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I'm looking for a treasure hunt style book. Something along the lines of National Treasure but better, it can be either fiction or non-fiction, I just want a fun read. I've heard the Dirk Pitt books are a decent fun read but was looking for a few more options. I'll be getting this for the kindle so I know some of my options will be limited.
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Mar 29, 2010 16:43
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thecallahan posted:I'm looking for a treasure hunt style book. Something along the lines of National Treasure but better, it can be either fiction or non-fiction, I just want a fun read. I've heard the Dirk Pitt books are a decent fun read but was looking for a few more options. I'll be getting this for the kindle so I know some of my options will be limited. I'm reading this right now: The Hunt for Atlantis, and it's so hilariously over the top. Written by a goon too.
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Mar 29, 2010 17:06
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LooseChanj posted:I'm reading this right now: The Hunt for Atlantis, and it's so hilariously over the top. Written by a goon too. Just going off his other titles I'm sold, picking it up now, thanks!
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Mar 29, 2010 17:23
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I'm looking for the following: A decent book on Leonardo Da Vinci that skips all the Dan Brown style conspiracy bollocks and just focuses on the man and his works. A good book about the Hollywood scandals of the 20s & 30s.
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Mar 29, 2010 17:24
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zombieman posted:A good book about the Hollywood scandals of the 20s & 30s. Hollywood Babylon I & II: Dead actres eaten by dachshund, topless Joan Crawford, Clark Gable sucked a dick, Tarzan's ex-girlfriend pukes and shits everywhere and dies in own muck. I think they're both easy to find used.
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Mar 29, 2010 17:38
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meanolmrcloud posted:I read infinite jest around the new year. Its a stunning and whacky book that, unfortunately, I don't think has many contemporaries. Since reading it, i've read: If you liked Libra, why not another DeLillo book? White Noise is excellent and I'd stack it up against LJ any day. I haven't read it, but I hear Underworld is no slouch either.
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Mar 29, 2010 18:08
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meanolmrcloud posted:
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Mar 29, 2010 18:50
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Facial Fracture posted:Hollywood Babylon I & II: Dead actres eaten by dachshund, topless Joan Crawford, Clark Gable sucked a dick, Tarzan's ex-girlfriend pukes and shits everywhere and dies in own muck. That sounds exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for, thanks.
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Mar 29, 2010 21:01
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meanolmrcloud posted:I read infinite jest around the new year. Its a stunning and whacky book that, unfortunately, I don't think has many contemporaries. Since reading it, i've read: Try Giles Goat Boy.
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Mar 30, 2010 18:29
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meanolmrcloud posted:confessions of an economic hitman just for the non-fiction infodump I know I've said this before, but imo that guy is really just some corporate nobody with a vivid imagination and a knack for racy book titles. Preparing a Powerpoint presentation to advertise investments in third-world countries does not make you an "economic hitman".
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Mar 30, 2010 20:03
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Leovinus posted:I've been getting into the Jack Reacher novels, and I'd love some recommendations for similar thrillers - unrealistically badass ex-military or ex-cop main characters getting caught up in things is good. If there's a decent sci-fi equivalent, I'd be interested in that as well, but someone recommended me Neal Asher's Ian Cormac books for that and I couldn't really get into Gridlinked at all. I haven't read any Reacher novels so I may be wrong, but if you're looking for possible sci-fi equivalents it might be you worth checking our Richard Morgan's 'Altered Carbon'. Macers
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Mar 30, 2010 22:04
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I'm in dire need of some all-encompassing, major love-enducing, character-driven, epic science fiction or fantasy. I miss the first time I read Game of Thrones, the Robin Hobb FitzChivalry books, or Dune, or Hyperion (& sequels), or Ender's Game (& first set of sequels). Even something plot-driven would be okay at this point (Ringworld, Rama). Anything? Please? 
