Book thread: Distractions welcome

captaink · March 2010

thorpe wrote: »

I've been thinking about picking up Guns Germs n Steel, but the impression I've got from a few folks is that it's kind of outdated/too general and basically a bit too "pop history." Is that accurate? If so, is there something better to pick up in the same vein?

I don't know why it would be outdated. It is fairly general, as he is trying to describe the major sweep of civilization from very early times. It is more of the "why" of history, not the how.

Ol' Sparky · March 2010

oh i would definitely classify it as pop history

he's not the first guy to try and answer the questions he poses

there are certainly plenty of critiques one could make about it but it's still worth reading if you don't want to jump into about twenty different academic disciplines

Fandyien · March 2010

Readin' Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium right now

It's actually pretty wonderful

suntanandnapalm · March 2010

captaink wrote: »

suntanandnapalm wrote: »

captaink wrote: »

I read too much fantasy. I need some nonfiction in my life. What are some good ones my library is likely to have? I added Charlie Wilson's War and Lost City of Z from the last page. Anything science, history, or both. I also have Freakonomics on deck at home, I like stuff like that, just generally interesting analytical or investigation stuff.

Check out Carl Sagan if you're interested in science.

I've read 1 or 2 of his, a long time ago. Demon-Haunted World (very good) and something else I can't remember.

Cosmos is the one most people have read.

Vann Diras · March 2010

suntanandnapalm wrote: »

captaink wrote: »

suntanandnapalm wrote: »

captaink wrote: »

I read too much fantasy. I need some nonfiction in my life. What are some good ones my library is likely to have? I added Charlie Wilson's War and Lost City of Z from the last page. Anything science, history, or both. I also have Freakonomics on deck at home, I like stuff like that, just generally interesting analytical or investigation stuff.

Check out Carl Sagan if you're interested in science.

I've read 1 or 2 of his, a long time ago. Demon-Haunted World (very good) and something else I can't remember.

Cosmos is the one most people have read.

hmmmmmm I think I am going to check out my half price books for some Sagan, I've been meaning to read Cosmos or Pale Blue Dot for awhile now

Peen · March 2010

Dresden haters, tune out.

Dresden lovers rejoice, for I have just purloined my library's copy of Changes and will probably have it read by Saturday. I'm just so happy.

For any publishers reading, I'm definitely not breaking the street date because it's not available to the public yet. Only to me.

Quoth · March 2010

i am punching you with my mind

Peen · March 2010

Lucky for me that this shield of joy is thick enough to cushion the blows.

Tam · March 2010

I just read A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. Has anyone else read it? Is this an argument to seek salvation through Jesus because someone can destroy the life you've constructed for yourself on a whim?

Quoth · March 2010

Jim Butcher on Twitter wrote:

Sorcerer's Apprentice: http://bit.ly/bGjuft Harry Dresden: http://bit.ly/duYRpS Just sayin.

Peen · March 2010

HAHAHAHA, Nick Cage looks rigoddamndiculous. I've never actually written that out, I don't think I like it.

Anyway. Butcher shouldn't be too mad, that's the same look from the Van Helsing movie Hugh Jackman was in. Jackman could pull it off though.

Quoth · March 2010

Sorcerer's Apprentice: http://bit.ly/d0KI5c Harry Dresden: http://bit.ly/cYLOwI Just sayin.

Quoth · March 2010

i haven't seen the trailer yet, i suppose i should

lostwords · March 2010

Need to catch up on my book readings. Currently reading Alice i Have Been by Melanie Benjamin. Looks promising!

Peter Ebel · March 2010

Read Outer Dark by McCarthy.

It was good.

seizureorbs · March 2010

Peter Ebel wrote: »

Read Outer Dark by McCarthy.

It was good.

I need to read this

it's the last mccarthy book I haven't read

Platypus Beirut · March 2010

thorpe wrote: »

I've been thinking about picking up Guns Germs n Steel, but the impression I've got from a few folks is that it's kind of outdated/too general and basically a bit too "pop history." Is that accurate? If so, is there something better to pick up in the same vein?

It's definitively on the "pop history" side. He greatly simplifies historical processes and ignores examples which run counter to his arguments. But it's well written and worth reading, as long as you keep in mind that it's just a theory.

