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What are you reading? (January 2012)

GAF, I'm about to pull the trigger on the 79$ kindle. Things I need to know. Can I transfer EPUB files my brother already purchase(He has the SONY E-Reader)to my Kindle? And two, does it handle PDF files correctly? My bro is telling me to get the 99$ Kindle instead.......But, I did't notice a huge difference between the two models besides storage.
 

survivor

Banned
GAF, I'm about to pull the trigger on the 79$ kindle. Things I need to know. Can I transfer EPUB files my brother already purchase(He has the SONY E-Reader)to my Kindle? And two, does it handle PDF files correctly? My bro is telling me to get the 99$ Kindle instead.......But, I did't notice a huge difference between the two models besides storage.

I don't have a Kindle (only Kobo) so I can't answer the PDF question, but for your epub books, you need to convert them first. From what I know Kindle doesn't read epub files. You can use something like calibre and convert them to mobi files.
 
I know but I set mnyself to read 20 last year and I didnt reach that. So being a little conservative with my target this year.

Anyway, Gaf how much time do you spend reading compared to gaming? Is it like a 50/50 split or what?

Kind of find it hard to decide what to do sometimes. Do a bit of reading or some iPad/handheld gaming before bed for instance.

Its around 80/20 reading/gaming. I do play games, but I get bored really quick. My Nook goes with me everywhere and I have alot of down time so I just read.
 
I don't have a Kindle (only Kobo) so I can't answer the PDF question, but for your epub books, you need to convert them first. From what I know Kindle doesn't read epub files. You can use something like calibre and convert them to mobi files.

Thanks....I just Google the device you mentioned. It looks really nice, how you liking it so far?
 

survivor

Banned
Thanks....I just Google the device you mentioned. It looks really nice, how you liking it so far?

It gets the job done and it's solid, it just has 2 big problems

- there is a page turning bug that sometimes happen where it will flip 2 pages instead of one
- the kobo store is terrible. Awful prices and gets books slower than Amazon store.

Honestly I wish I had a Kindle, but it was much easier to get a Kobo here in Canada.
 

Salazar

Member
Started to reread Robin Lane Fox's Alexander book.

Deterred by a bit early on when he says that emphatic or promiscuous homosexuality in classical times was "as absurd and abhorrent as it is today".

I knew he was an asshole from the tenor of the scholarly notes crammed up at the back of the book, but I missed this on my first reading. Fuck you, Robin.
 

Karakand

Member
Please tell me this isn't common in Penguin Classics now...

aERtw.png
 
It gets the job done and it's solid, it just has 2 big problems

- there is a page turning bug that sometimes happen where it will flip 2 pages instead of one
- the kobo store is terrible. Awful prices and gets books slower than Amazon store.

Honestly I wish I had a Kindle, but it was much easier to get a Kobo here in Canada.
That sucks....I just did some final research and it looks like the Nook is for me. Just order now. HYPE!
 

Karakand

Member
I always read introductions because you can't spoil beauty.

Keep the spoiler histrionics in the internet ghetto where it belongs.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
I know but I set mnyself to read 20 last year and I didnt reach that. So being a little conservative with my target this year.

Anyway, Gaf how much time do you spend reading compared to gaming? Is it like a 50/50 split or what?

Kind of find it hard to decide what to do sometimes. Do a bit of reading or some iPad/handheld gaming before bed for instance.

It all depends. Sometimes I find a book or a series that I simply cant put down and it consumes a large percentage of my freetime.

But your question kind of assumes that my entire freetime is spent between either reading or gaming, which just isn't the case.
 

coldvein

Banned
Reading isn't just for the plot.

i understand that. but going into any given novel i don't want to know what's going to happen. i don't want plot points explained to me before i even get into the plot. hence me always skipping the intros.
 
I always read introductions because you can't spoil beauty.

Keep the spoiler histrionics in the internet ghetto where it belongs.

