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Post by firebolt153 on Oct 7, 2013 10:23:03 GMT -8
Supposedly we've had them for two weeks, but I thought we'd had them for only a few days. Probably for the best lol. My coworkers know that when Allegiant comes in I'll be spending my breaks in the stock room reading it, since they (the books) can't leave it until release day.
There exists a picture of me hugging the boxes the sixth Potter book came in, dated several days before the release date, when I worked at another bookstore in my younger days. I make no apologies for these sorts of things, and hope that in the event that I have children some day, they do these things as well.
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Post by AhoyLindsay on Oct 8, 2013 8:22:01 GMT -8
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a neat book and an easy read. It's a collection of tales of people with really bizarre neurological disorders-some you've heard of, like phantom limb, and others you probably haven't, like the title character's. While it is more anecdotal than scientifically rigorous (you're more likely to see the author allude to what a colleague of his once encountered while on vacation in Europe one time than to any kind of laboratory study) the prolific experience of the author, a neurologist, makes his anecdotes reputable in my book. And he really has compassion for his subjects, treating them like full human beings instead of just oddities. Shows its age (1980s) but none the less enjoyable for that. By Oliver Sacks; vignettes include twins who conversed in 6-digit prime numbers, a patient with total "face-blindness", and a woman who could only stand up if she consciously looked at her body while doing so. Interesting stuff.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Oct 8, 2013 8:30:02 GMT -8
I've heard of this book and have been curious about.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Oct 9, 2013 8:03:32 GMT -8
Has anyone read the latest by Christie Sims?
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Post by firebolt153 on Oct 19, 2013 22:46:03 GMT -8
It should not take me getting a quarter of the way into a book for it to finally be interesting. Sheesh.
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Post by DementedDuck on Oct 20, 2013 6:19:00 GMT -8
I don't ever finish books like those.
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Post by firebolt153 on Oct 20, 2013 8:55:15 GMT -8
If I start a book, I finish it. It's extremely rare for me to just abandon a book.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Oct 21, 2013 6:41:05 GMT -8
Allow me to take a moment to recommend Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway.
Joe is a rather unassuming guy. He lives by himself in a warehouse and repairs clocks and clockwork devices. His adopted normalcy is an attempt to distance himself from the memory of his father, a flamboyant and notorious tommy gun wielding gangster. When Joe is asked to fix a remarkable and unique clockwork book, he inadvertently starts what may be a doomsday device. His tidy world is torn to pieces as he is tossed into an adventure featuring an octogenarian WWII superspy, a creepy cult, and a diabolical Southeast Asian tyrant. Can Joe call on old ties to the underworld to escape from cultists, torturers, and the less savory elements of the British government? Does this mild mannered horologist have what it takes to unlock the secrets of this 1950s era device?
Once this book got rolling it was a lot of fun. There were parts of this that reminded me a bit of Cryptonomicon, but that's more just the parallel past and present stories dealing with the Apprehension Engine, one of the more unique doomsday devices I've read about. It's definitely got more of a sense of humor than Cryptonomicon, and there aren't random derails about how to eat cereal or furniture quality. There was a lot of excitement and some puzzle. This book was a very enjoyable romp. It also gets bonus points for creative use of trains.
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Post by Riku on Oct 21, 2013 13:36:18 GMT -8
Snowcrash is one of my favorites, so I tried to read Cryptonomicon. I was enjoying it, but by the time I was about halfway through it I realized I was only halfway through it and gave up.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Oct 21, 2013 14:17:02 GMT -8
Yeah. Fundamentally, I think Cryptonomicon has a really interesting story, paralleling codebreakers from WWII and the present. That story is hampered by the lack of a solid editor. Stephenson has some issues with pacing, and long derails about Captain Crunch, Heirloom Quality Furniture, and Qwghlm mostly just detract. Stephenson also is bad at writing endings. Basically it's a long ass book that gets in the way of it's interesting story.
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Furare
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Post by Furare on Oct 22, 2013 4:19:41 GMT -8
Stephenson has some issues, full stop.
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Post by firebolt153 on Oct 22, 2013 10:54:44 GMT -8
Whoever is going to read Allegiant--you will need tissues. I haven't cried after reading a book since Order of the Phoenix.