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Mar 31, 2010 02:19
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Argenterie posted:I'm in dire need of some all-encompassing, major love-enducing, character-driven, epic science fiction or fantasy. I miss the first time I read Game of Thrones, the Robin Hobb FitzChivalry books, or Dune, or Hyperion (& sequels), or Ender's Game (& first set of sequels). Even something plot-driven would be okay at this point (Ringworld, Rama). Anything? Please? Anathem by neal stephenson was pretty fun. Edit: on second thought, it dosen't much compare to what you've mentioned. Stephenson's good if you want some immersive worlds for drat sure though. meanolmrcloud fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Mar 31, 2010 |
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Mar 31, 2010 03:48
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Argenterie posted:I'm in dire need of some all-encompassing, major love-enducing, character-driven, epic science fiction or fantasy. I miss the first time I read Game of Thrones, the Robin Hobb FitzChivalry books, or Dune, or Hyperion (& sequels), or Ender's Game (& first set of sequels). Even something plot-driven would be okay at this point (Ringworld, Rama). Anything? Please? Try Endymion by Keats.
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Mar 31, 2010 03:55
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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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Argenterie posted:I'm in dire need of some all-encompassing, major love-enducing, character-driven, epic science fiction or fantasy. I miss the first time I read Game of Thrones, the Robin Hobb FitzChivalry books, or Dune, or Hyperion (& sequels), or Ender's Game (& first set of sequels). Even something plot-driven would be okay at this point (Ringworld, Rama). Anything? Please? Try Roger Zelazny. His novel Lord of Light should be exactly what you're looking for, though it's a one-off; if you want something bigger, try his Chronicles of Amber series, though it's a lot pulpier and not up to the same level of quality. If you like LoL try his Isle of the Dead as well -- it's very different, but has some of the same gods-and-mortals vibe going on. Otherwise, first few books of Wheel of Time if you haven't. The Dresden Files series isn't epic, or at least the first few books aren't, but it's character-driven and "major love enducing", and is getting more epic in scope as the series progresses. Neil Gaiman's Stardust or his Sandman series. For character-driven fantasy, a personal favorite of mine is Lawrence Watt-Evans; read "The Misenchanted Sword." Calenth fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Mar 31, 2010 |
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Mar 31, 2010 15:29
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meanolmrcloud posted:Anathem by neal stephenson was pretty fun. Thanks! I own Anathem (For the past several years I've just sight-unseen bought all the Hugo novel nominees and some of them I haven't been able to get into). I will try to get into it again this week.  Calenth posted:Try Roger Zelazny. His novel Lord of Light should be exactly what you're looking for, though it's a one-off; if you want something bigger, try his Chronicles of Amber series, though it's a lot pulpier and not up to the same level of quality. If you like LoL try his Isle of the Dead as well -- it's very different, but has some of the same gods-and-mortals vibe going on. I feel like I've read Lord of Light when I was 14 or so. My dad had a huge old science fiction/fantasy paperback book collection (some with the covers ripped off!! HORRORS!) that I stole from him and read voraciously as a child, and the plot seemed familiar. I also read the first three Wheel of Time books a few years ago, and am considering just skipping all the ones in the middle, and just reading Brandon Sanderson's conclusions. I'll look into the others you mentioned. And I've added the others you've mentioned to my Amazon "buy these next" list. Thank you very much! 7 y.o. bitch posted:Try Endymion by Keats. Thank you for the suggestion. Any recent Hugo Award nominees that anyone is particularly fond of?
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Apr 1, 2010 01:27
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I'm looking for books that largely inspired or created groups of political/socio-economic thought. I have the following already on my list: The Communist Manifesto The Prince Mein Kampf Atlas Shrugged The Wealth Of Nations Also, am I going to kill myself reading all of this?
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Apr 1, 2010 02:35
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pwnyXpress posted:I'm looking for books that largely inspired or created groups of political/socio-economic thought. I have the following already on my list: Don't read Mein Kampf or Atlas Shrugged, they are both trash. As for the others, they're ok, but read Capital and the German Ideology, and Discourses on Livy instead/in addition. I'm not sure why you'd want to read The Wealth of Nations, but Thomas Paine's writings are great. You could always read Keynes' General Theory, Adorno and Horkheimer's The Dialectic of Enlightenment, Mills' The Power Elite, Foucault's Discipline and Punish, and literally thousands of other things. Gramsci and Althusser are also huge right now, or you could read Bill Buckley's God and Man at Yale to see the beginnings of the social conservative movement.
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Apr 1, 2010 02:44
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Yeah, when I say Atlas Shrugged and Mein Kampf are poo poo, I'm not saying that because of my political beliefs. They are just horrible reads. Atlas Shrugged is overwritten and a solid fifth of the 800~ page book is one monologue. Mein Kampf is just the syphilitic jailhouse rantings of a meth addict. It's largely incoherent, although Glenn Beck's programs and books do very very very much remind me of it. Take that for what its worth.
