The Teddy Roosevelt book? Yeah I've had that sitting on my "queue" shelf for some time. I'll pick it up at some point I'm sure.

Yeah, that's the one. I just finished it. Overall, it's a solid book but it didn't live up to my hopes for it. Maybe I was just hoping it would be something it wasn't. The best part of the book, imo, was probably all the side information the author provided that related more to the Amazonian ecosystem than the actual story of the expedition (which got better as the story developed).

Thinking I will now turn to Massive by Ian Sample.

Stephen King's Cell. It's a'ight. Nothing special.

Gonna read the Keith Richards autobiography next. Then the new John LeCarre, which I bought today, on hardcover, because I know that makes MadJohnShaft cry. Then after that, either I'll burn through some more gift cards or go back to the library and dive back into the world of mystery writers. So far I like Robert Parker more than Elmore Leonard, whom I like more than Walter Mosley. Didn't care for the one Donald Westlake I read (Long Time No See).

I've had that on my list for a while now but, for whatever reason, keeping passing it up in favor of something else. Considering how cheap it is on Amazon I really have no excuse for not having it.

I started rereading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yesterday. Finished the first book today and am halfway through The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I read World War Z a long time ago. Definitely dug it when I read it.

Since moving at the end of August, I now get an hour-hour and a half train twice a day so I've been doing a LOT more reading. It's been great.

Some of the best:
Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The End of Mr Y - Scarlet Thomas

Just finished Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials which was awesome.

And started Life of Pi by Yann Martel which I'm not sure about yet.

I tried reading The Catcher In the Rye but it turns out it's a pile of shit.

You liked it? I've had that sitting around my place for a loooong time but never got around to it. I almost started it a few weeks ago but went in a different direction. I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman and thought it was decent but wasn't drawn enough to Gaiman to go right into another book by him.

I think Neverwhere is stronger than American Gods, because it's a hell of a lot simpler. I like Gaiman's writing - some of his short stories are brilliant - but "epic" isn't his strong suit.

Some others I like

Charles Willeford
Andrew Vacchs
James Crumley
Ed McBain
Joe Lansdale
Jim Thompson
Coornell Woolrich
James Ellroy

Right now reading some good clean fun, Tucker Max-Assholes Finish First

Read Jim Thompson and Ellroy, fan of the latter more than the former, but that's because I haven't read too much of Thompson, apart from The Killer Inside Me and The Grifters. Good other suggestions - thanks!

For Jim Thompson, try Pop. 1280. Probably my fav after The Killer Inside Me.

Iain M Banks - Surface Detail

Some pretty METAL stuff in here:

Here was a gulf of space, an infinite valley, stuffed full to choking with scenes of torment spread out to the furthest reach of sight, filled with the low moans and the chorused anguish of the torn and tormented and infested with a miasmic stench of shit and burned, corrupted flesh. Here was a pressure on the eyes of fractal detail - torment within torment within torment within torment, endlessly - just waiting, stacked, lined up, marking time until it could be dwelt upon, comprehended, made part of the self; guarantors of perpetual nightmare.

\m/

Good to know. Thanks.

I may also dig back into the classics and see what other Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are out there, apart from the four or five I've already read.

I am just finishing up that last few chapters of Empire of the Summer Moon - which took me way too long to get through. Not because it's not a fascinating read, I just get sidetracked very easily.

I have several books on deck after that. Cities of the Red Night, Diary of a Drug Fiend, Dragons of Eden. And my wife bought me a series of books on the Texas Rangers from 1821 to present day.

Yeah I thought it was pretty good. Haven't seen the BBC series which apparently came before the book, anyone know if it's worth a few hours?
Also read Anansi Boys by Gaiman which wasn't bad, and Good Omens by him and Terry Pratchett which was good in an unsurprisingly silly way.

Me too. :)

Just finished Massive during my break at work yesterday so maybe I'll give Neverwhere a shot. I think I may be leaning more towards another non-fiction read than novel, though, so I don't know. I guess it'll come down to what I feel like starting when I go on break later.

Just finished The Straw Men by Michael Marshall (Smith), good yarn, heady at times, not your typical thriller, some weird tangents, and a great structure, two seemingly disparate narratives that converge, one first person, one third, at first it feels wonky but it's paced perfectly (switching back and forth without ever leaving you annoyed by the shifts), and even if you know going in that they will converge, you don't see how.

And even though you anticipate certain elements the way they come off work well.

Started Genius by James Gleicl, the biography of Richard Feynman. Took a stab at Neverwhere but found the mood wasn't right, I was more in the mood for a non-fiction read. So far not sure I really dig the author of this one.

Johngarth you need to walk on past that front table of boring dude-lit best sellers at Borders and go into the stacks once in a while.

just finished 'Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox' by Greg Fitzsimmons and it was good. Now reading The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman and 'Jereuslem Syndrome' by Marc Maron.

Anvil book, kind of a companion to the movie

Finally wrapped up Mostly Harmless tonight, thus concluding my run through Ultimate Hitchhiker's. I should've finished it last night, but got too distracted with Team Fortress 2 to get much reading done. Up next is my first read through Dune Messiah. I'm not expecting anything quite as good as Dune, but I've been told it's a still quite an enjoyable followup.

The local Borders is closing up at the end of the month, so they've discounted everything down to 20% off list price (30% for bargain books). Sadly the discount doesn't seem to combine with Borders Rewards coupons :(. I'm hoping the discounts will increase as the closing date draws closer as they still had a couple books there that I'd like to pick up. The pile of books I got for Christmas is big enough as it is that I'm not sure I should be in much of a rush to add to it, but for steep discounts why the hell not?