Books

[Gfted1]

"it's a different author, I wonder what he screwed up."

 

 

Huh, I didnt know Adams was dead until this post. And he died a long time ago at that.

[Tale]

If you need to mourn, I'm here for you.

[Guest The Architect]

I've had Watchmen for nearly two years and still haven't got around to finishing the book. Other than that, I haven't read anything outside of newspaper articles, journal articles, modules, and psychology books. Now that is lame. I need to lift my game if I wish to be a successful aristocratic obnoxious Englishman one day.

Edited October 19, 2010 by The Architect

[Walsingham]

I've had Watchmen for nearly two years and still haven't got around to finishing the book. Other than that, I haven't read anything outside of newspaper articles, journal articles, modules, and psychology books. Now that is lame. I need to lift my game if I wish to be a successful aristocratic obnoxious Englishman one day.

 

It's a lot easier than it looks.

 

Can you recommend a good general psych textbook? I need to catch up on all the basic stuff I've missed.

[Tale]

General psych is largely the same, at least where I am. It really helped with retention that half the book for every course below senior level was the same content.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Tale

[Guest The Architect]

I've had Watchmen for nearly two years and still haven't got around to finishing the book. Other than that, I haven't read anything outside of newspaper articles, journal articles, modules, and psychology books. Now that is lame. I need to lift my game if I wish to be a successful aristocratic obnoxious Englishman one day.

 

It's a lot easier than it looks.

 

Can you recommend a good general psych textbook? I need to catch up on all the basic stuff I've missed.

 

There really is no such thing beyond introductory psychology textbooks because the field is so vast. But you're looking for a good general psychology textbook on the basics and the one I read was the Australian and New Zealand 2nd edition of Introduction to Psychology by Burton, Westen and Kowalski published in 2008, so it's pretty up to date.

 

Or just go to a good library and ask, old fella, I mean you're English, you're supposed to have good libraries.

[Walsingham]

I've had Watchmen for nearly two years and still haven't got around to finishing the book. Other than that, I haven't read anything outside of newspaper articles, journal articles, modules, and psychology books. Now that is lame. I need to lift my game if I wish to be a successful aristocratic obnoxious Englishman one day.

 

It's a lot easier than it looks.

 

Can you recommend a good general psych textbook? I need to catch up on all the basic stuff I've missed.

 

There really is no such thing beyond introductory psychology textbooks because the field is so vast. But you're looking for a good general psychology textbook on the basics and the one I read was the Australian and New Zealand 2nd edition of Introduction to Psychology by Burton, Westen and Kowalski published in 2008, so it's pretty up to date.

 

Or just go to a good library and ask, old fella, I mean you're English, you're supposed to have good libraries.

 

Are you high? Our public libraries are just glorified internet cafe/DVD rental shops.

[Darth InSidious]

Of the City of the Saved... by Philip Purser-Hallard. In a city beyond the edge of the universe, where every human (or sentient pre- or post- human, from australopithecines up, for that matter) who ever lived has been resurrected, and harming another is (in theory) impossible, a murder has been committed. And it's up to Laura Tobin to find out why, who, and, most importanty, how.

 

For a first novel, this is, if nothing else, pretty damn impressive. Switching between the perspectives of the three main characters (helped along by the occasional secondary figure) - Laura Tobin, detective and living embodiment of the word "unpersonable", Julian White Mammoth Tusk, a City-born neanderthal yuppie, and Urbanus Ignotus, the nerdish youngest son of a prominent Roman family in the city, the book has a wonderful interweaving of subplot and main-plot. But I think probably the book's greatest strength is its varying narrative voices. Cutting between a circumspect young Roman, a thorough-going detective with truly weird family issues, and a fashion-conscious protohuman who speaks in a sign-language littered with Anglo-Saxon profanities, blasphemy against obscure ancient gods (Dagon being a prime example), and Woosterish patter, really marks this book out. In all, the ending is disappointing and feels rather abrupt, but it's a fun book, nevertheless.

[Walsingham]

Of the City of the Saved... by Philip Purser-Hallard. In a city beyond the edge of the universe, where every human (or sentient pre- or post- human, from australopithecines up, for that matter) who ever lived has been resurrected, and harming another is (in theory) impossible, a murder has been committed. And it's up to Laura Tobin to find out why, who, and, most importanty, how.