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Apr 1, 2010 06:05
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pwnyXpress posted:
This one is also a terrible read. I would add JS Mill's On Liberty to your list. Not a political book itself, but Darwin's Origin of Species is a pretty decent read and had an immeasurable effect on the political discourse on the 100 years following its publication.
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Apr 1, 2010 15:59
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I just ordered 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and 'Red seas under Red skies' thanks to this thread, so thanks guys
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Apr 1, 2010 18:55
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pwnyXpress posted:I'm looking for books that largely inspired or created groups of political/socio-economic thought. I have the following already on my list: Add "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman and there's nothing wrong with "Atlas Shrugged" unless you're caught up in some imaginary class battle and the name Ayn Rand makes your mouth all frothy. But "The Fountainhead" is the better Ayn Rand book. Don't listen to people who tell you books are terrible because they disagree with them (which is most likely the case here).
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Apr 1, 2010 19:15
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unleash the unicorn posted:Add "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman and there's nothing wrong with "Atlas Shrugged" unless you're caught up in some imaginary class battle and the name Ayn Rand makes your mouth all frothy. But "The Fountainhead" is the better Ayn Rand book. It's terrible because it's poorly written pop philosophy. It's like reading "The Secret" and expecting to get something out of it other than "stupider". It's one thing to create a narrative that's positive towards your own leanings, and its quote another to break that narrative into a hundred page radio monologue telling the reader what to think. It's poo poo for so many reasons ideologically, but from a literary perspective it might be one of the most poorly written books to ever grace a shelf.
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Apr 1, 2010 19:23
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Keep your ideologies in LF where they belong
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Apr 1, 2010 22:34
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The Gecko posted:I just ordered 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and 'Red seas under Red skies' thanks to this thread, so thanks guys You won't regret it. They are so good! I just wish the next book was out sooner, the last book left the main characters in a really interesting place.
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Apr 1, 2010 23:43
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unleash the unicorn posted:Keep your ideologies in LF where they belong He clearly stated that this isn't about idealogies but the fact that the books are terribly written pieces of poo poo that aren't worth your time.
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Apr 1, 2010 23:46
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unleash the unicorn posted:Keep your ideologies in LF where they belong But that's silly? You said "imaginary class battles" and "frothing at the mouth" and he said it was poorly written and contained a really long monologue? I don't get it? Are you "trolling"? Question asker: I don't think Rand is worth reading, but I guess she's worth having read in that at some point you'll likely hear or read someone regurgitating her views and be able to trace their stupid argument to her. Then, instead of knowing it's stupid but being unclear on exactly how or why, you will be familiar with the underlying ideological markers. You'll be informed, but probably not enlightened. If you read Rand, read criticisms of her too. And if you can't slog through her lovely writing, at least you know that lots of people don't feel you're missing anything. Or watch The Fountainhead the movie. It is poo poo but with dramatic lighting and Gary Cooper.
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Apr 1, 2010 23:50
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Argenterie posted:I'm in dire need of some all-encompassing, major love-enducing, character-driven, epic science fiction or fantasy. I miss the first time I read Game of Thrones, the Robin Hobb FitzChivalry books, or Dune, or Hyperion (& sequels), or Ender's Game (& first set of sequels). Even something plot-driven would be okay at this point (Ringworld, Rama). Anything? Please? I just finished the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Sounds like it might be something you'd enjoy. I actually woke up everyday looking forward to going to work just so I could read some more. I only read at work since it makes my books last longer. Also, The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss was awesome.
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Apr 2, 2010 00:50
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Facial Fracture posted:But that's silly? You said "imaginary class battles" and "frothing at the mouth" and he said it was poorly written and contained a really long monologue? I don't get it? Are you "trolling"? To be blunt, what I'm implying here is that the people who criticize her writing style are lying or exaggerating just to keep other people from actually reading the books. The book was a huge bestseller from the start, surely a result of the libertarian conspiracy. Or maybe it's not so terrible at all? To the guy who asked about it: As you can see, people REALLY hate Ayn Rand. That should be enough reason to actually read the book.
