WZ Book Club

[Schoolboy-Chris]

Anyone who is into wrestling and reading (or either) I would definetly recommend Chris Jericho's a Lion's Tale, one of the most enjoyable reads I have ever had, not just in a wrestling autobiography. I enjoyed Bret Harts too, despite him coming off very bitter at times.

I'm reading The Shadow of the Wind at the moment for college, only a hundred pages or so in but enjoying it immensely. A couple of my favourites are High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and the Odyssey by Homer.

All time favourite is probably The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, fantastic book and one that I would recommend to anyone and everyone, though probably only if you already read a bit as it is hard going sometimes.

I'm looking for new book ideas if anyone has any, preferably either a time tested classic or a modern gem that you found and think is worth a look!

 

[Freddy4190]

I just finished reading "Nothing's Sacred" by Lewis Black. It was alright, I just.. I dunno. Something about it didn't hit me right. I prefer watching him do stand-up then reading his jokes. It was a decent read. Just like Schoolboy-Chris, the Y2J book was great. It had everything. It was funny, serious at times, sad, everything. There are some parts that seem a little Shady, and Y2J does come off like a douche in some parts. But it's one of the best wrestling autobiographys, if not the best i've read. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I can't tell you how great this book is, I could go on a whole paragraph about it, but please go find this book and read it. Very inspirational read.

Wiki:

The Last Lecture is a New York Times best-selling book written by Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The book was born out of a lecture Pausch gave in September 2007, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams".

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Has anyone read The Road by Cormac McCarthy? I'm contemplating picking it up, and with the release of the movie, I really want to read it before some snot nosed punk on here ruins it all for me. Regardless of the fact Aragorn is in it.

Thoughts on the book?

 

[X]

Has anyone read The Road by Cormac McCarthy? I'm contemplating picking it up, and with the release of the movie, I really want to read it before some snot nosed punk on here ruins it all for me. Regardless of the fact Aragorn is in it.

Thoughts on the book?

Absolutely 110% read it MRC. Cormac McCarthy is a brilliant writer (he also wrote No Country For Old Men, arguably his greatest work) and The Road is one of his very best works. It takes nihilistic apocalypse to a whole new level, and is well worth reading. I've heard the film is actually quite different from the book, but I'll be seeing it as well. If they keep some of the more brutal scenes from the book in the film, it's going to be one hell of a haunting ride. Viggo is a marvelous actor, so I've got faith in him (he was ROBBED of an Oscar in Eastern Promises).

Right now I'm reading The Theory and Practice of Hell by Eugene Kogon (a first edition from the 50s no less), which is simply one of the most disturbing non-fiction books you could choose to read as it chronicles every minute detail of everyday life in the German concentration camps during WWII, in particular Buchenwald where Kogon was imprisoned.

What can I say, I have rather grim taste in reading sometimes.

 

[NSL]

I just finished reading "Nothing's Sacred" by Lewis Black. It was alright, I just.. I dunno. Something about it didn't hit me right. I prefer watching him do stand-up then reading his jokes.

I read Oh Me Of Little Faith by him, and thought it was great. The humor is certainly different, but it's still a good read. It's all short stories by him concerning religion, and most of the points he makes, I agree with. I enjoy him as a comedian, but I think he could have a career as a serious political player if he wanted.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Dan Brown's latest The Lost Symbol was a pretty good book. I prefer Angels and Demons over his others though. As far as wrestling books go, Bret Hart's book Hitman: My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling is a great read. It tells everything about his struggles with his family and the business. Including great insight to the Montreal Screwjob and WCW.

You can't go wrong with the WrestleCrap books either. They detail all of the horrible gimmicks and ideas in the wrestling business from WCW to WWE. I really want to pick up
Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death. It should be pretty interesting with some grisly photographs. Has anyone picked that book up yet?

 

[bucks8897]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Since my last post I've read RD Reyonalds The Death of WCW. Good read. I recommend to anyone who enjoys a good read on wrestling history. It pretty much gives you a timeline from the birth of WCW till Ted Turner bought. It goes week by week, and month by month while you watch the demise happen right before your eyes.

Since finishing that book I went ahead and ordered Chris Jericho's auto bioagraphy due to many recommendations. I also ordered both wrestlecrap books and I'm waiting for them to come in. Thanks again for the recommandations and I'll let you know what I think when I finish them.

While I've been waiting for these books to come in I've finished The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Great read I enjoyed from start to finish.

and I've started The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald due to numerous recommendations. I'm about half way through and it's another great read.

