Author Topic: books to read  (Read 431356 times)

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Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3570 on: December 19, 2021, 09:48:43 AM »
As for me, if I can muster up the fucking willpower to put down this phone, I need to finish ‘The Bookchin Reader’, snd start on Graeber and Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”, which I’m looking forward to.

Despite being a fucking brick of a book.

I feel as if I should read the Graeber (RIP) and Wengrow, but I watched a book talk about it on YouTube, and idk, maybe that's enough. I'd be curious to hear what you think about it.

...then cranked out The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t East Of Eden, but it was still pretty damn good. I’m just a sucker for mid 1900s American Lit, I think. Anyone who’s read it, what’d you think of the ending? I’m sure it was symbolic, but damn if it wasn’t weird. Still would recommend any and all of Steinbeck.

I forget my reading of Grapes, but just wanted to affirm your affirmation of Steinbeck. I'm working on a PhD in English, and I feel like Steinbeck doesn't get much play in the academy these days. I love his stuff, though - especially Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row.

I'm on fall break now, and this is the stuff I'm about to start reading:

This one's by a semi-independent scholar that I've been following for a while. It's a history of the idea of species extinction, which is a notion developed more recently than you might think.



I mostly study British and German stuff at school, so whenever I get a break I try to be a good American and catch up on yankee lit. Usually, this involves reading Emerson, who never gets old to me. This time around, I'm also planning to read Emerson's lil homie Hawthorne (I love a steezy Dover thrift edition, and cheap paperbacks in general).

GauchoAmigo

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3571 on: December 19, 2021, 12:27:55 PM »
Just finished "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. A depressing read but good - I liked how straight forward and blunt it was.


MichaelJacksonsGhost

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3572 on: December 19, 2021, 01:10:28 PM »
Expand Quote
As for me, if I can muster up the fucking willpower to put down this phone, I need to finish ‘The Bookchin Reader’, snd start on Graeber and Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”, which I’m looking forward to.

Despite being a fucking brick of a book.
[close]

I feel as if I should read the Graeber (RIP) and Wengrow, but I watched a book talk about it on YouTube, and idk, maybe that's enough. I'd be curious to hear what you think about it.

Expand Quote
...then cranked out The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t East Of Eden, but it was still pretty damn good. I’m just a sucker for mid 1900s American Lit, I think. Anyone who’s read it, what’d you think of the ending? I’m sure it was symbolic, but damn if it wasn’t weird. Still would recommend any and all of Steinbeck.
[close]

I forget my reading of Grapes, but just wanted to affirm your affirmation of Steinbeck. I'm working on a PhD in English, and I feel like Steinbeck doesn't get much play in the academy these days. I love his stuff, though - especially Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row.

I'm on fall break now, and this is the stuff I'm about to start reading:

This one's by a semi-independent scholar that I've been following for a while. It's a history of the idea of species extinction, which is a notion developed more recently than you might think.



I mostly study British and German stuff at school, so whenever I get a break I try to be a good American and catch up on yankee lit. Usually, this involves reading Emerson, who never gets old to me. This time around, I'm also planning to read Emerson's lil homie Hawthorne (I love a steezy Dover thrift edition, and cheap paperbacks in general).

How far along your PhD track are you? Have you got a thesis idea pinned down yet? I’m applying to a couple English grad programs for next fall and thinking seriously about going the long haul for a possible phd, though right now I don’t know what in the hell angle I’d take for masters work.

Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3573 on: December 19, 2021, 07:45:21 PM »
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
As for me, if I can muster up the fucking willpower to put down this phone, I need to finish ‘The Bookchin Reader’, snd start on Graeber and Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”, which I’m looking forward to.

Despite being a fucking brick of a book.
[close]

I feel as if I should read the Graeber (RIP) and Wengrow, but I watched a book talk about it on YouTube, and idk, maybe that's enough. I'd be curious to hear what you think about it.

Expand Quote
...then cranked out The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t East Of Eden, but it was still pretty damn good. I’m just a sucker for mid 1900s American Lit, I think. Anyone who’s read it, what’d you think of the ending? I’m sure it was symbolic, but damn if it wasn’t weird. Still would recommend any and all of Steinbeck.
[close]

I forget my reading of Grapes, but just wanted to affirm your affirmation of Steinbeck. I'm working on a PhD in English, and I feel like Steinbeck doesn't get much play in the academy these days. I love his stuff, though - especially Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row.

