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Bilirubin posted:(which then led to admission to the top law schools in our country, if you ever wondered what someone does with one of those) Actually I'd wonder what one did with the law degree.
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Dec 29, 2018 07:54
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Stringent posted:Actually I'd wonder what one did with the law degree. sorry, have heard too many jokes in the past
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Dec 29, 2018 08:15
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Bilirubin posted:sorry, have heard too many jokes in the past Lawschool or women's studies? (both)
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Dec 29, 2018 09:25
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Stringent posted:Lawschool or women's studies? (both) torn between posting  and  Which autobiography of Frederick Douglass would be recommended? Starting with the first and just working through all of them?
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Dec 29, 2018 18:25
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Bilirubin posted:I am on a similar kick. I have read bell hooks' Takling Back, Ta-Nehisi Coates's We Were 8 Years in Power, currently reading Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian. All are excellent looks at race and gender (hooks also deals well with class, and is an amazing writer). On tap is W. E. B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk. Rick Perlstein's Nixonland deals with a lot of race and class issues of the 1960s. For that era, I also recommend Hank Klibanoff's and Gene Roberts' The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle. It covers mostly late 1940s-mid 1960s. It mostly goes from major event to major event and may not be as detailed as you want on say, Selma or Birmingham, but it's a good overview of what was at play. For a completely different perspective, There Goes My Everything by Jason Sokol looks at white reaction to Civil Rights events and integration. This book is not a beginner's book and expects you to know something about the events and physical/political geography of what it covers.
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Dec 31, 2018 03:22
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:You should really get Bartleby and Co, and look up all the works that Vila-Matas catalogues in it, that should keep you busy I chanced upon a translation of this on a book shop's bargain table for a few € and it is a good book, thank you 
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Dec 31, 2018 12:58
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Jerry Cotton posted:I chanced upon a translation of this on a book shop's bargain table for a few € and it is a good book, thank you Glad you like it 
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Dec 31, 2018 14:44
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Any recommendations for non-fiction, science-lite exploration on kindle? Maybe deep sea related? I read endurance by Scott Kelly and shadow divers by Robert Kurson, but I feel like these were both A- books. Was thinking about Endurance by Alfred Lansing, or a translation of The Silent World by Cousteau.
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Jan 1, 2019 17:39
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I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. Definitely would like a recommendation for something spy/techno-thriller/political. I'm craving something unhinged but slightly believable, along the lines of (for lack of a better description) Metal Gear Solid in book form  Or I could wait out Catch-22!
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Jan 3, 2019 03:03
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. It is really disjointed but so is war. I thought it was really funny and had no problem with it when reading it, probably too young. I would caution patience but if you really don't like it then then whatev. My father is really into books like you are asking after, and I read several of his Robert Ludlum novels that cluttered the childhood home and they were alright. Right now he is really into the Jack Reacher stories but I cannot comment on them one way or another. The Hunt for Red October is kind of a classic, as is Day of the Jackal, if you haven't read those then enjoy--the tech may be a bit dated but they hit the action/spy/political/techno (for its time) buttons for sure
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Jan 3, 2019 04:42
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me, reading catch-22: ah! this isn't at all like the hit video game metal gear solid. why, not one woman has been sexually assaulted or, subsequently, murdered by a bomb implanted in her vagina! if only this were more unhinged
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Jan 3, 2019 10:04
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. Straight up judging the hell out of you right now.
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Jan 3, 2019 11:17
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. The disjointedness is very much intentional and is a reflection of the main character's emotional and mental state due to everyone trying to kill him. If you don't care, you don't care, but it is one of the great satirical novels, not to mention great war novels (Heller flew bombing missions in WWII), so maybe stick with it a little while longer. Of course, if you don't find it even mildly funny, well, yeah, I can't help you.
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Jan 3, 2019 12:07
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. There is an audiobook version narrated by Trevor White which is a billion percent easier to get into.
