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Favorite Five Books of All Time
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Conway
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yukon, the Harry Potter series is great reading ... I agree that the first two books move sort of slow ... Rowling spends a lot of time establishing her characters and setting up her World ... I almost wish she had done it in one large book ... However that changes after book two ... The books get longer and more interesting as she goes along ... My favorite was book four - I bought it at midnight and was done by brunch ... One caution, they do get a bit darker as they go along ...
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Micah Ward
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Conway, Your description of Guns, Germs and Steel reminds me of a quote but I can't remember where I saw it:

"God created all men.....but Mr. Colt and Mr. Winchester made them equal."
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 7:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Micah Ward wrote:
I'm not sure if Gangster is translated to Italian but the other Carcaterra books you mentioned are in English so maybe they are all in both languages.

I noticed the Yukon adventure book on your list and combining it with your user name I wonder if you like books about outdoor adventure? If so, I am reading one now titled No Horizon Is So Far. It is about the first two women to cross Antartica on foot. I've just started it but it looks like it will be fasinating.


you guess right about my username :wink: I love adventure books, especially with dog sledges and I love Alaska (especially now cause here it's very hot) I'd like to go there...
about your current book take me updated... I'm interested
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Conway
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Micah Ward wrote:
Conway, Your description of Guns, Germs and Steel reminds me of a quote but I can't remember where I saw it:

"God created all men.....but Mr. Colt and Mr. Winchester made them equal."


LOL ... I'm familiar with that quote ... And it's pretty accurate when it comes to this book ... Looks at how advanced civilizations like the Incas (for example) who had astronomy and advanced mathematics, etc, etc , were destroyed by "lesser" people ... And how the three items in the title have completely altered the way the world has evolved ...

Very interesting reading .... Course two of my favorite reads are history and sci fi ...
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Conway wrote:
Yukon, the Harry Potter series is great reading ... I agree that the first two books move sort of slow ... Rowling spends a lot of time establishing her characters and setting up her World ... I almost wish she had done it in one large book ... However that changes after book two ... The books get longer and more interesting as she goes along ... My favorite was book four - I bought it at midnight and was done by brunch ... One caution, they do get a bit darker as they go along ...


I'm going to read the other HP books.. all the people said that others are better.
then I'd read the third part of Lord of the rings. The movie is amazing. the soundtrack is very good. My father gave me all trilogy CD for my birthday. there are also some covers with all the characters. I like Saruman, and as positive characters I like Aragorn and Faramir (very fascinating)
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Conway
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For those of you who have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Tolkein also wrote a history of Middle Earth which tells of the things that happened prior to the trilogy (and The Hobbit, another good read) ... It is called the Silmarillion ... You might want to try that too ... Smile
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2004 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have just read The Hobbit. I like it. but Silmarillion my friends say that is a little hard to read, only a true Tolkien fan can read it. A friend of mine read the Tolkien trilogy 17 times and he has got the ring with elphic words and three tatoos about Tolkien world Rolling Eyes
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2004 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

one thing more...
I took in library another adventure book by Danielle Thomas (Wilbur Smith wife) A Far Distant Place. It's another adventure about the sledge race Iditarod
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Paul
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 25, 2004 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I didn't actually get started with the Harry Potter series until the first 4 were out. I picked them up at the Library and read through them all in a week. They are, after all, written for young readers. Because the first 2 were the shortest, I wasn't put off by the duplication.

Conway, a writer you might be interested in is Ben Mezrich. He did a few x-files stories, but made his mark in the biotech fiction area. Lately he has branched out into non-fiction with two books:
1) Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of 6 MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
2)Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions
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Conway
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 25, 2004 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm familiar with Bringing Down the House ... Its on my "want to read" list ... Hadn't heard of the other one though ... Yeah, I do like that kind of stuff ... Have to go to the library this week, will have to see if they are there .... If not, I guess I'll have to go to the bookstore ... Was supposed to take my youngest today, but she fell asleep and is taking a nap !!!! LOL .. .
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Micah Ward
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yukon Quest, I finished the book about the Antartic crossing. I don't know if it is translated into Italian but the name is No Horizon Is So Far by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft. You can also find out about their expedition at www.yourexpedition.com
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Adam
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder how much of a correlation there is between running and reading adventure/fantasy/science fiction. My top five:

1. Hobbit/LOTR - Tolkien
2. Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
3. New and Selected Poems - Mary Oliver
4. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown
5. Conan the Barbarian stories - Robert E. Howard
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks Micah, I'm looking for it.
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“But the most important thing is that you're having fun. It's not about the results or being number one in the world, it's about feeling satisfied and enjoying it.” Carolina Kluft
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YUKON QUEST
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you ever read any books of George R.R. Martin?

you can't stop reading them.
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AM_Runner
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a fun topic..

Lets see well
1. JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy - I don't even think I could count how many times I have read this set... The movies while good missed a lot of great things that the books had in them - so for me they don't do it for me as well as the books - or even if you like the books and enjoy books on tape - go for the BBC production of LOTR (just make sure its the BBC one and NOT The Minds Eye one) it is just amazing - Ian Holm who played Bilbo in the movie versions actually is Frodo in this production. The Silmarillion is good but I agree its a bit tough in parts the trick is to get through the first couple of chapters - Kind of like the so and so begat so and so and such - once you get through that the book is broken out into stories that can stand more or less by themselves so it gets better - Turins story is particularly poignant and tragic...

The rest would be in no particular order
Pillars of the Earth - Follett
Byzantium - Lawhead
Covenant triliogy 1 - Donaldson
HP series - definitely gets better after #2 - my wife and I both bought HP 5 because we could not wait for each othe rto finigsh the book haha

Those are just a few that come to mind - I have tons more but its so hard to come up with a list - Finished The Perfect Mile recently and loved it - for any that hav not read it - do so - very well done
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