Fifty book challenge 2009

[endless psych]

Originally Posted by endless psych

1) The Stuff of Thought - Steven Pinker
2) Counterknowledge - Damian Thompson.
3) Can robots Really think? - Peter Cave
4) Freakonomics - Stephen D Levitt, Stephen B. Dubner
5) Mistakes were made (but not by me) - Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.
6) Elephants on acid - Alex Boese
7) Chaos - James Gleick
8) The black swan - Nicholas Taleb Tassim
9) Predictably irrational - Dan Ariely
10) Quirkology - Richard Wiseman
11) Emergency - Neil Strauss
12) Irrationality - Stuart Sutherland
13) Flat Earth News - Nick Davies
14) Critical Mass - Phillip Ball
15) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
16) The motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto 'CHE' Guevara
17) Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
18) Human Universals - Donald E. Brown
19) Omnibus #1: At the mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft
20) The Zombie Survival Guide - Max brooks
21) World War Z - Max Brooks
22) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith
23) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M Pirsig
24) What works? Evidence based policy and practice in public services -Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Peter Smith (EDS)
25) Brainwashing the science of thought control - Kathleen Taylorr
26) The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
27) :59 - Richard Wiseman
28) America Unchained - Dave Gorman
29) A question of Torture - Alex W. McCoy

30) Influence: the psychology of persuassion - Robert B. Cialdini

[sylvianorth]

Originally Posted by princessoPUNK

I LOVE Midnight Sun(I have a quite bad teenage crush on Edward, and on Robert Pattinson for that matter). I think the books have alot more going for them than the birth scene in the last one. As long as you take them for the teen trash that they are, they are good books.

If you disliked them as a whole, why would you read all four? Surely if you don't enjoy the first one, you just stop.

I read the first one cos my mate recommended it as teen trash (as mentioned), and I thought it was really enjoyable. I read the second one, found it really tedious, and skimmed the third and fourth ones out of nothing else but boredom and a desire to see how it finished
They aren't terrible, I enjoyed parts of it obviously, or as you said I wouldn't have persevered with it. I just preferred the barmy bits over the 'I loooove you Edward, no wait, I looove you Jacob' bits, and found that the middle two books were full of that stuff. Like I can't remember a single exciting event from Eclipse, other than Bella whinging

[Fiona_B]

1. piercing - ryu murakami
2. cross country - james patterson
3. in the miso soup - ryu murakami
4. darkly dreaming dexter - jeff lindsay
5. dearly devoted dexter - jeff lindsay
6. dexter in the dark - jeff lindsay
7. the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera
8. the catcher in the rye - j.d. salinger
9. american psycho - bret easton ellis
10. after dark - haruki murakami
11. dexter by design - jeff lindsay
12. three and out - tom henry
13. coraline - neil gaiman
14. fleshmarket close - ian rankin
15. too weird for ziggy - sylvie simmons
16. the runes of the earth - stephen donaldson
17. how the dead live - will self
18. anansi boys - neil gaiman
19. beggars banquet - ian rankin
20. amber spyglass - philip pullman
21. completely unexpected tales - roald dahl
22. screen burn - charlie brooker
23. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time - mark haddon
24. pride and prejudice and zombies - jane austen/seth grahame smith
25. sputnik sweetheart - haruki murakami
26. mr toppit - charles elton

27. slumdog millionaire - vikas swarup

[endless psych]

Originally Posted by endless psych

1) The Stuff of Thought - Steven Pinker
2) Counterknowledge - Damian Thompson.
3) Can robots Really think? - Peter Cave
4) Freakonomics - Stephen D Levitt, Stephen B. Dubner
5) Mistakes were made (but not by me) - Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.
6) Elephants on acid - Alex Boese
7) Chaos - James Gleick
8) The black swan - Nicholas Taleb Tassim
9) Predictably irrational - Dan Ariely
10) Quirkology - Richard Wiseman
11) Emergency - Neil Strauss
12) Irrationality - Stuart Sutherland
13) Flat Earth News - Nick Davies
14) Critical Mass - Phillip Ball
15) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
16) The motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto 'CHE' Guevara
17) Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
18) Human Universals - Donald E. Brown
19) Omnibus #1: At the mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft
20) The Zombie Survival Guide - Max brooks
21) World War Z - Max Brooks
22) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith
23) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert M Pirsig
24) What works? Evidence based policy and practice in public services -Huw Davies, Sandra Nutley and Peter Smith (EDS)
25) Brainwashing the science of thought control - Kathleen Taylorr
26) The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
27) :59 - Richard Wiseman
28) America Unchained - Dave Gorman
29) A question of Torture - Alex W. McCoy
30) Influence: the psychology of persuassion - Robert B. Cialdini

31. Ethnographic research : a reader - Stephanie Taylor (ed)

[Rowsbette]

51. Henry James – What Maisie Knew
52. Jean Rhys – After Leaving Mr Mackenzie
53. Carlos Ruiz Zafon – The Shadow of the Wind
54. Alex Kuczynski – Beauty Junkies: Under the Skin of the Cosmetic Surgery Industry
55. Paul Auster – The Music of Chance
56. Chuck Klosterman – Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs
57. Jean Rhys – Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography
58. Marc Acito – How I Paid for College
59. Melvin Burgess – Junk

60. Patricia Beer – Reader, I Married Him: A Study of the Women Characters of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot
61. Twelve Victorian Ghost Stories – ed. Michael Cox

Reading pace has seriously slowed as I'm halfway through a 900-page monster. Enjoyable, but sooo long. Trying to read other shorter books in between so I don't get too disheartened at my lack of progress.

