quite an entertaining read...Oh and anything by George Orwell (Animal farm and 1984) is a must read IMO.

when you said Fahrenheit 911, did you maybe mean Fahrenheit 451?...
May 25 2008 9:21PM
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d.spong
Posts: 909 - Karma: 8
only the strong survive.
Zamba.

zamba is legit
May 25 2008 9:22PM
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Ryno
Posts: 31125 - Karma: 336
What are you interested in (hobbies, things you like to know about, etc)? That will help suggesting a title
May 25 2008 9:22PM
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jimmer
Posts: 3586 - Karma: 80
scar tissue by anthony kiedis. it's about the lead singer from the red hot chili peppers and his relationship with drugs and music. good shit.
May 25 2008 9:34PM
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pho[tog]rapher
Posts: 2618 - Karma: 494
catcher in the rye was a book in highschool i actually didn't mind reading. one of my favorites now
May 25 2008 9:36PM
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freeskier824
Posts: 813 - Karma: 11
anything by John Grisham. he writes legal thrillers (mostly). i recommend The Firm, its about a harvard grad that gets offered a job at a law firm that turns out to be a front for a wealthy mob family, then he finds out and its just really good.
also The Partner which is about a guy that steals $90 million from a law firm, fakes his death, and goes to live in south america. but he gets caught, brought back to the US, yet still manages to walk away clean with a ton of money. its really good.
May 25 2008 9:44PM
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doritos
Posts: 7368 - Karma: 53
Hahahaha it sounds really unpredictable.
May 25 2008 9:46PM
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ski93
Posts: 1280 - Karma: 84
I'm reading "Slash" its an autobiography on a rockstar it's a really sick book if your into electric guitar and that kinda stuff
May 25 2008 9:53PM
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connoroh
Posts: 2333 - Karma: 246
A clockwork orange is sick. you may have seen the movie ... its about ultraviolence and his gang turns against him


curious incident of the dog in the night time by mark haddon.

About a retarded kid who tries to find his mom. Its really good. And funny. Its worth reading.

May 25 2008 9:55PM
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ax_murderer
Posts: 3322 - Karma: 30
if u liked to kill amockingbird i think you'll like these two a bunch, and they are pretty easy reads
May 25 2008 9:56PM
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RJD2
Posts: 3532 - Karma: 921
Anthem

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.



May 25 2008 10:07PM
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kepler.
Posts: 8761 - Karma: 139
Haha thank you. I was waiting for someone to call him out on the 911 thing.

Anyway. Dude just start reading. If you've read 5 books in your entire life I really feel sorry for you. I'm not trying to be mean or an asshole but how can you have read so little. I realize reading becomes a little hard to do while in highschool just because you're always so busy but thats what summer is for.

Go to the fucking library and ask the librarian whats a good book that just came out. You need to not say "I don't like this genre or that" it eliminates so many good books because you weren't willing to go out of your comfort zone to expand your mind.

Anyway, just because I'm a dick I'm going to suggest Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6. Currently I'm re-reading it for a second time just because it's that good. Basically a group of terrorists plot to kill everyone on the world (excluding them) to help save the planet. The great thing about Tom Clancy's books is that they cut in and out of different scenes with different characters so often that it is really easy to read 2 pages and then stop and come back later. I will warn you that this is a 900 page book but its completly worth it. You know those video games you play that are so badass? The Tom Clancy ones? Well they are all made because of this book. So read it!

/rant
May 25 2008 10:18PM
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Quinn
Posts: 1428 - Karma: 16
siddhartha. really good
May 25 2008 10:34PM
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WV_Skier
Posts: 178 - Karma: 36
Between a rock and a hard hard place. Very good book
May 25 2008 10:37PM
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C.R.420
Posts: 2441 - Karma: 28
Fallen Angels (great Vietnam novel)
Catcher in the Rye
Fight Club (or pretty much anything by Chuck Palahniuk)
Tom Clancy is also a great author (Clear and Present Danger, Rainbow Six, etc.)


