books to read

[Alan]

Sounds like a great racist book.

[chris gentryfied]

Sounds like a great racist book.

Thomas Sowell is from the hood stupid, what type of facts are those?..........

[oyolar]

You really don't get it, do you?

[switchnolliecuffedjeans]

post books you are reading, or books other people should read
im in the middle of reading three books right now




subcommander marcos


im half way through the book and still dont know what to make of the guy. he was the spokesperson for the zapatista army during the mexican rebel movement. reading about his background life alone has been so interesting. really interesting portrayal of this guy, and stoked for it to be one of the first books i can actually read about him, seeing as i cant read spanish.


fahrenheit 451


i had to read this book two years ago for school but didnt even open it. im stoked to be reading it now. it basically portrays how fucked up life will be in the future if we dont appreciate the things that make us human. enjoying little things, talking with other people, and most importantly, reading books. the main character is a fireman, only in the future, his job isnt to put out fires, its to start them by burning books.


blow back


the word "blowback" refers to the bullshit we bring upon ourselves by the government's secret policies. its a super in- depth look at how and why shit comes back to us, due to our superpower mindset (america) and how we are further fucking up relations and making enemies all around. i feel like im on some nickdagger type shit, i apologize.

Dharma punxs is good if your into Buddhism type stuff heard that AA book is 🔥 as well

[Carrolls Chesthairs]

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.

This was a good read.
Blew through it in a week.

[franquietits]

Just finished this one recently:


Saw someone reading it on a bus once, so I searched it out for fun. The author details his story as an ego/power-driven gangbanger, and his eventual spiritual/political transformation into a black nationalist.

It read a bit dense at times, which isn't always enjoyable for me, but it was still very fascinating; pretty disturbing at times, too. It can almost serve as a "101" guide to everything in gang culture: from structure to protocols, and the overall mission statement. But it also brings the ultimate purpose of it into question: the criminal ideology as it's powerful appeal to recruits, but its failure and futility to achieve anything "real", as in liberation or freedom to peoples communities. It's just destruction for destruction's sake, often times in his vantage point: black on black. Reading up on him since then, it appears that he might be in jail again. Not totally sure what became of his life, but his one contribution to the world in this book will be remembered.

This interview from the early 90's of him in jail was good, although at the time it focused more on the the criminal/shock aspect of his life, and less of his newfound philosophies that denounced gangbanging

[Peter Zagreus]

Trying, as always, to get into sci-fi. Heard a Kim Stanley Robinson interview on the Chapo Trap House podcast and really liked his vibe. I'm about a quarter of the way into this one and am digging it. Good, character-driven bedtime reading.



Steady Hume'n.



These guys too.



Also her.



Finally - this tome. I think it's all the stuff he ever published. Shamefully, I hadn't read much Poe before I dipped into this, but I've been reading a piece each day since I picked it up. I love his imagination, and it's a joy to follow along as he works out his bizarre, early 19th century ideas. I'd have liked some introductory/scholarly commentary-type material, but can understand why the publisher might have skipped that.

[BuckyFellini]

Just finished this one recently:


Saw someone reading it on a bus once, so I searched it out for fun. The author details his story as an ego/power-driven gangbanger, and his eventual spiritual/political transformation into a black nationalist.

It read a bit dense at times, which isn't always enjoyable for me, but it was still very fascinating; pretty disturbing at times, too. It can almost serve as a "101" guide to everything in gang culture: from structure to protocols, and the overall mission statement. But it also brings the ultimate purpose of it into question: the criminal ideology as it's powerful appeal to recruits, but its failure and futility to achieve anything "real", as in liberation or freedom to peoples communities. It's just destruction for destruction's sake, often times in his vantage point: black on black. Reading up on him since then, it appears that he might be in jail again. Not totally sure what became of his life, but his one contribution to the world in this book will be remembered.

I've read that book. It's fucking gnarly for sure. There is so much crazy shit in there, almost on every page. It was like ten years ago when I read but doesn't he join the Crips and do his first drive-by when he's like 11 years old? I also remember a story where he's in a grocery store with his mom when he's around that age and sees a rival gang member so he "has" to try and kill him because it's a gang rule. 11 or 12 years old and trying to shoot someone in a grocery store with your mom. I remember the last part being a bit more of a slog to get through but the first half or two-thirds of that book is nuts.