[the.definitive]

Originally Posted by the.definitive

15. The Gunslinger - Stephen King


Not exactly high brow but I'm unashamed of my love of Stephen King! This was bit crap though, I decided to give the Dark Tower books a shot, started reading this and realised I'd definitely read it before...but if I'm going to read the rest I had to read it again, and it wasn't very enjoyable because I sort of hazily remembered it all and found reading it a bit of chore. I'm still going to read the rest out of principle, though.

16. The Dark Tower (The Drawing Of The Three) - Stephen King

Much, much more enjoyable than the first book. Good escapism!

[sylvianorth]

Originally Posted by sylvianorth

8. Ardal O Hanlon- Talk of the Town
9. J.K Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
10. Girls Aloud- Dreams that Glitter.
11. Belle du Jour- Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl

High brow stuff there

12. Martin Strel and Matthew Molke- The Man Who Swam The Amazon
13. Katie Price- Crystal
14. JK Rowling- the Tales of Beetle and the Bard
15. Can't remember- He's Just Not That Into You
16. Belle Du Jour- Playing the Game
17. David Mitchell- Number9Dream

[Fiona_B]

1. piercing - ryu murakami
2. cross country - james patterson
3. in the miso soup - ryu murakami
4. darkly dreaming dexter - jeff lindsay
5. dearly devoted dexter - jeff lindsay
6. dexter in the dark - jeff lindsay
7. the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera
8. the catcher in the rye - j.d. salinger
9. american psycho - bret easton ellis
10. after dark - haruki murakami
11. dexter by design - jeff lindsay
12. three and out - tom henry
13. coraline - neil gaiman
14. fleshmarket close - ian rankin
15. too weird for ziggy - sylvie simmons
16. the runes of the earth - stephen donaldson
17. how the dead live - will self
18. anansi boys - neil gaiman
19. beggars banquet - ian rankin
20. amber spyglass - philip pullman
21. completely unexpected tales - roald dahl
22. screen burn - charlie brooker
23. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time - mark haddon
24. pride and prejudice and zombies - jane austen/seth grahame smith
25. sputnik sweetheart - haruki murakami
26. mr toppit - charles elton
27. slumdog millionaire - vikas swarup

28. the white tiger - aravind adiga

[the.definitive]

Originally Posted by the.definitive

16. The Dark Tower (The Drawing Of The Three) - Stephen King

Much, much more enjoyable than the first book. Good escapism!

Dead Babies - Martin Amis.

I read this ages ago and remember thinking I didn't really get it. Really enjoyed it this time, but again kind of felt like I should read it again. Martin Amis has that effect on me.

[Fiona_B]

1. piercing - ryu murakami
2. cross country - james patterson
3. in the miso soup - ryu murakami
4. darkly dreaming dexter - jeff lindsay
5. dearly devoted dexter - jeff lindsay
6. dexter in the dark - jeff lindsay
7. the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera
8. the catcher in the rye - j.d. salinger
9. american psycho - bret easton ellis
10. after dark - haruki murakami
11. dexter by design - jeff lindsay
12. three and out - tom henry
13. coraline - neil gaiman
14. fleshmarket close - ian rankin
15. too weird for ziggy - sylvie simmons
16. the runes of the earth - stephen donaldson
17. how the dead live - will self
18. anansi boys - neil gaiman
19. beggars banquet - ian rankin
20. amber spyglass - philip pullman
21. completely unexpected tales - roald dahl
22. screen burn - charlie brooker
23. the curious incident of the dog in the night-time - mark haddon
24. pride and prejudice and zombies - jane austen/seth grahame smith
25. sputnik sweetheart - haruki murakami
26. mr toppit - charles elton
27. slumdog millionaire - vikas swarup
28. the white tiger - aravind adiga

29. elephants on acid - alex boese

[CHUCK LIDELOL]

Finished Hey Nostradamus! by Coupland. Loved it. usually dislike this prick but this was great. Rather touching too. Bit short.

[the.definitive]

Originally Posted by CHUCK LIDELOL

Finished Hey Nostradamus! by Coupland. Loved it. usually dislike this prick but this was great. Rather touching too. Bit short.

I've not read it because I read "Life After God" and it just really annoyed me.

Loved "Girlfriend in a Coma" though.

[CHUCK LIDELOL]

I can't remember the one I read that really annoyed me too, I think it was Generation X, Jenpot will know. Too much shite comedy and twee-family stuff, smacked of a try-hard Chuck Palahnuik. This was more convention (less humour) and a really easy read. I might borrow Girlfriend in a Coma next.

edit: it was All Families are Psychotic that I read, utter drivel.

[triggerhappy]

Originally Posted by triggerhappy

1. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
3. A Snowball in Hell - Chris Brookmyre (can't believe it took me so long to get round to this!)
4. Portrait of a Killer - Patricia Cornwell
5. The Liar - Stephen Fry

6. The Secret Life of France - Lucy Wadham
7. Summer at Gaglow - Esther Freud
8. The Wild - Esther Freud
9. The Behaviour of Moths - Poppy Adams
10. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
11. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
12. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
13. Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer
14. Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs - Irvine Welsh
15. Ghostwritten - David Mitchell
16. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
17. The Book With No Name - Anonymous
18. Beatniks - Toby Litt

I don't read enough these days (can't believe I've only read 18 books this year!), and I read a lot of rubbish. Should sort that out sharpish.

[the.definitive]

Originally Posted by CHUCK LIDELOL

I can't remember the one I read that really annoyed me too, I think it was Generation X, Jenpot will know. Too much shite comedy and twee-family stuff, smacked of a try-hard Chuck Palahnuik. This was more convention (less humour) and a really easy read. I might borrow Girlfriend in a Coma next.

edit: it was All Families are Psychotic that I read, utter drivel.

I thought "Generation X" was ok, but I read it when I was in school so I've pretty much forgotten all of it.