Posted by Jordan
Our plight:
We're going on a long road trip at the end of April.
Our destination:
We're headed North! We're driving our way through Southern Idaho, cutting a corner accross Wyoming, navigating through Montana, and then venturing across the vast, featureless plains East of the Rockies... all the way to the distant city of Bismarck, North Dakota. It's about 14 hours straight driving time.
The reason:
I have a dear friend from Russia that is emigrating to the United States and getting married there on the 25th of April!
An interesting side note:
It is ironic that my friend happens to be getting married in North Dakota, because the only other living "Knutson" relatives I have on this earth outside of Moab (other than my Uncle Shawn's family in Idaho) happen to live in North Dakota. My Grandpa Ollie was born in a little town near Bismarck. He and his sister eventually headed south and made their way to Moab, but they left their older brother back at the farm in ND, who still lives there with his posterity close by. We'll be staying with some of them while we're up there.
Our need:
We want to get one...maybe two books on CD to listen to during our 28 total hours of driving. We need some recommendations.
Our taste:
We like a variety of books, to be sure. But for this particular trip, we would like something that:
a) is going to keep us awake. Something with some suspense, maybe some action, whatever.
b) does not contain any elves, wizards, magic, or vampires. I know I just shot down probably every book on the top ten right now.
Jaicee and I recently read the entire Great and Terrible series by Chris Stewart, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I myself have read a handful of the Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler, which is possibly along the lines of what I'm looking for, but I'm up for something new. I've never read the DaVinci Code, (or seen the movie) so I'm thinking about that one.
You know that mood you sometimes get in when you tell your spouse:
"Let's watch a movie," because you're in the mood for a movie. Then spouse says,"What do you want to watch?" And you reply, "Idunno... Something good." Then spouse begins to make some recommendations, but you shoot them down, one after another, because you only really know what you don't want to watch, but you don't know exactly what it is you do want to watch? You know that mood? You've all experienced it, I'm sure. Same thing happens when you want to eat out. Well, that's kinda how I am right now with this book thing. So...
Your turn:
Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. (That includes you, Mariah, and anyone else who is anonymously blog-stalking us.) I promise I won't shoot down anyone's ideas publicly. But I may call you at home and laugh into the phone. (Just kidding, of course.) I have rarely read a book that I didn't like for at least one reason or another. So hit me. What do you recommend?
.
13 comments:
We listened to Secret Life of Bees while driving to California for our honeymoon. That is a great book. And completely wizard/elf/vampire free.
Oh- in addition to my comment of about 5 seconds ago, I also recommend Angels and Demons, kind of the "prequel" to DaVinci Code- Dan Brown wrote it before DaVinci Code, but it didn't get much attention until after DaVinci made it's big splash. It is being made into a movie too.
You'll probably go with those two- Angels and Demons and the DaVinci Code...but I have heard of this series where the books are called "The Uglies", "The Pretties", "The Specials" etc...and everyone that I know who've read them say their great so I've been meaning to read them. If you read them, you could tell me their great too and then I'd really get on it. :)
Have either of you read any of Clair M Poulson's books? If you haven't, maybe one of those...just a suggestion. I love them because A) He is an LDS author so there is no extra unnecessary language B) They are REALLY good and full of suspense. Ones I like: Mirror Image, Evidence, Cover Up...those are just a few of my favorites! :o)
THIS IS GREAT!! KEEP 'EM COMING!!!
Hi! Tell Yulia I love her and congratulations! I am so envious you get to go to her wedding. However, I don't really envy the drive. I love recommending books, so here are some listenables - Cheaper by the Dozen (it is much better than the movie and very different), Idiot (although this is a serious book and probably better to read), any Mark Twain, Pride and Prejudice (Jordan, if you have never read this wonderful book, now is your chance. It is very suspenseful.) As a little side note - I find listening to a book with bad language is much different than reading the same book. When you read it you can just skip over it, but you can't when you listen to it. So, Hemingway, for example, unless listen to the Old Man and the Sea, I would stay away from :) Enjoy your drive!