[brycickle]

That book is good. If you're in to that gang/true crime stuff, Ghettocide is really good. So is Homicide: A year on the killing streets.

[Kumiko]

I'm slowly working through all of Dostoevsky's fiction. I'm hoping to finish by the end of the year, but we'll see how that goes. So far I've finished Demons, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot, and Notes From the Underground. All are great, but Demons and Brothers K have been my favorites so far. Going to start Humiliated and Insulted soon. Right now I'm reading Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut and Zengakuren: Japan's Revolutionary Students by multiple authors. Breakfast of Champions is a fun book. It's a nice way to kill time on the bus or something. Probably has the most of Vonnegut's drawings than any of his other works which is rad. Zengakuren is pretty boring. All the authors are members of the group, but it's more of an historical account of the group rather than essays on what they're aiming at. Maybe if you're into history it'll be good, but I wrongly thought it'd be more philosophical and just can't get into it.

This is my goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/94152773-damian

[chris gentryfied]

Monster was gnarly! i dug the prison sex scenes and tried to incorporate a few of the moves. thought the guy was so smart in spite of his surroundings [read it in the 90s] but as a grown up, i judge him more harshly. just not to his face.
using 'overstand' instead of understand, dumb shit like that. he is mad at his younger brother 'Lil Monster' i guess he's a rape artist and a snitch [allegedly]. Monster did go back to prison, not sure if he's free or not these days.
that book about the Maine Hermit was interesting but i kept waiting for a big breakthrough that never came. dude was shy to a fault and just took off into the night. no major trauma, just a weird inertia. that and a pesky, nosy guy who wants a book out of it.
read The Strange Death of Europe not too long ago. jeesh, what a bleak picture it painted. we've got this amazing technology and can look up all of the world's knowledge on a phone but looks liek Europe is headed to a new dark ages via Islamification.
has anyone else read it or is in Europe and can confirm/deny?

[oyolar]

We get it dude - you think white people are the best. Please stop posting.

[chris gentryfied]

We get it dude - you think white people are the best. Please stop posting.

what?
nothing wrong with white people but i didn't put them ahead of anyone. i'm against America invading the middle east as well as the middle east invading Europe. the world is rad when it's not homogenized and there's a reason to travel. mono-culture sucks be that Walmart and McDonalds-izing the world or spreading Islam everywhere at knife point.
if you read a same book as me then we can discuss. otherwise, judging a book by it's cover is, what's that word? prejudice. so don't put words in my mouth, chump.

[franquietits]

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Just finished this one recently:


Saw someone reading it on a bus once, so I searched it out for fun. The author details his story as an ego/power-driven gangbanger, and his eventual spiritual/political transformation into a black nationalist.

It read a bit dense at times, which isn't always enjoyable for me, but it was still very fascinating; pretty disturbing at times, too. It can almost serve as a "101" guide to everything in gang culture: from structure to protocols, and the overall mission statement. But it also brings the ultimate purpose of it into question: the criminal ideology as it's powerful appeal to recruits, but its failure and futility to achieve anything "real", as in liberation or freedom to peoples communities. It's just destruction for destruction's sake, often times in his vantage point: black on black. Reading up on him since then, it appears that he might be in jail again. Not totally sure what became of his life, but his one contribution to the world in this book will be remembered.

[close]

I've read that book. It's fucking gnarly for sure. There is so much crazy shit in there, almost on every page. It was like ten years ago when I read but doesn't he join the Crips and do his first drive-by when he's like 11 years old? I also remember a story where he's in a grocery store with his mom when he's around that age and sees a rival gang member so he "has" to try and kill him because it's a gang rule. 11 or 12 years old and trying to shoot someone in a grocery store with your mom. I remember the last part being a bit more of a slog to get through but the first half or two-thirds of that book is nuts.

Yeah, he was 11 & that was in the late 70's (before lucrative drugs were a part of the gang equation). He was definitely all about it. The most shocking and depraved story that sticks out in everyone's mind was maybe only two sentences long: the one about kidnapping a rival 'banger, cutting both arms off the elbow, throwing one into the street and taking one to a party for mission completed evidence.
It was crazy to read how he made a 180 stance on that part of life.

