Best literature & fiction books according to redditors
We found 87,456 Reddit comments discussing the best literature & fiction books. We ranked the 28,164 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 87,456 Reddit comments discussing the best literature & fiction books. We ranked the 28,164 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Penpal. Originally published on /r/nosleep by /u/1000vultures. Absolutely terrifying.
Footsteps
Balloons
Boxes
Maps
Screens
Friends
*Edit: Holy cow this is easily my most upvoted comment ever. Glad you guys are enjoying the creepiness. As several other people have pointed out, /u/1000vultures has actually published this as a full-length book, with some new stuff added in and edits as well to make it all flow better. If you enjoyed his stories for free, please consider buying them!
Just going to leave this here.
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series. Either the 2nd or 3rd book I believe? They're all fairly short, I bought ultimate edition on Amazon and get all like 5 of them together.
Edit: for everyone asking, here's the book I got
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345453743/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_8nOngEkZkw2tO
I'm glad to hear it bud!!
Because YOU CAN!!
Introducing Taken by the T-Rex NSFW
A whole line of dinosaur erotica novels can be found!! So you don't have to necessarily see a T-Rex strip you can read about dinosaur erotica how awesome!?!?
EDIT: And don't forget Dino Park After Dark!!
EDIT 2: Or Ravished by the Triceratops
Here is the synopsis for Ravished by the Triceratops for those interested in Dino-Erotica
Beliria’s pride has gotten her into trouble again.
Before she can complete her rites of womanhood and take her place in the tribe, she must provide a kill for her tribe. Beliria chooses to hunt the most dangerous herbivore on the plains, the Tri-Horn. No single hunter has ever successfully taken a Triceratops, but Beliria is determined to be the first. Naked, with no food, water, or provisions beyond her weapons, Beliria sets out. Tracking the Tri-Horn, she lays a cunning ambush, but it isn’t cunning enough.
Her attack caused the big bull Triceratops to lose his mate. Now he intends to replace her- with Beliria!
Horrified and aroused by the horned giant, Beliria must find a way to control the situation, or she may find that this Tri-Horn is really too much for her to handle.
Great stories. In response to the response he got from the r/nosleep community, he's published a book.
Penpal on Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW/
Well, uhh... there are all sorts of people in this funny world we live in.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509554987&sr=8-2&keywords=clippy+romance
Here are my personal favorite head-fucks, each one of them did something strange to my whole world when I read them:
But yeah, by far my favorite is the one at the top of the list, The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. There's just so goddamn much going on in that book, it's one helluva wonderful ride.
House of Leaves, baby. More of a mind-fuck than fucked up, but still a hell of good time!
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
You would probably enjoy this.
That's fine, a lot of us here are western converts, and we all know what it is like at the beginning to be overwhelmed by the number of schools, traditions, texts, etc... You're in good company.
Here's my standard set of recommendations for Theravada Buddhism. If you are interested in other traditions, then other people will recommend more suitable books.
I think the classic book What the Buddha Taught is one of the best starting points there is. It's a rather basic text, but at the same time it covers a lot of ground. Definately a must read. There are other more comprehensive introductory books, but they are a bit more technical.
Another amazing book is the Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi's book In the Buddha's Words which is an anthology of just a few of the Suttas along with some excellent introductory essays. This book is probably the best introduction to Buddhist scripture out there. This book is the only one on this list that isn't available for free on the internet, but for a little over ten dollars, I'd say it is definitely worth it.
The Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi also gave an introductory summary of Buddhism in the early 80's called The Buddha's Teaching As It Is which is quite good.
His Systematic Study of the Majjhima Nikaya is one of the best lecture series there is in my opinion.
You can find some articles he wrote here. I especially recommend the article "The Buddha and his Dhamma" and "The Noble Eightfold Path".
Sutta Central is probably the go to place for translations from the Pali Canon.
Here's a pdf of Mindfulness of Plain English, a very popular and general text on meditation.
Also one of the best books on meditation (although it is a bit more technical) is the book Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization
If you want to practice meditation according to the Mahasi Sawadaw tradition, then read this pdf of Practical Vipassana Exercises is a very good book. Also, if you are interested in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition I highly recommend the youtube videos of the Ven. Yuttadhammo
Here's a good meditation manual from Ajahn Thanissaro about Mindfulness of Breathing.
It's already written
well you asked
These, however, are all too real:
http://amzn.com/B00QZJWD0U
http://amzn.com/B00UJ01WBW
http://amzn.com/B00O14EKZM
Has no one ever heard of Chuck Tingle around here? Clippy Erotic Fiction is a thing!
That first map is a fan-made version inspired by HBO's map for the TV series.
The second map is the canon map designed by Jonathan Roberts for the books and approved by GRRM. It was first published in The Lands of Ice and Fire.
No need. I come bearing all the sources for my comment!
Games have lost him book sales (bonus including his quote about how his books are what made the games popular):
https://www.vg247.com/2017/04/19/the-witcher-author-thinks-the-games-have-lost-him-book-sales-metro-2033-author-says-this-is-totally-wrong/
Sapkowski not being on the NYT Best Seller list until the Witcher 3 came out:
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/
Amazon page with the release date for The Last Wish being released in 2008 (You can cross reference this with the NYT Bestseller list to see that it didn't chart for years until The Witcher 3 released):
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
Sapkowski not liking that people buy his books because they think they might be game novelizations:
https://forum.facepunch.com/f/pd/bgedm/Andrzej-Sapkowski-creator-the-Witcher-novels-The-games-made-a-lot-of-stink-and-shit/1/
If you're interested check out Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Kinda similar to the WP.
For anyone who has not read 1984 from Georges Orwell here is a link to Amazon to purchase and educate yourselves. Just imagine the same story but with a Philip K. Dick twist integrating 21st-century tracking technology on citizens.
On the other hand, if it measures larger on the inside than on the outside, you've got an entirely different problem with your house.
This is from Frank Herbert's Dune series...
And if you haven't - read that shit right now. :D
The 1st book is required reading, the rest are varying levels of interesting. So yeah, buy online or checkout dune from your library and read it. Meet Leto, meet Paul, meet Jessica... meet The Baron. Have fun!
What about his best friend Biff?
This used to happen to me so much! I can totally sympathize with your situation.
I'm not sure if you're looking for any help, but in my case, I was able to overcome being called out with the following thought process:
When people mention my name in social gatherings (like lectures or parties) I now feel pride in myself, instead of wanting to throw myself out of the nearest exit door. So that's a plus.
Read more :\^)
I personally don't put much stock into the whole speed reading thing. You lose the sense of the prose and you likely take less away from the material (I do).
I'll echo what others have said and work on comprehension. Also, you could read "How to Read a Book" by Adler and Van Doren. It's an insightful look at what constitutes a text and how you should approach it. It focuses not only on literature but other texts (history, science, poetry, etc.) as well.
Taken by the t-Rex. It's women having sex with dinosaurs. What more can be said?
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408713890&sr=8-1&keywords=dinosaur+romance+novel
People
Are
Very
...
imaginative
For those looking for more, t-there's a book too.
God please if there's a hell let it be gentle
In the other thread they mention a whole book.
Those have nothing on Conquered by Clippy: An Erotic Short Story . Nothing tops the frank eroticism of Clippy.
Book 1: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Book 2: The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Book 3: The Doors of Stone by Patrick Rothfuss
If you love maps and GoT, you need this http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
These pics don't do them justice and I think its worth the buy, heres a couple that are included (the OP is too)
Braavos
Kings Landing
That's on the milder side of Clippy's erotica:
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
Plus where else can you conveniently get dinosaur erotica. The future is now!
Mars is very very amazing. So much about it screams Terraform ME!!
The Martian Day is only 30minutes longer than earth.
It would have 4 seasons due to a similar inclination in its tilt.
Possibly vast amounts of underground water.
Sigh.. Best books I ever read.
Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
I know, I love the translation too, that's why I always look for this specific picture for this passage!
I saved the picture from this tweet here. The author includes a picture of the book cover, however I'm not sure if that is the cover of the book the picture was taken from. The book is here on Amazon and has the ISBN 9381841934 and is published by Grapevine India Publishers. Again, I'm not sure if this would be the version this page is from, but it is my best guess without DMing the author of the tweet directly.
ETA: This is the Gregory Hays translation, link to Amazon book can be found here.
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," by Christopher Moore. Accessible and hilarious, without being blasphemous (unless you're incredibly thin-skinned. In which case you're likely not on Reddit in the first place).
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416072856&sr=8-1&keywords=lamb+the+gospel+according+to+biff&pebp=1416072862219
Edited to add link.
Amazing!
I once did Reddit's book swap like 5 years ago and I sent away House of Leaves and received some hentai. Sigh.
Yes it is.
Normal link
Kindle Edition
This is tame compared to some of the shit out there.
https://www.amazon.ca/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
Just so you know, You can buy that in poster form from amazon.
Click here to actually buy the posters
Incoming wall of text! Sorry in advance, look at the bolded words to kind of do a TLDR of my reply :P
Read "Annihilation", the first book in the Southern Reach Trilogy, by Jeff VanderMeer. It'll ruin Tanis for you, because you'll see where they got a lot of their content from (to put it nicely).
