Books and movies.

[rugerpc]

I just finished the book The Martian this afternoon.

Freaking awesome. Mrs. Doc Ruger and I are going to watch the movie tonight on cable.

What have you read recently that you really, really enjoyed?

I have a list of musician/band biographies to recommend which I'll get to in a day or so...

 

[rugerpc]

Before The Martian, I was reading Game of Thrones. I'm in the HBO DVDs now...

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The last two books that got turned into movies that I've read were "He's Just Not That Into You" and "DaVinci Code". In both cases I found that I enjoyed the movies more than the books (which is rare) 'cause the movies were over with in an hour and a half.

I'm disappointed in the books Hollywood choses to make movies out of, I've read some really great books by Christopher Moore and Douglas Coupland that would make hilarious films.. Too bad.

 

[goat-n-gitter]

Do you like disaster/end of the world sci fi stories? Try "Lucifer's Hammer" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. They haven't made a movie of it, but they should. All of those guys' collaborations are great.

Tom

 

[alantig]

Christopher Moore is full of all kinds of awesome.

I'm currently neck deep in a book of Neil Degrasse Tyson essays.

In the last few months, I read Stephen King's "Mr. Mercedes" and "Finders Keepers". They're related, and a third book is due this year. Good stuff.

 

[kes7u]

I just finished the book The Martian this afternoon.

Freaking awesome. Mrs. Doc Ruger and I are going to watch the movie tonight on cable.

What have you read recently that you really, really enjoyed?

I have a list of musician/band biographies to recommend which I'll get to in a day or so...

I SOOO agree regarding The Martian. I read quite a bit, and that was the best book that I've read in quite some time! I just didn't want it to be over. My wife and I waited to see the movie until we had both finished the book. Obviously, the movie was not as good, but still VERY enjoyable!

Kevin

 

[László]

I'm almost finished reading Zara Steiner's The Triumph Of The Dark, a scholarly volume on European International History from 1933-38. It's a bit of a long read (1300-ish pages), but it's fascinating to observe how international diplomacy and the fragile structures put in place by the League of Nations and various treaties fell apart during this period.

Since my surgery in August, I've read about 35 books on 20th Century European history, and I've learned enough to bore just about anyone to death on the subject in great detail, so don't ask my opinion on a related subject unless you need a nap and haven't got any sleeping pills handy.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I've been reading a lot of M. R. Forbes lately, since he (?) is on Kindle Unlimited -- read the first two books of Ghosts & Magic, and am on book 4 of Tears of Blood.

I've also been voraciously reading everything by Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant and Jim Butcher.

Additional favourites (I tend to have a lot of them, since I don't consider it a competition) are -- in addition to the above two -- Christopher Moore & Neil Gaiman. I tend to read science fiction/fantasy exclusively, for escape.

I just watched The Martian again this last weekend -- loved it -- need to read the book. Last one I saw before that was ...uh... Hateful Eight, way back in December. I'm way behind -- I usually watch a movie every weekend -- need to see the new Coen Bros. movie Hail Caesar, Deadpool, and Star Wars for that matter (no spoilers!). Oh, and Anomalisa -- I was part of the Kickstarter for that, so I get the Blu-Ray when it comes out in a couple months, but kind of want to see it in the theater.

Room was fantastic.

 

[alantig]

I saw Deadpool Saturday. In a word - freaking awesome. Ryan Reynolds got the tone of the character. There wasn't a bad note in the flick as far as I'm concerned - and im ready to go back this weekend if either of my kids want to go.

 

[rugerpc]

Just finished The Martian movie. Changes from the book (not unusual), but enjoyable. Really glad I read the book first.

 

[Kazz]

I tend to read science fiction/fantasy exclusively, for escape.

I haven't read a lot of the authors you mentioned, other than Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, but if you haven't already tried them them George Martin's stuff (especially A Song of Ice and Fire - AKA the "Game of Thrones" series which is easily one of the best I've read), and Brandon Sanderson is prolific and has a lot of interesting stuff, some more epic and some lighter or even classified as "Young Adult" but still fun and maybe closer to Jim Butcher.

Anomalisa is interesting by the way. Not easy to judge, but I hope you like it. (I saw an early screening as a member of a local filmmaking organization.)

