Stress On The Sky Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 1 hour ago, Sidney Crosley said: We Need to Talk About Kevin is a really, really good book, but also an extremely overwhelming one. It takes a little while to get going, and the second half is pretty hard to put down. I do not recommend Lionel Shriver's book Big Brother though. Imagine if the same narrator of Kevin really hated fat people... I'm enjoying it so far only about 70-80 pages in. I'm one of those guys who refuses to quit a book until I've finished it even if it's really dire so I'm sure I'll make it to the end. I doubt I'll get round to buying any of the authors other works as I work in a library and avoid spending money on books* where possible (*Exceptions made for Irvine Welsh). Still as someone who really is against the idea of having kids this is throwing up some scary ass parallels even from my male perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 6 minutes ago, Stress On The Sky said: Still as someone who really is against the idea of having kids this is throwing up some scary ass parallels even from my male perspective. It's definitely just as scary as a parent. That being said, I work in special education for elementary and secondary students, and we definitely try to be as proactive as possible with the most challenging students, and at least in Ontario, there are definitely supports in place for children and families with complex psychological needs. Stress On The Sky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stress On The Sky Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 1 minute ago, Sidney Crosley said: It's definitely just as scary as a parent. That being said, I work in special education for elementary and secondary students, and we definitely try to be as proactive as possible with the most challenging students, and at least in Ontario, there are definitely supports in place for children and families with complex psychological needs. Yeah I work in a college with quite a large contingent of students with complex psychological needs and very difficult living situations as we are in the second poorest borough of London. Dying alone and getting eaten by a selection of cats I will have accrued to fill the void seems legitimately less horrifying than being in charge of a humans life. Still more power to those who have the courage to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Just finished House of Leaves. It was pretty good. I didn't totally love it. I was talking to my brother about it, and he told me when he read it in University, it was really something special, but when he revisited it as he got older, it didn't resonate the same way. Maybe I might have felt differently about it if I was reading more academic texts or something. I really detested all of the Johnny Truant stuff - thought it was just so hokey and unengaging. I felt it was pretty pretentious as a whole (which I know is sort of the point), but if you don't fully buy in, it feels like it's trying really hard. Read (audiobooked) a few other books lately: You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice - Tom Vanderbilt - looks at how we choose what we choose in food, movies, music, culture, etc. and how the internet and rating systems have impacted it. Moderately interesting look at the cross-section of philosophy and pop culture. Didn't really come up with that many striking conclusions, and a bit dry, but makes some interesting points. Wise Men - Stuart Nadler - one of those bildungsromans about a father and son's tricky relationship. Not bad, though nothing earth-shattering. The Regional Office Is Under Attack! - Manuel Gonzales - at first I really couldn't get into it, but as I got further into it, I really enjoyed it. A bizarre and kind of unique approach to superhero/sci-fi; the book starts with an attack on the Regional Office, which specializes in training and hiring out well-trained female assassins, but also offers really high end travel for wealthy clients. One of the assassins decides to plot revenge on the office. Part of what's interesting is that the book starts at the attack on the office, and kind of explains the story while going through the climax of the story arc. Panorama City - Antoine Wilson - sort of decent book about a guy with a cognitive impairment beginning an experience of getting a job in a new city, moving away from his small town. It is sort of endearing, but just not nearly as good a book as others written from the point of view of someone with a specific cognitive need (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and the Rosie Project are just better books). Lucy - Laurence Gonzales - girl is half bonobo, an experiment by her father living in the Congo. When he gets killed, another researcher rescues her and brings her to America with her. Realizes there is something up with her. At first they try to hide her monkey-ness, but then when American politics gets involved.... In theory, an okay concept for sci-fi, but at times trite and cheesy - the republic senator who claims that 'hybrid humans are not human' is such a caricature that he would be more appropriate on South Park, yet this book reeks of self-seriousness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Reading Bolaño's 2666 this summer. Really enjoying it so far--still in part 1. TheGhostOfRandySavage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 2 minutes ago, batman said: Reading Bolaño's 2666 this summer. Really enjoying it so far--still in part 1. Top 5 books ever. Also, Delillos Zero K is extremely underwhelming. Pretty upset about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 2 minutes ago, batman said: Reading Bolaño's 2666 this summer. Really enjoying it so far--still in part 1. Top 5 books ever. Also, Delillos Zero K is extremely underwhelming. Pretty upset about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afireinside7444 Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 Nothing super brainy. Lord Of The Rings 50th anniversary leather bound edition (very nice) on the last 3 chapters, for some reason I never read them though I had old paperback copies when I was young, and was into D and D (along with many many novels that had been read Dragonlance in particular) The Hobbit 75th anniversary edition. Again never read it though I owned it. Reading it to my 5 year old during our 1+ hour nightly read sessions. Game of thrones I stopped for LOTR. And I want read the Harry Potter series again been about 6 years TheGhostOfRandySavage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecayToDeath Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Just finished The Kite Runner for one of my summer assignments. I quite