The two last books in that series are okay, but I wasn't completely on board for them. Loved the first one, though. You could also just watch the movie version that's on Netflix, but know this: while well-made in some aspects, the director chose not to re-read the book OR read its sequels, so it diverges from the original book / book series quite a lot in some unfortunate ways.
I'm currently (still) trying to get through [House of Leaves](https://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536787331&sr=1-1&keywords=House+of+LEaves) by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's a fantastically weird story about a house...And about other things. It's probably the weirdest book I've ever read, in that it plays a lot with the format. There's at least two stories being told simultaneously most of the time, which can get kind of overwhelming. Think of it like if a regular horror movie and a found footage horror movie had a bastard child together. And that bastard child was this book.
If you're looking for weird fiction in the form of podcasts, I'd direct your attention to Archive 81. For my money, it's the absolute BEST in weird fiction podcasts. It's currently 3 seasons, and each season the podcast changes. It's still the same overarching story / world, but the settings are way different.
Other notable podcasts include King Falls AM which has sort of a goofy x-files-if-they-were-a-radio-station vibe to it, featuring both a lot of good comedy, good songs (when they happen) and the occasional gutwrenching drama. The writing is good, the performance is amazing. You could also go for Darkest Night if you're into the idea of podcasts as a horror medium. They do excellent stuff, and their new season starts this October! They feature a few cameos from Michelle Visage and RuPaul if that's your thing (and these two amazing people feature more heavily in the other podcast by this company, Deadly Manners.
Going back to books, I suggest Laird Barron to anyone who likes horror and short stories. He has mixes of gritty noir and cosmic horror, and he's an absolute blast. The Imago Sequence is my favorite collection of his, but The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All is great as well. Laird Barron has also appeared in compilations outside his own, and was part of compiling the excellent modern Cthulhu short story collection, Autumn Cthulhu. This book is great if you like the idea of cosmic H.P. Lovecraft-esque horror, but don't so much like the gross racism that HPL had (and showed in his work).
If you like Slenderman and have time to burn, I'd suggest looking at Marble Hornets on YouTube. It has 87 "main" entries of varying (but mostly short) length, with a bunch of cryptic in-between shorts. It's one of the first Slenderman pieces of media, though they don't call him that. In Marble Hornets, he's called "The Operator". TBH it's sort of varying in quality (especially in the beginning), as I'm fairly sure the people who made it were film students at the time. As they go along, they have some amazing moments where they show off some really, really great editing skills. Of course, you could also buy the whole series on BluRay if that's your thing, but it's available for free on their YouTube channel.
If you want to break your mind into tiny, little, mostly mad pieces, I recommend pairing House of Leaves with Haunted.
The author and musician, respectively, are brother and sister. Both projects stemmed out of dealing with the death of their father.
map book called, The Lands of Ice and Fire.... make sure you frame your favorite before it rips into a million pieces
I actually physically own this map ( as well as many others), and it's from the Lands of Ice and Fire map collection, which predates WOIAF by a year.
I don't own WOIAF, so I can't comment on that. Perhaps it reproduced the maps and made them canon.
There are actually several reasons more security cameras would be a bad idea. Here are some reasons from the ACLU. In addition to that, security cameras are reactive and not proactive. In other words, they do not prevent crime, they only make it easier to catch the criminal (sometimes). They might make you feel safer causing you to let your guard down thereby making you ironically more vulnerable. Security cameras also create an environment of mistrust which divides not only the University from the surrounding community (already a huge issue in Chambana) but also students from the administration which is always watching (George Orwell wrote a great book on this called 1984.) And finally, to expand on a point made by the ACLU, UI already has a surprising number of security cameras (1028 as of 2014, Source) and monitoring all of that video is tedious work which requires hiring new staff and expanding an already bloated administration and/or police force, which is scarcely something the University can afford, especially without a state budget.
At end of each book there is a list of all the characters involved in the books, and their brief one-sentence descriptions. I think in the later books the list is like 20~30 pages.
There is an actual atlas of Westeros and The Known World, that was published back in 2012, The Lands of Ice and Fire.
The Wikipedia article about the world's geography is quite extensive and interesting too
If you are interested, I highly recommend the speculative [Mars trilogy by K.S. Robinson] (http://amzn.com/0553560735). More than just about the colonization and terraforming, the books go deep into the geopolitical ramifications of having a new colony.
Plus, Robinson is a kickass author. My second favorite after Asimov.
In Red Mars, they use a combination of techniques to enrich the atmosphere. The most effective was to aerobrake a series of comets through the atmosphere, melting the ice and adding gases.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
If you haven't already, read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff
It is currently $6.00 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
To anyone that wants to read it, it is probably the best $6.00 you'll spend this year.
Rule 34
Five star ratings also apply to anything that hasn't properly been consumed yet but is idolised by the community. See here.
(I'm sure it's a good book, but half the reviews admit to not actually reading it yet).
Ahh, real life House of Leaves.
Check the bottom left corner. It's by George. Also, this map was the main piece in a set of official maps that he released in late October 2012.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
Every Russian learner needs a copy of this textbook. I don't study the language any more, but it is a fantastic resource that somehow makes sense of the ridiculously complicated Russian grammar.
A lot of the lore in the Witcher games is adapted from real folktales. Even more so in the first book, in which several of the stories are rather twisted interpretations of fairy tales with Geralt involved.
If you enjoy dark fantasy, definitely check out The Last Wish. One of my favorite books.
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/
If you're going to provide pirated material, at least give people the source so they can purchase it if they'd like to support the creators!
They are from the official Lands of Ice and Fire map book, which you can buy on amazon https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Ice-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
The Books are really good too! :)
House of Leaves.
You have so many good stories on your list, I'm excited to read the ones I haven't heard of! May I also recommend a few stories? /r/nosleep was my first subreddit and I spent a long time here before making a reddit account. These are just a few off the top of my head. Not sure if this is appropriate for this post (maybe you're trying to bring attention to posts which others may not have read, some in my list were/are very popular) but these stories are just amazing imo. I don't remember enough details from each to do a good job summarizing them (it's been years for the first two), but all these stories left lasting impressions on me and I would definitely read each one again.
Plus this erotic short story
Asia, mostly. https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
It's a book about a book about a documentary about a house that is a labyrinth. It also appears inside itself twice and is title-dropped in a poem, sort of. In short, it is a labyrinth.
While not my favorite ever I really enjoyed the Otherland series (only four volumes but each book is fairly large).
It's entertaining cyberpunk and features some interesting looks at the future. Very enjoyable read.
Another (shorter) series that is good for a quick read and a lighter introduction to scifi is The Risen Empire. Split into two parts (although together they would have made an only slightly-large novel) it's along the border of Hard Scifi and "pulp scifi". I'd consider it as an okay introduction to hard scifi.
Which leads me to the third and forth series, Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space. Reynold's is hard scifi, meaning that there are points where he spends twice as much time describing the technical details when character advancement would be very much welcome. However, this also means he takes into account things like relativistic travel and how boring space battles would be to spectators. Awesome books though.
Last but not least is the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's hard scifi that doesn't lose sight of character development. Also, out of all the books I've mentioned I'd have to call it the most "realistic" as the technological point at which it starts could conceivably be reached in the next decade or so.
All enjoyable reads, all enjoyable scifi. After (or during) these don't forget to check out classics like Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Banks, etc. Especially Asimov's Foundation books or the short(ish) story Nightfall, although the original short story can easily be considered better than the expanded version linked (so you might want to stop reading when you reach the end of the original).
Off the top of my head, in no particular order:
The Undercover Economist: Easily the best of those "Economics in everyday life - books"
The Blank Slate: Steven Pinker on the nature/nurture debate. This really opened my eyes on questions like "Why are the same people who fight against abortion for the death penalty", for example.
Complications: This and his second book, Better, gave me an incredible insight into medicine.
Why we get sick: Very good explanation of the defence mechanisms our bodies have and why treating symptoms can be a very bad idea.
How to read a book: An absolute classic. Turns out I've been doing it wrong all those years.
The Art of Strategy: Game Theory, applied to everyday situations. Always treats a topic like Nash equilibrium, Brinkmanship etc. theoretically and then goes into many examples.
A Random Walk Down Wall-Street: Made me see the stock market completely differently.
The Myth of the Rational Voter: The shortcomings of democracy.
The White Man's Burden: Fantastic account of the problems faced by the third world today, and why it is so hard to change them.
First, a quote: "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." - Marcus Aurelius
Second, seriously, buy the book of wisdom about him. I promise you it's on the shelf with dog-eared pages of every successful person you'll ever meet.
Third, don't worry about the world ending. It's not, it won't.
You're living in literally (literally) the safest, most prosperous time in all of human history. You're fine. Shit is fine.
Get of social media. You're being mislead by dumb people saying dumb things about stuff they don't, nor ever will, understand.
You're just being subjected to the information overload fallacy. That's all.
You think what your read is real. It's not. Example, gun violence in America has fallen to all time historic lows, but reporting on gun violence in the last 20 years has increased 300%. So people think there's some crisis now, when it's the safest it's ever been.
