[bagwell359]

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by Garner: really cute and sometimes LOLF

On Tyranny by Snyder: Practical resistance to political tyranny

 

[Author]

 

[DLeeWebb]

​

 

[Author]

I knew it was going to be great. Had about a hundred pages to go. Wanted to follow up and describe this book. Its special sauce.

Sounds a bit like a science fiction book title. Kind of looks like a science fiction book cover. And I love science fiction. This is not that.

This is a book about gamer creatives with very personal connections. Sensitives. Introverts. Love, platonically, and not. Dysfunction. Grief. Sexism. Sadism, arguably self-inflicted, so perhaps masochism would be a more apt description. Mistakes of all kinds. Told very plainly but artfully so. The characterization is top notch, and the game development backdrop deepens, enriches that characterization.

This book perhaps has no truly compelling elevator pitch. But the sum of its parts add up to so much.

 

[summerz]

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. One of my goals in 2021 is to branch out and read more classics, which is why I'm starting the year off by reading The Brothers Karamazov

 

[Alror]

Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky
The Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau

 

[miketlse]

Just started reading this book,

https://www.whiterabbitbooks.co.uk/titles/jude-rogers/the-sound-of-being-human/9781474622950/

And this book is somewhere in transit,

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/308790/eminent-hipsters-by-donald-fagen/

 

[steve9019]

 

[Fírnen]

This thread was started when I was 12 years old, Jesus. I didn't really get into reading books until middle school, at 13 years old. Am I too young for this site? Joking, of course. Wonder of OP is still watching the thread. Skimmed the thread, lots of people lamenting the lack of interest younger generations have in reading. I can tell you a few good reasons why very few people my age read books:

1. Negative reinforcement in the education system. The "classics" like Huckleberry Finn are classics for a reason. However, most people do not enjoy patronizing, pointless, surface-level exercises (where if you disagree with the teacher they just lower your grade), much less discussing a book they probably did not enjoy. Even as an avid reader I found English class assigned readings barely tolerable, and they were only tolerable because the novels themselves were usually short. I guess to sum it up, public schooling is appallingly bad. Limited exceptions, there were a few teachers I remember fondly.
2. Low literacy. The average high schooler is shockingly bad at reading and writing. Even now, in college, if there is a group project, I am often shocked at how poor some people are at stringing together coherent sentences. Seriously, even college kids can be ridiculously bad at writing.
3. Low exposure. Chances are that my taste in books is not the same as yours. To even have a chance at getting interested in reading, you would have to come across a book you actually enjoyed. I had plenty of opportunities to read, and I was actually forced to read from the start of fifth grade all the way to the end of sixth grade, at least 1 hour per weekday. It did not matter what I read, so long as I was reading. We had a modest library, with a good spread of books to choose from; enough to offer something to pretty much any reading level.
4. Last but not least, grammar. For my fifth and sixth grade years, I was home schooled by my own mother. She was extremely thorough when it came to writing and grammar. There were seven or eight entire textbooks, and we only made it through the first two. I have forgotten more rules of grammar than any child in the public education system has ever been taught in the first place.

My mother, during the two years I was home schooled, learned with us. When it was time to read for an hour, she sat down and read her own book with us. When it was time to learn algebra, she had already made sure she understood how to do it before teaching it to me and my brothers. I suppose the fifth and final reason would be poor parenting, at least as it relates to education. She even made sure we knew how to type properly, something almost nobody in my office can do. I played a lot of video games early on, and one of them was Runescape; I learned to type quickly thanks to that game, and I learned to type correctly during homeschooling.

Also, on a less heartwarming note: avid reading is great for improving literacy, not so great for when you need to get work done. In high school, as long as I was reading a book nobody really cared to keep me on task. The opposite was true for having a phone/iPod out; pretty much immediately you would be told to put it away. In my eyes, both are just a way to waste time. I'd argue that in my case, books were even worse than a phone; if I was really into a book that thing would be out at all hours of the day, long into the night, during class, sometimes even when walking between classes. Nothing on my phone ever captivates me like that. Sometimes even good habits are used as distractions, especially if there are events in your life worth being distracted from.

Anyways, here's the on-topic post:
I love fiction novels, pretty much any flavor as long as it's well written and interesting. Like I said, once I start, I can hardly put it down...

Recently I have been re-reading a bunch of novels that I haven't touched since high school.
A few highlights below (also favorites of mine):

"Bartimaeus" trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud
The "Eragon" series (I think it's officially called "The Inheritance Cycle)"), by Christopher Paolini
"Septimus Heap" series, by Angie Sage
"The Keys to the Kingdom" series, by Garth Nix
"The Kingkiller Chronicles", series, by Patrick Rothfuss (where's that third book dammit lol)
"The Tapestry", series, by Henry H. Neff

Currently trying to find a NEW book to read. It would probably be good for me to just get a library card already, lol. Been reading on my phone, and most of the recommended stuff just isn't my taste or I already read it. Any good suggestions like the above would be appreciated!

