Hey friends. So we'll be on the road for a long long time, and therefore we are all planning on doing quite a bit of reading. I know I've asked this before in the General Chatter forum, but if anyone has suggestions on good reads, please put them here. A brief synopsis would be nice too. Here's a general idea of what we like:

Joe's reading a book about religious cults right now. Next in line for him is House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, a book about the inner labyrinths of the mind.

Nate's reading a book about a serial killer at the 18something-something World Fair that mimicked Jack the Ripper.

Jon just finished the first Left Behind book. He's into politics and science.

Josh and I are both reading A Short History of Nearly Everything. I like historical fiction/non-fiction and story-teller type stuff. Josh likes non-fiction.

I am WAY into non-fiction, science, history and memoirs. I might have some of the names spelled wrong, as they are not right next to me:

"Stiff" or "Spook" by Mary Roach, about what happens to bodies after you die and disposal options, and then the afterlife, respectively. Both are funny and educational.

"Rats" by Robert Sullivan. About..well, rats. You can get this at pretty much any used bookstore in the world; I see it everywhere.

Anything by Jon Krakauer ("Under the Banner of heaven" about Mormons, "Into Thin Air" about Mount Everest)

Malcolm Gladwell ("The Tipping Point" about trends and "Blink" about unconcious thought)

Brian Greene ("The Elegant Universe" about string theory and reletivity, "Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007", editor- a collection of essays- actually, any of the "best science writing" series is good, except 2005 is a bit lefty)

Oliver Sachs ("The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" or any of his books really, about mental disorders told as stories about specific patients- that one is just the less clinical one)

David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, Augusten Burroughs, David Rakoff, but only their non-fiction. Their fiction is lame. All their non-fiction is good though.

If you are into witty critisism: anything by Chuck Klosterman (especially "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" where he lays out some thoughful and hilarious talk about "Saved By the Bell" and other junk culture) or Martin Amis, who is just smart as shit and kinda mean but I've never read his fiction.

I guess I think essay-type material is best for road trips, since you can do it piecemeal and still enjoy it. Most of the above is essay-ish. I'm also a big fan of the "Mammoth Book of Best New Horror" series if you like short, smart horror stories. That's the only fiction I'll get into here...

Excellent suggestions! Thanks Levi. The Mary Roach, Malcolm Gladwell, and Brian Greene sound like my cup of tea.

Let me also recommend Irving Stone for fictional historical non-fiction. "Lust for Life" is a Van Gogh biography. Brilliantly written, almost as though you can feel Van Gogh's pain. Very uplifting, but sad enough to bring tears to your eyes. Ditto with "The Agony and the Ecstasy," same author, biography of Michelangelo. For fiction, anything by David Foster Wallace; "Infinite Jest" is the best book I've ever read, period. You could probably occupy your entire tour with this book. "The Name of the Rose," by Umberto Eco is also fucking excellent. "Trinity," by Leon Uris is a great "fictional" re-telling of the beginnings of the IRA, and the various Irish-English problems around the turn of the century. For a good WWII english spy novel, check out anything by Ken Follett. And there's always "The Illuminatus! Trilogy," by Robert Shea and Robert Wilson. A mind fuck of the highest order. Speaking of mind fuck-y, check out the "the Satanic Verses," by Salman Rushdie. "Life of Pi," by Yann Martel is cool in a hallucinatory, existential sort of way. If you need some poetry, pick up some e.e. cummings.

Nice. Thanks Mike! I'll definitely check out those Irving Stone books. Is Life Of Pi the basis of the indie low-budget flick, "Pi"? That's one of my favorite movies.

You're welcome! Life of Pi is a story about a young kid whose circus-owning family's ship sinks and Pi, the boy, gets into a life boat with a zebra and a Bengal tiger. So, no, not the Darren Arnofsky movie. But yes, one of my favorite movies, Pi.

whoa. Circuses and life boats! That's my kind of story.

I don't know if you like war-history stuff but the book "Flags of our Fathers" will absolutely blow you away.

And Of course you should probably arm yourself with a bunch of Rahl Dahl(sp?)! James and the Giant Peach!

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war-history stuff

"The Killer Angels," by Michael Shaara. "Fictional" account of the Battle of Gettysburg from various general's perspectives.

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"The Killer Angels," by Michael Shaara.

Couldn't get into that one... maybe cause it was required reading for my history class but I don't know maybe it's just me.

Also if you want to be scared to death by a non-fiction book read "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. I've never been so terrified by a book in my whole life.

And "A Child Called It" will absolutely change your view of life.