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Has anyone read (Lemony Snicket) Daniel Handler's new book We Are Pirates? How does it rank up with his other (adult) books?
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Feb 18, 2015 22:29
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 05:13 |
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Wikipedia says roman à clef, and lists books like On The Road, so there you go.
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Feb 19, 2015 18:23
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Ras Het posted:Why is it that people supposedly cannot enjoy a story if they already know it? I've never understood that. It's generally agreed that going into a story blind is the best way to enjoy it, as the author intended it. Personally, knowing a twist in a movie before seeing it distracts me from things going on, because I'm just waiting for that twist. It also reduces any urgency I have of enjoying the story. Is knowing Mufasa dies really going to ruin the Lion King? No. But it doesn't help. Some people just try to be considerate, and of course it gets taken to logical extremes.
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Feb 23, 2015 16:54
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There are arguments for either side. I personally like knowing zero about a book, but you have to realistic. Stories that have passes the test of time aren't going to be spoiled as easily, like Moby Dick. More recent stories like Gone Girl are more interesting with the twists unknown. But there's also a lot of other things to consider. People read Harry Potter for a long time to get that resolution. Spoiling that, for most, won't add to the experience. Like GoT, people freak out if it gets spoiled. Then there's Gravity's Rainbow, which is hard to spoil in general, and may help the understanding. Then there's artist intention to consider. They spent a long time crafting the story, and intended it to be experienced a certain way. So, it's common sense. If you wouldn't want something spoiled for you, or the person reading/watching it don't want it spoiled, then don't. Unless you're just being a dick.
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Feb 23, 2015 18:56
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My book club is having us read The Martian by Andy Weir and I'm really not feeling it at all. I'm trying to give it a chance, but it's just so boring. I'm only 10% through the book, and so far every chapter has been "I don't have enough ____! Okay, I think I found out a way to get _____. No wait! If I get _____ I'll die! Just kidding, I can get _____." I'm not a fan of the writing style, I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan, and so far this book is journal entries of a guy doing tasks. I was told this would be Jack London in space, but it's not that. Everyone else is loving this book. Does it get better? When does it get better? Or is it just not for me and should I move on?
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Jun 22, 2015 20:40
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Thanks for the input on The Martian. I read up until 15% and gave up. I can see why people would like it, but I really didn't give a poo poo about the characters or anything involved. Most people in my book club told me "Oh, if you had waited until ____ happened half-way through, you would have liked it better!" but reading half of a book before it gets good is a pretty lovely way to sell it.
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Jun 26, 2015 13:24
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I'm not the biggest fan of sci-fi, but I don't dislike it. Horror is my go-to for genre fiction. As added perspective, more than half of my book club gave up reading it as well.
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Jun 26, 2015 18:04
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:
Read the first few chapters of Lullaby and then throw it away once you get the plot.
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Jun 27, 2015 15:29
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I think Chokeis his best book. Lullaby suffers from having an interesting and weird plot ruined by the intolerable characters, like Oyster.
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Jun 27, 2015 20:31
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In Lullaby, the motif is counting backwards and he does it ALL THE TIME. Palahniuk is weird, in that the first book you read by him will be your favorite, second book will be good but not great, third book you're onto his shtick and realize the first two reads weren't as good as you thought but there's no point to go back and find out. I think he starts his books out strong, but that's because it's usually a short story not relevant to the actual plot, but echoes some of the themes he's working on. The haunted house section of Lullaby is great and is the best part of the book. Choke was consistently good, but has a plot point about an anal bead. Fight Club was better as a movie. I tried to read Haunted but had to stop after the third or fourth story.
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Jun 29, 2015 14:55
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(Wrong Thread, sorry)
Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jul 15, 2015 |
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Jul 14, 2015 17:46
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Mahlertov Cocktail posted:Ahh sorry, I misunderstood that part of your post. Putting PDFs on an actual Kindle device is easy as anything, but I have no experience with doing the same on an iPad app. You can log into your Amazon account and look at recent purchases and go to "Kindle orders". Choose the book, and click "Actions" and it will give you the option to "Deliver". Click that, and it will let you choose any device "Android Phone, iPad, etc." that is linked to your account. Then just send it. When you order a kindle book, instead of clicking the "1 Click Purchase", it gives you a drop down menu to choose which device you can send it to first, and then purchase it. You can practice with free books if you want to get the hang of it. From the iPad app, you can just search the book and click "Purchase". It will see that you've already bought it and just ask if you want it delivered to that device. So, three options for you. Kindle has been the easiest eReader app I've used because there are so many ways of fixing it.