More than plot spoilers, I don't like to let an introduction influence how I react to or interpret a book. I like to read them afterwards, to get another person's take on the work. It would be like going to a book club meeting before reading the book...
 
200px-Catch22.jpg


Just finishing. Loved it, although as stated before, you've got to give it a few chapters to get into its rhythm.

Reading the Amazon reviews for it is both amusing and depressing. 'Says the same thing over and over and over.' No, it doesn't. Go read Dragon Tattoo and leave the rest of us alone. Or: 'Commie drivel.' Really? Cuz war is fun and makes total sense, or what? Heller walked the talk in WWII, so shut the fuck up already.

Here's my favorite: 'Yossarian is a selfish bastard.' No shit, Sherlock. Miss the point much?

Did I mention I loved it?
 

Kraftwerk

Member
Now reading:

51b%2BsRwY9pL._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


It's a second attempt. I started reading this a couple of years ago but stopped around page 40 because I disliked the writing style so much. Now I'm much further along but I've also realized I've seen the movie adaption of this book (Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate" starring Johnny Depp). It doesn't matter so far, because the book is a lot richer.


Oh shit. I MUST get this. I loved that movie.
 

Chorazin

Member
5165e05YpXL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


I'm 70% through and while the writing in general is pretty amature, the fight scenes are pretty epic. It's nice that the titular Kell is a hardened bad ass soldier, no "Young boy must save the world!" type stuff going on. Plus, the bad guys are clockwork vampires, which is actually different and interesting, not a lot of steampunk fantasy out there.
 

ultron87

Member
51WC999OnyL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Read what I assume must be the climax of Way of Kings last night,
the Battle of the Tower
. That was an incredibly exciting read. That was totally worth the first two thirds of the book being a tiny bit slow. Just have the last part/act to read now.

Sure, it was awfully convenient that
Kaladin turned into a super badass at the exact right moment, but it matched up with his big choice to take responsibility for everything and to save the Kholins so I was fine with it. I'm glad that Sanderson didn't have him just take down that shardbearer and instantly get upgraded to Blade + Plate.

And from earlier in the book, the scene where Shallan
was fleeing the symbol head things while constantly sketching them and seeing them get ever closer was super creepy.
 

Mumei

Member
I finished The Dispossessed. Loved it. It reminded me a lot of The Left Hand of Darkness, and I'm not sure which of the two I liked better.

The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature (now 699/2471) happens to have a couple novels I haven't read complete and unabridged, so I'm going ahead and listing them as I read them. It'll make for a somewhat inflated page count, but ... whatever. Having the book listed as read is more important to me. So far it's just E. Nesbit's The Phoenix and the Carpet.

For Christmas, I got some Amazon gift card money, and I recently received a couple things I ordered: a collection of Nabokov's short stories (The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov), Pale Fire, and the Invincible Compendium. I'm still debating whether I want to keep the compendium. It's less expensive, but I really like the hardcovers, and they are slightly larger. If the Compendium were exactly the same size this would be a no brainer for me. Sigh.

Anyway, I am in Chicago at a friend's house at the moment. I'm now about a little over a quarter of the way through the Anthology. I'll probably start with Pnin next, and then The Complete Poems of Sappho.

... Or something. I'll probably go off track and do something else when I get back.
 

Kuraudo

Banned
Gave up on Ulysses. Work and personal stuff have my mind completely shattered right now so needed something a bit easier to chill out with.

Reading The Broom of the System instead.

a-faNTASTIC-BOOK13.jpg


Absolutely sublime. Wallace was an absolute master of fiction. Fuck depression for stealing him from us.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
More than plot spoilers, I don't like to let an introduction influence how I react to or interpret a book. I like to read them afterwards, to get another person's take on the work. It would be like going to a book club meeting before reading the book...

Exactly how I feel. Although I will skim an intro for biographical information, as soon as I see story or thematic discussion, I'm out.
 