I would love to help you out, bro, and make a suggestion but you know how I hate books and reading. Plus I am too redneck and uncultured to make a suggestion to someone with such a fine taste literature. Besides, the only books I have read in the last couple of years are service manuals. I'm sure you wouldn't want to listen to that on CD. "After lubricating the outer bearing install it into the race and install the hub on the axle housing. Then, install the nut and torque to 200 foot pounds, spinning the hub to insure the bearing is seated in the race..." Boring! I did watch the DaVinci code and thoroughly enjoyed it. So Im sure the book would be a good choice. As for Sarah, she is reading books on motherhood which you already know about. So she cant help you either.
Hey guys! Sara Cantrell chiming in...I'd recommend "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffett! :) Honestly its a great book, fun with a bit of excitement too.
"Tully Mars, a 40-ish ex-cowboy turned guide at the Lost Boys Fishing Lodge island resort, undertakes various sojourns around the Caribbean, to Mayan ruins, a jungle safari camp, a spring break bacchanal in Belize. Nothing much happens—"That day, we spent the rest of the daylight hours on the shallow waters of Ascension Bay and the lagoon amid incredible natural beauty unlike anything I had ever seen before" is about as busy as it gets—except that Tully meets a parade of colorful natives and expatriates, including a Mayan medicine man, a British commando and a 103-year-old woman who skippers a sailing schooner and wants to restore a historic lighthouse on Cayo Loco, the titular island." ~ From Amazon.com
Hmmm... I'm with Trevor at this point. The only thing I've been reading...ever... is textbooks, but mine just happen to be in the realm of programming, which is probably even worse than service manuals since programming languages aren't even spoken languages. "for left parenthesis int count equals zero semicolon count less than or equal to one-hundred semicolon count plus plus right parenthesis left curly brace return console dot Write left parenthesis count right parenthesis semicolon return right curly brace" And that, ladies and gentleman, is how to count from 0 to 100 in less than 1 nanosecond. But I digress...
You should see if you can find Dave Berry on CD!!!
One book that I would recommend (if you haven't already read it) is "Fire of the Covenant" by Gerald N. Lund. It's the story of the Willie and Martin handcart companies--fact with some fiction mixed in to provide the story line. It's probably my favorite book I've ever read. I don't know, however, if it is a book on tape. It's a good one though.
I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in any of the other books I've read.
Hey, Now you know me and books, so I'd love to post my advice for this one. Brace yourself it might get long. As for Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code, I would highly reccommend both books. They were written in that order but don't necessarily need to be read that way. One warning about Angels and Demons, it has a few parts that get a little gory. I would also recommend Jurassic Park, although there is some language so it might not be the best to listen to. You absolutely can't go wrong with The Princess Bride. If you've never read it, it should definately be on your list. I also enjoy reading things by John Grisham. Levi and I recently listened to I Am Legend. It has some mild swearing, but the story was very interesting. Levi said it was better than the movie. Never having seen the movie, I wouldn't know. Another great book is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It was incredibly thought provoking. I guess that's all I can think of off the top of my head. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
I recently finished reading "Jurassic Park" and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was suspenseful and exciting. Although, I would not recommend its sequel "The Lost World." If you havn't read the "Prince Bride," or even if you have it is always a goody. It has fighting and sports, and is not just a kissing book. There is a miracle man and a witch in it though. I've been meaning to read the "Secret Life of Bees," but haven't gotten to it. I have read both the "DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons." I plan on rereading the "DaVinci Code," but prpobaly won't read "Angels and Deoms" again. If I can think of any others I'll let you know.
-Levi-
When Andrew and I travel we listen to The Children of the Promise series by Dean Hughes, they keep us awake and thoroughly entertained. I also reccomend anything by Clair Poulson. Other than that I've only been reading textbooks.
Post a Comment