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Jan 3, 2019 13:37
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learnincurve posted:There is an audiobook version narrated by Trevor White which is a billion percent easier to get into. I weep for the future.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:04
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Stringent posted:I weep for the future. A lot of catch 22 revolves around punctuation and flow, lots of people find it a struggle for that reason, and there is no shame at all in having a professional help you out with it.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:11
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Good Will Hrunting posted:I'm attempting to read Catch-22 for the second time and not really enjoying it. Should I... stick with it? I'm about 20% in but it seems incredibly disjointed and I don't care about any of the characters or "storylines" thus far. I find it to be one of those I didn't much enjoy while reading it, but that then stuck with me for a long time anyway and gained depth while in the back in my mind. So if you've gotten some way in: soldier through.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:53
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Let me clarify. It's not that I don't "get" it or find it humorous - I've laughed out loud quite a few time - or see the parallels in the subject matter to the writing style. I suffer from pretty bad ADHD and find it hard to commit time to novels where I'm not gripped by a fairly linear storyline. I've been leaning more towards short stories lately. Coupled with the fact that 95% of my reading is pre-bed when I'm already exhausted, I'm finding it hard to become gripped to Catch-22.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:56
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Good Will Hrunting posted:Let me clarify. It's not that I don't "get" it or find it humorous - I've laughed out loud quite a few time - or see the parallels in the subject matter to the writing style. I suffer from pretty bad ADHD and find it hard to commit time to novels where I'm not gripped by a fairly linear storyline. I've been leaning more towards short stories lately. Coupled with the fact that 95% of my reading is pre-bed when I'm already exhausted, I'm finding it hard to become gripped to Catch-22. That's fair. The one thing I'd say to keep in mind is that if you're feeling disjointed and confused while reading Catch-22, that's intentional; the first half of the book especially is meant to do that. So you're reacting to the book appropriately. It's a good book and I'll always encourage people to read it, but don't worry if it's giving you a bit of mental shell shock, it's meant to do that.
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Jan 3, 2019 14:59
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learnincurve posted:A lot of catch 22 revolves around punctuation and flow, lots of people find it a struggle for that reason, and there is no shame at all in having a professional help you out with it. Good Will Hrunting posted:Let me clarify. It's not that I don't "get" it or find it humorous - I've laughed out loud quite a few time - or see the parallels in the subject matter to the writing style. I suffer from pretty bad ADHD and find it hard to commit time to novels where I'm not gripped by a fairly linear storyline. I've been leaning more towards short stories lately. Coupled with the fact that 95% of my reading is pre-bed when I'm already exhausted, I'm finding it hard to become gripped to Catch-22. Stringent posted:I weep for the future.
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Jan 3, 2019 15:00
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Sorry, I'm glad you're reading it, I'm just showing my age is all.
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Jan 3, 2019 15:01
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I wish I could marathon books like I used to! It would definitely help with books like this. But, I'm not rich and I live in America so I'm just fighting to stay alive in a world where it feels like everyone is trying to kill me.
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Jan 3, 2019 15:25
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I bet I’m older than you. I love audiobooks, means I get to listen to books while doing dull boring adult things like ironing school shirts for my four teenagers. It’s easy to get uppity over them when you can sit down and read for long periods of time without having to stop every 5 to do stuff like feed people or break up arguments over shoes.
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Jan 3, 2019 15:27
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Big catch-22 hater checking in, book is not for me. It's the "Maltese Falcon" of books. However the real reason I wanted to post was to say that Endurance by Alfred Lansing is absolutely incredible and going to be a top 10 book of all time for me. I'm obsessed with this thing, I was up until 3am reading it on a work night and then reading it while I was brushing my teeth and then again while my car warmed up.
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Jan 3, 2019 16:46
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learnincurve posted:I bet I’m older than you. I love audiobooks, means I get to listen to books while doing dull boring adult things like ironing school shirts for my four teenagers. It’s easy to get uppity over them when you can sit down and read for long periods of time without having to stop every 5 to do stuff like feed people or break up arguments over shoes. Oh, I love audiobooks too, but I wouldn't listen to Catch-22. I usually stick to fantasy, sci-fi or podcasts. To each their own I guess.
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Jan 4, 2019 00:59
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but does anyone have recommendations non-fiction books on 19th and early 20th century occultism? I've run into some issues when trying to read up on this stuff that I come across online seems to be written by true believers instead of anyone on the outside.
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Jan 4, 2019 07:42
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Salt Fish posted:Big catch-22 hater checking in, book is not for me. It's the "Maltese Falcon" of books. Wät 
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Jan 4, 2019 11:01
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Terrible Opinions posted:Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but does anyone have recommendations non-fiction books on 19th and early 20th century occultism? I've run into some issues when trying to read up on this stuff that I come across online seems to be written by true believers instead of anyone on the outside. there's a book from the 70s called 'Ritual Magic in England, 1887 to the Present Day' by Francis King that is iirc a fairly good intro to the golden dawn and most of the other significant groups in Britain and people like Aleister Crowley. King was an occultist himself but from what I remember the book is more about who was doing what and the organisations rather than the specifics of their magic or stuff like that. I was going to recommend 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages' by Manly P Hall but that is a compendium of occult information by an insider of sorts and I think you're wanting something more academic and historical. Penn Sate university press has a nice looking series of academic books on magic and occultism, although their focus seems to be more on the middle ages and renaissance, and i also haven't read any of these myself: http://www.psupress.org/books/series/book_SeriesMagic.html
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Jan 4, 2019 11:07
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Thanks for the recommendations. I'd like stuff that goes over both the actual internal beliefs and the historical context. the only reason I'm realy wary of books written by insiders is that I've run into a few that are more proselytizing than actually informative when I just went by amazon recommendations and what was available in my local library. Which isn't the greatest given that my starting point was Goodrick-Clarke's books about how occult beliefs influenced Nazism.
