ham on rye - charles bukowski
9/10

after hearing all about bukowski for years but not making the effort to read any, i picked this up at borders last night. read the whole thing in 4 hours. his writing style is so succint but packed with more truth than most people could hope to write with. sure, it's a bit bleak, but i'm looking forward to reading more. probably moving to factotum next.

It's not that I didn't like it, but I can't just be throwing down 9's and 10's to everything. Have to "Fucking Love" something to give it a 9 or a 10. 8 is for things that are really good but I don't put them in my upper echelon.

Also, WeX, read Post Office. Factotum is pretty good too. Women is up there for me too. Pretty much all of Bukowski's books are the same exact thing though. I'd recommend checking out his poetry too, if you get a chance.

You still need to take up my suggestion of I Have The Right To Destroy Myself, Peter

factotum - charles bukowski
7/10

it's ok. it just felt like reading a different version of ham on rye that focused on work exclusively. i can relate to a lot of what's being talked about, but it just didn't engage me the same way as ham on rye. gonna give post office a shot after i'm done reading a farewell to arms.

Keep forgetting about this unit

Need to purchase it. MAYBE someone should buy it for me off of my Amazon Wish List :kiss::kiss::kiss::kiss::kiss::kiss::wave::rofl:

Harper Lee - To kill a mocking bird 10/10

A fantastic book. It is one of those that after you've read a chapter you feel compelled to read another chapter and so on. Well, I did anyway.

Morrison / Quitely -Absolute All-Star Superman - 10/10

Read this when it came out as a series, and my brother is such a fan of Morrison and Quitely that I decided to buy this as his Christmas present.

Brilliant stuff. Great story and art, that, especially in this format, is absolutely magnificent.

And that issue with Pa Kent! Jesus. Great stuff.

Basketball Diaries-Jim Carroll

8-10

In Fifty Year We'll All Be Chicks- Adam Carolla

I've been listening to the guy on radio and podcasts forever but this is really all of his best material in a neat manageable package. Some really brilliant stuff in here. Started reading it again last night.

Also reading Patton Oswalt's book right now. Let you know when I finish.

Reading "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. Very interesting so far.

Also finished the first novel in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. Awesome book.

James Patterson "Cross Fire" 5/5 another excellent book in the Alex Cross series. I can't wait till the next one which I believe will be a crossover book.

American Gods was an amazing read. One of the best book I have ever read. 10/10

The Sirens Of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut: 10/10

I love Kurt Vonnegut and very much enjoyed this.

FANTASTIC read, loved it myself.

"Catching Fire" by Richard Wrangham - 8/10

Really interesting book on how the advent of cooking was a key catalyst in the evolution of humans from apes.

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut: 10/10 - really making me question my philosophy on life

Choke - Chuck Palahniuk: 9/10 - Enjoy Palahniuk a lot, also a bit disturbed at how much I identify with the main character

Rant - Chuck Palahniuk: 9/10 - a bit confusing, but I really like the oral history format.

Arrowsmith - Sinclair Lewis - 8/10

Not finished yet, but currently reading Jericho's new book. Very interesting and entertaining read so far. Especially since it seemed he couldnt do anything right his few months in the company.

Jesus' Son - Denis Johnson: 10/10 - switches between funny and depressing seamlessly. i had to finish it as soon as i started reading.

Frank Herbert - Dune 8/10

just finished Backing Hitler by Robert Gellatelly

Haven't read nonfiction for awhile but decided to read this the other day

it was an alright book but it seemed like no one edited it and proof read it

but it was interesting as it talked about exactly what the german people knew about what was going on and what they were doing at the concentration camps

I give it a 6/10

reading atlas shrugged. damn. not done yet. but damn. woman knows how to spin a yarn.

Jailbird - Kurt Vonnegut: 10/10

probably just going to rate all of his books 10/10 spectacular

currently I've been reading an interesting biography on Cary Grant by Marc Eliot

it's been really good so far as I am about halfway finished with it

Dean Koontz - Strangers. 8/10

Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol. 7/10

I enjoy Dan Brown's books, but as usually I expected a retarded ending and he hasn't disappointed me.

Herman Hesse - Rosshalde: 5/10

This book pissed me off

Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 7/10

I liked it. But it does not touch Huck Finn.

Just read V for Vendetta, I thousand times better than that shitty film.
Also just bought Neil Gaimans American Gods anybody read it?

Not his best work, by any means. "Peter Camenzind", "Steppenwolf" and "Narcissus and Goldmund" are all considerably better. I still haven't made it through "The Glass Bead Game" yet. Incredibly complicated.

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"Tweak" by Nic Sheff
6/10

Found his writing style to be extremely simplistic, but I guess that's what I should've expected from a drug addicted fiend, and it also suits the material of the book as well. Some of the stories were interesting, mostly the first section when he's on the streets and living for nothing but his next shot of heroin/coke. But nothing amazing here.

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"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu
8/10

Enlightening. Even though I'll never be commanding giant armies into battle, this book can help you learn how to deal with every day situations and difficult people with ease and with a higher percentage of a victorious outcome.

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"Metamorphosis & Other Stories" by Franz Kafka
7/10

What the fuck is all I can say about Kafka's work. It's like his stories don't make any sense, but at the same time you feel like he's written them so that they do make sense in the way that they DON'T make any sense at all... mind fuckers, to be sure, and leave you wondering what the hell you just read and what it really meant to the man who wrote it. Good stuff.


About to start Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" tonight.

John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men 10/10

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace, tackled this monster and I feel pretty good about it. It's funny, sad, sprawling and difficult, but definitely worth the time.

Alexandre Dumas - "The Three Musketeers": 7/10

I can see why it's a classic. About mid-way through the book I started wanting to really finish it and find out what happens next. I like all the characters, even if the three musketeers all seem a lot alike to me. Sucked that D'Artagnan didn't get his girl in the end, but pretty sweet that they chopped off that bitches head.

Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk: 8/10 would be a 9, but the ending kind of confused me.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman: 10/10, really enjoyed it

felt like an idiot for not understanding Low Key-Lyesmith

Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut: 10/10

usual Kurt Vonnegut grade

Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited 9/10
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby 8/10

George Orwell - Animal Farm 8/10

Simple but effective.

I'm off to rock the Shakespeare now with A Midsummer Night's Dream and MacBeth, before attempting Joyce's Ullysses for a second time.

The Alchemist - 9/10

Wonderful wonderful parable.