Conquer Club

No great rules here- just pick a book that you've read and would recommend to other people, and say why.

Edit: Standard Desert Island rules have had to be enforced. Bible and Shakespeare are exempted.

Haynes Dodge & Plymouth Vans 1971-2003 (Haynes Repair Manuals) 1st Edition

If you have a Dodge van (up to 2003 only) this is an absolutely invaluable guide to keeping it in good working order. I originally bought this because my van was running hot and making a lot of noise. I'd been driving it slow on the street hoping AoG might get in it but he never would. A long weekend with this Haynes guide and my van was running more smoothly and wasn't smoking or making the noise it did previously. Let's see if AoG can resist the open sliding door now. A+. (H/T to xeno for giving me the original recommendation.)

what was that book by a russian with a style similar to gabriel garcia marquez Symmetry?

nietzsche wrote:what was that book by a russian with a style similar to gabriel garcia marquez Symmetry?

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov. Definitely worth a read if you get the chance.

three day road. forget who the author is - some Canadian dude. real good book.

nietzsche wrote:what was that book by a russian with a style similar to gabriel garcia marquez Symmetry?

I tried reading Cien Años de Soledad, but i think i bit off more than i could chew. It was too much work to translate every page. It gave me an appreciation for people who maybe don't read so well, because it was a chore every time i opened the book. Which is a shame, because it seems like a good book. I need something in simpler Spanish.

-TG

TA1LGUNN3R wrote:

nietzsche wrote:what was that book by a russian with a style similar to gabriel garcia marquez Symmetry?

I tried reading Cien Años de Soledad, but i think i bit off more than i could chew. It was too much work to translate every page. It gave me an appreciation for people who maybe don't read so well, because it was a chore every time i opened the book. Which is a shame, because it seems like a good book. I need something in simpler Spanish.

-TG

cien anos de soledad is an excellent book. i had read one and a half book by GGM in school but didn't appreciate it. then when i started reading as an adult i avoided GGM because all of the praise to him, somehow that deterred me. i was also deterred from reading in spanish, i think it has to do with the fact that when i started reading in english (as an adult) is when i really appreciated books.

but recently i picked up cien anios de soledad and i was astonished. i haven't read a better fiction book than cien anios de soledad. if you can't read it in spanish you shouldntry it in english, something tells me it can be well translated.

"shouldntry"

Hm.

-TG

nietzsche wrote:

TA1LGUNN3R wrote:

nietzsche wrote:what was that book by a russian with a style similar to gabriel garcia marquez Symmetry?

I tried reading Cien Años de Soledad, but i think i bit off more than i could chew. It was too much work to translate every page. It gave me an appreciation for people who maybe don't read so well, because it was a chore every time i opened the book. Which is a shame, because it seems like a good book. I need something in simpler Spanish.

-TG

cien anos de soledad is an excellent book. i had read one and a half book by GGM in school but didn't appreciate it. then when i started reading as an adult i avoided GGM because all of the praise to him, somehow that deterred me. i was also deterred from reading in spanish, i think it has to do with the fact that when i started reading in english (as an adult) is when i really appreciated books.

but recently i picked up cien anios de soledad and i was astonished. i haven't read a better fiction book than cien anios de soledad. if you can't read it in spanish you shouldntry it in english, something tells me it can be well translated.

It's still a great book in English.

I recommended "The Master and Margarita" before, but if you guys are really interested, Midnight's Childen by Salman Rushdie is a masterpiece of that kind of lit in English.

Probably one of the top ten best books I've ever read, tbh.

Psalms. PM me if you want a copy.

DoomYoshi wrote:Psalms. PM me if you want a copy.

I'm adding a new injunction: Standard Dessert Island Rules- Everyone has a Bible and a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Symmetry wrote:

DoomYoshi wrote:Psalms. PM me if you want a copy.

I'm adding a new injunction: Standard Dessert Island Rules- Everyone has a Bible and a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

thank to f*ck christ.

"my dear uncle oswald" - roald dahl
comments : short, sweet & funny as f*ck. an ideal read for a day @ the beach...
*disclaimer : NOT a children's book*

TA1LGUNN3R wrote:"shouldntry"

Hm.

-TG

was/still am on the phone. you should try it.

Symmetry wrote:

DoomYoshi wrote:Psalms. PM me if you want a copy.

I'm adding a new injunction: Standard Dessert Island Rules- Everyone has a Bible and a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

It's as if you knew what my second choice would be - scary!