I was never a big fan of literature growing up. Espically hated it in high school and college, but now I'm older and I only have 1 TV which my 2 year old son takes over so I've taken up reading and boy I missed out on some good stuff and have a lot of catching up to do.

Thanks again for all the good recommendations.

 

[X]

While I've been waiting for these books to come in I've finished The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Great read I enjoyed from start to finish.

Though it is a tad bit overrated by modern society, still a classic work of literature that everyone should read during their lifetime. Personally I don't think it's Salinger's best work (Nine Stories and Franny & Zooey are both better), but it's still a wonderful read. Essential to every 13 year old kid who wants to look intelligent

and I've started The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald due to numerous recommendations. I'm about half way through and it's another great read.

One of my favorite books ever, and one that if anything has only become underrated over the years. Fitzgerald was one of the very best that the "Lost Generation" had to offer. Gatsby will never get old to me, ever. Read as much of Fitzgerald's work as you can.

I was never a big fan of literature growing up. Espically hated it in high school and college, but now I'm older and I only have 1 TV which my 2 year old son takes over so I've taken up reading and boy I missed out on some good stuff and have a lot of catching up to do.

Thanks again for all the good recommendations.

Since you're reading through some of the classics, the first thing I'd recommend to you is to read Ernest Hemingway. When I began reading his work when I was a kid, it inspired me to open up my horizons and read as much as I possibly could. Particularly his best works are A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. All three are essential reading and among the very best literature you will ever find on this planet. Hope that helps.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Save for experimental literature, there are actually very few books that I'd recommend that were written before 1960. If you want to seem hip and smart in today's literary circles, skip the likes of Hemingway, Kerouac, Steinbeck, etc., because everyone has read their books (or pretends to have read them). Instead, read authors like Juan Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, David Foster Wallace, and Thomas Pynchon (the last two authors can be extremely taxing, though). PoMo is where it's at; modernism is so last year.

 

[X]

Save for experimental literature, there are actually very few books that I'd recommend that were written before 1960. If you want to seem hip and smart in today's literary circles, skip the likes of Hemingway, Kerouac, Steinbeck, etc., because everyone has read their books (or pretends to have read them). Instead, read authors like Juan Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, David Foster Wallace, and Thomas Pynchon (the last two authors can be extremely taxing, though). PoMo is where it's at; modernism is so last year.

Don't listen to TDigs, he's too cool to read Kerouac like the rest of us pseudo-intellectual arthouse types.

Really though, Hemingway and Kerouac are considered classics for a good reason, and that's because they crafted stories in a way that no one else ever came close to. Kerouac will always be my favorite author, whether that makes me the brunt of the joke of all the new indie hipsters who are too cool to read his work, so be it. For my money it doesn't get much better than The Dharma Bums.

Steinbeck is good, but overrated. His short stories are really the only essential reading. I'm rather saddened that you wouldn't recommend any literature before the 60s TDigs, there are so many great writers that you'd miss out on if you never looked into the different movements.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Don't listen to TDigs, he's too cool to read Kerouac like the rest of us pseudo-intellectual arthouse types.

Really though, Hemingway and Kerouac are considered classics for a good reason, and that's because they crafted stories in a way that no one else ever came close to. Kerouac will always be my favorite author, whether that makes me the brunt of the joke of all the new indie hipsters who are too cool to read his work, so be it. For my money it doesn't get much better than The Dharma Bums.

Steinbeck is good, but overrated. His short stories are really the only essential reading. I'm rather saddened that you wouldn't recommend any literature before the 60s TDigs, there are so many great writers that you'd miss out on if you never looked into the different movements.

Borges is technically from before 1960, but, he's so ahead of his time that I have to recommend him; never mind, I'm saved by the fact that he's experimental. Also, Calvino wrote quite a few books before 1960, but save for Our Ancestors, nothing comes close to matching what he did after this year.

There are still plenty of books I'd recommend that were written before the 1960s because of how original and innovative they were. So, I'd recommend authors like Joyce, Beckett, Canetti, and Hamsum in a heartbeat. But, I would tell people to pass on authors like James, Forster, Dickens, and Hardy; in my opinion, these authors don't really cover any themes that aren't touched upon by contemporary writers in a more effective and relevant fashion.

 

[lordslix0129]

I'd recommend "The Greatest Show on Earth" and "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, if you're as interested in science, darwinism and evolution as much as I am. Great reads and you learn a lot.

