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What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:31 am
by lumberjack
I'm reading "The Best American Noir of the Century" Great collection of short stories, that fall into the Noir genre. Dreadful and delightful!

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:40 am
by herbalhippie
Just finished Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones and
re-read Silence of the Lambs. Just about finished with a book club book I picked up at
the library about Queen Victoria. Thinking about re-reading Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
next, it's the closest thing I've read to a Faulkner book only much easier to read. :lol:

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:58 am
by tingalls
I recently finished the first book I've read in 5 years, Ready Player One. I'm stuck deciding if I should read Enders Game or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy next!

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:24 am
by e_poison
Anybody ever read "House of Leaves"?

It's by far my favorite book.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:43 am
by DoomCat
I just finished reading "Noumenon" by Marina J. Lostetter. A really epic hard science fiction novel. HIGHLY recommend for any sci-fi fans out there!!

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:25 pm
by herbalhippie
e_poison wrote:Anybody ever read "House of Leaves"?

It's by far my favorite book.
What's it about?

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:37 pm
by e_poison
herbalhippie wrote:
e_poison wrote:Anybody ever read "House of Leaves"?

It's by far my favorite book.
What's it about?
It's VERY hard to explain lol. When I began reading this book, I could not put it down and read the whole thing in 3 days. Which is very uncommon for me. It was just SO interesting and I was so fascinated by the unconventional style.

It's like several stories wrapped in one. The overarching story is about a man who discovers a series of odd writings in an apartment he is considering renting. The writings themselves are a disorganized analysis of a documentary about a house that is bigger on the outside than the inside. Rooms appear out of thin air. Hallways that lead to nowhere. Doorways that are there one day, then gone the next. Lots of strange and surreal things occur. The characters are all very interesting.

The book itself has a lot of footnotes that reference fictional books, movies, and other things. Like the writer not only created this great story, he crafted a whole fictional universe with a lot of lore and interesting facts behind it.

From wikipedia:
The format and structure of House of Leaves is unconventional, with unusual page layout and style, making it a prime example of ergodic literature. It contains copious footnotes, many of which contain footnotes themselves, including references to fictional books, films or articles. Some pages contain only a few words or lines of text, arranged in strange ways to mirror the events in the story, often creating both an agoraphobic and a claustrophobic effect. The novel is also distinctive for its multiple narrators, who interact with each other in elaborate and disorienting ways.
Anyway, I highly recommend it. It's unlike anything else I've ever read. Easily my favorite book. There are whole fan sites and forums online dedicated to discussing all the mysteries and theories about it.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:48 pm
by 70hm
Insight meditation by Joseph Goldstein

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:02 pm
by lumberjack
herbalhippie wrote:Just finished Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones and
re-read Silence of the Lambs. Just about finished with a book club book I picked up at
the library about Queen Victoria. Thinking about re-reading Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
next, it's the closest thing I've read to a Faulkner book only much easier to read. :lol:
Nice. I'm very interested in the opiate epidemic so I might give that a try. I LOVE McCarthy too, he is my favorite author. I am currently rereading(or listening rather) to Blood Meridian before I go to bed. I find his language to be so dreamy and complicated that it helps sooth me to sleep. The only problem is now that I'm older, I'm like have mercy on those poor characters Cormac, lol.

Have you watched Hannibal?

I've tried Faulkner without luck so far. Where should I start? Maybe it was the lack of violence or nihilism I was used to in Cormac, not sure.
70hm wrote:Insight meditation by Joseph Goldstein
I have been meditating for a long time, but don't read as much as I should. How is this book so far? I know Joseph is obviously a big name : p.
tingalls wrote:I recently finished the first book I've read in 5 years, Ready Player One. I'm stuck deciding if I should read Enders Game or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy next!
I've read both and both are very different. If it were me I'd probably read Ender over HitchHikers. It's too british for me, lol. And nothing more American war, heh.
e_poison wrote:Anybody ever read "House of Leaves"?

It's by far my favorite book.
My buddy was really into that book, it sounds hard to read. Is it?

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:04 pm
by AngelHippie
Just finished Americanah--fantastic. And just ordered Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Incarceration, the private prison system and inequity in the justice system are kind of my thing lately.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:08 pm
by DoomCat
@AngelHippie if you haven't read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander it's a must!

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:11 pm
by e_poison
lumberjack wrote:My buddy was really into that book, it sounds hard to read. Is it?
It's not too hard to read. The story is fairly easy to follow, although very surreal. Sometimes there's only a few words on a page, or words arranged in strange patterns. The author pulls it off well, but it's definitely highly unconventional. Definitely the most interesting book I've ever read, and easily my favorite.

I'm not big into reading overall, but I do like a good book from time to time. Some of my other favorites are 'Lord of the Flies', 'Robinson Crusoe', and the Lord of the Rings books.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:23 pm
by kratomandmath
Leonard Susskind's Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum. Of course it's something heavy in math :)

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:14 pm
by herbalhippie
lumberjack wrote:
herbalhippie wrote:Just finished Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones and
re-read Silence of the Lambs. Just about finished with a book club book I picked up at
the library about Queen Victoria. Thinking about re-reading Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
next, it's the closest thing I've read to a Faulkner book only much easier to read. :lol:
Nice. I'm very interested in the opiate epidemic so I might give that a try. I LOVE McCarthy too, he is my favorite author. I am currently rereading(or listening rather) to Blood Meridian before I go to bed. I find his language to be so dreamy and complicated that it helps sooth me to sleep. The only problem is now that I'm older, I'm like have mercy on those poor characters Cormac, lol.

Have you watched Hannibal?

I've tried Faulkner without luck so far. Where should I start? Maybe it was the lack of violence or nihilism I was used to in Cormac, not sure.

I ordered Dreamland after a doc posted it in a comment at the Medicine sub. It's an eye-opener. It almost reads like fiction but I guess it's true.

I can't recommend any Faulkner because I just. can't. read. his. books. lol I love Suttree though, it's an easier to read form of Faulkner and is actually McCarthy's semi-autobiographical book.

I have not watched Hannibal. But I love the Lecter series of books. And Red Dragon, the original one. Damn, Thomas Harris can write.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:39 pm
by AngelHippie
DoomCat wrote:@AngelHippie if you haven't read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander it's a must!

Yes, I read it--it's fantastic and heart-breaking.You might like Evicted by Matthew Desmond.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:09 am
by herbalhippie
AngelHippie wrote:
DoomCat wrote:@AngelHippie if you haven't read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander it's a must!

Yes, I read it--it's fantastic and heart-breaking.You might like Evicted by Matthew Desmond.

I read Evicted right before Dreamland. Very good book.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:13 am
by 70hm
lumberjack wrote:
70hm wrote:Insight meditation by Joseph Goldstein[

I have been meditating for a long time, but don't read as much as I should. How is this book so far? I know Joseph is obviously a big name : p.
Meditation is a life changing thing. I'm happy to hear you practice it. the book ire excellent. Another great author for this is Thich nhat hanh.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:01 am
by MysticIsland
Do audiobooks count? While working I have been into Marcus Aurelius Meditations and Epictetus Enchiridion. Stoicism has really grabbed my attention lately especially with all news coming in and constant uncertainty in regards to kratom. As for an actual book I have recently become deeply interested in Carl Jung’s idea of the Shadow, but really I just pick it up and then put it down after a page or two.

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:03 pm
by XD585I
A People's History of the United States. Fascinating so far.

audio link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... PdDzskPWiU

Re: What's everybody reading?

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:00 pm
by Kerouacstax
I'm starting "What is Anarchism?" by: Alexander Berkman