| 13 SEP 2010 at 1:23am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | I've just started a book by Sir Alec Guinness. Called, 'My name escapes me' he wrote it as a diary of 1995-96. Nicely written in conversational style it draws the reader in so that you feel like you're having an intimate chat over a pub lunch. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
[IMG]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9294/5900649eba27.jpg[/IMG]
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 1:46am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2538
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | what a wonderful actor, one of my favorites of his was an old old oldie few may have seen, black and white called Death Takes a Holiday
how is the book C? let us know...
not enough energy to read much today, maybe soon. Usually i read books on Imperial Roman economics, community infrastructure, and Byzantine history for relaxastion.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 9:23am |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | I'm currently reading two books: The last wish (the first book about the witcher) & Quantitative chemical analysis.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 9:43am |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Last finished book was Song of Kali by Dan Simmons.
Per my review at Goodreads:
Excellent. Dan Simmons is fast on his way to becoming one of my favorite authors.
I felt horrified during most of the book, and saddened during a lot of it, but I like the way that it isn't totally and completely engulfed in dispair. (Though pretty depresssing enough.) I like the way that the protagonist decides to "fight back".
It's not "scary" as in "boo" but it is horrific in it's stark depiction of the horror lurking in the human soul.
I'll take away one star because of Simmon's rather unbalanced portrayal of Hindu culture, which is of course a rich and varied culture with many aspects to it, some of them wonderful and positive, as opposed to the negative aspects highlighted in this novel.
Though his specific view might have been quite representative of a Westerner's impression of Calcutta at that point in time, I do feel that Mr Simmons could have added a few of the more positive aspects of Hindu culture to balance out the negative aspects that are represented especially by for instance the Kali cults that feature in this narrative.
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Posted by: New Wolfboy Posted on: Yesterday at 9:02pm
C'mon, we don't have a thread for what we're reading right now?
I think we tried it before, but it didn't "take". However, now that you are back here, perhaps between the 2 of us, we can keep this going. :
I'm currently reading 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
Quite a few of us JA'ers have read this recently - it's high on my to-read list - maybe I'll put it on top for next.
If you enjoy reading a lot, you might be interested in joining our JA group over at Goodreads.
I love this site - it's one of the sites I visit every day. I have most of the books currently on my shelves catalogued there. What is nice about it, is you can mark your books as to read, already read, the rating you gave it, the date you read it, etc.
You can also create shelves, such as : Horror/ thriller/ classics/ chick lit/ history/ philosophy--- you get the drift. You can even put a book in 2 or more shelves at the same time, such as Victorian + classics + philosophy; etc.
If someone recommends a book to me, I pop off there to have a squiz at the book description and reviews there, or even if I need the ISBN # in order to buy a book online I go and look it up there.
Arkadia got a bunch of us started on it, here.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 10:02am |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By CrisGer (13 SEP 2010 1:45am)
Usually i read books on Imperial Roman economics, community infrastructure, and Byzantine history for relaxastion.
In that case, Cris, may I suggest this forum to you?
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/ancient-world/
The Chrons is another one of my fave sites, for it's sheer variety of topics discussed.
Whether you want to chat about books, movies, games, history, writing, theatre, world affairs - you name it, and there are always some reasonably intelligent discussions going on, although I must admit I have had a little disagreement or two as well.
Nothing like our P&R used to be around here though - and they do get moderated if ppl start to get nasty. (Rather similar to JA 's moderation, with the difference that you don't really have restricted topics)
They do seem to have quite a few historians chatting in the history forums - I admit I feel a bit out of my depth regarding the level of expertise regarding a lot of the discussions, but it's still vey interesting to follow the discussions as a lurker.
Hehe, and just for you, Cris, might I mention that it's quite cosmopolitan with members from all over the world, and quite a big UK representation there.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 10:32am |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline |
Trav! I'm not sure if you got your pet monkey to post all of these words about...ah, words, but I thought you just had eye surgery.
Aren't you supposed to be only looking at the purty pictures and stuff?
And as for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... I saw the movie. I also saw its follow-up, The Girl Who Kissed a Girl Who Wasn't Katy Perry. It had a really mean man in it.
I just read the latest Resident Evil movie, Afterbirth. The words seemed to jump off the page at you - in 3D!
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:02am |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | 3D books are nothing new. I distinctly remember having a few when I was a child.
[img]http://www.two-dee.com/images/skills/Popup-book.jpg[/img]
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:17am |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1630
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | Like Trav,I can't say enough about the Goodreads site. It is my main book resource. It's a database for my books, a place to interact with friends, and it gives me blog updates from my favorite authors. I'm also a member of the Chronicles forum, where I get kept informed about old books and new releases. In both places I use the name Elvet.
As to what I'm reading - I'm on the last book in a 4 book series by Harry Turtledove called Videssos. It's a fictional story about a Roman legion magically transported to a land of sorcerers and civil war. It's full of military action and the detail is apparently quite accurate, since the author has a Ph.D in Byzantine history.
After dropping out during his freshman year at Caltech, he attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was entitled The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (AD 565–582).
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:18am |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline |
Why, it's a paper movie!
I'd read that, Fjord.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:30am |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | Fjord?
There is a huge difference between a fjord & a fnord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fnord
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:39am |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline |
Thanks so much, Flord. I'm full of dischords. I like them.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 3:08pm |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Mark (13 SEP 2010 11:39am)
Thanks so much, Flord. I'm full of dischords. I like them.
Heh. You just have to laugh at (with?) Mark, Fnord. You cannot take him seriously, or you'd... you'd get an ulcer or something.. [smiley=boggled.gif]
/me patiently explains to Mark that it was only one eye, and that she'd read the book before the eyes conked in, and that she pasted and copied most of her words about words in her post a few posts ago...