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Apr 2, 2010 07:20
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unleash the unicorn posted:To be blunt, what I'm implying here is that the people who criticize her writing style are lying or exaggerating just to keep other people from actually reading the books. So was Twilight. People have always liked lovely books. In response to the guy asking about all this, I might also add Milton's Areopagitica. But I would also hesitate to just add another text to check off a list. These type of texts you really need to spend some time with reading, and then some time reading some criticism, and then some more time reading the original, etc etc etc.
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Apr 2, 2010 10:17
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Looking for some rec's for my lady friend, who's a massive fan of Kundera, specifically The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Be it one of his other works or someone else who's style is comparable, your contributions might just brighten an Asian girls birthday, and get me laid to boot!
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Apr 2, 2010 16:56
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unleash the unicorn posted:The book was a huge bestseller from the start, surely a result of the libertarian conspiracy. Or maybe it's not so terrible at all? This is precisely why I need to read Ayn Rand. Seems to polarize people and have an great impact on them. Maybe I'll pick up The Fountainhead instead of Atlas Shrugged based on the suggestions, though. Also, thanks everyone for the suggestions, I am going to read up on each of them and decide which to add to my list while at work today. How did I not think about Origin of Species? That seems like an obvious add.
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Apr 2, 2010 17:18
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Frankenfatz posted:Looking for some rec's for my lady friend, who's a massive fan of Kundera, specifically The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Be it one of his other works or someone else who's style is comparable, your contributions might just brighten an Asian girls birthday, and get me laid to boot! This post is strange. He has a new one coming out in August, although you probably don't want to wait until then to get laid: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061894419?ie=UTF8&tag=conversatio07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061894419
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Apr 2, 2010 20:14
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The Big Lebowski posted:I just finished the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Sounds like it might be something you'd enjoy. I actually woke up everyday looking forward to going to work just so I could read some more. Okay, I just read the first three chapters of The Blade Itself, and yay!!  it seems like I will enjoy it. Thank you!Also, The Name of the Wind is awesome, I agree.
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Apr 2, 2010 21:17
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unleash the unicorn posted:To be blunt, what I'm implying here is that the people who criticize her writing style are lying or exaggerating just to keep other people from actually reading the books. It's an objectively bad book, sorry.
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Apr 3, 2010 00:36
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I'm sorry if this has already been answered but... I just finished "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking for the 3rd or so time. I need something else, another viewpoint etc.. for me to examine interpret and understand. Thanks a bunch.
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Apr 3, 2010 05:02
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Dromoro posted:I'm sorry if this has already been answered but... Look for books by Brian Greene or Steven Weinberg for popular theoretical physics. Not sure whether there are any serious competing viewpoints to "A brief history of time", however you can always read Lee Smolin's "The trouble with physics" if you want to hear about the still-ongoing bitchfight between string theorists and people who think string theory is a dead end. (Lee Smolin belongs to the latter group) unleash the unicorn fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Apr 3, 2010 |
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Apr 3, 2010 08:35
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Frankenfatz posted:Looking for some rec's for my lady friend, who's a massive fan of Kundera, specifically The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Be it one of his other works or someone else who's style is comparable, your contributions might just brighten an Asian girls birthday, and get me laid to boot! The Stranger by Albert Camus Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys The Sleepwalkers by Hermann Broch The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
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Apr 3, 2010 09:14
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So after an unsuccessful trip to the library I'm still looking for a book detailing how other cultures/religions have influenced christianity. It's embarrassing being able to think of things off the top of my head but I can't find a book on it for the life of me.
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Apr 3, 2010 15:00
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CommunistMojo posted:So after an unsuccessful trip to the library I'm still looking for a book detailing how other cultures/religions have influenced christianity. It's embarrassing being able to think of things off the top of my head but I can't find a book on it for the life of me. I am not an expert in this but maybe I can point you in the right direction. Zoroastrianism was the major religion in the area and time of the captivity -- there are clear points of similarity between it and Judaism. The internet is full of poo poo information on Zoroastrianism and I don't have the time or knowledge to sift out the good stuff, so I'll just direct you to the sources listed in the Religious Tolerance link above. Also relevant is the pagan influences. I haven't read Robin Lane Fox's Pagans and Christians, but it seems to deal with the interaction of early christians and pagans -- it may be what you're looking for. For theological similarities between pagan cults and early christians, see Robertson's Pagan Christs.
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Apr 3, 2010 15:44
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