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Journal buffer-overflowed's Journal: Warning: Community Involvement required. Onus on you! 16

Journal by buffer-overflowed

I had an idea, which, like most ideas I have(and things I write) will probably be filed in the drawer of eternal aging, never to be viewed again.

But hey, thought I'd toss it out there anyway.

So, I was at the bookstore the other day, one of those chain places simply because the one remaining mom and pop shop has killed their atmosphere(it feels like starbucks now, it used to have this nifty beatnik type vibe going, but it's lost that so they could put in more cheap pink counterspace to serve more overpriced coffee[Starbucks shall come like a horseman of the apocalypse and slay them soon enough]) and was closed anyway. I was looking for something good to read. Being as how I don't read books so much as consume them, this was a difficult task. I ended up just picking up new copies of books I'd loaned out or were beat up and packed up, AKA the safe bet.

These were, for those who care, Stephen King's The Dark Tower Series Books 1-4(I hated King until I read these), and Sartre's "Being and Nothingness: A phenomenological essay on ontology."

I'm on the last Dark Tower book already(this was only 2 days ago) and about 40 pages into Being and Nothingness(which I'm reading far slower).

Anyway, back to the meat, the topic, the whatsit, the subject, the [insert something here] of this JE.

I forgot how hard it is to discover new, good books without a supporting group or class requirement. So, on the way home, I thought to meself. Self, there sure be a lot o' smart folks on /. who like to read, perhaps they'd like to start a bookclub or something. Read book then discuss. I dunno, it beats the political junk I write.

Then I remembered I probably wouldn't keep up with it(organizing and stuff), especially not with how hectic things are going to get here very, very soon.

Anyway, just thought I'd put that out there.

Oh and this is sorta related, but if you like fiction/fantasy/sci-fi and haven't read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Unbeliever. You should. Excellent, excellent series.

Update: I cross posted this to Orkut. I think I might have found a possible use for it besides gaming for hearts/cubes/smileys, trolling for opposite gender and political spam.

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Warning: Community Involvement required. Onus on you! More

Warning: Community Involvement required. Onus on you!

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  • I just finished reading Weis and Hickman's Death Gate Cycle, and am now reading Clavelle's Asian Saga. My bookshelf (well, actually, my box of books now) also has Pratchett (Discworld), Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, as if you didn't know), Sun Tzu (Art of War), and Musashi (Book of Five Rings), as well as the big category "other".

    You could try picking up a fiction magazine. You can get a sample of several authors' styles, without paying too much.

  • I am most definitely interested in a book club.

    (btw-- I am a huge King fan. I own almost his entire hardback collection. Books I am missing, incidentally, are the re-write of the Gunslinger (The first in the DarkTower series), and the last Dark Tower Book.)

    I am a big fan of satire, so I prefer something along those lines. I have been told that I would like the Terry Pratchett books.
    No romance novels, please. :)

    Yeah, I think I could easily put together a list of books that people have asked me to read
    • Stuff that can spawn discussion w/o spawning a flamewar. :-P
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I've read a bunch of King. He can write some good stuff. Dean Koontz always writes the same stuff over and over, but it is a fun and fast read.

      However, if you want a real literary treat you simply must try Clive Barker. Yeah, yeah. He did the Hellraiser movies. Big deal. His movies are not even close to being a representative example of his work. This man can write. In all that I have read over the years I have yet to read someone as literate as he is.

      Try Weaveworld or Imagica. Thos are really enjoyab
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I dunno about a book club per se, cause I have so many books on my bookshelf to read that I probably couldn't keep up with whatever everyone else is reading :)

    But, with as many books as I do read, maybe just something as simple as posting reviews & recommendations in JEs would be a really good idea.

    • I'm here. I have a stack of about 8 books on my headboard. Things keep coming along and pushing other things down the stack (currently actively reading Radio Activity by Bill Fitzhugh, and The Confusion is the next one down the stack. Others in no particular order are _Holy Fire_ by Bruce Sterling, _The Codex_ by who knows?, and some book on templar stuff that is a response to _The DaVinci Code_.

  • I found something really cool a few months ago...

    Someone opened this store with lots and lots of books. It is kind of like a bookstore, but you don't buy the books, or even rent them. You borrow them! For Free! You just have to promise to bring them back by a certain date.

    They gave me this special ID card that says that I'm allowed to borrow books. I can go in whenever I want, pick out some books, show my ID card, and leave. The clerks there are pretty knowledgable and very helpful. They can make

    • The ONLY problem with the library is that the author gets a minimum of dollars per reader. Which means that they might have to go out and work a real job, instead of writing books for you to read.

      So if you like the author, be sure to buy their book, preferably from them--preferably in hardcover. Or just skip that and send them $5 directly. :)

      (I'm just being starving-author's advocate. The above advice does not apply to the poor, the smart, or readers of the books of rich authors.)
    • You just have to promise to bring them back by a certain date.

      Ah, you mean like Blockbuster?

      They also have free music CDs and DVD movies!

      Yeah, but no pr0n. Lybrairie == suXX0r d00d.

      Cheers,

      Ethelred

      PS: I actually came across my old library card. That expired in 1985. Does that make me a packrat?

  • F: I don't know how to read, you insensitive clod!

    -Ab (dunno, it just seemed appropriate)

  • Try George R.R. Martin's [georgerrmartin.com] "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Serious, bloody sword-and-sorcery.
    • Martin's stuff is Great! Really edge of your seat, finish off at one sitting kind of reading.
      I would also like to mention I've enjoyed David Weber's "Honorverse" [see Baen link] series and "The Legacy of the Aldenta" series by John Ringo [again, see Baen link] and the guy is a fan of Sluggy. [sluggy.com] Be sure to check out the Baen free library [baen.com] It's got a lot of cool stuff. Also books by David and Leigh Eddings [eddingschronicles.com] are really a good read. Great story telling.
      Sorry if this was information overload.
  • There's a slew of really good authors I've read recently--and for the life of me I can't remmber their names.

    Give me an hour, and I'll get some names and titles.
  • I think people are already doing this to some extent, though somewhat informally. Didn't a bunch of people post their favorite books a while back?

    Sure, I'd be interested, though. I'm almost always reading anyway.

    If I had to pick one book to recommend, it would be Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It will change your whole perspective on our civilization, besides being an interesting read. The Brothers K by David James Duncan comes in a close second, however; it has more literary merit, but is slightly less insig

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