You're fine. The planet is fine. The US is fine. Go enjoy life.
Correct, and for people whose time is more valuable - the best translation is not free, but it is cheap and very much worth it:
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
The Lands of Ice and Fire.
AFAIK, this map is from the media of which we do not speak, as evidenced by the eastern portion which isn’t canon since the release of the TLOIAF maps. The Lands of Ice and Fire is what you’re looking for if you want beautiful and accurate maps.
Here’s a reddit post of the HQ world map from TLOIAF.
The Road has always been recommended to me. It's about a father and son who are travelling to the coast but they don't know what to expect when they arrive. It's about their journey through a burned American landscape while dealing with bandits and the like.
Admit nothing, I steal from Rothfuss when I can! That guy is a master. I've cherrypicked a ton of important things from Kingkiller for my campaigns, like the Cthea, copperhawks, and tinkers. It also taught me how to use the feywild properly in my campaigns.
Rothfuss did something Tolkeinn didn't do: he sweat the details. In Middle Earth (which has entire ages of mythology and theology, empires, wars, and kingdoms) you can walk from Hobbiton to Minas Tirith and never spend a dime. There's no commerce. Everyone is a subsistence farmer or a soldier or a king. Bilbo and Frodo didn't even have jobs.
These aren't the things that Tolkeinn got excited about, and that's fine. They're still great books. But Rothfuss has multiple currencies with complex conversion rates, moneylenders, entire industries. He describes how patrons and players work, how small towns work, all kinds of day-to-day problems that they have to live with. His books read like a primer on fantasy world-building.
I steal from Rothfuss all the time to flesh out my campaign world, and I have no problem attributing some of my best ideas to him--many of which were his ideas in the first place.
Are you looking for a wizard in training type of book? Try The Name of the Wind.
Out of the books I read, these were my favorite.
I suppose these focus less on "leadership" so much as management. But they are all helpful when it comes to thinking about being a leader.
I also can't stress enough the importance of being introspective, and taking the time for self reflection. It's crucial that you be able to take a look at yourself, and see how your actions affect others. How you make others feel. Things like that. I know that's not particularly helpful, but I guess all I can say is do whatever makes the most sense for you to make yourself a more empathetic human being.
My friend, if you enjoy this tidbit, you shall love the series. There should be a few good deals if you need it.
Link
Penpal was so good (I've read it like 3 or 4 times now) that is was published as a novel.
Wool by Hugh Howey. I was not a huge dystopian fan ... but this booked sucked me in and now I am looking for others.
Wool by Hugh Howey and the entire Silo series.
http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953
Here is also one with Clippy
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
Since you didn't mention it I'm going to have to. Stories don't get more character-driven than Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles. On top of that they are:
Well written. CHECK.
Diverse/interesting characters. CHECK.
Well thought-out Fantasy world. CHECK.
.
I apologize if you've read this already but considering it is everything you're asking for you can't blame me for bringing it up.
Check out the official page here.
Or buy/read about the first book here.
Or if you want you can add it to your booklist on Goodreads here.
Only authorized book in the Bioshock universe
Good luck. I've definitely got a bunch more tricks, so just send me a message if you want them. These are just some good beginning ones.
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Best if the entire series is read (you can get all 5 books in one hardcover on Amazon for about $13: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/0345453743/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323379697&sr=1-1 )
Cormac McCarthy's The Road
So I have a friend in jail that I regularly send books to. This doesn't cover every situation, but I assume the circumstances will be similar.
He says that the (meager) prison library is very skewed towards religious books, classics, GED materials, and low-difficulty grocery store novels. Anything other than that will be appreciated. The books most requested are thick fantasy books, activity books (sudoku, physics workbooks, etc), science non-fiction, and coffee-table books or magazines with lots of pictures. These will be swapped with other inmates so that anyone interested has a chance to read.
Some things to keep in mind:
Books that have gone over well and can be found in cheap forms:
got you covered https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
Damn it! And in 2014, I apparently haven't searched for gay dinosaur erotica in a while.
This is the classic I remember originally finding. It's actually free to read with Kindle Unlimited, which I have, but though I'm really curious I feel to ashamed to check it out, even to laugh at.
Did he?
I'm talking about "The Lands of Ice and Fire" book that was a map compendium released detailing the maps of the world. I was pretty sure when I thumbed through that, that it contained full maps of Essos? Maybe I'm mistaken.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382643364&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lands+of+ice+and+fire
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
No one knows, but Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal is a bit of fun irreverent speculation about it (and it entertains your friend's theory quite a bit).
The only book I've read that fits that description is ["Lamb"] (http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815) but it's entirely fictional and a comedy so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.
What no one wants to say
I'd highly suggest you read the book Ishmael, as much of the book is spent suggesting that nothing "inherent" leads to our fucked up society as it stands. Only Human choice is what leads us to the fucked-up-ness of today.
Former employee, linguist, and guy-who-is-pretty-ok-at-russian checking in:
It is decent, but you'll want to make sure you actually understand the concept of grammatical case, and how it works and is marked in Russian.
I would highly recommend pairing it with the New Penguin Russian Course.
Definitely use studio as much as possible, and take notes case endings. RS will show you something like на невысоком мужчине черный костюм, and it will help to know that невысоком is declined for the prepositional/locative case. Well, really, it will help to know that that form is not the "default," and how to 1)figure out what the default is and 2)transform the word as you need to when speaking.
A friend of mine did just RS, and she has a problem with basically just saying a word in whatever case she first heard it in...so she might say невысоком when trying to say невысокый, or what have you.
Finally, evaluate after 5 months, and if you're not using it, it's not working, or whatever, send it back and get a refund. Mark it on your calendar, and decide before you miss the deadline.
The Road(2009) is one of the best dystopian movies i have ever seen. A father and son journey in a post apocalyptic world. the movie was adopted from a book under the same title, it is definitely one of the best movie adaptations ever made IMHO.
I got you my man.
Try this on for size: https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent/dp/0671212095/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=how+to+read&qid=1570602870&sr=8-4
For general fantasy I've enjoyed Gentleman Bastard, The Kingkiller Chronicle, and The Broken Empire. I listen to Kingkiller Chronicle fairly often due to the amount of commuting I do where I live.
For more urban/fantasy maybe try Lives of Tao, Iron Druid Chronicles, or anything by Neil Gaiman. The anniversary edition of American Gods was really excellent on audio-book. Not sure if the others have audio editions or not.
I've also really enjoyed stuff by Drew Hayes (a webnovelist). His banner series is SuperPowereds. But I though NPCs was a great take on an old fantasy trope. Neither come in audio formats unfortunately.
Good luck.
(On mobile so hopefully my formatting isn't borked!)
Everyone's nightmare fuel is different, of course, but here are a couple that gave me some freaked out nights for very different reasons:
COWS by Matthew Stokoe
This book is sick. But it's also well written, which is what takes it beyond shock value. Pretty much everyone who has read it can recite a scene that really messed them up.
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Jack Ketchum
I took this out of the library several years ago. I had to renew it multiple times because I could only read it in small sections. It made me cry more than once and I definitely had nightmares. I've never read any other Ketchum, but I've seen folks around here saying he's got other books that will mess you up. I know OFF SEASON and THE WOMAN get mentioned quite a bit; maybe someone who's read those can chime in.
HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z Danielewski
This one is divisive, but it's one of my favourites. I buddy-read it with several long distance friends in various time zones (I'm in Toronto, and they were in Ohio, California, Washington State, Colorado and Australia!), so we spent many nights texting about how creeped out we felt being home alone while reading it. We likened it to a long, terrifying drug trip.
HAUNTED by Chuck Palahniuk
A collection of short stories that have a through line narrative. Each story is about/written by one of the characters, and each is its own kind of disturbing, creepy, or upsetting.
I used to moderate a massive book club on Livejournal (!!) that was devoted to the most disturbing books in the world; I wish we could've migrated all of the 4,000 members to Reddit successfully, because we had a hell of a list! (ETA: here are a few posts about books with a captivity theme - THE GIRL NEXT DOOR is mentioned a couple of entries down. I'm amazed our massive archive is all still intact! You can search it by tag, too.)
Sounds a bit like House of Leaves. Talk about a weird, non-linear book with footnotes galore.
House of Leaves is a modern classic for highly imaganitive horror. Everything from the book's strange plot to its even stranger composition. The only way to really read the book is to get the physical copy since you have to do crazy shit to read it.
I just finished Salem's Lot by Stephen King; it was a good read and totally changed the way I feel about strange dark rooms. Just don't research the storyline. I went in not knowing what it was about and was pleasantly surprised about halfway through. If you do plan on getting this book, I suggest the illustrated edition, it is beautiful.
I'm waiting for House of Leaves to arrive in the mail, from what I'v heard, this will do the trick.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/0345453743/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397525423&sr=8-2&keywords=the+hitchhikers+guide+to+the+galaxy
You can get the complete collection (that's 5 books + a short story) from Amazon for only $13 -- do yourself a favor and check it out. It's the funniest, most insanely clever and entertaining book I've ever read.
