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ulmont posted:Eggless eggnogs seem to uniformly (upon extremely cursory internet searching, but I looked at four different recipes) be milk/cream, instant vanilla pudding, sugar, nutmeg, liquor (rum or bourbon) to taste. Ooh. That's not quite the recipe in question--it was a 70s kids' book about nutrition so the eggnog-like drink was something obnoxiously 70s-healthy--but I confess I am intrigued by the concept of drinking vanilla pudding.
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Jan 11, 2017 06:34
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Picayune posted:Ooh. That's not quite the recipe in question--it was a 70s kids' book about nutrition so the eggnog-like drink was something obnoxiously 70s-healthy--but I confess I am intrigued by the concept of drinking vanilla pudding. How else would you consume it?
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Jan 12, 2017 19:35
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Please help me. I have been trying to remember the author or title of a short story for over 6 years. I have googled and googled and asked librarians and I am starting to think I imagined this goddamn thing. It is a feminist sort-of sci-fi story about a woman whose consciousness inhabits her husband's body for a day or so. She has no control over his body, she is just experiencing everything he is. The big thing I remember is her marvelling about having pockets. I think it is from the early to mid-nineteenth century, but I can't be sure. There is also a scene on the train to his job where she overhears a bunch of old, bearded men in hats bitching about how extravagant women's hats are. Please help I am dying. Edit: ABORT. "If I Were a Man" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. 6 loving years. don longjohns fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jan 15, 2017 |
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Jan 15, 2017 23:24
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I remember reading this cop novel from the late 80s, maybe early 90s, and thinking it was good, but I can't remember the title, and the only bit of story I remember was in the beginning, the lady cop is reminiscing about her late husband. She's thinking about a time they tried anal sex, and it hurt at first, but then she liked it. Her husband also liked her long legs. It was ultimately unimportant to the story, since I think there was corruption or something in the precinct, but I know that detail was in there.
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Jan 21, 2017 00:07
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Professor Shark posted:I'm looking for a short story that I read in Grade 8 (2000-2001) that I was telling students about today, but have been unable to find online. Still looking for this story  Also, does anyone remember a science fiction series where humans discover an asteroid that's been converted into a sort of aircraft carrier full of ships? Explorers form parties that get into these ships, hit the GO button, and are transported to different parts of the galaxy, where they basically load up the ship with as much stuff as they can and return to the carrier to sell it. I think there were three books and some short stories in the series
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Jan 22, 2017 17:47
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Professor Shark posted:Also, does anyone remember a science fiction series where humans discover an asteroid that's been converted into a sort of aircraft carrier full of ships? Explorers form parties that get into these ships, hit the GO button, and are transported to different parts of the galaxy, where they basically load up the ship with as much stuff as they can and return to the carrier to sell it. This is almost certainly Frederik Pohl's Gateway, which has a number of sequels I really should get around to reading some day.
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Jan 22, 2017 18:18
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zedar posted:This is almost certainly Frederik Pohl's Gateway, which has a number of sequels I really should get around to reading some day. it is definitely gateway. iirc there is a scene in which the narrator furiously and miserably beats off over his gay attraction to the guy loving his wife on their interstellar journey not sure why my english teacher suggested i read that in 11th grade
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Jan 22, 2017 18:28
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zedar posted:This is almost certainly Frederik Pohl's Gateway, which has a number of sequels I really should get around to reading some day. Yep, that's it!
