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Books enjoyed

Enter here to talk about books, art, literature, film, TV and anything else to do with popular culture.
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animist
Posts: 6522
Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Books enjoyed

#41 Post by animist » February 9th, 2013, 5:47 pm

Latest post of the previous page:

demi wrote:
MarkAlmond wrote:Ooohhh Books. :) My favourite books are Stephen Hawking ABHOT, Hemingway’s 'A moveable feast', Sati by Christopher Pike, Utopia by Thomas More, The Hobbit by Tolkien, the Elminster books by Ed Greenwood and I am currently reading the Mass Effect books which are much better than I expected. :popcorn:

Does anyone remember those fantasy books with the green spines? The ones where you had to make a choice and turn to a certain page. I can not for the life of me remember what they were called or the name of the author. :shrug:

I haven't heard of those books. Is that for alternate endings?
doubt that, but it might be for an alternative ending

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#42 Post by Dave B » February 9th, 2013, 6:01 pm

Talking about novel formats for books: many years ago I read one about a man and woman who meet in a seaside hotel (and written by two authors, M & F, can't remember the title.) Novelty was that the story was told twice, the same events were related according to the p.o.v. of the characters, in alternate chapters.

Was a bit weird to start with but in the end I enjoyed it.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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jaywhat
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Re: Books enjoyed

#43 Post by jaywhat » October 13th, 2013, 6:30 am

Novels by Elizabeth von Arnim - I am liking them right now.

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draykorinee
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Joined: September 21st, 2013, 11:10 am

Re: Books enjoyed

#44 Post by draykorinee » October 13th, 2013, 6:36 am

The second sons trilogy by jenifer fallon, its a fantasy novel but not your usual dungeons and dragons, its about birth of a religion and the
battle between countries afterwards. Its a great trilogy if anyone gets the chance to read it.

Any anything by JV Jones.
sanctimonious
ˌsaŋ(k)tɪˈməʊnɪəs/Submit
adjectivederogatory
1.
making a show of being morally superior to other people.

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Cam
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Joined: October 1st, 2013, 9:36 am

Re: Books enjoyed

#45 Post by Cam » November 1st, 2013, 10:41 am

My favourite author is probably Isaac Asimov. Pretty much anything by him is a good read. But I have read the all the discworld novels by Terry Pratchett through from beginning to end about 4 times now, they are excellent.

Roger Penrose's Emperor's new mind and shadows of the mind are pretty good if you like mathematics. I like Susan Greenfield's books on the mind also. I liked the works of Freud, Nietzsche & Satre but I have not read them for a while (must do that!).

Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the late, great Christopher Hitchens of course. Quentin Crisp's biographies are quite amusing. As are the books by Jeremy Clarkson if you want a giggle.

And if you want an amusing read then I can recommend the Satanic Bible by Anton LaVay! I keep this on my bookshelf next to the King James version of the Bible just for the sheer hell of it, so to speak! :hilarity:

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Alan H
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Re: Books enjoyed

#46 Post by Alan H » November 1st, 2013, 12:30 pm

Cam wrote:My favourite author is probably Isaac Asimov.
Agreed. I still have all the books of his I read as a teenager. I'm not sure how they stand up now, given that they were written 70-odd years ago, but I think they's still be a good read.

Just started reading Simon Singh's latest: The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets. A good, light-hearted read so far - and a dig at chiropractors, so can only be good!
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#47 Post by Dave B » November 1st, 2013, 4:49 pm

Alan H wrote:
Cam wrote:My favourite author is probably Isaac Asimov.
Agreed. I still have all the books of his I read as a teenager. I'm not sure how they stand up now, given that they were written 70-odd years ago, but I think they's still be a good read.

Just started reading Simon Singh's latest: The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets. A good, light-hearted read so far - and a dig at chiropractors, so can only be good!
I read the original Foundation trilogy about six times, in the 50s 60s, I think. Bought the next ones in the series last year and found the style a bit old fashioned and stiff.

