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General Zone => The Lounge => Topic started by: kops on November 04, 2021, 14:32

Title: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 04, 2021, 14:32
Anyone else read too much?

Some recommendations from recently read books:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz
Thr trials of a misfit kid in America set against the backdrop of a dictatorship in the Dominican Republic

Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
Epic. History, Maths, Poetry, Crytography, Near future scifi.

Rabbits, Terry Miles
Crazy book.  Dan Brown vs Matrix

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, Richard Feynman
Memories and stories from the physicist - funny and eccentric.

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
Scifi, Language, Engineering. Great fun.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob), Denis E. Taylor
Artificial Intelligence, funny as hell, lots of 80s and 90s references.

The Undead Series, RR Haywood.
Best zombie books ever.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: tirofijo!! on November 04, 2021, 14:57
i liked to read literature, last book i read was "devil on the cross" from master Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, but now im in thesis mode soo is all reading scientific papers and things like that... to resume it, this is the short list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQz1FoOXNOc
:( :) :( :)
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 04, 2021, 15:10
Love KRS-One!   Edutainment was one of the first albums I ever bought.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: tirofijo!! on November 04, 2021, 15:27
is the MASTER! really love it too, i got the bdp album "by all means necessary" in vinyl last year, hope to get all the others some day, but he keeps making albums soo its impossible XD
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: wife on November 04, 2021, 20:31
Rabbits is a nutty book for sure!

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Novel about Chiyo, a girl sold into the Geisha trade in 1920s Japan.

In the Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami
Story about a nightlife tour guide who begins to suspect his guest is a serial killer.

In Order To Live - Yeonmi Park
Autobiography of a North Korean defector.

Maus - Art Spiegelman
Graphic novel about the holocaust.

Father Ted Scripts - Arthur Mathews & Graham Linehan
Annotated draft scripts for the Father Ted TV series.

My Tiny Life - Julian Dibbel
Sociological discourse on virtual reality mediated relations.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: Stealer on November 04, 2021, 22:02
I used to read quite a lot, only problem I have is if I've had a drink - I end up reading the same page a few times and completely forget what I read.

I've read all Terry Pratchett books (all the discworld anyway). Think men at arms or guards guards was my favourite.

The Amtrack Wars by Patrick Tilley is a really good bunch of sci fi books - read them when I was a young teen and still have fond memories of them.

I read a couple of dan Brown books, they were quite a compelling page turner.

Ian Rankin - the Rebus series is very good.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton was very good.

Time Machine by HG Wells was pretty cool too.

I've read a few Andy McNab books, they are quite funny (it's like Topsy and Tim do SAS) his literacy skills are on a similar level.

I've been meaning to read some KRS-1 books. Saw him live in Penzance, Cornwall many years ago - he gave me a shout out on the mic for doing the robot dance on the floor. Big guy he seemed about 6 foot 4 or larger; I didn't want to annoy him!
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 04, 2021, 22:04
Maus is superb. Have you read Persepolis? That Murakami book looks good, I liked Norwegian Wood.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 04, 2021, 22:08
Quote from: Stealer on November 04, 2021, 22:02

I've read all Terry Pratchett books (all the discworld anyway). Think men at arms or guards guards was my favourite.

Terry pratchett can do no wrong. Very fond memories of those books. I'm just starting my older kid on The Colour of Magic but it's not as compelling as I remember. Might skip to a later one.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: Piglet on November 04, 2021, 22:36
Start with The Wee Free Men Kops. That's right for this age group.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/96852-discworld---tiffany-aching
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: wife on November 04, 2021, 23:05
Quote from: kops on November 04, 2021, 22:04
Maus is superb. Have you read Persepolis? That Murakami book looks good, I liked Norwegian Wood.

Ahh yes Persopolis is great, I liked the first one the most. And you can't go wrong with Murakami!

As for Terry Pratchett, my favourites are Reaper Man and (if it's Christmas time) Hogfather :D
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: Stealer on November 04, 2021, 23:32
Quote from: kops on November 04, 2021, 22:08
Terry pratchett can do no wrong. Very fond memories of those books. I'm just starting my older kid on The Colour of Magic but it's not as compelling as I remember. Might skip to a later one.
Mort was a better concept I feel. Or anything with the witches (Granny weatherwax etc). Think Pratchett was just toying with his newly created conceptual world on colour of magic, was a good book though, from what I recall.
I read all of Roald Dahls (BFG etc) books when I was a kid too, I suppose they kind of got me into reading: might help?
Used to love 2000AD comics, I guess comics are a dying industry with soo much technology available :(

What age range are we talking about? Just trying to help ya Kopsicle  8)
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 05, 2021, 09:13
Quote from: Piglet on November 04, 2021, 22:36
Start with The Wee Free Men Kops. That's right for this age group.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/96852-discworld---tiffany-aching

Yes, he loved that one, thank you! I bought it a year or so back when you recommended it.

Quote from: Stealer on November 04, 2021, 23:32
What age range are we talking about? Just trying to help ya Kopsicle  8)

He's 12.  Recent books he's enjoyed are Project Hail Mary, The Martian, and a little curiously Sophie's World although I'm not sure how much he understood of that one.
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: Piglet on November 05, 2021, 12:22
Quote from: kops on November 05, 2021, 09:13
Yes, he loved that one, thank you! I bought it a year or so back when you recommended it.

There are more in the series. I think they get better.

While too slow for children, this series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/40807-foreigner) is utterly brilliant. The concept is of a problem with a human colony spaceship causing them to get lost and limping to a planet....where the locals are at the steam age. Humans "invade" and nearly get wiped out.

What is so good about this series is the way that humans are the aliens, and the locals relate to each other very differently to how humans do.

It's the only series I have every book. I re-read the lot each time a new book in the series comes out. I've put the latest to one side un-read....saving it....

Just be warned, the first half of the first book is the background....set 100 years before the rest of the story. Don't get too attached to any character in that first half a book. They die of old age in one turn of a page.....
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: kops on November 05, 2021, 12:36
Nice! have grabbed the first 2 to read, thanks.

Have grabbed the first in the Amtrack Wars series and In The Miso Soup, cheers :)
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: tirofijo!! on November 05, 2021, 15:59
ohhh nice graphic novels are being talked here!! im not too much into them, but i like battle angel alita manga cause a friend give me a disc with pdf of it back then in the 2006, i think it is good for 12 years old children, got me really with the sci fi punk holocaustic future, movie is really bad in comparison... like always with books and adaptations XD
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: zeus on November 05, 2021, 18:59
A MUST READ

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Olympus-Menelaos-Stephanides/dp/9604250582/ (https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Olympus-Menelaos-Stephanides/dp/9604250582/)
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: The_Cowboy on November 06, 2021, 01:45
Quote from: zeus on November 05, 2021, 18:59
A MUST READ

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Olympus-Menelaos-Stephanides/dp/9604250582/ (https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Olympus-Menelaos-Stephanides/dp/9604250582/)

Doth mother knoweth uncertainty loometh over kids' future!?
Title: Re: The Book Thread
Post by: Gil-galad on December 22, 2021, 15:04
I'm currently going through a serie called The Murderbot Diaries (http://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Murderbot_Diaries).

Quite nice if you like sf, I recommend.