I mostly like reading mystrey fiction. One really good series is the alphabet mystries by Sue Grafton. It is not an extremly hard read but really engrosing and entertaing.



I mostly like reading mystrey fiction. One really good series is the alphabet mystries by Sue Grafton. It is not an extremly hard read but really engrosing and entertaing.
Because that's exactly what "Fountainhead" is.Originally Posted by scarlett_vancouver link=board=1;threadid=8021;start=msg93311#msg93311 date=1081334221
"Fountainhead" was Ayn Rand's first breakaway best-seller. It is the one that put her on the map. It is the one that made her an international celebrity and rich. However, as for explaining her philosophy (yup, it's called objectivism ... "A is A"), it left a lot of questions unanswered. Ms. Rand wrote "Atlas Shrugged" to answer those questions. She even says so in the introduction to "Atlas Shrugged" as the reason why she wrote the story.
Does this take away from "Fountainhead"? Personally, I don't think so nor do I think it shortchanges the reader. They're two different types of stories. "Fountainhead" is the fictionalized autobiography of Frank Lloyd Wright, America's most famous, honored, unique, and eccentric architect. Ms. Rand publicly stated that the main character was inspired by Mr. Wright and many of the main character's life events were actually Mr. Wright's. The story is about individualism and the rough road that truly is. Man vs. oppressive society and what would happen if that man wouldn't bow to that society. I think a lot of exotic dancers might find a lot they can identify with in the main character on this point.
"Atlas Shrugged" takes a different approach. The opposite in a way. "Fountainhead" is about society trying to break the man. "Atlas Shrugged" is about the man trying to break society. I won't say anymore so not to take away from either story.
Now if you believe that man is essentially evil and society is what makes him good, I wouldn't recommend either of these books. If you believe the opposite, you will find these two books life-affirming messages that will move you greatly. "Atlas Shrugged" was the last straw that made me a libertarian and a non-believer. To date, it is the most influential book that I've ever read.
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Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" A great read, very deep, not for everyone
Sun Tzu "The Art of War" 2000 years old and most principles still hold true today, in business and war
Steven Presswood "Gates of Fire" Epic Battle of Thermopylae, great read for any war buff
Dale Carnegie "How To Win Friends And Influence People" Classic book on relationship selling, great for anyone starting in sales and learning to read customers




books i've read and enjoyed recently
Comedy:
Dave Barry Does Japan, by Dave Barry (i freakin love him. this is my favorite non-novel by him). Basically he just talks about a trip he took to japan, but its really funny.
my favorite book of his, is his first novel "Big Trouble" which was also made into a movie. i dont even know how to explain it.
Non-fiction:
Read two books by Michael Lewis recently.
"Moneyball" is about using different dynamics to evaluate tallent/worth of tallent in baseball. follows the oakland A's and GM billy beane through several years to figure out how the A's with one of the lowest payrolls in MLB, are also one of the more competative teams. Read this in one day.
and ofcorse, "Liars Poker" which is all about Michael Smith's first career as a bond trader for Salomon Bros. goes fairly indepth about the corruption and wrong doings of brokerage houses. was written 15 years ago, yet people are still suprised to find that their broker screws them today. if you ever thought about investing money, its a good book to read. plus im a tool and i really really like fixed income and derivatives(not much derivative talk). so i was quite interested.
Another great nonfiction book would be "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich(or something like that, dont have it anymore, leant it to my ex....oh well.) its the story of a pack of MIT students (and a prof who is the ring leader) who count cards at vegas casinos and win big....although, at a price.
i love mysteries, especially Agatha Christie books.
wow someone else who reads the wheel of time series!
i have to check this one out... i loved Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale...Originally Posted by Veronika link=board=1;threadid=8021;start=msg93196#msg93196 date=1081311602
another good one i just finished is The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevelier (author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring... also very good) if you like historical fiction... it's really awesome...
and for some lighthearted fun reading i also finished a compilation of short stories called Virgin Territory:Stories from the road to womanhood... which is awesome... it has all different types of short personal stories from various women and their "firsts" (first period, first kiss, first lie, first dirty book, first high heels, etc.) i highly recommend that one
happy reading.. hope that helps
xoxo
heidi
....i did not design this game...i did not name the stakes...i just happen to like apples...and i am not afraid of snakes... -Ani Difranco
A dancer reading John Barth. *swoon*Originally Posted by scarlett_vancouver link=board=1;threadid=8021;start=msg93311#msg93311 date=1081334221
Pardon my reaction, but it's pretty rare to find anybody reading Giles Goat Boy. Period.
-afx
All quite impressive. The Chabon book is really good as is Wonder Boys; if you know comic book history and enjoy comics, it's extremely cool.Originally Posted by miss george link=board=1;threadid=8021;start=msg92907#msg92907 date=1081278824
I'm re-reading Cryptonomicon. Other Stephenson books are worth the read as well.
I've just re-read Lolita after being fascinated with the Kubrick movie. Dostoyevsky - I'm sampling The Idiot presently.
I need to check out the Mishima stuff. A wonderful movie is Mishima by Paul Schraeder, and it has an equally wonderful Philip Glass score.
-afx

Stephen Donaldson's Gap series.Anything by Terry Pratchett.Robert Rankin.Irvine Welsh.
errr.Other stuff too
Tell a man that there are countless billions of stars in the universe and he'll believe you.Tell him that some paint is wet and he'll touch it to make sure.
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