[Alan]

We get it dude - you think white people are the best. Please stop posting.

It also doesn't sound like he read the book either. But we already knew that shart tits is a fucking idiot who happens to be racists too.

[chris gentryfied]

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We get it dude - you think white people are the best. Please stop posting.

[close]

It also doesn't sound like he read the book either. But we already knew that shart tits is a fucking idiot who happens to be racists too.

i did read it, you wanna discuss? i read Soul on Ice too. it's about Eldridge Cleaver's 'revolutionary' sex crimes against white women. he was raping for 'black power' in the 60s. i reads it all and it didn't endear me to the 'rape ourselves out of oppression' crowd. i read Unabomber manifesto and dug that. didn't send any suspect devices. usedta read Chomsky and Hakim Bey and all that.
discuss an idea you disagree w/ but jsut calling someone 'racists' delegitimizes any point you could've made.
right now i'm in my anti-muslim/pro western phase. i've read pro Palestinean books but you gotta balance things or you're mentally malnourished.

[oyolar]

Dude, just go back to 4chan where you belong.

[chris gentryfied]

that was original. all those pretentious books you read and that's your diss?
i don't go on 4chan. i challenge you to read any of the books i posted and deconstruct it.
if you have an issue with anything, let's debate. what am i supposed to say back, call you a libtard? that's the level you're coming at me with.
i posted some books i've read recently, if you haven't read them, you're basing your disdain off of gossip. if you have read them, tell me what you didn't like about them.
i don't diss your frou frou sounding books out of hand because i haven't read them. that'd be ignorant.

[oyolar]

I don’t read them because I tend to not give bigots my money or anything more than the bare modicum of my time.  Again - I’m aware of these authors, their ideas, and their literary history. They’re prolific beyond the books you’ve posted. And what they’ve done beyond their written work tells me that they’re bigots with little understanding of anything that contradicts the arguments they’ve already decided are correct and as such, not worth my time.

Also, your comment actually does dismiss my books out of hand soooooo...good job?

EDIT: We all see a “lol triggered the libs!” style poster when we see one so just fucking stop.

[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.

[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.

[close]

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.

I appreciate the explanation, thanks a lot.

[MichaelJacksonsGhost]

Currently reading The Glass Bead Game. Started off strong, but by the end of the actual story it had really tapered off. I’m just getting into the ‘posthumous writings,’ so we’ll see how the rest of the book is.

Last week I read The Land of Green Ghosts; because I’m in Myanmar I thought it pertinent to learn about the development of their sociopolitical development. It was interesting to see a student leader escape into the jungle to live with rebels and the lifestyle it entailed, but all-in-all I thought the book was a drag. Memoirs just don’t seem to really be my thing.

[chris gentryfied]

I don’t read them because I tend to not give bigots my money or anything more than the bare modicum of my time.  Again - I’m aware of these authors, their ideas, and their literary history. They’re prolific beyond the books you’ve posted. And what they’ve done beyond their written work tells me that they’re bigots with little understanding of anything that contradicts the arguments they’ve already decided are correct and as such, not worth my time.

Also, your comment actually does dismiss my books out of hand soooooo...good job?

EDIT: We all see a “lol triggered the libs!” style poster when we see one so just fucking stop.

wait, so you 'heard' these people were bad guys/gals? you're running off gossip, my dude.
i don't give all these authors my money, it's called a library. maybe [maybe] you could make a case for Brigitte Gabriel is sort of rabid anti Palestinean but could you blame a black person who really didn't like the KKK? i mean, they did bomb her home when she was a little girl and destroy her quality of life. but i guess your [not at all biased] news sources are right and she's bad.
but Douglas Murray? he's a quiet British gay guy. he's polite to the nth degree. his book painted a strong picture but in interviews he almost seems too apologetic.
i was being sarcastic with the 'libtards' comment. reducing people to one thing you think you know about them. i don't talk like that. i read books, i share them on this thread. to think you know about someone based off gossip is anti intellectual. rent a book, expand yo mind!
i know you're way too smart for Joe Rogan but he interviewed Douglas Murray about a yr ago, give that a listen and tell me if you still think he's a bigot.

