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bobkatt013 posted:I am pretty sure based on his avatar he knows about The Wire Oops! I have avatars turned off. Hopefully it'll be useful for someone else, though.
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Jun 12, 2011 04:01
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escape artist posted:I'm looking for conspiracy theory books that don't waft the odor of "crackpot". My dad's tried to get me to read Voodoo Histories for a while now, telling me it's the only book I need to read about conspiracy theories. It's looks at a bunch of theories - ranging from the moon landing, zionist theories, to Obama plus some UK ones I don't know anything about - and how/why they spread. It's on sale, too.
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Jun 12, 2011 04:15
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Anyone ever read Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir by Anatole Broyard. From what I read, it is very similar to A Movable Feast by Hemingway. I want to check it out, but I'm not sure about it.
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Jun 14, 2011 05:38
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Can anyone recommend me some coming of age/romance novels along the lines of Norwegian Wood?
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Jun 14, 2011 07:19
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I have a question about YA recommendations for a teenage girl who recently enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Lioness quartet. She's also read the "Protector of the Small" quartet and I think the Wild Magic series, but none of the other unrelated(?) "Circle" series. I never read this author myself so I don't know if getting her the Circle series would be a good next step? Some of the reviews I've seen online suggest that it's intended for a much younger audience. Is there anybody who's read them all and is prepared to offer an opinion? I should mention, I am also planning to introduce some of my own favorite authors like Andre Norton, Bujold, and Robin McKinley (she's in kind of a "girl power" phase so I'm holding off on the Heinlein juveniles). But she reads like 6 to 8 books a week so keeping her fueled is tough.
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Jun 14, 2011 07:58
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wheatpuppy posted:I have a question about YA recommendations for a teenage girl who recently enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Lioness quartet. She's also read the "Protector of the Small" quartet and I think the Wild Magic series, but none of the other unrelated(?) "Circle" series. I never read this author myself so I don't know if getting her the Circle series would be a good next step? Some of the reviews I've seen online suggest that it's intended for a much younger audience. Is there anybody who's read them all and is prepared to offer an opinion? I can't speak to the Pierce stuff, but Kristin Cashore's Graceling is an excellent piece of girl-empowering fantasy (although I wouldn't recommend Fire, the related novel). It has some off-screen sex scenes, though, so fair warning. On a similar note, I've heard good things about Malinda Lo's Huntress, but the two lead female characters develop a bit of a romance, so.... Also, while the protagonist isn't female, it sounds like she might really like Ursala K LeGuin's Earthsea Quartet.
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Jun 14, 2011 11:04
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wheatpuppy posted:I have a question about YA recommendations for a teenage girl who recently enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Lioness quartet. She's also read the "Protector of the Small" quartet and I think the Wild Magic series, but none of the other unrelated(?) "Circle" series. I never read this author myself so I don't know if getting her the Circle series would be a good next step? Some of the reviews I've seen online suggest that it's intended for a much younger audience. Is there anybody who's read them all and is prepared to offer an opinion? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Wizards -- helped me get through elementary/high school as the outcast brainy girl, and now in my 20s I still make it a point to pick up each new book when it comes out. Unfailing quality and characterization, never speaks down to its readers and emphasizes the fact that real magic is in language, and that the greatest evil is entropy instead of Generic Dark Wizard #32647. Really wonderful books that I can't recommend highly enough. FWIW I loved the Circle of Magic series, but you're correct in that it is meant for a younger audience than teenagers.
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Jun 14, 2011 20:24
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I am a big big fan of Carl Hiaasen and have read most of his works about dudes tearing up Florida. I also liked Dave Barry's "Big Trouble," Robert Rankin's "Hollow Chocolate Bunnies," and pretty much all of Terry Pratchett's Vimes-centric books, and am looking for other good authors with similar voices, or similarly "zany"/"larger-than-life" mysteries.