Just as an aside OP, he's also compiled the story into a real book that you can buy from Amazon here.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff
It's more fictionalized (and satirical) than precisely what you're describing, but it's one of the best books I've ever read, as well as one of the most hilarious.
1984, Lapham's Quarterly "Home," and Malazan Book of the Fallen: Memories of Ice
Edit: Links
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765348802/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_9hmJybCKPRZKS
House of Leaves freaked me out pretty good recently.
I don't know the original reference from the picture, but just from what you wrote, this comes pretty close:
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
And it's awesome.
How to Read a Book. Actually really good and useful.
No problem. That specific quote is from The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. It's a sequel to The Name of the Wind. One of the best written fantasy books around, and a great read even if you're not into the genre. Fans are eagerly awaiting the third and final book.
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.
In his most ambitious project to date, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson utilizes years of research and cutting-edge science in the first of three novels that will chronicle the colonization of Mars.
For eons, sandstorms have swept the barren desolate landscape of the red planet. For centuries, Mars has beckoned to mankind to come and conquer its hostile climate. Now, in the year 2026, a group of one hundred colonists is about to fulfill that destiny.
John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers, and Arkady Bogdanov lead a mission whose ultimate goal is the terraforming of Mars. For some, Mars will become a passion driving them to daring acts of courage and madness; for others it offers and opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. And for the genetic "alchemists, " Mars presents a chance to create a biomedical miracle, a breakthrough that could change all we know about life...and death.
The colonists place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light to the planets surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels, kilometers in depth, will be drilled into the Martian mantle to create stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of epic upheaval, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces--for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed.
Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope and ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in human evolution and creating a world in its entirety. Red Mars shows us a future, with both glory and tarnish, that awes with complexity and inspires with vision.
Amazon has a nice high res scan of the front and back. http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
Both examples of non-fiction.
Those who produce fictional content are kind of screwed these days. Barring some tremendously successful outliers (your JK Rowlings, Steven Kings, EL James's etc.) making semi-good money producing fictional content has gone the way of the dodo. The middle class novelist is no more.
Unless you crank out dinosaur porn and self publish on Kindle. Then you might be able to pull down 35k/yr.
Yeah, sorry someone already has a lock on the saurian sex market. Taken by the T-Rex is a classic. :)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
¯\_( o_O )_/¯
Just ordered it for $5.72 on Amazon with 2-day prime shipping! My wife absolutely loves both reading and bioshock, so I can't wait to see the look on her face when this arrives.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765367351/ref=sxts1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473618451&sr=1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65
I've read several over the years, and find myself coming back to the Hays. Its language resonates with me, and I find the end notes supremely helpful. Different translations may appeal to different personalities; FWIW I'm a programmer, atheist, pragmatic, curious.
For example, here are two translations of 4.7:
>Choose not to be harmed—and you won't feel harmed.
>Don't feel harmed—and you haven't been. (Hays 2002)
vs.
>Stop trying to make something of it, and you will rid yourself of the notion, "I've been wronged." Overcome your hurt feelings or injured pride in this way, and you will get rid of the wrong itself.(Hicks 2002)
Whichever you pick: enjoy it, learn from it, ... and, in a year or two, try a different translation. This is a good reminder book, to be reexamined periodically.
MOTD #9: The three things you need at this very moment.
(Previous) // (Next One)
If you don’t have it I would highly recommend you get one; the Gregory Hays translation of Meditations. Amazon Link
Want to read more books on Stoicism? checkout these lists: r/Stoicism’s the Stoic Reading List | Ryan Holliday’s Lists 1 & 2| Goodreads
As always if you have a favorite part of Meditations or want to see any other stoic passage in a future posts, please feel free to message me or comment anytime. Anyways, have a nice day/night where every you happen to be… All the best, Chris.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
On My Shelf:
Nonfiction:
[where there is no doctor] (https://www.amazon.com/Where-There-No-Doctor-Handbook/dp/0942364155)
[where there is no dentist] (https://www.amazon.com/Where-There-Dentist-Murray-Dickson/dp/0942364058/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0942364058&pd_rd_r=P7QG34TNRGWWJ4VG3CES&pd_rd_w=zUT5r&pd_rd_wg=bQSPa&psc=1&refRID=P7QG34TNRGWWJ4VG3CES)
[emergency war surgery] (https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-War-Surgery-Survivalists-Reference-ebook/dp/B007FH3S8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111178&sr=1-1&keywords=war+surgery)
[Seed to Seed, a seed saving book] (https://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111210&sr=1-1&keywords=seed+saving)
[mini farming] (https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Farming-Self-Sufficiency-Brett-Markham/dp/1602399840/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1602399840&pd_rd_r=QYQGAKY6D2PJX21W5DBC&pd_rd_w=ZSjVd&pd_rd_wg=MKw9N&psc=1&refRID=QYQGAKY6D2PJX21W5DBC)
[square foot gardening] (https://www.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1591865484&pd_rd_r=NW7HBPKNFJ2J8JYTR22M&pd_rd_w=kMSVD&pd_rd_wg=v6qzT&psc=1&refRID=NW7HBPKNFJ2J8JYTR22M)
[Ball Canning Guide] (https://www.amazon.com/All-Ball-Book-Canning-Preserving/dp/0848746783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111296&sr=1-1&keywords=ball+canning)
[Steve Rinella's Big Game] (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Hunting-Butchering-Cooking/dp/081299406X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111322&sr=1-1&keywords=rinella+guide)
[Steve Rinella's Small Game] (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Hunting-Butchering-Cooking/dp/0812987055/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0812987055&pd_rd_r=HSSM813BSWTXN5Q77P1R&pd_rd_w=j1UjP&pd_rd_wg=OWNY6&psc=1&refRID=HSSM813BSWTXN5Q77P1R)
[root cellaring] (https://www.amazon.com/Root-Cellaring-Natural-Storage-Vegetables/dp/0882667033/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111429&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=root+cellarig)
[country wisdom and know how] (https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Wisdom-Know-How-Everything-Harvest/dp/1579128378/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111470&sr=1-3&keywords=country+wisdom)
[timberframe construction] (https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Timber-Frame-Craftsmanship-Simplicity/dp/1612126685/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111553&sr=1-9&keywords=cabin+construction)
[Ham radio -tech] (https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual/dp/1625950136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492111593&sr=1-1&keywords=ham+radio)
[ham radio general] (https://www.amazon.com/General-Class-License-Manual-Amateur/dp/1625950306/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1625950306&pd_rd_r=12TE98J0V80PC5Z8PMNJ&pd_rd_w=EfgM9&pd_rd_wg=jqqg2&psc=1&refRID=12TE98J0V80PC5Z8PMNJ)
[The FoxFire Series ] (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Collection-Anniversary-Editions-Anniversay/dp/B00MRH3RYU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1492879953&sr=8-4&keywords=foxfire)
Also pickup up books on useful skills: raising rabbits, welding, different random construction books.
Fiction:
[Lucifer's Hammer] (https://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492880068&sr=1-1&keywords=lucifers+hammer)
[One second After] (https://www.amazon.com/Second-After-John-Matherson-Novel/dp/0765356864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492880115&sr=1-1&keywords=one+second+after)
[the martian] (https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025/ref=pd_sim_14_41?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0553418025&pd_rd_r=D4JHG0ERDKJXA7NYCZHX&pd_rd_w=vAle5&pd_rd_wg=9wBYx&psc=1&refRID=D4JHG0ERDKJXA7NYCZHX)
[the road] (https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492880272&sr=1-1&keywords=the+road0)
[alas babylon] (https://www.amazon.com/Alas-Babylon-Pat-Frank/dp/0060741872/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492880316&sr=1-10&keywords=babylon)
I'm shocked that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams hasn't been mentioned yet. 5 books for $11, the most fun I've had reading something in a long time.
I'm sure you mean House of Leaves.
Depends on who your audience is too. House of Leaves has a huge cult following and its' "inferface" is designed to be as visible and intrusive as possible.
House of Leaves –
by Mark Z. Danielewski
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
I'd pick:
You might think this is supposed to be a funny post. It's not. I'm very serious, these books will help you navigate most situations. The technical part is just a footnote tbh.
Oh man, this one looks so good. I would really like to trade my version for that one.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is a fantastic read addressing the exact same topic. It challenges our assumptions on society and humanity's place in this world.
Ishmael on Amazon
The problem isn't the book usually, but the method towards digesting the material.
Here is the only book needed on that subreddit:
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671212095/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8cSXAb37CK2ZK
Because it has the ability to change any book into a long term influence.
specifically the cover for the book: Bioshock:Rapture
This is "Wool" by Hugh Howey.
​
https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953
This book was alright but I highly recommend Wool by Hugh Howey instead. Its an post-apocalyptic story that takes place in a encapsulated society with some pretty bad ass females, including the main character! (Think Audrey Ramirez from Disney's Atlantis) Its a really quick and engrossing read.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO&ved=2ahUKEwjW3qqYlPTlAhXpw1kKHe1cD1cQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw01hbQ3guklB5PwyYThUyTh
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
Clippy was featured in an erotic novel called "Conquered by Clippy: An Erotic Short Story"
You can buy it here
House of Leaves
If you liked the Tower, I highly suggest you read House of Leaves. The Tower reminded me a lot of a claustrophobic version of the House.
