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[soapypanda]

It's cheesy and obvious (if you dress like a frumpy midwestern woman you MAY not get the best service at NYC restaurants) but the descriptions of food is timeless. And now I'm hungry.

How to learn stuff

Wow, thanks for summarizing that and saving me from a 40 page study on deliberate practice I was about to read.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Wow, I really love this write-up. You just sold me on that book.


On an unrelated note, anyone ever buy books from a website called Thriftbooks? I didn't want to make a new thread, but a few days ago I ordered 5 books for about $20. Not a bad deal I think, I'm pretty hyped about it. I also made sure that everything was in atleast "good" condition. I'm just curious to see if others have had experience with them. I dont know if they are reliable or sketchy yet.

Haven't heard of them. I was using paperbackswap for a little while, but they almost never have fantasy/sci-fi stuff, so I basically bailed on it.

 

[Mumei]

It's near the end of the month. Makler, have you made a decision for next month? I have an idea if things are still open!

 

[Piecake]

I have one too!

I don't think it will be that big of a shock to people based on my last post, but I vote for Make it Stick (and yes, I am still making my way through Augustus, and plan on being done this weekend).

To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners.

Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned.

Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

The perfect book for back to school September.

 

[macfoshizzle]

Just finished

Pretty interesting read. I learned more about myself than anything.

Now unto this

 

[Necrovex]

It's near the end of the month. Makler, have you made a decision for next month? I have an idea if things are still open!

Let's get some South Africa literature in here! Coetezee's Brooker-Winning Book, Disgrace.

Piecake, I'm going to read that book down the line. Most likely early 2017 as I won't be able to do anything academic-related until I get back to America. This will be useful knowledge if I can't secure work in the government field and go back to school for nursing.

 

[Maklershed]

It's near the end of the month. Makler, have you made a decision for next month? I have an idea if things are still open!

It's all you next month. Choose wisely! :b

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

I finished reading The Opposite of Loneliness. It was surprisingly a really fast and engrossing read. I really enjoyed it.

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

Just finished

Pretty interesting read. I learned more about myself than anything.

Now unto this

I always wanted to read The Quiet. What are your thoughts about the book?

 

[koopathecat]

Just finished reading The Bridge by Iain Banks. Read it a few years ago and never managed to get past the half way point. Managed it this time although it was a difficult read. Banks expects quite a lot from the reader with this one.

Now for a long overdue reread of one of my favourite novels

City Of Thieves by David Benioff

 

[Bazza]

Finished this at lunch time.

Spoiler

Gutted Owen couldn't avoid his destiny, his death at the end of the book has put me off the final few books a little bit, I will read them but I'm not as enthusiastic about diving into the next book as I would have been.

 

[Ben Morales]

Out of curiosity, has anyone read any of the books from the "The Women in Science Fiction Bundle" at StoryBundle.com? I'm curious if it's worth the $15 purchase. I haven't bought a bundle there in ages, maybe back in October, when they had a NaNoWriMo bundle.

I've been wondering about this bundle as well. Was thinking about just grabbing the first tier for $5, but I don't want to miss out on a hidden gem in the $15 tier...

 

[Mr. Sam]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I'm only 100 pages in, but so far it's delightfully bizarre.

I've been reading this as well and actually found the main plot thread to be surprisingly dull. Shadow, in particular, I find to be mind-numbingly boring. I suspect it's all building to a spectacular pay-off. The highlights of the book thus far (and I'm about two thirds in) are the little asides that Gaiman throws in.

 

[Necrovex]

I've been reading this as well and actually found the main plot thread to be surprisingly dull. Shadow, in particular, I find to be mind-numbingly boring. I suspect it's all building to a spectacular pay-off. The highlights of the book thus far (and I'm about two thirds in) are the little asides that Gaiman throws in.

It never really picks up in my opinion. I forced myself to read it, and the novel never clicked for me. I consider American Gods as a very overrated book.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

This is an absolutely fantastic and essential book, and I would recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a lifelong learner or wants to become one. Like the title indicates, this is a book about the science of how we learn, what are the best strategies to learn effectively and what methods can we use to improve cognition/intelligence. In addition to that, this book provides up-to-date research on similar and related topics in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, specifically, mindset, cognitive biases, intelligence, and neural plasticity. However, I am going to specifically focus on learning strategies and ways to improve cognition/intelligence because I think that is what most people here will find useful. If anyone is interested in one of the topics and you don’t think I covered it in enough detail and are interested in it, I will write about it further.

