What Are You Reading?

[DudeAsInCool]

Certainly sounds like an amusing book El Duderino. I'll try and look into it.

It is. And then you must read his other book, The Master & Margarita, the inspiration for the Stone's Sympathy for the Devil, and my favorite book of all time, in which the Devil comes to Moscow and uproots the entire society...

[Malicious Intent]

The devil destroying society and a guy getting canine testicles (a whole new meaning to "I'm the dog's bollocks!") both sound very different. Or is one more/less amusing than it sounds?

[DudeAsInCool]

The devil destroying society and a guy getting canine testicles (a whole new meaning to "I'm the dog's bollocks!") both sound very different. Or is one more/less amusing than it sounds?

Well, the Master is an Epic, and considered by some to be the best book out of Russian (1936) in the 20th century--it is highly amusing, quite fantastic (one of the devil's accomplices is a Black Cat who carries a browning automatic and walks upright :)), and it covers many themes, including a parallel story in which Pontius Pilate must decide whether he should spare Christ of not. The author dictated the former when he was blind, after losing the first version in a fire, and somehow Stalin allowed it to exist, even though it is a scathing satire on Russia's society. The Heart of a Dog is a much shorter read. Bulgakov was a doctor by training, and hence he was poking fun at the pseudo improvements in medicine (soviet style) while taking stabs at the Russian Medical and political stratas of society.

[bmc]

i just finished the da vinci code it was a great book

[DudeAsInCool]

i just finished the da vinci code it was a great book

Im told the Davinci Code has similar themes to Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a non-fction (?) book which looks at secret societies and religion going back to the Crusades. Is this what this book is about?

[Malicious Intent]

I've finished the curious dead dog. It just comes to a suddern end. I wouldn't really recommend it anymore. Although with all the prizes it has won, perhaps I'm looking at it the wrong way. Later in the book I found that it is set in the town that I'm currently living in.

Anyway dude, I will try and get my grubby hands on the books you mentioned.

And reg - if you are around - that Grisham book you mentioned is sitting next to the TV. Is it worth me picking up?

[bmc]

Im told the Davinci Code has similar themes to Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a non-fction (?) book which looks at secret societies and religion going back to the Crusades. Is this what this book is about?

yes it is similar but it has a story line where the last keeper of an ancient secret (i dont want to give too much away do i?) gets shot and is dying so he leaves clues all over the lourve (sp) so someone can find out the secret so it isnt lost fo ever and it turns out to be a hunt for the holy grail mary magdelelne

[DudeAsInCool]

Powell's Reading Essay Contest - Win a Thousand Dollars in Free Books

To celebrate ten years of online bookselling, we are asking our readers: What was your most memorable reading experience of the last ten years? Submit an essay and Powells.com will donate one dollar to Reading Is Fundamental, the nation's largest nonprofit children's literacy organization.

The author of the best essay will win$1,000 in books

Ten runners-up will receive $100 in books

Submit your essay by July 31, 2004, and Powells.com will include a free mousepad in your first order placed before January 1, 2005

ABOUT THE ESSAY

Some books leave us loathing; others make us fall in love, or fall asleep, or stay awake for nights on end until the last page is turned. Whatever your experience, we want to hear what moved you, and why you still remember it. It doesn’t matter whether this reading material was written within the last decade, as long as you read it in or after 1994. We simply want to know: What was your most memorable reading experience of the last ten years?

THE FINE PRINT

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Entries must be between 300 and 750 words in length

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Responses may address any book or group of books, or individual essays or stories published within a larger volume, regardless of publication date, form, or subject matter.

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Submissions will be judged by Powells.com staff based on factors including style, originality, force of argument, and a display of love for books and reading

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Powell's staff will select twenty-five finalists from among the qualifying entries

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All finalists will be posted on Powells.com. Winners will be selected by popular vote of online readers.

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One Grand Prize winner will earn $1000 worth of books from Powells.com

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Ten runners-up will earn $100 worth of books each.

