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I was filling up bookshelves pretty fast, and only gained a respite when my wife and I moved into a new house, and I lined three walls of a basement room with bookshelves. Then the basement flooded and I had to move every single book up the stairs, then replace all the shelves. At that point I decided that I was going 100% Kindle except for a handful of books with deep sentimental meaning to me, which I would get in hardback.
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May 10, 2024 20:40
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I used to have a huge book collection but had to get rid of all of it during a move ten years ago, since then it's been pretty much digital only for me. Having a miniature library of physical books to peruse was pretty neat and I miss that part, but I also don't miss having to lug tons of books around.
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May 10, 2024 20:52
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mllaneza posted:The story I heard and believed about books 4 & 5 is that the disintegration of Vlad's marriage parallels how Brust's marriage collapsed. He wasn't consciously picking up on what was going on in his real life but he had enough awareness of hat was going on to use it for his protagonist's experiences in the books. Kinda sad, really. Sadly, Brust has a track record of this. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars is transparently (If you know them, which a friend of mine did) about the Scribblies, his then writing group, and it's quite clear that the artist who the protagonist thinks has stagnated is Kara Dalkey. Finding this out destroyed the pleasure in a book I had loved. quote:If the Phoenix + Athyra run put you off the series because it was depressing as hell, which it was, Orca is a reward for sticking with it and
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May 10, 2024 20:58
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Zorak of Michigan posted:I was filling up bookshelves pretty fast, and only gained a respite when my wife and I moved into a new house, and I lined three walls of a basement room with bookshelves. Then the basement flooded and I had to move every single book up the stairs, then replace all the shelves. At that point I decided that I was going 100% Kindle except for a handful of books with deep sentimental meaning to me, which I would get in hardback. I'm like 95% digital but I buy hardcovers of authors I really like. I have the locked tomb series, and I think I have a signed copy of Sanderson's Oathbringer. My sister thinks I am completely off my rocker - "but you already read the book?"
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May 10, 2024 21:02
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Nuclear Tourist posted:I used to have a huge book collection but had to get rid of all of it during a move ten years ago, since then it's been pretty much digital only for me. Having a miniature library of physical books to peruse was pretty neat and I miss that part, but I also don't miss having to lug tons of books around. Same here. I even got like $250 at half price books for all my stuff. For me the physical part is meaningless, a book isn't it's tangible pages and binding, it exists in your mind
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May 10, 2024 21:34
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For me, (outside of sentimental special cases) physical books are only value-add when they’re literal handbooks designed to be navigated physically. I’m thinking like Ugly’s Electrical References, American Electricians’ Handbook, Machinery’s Handbook, etc.
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May 10, 2024 22:05
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I mostly read ebooks for years but recently have been buying paperback editions of old sci-fi/fantasy novels on ebay because I've found digital copies of older books to be increasingly riddled with typos. They're easier and lighter to carry around then modern paperbacks, cheap ($3-7 per w/shipping), and you get amazing cover art: 
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May 10, 2024 22:27
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I'm completely digital except for comics, but I really miss being able to give books away after I finish them
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May 10, 2024 22:35
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Shards of Earth (Final Architecture #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HLPZY6X/ Zima Blue by Alistair Reynolds - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVG07DC/ Anathem by Neal Stephenson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015DPXKI/ The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HKX42VT/
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May 11, 2024 00:27
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ulmont posted:In addition a communist organizer friend of Brust’s was killed by a mob hit man, after which writing the wacky adventures of a mob hit man wasn’t as much fun. Well gently caress. No, no it wouldn't be. Arsenic Lupin posted:I think I quit around Orca, actually; wasn't that the one with the kid who was severely damaged by PTSD? I adored the Khaavren romances beyond the telling, and I went out and found the specific Dumas translation he recommended, which was also satisfying. The kid gets PTSD in Athyra and Vlad is trying to fix him in Orca.
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May 11, 2024 00:34
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StumblyWumbly posted:I'm completely digital except for comics, but I really miss being able to give books away after I finish them there's a bus shelter down the road where people leave books and it's introduced me to a bunch of cool stuff. if you have too many books, consider starting one (like it's literally just a pile of books on the seat, I guess you could go the whole little library route if you want too)
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May 11, 2024 03:19
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Finding out just where the Cache weapons came from and how they were acquired makes the Nostalgia for Infinity crew seem way cooler. But it does make me wish I'd read that heist novel instead of the ship parts of Revelation Space
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May 11, 2024 04:14
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zoux posted:Same here. I even got like $250 at half price books for all my stuff. For me the physical part is meaningless, a book isn't it's tangible pages and binding, it exists in your mind At least you got some money out of it, I had to leave all of my books with my parents who chucked them all into the municipal recycling center to be incinerated. RIP my signed copies of Blindsight and Century Rain 
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May 11, 2024 04:26
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Husband and I moved a hundred boxes of books to North Carolina in 1992. We've never unpacked them. We're slowly trying to sort them. Nowadays we're in a teeny tiny house with limited shelf space, and we're both Kindle-only. Husband gave me a paper book for Christmas, and God I miss them. The ability to skim backwards if you missed a bit, the ability to see as you read the remaining pages on the right. I really like books. But we're in a small house, so Kindle it is.