Is this entire thing your own thoughts? Holy shit. Are you a teacher?

It actually didn't take that long! Probably like an hour and a half. I do take notes when I listen and highlight quite frequently when I read, so that I can simply 'pull' quotes from the kindle. For this one, while I did take a lot of notes and 'tested' myself after listening to each chapter, it was basically all from memory. Like I said in that long ass post, the purpose of this was to test myself so that the info would 'stick'.

I look at it as an investment and just good sense (that I finally acquired in this regard about a month ago). If I read a book, I don't to forget the vast majority of that knowledge a week after I read it and the rest of it in the upcoming months. This is simply an effective way to help me remember what I think is important and not let all that reading time go to 'waste'.

OIC.

Finished this at lunch time.

Spoiler

Gutted Owen couldn't avoid his destiny, his death at the end of the book has put me off the final few books a little bit, I will read them but I'm not as enthusiastic about diving into the next book as I would have been.

Spoiler

I haven't read the books but I have to imagine that if the series is named after him, he's not gone gone. Maybe Marvel gone?

 

[eznark]

I'm reading Discworld books for the first time, I started with Colour of Magic and am now on The Light Fantastic which I have to say I'm enjoying more than Colour of Magic.

Skip to Going Postal as soon as possible! Best one by far.

 

[Protome]

Skip to Going Postal as soon as possible! Best one by far.

That's a weird way to spell "Thief of Time."

Spoiler

Going Postal is also great.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Now for a long overdue reread of one of my favourite novels

City Of Thieves by David Benioff

Had no idea he had written novels. Added City of Thieves to my list. Seems like it's right up my alley.

(And it's bound to be better than his Game of Thrones writing.)

 

[eznark]

That's a weird way to spell "Thief of Time."

Spoiler

Going Postal is also great.

I don't like Death. After the first couple I skipped all the books with him as a protagonist.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Thud! is clearly the best Discworld novel.

Pretty insightful commentary on prejudice and racism overall.

 

[Bazza]

I don't like Death. After the first couple I skipped all the books with him as a protagonist.

Madness.

 

[Mumei]

It's all you next month. Choose wisely! :b

Well, the idea I had last night was Don Quixote. It's a long (~1000 pages) classic work, but the second part was released ten years after the first part, as a sort of de facto sequel which incorporated the first part in universe, as well as a fraudulently published sequel (whose author the characters meet in the story). It's funny and tragic and philosophical and adventurous; it defines what you think of when you say picaresque. It would make for a good two month choice; doing Part 1 in one month and Part 2 in the next month.

I still think it's a good idea, but looking at what we've done so far, I thought maybe we should read something nonfiction, since we've been reading fairly literary works, so we have some variety. And not only that, but I'd read the last two books we've chosen and I felt odd suggesting a third that I'd already read before.

So, here are a few other non-fiction ideas~

• Inequality: What Can Be Done?, by Anthony B. Atkinson
• Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice, by Adam Benforado
• How Music Works, by David Byrne
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari
• Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It, by Kate Harding
• The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement, by Lance Hill
• The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, by Richard Holmes
• Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale and How a 19th-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry, by Scott Huler
• Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder
• Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, by Jill Leovy
• Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
• Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice, by Alexandra Natapoff
• What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine, by Danielle Ofri
• Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism, by Barry M. Prizant
• Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina
• Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection, by Jacob Silverman
• Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa, by Jason Stearns
• Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice, by Matthew Syed

I'm honestly not pulling for anything in particular; I just went looking at my to-read list for anything I thought might have a broader appeal. I could list dozens upon dozens more, but I'm just going to stop myself there~

 

[Cyan]

Piecake, have you read Thinking Fast and Slow? It seems like it might be up your alley.

