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Pinky finger holds down one page, thumb holds down the other, remaining 3 fingers brace/hold up the book from behind. works on all sizes of books, and i have average sized hands. I just tried it on war and peace (haven't read but it's the fattest book i own) and it worked fine, tried beginning middle and end areas. may not work on hardbacks, i don't read those.
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Jun 2, 2020 22:06
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 14:46 |
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I use two hands and just set the beer against my side
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Jun 2, 2020 22:11
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nut posted:I use two hands and just set the beer against my side I can't concentrate on reading at all while drinking. Which is bizarre because I have no problem reading for hours while blazed out of my mind.
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Jun 2, 2020 22:14
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Famethrowa posted:What kinda tricks do you guys use to read real nice smelling physical books uhhhh one-handed? it's kinda taxing to do. I see these neato page holder things that slot over their finger, anyone try them? Sham bam bamina! fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Jun 2, 2020 |
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Jun 2, 2020 22:50
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Famethrowa posted:Alright here's a real dumb barrier to me reading serious books: I struggle with reading long or complicated things on an ereader since it's so easy to zone out with a dumb genrebook but reading traditional books is uncomfortable for me. Are you specifically talking about hardcovers by any chance? The 1-3-1 posted is how I always do it with paperbacks, but you might be out of luck with big old hardcovers.
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Jun 2, 2020 23:01
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TheAardvark posted:Are you specifically talking about hardcovers by any chance? The 1-3-1 posted is how I always do it with paperbacks, but you might be out of luck with big old hardcovers. nah, even some hefty paperbacks I have can be rough to hold (and all books smell beautiful). I'll try out that 1-3-1! I used to set books in my lap when I was younger, but I've definitely developed "texters neck" as a computer toucher so that doesn't work too well anymore. thanks for the suggestions for my dumbass problem 
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Jun 2, 2020 23:09
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I have an old book on Kundalini yoga that is so impregnated with incense that every time I flip through it it smells like flowers
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Jun 3, 2020 00:20
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Sham bam bamina! posted:I will take a picture when I'm off work.  
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Jun 3, 2020 02:31
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I’ve only tried the top one
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Jun 3, 2020 02:40
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nut posted:I’ve only tried the top one You don't read the cover and back?
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Jun 3, 2020 02:43
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3D Megadoodoo posted:You don't read the cover and back? never, i have believed that i've been reading one long book that started with a very hungry caterpillar but hes seen some poo poo since
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Jun 3, 2020 03:24
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Works for thicker books too  Helps if you have alien hands like me There's also this move using the wrist for support, usually if I'm lying in bed with the bottom resting on my chest 
Heath fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 04:37
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Heath posted:Works for thicker books too Seems like a strain to hold that for longer periods. Single fat stubby thumb supremacy:  (Note that I'm not keeping the pages open by pressing with the thumb, just applying enough pressure to keep the book level.)
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Jun 3, 2020 04:47
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One of the especially great things about reading antiquated literature is that you can learn cool and good words, like this one: "gimcrack," meaning 'flimsy or poorly made, but deceptively attractive'
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Jun 3, 2020 04:58
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my bony fealty posted:Baudolino calls your name +1 to Eco, although I’d put name of the rose and island of the day before above baudolino.
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Jun 3, 2020 05:27
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One thing I've started doing to make my reading more thorough is to start taking notes on some of the books I read. I don't do it for all of them, but occasionally I'll be reading something and find so many passages that I find moving, important or that I want to remember that I've started to keep track of them using a notecard that doubles as a bookmark.  On the card I put the book title and the author, and the date I started reading it, and the date I finish, once I do so. If something catches my attention I'll put down the page number and either paraphrase or quote the interesting bit, or write a short description of the topic. It really need not be anything more complicated than that. Keeping it on a card that doubles as a bookmark means that I've always got it with me so long as I have the book, and then that card will stay with the book once I'm finished and put it on my shelf. I'm an inveterate physical book reader and I detest reading stories from a screen. Often, I'll pick up a book I read years ago and look at my notes and flip to something that catches my interest, and see how my perspective may have changed, or I'll suddenly re-experience some passage I had forgotten, or find some quote I liked at the time that I now have no idea what I found so appealing about it. It's helpful for ones I do remember and want to reference. Having the dates on there can be a bit of a shock when I realize that it's been four years since I read this book and could do with a re-read, or even the realization that it took me four months to finish something. I have a poor memory for such things and I have only a very impressionistic sense of the things I've read, and this allows me to not only connect with the author but at my past self experiencing the book. It's also good if you're the kind of person who likes the idea of marginalia but doesn't want to mark up their books.