liked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostOfRandySavage Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Finished off Norwegian Wood and the newest Saga tpb. On to Dance Dance Dance now and I was happy to be revisiting an old friend Sidney Crosley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Started Wottgenstein's Mistress by David Markson today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapeebs Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Finished the first one last week. Just bought Restaurant at the End of the Universe yesterday. Can't wait to start. Sidney Crosley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 4 hours ago, rooks said: Started Wottgenstein's Mistress by David Markson today. Let me know how that is. I've always been curious about Markson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadreckoning Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Just started The Girl With All the Gifts. Pretty good so far, especially considering the zombie thing has been done to death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 (edited) 12 hours ago, Sidney Crosley said: Let me know how that is. I've always been curious about Markson. Only 50 pages in, but I'm still interested. If you value plot over concept, definitely avoid. I tend to prefer books with no or almost completely obscured plots, so this part doesn't bother me. It's also written from the rambling perspective of a madwoman, who is well educated, or at least acts it. This is my biggest issue when I read things by authors who are sometimes too smart for their own good, I cannot read their ramblings on Roman and Greek mythology and world political figures and distinguish which is a joke, purposefully incorrect, or actually true. Luckily, after years of horribly experimental novels, I've learned to roll with those punches and just go for the ride. But, if you like to know what everything means immediately, you'll spend hours per page looking up names and places. No denying it's well written, here's hoping she doesn't sit in one place and ramble for the next 210 pages. I'm expecting some kind of slow dive developments that take place without you realizing it. Edited July 26, 2016 by rooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwokeinrelief Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 24 minutes ago, rooks said: No denying it's well written, here's hoping she doesn't sit in one place and ramble for the next 210 pages. I'm expecting some kind of slow dive developments that take place without you realizing it. Small developments, peripheral reveals caught out of the corner of the reader's eye, but what you've seen in the opening 50 pages is in large part what you'll experience for the rest of the novel. I quite enjoyed it when I read it years back, but I remember it not quite hitting the epiphany I kept expecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 9 minutes ago, iwokeinrelief said: Small developments, peripheral reveals caught out of the corner of the reader's eye, but what you've seen in the opening 50 pages is in large part what you'll experience for the rest of the novel. I quite enjoyed it when I read it years back, but I remember it not quite hitting the epiphany I kept expecting. I'm enjoying it but the copy I bought was used and didn't realize until I got home that the person who had read it before me had underlined phrases throughout. And they aren't even insightful lines they are like the most mundane bullshit I have no idea what the underliner was after and it's driving me more nuts than the narrator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwokeinrelief Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I obsessively flip through all used books that I buy for that very purpose. Especially since I buy a ton of experimental stuff; I hate coming across someone else's asinine notes and underlines. Let's be honest, for most of that stuff you're not going to be insightful until the second read, but everyone dives in like they're some genius who is going to crack the code by page 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman150 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I finished Heretics of Dune and am now on Chapterhouse: Dune. I absolutely hate them. The first four books in the Dune saga were amazing, God Emperor in particular. These two are just plain uninteresting. I want to finish the series but I'm not sure when I will since the new book in the Ender's Game universe called The Swarm comes out in next Tuesday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHOSTDRONES Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 15 minutes ago, joshman150 said: I finished Heretics of Dune and am now on Chapterhouse: Dune. I absolutely hate them. The first four books in the Dune saga were amazing, God Emperor in particular. These two are just plain uninteresting. I want to finish the series but I'm not sure when I will since the new book in the Ender's Game universe called The Swarm comes out in next Tuesday! Chapterhouse is technically the final one. TheGhostOfRandySavage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshman150 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 1 minute ago, GHOSTDRONES said: Chapterhouse is technically the final one. Yeah I'm not planning on reading any of his son's stuff. I just completely lost all intrest in the series from these two books. I am about 1/3 through Chapterhouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHOSTDRONES Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 11 minutes ago, joshman150 said: Yeah I'm not planning on reading any of his son's stuff. I just completely lost all intrest in the series from these two books. I am about 1/3 through Chapterhouse. Yeah his son's work in the series is at times infuriating, but I blame Kevin J Anderson, the co-author. joshman150 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clerk3745 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 This is off-topic but can anyone help me find a copy of "Star Wars: A New Dawn" on hardcover for a decent price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillhole Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Larry the Cable Guy "Git-R-Done" I shit you not, I was given this book maybe 10 years ago and due to my hatred of reading I just stashed it away. Well I found it and said fuck it and tossed it next to the shitter. Well lemme tell ya the next couple dozen shits had me borderline crying in laughter. First book I read willingly since I was like 12 and it was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 New Harry Potter. It was interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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