 

[Necrovex]

I can attest to the quality of Dancing in the Glory of Monsters. It's a fantastic journalistic piece explaining the Rwanda Genocide, how it impacted DRC, the wars following the genocide, and the major transformation effect that occurred in DRC. It also portrays the utter failure of mass media of failing to talk about this pivotal issue in the continent. I won't read it again if this is chosen (still too soon for a reread), but I cannot reccomend it enough. I would love more people to learn about an African country. Heaven knows most people ignore the entirety of Africa.

 

[Nymerio]

I don't like Death. After the first couple I skipped all the books with him as a protagonist.

Seriously.

 

[commish]

Reading through The Martian. Some early thoughts:

Spoiler

Does this guy find a solution for every problem so easily? "Hmm, well I only have food for 3 days, this sucks!" *fast forward 3 hours* "Okay, so I solved all these problems and now I have food for 93 years. That should work." It's a bit annoying. Anyway, it's slow going with him still building shit and testing shit and going on short missions. I'm hoping the story leaves the science behind and focuses more on the plot. I enjoyed the science dumps of Seveneves but the science here, not so much. Still have a long way to go.

 

[Mutagenic]

I'm finally reading through The Man in the High Castle and really enjoying it.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Reading through The Martian. Some early thoughts:

Spoiler

Does this guy find a solution for every problem so easily? "Hmm, well I only have food for 3 days, this sucks!" *fast forward 3 hours* "Okay, so I solved all these problems and now I have food for 93 years. That should work." It's a bit annoying. Anyway, it's slow going with him still building shit and testing shit and going on short missions. I'm hoping the story leaves the science behind and focuses more on the plot. I enjoyed the science dumps of Seveneves but the science here, not so much. Still have a long way to go.

Keep in mind that he has a singular purpose - to live - and nothing at all to distract him. No wifi, no nice weather, no SO, nothing. I'd say that with such a environment I'd be able to solve most questions as well, and I'm not nearly smart enough or trained enough as an astronaut.

 

[TheOctodad]

Just finished American Gods - fantastic book, but nothing like what I expected. I think I expected a bit more "epicness" to it. I still enjoyed it greatly, but I can see how people would be disappointed, as it gives an initial vibe of something very different than it is.

 

[You Know Nothing]

I usually hit about 2 wpm (Mumei can corroborate), but I can tell you that I really savor those two words.

Should be done with The People in the Trees sometime this century.

I still need to The People in the Trees.

You should read A Little Life during the next century if you haven't already.

 

[PhoenixSFT]

Nearly at the end and really enjoying it. Both books in the series have been surprisingly quick reads though they're both roughly 800 pages long.

 

[Hanzou]

Nearly at the end and really enjoying it. Both books in the series have been surprisingly quick reads though they're both roughly 800 pages long.

I loved the first one and while I liked the 2nd one I don't didn't find it nearly as good as the first. It seemed to wrap up very quickly at the end. I borrowed the third one from the library but have hesitated starting it. The reviews seem good online but I have heard less then great things in this thread about the third installment.


Also those books are not 800 pages long each are they? I swear they were in the 500s at most.

 

[Piecake]

Piecake, have you read Thinking Fast and Slow? It seems like it might be up your alley.

Yep, Ive read it. I actually recommended it in my post! It truly is a fantastic book. Though oddly enough, I don't think I really appreciated when I first read it, but due to all of the other readings I've done in psychology, education, etc and just reading up on similar stuff online I really appreciated how fundamental that book is. I would actually like to re-read it and put to use the self-testing strategies outlined in Making it Stick. Sadly, not a whole lot of it stuck the first time besides a few biases and just the general importance of monitoring your thinking.

But yea, Making it Stick also discusses Thinking Fast and Slow and Daniel Kahneman's research in general. It doesnt go into it in great depth considering the book is rather short, but it gives a good summary of what it is about and why it is important.

 

[Servbot #42]

I read The Stand by Stephen King, it was pretty good but definitely not the epic conflict between bad and evil that i was expecting. I also read The Willows by Algernon Blackwood and man that is a fantastic piece of horror, some terms were difficult since it's a pretty old book. Now i have zero idea what i'm gonna read so i think i'll check the op for suggestions.

 

[Mumei]

I can attest to the quality of Dancing in the Glory of Monsters. It's a fantastic journalistic piece explaining the Rwanda Genocide, how it impacted DRC, the wars following the genocide, and the major transformation effect that occurred in DRC. It also portrays the utter failure of mass media of failing to talk about this pivotal issue in the continent. I won't read it again if this is chosen (still too soon for a reread), but I cannot reccomend it enough. I would love more people to learn about an African country. Heaven knows most people ignore the entirety of Africa.

