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Post by clifflee4mvp™ on Apr 27, 2009 14:23:53 GMT -6
4 months in and we don't have a thread for books. I don't read many books, but I have a few modern day heroes and one is Ted Nugent. Not only is he a clean sober rock and roll guitarist but one of the most influential hunters on the planet. Also upon being called a racist (couldn't be that I'm an avid hunter and Christian opposed to most everything the man says) for refusing to vote for Obama or stand for anything he has put forth so far, i urge everyone who voted for him to read this book or at least the first couple of chapters. In this book, you will find that race had nothing to do with me hating the man and his politics. I wouldn't have voted for Hillary or Kerry or most any other democrat and in this book, you will see why. so here it is "Ted, White, and Blue" The Nugent Manifesto
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Post by Charlie on Apr 27, 2009 14:50:35 GMT -6
I haven't read much this year so far but will add to this thread soon! Thanks for starting it.
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Post by DiamondBabe on Apr 29, 2009 16:05:53 GMT -6
I just finished "The Alchemist" by Brazilian Paulo Coelho. Santiago is a young shepherd who was dreaming of a merchant's daughter in the next town (who he had met on the same journey last year), when he met an old man who called himself a king. This king spoke to Santiago about treasures and finding his Personal Legend. He said most people don't find their Personal Legends because they are afraid that something wonderful might happen. He told Santiago that he would find his treasure if he traveled to Egypt, but Santiago resisted because he was a successful shepherd who wanted to see the merchant's daughter in the next town. When the old king showed Santiago his breast of jewels and valuables, Santiago finally realized that the old man actually was a king.
After pondering everything the king said, and also considering what a gypsy had recently told him about his recurring dream, Santiago decided to search for his Personal Legend. Along the way he meets a seller of crystal, and Englishman, and an Alchemist. All of these people guide his journey to Egypt. They help him to understand the language of the world.
Since the journey is the story, I won't say anything else about the plot. The story is clearly allegorical, and I would say almost even mythological. It is very provocative, and some elements really make you ask yourself, "Wait a minute... do I agree with that?" Here are my favorite parts, whether or not I agree with them:
The King of Salem explains what a Personal Legend is to Santiago: "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is... There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."
And, the old king explains the world's greatest lie: "The world’s greatest lie... is that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.”
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Post by clifflee4mvp™ on Jun 25, 2009 14:19:35 GMT -6
after reading the first book by Ted, I went and found this one that he wrote in 2000. Another great book although he repeats himself a lot. Said a lot of the same things in his new book.
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Post by Charlie on Jun 25, 2009 14:25:01 GMT -6
I forgot to post about it but I finished Middlesex a few weeks ago. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesex_(novel)Pulitzer Prizer winner and an Oprah Book Club selection. It's the story of a hermaphrodite, who narrates the whole story, but it begins with his grandparents in Greece. His grandparents are brother and sister and both carry a recessive gene which eventually will cause him to be born a hermaphrodite. His parents are cousins. It's a great story although the point of view gets a little weird at times. Very fast paced and transitions easily from his grandparents life in Greece, them fleeing to America, becoming assimilated to American society (not especially successfully), to his parents growing up and falling in love, to his own childhood and then adulthood. It feels like a true story. Very well-written. It's not just about being a hermaphrodite, it's also about all the general topics of great books: love, hate, etc.
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Post by Charlie on Jul 11, 2009 13:46:29 GMT -6
Just finished Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC by Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim. It's okay, very accessible reading. If you're a MMA fan you know 70-80% of what's in the book. He parallels Pat Miletich's career with the rise of the UFC (hard, humble beginnings to success, etc). His first few pages are a whiny apology for liking MMA that I get tired of reading for traditional media people. The most annoying things about the book are inaccuracies. For example, he describes Ben Rothwell as being heavily-tattooed, when Ben has no tattoos at all. In MMA you are more noteworthy for NOT having a lot of tats so that's a weird mistake to make. And then he describes a UFC event taking place in Columbus Ohio in the home of their professional hockey team, the Yellow Jackets. WTF? This guy writes for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. I know that Columbus' NHL team is the Blue Jackets and I don't even follow hockey.
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Post by kickinfamily on Jul 13, 2009 14:38:20 GMT -6
Charlie, didn't realize you were an MMA fan
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Post by Charlie on Jul 13, 2009 14:49:41 GMT -6
Charlie, didn't realize you were an MMA fan yes, yes I am.
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Post by kickinfamily on Jul 13, 2009 15:09:53 GMT -6
Outstanding... It's even more fun to do
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Post by Charlie on Jul 21, 2009 9:54:03 GMT -6
Finished The Human Disguise last night. Pretty good story, good enough so that I read it all the way through. But the writing is mediocre. Classic case of telling and not showing so that character development is non-existent and you don't care about the characters when they get blasted away. The ending happens too quickly, everything gets wrapped up in the last 10 pages. He does this to set up a sequel that I don't care to read, but the consequence is that you don't learn anything about the characters after the dramatic death scene. I wouldn't recommend it, really.
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Post by Charlie on Sept 1, 2009 12:38:45 GMT -6
Last night I finished God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, by Christopher Hitchens. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Is_Not_GreatReally interesting book. Takes aim at all religions but focuses more on the monotheisms. It's a good read, and Hitchens does a great job of weaving philosophy, logic, and history with personal stories.
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Post by The Kid on Sept 2, 2009 19:51:46 GMT -6
I'm currently reading New Moon. The 2nd book, of the 4 book "Twilight Saga". I can't wait til the movie comes out on November 20th.
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Post by kickinfamily on Sept 3, 2009 11:05:09 GMT -6
Gee.. "New Moon"... What a surprise I just read Empress Orchid and The Last Empress by Anchee Min... Both tell a fictional story of the last Dowager Empress of China, from her point of view... Definitely a good read, especially since I love Asian history so much...
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Post by kickinfamily on Sept 3, 2009 15:13:08 GMT -6
What does it say about our world that the thread for movies is four times as long as the thread for books?
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Post by Charlie on Sept 3, 2009 16:37:21 GMT -6
Well I don't know about everybody else but it takes me at least a week to read a book. Plus I have partially read other books I haven't posted about. I just don't post unless I read the whole thing.
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