Forum archives » General Discussion » Books and stuff

JrnymnNate
January 2, 2002 5:52 PM

Um... now I've forgot who told me about all the great new sci-fi. I think it was boorite.

Anyway, I finished reading Burning Chrome, Necromancer, and some of Crystal Express. I also have Mona Lisa Overdrive(going to read soon). They're all grrrrreat! Anyway, I was wondering(in the spirit of Kajun Firefly), What's everyone reading nowadays?

Post #36637link

crabby
January 2, 2002 6:32 PM

Now that my girlfriend and I have received lots of baby stuff and extra cash for Christmas I've been able to go to the local comic shop and fill up the holes in my collection.
I decided to crack down and drop a couple titles for money reasons but the ones I'm really enjoying right now are: The Spectre, War Machine, Fury, Punisher and I'm still catching up on Lone Wolf and Cub.

Post #36643link

Happycakeman
January 2, 2002 7:57 PM

Hello my name is Happycakeman and i was reading Catch 22, but now im reading Spot goes to the zoo as it has more pictures. Next i might read The divine comedy, as i heard that has lots of pictures, but i dont think it will be that funny

Post #36665link

gabe_billings
January 2, 2002 8:24 PM

Spot Goes to the Zoo is fucking brilliant. The depth of character in even minor players like Wally the Walrus and Emma the Elephant show amazing insight into the animal mind and the excruciating attention to detail that Jose Guevera puts into his writing. His latest work is nothing more than a literary tour de force.

Post #36666link

fuzzyman
January 2, 2002 8:37 PM

I'm reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond. When I finish I have to decide whether to dive back into "Constantine's Sword" or find something better written. Or maybe I'll kick back with a good, old fashioned Star Trek novel.

Post #36670link

bunnerabb
January 2, 2002 9:25 PM

The Birth Of The Modern - World Society 1815 - 1830 by Paul Johnson

I started in in April, for fuck's sake.

Soon, I'll have a whole month off and I can finish it and start on the P.J. O`Rourke book that I got for Christmas.

And not smoke.

**

"oook!"

*sigh*

Post #36683link

boorite
January 3, 2002 8:13 AM

quote:
Um... now I've forgot who told me about all the great new sci-fi. I think it was boorite.

It was me, me, me. How could you forget ME?
quote:
Anyway, I finished reading Burning Chrome, Necromancer,

Neuromancer.

What'd you make of "The Gernsback Continuum?"

Post #36711link

flickguy
January 3, 2002 8:23 AM

The Talisman (second time is taking much longer than I hoped, in preparation for Black House)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Star Trek: TNG: Section 31: Rogue

Star Trek: TOS: Section 31: Cloak

Yeah, I'm a weirdo. I read multiple books at once. And I'm a weirdo.

Post #36715link

DexX
January 3, 2002 9:13 AM

I read The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub after buying a second hand copy. It took me ages to get through. The first half was pretty slow going, but it picked up in the second half and I ended up really enjoying it. My wife then bought Black House at a sale, and I have been trying, without much luck, to read it. The present tense writing shits me, and very little of it has interested me so far. I'll keep slogging, though, and get through it eventually.

After that, I think another Hobbit and Lord of the Rings re-read is about due.

Post #36720link

krinkle
January 3, 2002 9:20 AM

i've read most of them five times...
every time i get into the second half of "return of the king" i get bored and wander off...
i mean, the climax of the trilogy occurred already!
i'm wiping up, and they're still going on about gondor or something.

Post #36721link

boorite
January 3, 2002 9:32 AM

I just read Roy Blount Jr.'s Now Where Were We?, which is a lot like Dave Barry plus Lewis Grizzard, only funnier and way more literary. I'm just starting on Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy, by Matt Ruff, which Neal Stephenson strongly recommended. I'm still mired in C. Warren Hollister's The Making of England: 55 BC - AD 1399 and Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. I half-agree with the reviewer who says "read it for the diagrams." I also read the box scores for NBA games.

Post #36724link

boorite
January 3, 2002 9:37 AM

quote:
i've read most of them five times...
every time i get into the second half of "return of the king" i get bored and wander off...
i mean, the climax of the trilogy occurred already!
i'm wiping up, and they're still going on about gondor or something.


Some shit about Orcs. I'd give it a miss.

Post #36726link

krinkle
January 3, 2002 9:55 AM

quote:
Some shit about Orcs. I'd give it a miss.

i know, right?
after the hobbit, a battle has to have at least five armies before i even raise an eyebrow

Post #36728link

JrnymnNate
January 3, 2002 1:10 PM

quote:
quote:
Um... now I've forgot who told me about all the great new sci-fi. I think it was boorite.

It was me, me, me. How could you forget ME?

Argghhh... sorry.
quote:
Anyway, I finished reading Burning Chrome, Necromancer,

Neuromancer.

ARGGHH... sorry.
quote:
What'd you make of "The Gernsback Continuum?"
I liked that idea... embodied nostalgia that was a cult-following and even embodied itself. Very cool. It's like the air of Crimson Skies... orient flying devices of the future in a time where it was dreamed that you would pilot your own chopper to work in a daily comute to avoid traffic.

Post #36745link

Brad
January 3, 2002 1:50 PM

I'm reading Eat The Rich by PJ O'Rourke and I was also reading Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut until I forgot my copy somewhere.