House of Leaves.
Algunas fotos para tener una idea de qué esperar al abrir el libro:
http://www.intotheabyss.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/house-of-leaves-sample.jpg
http://www.mottodistribution.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/House_Of_Leaves_Motto_1468.jpg
https://kzamanis.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/house-of-leaves-001.jpg
http://knowledgelost.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/617248_337175679713675_1178480927_o.jpg
For online resources, I'd strongly recommend the RT course over Duolingo. For books, Nicholas Brown's New Penguin Russian Course is very good. And Irina Sapegina, an experienced teacher, gives some very good advice here on the three worst tips for learning Russian that you'll probably hear!
The Road. Watch it (better yet, read it), get depressed and realize that it (or similar) could very well end up being a reality in the not too distant future for a myriad of reasons.
Pretty sure that it's going to be implied that these desparate humans will probably just murder and eat you and kidnap your daughter. People during the apocoalypse are not friendly folk.
I suggest you go and look up "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy it seems to have been a huge inspiration for this game.
I'm personally really excited for the perma-death difficulty level they're adding to the game, die once and the game is over. They talk about it in the 5th developer diary.
Also, if anyone enjoyed the first game even a little, or is curious about this one, read the books they're based off of. Only two have been translated to english so far: The Last Wish, which is a collection of short stories, and Blood of Elves, which is a full length novel. They're really fantastic, and have one of the most original and interesting fantasy worlds I've ever seen/read. They'll also help you appreciate the games more.
Edit: Oh, and just for the record, the new way they're doing combat is much truer to the way Geral fights in the novels than in the first game. The games stay incredibly true to the books, but don't follow any of the book's plots, both of which I'm grateful for.
I would go to a small café in Rickmansworth, England, order some drink, and write on a napkin something like...
>I've suddenly realized what it is that has been going wrong all this time. I finally know how the world can be a good and happy place. This time it is right, it will work, and no one will have to get nailed to anything! It's really quite simple and obvious, once you get it. You just have to understand this:
>
I'd leave exactly 42 bucks on my wallet and, if possible, be wearing a shirt with dolphings and/or mice drawing. Works better if it's on a Thursday.
Too Long : Didn't Get It? Check page 5 here.
The official world map is coming out in October. You may want to wait for that if you can, because according to GRRM, this speculative portions of this map are inaccurate.
I think a lot of the best resources can be found online for free but if you really want to buy her something physical as a gift the new penguin Russian course seems to get a lot of good reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Penguin-Russian-Course/dp/0140120416
[The Road] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307387895/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0307265439&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1SX7Y4HZP0E5X3D4H2YK) by Cormac McCarthy. I usually love dystopian/apocalyptic fiction, but I couldn't finish reading it because it was so disturbing.
wait, you noticed this and you really don't know. go down to the library and pick up a copy of the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_a_Book
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095
Most of it, to me, is putting yourself in the author's shoes and internalizing the argument and asking yourself what fact set and thought process is leading him her to that conclusion, and how someone else's or your own view of the world might lead to a different conclusion.
Play devil's advocate and ask yourself how you would prove the author wrong (antithesis)... what would happen if you take the author's thesis to an extreme? Then maybe try to find the broadest, highest-level principles at stake and combine the antithesis with the relevant pieces of the author's thesis to arrive at a synthesis.
I think we may be looking for the same things. I read a book a few weeks ago called Pragmatic Thinking and Learning that I found really helpful and interesting. Its not too expensive and if you have the money I'd recommend it. Don't be intimidated by the programmer talk, none of it is really relevant.
Last week, I discovered a wiki that gave great advice on learning and memory techniques that seemed like it would have been extremely useful. I've spent the last hour searching for it but I just can't find it. When I come across it, I will let you know.
Another book that I found useful a few months ago was How to Read a Book. Don't let the title undermine the books value; its an awesome book. Definitely worth looking into. I don't follow the advice given in the book very rigidly, but since I've read it, I've found that I approach books much more methodically and absorb the information much more easily.
Its great to see that there is someone else out there looking for the same sort of resources I'm looking for. The way I look at it, learning is a skill that can be developed and mastered. It is an interesting pursuit in and of itself.
I haven't found any single resource for this sort of thing but maybe we can put together a subreddit where we can pool our resources for things that may be particularly helpful.
Off the top of my head:
You can google "how to improve reading comprehension" for more suggestions/strategies.
Edit: I've heard good things about the Feynman Technique. You could look that up, as well.
I'm currently reading "How to Read a Book"; it outlines and illustrates exactly how to read different types of books. So far I'd highly recommend it. There's also an Audible version.
In fantasy, either to Demons or Fey, holding someone's true name means you have control over them. Feys and Demons themselves will often go great lengths in order to conceal their own true name.
I've started reading Name of the Wind, a high fantasy novel about a wizard that deals with true names! I'm also two chapters in but I'm loving it so far.
In case anyone is interested, this is the cover to "Bioshock: Rapture" by John Shirley. Great book. Link: http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Very enjoyable book.
I am assuming this is a generation gap issue. Allow me to bridge it temporarily.
http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Chronicles-Book-1/dp/0441172717
Dune ranks with Lord of the Rings and the Foundation series. Get it.
Also, read Sandkings. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Free link to be put on the NSA metadata watchlist for the lazy:
http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934/
"Big Brother is watching you." - George Orwell
I would say I disagree with this and that it's even unnerving but the reality is that is the world we live in now. If you haven't read George's 1984 you should. Very interesting parallels to our society today (globally, not just in the U.S.).
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
Start here for some cool entry-level stuff. There are many more sites like it. Do some research on what skills you need to also score some jobs that are work from home, or that give you lots of free time, or that generally just seem like a "wow I can get paid to do that?" type job. And just assign yourself homework. Even if it takes years, eventually you'll be competent enough to apply to some things from self education, or otherwise maybe find a more traditional educational path the get you where you want to be. You have your entire life to find a niche to fill in this thing we call society, and you may find some niches where people are just like you--doing what they do, but living for life more than anything. It's about the journey, and maybe you'll find that niche at age 59, but between now and then you'll have some awesome memories about all the trial and error, experimentation, exploration, and realizations. Just poke around, see what happens!
EDIT: I'd totally recommend some fun, INFP fitting books also--not work related, but more "how to fit into the world related". The first one I finished last week and it makes me think about how society can be all a game, and extremely hard to escape from, even if you go to the fringe. The second two I read one summer, 8 years ago, and they completely shaped my worldview and decision-making about who I want to be.
My suggestions:
Why not just read the word of the Buddha himself? I really recommend In The Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Basically, it's a selection of the Buddha's discourses. There's a bunch of discourses that the Buddha gave to householders, these are easy to understand and to the point.
A lot of the Buddha's teaching are actually very straight forward and easy to understand.
From what I've read of Thick Nhat Hanh, he tends to be more on the poetic side, which can be very inspiring, but also hard to understand some times.
The Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
and always some George Carlin stuff
The premise for this book, and the first couple of reviews on Amazon are the best thing I have ever read.
There's a whole slew of these books... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FI9JFFO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Although, in terms of trying to get as much as possible out of a title, can I recommend "Open Wide For The Handsome Sabertooth Dentist Who Is Also A Ghost": https://www.amazon.co.uk/Open-Handsome-Sabertooth-Dentist-Ghost-ebook/dp/B06X1DY3R9/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=dinosaur+erotica&qid=1568823828&s=digital-text&sr=1-3
Here you go.
Wait, and get this too!
I made a list based on where you can purchase them if you want to edit it onto your post:
This Month's Book
January:
by Iain Banks]
(https://www.amazon.com/Consider-Phlebas-Culture-Iain-Banks/dp/031600538X)
by Aldous Huxley]
(https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523)
by Ray Bradbury
by Oscar Wilde
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
by Jordan B. Peterson]
(https://www.amazon.com/12-Rules-Life-Antidote-Chaos/dp/B0797Y87JC)
February:
by Richard Matheson
by Frank Herbert
by Haruki Murakami
by Bret Easton Ellis
by Max Tegmark
by Friedrich Nietzsche
March:
by Ernest Hemingway
by Herman Melville
April:
(https://www.amazon.com/Dice-Man-Luke-Rhinehart/dp/0879518642)
https://www.amazon.com/Stoner-York-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590171993)
(https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Punishment-Fyodor-Dostoyevsky/dp/0486415872)
https://www.amazon.com/No-Longer-Human-Osamu-Dazai/dp/0811204812)
May:
https://www.amazon.com/Spring-Snow-Sea-Fertility-1/dp/0679722416)
(https://www.amazon.com/Runaway-Horses-Sea-Fertility-2/dp/0679722408)
November
Books Pewds suggested but hasn't talked about in any of the episodes yet:
linking pewds to see this u/pewpewpewPEWdie
Rupert Gethin's Foundations of Buddhism is a thorough introduction to Buddhism. For starting reading the Pāli discourses, there's Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words - this is a selection of discourses serving as an entry point.
