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[Nuke Soda]

Finished Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Went into it expecting Kirsten to the main character, but there was multiple mains which surprised me and also the fact that

Spoiler

it spends almost as much time before the epidemic

surprised me. I liked how it was a way more optimistic book than your run of the mill post apocalypse story. I think The Prophet was an effective villain even though he only shows up a few times, the right amount of crazy and creepy. I wasn't a fan of

Spoiler

how quickly he was dealt with though, he only becomes a menace for a few pages and then he gets a bullet in the head.

This was a book well worth the purchase price and I will read it multiple times, maybe sometime have a double feature of this and The Road.

Quick question about the end of Station Eleven:

Spoiler

What happened in the nursery with the tea? I didn't quite get that. Something about ghost and dusty tea sets.

Giving A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole a re-read. Haven't read it in 4-5 years.

 

[Piecake]

I just finished the chapter on Thomas Thistlewood's diary, and my god, what vile, disgusting shit. Here are a few excerpts:

No doubt Thistlewood saw himself as a harbinger, inn a modest way, of the Enlightenment in the tropics, a scholar and perhaps even a gentleman, loyal friend and respectable imperial subject, a man of principle and integrity, a better-than -ordinary Englishman. But for a modern reader of his diary, he is a monster: a rapist and a brutal sociopath

Thistlewood's acclimatization was rapid...During his first days in jamaica, he saw a slave whipped and then his wounds marinated in salt, petter, and lime juice, as well as another decapitated and his body burned for the crime of running way....Only days after starting work at Vienyard Pen, Thistlewood witnessed a senior driver slave being given 300 lashes on the orders of Vassall. Shortly afterwards, Thistlewood himself ordered another high-ranking slave be given 150 lashes, thus imposing his own authority. He had hardly arrived at the platnation before he was sent the severed head of a runaway slave to display to his workforce. Thistlewood, as instructed, 'put it upon a pole and stuck it up just at the angle of the road in the home pasture', where it stayed for months

This punishment for eating cane was repeated numerous times during the year, sometimes with even crueler modifications. In July, one slave who had run away was given a 'moderate whipping', but was then 'well' 'pickled', 'made Hector shit in his mouth, immediately put in a gag whilst his mouth was full & made him wear it 4 or 5 hours'. On another occasion a slave was made to urinate into another slave's mouth. Cuttings and mutilations were also deployed. When Derby continued to run away, he had his face chopped with a machete so that his right ear, cheek and jaw were almost cut off. Thistelwood also used stocks and 'picketing', where the victim was hung by the hands with only a toe taking the weight of the body

As well as dispassionately noting the brutal punishments dealt out under his rule, Thistlewood's diary also details his voracious and predatory sexual behaivor...he took his pleasure wtih the slave women, not caring who saw...On average he had 14 different partners in a year, and overall slept with nearly 140 different women, almost all black slaves, while in Jamaica

Thistlewood hardly ever condemned any of this behaviour, except for when Cope forced himself on girls as young as nine. Men like Thistlewood and Cope expected white men to have ssex with enslaved black women, whom they thought of as the emodiment of earthiness, sexuality, and physical strength. Attractive female slaves, 'young and full-breasted', always fetched a premium at slave auctions.

 

[kswiston]

Piecake, are we friends on Goodreads? I can't recall who is who half the time. <_<

Considering that I have no friends on goodreads atm, I doubt it I'll PM you too

We should start a Goodreads ID list or something. Right now my friends feed mainly consists of Mumei finishing a book every 3 hours, and then a family member or two. It would be nice to have more variety.

 

[melonrabbit]

Currently reading Sabriel by Garth Nix. Really enjoying it so far and since I was gifted the trilogy it seemed like a good time to dig in. The book is a LOT more dense than I originally thought it would be -- entirely in a good way -- even as it slows down my Booktube readathon progress to a crawl this week.

 

[Kamion]

Quick question about the end of Station Eleven:

Spoiler

What happened in the nursery with the tea? I didn't quite get that. Something about ghost and dusty tea sets.

Finished that book yesterday too, so this is how I understood it:

Spoiler

They were searching through an abandoned house and found a nursery, everything was ransacked apart from a little table with a tea set, which stood in the room. It didn't have dust on it (which means it was touched recently) and was arranged so perfectly that Kirsten found it eerie.

And I guess this was before or during Charlie's pregnancy so she was out of it because she thought about children.