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Post by Jolyma on Oct 22, 2013 11:34:00 GMT -8
Figures. I get it tomorrow as the daughter's b-day present. I hope this isn't going to be too hard for her.
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Post by firebolt153 on Oct 22, 2013 11:36:36 GMT -8
I don't know, I've got a full-blown case of Book Feels, but it could just be me.
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Post by AhoyLindsay on Oct 22, 2013 12:51:12 GMT -8
For those discussing Cryptonomicon etc, have you read Anathem? That's my favorite by him.
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Post by Riku on Oct 22, 2013 13:36:14 GMT -8
I also had trouble with that, but much earlier on. Like, page 10. He expected me to remember far too many made up words for things way too quickly. Of course, that was 3-4 years ago, so I'll have to try it again sometime.
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Post by AhoyLindsay on Oct 22, 2013 13:47:49 GMT -8
xkcd.com/483/XKCD does get it right on that one... But if you get past the vocab stuff the world he builds is incredible and it's the perfect combo of crazy intellectualism and crazy adventuring.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Oct 22, 2013 14:25:53 GMT -8
Yeah, I keep hearing good to great things about Anathem. I read Quicksilver and regretted it, so kinda decided not to keep going with Stephenson. "But the 2nd book is good!" Whatever. First book was a horrid slog. It has made me really hesitant to grab another 1000 page book by him.
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Post by AhoyLindsay on Oct 22, 2013 18:16:24 GMT -8
Fair enough. Currently reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and greatly enjoying it-I'll write a little review here when I finish.
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Taelac
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Post by Taelac on Oct 23, 2013 20:18:34 GMT -8
I just finished The Lives of the Apostates, which I bought because I know the author, Eric O. Scott, and it's his fiction debut. It's a novella about a young adult who grew up as a second-generation Wiccan trying to navigate college life deep in the Bible belt.
I found enough editing issues to be distracting, and there's some stray misogyny and ablism in the protagonist's thought processes that I felt were out of place from that character, but I found the overall story reasonably compelling.
Mixed feelings, very niche, probably not picked up by your local library, but they might be willing to buy a copy on patron request, if you want to read it but not own it.
Next up, Codex Born, by Jim C. Hines, the second book in his Magic Ex Libris series.
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Post by wrecker15 on Oct 24, 2013 4:35:59 GMT -8
I loved 20,000 Leagues. Journey to the Centre of The Earth by the same author (Jules Verne, I think) is actually a rather intriguing read too.
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Taelac
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Post by Taelac on Oct 30, 2013 7:20:08 GMT -8
Codex Born was, as expected, a fun read. Librarian Isaac Vainio once again rises to the fight brought to his library's door, pulling answers, solutions, and weaponry from within the pages of books to try to solve murders and battle a potentially world-ending force of destruction. The dryad, Lena Greenwood, fights beside him as she navigates her nascent agency, having been drawn as an acorn from a book where dryads grow up to be whatever their lovers desire. For light modern-set fantasy, the characters are multi-dimensional, with their own talents, flaws and motivations, and the book explores themes of personhood and interpersonal relationships to a degree often not found in even the most "serious" fiction.
I'm looking forward to the third book, recently delivered for the first editing pass and expected out some time next year.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Nov 4, 2013 7:17:39 GMT -8
So this weekend I finally finished Little, Big by John Crowley. And I'm left not really sure what to think.
Edgewood is a sprawling house of many rooms, floors, and facades. It appears to be constructed in several different architectural styles depending on how it is viewed. In this house lives the Drinkwater clan. They're special you see. They're protected, since they're part of the Tale. Guided by a set of not quite Tarot cards, they make their way through a few generations, occasionally seduced by The City nearby.
In many regards, this is a long, sprawling tale about fairies. In another sense, there's hardly any fairies at all, because it's mostly about people. It's mostly about the Tale. But you don't really find out what the Tale's about until the last chapter. To an extent, it's somewhat like 100 Years of Solitude, because it primarily focuses on one family in their unique location. This book is dense, which makes it read a bit slow. It also results in a densely woven tapestry of things where you can spot connections here and there and puzzle out minor mysteries as it goes.