I probably added it to my to read list after seeing you post an update about it.

I usually hit about 2 wpm (Mumei can corroborate), but I can tell you that I really savor those two words.

Should be done with The People in the Trees sometime this century.

icarus, I don't think that the time you spend not reading something counts.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Skip to Going Postal as soon as possible! Best one by far.

I've heard this from a lot of people.

 

[Nuke Soda]

Skip to Going Postal as soon as possible! Best one by far.

First one I started with and did not feel lost at all.

 

[kswiston]

I am currently about 40% of the way through The Wise Man's Fear (sorry Mumei, short story collections aren't really my thing). I read The Name of the Wind last August, but the sequel's 1000 pages put me off from reading it afterwards (I was participating in the 50/50 challenge last year, so I had to be shrewd with my reading choices). Seeing as I am already 8 books ahead of my rather relaxed Goodreads goal pacing for this year, I figured it's about the right time for a longer book.

So far I am enjoying the novel. I know people have issues with the pacing and prose, but I don't mind it too much.

 

[MissCauthon]

I just today finished The Wheel of Time series. sad i will miss those characters.

I'm all emotional at what i just read today.

Anyone knows a good series to read? i'm looking for something similar.

 

[Mumei]

I am currently about 40% of the way through The Wise Man's Fear (sorry Mumei, short story collections aren't really my thing). I read The Name of the Wind last August, but the sequel's 1000 pages put me off from reading it afterwards (I was participating in the 50/50 challenge last year, so I had to be shrewd with my reading choices). Seeing as I am already 8 books ahead of my rather relaxed Goodreads goal pacing for this year, I figured it's about the right time for a longer book.

So far I am enjoying the novel. I know people have issues with the pacing and prose, but I don't mind it too much.

I'll have to find something else for you to test run for me.....

 

[Anno]

Any recommendations for Shadowrun novels? Been getting into the games a bit and really enjoy the world they have going there.

 

[Rug Monkey]

I just today finished The Wheel of Time series. sad i will miss those characters.

I'm all emotional at what i just read today.

Anyone knows a good series to read? i'm looking for something similar.

The Black Company by Glen Cook

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

 

[commish]

I am currently about 40% of the way through The Wise Man's Fear (sorry Mumei, short story collections aren't really my thing). I read The Name of the Wind last August, but the sequel's 1000 pages put me off from reading it afterwards (I was participating in the 50/50 challenge last year, so I had to be shrewd with my reading choices). Seeing as I am already 8 books ahead of my rather relaxed Goodreads goal pacing for this year, I figured it's about the right time for a longer book.

So far I am enjoying the novel. I know people have issues with the pacing and prose, but I don't mind it too much.

Let us know what you think. I was turned off by the first book a bit but I did buy Wise Man. I just heard bad things...

 

[Atraveller]

I read Thinking Fast And Slow and kept forgetting experiments and some brain properties as I went lol. Probably should read that again.

Picked up The Way of Kings, so far so good.

Reading through The Martian. Some early thoughts:

Spoiler

Does this guy find a solution for every problem so easily? "Hmm, well I only have food for 3 days, this sucks!" *fast forward 3 hours* "Okay, so I solved all these problems and now I have food for 93 years. That should work." It's a bit annoying. Anyway, it's slow going with him still building shit and testing shit and going on short missions. I'm hoping the story leaves the science behind and focuses more on the plot. I enjoyed the science dumps of Seveneves but the science here, not so much. Still have a long way to go.

It's pretty much like that for the entire book (in Martian POV), sometimes accidents happen, and he had to science them up to not die.

 

[Piecake]

I started reading this book because I have been trying to re-learn Chinese (I took it in college and lived in China for about 2 years), but after college and I returned to the states...well...

After reading Make it Stick, I wanted a book that would use the ideas of that book and translate it into an specific guide in learning languages, and this book seems to do that.

