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50 Books. 50 Movies. 1 Year (2014).

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N

Nezumi

Member
Update:

Nezumi - 8/50 books | 4/50 movies​


Barrayar and The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold:

Really liked both books. Out of the three books from the series I have read so far I would say that Barrayar was probably the best when it comes to overall style and pacing and characters. I did however enjoy The Warior's Apprentice a lot mostly because of its almost hilarious pacing. I read most of it in one sitting because I just couldn't lay it down. Though I guess one shouldn't think to much about how fate appeared to always present Miles with exactly what he needed when he needed it.

The Quiet American - Graham Greene:

This was a good book, though nothing too exeptional. I liked his descriptions a lot though and thought that they really brought the surroundings to life. I just didn't really care for the story in general.

Treasure Planet:

Fun movie. I remember that a lot of people didn't like it back when it came out first, which is probably why I hadn't seen it till now. Personally I think that there are a lot worse Disney movies but I guess I'm a bad judge for that anyway because I hate The Lion King which everyone else seems to love.

The Best Offer:

Awsome movie. I had never heard of it before (my husband is in charge of our lovefilm account) so I was a bit sceptical at first but in the end I was really blown away.
 
F

Flek

Banned
Just finished my second book, the road and wow thats my first 5/5 right here. I think this has to be the book i read the fastest in my life :O

Now iam going with a gorgeous audio book - the new murakami : Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Which so far is really great !

I also wanted to give a shout out for anyone looking for a great deal there is a https://www.humblebundle.com on audio books right now!
 
T

Tragicomedy

Member
Flek said:
Just finished my second book, the road and wow thats my first 5/5 right here. I think this has to be the book i read the fastest in my life :O
Click to expand...

Magnificent book! Glad you liked it. McCarthy's writing style is so freaking smooth and laid-back, even amidst the shocking events in that apocalyptic world.

At its heart, I think The Road is one of the top love stories about family that I've ever read. And I mean that in a non-idiotic Kristen Stewart way. The bond between the father and his son is simply incredible.
 
A

Atrophis

Member
Atrophis- 6/50 Books | 1/50 Movies

Movies

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God ★★★★

If you want to watch something that will disgust you and make you extremely angry this documentary has you covered. Its about sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the Vatican's cover-ups and lack of action. Mainly focusing on the abuse of deaf boys at a Catholic boarding school and how they tried to bring their abusers to justice. The courage of these guys is very moving.

Books

The Hellbound Heart - Clive Barker ★★★

Wanted to read this for years. I'm a big Hellraiser fan but sadly the book didn't entirely do it for me. The best section is at the start with Frank opening the box but the rest isn't half as good.


Just pulled the trigger on eight volumes of Michael Moorcocks Tales of the Eternal Champion series. So much for going Kindle only this year ><

They are in perfect condition so it had to be done.

EternalC1.jpg
 
M

Mac_Lane

Member
Mac_Lane, 2/50 books & 2/50 movies

Just finished with Ellroy's L.A. quadrilogy. CRAAAAAZY.

Found myself a bit struggling here, cause I read it in English (my mom fucked up the order) and Ellroy's style was sometimes hard to grasp in this one. But loved it anyway. The universe, the characters... An awesome TV series could be made about it all.
 
I

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Ikuu - 11/50 Books | 6/50 Movies​

Books
  1. Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash (1992)
  2. Elmore Leonard - Pronto (1993)
  3. Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
  4. Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul (2012)
  5. JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit (1937)
  6. Cormac McCarthy - The Road (2006)
  7. Anthony Ryan - Blood Song (2013)
  8. Brandon Sanderson - The Way of Kings (2010)
  9. George RR Martin - A Feast For Crows (2005)
  10. Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
  11. Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance (2014)
  12. Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
  13. Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
Movies
  1. Sherlock: The Empty Hearse (2014)
  2. Sherlock: The Sign of Three (2014)
  3. Sherlock: His Last Vow (2014)
  4. Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
  5. There's Something About Mary (1998)
  6. The Hunger Games (2012)
 
R

roosters93

Member
First update!


Highlights:

Matthew Dicks - Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
First-person narrative from the perspective of an imaginary friend. A unique tale.

Frozen &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
Best disney film for a long time

Gimme the Loot &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
Focuses on 2 young graffiti artists in New York.