I guess the point of the whole sequence was for the author to get in her point that "what if it's ghosts, and they touch the tea set regularly" "don't be silly, if there are ghosts, there would be so many of them" "exactly" to drive home how many people died and are still "here" or something idk

Anyway, it's one of the things I disliked about the book and why I only gave it ~4 stars. The author just sets the story up to say these "philosophical things" way too often which makes it predictable in a way.
But I stand by my review from two pages ago

 

[Blues1990]

While working on my portfolio, I've been taking the time to review my draftsmanship and artistic foundations, along with reading certain books to help my overall confidence with my ability to draw.

• Creative Illustration/Successful Drawing - Andrew Loomis
  
• Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi - Gibson McDonnell
  
• Drawn to Life - Stanchfield

As for my overall mental health, I was wondering if there are any books to give an overall view on how to be a more positive &/or happier person?

 

[Kamion]

As for my overall mental health, I was wondering if there are any books to give an overall view on how to be a more positive &/or happier person?

I don't read a lot of non-fiction apart from the newspaper and the occasional scientific paper on things that interest me - mostly because reading is an escape thing for me just like gaming is - but I do read quite a bit of philosophy and psychology books, so here you go:

I would recommend Viktor Frankl. He was an Austrian psychologist who spent some years in a German concentration camp. All the while thinking about the "meaning of life in situations where your life has no meaning" (eg. you're on death row, how do you give your life meaning).
It's all very interesting and quite optimistic without being overtly so. I went out of his book(s) feeling kind of good about my life and that I could shape it into something that has meaning to me.

So if that's something you're into. I've read them in German, so I don't know which one is which, but the English editions seem to be "Man's Search for Meaning" and "Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning" though you should check if they're not "mostly" the same.

 

[Rug Monkey]

Yeah, Bleak House is where you want to go next. Surprised nobody has mentioned David Copperfield!

I've always had a soft spot for Hard Times as well, which was the first Dickens novel I ever read (probably because it was the shortest lol)

I've always liked Nicholas Nickleby, mainly because it makes me laugh.

 

[Peru]

I have not read any George Eliot, no.

In the spirit of Victorian lit recommendations going on I would say she was the absolute best at cutting through all aspects of Victorian society, looking at the cross section, and judging what she saw - How the progress of science, education, technology, rights and politics clashed with the personal, the individual fates, the rich and the poor. Middlemarch is the definitive book here. It's also intensely moving.

But yeah, Bleak House probably is the Dickens to go for next.

 

[Nymerio]

Done with A Civil Campaign.

Next up:

Winterfair Gifts

and Miles, Mutants and Microbes

 

[Prototype]

I finished Ready Player One earlier today and... My God. It was amazing. Had zero expectations going in and it blew me away. I laughed, I felt rage, I even got a little emotional at parts. I don't know how "good" of a book it is considered to be, but it's by far the most fun and engaged I've been with a novel on a long time.

Part of that, of course is the material it deals with, having grown up with video games and movies from the mid to late 80s. It was just such a fantastic ride. I really can't recommend it enough.

 

[Dicktatorship]

I don't like marking up books (I know, I know), but I do enjoy reading notes that other people wrote in used copies. It feels like you're getting a window into someone else's experience of a book; how they responded to it, argued against it, analyzed it, and so on.

I'd never write in a book either; I just type it up on my computer instead. But I agree that reading others' notes is interesting and insightful. I remember being a little kid and skimming through Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them just to read the printed notes and scribble from Harry Potter and friends.

 

[TTG]

It is the world of Rome, where no man knows his enemy or his friend, where license is more admired than virtue, and where principle has become servant to self.

Started Augustus by John Williams tonight(you know, our book of the month). The opening chapters move quickly. Williams eschews flowery ruminative writing you may expect because of the setting for tactics in the political field. Which isn't to say there is no room for character description, we get a good idea of Cicero and Marcus Antonius as the author imagines them, but events are very much driving the show here.

One interesting decision is the way the novel is framed. Chapters are comprised of letters and sometimes segments from memoirs. Most times, it's about getting information and first hand impressions across, no one(among our contributors as it were) has yet to take the time to stretch out and reflect. Another note: none of it is from Augustus himself, so far.

 

[Alucard]

I just finished the chapter on Thomas Thistlewood's diary, and my god, what vile, disgusting shit. Here are a few excerpts:

Yikes. So gross.