Post #36749link

kramer_vs_kramer
January 3, 2002 1:52 PM

I am reading "TV Go Home- A warning from History" from the website of the same name.

Post #36751link

KajunFirefly
January 3, 2002 4:48 PM

I mentioned that I had read a couple of Terry Pratchett books over the past year to my folks and I ended up getting a Discworld novel from EVERYONE, which, isn't bad going really, it just means I've got a hell of a lot of reading to do so that I can honestly say "oh yeah, I read the book you gave me, it was great!" and explain the story.

Post #36771link

DH-01
January 3, 2002 5:02 PM

Reading some Lustbader, a bit of Peirs Anthony, and lots of doujinshi.

Such is my life.

Post #36772link

bunnerabb
January 3, 2002 5:03 PM

quote:
I'm reading Eat The Rich by PJ O'Rourke and I was also reading Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut until I forgot my copy somewhere.

Now there is a man after my own heart. I recommend ANYTHING either of these men have ever written without reservation.

Post #36773link

NeoVid
January 3, 2002 6:30 PM

Right now, the New Foundation Trilogy, and some of the Wheel Of Time.

Also rereading my collection of the Savage Dragon series by Erik Larsen, and Alan Moore's Top Ten.

I just got done with Kurt Angle's autobiography, which wasn't bad, but didn't even try to be mind-blowingly funny like Mick Foley's books were.

Post #36786link

Brad
January 3, 2002 7:46 PM

quote:
I just got done with Kurt Angle's autobiography, which wasn't bad, but didn't even try to be mind-blowingly funny like Mick Foley's books were.
I got into wrestling a bunch of months ago and have been surprisingly entertained by it. I've been meaning to try and read some of those bios. I passed up buying The Rock's for $4 the other day though, so I don't know if it'll happen.

I'd buy an official Vince McMahon biography in a second, even though it would be all lies.

Post #36790link

Spankling
January 3, 2002 9:26 PM

Ball Four is one of the funniest sports books I've ever read.

Vonnegut is great stuff. I read 95% of his stuff laying on my stomach in the middle of a city park when I was young. People used to jump away when I would bust out laughing at bits.

As a kid I enjoyed Mark Twain the same way. If you missed his Joan of Arc, look it up.

Jaguars Ripped My Flesh by Tim Cahill is another great.

Anything by Tom Robbins - in particular Jitterbug Perfume.

Post #36794link

lara7
January 4, 2002 1:12 AM

quote:
I'm just starting on Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy, by Matt Ruff

good choice! never read Rand, but appreciated the skewering she gets none the less. Will probably start fool on the hill withing next few months.

New PJ O Rourke (CEO of the Sofa) is mediocre. wait for paperback.

Post #36821link

bunnerabb
January 4, 2002 4:16 AM

quote:
New PJ O Rourke (CEO of the Sofa) is mediocre. wait for paperback.

Yeah.... I got the hardcover for Christmas. It's... not up to snuff yet. Tell me it gets better. Please?

Post #36824link

kramer_vs_kramer
January 4, 2002 8:09 AM

quote:
Reading ... a bit of Peirs Anthony...
Such is my life.

I used to read him, but I always got a vague suspicion that he was a bit of a perv. Is it true he wrote a book of erotic fiction called "Pornucopia"?

Post #36841link

boorite
January 4, 2002 8:18 AM

No, it was Cornholecopia.

Post #36844link

kaufman
January 4, 2002 9:21 AM

quote:
No, it was Cornholecopia.
From the 339th Xanth Book:

quote:
Irwin looked across the Gap Chasm. He had forgotten it was even there. How would he ever get across? He looked back into the cornfield, past the holes where the stalks had been recently harvested, and saw something red glinting from within one of the corn holes. It was a magical sled!

"Now I'll be able to fly across the Chasm," shouted Irwin, yanking the sled from the hole and preparing to straddle it.

"STOP!" yelled Grundy Golem from within his pocket. "That's no ordinary sled. It's a toborgan!"


Post #36857link

boorite
January 4, 2002 9:46 AM

GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Post #36861link

Spankling
January 5, 2002 10:13 PM

From: http://www.sfsite.com/columns/geeks119.htm

quote:
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) recently sent a letter to all American Booksellers Association members. It began like this:

"Last week, President Bush signed into law an anti-terrorism bill that gives the federal government expanded authority to search your business records, including the titles of the books purchased by your customers. This letter contains our best legal judgment on what you should do if you are served with a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

"Under the new law, the director of the FBI may seek an order "for any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities." The request for such an order is made to a judge who sits in a special court that is sometimes called the "spy court." The judge makes his decision "ex parte," meaning there is no opportunity for you or your lawyer to object in court. You cannot object publicly either. The new law includes a gag order that prevents you from disclosing "to any other person" the fact that you have received an order to produce documents."

The letter goes on to outline what a bookseller rights are and what to do if they receive a subpoena. This law counters the first1 and sixth2 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.


Post #37141link

TheElPaso
January 5, 2002 10:17 PM

Guess I shouldn't have bought "How to Send Tons of Anthrax into Major American Cities" from Barnes and Noble the other day.

Post #37142link

JrnymnNate
January 5, 2002 10:38 PM

quote:
This law counters the first1 and sixth2 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
You bet your booty it does.

but whatever happened to debate about the second2 amendment?

Post #37146link

ladyjdotnet
January 5, 2002 10:46 PM

If this is true, welcome to the next McCarthy era.

Post #37151link

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