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I'm looking into ereaders for one purpose and one purpose only: to read PDFs (or docs) of my friends' unpublished novels. I have a secondhand Nook and I hate it. It's also balls at PDFs, completely destroying the formatting. Pipes suggested a Kobo, does anyone have experience how PDFs look on that? Thanks in advance
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Nov 28, 2015 03:21
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PDFs are pretty hard to mechanically reformat sanely, which means if you have a 7-8" tablet you tend to get a choice between mangled, unreadable, or panning around a zoomed in page. I'm not aware of any of the dedicated e-reader devices that do pdfs particularly well. On a 10" tablet you start to be able to read 'em without reformatting if your eyesight is decent. MuPDF is a really fast no-frills PDF reader for Android that tends to render very well.
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Nov 29, 2015 02:48
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Looking for some recommendations. Thought the Mitch Rapp series was great, Jack Reacher was 25% cool, 75% boring. Any other action spy mystery series that are similar?
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Nov 29, 2015 08:37
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:Looking for some recommendations. Stephen Hunter has written some top tier man fic. Try The Day Before Midnight, Point of Impact or Dirty White Boys (seriously, is there a thriller with a better opening paragraph than Dirty White Boys?).
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Nov 29, 2015 08:54
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ebooks are overrated anyway
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Nov 29, 2015 09:15
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High Warlord Zog posted:Stephen Hunter has written some top tier man fic. Try The Day Before Midnight, Point of Impact or Dirty White Boys (seriously, is there a thriller with a better opening paragraph than Dirty White Boys?). I will check these out. Thanks! e: there is a character in The Day Before Midnight named Col Dick Puller. Instant buy. Henrik Zetterberg fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Nov 29, 2015 |
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Nov 29, 2015 18:02
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Is there a generally accepted best translation / most readable version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I've been considering doing a deep dive on it and would like to have a version to add to my Christmas wishlist. Edit: Preferably something in paperback.
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Nov 30, 2015 18:18
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DeathSandwich posted:Is there a generally accepted best translation / most readable version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I've been considering doing a deep dive on it and would like to have a version to add to my Christmas wishlist. The Brewitt-Taylor translation is good.
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Nov 30, 2015 18:30
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Does anyone, by any chance, have an opinion as to a good choice for a book about the Donner party? I was watching a documentary about it last night, getting into it, not having known how much stuff went horribly wrong even before they got snowed in. And then my wife came in and squashed that pretty drat quick because she didn't want to watch something about cannibalism just before bedtime. Hmph. Go figure. Anyway, I didn't get to see the second half. So, interest piqued, I guess I find myself in the market for one good book that's available in Kindle format. Suggestions?
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Nov 30, 2015 19:17
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Defenestration posted:I'm looking into ereaders for one purpose and one purpose only: to read PDFs (or docs) of my friends' unpublished novels. Calibre can do .doc/.docx/.pdf to .epub or .mobi pretty well. I converted a .docx and a .pdf to .mobi with it and they read fine on my Kindle. Maybe trying using Calibre to go pdf->epub and then try again on your Nook? A novel is likely going to be straight text and that should be a pretty easy conversion.
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Nov 30, 2015 21:47
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Khizan posted:Calibre can do .doc/.docx/.pdf to .epub or .mobi pretty well. I converted a .docx and a .pdf to .mobi with it and they read fine on my Kindle. Maybe trying using Calibre to go pdf->epub and then try again on your Nook? A novel is likely going to be straight text and that should be a pretty easy conversion. I have never tried to turn a pdf into something else using calibre and not had it turn into a horrible mess. I'm pretty sure their website specifically tells you that they're trying to make a not terrible converter but it's really hard.
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Nov 30, 2015 21:57
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CestMoi posted:I have never tried to turn a pdf into something else using calibre and not had it turn into a horrible mess. I'm pretty sure their website specifically tells you that they're trying to make a not terrible converter but it's really hard. This has been my experience as well. I tried a lot of ways, between pdf, doc, calibre, and the line breaks were always a mess
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Dec 1, 2015 00:05
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DeathSandwich posted:Is there a generally accepted best translation / most readable version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I've been considering doing a deep dive on it and would like to have a version to add to my Christmas wishlist. The Moss Roberts translation is supposed to be good, haven't read it myself though.
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Dec 1, 2015 01:28
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Hopefully this is the right place for this - I didn't see a straight up "what book is this" thread. When I was a kid (mid-late 90s) I got a book from the bookmobile and fell in love with it, but I can't find it at all. The illustration style and content was similar to Graeme Base's books, especially Animalia: but there was I think a cohesive setting that each page moved through. You could begin to see the next location on the page before, and the pictures were all full of hidden animals and objects that I think played into some larger theme. I think there was a reason or some overarching mystery as well. I know it sounds exactly like a Graeme Base book, but I can't find whatever I'm thinking of in his list of books. I remember there being a really cool courtyard with animals hidden in all of the trees, the illustrations were beautiful. If someone could help, I would be eternally grateful!