I'm on fall break now, and this is the stuff I'm about to start reading:

This one's by a semi-independent scholar that I've been following for a while. It's a history of the idea of species extinction, which is a notion developed more recently than you might think.



I mostly study British and German stuff at school, so whenever I get a break I try to be a good American and catch up on yankee lit. Usually, this involves reading Emerson, who never gets old to me. This time around, I'm also planning to read Emerson's lil homie Hawthorne (I love a steezy Dover thrift edition, and cheap paperbacks in general).
[close]

How far along your PhD track are you? Have you got a thesis idea pinned down yet? I’m applying to a couple English grad programs for next fall and thinking seriously about going the long haul for a possible phd, though right now I don’t know what in the hell angle I’d take for masters work.

I'm 2.5 years in on a 6 year track, which means that I'm finishing up coursework next semester, and preparing for my field exams, which will take place a little less than a year from now. I'm not quite sure what I want to write my dissertation over just yet, but I'm building my exam reading lists around the English novel c. the 18th-19th centuries. My academic background is a bit scattered (did an MA in philosophy, mostly read German stuff, post-Kant), so I'm just trying to get a lot of the canonical English novels under my belt, so I can teach surveys on the history of the novel, etc.

Good on you for getting those applications out there. I hope you get in somewhere that works for you.
You'll have plenty of time to work our your ideas, especially if you're able to snag some funds. A good stipend makes all the difference!

Are you thinking you'd like to teach?

childhood

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3574 on: December 20, 2021, 07:56:28 AM »
Got my mom a copy of Say Nothing for Xmas, @smellsdead  recommended it in this thread awhile back, and was one of my favorite books of the many I read over lockdown

Doodily

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3575 on: December 20, 2021, 08:54:48 AM »
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Shall we start a book recommendation list?
There are just the cream of the crop, books that blew my mind in one way or another.

Feminism
Bell Hooks: The Will To Change~ Written especially for dudes, and how feminism is also beneficial for them
[close]

I pulled this from the Leftist thread, but i just started this book at work and I'm gonna have to stop until i get home because it was extremely emotional for me to listen to and examine things going on inside myself and my relationship with my father. I'm only in the first chapter and it's incredibly powerful

Thanks for this recommendation. I started reading "The Will To Change" when I saw your post. I am now seeing my relationship with my kids and wife in a completely different light. I also recommended it to a friend who was also having issues with his family. Hope it helps him as much as it has helped me. It's a lot easier to fix problems when you understand how and why they exist and put a name to them.

ungzilla

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3576 on: December 20, 2021, 08:58:49 AM »
i'm reading some new neil stephenson book (seveneves) and i kinda hate it. it ain't snowcrash. who's got some good hard sci fi to recommend to this nerd?

Hinna

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3577 on: December 20, 2021, 09:21:27 AM »
the complete tales and poems of edgar allan poe

lampshade

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3578 on: December 20, 2021, 12:11:03 PM »
Currently reading, "The Bandini Quartet."  I'ts Fante's four Bandini books put in to one 700 page monstor.  Very good. 

MichaelJacksonsGhost

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3579 on: December 20, 2021, 05:45:57 PM »
Currently reading, "The Bandini Quartet."  I'ts Fante's four Bandini books put in to one 700 page monstor.  Very good.

I read Ask the Dust a while back, just cause Bukowski talks about Fante all the time. It had one of the most humanizing interactions with a prostitute I’ve ever read. Fante lost all his limbs due to diabetes and had to dictate the last handful of his novel for his wife to transcribe. A real writer, much respect.

