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Subject: Books, books, books
Posted by: blue hen
- Leader [710321114] Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 11:45
Currently reading:
The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury
(Fast paced, interesting cross-millenium perspectives)
Recently enjoyed:
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
(MUCH better than the movie)
Also recently enjoyed:
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
(the Wired editor; aka "Why The Future of Business is selling less of more")
Previously enjoyed:
Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich
(The MIT Blackjack team goes to Vegas; reads quite quickly) |
| 1 | barilko6
ID: 3912867
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 11:59
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I really enjoyed DaVinci Code as well as Angels and Demons. Agreed, book is way better than the movie.
It took me awhile to get into it, but Deception Point by Dan Brown is good as well.
My new favorite author is Stephen Frey, he writes Financial Based Thrillers. Start with the Christian Gillette series, they go in order:
Chairman
Protege
Power Broker
Successor
Loved them all very much.
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| 2 | Seward Norse
ID: 297412913
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 12:11
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I'm 65 pages into The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. So far so good. Seems like that might be right up your alley bh.
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| 3 | C1-NRB
ID: 24954318
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 12:49
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I read Bringing Down the House a few years ago. I found it enjoyable, as well.
Along (somewhat) similar lines to your list, I'd add:
Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis
NPR commentator and Wall Street Journal sports columnist decides to become expert Scrabble player and becomes part of the story he's telling. I found it narratively much like Bringing Down the House.
The Cluetrain Manifesto and
Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst Practices by Christopher Locke
Two outside-the-box takes on business in the 21st century. Gonzo Marketing rambles but makes some interesting points, some of which I have experienced personally on these message boards.
The Tipping Point and
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Pop-psychology "fun" reads that make you think about your personal interactions.
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| 4 | Perm Dude
ID: 4413668
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 13:00
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As usual, a lot of fantasy fiction (currently going through Mercedes Lackey's huge list). But also reading Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope.
I have a really hard time reading non-fiction books. Always have. But I'm trying to get through it.
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| 5 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 13:09
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Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis
Great book. You also get the added benefit of improving your Scrabble game. The first game I played after reading the majority of the book I bingoed two of my first three moves. My competition, who beats me 85% of the time, then quit.
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| 6 | blue hen
Leader
ID: 710321114
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 13:23
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I read about half of Word Freak. It really started to drag on and it didn't really improve my game. I figured this would be a nice read, having a semi-professional Scrabble player in my family, but it really never caught on with me.
I did enjoy The Tipping Point, but Freakonomics was better. Much better, although I think you get full appreciation if you read both, and in that order.
Zen, you got any quick tips?
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| 7 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 18:17
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No, I'm not that good. The book made me reevaluate the bunch of letters on my rack. You really have to focus on bingos.
The most obvious tip, the way to go from lousy to mediocre is to memorize the two-letter word list. There are 63 of them and they will let you place long words alongside other long words for big points.
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| 8 | blue hen
Leader
ID: 710321114
Tue, Feb 06, 2007, 18:23
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Yeah, I've seen that list. Also, in an effort to make bingos, always be on the lookout for prefixes and suffixes. un- re- -ed and -ing are quite helpful. Unarmed has seven letters.
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| 9 | C1-NRB
ID: 24954318
Wed, Feb 07, 2007, 10:40
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I had no idea there were so many Scrabble players here. I played my father-in-law the other day and we bingoed three of the first four racks; him on first play of the game, me on my first two.
Word Freak made me more conscious of rack management and watching for opportunities to dump poor letters through "layering"- spelling words parallel to words on the board.
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| 10 | Mattinglyinthehall
ID: 49848118
Wed, Feb 07, 2007, 10:53
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C1-NRB
I liked tipping point. I remember there being one application where I thought Gladwell was really stretching it a bit but I can't recall what it was at the moment.
More recently I read Obama's Audacity of Hope and Andrew Sullivan's The Conservative Soul. I reccommend both.
I just started David Brock's The Republican Noise Machine, which is kind of dated (2004) but it does interest me and was a gift that I feel a little obligated to read.
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