My apologies to those who run this site, but the Forum Topic on books to read is deader than Kelsey's Nuts. I can't even find an entry for 2013!
Since I know my fellow CyberBears have given me some great finds in the past, I hope to stimulate some suggestions on a part of this website that people actually use.
Books I have read in the past year that others may find interesting include:
1. Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone - about the world of magicians.
2. Mannerheim by Jonathan Clements - about the Marshal of Finland and his fascinating life. Who else has run the gamut of people he has? He met the Dalai Lama when he was a spy for the Russian Army in this youth and the surprise guest at his 70th birthday party was Adolf Hitler!
3. The Generals by Thomas Ricks - every book by this author is great.
4. The ExPats by Chris Pavone - mystery novel.
5. Embers of War by Fredrik Logevall - long but worthwhile book on the French IndoChina war.
6. King's Counsel by Jack O'Connell - CIA guy who was an advisor to King Hussein of Jordan.

The entire Game of Thrones series.

One of my favorite books is The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson. It's historical fiction, but is meticulously researched by the author.

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins - an apolitical, on-the-ground look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For me, a mesmerizing read.

50 Shades of Gray

:cheer:Montyykes:beer:

I'll give 3 light summer reads:

1. The Last Best League by Jim Collins
About the Cape Cod League

2. A Walk in the Woods by Bryson
Hilarious as the author walks the App. Trail

3. Big Trouble Dave Barry
Read it many years ago. Funny! Don't let the movie scare you away if anyone actually saw it.

... Jasper Fforde:

http://www.jasperfforde.com/index2.html

Anything by Murakami.

89Bear;842107494 said:

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I'll give 3 light summer reads:

1. The Last Best League by Jim Collins
About the Cape Cod League

2. A Walk in the Woods by Bryson
Hilarious as the author walks the App. Trail

3. Big Trouble Dave Barry
Read it many years ago. Funny! Don't let the movie scare you away if anyone actually saw it.

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I've read a walk in the woods 3 times, better each time, a must for a hiker and anyone who likes dry humor.

World War Z is an awesome read, especially because of the Brad Pitt abomination coming out. The audiobook is even better, surprisingly.

I suggest it for anyone (even non zombie peoples).

hicalibear - I agree - it was very good.

The Wild Trees by Richard Preston - narrative nonfiction about the people who climbed/climb the giant redwoods and the ecosystems they found

Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage by Jeffrey Frank - reading it now, interesting (so far - about 1/3 through) history of the strained relationship between Eisenhower and Nixon. Disclaimer: I always found Nixon to be one of the most interesting tragic (tragicomic?) figures in American political history, so I'm predisposed to the subject matter.

"A Soldier of the Great War" by Mark Helperin. Great book! Just get past first 80 pages and you will be forever enthralled.

89Bear;842107494 said:

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2. A Walk in the Woods by Bryson
Hilarious as the author walks the App. Trail

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I have to agree also- A Walk In The Woods is great- I'm overdue for a rereading.

Fiction favorites

"The Art of Fielding", a baseball novel that is not.

"Canada" by Richard Ford (You either love this guy's writing or not)

"City of Bohane" by Kevin Barry (Surrealistic Irish novel)

"Wolf Hall" by Hillary Mantel

Crime: anything by George Peleconos

Non Fiction

"Travels in Siberia" by Ian Frazier

"Coming into the Country", John McPhee (old but the definitive Alaska work)

"Bloodlands" by Timothy Snyder

Three, Non fiction

1. The Greater Journey by David McCullough
Interesting to read how much France contributed to United States culture in the 19th century.

2. The Patriarch by David Nasaw
JFK's father, Joeseph P. Kennedy, was a cold calculator.

3. Rome and Environs, An Archaeological Guide by Filippo Coarelli
Details the layers you are walking over.

The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy
by Joe McGinniss

The impossible happens and hilarity ensues. Non Fiction.

1) How To Survive The End of the World as we Know it - Rawles

2) Complete Survival Manual - National Geographic

3) SAS Survival Guide - Collins Gem

Yes, it's coming..and no doubt before the Bears get to the Rose Bowl..

