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escape artist posted:Two requests: Just finished Mort today and rightly enjoyed it
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Dec 1, 2023 04:49
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foutre posted:Could anyone recommend good books about the design of cities, and how they develop? Been reading Great Streets and The Design of Cities, but basically looking for things that'll help me look at cities differently when I'm wandering about. In particular, going to be going to some v old European cities soon and want to have a bit more of a vocabulary/ framework for thinking about them! Tokyo Totem is a collection of essays and the ones on urban planning are really good. Very interesting stuff on how hills influence building types, how the walls dividing sections became main roads, how buildings on the corner of roads connecting need to be slanted based on the width of the narrowest street, etc. It really helps you see the underlying structure of the city. Aside from Tokyo obviously not being Europe, be warned that it collects essays on completely unrelated topics as well. The metalworking stuff and deep-dives into konbinis and onsen were fun, but I really couldn't get into the ones featuring identity and developing communal living.
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Dec 1, 2023 11:58
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foutre posted:Could anyone recommend good books about the design of cities, and how they develop? Been reading Great Streets and The Design of Cities, but basically looking for things that'll help me look at cities differently when I'm wandering about. In particular, going to be going to some v old European cities soon and want to have a bit more of a vocabulary/ framework for thinking about them! It's a very different take on the subject, but Four Lost Cities is a neat, slim, historical book about ancient cities that were destroyed or abandoned, like Pompeii. what life was like there, and what happened after.
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Dec 1, 2023 13:33
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I've not read it, but will recommend it based on "The Discovery of France": "Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris" by Graham Robb. He's a very engaging writer and I really enjoyed the France book. You might also have a look at "Haussmann: His Life and Times, and the Making of Modern Paris" by Michael Carmona.
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Dec 1, 2023 15:17
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foutre posted:Could anyone recommend good books about the design of cities, and how they develop? Been reading Great Streets and The Design of Cities, but basically looking for things that'll help me look at cities differently when I'm wandering about. In particular, going to be going to some v old European cities soon and want to have a bit more of a vocabulary/ framework for thinking about them! I’m not sure what kind of book will get you there since much of the ideas of the city we have are complete myths and propaganda. Most of the books I’ve encountered on the subject start with bizarre assumptions about the need for, say, homeless, or traffic management, or waste management, corruption, stuff like that. They don’t ask, for instance, why we have real estate speculators financing political campaigns, only that this or that bad thing is happening too much and can be managed with just the right policy recommendations. These two books, on the other hand, are excellent ethnographies and overviews of municipal policies in North America that have made it hell here. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City How to Kill a City How to kill a city: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood They should give you some insight into the battles that were fought and won in some cities vs others. Like the layout of Paris is designed to be hostile to social revolution after the French military returned and crushed the Paris commune in 1871, many other places adopted those architectural lessons after the revolutions and uprisings of 1848-75. The beautiful promenades and boulevards of European regional centers and capitals are a product of this counterinsurgency tactic. As for particular issues: I have found Necropolis to be invaluable in understanding public health at the end of the 19th century, leading into our current hellscape as well. Out of the Wreckage by Georg Monbiot highlights a bunch of emerging social justice and climate action tactics and strategies being employed mostly in Europe and Latin America. There’s one about a Latin American city that banned outdoor advertising and used all the spaces for signs and poo poo for art, but I can’t remember what it’s called. Excellent for thinking of street art and visual pollution, who gets criminalized for controlling space and stuff. Can’t remember what it’s called now though!
