grimmdogg23's WunderBlog

Good one :)I'll come back and answer when the boss stops hovering. I almost did a good book blog... I think it come's from reading Melt's blog :)

I definitely recommend working your way through all of Hemingway's books- if you want something you really shouldn't read at work (eyebrow raised seductively) read Hemingway's Garden of Eden.

Aside from that, Steinbeck, Kerouac, Wolfe... lots of good authors that'll make time fly by.

Hey gypsy, you modified that post! =) Would definitely support a book blog if you started one!

Uh OH! Melt's getting frisky ;)

Uh OH! Melt's getting frisky ;)

Not hardly! I know it's grimm and gypsy sittin' in a tree! =D

Ohh mann grimm that was baddd... we need to do a "women 101 blog" wherein rule number 1 is, "there is ONLY ONE woman in the universe and that is the woman you are talking to right now, whoever that woman happens to be" lol

Time Life True Crime book series is awesome..They have serial killers, the mafia, murders..all real cases as well as FBI profiles..It is facinating..and a little disturbing. There is one series on John Wayne Gacey, Jeffery Dahmer, The UF murders(I think the guys name was Rollings?)and Ted Bundy..an interseting read..but not for the faint of heart as the descriptions are gory and as I mentioned, disturbing.

PB - You're like me. I LOVE true crime. I just bought The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes.

One of the best books I've ever read was Mindhunter. It's by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker.

I love

1) Histories on Wall Street and major transactions: "Barbarians at the Gate", "Den of Thieves", "Predators Ball"...

2) Histories on the Atomic Bomb "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and "American Prometheus"

3) "Unveiling the Sahara"

One of my favorite books is a fictional book based upon fact... LOL or is it fact based upon fiction??? LOL

Shantaram
by: Gregory David Roberts

Its a big book with a lot of emotions played throughout the story. I feel in love with the characters, the story and finished the book wanting more!!!!

Here are some info: (from authors website)

Born June, 1952, Melbourne, Australia

* Founder member, Anarchist People’s Liberation Army, 1969

* Union activist, Builders Labourers Federation, 1972

* Founder member, Australian Independence Movement, United Front Against Fascism, 1973

* Student Leader, Melbourne University, occupation of university Council Chambers, 1974

* Student Leader, Black Week Aboriginal Activism Movement, 1975

* Marriage break-up, loss of daughter in custody dispute, beginning of heroin addiction, 1976

* Armed robberies with toy pistol to support heroin habit, end year 1977

* Capture and imprisonment, 1978; Escape from Maximum Security Pentridge prison, 1980

* Helped by motorcycle gang, BLF Union, & revolutionaries to escape to New Zealand, 1980

* Fight conservation campaign to save sacred Maori mountain, Mount Maungahiha, 1981

* Escape from custody (twice) in New Zealand, end 1981

* Arrive in India, beginning 1982


FROM 1982 to 1990

* Six months in remote Maharashtrian village, learn to speak Marathi language

* Live in Bombay slum, establish and operate free clinic for slum dwellers

* Imprisoned in India for 4 months

* Recruited by Bombay mafia, training in currency crime, gold smuggling, passports

* Gunrunning operation to unit of mujaheddin fighters in Afghanistan

* Wounded in action, evacuated to Pakistan, recover and return to Bombay

* Appointed controller mafia forgery unit, write short stories, published in popular series

* Passport smuggler to Nigeria, Zaire, Iraq, Iran, Mauritius, Sri Lanka

* Establish casting agency for foreign extras in Bollywood movies, act in movies

* Arrive in Germany, work as singer, establish rock band, receive recording contract

* Manhunt by European police, escape custody in Italy & Switzerland, escape to India

* Act in Bollywood movies & TV dramas, establish travel agency in Bombay

* Passport smuggling to Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Nigeria, Zaire, Mauritius, etc.

