Bibliophile Thread

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Mon May 18, 2015 10:27 pm


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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu May 21, 2015 8:04 am

Started Station Eleven last night. As usual, living vicariously through Eddy's book list.

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Postby eddy » Thu May 21, 2015 8:51 am

finished Station Eleven, I had a few days where I put the book down and then revisited it. It lost my interest for a bit in the beginning, but I'm glad I stuck with it. When it all started to come together I found it enjoyable. Not my favorite in the genre, but a nice take on it. I'd recommend.

I picked up a couple other books yesterday and found a couple more for down the road, but wanted to see if anyone read them...

Started and got about 1/4 through Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson and it's awesome. Similiar to World War Z, but so far I like it better.

Also picked up The Mount by Carol Emshwiller based on the cover and then read the synopsis and knew I had a winner (I hope)
harley is an athlete. He wants to grow up to be the fastest runner in the world, like his father. He wants to be painted crossing the finishing line, in his racing silks, with a medal around his neck. Charley lives in a stable. He isn't a runner, he's a mount. He belongs to a Hoot: The Hoots are alien invaders. Charley hasn't seen his mother for years, and his father is hiding out in the mountains somewhere, with the other Free Humans. The Hoots own the world, but the humans want it back. Charley knows how to be a good mount, but now he's going to have to learn how to be a human being.
Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail I'm looking forward to this one
Rusty Young was backpacking in South America when he heard about Thomas McFadden, a convicted English drug trafficker who ran tours inside Bolivia's notorious San Pedro prison. Intrigued, the young Australian journalisted went to La Paz and joined one of Thomas's illegal tours. They formed an instant friendship and then became partners in an attempt to record Thomas's experiences in the jail. Rusty bribed the guards to allow him to stay and for the next three months he lived inside the prison, sharing a cell with Thomas and recording one of the strangest and most compelling prison stories of all time

Now for the ones on my list that looked pretty dark and I wasn't quite in the mood for, anyone these?

The Devil's Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth
Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped "Do Not Investigate" and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy. But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner—extravagant even by Hell's standards—everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer. . . . But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell . . . and nothing is what it seems.
Desert Places: A Novel of Terror by Blake Crouch
Novelist Andrew Thomas finds his peaceful life transformed into a nightmare by a mysterious killer who has framed him for the murder of a young woman whose body is buried on his property, covered in Andrew's blood, and who threatens to turn Andrew over to the police unless he does what his unknown adversary wants

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Postby eddy » Thu May 21, 2015 8:59 am

Source of the post Finished station eleven this morning. I thought it was written extremely well. I realized that I was really enjoying it when just over halfway through I knew there weren't enough pages left to satisfy me. The book feels like a prelude to an epic.
Yes. Like so many books in this genre, by the time it ended I definitely wanted to know more about this world and what else was out there.

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Postby Troy Loney » Tue May 26, 2015 8:48 am

Has anyone read the Flashman series? I was reading some Christopher Hitchens Essays, and one was a review Macdougal Fraser and the Flashman books. It basically sounded like Sterling Archer in literary form, and I had to explore. I finished the first book this morning, it did not disappoint. Unfortunately there are vast differences between him and Archer, the historical accuracies of the novels creates a ton of intrigue. I would definitely suggest it.

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Postby Gaucho » Tue May 26, 2015 8:54 am

I find it amazing that H. G. Wells wrote The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds all in a span of less than 4 years at the very beginning of his writing career.

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Postby columbia » Tue May 26, 2015 8:58 am

I finished "Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear)."

Of limited interest to anyone under 40. Even then, probably only of interest to about 5,000 people.

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Postby Willie Kool » Wed May 27, 2015 8:07 pm

Finished Stephen King's Revival. A pretty straight up homage to H.P. Lovecraft. I enjoyed it very much.

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Postby columbia » Thu May 28, 2015 7:39 am

Image

Freddy Rumsen
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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Thu May 28, 2015 8:55 am

Nice

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Postby LITT » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:19 pm

i am looking to dump some of my bad time passers and start reading more. looking at kindles. i assume the fire doesnt work well outside. does the lighted screen on the paperwhite make that much of a difference?

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Postby Troy Loney » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:24 pm

Can only speak for the Ipad, Kindle Fire and original kindle (is that the paperwhite?).

The original kindle is the only one that you'd be able to use outside.