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May 11, 2024 04:32
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I've been completely digital for about 15 years, because even with glasses my terrible eyesight needs to be able to resize text larger.
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May 11, 2024 12:24
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Cheap used books from somewhere like Better World Books can be a great deal, way cheaper than Kindle if you’re buying and not getting them from the library. Also great for building out series you love. I got most of my almost complete Aubrey-Maturin collection used from better world books. I got all of my John McPhee collection there also (In retrospect I don’t know why I needed a John McPhee collection). I almost entirely read Kindle now though. Physical books almost feel wasteful? Like who am I to use up paper and ink just for a few hours of my enjoyment?
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May 11, 2024 15:16
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I still buy hardback for anything with significant illustrations or annotations. Otherwise being able to inflate the print size is too important.
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May 11, 2024 15:25
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Cookbooks need to be physical, but other than that I just don’t like reading physical books anymore. Mainly because reading at night with light on is such a bummer.
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May 11, 2024 16:51
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Meanwhile, I'm exclusively physical. Nothing against e-books, I just prefer the look and feel of a physical book. Plus I have several good used bookstores within an easy drive, so I can get physical books cheap, and there's Alibris for the occasions where I want a specific title.
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May 11, 2024 17:22
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I've been buying overpriced but beautiful hardbacks like Folio Society books for stuff I really like. It sounds dumb but they feel great, the paper has great heft to it and they're somehow just very satisfying to read. Otherwise I use my Kobo, it's very comfortable and easy on my old-man eyes.
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May 11, 2024 17:23
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I still buy hardback for anything with significant illustrations or annotations. Otherwise being able to inflate the print size is too important.
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May 11, 2024 17:32
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Yeah, Amazon Kindle images have sucked since the beginning, and apparently that's not worth fixing. I will say. Trying to read maps or look at glossaries on a Kindle blowsssss
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May 11, 2024 19:51
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Gaius Marius posted:Finding out just where the Cache weapons came from and how they were acquired makes the Nostalgia for Infinity crew seem way cooler. But it does make me wish I'd read that heist novel instead of the ship parts of Revelation Space I’m reading Redemption Ark now, about a quarter the way through, so I’ve only gotten the cache-weapons’ backstory in broad strokes so far, and yeah it is cool. One of those rare instances where the answer to a cool mystery isn’t a letdown. I’d love to read the heist novel too but the “haunted spaceship with doomsday weapons of unknown provenance” vibes were my favorite parts of Revelation Space, idk if I’d trade straight across given the option.
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May 11, 2024 20:33
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eighty-four merc posted:I’m reading Redemption Ark now, about a quarter the way through, so I’ve only gotten the cache-weapons’ backstory in broad strokes so far, and yeah it is cool. One of those rare instances where the answer to a cool mystery isn’t a letdown. I've read it, but years ago when it came out, and I don't feel any particular desire to revisit the series. Remind me, what was the cool backstory? Edit: Something to do with the Conjoiners is dancing at the edge of my recollection. Edit 2: Never mind, there's a revelation space wiki, and I just read the answer on that. Deptfordx fucked around with this message at 21:48 on May 11, 2024 |
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May 11, 2024 21:45
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Did Reynolds ever detail Captain Brannigan's early life? I know it's alluded that he'd been kicking around long enough to potentially have been an astronaut from our time
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May 11, 2024 22:38
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I’ve been reading “The Spear Cuts Through Water” and it’s just really not doing it for me. I feel like it should, like the imagery and everything is gorgeous, but it’s just not hooking me. I’m 64% through and considering dropping it. The style is just so much, and it feels a little relentless and exhausting.
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May 13, 2024 05:41
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That's how I felt when I stopped. It's fine and pretty but it's honestly a bit overwritten and exhausting to read.
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May 13, 2024 06:20
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I'm about 50% of the way through at the moment and I know the book is good, I can appreciate what it's doing, but it's essentially sliding right off me. I can't remember reading a book that's so good that just isn't sinking its claws into me.
