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Thread: The Book Thread

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    God/dess Athenathefabulous's Avatar
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    Lightbulb The Book Thread

    I feel like this thread definitely existed at one point, but if it did, it hasnt been updated in so long so lets start a fresh.

    What are y'all reading these days?

    Ive been obsessed with Philip K Dick lately. Ive been a huge fan ever since i read A Scanner Darkly last year. my friend gave me a book containing 4 of his novels before i left for turkey, i finished 3 of them and now I am reading Ubik.

    I also read the Hunger Games trilogy before i left. I dont usually go out and seek the popular best sellers, but I saw it on sale for 5$ and was like "why the hell not?" I read the first one in one night and hten went out the next day and bougth the next two books and spent the next two nights staying in reading them. So good.

    I have a copy of Game of Thrones for my next read. I watched the first season of the tv show and figured it would make a much more interesting book. I also have a copy of Confederacy of Dunces for when i get home sick.
    The best thing i have heard in a strip club to date:
    customer: we should get married right now! we should get a shotgun marriage!
    me: uhh... i think you are misunderstanding what a shotgun marriage means. A shotgun marriage means you knock me up and my daddy shows up at your door with a gun and forces you to marry me and raise the baby. You mean elope.
    customer: hmm... nah actually i will take the shotgun marriage. At least then we would be having sex.


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    Veteran Member CupCake's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Last book I read, and LOVED was Shangaii Girls.

    quick overview:
    In Shanghai Girls, See once again creates a gripping story with believable characters that lets readers live inside a time and place different from our own. Shanghai Girls takes place in Shanghai and Los Angeles during the early twentieth century and follows Pearl and May, two sisters who flee a privileged life in Shanghai when the Japanese invade the city.

    I will forwarn you this book WILL make you cry, so make sure you have some kleenex handy.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I've been into Jack Ketchum lately. His dead river series is proving to be most interesting!

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    "Crimes Against Liberty" by David Limbaugh. Really haven't gotten started though. Picked it up a couple days ago.
    "never trust a big butt and a smile"-- Bell Biv DeVoe

    If you're in your twenties and aren't a liberal, you have no heart. If you're in you're forties and aren't a conservative, you have no brain - Winston Churchill

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    God/dess papillonluvr's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by CupCake View Post
    Last book I read, and LOVED was Shangaii Girls.

    quick overview:
    In Shanghai Girls, See once again creates a gripping story with believable characters that lets readers live inside a time and place different from our own. Shanghai Girls takes place in Shanghai and Los Angeles during the early twentieth century and follows Pearl and May, two sisters who flee a privileged life in Shanghai when the Japanese invade the city.

    I will forwarn you this book WILL make you cry, so make sure you have some kleenex handy.
    Lisa See is a wonderful author. Both her and Amy Tan are fantastic. I highly recommend any of their novels.

    The Scourge by A.G. Henley was a short read, but such a good book. It's a kind of different take on a post-apocolyptic world after zombies, but there is twist on the whole zombie bit. Read it.

    I've been reading a lot of happy-go-lucky easy reading chic lit from Deborah Geary.

    I read Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster. The plot sounds like some bad reality TV, and the book kind of read like that too. I don't recommend spending money on it, but if you can get it for free give it a go.

    The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson was really good, but the ending made me want to throw my Kindle across the room.

    I also went on a Margaret Atwood binge and read Cat's Eye, Oryx and Crake, and the Year of Flood. Such good novels.
    I've also been reading some erotica hehe.
    "You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories -Stainslaw J. Lec

    Confuscius say: "Man who pull bra stap get bust in face"


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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I'm reading the hobbit before the movie comes out,yay!and Joan rivers book it's not very good.And finishing up a book by David cross the comedian from arrested development, he's very funny but really angry. I like to skip around books unless I find one that really interests me and won't let me put it down.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Currently reading Black Sun Rising. It's a fantasy novel that is hailed as being very original, but I'm not feeling it so far. Have some Anne Rice lined up after this and I want to read JK Rowling's new book when it comes out. Doesn't sound like my usual cup of tea in terms of plot, but I miss her writing.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I just finished A Storm of Swords, which is the second book in The Song of Ice and Fire series (which is what HBO's A Game of Thrones is based on). The ending required re-reading. G.R.Martin really does love to mess with your head. If you've liked the show, I think you'd like the books as well.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    ^ the books are awesome!

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I've heard of that show a game of thrones, what are those books about?

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    ^the show is based on the books. Actually, the show follows the books quite well, obviously the books are much more detailed and there are a few things that the show might skim over that are thoroughly explained in the books, and the show interprets a few of the characters a little differently, though overall they really haven't strayed too far from the source like the walking dead has, lol.

    ^thats just my take on it though

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    The Night Circus
    The Child thief (recommended by someone here)
    The Snow Child

    2nd The Hunger Games, its addictive and an easy read.