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Dec 1, 2023 15:41
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escape artist posted:Two requests: FWIW a bunch of the Discworld books have new audiobook versions that came out just in the last year or two, I think the publisher is actively in the process of recording and releasing them. They have a few different "main" readers across the books but they pretty consistently have Bill Nighy reading the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death. I've only listened to a couple but they seem to be generally much better than the older ones from the early 2000s. As for good entry points, I'd say Mort, Equal Rites, or Guards, Guards are all solid, they are the starting points for three of the four main groups of characters (Death, the witches, and the Night Watch respectively) that represent different "storylines" (sort of, they're not as strictly sequential as that suggests). If you're big into literature and theater, the Witches books are chock full of very funny and clever references to both, Shakespeare especially. The Death books kind of wander all over the place in terms of subject matter but they're all very good and funny. If in doubt, I think it's probably fair to say that the Night Watch books are a frequent favorite of a lot of Discworld fans. edit: also in the interest of completeness, the fourth "main" branch of the early books are the Rincewind novels, which start with The Colour of Magic. They're generally not recommended as a great entry point though because the first couple are much more bog-standard fantasy with some comedy elements woven in, and as someone mentioned in some other TBB thread in the last couple of days, the plots tend to boil down to "Rincewind goes somewhere and odd/bad things happen to him repeatedly". I personally really enjoy them but also would say they're not the greatest showcase of what Discworld does well. I think there's an interview somewhere where Pratchett suggests the third Rincewind novel, Sourcery, as his preferred starting point for new readers and honestly it wouldn't be a bad place to start. There are also a few other storylines/collections of novels, like the Industrial Revolution and Tiffany Aching books, and whatever you'd call the ones about funny religions, but I either haven't read them or wouldn't suggest them as great starting points if you're trying to get a sense of what the majority of Discworld books are like. MockingQuantum fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Dec 1, 2023 |
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Dec 1, 2023 18:41
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Piss Stain Johnson posted:What are the best boomer book series? Thinking along the lines of Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, etc. Looking for Xmas gifts for my dad and I think he's got those covered, except maybe Bosch. Reddit recommends The Grey Man as a newer series along those lines. Boomer dads I have known love the Slough House books by Mick Herron (Now an Apple TV+ series starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas)
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Dec 1, 2023 23:36
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Amazing, ty for the recommendations y'all! Found How to Kill a City at a used bookstore this afternoon, and will look at the library for the others. Love the range of books/perspectives, I'm excited to get into it.
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Dec 2, 2023 01:04
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RIP ZEEZ
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My grandmother was a big fan of most of the boomer book series mentioned with the exception of Tom Clancy. I read most of them so we always had something new to talk about. Of those mentioned I enjoyed Michael Connelly the most. It has been interesting seeing his skill as a writer progress over time. The Slow Horses tv show got me to read the book series. I’ve enjoyed it and appreciate that it is trying something different for spy/thriller fiction, which has become a bit of a tired genre.
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Dec 2, 2023 03:09
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I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good.
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Dec 3, 2023 20:51
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That would be the aubrey maturin books
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Dec 3, 2023 21:14
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I liked the Thor Heyerdahl books about the Kon Tiki and Ra expeditions -- building boats with pre-industrial technology and sailing across the ocean. Tim Severin also did something similar, retracing famous voyages. Other ideas: The Perfect Storm by Sebastien Junger (sea rescue), The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (space travel), maybe Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods too (just a light travelogue about a funny guy going hiking). If he might like books that have been made into Tom Hanks vehicles, could try A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin, Lost Moon by Jim Lovell or even Band of Brothers by Stephen A. Ambrose. I feel like polar exploration and the space race are both classic dad fixations, so if he's into one of them there's like a million books out there for him. (e: the number one classic dad fixation is obviously World War II, followed by Some Other War (misc), and the Roman Empire. But exploration books are up there). rollick fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Dec 3, 2023 |
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Dec 3, 2023 22:02
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good. Sounds like he might be into Nathanial Philbrick's nonfiction
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Dec 3, 2023 22:07
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good. Maybe mountain climbing stuff like Into Thin Air? It’s a similar kind of non-fiction adventure story, and the kind of thing I definitely think of as prime dad lit.
