General TBB Chat/questions thread - I'm on Earth in 2023.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > General TBB Chat/questions thread - I'm on Earth in 2023.

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kelmaon: Jun 20, 2007

For future reference: This is the thread you are looking for.

# ? Oct 6, 2010 06:41

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 15:14

LiterallyAnything: Jul 11, 2008; by vyelkin

Awesome, thanks!

# ? Oct 6, 2010 07:02

Mollymauk: Apr 20, 2006

deety posted:

Horror suggestions:

Shirley Jackson. She's best known for The Lottery or The Haunting of Hill House, but I think her best book is We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Richard Matheson. His short fiction is really great. His longer stuff is more hit or miss, and avoid Hunted Past Reason at all costs because it's total poo poo. You can't go wrong with any of his anthologies, though.

Thomas Ligotti. His books and stories have this weird, dreamlike kind of horror, his style is the kind of thing people either love or hate. Unfortunately they can be kind of hard to find.

Mira Grant's Feed. The idea of bloggers covering a presidential campaign during the zombie apocalypse sounds corny as hell. But this is actually a solid, fast-paced story about politics, paranoia, viruses, the news, and what people will do for power. And also zombies.

Kim Newman's Anno Dracula. This a follow-up to Dracula, if that book had ended with the Count winning. England's become openly infested with vampires, and famous characters from Victorian history and lit interact while hunting a serial killer. I typically hate recent takes on older characters, but I really enjoyed this book anyway.

Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest. It's about an isolated town with a bloody Halloween tradition. The writing style seemed very heavily influenced by older Stephen King stuff.

Thanks for the suggestions I got Dark Harvest tonight then finished it, fun but it felt more like a short story than a novel still enjoyed it though. I'll try some of your other suggestions if I can find them.

# ? Oct 6, 2010 09:35

DirtyRobot: Dec 15, 2003; it was a normally happy sunny day... but Dirty Robot was dirty

Mollymauk posted:

Can someone recommend some good horror novels for October? I read The Fall and The Passage last week and have read 23 Stephen King books so I've missed a bunch.

The Horla by Guy de Mauppassant

It's only a short story so after that you're on your own. Maybe read I Am Legend if you liked The Passage. If you liked Stephen King you can also check out his son, Joe Hill.

# ? Oct 6, 2010 10:47

Cheezymadman: Mar 29, 2010; by Fistgrrl

Cool thing about books from the library: The smells.

Usually you just get your typical book smells, but this copy of House of Leaves I got today has a distinct flowery scent to it, like it used to sit on a shelf in a girl's bedroom, or something. It's really weird, but at the same time, it's interesting how a book can pick up smells like that. Most of the time, library books have the usual "bindings and paper" aroma, with the occasional cigarette smoke odor.

I know, I'm strange.

Cheezymadman fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Oct 8, 2010

# ? Oct 8, 2010 01:20

RowsdowerHotline: Nov 5, 2003; Forum Crackwhore

Brady posted:

Don't know if there's a "lost and found" for this subforum, but I need help identifying two books I read in middle school.

The first is a book about a kid who runs away from home and comes across a house (on a hill?) that has magical properties. There are other children living in the house and he is welcomed with treats and all sorts of goodies. Later we come to find weird things are happening and eventually the main protagonist leaves the house to seek out his parents, who have aged considerably since he left (although he stays the same age). I read this book in middle school and I remember my English teacher mentioning there were talks of a movie based on the book, but obviously they never came to fruition.

The other book I am striving to remember is about a boy who was (raised?) in a room where he was constantly "tested" with virtual "games". There is another girl in a room near him I think, which he befriends, and another child who is physically disabled. Together the three of them were raised to control a virtual army of soldiers to fight against another virtual army controlled by the enemy to decide who will control a piece of land. The soldiers are virtual because most of the world is radiated from nuclear fallout, although you don't really find out the purpose of their training until near the end I think.