Starter for 10 &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
British rom-com starring James McAvoy with loads of now well-known actors popping up

Frances Ha &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
 
S

Shiv47

Member
Atrophis said:
Lets tag team it bro!
Click to expand...

I'm down with it. Question is, to count each omnibus as one book, or the originally published novels within as one each. The first volume has two books originally published alone, and two short stories/novellas, which obviously wouldn't count. I lean toward padding my book count... :p
 
K

kswiston

Member
I should finish book 3 in the next day or two. Like I said earlier, these 500-600 page books are killing my chances of completing this years' challenge. I get through one every 10-14 days...

To catch up, I need some short book recommendations. What are some great novels between 100 and 250 pages? I don't want to read non-fiction. I get enough of that from other sources.
 
T

Tragicomedy

Member
kswiston said:
To catch up, I need some short book recommendations. What are some great novels between 100 and 250 pages? I don't want to read non-fiction. I get enough of that from other sources.
Click to expand...

Sticking to a strict < 250 page count limit and ONLY including good books:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - 107 pages
Animal Farm by George Orwell - 112 pages
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut - 146 pages
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - 144 pages
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson - 175 pages
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - 181 pages
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick - 219 pages
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - 226 pages
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - 238 pages
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 241 pages
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - 244 pages

There's tons more, but I would unequivocally recommend any of those.
 
N

Necrovex

Member
Tragicomedy said:
Sticking to a strict < 250 page count limit and ONLY including good books:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - 107 pages
Animal Farm by George Orwell - 112 pages
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut - 146 pages
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - 144 pages
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson - 175 pages
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - 181 pages
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick - 219 pages
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - 226 pages
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - 238 pages
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 241 pages
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - 244 pages

There's tons more, but I would unequivocally recommend any of those.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendations, Tragic. I am halfway through The Way of Kings, and I'll need some less lengthy books to read before I tackle The Lord of the Rings.

I have only read Of Mice and Men, and Fahrenheit 451 out of the ones you listed.
 
M

Mumei

Member
Tragicomedy said:
Sticking to a strict < 250 page count limit and ONLY including good books:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - 107 pages
Animal Farm by George Orwell - 112 pages
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut - 146 pages
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - 144 pages
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson - 175 pages
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - 181 pages
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick - 219 pages
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - 226 pages
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - 238 pages
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 241 pages
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - 244 pages

There's tons more, but I would unequivocally recommend any of those.
Click to expand...

Great list! I'll add some books I've read in the last few years that fit:

The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
Dubliners, by James Joyce
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente
But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz, by Geoff Dyer
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
A Personal Matter, by Kenzaburo Oe
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, by Kenzaburo Oe
Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino
The Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino
Cosmicomics, by Italo Calvino
The Complete Short Stories of Marcel Proust, by ... Marcel Proust!
Mary, by Vladimir Nabokov
The Eye, by Vladimir Nabokov
Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K LeGuin
Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse
 
M

Mumei

Member
Update~

Mumei - 12/50 Books | 4/50 Movies

I finished The Eye of the World today. I liked it, though I do think that parts dragged a bit and I found the reliance on the same stock expressions - how many times can one man flatly stare? As many as Robert Jordan deems necessary! - to be a bit tiresome.

But honestly, if I think of things to complain about I can certainly find them... but I enjoyed it in spite of that.
 
T

Tragicomedy

Member
Tragicomedy - 7/50 Books | 9/50 Movies

Two new movies added, one of which I feel the need to mention.

Upstream Color (2013) by Shane Carruth. &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733; - I came into this completely blind, other than knowing that the only other film Carruth wrote/directed/starred in (Primer) is one of my ten favorite movies ever.

This film confirms two things I already knew about the man.
1) He's insane.
2) His belief and conviction in his ideas make him brilliant.

Avoiding spoilers, the premise of this movie is so far out there that no studio exec would ever green light it. The whole idea is out in left field and basically unfilmable.

And yet...he pulls it off. What amazes me about this movie and Primer is the ideas are incredibly farfetched, but the internal logical consistencies and rules always add up. There's never cheap midichlorian copouts to his worlds. If you're willing to suspend disbelief and accept the main premise, you won't be disappointed by later plot holes or inconsistencies. The rules may be wild, but they're set in stone and govern everything.