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Essays will be accepted until August 31, 2004, 11:59 p.m. PST

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Submit your essay by July 31, 2004, and Powells.com will include a free mousepad in your first order placed before January 1, 2005

For the official essay contest rules, click here:

http://www.powells.com/10years_essay.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Here are Powell's best selling novels of the summer:

1. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

2. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

3. Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken

4. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

5. Deception Point by Dan Brown

6. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeby Mark Haddon

8. Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush by Jim Hightower

9. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

10. The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy

11. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

12. Pipsqueak by Brian Wiprud

13. Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton

14. A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George

15. Bleachers by John Grisham

16. The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum

17. Dune: The Machine Crusade by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

18. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

19. Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore

20. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

[deb]

Grisham has some good stuff. Did you enjoy the end Reg?

i'm so sorry, Malicious Intent ... me totally missed your response / question!!! ...

i do kinda wish a few more loose ends could have been tied up in the ending of the story, but i guess that's what my imagination is for, right?? :P ... on the whole, though, i really did like the whole book ... thanks for asking!! : )

after i finished with "a painted house," which is not your typical legal-type grisham novel, i read another of his books called "bleachers" ... which i also liked, although not as much ...

[Malicious Intent]

I see bleachers is in the list of best sellers posted by Dude.

To be honest with you, I couldn't get along with A Painted House. People who argue with me say that it is meant to be relaxing and is good because it is so well written. But to me it was just plain boring. About 150 pages in, I gave up. Nothing much happened in their lives, which were being recalled in real time.

That makes it sound like a realy bad book (IMO it is!), but I don't want to put anyone off, as so many people have enjoyed it.

[Warflower]

The Guardian

by Nicholas Sparks... :good job:

[deb]

.... A Painted House .... to me it was just plain boring.

... well, if you knew me, a real scaredy-cat, baby, baby who cries, sobs at everything, sad, scarey, happy, and everything else in-between ... hehe ... that's 'bout all me can handle ...

but at the moment, i am reading steven king, skeleton crew (a collection of short stories) ... and spending more time with my hands over my eyes!!! ... j/k ... :rolleyes: ... quite different than "a painted house" ...

[Malicious Intent]

Yep, King can be proper scary whn he wants to be. I started one of his books, but then the it was time go clear my backlog of homework, so I didn't get very far. I think the book is still on the dining room table in my old student digs!

The film Secret Window is good, and books are usually better than the film - except for time and effort! Perhaps it is a book I'll try - is it Secret Window, Secret Garden?

[DudeAsInCool]

Ok, with summer winding up, what did we miss from your reading list? I'm reading three screenplays - two by first time writers who asked me for my input, and another by a friend who wants some comments. Hollywood is the only town where people ask for professional guidance for free! I cant wait for a dentist, doctor or atty to ask me for several hours of my time to read their screenplay---then I will finally get to charge them the rates they charge me

[Malicious Intent]

It is funny that the second university finishes, I no longer have loads of time on my hands!

I have also be reading untold amounts of boring technical crap about MUTE and ANts preparing for an article that is going badly.

So nothing exciting here. It hasn't been sit outside and read weather this year.

[CTC Command]

Lets see...My girlfriend just gave me a bunch of Dan Brown after I had the Illuminatus! trilogy sent to her house. I am reading Angels and Demons here at home and Digital Fortress at work.

And I am lookng forward to several other titles which are en route...Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving by Charles Muir, Anne Hooper's Kama Sutra by (obviously) Anne Hooper, and a couple of other titles which I need not spell out methinks, nudge nudge. :taskmaster:

She may regret having given me the Sleeping Beauty trilogy when we met, Dude! (or maybe not... :yup: )

Edited September 4, 2004 by CTC Command

[DudeAsInCool]

She may regret having given me the Sleeping Beauty trilogy when we met, Dude! (or maybe not... :yup: )

We need more liberated women like her! Does she have a like-minded sister

[Kooperman]

All The President's Men by Bob Woodward. Purchased the first edition hardcover (with dust jacket) from Half.Com for 1 dollar, plus shipping.

[Tiremonkey2000]

Im reading Margaret weis & Tracy Hickman

The Death Gate Cycle

Sci-Fi :D

[Carrie]

Pete Shotton and Nicholas shaffner- John Lennon In my Life

[Wolfie]

I am reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. He also another book named Snow Crash which I would recommend.

[method77]

I'm reading some new Asterix and Obelix they have just released. Americans might not know about these 2 superheroes

[Wolfie]

I'm reading some new Asterix and Obelix they have just released. Americans might not know about these 2 superheroes

I had thier comic books when I was kid. I loved watching the Roman legions getting thier asses kicked.

[deb]

the da vinci code, currently ...

:yup: