LopRacer wrote: Yeah I don't plan on getting any of the new "Tom Clancy" stuff written by yadda yadda. The last time I read one like that is was his old Op Center books he co-wrote. Not the same thing at all.
the books based off his games … OpCenter … etc … are just so-so … without his name attached (and he did sorta start them) they would never have attracted my attention … I pretty much ignore them now
Sex Lives Of Cannibals - This is a really funny book about a slacker who follows his wife to the South Pacific. Funny as hell but only because he's such a hopeless dope at doing just about anything. It's written like a Mark Twain travelogue with lots of humor and some insightful commentary thrown in.
Boomsday - Written by the guy who wrote "Thank You For Smoking". Another funny novel with a political bend. Which is no surprise considering this is William F. Buckley's son who wrote it. Definitely not what you'd expect.
A Short History Of Nearly Everything - This book looks much more serious than it really is. Bryson describes one guy as "in every picture it looks as if magnets are placed out of the frame and are pulling very strongly on his hair." This one is really funny but ALSO will learn you a few things while you're reading it. He does a great job of making science interesting and funny all at the same time.
Anything by John Scalzi. - This guy has rocked my world in the last two years. I would start with "Old Man's War" assuming they aren't militaried out from a reading stand point. It's a trilogy so in order it is Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, and then The Last Colony.
Joe Haldeman is good too. - He writes military sci-fi as well, but different. Joe Haldeman grew up reading Heinlein and his ultra-patriotic, flag waving brand of military sci-fi. Then Joe went to Vietnam. His books are seen as a response to Heinlein. He came back and wrote The Forever War, Forever Peace, and Forever Free. He wrote a lot of other stuff but those are the good ones.
Paolo Bacigalupi is very innovative and not military spec sci-fi at all. - I read two of his books. The Wind-up Girl and Ship Breaker. Good stuff. I liked Ship Breaker the best. Windup Girl could be hard to decipher at times and had too many characters to easily track. If you like complex sci-fi then you'd like Windup Girl better.
I like Apocalypse fiction. Octavia Butler writes some of the best. - This chick is anomaly. She was black and a woman, writing sci-fi. Unheard of so her perspective is completely different than your usual macho white guys. Again, a trilogy so start with Parable Of The Sower. That's the beginning. Think of the U.S. as a third world country. That's the setting. People have made their neighborhoods into fortresses and still aren't safe.
Xceler8x, why do you read such depressing, violent E36 M3? Because I can then read Christopher Moore and laugh my ass off. - Chris Moore is hilarious. Read Lamb first. The story of Christ's lost 33 years. Christ learns Kung Fu. He studies under a Yogi. He learns from his best friend, Biff, what sex is like with Mary Magdalene. He also wrote some vampire books which completely take the pretension out of the genre. The first vampire book is Bite Me: A Love Story. If you have ever read Shakespeare, Fool by Moore is incredible. I neglected my wife on our honeymoon while reading this one. If you call "neglecting" making the waiter bring our drinks to the pool side instead of getting them myself.
Just wanted to thank everyone that's added books to this list. I'm going to try to read 12 new books this year and have gotten some fantastic suggestions from this post alone.
-Rob
Dude, if you have to get up even remotely early for work don't get "The Martian".
Three sittings and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. Can't seem to put it down and now I'm running on very little sleep. Yesterday my wife gave up on me ever turning off the lamp on the night stand and chose to sleep in the living room instead. (seriously)
Good times 
The Driver by Alex Roy.
It's about his (Alex Roy) quest to set a new world record of crossing the US from New York to LA. Very good read and great story. I was amazed at the serious $ dropped to compete in Gumball Rallies and attempt the cross country trip.
Now I need to find the corresponding documentary 32 hours, 7 minutes about the 1983 cross country record set.
I used to read a lot, then let life get in the way. Liked books so much I worked in a library during high school.
I'm just a few chapters into Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots by Sam Moses, about his forays into auto racing, and I'm liking it a lot so far. Even barely being into it, a lot of what he's written hits home, and I definitely fall into the "Idiot" category with regard to my racing, since I am not fast, and am by no means rich.