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Jan 4, 2019 11:31
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Stringent posted:Oh, I love audiobooks too, but I wouldn't listen to Catch-22. I usually stick to fantasy, sci-fi or podcasts. To each their own I guess. I prefer to listen to stuff I'd too easily put down as audio books, as it forces me to keep pace. Catch-22 works well for that, Umberto Eco I would have consistently failed without going to the audio books. To each his own indeed.
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Jan 4, 2019 16:23
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Just finished The Executioner's Song, which was recommended earlier in the thread. Super good, though I would have enjoyed it just as much if it were 500 pages and not 1000. In Cold Blood (which is also technically categorized as "fiction") is next on the list, but I'd like to get away from true crime for a bit, since I also just binged a ton of true crime TV series as well. I'm looking for really good non-fiction. I've gotten hooked on non-fiction books over the last few years because, when done well, they're often more engaging and dramatic than fiction. Some of the books I've recently read along these lines:
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Jan 4, 2019 20:15
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If you're looking for non fiction that's a little less on the serious side, I'd recommend Word by Word by Kory Stamper.
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Jan 4, 2019 20:52
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androo posted:Just finished The Executioner's Song, which was recommended earlier in the thread. Super good, though I would have enjoyed it just as much if it were 500 pages and not 1000. Check out Nixonland by Rick Perlstein. It's an overview of the rise of Nixon, ends roughly around Watergate.
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Jan 4, 2019 21:51
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androo posted:I'm looking for really good non-fiction. I've gotten hooked on non-fiction books over the last few years because, when done well, they're often more engaging and dramatic than fiction. I feel like a broken record, but John Vaillant's The Tiger
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Jan 4, 2019 22:13
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androo posted:Just finished The Executioner's Song, which was recommended earlier in the thread. Super good, though I would have enjoyed it just as much if it were 500 pages and not 1000. The Power Broker is well worth seeking out, even if not in electronic form. Staying on the New York City tip, Luc Sante's Low Life is a great book about gangs, corruption, and vice in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. And I always like to recommend Evan S. Connell's Son of the Morning Star, which is a deep dive into the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the various personalities -- both Native and white -- involved.
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Jan 5, 2019 00:24
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Terrible Opinions posted:Thanks for the recommendations. I'd like stuff that goes over both the actual internal beliefs and the historical context. the only reason I'm realy wary of books written by insiders is that I've run into a few that are more proselytizing than actually informative when I just went by amazon recommendations and what was available in my local library. Which isn't the greatest given that my starting point was Goodrick-Clarke's books about how occult beliefs influenced Nazism. A book, part of a series, I found on Goodreads is this, which seems to be what you are looking for. if from a bit of an anti perspective. I have not yet read it. Disclosure, I studied briefly in a school from Dion Fortune's lineage, and could make some suggestions for internal beliefs that aren't overly laden down in the Crowleyesque bullshit (although I don't believe in what is taught, and think that Crowley is hilarious)
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Jan 5, 2019 06:24
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Cybernetic Vermin posted:I prefer to listen to stuff I'd too easily put down as audio books, as it forces me to keep pace. Catch-22 works well for that, Umberto Eco I would have consistently failed without going to the audio books. That is interesting, I always end up zoning out on audiobooks and missing big chunks. I gotta actually read to actually absorb the whole thing, so I only audiobook stuff I've read before.
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Jan 5, 2019 09:02
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androo posted:Just finished The Executioner's Song, which was recommended earlier in the thread. Super good, though I would have enjoyed it just as much if it were 500 pages and not 1000. Its sort of two novels in one, the first 500 is a true crime story, while the second half is more of an analysis of the death penalty
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Jan 5, 2019 20:21
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I've got two audible credits and I find it hard to retain information when listening to novels, so I'm looking for nonfiction recommendations. I'm mainly interested in true crime and history, especially medical history. Something like The Royal Art of Poison is right up my alley.
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Jan 6, 2019 18:39
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I am enjoying The Half Has Never Been Told as an audiobook atm.
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Jan 6, 2019 21:19
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