i am reading notes of a dirty old man by Charles Bukowski
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i am reading notes of a dirty old man by Charles Bukowski
listening to zombie fallout series. the guy that is reading it reminds me of the actor Richard Kind. I thought i would never laugh so much listening to zombie novels. check them out.
I'm currently going through The Hobbit right now and hoping to get to The Lord of the Rings trilogy after that.
just finished the zombie fallout series. haven't laughed so muchQuote:
Originally Posted by werewolf
I am excited in reading the Zombie Fallout series, because I heard it is funny, but lately I've been completely enthralled with "Better Undead #1" on Amazon.com. It is hilarious and easy to read, I read it on my lunch break and then again when I got home. It has it's own laugh out loud moments. You should check it out.
Don't feel bad, I haven't read World War Z... :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Bakkie-Pleur
Earth Abides, yeah thats a good one. Read it maybe 7 years ago. Read WWZ about a year ago as well but Earth Abides I think is much better. I barely remember anything about WWZ but Earth Abides has stuck with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakkie-Pleur
Right now I'm reading:
This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
Quote:
In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin (The World in Six Songs) explores the connection between music, its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it, and the human brain. Drawing on the latest research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, Levitin reveals:
- How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world
- Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre
- That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise
- How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head
Taking on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin poses that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language. A Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist, This Is Your Brain on Music will attract readers of Oliver Sacks, as it is an unprecedented, eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature.
Audition by Ryu Murakami
Real World by Natsuo KirinoQuote:
In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don t intend to produce. As the r sum s pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama s attention Yamasaki Asami a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. Blinded by his instant and total infatuation, Aoyama is too late in discovering that she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he imagines her to be. The novel s fast-paced, thriller conclusion doesn t spare the reader as Yamasaki takes off her angelic mask and reveals what lies beneath.
Also, re-reading:Quote:
In a crowded Tokyo suburb, four teenage girls indifferently wade their way through a hot, smoggy summer. When one of them, Toshi, discovers that her nextdoor neighbor has been brutally murdered, the girls suspect the killer is the neighbor's son. But when he flees, taking Toshi's bike and cell phone with him, the four girls get caught up in a tempest of dangers that rise from within them as well as from the world around them. Psychologically intricate and astute, Real World is a searing, eye-opening portrait of teenage life in Japan unlike any we have seen before.
Valdez Is Coming by Elmore Leonard
Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave To A 19th Century Addiction by Steven MartinQuote:
They laughed at Roberto Valdez and then ignored him. But when a dark-skinned man was holed up in a shack with a gun, they sent the part-time town constable to deal with the problem—and made sure he had no choice but to gun the fugitive down. Trouble was, Valdez killed an innocent man. And when he asked for justice—and some money for the dead man’s woman—they beat Valdez and tied him to a cross. They were still laughing when Valdez came back. And then they began to die.
Quote:
A renowned authority on the secret world of opium recounts his descent into ruinous obsession with one of the world’s oldest and most seductive drugs, in this harrowing memoir of addiction and recovery.
A natural-born collector with a nose for exotic adventure, San Diego–born Steven Martin followed his bliss to Southeast Asia, where he found work as a freelance journalist. While researching an article about the vanishing culture of opium smoking, he was inspired to begin collecting rare nineteenth-century opium-smoking equipment. Over time, he amassed a valuable assortment of exquisite pipes, antique lamps, and other opium-related accessories—and began putting it all to use by smoking an extremely potent form of the drug called chandu. But what started out as recreational use grew into a thirty-pipe-a-day habit that consumed Martin’s every waking hour, left him incapable of work, and exacted a frightful physical and financial toll. In passages that will send a chill up the spine of anyone who has ever lived in the shadow of substance abuse, Martin chronicles his efforts to control and then conquer his addiction—from quitting cold turkey to taking “the cure” at a Buddhist monastery in the Thai countryside.