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Jan 22, 2017 19:22
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I've been looking for this story for a long time ... The main character has visions/dreams of being in an abandoned office building in what appears to be a dead world. It's dusty and there's a dead fly on the windowsill mentioned repeatedly. The visions become more intrusive; instead of just dreaming he starts to experience them when he's zoning out doing random tasks during the day. As the story progresses he beings to believe that the dead world is his reality and the "real world" is a dream or delusion of his. It has a very despairing tone. I wish I remembered more, I think I may have read it in an anthology of American short stories. Tojai fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 24, 2017 08:13
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I've tried in a couple of other "Identify this book" forums online, but it never occurred to me that BB would have this thread. Obvious in hindsight. This was a book I read decades ago. It was probably a library book from the Juvenile fiction section but it might have been YA. It was so long ago that huge parts of the book are lost to me but I remember random specific scenes very clearly. The protagonist is the son of independent carnival/theme park ride designers. They had a new ride they are working on with a spider theme that was given a lot of detail. The animatronic spider is called Ophelia and at the end of the ride fake web-wrapped body parts are dispensed to scare the people waiting in line. The father takes the protagonist to a business office to pitch their ride and there's a scene where the dad is proud of his son for overcoming his bladder shyness and using a communal urinal. (See what I mean about remembering random scenes?) The boy meets another boy (I think in the woods behind his house?) and becomes friends with him. This other boy gradually opens up and reveals that he lives by himself and has reality-warping powers. Specifically he can create/manipulate matter around his hands and has a load of wondrous inventions. One is a box he sticks his hands in and shines a light through to project movie-quality stories on the wall. Another of those random scenes I remember is where the protagonist takes his magic friend out for pizza with some other friends. The magic friend is uncomfortable around new people and tries to pay for the meal by creating a counterfeit bill in his pocket. This takes long enough that another boy present makes a dirty comment about what he's reaching for in his pants. The counterfeit is discovered when the cashier (or a security guard) notices that the president's nose on the bill is wrong. Another of the entertainments the magic boy shows the protagonist is a large area in his home where he keeps a dangerous and intelligent monster which he intentionally pits himself against, having a limited time to escape the area safely. I think the climax of the book involves the monster escaping or otherwise threatening the protagonist or his family. I can't remember any names (other than the dang carnival ride) or other info that lends itself to a keyword search, but I think my memories of the above are correct enough that anyone who's read the book should recognize it.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:04
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This is a book that I read in middle school (between 2002 - 2006). The lead characters are an all-American teenage girl and a prince of a made-up country. They both suffer from seizures, but they're actually communicating psychically with one another when they're blacked out. The main plot centers around the prince getting kidnapped and the girl having to go and rescuing him. I think the POV switches between them every chapter but I wouldn't swear to it.
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Feb 3, 2017 09:55
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Ooh I love when I know one! Being of Two Minds by Pamela Service.
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Feb 4, 2017 00:46
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wheatpuppy posted:Ooh I love when I know one! Being of Two Minds by Pamela Service. Yes! That's it! Thank you so much.
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Feb 4, 2017 19:20
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I can't remember the title of a book I read some years back: nonfiction, about the history of the technology involved in communication, from telegrams to talking drums and so on. It was fascinating but I never finished it as the library wanted it back, and now...I can't remember its title despite remembering the cover vividly: stark white and black, with lines and the title. Help?
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Feb 6, 2017 08:47
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StrixNebulosa posted:I can't remember the title of a book I read some years back: nonfiction, about the history of the technology involved in communication, from telegrams to talking drums and so on. It was fascinating but I never finished it as the library wanted it back, and now...I can't remember its title despite remembering the cover vividly: stark white and black, with lines and the title. James Gleick - The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood "Acclaimed science writer James Gleick presents an eye-opening vision of how our relationship to information has transformed the very nature of human consciousness. A fascinating intellectual journey through the history of communication and information, from the language of Africa’s talking drums to the invention of written alphabets; from the electronic transmission of code to the origins of information theory, into the new information age and the current deluge of news, tweets, images, and blogs. Along the way, Gleick profiles key innovators, including Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, Samuel Morse, and Claude Shannon, and reveals how our understanding of information is transforming not only how we look at the world, but how we live."
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Feb 6, 2017 16:53
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calicokitty posted:James Gleick - The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood That's it! Thank you! Raiding my library for it now! 
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Feb 7, 2017 00:58
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I've got a really high-brow series I am trying to remember. This is typical airport fiction. I remember "secret gov't science division working under Denver International Airport" with poo poo like bigfoot, aliens, the Nautilus, etc. Of course the main character is a bad rear end military special ops guy with 2 PhDs or something. I've a friend who is embarrasingly into the airport conspiracy theories and I want to send it his way. I only read these drunk on planes, and have zero recollection of author. Googling the above has led me down some interesting paths, but I am failing at finding the books.
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Feb 17, 2017 02:49
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Event Group series by David Golemon?
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Feb 17, 2017 04:24
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That's it! Thanks.
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Feb 17, 2017 06:50
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Trying to find a post-apocalyptic themed book that I read sometime probably in the late 90s at a library. The book was possibly from the 80s. It may have been young adult, simply because it wasn't a big book. I'm pretty sure it was placed in the UK. The main character was a young guy, but I think he meets up with a girl later. The only very concrete detail that I can remember was early on in the book, the guy was scavenging in a house and finding water he could drink from a dehumidifier in a basement.
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Feb 19, 2017 15:14
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Juanito posted:Trying to find a post-apocalyptic themed book that I read sometime probably in the late 90s at a library. The book was possibly from the 80s. It may have been young adult, simply because it wasn't a big book. Did a search and came up with Empty World by John Christopher which seems to match the description. There's an excerpt from the book on the Amazon page I linked to. The various reviews on Goodreads mention most of the elements in your description; the scavenging, the girl, the UK setting etc.