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Jun 3, 2020 05:44
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Heath posted:One thing I've started doing to make my reading more thorough is to start taking notes on some of the books I read. I don't do it for all of them, but occasionally I'll be reading something and find so many passages that I find moving, important or that I want to remember that I've started to keep track of them using a notecard that doubles as a bookmark. I started doing this while reading the Decameron, and it really changed how I processed the book mentally. Found myself far more engaged and invested, and the book got 10x funnier. Love this tip, and I'll have to start doing it for physical books.
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Jun 3, 2020 14:16
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I love this idea. however, anyone who comes across any of the notes will see my handwriting and think I read the books when I was 10
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Jun 3, 2020 15:49
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If you read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, and you'd like to try something more literary, I don't think I've seen any of these recommended: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, a short novel about Marco Polo talking to Kubla Khan about the wonderful cities he's visited. Also Cosmicomics, little science fiction fairy tales. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, a thriller about a California housewife who becomes a friend's executor and gets drawn into a conspiracy involving secret postage networks, sex while watching TV, a rip-off of the Beatles, and a psycho analyst. It's not his best book but it's the best short taster of his work. Also Inherent Vice, about a very stoned PI in the late 60s investigating a conspiracy. Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. There aren't mostly "stories", just descriptions of things that aren't real - an encyclopaedia entry about an imaginary world, a library containing every possible book, a man who can't forget anything, a wizard trying to create a child from his own thoughts... Full of wonderful things to think about. Short stories by Lu Xun, an early 20th century Chinese writer. He frequently writes about how stupid, cruel, and deluded people are, but also about kindness and friendship. The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell, a novel set during the Indian Rebellion. The local Brits hole up in a fort against the Indian armies, and it becomes both an exciting story and a pisstake of colonialism. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. An extremely traumatised woman learns to care for herself, have fun, and stop letting her past control her. Very touching writing about normal working-class people and takes (for instance) getting a manicure seriously. A really impressive debut novel. derp posted:If you do try a literary work, and don't like it, then don't sweat it (even if it's a 'must read' classic!) just put it down and move on. It doesn't mean you aren't smart or aren't cultured or whatever nonsense you've heard. Not everyone likes all the same books. I'm sure you haven't liked every sci-fi book you've picked up, either. And if you don't like something, there's someone who agrees with you! Tolstoy notoriously thought Shakespeare was poo poo, Nabokov had very clear opinions about what was Good and what was Bad, and so on.
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Jun 5, 2020 03:56
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If you really like sci-fi and the idea of parallel Earths, you may enjoy Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor ("Ada" pronounced "ah-da.") Don't look up a synopsis, just dive right in to the world of Antiterra.
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Jun 5, 2020 06:34
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I love Pynchon but based on what was discussed earlier I don't think I second the rec
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Jun 5, 2020 07:29
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Lex Neville posted:I love Pynchon but based on what was discussed earlier I don't think I second the rec These aren't suggestions for a specific person, just books that I feel are good places to dip your toe into literature.
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Jun 5, 2020 11:21
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Pynchon owns bones and imo just read Gravity's Rainbow and power through it even if (especially if?) it's not making sense because there are so many incredible individual scenes that can be appreciated even if you're having trouble understanding it as a whole. Even if you don't get what's going on you can read something like, say, Slothrop tasting awful British candies and enjoy the absurdity of it being written like a torture scene.
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Jun 5, 2020 11:53
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Thinking about the poo poo eating scene
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Jun 5, 2020 12:28
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Balzac's The Black Sheep is worth a read.
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Jun 7, 2020 06:44
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I started The Count of Monte Cristo the other day and for a book that's ~1100 pages I'm actually surprised at how fast the plot is moving. Dumas wanted to waste no time in getting to the actual plot and I really appreciate that. I feel like I've read too many books where I get halfway through and the main plot hasn't even started.
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Jun 25, 2020 01:33
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whatevz fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Apr 25, 2022 |
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Jul 1, 2020 20:03
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The Count of Monte Cristo was easily the fastest thousand pages I've ever read. What a fantastic book. I wonder whether we might have lost something by no longer having serialized novels. I posted about a similar thing in the general discussion thread - characters like Sherlock Holmes with huge histories of short stories and intervening novels. There isn't really a market for a novel spread over months of publishing, or characters reappearing between short stories, because short stories just don't have a popular audience anymore.