At once a powerful personal story and a fascinating historical survey, Opium Fiend brims with anecdotes and lore surrounding the drug that some have called the methamphetamine of the nineteenth-century. It recalls the heyday of opium smoking in the United States and Europe and takes us inside the befogged opium dens of China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The drug’s beguiling effects are described in vivid detail—as are the excruciating pains of withdrawal—and there are intoxicating tales of pipes shared with an eclectic collection of opium aficionados, from Dutch dilettantes to hard-core addicts to world-weary foreign correspondents.
A compelling tale of one man’s transformation from respected scholar to hapless drug slave, Opium Fiend puts us under opium’s spell alongside its protagonist, allowing contemporary readers to experience anew the insidious allure of a diabolical vice that the world has all but forgotten.
*blows dust off old thread*
Suuuup. What's everyone readin', huh?
I recently finished...
Neuromancer
by
William Gibson
I think it's probably my favourite book ever as far as sci-fi goes. I'd been meaning to get around to it for years, and years. I don't have a good excuse for not cracking it open, but I'm immensely glad I did. I didn't make it through the first chapter before I was on my way to the local big box book&coffee chain store to pick up the next two in the trilogy (Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive). Unfortunately, the book store only had Count Zero in trade, so I was forced to spend a few days searching the internet for Mona Lisa Overdrive in trade. I've got a weird thing about the size and shape of book I buy. I have a preference for trades, and refuse mass-bound paperback as a viable substitute for hardcover.
Anyway, Neuromancer is amazing. If I were to liken it to something modern, I'd say it's The Matrix before The Matrix. Not at all an exaggeration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by William Gibson
It's engaging. It's well-paced. Thoughtful. Oh, and there's a girl with sunglasses for eyes. Yeah. It's a good read. Liked it a lot.
If that doesn't pique your curiosity, I'll leave you with the the opening line:
The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
Sadly, it's all I've had time to read since finishing off NaNoWriMo, but I aim to crack something in the next day or two.
Huh Neuromancer? I'm going to be honest I never really dug it. For me it fell into the same trap as a lot of cyberpunk stuff, it faked depth where there was none.
You can speak all the gibberish about hacking computers you like, if you don't explain how any of it works (and you really need to in this case) then you can't expect anything happening during those sequences to have any real meaning. All I got out of those sequences was the net result e.g. someone had to disconnect, a door is now open etc etc.
Currently reading the Foundation trilogy. Possibly no.2 in my top five scifi (right after "Do androids dream of electric sheep").
:hsugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Solanine
Now whats that supposed to mean? :p
it means hsugh...whats THAT mean? no idea.
im currently reading the ender books by orson scott card. say what you will about him personally/politically/, dude can write his balls off...that's all I care about
just finished -speaker for the dead- brilliant. on to the next one.
Don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I'm about half way through "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America" by James Bamford. He wrote this book back in 2007.
And the funny thing is that whatever Edward Snowden has leaked was already mentioned in this book. The tech world knew about most of this stuff, but since 1) the tech world doesn't feed the normal news sources and 2) Bamford, as critical as he is of big government and the NSA, isn't a mole or a leak or a spy or whatever.
This book is actually the third book Bamford wrote about the NSA so he seems well versed in some of the hidden workings of them.
right now i'm reading Brian Keene's Urban Gothic
I'm on A Feast For Crows - 5th book in The Game of Thrones book. Such a good series....
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it, I picked it up from the library a couple months ago after I read "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman (really good!) but I never did get more than a chapter into it before I had to return it. I may pick it up again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Osiris
Recently finished Feast/Dance aka combined A Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons read - both books by George RR Martin. I also just finished The Princess and the Queen novella by GRRM. Now reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It's taking awhile but I think I am finally getting into it. :)
I've got a Neil Gainan audiobook on my phone called "Neverwhere". I began listening, but have since become distracted by The Leviathan Chronicled podcast.
I'm also fully caught up with the Song Of Ice And Fire saga, just waiting for GRRM to release the last two books. And waiting with growing anticipation as the end of the last title ended on a MAJOR cliffhanger!
