my day

welcome to the forums tomtucky... don't worry about people giving you crap. it's a good thing you found us before you decided to make a purchase, bc we are ALL here to HELP.

Thanks for the recommendation, Smulkin. I really need to start keeping a list of things people have told me to read/listen to/etc., as I'm trying not to make any more acquisitions until after I move. :)

yeah thanks smulkin I'll definately check that out! I have a list of ambitious reading for the summer though -
The Glass Bead Game- Hermann Hesse
The Brothers Karamazov - Dotoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
A Rhetoric of Motives - Kenneth Burke
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
EVENTUALLY I hope to read the copy of War and Peace that I picked up
and to re-read Ishamael by Daniel Quinn

these were all either recommended to me or discovered through researching various things so if they look interesting add them to your lists! (Hesse is the man behind "Siddhartha")

Ya know what is actually fun? I find it to be great fun to go back & read all of the books that you were supposed to read when you were in high school English. Most of us just read the cliff notes or read just enough to pass the tests. Now I read them (Catcher in the Rye, Great Gatsby, Old Man & the Sea, To Kill A Mocking Bird etc) and I find myself enjoying them a great deal! I highly recomend this idea to anyone who is interested in reading.

Outside of that though, I am personally a biography type of guy. I enjoy reading about political figures that I admire (Rudy G, Dubbya, etc), those that I despise (Hillary, Bill etc), sports figures, people that just inspire anyone with a pulse (Todd Beamer) & the list goes on. My Biographical collection is pretty damn eclectic now that i look over at it. Anyone have any suggestions on good biographies or autobios that they have read about anyone in any scope of life?

One of the best books I've ever read is a biography about John Adams (One of our founding fathers and 2nd president) by David McCullough. If you like history, you'll love the book...if you've never been particularly interested in history (like me) then you'll learn to fall in love with it! It's not just about John Adams...all the people that revolved in his life come alive. If you like biographies, you HAVE to have this book!

If you're into politics a GREAT book is Harball by Chris Matthews - It's an eye opener for sure about the behind the scenes stuff.

Matthews cracks me up!