Which complete works are we using here - the Riverside, Arden (going on its 4th edition even though the 3rd edition is incomplete), Oxford (or even better the Norton) or Cambridge? (f*ck Yale)

I really enjoyed The Stand by Stephen King. Long book but great read.

show

I enjoyed Stephen King's non-horror books. The Dark Tower series, The Stand, The Dome - all good ones.

Some of my other favorites (all fantasy and sci-fi ish):

Mark Lawrence - Broken Empire series, The Red Queen's War series (a good combo of fantasy and sci fi)
Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamorra (and others in the series)
Dan Simmons - Illium / Olympos (two fantastic books that are very sci fi and fantasyish with crazy themes)
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law trilogy, Best Served Cold, The Heroes, Red Country (like GRRM but better; basically it's an analog to The Lord of the Rings, then Count of Monte Cristo, then Gettysburg, then Spaghetti Westerns)
Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen series (Possibly my favorite series of all time; very dense)
Gene Wolfe - The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Licthor

thegreekdog wrote:I enjoyed Stephen King's non-horror books. The Dark Tower series, The Stand, The Dome - all good ones.

I think The Stand has a bit of "horror" in it. I think it would've been better without it.

One that I try to recommend to people, usually unsuccesfully, is The Devil and the White City, by Erik Larson. It's a brilliant book about the Chicago World Fair and the serial killer, HH Holmes who operated in Chicago at the same time. It's non-fiction, but it's absolutely fascinating as a slice of history.

I recently found out that it's being made into a movie, oddly enough.

Isaac's Storm, by the same writer, is also great.

Symmetry wrote:One that I try to recommend to people, usually unsuccesfully, is The Devil and the White City, by Erik Larson. It's a brilliant book about the Chicago World Fair and the serial killer, HH Holmes who operated in Chicago at the same time. It's non-fiction, but it's absolutely fascinating as a slice of history.

I recently found out that it's being made into a movie, oddly enough.

Isaac's Storm, by the same writer, is also great.

Yes, I read and enjoyed that one.

As a Sherlock fan, I hugely reccomend the series of books by Laurie King starting with "The Bee-Keeper's Apprentice".

Also, " The Dragon's Run" by Gareth john Jones...

Manly P Hall. A book called The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

The Secret Teachings of All Ages is perhaps the most comprehensive and complete esoteric encyclopedia ever written. The sheer scope and ambition of this book are stunning. In this book Manly P. Hall has successfully distilled the essence of more arcane subjects than one would think possible. He covers Rosicrucianism and other secret societies, alchemy, cryptology, Kabbalah, Tarot, pyramids, the Zodiac, Pythagorean philosophy, Masonry, gemology, Nicholas Flammel, the identity of William Shakespeare, The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, The Qabbalah, The Hiramic Legend, The Tree of the Sephiroth, Mystic Christianity, and there are more than 200 illustrations included here. This is essential reading for anyone wishing to explore esoteric knowledge.


Albert Mackey M.D. A book called The Symbolism of Freemasonry.

Written by an expert on "the craft," this classic of Masonic lore traces the society's origins from biblical times to its practice among America's founding fathers. It discusses the significance of the Philosopher's Stone, Euclidean geometry, and a variety of forms of architecture, offering a revealing look at Freemasonry's philosophical, symbolic, and ritual traditions.

Let's face it, if your parents name you Manly Palmer Hall, you're going to end up slightly inclined to the unusual.

recently read a series called "The Three Body Problem" (Proper Series title is something like "Remembering Earth's Past" or some shit like that)

Englis translation of a Chinese guy's novels. Good stuff. Named for a classic orbital mechanics problem on chaotic systems. 10/10 would recommend.

Mr_Adams wrote:recently read a series called "The Three Body Problem" (Proper Series title is something like "Remembering Earth's Past" or some shit like that)

Englis translation of a Chinese guy's novels. Good stuff. Named for a classic orbital mechanics problem on chaotic systems. 10/10 would recommend.

I'm sure I've seen that in my local library- the title intrigued. Will have to pick it up, though I've gone off sci-fi a bit recently. Is it hard sci-fi? I liked the Martian, but found Red Mars a bit of a slog. So I'm kind of open to the idea.

Have you read Seven Eves, by Neil Stephenson? I recommend it, though the ending is a bit disappointing, but that's kind of been my experience with most of the stuff he's written. Love the journey, but meh on the destination.

Steven Brust drageaeran chronicles
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