Phantomfan;842107523 said:

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World War Z is an awesome read, especially because of the Brad Pitt abomination coming out. The audiobook is even better, surprisingly.

I suggest it for anyone (even non zombie peoples).

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Ha. Read that one. Was stuck in an airport and this was all I could find at the convenience counter (right between the Chapstick and the Twix Bars). I actually wound up really enjoying it. The line about how one soldier found himself in the army fighting zombies with a guy he was sure was Michael Stipe even though he'd never admit it struck me as hysterical.

Phantomfan;842107523 said:

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World War Z is an awesome read, especially because of the Brad Pitt abomination coming out. The audiobook is even better, surprisingly.

I suggest it for anyone (even non zombie peoples).

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The thing about this book is that every event that occurred has historically happened in world events, just not by zombies.

**** my dad says...

By Justin Halpern

Nothing substantive, but some of the best one liners. Even my wife will crack up when I force feed her the stuff.

Re Ike and DIck, the author spoke about his book for an hour on CSPAN 2's Booknotes. It did sound very interesting.

StayGold;842107631 said:

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In my opinion, the last two books of the series have been much weaker and far too bloated than the first 3

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First three Game of Thrones were amazing and in many ways unlike any piece of fiction I'd ever read (thinking here of how Martin dealt with principal viewpoint characters). Fourth book was terrible - he'd clearly run out of things to say. But a Dance with Dragons was a treat - Martin seemed re-energized by the long hiatus. Book was engaging and series was interesting again. Can"t wait for the next installment.

Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden. Chronicles the rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar by same author as Black Hawk Down. I knew the outcome before reading it, yet was completely encapsulated by the development of the story. Great leisure reading.

GB54;842107554 said:

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Fiction favorites

"The Art of Fielding", a baseball novel that is not.

"Canada" by Richard Ford (You either love this guy's writing or not)

"City of Bohane" by Kevin Barry (Surrealistic Irish novel)

"Wolf Hall" by Hillary Mantel

Crime: anything by George Peleconos

Non Fiction

"Travels in Siberia" by Ian Frazier

"Coming into the Country", John McPhee (old but the definitive Alaska work)

"Bloodlands" by Timothy Snyder

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GB54, to add to your John McPhee collection,

"Basin and Range" all about the prospecting and early history of Nevada's basin and ranges. It's 25-30 years old but still a good read.

American Tabloid by James Ellroy

Go!Bears;842107579 said:

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The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy
by Joe McGinniss

The impossible happens and hilarity ensues. Non Fiction.

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Agree. Absolutely outstanding!!!!!

Seeing as how it's Easter, how about the Bible?

NYCalBear - Agree on Mark Bowden - he has had lots of great books. One about guys who found a mailbag of cash which fell off a truck in Philly (when he worked for the paper). Doctor dealer (about a dental student at Penn) was also very interesting. He does pick great topics.

chitownbear;842107729 said:

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This is a great book, but it is non-fiction. I don't understand why you think otherwise.

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We may be talking linguistics here. Yes, The Devil In The White City can be classified as nonfiction since it's based on completely true events. But it's written in a novelistic style (see Wikipedia description), so I just went with a historical fiction label. But yes, nonfiction is a good genre label for it as well.

Incidentally, I just noticed on the Wiki page that Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights. It's way cool to have a Cal hat wearing star produce a great project like this!

A visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

YuSeeBerkeley;842107716 said:

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Seeing as how it's Easter, how about the Bible?

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Yep, best-selling fiction of all time!!

My reading is much more heavily focused on the entertainment category but for literary fiction "Sea of Poppies" and "River of Smoke" by Amitav Ghosh were excellent. Bernard Cornwell for popular historical fiction (very broad range) and Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus for crime fiction are among my favorites. For others in or near my age group, "The Leisure Seeker" is an engaging yet sobering read.

seems like many here like military/history related books. a historical fiction book I read recently was:

City of Thieves By David Benioff

A story about two Russian teenagers in Leningrad who have been assigned an unusual mission. Books starts fast, and was a page turner for me

Benioff is a young author who has apparently caught fire