So yea, recently I have started getting back into it. Instead of learning how I previously did and was previously taught, which was brute force memorization, I mostly focused on reading actual texts and listening to dialogue. Which, it turns out, was a good idea since recall-testing is how you learn, and reading and listening is a constant test of recall. I just recently started using ANKI, an SRS system, (actually before Make it Stick), and I like it so far. One problem with reading and listening is that is not a very efficient system at learning vocabulary and doesn't fix vocab with images or personal experiences, so they don't stay 'stuck' as well as they could.

Enter this book, so far, it has three rules for language learning:

1. Learn pronunciation
2. don't translate
3. use spaced repetition systems

I pretty much already have the pronunciation down (though I am sure I have an accent and doubt it is perfect). I have been translating and was not using images and personal experiences before, so this is something that I need to change.

If I have that, why read the rest of the book? Well, I am not exactly sure how he makes things like grammatical structures and certain abstract concepts 'stick'. I mean, unlike nouns, that would be pretty difficult to find an image and relate some sort of experience to. I also want to see how he structures his flashcards. Does the image go first or the foreign word? Switch it up?

But yea, I would definitely recommend this book if anyone wants to or is trying to learn a language and wants to learn what are the best ways to learn any language. So yea, it isnt a scam!

 

[macfoshizzle]

I always wanted to read The Quiet. What are your thoughts about the book?

It was a very interesting read. I highly recommend it. I was surprised to learned a lot about extroverts from this book. You will get a understanding of why introverts are the way they are which are usually not perceived as desirable traits in our extroverted society. For example, when you have a great talker, most people will correlate with high intelligence, or a great leader, or great something, which of course it's not the case. People will follow that person burn down a company without even realizing it. The author uses case studies, statistics, science, biology, facts, etc to show introverts are powerful and successful people not in spite of introversion, but because of it.

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

It was a very interesting read. I highly recommend it. I was surprised to learned a lot about extroverts from this book. You will get a understanding of why introverts are the way they are which are usually not perceived as desirable traits in our extroverted society. For example, when you have a great talker, most people will correlate with high intelligence, or a great leader, or great something, which of course it's not the case. People will follow that person burn down a company without even realizing it. The author uses case studies, statistics, science, biology, facts, etc to show introverts are powerful and successful people not in spite of introversion, but because of it.

Thanks for the recommendation!^^ I'm a huge introvert. So reading this book might help me with understanding myself a little better.

 

[Nymerio]

I finished Captain Vorpatril's Alliance yesterday evening. Just as good as rest of the Vorkosigan Saga, and Ivan was one of my favourite characters already. After this I just like him even more. Reading this book actually made me realize that I couldn't pick even one character from any of the books that wouldn't be interested in reading a book from their perspective.

Spoiler

What the hell, Simon?!

I'm about to start Augustus.

 

[Mogwai]

Just finished

Pretty interesting read. I learned more about myself than anything.

I just finished Quiet today. Great read. I really think everyone (extroverts as well as introverts) would find some it enlightening. I was actually impressed by how well it's written. It never becomes a slog.

 

[Solid SOAP]

I'm not reading anything right now, but I managed to finish 5 books so far this summer. I've never been a big reader, but recently I exploded with enthusiasm towards reading. Here's everything I read

American Psycho
33 1/3: Koji Kondo's SMB Soundtrack
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Influential Game Designers: Shigeru Miyamoto
Seconds

In short, here's how I feel about em. American Psycho was... a bit heavy, especially for a first read. It literally was the first book I bought with my own money and read from beginning to end simply for pleasure. I enjoyed it, but like I said, it was heavy. Very fucked up book. I found that Koji Kondo book in Barnes and Nobles and decided to give it a go, and I very much enjoyed it! I learned a thing or two about music on the NES that I didn't know before, and gained some perspective about game music in general. I picked up Curious Incident on a whim because it interested me; a mystery novel from the perspective of a boy with autism. This was my favorite of the bunch, easily. The book about Miyamoto was cool, but nothing special, unfortunately. I learned some things here and there, but for the most part it was filled with information I already knew. Finally, I read Seconds, the graphic novel by Brian Lee O'Malley. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end; very cool art and I loved the energy of it. I felt like it ended a bit... fairy tale, but it was good and I don't regret the read. I finished it in two sittings, actually.

I love reading and am so happy that I recently discovered the joy of it