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Jun 15, 2011 04:54
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wheatpuppy posted:I have a question about YA recommendations for a teenage girl who recently enjoyed Tamora Pierce's Lioness quartet. She's also read the "Protector of the Small" quartet and I think the Wild Magic series, but none of the other unrelated(?) "Circle" series. I never read this author myself so I don't know if getting her the Circle series would be a good next step? Some of the reviews I've seen online suggest that it's intended for a much younger audience. Is there anybody who's read them all and is prepared to offer an opinion? Tamora was a huge influence on me way back when. I'd say the Circle series is good enough but only if she really loves the author. "Trickster's Choice" and "Trickster's Queen" take place in the same universe as the Lioness books (main character is the Lioness' daughter) and are generally better reads because Tammy's writing is more mature. From friends I've heard that the "Bekah Cooper" trilogy is very good, too. In terms of other girl powered YA recommendations, the ultimate in fantasy for me is Monica Furlong. Both "Juniper" and "Wise Child" are extremely beautiful books. They'd be a nice move up for a voracious TP consumer, too. "True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" by Avi is just straight up great. Anything by Nancy Farmer, Scott O'Dell, Cynthia Voight (if she likes fantasy start with "Jackaroo") or Bruce Coville's Unicorn Chronicles. dream owl fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Jun 15, 2011 |
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Jun 15, 2011 05:41
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I'm not sure if this should go here or the e-reader thread, so let me know and I'll move it if necessary. I'm looking for a set of Jane Austen's novels on Kindle, but I'm wondering if it's worth it to buy one of the many $1 compilations with ToC, or if it'd just be better to download each of the free ones separately. If it makes sense to download the compilation, is there a recommended one? There are several with all her novels, but half the reviews say "Table of Contents worked great!", while the other half say, "this edition is a piece of poo poo! Don't buy!" I just want a nicely formatted edition with chapters for each novel and no major conversion errors, basically.
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Jun 15, 2011 06:10
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Thanks, dream owl, Hecuba, and funkybottoms! I have a lot of favorite YA authors from my own youth, but I don't know much about anybody from the past 20 years or so. I appreciate your help.
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Jun 15, 2011 08:02
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wheatpuppy posted:Thanks, dream owl, Hecuba, and funkybottoms! I have a lot of favorite YA authors from my own youth, but I don't know much about anybody from the past 20 years or so. I appreciate your help. If she likes sci-fi as well as fantasy, try the Hex trilogy, by Rhiannon Lassiter. A little hard to find, if you don't want to use Amazon marketplace, but it's still one of my favourite series.
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Jun 15, 2011 08:51
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Can anyone recommend a decent English edition of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib? I've been scouring the web and I can't locate a nice reader's edition - it's all three column paralell language presentations, that overly-complex approach endemic to all sacred texts.
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Jun 15, 2011 15:48
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Epoxy Bulletin posted:I am a big big fan of Carl Hiaasen and have read most of his works about dudes tearing up Florida. I also liked Dave Barry's "Big Trouble," Robert Rankin's "Hollow Chocolate Bunnies," and pretty much all of Terry Pratchett's Vimes-centric books, and am looking for other good authors with similar voices, or similarly "zany"/"larger-than-life" mysteries. I've been wondering about Hiaasen actually. Where's a good place to start?
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Jun 15, 2011 22:32
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If you like Hiaasen you'll love Elmore Leonard. Start anywhere.
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Jun 16, 2011 03:00
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So I've been reading stuff like A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin, The Dwarves by Markus Heitz, Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. I was wondering what scifi or fantasy books there were similar to those series? I don't really know what's good or not, other than I like those ones a lot.
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Jun 19, 2011 05:40
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I'd love some recommendations on books about Psychology, Philosophy and possibly Sociology. Psychology has always been interesting to me, but I've only read very few books; A book about relationships that explores the physical differences in the brains of men and women and how that affects us being together, and a bit about body language, but nothing really extensive. I've looked around on the internet on a lot of small matters and I know a lot of the technical terms in psychology, I just don't know how to find some interesting books. I am not interested in clinical psychology, it has to at least feel like it has some practical use, even if only to understand the 'Why' behind an action or conflict. I'd prefer no Freud, since what little I've read feels completely inapplicable, maybe on account of not having read enough within this subject yet. Books on philosophy are very welcome, I've read a lot of introductions on philosophy like Zeno and the Tortoise, so I have a pretty good grasp of the philosophical process of thought and methodology. I feel ready to delve into some main works, and intend to start reading Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus soon. Even so, recommendations within this field from authors that question how we perceive things, or puts it into a grand perspective, is very welcome. I'm not a fan of harsh reductionism and would prefer to avoid works that delve too much in those aspects of observation. I've read a good deal of sociological texts but welcome suggestions, if anyone knows of some newer works with a keen observation on anything