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Dec 3, 2023 23:18
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good. Eric Newby's "The last Grain Race" might suit. At 16 (18 maybe?) he signs on as crew on the sailing ship Moshulu to bring grain from Australia back to Europe in 1938. He might also enjoy "Love and War in the Apennines" which take up where The Last Grain Race leaves off (more or less) and is about Newby's experiences during the war.
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Dec 4, 2023 04:49
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good. Hard to go wrong with the classic Bounty trilogy by Nordhoff.. The middle book, Men Against The Sea, in particular sounds fitting.
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Dec 4, 2023 05:10
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David Cordingly's Under the Black Flag is a really good history of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Americas if he might be interested in that sort of thing.
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Dec 4, 2023 06:09
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:I'm really trying to get my dad to read books. He's nearing retirement and needs something to do. One of the few books he's read in recent years was non-fiction about a sailing race around the antarctic circle. So, something like that, nautical adventure books are what I'm looking for. Probably gotta be non-fiction, but maybe a novel if it's really good. Oh man, I think Empire of Blue Water might be perfect for this. It’s about the rise and fall of captain morgan, including harrowing land expeditions to attack Spanish cities and stuff.
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Dec 4, 2023 12:13
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I've definitely had some harrowing land adventures with Captain Morgan.
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Dec 4, 2023 16:14
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Was talking to my dad about books the other day and he mentioned how much he likes Ken Follett's works, specifically the high/late Middle Ages stuff (Pillars of the Earth etc.). What are some other good dad-coded authors/series in that genre?
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Dec 5, 2023 04:25
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C-Euro posted:Was talking to my dad about books the other day and he mentioned how much he likes Ken Follett's works, specifically the high/late Middle Ages stuff (Pillars of the Earth etc.). What are some other good dad-coded authors/series in that genre? Edward Rutherfurd is the first one to come to mind -- his specialty is writing about the history of a particular place through interlocking family stories, much like Pillars of the Earth.
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Dec 5, 2023 06:23
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C-Euro posted:Was talking to my dad about books the other day and he mentioned how much he likes Ken Follett's works, specifically the high/late Middle Ages stuff (Pillars of the Earth etc.). What are some other good dad-coded authors/series in that genre? All of the Bernard Cornwell stuff, Grail Quest is probably closest to the Pillars timewise Name of the Rose
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Dec 5, 2023 06:29
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Hey friends, I need some reccs for good, accessible history books about the California Gold Rush. I'm particularly interested in anything that will highlight (or at least not ignore) the role of women, PoC, indigenous peoples, etc in the era. Thanks!
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Dec 6, 2023 17:13
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C-Euro posted:Was talking to my dad about books the other day and he mentioned how much he likes Ken Follett's works, specifically the high/late Middle Ages stuff (Pillars of the Earth etc.). What are some other good dad-coded authors/series in that genre? Sarum by Edward Rutherford is the obvious pick. Going slightly afield though Michener and James Clavell both wrote similar stuff set in Asia and the Pacific that probably matches better in tone. Check out _Shogun_, boomer dads will love it.
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Dec 7, 2023 13:53
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alright time to slink into TBB book reccs thread hat-in-hand as usual this time of year What are some novel reccs for someone who hasn't read a ton of fiction, but wants to change that, and whose main reference point is a longstanding love of Dune? "Book reccs for Dune lovers" on reddit yields pretty much...stock sci-fi reccs (Hyperion, the Expanse, etc). Based on this person's other tastes I'm looking for something that's a bit more esoteric, more of a deep cut. I've been eyeballing an old midcentury wuxia novel or two set in Xinjiang, but want to check out sci-fi options. Specifically I'm hoping for something a little strange that comes out of the counterculture/psychedelic scene of the 60s-70s. Something like Dahlgren maybe a bit too heavy though. From my current collection I think the things that fit are Dreamsnake and Dryland's End (the latter more modern but otherwise fitting the bill). Want to consider more options. Any ideas? e: when I say Dahlgren is maybe too heavy I'm referring mostly to subject matter and conceit, not style PupsOfWar fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Dec 8, 2023 |
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Dec 8, 2023 08:51
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David Zindell's Neverness Anything by R. A. Lafferty Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg Babel-17 by Samuel Delaney Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light
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Dec 8, 2023 14:42
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PupsOfWar posted:alright time to slink into TBB book reccs thread hat-in-hand as usual this time of year I know I suggest this sort of thing a lot but genuinely, The Infinite and The Divine by Robert Rath. It's about these two immortal robot guys feuding for 10,000 years over which will get to be the one to open a mysterious vault. There's a lot of stuff about how they perceive time, and the limitations of a physical body in general even if it's an unimaginably advanced robot body. It is a Warhammer novel, but it requires zero existing knowledge of the Warhammer lore. And if she likes it, well then, there are more Warhammer novels...
