Books you're currently reading??? - Page 111

DanaC · 01-17-2010, 12:30 PM

What is it she doesn't like about us?

Trilby · 01-17-2010, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanaC

What is it she doesn't like about us?

so far I think she;s making observations that are pretty broad - even stereotyping. I'm not all the way thru the book yet - but stuff that could be said about ANY culture, reeally. She's going on about teams (cricket?) or stag parties getting drunk. Well, yeah. Duh. she talks about the booze culture in the UK- and with exactly NO first hand experience of the UK booze cx, all I can say is that it sounds a hell of a lot like the booze culture over here.

DanaC · 01-17-2010, 03:35 PM

Ahhh. To be fair our booze culture is a little over the top. *grins* the government tried to do away with the whole 'last orders' melee in towns and bring about a little inner city and towncentre, nightlife revival by changing the licensing laws. instead of having all the pubs shutting at 11 o'clock, they extended the opening hours and allowed late licences, and 'all day drinking' (previously, there was a limit on licensing hours so that you could drink for a while during the day and then all the pubs closed until evening then opened again and shut at 11pm). The basic idea was that we'd end up with a less hysterical approach to alcohol consumption....maybe even foster a kind of European style pavement bar culture....

Bless. How naive. We are not French. We have a different relationship with alcohol than the French do. Giving us an extended number of hours in which to consume alcohol will not make us French. It just allows us to drink more :P

wolf · 01-17-2010, 04:13 PM

The Secret of Shambhala - James Redfield
Heart of the Christos - Barbara Hand Clow

Both recommendations from my boyfriend.

Id be interested to know if richlevy or his wife has read Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, since the main character/storyteller is an autistic teen. The writing seem "authentic" to me.

monster · 01-17-2010, 07:13 PM

Dana, read it.

I started out laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes, but after a while all I could think of is that she really doesn't like "us". She's very obserative and very accurate in the main, rarely unfair, but somehow as the book progressed, I felt an overwhelming disapproval/superiority thing creeping in until it got to the point that it spoiled the fun and I stopped reading.

wolf · 01-30-2010, 12:25 PM

The Power of Female Friendship - Paul Dobransky, M.D.
Funny that a book on Female Friendships should end up written by a male psychiatrist ... not bad, but he gets really hung up on his little charts and graphs, many of which are repeated over and over again through the book. Increases the page-count, though. It was a Christmas gift from a girlfriend.

The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson
Book 2 of the "Millennium Trilogy." Better than the first one, more consistent. Makes it more clear that it's a shame that Larsson turned in the three manuscripts to his publisher and died. Wonder what else was in there. Can't wait for #3, supposed to be published in America in May 2010.

Devil Bones - Kathy Reichs
Saw it in the supermarket months ago, didn't want to pay $8 for it, know a nurse at work who reads all of her books, borrowed it. Meh. Offered canned description of Wicca straight off every teenwitch website on the internet, and a plot that started well, confused itself around a couple of corners, and ended badly.

SamIam · 01-30-2010, 02:15 PM

The Girl Who Played with Fire - an excellent read. The author's sad fate is a warning to all of us smokers - especially the ones who do not exercise.

wolf · 01-31-2010, 10:57 AM

The Kindle makes me do strange things.

It gives me books for free that I would never have read otherwise.

I just finished an Amish Romance Novel.

Now, as much as I like and am fascinated by the Amish, I am not one for romance novels.

My favorite authors are Andrew Vachss and Harlan Ellison. No touchy-feely-nicey-nice in either of them.

But I read this because it was free:

The Shunning - Beverly Lewis

And I was curious. I plead temporary insanity.

That must be it.

Griff · 01-31-2010, 11:22 AM

We should maybe start a thread on cheap/good books on Kindle. After reading The Hedge Knight in a collected works book, I've taken a flyer on the <$2 George RR Martin A Game of Thrones.

Tao Zero by Poul Anderson was a nice cheapy as well.

wolf · 01-31-2010, 06:35 PM

I regularly check the Kindle Bestsellers, that's where I find a lot of the freebies.

Clodfobble · 02-07-2010, 09:56 PM

I've been listening to Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Nivens (and Jerry Pournelle, but who the hell's ever heard of him?) on audiobook. Classic post-apocalyptic before the post-apocalyptic thing was overdone. Very entertaining so far, and it's aged just fine--you only get the barest hints that it was written in the 70s, mostly when monetary amounts are mentioned (like a "couple hundred bucks" being "about a week's pay"...)

A side note for LJ: I find the male voiceactor's female voices to be extremely irritating. Is it just me, or do guys find guys-doing-female-voices to be annoying too?

lumberjim · 02-07-2010, 10:07 PM

I read that one with my eyes, and enjoyed it.

as far as male/female voices go, i usually get used to it as long as they are consistent. I'm reading WarBreaker by Brandon Sanderson.....narrated by James Yamagashi...... Who I assume is Irish....... and he does the one character(Lightsong) in such an annoying voice that I hate the fucking character.....and it seems lke this character is going to be one of the main good guys by the end of the book.

wolf · 02-07-2010, 10:21 PM

Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
Same guy who wrote Devil in the White City, which I loved. This was somewhat better than merely okay, but not spectacularly good. Once again he tells two parallel stories, but the joining of Marconi's wireless experiments and Crippen's murder of his wife seems forced, where HH Holmes and the Chicago Exposition played out against each other much more smoothly.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe - C.S. Lewis
Just take it as a given that I'm reading the whole set, even if I forget to update posts here. I watched Prince Caspian yesterday, and was inspired to start the books again. AND I'm reading them in the RIGHT order (publication, not storyline presence).