 

[Alucard]

I finished Ready Player One earlier today and... My God. It was amazing. Had zero expectations going in and it blew me away. I laughed, I felt rage, I even got a little emotional at parts. I don't know how "good" of a book it is considered to be, but it's by far the most fun and engaged I've been with a novel on a long time.

Part of that, of course is the material it deals with, having grown up with video games and movies from the mid to late 80s. It was just such a fantastic ride. I really can't recommend it enough.

I'll have to check this out at some point despite the mixed reviews.

 

[Mumei]

I just finished the chapter on Thomas Thistlewood's diary, and my god, what vile, disgusting shit. Here are a few excerpts:

Jesus. You hear about the worst atrocities at the sugar plantations, and that's saying something.

We should start a Goodreads ID list or something. Right now my friends feed mainly consists of Mumei finishing a book every 3 hours, and then a family member or two. It would be nice to have more variety.

Adding a book to read does not count as finishing it.

And have you looked at the NeoGAF group? It's not particularly active, but there is a thread where people post who they are here.

In the spirit of Victorian lit recommendations going on I would say she was the absolute best at cutting through all aspects of Victorian society, looking at the cross section, and judging what she saw - How the progress of science, education, technology, rights and politics clashed with the personal, the individual fates, the rich and the poor. Middlemarch is the definitive book here. It's also intensely moving.

But yeah, Bleak House probably is the Dickens to go for next.

Oh, I had already moved Middlemarch up since reading your previous posts about it!

I'd never write in a book either; I just type it up on my computer instead. But I agree that reading others' notes is interesting and insightful. I remember being a little kid and skimming through Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them just to read the printed notes and scribble from Harry Potter and friends.

If you're writing directly in the book, you know exactly what your notes correspond to. How do you organize your notes when writing them on the computer, then?

 

[Peru]

I guess I should register at goodreads. ATM I just see it as a top result on all my book googling, and find the consensus scores given by users fairly random.

 

[Mumei]

I guess I should register at goodreads. ATM I just see it as a top result on all my book googling, and find the consensus scores given by users fairly random.

Add me~

 

[Ledhead]

Just about the finish the Dark Tower V : Wolves of the Calla

this series has probably become my favourite. Can't wait to see how it ends, but a little sad at the prospect of having no more Dark Tower to read

 

[Peru]

Add me~

'read &#8206;(1423)'

I don't think I can remember as many books read as that but the biggest hurdle is the initial add-a-thon. Need a quiet night in and a glass of wine for that.

 

[Mumei]

'read &#8206;(1423)'

I don't think I can remember as many books read as that but the biggest hurdle is the initial add-a-thon. Need a quiet night in and a glass of wine for that.

Take out the manga, the comics, the children's books, the middle grade fiction, the young adult books and it's sub-600. :3

 

[Lionheart1827]

Finished reading this after being recommended from my Dad:

Good book and the main character's wise-ass humor reminds me of the John Corey series of books. Looking forward to seeing what Matt Damon can do with the movie adaptation.

Started reading this:

I've read a lot of SEAL books, and the other two big ones (American Sniper and Lone Survivor), and I never get tired of reading about these guys.

 

[sparky2112]

Public service announcement: George Saunders' first (?) story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, is $1.99 on Kindle today...

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

As for my overall mental health, I was wondering if there are any books to give an overall view on how to be a more positive &/or happier person?

Granted this is a video game website so it's kind of biased but I've got "Anxiety as an Ally" by Dan Ryckert on my to-read list.

 

[LordAmused]

In French:

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Public service announcement: George Saunders' first (?) story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, is $1.99 on Kindle today...

Bought, because I don't have enough books to read.

Currently making my way through A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, and I'm in the essay about television. This right here...this is where I feel like I need to take notes while reading because I want to talk about it but I don't have the recall or mastery of words to do so in a way that will make sense to a person who hasn't read it. The short-bus version: the person he talks about who watches TV and can't stop tearing it down is like he was telling me about my wife. It's so hard to watch TV with her because she takes the piss out of everything I watch.

And then there's the part where he's discussing how 'fake' tv familes are and how it makes people who watch them think their lives are shit because it isn't like the TV families. I can think of several times I've thought this same thing when I was growing up. Like, "Urkle sure is an interesting fellow, I don't know anyone that interesting."