sociological. I've read enough about sociological method and don't want any suggestions in that direction. I've read Durkheim, Marx, Weber and a bit of Simmel, so I don't really need suggestions on classics either. New stuff, however, I've only read a bit on Criminology, like Sutherland, and a lot about Religion (Peter Berger, Luckmann, Casanova, etc.), so any other field is fair game. Other than that, I'll just shamelessly repeat a suggestion of mine from way back in the thread: I'm looking for fiction that delves in specific timeframes. Like a diary, but doesn't have to specifically be a diary, just a person telling or writing his recollection of a chain of events, preferably with pauses in between, where stuff occurs, and he then explains this to the reader afterwards. It's difficult for me to properly convey so here's the quote I gave last time, I still do not know which SA poster to thank for the quote, unfortunately: quote:12:05 PM eastern standard time, the Muslims have vanished. Check for yourself if you don't believe me. Where have they gone to? It probably goes without saying that it doesn't have to have any political context, the subject can be anything, just not a love diary or something like that. The suggestions I got last time were these (Just to avoid repeats): The Gun Seller: I enjoyed the sense of writing - and laughed a good bit as well, it didn't really satisfy this particular niché for me though. Thanks for the suggestion WeaponGradeSadness, if you have any other comedic in nature literature suggestions I'd love to hear 'em (I mean this, not being sarcastic). The Raw Shark Texts: I'm still in the process of reading this, but I find myself constantly more attracted by other works, the beginning was exciting though, before he knew where he was and who he was, describing the world completely unaware of the context of what he's seeing, wouldn't mind a suggestion in that direction. Survivor: I absolutely loved the first 100 or so pages of this book, after the protagonist becomes famous though, it was really downhill. Thanks for the suggestion Theomanic, I'm also in the process of prying Iain Banks' Use of Weapons from a friend's hands. Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives: Great suggestion, a short and thought-provoking read. It's not fantastically written, but if you read carefully there are some really great thoughts in there. Thanks, funkybottoms. House of Leaves: Never started this one, the structure of that book does not appeal to me at all. I'm sorry for this ridiculous wall of text. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! Edited for casually spoilering stuff. Free Weedlord fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 12:03
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Free Weedlord posted:I've read a good deal of sociological texts but welcome suggestions, if anyone knows of some newer works with a keen observation on anything sociological. I've read enough about sociological method and don't want any suggestions in that direction. I've read Durkheim, Marx, Weber and a bit of Simmel, so I don't really need suggestions on classics either. New stuff, however, I've only read a bit on Criminology, like Sutherland, and a lot about Religion (Peter Berger, Luckmann, Casanova, etc.), so any other field is fair game. I've been reading some of Charles Tilly's seminal work on the sociology of historical political movements, in particular, Contentious Performances. Peter Moskos's Cop In The Hood was pretty interesting and a good read, as was Sarah E. Igo's The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public. More on the psychology side is the disturbing The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo and Robert Altemeyer's work on authoritarianism, eg Enemies of Freedom.
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Jun 19, 2011 15:24
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Free Weedlord posted:I'm looking for fiction that delves in specific timeframes. Like a diary, but doesn't have to specifically be a diary, just a person telling or writing his recollection of a chain of events, preferably with pauses in between, where stuff occurs, and he then explains this to the reader afterwards. It's difficult for me to properly convey...I'm sorry for this ridiculous wall of text. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, but I think you should check out Rodrigo Fresan's Kensington Gardens. If you haven't yet you could also try Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. dream owl fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 15:27
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dream owl posted:I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, but I think you should check out Rodrigo Fresan's Kensington Gardens. If you haven't yet you could also try Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Looking quickly, Kensington Gardens seems to revolve a lot around children and I'll have to be honest; I cannot stand children(Subject to change). Will I find anything worthwhile here? Cloud Atlas looks extremely spot on though, I'm already aching to read it. Thanks! Also, dokmo, thanks for the suggestions, 'The Averaged American' I'll have to ask though, is it technical enough to keep my interest, even though I'm not an american? Are Igo's observations relatively applicable outside the US? EDIT: Also, where do people look for books to read? I thrive off of suggestions from people and if I find any interesting references in another book i persue those, but I don't know anywhere I can just go exploring. I know amazon has a lot but the way the site works and looks is just so unappealing. Surely there must be a place for books like there is Last.fm for music or whatever? Free Weedlord fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 16:25
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Free Weedlord posted:Also, dokmo, thanks for the suggestions, 'The Averaged American' I'll have to ask though, is it technical enough to keep my interest, even though I'm not an american? Are Igo's observations relatively applicable outside the US? It's not technical at all, and is mostly about the ad hoc development of surveys and more generally how quantitative methods started to become accepted within the social sciences and the general population. My knowledge of sociology in general isn't too deep, so I can't tell how well quant methodology is accepted outside the US, but the increasing centrality of this kind of thinking is a generally broad theme in the history of the sciences.