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Dec 8, 2023 15:08
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PupsOfWar posted:alright time to slink into TBB book reccs thread hat-in-hand as usual this time of year Not a novel, but as a Dune fan I would suggest "Sabres of Paradise" by Lesley Blanch, it was Herberts main source for the Fremen culture. Julian May's Saga of the Exiles scratched the same itch as Dune for me.
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Dec 8, 2023 15:45
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The book that feels most like Dune in its political scope and machinations + fish out of water vibes is actually Shogun. The schemes within schemes and the way power is wielded and sought after is very similar in nature.
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Dec 8, 2023 19:17
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PupsOfWar posted:alright time to slink into TBB book reccs thread hat-in-hand as usual this time of year From weird 70s stuff you might like: Radix by A.A. Attanasio Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Percy Radix is the more insane, Woman on the Edge of Time is an excellent feminist sci fi classic afaik. More recently, without links: Mieville is a good bet, specifically I found Embassytown and The City and the City to be most like the 70s weird poo poo.
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Dec 8, 2023 19:39
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tuyop posted:Mieville is a good bet, specifically I found Embassytown and The City and the City to be most like the 70s weird poo poo. Railsea does have folks hunting giant creatures that live under the sand, but the vibe is slightly different
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Dec 9, 2023 00:12
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Thanks, all  Lots of very promising lookin' leads here
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Dec 9, 2023 01:18
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Piss Stain Johnson posted:What are the best boomer book series? Thinking along the lines of Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, etc. Looking for Xmas gifts for my dad and I think he's got those covered, except maybe Bosch. Reddit recommends The Grey Man as a newer series along those lines. The Grey Man is a male romance series. Adjust expectations.
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Dec 9, 2023 12:00
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My husband is a history buff (and current international events buff). One of his recent faves is Vincent Bevins "Jakarta Method" and he's currently reading "The 100 Year War on Palestine". He doesn't read a ton of fiction but has really enjoyed China Mieville and the Shadow of the Wind series. He's very CSPAM-brained. I'm trying to come up with ideas for his birthday, any suggestions?
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Dec 9, 2023 17:47
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boquiabierta posted:My husband is a history buff (and current international events buff). One of his recent faves is Vincent Bevins "Jakarta Method" and he's currently reading "The 100 Year War on Palestine". He doesn't read a ton of fiction but has really enjoyed China Mieville and the Shadow of the Wind series. He's very CSPAM-brained. I'm trying to come up with ideas for his birthday, any suggestions? Eric Hobsbawm’s Ages tetralogy is an amazing history of the modern era written from a Marxist perspective. I recommend it heartily. Just thick tones chock full of economic and historical analysis, if that is his thing. For more pro-Arab takes on the Middle Eastern issues, pretty much anything written by Robert Fisk. Pity the Nation is a good overview of modern Lebanese history, for instance. And finally, for something really depressing as well as brilliant, Svetlana Alexievich’s Second Hand Time: The Last of the Soviets, which is an oral history dealing with the fates of former USSR citizens after the fall. Just very touching and makes you hate the neoliberal “reformers” who ruined the lives of tens of millions even more.