If anyone remembers these books, especially the second one, I will be thoroughly impressed and very grateful.

Edit- Immediately after posting I found the title of the second book- Virtual War.

Is the first book The Thief of Always by Clive Barker?

# ? Oct 8, 2010 05:28

Mollymauk: Apr 20, 2006

DirtyRobot posted:

The Horla by Guy de Mauppassant

It's only a short story so after that you're on your own. Maybe read I Am Legend if you liked The Passage. If you liked Stephen King you can also check out his son, Joe Hill.

I've reread I Am Legend somewhat recently but will definitely check out The Horla. Are any particular Joe Hill novels are considered his best? Also We Have Always Lived in the Castle was very good but not really horror, just very sad. I understood what happened quicker than when I read The Lottery when I was younger, so the reveal wasn't shocking.

# ? Oct 8, 2010 11:56

Dr Scoofles: Dec 6, 2004

Cheezymadman posted:

Cool thing about books from the library: The smells.

Usually you just get your typical book smells, but this copy of House] of Leaves I got today has a distinct flowery scent to it, like it used to sit on a shelf in a girl's bedroom, or something. It's really weird, but at the same time, it's interesting how a book can pick up smells like that. Most of the time, library books have the usual "bindings and paper" aroma, with the occasional cigarette smoke odor.

I know, I'm strange.

I bought my copy of House of Leaves off the 'for sale' shelf in my local library for 30p. Alas it lacks a beautiful floral armoa, instead it reeks of funk and some of the pages look like somebody had a nosebleed on them. I guess, in a way, it's rather fitting?

# ? Oct 8, 2010 15:52

Hedrigall: Mar 27, 2008; by vyelkin

I was going through my old books today, helping my Mum rid our house of excess clutter before she buys a new house and we move. I got rid of about 40 old books into two boxes. It feels so great to look at my shelves at home now and see nothing but books I love, and no more crappy Clive Cusslers or similar.

A question: what do you guys do with old books you don't want? A lot of mine are in good condition but I couldn't honestly be bothered putting them up on ebay. The second hand stores I know are always reluctant to take boxes of books from people, and libraries around here don't bother accepting donations anymore. I'm thinking of just donating them to a Rotary book sale.

# ? Oct 10, 2010 14:32

RowsdowerHotline: Nov 5, 2003; Forum Crackwhore

Hedrigall posted:

I was going through my old books today, helping my Mum rid our house of excess clutter before she buys a new house and we move. I got rid of about 40 old books into two boxes. It feels so great to look at my shelves at home now and see nothing but books I love, and no more crappy Clive Cusslers or similar.

A question: what do you guys do with old books you don't want? A lot of mine are in good condition but I couldn't honestly be bothered putting them up on ebay. The second hand stores I know are always reluctant to take boxes of books from people, and libraries around here don't bother accepting donations anymore. I'm thinking of just donating them to a Rotary book sale.

Could you donate them to Goodwill?

I'd just call ahead and say you were cleaning out some boxes and it's got some good books, it's just stuff you don't want.

# ? Oct 10, 2010 16:29

Cheezymadman: Mar 29, 2010; by Fistgrrl

Hedrigall posted:

I was going through my old books today, helping my Mum rid our house of excess clutter before she buys a new house and we move. I got rid of about 40 old books into two boxes. It feels so great to look at my shelves at home now and see nothing but books I love, and no more crappy Clive Cusslers or similar.

A question: what do you guys do with old books you don't want? A lot of mine are in good condition but I couldn't honestly be bothered putting them up on ebay. The second hand stores I know are always reluctant to take boxes of books from people, and libraries around here don't bother accepting donations anymore. I'm thinking of just donating them to a Rotary book sale.

Three words.

Goon Yard Sale

# ? Oct 10, 2010 17:28

Underflow: Apr 4, 2008; EGOMET MIHI IGNOSCO

Some municipalities/counties/whatever do book donation distribution for their mental institutions, prisons, etc. At least they'll be appreciated.