It's so strange...I'm actually thinking of purchasing a version of the book just so I can mark up the pages with highlights and notes. I don't usually think about that.

 

[sparky2112]

Bought, because I don't have enough books to read.

I bought too, which, I think, completes my Saunders collection...a true master of the form...

 

[Hanzou]

Public service announcement: George Saunders' first (?) story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, is $1.99 on Kindle today...

Never read this author or these books. Anything you van explain about them besides what I can read about them on the Amazon page?

 

[Kawl_USC]

Listening to John Dies at the End. About a third of the way through it and it's interesting enough but not anything I'm rushing to listen to. Between podcasts and trying to listen to new music I find myself torn on whether I have enough free listening time to justify keeping an audible membership.

Started Augustus last night to participate in our book club dealio. Only got 15 or so pages in, but it seems like it is going to be a good one. Might have to jump on the Stoner bandwagon after this.

Need to get back to reading the graphic novel version of Nimona which I picked up after reading a review for on NPR. It strikes me as somewhat similar to Worm in that it follows a shapeshifting teen girl who becomes a villains sidekick. Also dabbling with some various comics with the remaining time on the cheap month of Marvel Unlimited I got (Old Man Logan, Miss Marvel, Daredevil, Hawkeye).

 

[sparky2112]

Never read this author or these books. Anything you van explain about them besides what I can read about them on the Amazon page?

Saunders writes primarily short stories (he does some non-fiction, too, much like David Foster Wallace did). His work is funny, sincere, and almost universally praised. Short story collections never sell all that well. Saunders is an exception for a reason.

 

[sparky2112]

Listening to John Dies at the End. About a third of the way through it and it's interesting enough but not anything I'm rushing to listen to. Between podcasts and trying to listen to new music I find myself torn on whether I have enough free listening time to justify keeping an audible membership.

Speaking of podcasts, I am a devoted This American Life and Radiolab listener, but I just fell down the Marc Maron WTF rabbit hole. His recent Obama interview was incredible - just two dudes shootin' the shit....

 

[Mumei]

Started Augustus last night to participate in our book club dealio. Only got 15 or so pages in, but it seems like it is going to be a good one. Might have to jump on the Stoner bandwagon after this.

When I finish A Wild Sheep Chase, I'm going to get started on Augustus, too. I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of impression it makes this time.

 

[Nymerio]

Add me~

Just added you as well if you don't mind...

Here's my profile if anyone cares to add me: Goodreads. I Currently only have like one friend added but I'd be interested in seeing some kind of friend feed for suggestions.

 

[PassiveObserver]

Also picked up Augustus after the book club thing sparked my interest. Reading a ratty library copy, not the new NYBR edition. Loved Stoner and I also read I, Claudius earlier this year, so now is the right time.

 

[Wizerd]

Just finished Rubicon by Tom Holland on a flight yesterday. As someone who loves history in general, I cannot recommend it enough. It's a fairly easy read, essentially narrating Roman politics in the late Republican period, centering on Caesar, while also sprinkling in perhaps more obscure, but still interesting details about the world at that time, such as the oyster farming of the aristocrats.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

I'm adding left and right so I may as well put mine out there too.

 

[Kawl_USC]

Saunders writes primarily short stories (he does some non-fiction, too, much like David Foster Wallace did). His work is funny, sincere, and almost universally praised. Short story collections never sell all that well. Saunders is an exception for a reason.

This sounds like it could be a good pick up to pepper in amongst other readings. I think I'll grab this when I get home later. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[mu cephei]

I finished The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. It was excellent, and I'll definitely be reading more of her books. At the moment I'm reading Madame Bovary by Flaubert. It's very good, though I find the style of characterisation rather tough.

 

[ImpalingNarwhal]

I'm going to try out the monthly recommended read. I just checked out Augustus today and I'll get to it when I wrap up 'Salem's Lot.

 

[TTG]

Currently making my way through A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again...

If you find that book too long winded and flat out boring(as I sometimes did), pick up Consider The Lobster. It's a better collection and moves a lot faster. Sort of DFW at his best in non fiction. You could probably find a number of those articles/essays available online from the original publications as well. Although, the story A Supposedly Fun Thing gets its name from is fucking great. I don't know how heavily edited it is(if at all), the copy I have is a kindle single that's just a bit over 100 pages I think, but yea, it's fantastic.

Public service announcement: George Saunders' first (?) story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, is $1.99 on Kindle today...