About to jump into Generosity by Richard Powers. I read the Overstory last year and was just totally enthralled, the guy has serious chops. Overstory was about an eclectic group of environmental terrorists and the fall out from their work in the nineties. Presented a pretty wild concept of post-humanistic environmentalism, where humans should pretty much all seppuku so as not to make the world totally inhospitable to the trees and cockroaches etc. pretty jarring and hyperbolic, but thought provoking, no doubt. Contemporary fiction should really be focused on conservation above all else imo. would seriously recommend the Overstory to pretty much everyone.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2021, 05:57:59 PM by MichaelJacksonsGhost »

MichaelJacksonsGhost

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3580 on: December 20, 2021, 05:56:37 PM »
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As for me, if I can muster up the fucking willpower to put down this phone, I need to finish ‘The Bookchin Reader’, snd start on Graeber and Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”, which I’m looking forward to.

Despite being a fucking brick of a book.
[close]

I feel as if I should read the Graeber (RIP) and Wengrow, but I watched a book talk about it on YouTube, and idk, maybe that's enough. I'd be curious to hear what you think about it.

Expand Quote
...then cranked out The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t East Of Eden, but it was still pretty damn good. I’m just a sucker for mid 1900s American Lit, I think. Anyone who’s read it, what’d you think of the ending? I’m sure it was symbolic, but damn if it wasn’t weird. Still would recommend any and all of Steinbeck.
[close]

I forget my reading of Grapes, but just wanted to affirm your affirmation of Steinbeck. I'm working on a PhD in English, and I feel like Steinbeck doesn't get much play in the academy these days. I love his stuff, though - especially Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row.

I'm on fall break now, and this is the stuff I'm about to start reading:

This one's by a semi-independent scholar that I've been following for a while. It's a history of the idea of species extinction, which is a notion developed more recently than you might think.



I mostly study British and German stuff at school, so whenever I get a break I try to be a good American and catch up on yankee lit. Usually, this involves reading Emerson, who never gets old to me. This time around, I'm also planning to read Emerson's lil homie Hawthorne (I love a steezy Dover thrift edition, and cheap paperbacks in general).
[close]

How far along your PhD track are you? Have you got a thesis idea pinned down yet? I’m applying to a couple English grad programs for next fall and thinking seriously about going the long haul for a possible phd, though right now I don’t know what in the hell angle I’d take for masters work.
[close]

I'm 2.5 years in on a 6 year track, which means that I'm finishing up coursework next semester, and preparing for my field exams, which will take place a little less than a year from now. I'm not quite sure what I want to write my dissertation over just yet, but I'm building my exam reading lists around the English novel c. the 18th-19th centuries. My academic background is a bit scattered (did an MA in philosophy, mostly read German stuff, post-Kant), so I'm just trying to get a lot of the canonical English novels under my belt, so I can teach surveys on the history of the novel, etc.

Good on you for getting those applications out there. I hope you get in somewhere that works for you.
You'll have plenty of time to work our your ideas, especially if you're able to snag some funds. A good stipend makes all the difference!

Are you thinking you'd like to teach?

Wow an MA in philosophy is way cool. I’ve thought a lot about going the philosophy route (metaphysics and mind, specifically), but not sure I’ve got the background for it. What did you study in your undergrad, if you don’t mind me asking?

But yeah, some sort of secondary or post-secondary position is where I’m hoping to land in the end. Ideally either creative writing or literature, but that’s still probably a decade away, so who knows?


AnotherHardDayAtTheOffice

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3581 on: December 22, 2021, 09:30:48 AM »
Just finished some good ol' Sherlock Holmes. Always a pleasure to read. Winter's the perfect time for some Sherlock. Will read more of him over the holidays.



My girlfriend just handed me a German translation of Tom Robbins' Still Life with Woodpecker. Anyone read it? My first impression is quirky, funny, weird (not in a bad way).



Anyone read the latest Krasznahorkai (Herscht 07769)? Or read some of his works in general? Apparently, the new book only consists of a single sentence over 200+ pages, but is still considered his "most accessible" work...

Deputy Wendell

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3582 on: December 22, 2021, 09:54:35 AM »
at the small private university where i do the bulk of my teaching these days, i often teach sections of "World Masterpieces 2: Encountering Modernity." every academic year, we change up the last novel that we tussle with in the class, to try to keep it pretty contemporary, and they ask for instructors' input for choosing the novel. right now, we have a list of potential ideas to choose from, and over the holiday/break i am reading these two, to see if either will be something i'd like to suggest





i'm about half way through Tokyo Ueno Station, and i'm really enjoying it, but i'm not sure about trying to teach it...we'll see. it does really seem to speak to my own interests/work around "memory" and "history," and how the two can correspond, compete, and conflict...and how they do so in different landscapes, and in creating a "sense of place"...