 

[Барбоса]

I'm currently reading Apocalypse by Neil Faulkner. It is a non-fiction book about the Jewish Revolt of 66-73CE from the Roman Empire. While the combination of Romans, Greeks and Jews massacring each other is nothing new and does not appeal to everyone, it is the style and stand point from which this book has been written is its unique selling point.

Instead of simply stating what happened and discussing the sources for it, Faulkner has introduced the modern idea of a class struggle into the mix. He is not the first to do so (G.E.M de Ste Croix wrote a massive work on the class struggle in antiquity) but for the Jewish revolt, it adds another level of intrigue. Not only were the Jews fighting the Romans and Greeks, they were also divided along class lines and fighting each other.

While this injecting of a modern concept may be somewhat fantastical and in places absurd, it makes for a fascinating read.

 

[Avitus25]

To be honest, I struggle not to enjoy any books, but my favourite book recently has to be Fragment by Warren Fahy. It links fantasy, scientific research and intelligence and a great sense of drama into one novel. It is the first book by Warren Fahy, and after reading this fantastic book I can't wait for his second. I'd recommend it strongly to anyone.

I also love reading a wide range of wrestling autobiographies, but I'd have to recommend two in particular: Chris Jericho's "A Lion's Tale" is an amazing read, a real good insight into the business and Chris Jericho as a person. I'm also currently reading Bret Hart's autobiography, and that too is an amazing read, especially with how troubled his life has been. I would definitely recommend both of those to anyone looking for a good wrestling related read.

 

[Sivsyboi]

It usually takes me ages to read one book, but this thread has encouraged me to start reading again. Expect a review sometime Mid-March

 

[Leafy]

I just finished How The Irish Saved Civilization. An interesting history read on how Irish monks wrote all literature down and other stuff. It was interesting but I never got the whole thesis of the book.

I'm now reading Red Dragon and it's a great book. This is my first Harris book I'm reading and I plan on reading all the Lector series. I saw Lambs and I thought that was good but this is better than the movie and I'm hoping for Lambs to be just as good. Just the way he goes inside the killer's mind and his childhood is a little creepy and it paints a portrait in your mind.

 

[krispix]

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a female, so the following book recommendation may not be well received.

I just finished reading Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes, which is about a fictional school shooting, and takes a look at the lives of both the parents and the students involved years before the event, immediately after the shooting, and during the trial. I usually don't like Picoult's work (My Sister's Keeper, The Tenth Circle) but I thought the subject matter was pretty interesting.

I'm starting on Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande. It's basically a bunch of case studies, like what Oliver Sacks does for psychology. Looks great so far, but I'm a medical dork and I spent the summer working in the operating room.

Happy reading!

 

[pyrusane]

I'm a little surprised that everyone (mostly) thought so highly of The Lost Symbol. Of the three Langdon books, I thought it was by far the weakest. That isn't to say it wasn't good, but I found it far more predictable than the other two. The big "revelation" of Abbadon at the end seemed apparent to me from the very first flashback to his days in prison, so perhaps that spoiled it a little for me.

I am currently reading Under The Dome, by Stephen King. I was a huge fan of King's when I was younger, and until around 98 or 99 I had read everything he had ever published. I've fallen behind in the last decade. Part of that being my disappointment with how the Dark Tower series ended, I am sure. Under The Dome is entertaining so far, however, and I really have no clue what is going on or why. Considering that I am 177 pages into a 1072 page book...bah, lost my train of thought there.

As far as the classics go, I have always been a fan of Dickens. Well, since I was a teenager, at least, but that was a long time ago, so it counts. Heinlein was a god among men, and Asimov was pretty damn good too. Actually, once I finish the current book I plan on re-reading Stranger In A Strange Land, by Heinlein. No matter how many times I read that book it never gets old.

And finally, for whoever it was that recommended Raymond E. Feist, I wholeheartedly agree. You can't just grab any book though. If it is your first time reading Feist, and you read any book other than Magician: Apprentice, you are going to get lost very quickly. The Krondor series isn't just a collection of books that feature a recurring cast of characters, it is really one long story that spans about 15 books and close to 100 years, if I remember correctly.

 

[Барбоса]

Just finished reading another Star Wars novel, this time one about the history of the Millennium Falcon before it was owned by Lando Calrissian and then Han Solo. It was a decent read. Normally, the single novels between large storylines (the Second Galactic Civil War of Legacy of the Force and the downfall of the Jedi in Fate of the Jedi) are throw away stories with no real connection to the main plots but that mistake hasn't been made this time.