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Feb 19, 2017 15:57
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calicokitty posted:Did a search and came up with Empty World by John Christopher which seems to match the description. There's an excerpt from the book on the Amazon page I linked to. The various reviews on Goodreads mention most of the elements in your description; the scavenging, the girl, the UK setting etc.
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Feb 19, 2017 16:14
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If you're interested in that sort of thing, there's also Brother in the Land and Plague 99, both of which are set in the UK after a disaster (nuclear holocaust and plague, respectively).
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Feb 20, 2017 15:25
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I saw a trailer for the netflix movie the discovery and I swear I read a short story with a similar plot - there is proof that the afterlife is real so people start killing themselves to go to it. I can't remember if the government is actively murdering people or just has guidelines on how to best kill your self. A teenage boy and girl are hanging out and arnt sure they want to do it. I think their parents already killed them selves or are going to soon, I'm pretty one of the kids parents gassed themselves in the garage. I tried to look it up and some people mentioned a paulanick story but I'm sure it's not that. I thought maybe a George Saunders story but I don't see it in the books I stills have, or in Hot Pink which I read not too long ago. Any ideas?
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Feb 26, 2017 18:42
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Could it be Bring Her To Me by Ben H Winters? I kind of feel your story was in one of the Apocalypse Triptych series of short story collections, if that helps.
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Feb 27, 2017 07:09
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aricoarena posted:I saw a trailer for the netflix movie the discovery and I swear I read a short story with a similar plot - there is proof that the afterlife is real so people start killing themselves to go to it. I can't remember if the government is actively murdering people or just has guidelines on how to best kill your self. A teenage boy and girl are hanging out and arnt sure they want to do it. I think their parents already killed them selves or are going to soon, I'm pretty one of the kids parents gassed themselves in the garage. I tried to look it up and some people mentioned a paulanick story but I'm sure it's not that. I thought maybe a George Saunders story but I don't see it in the books I stills have, or in Hot Pink which I read not too long ago. Any ideas? Was it something by Iain M Banks? The trailer seemed really familier to me as well.
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Feb 27, 2017 07:29
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yaffle posted:Was it something by Iain M Banks? The trailer seemed really familier to me as well. Banks happens to mention that killing yourself to get into one of machine-ran heavens is frowned upon in societies that maintain that sort of afterlife. I think it concerns the Chel heaven in Look to Windward, although there is some discussion of artificial heavens in mostly hell-oriented Surface Detail. I don't remember a subplot in which people did kill themselves to be together in the afterlife, and I've reread both books fairly recently.
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Feb 27, 2017 11:27
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Banks happens to mention that killing yourself to get into one of machine-ran heavens is frowned upon in societies that maintain that sort of afterlife. I think it concerns the Chel heaven in Look to Windward, although there is some discussion of artificial heavens in mostly hell-oriented Surface Detail. I don't remember a subplot in which people did kill themselves to be together in the afterlife, and I've reread both books fairly recently. That reminds me of a thing now that I can't remember the name of. I'm pretty sure it's not what aricoarena is looking for. I don't remember if it was a short story or an aside in a longer book (maybe even one of those Banks novels?). I am mostly sure we never actually "see" any of this directly; it's just two characters talking about it. The gist of it is, there's a society of aliens they trade with, but one day the trade ships stop coming. They send a team to investigate and find that the entire species has committed suicide. They do some digging and find that one of their (?scientist-philosophers) had made and published a significant discovery about life and death just before the suicides started, but they can't translate it. They make copies and return home. In the subsequent years everyone involved in the investigation or the translation of the discovery commits suicide as well, at which point the records are sealed. I remember a conversation between the characters talking about it where one of them wonders what they discovered and the other replies something like "who knows? Proof that there is a heaven, and everyone goes there? Proof that there is a hell, and the older you die, the worse it is?"
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Feb 27, 2017 13:05
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ToxicFrog posted:That reminds me of a thing now that I can't remember the name of. I'm pretty sure it's not what aricoarena is looking for. I don't remember if it was a short story or an aside in a longer book (maybe even one of those Banks novels?). I am mostly sure we never actually "see" any of this directly; it's just two characters talking about it. That's one of Larry Niven's Draco Tavern stories, but I can't quite recall a title offhand.
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Feb 27, 2017 13:39
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Lemniscate Blue posted:That's one of Larry Niven's Draco Tavern stories, but I can't quite recall a title offhand. Nailed it. I grabbed my copy of The Draco Tavern and it's the very first story in there, "The Subject is Closed".
