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Are there any good books on early Australia history and the New South Wales colony? I want me some good penal colony history.
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Feb 22, 2010 17:31
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Hand Row posted:Are there any good books on early Australia history and the New South Wales colony? I want me some good penal colony history. Asked a friend, he says: The convict ships, 1787-1868 by Charles Bateson and this site. Also, this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nWdUl-F4dw
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Feb 22, 2010 17:40
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I just saw the movie Hero and was wondering if there were any good fantasy books that are kind of in a similar setting as this movie? In other words I'm looking for a good fantasy book that takes place in pseudo-China whereas most take place in pseudo-Europe. I'm fine if there are elves, dwarfs and other stereotypical fantasy stuff in the book so long as it's good. Sorry if that's too vague.
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Feb 22, 2010 20:40
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Contra Calculus posted:I just saw the movie Hero and was wondering if there were any good fantasy books that are kind of in a similar setting as this movie? In other words I'm looking for a good fantasy book that takes place in pseudo-China whereas most take place in pseudo-Europe. I've not seen Hero, so I can't say if they're really similar, but two of my favorite pseudo-Chinese fantasy series are the Master Li books by Barry Hughart (Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen) and the Seven Brothers series by Curt Benjamin, which starts with The Prince of Shadow. Hughart's books are very funny, while Benjamin goes for a more traditional epic fantasy.
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Feb 23, 2010 09:38
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Contra Calculus posted:I just saw the movie Hero and was wondering if there were any good fantasy books that are kind of in a similar setting as this movie? In other words I'm looking for a good fantasy book that takes place in pseudo-China whereas most take place in pseudo-Europe. Paladin by C. J. Cherryh. Not great by any means, but a reasonably entertaining read.
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Feb 23, 2010 21:48
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wheatpuppy posted:I've not seen Hero, so I can't say if they're really similar, but two of my favorite pseudo-Chinese fantasy series are the Master Li books by Barry Hughart (Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen) and the Seven Brothers series by Curt Benjamin, which starts with The Prince of Shadow. Hughart's books are very funny, while Benjamin goes for a more traditional epic fantasy. criptozoid posted:Paladin by C. J. Cherryh. Not great by any means, but a reasonably entertaining read. Thanks guys, I'll check these out.
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Feb 24, 2010 00:43
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For the last few months my mother-in-law has been reading "best sellers"... that all conveniently end up being conservative circle jerks, damning evil liberals for destroying the United States. She claims to be independent but the majority of what she chooses to read (currently Architects of Ruin: How big government liberals wrecked the global economy) and watch (Fox News) says otherwise. Can anyone recommend some well written fact-driven books to counter stuff like "Architects of Ruin" that I can give to her? I'm not really sure what to search for, but titles like "Big Lies" and "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" seem appropriate. Really anything that takes a look from the opposite (liberal) side would be helpful.
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Feb 24, 2010 02:29
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well excuse me, princess!
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Contra Calculus posted:I just saw the movie Hero and was wondering if there were any good fantasy books that are kind of in a similar setting as this movie? In other words I'm looking for a good fantasy book that takes place in pseudo-China whereas most take place in pseudo-Europe. Chris Wooding's "Braided Path" trilogy sounds just like what you're looking for  http://www.chriswooding.com/the-books/the-weavers-of-saramyr/
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Feb 24, 2010 14:42
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Anyone know of any good books on cults? I've always had a strange fascination with them and how people usually get roped into them (Reading about Heaven's Gate it almost seems absurd how people could actually get dragged into this) but I've never really read any decent books on them. I guess it's a bit of a rough topic and there's lots of books with bias in either direction, but what do people consider to be the best, generally? I'm open to books about specific cults or just cults in general.
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Feb 24, 2010 18:02
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I'm reading through the Ancestor's Tale and finding it incredibly fascinating, but my mind can't help but dream up different scenarios on other planets with different conditions, and how intelligent species might have evolved there. I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi, but species seem to start from a "cool/scary" cookie-cutter and have a vague history filled in later on. Are there any authors that really spend the time to create otherworldly species based on how they might have evolved? VVVVVVVVVVV Thank you, I will most definitely check it out. UNCUT PHILISTINE fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 24, 2010 18:57
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Without Pants posted:
In Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood, she deals with an alien species that is basically all about controlling its own evolutionary path, to the point that they basically absorb other species to better themselves. It's huge, since it's three novels in one, but very much not your usual sci-fi.