At times shocking, at times confounding, at times heartwarming, the film just works for me. I'd say it's ultimately a love story, but that simplifies what happens too much.

The cinematography and music are superb. Carruth frames the most beautiful shots, always with the most minimalist settings and colors. The soundtrack was flat out amazing. My wife complained that it was suffocating her to the point that she felt nauseated by the ending. Considering the theme and what he was going for, that's about as high of praise as you can give it.

It has been almost a decade since Primer was first unleashed in the world, so this second movie was a long time coming. I hope I don't have to wait nine more years for his next film.

-----

Also watched Wreck-It Ralph. &#9733;&#9733;½ - Not for me.
 
K

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.

Books​
  • Lord Arthur Sevile's Crime (1891), Oscar Wilde - &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;½ - Man makes his own fate even when we choose to believe in a prediction of the future. Show a man and his future and tell him he has to complete an obstacle, like murder, before he can be truely happy and he'll commit the act. Wilde's writing is always fun and his absurd situations make for interesting stories.

Movies​
  • Knowing (2009, dir. Alex Proyas) - &#9733;&#9733; - I was tired. I had worked too much. I really needed a Nicolas Cage-flick to wind down. This is a Cage-movie. The acting is ham and so is so much else. The plot is really stupid. Everything is really stupid. But it has some qualities, like Nicolas Cage, that keeps it from being a complete waste of time.
 
A

Atrophis

Member
Shiv47 said:
I'm down with it. Question is, to count each omnibus as one book, or the originally published novels within as one each. The first volume has two books originally published alone, and two short stories/novellas, which obviously wouldn't count. I lean toward padding my book count... :p
Click to expand...

Yeah I've already thought about this. If a story was published separately as a novel I think it should be counted individually. For the short story collections I would count the whole book as one.

I've already done this with Behold the Man. My copy includes two other stories which I have counted separately.

The real question is read order. You have the White Wolf editions right? They are published in a different order. Moorcock says the UK order is his preferred. Volume 1 in the UK editions is the Von Bek collection so I'll be starting with that.
 
M

Mumei

Member
n0b said:
I looked, its total pages read.
Click to expand...

Yep. I just decided to keep a more realistic tally than what Goodreads shows, since Goodreads usually overestimates by including pages almost no one really reads (Index, Notes that only have sources without additional text, etc.), and obviously includes things I would not count at all like comics, manga, and graphic novels.
 
A

avengers23

Banned

Books
The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes

How much can we be blamed for our youthful transgressions? Is there a statute of limitations on offenses we committed when we were younger and, theoretically, stupider? Can we accept responsibility for what we do if we don't even remember committing the act? Eyewitness testimony has become more problematic in court because of the fallibility of memory.

Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending invites the reader to reflect, as the novel's narrator, Anthony Webster, does, on the lies we agree upon with ourselves to form our personal histories. Barnes turns a brilliant phrase for Tony on what history actually is: "History isn't the lies of the victors, as I once glibly assured Old Joe Hunt; I know that now. It's more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious or defeated."

In the process, Barnes also plays with convention and our sensibilities as readers. Though Webster is the narrator, he is arguably not the protagonist of the story. "This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature," Webster wrote. Except that Webster's life might not have been the stuff of grand literature because he was ultimately a side character in another person's grand tragedy. Webster laments that he has lived a peaceable life, even though his narration skips from his days as a young adult to his days as a retiree, mentioning only in passing the supposed transformative moments of a person's life, such as his career, his marriage, his fatherhood, and the dissolution of his marriage.

Webster would be the type of person who would be endlessly fascinated by the fact that the verb "to be" is irregular in many languages.

A common criticism of The Sense of an Ending seems to be that Anthony Webster and Veronica are both unlikable. Veronica's characterization is in question because the reader is reliant on Tony's descriptions of Veronica, and it turns out that Tony did not Veronica very well at all. We can judge Tony through he describes to us, particularly in the second part of the book, but we must take care and actually consider the point Barnes is making in the book: these are snapshots, possibly carefully chosen by Tony and certainly intentionally crafted by Barnes, of a man's life. How could we judge anyone with such imperfect knowledge at our disposal? Furthermore, why does Tony or any other character have to be likable for the audience to engage with the work?