    Re-reading Deathly Hallows (also love Rowlings writing)
    Last edited by Flickdreams; 08-10-2012 at 05:34 AM. Reason: Wrong Book listed!
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    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




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    God/dess papillonluvr's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Night Circus was really good, imho. I really enjoyed reading it. ^^^
    "You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories -Stainslaw J. Lec

    Confuscius say: "Man who pull bra stap get bust in face"


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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Currently reading The Confession by Olen Steinhauer.

    it's the second book in his Yalta Boulevard Sequence. If you're a fan of the Cold War and the Eastern Bloc check this series out. It's really cool and puts you right into the time.

    Book one took place in '47 (post ww2) in Eastern Europe, Book 2 so far is in '56. I believe every book shoots a decade forward right until the Soviet Union collapses.

    http://www.olensteinhauer.com/yalta-boulevard-sequence/

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    Featured Member glitzy's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Currently reading:
    - The Brothers Karamazov (not the lightest read, but manageable and i like it so far - pg 170)
    - The Anatomy of Story by John Truby (excellent workbook style book on writing)
    - Joan Didion - Slouching Toward Bethlehem (highly reccommended!)
    - Why Men Love Bitches (YES lol @ me but it's cringe-worthy accurate)

    Recent Favorites:
    - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (ANYONE will love this book, but especially travelers and those that love India)
    - Jesus Son by Denis Johnson (po-mo shorts about life on the american fringe that read like poetry)
    - Diary of Anais Nin vol. 1
    - Paint It Black by Janet Fitch (fun, easy, girly read with an edge;but still a great novel that gets you lost in the 80s LA underground)


    I love PKD as well! Probably my favorites are A Scanner Darkly and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.

    VALIS is free online, though not my favorite it gives insight into his mindframe at the end of his life and tries to tie together the underlying crackpot theories that influenced his work. PKD's life is a story in itself, dude was a prophet.
    http://www.octobot.net/library/Dick,...0-%20Valis.pdf

    This is an interview he gave about eternal return, channeling, and a strange thing that happened to him upon completing Flow My Tears:
    http://deoxy.org/pkd_how2build.htm

    When he was trying to break commercially he wrote some novels that weren't so out there. Only one ever got published and it's actually quite comical and entertaining. The title is Confessions of a Crap Artist.
    Sorry for the tanget, I'm a big PKD fan and I love this thread already!

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Jon Ringo
    Robert Heinlein (dirty old goat!)
    David Drake
    Any "Bolo" novel (original story by Keith Laumer)
    Elizabeth Moon
    Mercedes Lackey
    Anne McCaffrey
    Jean Ault
    Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (Hammerfall)
    David Eddings
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Piers Anthony

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    This may be completely unrelated to many of the books listed here, but DMT: The Spirit Molecule is great!

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    Veteran Member Kat w's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Right now I'm reading Aching For Beauty: Footbinding in China by Wang Ping. I have always been curious about the topic and have read about it before but this book is very well researched and does not condemn or defend the practice of foot binding but gives an amazing overview, almost like an anthropological ethnography.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I like Sarge's list; I'm a big fantasy and sci-fi guy myself. That said - Sarge, how could you leave out...

    Neil Stephenson. If you're smarter than the average bear, his stuff is AMAZING. Zodiac and others of his political shit are lame, but Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle (3 book series - all 800-1000 pages long!!), Anathem, and REAMDE are all AWESOME. Arguably my favorite author.

    Brandon Sanderson. If you haven't discovered fantasy's newest rising star, you're missing out on some of the best reading to be had in years. Out of all the writers on planet Earth, this is the guy Robert Jordan's widow chose to finish the Wheel of Time series. There's a reason for this. Warbreaker was probably his weakest book, and it;s better than 90% of the stuff anybody else has ever written.

    Robert Zalazny. DOn't know if he ever wrote anything BUT the Princes of Amber series; don't care. That series is a must read.

    Stephen R. Donaldson. SOme of his other stuff is hit or miss, but the Thomas Covenant (White Gold Wielder) series is positively must-read stuff if you love fantasy.

    Greg Bear. Not as into this guy as some of the others on the list, but he's a sci-fi genius and a good read. Eon was my favorite.

    Um - NOBODY HAS MENTIONED ORSON SCOTT CARD YET..??!! Pretty much everything he ever wrote was awesome, but Ender's Game DID kind of reinvent sci-fi...

    Herbert. Because Dune. 'Nuff said.

    Terry Pratchett. OMG, if you're not already addicted to Discworld, GET THERE. Light, easy reads that are satisfying on so many levels. If you loved DouglasAdams (Hitchhikers Guide books) you'll love Pratchett.

    Oh yeah - Douglas Adams. There is that.

    Thomas Pynchon. Up there with Neil Stephenson on the "must have an IQ of 140+ to even think about reading it" scale, though.

    Is that enough? Cuz I have LOTS more, lol...