You should read this book if you want to be lost in a big fairy tale. Read it if you're willing to explore and meander at times, looking at something whose purpose may not be known for ages. Read it if you want to spend some time at Edgewood and learn about the Drinkwaters, their history, their cousins, and their environs. It's not a quick stop in, but it's a pretty good one.
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Post by firebolt153 on Nov 4, 2013 9:18:34 GMT -8
Leif, I think you should do a blog or something with book reviews.
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Post by AhoyLindsay on Nov 4, 2013 17:19:28 GMT -8
I'm taking a seminar at school about sea monsters, and this is a sampling of what we've read so far:
Moby Dick: This book is dense and protracted. The humor is decent and subtle, and if you are very very interested in whales you should certainly read it. But if you're looking for Romanticism you're better off with Frankenstein, and if you're looking for 19th century American stuff you're better off with the Scarlet Letter. Apparently Melville never edited the book, and it shows. Also, the whale doesn't show up until like 400 pages in. Come on dude. There are some fascinating moments and characters, but for me, nowhere near enough to make the tedious journey worth it.
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges: This book is awesome! It's a little anthology of fantastical monsters and creatures from around the world. Big and small, famous and obscure, on sea and on land... It would be a good book to give as a gift or conversation-starter. Its compendium of over 100 beasts is organized alphabetically. My favorite was "The Monkey of the Inkpot," which is a monkey that sits next to writers and drinks their leftover ink.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: This book is awesome too! It's a meandering subaquatic journey punctuated by all the epic adventures you could hope for. Captain Nemo, forbidding and out for vengeance, is comparable to Ahab from Moby Dick, but has a much more interesting attitude and back story. The book is also one of the first instances of hard sci fi-there are frequent explanations of how the submarine functions and travels, but they're not too dense. Throughout reading this book I felt myself surrounded by colorful corals and vibrant fish. The ending left me satisfied but with a great sense of unsolved mysteries. I'd recommend it for sure and I think it would work for kids (with good vocabularies) or adults.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Nov 5, 2013 8:48:24 GMT -8
I've always heard Moby Dick was as more a discussion of the intricate details of whaling than actually hunting the white whale.
The Borges recommendation sounds fun.
A short story on the theme that I enjoyed in the past is Arthur C. Clarke's "The Shining Ones".
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Furare
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Post by Furare on Nov 5, 2013 12:18:20 GMT -8
My mum bought me a copy of 20,000 Leagues in French when I was doing my GCSEs. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I couldn't read the language well enough to have much of a clue what was going on in it. Maybe I should try reading it in English some day... >.>
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Post by firebolt153 on Nov 5, 2013 14:55:55 GMT -8
I bought the third Harry Potter book in French when I was in high school, and I could actually read it pretty well. I never finished it though; didn't think it was a big deal as I already knew the ending.
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Leif
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Post by Leif on Nov 6, 2013 14:28:41 GMT -8
I'm on the waiting list for The Shining Girls at the library. Lauren Beukes writes some interesting stuff. And I got my call last week and picked up The Shining Girls. Just polished it off over lunch today. Harper Curtis is a drifter, a seedy fellow in a shanty town in Depression Era Chicago. He stumbles across the key to an unusual house. The house has two primary oddities. First, it travels in time. Second, it compels Harper to kill women. Kirby Mazrachi is a punkish young college girl who grew up in relative poverty with an artistic single mother. More importantly to the story she's the survivor of a brutal attempted murder. She's the one that got away. Follow along as Harper carries out the will of the House and Kirby pores over clues to try and track down her attacker. So yeah, this is a book about a time travelling serial killer. I can't really pretend it's high art, but I enjoyed it. The time travelling spans from 1929 to 1993, and you get interesting slices of life through many eras of Chicago history there. The downside is that it's usually resulting in someone's demise. The climax in particular I found to be pretty exciting. The "rules" of time travel are never really brought up, which I find unusual for a time travel book. Part of that probably all hinges withing the fairly limited times and only one place available. I can't say I've read much serial killer fiction, so perhaps it's characteristic of the genre, but I found the actual attacks to be a bit intense, so keep that in mind if it's something you're sensitive to. They weren't particularly graphic or anything, but I could see it bothering some.
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Post by firebolt153 on Nov 6, 2013 15:16:32 GMT -8
I always enjoy time traveling books.
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