* Break with Bombay mafia council, freelance drug smuggling missions to Europe


FROM 1990 to 2004
* Captured Frankfurt, 1990, imprisoned in Preungesheim prison with terrorists, 1990-91

* Teach myself to read & write German, win concessions, extradited to Australia, end 1991

* 2 years solitary confinement, 4 years mainstream prison in Australia, begin novel, 1991-97

* Develop philosophical and cosmoogical model, "Resolution Theory"

* Released from prison, begin novel 1997, end parole 2002

* Sell rights Shantaram, in USA (St. Martin’s Press) & UK (TimeWarner Books UK)

* Publish Australian edition of novel, Shantaram, August, 2003

* Tour Australia, New Zealand, Europe, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong during 2004

* Sell movie rights to Johnny Depp, Brad Grey, Graham King, Warner Brothers, October 2004

* Sell Italian Translation rights to Neri Pozza, October 2004

* Begin writing screenplay for movie version of Shantaram, October 2004

Also, loved reading Ayn Rand ~
Atlas Shrugged
Fountainhead

Gosh,

I am the wrong person to ask about books or to respond! I have had a love affair with literature since I was 4 years old. I have a library in my house w/ at least 2000 books! Yep, read them all! Have every kind of genre you can imagine... Some books I have read several times...

In fact... I may have to re-read Shantaram! It was a fantastic book.

One more post:

More about Shantaram
A heroin addict incarcerated for a robbery escapes prison and reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of Bombay; his ties to the crime underworld there lead him to Afghanistan, where he partners with a mob boss locked in a battle with Russian criminals. Written by Anonymous

Lindsay arrives in Mumbai after escaping from an Australian prison where he was serving a 19-year sentence for armed robberies that had fed his drug habit. In Mumbai, he meets Prabhakar who takes him to his native village where the locals name him Shantaram and teach him Marathi. Lindsay relaunches his criminal career as Shantaram in the city's notorious underworld. Written by Abzee

Shantaram is a semi-autobiographical story about an Australian heroin addict who escapes from prison and arrives in Bombay (Mumbai) with a fake passport. He assumes a new name, Lindsay There he meets Prabaker, a happy-go-lucky taxi driver. After he is robbed of all his money he moves from a hotel to the slums where Prabaker lives. In the slums he finds peace by opening a free-clinic. In search of more medicine he comes across a Mumbia Don (mafia boss) who helps Lindsay with his clinic and recruits him as a money launderer and passport foregoer. Lindsay falls in love with India while finding love, redemption, a purpose and heartbreak. He spends time in slums, company of mafia bosses, drug dens and in a tiny Indian village where he gains the name Shantaram. Written by DEEP

Shantaram is a movie that is based on the novel written by Gregory David Roberts. The plot deals with the story of an Australian convict Lindsay who escapes from prison Down Under and goes to India. In India he lives in the slums of Mumbai where he gets involved with the underworld and pretends to be a doctor. The story deals with the transition that Lindsay goes through, from Australia to India and ultimately ending up fighting alongside the insurgents in Afghanistan against Russia. The film is based on a true story of the author (Gregory David Roberts) himself. Written by Rohan Pawar

Shantaram is the story of an Australian character named Lindsay (Lin). Sentenced to a long, harsh prison term after his personal life spirals out of control, he escapes and makes his way to Bombay (Mumbai). Befriended by a curious character named Prabaker, by a twist of fate Lin ends up living in Prabaker's slum. Lin immerses himself in the colourful life of Mumbai and his friends from the slum, battling fires, monsoons and ultimately setting up a free medical clinic in an attemtp to make up for past transgressions. Eventually, Khader Khan, a Mumbai mafia chief takes Lin under his wing. In Lin's mind Khader takes on the role of loving father Lin never had. Their association leads Lin from Love to wretched prison life, freedom to gun running in Afghanistan and to realizations of treachery ultimately his own inner salvation. Written by MichaelGTheOne

Montel williams.....climbing hiher was a very good read

Alright….A few of my favorite’s they’re all fiction, not sure they’ll be your cup of tea (by the way I am an atrocious speller and can’t check authors names at work so please excuse any butchered names : ))
Song of Solomon- Tony Morrison
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Les Miserables- Victor Hugo
I love most anything by Tom Robins.. favorite is Another Roadside attraction
I also love most anything by Maya Angelou
Non-fiction (I think) that I have read recently and enjoyed
A Mighty Heart- Marian Pearl
Stolen Voices (this is a collection of diaries of children during different wars)
Into the wild (not sure who wrote it – not my favorite writing style but I liked the story)