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Jun 19, 2011 16:40
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Free Weedlord posted:and intend to start reading Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus soon. Even so, recommendations within this field from authors that question how we perceive things, or puts it into a grand perspective, is very welcome. You may want to read a secondary work on TLP rather than just reading TLP straight as it is quite opaque.It does almost single handedly destroy metaphysics which is nice. Well it is short as hell so no harm really. Anyway LW's Philosophical Investigations is more readable and more profound.
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Jun 19, 2011 17:21
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Free Weedlord posted:Looking quickly, Kensington Gardens seems to revolve a lot around children and I'll have to be honest; I cannot stand children(Subject to change). Will I find anything worthwhile here? Glad to help, and give Fresan a try. Yes the narrator is a children's book author, but I don't know if the novel revolves around children or adults as much as it explores the tension of being trapped between them. Imagine J.M. Barrie dropping acid with Humbert Humbert in 1960's London. And go visit https://goodreads.com, there's even a goon group.
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Jun 19, 2011 21:51
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Free Weedlord posted:The suggestions I got last time were these (Just to avoid repeats): Awesome, glad to hear that- I really, really enjoy selling that book to (the right) people. edit- Do you have a good indie bookstore around? Not that big box store employees don't love books, but figuring out the right book for a customer is more a part of our job than stocking shelves and ringing people up. funkybottoms fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jun 20, 2011 |
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Jun 20, 2011 01:11
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dream owl posted:And go visit https://goodreads.com, there's even a goon group. Well that's great, already spent almost two hours just clicking around. The only thing more I could wish for, would be a short excerpt from the book just to clue the reader in on what style to expect. On indie bookstores: I don't really know. I do however not really feel that comfortable going to a bookstore, spending time figuring out a book for me, go home, research the book only to find some part of it doesn't really click, then never come back to avoid the awkwardness of doing it all over again. I don't really have the money to buy any and all books that might have an exciting premise. Edit: vv You're probably right. I just don't like that there'a a time-limit on books I read, since the amount of work I have to do at the university can be fairly peaky at times. That plus I'm a book murderer (I'll happily put the book down open, cover and backside up, or travel around with it in a bag full of other crap without protecting it). Free Weedlord fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Jun 20, 2011 |
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Jun 20, 2011 02:01
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Free Weedlord posted:I don't really have the money to buy any and all books that might have an exciting premise. This situation obviously calls for a library card.
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Jun 20, 2011 06:01
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I've recently starting getting into zombie books more and more. Already read The Rising, the Monster Island/Planet series, and a bunch of Permuted Press stuff. Looking for recommendations that are preferably unique/fresh takes on the zombie genre.
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Jun 20, 2011 11:50
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AlteredAtronach posted:I've recently starting getting into zombie books more and more. Already read The Rising, the Monster Island/Planet series, and a bunch of Permuted Press stuff. Looking for recommendations that are preferably unique/fresh takes on the zombie genre. World War Z by Max Brooks, which I just defended in another thread, is the standard-bearer for me, and Isaac Marion's recent Warm Bodies is both a good story and an interesting perspective on zombies, although I can't say it's worth the hardback price. I can't recommend them strongly, but Joan Turner's Dust and John Ajvide Lindqvist's Handling the Undead (he also wrote Let the Right One In) might also be worth checking out.
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Jun 20, 2011 12:10
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I'm looking for some books on the history and lifestyle of Native American peoples (in general, not really looking for books on specific tribes), and also on Native American myths and legends. Also, some books covering the different colonization efforts made in America to about the mid-18th century, and what life was like for colonists during that period. What houses did they build? What kind of culture did they bring with them? How were relations with the natives?
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Jun 20, 2011 12:55
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Things involving Shamanism set within the modern world, not an elves and dwarves world. I guess something like Dresden Files in terms of placement of the mystical elements in a more realistic world, but not necessarily detective related.
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Jun 20, 2011 15:02
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Could anybody recommend nonfiction books about the events and history of the Counsil of Nicaea? I'm really interested how the Christian bishops were chosen to attend, what they believed in, and all the arguments that happened over deciding the divinity of Jesus. I find a lot of comfort in the Nicene Creed but I kinda want to know the history behind it.