 

[bodia]

I finished Fortunate Son, John Fogerty's memoirs a couple weeks back. That was a good read. In the middle of a guilty pleasure now....Threat Vector by Tom Clancy. Next on deck is Grierson's Raid. It's about a Union Calvary strike deep behind Confederate lines during the Civil War. The John Wayne movie Horse Soldiers was loosely based on it.

If you're into really good historical fiction and character development, I would highly recommend Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series witch starts with Master and Commander, or Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series which starts with Shapre's Tiger. Both are set around the late 1700s and early 1800s. O'Brian's following the career of an English naval officer and his shipmates during the Napoleonic Wars while Cromwell's follows the rise of an English soldier during roughly the same time period. Before I picked them up, they wouldn't have normally been something I would have read, but I found myself lost in the books and became invested in the characters. Good stuff!

 

[Boogie]

Tim Dorsey's newest installment is out on shelves now...if you're into Florida crime novels where the bad guys always die in the most creative ways. Rumor has it that there's a new TV series in the making...

 

[Goldtop]

Great thread! I read a lot, and right now I'm reading the new bio of Sam Phillips by Peter Guralnick. I'm just a few pages in, but so far it's really good. Before that I read the two autobiographies by Shawn Michaels of the WWE. Both of those were great.

In my stack of upcoming books I've got the latest Willie autobiography, "Pretend You're in a War" about The Who in the 60's, "Sinatra" by James Kaplan, the Joe Perry auto, and the new ones by John Fogerty and Chrissie Hynde. PLUS, I'm looking for a copy of the old "Elvis - What Happened?" by Steve Dunleavy. Mine is so old it's falling apart.

Goldtop Lloyd

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I haven't read a lot of the authors you mentioned, other than Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, but if you haven't already tried them them George Martin's stuff (especially A Song of Ice and Fire - AKA the "Game of Thrones" series which is easily one of the best I've read), and Brandon Sanderson is prolific and has a lot of interesting stuff, some more epic and some lighter or even classified as "Young Adult" but still fun and maybe closer to Jim Butcher.

Anomalisa is interesting by the way. Not easy to judge, but I hope you like it. (I saw an early screening as a member of a local filmmaking organization.)

Yup, I have "A Song of Ice and Fire" boxset sitting on the shelf in the "to-be-read" pile in front of me. I will add Brandon Sanderson to my "need to check him out" list.

And: cool!

 

[drdoom8793]

Not going to lie, my favorite books I've read recently are "John Dies at the End" and "This book is Full of Spiders" by David Wong. They're really weird books, almost "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets "Evil Dead" but I just love them. Also a big fan of anything written by Chuck Palahniuk or Kurt Vonnegut.

 

[rugerpc]

Biographies I highly recommend:

The Beatles by Bob Spitz. Spoiler: Yoko was a HUGE factor in the Beatles breakup.
Paul McCartney A Life by Peter A Carlin
Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney by Howard Sounes
Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison by Joshua M. Greene
George Harrison: Living in the Material World by Olivia Harrison and Mark Holborn
The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia by Bill Harry
Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson
Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored by Richard Cole
Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake
Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir by Steven Tyler

 

[jfb]

Currently listening to the audiobook of The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

Also listening to an audiobook from the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy setting cause I am a DnD dork and proud of it. Ask me about my DnD PS themed ideas...the dork is bad, hahaha.

Also working through a book on Axure for work.

 

[11top]

I thought the book, The Martian, was good, but not great. I'm sure I'll watch the movie at some point, but I can't imagine it being as good as the book.

I just finished Crimson Beach, by Preston and Childs. I love the whole Pendergast series.

Ordinary Grace is the best book I've read in the past year. It's by William Kent Krueger. His Cork O'Conner series are very good too.

If you haven't read Nelson DeMille's novels, RUN to the library. Nobody is better, IMO.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Christopher Moore is full of all kinds of awesome.

Yeah he is! "Lamb" was the first book I ever read as an adult just for the joy of reading, until then I was always reading serious stuff and religious manuals to make up for my lack of education. I'm such a fan. I even got a pair of "Throx" (three socks 'cause you always lose one) that were featured in his book "The Fool" (a literary re-imagining of King Lear) with F@ck Stockings stitched into the band.

Dude is so good! I can't recommend his work enough.

Not going to lie, my favorite books I've read recently are "John Dies at the End"

There's a movie made from that, right? If so, I should check it out... that film seemed like it had a pretty intense Burroughs-like vibe.