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Dec 9, 2023 17:59
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Eric Hobsbawm’s Ages tetralogy is an amazing history of the modern era written from a Marxist perspective. I recommend it heartily. Just thick tones chock full of economic and historical analysis, if that is his thing. Thank you; these all sound great but this series especially seems right up his alley. Appreciate it!
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Dec 9, 2023 18:46
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I remember those Michener books being pretty good and they're all historical fiction
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Dec 9, 2023 18:53
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boquiabierta posted:My husband is a history buff (and current international events buff). One of his recent faves is Vincent Bevins "Jakarta Method" and he's currently reading "The 100 Year War on Palestine". He doesn't read a ton of fiction but has really enjoyed China Mieville and the Shadow of the Wind series. He's very CSPAM-brained. I'm trying to come up with ideas for his birthday, any suggestions? For fiction: The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu is an epic “silkpunk” fantasy about an opportunistic bandit rebelling against a corrupt empire. Set in a fantastical medieval SE Asia, lots of leftist themes and ideas played with brilliantly. Radicalized by Cory Doctorow is a series of short stories about radicalization. I believe I understand your husband based on your description and he’ll find these very enjoyable. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue is about a village that has its water poisoned by an oil company in a fictional West African country. The surreality of the experiences of the villagers is complimented with some light magical realism. For non-fiction: Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674241053 This is an incredible book about how capital captured public health in New Orleans and let Yellow Fever roll through the population for 100 years. Olivarius coins the term “immunocapitalism” to describe the system of privilege and perverse incentives that made this so stable and destructive. The parallels to the present are clear. The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels I think the blurb is perfect: quote:The Condition of the Working Class is the best-known work of Engels, and in many ways still the best study of the working class in Victorian England. It was also Engels's first book, written during his stay in Manchester from 1842 to 1844. Manchester was then at the very heart of the Industrial Revolution and Engels compiled his study from his own observations and detailed contemporary reports. The fluency of his writing, the personal nature of his insights, and his talent for mordant satire combine to make this account of the life of the victims of early industrial change into a classic - a historical study that parallels and complements the fictional works of the time by such writers as Gaskell and Dickens. What Cobbett had done for agricultural poverty in his Rural Rides, Engels did - and more - in this work on the plight of the industrial workers in the England of the early 1840s. This edition includes the prefaces to the English and American editions, and a map of Manchester c.1845. It’s public domain and available as audiobooks through Librivox so I wouldn’t buy it anywhere but it’s an excellent look at how far conditions can decline for us. He’s likely read it, so it’s last but: The Dawn of Everything by Davids Graeber and Wengrow is an ambitious work on the history of anthropology and modern political philosophy, based on new breakthroughs in archaeology. I’ve probably ruined it, but in there is the story of how Indigenous North American political economy fueled the Enlightenment and the foundations of liberal philosophy (which, of course, led to the age of revolutions and the independence of the US). It’s written beautifully and cites hard evidence from all over the world that you don’t need violent hierarchies to run any kind of society worth living in. It’s kind of a masterpiece and the only issue is there were supposed to be three volumes but Graeber died of something.
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Dec 9, 2023 21:25
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He died suddenly of pancreatitis in October of 2020 at 59 years old, and we're all much worse for it. The Dawn of Everything is excellent reading.
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Dec 9, 2023 23:55
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I, too, come to beseech the wise and learned goons for recommendations for my Christmas list. I am always especially interested in sci-fi as a whole (The household already has a decent collection of genre classics so more off-beat, overlooked, etc. novels would be best), but am currently feeling an urge for cosmic horror, and I have always had a fascination for stories of mysterious, lost, or dead places; or the process by which those states of being come about. So, sci-fi as a whole, with an emphasis on Lovecraftian, Dying Earth, and apocalyptic fiction. My thanks in advance!
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Dec 10, 2023 06:18
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