[Alan]

It's impossible to learn anything about anyone unless you've read their book or watched hours of their talks. It's just impossible. It's also impossible for minorities to support shitty ideologies. Finally, civility trumps harmful ideas. Got it, thanks.

[AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice]

read The Strange Death of Europe not too long ago. jeesh, what a bleak picture it painted. we've got this amazing technology and can look up all of the world's knowledge on a phone but looks liek Europe is headed to a new dark ages via Islamification.
has anyone else read it or is in Europe and can confirm/deny?

I've been living in Germany (almost) all my life and, of course, all of this is bullshit. All of the books you posted are obviously not neutral. I can see how they impress someone who's reading about the world from the perspective of his isolated cave, but the real world just happens to be different (which is not to say that problems don't exist).

For some reason, I haven't been reading a lot in the past few months, but I'm just in the middle of Sapiens by Yuval Noah Hariri, the book everybody else seems to be reading currently. Incidentally, I just finished the chapter about the idea of cultural/racial purity and how this has led to injustices and racial hierarchies throughout the ages.

Our discussion ends right there. You asked for a "European" opinion, you got it. I have no intention of being caught up in a stupid debate. You're welcome.

[chris gentryfied]

Hillbilly Elegy was dece. i'm a fan of Appalachia and Kentucky in particular. book is back and forth from Kentucky/Ohio where a lot of hillbillies moved for work. then when outsourcing took the plants overseas, opiate addiction moved in.
the author went to college and then Ivy league school after that. pretty neat, broke the cycle and all that.
didn't really provide a roadmap for others but good for him.
one interesting stat 'the American dream is more alive in France and some European countries than in America'.
he also said it's not to blame Obama or Bush or faceless corporation or capitalism since all the destructive white trash shit, we do to ourselves.

[FROTHY]

I'm about to finish Butcher's Crossing by John Williams. The book is ok, very short, but I ordered it online without knowing that some middle-schooler wrote notes throughout the whole thing. Every page has "he's a jerk" or "IRONY" scribbled on it, and this kid has no clue what irony means. I think I'm gaining more insight into the mind of this stranger than the actual characters in the book... Terribly distracting. 

[oyolar]

Finished Graham Greene’s The Quiet American.  A lot has been said about its criticism of American attitudes towards Vietnam but I’m surprised to see so little written about its portrayal of Brits.  It was not super kind to them either.  The main character (who is British) isn’t a great dude.

Reading Belly Up by Rita Bullwinkel now, which is her debut short story collection.  It’s fine. Weird, which I like, but I’m just not a short story person for most people so it’s not doing too much for me.

[doublesteveburger]

Just finished up, “Tranny” by Laura Jane Grace. If you’re into Against Me!, it’s a really fun/heartbreaking read. Lyrics are sprinkled throughout the book for the lyric nerds out there. Loved it.

[Joclo]

Just finished Shoe Dog - memoir by Phil Knight (creator of Nike). Good read

[chris gentryfied]

Girls to the Front by Sara Marcus is a memoir/researched timeline of the riot grrrl movement in Olympia and also DC. i really dug on Heavens to Betsy [and later Sleater-Kinney] and Bratmobile/the Frumpies and to a lesser degree, Bikini Kill so neat behind the scenes.
not gonna go into a diatribe about the left but Kathleen Hanna was accused [by 'the scene'] of having 'microphone privilege' and 'pretty privilege' and in another chapter, 4 tough riot grrls, some 'of color' and otthers 'i yell so that means i'm working class, these polite grrls are middle class' storm riot grrls merch headquarters and tear down posters. one read 'fuck gentrification' and it's like 'fuck that, blacks don't need a reminder' as she burned it w/ a cig.
a lot of riot grrrls eating their own, not a ton about Carrie Brownstein or Corin Tucker but a decent read nonetheless.
a one legg-ed lesbian who i usedta know colloquially as 'pirate dyke' was apparently an Olympia riot grrrl gatekeeper. no wonder she hobbled w/ such swagger!
you had to ask her permission to start new chapters.
riot grrrl is silly in retrospect but i respect zines, DIY and anyone who can play an instrument, not to mention there were great songs [even if they weren't meant for me].