 

[Chris Kaoss]

This thread was started when I was 12 years old, Jesus. I didn't really get into reading books until middle school, at 13 years old. Am I too young for this site? Joking, of course. Wonder of OP is still watching the thread. Skimmed the thread, lots of people lamenting the lack of interest younger generations have in reading. I can tell you a few good reasons why very few people my age read books:

1. Negative reinforcement in the education system. The "classics" like Huckleberry Finn are classics for a reason. However, most people do not enjoy patronizing, pointless, surface-level exercises (where if you disagree with the teacher they just lower your grade), much less discussing a book they probably did not enjoy. Even as an avid reader I found English class assigned readings barely tolerable, and they were only tolerable because the novels themselves were usually short. I guess to sum it up, public schooling is appallingly bad. Limited exceptions, there were a few teachers I remember fondly.
2. Low literacy. The average high schooler is shockingly bad at reading and writing. Even now, in college, if there is a group project, I am often shocked at how poor some people are at stringing together coherent sentences. Seriously, even college kids can be ridiculously bad at writing.
3. Low exposure. Chances are that my taste in books is not the same as yours. To even have a chance at getting interested in reading, you would have to come across a book you actually enjoyed. I had plenty of opportunities to read, and I was actually forced to read from the start of fifth grade all the way to the end of sixth grade, at least 1 hour per weekday. It did not matter what I read, so long as I was reading. We had a modest library, with a good spread of books to choose from; enough to offer something to pretty much any reading level.
4. Last but not least, grammar. For my fifth and sixth grade years, I was home schooled by my own mother. She was extremely thorough when it came to writing and grammar. There were seven or eight entire textbooks, and we only made it through the first two. I have forgotten more rules of grammar than any child in the public education system has ever been taught in the first place.

My mother, during the two years I was home schooled, learned with us. When it was time to read for an hour, she sat down and read her own book with us. When it was time to learn algebra, she had already made sure she understood how to do it before teaching it to me and my brothers. I suppose the fifth and final reason would be poor parenting, at least as it relates to education. She even made sure we knew how to type properly, something almost nobody in my office can do. I played a lot of video games early on, and one of them was Runescape; I learned to type quickly thanks to that game, and I learned to type correctly during homeschooling.

Also, on a less heartwarming note: avid reading is great for improving literacy, not so great for when you need to get work done. In high school, as long as I was reading a book nobody really cared to keep me on task. The opposite was true for having a phone/iPod out; pretty much immediately you would be told to put it away. In my eyes, both are just a way to waste time. I'd argue that in my case, books were even worse than a phone; if I was really into a book that thing would be out at all hours of the day, long into the night, during class, sometimes even when walking between classes. Nothing on my phone ever captivates me like that. Sometimes even good habits are used as distractions, especially if there are events in your life worth being distracted from.

Anyways, here's the on-topic post:
I love fiction novels, pretty much any flavor as long as it's well written and interesting. Like I said, once I start, I can hardly put it down...

Recently I have been re-reading a bunch of novels that I haven't touched since high school.
A few highlights below (also favorites of mine):

"Bartimaeus" trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud
The "Eragon" series (I think it's officially called "The Inheritance Cycle)"), by Christopher Paolini
"Septimus Heap" series, by Angie Sage
"The Keys to the Kingdom" series, by Garth Nix
"The Kingkiller Chronicles", series, by Patrick Rothfuss (where's that third book dammit lol)
"The Tapestry", series, by Henry H. Neff

Currently trying to find a NEW book to read. It would probably be good for me to just get a library card already, lol. Been reading on my phone, and most of the recommended stuff just isn't my taste or I already read it. Any good suggestions like the above would be appreciated!

I wholeheartedly agree.

Based on your list, there're a few writers I know will fit in.

Trudi Canavan
Licia Troisi
Richard Schwartz
Joe Abercrombie

To name a few.
Maybe you'll find some new "distractions" in their staple.

 

[bagwell359]

The Bell by Iris Murdoch

 

[David222]

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

 

[dlelikov]

 

[bagwell359]

In the Court of King Crimson by Sid Smith

3rd of the way through. If you are fan, recommended, also bits about Greg Lake, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins (whom John Wetton said was better than Brudford!), and lots of details on the UK scene.

Next book: The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts

 

[dougms3]

Jaws : The Story of a Hidden Epidemic