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Postby Avyran » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:27 pm

I second Troy's opinion. Backlight's surprisingly effective, and I'm very happy with it / can read anywhere, including in bed late at night without an external light. Only problem is that it's a bit slow in terms of loading stuff up (taking a couple seconds to load almost anything), + no color when books have images or other sort of things.

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Postby LITT » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:34 pm

I second Troy's opinion. Backlight's surprisingly effective, and I'm very happy with it / can read anywhere, including in bed late at night without an external light. Only problem is that it's a bit slow in terms of loading stuff up (taking a couple seconds to load almost anything), + no color when books have images or other sort of things.
is this the new paperwhite one? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JG8GOWU/ref=fs_kp

or just the base kindle? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I15SB16/ref=fs_kb

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Postby Avyran » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:40 pm

Just went to check... it's the Paperwhite 2013 edition. Being able to use the Amazon Kindle stuff on basically any other device (computer, phone, etc) is kinda nice too.

Would be happy to answer any other questions about it if you want.

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:41 pm

The first one has a built in light and higher resolution. Please, spend the extra money upfront and get the one with the light. Even though it's actually just a series of LEDs embedded in the bezel and not a true backlight, the light is uniform and looks really great. Can't recommend it enough. I have a Kindle Paperwhite now and had the original Kindle when it came out. Not a fan of the Fire because they're not e-ink, I can do that with my phone.

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Postby Troy Loney » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:42 pm

I think i'd go with the more expensive one. It looks like the paperwhite has the glare free background and better lighting for dark places.

Also, the original kindle had gameboy level technology...I'd probably get a little impatient with it at times.

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:46 pm

The Paperwhite also had free 3G for when you're away from wifi, the $79 one is only Wifi.

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Postby Avyran » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:47 pm

The Paperwhite also had free 3G for when you're away from wifi, the $79 one is only Wifi.
The 3g is 70 bucks more, just FYI. Without 3g is $119; with 3g, $189. I bought the one without special offers & without 3g; the ads are really a non-issue.

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Postby LITT » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:48 pm

the free 3g is an additional $70 on top of the base for the paperwhite

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Postby LITT » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:48 pm

The Paperwhite also had free 3G for when you're away from wifi, the $79 one is only Wifi.
The 3g is 70 bucks more, just FYI. Without 3g is $119; with 3g, $189. I bought the one without special offers & without 3g; the ads are really a non-issue.
there are advertisements?

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Postby Avyran » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:52 pm

The Paperwhite also had free 3G for when you're away from wifi, the $79 one is only Wifi.
The 3g is 70 bucks more, just FYI. Without 3g is $119; with 3g, $189. I bought the one without special offers & without 3g; the ads are really a non-issue.
there are advertisements?
If you get the cheapest one ("with special offers" or whatever), there is an ad for a book or something similar when you first turn on / awaken the Kindle from sleep mode. All you have to do is a quick swipe of the finger, & it goes away. It basically serves as a screensaver or whatever, and is exactly the same as swiping along the bottom of your iPhone to open it up.

So yeah, there are ads, but they're honestly not worth spending $20 to get rid of. I forget they're there most of the time.

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Postby LITT » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:56 pm

oh thats not that bad. its not like it pops up in the middle CANDY CRUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:03 pm

Oh, my bad about the 3G. I rarely use it anyway, but it's nice when it's there.

The internet capabilities on the original Kindle were great. I remember using GChat with it in Ireland. And then they locked all that down, presumably to save on data. They also got rid of the music player as well. I uploaded a friends Jazz CD into my original Kindle and would listen to that while I read in noisy places.

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Postby dodint » Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:02 pm

I just finished A Confederacy of Dunces. I enjoyed it.
Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorites. The story behind the author is pretty heartbreaking also.
About 3/4th's of the way through Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius is easily the funniest character I've ever come across in literature.
I love that book so much.
Finished it last night. If you would appreciate the comical exploits of a protaganist who's nihilism and rejection of modern society is based on appreciation for medival philosophy and culture. His political goals include the restoration of a monarchy based on divine right.
Thanks fellas, read this last week and it was exceptional. I feel like Ignatius is what I would become if I let myself go entirely, was a superb read. :lol: I wouldn't have added it to my wishlist without your enthusiasm.

Kindle recommended some JKT biographies after I finished, I plan to dig into one shortly.

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