But Isaac did invent the tablet and the CD. Not sure if he was the first with a voice operated computer though. Definitely a man of vision and his Laws of Robotics were mentioned in the book I am reading now - that has made it about ten authors who have used that to my knowledge!
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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jaywhat
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Re: Books enjoyed

#48 Post by jaywhat » December 5th, 2013, 6:30 am

Lee Childs yes. (Interviewed on Book Club Radio 4 a few days ago. Anyone else like his stuff about the exmilitary vagrant and tough guy Jack Reacher?

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#49 Post by animist » April 27th, 2014, 10:06 pm

has anyone read Herman Wouk's "Youngblood Hawke"? It is a very long book published in 1962, focusing on the US book scene (plus McCarthyism) in the early 1950s, and I adore it and will be lost without it (I am on about page 750 of 1060 pages)! My mother read it soon after it was published and was obviously also addicted to it: she would say, somewhat suggestively, things like "I'm just off to bed with Youngblood!" It has taken me 50 years to get round to reading the tome, and as I don't believe in an afterlife, I sadly will not be able to discuss its delights with Mum :wink:

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Alan H
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Re: Books enjoyed

#50 Post by Alan H » May 3rd, 2014, 11:49 am

Alan H wrote:Apparently, the first chapter of Alom Shaha's book The Young Atheist's Handbook: Lessons for Living a Good Life Without God is available for free download to your Kindle.
The BHA have sent a copy of Alom's book to every Secondary School (in England?). This got a mention in FlashMaggie's local paper and she was quoted:
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Typical comment from the Catholic priest, of course...
Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

Nick
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

Re: Books enjoyed

#51 Post by Nick » May 3rd, 2014, 12:22 pm

Alan H wrote:
Alan H wrote:Apparently, the first chapter of Alom Shaha's book The Young Atheist's Handbook: Lessons for Living a Good Life Without God is available for free download to your Kindle.
The BHA have sent a copy of Alom's book to every Secondary School (in England?).

Typical comment from the Catholic priest, of course...
It's an appalling comment, too. Has he never read about the speck in another's eye....?

Well done, the BHA.

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getreal
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Re: Books enjoyed

#52 Post by getreal » May 4th, 2014, 8:09 pm

Currently reading my way through Peter Mays series of books.

So far they are very unputdownable. A worthy successor to Rebus.
"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on his head"-Tyrion Lannister.

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#53 Post by animist » May 23rd, 2014, 11:46 am

animist wrote:has anyone read Herman Wouk's "Youngblood Hawke"? It is a very long book published in 1962, focusing on the US book scene (plus McCarthyism) in the early 1950s, and I adore it and will be lost without it (I am on about page 750 of 1060 pages)! My mother read it soon after it was published and was obviously also addicted to it: she would say, somewhat suggestively, things like "I'm just off to bed with Youngblood!" It has taken me 50 years to get round to reading the tome, and as I don't believe in an afterlife, I sadly will not be able to discuss its delights with Mum :wink:
from the deafening silence following this post, I will assume that the answer to my question is "no". I've just finished a much shorter book and one more relevant to our anti-religion interests: E. M. Forster's ""Where Angels Fear to Tread". The theme is the narrowness and arrogance of Protestant Christians in England a century ago - well, give it a go and see what you think!

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getreal
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Re: Books enjoyed

#54 Post by getreal » July 3rd, 2014, 12:40 pm

I'm trying to familiarise myself a little with Balkan history of the more recent kind ( 19thc to date). I've read a couple of books and, like Pooh, I have litle brain. Some of the books were way too details and became increasingly impenetrable. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have contacted Glasgow uni as they sometimes do short leisure courses on these types of topics - in the past I have seen Slavic studies and Balkan history offered. I'm hoping they will offer some this coming year, but the programme is not yet out.


Any suggestions, anyone?
"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on his head"-Tyrion Lannister.

