Read any good books lately?

[trapin]

Well....it's almost time for my yearly New Years resolution. This year it's going to be a quest to get my butt to bed early instead of staying up till midnight every day. I have gotten into a nasty habit over the past 2 years of staying up late to horse around on the internet or watch TV. Where I work, they allow you to start between 6am or 9am. If I start at 6am I can be out of work at 2:45pm and home by about 3:15pm. But because I've been staying up late, I've generally been getting to work about 8am-8:30am and having to fight the rush hour traffic on my way home. Frankly, I'm getting sick of it.

Problem is, the only thing that seems to get me to sleep at night is reading. Which brings me back to my initial question; read any good books lately? I'm not neccessarily talking about 'Car' books perse. Fiction will be fine as well as autobiography type books. I just finished reading 'In Harms Way' by Doug Stanton. It tells the story of the U.S.S Indianapolis......awesome book.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks and....sweet dreams.

[Salt Racer]

Richard Noble's "Thrust" - it's not just about jet cars, but includes most of his past projects (light aircraft, high-speed boat, etc) as well as his other adventures in his early years. Insights on project operation and technology are fascinating.

[Ghurn]

I usually go to bed and read anywhere from 2 minutes to an hour depending on how tired and how interesting the reading material is myself.

A couple that I've found to be good reading lately:
The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA by Antonio J. Mendez
For the first time, the CIA has authorized a top-level operative to tell all in an unforgettable behind-the-scenes look at espionage in action. an undisputed genius who could create an entirely new identity for anybody, anywhere, anytime, Antonio J. Mendez combined the cunning tricks of a magician with the analytical insight of a psychologist to help hundreds of people escape potentially fatal situations. From "Wild West" adventures in East Asia to Cold War intrigue in Moscow and helping six Americans escape revolutionary Tehran in 1980, Mendez was on the scene. Here he gives us a privileged look at what really happens in the field and behind closed doors at the highest levels of international espionage, some of it shocking, frightening, and wildly inventive--all of it unforgettable.

Skunk Works: My Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Leo Janos and Ben R. Rich
It's August 1979 on the scorching Nevada desert, where Marines armed with ground-to-air Hawk missiles are trying to score a "kill" against my new airplane, an experimental prototype code-named Have Blue.

The Gulf Between Us: A Story of Love and Survival in Desert Storm (Memories of War) by Cynthia B. Acree and Cliff Acree
When Col. Cliff Acree was shot down and captured on the second day of the Gulf War, Cynthia Acree began her own form of captivity at the center of an international media storm. This compelling memoir provides two very different perspectives of the war.

[trapin]

The one about the CIA sounds cool. I got a suggestion today from someone about The DaVinci Code. Anyone else read this? I heard it's really good.

[boodlefoof]

One of my all-time favorites is Shogun, by James Clavell. It is a historical fiction about an English/Danish (protestant) ship's pilot who finds himself shipwrecked in Japan. He is the first non-Spaniard/Portugese (Catholic) to reach Japan and the English and Spanish are at war.

I've been on a boat-book kick recently actually... after Shogun I read the entire Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy by Nordhoff and White (highly recommended). Now I'm into the second book of the 21 book series of Master and Commander by O'Brian. His writing is much more technical and a little harder to follow at times, but very interesting as well.

[trapin]

John, thanks for the recommendations. Well then, if you've been on a boat kick lately that 'In Harms Way' might be right up your alley.

[jeffandre]

I went back 25 years to when I used to stay up late and read thrillers, ended up reading 7 Stephen King books this year! School starts again so the fiction will have to take a back seat. I start a "Humanities: Ancient Civilizations to Medieval Times " course in a few days, the text is incredible!!! It is amazing that after thousands of years of 'societies' we still have not figured it out as a whole (some societies were close, but they were not been able to succeed due to the resistance of the wealthy and mighty).

Jeff

[Foudie]

It depends on what you like, but for me I like anything by Tom Clancy or John Grisham. Occasionally I will read a Mario Puzo as I love Mafia stories but it seems like all of his books have the same predictable story line with different characters and locations.

There is a new book coming out that sounds cool. It is about a kid who starts a business at 16 and is the youngest person to take a company public at age 21. The FBI discovers that the business is a front for the New York Mafia. I heard if you enjoyed the movie "Catch Me If You Can" you will like the book........Unfortunately I have no Idea who wrote it but I am sure it will be all over Amazon soon.

Brad

[zbugger]

Well gee... Aren't you guys all so smart. I'm still trying to finish the cat in the hat. That one's tough. Green eggs and ham had some nice rhymes in it. That's some good reading there.

[indyjps]

sunday driver by brock yates, im in the middle of it now, great look @ transam racing from first hand experience.

david baldacci has many good books, fast paced and easy to get into

ive gotten hooked on two different western series, trailsman and longarm, both series are just fun, trash, 180 pagers that are very fast reading. most are out of print but yuo can pick them up off ebay in large lots for about .25-$1 a book

hunter thompson (from fear and loathing in las vegas) books are twisted and sick, i guess thats why ive read them all

ebay is great for books, if you know what authors you like.