DanaC · 02-08-2010, 05:51 AM

I'm listening to my l;atest Audible purchase: Whiteout by Ken Follett. It's really rather good!

Gravdigr · 02-08-2010, 06:02 AM

Just finished Richard Marcinko/Jim DeFelice's "Rogue Warrior: Dictator's Ransom".

01-17-2010, 04:13 PM	#4
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	The Secret of Shambhala - James Redfield Heart of the Christos - Barbara Hand Clow Both recommendations from my boyfriend. Id be interested to know if richlevy or his wife has read Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, since the main character/storyteller is an autistic teen. The writing seem "authentic" to me. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-17-2010, 07:13 PM	#5
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Dana, read it. I started out laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes, but after a while all I could think of is that she really doesn't like "us". She's very obserative and very accurate in the main, rarely unfair, but somehow as the book progressed, I felt an overwhelming disapproval/superiority thing creeping in until it got to the point that it spoiled the fun and I stopped reading. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

01-30-2010, 12:25 PM	#6
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	The Power of Female Friendship - Paul Dobransky, M.D. Funny that a book on Female Friendships should end up written by a male psychiatrist ... not bad, but he gets really hung up on his little charts and graphs, many of which are repeated over and over again through the book. Increases the page-count, though. It was a Christmas gift from a girlfriend. The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson Book 2 of the "Millennium Trilogy." Better than the first one, more consistent. Makes it more clear that it's a shame that Larsson turned in the three manuscripts to his publisher and died. Wonder what else was in there. Can't wait for #3, supposed to be published in America in May 2010. Devil Bones - Kathy Reichs Saw it in the supermarket months ago, didn't want to pay $8 for it, know a nurse at work who reads all of her books, borrowed it. Meh. Offered canned description of Wicca straight off every teenwitch website on the internet, and a plot that started well, confused itself around a couple of corners, and ended badly. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-31-2010, 10:57 AM	#8
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	The Kindle makes me do strange things. It gives me books for free that I would never have read otherwise. I just finished an Amish Romance Novel. Now, as much as I like and am fascinated by the Amish, I am not one for romance novels. My favorite authors are Andrew Vachss and Harlan Ellison. No touchy-feely-nicey-nice in either of them. But I read this because it was free: The Shunning - Beverly Lewis And I was curious. I plead temporary insanity. That must be it. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-31-2010, 11:22 AM	#9
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	We should maybe start a thread on cheap/good books on Kindle. After reading The Hedge Knight in a collected works book, I've taken a flyer on the <$2 George RR Martin A Game of Thrones. Tao Zero by Poul Anderson was a nice cheapy as well. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

01-30-2010, 02:15 PM	#7
SamIam Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Not here Posts: 2,655	The Girl Who Played with Fire - an excellent read. The author's sad fate is a warning to all of us smokers - especially the ones who do not exercise.

01-31-2010, 06:35 PM	#10
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I regularly check the Kindle Bestsellers, that's where I find a lot of the freebies. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-07-2010, 09:56 PM	#11
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I've been listening to Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Nivens (and Jerry Pournelle, but who the hell's ever heard of him?) on audiobook. Classic post-apocalyptic before the post-apocalyptic thing was overdone. Very entertaining so far, and it's aged just fine--you only get the barest hints that it was written in the 70s, mostly when monetary amounts are mentioned (like a "couple hundred bucks" being "about a week's pay"...) A side note for LJ: I find the male voiceactor's female voices to be extremely irritating. Is it just me, or do guys find guys-doing-female-voices to be annoying too? __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

02-07-2010, 10:07 PM	#12
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	I read that one with my eyes, and enjoyed it. as far as male/female voices go, i usually get used to it as long as they are consistent. I'm reading WarBreaker by Brandon Sanderson.....narrated by James Yamagashi...... Who I assume is Irish....... and he does the one character(Lightsong) in such an annoying voice that I hate the fucking character.....and it seems lke this character is going to be one of the main good guys by the end of the book. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

02-07-2010, 10:21 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Thunderstruck - Erik Larson Same guy who wrote Devil in the White City, which I loved. This was somewhat better than merely okay, but not spectacularly good. Once again he tells two parallel stories, but the joining of Marconi's wireless experiments and Crippen's murder of his wife seems forced, where HH Holmes and the Chicago Exposition played out against each other much more smoothly. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe - C.S. Lewis Just take it as a given that I'm reading the whole set, even if I forget to update posts here. I watched Prince Caspian yesterday, and was inspired to start the books again. AND I'm reading them in the RIGHT order (publication, not storyline presence). __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-08-2010, 06:02 AM	#15
Gravdigr The Un-Tuckian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Central...KY that is Posts: 39,517	Just finished Richard Marcinko/Jim DeFelice's "Rogue Warrior: Dictator's Ransom". __________________ These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.

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