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Jul 1, 2020 20:41
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Tbh the count of monte Cristo was probably like that era's equivalent of comic books
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Jul 1, 2020 20:49
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fridge corn posted:Tbh the count of monte Cristo was probably like that era's equivalent of comic books i feel like there's an interesting parallel here with modern television. reading is mostly novels now, as it is easy to publish a novel, and the economics of serials and short stories aren't there any more. isn't that basically happening in TV right now? we get access to ways to consume longer form media, and we get rid of short form? episodic TV still exists, but most young people are watching stuff that is only episodic in literal format, rather than distinct stories. The episodes only act as chapters or bookmarks.
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Jul 1, 2020 20:56
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pleasecallmechrist posted:I adore Dumas. Three Musketeers is also fantastic. What translation are you reading? The new(ish) one from Penguin Classics, as I understand it's the only actual unabridged version in English fridge corn posted:Tbh the count of monte Cristo was probably like that era's equivalent of comic books The translator actually pointed out in the foreword that at the time this book was considered a story for children, which is wild considering I've already read one of apparently many passages about tripping on hashish. Guess kids really are too coddled these days.
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Jul 1, 2020 23:46
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TheAardvark posted:I wonder whether we might have lost something by no longer having serialized novels. I posted about a similar thing in the general discussion thread - characters like Sherlock Holmes with huge histories of short stories and intervening novels. There isn't really a market for a novel spread over months of publishing, or characters reappearing between short stories, because short stories just don't have a popular audience anymore. I tried serialized novels, as opposed to short stories, twice in the last decade. Once with John Scalzi's The Human Division and again with KJ Parker's Two of Swords. I didn't enjoy it at all - short bits of the story and then immediately waiting for more, basically like reading Robert Jordan in fast-forward.
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Jul 2, 2020 02:04
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Antivehicular recommended Death Comes for the Archbishop in the chat thread, and I am seconding it. I also recommend Ann Petry's The Street, which I have nominated for BotM a few times. Deeply moving and insightful books that are also very approachable. Death comes for the Archbishop is fantastic. It has a lot of appeals for genre readers: sweeping scope, action/adventure, deep history, and a spooky cave. My most common recommendation for approachable literature is Steinbeck. East of Eden is my favorite. It's so earnest, weird, and beautiful.
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Jul 2, 2020 02:44
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Humerus posted:The translator actually pointed out in the foreword that at the time this book was considered a story for children, which is wild considering I've already read one of apparently many passages about tripping on hashish. Guess kids really are too coddled these days. Im not sure about the original serialisation but a lot of things in the book particularly the drug references were cut out of early editions/translations and werent included until relatively recently.
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Jul 2, 2020 07:46
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PeterWeller posted:Death comes for the Archbishop is fantastic. It has a lot of appeals for genre readers: sweeping scope, action/adventure, deep history, and a spooky cave. e: I realize how this sounds - actually a serious question.
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Jul 2, 2020 09:34
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Srice posted:Pynchon owns bones and imo just read Gravity's Rainbow and power through it even if (especially if?) it's not making sense because there are so many incredible individual scenes that can be appreciated even if you're having trouble understanding it as a whole. Gravity's rainbow was the first non-genre book I read after school and it's still my favourite. Other good books i found extremely easy to get into as a mainly genre reader: the sot-weed factor mason & dixon 100 years of solitude the master and margherita
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Jul 2, 2020 11:39
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anilEhilated posted:How horny is it?
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Jul 2, 2020 15:44
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Yeah, Death Comes for the Archbishop isn't remotely horny. The primary emotional relationship in the novel is a lifelong platonic friendship (there may be queer critical readings of this -- I haven't checked -- but I think you'd have to reach pretty far to read the relationship as specifically sexual), and a major theme of the novel is austerity and the tension between spiritual duty and material needs.
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Jul 3, 2020 01:40
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I'd say the tension is more between spiritual duty and material desires. There are a handful of horny priests like Padre Martinez, but they're among the closest things the novel has to villains.
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Jul 3, 2020 22:59
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nut posted:I used it to ask for recs of my own in the chat thread by Life and Death are Wearing Me Out by Mo Yan is just about my favourite book. It’s a really funny multigenerational story about landowner killed and resurrected as different animals on his land through the back half of the 20th century in rural China. That sounds cool
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Jul 4, 2020 01:55
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