Then you can start with the discourses directly: start with the Majjima Nikāya and then you can also go through The Dīgha Nikāya and the Samyutta Nikāya. And then the last but not least: Aṇguttara Nikāya and the Khuddhaka Nikāya (search on Amazon). These texts would be important references for the rest of your life if you seriously pursue Buddhism.
Regarding insight meditation, Bhikkhu Anālayo's Satipaṭṭāna book is the best modern day commentary available. Highly recommend it. His "Excursions into the Pāli Discourses" Part 1 and Part 2 are also very useful since they summarize many of the topics discusses in the discourses.
Books by Shaila Catherine or Ajāhn Brahmavaṃso would be good texts regarding samatha meditation.
There are the various texts written by the Ledi Sayādaw and Mahāsi Sayadaw - two Burmese scholar-practitioners who popularized insight meditation in the last century. You can go through Ven. Ledi Sayādaw's Vipassanā Dīpani (Manual of Insight) and you can find Ven. Mahāsi Sayadaw's books here.
Bhikkhu K. Ñānānanda has many books discussing deep questions about dependent arising, the nature of nirvāna, and so forth. You can find them here.
I'll let others recommend Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna and Zen material. In general, Reginald Rays books on Tibetan Buddhism are great entry points to Tibetan Buddhism, and then there's Gampopa's Jewel Ornament Of Liberation. There's also Shantidēva's Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, useful for any Mahāyāna practitioner. With Zen there's always Dōgen Zenji's Shōbōgenzō.
You should be able to find all of the above by googling if it's available for free or on Amazon (or a University library) otherwise.
Depends on what I want, study or practice. But my most recent have been...
Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silence-Power-Quiet-World-Noise/dp/1846044340/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453563033&sr=1-1&keywords=silence+thich+nhat+hanh
For daily living the books by Thich Nhat Hanh are fantastic, especially the power of silence. The book is aimed at all audiences but really goes in to depth showcasing how life in the west especially has become out of control, we are constantly imbued with noise, constantly thinking and never truly coming home to ourselves, so our suffering is always 'ours' carried by us everywhere until it begins to spill out in our actions and thoughts.
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (Teachings of the Buddha)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453563240&sr=1-1&keywords=Bikkhu+bodhi
I really like both this book and the middle length discourses for when I desire to feel 'closer' to the teachings. This book in particular takes teachings from the the pali canon and presents those which bear the most relevance to life today. The teachings are very profound and each suttra is very powerful. Many of the questions here could be easily answered by reading these translations of the discourses by Bikkhu Bodhi.
Although I do feel these are books for the book shelf as the suttras are kept purposely intact but it means there is a lot of cumbersome repetition and one or two suttras a session are best I find.
Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: Majjhima-Nikaya: New Translation (Teachings of the Buddha)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Middle-Length-Discourses-Buddha-Majjhima-Nikaya/dp/086171072X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453564072&sr=1-1&keywords=bhikkhu+bodhi+the+middle+discourses
This book focuses more on the Buddha's time at jetta grove and a lot of the pages describe his dealings with the monastics, but also detail his meetings with all walks of life from princes to simple villagers. There is the classic hell suttra too, which is gruesome and had me in contemplation for a while! The teachings are profound though and any discerning Buddhist would benefit from reading the texts.
http://www.buddhanet.net/chin_bud.htm
'The translated teachings of Miao Yun'
This is not so much a book as a collection of teachings which have been translated for a western audience. The words however contain a lot of wisdom and really detail the framework of a path from human to buddha-hood and the importance of cultivating core values such as wisdom and compassion.
The book is called Penpal. The series starts here and has no title, but you should read the entire thing, then start over and read it all again as soon as possible.
I had a lot of fun reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, like I did when reading The Martian and Ready Player One. I genuinely didn't know where the story was going to go or how it was going to end with this one.
Also, Andy Weir has a new one coming out on November 14th called Artemis
Wool by Hugh Howey or anything else by Hugh Howey. I've been eyeing Sand for quite awhile.
Openings are hard as shit to do in sci-fi/fantasy. You have to basically lecture on the world without it sounding like you're lecturing them on the world: excuse me while I grab my smoke and mirrors. I'm not going to do line edits because it's view only. Instead you get my wall of text that I'm compiling on scifi/fantasy openings as I read more and more piles of it, when I should be reading something like literature (Idk, is that what the cool kids are doing?).
It's view only so my line edits will probably be limited, but I'll start with your opening two sentences.
>The café of 'Morl's Best Cuppa' was odd, green and uncomfortable to look at. It's rough exterior stood out against the trimmed vein of grey that was the rest of the city-block, like a bulb of gum beaten flat under step, ruining an otherwise pristine side-walk
Protag is looking at a building. I'm not as experienced in third person style narratives, but I'll do my best. If I was writing this in first person I'd be extremely leery of writing a description of the building for the begging portion. I do think you have an interesting world set out. There are genuinely funny moments, but it's packaged in a way that makes me want to put it down. I'd say this is due to an incomplete opening. You have characters and setting, but you don't have a problem for these characters to overcome (plot).I'm going to copy paste parts of a post that I did on sci-fi/fantasy openings that I made earlier, with significant modifications/additions (but the core idea is the same). If this is frowned upon, I'll stop. Disclaimer, I'm not saying that you should do any of these things that I suggest. This is merely my own opinions on ways to get over the initial hump that sci/fi fantasy stories face. These are some good resources/books that I've found.
In essence a good opening has three things
This is kind of vague and bullshitty so I'll use some examples.
The openings in fantasty/sci-fi books are notoriously terrible. For instance, Red Rising, an otherwise half decent thriller book has the shittiest opening that I've read in a published work. But that didn't stop him from selling books out the wazoo and getting good blurbs ("Ender, Catniss, and now Darrow"), because he knows how to write a page turner later on (I'd still recommend it even though the opening is questionable, if you enjoy cheap dystopian thrills). But damn, did the opening want to make me throw the book against the wall. It's not that he doesn't do the three things that an opening should do, it's that he switches voices within it and had several narration snaps when it's clearly HIM speaking and not the main character. I'd also say that Patrick Rothfuss' opening is extremely shitty (and he says so himself), as he takes 50 pages before anything substantial happens. Thus he went back and added a prologue so the reader would feel some sort of plot in the story. Prologues are effective in scifi/fantasy for quickly introducing a problem, if your world takes awhile to build. For instance -- Harry Potter also did this to an extent, since it had the scene with his parents dying. Some openings, like the one that I'm about to discuss, have a really solid hook and immediately grab the reader. Am I saying that you should write a prologue? No , I haven't really read enough of your story to figure that out. I'm just offering a few nuggets of advice that I've seen authors use to get over the initial hump of creating the world.
I think a solid example of a good opening in a sci-fi story, that I've read recently, is the story Wool (here's a link, use the look inside function). The hook is one of the better ones I've read, something along the lines of "Holston climbed his stairs to his death." Is it a cheap trick? Yes. Do I really care, and does it add tension to an otherwise monotonous climb up the stairs? You betcha! He explains certain elements of the silo as he gets to the different actions, e.g. "I put my hand on the guardrail, worn down one flake at a time by centuries of use." He doesn't just come out and say "HEY THE SILO IS OLD LEMME TELL YOU ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD IN THE SILO AND THEN GET TO THE PLOT DAMMNIT". In your case we see some characters mostly annoyed, bored, or not really doing much. Sure the setting is engaging, but the characters, in my opinion, aren't. The pro of an exposition opening is that you can fit a lot of information into a relatively small amount of space. The con is that it's hard to present in a way that doesn't create a POV snap, a boring tell instead of show description, and it's hard to create a problem if you're trying to be an omnipotent narrator. Dune does it, but it hasn't set a trend because it's hard as shit to do. Pride and Prejudice does it, but Jane Austen is incredibly good at writing in different tones. I'll stick to my nice comfortable first person narrative right now. I'm not a good mechanical writer, or a good writer at all yet, but I'm working on it. I do worldbuilding half decently (though I'm put to shame by the people on /r/worldbuilding)
Another solid opening is "Mistborn;" (here's a link) a fantastic example of a dialogue driven opening. I'd say that if a dialogue opening is done right, its exponentially more interesting than an exposition opening. The problem is making the characters feel natural. I spent quite some time on my opening hammering out the robotic narration style, but I still had to go back and write a prologue because I didn't introduce the main problem of the story properly. I problem that I had is that my characters seem to stick their fingers up their butts and don't do anything. Basically a dialogue opening is harder to do, but it's well worth the effort if you can pull it off. Dialogue is also a good way to squeeze information out of your world. Want to have an explanation about scientist, well slap a scientist in there and have your protag ask some questions about it. Don't have random flashbacks in the very begging. Think about a movie that had someone fixing breakfast, and every time they did something relatively minor there was a flashback. E.g. poured some orange juice. That reminds me of my mentor who trained me in how to write a good sci-fi opening. Going to eat some Coco puffs, like me mum used to. But me mum beat me so I angrily ate the coco puffs.
The best fantasy opening that I've ever read is Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I'd recommend taking a peek at it here. He casually just strolls in, quickly establishes two characters, a problem, and a setting in half a page. It's brilliant. I can't say I've read the rest of it though, but it's on my list of things to read. The only complaints that I've heard about Lies (aside from the usually fantasy grumbling about tropes), is that the heist narrative is too lowly for such a talented writer. I think that's a pretty good sign that hes doing shit right.