# ? Oct 10, 2010 17:32

barkingclam: Jun 20, 2007

I usually give whatever the used bookstore doesn't want to Goodwill. Donating to a Rotery sale is a good idea too, though. As long as you don't throw them in the trash, you can't really go wrong.

# ? Oct 10, 2010 20:07

Flaggy: Jul 6, 2007; Grandpa Cthulu needs his napping chair; Grimey Drawer

Cheezymadman posted:

Three words.

Goon Yard Sale

Have goons ever done a book trading thing? I use paperbackswap but I would much rather swap books with goons.

# ? Oct 11, 2010 00:55

Hedrigall: Mar 27, 2008; by vyelkin

I have a near-mint paperback of A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin, willing to swap for The Republic Of Thieves by Scott Lynch.

# ? Oct 11, 2010 01:28

ass is hometown: Jan 11, 2006; I gotta take a leak. When I get back, we're doing body shots.

Flaggy posted:

Have goons ever done a book trading thing? I use paperbackswap but I would much rather swap books with goons.

Hedrigall posted:

I have a near-mint paperback of A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin, willing to swap for The Republic Of Thieves by Scott Lynch.

We should start a thread.
_{anyone but me}

# ? Oct 11, 2010 01:37

Flaggy: Jul 6, 2007; Grandpa Cthulu needs his napping chair; Grimey Drawer

Ridonkulous posted:

We should start a thread.
_{anyone but me}

Someone really should. Couldn't hurt to get a mods take on things though first?

# ? Oct 11, 2010 03:27

The Machine: Dec 15, 2004; Rage Against / Welcome to

I still cannot believe the "The Beatles, but ZOMBIES! :haw:

" book was published.

# ? Oct 12, 2010 14:22

Cheezymadman: Mar 29, 2010; by Fistgrrl

The Machine posted:

I still cannot believe the "The Beatles, but ZOMBIES! " book was published.

The Zombies are in it too, but they're not zombies.

:psyduck:

# ? Oct 12, 2010 14:27

The Machine: Dec 15, 2004; Rage Against / Welcome to

The irony... it kills me! :negative:

# ? Oct 12, 2010 15:08

El Axo Grande: Apr 2, 2005; by T. Finn

The Machine posted:

I still cannot believe the "The Beatles, but ZOMBIES! " book was published.

A friend recommended that book to me and so I stopped talking to him.

It also didn't help that he said modern fiction was not as good as what the comics industry was producing

# ? Oct 12, 2010 21:02

appropriatemetaphor: Jan 26, 2006

El Axo Grande posted:

A friend recommended that book to me and so I stopped talking to him.

It also didn't help that he said modern fiction was not as good as what the comics industry was producing

What an idiot, obviously he should have said the video game industry.

# ? Oct 13, 2010 05:14

Soulcleaver: Sep 25, 2007; Murderer

appropriatemetaphor posted:

What an idiot, obviously he should have said the video game industry.

Clearly this cretin is unaware of the powerful humanistic themes and gameplay-to-plot parallels in Game of the Decade Braid by Jonathan Blow.

# ? Oct 13, 2010 05:46

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Can anyone reccomend a decently written but amateur book review blog? Not something professional, I can find those myself, just something on blogspot or wordpress. Ideally one with a linked archive. The only one I've found that I like is this one, rather imaginatively titled Russ' Book Reviews.

# ? Oct 13, 2010 14:35

Cryle: Jul 19, 2008; by Ozmaugh

Soulcleaver posted:

Clearly this cretin is unaware of the powerful humanistic themes and gameplay-to-plot parallels in Game of the Decade Braid by Jonathan Blow.

Speaking of Game of the Decade has anyone read anything by Andrzej Sapkowski?

Other than this and it's sequel most of his works haven't been translated to English, or am i looking in the wrong places?