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Feb 24, 2010 23:19
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I'm an Australian very interested in American history, the colonies, revolutionary war, etc. Is there anything anybody could recommend along these lines? I've always been interested in the development of America but become confused because so many different things were happening and it's a bit convoluted. A book that could describe what happened and when would be great for me. The more detail, the better. Any books I should check out?
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Feb 25, 2010 03:30
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Shot in the dark: I have recently re-read Saturnalia and A Lion on Tharthee - two of my favorite books growing up. Are there any other books like this? Space travel and hard-ish sci fi from an engineering standpoint, with characters that actually screw up in some ways?
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Feb 25, 2010 07:36
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Encryptic posted:The Road is probably his most accessible work, though The Border Trilogy and No Country For Old Men are also pretty easy to read from what I recall. Yeah, so I read The Road and thought it was terrible. Are his other works completely different, or does it reason that I probably won't like his works in general?
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Mar 2, 2010 20:51
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BelgianSandwich posted:Yeah, so I read The Road and thought it was terrible. Are his other works completely different, or does it reason that I probably won't like his works in general? If you didn't like The Road, you probably won't like his other stuff either. His other stuff is different plot-wise, but the same general style.
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Mar 3, 2010 02:12
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Encryptic posted:If you didn't like The Road, you probably won't like his other stuff either. His other stuff is different plot-wise, but the same general style. I'd say that The Road is a lot more banal linguistically.
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Mar 3, 2010 02:29
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ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIX
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Hello I tried asking for this in LF and no one replied  My girlfriend is currently volunteering at some lovely school in Newark and while helping the librarian she learned that they are desperately low on higher level books. Me and her are not very knowledgeable on the subject and could use some help with what books she should pick out. So could anyone recommend some autobiographies or biographies on black leaders from the past or present that would be accessible to 7th-8th graders? So far we have... The Autobiography of Malcolm X Revolutionary Suicide also female subjects would be highly appreciated...thanks
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Mar 3, 2010 19:21
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Hand Row posted:Are there any good books on early Australia history and the New South Wales colony? I want me some good penal colony history. Fatal Shore is pretty aiiiiight
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Mar 3, 2010 19:22
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Sweet Baby Ray posted:So could anyone recommend some autobiographies or biographies on black leaders from the past or present that would be accessible to 7th-8th graders? Thomas Hauser's biography on Muhammad Ali.
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Mar 3, 2010 19:48
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I'm a sucker for hardboiled private eye stuff. In the past year I have worked through Hammet, Chandler, and recently finished Ross Macdonald's last Lew Archer book. where do I go from here? I have Some Ellroy stuff, but it just doesn't have that same feel to me, though I have loved what I have read so far. Someone mentioned Crumley earlier in this thread, and I plan on hitting up the used bookstore tomorrow for some of his. Are there any other suggestions? I feel like I'm gonna go through withdrawal here... (I have taken a break from mystery novels every couple of novels, so I'm not a total junkie.) edit: I guess too what I am asking is if there is another natural progression. Hammet, to Chandler, to Macdonald all seemed to flow into one another. Where do I go after Macdonald? Danger fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 3, 2010 |
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Mar 3, 2010 23:48
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Danger posted:I'm a sucker for hardboiled private eye stuff. You must must must try Richard Stark's Parker books. Not private eye, but a heister, and as hardboiled as it gets. I love Ross Thomas, but some can take him or leave him. Read this description to see if he interests you. Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books are hardboiled police procedurals. John Burdette's Bangkok series are excellent crime novels set in an unusual location. Lawrence Block's early Scudder books are explicitly an homage/continuation of the Chandler/Hammett style.
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Mar 3, 2010 23:57
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I'm supposed to do some book reviews in a small magazine. In case any Book Barn goons are Danish, and appreciate philosophical literary fiction, I'd love a recommendation. I rarely read new books so I'm a bit lost as to what's coming out at the moment in my native tongue.
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Mar 4, 2010 16:05
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Schmopenhauer posted:I'm supposed to do some book reviews in a small magazine. In case any Book Barn goons are Danish, and appreciate philosophical literary fiction, I'd love a recommendation. I rarely read new books so I'm a bit lost as to what's coming out at the moment in my native tongue. Try Poop goen der Wieselmaier by Daker Prouenplumbkt.