In the words of Brian Sanderson "writing is all smoke and mirrors." In fantasy/sci-fi you have to set up scenes that are more or less infodumping segments that feel natural to the reader. E.g. travelling from town to town, "oh theres a ghost thing over there"
"that's not a ghost its your mum!" laughter ensues
On the bright side, it seems like you've done some good world building, so writing the segments shouldn't be too hard. I highly recommend watching Brandon Sanderson's lectures on the youtube channel "Write about dragons." Start with the first lectures he does, because they cover a lot of mistakes that people make.
Also read this article on common mistakes that editors see (link) . Watching and reading just a little bit will help you from falling into a ton of pitfalls, like I did with my first story. I spent far too long on too little words, that were absolute rubbish. Now I've been able to get at least a consistent word count down every week, with mixed reviews (some chapters are better than others.) Basically, write consistently and read often. Potential and inspiration are bullshit. Hammer out some words, get it torn apart on this sub-reddit, pick up the pieces and repeat. Make sure to give back often, this place is awesome. I think one of my better experiences was posting a basically infodumpy chapter, and had some pretty positive reviews (aside from some pseudoscience that I quickly cut, and leapt back into the warm embrace of space opera).
If you get past the opening hump, this article, is a fantastic way to plan how your plot is going to unfold over the course of a novel, in a concise fashion. I wish I'd found this resource sooner, cause my planning would've been much better. (I tend to discovery write, with minimal planning.)
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
Rule 34.
My favorite book right now
https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
Here is a story about a woman fucking a T Rex available on Amazon.
You literally can't be worse than that.
I still haven't read this, but I really keep thinking I should get it for myself as a Christmas present:
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
https://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
Have you seen his other book?
Conquered by Clippy
I want to use Amazon's 'Read for Free' on this, but I share my Kindle account with my dad...
I would have to recommend the Dune series by Frank Herbert.
[http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Science-Fiction-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717]
It really encompasses everything so great about sci-fi: space travel, actual science, futuristic super human capabilities and I've probably already said too much.
One of my all time favorite books.
If you haven't already read Red Mars, the series is a scientifically in-depth narrative about the colonization of mars.
You are one lucky person who is about to discover The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Share and Enjoy! Share and Enjoy!
Not printable but the best map out there.
https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474436789&sr=8-1&keywords=bioshock+rapture
I’m a big fan of the series and lore. Have you read Rapture ? It is the prequel Bioshock. Its a fantastic read, even for those who aren’t into video games.
House of Leaves is that kind of thing, but more-so.
book: house of leaves
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
Yeah. The novel House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski includes a fictionalized version of the photographer, Kevin Carter. That photo is an important part of the story. It's a really good book, very different and "postmodern" in a lot of ways, and very morbid in its own way, really messes with your mind. I recommend it to anybody.
I have three books that I love to loan out (or just strongly recommend to those weirdos out there who refuse a loaner):
The first two books have in some ways shaped my life over the years. The last book is just the funniest I've ever read.
Biff wasn't the devil's cousin, he was Jesus' best friend!
Spooky! I just picked it up just last week because the book store had Cosmicomics and not if on a winter's night a traveler
a good friend of mine recommended it to me. I got him reading House of Leaves and this is what he responded with.
So far I'm really digging the galactic scope of his stories. He writes so elegantly about the time before anything was describable. Astounding!
Some paperbacks have the formatting in them.
It's a fantastic book. Well worth owning a copy of.
I've been reading a lot of horror recently, so I can suggest a few off the top of my head.
Hell House by Richard Matheson
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
The Shining by Steven King
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (You might hate this one.)
Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Also, I'm not sure if you're into comics, but there's a bunch of great horror there. I recommend Locke and Key, Colder, and Wytches.
Everyone reading/responding to this without catching the reference should educate themselves post-haste
Don't you mean House of Leaves?
I actually gave up a few of the books I absolutely adored on the mindset that I knew people who would also love them - and have trouble getting access to them. (Like friends from highly religious families that need a little humor in their lives)
I may regret it a little, but in the end, someone else got to read something cool, and my shelf space can only grow.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
(or pretty much anything else by Chris Moore)
Please see Lamb, https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
Here's my list,
free online courses incl audio
----
free srs / vocab practice
----
speaking practice
----
books and audio courses (library / search online)
----
etc.
----
Best Android app I've found yet: Russian in a Month. Best online site (for pocasts when you are driving: RussianPod101.com. Best book I've found: New Penguin Russian Course
Other then that, read children's articles, watch Cheburaska, follow the Russian subreddits /r/Russianlessons, /r/Russian101, and /r/Russian, read Russian wherever you can, and listen to Russian music. If you want any other tips or tricks I've used, just let me know. Good luck!
Google Play - 1, 2
,3
Amazon - 1, 2, 3
The order is not the actual release order of all of the books, but jut the three that have been translated from Polish. The first one is standalone, though I've heard that the second one is one part of an arc, and I have no clue about the third.
The two main continents in the known world of ASOIAF are Westeros and Essos. There are two more, Sothoryos and Ulthos, but not much is known about them (Sothoryos is mentioned a few times in the books, and is south of Essos, Ulthos is south of Essos as well and is in the grey area between large islands and small continents).
Anyways, as this map shows, Essos, while much wider than Westeros, is not as tall and does not reach as far north. Braavos, the northernmost Free City, is at about the same latitude as the Vale.
Now, the Others come from the lands beyond the Wall, lands that are cold and foreboding. Essos does not seem to have such problems, which is why the people of Essos don't really seem to worry or know about the Others or even winter in general.
This is not to say, however, that the Others may not have an impact on the world beyond Westeros. They may very well, but that is yet to be seen.
*map from The Lands of Ice and Fire by GRRM.
Here's "the most complete" fan-made world map to date. GRRM said that, with the information we have from the books that are out, this is most likely the best a fan could come up with.
Looking for an official world map? George is releasing one this October!
Information dug up from this thread that was posted about 5 days ago. Hope that helps.
The Wool Series by Hugh Howey
Are you a fan of dinosaur romance novels?
What other reddits do you surf?
I moderate /r/RATS, /r/Louisiana and /r/OpenChristian. I also read a lot in /r/SquaredCircle, /r/SRSBusiness, /r/SRSDiscussion, /r/polyamory, /r/woahdude and I've been dipping back into /r/Christianity a bit lately as well.
What do you do in your free time?
I read. I reddit. I smoke my pipe and drink my cocktails. I watch pro wrestling. I cuddle. I toy around with making jewelry (trying hammered wire recently) or playing with polymer clay. I'm considering this thing they call "ex ur size" or some such. It involves riding on a bike that goes nowhere. I understand I can read or watch TV while I do it, so I figured what the heck.
What do you read?
Right now I'm going back and forth between The History of White People and A Canticle for Leibowitz. Before that I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. the most powerful book I've read in the last few months was Silence by Shusaku Endo. You should read it. And then you should read Lamb because you'll need something a bit more jovial. But not until after you've sat with it a while.
What do you watch?
Ring of Honor Wrestling, WWE, Leverage, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother.
Do you Blog?
Yup, though not regularly enough to develop any sort of readership.
Do you game?
I just got my first console since the original NES when I was in junior high. It's a Wii. Every once in a while I'll play Mario Kart of do something on the Wii Fit.
Do you play a musical instrument/sing?
I make noise periodically. I want to do more.
What are your favorite movies?
Absolute number one favorite? Hedwig And the Angry Inch. The only tattoo I have is from that movie. Other favorites include The Big Lebowski, Pump Up The Volume, The Wrestler, Shortbus, Dangerous Beauty, Walk The Line.
What is some favorite music?
My absolute favorite band is Over the Rhine. Behind them, tied for second place, you'll find Boris, the Cure, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. Also up there are Kris Kristofferson, Mischief Brew, the CrimethInc band called Requiem (there are lots of bands called Requiem), The New Orleans Bingo Show. The list goes on for days.
You might even get a kick out of The Hunger Games or Divergent... And of course 1984 :)
Exactly what they are training you to say!
There's a great peice floating around Facebook right now, about the safety officer on site at a school and how he, with basic training, saved the day with his gun. The piece states no one was harmed thanks to him.
The grain of truth to it is that the guy is real, and the event happened. A kid still died, not just the shooter. And the man was an ex swat member, not just a good guy with a gun.
>Trust big brother. This is what your advocating for.
>
>
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451524934/
There was a guy posting on Twitter the other day about how a kid who shot up another school was planning on targeting Disney -- but they have armed guards, so he changed his mind. Fox news had run a story on that same subject.
None of it was true. Not a lick of it. The kid had been to Disney with his family months before - that was it. The guy has over a hundred thousand people following him, and the tweet was retweeted to reach millions. All lies, but the comments were certain it was real.
>Trust big brother. This is what your advocating for.
>
>
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451524934/
I'm not suggesting that we trust all censorship, but I am stating unequivocally that there needs to be some. People aren't dumb, they're just extremely likely to believe whatever already fits their narrative.