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Dec 3, 2015 05:54
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QuickbreathFinisher posted:Hopefully this is the right place for this - I didn't see a straight up "what book is this" thread. When I was a kid (mid-late 90s) I got a book from the bookmobile and fell in love with it, but I can't find it at all. The illustration style and content was similar to Graeme Base's books, especially Animalia: Puzzle Island?  PS: I remember solving the book's overarching puzzle as a kid, the answer is ________Mauritius__________.
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Dec 3, 2015 06:24
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Hedrigall posted:Puzzle Island? Aaaaah thanks buddy!!!  I've been trying to figure out what book this was for years! Off to track down a copy for my niece.  thanks again.e: I should have known that if anyone remembered a book with a giant lion shooting out of a volcano, it would be you 
QuickbreathFinisher fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Dec 3, 2015 |
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Dec 3, 2015 06:44
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I just finished reading the Broken Empire trilogy. Anyone got a similar fantasy book/series? Some of my favorites are Wheel of Time, The Rose and The Entire, Otherland, and LOTR
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Dec 5, 2015 02:54
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Deargodalion posted:I just finished reading the Broken Empire trilogy. The Black Company series has a similar "war in a grimdark crapsack world" feel. There's also A Song of Ice and Fire if you haven't read it yet, and the Malazan Books of the Fallen.
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Dec 5, 2015 14:31
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I just got back from a three month trip to Cuba and am really interested in reading more about Cuban history/politics. Any book recommendations for books on Cuban history, particularly history around and after the revolution? Thanks 
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Dec 5, 2015 20:09
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ghost crow posted:I just got back from a three month trip to Cuba and am really interested in reading more about Cuban history/politics. Any book recommendations for books on Cuban history, particularly history around and after the revolution? Thanks Richard Gott's Cuba: A New History is probably a good starting point.
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Dec 5, 2015 22:57
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Is there anything out there similar to The Leftovers? I've only seen the series, not read the book. Something that focuses on multiple characters, ambiguity about what is real and what isn't, and is filled with plenty of mindfucks.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:18
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Hardflip posted:Is there anything out there similar to The Leftovers? I've only seen the series, not read the book. Something that focuses on multiple characters, ambiguity about what is real and what isn't, and is filled with plenty of mindfucks. House of Leaves follows multiple characters, is rather ambiguous about what is real and is a giant mindfuck from start to finish. The formatting gets weird at times and didn't turn me off, but know that it's a love it or hate it type of deal.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:21
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Selachian posted:The Black Company series has a similar "war in a grimdark crapsack world" feel. There's also A Song of Ice and Fire if you haven't read it yet, and the Malazan Books of the Fallen. Of those, I think the Black Company is probably the easiest to get into. It doesn't throw you a million new characters every 10 pages like Malazan, and it doesn't have an HBO series that is literally past it like A Song of Ice and Fire EDIT: Also I think the Black Company books (at least the original Trilogy) are pretty amazing.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:22
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Hardflip posted:Is there anything out there similar to The Leftovers? I've only seen the series, not read the book. Something that focuses on multiple characters, ambiguity about what is real and what isn't, and is filled with plenty of mindfucks. Well, for one, the book would be a good place to start. The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier and The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker are both kind of similar. They both deal with the same idea of the world struggling with a sudden metaphysical change in reality that is never explained and how it affects people on a very personal level.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:25
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internet inc posted:House of Leaves follows multiple characters, is rather ambiguous about what is real and is a giant mindfuck from start to finish. Cheers. I read S. by Abrams and Dorst and wasn't hugely enamored, but it was fun to piece it together. I see that House of Leaves seems to be the inspiration for it, so I'll pick that up. Mel Mudkiper posted:Well, for one, the book would be a good place to start. I wasn't sure if it was worth getting the book given the show has treaded it and beyond, but if offers far more insight/deviation I'll order it. Will definitely check the other two out, thanks for the recommendations.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:34
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Hardflip posted:Cheers. I read S. by Abrams and Dorst and wasn't hugely enamored, but it was fun to piece it together. I see that House of Leaves seems to be the inspiration for it, so I'll pick that up. The book is basically the first season followed very closely. I haven't really followed the second season so I cannot tell you what is similar to that.
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Dec 6, 2015 02:37
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Trier posted:Anyone wanna recommend a book on the the 19th century gold rush in the Yukon / other examples of rugged frontiersman-ness and "into the wild" kinda stuff? edit: Actually, now, writing this made me buy it, I'll let you know how it goes. Cheapest I could find with shipping to scandinavia was £26. Not cheap! prinneh fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Dec 8, 2015 |
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Dec 8, 2015 20:08
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prinneh posted:Me too guy, me too. I did a bunch of looking at amazon for books like this and only came up with Jack london, which I enjoyed in the linked edition, and finally this one, which I can't afford myself. If you buy the last one, let me know in which edition and how it turns out as a reading experience. There are samples of it online, but these seem to be very poor scans of quite possibly the first edition. You all could do worse than Tent Life in Siberia, In the Land of White Death, or Dersu the Trapper. I learned about these from John Vaillant's The Tiger, which I bring up as often as possible since it is fantastic.