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Jul 15, 2015 22:36
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Tim and Eric's latest book Tim and Eric's Zone Theory: 7 Easy Steps to Achieve a Perfect Life is getting some fantastic reviews on Amazon. You should take a minute to read through a few.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:32
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 You should look into the user reviews as well.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:51
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Amazon just sent me an e-mail saying they were going to give me a free $5 credit for any Kindle book(s) I wanted just because I'm a "good customer". I used it to get two horror books and Agent Zigzag. Did anyone else get any deals like this?
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Aug 14, 2015 21:18
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oopsie rock posted:Have you been buying a bunch of books from them lately or something? I haven't bought a kindle book in about a year (got too many already), so no good customer freebie for me I guess. Not really. I usually buy physical books every few weeks, and usually buy used if possible. I get a kindle book if it's ridiculously cheap or on sale.
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Aug 14, 2015 22:53
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Grasp of language and grammer, exercising cognitive skills, memory, changes in culture, embracing the emotional spectrum, learning about yourself and the human experience. It does this on a more personal level than movies, because you're doing all the work with your imagination. Also, looking at what books are popular paints a picture of the society that is entertained. What can't you learn with books?
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Aug 17, 2015 16:58
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If you read a book and then talk to someone about the book, having that conversation will also expose you to the modern lexicon and communication skills. Not only that, but there is more analytical thought involved discussing a book, any book, than how Kanye considers the Caps Lock on his phone a "stylistic choice" or a 160-character witticism from that cute nerd girl from Jurassic World. There are quite a few studies on what reading does to the brain and it's place with human interaction. I have alexithymic tendencies and severe ADHD, and I've been told by my therapist that I'm naturally drawn to reading because it exercises imagination, exercises concentration, and allows me to understand and connect emotionally with situations and characters in an analytical way. Books are personal, because it's you and the pages. Everyone in my book club reads the same book, but we're not experiencing the same story, because This Means Something to me, and This Means Something to you. Also, Twitter needs wi-fi, hurts the eyes, creates an odd mental craving similar to Pavlov's dog, and needs a battery to be accessed. I can get a really good loving book for a few dollars at the thrift store and enjoy it for at least eight hours, and feel accomplished.
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Aug 18, 2015 01:05
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Has anyone here read Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield? I have to read it for my book club. I just wanted to know if I should just get a copy from the library, or if it's good enough to warrant a purchase (I like to annotate)?
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Aug 28, 2015 21:34
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I dare you to ask him to sign your Kindle blue squares posted:haha I may!! And then when he gets angry, introduce your niece Kindal by saying "Let Mr. Franzen sign your forehead."
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Sep 1, 2015 21:41
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I haven't read Franzen. I know he's considered "a writer's writer" by many, and that David Foster Wallace was a big fan, I've seen many copies of Freedom at thrift stores, and I have a copy of The Corrections, untouched, on my shelf. Why doesn't anyone talk about his first two novels?
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Sep 1, 2015 21:59
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I started a collection of pictures that were left in books bought at a thrift store. They are surreal in the best way.
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Sep 13, 2015 23:01
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He doesn't have internet, so a kindle is pretty lame. Look into AbeBooks, Thrift Books, and Better World Books. Goodwill has stores set up on Amazon, and you can buy a lot of amazing books from Amazon and only pay for shipping. Post in here if you use those websites, and let me know what you think.
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Sep 23, 2015 23:53
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Once you purchase a book, it can be accessed by any device with Kindle via cliud. Finish a book, delete it from the device, download it again in a few seconds if you need to look something up. It also keeps any highlight, comments or notes on the cloud.
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Sep 24, 2015 00:03
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Most libraries do an annual/biannual book Sale to raise funds. Maybe find out when it is and get a list together for a friend to buy a bunch of books for cheap and they can mail the box to you? Here's a thought: there are services to get packages of wine, clothes, cheese, nerd poo poo, etc. from online clubs so you can try new things based on your interest. Does such a thing exist for books?