Naked in DaNang Great book chronicling the story of a FAC in Vietnam.
This is a bit of a story, I was staying at a very cool hotel in Stewart B.C. called the Ripley Creek Inn (check it out very cool place in the middle of nowhare) any way while wandering around and checking things out I find a little library and there is a copy of James Dickey's Deliverance. I have watched the movie a bunch of times but it never ocoured to me the was a novel till I saw it there. So far a great book
"Blood Memory", Greg Iles. Iles can be a bit iffy for me but this 2005 book is very good.
"Transcending the Levels Of Consciousness", David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.. Wow, this trip could envelope a lifetime.
The Man Who Sold The Moon, Robert A. Heinlein
Just finished reading "The Depths of Courage: American submariners at war with Japan, 1941-1945"
I knew something about each of the submariners who were awarded the Medal of Honor, but learned something new about some of them from reading this book.
"The Girls of Atomic City" It's about the women who staffed the Manhattan Project. I've been fascinated by how this happened and how much of it was able to remain a secret.
The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe. Canadian writer, won some awards 15 years ago. Kind of an end of the old west story.
I just finished Asimov's Foundation trilogy.
"...In all the known history of mankind, advances have been made primarily in physical technology; in the capacity of handling the inanimate world about man. Control of self and society has been left to chance or to the vague gropings of intuitive ethical systems based on inspiration and emotion. As a result, no culture of greater stability than about fifty-five percent has ever existed, and these only as the result of great human misery."
Cone_Junkie wrote: The Driver by Alex Roy. It's about his (Alex Roy) quest to set a new world record of crossing the US from New York to LA. Very good read and great story. I was amazed at the serious $ dropped to compete in Gumball Rallies and attempt the cross country trip. Now I need to find the corresponding documentary 32 hours, 7 minutes about the 1983 cross country record set.
I have the book but haven't read it yet. Apparently there is an issue between Alex and one of the producers and its tied up the film in a legal battle
http://jalopnik.com/5970544/why-you-still-havent-seen-the-greatest-modern-car-documentary
In reply to Wally:
Read that one. Yeah it is fascinating that they kept the project secret as well as they did. I've visited Oak Ridge but not any of the other Manhatten project sites.
Nothing at this point, I just finished A Dance with Dragons so now I wait. If I can find my nook I can go back to Les Mis, or I can delve back into the works of Heinlein.
Just finished Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Pretty good read
Just started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. Great so far
Two things going on right now:
Up Country, by Nelson DeMille, listening to the audio version with my wife during our evening "together" time.
Black Ops, by W.E.B. Griffin, which I started during my vacation to South Florida a couple weeks ago. I didn't finish it then, so now I have to find the time to finish it. I've been a W.E.B. Griffin fan for years, but so far this one is slow moving and the characters not too believable. And apparently he's found religion in his personal life because he's forcing it into this novel. That was never in any of his previous novels. Strange.
Knocked this out in about 4 hours last night. First time I've done that with a book in months. Highly entertaining fantasy/satire.
In reply to ncjay:
Impressive. Probably not light reading, even in that form. I remember "Thermo" from back in 1974 in my final year at RWU. I think it was four credits. It was a requirement for the curriculum, and I did OK in it, but never needed to use thermodynamics again after school, except explaining super-heated steam to my wife in the context of pressure cookers 
.
Is it a passing interest or do you plan to apply it to work or hobby?
This week was "Happy Birthday or Whatever" by Annie Choi. Now I know what it was like growing up in a Korean-American family. You'll laugh, you'll cry. Her site is totally worth a visit: http://www.annietown.com
Up now, "Geek to Guitar Hero" by Alex Skolnick, guitarist for Testament, one of the best thrash metal bands ever.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down.
I read The Art of Racing in the Rain in one sitting a couple weeks ago. It was the first actual "book" that I've read in several years. For some reason I couldn't put it down. I've bought a couple books that I've started reading but haven't made it through the first chapter without putting them down forever.
Any recommendations for something along the lines of TAORITR? Something with a good story? If I have to force myself to read it it's not going to hold my attention.
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