Good reads

[possum]

well there is a sort or sequel kind of book by daniel quinn that expands on the themes in Ishmael. its called beyond civilization. you should check it out.

 

[Grace]

I think that for traveling, the longer the book is, the better. In that case I would have to go with Ellison's Invisible Man. That book fucking rocks. Otherwise, I'm a fan of poetry and Toni Morrison. And I just realized that probably the best book to be around for an extended period of time, if one can handle it, would be Joyce's Ulysses. It'll take me a lifetime and I still won't properly understand it.

And Arrow, if you liked Castenada, you should look into Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Mind (or something like that). He deals more with drugs than anything else, but his theories are like Castenadas, and it's a quick read. He's also kind of a conspiracy theorist, if you like that sort of thing.

 

[finn]

Ruth Ozeki's "All over Creation" fiction, fun to read, has a bit about genetic engineering.

Holly and Burt Davis "Dwelling Portablely" 80's compilation of the classic nomad zine (the zine might still be in print)

Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, best mainstream cartoons ever.

 

[Bendixontherails]

the Eragon series is pretty good. I was surprised.

another really good series is the 'Ender' series by Orson Scott Card. Great story/writing, with political/social overtones that make you think about your automatic assumptions of people and things around you.

right now I'm rereading Assimov's 'Foundation Trilogy'. seemed appropriate with our seemingly impending economy collapse

 

[Bendixontherails]

cs lewis wrote a lot of good stuff. I think I first read the screwtape letters in middle school, who knows how many years ago. his 'the pilgrim's regress' was good too, but you kind of have to read ' pilgrim's progress' by John Bunyan to know what he's talking about.

 

[dirty_feet]

Holly and Burt Davis "Dwelling Portablely" 80's compilation of the classic nomad zine (the zine might still be in print)

It is still in print actually - it's a really awesome read. Very informative and entertaining, inspiring even. You can get it through Microcosm Publishing.

 

[1stcavmp77]

ok here's a list of authors and some of the books i've read.
good horror books of course stephen king, william w. johnstone and dean koontz (watchers, tick tock, house of thunder)
post-apocolyptic rebuiling America type books the ashes series by william w. johnstone.
great fantasy books- anything and everything by R.A. Salvatore
westerns- Louis L'amour and elmer kelton
classics - swiss family robinson, call of the wild, white fang, bram stokers dracula
military- anything by richard marcinko, black hawk down, we were soldiers anything by stephen hunter
murder mystery- james patterson and also the maximum ride series by patterson
teen style books- the lightning thief by rick riordan.
also the dangerous book for boys has a lot of cool things in it, especially if you have kids.
oh yeah, i almost forgot my gf is addicted to the twilight series, vampire books but i don't know the author.

 

[desaparecido]

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
2. Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson
3. The Spoon River Anthology - Edgar Masters
4. The Stranger - Albert Camus
5. The Plague - Albert Camus

and if you're at all poetically inclined,anything by Robinson Jeffers is gold. Try googling "The Purse Seine" which is something most self-sufficient travelers can appreciate.

 

[Treath]

The best book I've read lately was Vurt by Jeff Noon.
It's a cyberpunk/druggie kind of a book.
I usually can't find a book that really interests me, but I read it in 3 days.

I highly recommend it.

 

[zarathustra]

I thought the rebel sell was kinda BSy, but w.e. I could go on about why but I won't.

I really like Joyce. Not that he has much to do with traveling, but "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is a really beautiful book. I've memorized big parts of it.

"I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and forge from the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race, etc, etc, etc." Good shit.

 

[DFA]

I really enjoy irvine welsh's novels.
He writes in the scottish dialect, so it fucks with your grammar a bit...

 

[dirty_feet]

Don't know if it was mentioned because this is a rather large thread but the Boomers Bible is pretty awesome.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boomer_Bible[/ame]

check. it. OUT!

 

[skiptown]

I read a lot and I read a wide variety of genres, but for traveling I generally prefer books that are humorous fiction or personal essays. Really anything that is a page turner but that are a bit easy to read (like I wouldn't read Thomas Pynchon if I needed to devote half my attention to keeping one eye on my surroundings). My personal favorites for being on the road are Christopher Moore (Lamb, Fluke, The Island of The Sequined Love Nun), David Sedaris (Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, When You Are Engulfed in Flames etc.), Piers Anothony (The Xanth series), Mark Childress (Long Gone). I'm also a little embarrassed to admit I am totally obsessed with the young adult vampire series called Twilight. In the Twilight series these books are pretty long for fiction aimed at teens (I think they averaged out to about 500 pages each roughly, give or take a hundred) and I seriously couldn't put them down. Very entertaining. Also a book called Booneville (can't remember the author). Also Eric Lyle's On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City. zines since they are light weight.