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#55 Post by animist » July 3rd, 2014, 2:26 pm

getreal wrote:I'm trying to familiarise myself a little with Balkan history of the more recent kind ( 19thc to date). I've read a couple of books and, like Pooh, I have litle brain. Some of the books were way too details and became increasingly impenetrable. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have contacted Glasgow uni as they sometimes do short leisure courses on these types of topics - in the past I have seen Slavic studies and Balkan history offered. I'm hoping they will offer some this coming year, but the programme is not yet out.


Any suggestions, anyone?
long ago I read "Balkan Background" by the travel writer Bernard Newman, and it was a very readable introduction - it was written c.1944 so is pretty old, but it get a feel of these rather obscure little countries and races. I have always been very interested in Romania especially, and wish I had studied its history and language when at uni

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getreal
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Re: Books enjoyed

#56 Post by getreal » July 3rd, 2014, 2:30 pm

Thanks animist. I'll check that out.



Edit: just bought an ex library copy from amazon for a couple of pounds. Had a look inside and liked the writing style.

Thanks!
"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on his head"-Tyrion Lannister.

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animist
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Re: Books enjoyed

#57 Post by animist » February 15th, 2015, 10:04 pm

just finished, at virtually the same time, the monumental "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving and the less massive "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates. Both these US novels, from different decades (and I only realised this as I finished them) feature abortion as an important theme, in different ways. The Irving novel centres on the different attitudes to abortion between a doctor and his orphan pupil, while in the Yates book the tragic denouement centres on a disastrous amateur abortion. Both are worth reading!

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Tetenterre
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Re: Books enjoyed

#58 Post by Tetenterre » February 16th, 2015, 9:38 am

I devoured Edzard Ernst's A Scientist in Wonderland in a single sitting yesterday. It's not "polished prose" - more memoir than full autobiography - and I was aware that I was only getting one side of the story, but I found it to be an utterly enthralling and very human book.

Prof. Ernst comes across as an idealist who spent a lot of his young adulthood trying to find his mission in life, frequently approaching, but not quite finding, it. The first half of the book details this.

In the second half, which deals mostly with his time as the Laing Professor of Complementary Medicine at Exeter University, it seems that Ernst found his mission. Many apologists for pseudomedicine try to hide behind the assertion that it cannot be amenable to scientific testing for a variety of reasons, common excuses being individualisation of treatment and testing interfering with the "subtle energies" . Ernst's description of how he accommodated the objections of spiritual healers in order to test their claims gives the lie to the validity of these excuses.

In this part, we see the close-mindedness that characterises so many of those who espouse pseudomedicine and their fear of having their particular "modality" exposed as indistinguishable from placebo. I wonder if Ernst is perhaps over-generous when he describes these people as being mostly well-intentioned. The one who clearly comes across as not being well-intentioned is (Prince) Charles Windsor, who comes across as using the influence he has due to accident of birth in a petty, disingenuous and downright spiteful manner. What was also disappointing (and which must have been devastating to Ernst) was the comprehensive failure of the university authorities to stand up to this royal bully.

I can only highly recommend this marvellous little book. It is full of remarkable anecdotes, the humour (much of it self-deprecating) shines through even the darkest times, and we are left, as Ernst was, with nothing but the sheer integrity that has guided his often difficult path through life.
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Alan H
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Re: Books enjoyed

#59 Post by Alan H » March 23rd, 2015, 10:45 am

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Alan Henness

There are three fundamental questions for anyone advocating Brexit:

1. What, precisely, are the significant and tangible benefits of leaving the EU?
2. What damage to the UK and its citizens is an acceptable price to pay for those benefits?
3. Which ruling of the ECJ is most persuasive of the need to leave its jurisdiction?

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Tetenterre
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Joined: March 13th, 2011, 11:36 am

Re: Books enjoyed

#60 Post by Tetenterre » March 23rd, 2015, 12:41 pm

:pointlaugh:
Steve

Quantum Theory: The branch of science with which people who know absolutely sod all about quantum theory can explain anything.

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Dave B
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Re: Books enjoyed

#61 Post by Dave B » March 23rd, 2015, 2:04 pm

:pointlaugh:
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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