May 25 2008 10:41PM
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BMskier
Posts: 3363 - Karma: 365
The Great Gatsby

when you read it and think about it its good.

its one of the best books i have ever read, and i am now reading it for the second time. once you read it, you will always appreciate it. and its also a fun read.
May 25 2008 10:50PM
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bangarangmules
Posts: 5065 - Karma: 84
1984

one of my favorites. by goerge orwell, he wrote it in 1949 and it was his prediction of a toltalitarian rule over britain through future technology. its really good, im doing my 3rd paper about it right now. haha gotta love 10 pagers
May 25 2008 10:53PM
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vzdz
Posts: 782 - Karma: 87
 i've read a ton of what these kids are mentioning go with what that other guy said,

ENDER'S GAME

you'll be stoked you did
May 25 2008 11:11PM
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ThaLetterM.
Posts: 8609 - Karma: 1,613
i really liked A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway...really simple writing with deep meaning...its about war etc..WW1.
May 25 2008 11:30PM
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MADmidwest
Posts: 1278 - Karma: 15
"Brave New World" is a good book. Reading it might come in handy too since most educated scholars would have knowledge of this classic book. It is trippy tho and not boring like other "classics"
May 25 2008 11:30PM
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msimone372
Posts: 27 - Karma: 26
The Things They Carried by O'Brien (i'm blanking on his first name).

vietnam story about a platoon of men and what they go through during the war. some good laughs and some heartbreaking truths... definately my fav
May 25 2008 11:33PM
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MADmidwest
Posts: 1278 - Karma: 15
of ya, Brave new World is about the future and how society is completly Crazy. It's a distopic kind of thing where everyone is made in test tubes and brain washed into their class. And then there's this one guy, Bernard who fights the man and that's about it. The story was written in the 1930's or 40's and it's pretty crazy how accurate he is with predicting the way science would take us.
May 25 2008 11:34PM
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[BRI]noceros
Posts: 2319 - Karma: 40
the five people you meet in heaven. amazing book. ive really been meaning to read fight club, i just havent gotten around to it.
May 25 2008 11:34PM
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skier_boy26
Posts: 11295 - Karma: 502
hmmm if you dont like reading history or religion, then you need to read the odyssey! (sarcasm, but its a good read, especially if you "read" it like it should be "read")
May 25 2008 11:35PM
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TeamJones
Posts: 629 - Karma: 12
QFT.  I first read that book in 3rd grade, 8 years later it is still my favorite book.

Other good ones that have been mentioned:
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Animal Farm by George Orwell (I would recommend 1984, but AF is an easier read)
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, try to get the Ultimate Edition with all 5 books

Some more:
Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card
Everything is completely fucked up in the future, 90% of humanity is dead, food is running out, the world is going to ruin, etc. etc.  The pivotal point in history that is seen as what set it all off is Columbus going to America.  People from the future must change history to make things right... Kinda vague but I don't want to say much more about it.

Killer Angels-Michael Shaara
You said no history, but this is really good.  It's the Battle of Gettysburg, but it's written like a novel, it doesn't feel like a history lesson at all.

State of Fear-Michael Crichton
Some environmentalist nuts are intensifying global warming to make money, and some other nuts are out to prove its all a scam.  The book follows a lawyer who gets caught in the middle.

May 25 2008 11:48PM
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SlickRick.
Posts: 4329 - Karma: 300
if you read one book in your entire life it should be angles and demons by dan brown (sam author of da vinci code)  a movie of it will be relaesd soon... i cannot even explain to you how it good it is. im not an avid reader by any means but i finished it in  3 days.
May 26 2008 12:05AM
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MADmidwest
Posts: 1278 - Karma: 15

lolz, the way he tells it is more accurate to the truth that what really happened. Thats kinda retarted but so what it's half fiction and a kick ass story.

May 26 2008 12:08AM
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shibby
Posts: 7088 - Karma: -19
I HATE books like Anthem, 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale. Basically, any book trying to depict a totalitarian regime in the future, stay the fuck away from it.

I'd go for an (auto)biography if you don't know what you want. I'm starting up Roy Keane soon. I know it's sort of history related but there are lots of interesting people to read about.

Oh, and read Where The Wild Things Live.
May 26 2008 12:12AM
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asapCferg
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 358
nooo books are good to read!
May 26 2008 12:22AM
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ChanchoVelez.
Posts: 1029 - Karma: 11
watch that movie
May 26 2008 12:25AM
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spliff.Life
Posts: 7847 - Karma: 1,549
yeah, i hate reading
but i really liked catcher in the rye
its written really well
it makes, i think it was written to make almost anyone feel like they can connect with the main character
but great book
May 26 2008 12:28AM
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