Sir Creep 7,013 Posted August 10, 2015 Set down the dime store novels and pick up a classic you may not have read; turns 100 years old! SC http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/18/franz-kafka-metamorphosis-100-thoughts-100-years Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,469 Posted August 25, 2015 Just finished reading "Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone" by Marky Ramone. Having already read Mickey Leigh's "I Slept with Joey Ramone" and "Poison Heart" by Vera Ramone King, it further reinforces of what an all-round horrible person Johnny Ramone was. I'm not sure if I want to read his autobiography just to see it from his point of view or perhaps if I can find it cheaply enough or even 2nd hand then I may buy it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,017 Posted August 26, 2015 Working my way through Laurence Scott's The Four-Dimensional Human, a meditation on ways of "being" in the digital world, basically looking at how our online lives intersect with the philosophical notions of what it means to be human. Interesting, but surprisingly sidestepping the Deathlist in the first 100 pages. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magere Hein 1,397 Posted November 22, 2015 Finally I can strike a novel from my to read list:Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. A disturbing but pretty good read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charon 4,938 Posted November 22, 2015 Heard about Peter Fruechen decades ago, never found his books though. Until now. But I've never tried an eBook .... https://archive.org/details/vagrantvikingmyl006077mbp Arctic explorer who famously escaped from an icy tomb with a chisel fashioned from his own shite Interesting life, hope I can stick it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,017 Posted November 22, 2015 Will be buying The Internet is not the Answer this afternoon; actually from a bookshop! It'll probably tell me The Deathlist is a bad idea http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782393439?keywords=the%20internet%20is%20not%20the%20answer&qid=1448189203&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lard Bazaar 3,687 Posted November 22, 2015 Finally I can strike a novel from my to read list: Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. A disturbing but pretty good read. I read this many moons ago when I was a young'un and it's always been one I would like to read again, thanks for reminding me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 14,842 Posted November 22, 2015 I am reading "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms" by George R.R. Martin, which is quite a fun read if you enjoy the Game Of Thrones world. Next up are Bill Bryson's sequel to "Notes From A Small Island", the title of which escapes me for now; and Stephen King's latest collection of stories "The Bazaar Of Bad Dreams". All of which I had the foresight to reserve at the library because I am a tight-fisted bitch it is a fine service which we should all support. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomCanadian 105 Posted November 22, 2015 Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson. A very humourous take on living with mental illness. It has really helped me understand my daugter and what she is going through. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tempus Fugit 212 Posted November 22, 2015 The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/07/bone-clocks-review-david-mitchell-lot-of-fun-booker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,469 Posted November 23, 2015 "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deadsox 891 Posted December 11, 2015 I just finished "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion" by Jonathan Haidt. It was excellent and goes a long way toward explaining how people (including myself) think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,234 Posted December 21, 2015 So I finished "On China" by Henry Kissinger. Certainly an interesting read, Kissinger is fairly ideology-free so while his part in history occasionally looks like that of a remorseless bastard, he provides relatively unbiased insights. Mao Zedong was a real trickster, it seems to be. And I think he managed to charm Kissinger in a way it isn't obvious to him. I also read books by Egon Bahr and Helmut Schmidt this year, so let's see if my reading is the spell of death. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Zorders 1,269 Posted December 21, 2015 The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/07/bone-clocks-review-david-mitchell-lot-of-fun-booker I thought you were hardcore Tempus! Reading that dork? jesus man! I think I'm going to try and get hold of a book about David Lloyd George, anyone know read/know any good ones? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,017 Posted December 22, 2015 So I finished "On China" by Henry Kissinger. Certainly an interesting read, Kissinger is fairly ideology-free so while his part in history occasionally looks like that of a remorseless bastard, he provides relatively unbiased insights. Mao Zedong was a real trickster, it seems to be. And I think he managed to charm Kissinger in a way it isn't obvious to him. I also read books by Egon Bahr and Helmut Schmidt this year, so let's see if my reading is the spell of death. Stay away from anything written by a Deathlister if it is, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rockhopper penguin 2,264 Posted January 23, 2016 To maintain cultural standards I was thinking about a Book Club thread but came across this one. My list of death related books (not necessarily the best but ones which give a good range of perspectives) has anyone else read them? Will the Circle be Unbroken? Studs Terkel The Tibetan Book of the Dead The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus Smoke Gets in Your Eyes:And Other Lessons from the Crematory - Caitlin Doughty Mortality - Christopher Hitchens Mort - Terry Pratchett Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandomCanadian 105 Posted January 23, 2016 Suffering through Fifty Shades of Grey. I promised my friend's wife that I would give it a chance. I had very low expectations. It isn't terrible, but E.L. James could have done with a stronger editor and deeper research beyond Twilight fan fiction. I thought I had read the original fan fiction but I was mistaken. Oh well, nearly finished this one with two more to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,132 Posted January 24, 2016 I recently read 'Earth, an alien enterprise'. by Timothy Good Its not like I really enjoy reading books but I do on the subject of Ufology/Aliens and suchlike. Im not giving a shit if people believe or not, its a subject that has fascinated me from childhood and its never gone away. Never will either. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Creep 7,013 Posted January 24, 2016 I recently read 'Earth, an alien enterprise'. by Timothy Good Its not like I really enjoy reading books but I do on the subject of Ufology/Aliens and suchlike. Im not giving a shit if people believe or not, its a subject that has fascinated me from childhood and its never gone away. Never will either. LFN you just earned yourself a 'like' for suchlike. Hey --- my auto text RECOGNIZED that word!?! Well, what's done is done. SC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,469 Posted January 25, 2016 Currently reading Elvis Costello's "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink" Even if you know some of the anecdotes behind the events, it's still good to hear it from the horse's mouth. It's not that good in terms of researching potential dead pool fodder, as you'll be going through the list of names he's worked with only to find that they died recently. And the ones that are alive, won't be going anywhere soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,469 Posted February 4, 2016 BBC Store has compiled a list of the 20 books or book series that people have most lied about reading. How many of them have you actually read? Be honest... (I nicked that from the BBC site) I'll mark off the ones I've read. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (Yes) 1984 - George Orwell (Yes) The Lord of the Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien (Yes) War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (started, but couldn't be bothered to finish it) Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (No) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (Some of them, not all) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Yes) David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (No) Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (No) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (started, but couldn't be bothered to finish it) Bleak House - Charles Dickens (No) Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Yes) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (Yes - it wasn't what I hoped it would be) The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank (Yes) Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (Yes) Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James (No) And Then There were None - Agatha Christie (No) The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (Yes) Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (Yes) The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (Yes) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,469 Posted February 4, 2016 Currently reading "Please Kill Me - The Uncensored Oral History of Punk" by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain I'm just 50 pages in, and it's refreshing to read. All you ever hear in most biographies is fellow musicians buttering each other up. This doesn't do that. I'm not going to spoil it for those that haven't read it, but want to. I'll just say that I would most certainly recommend it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 17,762 Posted February 4, 2016 BBC Store has compiled a list of the 20 books or book series that people have most lied about reading. How many of them have you actually read? Be honest... (I nicked that from the BBC site) I'll mark off the ones I've read. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (Yes) 1984 - George Orwell (Yes) The Lord of the Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien (Yes) War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (started, but couldn't be bothered to finish it) Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (No) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (Some of them, not all) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Yes) David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (No) Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (No) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (started, but couldn't be bothered to finish it) Bleak House - Charles Dickens (No) Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Yes) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (Yes - it wasn't what I hoped it would be) The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank (Yes) Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (Yes) Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James (No) And Then There were None - Agatha Christie (No) The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (Yes) Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (Yes) The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (Yes) I've read 14/20. Though I actively enjoyed far fewer. Not read Fifty Shades, Anne Frank, David Copperfield, Holmes (read a bunch of the short stories though, but not the collection), Lord of the Rings (started it once...) and War and bloody Peace. Anna Karenina was a month I'll never get back. By the end, I was rooting for the damn train. I liked the guy who kept randomly showing up every 40 pages or so to talk about socialism, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toast 14,842 Posted February 4, 2016 These are the ones I've read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 1984 - George Orwell The Lord of the Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (don't know why this is so popular) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (boring) Bleak House - Charles Dickens (for school) Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (never bothered to read the last one) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank And Then There were None - Agatha Christie (read so long ago it had the original title!) The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (rubbish) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bibliogryphon 8,659 Posted February 4, 2016 Oh dear I think I've only read about 4. Half a dozen if you count one I started and didn't finish. I read the first Harry Potter but not the rest. However The Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice I have read several times so I can I count them for each time I have read them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