Plan9Customs

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3583 on: December 22, 2021, 06:11:02 PM »

Anything by Steinbeck.
Anything by Tom Robbins, although if you read just one make it Still Life With Woodpecker.

Doodily

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3584 on: December 23, 2021, 08:43:29 AM »
i'm reading some new neil stephenson book (seveneves) and i kinda hate it. it ain't snowcrash. who's got some good hard sci fi to recommend to this nerd?

It's hard to find good cyberpunk today. If you aren't familiar with Rudy Rucker, check out "Software".  About the only cyberpunk-ish novels I can find anymore is Shadowrun fiction (from the tabletop rpg).

Frank Sobotka

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3585 on: December 24, 2021, 05:02:42 AM »
I recently finished reading The Stand by Stephen King. I'll recommend it to anyone, absolute masterpiece.

Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3586 on: January 02, 2022, 11:19:30 AM »
Expand Quote
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As for me, if I can muster up the fucking willpower to put down this phone, I need to finish ‘The Bookchin Reader’, snd start on Graeber and Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”, which I’m looking forward to.

Despite being a fucking brick of a book.
[close]

I feel as if I should read the Graeber (RIP) and Wengrow, but I watched a book talk about it on YouTube, and idk, maybe that's enough. I'd be curious to hear what you think about it.

Expand Quote
...then cranked out The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn’t East Of Eden, but it was still pretty damn good. I’m just a sucker for mid 1900s American Lit, I think. Anyone who’s read it, what’d you think of the ending? I’m sure it was symbolic, but damn if it wasn’t weird. Still would recommend any and all of Steinbeck.
[close]

I forget my reading of Grapes, but just wanted to affirm your affirmation of Steinbeck. I'm working on a PhD in English, and I feel like Steinbeck doesn't get much play in the academy these days. I love his stuff, though - especially Tortilla Flats and Cannery Row.

I'm on fall break now, and this is the stuff I'm about to start reading:

This one's by a semi-independent scholar that I've been following for a while. It's a history of the idea of species extinction, which is a notion developed more recently than you might think.



I mostly study British and German stuff at school, so whenever I get a break I try to be a good American and catch up on yankee lit. Usually, this involves reading Emerson, who never gets old to me. This time around, I'm also planning to read Emerson's lil homie Hawthorne (I love a steezy Dover thrift edition, and cheap paperbacks in general).
[close]

How far along your PhD track are you? Have you got a thesis idea pinned down yet? I’m applying to a couple English grad programs for next fall and thinking seriously about going the long haul for a possible phd, though right now I don’t know what in the hell angle I’d take for masters work.
[close]

I'm 2.5 years in on a 6 year track, which means that I'm finishing up coursework next semester, and preparing for my field exams, which will take place a little less than a year from now. I'm not quite sure what I want to write my dissertation over just yet, but I'm building my exam reading lists around the English novel c. the 18th-19th centuries. My academic background is a bit scattered (did an MA in philosophy, mostly read German stuff, post-Kant), so I'm just trying to get a lot of the canonical English novels under my belt, so I can teach surveys on the history of the novel, etc.

Good on you for getting those applications out there. I hope you get in somewhere that works for you.
You'll have plenty of time to work our your ideas, especially if you're able to snag some funds. A good stipend makes all the difference!

Are you thinking you'd like to teach?
[close]

Wow an MA in philosophy is way cool. I’ve thought a lot about going the philosophy route (metaphysics and mind, specifically), but not sure I’ve got the background for it. What did you study in your undergrad, if you don’t mind me asking?

But yeah, some sort of secondary or post-secondary position is where I’m hoping to land in the end. Ideally either creative writing or literature, but that’s still probably a decade away, so who knows?

