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**shecky** · 01-26-2009, 03:49 PM

I know we have a lot of readers here. I'd like to know what you're reading now, what you would suggest for future reads, what you would suggest avoiding, etc.

I don't mean technical manuals or brewing-related stuff. Novels, biographies, histories, etc.

I bring this up because I'm nearing the end of the best book I've ever read. It's called "The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane, the man behind "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone."

It is phenomenal. A bit hefty at 700+ pages but worth the time it takes. It has much of the moral ambiguity that punctuates Lehane's novels, but also goes far deeper into exploring families and the choices people make.

Beerthoven · 01-26-2009, 03:53 PM

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

EDIT for detail: This is by the author of The English Patient. Anil's Ghost is beautifully written but driven more by character development and emotional/mental exploration than by plot. If you're looking for a page-burner, then this not the book for you. If you want something more subtle, this is a great book. It takes place in Sri Lanka during the civil war. The main character is a forensic anthropologist documenting potential war crimes. Some of it is pretty bleak.

flyangler18 · 01-26-2009, 03:54 PM

I'm rereading LoTR for about the 20th time, and I find myself opening my copy of the Riverside Chaucer a lot these days.

I'm a dedicated Philip Roth fan and I just finished The Human Stain. Phenomenal.

TwoHeadsBrewing · 01-26-2009, 03:54 PM

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Evan! recommended another book by the same author, but I've picked this one up as well. It's at least as good, but covers the same subject matter. Great read, interesting philosophical take on humanity, totalitarian agriculture, and overpopulation.

Amazon.com: Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit: Daniel Quinn: Books

0202 · 01-26-2009, 03:57 PM

I'm reading "Freedom Evolves" by Daniel Dennett

It's about free will and it's evolution as a process and implications
for the future and ideas regarding determinism, etc.

**IrregularPulse** · 01-26-2009, 03:59 PM

I just finished reading Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. It's about the hollers in my the outskirts of my town. Collection of shorts that all kind of intermingle with plot lines and characters.

0202 · 01-26-2009, 04:01 PM

By the holler, you mean down yonder?

Madman · 01-26-2009, 04:02 PM

Ishmael was an awesome book!

I'm reading World War Z and Parenting Beyond Belief.

flyangler18 · 01-26-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyangler18

I'm rereading LoTR for about the 20th time, and I find myself opening my copy of the Riverside Chaucer a lot these days.

I'm a dedicated Philip Roth fan and I just finished The Human Stain. Phenomenal.

Oh, just remembered another one that I read recently that was quite good.

Amazon.com: Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea: Charles Seife: Books

Boerderij_Kabouter · 01-26-2009, 04:05 PM

I am reading a Biography of Ben Franklin. Best recent read was "Pillars of the Earth". That was an incredible book that I highly recommend.

EDIT for Detail: The bio is interesting but a standard bio... if you like them you would like this one, he was an interesting dude in a turbulent time.

Pillars is an incredible epic that spans 3 generations in Feudal England. It follows multiple story lines and characters that are all involved in each other's lives and the main glue that holds the story together is the building of the Cathedral at Kingsbridge. This book brought out true emotion and the character development is second to none IMHO. Epic in scale and detail it is a great read, and fast considering its impressive length.