Movies
Grosse Pointe Blank

This might be the fourth or fifth time I've seen Grosse Pointe Blank, and I acknowledge all of the implausible things about it, such as the idea that we are to accept a plump Dan Akroyd and a lanky John Cusack as deadly assassins. Minnie Driver's Michigan accent is suspect, at best. But dear God, I love this film.

Despite its incredible soundtrack, the movie wouldn't work at all if not for John Cusack's performance. He seems articulate, smart, skilled at his job and utterly clueless about matters of the heart. He tries to speed through his conversations with Minnie Driver's Debi as if shooting words out of his mouth at a fast clip would make up for ten years of silence. It was maybe the third time I watched this film that I really appreciated Alan Arkin's performance as Cusack's Martin Blank's psychiatrist, where he scratches for an answer for Blank that will allow him to live a little longer.

Cusack's performance wouldn't work if we didn't buy his smoldering attraction to Driver's Debi. I watched Good Will Hunting before I saw Grosse Pointe Blank, so I was already on board with Driver. But her performance here cemented it; flirty, but justifiably resentful, unable to help herself even when she knows better.

The highlight of the film is the actual high school reunion itself, which wryly observes how easily we fall into old roles. It reminded me of the New York magazine article about how our high school experiences stay with us no matter how hard we try to not let it.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
avengers23 said:
Movies
Grosse Pointe Blank

This might be the fourth or fifth time I've seen Grosse Pointe Blank, and I acknowledge all of the implausible things about it, such as the idea that we are to accept a plump Dan Akroyd and a lanky John Cusack as deadly assassins. Minnie Driver's Michigan accent is suspect, at best. But dear God, I love this film.
Click to expand...

Which means that you can't count it for this challenge...
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Grosse Point Blank is an amazing movie though. When I was a teen, I must've watched that about 6-7 times.

(I feel you on the repeats. I have 8 books I'm halfway through but I'm on my annual reread of the LOTR trilogy so that's putting me behind on my contest.)
 
S

Shiv47

Member
Atrophis said:
Yeah I've already thought about this. If a story was published separately as a novel I think it should be counted individually. For the short story collections I would count the whole book as one.

I've already done this with Behold the Man. My copy includes two other stories which I have counted separately.

The real question is read order. You have the White Wolf editions right? They are published in a different order. Moorcock says the UK order is his preferred. Volume 1 in the UK editions is the Von Bek collection so I'll be starting with that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was just reading about this on a Moorcock wiki. I think I'll try to match the UK order as possible, but include the US only titles as they pop up in the series. I think there's a couple White Wolf editions not included in the UK run.

Also, following the above conversation, Grosse Point Blank is excellent. It even has Benny "the Jet" Urquidez in a cameo.
 
M

Mumei

Member
WanderingWind said:
Grosse Point Blank is an amazing movie though. When I was a teen, I must've watched that about 6-7 times.

(I feel you on the repeats. I have 8 books I'm halfway through but I'm on my annual reread of the LOTR trilogy so that's putting me behind on my contest.)
Click to expand...

I reread it last year, and I'm thinking about doing it again this year. I liked it a lot more than I did the first time I read it in high school, and after reading The Silmarillion I feel like it'll be a different experience.
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Mumei said:
I reread it last year, and I'm thinking about doing it again this year. I liked it a lot more than I did the first time I read it in high school, and after reading The Silmarillion I feel like it'll be a different experience.
Click to expand...

It's basically my favorite thing in the world. I have the books on my phone, my kindle and keep a collected volume in the backseat of my car. I've seriously read it more than a dozen times and I'm still finding new things - little turns of phrases, lineages (as you say The Silmarillion give the texts new dimensions) or bits of imagery that stick out.
 
I

iiicon

Member
iicon | 6/50 Books | 1/50 Movies

I finished Purple Hibiscus and Why Literature?: The Value of Literary Reading and What It Means for Teaching this week. Both fascinating reads for (obviously) very different reasons. Adichie's command of prose and character, even this early into her career, is nothing short of stunning. I look forward to reading Half of a Yellow Sun in the upcoming weeks, but dread it too, because that means I'll have nothing left of hers to read. the Bruns was a thorough overview of a pedagogical approach to literature and left me reflecting on ways to bridge the gap between literature and students, which was the goal.

