The title alone makes me want to read that book... I'm now reading "There Must Have Been An Angel" by Lee Bergthold. A true story of two friends who take a 125 mile cross country hike/journey on a 280 degree direct compass heading from Badwater, Death Valley (-282ft below sea level), to the summit of Mt Witney, Ca. At specific check points along the way, they have their friend Doyle bring them each just two quarts of water everyday. They take nothing else from him. I'm only 1/2 finished but it's a great read so far.douglas wrote:Just finished a great book about computer hacking called "Ghost in the Wires" about a hacker named Kevin Mitnick - fascinating stuff.
What are you reading?
Forum rules
- This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
- Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
- Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
- Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
-
- Posts: 344
- Joined: 1/10/2010
- 14ers: 49
- 13ers: 4
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: What are you reading?
Everything you want in life is on the other side of fear. -- Margaret T.
You'll never have a better chance to climb that mountain than you do today. -- Dave C.
Dude! I knew you would cave-in once we got up there. -- Dean G.
You'll never have a better chance to climb that mountain than you do today. -- Dave C.
Dude! I knew you would cave-in once we got up there. -- Dean G.
Re: What are you reading?
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose.
A biography of Meriwether Lewis, and a great story about the Lewis & Clark expedition.
No GPS, no cell phones, no contact with 'civilization' for two years.
A biography of Meriwether Lewis, and a great story about the Lewis & Clark expedition.
No GPS, no cell phones, no contact with 'civilization' for two years.
"A couple more shots of whiskey,
the women 'round here start looking good"
the women 'round here start looking good"
- Oman
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: 10/4/2006
- 14ers: 57
- Trip Reports (0)
- Contact:
Re: What are you reading?
Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Pulitzer winner. Connected short stories centered around the NYC rock / punk business of the 1980s. Good writing, but angsty.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Misfit cousins in the WWII comic business. Sweet, fun, and long.
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Fun satire about serf owners in pre-Soviet Russia. Somehow got through college without reading it.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Another classic I should have read years ago. Great stylist who beats you over head with his message, a take on the Bible's Cain and Abel story.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Hard for me to understand the cult around this book. Sloppy and repetitive. Probably meant more when it was first published, but it didn't age well for me, at least.
In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson. U.S. diplomat and his slutty daughter in Hitler's pre-WWII Germany. A little boring to read, but great stuff to think about and argue about afterward.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Misfit cousins in the WWII comic business. Sweet, fun, and long.
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Fun satire about serf owners in pre-Soviet Russia. Somehow got through college without reading it.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Another classic I should have read years ago. Great stylist who beats you over head with his message, a take on the Bible's Cain and Abel story.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Hard for me to understand the cult around this book. Sloppy and repetitive. Probably meant more when it was first published, but it didn't age well for me, at least.
In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson. U.S. diplomat and his slutty daughter in Hitler's pre-WWII Germany. A little boring to read, but great stuff to think about and argue about afterward.
Re: What are you reading?
I just finished “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz (another Pulitzer winner). Thought it was hilarious and different than anything I’ve ever read.
Now I’m about 100 pages into Cormac McCarthy’s “Suttree.” Don’t want to give anything away so I won’t go into details but let’s just say there are some grotesqueries in this book that far surpass the scalpings and gory violence of “Blood Meridian” (discussed earlier in this thread).
Oman, re: Kerouac… I tried to re-read Desolation Angels a while back and found it tough to stick with, even though I remember loving it the first time around (several years ago). I still appreciate his writing though… the sloppiness of OTR is part of its appeal. It also has a lot to do with how it was written:
“The manuscript was typed on what he called ‘the scroll’—a continuous, 120-foot scroll of tracing paper sheets that he cut to size and taped together. The roll was typed single-spaced, without margins or paragraph breaks.” (from Wiki)
Now I’m about 100 pages into Cormac McCarthy’s “Suttree.” Don’t want to give anything away so I won’t go into details but let’s just say there are some grotesqueries in this book that far surpass the scalpings and gory violence of “Blood Meridian” (discussed earlier in this thread).