The anguish of the Solos at the fate that befell their only remaining son, Jacen and what their daughter Jaina was forced to do is still raw even with the shining light that Allana has brought into their lives. The devastation wrought by a decade of war is still there and the mistrust of the Jedi by the new Chief of State is also mentioned, setting up the major plot line of Fate of the Jedi

With the hardback release of the new Darth Bane novel, I have also gone back to read the first two books in the series, Path of Destruction and Rule of Two. If there ever was an anti-hero to match Vader and Revan then it is Darth Bane. His rise from miner to soldier to apprentice and finally to unrivalled Sith Lord is excellent.

 

[HBK619]

Skulldugery Pleasent.Theres 3 out and a 4th coming out this year.Its about magic and stuff and gets pretty exciting.

Sebastion Darke.There is three books out.Its about Seabstion Darke in different adventures.His usually joined by his buffalope(buffalo)Max and little warrior Cornelius.

Danger Zone Series.These books revovle around a boy named Max Gordon who is a eco hero.He usually is trying to solve a mystery and gets caught up with a bad guy.

 

[INDYjon22]

I finished Darkly Dreaming Dexter that book that was the basis for the television show. It was pretty good. Jeff Lindsay certainly has his own unique style of writing or at least one that I have never seen before.

The story is basically the same as the first season of Dexter. It follows our favorite mass murderer as he and the Miami police try to solve the Bay Harbor Butcher mystery. However, the end of the book was much different then the end of the season. I won't reveal anything but it is a nice little twist that I did not see coming at all. I definitely recommend it.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

You should check out David wellington, he has a series of books out that are bad ass. It's a vampire series that puts a whole new spin on vampires, look, abilities, and such. He also changes it that humans know they exsist though they are rare. I personally like them, they can be gory, even a bit spooky, but really good none the less. I recommend them. "13 Bullets", "99 Coffins" and "Vampire Zero". He also has a zombie series out that I have yet to read but want too.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Relentless - Simon Kernick

After mildly enjoying Deadline a few months ago, when I found this on sale I thought I'd give it a go. An ordinary middle-class man gets a phone call from a friend he hasn't seen in years. He's about to be killed, and his final words are the mans address. Fearing the worst, he takes his children to his mother-in laws and goes to find his wife, who is now missing.

For some reason, I didn't want to put this book down. I'm not sure why, as it isn't a great book, and wasn't overly enjoyable to read. Kernick knows how to create suspense, but to such an extent I found myself just skimming over parts I thought looked boring to find out what happened. Some things just looked to be thrown together - everything was tangled and while the crimes in the book seem complex, the book itself is simple.

I'm not sure how I feel about Kernick as a writer. I've only read 2 of his books, and while I've finished both, and there have been parts where I haven't been able to put it down, I don't finish the book thinking that he's a great writer, or that I need to read more of his things in the same way I felt towards writers such as Dan Brown. So, the juries still out on this guy. If any other WZers would like to help me make an opinion as they've read something by him, feel free.
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[INDYjon22]

Never in my life have I blown through a book faster then I did while reading Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Fantastic book filled with great references to Greek mythology that are not depicted nearly as bad as they are in context but get the message through. I for one love mythology and it was awesome seeing how the writer used Greek myths and mixed them in with current day.

However, there were also thing that I did not like because they contradicted the myths. Without giving away to much I will say the thing that bothered me the most was who some of the children of gods were said to be. The fact of the matter is children were being listed with gods who had never had children in the myths, something I did not like very much.

Overall it was a very fun, entertaining read and I anticipate reading the next one.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Dear John - Nicholas Sparks

After watching, and hating, The Notebook, I didn't think Nicholas Sparks was my type of writer, however this book proved me wrong. I love how this is written - how he shows just how much the 2 love, and then miss each other. You can tell how hard it was for Savannah when he was away fighting, and how much he needed to be here.

There are a few things I don't fully understand - mostly his re-enlisting if she meant that much to him. However, I guess your outlook on life if you're a soldier, especially after 9/11, would be different in comparison to someone like me.

The ending is great. I kind of guessed what he'd do regarding the coins, but still, I loved it. It's sad, and I think that works very well here. Apparently the ending of the film is different, which I'm hoping isn't true, as I adore the end of this.
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