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Mar 5, 2010 02:49
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Edit: Wow, I was splergy last night. Could anyone recommend me some books for understanding conservatism and liberalism. That, and maybe some books on general US history spanning any amount of time. 10 years or 200 years, doesnt matter. I just finished Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States Grapefist fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Mar 6, 2010 |
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Mar 5, 2010 06:51
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My dad is looking for action archaeology fiction similar to Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, but preferably not licensed stuff. Is there anything good out there?
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Mar 5, 2010 16:16
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Cereal eater, I have read both Richmond Lattimore and Alexander Pope's translation and they were both top notch, the only would I would avoid would be Robert Fitzgerald's translation. I am usually a nonfiction reader, but my current Russian lit class is burning me out. I need a good sci-fi fiction to temper the seriously dense novels I have been currently clawing my way through. I am trying to find either a book or series of books about space warfare, in line with the classical naval warfare of the age of sail. Something with huge ships with broadside mounted weapons that require strategic positioning, broadside salvos, fire control and damage control, shutting down bulkheads and cutting off portions of the ship to contain depressurization and such. I just want huge, slow fought battles; even if it had the random boarding party marine pod or what not. The closest I have found so far is the honorverse series, but I can't seem to truly enjoy them as they aren't "hard" enough if that makes sense, a bit too whimsical and ridiculous. If someone could find anything meeting that criteria, you would save my poor taxed mind.
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Mar 7, 2010 08:16
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Schmopenhauer posted:I'm supposed to do some book reviews in a small magazine. In case any Book Barn goons are Danish, and appreciate philosophical literary fiction, I'd love a recommendation. I rarely read new books so I'm a bit lost as to what's coming out at the moment in my native tongue. Surfs the book barn > Surfs the book barn and is Danish > Surfs the book barn and is Danish and reads literary fiction > Surfs the book barn and is Danish and reads philosophical literary fiction > Surfs the book barn and is Danish and reads and APPRECIATES philisophical literary fiction > Surfs the book barn and is Danish and reads and appreciates NEW philisophical literary fiction. I'm not saying you won't find any, though! Personally, I only come part of the way.
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Mar 7, 2010 10:55
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Ptolemaeus posted:Cereal eater, I have read both Richmond Lattimore and Alexander Pope's translation and they were both top notch, the only would I would avoid would be Robert Fitzgerald's translation. You might try David Drake's Republic of Cinnabar series. They're space opera based off 19th century British naval operations. I don't know that I'd say they're full of the kind of battles you're looking for, but they certainly have some of that element, and I'd say they're harder than Weber. As a bonus, most of them are available online, free and legal, here.
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Mar 7, 2010 11:53
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I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for since I've just starting reading books more often, so here goes...I really liked The Art of Racing in the Rain and would probably like any other racing or car books. Documentaries or fiction would work I suppose. Also my friend gave me the Harry Potter series to read and I like them so far (about to start the 5th book), but I'd pretty much take any recommendation on other types of books to figure out what I like and good places to start. I know that's a bit broad but I have to start somewhere.
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Mar 7, 2010 17:31
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DreamOn13 posted:I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for since I've just starting reading books more often, so here goes...I really liked The Art of Racing in the Rain and would probably like any other racing or car books. Documentaries or fiction would work I suppose. If you're just getting into reading one of the things I would recommend staying away from is reading the classics first, a lot of people will say you should jump into Ulysses, Moby Dick, or A Tale of Two Cities but you should read around some of the things you enjoy before getting into those or else you will find them painful. I don't know about any racing or car books but some good books I would recommend for anyone who is starting to read and trying to find out the genres they enjoy are The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (a light science fiction comedy), Ender's Game (slightly more science fiction but not hard sci-fi), The Hound of the Baskervilles (an easy Sherlock Holmes book that almost everyone would find enjoyable), or The Lord of the Rings (kind of big and daunting but pretty much the fantasy book that everyone who likes fantasy loves and not too bad if you are already on the fifth Harry Potter book). Those are extremely general suggestions but it's hard to recommend things without knowing your reading levels and preferences but just remember to read books you enjoy before moving on the ones you "appreciate" like the classics and such.