 

For a first novel, this is, if nothing else, pretty damn impressive. Switching between the perspectives of the three main characters (helped along by the occasional secondary figure) - Laura Tobin, detective and living embodiment of the word "unpersonable", Julian White Mammoth Tusk, a City-born neanderthal yuppie, and Urbanus Ignotus, the nerdish youngest son of a prominent Roman family in the city, the book has a wonderful interweaving of subplot and main-plot. But I think probably the book's greatest strength is its varying narrative voices. Cutting between a circumspect young Roman, a thorough-going detective with truly weird family issues, and a fashion-conscious protohuman who speaks in a sign-language littered with Anglo-Saxon profanities, blasphemy against obscure ancient gods (Dagon being a prime example), and Woosterish patter, really marks this book out. In all, the ending is disappointing and feels rather abrupt, but it's a fun book, nevertheless.

 

Sounds fun. I may read it.

[Darth InSidious]

Of the City of the Saved... by Philip Purser-Hallard. In a city beyond the edge of the universe, where every human (or sentient pre- or post- human, from australopithecines up, for that matter) who ever lived has been resurrected, and harming another is (in theory) impossible, a murder has been committed. And it's up to Laura Tobin to find out why, who, and, most importanty, how.

 

For a first novel, this is, if nothing else, pretty damn impressive. Switching between the perspectives of the three main characters (helped along by the occasional secondary figure) - Laura Tobin, detective and living embodiment of the word "unpersonable", Julian White Mammoth Tusk, a City-born neanderthal yuppie, and Urbanus Ignotus, the nerdish youngest son of a prominent Roman family in the city, the book has a wonderful interweaving of subplot and main-plot. But I think probably the book's greatest strength is its varying narrative voices. Cutting between a circumspect young Roman, a thorough-going detective with truly weird family issues, and a fashion-conscious protohuman who speaks in a sign-language littered with Anglo-Saxon profanities, blasphemy against obscure ancient gods (Dagon being a prime example), and Woosterish patter, really marks this book out. In all, the ending is disappointing and feels rather abrupt, but it's a fun book, nevertheless.

 

Sounds fun. I may read it.

I certainly found it pretty enjoyable. Definitely one to go for if you like large scale, slightly mad sci-fi. And if that is your kind of thing, definitely also take a look at Warlords of Utopia, with which Of the City shares a multiverse. WoU boils down to every parallel universe where Rome never fell, versus every parallel universe where the Nazis won the war. Except awesome.

[Raithe]

I've been meaning to section off some time at some point to skim-re-read through the Wheel of Time.. since the penultimate book is out this November..

[Shryke]

it's gonna be the second to last one

 

i'll check it out - but mainly because i hate leaving a series unfinished

[Morgoth]

I'm reading "The Name of the Wind" from Patrick Rothfuss. Highly reccomendable if you're into fantasy books.

[Shryke]

got curious, googled it, discovered it seems rather familiar

 

read quick synopsis - have read it before!

 

i've had this same problem before - couldn't really remember any of katherine kerr, terry goodkind, and terry brooks series

just read far too many different fantasy series. it's hard to recall the good from the bad

[kirottu]

I read "Run to the Hills", the Iron Maiden biography.

 

It was, uh, kinda boring. Not bad, but just a tale of lots of hard work and luck and nothing really interesting happening.

[Monte Carlo]

...where every human (or sentient pre- or post- human, from australopithecines up, for that matter) who ever lived has been resurrected

 

::Cough:: Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld ::Cough::

[Calax]

"First man in rome" by Colleen McCullough. It's... interesting. The wording makes it feel like Shakespeare and is almost to poetic for me. Also it feels a bit slow and like you're being whip lashed around the story between perspectives. Of course I'm only 40 pages in so *shrugs*

[Calax]

Ok, "First man in Rome" is oh so bias.

 

The first person you meet is Marius, who's bemoaning the corruption in the senate, and the fact that only a select few can make laws and those laws only benefit the select few. Basically its setting him up as the person that everyone will love. Add in he's "just a military man who only plays politics because it's expected of him".