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Feb 27, 2017 13:47
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At least one novel and I think a few short stories by the same guy. There's time travel, except not really; people are travelling to the past, which is actually one of a very large (but not infinite) number of parallel universes that started after ours so they look like the past, but screwing around there won't screw up our universe. Lots of historical characters have been brought to the present including several Jesuses, one of which has a talk show. Probably 90s or 00s. I don't actually remember liking it that much but it's bugging me now.
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Feb 27, 2017 20:48
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Unkempt posted:At least one novel and I think a few short stories by the same guy. There's time travel, except not really; people are travelling to the past, which is actually one of a very large (but not infinite) number of parallel universes that started after ours so they look like the past, but screwing around there won't screw up our universe. Lots of historical characters have been brought to the present including several Jesuses, one of which has a talk show. Probably 90s or 00s. Corrupting Dr. Nice by John Kessel?
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Feb 27, 2017 22:04
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That's the one! I'd completely forgotten the actual plot. Maybe I should reread.
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Feb 27, 2017 22:16
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aricoarena posted:I saw a trailer for the netflix movie the discovery and I swear I read a short story with a similar plot - there is proof that the afterlife is real so people start killing themselves to go to it. I can't remember if the government is actively murdering people or just has guidelines on how to best kill your self. A teenage boy and girl are hanging out and arnt sure they want to do it. I think their parents already killed them selves or are going to soon, I'm pretty one of the kids parents gassed themselves in the garage. I tried to look it up and some people mentioned a paulanick story but I'm sure it's not that. I thought maybe a George Saunders story but I don't see it in the books I stills have, or in Hot Pink which I read not too long ago. Any ideas? You're describing "Obsolete" from Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk.
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Mar 4, 2017 21:24
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I'm trying to find a book, I think the author posted here some years ago or you guys found him out and it was somewhat popular for a while. I think it was written (and published) in "installments". It was a story about a dude who inherited a house/old mansion from an auntie. It had ghosts, necromancing, super natural lawyers and all kinds of poo poo. I seem to remember that he "caught" a ghost and imprisoned her inside a hatchet or something like that. He couldn't go out from the property ground or else. Well, I know that it's a long shot but I hope someone remembers it. Thanks!
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Mar 5, 2017 04:52
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No idea on that one, but it sounds neat. Make sure to update us if you find it! I'd love to read it.
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Mar 5, 2017 05:06
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Meanie posted:I'm trying to find a book, I think the author posted here some years ago or you guys found him out and it was somewhat popular for a while. That is "Pact" by Wildbow. Same guy that did "Worm." It's not a book, but a web-serial.
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Mar 5, 2017 11:33
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Solitair posted:You're describing "Obsolete" from Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, turns out this was it. Obsolete had come up when I searched earlier for "short story similar to the discovery" but people were emphasizing parts of the story I totally didn't remember, what the afterlife was like, and weren't really talking about the parts I did, the family and kids. So I thought it couldn't be right. Also I was sure I had read it more recently. I read haunted once and it had to have been more than 5 years ago. I remember it having some good stories but the wrapper story connecting them all being complete garbage. Thanks again.
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Mar 6, 2017 21:07
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I recently remembered a series I read a bunch of years ago, at least 10, which I got from these forums. It was science fiction and I think maybe the author was a goon? I seem to remember that there banner ads for the books on the site at least, but gently caress me if I can remember the name. I'm pretty sure it was "near-future scifi", and the books were kinda weird. It was a trilogy I'm pretty sure and I think they were color coded maybe, and there were these symbols scattered throughout the books some way tied in with some of the characters. Some of it takes place in south america and also in space where some space station is infiltrated by corporate black ops or something. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember the name of the books or the author. Do my vague memories ring a bell with anyone?
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Mar 11, 2017 12:21
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Biplane posted:I recently remembered a series I read a bunch of years ago, at least 10, which I got from these forums. It was science fiction and I think maybe the author was a goon? I seem to remember that there banner ads for the books on the site at least, but gently caress me if I can remember the name. I'm pretty sure it was "near-future scifi", and the books were kinda weird. It was a trilogy I'm pretty sure and I think they were color coded maybe, and there were these symbols scattered throughout the books some way tied in with some of the characters. Some of it takes place in south america and also in space where some space station is infiltrated by corporate black ops or something. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember the name of the books or the author. Do my vague memories ring a bell with anyone? Sounds like Autumn Rain by David J. Williams. Dunno if he's a goon.
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Mar 13, 2017 21:09
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