No.1192037[View All]
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I've been feeling nostalgic, and I was hoping to dip in and chat for a day or two.
This is a typical icebreaker thread. I might not check in for a little while, because it's pretty late here, but I've got the day off tomorrow.
Post your top 5 books, and maybe a reason why they're in your top 5. And if you'd like, just stop in and say hi.
1. Okay wow this is actually a hard decision. I'm gonna put here: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. My all time favorite children's book. Dark, gritty, uplifting and intelligent. I cried, I yelled in disbelief, I felt sad when it was over. A group of newly sapient rats have to deal with the realities of a world in which they can suddenly plan ahead and foresse consequences. Where death used to mean very little, even losing a single member of the group becomes a cause for concern. Pratchett explores themes of anger, grief and the meaning of life from the beautiful lens of rat society. Which is very cute, but also so sad.
2. Happiness by Matthieu Ricard - A lovely look at what makes humans happy, with practical guides to try and increase happiness. No single book has contributed more to my wellbeing.
3. With each and Every Breath by Thanissaro Bhikkhu - A really interesting collection of buddhist meditation techniques and explanations for how they work. Both this book and Happiness are written from a relatively western perspective. I use these techniques all the time when stretching or meditating.
4. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. A fun and queer science fiction novel about an artificial ship intelligence that is transplanted against her will into a body and has to adjust to life on the surface of a planet, instead of life in a ship's computer. A heartrending tale that tackles themes of neurodivergence and queer love. I find it to be unbelievably poignant and accessible. It shocked me when what I thought was a frivolous and lighthearted book spoke to such a deep part of me.
5. I thought I had to include one book that wasn't frivolous, so I'm going to say The Sage Handbook of Counselling Psychology. Contributed to by my favorite professor at Uni, Mr. Colin Feltham. It's a handy guide that I use all the time. It's very well written, and gives a good overview of the various types of therapy that can be found in modern psychotherapy and pschology practices.
Bonus - what I'm reading right now.
Right now I'm reading Life and Death, the genderswapped version of the first twilight book by stephanie Meyers, and Unsouled, a progression fantasy book in the Cradle series (by Will Wight) (does anyone know what progression fantasy is? I just learned of this the other week).
Super curious how many people I know are still around, and would be up for a chat. Also to see what any of you have been reading, or what you like.
No.1195414
>>1195412Not a fan of riddles?
What runs around a farm, but never moves?
No.1195417
>>1195415Correct! See? Not that hard.
>>1195416An anti-joke? Didn't think there be such thing.
No.1195418
>>1195417Oh, anti-Jokes are Absolutely a thing. They usually run on either straight up just lying or foregoing the punchline for a more "realistic" (and thus often depressing) sentence.
Like "A man walks into a bar. His alcohol dependency is destroying his life."
No.1195854
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In the 19th century they really loved the diary-style narrative in their stories. No matter if Jules Verne or Bram Stoker.
No.1195995
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Is anyon else reading anything?
I consider reading another Jules Vener, 20,000 miles under the sea. Or I could continue with my endless chore in reading all of H.P. Lovecraft's stories.
No.1195996
>>1195995I mean, if audiobooks count
Like I may have mentioned, lately I listen to audiobooks while I draw. I am largely going through many of the books written by Dennis Jürgensen, a danish author who has done a lot of work in just about every genre, both for kids, YA and adults.
Lately, I am listening to what might be his biggest epic - a four-part novel called "Relief", which is essentialyl his take on Stephen King's "IT". At least, in the sense that it features people whose worst fears are made manifest.
The difference is they're all adults, and seemingly completely disconnected, and it's actually the awakening of something much more sinister that is sort of spreading a "fear-manifestation disease" that people who for one reason or another (implied to just be because they haves trong phobias) are particularly susceptible are experiencing.
It's quite exciting, actually. Has some really interesting ideas of how to interpret certain traumas and phobias
No.1196013
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>>1195996you're great ancestors didn't have thousands of years of oral story tradition for audio books not to count!
(i say this as somebody who also does audio books alot too)
oooh! this sounds fun! i'd be down for more IT-esque horror!
No.1196028
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In no particular order:
>Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm a sucker for good worldbuilding, and Tolkien is the master at it.