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Sep 24, 2015 15:49
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monster on a stick posted:Any goon recommendations for a basic reading lamp for bed? I got this for Christmas and it's been great. I've seen it go down to at least $20 as well.
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Jan 5, 2016 14:56
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I like talking about books because verbalizing and articulating ideas increases comprehension. I also rarely read Fantasy or Sci-Fi, so I'm in the minority with only two or three threads to bounce in and out of. My book quote thread hasn't even broken into a second page.
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Jan 6, 2016 18:08
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Is Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank dystopian or post-apocalyptic?
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Jan 17, 2016 20:03
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Enfys posted:It's a post-apocalyptic novel, or more accurately an apocalyptic novel I suppose as it takes place during an apocalyptic nuclear war that destroys the first world. Perfect, thank you!
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Jan 18, 2016 18:56
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Nakar posted:Did Wallace even explain when and how we're supposed to read the footnotes? There's a number of instances where one note refers to another hundreds of footnotes later and thus hundreds of pages later. I just read every footnote as I came to it and went back. He's definitely talked about why, and without relistening to the whole rhing, I'm pretty sure it's in this interview.
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Feb 4, 2016 00:11
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I am not gonna stop every few sentences to turn 900 pages to the back of the book to find the right annotation Yeah! You tell them! One page at a time, or gently caress it. gently caress artistic intent, added depth, world building and added humor! My book, my way.
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Feb 4, 2016 15:40
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I have a small collection of pictures I have found left in books as bookmarks from thrift stores and used bookstores. They're kinda spooky.
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Feb 6, 2016 01:18
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Yeah, I just read the Wikipedia article in less than 10 minutes. The concept is pretty simple, especially since it's Mel Mudkiper's life motto.
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Feb 15, 2016 23:40
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I was about to disagree with this and then I realized it was actually kinda true so whelp Wasn't meant as an insult, just an illustrative point.
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Feb 16, 2016 00:49
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Mr. Squishy posted:Your intent is unimportant. 
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Feb 16, 2016 01:09
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Just out of curiosity, I looked around on Goodreads. The "Warriors", a kid series about a war between anthropomorphic talking cats, averages 4.3 stars. Top rated comment? "Read the series in order!" Uh, thanks. Catcher in the Rye, 3.3 stars. Charlotte's Web, 4.1 stars. Twilight, 3.5 stars Frankenstein, 3.7 The Stand, 4.3 Pride and Prejudice, 4.2 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 3.2 Harry Potter and LotR series manages an average at or higher than 4.5. What I'm saying is Goodreads is full of idiots
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Mar 10, 2016 16:03
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learnincurve posted:I forget which book it was, probably one of the rivers of London books, but I ended up with the small achievement of being the first person to have finished reading it. Went to review it and there were shitload of reviews going back months from people who hadn't read the book yet but were sure it was going to be great five stars. Pre-ratings are annoying, but pre-reviews are so loving irritating.
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Mar 10, 2016 17:37
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There are books that I read years ago that I round up my rating because of the emotional impact I get from nostalgia. Harry Potter probably does deserve 3 or 4 stars at most, but I read them each when I was the same age as Harry, and you love what you grow up with. I think that technical skill is important, as is literary merit, but if a book is written in an average style and it makes me feel something, I think it's earned its marks. Seventeen year-old me did give Life of Pi 2 stars, despite everyone loving that drat book.
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Mar 10, 2016 19:02
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Some books are three stars until the last 20 pages or so, where they poo poo the bed and lose a star.
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Mar 10, 2016 19:17
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 05:13 |
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5 stars - This is now an all-time favorite book, and I will re-read over and over. Starts as a four star, but gets bumped up if I'm still thinking about it a week later. (Inherent Vice) 4 stars - Great book, loved it. (So You've Been Publicly Shamed) 3 stars - Not bad, not great, but I probably won't revisit it, maybe sell my copy. (Christopher Moore books) 2 stars - Didn't like it, felt like a waste of time, or shits the bed in the last act. Somehow finished it. My copy is either getting sold or sent to Goodwill. (Ashley's War) 1 star - Actively hated it, and it's my new go-to reference as "Worst Book". Similar to the 5 star review, it starts as a 2 star review, but the bad taste lingers for so long, it gets knocked down to 1. (Look Who's Back)
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Mar 10, 2016 19:35
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