SolarGarlic Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I just got a new library card..lookin to break it in..read anything good lately ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 The Clouded Leopard - Wade Davis Ethnobotany is the study of how cultures make use of indigenous plants. It explores things like food, shelter, medicines and religious ceremonies. Wade Davis has lived among tribal groups in South America, explored the concept of zombification in Haiti, and traveled the Amazon in search of the coca plant which is the source of cocaine and a sacred plant to the people there. He has traveled to countries like Morocco, Jordan, Borneo and Tibet in his studies. 'Clouded Leopard' brings together stories about zombies, hallucinogenic toads and a search to photograph the reclusive leopard of the title that lives in the Himalayen mountains. All of his books are an engaging read - he makes you know a culture in a way that no one else could and to understand a way of life that is rapidly vanishing. http://www.wade-davis.com/ Currently reading: Walking on the land - Farley Mowat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottieking Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Drop City - T.C. Boyle - a great look at the downside of being a bunch of hippies - really good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phunky Cauldron Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hey Esau, I love the Wade Davis recommendation. My pops bought me "One River" for Christmas last year, and I haven't been able to get enough of his writing since then. He opens the door into a completely different culture, in a really good, non National Geographic way. He lives with the natives instead of just stopping by for a photoshoot or interview session. It makes for incredible story-telling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I'm reading alot right now. narziss and goldmund - hermann hesse siddhartha - hermann hesse the religions of man - huston smith the death of god controversy - thomas W. Ogletree Under Milk Wood - dylan thomas The state in capitalist society - raplh miliband im getting off of the fantasy train for the first time in years, and im reading tons of new books. we just got a new book store here in peterborough and it has a great selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Just Finished "Vurt" by "Jeff Noon": quote:British novelist Noon debuts with a futuristic tale of a hallucinogenic drug that spins users into virtual worlds.Working on "Snowcrash" by "Neal Stephenson": quote:From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. I really dug both books, been on a bit of a cyperpunk kick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Just about anything by Theodore Stugreon is good, especially the collections of his short stories. It's ostensibly SF, but underlying it all is a theme of love. (There's a multi-volume series collecting all of his short stories, arranged in order of publishing.) If you want some non-fiction, Richard Dawkins (e.g., "The Blind Watchmaker") has written some good stuff. Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" is also a good read. Note that both of these are decidedly skeptical and anti-fundamentalist*. Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, and Sagan (was) an astrophysicist. Aloha, Brad * Sagan makes an interesting point: why do people pray? The obvious answer is to let God know things, like people/diseases that need to be healed, or things we need His help with. But, if you believe the advertising, doesn't God know everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalacePrincess Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 jim carroll anything -- forced entries: the downtown diaries is pretty interesting, outlines his days in nyc in the 70's, running with the likes of andy warhol & hanging with the velvet underground. salvador dali even steals his cab in one part, and his reaction to being close to bob dylan will make you laugh out loud. if you like poetry (and even if you don't, you'll probably still like this book), try his "void of course". here's a taste: "aching spirals of black vinyl" is how he describes 45's in the poem jukebox and this gives me shivers every time (from "poem"): There will always be a poem I will climb on top of it and come In and out of time, Cocking my head to the side slightly, As I finish shaking, melting then Into its body, its soft skin otherwise, for a laugh out loud adventure that will make you think, try tom robbins another roadside attraction, for messed up fiction that will freak you out and delight you all at once, katherine dunn's geek love, and for even more messed up non-fiction (there's one paragraph which i swear will scar you for life), there's always the classic, sybil (by flora schreiber). the writing style in sybil is a bit on the technical side, but the story itself is so absolutely fascinating and captivating you get into it pretty quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questcequecest? Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I havent read anything fun since pre-september... I'm currently buried in schoolwork: Cartography: Thematic Map Design 4th ed. Introduction to Vector GIS using ArcView Access 2002: Database Fundamentals ...and some other goodies too. i guess the last good book i read was The Manticore, by robertson davies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondtube Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 I'm just about to start Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. About some guy who decides to just up and out it in Alaska (kinda like our own doggy), but has no idea how to survive. so he dies, and they find his journal. should be interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Phunky Cauldron, I agree,although I haven't read One River yet.I enjoyed the Serpent and The Rainbow,it is a heck of alot better then the movie,which was a weak(at best)interpitation of the book,Davis knows how to get you right there beside him while he's ingesting,trippin and coming down off the "medicines",great writer,very interesting guy with an exception outlook into life and civilization. Secondtube, I read Into the wild while up in the Yukon(strangley enough)back in '98,Stacey had bought it and gave it to me to read,although hazy about it right now,I do beleive the guy gets along for awhile,but eventually as you say dies. Wait to you see what his parents did for a living,and what he takes into the bush with him.I enjoyed that book,but definatley need to read it again. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey d Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 if you want some good poetry try: play the piano drunk like a percussion instrument until the fingers begin to bleed a bit - charles bukowski. hes a great poet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little black dog Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 If you're interested at all in political or Historical satire: Will Ferguson - Bastards and Boneheads - Why I Hate Canadians These are both great books and quite humorous. He writes the kind of book that's hard to put down and he's Canadian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon. Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 deception point - dan brown good omens - terry prachett american gods - neil gaiman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon. Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 deception point - dan brown good omens - terry prachett/neil gaiman american gods - neil gaiman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.