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May 13, 2024 06:56
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Give that goon who recommended QNTM a raise, I've read 'valuable humans in transit' and 'fine structure' so far and it has been a blast. A good palate cleanser to recharge and drag myself through the latter half of 'children of dune' I was seriously excited about the Dune stuff and really want to get 'god emperor of dune' behind the belt but don't see myself getting any further. The writing is just really not good.
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May 13, 2024 07:03
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Awkward Davies posted:I’ve been reading “The Spear Cuts Through Water” and it’s just really not doing it for me. I feel like it should, like the imagery and everything is gorgeous, but it’s just not hooking me. I’m 64% through and considering dropping it. The style is just so much, and it feels a little relentless and exhausting. Just finished that - I enjoyed it quite a bit until I didn't. By the time it hit the third brother it had run out of steam and didn't know what to do with itself. Thumbed through the last 20-ish pages, if I'm honest.
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May 13, 2024 10:39
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Mikojan posted:Give that goon who recommended QNTM a raise, I've read 'valuable humans in transit' and 'fine structure' so far and it has been a blast. Seconded, though often I just want the stories to carry on for far longer.
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May 13, 2024 14:18
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Yngwie Mangosteen posted:That's how I felt when I stopped. It's fine and pretty but it's honestly a bit overwritten and exhausting to read. Major Ryan posted:I'm about 50% of the way through at the moment and I know the book is good, I can appreciate what it's doing, but it's essentially sliding right off me. I can't remember reading a book that's so good that just isn't sinking its claws into me. Giragast posted:Just finished that - I enjoyed it quite a bit until I didn't. Glad to hear other people share my feelings. The book has such high praise online, I was feeling a little crazy.
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May 13, 2024 15:10
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I've had a hard time getting into Spear right off the bat, too. And I hate to say so because it does a lot of interesting things but I haven't really been able to finish Exordia either. Sometimes thread favorites just aren't for everyone!
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May 13, 2024 15:45
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There are several regularly gushed over thread favorites that really didn't click with me, I just don't have the time or energy to hate-read books anymore to see if they maybe get better down the line so if something doesn't grab me within 1-3 chapters it's usually off to the DNF pile regardless of how many people insist that it's amazing. I did finish The Spear Cuts Through Water though, and I thought it was a pretty good. I completely get that the prose style is not for everyone however.
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May 13, 2024 16:11
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MockingQuantum posted:Sometimes thread favorites just aren't for everyone! I have to remember this when anyone slags a book I like lol
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May 13, 2024 16:31
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MockingQuantum posted:. Sometimes thread favorites just aren't for everyone! This stuff also changes over time. There are some books that were slam dunk thread favorites years ago that people just aren't as into any more, for a variety of valid reasons (the Ethshar books and Bridge of Birds spring to mind but aren't the only examples). Tastes change and what people are looking for changes. Anyway Between Two Fires remains my favorite fantasy book that's gotten big in the past few years. I wish more people were writing historical fantasy. A lot of modern fantasy I read feels so heavily "produced" that even when it's well executed I feel like it's just a pile of tropes rearranged in a more-interesting-than-typical pattern. I want stuff that surprises me and gets weird with it, and that typically means "highly influenced by a decade or so of research into something esoteric that otherwise shouldn't be a novel." I did like Robert Jackson Bennett's new Tainted Cup book, but that's just because I'll read anything sufficiently nero-wolfe-esque. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 16:41 on May 13, 2024 |
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May 13, 2024 16:36
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Spear Cuts Through Water is like nested three narratives deep or something?
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May 13, 2024 17:47
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To contrast, I loved Spear, and didn't find it overwritten at all. I enjoyed the lyrical flourishes and what it did with interwoven narrative. I can see how it might not be for everyone but it was one of my favorite books of the year.
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May 13, 2024 17:53
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zoux posted:Spear Cuts Through Water is like nested three narratives deep or something? And that’s just the discussion in this thread!
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May 13, 2024 17:58
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Anyway Between Two Fires remains my favorite fantasy book that's gotten big in the past few years. I wish more people were writing historical fantasy. A lot of modern fantasy I read feels so heavily "produced" that even when it's well executed I feel like it's just a pile of tropes rearranged in a more-interesting-than-typical pattern. I want stuff that surprises me and gets weird with it, and that typically means "highly influenced by a decade or so of research into something esoteric that otherwise shouldn't be a novel." Have you read ASH A SECRET HISTORY
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May 13, 2024 17:59
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