 

Then you meet Sulla... and your first meeting of him is him waking up between a mistress and his stepmother, both of whom he is the "cabana boy" for. Then you go on to learn he enjoys young male prostitutes, and this includes an interlude about a party where he ended up with a little not-so-private coupling with a young boy tressed up as cupid, which pissed off his mistress and stepmother. Oh, and he's also the bootycall for just about every wife on the block (except for Cesars wife).

 

And then there's Gaius Julius Cesar Sr. Who you meet via Marius. He cares about Rome, cares about his slaves, cares about his family, and is Offering Marius the hand of one of his daughters so that she is not forced to wed to a street rat. Basically the introduction goes on and on about how caring, kind, and diciplined he is with himself and his family.

 

Hmmmm, the defining conflict of the time is Marius vs Sulla I wonder who we're supposed to root for!? The author tries to make it seem like Sulla is just a victim of circumstances, but when you expose all of his flaws and none of Marius or Cesars flaws in their introductions, you remove any possibility of tension.

 

I don't know much about this period of Rome, but from the book I have 0 clue how Sulla got any power in the first place when they make it very clear that he's basically using his... manhood to live with his mother, has no money, and basically is ineffectual on anything.

[Purkake]

I'm reading "The Name of the Wind" from Patrick Rothfuss. Highly reccomendable if you're into fantasy books.

"The Wise Man's Fear" should be coming out pretty soon as well(in around 6 months I guess). Good stuff.

 

As for me, I'm finishing up the Commonwealth Saga(Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) by Peter F Hamilton. It's pretty good modern sci-fi, but the books are long in the tooth to say the least and with more characters than the Wheel of Time...

[Tale]

Finally finished And Another Thing. It was good, not great, but good. I'd read a book seven from Colfer.

 

He overused some jokes badly, Ford can't be mentioned with the word "frood" come up. It was fun, but not hilarious. Still better than Mostly Harmless.

[Monte Carlo]

I've been reading the instruction manual for my Alienware laptop. It's leather-bound with big brushed steel rivets. There's no plot and no characters but apart from that it's pretty cool.

[Raithe]

Finished off the new Wheel of Time book... Made the mistake of trying to read a few chapters in bed before sleeping ..and ended up several hours later going "crikey, it's nearly dawn".

 

Threads are tightening, loose background bits are brought back together, characters are evolving.... and then it ends on what (according to the story so far) is the day before everyone heads off for the Final Battle....

[Guard Dog]

I bought Geroge W Bushs memoir Decision Points at the airport in Dallas this morning, I made a fair start of it on the plane. It is actually very interesting reading.

 

I've been thinking about getting a Kindle or Nook. Does anyone here use them? Like then? Hate them? I have well over 2000 books on six bookcases in my house, it's getting a little ridiculous.

[Raithe]

I got my mother a kindle for last christmas, with her joint problems holding a book was being a problem, but she's able to use the kindle with ease.

 

The kindle is fairly easy to use, the text is smooth to read, and it's simple to scroll through pages and books.

Once you've bought a book Amazon keeps a library of all purchases and you can re-download it to your Kindle whenever you want, but you can keep around 1,500 books on the device itself.. although that might be a bit of a problem to easily run through.

 

One point is that while Amazon.com does do quite a few cheap/free books as well... you don't get access to them if you happen to be outside the states...

 

Oh, and the kindle text isn't backlit. Which can make it easier on the eyes to read, but it also means the kindle doesn't produce it's own light when the room your in gets dark.

Edited November 10, 2010 by Raithe

[Shryke]

Finished off the new Wheel of Time book... Made the mistake of trying to read a few chapters in bed before sleeping ..and ended up several hours later going "crikey, it's nearly dawn".

 

Threads are tightening, loose background bits are brought back together, characters are evolving.... and then it ends on what (according to the story so far) is the day before everyone heads off for the Final Battle....

 

just finished reading it last night

Sanderson writes Mat in a very different way to Jordan - it can be rather jarring at times

over all though it was still alright. timelines for the characters have caught up to eachother, and finally Perrin starts becoming an interesting character again. though there was some pretty out there kinda stuff too (ie red veiled aiel?)