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Thoughtless posted:I never actually got around to watching Twin Peaks, it's just existed on the periphery of my vision as something I probably should watch. I hope you have an incredibly high tolerance for "quirky."
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Apr 8, 2016 13:32
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funkybottoms posted:I hope you have an incredibly high tolerance for "quirky." durrr
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Apr 9, 2016 05:01
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Can anyone recommend a good book on the establishment of Israel and 1948 Arab-Israeli war, along with any other periphery material that would be of value?
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Apr 10, 2016 05:19
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I've almost finished Mary Beard's SPQR (which is excellent, by the way), and I'm in a historical/classical/pre-classical mood. I'm looking for recent histories or good historical fiction (including historical fantasy, excluding mysteries) set in any of the following: * Neolithic, Bronze Age, or Iron Age, anywhere in the world. * Ancient Mesopotamia, or Persia, or India. * Pre-Roman Europe. * Classical Greece or Rome (I, Claudius is already on my list; I'll get around to it soon). * Roman or immediately post-Roman Britain or Germany (I tried reading The Mists of Avalon, it sucked). * Han Dynasty or pre-Han China.
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Apr 12, 2016 19:40
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Time Cowboy posted:I've almost finished Mary Beard's SPQR (which is excellent, by the way), and I'm in a historical/classical/pre-classical mood. I'm looking for recent histories or good historical fiction (including historical fantasy, excluding mysteries) set in any of the following: Imperium by Robert Harris is the first book in a trilogy starring Cicero, and involves him, Caesar and everyone else in the late Republic loving each other over constantly in a hilarious fashion. Would recommend, though i'm not sure if the third part is out yet.
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Apr 12, 2016 19:55
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I always recommend Allan Massie's Emperor series for historical fic about Rome, they're on par with Graves' I, Claudius
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Apr 13, 2016 09:48
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savinhill posted:I always recommend Allan Massie's Emperor series for historical fic about Rome, they're on par with Graves' I, Claudius That's a big rap, anyone got a second? cos if its close to I, Claudius I wanna read it.
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Apr 13, 2016 10:27
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MikeCrotch posted:Imperium by Robert Harris is the first book in a trilogy starring Cicero, and involves him, Caesar and everyone else in the late Republic loving each other over constantly in a hilarious fashion. Would recommend, though i'm not sure if the third part is out yet. I'm unaware of a writer of historical fiction set in the classical world better than Mary Renault (Graves is on the same level, but not better). Start with either Last of the Wine, Fire from Heaven, or The King Must Die.
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Apr 14, 2016 17:58
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Time Cowboy posted:I've almost finished Mary Beard's SPQR (which is excellent, by the way), and I'm in a historical/classical/pre-classical mood. I'm looking for recent histories or good historical fiction (including historical fantasy, excluding mysteries) set in any of the following: The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild and Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff Borneo Jimmy fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Apr 14, 2016 |
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Apr 14, 2016 18:00
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Oh and for post Roman Britain I'm still partial to the Merlin series by Mary Stewart, but it's more a personal favorite than an unequivocal classic everyone would like.
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Apr 14, 2016 18:05
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Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome series, at least the first couple of volumes which are chronicle the power struggle between Marius and Sulla. Full of intrigue and battles and dcadence and poo poo.
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Apr 14, 2016 18:06
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I just finished the foundation trilogy which was really awesome. Are the rest of the foundation books as good? And what are some other books or series that take place over the scale of hundreds or thousands of years?
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Apr 15, 2016 17:53
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nachos posted:what are some other books or series that take place over the scale of hundreds or thousands of years? Everything by James Michener (say, Alaska, just to pick one), James Clavell's Asian Saga (Shogun, Tai-Pan, etc.), and of course Frank Herbert's Dune series.
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Apr 15, 2016 18:39
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ulmont posted:Everything by James Michener (say, Alaska, just to pick one), James Clavell's Asian Saga (Shogun, Tai-Pan, etc.), and of course Frank Herbert's Dune series. I'd add Edward Rutherfurd's historical novels to that as well. edited to add: Yeah, the later Foundation books do not have the best reputation among SF fans -- they're mostly pointless brand extension and a not-well-thought-out attempt to consolidate all of Asimov's major works into one overarching world. There's also a "Second Foundation" trilogy by three authors -- Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and David Brin -- but I haven't tried it so I can't offer an opinion. Selachian fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Apr 15, 2016 |
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Apr 15, 2016 18:42
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nachos posted:I just finished the foundation trilogy which was really awesome. Are the rest of the foundation books as good? And what are some other books or series that take place over the scale of hundreds or thousands of years? I loved Foundation and found the following several books barely adequate. However, I really loved the Empire trilogy, which precedes the Foundation in the same timeline. If you can stand the typical fifties no-characterization pulpy Asimov (and you obviously can), you might like the series. Another clever Asimov book I can recommend that fits your desired timescale is The End of Eternity.