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Mar 7, 2010 19:10
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FortCastle posted:If you're just getting into reading one of the things I would recommend staying away from is reading the classics first, a lot of people will say you should jump into Ulysses, Moby Dick, or A Tale of Two Cities but you should read around some of the things you enjoy before getting into those or else you will find them painful. I don't know about any racing or car books but some good books I would recommend for anyone who is starting to read and trying to find out the genres they enjoy are The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (a light science fiction comedy), Ender's Game (slightly more science fiction but not hard sci-fi), The Hound of the Baskervilles (an easy Sherlock Holmes book that almost everyone would find enjoyable), or The Lord of the Rings (kind of big and daunting but pretty much the fantasy book that everyone who likes fantasy loves and not too bad if you are already on the fifth Harry Potter book). Those are extremely general suggestions but it's hard to recommend things without knowing your reading levels and preferences but just remember to read books you enjoy before moving on the ones you "appreciate" like the classics and such. Don't don't don't do this, stop denegrating the classics as little things that you put on pedestals and throw in closets, and that classics are not as enjoyable as books with lasers and elves and poo poo. This is the entirely wrong way to read books. If you are not enjoying a book, you shouldn't read it, however, if you can only get enjoyment out of things that go bang bang and cheap philosophy and poor wit (all those things that simply make you feel comfortable), then perhaps you should remove yourself from the body politic because you are doing nothing for yourself, those around you, or society at large. My advice to DreamOn13: Don't read for entertainment. If you just want to be entertained, don't change your consumption, just consume whatever, in any media. If you want to read because you think reading will "make you better," or has some sort of "value" within itself, you must choose to read things that have genuine value and make you a genuinely better person. Genre novels will not. If you like books about cars, read On The Road to start you out, if you haven't read it already. Read some Tom Robbins. Neither of those are really top-notch, but they're good places to start with literature. If you want sci-fi/fantasy, read A Voyage to Arcturus or some of the old Arthurian romances. None of that stuff is difficult, but it'll put you in a position where you see reading as a unique experience and will want to do it more often and search out your own reading lists. It will make you put thought into your reading, and any time a person thinks hard about their cultural consumption, she is improving herself.
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Mar 8, 2010 01:32
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7 y.o. bitch posted:Don't don't don't do this, stop denegrating the classics as little things that you put on pedestals and throw in closets, and that classics are not as enjoyable as books with lasers and elves and poo poo. This is the entirely wrong way to read books. If you are not enjoying a book, you shouldn't read it, however, if you can only get enjoyment out of things that go bang bang and cheap philosophy and poor wit (all those things that simply make you feel comfortable), then perhaps you should remove yourself from the body politic because you are doing nothing for yourself, those around you, or society at large. I didn't mean it like that at all, I meant that going from zero to sixty isn't a good way to get into reading. Of course they are enjoyable but to get their full effect you need to read around to be able to appreciate what they are. Maybe it's only me because I am only speaking from my own experience in loathing the A Tale of Two Cities and Moby Dick the first time that I read them but I think that I tried to go too deep too quickly. They are amazing books and I feel that he will be turned off by them if he starts his reading experience with hem but maybe I'm wrong, read what you want, read what you enjoy. edit: Maybe my explanation was poor but I just meant that he needed a good starting point to jump into deeper stuff, the same reason I would not recommend someone who wanted to become better at math to read a Calculus III textbook, while that is eventually where you want to go and where the deep fun stuff is at, it can be a brutal experience if you are a beginner. FortCastle fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Mar 8, 2010 |
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Mar 8, 2010 01:59
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FortCastle posted:I didn't mean it like that at all, I meant that going from zero to sixty isn't a good way to get into reading. Of course they are enjoyable but to get their full effect you need to read around to be able to appreciate what they are. Maybe it's only me because I am only speaking from my own experience in loathing the A Tale of Two Cities and Moby Dick the first time that I read them but I think that I tried to go too deep too quickly. They are amazing books and I feel that he will be turned off by them if he starts his reading experience with hem but maybe I'm wrong, read what you want, read what you enjoy. I genuinely know of no one who would recommend someone who is just starting out reading to read Ulysses or Moby Dick. They might suggest A Tale of Two Cities, although they're more likely to suggest Great Expectations (I don't like Dickens except for Bleak House and Hard Times). But people in general have a very narrow conception of what the "classics" are (ie. whatever they read in hs/college), and I don't think it's helping anyone to suggest reading genre fiction before reading literature. However, I do think it's funny that what you suggest he start off with are the recognized "greatest works of the genres" and these are supposed to be easy to get in to, as opposed to the greater difficulty of regular literature. In any case, Lord of the Ring is boring as hell, and the reason Harry Potter is so popular for the general populace of kids rather than just fantasy nerds is because it's 1)more like a traditional novel, and 2)made for an ADD generation.
