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Hopefully there isn't a thread about this yet. I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for some summer reading.

I will admit that I don't read that much during the winter, but during the summer there is nothing I love more than being on the beach with a good book. So share any books that you have read, or are going to read, that you highly recommend. I like all different genres.

The first book I'm going to read this summer is "The Confederacy of Dunces."

Can't wait to hear what you guys recommend.

I read a lot of gay fiction in the past 15 months. A few books I really liked:

"Leaving Myself Behind" by Bart Yates;
"The Home at The End Of the World" by Michael Cunningham;
"Send Me" by Patrick Ryan;
"Dream Boy" by Jim Grimsley
"Bleeding Hearts" by Josh Aterovis;

A few non-gay fiction I have liked in recent years include, "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, "The Emperor's Children" by Claire Messud, "Family Matters" by Rohinton Mistry.

I must admit I rarely read "page turners" like Stephen King or John Grisham, I will let other RJ members comment on mainstream authors.

I recommended this book already on another thread

The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria

http://www.realjock.com/gayforums/194960/

I'm planning on reading Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (same guy that wrote Fight Club.). I read Invisible Monsters and loved it. He's kind of like a more hardcore Kurt Vonnegut.

Caslon4000 saidI recommended this book already on another thread

The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria

I just started reading this one last night. I didn't want to stop. Very good reading.

Another favorite summer read of mine - a book I've read multiple times - is Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson.

The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg. One of the best Southern writers ever.

My summer reading:

Fiction: Clan of the Cave Bear (has cool anthropological aspects)

Non-Fiction: The Omnivore's Dilemma (you'll learn things about our food that you never knew)

XRuggerATX said
Non-Fiction: The Omnivore's Dilemma (you'll learn things about our food that you never knew)

I am waiting on this one and his other book. I hope they do not disappoint.

RunintheCity said[quote][cite]XRuggerATX said[/cite]
Non-Fiction: The Omnivore's Dilemma (you'll learn things about our food that you never knew)

I am waiting on this one and his other book. I hope they do not disappoint.[/quote]

The Botany of Desire is more light and entertaining. A fun read for nonfiction.

I read the whole series of "Clan of the Cave Bear" when i was kid. haha, it was like porn when i was kid.

I am currently reading the third book in the series of Odd Thomas by Dean Kootz. One the best characters in fictions IMHO.

I read that whole series, too. I remember the line, "the sacred mound between her thighs." What a euphemism!

I'm reading Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums. Really interesting autobiography about a young gay boy growing up in Mississippi.

I have a couple...I most are politically, crime or money based shockingly enough haha...

-Naked Republicans
-Relentless Pursuit
-Exposed
-From the sandbox to the corner office - lessons learned on the way to the top

etc...

I'm just about finished reading "How I Paid for College" by Marc Acito. It's quite entertaining. "Blind Fall" by Christopher Rice is next. I recommend anything by Tom Robbins, especially his earlier novels. I love Virginia Wolff, too, although it can take a few pages to get into the rhythm of her writing.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling

Killing Rommel - Steven Pressfield

- A look at a guy who you might call the last honorable warrior.

"Omnivore's Dilemma" is a fantastic book, one of my favorites. I'm currently also reading:

Rushdie's "Enchantress of Florence"
DeLillo's "Underworld"
"Alice Waters & Chez Panisse"

I'm on book four of the Earth Chronicles by Zecharia Sitchin. Check 'em out.

I'll be reading some Don Miguel Ruiz, Earnest Holmes, Rumi and Hafiz. I'm also re-reading the Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, starting Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel's Scion and maybe some Star Trek novels if David Mack or Keith R.A. De Candido put out something new. I might pick up Caslon's recommendation of The Post-American World, but then again, I tend to avoid reality when at all possible.

Um, I have to read about a book a day for school (so I've read quite a bit for someone my age).

Hands down, the best gay lit book I've ever read (and trust me, they're hard pressed to find) is called A Visitation of Spirits

It's out of print now, but if you can find it, it will make your heart stop.

I promise.