Oman, re: Kerouac… I tried to re-read Desolation Angels a while back and found it tough to stick with, even though I remember loving it the first time around (several years ago). I still appreciate his writing though… the sloppiness of OTR is part of its appeal. It also has a lot to do with how it was written:
“The manuscript was typed on what he called ‘the scroll’—a continuous, 120-foot scroll of tracing paper sheets that he cut to size and taped together. The roll was typed single-spaced, without margins or paragraph breaks.” (from Wiki)
- Brian Thomas
- Posts: 910
- Joined: 4/1/2010
- 14ers: 58 9
- 13ers: 130
- Trip Reports (5)
Re: What are you reading?
Now reading the "Business Environment and Concepts" section of the CPA Excel test prep review. Finance, economics, et cetera...
"I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them" - Bob Dylan
-
- Posts: 282
- Joined: 5/29/2006
- 14ers: 46
- 13ers: 10
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: What are you reading?
Hobbit. The series has been on my list for a while.
- Jim Davies
- Posts: 7638
- Joined: 6/8/2006
- 14ers: 58 1
- 13ers: 67
- Trip Reports (5)
Re: What are you reading?
"The Signal and the Noise" by Nate Silver. Fascinating discussion of forecasting and prediction in various areas (weather, economics, elections, epidemics, sports). Not to spoil the plot, but it reinforced my impressions of weather forecasts (short-term forecasts have improved markedly in recent years, but anything over 8 days is worse than taking the averages for the date!). Also, economists are really, really bad at predicting the future, but usually don't care because of political bias.
Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
- MUni Rider
- Posts: 901
- Joined: 7/31/2007
- 14ers: 51
- 13ers: 7
- Trip Reports (20)
- Contact:
Re: What are you reading?
Sisterhood of Dune. by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. January 2012
1st book of "The Great Schools Trilogy", one of several sets of prequels to Dune. This one deals primarily with the origins of the Bene Gesserit.
1st book of "The Great Schools Trilogy", one of several sets of prequels to Dune. This one deals primarily with the origins of the Bene Gesserit.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt)
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." (Edward Abbey)
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." (Edward Abbey)
- Fishdude
- Posts: 18
- Joined: 9/5/2010
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 144
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: What are you reading?
I avoid reels at all costs49ersRule wrote:
2 more for Fishdude:
Reeling in Russia
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that changed the world
The Cod biography was written by a distant cousin. He is a huge liar. None of that happened
- DeucesWild
- Posts: 420
- Joined: 9/12/2011
- 14ers: 58 1
- 13ers: 2
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: What are you reading?
All fishermen are liars...it comes with the job.Fishdude wrote:He is a huge liar. None of that happened
Snowflakes, Uber Alles!
http://www.deuceIRA.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Put the Douche in your FiDeuceiary needs today!!
http://www.deuceIRA.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Put the Douche in your FiDeuceiary needs today!!
- 12ersRule
- Posts: 2264
- Joined: 6/18/2007
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 157
- Trip Reports (4)
Re: What are you reading?
Probably just regurgitating what he learned in school.Fishdude wrote:The Cod biography was written by a distant cousin. He is a huge liar. None of that happened
- TallGrass
- Posts: 2328
- Joined: 6/29/2012
- 13ers: 26
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: What are you reading?
Free and online, many might find this interesting as it intertwines with CO 14ers, especially with many summits being benchmarked by the USGS. Also an interesting and different historical angle on the development of the U.S.:
The United States Geological Survey: 1879-1989
By Mary C. Rabbitt
A history of the relation of geology during the first 110 years of the U.S. Geological Survey to the development of public-land, Federal-science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United States
The United States Geological Survey: 1879-1989
By Mary C. Rabbitt
A history of the relation of geology during the first 110 years of the U.S. Geological Survey to the development of public-land, Federal-science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United States
"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."