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Apr 15, 2016 18:48
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Are there any other books along the lines of the entertaining DisneyWar and The Men Who Would Be King? Sorry if that's vague, I'm not sure if I'm asking for like, corporate drama or books about the entertainment industry or both or none of the above, I just really enjoyed those two. Kind of like "if I liked x, then..."
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Apr 17, 2016 09:17
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I've been reading a lot of Lupin stories recently and now I'm interested in the real deal, or at least the closest approximation. Anyone know any good True Crime books about heists and thefts rather than 'orrible murders?
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Apr 17, 2016 18:29
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dordreff posted:I've been reading a lot of Lupin stories recently and now I'm interested in the real deal, or at least the closest approximation. Anyone know any good True Crime books about heists and thefts rather than 'orrible murders? You might try The Napoleon Of Crime by Ben Macintyre, about an extremely successful Victorian-era thief named Adam Worth. Sounds like what you're looking for, more or less. There's also The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Alison Hoover Bartlett. It's not so much about a single caper as it is about a contemporary man who takes advantage of trusting dealers to constantly steal rare books, but I found the book fascinating. Finally, while it's heavily fictionalized, I've always had a soft spot for Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery.
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Apr 18, 2016 03:30
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dordreff posted:I've been reading a lot of Lupin stories recently and now I'm interested in the real deal, or at least the closest approximation. Anyone know any good True Crime books about heists and thefts rather than 'orrible murders? I've had "Superthief" recommended to me along those lines, but haven't got to it myself (no Kindle version). There's also a book written by a guy who claimed to be a cat burglar in I think the Florida Keys, which I recall being good beach reading, but I can't google it up now.
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Apr 18, 2016 03:59
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Any recommendations for non-fiction similar to The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius? I'd like to read some biographies about figures in early Roman Empire, perhaps about people not necessarily involved in political affairs, but rather writers and/or artists.
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Apr 18, 2016 09:51
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Picayune posted:You might try The Napoleon Of Crime by Ben Macintyre, about an extremely successful Victorian-era thief named Adam Worth. Sounds like what you're looking for, more or less. Subjunctive posted:I've had "Superthief" recommended to me along those lines, but haven't got to it myself (no Kindle version). Thanks! I'll check these out. Mike Cartwright posted:Any recommendations for non-fiction similar to The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius? I'd like to read some biographies about figures in early Roman Empire, perhaps about people not necessarily involved in political affairs, but rather writers and/or artists. Suetonius wrote a similar series of biographies to the Twelve Caesars about important writers called Lives of the Poets. Some of the biographies have fragments missing, but I know Virgil is complete and I think Lucan and Horace are too. He also did Lives of the Rhetoricians and Lives of the Grammarians but I don't know how good those are, or how much was lost, as I've not read them. Plutarch's biographies (usually called either the Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives) are good. They're written as pairs with one focusing on a Roman figure, one on a Greek figure, and comparisons between the two. Most of them are about political figures, though some (like Cicero) doubled as writers or artists. He wrote a lot of them, so it's probably best to find a list and look through for people you might be interested in and just read those. dordreff fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Apr 18, 2016 |
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Apr 18, 2016 12:32
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crossposting from the real lit thread. I swear I didn't leave out syrian kurdistan on purpose. ulvir posted:anyone got any reqs for kurdish literature (novels or poetry)? whether it's from the diaspora or from within turkish, iraqi or iranian kurdistan doesn't matter
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Apr 18, 2016 13:10
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I love reading but don't get nearly as much time as I like. Occasionally I'll crack open an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, but I'm in the mood for something with a storyline and a plot. I love a good biography. I'm mainly into historical figures and sports (working through a biography of Bill Veeck at the moment. It's pretty good.) Also, alternate history fascinates me, but only from a historical perspective, not "Nigel and Ethel fall in love in Nazi-controlled London in 1989" or whatever. More "What would the world be like today if X happened?" Any good recommendations? I'm planning on getting to the library this weekend.
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Apr 21, 2016 03:22
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For an excellent biography I loved "King of Hearts" by G. Wayne Miller, about the surgeon(s) who pioneered open heart surgery. One of those things one with a minimum of thought realizes must have been messy, and the book does a good job of capturing some highs and lows along the way.