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Mar 8, 2010 02:11
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7 y.o. bitch posted:I genuinely know of no one who would recommend someone who is just starting out reading to read Ulysses or Moby Dick. They might suggest A Tale of Two Cities, although they're more likely to suggest Great Expectations (I don't like Dickens except for Bleak House and Hard Times). But people in general have a very narrow conception of what the "classics" are (ie. whatever they read in hs/college), and I don't think it's helping anyone to suggest reading genre fiction before reading literature. However, I do think it's funny that what you suggest he start off with are the recognized "greatest works of the genres" and these are supposed to be easy to get in to, as opposed to the greater difficulty of regular literature. In any case, Lord of the Ring is boring as hell, and the reason Harry Potter is so popular for the general populace of kids rather than just fantasy nerds is because it's 1)more like a traditional novel, and 2)made for an ADD generation. Fair enough, I thought they were books that beginners would enjoy but you have shown me the light, I did not mean to start an argument in the recommendation thread of all places
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Mar 8, 2010 02:52
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DreamOn13 posted:I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for since I've just starting reading books more often, so here goes...I really liked The Art of Racing in the Rain and would probably like any other racing or car books. Documentaries or fiction would work I suppose. Harry Potter is Dickensian storytelling, minus Dickensian style/wit, plus magic; there's no reason not to start with Dickens. If you've read 10 standard English/American best-selling novels written in the past 50 years, it's likely that at least 4 of them have been derivative of Dickens in story or style. I'm not saying he's a great novelist, but he's a good one, he's an accessible one, and he's one whose influence you will begin to detect all over the place if you read some of him. I don't think there's anything wrong with reading for entertainment, but I don't think you need to be numbed or comforted to be entertained. Several of Gogol's short stories, for example, are entertaining; however, unlike some magical fairy rape manifesto, they won't rot your brain while you read. Anyway, I don't know any car books, but T.E. Lawrence's 7 Pillars of Wisdom might appeal to you. Cars are manly and he did manly things. Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London is a really entertaining book that isn't crap. Raymond Chandler's novels are also fun and clever. By the way, books do not become "literature" because they are daunting and impenetrable. If you can read, you can read good books. As 7 y.o. bitch said, there's no reason to start with pulp-fantasy training wheels.
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Mar 8, 2010 03:05
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I've recently gotten an interest in reading Le Morte D'Arthur, and I am wondering if I should get the version that has changed syntax and spelling, or the version with just updated spelling?
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Mar 8, 2010 04:24
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7 y.o. bitch posted:if you can only get enjoyment out of things that go bang bang and cheap philosophy and poor wit (all those things that simply make you feel comfortable), then perhaps you should remove yourself from the body politic because you are doing nothing for yourself, those around you, or society at large.
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Mar 8, 2010 05:41
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7 y.o. bitch posted:If you just want to be entertained, don't change your consumption, just consume whatever, in any media. If you want to read because you think reading will "make you better," or has some sort of "value" within itself, you must choose to read things that have genuine value and make you a genuinely better person. Genre novels will not. The XIX century called, they want your hopelessly naive view of Literature back.
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Mar 8, 2010 08:28
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criptozoid posted:The XIX century called, they want your hopelessly naive view of Literature back. I'm not going to get into a discussion here (see OP), but I somehow doubt you've read very much 19th- (or for that matter, 20th-) century criticism (especially since your comment doesn't seem to acknowledge the huge debates about the social role of literature that took place throughout the century, for example, in Britain's periodicals, but was instead simply homogeneous). And I don't see how reading for self-improvement is "hopelessly naive," seeing as how it's been one of the main, if not the main, justification for art since the Poetics, and continues to be to this day. While most critics will leave out discussions of value in their criticism, following Frye, the idea of value tends to be implicit in most criticism and definitely is in pedagogy.
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Mar 8, 2010 14:58
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Rabbit Hill posted:Any more books like this, or (even better) dealing with the "evil preacher who quotes the Bible while being evil" side of the Carnivale story? I'm really interested in stories that treat this kind of character seriously (not cartoonishly). Like, a good example would be in Faulkner's Light in August: Joe Christmas' foster father, who was extremely ascetic, stern, abusive, and uses the Bible to justify his mistreatment of Joe. He's not a minister, but that's all right...he's got the "scary religious zealot" part down cold.
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Mar 8, 2010 17:07
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