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Dec 8, 2015 21:14
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funkybottoms posted:You all could do worse than Tent Life in Siberia, In the Land of White Death, or Dersu the Trapper. I learned about these from John Vaillant's The Tiger, which I bring up as often as possible since it is fantastic.
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Dec 8, 2015 23:54
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Hardflip posted:Is there anything out there similar to The Leftovers? I've only seen the series, not read the book. Something that focuses on multiple characters, ambiguity about what is real and what isn't, and is filled with plenty of mindfucks. Permutation City is what you want. Oh my god the mindfucks. I've never had my mind blown by concepts so thoroughly.
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Dec 9, 2015 01:08
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Dunno if this gets asked here a lot or if there is a better place to ask, but I didn't see any threads that looked appropriate. I was looking to get my sister a subscription to a monthly book delivery thing for Christmas , but there appear to be quite a few out there and it's tough to tell what is good and what's not. My sister really likes thrillers and mystery novels. Anyone aware of any good subscriptions that might fit the bill?
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Dec 10, 2015 18:51
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SageNytell posted:Dunno if this gets asked here a lot or if there is a better place to ask, but I didn't see any threads that looked appropriate. library card Real answer: http://justtherightbook.com/ ? Mel Mudkiper fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Dec 10, 2015 |
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Dec 10, 2015 18:52
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Loving Life Partner posted:Permutation City is what you want. Seconding this, Permutation City is incredible.
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Dec 10, 2015 21:48
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SageNytell posted:My sister really likes thrillers and mystery novels. Anyone aware of any good subscriptions that might fit the bill? Have you checked with your local indie bookseller? I doubt a ton of stores offer a subscription service, but, hey, some do!
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Dec 11, 2015 02:06
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funkybottoms posted:Have you checked with your local indie bookseller? I doubt a ton of stores offer a subscription service, but, hey, some do! A small bookstore will probably let you give them a credit card number and send your sister a book every month.
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Dec 11, 2015 07:03
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Hey there, just wondering if I could get an idea or two for my sister's birthday present. I'm thinking about getting a true crime book/novel as she seems to like those, however as I prefer other genres and she now lives in another country, it's a bit hard to get a grasp on the ones that she might want. Possibly something fairly recent-ish to help ensure that she hasn't read it, although I'll gladly accept any and all suggestions! Thanks all
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Dec 15, 2015 08:30
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Major Isoor posted:Hey there, just wondering if I could get an idea or two for my sister's birthday present. I'm thinking about getting a true crime book/novel as she seems to like those, however as I prefer other genres and she now lives in another country, it's a bit hard to get a grasp on the ones that she might want. Possibly something fairly recent-ish to help ensure that she hasn't read it, although I'll gladly accept any and all suggestions! Do you think she'd dig on some Gangs Of New York era New York city crime solving? The Alienist is a really awesome book I've read recently. It's fictional, but based on a lot of fact and grounded in reality.
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Dec 15, 2015 17:02
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Major Isoor posted:Hey there, just wondering if I could get an idea or two for my sister's birthday present. I'm thinking about getting a true crime book/novel as she seems to like those, however as I prefer other genres and she now lives in another country, it's a bit hard to get a grasp on the ones that she might want. Possibly something fairly recent-ish to help ensure that she hasn't read it, although I'll gladly accept any and all suggestions! In a similar vein to the guy above me, The Axeman's Jazz is a novel based on the real life serial killings in 1919 New Orleans. I really enjoyed it, it's really evocative.
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Dec 15, 2015 17:57
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Major Isoor posted:Hey there, just wondering if I could get an idea or two for my sister's birthday present. I'm thinking about getting a true crime book/novel as she seems to like those, however as I prefer other genres and she now lives in another country, it's a bit hard to get a grasp on the ones that she might want. Possibly something fairly recent-ish to help ensure that she hasn't read it, although I'll gladly accept any and all suggestions! I don't read much true crime, but picked up people who eat darkness from a common room in a hostel once in Japan and enjoyed it, otherwise an ex of mine loved midnight in peking by paul french. First book is pretty heavy on Japan, second book is pretty heavy on Beijing just after the boxer invasion, but both had some rather gruesome murder details, which is what I suspect people look for in these books Depending on which country, I usually pick up either an old travelogue or, failing that, a social history book, and a novel set in and about the place I'm going. Books with a strong sense of place are really quite fun to read when you find yourself whereever it is they take place. Just another gift idea, because Christmas is just around the corner too
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Dec 16, 2015 00:56
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Looking for a book or short story collection with good flowery prose, trying to get a handle on that style for my own writing. Preferably fantasy, adventure, or suspense/thriller.
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Dec 16, 2015 07:30
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