# ? Oct 15, 2010 10:38

Casimir Radon: Aug 2, 2008

Amazon really needs to introduce the ability to screen out all the OCR'd public domain publishers. I go looking for a used book and have to wade through so much goddamn CreateSpace, Bibliolife, and Lulu poo poo.

# ? Oct 16, 2010 01:34

knees of putty: Apr 2, 2009; gottle o' gear!

Loose Chanj, what's the theme for next month's book club?

# ? Oct 16, 2010 09:20

LooseChanj: Feb 17, 2006; Logicaaaaaaaaal!

I liked that black authors idea. Off the top of my head, I want to put The Color Purple and The Invisible Man by Ellison on the poll, as well as something by Richard Wright. So that leaves two nominations open, suggest away.

# ? Oct 16, 2010 18:27

7 y.o. bitch: Mar 24, 2009; Name 7 yob
Age 55 years young
Posts OVER 9000 XD
Title BOOK BARN SUPERSTAR
Motto Might I quote the incomparable Frederick Douglas? To wit: ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIXXD

LooseChanj posted:

I liked that black authors idea. Off the top of my head, I want to put The Color Purple and The Invisible Man by Ellison on the poll, as well as something by Richard Wright. So that leaves two nominations open, suggest away.

Beloved and Go Tell It on the Mountain.

# ? Oct 16, 2010 18:39

inktvis: Dec 11, 2005; What is ridiculous about human beings, Doctor, is actually their total incapacity to be ridiculous.

Nothing from Africa then? Kourouma, Tutuola and Achebe are all black people. Is Machado de Assis black enough?

# ? Oct 16, 2010 19:48

7 y.o. bitch: Mar 24, 2009; Name 7 yob
Age 55 years young
Posts OVER 9000 XD
Title BOOK BARN SUPERSTAR
Motto Might I quote the incomparable Frederick Douglas? To wit: ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIXXD

I'm pretty sure LooseChanj means "African-American authors," and I believe the original suggestion (which I can't find right now, but remember the post) was referring to African-American authors.

inktvis posted:

Is Machado de Assis black enough?

No.

Wikipedia posted:

Machado de Assis was included on American literary critic Harold Bloom's list of the greatest 100 geniuses of literature, alongside writers such as Dante, Shakespeare and Cervantes. Bloom even considers him the greatest black writer in Western literature (although his characterization as a black man is derived from perceptions of race, such as hypodescent, predominant in the United States but almost nonexistent in Brazil).

# ? Oct 16, 2010 20:08

El Axo Grande: Apr 2, 2005; by T. Finn

LooseChanj posted:

I liked that black authors idea. Off the top of my head, I want to put The Color Purple and The Invisible Man by Ellison on the poll, as well as something by Richard Wright. So that leaves two nominations open, suggest away.

I really really want to recommend either The Intutionist by Colson Whitehead or A Visitation of Spirits by Randall Kenan

Both are great black novels of this era, are less well known, and deal with more modern themes and issues that might appeal to the TBB reader more easily.

EDIT: For background...

The Intutionist is a Modern Noir story based around a female elevator inspector investigating the crash of a brand new super-elevator and the conspiracy that unravels behind it. Wrapped around this entire narrative is the theme of race and modernity. It invokes a lot of the thematic elements of the noir genre while utilizing them in a pretty radical way. It manages to be a novel about race through the incredible craftsmanship of metaphor and evocation.

A Visitation of Spirits is modern American magical realism. The story revolves around a gay teenage comic book and DnD nerd, the pride of his family and community, who becomes possessed by Demons after trying to escape his oppressive homelife. The story rebounds between the night of his possession and the aftermath. The most provocative idea in the novel is the concept of the evolution of the needs of black society. What were once seen as foundations of great strength in the past start to become new methods of oppression and restriction as society moves forever onward.

