I got $90 of Borders gift cards...any book recommendations?

[Solon]

It was my birthday day before yesterday, so NO I did not watch the damned SOTU, and I didn't post about my birthday either, overshadowed so much by Bush's hemorrhaging of the mouth.

[azmouse]

1. What kind of books do you like?

[Solon]

4. Any but Romance Novels n/t

[azmouse]

5. A fun scary novel and it's not gross

would be A Summer of Night by Dan Simmons.

Public Enemies by Bryan Burroughs - The true story of the 1930's gangsters

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin - the story of the Apollo space program

[Ariana Celeste]

2. if you like fantasy...

I really enjoyed "The Elvenbane" by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey. As far as I know there are two books that come after it.

[Solon]

3. I like Mercedes Lackey...

I like Fantasy, Sci-fi(perferably hard), contemporary, classics, I'm eclectic like that. I'll check that out.

[Radical Activist]

6. If you've never read Saul Alinsky

Get Rules for Radicals and Reveille for Radicals.

[jane_pippin]

7. Here's a novel or two I've liked recently, and some other stuff:

Everything is Illuminated--by Jonathan Safran Foer
An American searches for the people who saved his family from the holocaust. It's told as letters between the American and his translator, as well as the book the American is writing about his family. It's very good and even has some funny moments.

Middlesex--Jeffery Eugenides
Best novel I've read in years and one I will always suggest people read. (As readers of book threads may have noticed). It's the story of a kid growing up in Detroit in the 60's, and the history of his family who came to America from Greece. It's a beautiful novel, very rich, funny, engrossing--everything you want in a book.

If you don't have Zinn's People's History of the United States, pick that up. It's a must have for every thinking kid.

Jimmy Carter's new book is supposed to be good, but I haven't read it yet myself. It's called "Our Endangered Values."

And finally, a totally weird book by humorist and recent Daily Show addition John Hodgman, The Areas of My Expertise--an almanac of totally made up facts including the history of the Hobo Revolution.

[hippywife]

8. I so totally second that

Zinn recommendation. It's a book you'll want to have for keeps and refer back to again and again.

[zone]

9. Teacher Man...

...by Frank McCourt

Our Endangered Values, by Jimmy Carter

Marley & Me, by John Grogan (my friend and former boss and why many of my books are in the NYT top 10 because I've been tracking how his is doing).

A Man Without a Country, by Kurt Vonnegut.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4667927

These are the books I've read lately and I've loved them all (but not necessarily in the Biblical sense).

I second (or third) the Howard Zinn history book, too.

[x-g.o.p.er]

10. I have a couple

'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' is very good, as is 'The Broker'.

I just finished The Broker, and enjoyed it immensely.

[zone]

11. The "Midnight" book is a good movie, too

Tom Waits, Daryl Hanna and John Lithgow are in it (good thing I Googled that; I was thinking of "At Play in the Fields of the Lord).

[terrya]

12. "Our Endangered Values" by Jimmy Carter

It's serious, but it's absolutely terrific.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. I loved it! And thought he did a great job of simplifying to the point

that virtually anyone over the age of 14 would understand it. :hi:

[zone]

19. That guy should run for president

But I guess Jimmy makes a much better human being/public citizen. He and Roz are off to India this year to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. You are right about the accessibility of the book; I don't think it would hold my 15-year-old's attention though.

[peacefreak]

13. Easy question...

The Glass Castle--Jeannette Walls
Island of the Sequined Love Nun--Chris Moore (or anything else be him, for that matter)
Marley & Me, if you're an animal person. Keep tissues by side for the end.
Jasper Fforde if you like mysteries
ditto for Carl Hiassen
Have fun & the next time tell your family to buy a gift card from an independent bookseller. (It's my meager bread & butter)

[FLSurfer]

14. I loved, Island of the Sequined Love Nun

I just finished reading it yesterday. I purchased it immediately after reading,
Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Also by Christopher Moore.

If you like Hiaasen and Moore, check out Tim Dorsey.

[Skittles]

15. "Self-Made Man" by Norah Vincent sounds like it could be good

she changed her appearance to be a man and supposedly got a lot of insight, much of it favorable to men

[BreweryYardRat]

16. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Best fantasy out there, bar none.

[LeftyMom]

18. Seconded

'cause I'm obsessed and somebody else to talk about the books with would be good. :)

[BreweryYardRat]

20. Drop me a PM sometime.

I'm probably more obsessed than you are, and it's nice to talk about all the little details Martin's got going on.

[underpants]

21. Freakonomics-The Last True Story I will ever tell

Two good ones in the non fiction realm.

[aclog]

22. I would blow mine on magazine, sports encyclopedias, graphic novels

and probably some sci-fi schlock. Maybe a book or two on physics, technology, or philosophy. Those are fast becoming inseparable though...

At any rate you can see you don't really want my advice lol :)

[Giant Robot]

23. Save yourself the trouble of deciding

and just send the gift cards to me! :D

Or you could try Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrel by Susanna Clarke(I think?) Wonderful new author and an imaginative engrossing novel coming in at 800 plus pages.

[Craig3410]

24. That book by the guy on Daily show last night?

O'Harrow's "No Place To Hide":

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743254805/sr=1-1/qid=1138978321/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7399348-3990418?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Looks good, if you're in to that type of stuff.

[noonwitch]

25. The Riverside Shakespeare

Or some other big expensive book that you can't ordinarily afford.

[Beausoir]

26. Shop the clearance section online...

You can find some great classics there and get a lot more bang for the buck.

[Heidi]

27. "War Against the Weak:

America's Campaign to Create a Master Race," by Edwin Black.

www.waragainsttheweak.com