Trav's pet monkey blows kisses at Bobo.
In the meantime I've been listening to audiobooks. I'd downloaded a bunch of classics in the public domain a while ago, but I can't seem to settle on one that I really like.
(Except for Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows [smiley=blush.gif]
Currently trying out Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 3:28pm |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2538
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | thank you for the suggestion about that site Trav, sounds fun, i have been an avid reader all my life but rarely had anyone to talk to about it other than my father.....so it may be fun tho i am a bit of a hermit...
i LOVE wind in the willows, in fact i used to read it every year, and i have studied much of children's literature from that era....it was a wonderful way to grow up, tho it seems very far from modern life now...
do take care and dont push your eyes
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 5:38pm |
AShadowWalkerPrivate Detective
Posts : 776
Joined: 6 AUG 2009
Status : Online | ........mmmmmmmmm.......
...currently reading Skin City: Behind the Scenes of the Las Vegas Sex Industry----0060838795 by Jack Sheehan
.........pretty good too! [smiley=whistle.gif]
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 7:13pm |
Starchild with a bobgunIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 93
Joined: 22 AUG 2009
Location: NL
Status : Offline | Dan Brown; Lost Symbol
And a lot of graphic novel series:
Sandman
Preacher
DMC
Y the last man.
Are there other TPB/graphic novel fans?
And: Marco Polo: Berlin, because I will visit Berlin in a few weeks.
Still Intergalactic Janitor after all these years.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 7:13pm |
New WolfboySpace Cadet
Posts : 133
Joined: 27 JUL 2010
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Starchild (13 SEP 2010 7:12pm)
Are there other TPB/graphic novel fans?
Yes, and both Y: The Last Man and Sandman (and in fact, anything by Gaiman) are fantastic.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 9:37pm |
Starchild with a bobgunIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 93
Joined: 22 AUG 2009
Location: NL
Status : Offline | Then try DMZ and Preacher, Wolfboy
[img]http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/9116/940547-dmz1_large.jpg[/img][img]http://a5.vox.com/6a00cd9705cc8e4cd500cd972e7e6d4cd5-500pi[/img]
They're both fantastic, bubbah.
Still Intergalactic Janitor after all these years.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 9:51pm |
Lady KestrelGuild Master
Posts : 4035
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, NJ
Status : Offline | Fnord,
You just reminded me that I have had the Illuminatis series on my shelves for years but have never gotten around to reading them. I think it's about time I cracked those creepy covers and discovered what's inside.
"Where is the fountain that throws up these flowers in a ceaseless outbreak of ecstasy?"
-Rabindranath Tagore
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 10:13pm |
TechnoSpikePrivate Detective
Posts : 581
Joined: 26 APR 2005
Location: PT
Status : Offline | Hei! Another TPB/graphic novel/comis fan overhere.
Although, it doesn't exaclty fit on these categories, I have "The Dylan Dog Case Files" to read (I've only read the first story).. guess I'll just keep it aside a little more, saveing for a cold, rainy night! [smiley=skull_laugh.gif]
I'm currently reading "Inspector Maigret and the Dead Girl" [smiley=detective.gif], it's a good story, which I'm prefering a bit more than my previous detective novel: "Maigret and the Yellow Dog".
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 10:48pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By LadyKestrel (13 SEP 2010 9:51pm)
Fnord,
You just reminded me that I have had the Illuminatis series on my shelves for years but have never gotten around to reading them. I think it's about time I cracked those creepy covers and discovered what's inside.
Be prepared for one of the strangest rides ever, as far as books goes. Most of the things in the illuminatus trilogy has several layers of meaning to them, many of which I did not spot until I re-read the books. And even though there are such things as talking dolphins & ancient gods in the books, there is a surprising amount of historical accuracy to things.
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| 13 SEP 2010 at 11:18pm |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | I'm at that age where my everyday glasses are no longer adequate for prolonged reading, so I've just ordered a pair specially for reading. All I need now is a lamp for my study couch and I'll be set for night time relaxation. The kids have the TV and the PS3)
I've just finished reading This Secret Garden which is a memoir by Justin Cartwright about his years at Oxford University. The focus of the book is the university, with his anecdotes ranging from the historic, the personal, professional and political events validated by his visit and study project as a middle-ages, successful author analysing the role Oxford has played in the global consciousness over the centuries. I found it very interesting but definitely not for everyone. I read it as research for Oxford the town because I had sited a story there. I also had my honeymoon in Oxford but didn't get to see the university. Last year I was very tempted to apply for a Summer School writing course there.
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| 14 SEP 2010 at 1:09am |
New WolfboySpace Cadet
Posts : 133
Joined: 27 JUL 2010
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Starchild (13 SEP 2010 9:36pm)
Then try DMZ and Preacher, Wolfboy
I read Preacher. I don't care for Ennis' work, but I'll definitely give DMZ a shot.
Today I picked up a copy of Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. The blurb sounds interesting, has anyone read any of his work?
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| 15 SEP 2010 at 12:14am |
New WolfboySpace Cadet
Posts : 133
Joined: 27 JUL 2010
Status : Online | Also, relevant for Star Trek fans -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyO2k-jApng
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| 15 SEP 2010 at 5:22am |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2538
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | Caroline, i lived in Oxford for a number of years doing my graduate work, at the universtiy and love that place. I miss it and hope to get back
i will look for that book, sounds very interesting. I have so much i couldand will share but have to go back to bed
i have painting s of Oxford on my art site....
i enjoy revisting watching Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis on BBC, they are running Lewis season 4 now, in sunday evenings, very good indeed.
what fun to hear of your time there and your interest...
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