>Neuromancer by William Gibson
The perfect cyberpunk novel
>Fear and Loathing in Last Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
I watched and really enjoyed the movie, and was inspired to read the book, which I enjoyed even more, and now Hunter S Thompson is one of my favorite authors. I was debating between this or Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.
>Programming the 6502 by Rodnay Zaks
An invaluable book for learning the ins and outs of the 6502 instruction set, not just for developing stuff to be run on 6502-based platforms, but also for developing my 6502 emulator.
>This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible by Charles E. Cobb Jr.
A very enlightening look into the history of civil rights in the US, both through violent and nonviolent protests.
I'm currently reading House of Leaves, and I'm enjoying it so far.
No.1196212
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I read one of my old childrens books from when I was little.
Anyone else still got books from when they were young?
No.1196218
>>1196212>>1196212I have a decent chunk of em. Specifically some that my dad used to read to me, though some of the lean closer to early YA.
The main example would be the danish "Freddy and the Monsters" books. A series of books about a young horror fan names Freddy who discovers that the Universal Monster figures at the local wax museum are actually real and just pretend to be wax Figure by day, and goes on wacky adventures with them.
I've since met the writer twice as an adult and had him sign the first book for me. Same copy my dad read way back when.
No.1196241
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>>1196218That's pretty cool. You should read one of them again to see if they were as good as you remember.
No.1196303
>>1196241>>1196241I did. Or rather, I listened to t C he audio book.
They're basically like episodes of a Saturday morning cartoon. Very slapstick and very funny.
No.1196307
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>>1196303Speaking of audio books, I have some old records at home with fairy tales. They came with picture books so you could read along. I loved them as a child.
No.1196432
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>>1196315I guess most are, unless they are about really old stories. Like, I had audio "books" about Robin Hood or Moby Dick. Of course, they were very much compressed.
No.1197051
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I've decided to read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". Gotta finish that Jules Verne compilation book at some point.
No.1197067
>>1197064>>1197064Yeah, I suppose I oughta.
Ever since I got into actually listening to some audio books, I have been adding various Lovecraft stories myself. They are, after all, highly influential in a genre I adore, yet I only know the various adaptations.
No.1197103
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>>1197067I still have to finish my book with all the Lovecraft stories, too. There's so many!
No.1197104
>>1197103A long time ago I have read the HP Lovecraft collection.
Maybe some day I could reread it...
I did read a few Shadows over Innsmouth collection books not too long ago.
Sometimes the derivative works are more interesting even than the original.
No.1197109
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>>1197104I don't doubt that, there's a lot you can do with all the stories and ideas he came up with.
No.1197262
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>>1197138Oh wow, long time no see!
I never even heard of that story to be honest. I think Pratchett was never that big a thing here.
No.1197706
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I finished reading "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Those old 19th century books are partially pretty hard to read.
Moby Dick was the worst offender for me so far.
No.1197876
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>>1194222>>1194268I finally ordered the series at a local book store. Should get them in two or three weeks.
No.1197892
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>>1197886I remember his comic relief in the Disney movie.
No.1198681
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Finally got my books, time for some light fantasy.
No.1198815
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>>1197886Gurgi is an annoying dolt. So is Taran honestly. You read the book and want to bonk their heads together constantly.
Admittedly I'm early in the first one still.
No.1198876
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>>1198871Yeah, Gurgi's like a lanky dog creature (at least he smells like one) who constantly wants 'crunchings and munchings'.
And Taran is the kind of lad who constantly overestimates his abilities. Well, he's 13 or something.
No.1199397
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Wrapped up the first of the five Prydian books today. It's really very light reading. Black Cauldron is next.
I heard at some point that Disney will make a live-action remake of their movie which bombed back in the 80s.
No.1199399
>>1199397>>1199397Huh. Weird. They love pretending Black Cauldron never existed.
The one time a remake might be a good idea, but I hardly trust em.
No.1199400
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>>1199399Yeah, maybe it's just a rumour. But I think for that movie it would really make sense.
No.1199580
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I got to thye library at last and finally got myself House of Leaves.
So I'm up for the ride.
Have been looking for weeks to see when the book would be available
No.1199600
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>>1199580What's that book about?
No.1199602
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>>1199600You got to ask Noelle probably.
But apparently something about a house that has non-Euclidean properties and things get weird.
A couple years ago, my_house.wad got popular as a doom mod and I have heard people refer to House of Leaves as an inspiration.