[quote][cite]XRuggerATX said[/cite]My summer reading:

Fiction: Clan of the Cave Bear (has cool anthropological aspects)

Ha Darryl Hannah's best movie because she doesn't utter a word!!!!!!!!!!

GLBT Fiction

The Forgotten Ones - Douglas Ferguson

Boy meets Boy by David Levithan

Talk - Kathe Koja

The straight road to Kylie - Nico Medina


GLBT Non-ficiton

Queering Teen Culture- Jeffery P. Dennis

Chasing Adonis: Gay Men and the pursuit of perfection - Tim Berling

The Kid - Dan Savage



Fantasy

Brightly burning - Mercedes Lackey

The Magic Circle Quartet - Tamora Pierce

Hero - Perry Moore (this one is about a gay Superhero)( he also directed the narnia movies)


Fiction

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

Executive Orders - Tom Clancy

Link to Alexandria - Steve Berry


Non-fiction

Dispatched form the Global Village - Derek Evans

Unmarketable - Anne Moore

Change the World - Bornstein

XRuggerATX saidMy summer reading:

Fiction: Clan of the Cave Bear (has cool anthropological aspects)

Oh my god, I can't believe someone mentioned Jean Auel! LOL

You might also like the other books in the Earth's Children series. I've read The Clan of The Cave Bear, The Valley of the Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, and The Plains of Passage.

I still haven't read The Shelters of Stone though.

And yeah, it's very well researched, a fascinating tour of prehistoric culture, though packaged as a romance. Certain theories though like how the myth of centaurs originated, the disappearance of the Neanderthals (called 'Flatheads' in the books), taming of certain animals, the start of industries like the atlatl (spear-thrower), flint 'firestones', dyeing, boats, etc.

n8dagrtI read the whole series of "Clan of the Cave Bear" when i was kid. haha, it was like porn when i was kid.

Haha. Yeah. Jondalar was like... porn perfection!

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My suggestion for the OP:

The Descent by Jeff Long



A really fascinating fictional work that tries to explain the origin of demons in human mythology. Very very disturbing and creepily probable.

My favorite thing on it was the depiction of Satan/God as the mind-transferring (possession) original soul. The oldest soul who started the first civilization (and it wasn't of humans). I won't spoil it. LOL Fave scene was the discovery of a female 'demoness' who survived by eating the life-supported bodies of elderly patients in the basement of a corrupt institution (a la Coma).

Here's the official summary:

In Tibet, while guiding trekkers to a holy mountain, Ike Crockett discovers a bottomless cave. When his lover disappears, Ike pursues her into the depths of the earth. . . . In a leper colony bordering the Kalahari Desert, a nun and linguist named Ali von Schade unearths evidence of a proto-human species and a deity called Older-than-Old. . . . In Bosnia, Major Elias Branch crash-lands his gunship near a mass grave and is swarmed by pale cannibals terrified of light. . . .

So begins mankind's realization that the underworld is a vast geological labyrinth riddling the continents and seabeds, one inhabited by brutish creatures who resemble the devils and gargoyles of legend. With all of Hell's precious resources and territories to be won, a global race ensues. Nations, armies, religions, and industries rush to colonize and exploit the subterranean frontier.

A scientific expedition is launched westward to explore beneath the Pacific Ocean floor, both to catalog the riches there and to learn how life could develop in the sunless abyss. Is there a natural explanation, as the scientists hope? Or is there a true supernatural basis? Are the "demons" part of our evolutionary family tree? Is their enigmatic leader merely a freak genius, or could he be the legendary Satan?

Fathom by fathom, Ike guides the expedition -- and Ali -- deeper into the deadly stone wilderness. In the dark underground, as humanity falls away from them, the scientists and mercenaries find themselves prey not only to the savage creatures, but to their own treachery, mutiny, and greed. Meanwhile, on the surface, a band of aged scholars scours archaeological digs, museums, artifacts, and rare texts for clues to Satan's existence. Is he lurking in wait for the expedition, or is he roaming the earth? Or is he dead? One thing is certain: miles inside the earth, evil is very much alive.

I hope I can grab his new book Deeper, its sequel soon.