I did a "literary studies" degree in undergrad, in a fairly interdisciplinary humanities program, and filled my elective requirements with a bunch of history and philosophy classes. I saved all my electives for the end, so by the time I graduated I was doing philosophy and history pretty much exclusively. I did my MA at the same institution, with mostly the same faculty, so the transition was natural for me. I should mention that I studied what's called "continental" philosophy, which is often more loosely organized than the "analytic" tradition, which holds sway in the Anglosphere, and is probably what you'd be getting into. I guess what I'm saying is that my study-path has been zig-zagging, and it's worked for me!

I've been teaching for a couple of years now, and the experience has certainly challenged me and pushed me to grow. I don't know that my passion for teaching matches my passion for research, but it's not the worst gig.

Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3587 on: January 02, 2022, 11:26:31 AM »
at the small private university where i do the bulk of my teaching these days, i often teach sections of "World Masterpieces 2: Encountering Modernity." every academic year, we change up the last novel that we tussle with in the class, to try to keep it pretty contemporary, and they ask for instructors' input for choosing the novel. right now, we have a list of potential ideas to choose from, and over the holiday/break i am reading these two, to see if either will be something i'd like to suggest
i'm about half way through Tokyo Ueno Station, and i'm really enjoying it, but i'm not sure about trying to teach it...we'll see. it does really seem to speak to my own interests/work around "memory" and "history," and how the two can correspond, compete, and conflict...and how they do so in different landscapes, and in creating a "sense of place"...

Nice! I'm also at a small, private university, but in a pretty conservative English department with very little comparative action going on. I'd be curious to peep y'all's reading list when it's finalized!

*Edit: On a separate note, I'm trying to read a Neal Stephenson novel, and it's pretty good, but I don't know if I'll have what it takes to finish it.


As a budding historian of ideas, I've been wanting to look into his "Baroque Trilogy" for a while, but am settling for the relatively brief (1000 pages) Anathem. Any Stephenson heads in here? I feel like he writes on all the right themes, but I've always had a hard time getting into the groove with sci-fi and fantasy.
« Last Edit: January 02, 2022, 11:36:27 AM by Peter Zagreus »

chris.

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3588 on: January 02, 2022, 08:28:03 PM »
Way too much going on right now:






I was real hyped for The Veiled Throne but it's released slipped past me. I usually struggle to get back into the next installment in a series like this and this fucker is long. Love these books though. Also pulled "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Murakami off the shelf today.

RoaryMcTwang

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3589 on: January 04, 2022, 10:42:57 PM »
Been reading Miguel de Unamuno’s Tragic Sense of Life, right after Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, which has been a fun philosophical left-right punch combo. Been getting back into philosophy after some years of reading it only for work/research. Good stuff.

Also been rereading some Kafka, can’t go wrong with that.

The bell hooks discussed above sounds intriguing

Good luck to @Peter Zagreus and @MichaelJacksonsGhost with your programs, it’s a long road but you’ll get to the finish line in the end

Coldpizza

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3590 on: January 05, 2022, 07:56:53 AM »
i'm reading some new neil stephenson book (seveneves) and i kinda hate it. it ain't snowcrash. who's got some good hard sci fi to recommend to this nerd?
I’m on the last book in The Three Body Problem trilogy and I’ve really enjoyed them. I’m sure you’ve read Neuromancer. Vurt by Jeff Noon is a pretty wild cyberpunk ride. The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons (although not sci fi, his book The Terror is great.)
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood is a good read. I’d argue Cats Cradle by Vonnegut could sit near this list…
Grid City Overload was engaging, it’s fairly contemporary and I can’t remember the authors name right now.
The Annihilation series by Jeff VanderMeer. The novel for Under the Skin…
Ministry for the Future was the most realistic sci fi I’ve ever read (also terrifying) Apologies for the rambling list, just trying to get it out.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

chris.

