Make Otis Your Monkey
So, we had a lot of change sitting around the house. And by a lot, I mean, it was spilling off our bathroom counter and various pieces of furniture around the house. When the wife took a tupperware container to a grocery store change-cashing kiosk, it ended up being $215 worth of change. Rather than pay the 10% juice to get the cash, Mrs. Otis took the Amazon gift card instead.
So, now Mt. Willis has a bunch of money to spend on Amazon. I need some new reading material, but I'm stuck. I've read just about everything on my list. I'm going to need at least three new books for the next few weeks. Since we have $215 to spend on Amazon, I need to get some books before the wife finds ten books on the ya-ya panties of the great southern BBQ pit...or something.
So, shoot me a comment and recommend something. Make me your reading monkey.
So, now Mt. Willis has a bunch of money to spend on Amazon. I need some new reading material, but I'm stuck. I've read just about everything on my list. I'm going to need at least three new books for the next few weeks. Since we have $215 to spend on Amazon, I need to get some books before the wife finds ten books on the ya-ya panties of the great southern BBQ pit...or something.
So, shoot me a comment and recommend something. Make me your reading monkey.
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17 Comments:
You may like American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I posed the same question to several people we know recently...it's my goal to read a book every week this summer.
I just finished Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson - excellent book. I haven't yet decided what my next one will be...my "reading list" looks like something from a graduate level English course. :)
I'm currently reading "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace. His mastery of ninety nine cent words is fucking disheartening. Enjoying the essays though.
What's wrong with ya-ya panties?
That's my vote.
Of course, that's.... only if you write about it.
Funniest thing I've read all day.
Thank you for that!
a) you know you can take your change to your Real Live Bank and they'll deposit it into your checking account for free, right? :)
b) Blink, by Malcom Gladwell if you haven't read it yet.
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The gospel according to biff, by Christopher Moore
Mountains beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder
Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
Wow, is that enough?
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
"The Girls" by Elaine Kagan,
"Remembrance of Things Past' by Marcel Proust,
"These Demented Lands" by Alan Warner.
I think a good summer read for you would be something by Kinky Friedman. I've recommended him to the good doctor as well.
If you haven't already read it, you gotta get "All Over But The Shoutin'" by Rick Bragg. It's as far as "chick lit" as you can get. Oh, and if you're willing to share that 215 w/Mrs. Otis, my recommendation for her is a juicy, poolside book, "The Washingtonienne", by former Senate aide turned blogger who lost her job when powerful people discovered said blog.
PS. Kinky for Texas Gov 2006!!!!
If you're looking for some fun reads, James Swain's "Tony Valentine" books are pretty good, and are built around gambling. I've written some reviews of some of them at the blog.
Miracle in the Andes.
It's the story of the rugby team whose plane went down in the Andes. The dude who hiked out after 63 days with no training (or gear) is the author, and an official badass. 72 days in total, eating the bodies of their friends and loved ones to survive. It's unreal. I don't believe I've ever read a book as fast as I did this one.
And if you like books about a lone badass taking matters into his own hands, sort of like The Bourne Identity and such, pick up any book by Lee Child. His Jack Reacher series is entertaining as hell.
I'd suggest:
Bloodsucking Fiends -- Christopher Moore
Crimes Against Logic -- Jamie Whyte
I'll second the Blink nomination
Pretty much anything by Bill Bryson (I just finished A Short History of Nearly Everthing - it's entertaining AND informative! Infotainment!) - A Walk in the Woods is hysterical, if you haven't already read it.
Lets see...In The Heart Of The Sea is a hell of a true story about a whaling ship sunk by a whale in the middle of nowhere and the journey to get home again.
Bill Bryson's A Short History of Everything is also fun and informative (Become the new Cliff Claben!)
If you can handle used, and want to get totally anti-chick, hunt down Eric Hammel's Guadalcanal trilogy (Decision At Sea, Starvation Island and The Carrier Battles)
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John Barry was hard to put down.
A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Iriving. It's a heavy, dramatic read. Hell of a book.
Just don't waste it on poker books.
I don't know if you like mixed-genre stuff, but Gene Wolfe is an incredible author, you can't really go wrong with anything by him.
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