Ol' Sparky · March 2010

so I'm most of the way through Inherent Vice

and I'm telling you, if you like noir and humor, you'll really get a kick out of this book

i can now also say "I'm reading Thomas Pynchon" all snooty-like

Iolo · April 2010

Ol' Sparky wrote: »

so I'm most of the way through Inherent Vice

and I'm telling you, if you like cunnilingus, you'll really get a kick out of this book

i can now also say "I'm reading Thomas Pynchon" all snooty-like

seizureorbs · April 2010

at the moment though I'm reading the sound and the fury, which will be followed by as I lay dying because they're in the same volume

reading about a retarded dude has never been more confusing.

Didgeridoo · April 2010

Just finished Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion. Very compelling book, and a fast read.

Also made me want to die a little bit, it is so very depressing.

redhead · April 2010

i loved the sound and the fury

i should reread it immediately

captaink · April 2010

It's a great book but man, reading a retarded narrator the most difficult thing ever.

Ol' Sparky · April 2010

Iolo wrote: »

Ol' Sparky wrote: »

so I'm most of the way through Inherent Vice

and I'm telling you, if you like cunnilingus, you'll really get a kick out of this book

i can now also say "I'm reading Thomas Pynchon" all snooty-like

this is true

also if you have any fetishes about 'manson chicks'

Centipede Damascus · April 2010

Quoth wrote: »

Sorcerer's Apprentice: http://bit.ly/d0KI5c Harry Dresden: http://bit.ly/cYLOwI Just sayin.

that's awesome

hey, I just had an idea

Harry Dresden/John Constantine meet in a bar somewhere

there's a writing prompt for you

Balefuego · April 2010

If I was Jim Butcher I would not be going out of my way to point out similarities between my work and that movie

AMP'd · April 2010

Stuff I have read over spring break: Les Miserables, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Stuff I have left to read: A Confederacy of Dunces

Penguin Incarnate · April 2010

Balefuego wrote: »

If I was Jim Butcher I would not be going out of my way to point out similarities between my work and that movie

I think it might be a joke.

Just thinking out loud here.

George Fornby Grill · April 2010

So I picked up House of Leaves a couple weeks ago, inching my way through it when I can, which, sadly is usually between the hours of 12 and 3 in the morning.
The more I do this the more irrationally paranoid and edgy I feel, and I can't sleep.
I'm liking this book.

Bloods End · April 2010

Penguin Incarnate wrote: »

Balefuego wrote: »

If I was Jim Butcher I would not be going out of my way to point out similarities between my work and that movie

I think it might be a joke.

Just thinking out loud here.

Cage is a huge fan of Butcher. He produced the Dresden Files TV show.

Antimatter · April 2010

http://sky1.sky.com/going-postal-about
oh hey, Going Postal trailer

seizureorbs · April 2010

captaink wrote: »

It's a great book but man, reading a retarded narrator the most difficult thing ever.

not that quentin's chapter is any less confusing so far

Peen · April 2010

When Changes comes out Tuesday? one of you needs to go buy it ASAP because we need to talk about some things. I'm dying to discuss here.

celandine · April 2010

seizureorbs wrote: »

captaink wrote: »

It's a great book but man, reading a retarded narrator the most difficult thing ever.

not that quentin's chapter is any less confusing so far

My college roommate is weirdly like Quentin's roommate.

Do all neurotics gravitate towards rosy-cheeked, hearty friends who are either Canadian or frequently mistaken for Canadian?

Ivar · April 2010

How do you get mistaken for Canadian? Do you talk about hockey and poutine, eh?

Davoid · April 2010

There some Faulkner kicking in here?

Penguin Incarnate · April 2010

A dream of mine is to go into a Faulkner class on campus and then the second the teacher says, "Faulkner," I scream "Faulkner, I barely know her!" And then run out of the class.

Davoid · April 2010

ah ha ha ha ha ha

celandine · April 2010

Ivar wrote: »

How do you get mistaken for Canadian? Do you talk about hockey and poutine, eh?

She's very cheerful, rosy-cheeked, respectful of authority, and liberal. When she goes to foreign countries nobody believes she's American despite her protestations.

Artreus · April 2010

I finally had a chance to make it into the used/rare book store here. I thought it was mostly a rare book store but it is actually mostly used with a few rare books. It was neat and I wish I had money and more time to look around in there. There was an amazing book on the Korean war that I would have grabbed if it hadn't been $50. Also some books that were locked away in a display case because they were old enough to be semi-falling apart.

Penny Arcade

Book thread: Distractions welcome

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