best books you read in 2006

[sidekick]

okay, so it's a bit early, but we can keep adding to the list.

what are some of the best books that you read this last year? publishing date doesn't matter.

my list:

a million little pieces by james frey
in a sunburned country by bill bryson
crime and punishment by fyodor dostoevsky
jpod by douglas coupland
slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut
the collected works of billy the kid by michael ondaatje
a complicated kindness by miriam toews
running with scissors by augustun burroughs
dark tower 7 by stephen king
the time traveler's wife by audrey niffenberger
wonder boys by michael chabon
che: a revolutionary life by Jon Lee Anderson

[tiedye]

The Obsidian Trilogy -- Mercedes Lackey (rekindled my old love for fantasy)

other than those three, I'm not sure. I know there were more.

[decypher]

Originally Posted by sidekick

jpod by douglas coupland

That was a good book. Some others i read this year are,
Noam Chomsky - failed states
Helena blavatsky - Isis unveiled
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations
Aldous Huxley - Brave new world

I started Huxley's - perennial philosophy but haven't finished because i'm currently reading Orwell's 1984. I also just picked up A language older than words, derrick jensen

[sidekick]

brave new world is good. i didn't read it for the longest time, because every copy that i found in the used bookstores had this creepy picture of aldous huxley as the back cover and i knew that i wouldn't be able to sit there and enjoy his book with him staring at me the whole time.

[kichu]

Originally Posted by sidekick

...a million little pieces by james frey...

So it's actually worth the read?

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by kichu

So it's actually worth the read?

i liked it. definitly not perfect, but it was cool to read a book that was written in a way i had never seen a book written before. i think the story is good, but you have to put aside all that crap that happened about OHMYGODITSNOTALLTRUE! and oprah.

has some slow parts, the repetition can get a little annoying at times, but it's written in a really raw and powerful way and that's why i liked it.

[.anya]

The Razor's Edge - W.S. Maugham
Jpod - D. Coupland
Vinly Cafe Diaries - S. Maclean
The Rebel Sell - (can't remember they guys' names off the top of my head)
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs - C. Klosterman
also Charles Taylor's essay on Atomism

[Grapes]

I read A Million Little Pieces in what was technically 2005, so I can't count it. Also, OMIGODIT'SALLUNTRUE!

Douglas Copeland's "Girlfriend in a Coma"

Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"

Romeo Dallaire "Shake Hands with the Devil"

A sci-fi book with an author I can't remember... called "To Your Scattered Bodies Go", which was reeeally trippy and engaging (thanks gnosis!)

Another author I can't remember.. story called "Carter Beats the Devil", about a Houdini-era magician. I got 2/3 of the way through it before I had to leave it behind :(

Robert freakin' Evans' "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

I think there's more, but I cannae remember.

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by .anya

The Rebel Sell - (can't remember they guys' names off the top of my head)
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs - C. Klosterman

those are great books. joseph heath and andrew potter wrote 'rebel sell'. i don't agree with everything in that book, but it's a good critical look at the counterculture movement.

[jono]

Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram

It's a long one but I got hooked.

[NathanHall]

Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert
Trainspotting - Irvine Wells
Sperm Wars - Robin Baker
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Game - Neil Strauss

All really great in their own way...

[baby-phat]

I really didn't read much this year.. But I did enjoy Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. :)

[frontline]

My friend leonard- James Frey
The sequel to 'A Millon Little Pieces' Is also awesome.

[Grapes]

Originally Posted by Grapes

I think there's more, but I cannae remember.

Now I remember!

I read a book called "The Meaning of Everything", about the creation of the Oxford Dictionary. Which took over 70 goddamn years. Reeeally fascinating material presented in an engaging style. Highly recommended.

[miss.myra]

I really liked this book, it's a good read for females and the people who seek to understand them.

[ebbomega]

Stuff I trudged through this year.

Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
Good book, anybody with any kind of a druggie-bullshit detector can tell this guy's exagerrating (why am I not surprised that Oprah's not exactly equipped with one of those....). Definitely overrated though, and was worth the media blitz it caused and little else.

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
So far my favorite of the series aside from the original. If you liked Dune I highly recommend continuing the series until at least this point.

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsch
I think my Scottish accent improved just by reading this book. Goddamn brilliant. As much as I adore him as an actor, Ewan McGregor just does not do the character of Renton justice. Maybe because he's never been a smackhead? I dunno. But there's just something missing from the movie. That being said, Robert Carlyle and Johnny Lee Miller still fall as perfect casting as far as I'm concerned. One story that humanizes Begbie I found intensely cool.

Out of those three, I'd have to pick Trainspotting as my favorite. What I'd like to add is DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU INTEND TO FINISH IT. Simply because the first chapter, in and of itself, makes junk almost sound attractive.

[prozac]

Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins

Beautiful language, interesting tidbits, gorgeous rants on life and bizarre situations. I was sad when it was over.

[frogprincess]

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls

[Oscar Da Grouc]

The Game - Neil Strauss
Eragon - Christopher paolini
"300" - Frank miller(ya, its more a "graphic novel", but it was good)

[socool]

Sean Wilsey: Oh the Glory of it all
Zadie Smith: On Beauty
Eden Robinson: Monkey Beach
David Foster Wallace: Consider the Lobster
Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore
David Foster Wallace: Infinite Jest
Jeff Noon: Nymphomation
DBC Pierre: Ludmila's Broken English
Mark Haddon: A Spot of Bother