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    Veteran Member Joanna_Kaary's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    [QUOTE=glitzy;2381452]Currently reading:

    Recent Favorites:
    - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (ANYONE will love this book, but especially travelers and those that love India)
    - Jesus Son by Denis Johnson (po-mo shorts about life on the american fringe that read like poetry)
    - Diary of Anais Nin vol. 1
    - Paint It Black by Janet Fitch (fun, easy, girly read with an edge;but still a great novel that gets you lost in the 80s LA underground)


    [/QUOTE

    Glitzy, have you read Janet Fitch's other novel, White Oleander? Paint it Black is good but White Oleander is much better in my opinion.
    Last edited by Joanna_Kaary; 08-02-2012 at 11:19 AM. Reason: messed up coding

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by glitzy View Post
    Currently reading:
    - The Brothers Karamazov (not the lightest read, but manageable and i like it so far - pg 170)
    - The Anatomy of Story by John Truby (excellent workbook style book on writing)
    - Joan Didion - Slouching Toward Bethlehem (highly reccommended!)
    - Why Men Love Bitches (YES lol @ me but it's cringe-worthy accurate)

    Recent Favorites:
    - Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (ANYONE will love this book, but especially travelers and those that love India)
    - Jesus Son by Denis Johnson (po-mo shorts about life on the american fringe that read like poetry)
    - Diary of Anais Nin vol. 1
    - Paint It Black by Janet Fitch (fun, easy, girly read with an edge;but still a great novel that gets you lost in the 80s LA underground)


    I love PKD as well! Probably my favorites are A Scanner Darkly and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.

    VALIS is free online, though not my favorite it gives insight into his mindframe at the end of his life and tries to tie together the underlying crackpot theories that influenced his work. PKD's life is a story in itself, dude was a prophet.
    http://www.octobot.net/library/Dick,...0-%20Valis.pdf

    This is an interview he gave about eternal return, channeling, and a strange thing that happened to him upon completing Flow My Tears:
    http://deoxy.org/pkd_how2build.htm

    When he was trying to break commercially he wrote some novels that weren't so out there. Only one ever got published and it's actually quite comical and entertaining. The title is Confessions of a Crap Artist.
    Sorry for the tanget, I'm a big PKD fan and I love this thread already!
    Glitzy, have you read Janet Fitch's other novel, White Oleander? Paint it Black is good but White Oleander is much better in my opinion.

    I keep seeing this Why Men Love Bitches book mentioned... think I'm gonna need to go buy it. I love books that get into psychology, like the Robert Greene books (48 Laws of Power, Art of Seduction, 33 Strategies of War.)

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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    ^ Yeah I have some Orson Scott card- there were rumors of a movie version of Enders Game. I enjoy The Worthing Saga.

    Yep- Neil Stephenson is quality, but not if you just want to switch off
    Tiny tweaks----->BIG CHANGES

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirakonstantin View Post
    More fear-mongering? Really? Yes, this is not the 1990's anymore. Yes, things are changing. Either dance or don't. Freaking out and sowing fear isn't going to help anyone.




  28. #24
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Book Thread

    I just finished Joseph Farrell's latest 'historical reinterpretation' ... 'Saucers, Swistikas, and Psyops ... a History of Breakaway Civilization'.




    It starts out with ...

    ""What do the following have in common ???

    - nazi scientists
    - UFOlogist George Adamski
    - Wall Street
    - the CIA
    - Mafia Drug Lords

    All of the above are components of a 'breakaway civilization' that exists covertly inside and alongside the ones we know about. This civilization has access to the most advanced technologies, and almost bottomless sources of funding. It stages events for the gullible, and tortures those who begin to detect its existence. It even wages secret wars with its own members using its own apocalyptic technologies, masking the un-concealable results of such forays as 'acts of nature'. This civilization has its own ideology and dubious morality, it is drawn from all groups and languages, but really speaks but one language - that of power !""

    I would add that Farrell isn't writing fiction ... but attempting to re-assemble actual historical information ( or at least speculations based on actual historical information ) to present a very different picture of certain aspects of the recent past than the ones presented in mainstream history books or presented by mainstream media. hat

    And if you think that Farrell's historical reinterpretations are 'f#ckin' nuts', he'll tell you 'that's exactly what they want you to think !'



    Also, in regard to George R.R. Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' series i.e. HBO's 'A Game of Thrones', I just finished reading the recently released fifth book of the series "A Dance With Dragons". Simply Amazing, BUT ...

    - don't attempt to skip around the books in this series - every subsequent book makes heavy reference to earlier books, thus you really need to start at the beginning and work your way through if you want the plot to make sense.

    - the latest book 'A Dance with Dragons' clearly can NOT be the final book in the series ... or at least it better not be. A ton of unfinished business begs for a continuation.


    Finally, it would appear that the HBO series is attempting to cover one book per season. IMHO they have been doing a very good job of being 'faithful' to the books so far, but that's not surprising given that author George R.R. Martin is also writing the screenplays for the HBO series !!! However, Martin admits that he's being 'forced' to limit the book's conversion to screenplays to what can be 'fit' onto a TV screen within a dozen one hour time periods on a budget of a few million dollars per 'episode'.
    Last edited by Melonie; 08-06-2012 at 12:35 PM.

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    Default Re: The Book Thread


    Dirty Minds: How Our Brains Influence Love, Sex, and Relationships
    Kayt Sukel


    Man and His Symbols
    Carl Gustav Jung

    ~A
    on iFriends!

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