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Apr 21, 2016 09:36
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Retail Slave posted:Also, alternate history fascinates me, but only from a historical perspective, not "Nigel and Ethel fall in love in Nazi-controlled London in 1989" or whatever. More "What would the world be like today if X happened?" Don't know about any "mainstream" examples I'd recommend (I do indeed know mainstream examples - just not any I'd go out of my way to recommend  ) but a few of the British writers on alternatehistory.com have recently gone semi-professional and started up their own eBook (though I think they also do print books) publishing company called Sealion Press, which distributes alternate history novellas. You can check them out here.
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Apr 21, 2016 11:19
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Retail Slave posted:Also, alternate history fascinates me, but only from a historical perspective, not "Nigel and Ethel fall in love in Nazi-controlled London in 1989" or whatever. More "What would the world be like today if X happened?" Given that it's an anthology of sort stories it's a bit hit and miss, but there are some good stories in The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories.
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Apr 21, 2016 11:47
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Pork Pie Hat posted:Given that it's an anthology of sort stories it's a bit hit and miss, but there are some good stories in The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories. I guess in most of them they don't go extinct.
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Apr 21, 2016 13:00
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funkybottoms posted:I guess in most of them they don't go extinct. OR DO THEY??!?
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Apr 21, 2016 13:17
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Pork Pie Hat posted:Given that it's an anthology of sort stories it's a bit hit and miss, but there are some good stories in The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories. Is it more essays or short stories with a plot and characters, because I'm looking more for the essays. BigBallChunkyTime fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Apr 22, 2016 |
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Apr 22, 2016 05:02
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Retail Slave posted:Is it more essays or short stories with a plot and characters, because I'm looking more for the essays. Yeah it's short fiction. For non-fiction you might try If Britain Had Fallen which looks at the Nazi occupation plans for Britain, and what life would have been like in occupied Britain.
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Apr 22, 2016 12:08
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ulvir posted:crossposting from the real lit thread. I swear I didn't leave out syrian kurdistan on purpose. ulvir posted:anyone got any reqs for kurdish literature (novels or poetry)? whether it's from the diaspora or from within turkish, iraqi or iranian kurdistan doesn't matter I really hope I don't have to take this request to goddamn 4chan or something
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Apr 22, 2016 16:05
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ulvir posted:I really hope I don't have to take this request to goddamn 4chan or something Its a small culture in an area that prioritizes folk poetry over written works. There honestly might not be a lot of literature from them, and even less likely that someone here would be an expert on it. I did some googling and maybe check out Salim Temo? He has a few novels and poems and put together an anthology.
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Apr 22, 2016 16:11
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ulvir posted:I really hope I don't have to take this request to goddamn 4chan or something that dude that Mudkiper just mentioned has an interview where he drops a lot of names http://www.sampsoniaway.org/fearless-ink/2014/09/26/the-rise-of-kurdish-literature/ This is mostly about dudes from the middle ages but the sentence or so mentioning Soviet kurds sounds interesting http://www.kurdishacademy.org/?q=node/51
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Apr 23, 2016 07:21
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I'm looking for books, fiction or non-fiction, that give realistic predictions what our near future might be like. The focus should be on people, culture and society rather than tech. A slice of life in 2020, 2030, or 2040, for example. I especially want to see books that tackle how the Internet/social media has and will continue to change us.
bowser fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Apr 23, 2016 |
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Apr 23, 2016 23:54
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If I had to read one nonfiction book about space travel, which one would it be? I'd like to know more about the moon landings but it could really be anything else.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:01
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Ok, this thread is going to go travelling for a bit so that the rest of the forums can realize Book Barn is a thing that exists. Please feel free to bookmark this thread because it may become hard to track for the next few days! quote:
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Apr 24, 2016 03:03
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Heh, books? Let me introduce you guys to the greatest work of literature known to man: Bioshock Infinite.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:08
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I really like Dark Souls lore, what book should I read?
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Apr 24, 2016 03:08
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internet inc posted:If I had to read one nonfiction book about space travel, which one would it be? I'd like to know more about the moon landings but it could really be anything else. I'd probably suggest The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. It'll give you a basic grasp of the history of the early space program (though off the top of my head I can't remember if it goes through to the moon landings or not) and it's by Wolfe so it's well-written annd funny and will give you a good view into the culture of the space program, not just technical details. Popular Human posted:I know this was a joke, but Dunsany is pretty much the most Dark Souls-esque writer in terms of the ethereal fantasy feel of the setting.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:10
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Guys the firefly novels are really good.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:10
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