Done. Fist I'm hearing of this guy, thanks.

 

[Dicktatorship]

If you're writing directly in the book, you know exactly what your notes correspond to. How do you organize your notes when writing them on the computer, then?

I'm not really writing down the page numbers, I don't really need to. Making note of and explaining the subtlety of something like Stoner leaving the building and finding the fresh air of the outdoors liberating after a confrontational conference is something that I jot down. I'm not looking for references, just moments and what makes them great. Eventually I'll reread it and experience it all over again, and I hope to find new things out about it too.

I think my next book to read will either be Carl Schmitt's Political Theology or Fyodor Dostoesvky's The Karamazov Brothers. What did y'all think about those two?

 

[sparky2112]

Done. Fist I'm hearing of this guy, thanks.

Cool. Saunders and Wallace are cut from much the same cloth, without their styles totally overlapping.

Speaking of which, I'll pimp a couple more things: Wells Tower writes short stories and does non-fiction for either Esquire or GQ (I forget which). His short story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, is fantastic.

For non-fiction, John Jeremiah Sullivan's 'Pulphead' is a collection of his magazine writing and made quite the splash when it came out.

 

[jtb]

^ Yes yes yes yes yes

Everything Ravaged Everything Burned is a great story collection

 

[Mumei]

I'm not really writing down the page numbers, I don't really need to. Making note of and explaining the subtlety of something like Stoner leaving the building and finding the fresh air of the outdoors liberating after a confrontational conference is something that I jot down. I'm not looking for references, just moments and what makes them great. Eventually I'll reread it and experience it all over again, and I hope to find new things out about it too.

I think my next book to read will either be Carl Schmitt's Political Theology or Fyodor Dostoesvky's The Karamazov Brothers. What did y'all think about those two?

Oh, I see. That makes sense.


And Karamazov is great. One of my favorites.

 

[Piecake]

'read &#8206;(1423)'

I don't think I can remember as many books read as that but the biggest hurdle is the initial add-a-thon. Need a quiet night in and a glass of wine for that.

I honestly didnt bother with that when I opened my goodreads account. I just included what I read from that point forward.

Jesus. You hear about the worst atrocities at the sugar plantations, and that's saying something.

And he had to fire a crap ton of people who worked below him for being 'too brutal' to the slaves... just a really fucked up society.

 

[nailbombxx]

my dank reads for right now:

Is there such a thing as visionary science fiction? I have a feeling that this book is just that. Just look at that cover. It looks just as how the book reads. Incredible.

also, if anyone wants more friends on goodreads, you can add me

 

[Dicktatorship]

Oh, I see. That makes sense.


And Karamazov is great. One of my favorites.

Really? Because looking at it again I'm not so sure if it does.

Where would you rank Karamazov amongst his other work?

 

[Mumei]

my dank reads for right now:

Is there such a thing as visionary science fiction? I have a feeling that this book is just that. Just look at that cover. It looks just as how the book reads. Incredible.

also, if anyone wants more friends on goodreads, you can add me

I love that cover. I think I've heard of that book before, but since it isn't on my to-read list on Goodreads, perhaps not.

Really? Because looking at it again I'm not so sure if it does.

Where would you rank Karamazov amongst his other work?

I mean, I've only read that, Crime and Punishment, and Notes from Underground, so you're better off asking someone better versed... but I think it was my favorite. Of course, I read Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground in 2008, and Karamazov in 2012 so... I might feel differently if I were to read them again now.

 

[Piecake]

Really? Because looking at it again I'm not so sure if it does.

Where would you rank Karamazov amongst his other work?

Out of the ones I've read, I would rank them:

TBK
Demons
Notes From Underground
Crime and Punishment
The Idiot

 

[nailbombxx]

I love that cover. I think I've heard of that book before, but since it isn't on my to-read list on Goodreads, perhaps not.

Once I read the description of the book, I knew I had to read it:

Star Maker is a science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, Last and First Men (1930), a history of the human species over two billion years. Star Maker tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. Arthur C. Clarke considered Star Maker to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written.

The basic plot is that the narrator projects his mind into the cosmos, and is able to watch the course of history unfold across the universe.

I'm only 10 pages in atm but I am already heavily impressed by his profound descriptive prose. It's a bit dense, and should be read carefully to really understand the gravity of what is written, but beautiful and fascinating nontheless.