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3591 on: January 05, 2022, 01:17:15 PM »
Three Body Problem series is so, so good.I just found out recently there's a new book that takes place in the same universe, written by someone else with the support of Liu Cixin. Takes place after the trilogy, I'm really excited to read it.

ungzilla

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3592 on: January 05, 2022, 02:09:08 PM »
Expand Quote
i'm reading some new neil stephenson book (seveneves) and i kinda hate it. it ain't snowcrash. who's got some good hard sci fi to recommend to this nerd?
[close]
I’m on the last book in The Three Body Problem trilogy and I’ve really enjoyed them. I’m sure you’ve read Neuromancer. Vurt by Jeff Noon is a pretty wild cyberpunk ride. The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons (although not sci fi, his book The Terror is great.)
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood is a good read. I’d argue Cats Cradle by Vonnegut could sit near this list…
Grid City Overload was engaging, it’s fairly contemporary and I can’t remember the authors name right now.
The Annihilation series by Jeff VanderMeer. The novel for Under the Skin…
Ministry for the Future was the most realistic sci fi I’ve ever read (also terrifying) Apologies for the rambling list, just trying to get it out.


hyperion trilogy is all time great
tried oryx and crake several times and couldn't get into it
annihilation series also great
three body problem, ministry for the future and grid city i have not heard of and look promising, gracias sir


just finished alastair reynold's latest revelation space universe book (inhibitor phase) and enjoyed very much

TastyBurrito

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3593 on: January 06, 2022, 09:12:59 AM »
Currently reading, "The Bandini Quartet."  I'ts Fante's four Bandini books put in to one 700 page monstor.  Very good.

I'm going through the Quartet as well (individually). Mostly because of Bukowski always quoting him as the author that inspired him. I do enjoy these post-depression American era books. Does anyone have any other authors of a similar nature?

SneakySecrets

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3594 on: January 08, 2022, 06:40:04 AM »
Anyone got some good recommends for books on medieval history? 
When nothing in society deserves respect, we should fashion for ourselves in solitude new silent loyalties.

brycickle

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3595 on: January 08, 2022, 10:17:54 AM »
Anyone got some good recommends for books on medieval history?
I haven't read any yet, but I plan on diving into some Dan Jones after this coming semester.

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Peter Zagreus

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3596 on: January 08, 2022, 10:22:31 AM »
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Currently reading, "The Bandini Quartet."  I'ts Fante's four Bandini books put in to one 700 page monstor.  Very good.
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I'm going through the Quartet as well (individually). Mostly because of Bukowski always quoting him as the author that inspired him. I do enjoy these post-depression American era books. Does anyone have any other authors of a similar nature?

Different in tone than Fante, but I'd recommend Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts and Day of the Locust, both of which are set in LA around the depression era. Really, really good.

Also, Steinbeck, of course (who I mentioned above). I'm a low-key evangelist for Cannery Row, which is "set during the Great Depression in Monterey, California, on a street lined with sardine canneries that is known as Cannery Row. The story revolves around the people living there: Lee Chong, the local grocer; Doc, a marine biologist; and Mack, the leader of a group of derelict people" (Wiki). It's a charming, sad, and beautiful book.

brycickle

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3597 on: January 08, 2022, 10:32:57 AM »
Yeah there is that book about Bourdain and another one that I’m thinking about getting since I read all of the stuff he put out. I hope these are similarly interesting. Let us know what you think!
Made it through all three. I read the Vonnegut one first. Super interesting. I wasn't expecting it to essentially be a dive into PTSD and how writing Slaughterhouse Five was maybe Vonnegut's way of coping with his, even though he denied having it.

As expected I cried at both the beginning and end of the Bourdain book. Definitely interesting to hear directly from the people who cared about him, what he meant to them. I didn't realize how socially awkward he was off screen.

The Lafayette book was good too. Really in depth. It says a lot that Duncan moved his entire family to Paris just to research it, and it shows.


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Coastal Fever

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3598 on: January 08, 2022, 10:40:02 AM »
Just finished Brave New World for the first time.  Really impressive that he could write that in the early 1930’s, and how accurately his predictions seems to be unfolding.. but god damn things didn’t really pick up much until the end did they?

I just picked up reading again after deleting all my social media.  Maybe BNW wasn’t the best choice to start with.  I also read Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media by Jaron Lanier.  Definitely an eye opener about how profoundly it’s fucking up society, but lacked the positivity I was hoping for in regards to the benefits of quitting.  The author’s a Silicon Valley guy/writer, but captivating prose isn’t his strong suit, was a bit of a struggle to get through.

tuesday

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Re: books to read
« Reply #3599 on: January 08, 2022, 11:47:30 AM »