books to read

[hangontoyourego]

Asking this question cause I believe I’ve seen it brought up here a few times before..

Does anybody have any self-help/self-esteem books they recommend?  I know of the more famous ones which seem to be focused on business/money (or at least seems like an end goal... maybe I’m wrong?).  Just wondering if anyone has had any luck with a specific book or author?  Thanks

here’s one i got but haven’t read it . think and grow rich! by napoleon hill https://www.njlifehacks.com/summary-think-grow-rich-by-napoleon-hill/
also the PMA effect by john jospeh which i’ve been reading & i dig it . it’s a little repetitive but maybe that’s that’s to make sure he gets his point across

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Not a quick read at all. Mesmerizing.

Never read any Krasznahorkai but his Art of Fiction interview was stand out, if you’re into interviews with artists at all.

Just finished East of Eden, and boy, did it make me cry. Reading DeLillo’s Underworld now. Definitely not the emotional stinger Steinbeck was, which I’m glad for, but overall the book seems more sympathetic and involved than other DeLillo novels I’ve read, white noise especially.

I’m in SE Asia for the next two years and am desperate for some sort of literary talk, so I finally broke down and made an account. It’s strange a skateboard forum has, IMO, one of the Web’s most interesting book discussion threads. So many good reads in here, you guys have good taste.

[Peter Zagreus]

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Not a quick read at all. Mesmerizing.

[close]

Never read any Krasznahorkai but his Art of Fiction interview was stand out, if you’re into interviews with artists at all.

Just finished East of Eden, and boy, did it make me cry. Reading DeLillo’s Underworld now. Definitely not the emotional stinger Steinbeck was, which I’m glad for, but overall the book seems more sympathetic and involved than other DeLillo novels I’ve read, white noise especially.

I’m in SE Asia for the next two years and am desperate for some sort of literary talk, so I finally broke down and made an account. It’s strange a skateboard forum has, IMO, one of the Web’s most interesting book discussion threads. So many good reads in here, you guys have good taste.

Welcome to the boards, and good looking out on that interview. I'll be checking it out here in a few!

[botefdunn]

many good reads in here, you guys have good taste.

i think this is in part due to the fact that we are not a reading demographic that is marketed to, and we are therefore more likely to read widely and be influenced by a variety of sources. Also, there is little to no expectation for skaters to be literate, so unlike communities that are self-consciously intellectual, people here feel more free to talk about what they enjoy rather than what will impress. my 2 cents.

[SFblah]

Reading both of these. Curious if any Balkan Pals have heard of Dubravka.

[baggy spandex]

The audio version of Gucci Mane's autobiography is super good. Not narrated by him but it still works somehow.

[Brguy]

I'm not sure if someone has said this before, but most books are made for reading.

[20matar]

I'm not sure if someone has said this before, but most books are made for reading.

You could also buy them by the meter for decoration. Sort them by color or make those book wheels. Or buy them for hoarding and say you have the "tsundoku" and blame it on the "new book smell". There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[behavioralguide]

i knew these two guys who sold tailored to person bookshelves,
One was a carpenter and would make the actual bookshelve,
the other would have talks with the soon to be owner and pick the books for him to put on the shelves...

[botefdunn]

This book is pretty theoretical, but Harry Partch is a fascinating character and a good writer. I highly recommend checking out his operas Bitter Music, and Barstow, played on instruments he invented with texts from his hobo travels.

[fakie nollie]

Probably already posted:

“The War of Creativity”

Will flip your brain on its side when thinking about why you don’t do things.

[I.C. Weiner]

studied the beats last year, fell in love with Kerouac. Any more American writers who write similarly to him?

[smellsdead]

coworker gave me "ghost in the wires" to borrow after we chatted about the deep web and hacking
should be an interesting read

also going to read ubu roi

[botefdunn]

studied the beats last year, fell in love with Kerouac. Any more American writers who write similarly to him?

Kerouac's pretty unique stylistically, but Richard Brautigan is in the same lineage. Check out A confederate General from Big Sur, ususally pretty easy to find in used book stores.

[WastedHippy]

This one was an interesting read for sure, dude lived in the woods alone for 27 years. Eventually got caught/arrested for stealing food and supplies from a nearby Summer camp and breaking into peoples vacation homes.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

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many good reads in here, you guys have good taste.

[close]

i think this is in part due to the fact that we are not a reading demographic that is marketed to, and we are therefore more likely to read widely and be influenced by a variety of sources. Also, there is little to no expectation for skaters to be literate, so unlike communities that are self-consciously intellectual, people here feel more free to talk about what they enjoy rather than what will impress. my 2 cents.

Could you elaborate on the first point? It seems true, but I’m curious about how you think books tend to be marketed to other demographics. Like, people who read the New Yorker tend to only read books recommended by them?

P.S. This isn’t meant to be critical or snarky, I’m geniunly interested in understand this more.

[chris gentryfied]

reading one right now called 'Because They Hate' about muslims taking over the author's Lebanon. just like Europe and the states, there was a leftist, tolerant christian side that invited the PLO in which upset the uneasy Muslim/Christian balance in the terrorists favor. Beirut went from being synonymous with Milan to synonymous with Detroit.
read a few of similar subject matter lately and also some lighter memoir type stories from Colin Broderick.

[oyolar]

Don’t listen to her propaganda.