When I'm at home or can dedicate my full concentration to my book I really enjoy the aforementioned Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins or drier non fiction and biography kind of stuff. And cookbooks.

 

[skiptown]

I read a lot and I read a wide variety of genres, but for traveling I generally prefer books that are humorous fiction or personal essays. Really anything that is a page turner but that are a bit easy to read (like I wouldn't read Thomas Pynchon if I needed to devote half my attention to keeping one eye on my surroundings). My personal favorites for being on the road are Christopher Moore (Lamb, Fluke, The Island of The Sequined Love Nun), David Sedaris (Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, When You Are Engulfed in Flames etc.), Piers Anothony (The Xanth series), Mark Childress (Long Gone). I'm also a little embarrassed to admit I am totally obsessed with the young adult vampire series called Twilight. In the Twilight series these books are pretty long for fiction aimed at teens (I think they averaged out to about 500 pages each roughly, give or take a hundred) and I seriously couldn't put them down. Very entertaining. Also a book called Booneville (can't remember the author). Also Eric Lyle's On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City. zines since they are light weight.

When I'm at home or can dedicate my full concentration to my book I really enjoy the aforementioned Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins or drier non fiction and biography kind of stuff. And cookbooks.

 

[urse]

some good ones:

education of a wandering man, louis l'amour. - not his usual western, but a memoir of his traveling (ships, freights, etc) and how he learned through reading and observing

the old patagonian express, paul theroux. rides passenger trains from the united states all the way down to patagonia.

walden, henry david thoreau. a classic and quite insightful, at least i think so.

chronicles - volume one, bob dylan. whether or not you're into his music, his observations on the people he has met through the years and his life are really interesting

hobo, eddy joe cotton. fun and quick

if you're into bike travel at all there is:

catfish and mandala, andrew x. pham - he rides all through vietnam and has some crazy experiences while paralleling that trip with his life growing up and then leaving vietnam

two wheels north, forgot who wrote it. published by oregon state university, true story about two fellas in 1909 who take off from santa rosa, ca on their bikes and ride to seattle for a big expo.

so yeah, those are a few i might suggest...

-foothill

walden is a great book.

 

[urse]

also, diary of a drug fiend by aleister crowley. i just got done reading child 44 by tom rob smith. it was okay, a little too much of a love story for my tastes. it was about communism and the soviet union, which i find interesting.

 

[Geoff]

danvan wrote:


not posi. if there is any type of store that you shouldn't steal from, but should support, it's bookstores. yes they may be major corperations but all the major bookstore chains (borders, barns n nobles, waldenbooks) are all great companies. they treat thier employees very well, they offer nothing but the best things in the world, and they don't exploit anyone in the process. i don't care how much punk credit i lose by supporting a major corperation, I love borders and i'll do what i can to support them. same thing for barnes and noble.

Can't say I completely agree. Books there are way too expensive and i just can't afford to buy books for that price, that's why I steal. But by charging such high prices it deprives those without money to the beauties and power of knowledge.

Oh and if you're looking for things to read try anything by Jack Kerouac. You should also read The Diary of Anne Frank if you haven't yet, Also To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorites. And Borderlands/La Frontera by GLoria Anzaldua (she's a radical Lesbian Chicana Feminist writer and she's fucking amazing) that's it for now.

 

[Geoff]

I think that for traveling, the longer the book is, the better. In that case I would have to go with Ellison's Invisible Man. That book fucking rocks. Otherwise, I'm a fan of poetry and Toni Morrison. And I just realized that probably the best book to be around for an extended period of time, if one can handle it, would be Joyce's Ulysses. It'll take me a lifetime and I still won't properly understand it.

And Arrow, if you liked Castenada, you should look into Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Mind (or something like that). He deals more with drugs than anything else, but his theories are like Castenadas, and it's a quick read. He's also kind of a conspiracy theorist, if you like that sort of thing.

Breaking open the head by daniel pinchbeck. Stole that one from Barnes and Noble. lol. Great book. He retells of his psychedelic experiences during the rituals he went through with different tribes.

 

[permentaly damaged]

Naked Lunch br william burroughs is a pretty interesting read, doesnt make a whole lot of sense the first few times you read it if at all.

im reading the Primal Screamer by Nick Blinko right now which is pretty cool also.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a classic and a must read.

 

[Spinelli]

I finished "Snuff" not too long ago, his books are fucked up, Chuck Palahniuk check him out!