I also watched a movie! though perhaps I shouldn't get too excited, as it was We Were Children, a documentary about the devastating effects of residential schools in Canada as told through the eyes of two survivors. It's heartbreaking and infuriating, more so for having a grandfather placed in one such school. Even if you don't have a personal attachment to the subject matter, the systematic destruction of Aboriginal culture that went on for decades is a sad and embarrassing blemish on Canadian history. It's on Netflix Canada (possibly other territories as well) if anyone is interested.
 
A

Atrophis

Member
Shiv47 said:
Yeah, I was just reading about this on a Moorcock wiki. I think I'll try to match the UK order as possible, but include the US only titles as they pop up in the series. I think there's a couple White Wolf editions not included in the UK run.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's all a bit of a mess really!

My order is due around Wednesday. Not sure what to read in the mean time.

EDIT: they actually arrived this Saturday morning. Ah so much book porn :D

SamVimes said:
Update 9/50 Books
I read the other two books in the first law trilogy and i just wanted to say fuck you Abercrombie you beautiful bastard.
Click to expand...

I finished the first book about the same time as you did. Glad to hear the rest are just as good. They are on my list!
 
S

SamVimes

Member
Atrophis said:
I finished the first book about the same time as you did. Glad to hear the rest are just as good. They are on my list!
Click to expand...

If someone told me that they just get better i wouldn't have believed them because you know, you have to be realistic about these things.
Now i'm gonna check out the standalones.
 
E

EvaristeG

Banned
I added The Wind Rises to my main post, which makes 10 movies.

Movie was beautiful. One of my favorite by the master. Subtle and melancholic, with incredible art (dat
earthquake
) I teared up during many scenes, especially the ones hinting
Miyazaki's farewells
 
M

Mumei

Member
Update:

Mumei - 14/50 Books | 4/50 Movies

I finished reading Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage, and The Abortion Myth: Feminism, Morality, and the Hard Choices Women Make by Leslie Cannold. I wasn't especially impressed with the former; it felt like too much of a lightweight effort, with awkward writing and a really surface level introduction to the animal. I had expected to learn a lot more than I actually did, and most of my reasons for liking it were essentially, "Octopuses are awesome!"

I also thought it was a rather tone-deaf choice to open the first forty pages on discussions of the author's adventures eating various octopus dishes. I mean, it's not totally irrelevant to how people think of them, but I was interested in them as living animals and not as human food.

The Abortion Myth was more interesting, and I liked the attempt it made at arguing for reframing the abortion debate from one of the rights of the mother to control her own body on one side and the right to life of the fetus on the other side to one that is more transparent about what the debate is really about - women's ability to decide whether or not to become mothers.
 
C

campfireweekend

Member
campfireweekend - 8/50 Books | 9/50 Movies

I just read W;t by Margaret Edson, and while it was only 85 pages the subject matter and the story told was incredibly textured.

The oddest thing happened though; it made me laugh. More times than I can count. Why is that weird? Because its basically about someone's final hours of life, waiting to die from cancer. But its full of witty insights, word play and enough 4th wall breaking and meta humor to make me incredibly happy.

Very short read, but very recommended.
 
Weapxn

Weapxn

Mikkelsexual
Do mini-series count as movies? Or are they considered TV? There are a couple I want to watch (mainly John Adams), but I don't want to count them on here if it's against the rules.
 
P

Pau

Member
Mumei said:
The Abortion Myth was more interesting, and I liked the attempt it made at arguing for reframing the abortion debate from one of the rights of the mother to control her own body on one side and the right to life of the fetus on the other side to one that is more transparent about what the debate is really about - women's ability to decide whether or not to become mothers.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I'd be interested in looking at the argument from that point of view. Is this another hardcover though Mumei, because you keep reading hardcovers and my wallet cries every time!
 
M

Mumei

Member
Pau said:
Hmm, I'd be interested in looking at the argument from that point of view. Is this another hardcover though Mumei, because you keep reading hardcovers and my wallet cries every time!
Click to expand...

No, but it's still $16.87 on Amazon. Perhaps your library has it!
 
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