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Jun 20, 2011 15:37
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AlteredAtronach posted:I've recently starting getting into zombie books more and more. Already read The Rising, the Monster Island/Planet series, and a bunch of Permuted Press stuff. Looking for recommendations that are preferably unique/fresh takes on the zombie genre. I just finished The Infection by Craig DiLouie (audiobook) from Audible. This story is sort of like a Resident Evil (video game source material, not the movies) story, in that the virus released mutates not only humans into zombies, but other, weirder monsters eventually appear as well. The narrator does a decent job, not great, but decent. Also Tooth & Nail by the same author was pretty good, but its a straight zombie story. Right now I'm making my way through Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney. It takes place in the very near future where a series of three Katrina or greater level hurricanes smash into the Gulf coast, throwing the entire region into ruin. The horror depicted of what such an event would cause is scary enough to stand on it's own, even without the zombies that begin to appear as the crisis goes on. Probably the most well written of the zombie novels from audible that I've heard so far. The character development makes it stand apart from the rest. Haven't finished it yet, but it looks like its going to be very satisfactory.
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Jun 20, 2011 21:55
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barkingclam posted:I've been wondering about Hiaasen actually. Where's a good place to start? There's no overarching plot, and they all have different protagonists, so anywhere really. There are a couple of recurring characters, but I forget which book they appear in first, and every other time they show up there's enough background info provided that you never feel left out. I like them all, but I think my favorites are Native Tongue, Skinny Dip, and Sick Puppy.
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Jun 21, 2011 07:41
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Looking for Science Fiction recommends; have read Dune, Foundation, Man in the High Castle and (by far my favourite) Earth Abides. Tempted to dip into more Philip K. Dick and Asimov. Which of their books are more accessible? Strong themes, a bit of philosophy and post-apocalypse/utopians are a big bonus!
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Jun 21, 2011 14:51
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Myotis posted:Looking for Science Fiction recommends; have read Dune, Foundation, Man in the High Castle and (by far my favourite) Earth Abides. Earth Abides is one my favorite books- for a non-fiction equivalent, try Alan Weisman's The World Without Us (and see how accurate Stewart was). Walter M Miller Jr's A Canticle For Leibowitz is a (black comedy) classic and would be my second post-apocalyptic recommendation after EA. For PKD, I try to start people on Eye in the Sky, Do Androids Dream..., Ubik, or A Scanner Darkly, as I feel those are a bit more accessible and well-written than others. If you want more classic utopia/dystopia stuff, maybe Vulcan's Hammer or The Penultimate Truth.
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Jun 21, 2011 15:58
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Oh, also, would love any recommendations for books where the protagonist doesn't remember anything/wakes up somewhere strange and has to figure out what happened/how he got there, much like the beginning of The Raw Shark Texts, only the whole book should center around 'discovery' of the transpired. Specifically the disovering aspect is important, so preferably this should be in a setting of wonder or strangeness, so that it is different from our world (eg. I don't want something about someone who almost died and someone killed his wife and he has to figure out who did it but he can't remember anything except he wants revenge, or something to that effect). Edit: Different from our world could also mean our world, but changed somehow. Free Weedlord fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Jun 21, 2011 |
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Jun 21, 2011 16:29
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I just finished reading House of Leaves, hoping that it was going to be a scary and suspenseful book. Although I did enjoy it, it wasn't what I was looking for. I'd appreciate some horror/suspense novel/short story recommendations.
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Jun 21, 2011 17:23
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funkybottoms posted:Earth Abides is one my favorite books- for a non-fiction equivalent, try Alan Weisman's The World Without Us (and see how accurate Stewart was). I'm glad you also made that connection - I had read The World Without Us before Earth Abides. I found myself checking several times that the latter was really published in 1949. Stewart was before his time, especially since ecology was hardly a science in the late 1940s. Apart from your recommendations, I think I'm just going to go through the entire S.F. Masterworks series.
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Jun 21, 2011 20:26
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Myotis posted:I'm glad you also made that connection - I had read The World Without Us before Earth Abides. I found myself checking several times that the latter was really published in 1949. Stewart was before his time, especially since ecology was hardly a science in the late 1940s. Not a bad idea. Based on what you originally asked for, I'd bump The Lathe of Heaven up near the top.
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Jun 21, 2011 20:34
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IceNiner posted:
Edit: I just finished Flesh Eaters last night, and I wanted to update my recommendation on this title. Extremely disappointing. It was like another author took over writing the third act of the story. The world is falling apart, its apparent to the characters that its probably the end of the world and (mild spoiler)The main character, a dumpy, middle aged female patrol police officer decides to put herself and her remaining living family members at risk to take on some hardcore seasoned members of the local SWAT team on in a confrontation over some money she believes they stole from a submerged/ruined bank! She instantly develops skills and abilities that would make John McClane envious to take on veteran seasoned SWAT members in a series of violent confrontations because 'stealing is wrong'! It was so far out of left field it really spoils what was turning out to be a great story otherwise. Not worth the audible purchase price.
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Jun 21, 2011 20:51
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