[chris gentryfied]

did you read it? i've always sided with Palestine against Israel but i really can't think of a livable muslim country. Lebanon is arabic but at least half christian.

[burn_to_live]

The Woman in the Dunes.

[ChronicBluntSlider]

Memoirs of my Nervous Illness by Daniel Paul Schreber. The most interesting thing I’ve read in a while. Came across it while reading some stuff on paranoid schizophrenia. Apparently it’s influential in psychology and Freud and jung were both into it. It’s this German guy who was one of the first to elaborately document schizophrenia. He wrote a bunch of notes while in his psychosis then organized them as he was coming out of it. Highly original language/ideas to describe his religious beliefs, which have the kind of cool bizarreness of like Isiah or Ezekiel or any of the Old Testament prophet books or Greek mythology. Also interestingly, his father was this severe disciplinarian that wrote these super harsh manuels on raising children that were popular in the decades leading up to the rise of the nazis, and of course his own son descended into madness. I’ve been reading a PDF online that is missing some pages but am going to seek out a physical copy.

[oyolar]

did you read it? i've always sided with Palestine against Israel but i really can't think of a livable muslim country. Lebanon is arabic but at least half christian.

No, but I’ve listened to her and she’s a pretty transparently anti-Islam, Western chauvinist type with a very myopic and narrow view of history. 

[chris gentryfied]

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did you read it? i've always sided with Palestine against Israel but i really can't think of a livable muslim country. Lebanon is arabic but at least half christian.

[close]

No, but I’ve listened to her and she’s a pretty transparently anti-Islam, Western chauvinist type with a very myopic and narrow view of history.

maybe being anti-Islam is the same thing as being anti KKK? they both wear dresses, cover their face and terrorize people who are different than them. i mean, klan is an anachronism but peak klan was sort of a local, backwoods Islam, no?

[SFblah]

The Woman in the Dunes.

This is on my shelf but not read yet. I did read The Box Man which was pretty weird. So many people say Dunes is a great book so I’ll get to it soon.

[oyolar]

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did you read it? i've always sided with Palestine against Israel but i really can't think of a livable muslim country. Lebanon is arabic but at least half christian.

[close]

No, but I’ve listened to her and she’s a pretty transparently anti-Islam, Western chauvinist type with a very myopic and narrow view of history.

[close]

maybe being anti-Islam is the same thing as being anti KKK? they both wear dresses, cover their face and terrorize people who are different than them. i mean, klan is an anachronism but peak klan was sort of a local, backwoods Islam, no?

No, it’s not. Not at all. Particularly when most people use their Islamaphobia to mask just blatant racism and the fact that they don’t like Arabic / non-white people.

[Mark Renton]

Just bought Revolutionary Road and Eleven kinds of loneliness by Yates.

[Peter Zagreus]

Maybe the funniest book I've ever read. I don't know.
Most of the editions currently in print are illustrated by Ralph Steadman to boot.

[chris gentryfied]

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did you read it? i've always sided with Palestine against Israel but i really can't think of a livable muslim country. Lebanon is arabic but at least half christian.

[close]

No, but I’ve listened to her and she’s a pretty transparently anti-Islam, Western chauvinist type with a very myopic and narrow view of history.

[close]

maybe being anti-Islam is the same thing as being anti KKK? they both wear dresses, cover their face and terrorize people who are different than them. i mean, klan is an anachronism but peak klan was sort of a local, backwoods Islam, no?

[close]

No, it’s not. Not at all. Particularly when most people use their Islamaphobia to mask just blatant racism and the fact that they don’t like Arabic / non-white people.

well since she's an Arab herself, you can't really say it's racism against non-white/Arabic people. i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the reasons she has an issue with Muslims is they destroyed her idyllic life in Lebanon. i think it has more to do with cutting off clits, executing gays, throwing rocks at rape victims and you know, suicide bombs and the like. but maybe you're right and it's unwarranted. i don't want to keep going back and forth but i'd recommend reading this yourself and then we can chat about it. like men.

[childhood]

Yo you should check out this book:

[botefdunn]

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many good reads in here, you guys have good taste.

[close]

i think this is in part due to the fact that we are not a reading demographic that is marketed to, and we are therefore more likely to read widely and be influenced by a variety of sources. Also, there is little to no expectation for skaters to be literate, so unlike communities that are self-consciously intellectual, people here feel more free to talk about what they enjoy rather than what will impress. my 2 cents.

[close]

Could you elaborate on the first point? It seems true, but I’m curious about how you think books tend to be marketed to other demographics. Like, people who read the New Yorker tend to only read books recommended by them?

P.S. This isn’t meant to be critical or snarky, I’m geniunly interested in understand this more.

Doesn't sound snarky at all. Books are marketed in various ways, but what I was talking about is the expectations that exist pertaining to readers as groups. If you go into City Lights, what you see on the shelf is in large part a reflection of who they think their customers are, and what they think those customers will be interested in. If you take a literature class, you mostly encounter canonical selections meant to illustrate whatever facet of literature is being explored. Since there is no specific literary tradition associated with skateboarding, we can't tailor our recommendations to what we think will be relevant- there is no relevant. Therefore, we get a more direct sample of people's individual backgrounds (geographic, cultural, professional, etc.). The part about skaters reading more widely is pretty questionable, but again, if you don't identify with a particular reading public, then I think you're less likely to have your tastes dictated to you.