El Axo Grande fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Oct 16, 2010

# ? Oct 16, 2010 20:23

barkingclam: Jun 20, 2007

LooseChanj posted:

I liked that black authors idea. Off the top of my head, I want to put The Color Purple and The Invisible Man by Ellison on the poll, as well as something by Richard Wright. So that leaves two nominations open, suggest away.

I'd be down for Native Son. I've got a copy I've been putting off reading for a few months now.

# ? Oct 16, 2010 22:53

StealthStealth: Aug 28, 2007; dogs eatin' cake

El Axo Grande posted:

A Visitation of Spirits is modern American magical realism. The story revolves around a gay teenage comic book and DnD nerd, the pride of his family and community, who becomes possessed by Demons after trying to escape his oppressive homelife. The story rebounds between the night of his possession and the aftermath. The most provocative idea in the novel is the concept of the evolution of the needs of black society. What were once seen as foundations of great strength in the past start to become new methods of oppression and restriction as society moves forever onward.

This sounds absolutely excellent.

# ? Oct 17, 2010 04:32

knees of putty: Apr 2, 2009; gottle o' gear!

Oh yeah, stoked for next month's book. Great idea.

# ? Oct 17, 2010 11:16

H.P. Shivcraft: Mar 17, 2008; STAY UNRULY, YOU HEARTLESS MONSTERS!

I really like Their Eyes Were Watching God, for what that's worth. I find it profitable to discuss it, or anything by Hurston for that mater, in a historicist context by tossing it against anything by Wright. (He and Hurston famously despised each other, but I think their concerns were more similar than they realized.) Of course I am really goddamn busy with senior stuff and grad school application crap, so if that conversation happened on the forums I'd only be able to maybe drop by and spout a few buzzwords if even that.

On the subject of African-American authors, though, I recently read The Known World by Edward P. Jones and it really threw me for a loop. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for the book club, but I find the novel to be a grand failed experiment: what would happen if William Faulkner, Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, and Toni Morrison all got together and wrote a history book? Probably something like this, though it sounds cooler than it turns out.

The novel's really overlong and in a lot of places overdone, but in retrospect I find a few elements of it to be extremely powerful, and it made me anxious about my own mortality in a way that nothing else has done recently. So despite its power, I'm pretty ambivalent about it, since it's sloppy and I'm kind of unhappy with the finished product. Has anyone else read this thing? I'm interested in getting some responses other than those of the "this book won a Pulitzer let me smash my big old literature boner in between its pages over and over" variety.

# ? Oct 20, 2010 01:41

Valkyn: Jun 6, 2004; Have you seen this camwhore before?

Can anyone recommend some good R-rated (if you will) fantasy? I'm sick of all the fantasy books being written for 12 year olds. I dont want erotica but some themes that are abit darker would be cool.

The GRRM books are about right I think.

# ? Oct 23, 2010 03:15

Parker Lewis: Jan 4, 2006; Can't Lose

Valkyn posted:

Can anyone recommend some good R-rated (if you will) fantasy? I'm sick of all the fantasy books being written for 12 year olds. I dont want erotica but some themes that are abit darker would be cool.

The GRRM books are about right I think.

Have you read Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy?

# ? Oct 23, 2010 20:30

Day Man: Jul 30, 2007; Champion of the Sun!

Master of karate and friendship...
for everyone!

Parker Lewis posted:

Have you read Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy?

I concur. This series was really, really good.

# ? Oct 23, 2010 22:30

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 15:14

El Axo Grande: Apr 2, 2005; by T. Finn

Valkyn posted:

Can anyone recommend some good R-rated (if you will) fantasy? I'm sick of all the fantasy books being written for 12 year olds. I dont want erotica but some themes that are abit darker would be cool.

The GRRM books are about right I think.

The thread you want is literally right below you dude

# ? Oct 23, 2010 22:33

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > General TBB Chat/questions thread - I'm on Earth in 2023.

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