I. Heard Neverwhere was good. Let me know. Did you buy it from Amazon or audible? I really like Leviathan Chronicles too. I want to reread the first 3 books of A Song of Ice and Fire now. Yes I'm crazy. For Xmas I received an Ursula LeGuinn novel Dispossessed. So many books so little time.
I can't recommend the books of A Song of Ice and Fire highly enough. Once you start reading, you're hooked. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Elisa
Never where was turned into a television/movie series thing a while back. I've not read the book, but I quite enjoyed that video thing. I hear it at least kept most of the "spirit" of the book intact as well.
Reading Count Zero by William Gibson. So far it's pretty good. Not quite as mind blowing as Neuromancer... but pretty awesome.
I just got Scott Siglers "pandemic" on audible. Super-way excited to finally get the last part of this series. Siglers work is partly what got me to this forum in the first place!
man, I'm gonna go "read" with my ears now.... :nik:
Todd, did you check out "The Salmon of Blackpool" yet? Highly recommend it:Quote:
Originally Posted by 7oddisdead
http://www.radiodramarevival.com/epi...pool-part-1-2/
@litmaster
thanks for the reminder. I lost it in the sea of text...:nik:
will start Monday.
@tony
totally forgot, I have that neverwhere thing on DVD. If you don't get through the book I'll send it back with ya. I've not watched it in ages...hmmm. Maybe I will this week.
also, Sigler fans...pandemic kicks absolute ass! Halfway through it now. So gooooooood....:nik:
I've heard good things about Sigler. I think I'll start listening to Pandemic soon; I've always got an audiobook playing on the commute to/from work
Can't recommend enough. BUT!
start with infected, then contagious, then pandemic...i won't say their quick reads...but its worth the time, especially considering the material. Hes more science than fiction...if that makes sense. Just a fun author in general really :nik:
Still on the 6th book of the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones). I found out it isn't even finished yet.....
There's two more books yet to be released. A Dance With Dragons ended on a massive cliffhangerQuote:
Originally Posted by Gooer
Yea, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Won't be released for awhile.... HBO need to slow down otherwise they'll finish all the books before they're finished being written...Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyhind86
The last two book will feature GRR Martin killing off every major and minor character that you felt any sort of affection for, leaving only the villains.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gooer
Good thing Martin dudn't write WA, or the only ones left alive at this point would be Ink & Scratch...
Or Latch & Scratch, who would be involved in an incestuous sexual relationship. :nik:Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmaster
Dude, are you still bitter about Dance of Dragons? :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Litmaster
Seriously though, Martin knows how to play havoc with the readers emotions in the Song of Ice and Fire stories. Not unlike one audio drama creator and writer we know.... just in a little different way....
I felt like Dance of Dragons wasn't as good as some of the other Ice and Fire books. In the end, I'm hoping it redeems itself as one of those necessary "setup" chapters that leads to the big payoff....
Not sure how I missed out on Sigler... I need to remedy that very soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7oddisdead
Thanks for the recommendation 7odd!
Just finished up "Emergency: This Book will Save Your Life" by Neil Strauss.
He is a good writer and storyteller and packs a ton of useful info into a story about why he turned into a "prepper" type person from the more hipster writer guy he had been.
SHAMEFUL plug....
i'm re-reading a Halo fanfiction i wrote almost 3 years ago.
turns out, it was pretty good! even after 2.75 years, i'm still getting over 1,000 views a month.
Halo: Lost and Found (A Halo Wars Epilogue)
I think the best book inthe series was Storm of SwordsQuote:
Originally Posted by scbubba
Yep, still pissed. And it's going to continue to linger until Mr. Martin somehow finds a way to reverse the fate of one northern bastard sonQuote:
Originally Posted by scbubba
Hahaha. I hear ya. But I still contend that nothing has been confirmed on that yet....Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmaster
If there ain't no dead body, then there ain't nobody dead.... :squint: