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What book are you reading.


voodoobones

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Freefall, which has nothing to do with drop towers (in case anyone was wondering).

A brand new Boeing 767 is in the process of a pleasant and uneventful flight when it runs out of fuel. This is a bad thing.

I was thinking of reading it to help me with a school project, which was basically supposed to be about technology-related screwups. I couldn't read that fast, though, and used Web sites instead, because I am lazy or something. Anyway, this particular screw-up involves botched translations between Metric and Standard measurements, not an uncommon problem.

I haven't gotten to the part where they actually know they're out of fuel. I stopped at the part where an ominous alarm sounds and the pilot says "What the ----!" or something similar with the 'f' word in it.

It's quite interesting so far. It's decently well-written, although the author's writing style kind of suggests he is trying really hard to be a good writer. (I'm thinking along the lines of, "If you were really good, you wouldn't have to 'try'", that sort of thing.)

Oh, I forgot, it's a true story. If it weren't it wouldn't be half as interesting. (Why would an important plane ever run out of fuel? Truth is stranger than fiction.)

 

This is quite famous in aviation circles, it is known as the Gimli Glider. Makes you realise despite all of the technology that keeps planes in the air, a very basic simple human error can bring a plane down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

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I'm reading House of Cards by Michael Dobbs.

 

It's about the most corrupt Chief Whip ever (his job is to prevent all the political sandal in Westmister hitting the press) and how he'll stop at nothing to get where he wants to be - including poisoning his PR guy by switching his coke for rat poison and throwing the journalist he's been secretly giving info to off the top of the Houses of Parliament.

 

It sounds really boring but it's quite good - it was made into a TV series at the start of the 90s and the guy playing Francis Urquhart did an amazing job!

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^ Another Hitch-Hiker's fan? Yay!

 

I went recently to HitchCon, in London, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first book. Eoin Colfer (author of And Another Thing, obviously) was there, so I got my copy signed by him. Have started reading it, enjoying it so far.

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  • 3 years later...

I thought we had a thread like this ... glad I searched.

 

Just finished Warm Bodies. I thought it was great. Can't wait for the movie. My daughter just started reading it and is so far enjoying it as well.

 

Next up is going to be Stephen King's 11/22/63. I've heard mixed things about it but B&N had it on sale a couple of weeks ago so I downloaded it to read on my Nook.

 

Not sure what's after that. Always willing to take suggestions.

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I just finished I Am America (and so Can You) by Stephen Colbert. I got a number of great laughs from it. If you're a fan of the Colbert Report, than you would more or less likely enjoy this book.

 

The sequel, America Again: Rebecoming the Greatness We Never Were'nt, is coming up on my list, but first my girlfriend wants me to try the Stephanie Plum series since I had been asking for recommendations on good comedies.

 

While I'm at it, anybody recommend any good comedies?

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I recently read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man for my AP English 12 class. Exceptional book, I really enjoyed it, and now that we're going through it chapter by chapter, I'm really able to appreciate the incredible technicality behind it. Symbols, allusions, parallels... this book is dense.

 

I'm also interested in reading A Game of Thrones. I picked it up from B&N over the Summer, got about 70 pages in, and have been too busy to pick it up again since. I'll probably restart it, and read it through. What I did read, I loved, though, it's a fantastically written book.

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I highly recommend Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's fascinating account of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, which provided us with a number things we take for granted today (for example, the Ferris wheel and AC power). He also tells the sick story of Herman Webster Mudgett (aka, H. H. Holmes), a serial killer who used the fair as a means to obtain victims and was even worse than Jack the Ripper. Mudgett's doings also inspired Robert Bloch's novel American Gothic.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Im finishing up Two Graves from Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Special Agent Pendergast is the best!!

 

I love those books! I'm currently on Fever Dream. Did you ever see the move based on The Relic. It was pretty terrible. I've always thought they should revisit this series with another movie and actually make it good.

 

I'm also reading "Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission." It's a pretty amazing what they went through.

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Im finishing up Two Graves from Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Special Agent Pendergast is the best!!

 

I love those books! I'm currently on Fever Dream. Did you ever see the move based on The Relic. It was pretty terrible. I've always thought they should revisit this series with another movie and actually make it good.

 

Yea, I watched the movie The Relic & walked away disappointed. I thought they could of made the movie better. You know how it goes, books are always better then the movie.

I need to read "Cold Vengence" from Douglas Preston & Lincoln Childs. Thats the only one i missed. lol! Gotta find it first tho. Two Graves is good too. Alot of my questions were answered.

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A couple weeks ago, I finished reading One For the Money by Janet Evanovich. My girlfriend recommended it to me because I've been looking for good comedies to read. To be honest, I thought that the plot was ok. It sort of played out like a slightly more sensual episode of CSI. But what really saved it was the strength of the lead character. The character, Stephanie Plum, has a very distinct, very odd, very different personality; and that was where most of the good comedy came from. The supporting characters also left a good impression on the book. Unfortunately, it's not really the kind of funny novel I'm really looking for; so I probably won't be getting as into the series as my girlfriend.

 

I am currently reading America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert. Parts of this book have me in tears from laughing so hard. So far, I think it's funnier than I Am America: And So Can You. If you love the Colbert Report, then you'll love this book.

 

As much as I'm liking America Again, I still want to pick up a good, funny novel/work of fiction. Anybody have any recommendations?

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  • 6 months later...
I am reading "New Earth" by Ben Bova which is a sequel to "Farside".

 

I just read that a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Ben Bova and Larry Niven are my two Sci-Fi authiors. RIght now I'm reading "A History of Women in America" for AP US History.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I recently finished book five of Dean Koontz's version of "Frankenstein"--"The Dead Town." Next up during the GRISLY MONTH OF HORROR will be "Earthbound" by Richard Matheson.

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