Salazar

Member
Yeah, I found that Legend of Kell book pretty entertaining.

Awwwwww yeah

http://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/e...e-battle-for-global-empire-and-the-end-of-the

Historian Tom Holland chronicles the end of the ancient world ruled over by the Roman and Persian empires and the rise of Islam. In the sixth century, the Near East was divided between the two ancient empires, but 100 years later it was the Arabs that ruled. Holland examines how this happened. He uncovers the dramas and the horrors of this age and portrays the remarkable leaders who played a part in the transformation.
Holland is the author of three other acclaimed works of history, Rubicon, Persian Fire, and Millennium: The Ending of the World and the Forging of Christendom. He has also written a number of novels.

I am there. Been waiting for this book for a while.
 

coldvein

Banned
Divergent by Veronica Roth is the goodreads "favorite book" of 2011? a YA fantasy book? c'monnnnn..

Raymond Chandler is a great author, good place to start. but i'd go with dashiell hammet's maltese falcon first, if you haven't read it yet.
 
The Terror - Finished it about 2 days ago. Interesting insight into the Franklin expedition. The horror/supernatural aspect of it was underwhelming to say the least. By the end, the entire novel felt like a waste of time and I was angry because I should have just picked up a non-fiction account of that lost expedition.

Blindsight - In progress. I am not a fan of sci fi novels, like, at all. Luckily Blindsight is much more than the usual sci fi tale.
 

Cfh123

Member
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. It is excellent. The premise is fascinating - a man sell his wife and kid - and the far reaching consequences of doing so.

0pt1J.jpg
 

Dresden

Member
started The Great Game by Hopkirk and it's been excellent so far. Exciting accounts of hardy ass men doing gnarly shit in central Asia.
 

thomaser

Member
Finished Murakami's Underground. Reading first-hand accounts from people who survived the gas attack on Tokyo's subway in 1995 is very interesting. There are also several accounts from people who were in the Aum cult at the time, but none of these participated in the attack, or even knew that something like it was planned. Fascinating stuff. It also shows that Murakami is far from being a one-trick pony.

1282829141-franzen.jpg


Just started Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, which I received for Christmas one year ago. Can't say that the blurb on the cover sounds that interesting to me, but the friend who gave it absolutely loves it, and I trust her judgment.
 
The Terror - Finished it about 2 days ago. Interesting insight into the Franklin expedition. The horror/supernatural aspect of it was underwhelming to say the least. By the end, the entire novel felt like a waste of time and I was angry because I should have just picked up a non-fiction account of that lost expedition.

Yup. Way too long. I did like the ending, however.
 

Boss Man

Member
I've never been able to get into fiction, but I want to. I just feel like I have to be learning something if I'm reading.

Currently reading Brain Rules, which is a super interesting book about the brain's hard-wiring and things that you can actively do to biologically alter your attitude, wittiness, attention, memory, health, etc.
 

mbmonk

Member
how-to-read-a-book6.jpg




I am almost done and I have really enjoyed it. I got much more out of the book than I could have ever imagined. I think I am going to buy another copy of the book for collection purposes because I marked up my current version up significantly.




I did a quick/inspectional reading of another book by Adler

51SWzPfSyfL._SL500_.jpg


I am really excited to give it a second reading and really dig in deep. :p
 

Fou-Lu

Member
Got a Kindle for Christmas and started reading with it after New Years. Read the Ring trilogy, third book was damn strange and I found it amusing how little the American movie had to do with the books. I did enjoy it though. I just wish it hadn't gone so strongly sci fi out of nowhere.

I'm now reading the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, finished the first book earlier today, the multiple view points didn't really work for me like they do in ASOIAF, but I still really liked it. Pretty fresh for a book about what amounts to assassins. It was definitely a page turned considering I finished it in four solid hours of reading.

Also have The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson prepped to read, but might take a break from Fantasy after the Night Angel trilogy to read something else. Possibly Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin or John Dies at the End.
 
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