Ishmael
Ishmael - If you ever wondered what it would be like to be a telepathic gorilla, this will probably give you the closest answer.
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking - The INTP Toolbox.
The Willpower Instinct - Because we all know we could use a bit more of it around here...
Emotional Vampires - A survival guide to protect your Fe
How To Create A Mind - Since it's ultimately the only thing we really seem to care about, it's interesting to think how we could theoretically create a 'backup' for it eventually
The Talent Code - In case you haven't quite figured out how to go about mastering skills yet.
A lot of sci-fi books predict private space exploration as well. My favorite example is the Mars Trilogy. However, the supposed leaders in commercial spaceflight, like SpaceX for example, are subsidized by NASA just like the companies that were developing Ares I and V. The only difference is that their projects cost less. But the reason they cost less is not because they are innovating the field by being commercial enterprises, rather, they cost less because they only go barely past the Kármán line whereas the Ares rockets could go to the moon.
Coyote + sequels by Allen Steele.
Red Mars + sequels by Kim Stanley Robinson.
40,000 in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh, now available in Alliance Space.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095
It's a real book.
I hardly think someone making racist comments is the same thing as someone deciding to no longer practice their religion in the same way as you (unless you take a very black and white approach to the world in which anyone who doesn't do things the way you do is wrong and sinning. In that case I guess leaving a religion would have the same weight as maligning others merely because of skin color).
No one is forcing people to read their writings about their thoughts relative to faith. Personally, I find it interesting to read these narratives and helpful to me in finding the words to vocalize why I stay. If you don't get anything out of them: cool! There are plenty of other awesome things you could spend your time reading instead.
The takeaway for me from her post was merely that we should be less judgmental about the choices of others that aren't harmful to those around them, which is a message that's been shared in as lofty a venue as general conference.
I agree with you that people who leave are usually no better than people who stay at avoiding judgment. We're all just people. That doesn't mean we can't enter into a conversation about what it means to improve in that area and steps we can take to reconcile our natural tendencies with the mercy and generosity of spirit we should be extending to others. I think this post particularly was a good example of that and one that nearly mirrored a discussion I had with a group of women from my ward this week.
Bioshock Book
Bioshock Book on tape Pt 1
Bioshock Book on tape Pt 2
might I recommend the excellent bioshock rapture by john shirley?! believe it or not, the audiobook is quite good as well; narrator seems to shift his accent to mold to each decade the chapters take place in. i truly enjoyed both mediums. great prequel story to jump into, as long as you've played some of the games.
BioShock: Rapture https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765367351/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FH-hyb6A5ADWP
I enjoyed it.
Actually if you're interested there is a book that is suppose to pertain to leading up to rapture. How it was built and what not.
Check it out
That’s the Hays translation. I have that one and the language is much better than some others I’ve seen posted.
Meditations -Marcus Aurelius
Enchridion - Epictetus
These Stoic texts are essential to deal with the world around me.
I recommend reading "meditations" by marcus aurelius
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549941258&sr=8-3&keywords=meditations+marcus+aurelius
As a practicing Stoic, he put a lot of good commonsense wisdom into action and wrote about how it worked for him. Not everything he wrote or did will please everyone, but he's got some very perceptive things to say and actually did what he recommended much of the time.
Here's his Meditations in a readable modern translation for only six bucks in paperback or Kindle.
I have the Penguin Great Ideas edition translated by Maxwell Staniforth. I liked it. The translation flowed well and was easy to read.
There is a newer translation by Gregory Hays I haven't read this one, but this review gives a couple of side by side comparisons.
WELCOME! Well I would:
(A) read up on what you can the 4 noble truths, the 8 fold path, dependent origination, the life of the Buddha. If you have the time I would highly recommend this book, as it is a great anthology taken right from the Suttas. I would then
(B) Read up on the 5 Precepts, try to keep to them, as they represent a firm moral foundation for practice, without this base the other facets become an issue.
(C) I would then learn a meditation technique. I recommend starting here. Start meditating daily, 20 minutes a day, work your way up as you feel you would like more.
You sound like you connected with Buddha's teachings, so if you want to take Refuge I would say make sure you've thought this through. It's basically a significant mental promise, but taking it is important and can really help practice. Here is the Refuge procedures. I would really recommend reading up more on it either here or here.
After you've taken Refuge, you are a Buddhist.
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha)
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
https://smile.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911
I think 'Penpal' is a great book, and it's quite dark & scary. It was written for /r/NoSleep and became so popular that the guy decided to publish it.
Good luck with your chemotherapy!
It was turned into a book if anyone is interested.
There is a list of authors with Amazon pages on the NoSleep authors' non-nosleep pages.
If it needs to be updated, then just let /u/ALooc know.
Also, I was just looking at buying a bunch of these to support the nosleep community. I know the following authors have pages as well (links go to amazon, not their reddit profiles):
/u/bloodworthOOC
/u/1000Vultures
/u/theworldisgrim
/u/AsForClass
/u/The_Dalek_Emperor
Anybody wanna sign a copy for me? :)
Okay, weirdest thing, I was looking up "Ready player one" on amazon, to see if it worth buying, and I think I found a book about The Woolie hole.
I guess I'll be the one to mention how reminiscent this is of Wool
Makes me a bit itchy with premonition
Relevant 'book'.
I'm guessing dinosaur erotica...
The link suggests it's from a book. And Amazon carries some WEIRD books
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FI9JFFO?ie=UTF8&redirectFromSS=1&pc_redir=T1&noEncodingTag=1&fp=1
This is some Conquered by Clippy bullshit going on
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
It's a whole set of maps. There are many of just different regions of Westeros, city maps of Braavos and King's Landing, different sections of Essos, and then one of the entire known world (pictured).
Looks like a page out of House of Leaves
House of Leaves?
If you'd like to know more...
Lamb, by Christopher Moore will answer all your questions.
His childhood buddy's name was Biff.. Funny book, BTW.
Hello, my name is Levi who is called Biff, Joshua's childhood friend, whatever you need to know can be found in the book I wrote:
https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
(Seriously, both a funny and very well written book, I recommend it to anyone of any religion who knows about Christianity)
I'm just starting to learn Russian myself. I'm using this website and this book which supposedly gets you up to an A-Level grade. I think it's a great book but found it a little tough for an absolute beginner so I also got this book which is just basic phrases really, doesn't go into grammar in any real detail but it gives you a lot more confidence to be able to speak something rather than getting completely bogged down in grammar as soon as you've learnt the alphabet imo. As soon as a got a couple of chapters into the phrase book, I started using the Russian course book I linked above to understand the grammar and handwriting better. Can't recommend the penguin one highly enough and I'm sure it will be a great help that you will have a teacher to help you with the grammar.
You're correct in thinking that the alphabet is the most important beginning. DON'T try learning a language using English phonetics, that'll just confuse you (which i can confirm) and give you a weird accent (according to my Russian speaking ex-girlfriend). Next up is where the stress goes on words, how changing stress can change the meaning of a sentence, and how some letters can change sound depending on where they are (called [un-]voicing) but this will come after you have the alphabet and some phrases under your belt.
I also found it good to listen to a few songs to pick up how words flow together, and music helps me think anyway, personal favourites of mine are traditional songs such as Kalinka, Ochi Chernye and Katyusha. Just look on youtube and you will find plenty of them even some with the lyrics in English and Russian.
This is the alphabet, the kids version for when you're more confident and want to learn it in order, and this video has some starter words and phrases.
I hope some of that helps you out, but I'm just a beginner myself so hoping to pick up some more advice myself by watching this thread closely!
Honestly DuoLingo is a meme. If you're serious about learning Russian (or any language) doing flashcards isn't going to get the job done. What you need to do is pick up The New Penguin Russian Course and read about the structure and theory of the language. Read Russian news/articles and literature/poetry. Look up all the words you can't understand (there will be plenty) and keep a journal of new words and phrases that are important to your goals. Then you can use DuoLingo to help supplement your vocabulary if you need to.
I found DuoLingo to be insulting and overpriced for its zero dollar price tag.
The New Penguin Russian Course
Super Easy Russian
Sé varios, de mejor a peor: español, inglés, faroés, esperanto, francés, chino. También se algo alguito de ruso (hice muy poco tiempo pero me acuerdo como leer el alfabeto y decir cosas como gracias y qué se yo, igual no cuenta como saber) y toki pona.
Los únicos que hablo bien bien bien son español e inglés. Con esos dos me puedo manejar en cualquier situación sin problemas. Español nativo, inglés aprendí relativamente bien en el colegio pero lo más importante son las horas boludeando en internet, películas, libros, etc.
Faroés porque fui de intercambio a las islas faroe y aprendí ahí. Es un idioma raro pero que tiene su encanto.
Esperanto lo hablo, escribo y leo bastante bien (ayuda que sea muy regular y la pronunciación se corresponda con la escritura en un cien por ciento). Aprendí por internet, ponele dos meses estudiando de verdad, después leyendo y hablando con gente. Es un idioma fácil y simpático. De vez en cuando me junto con la comunidad en esperanto de acá a hablar pavadas. Es un submundo curioso.
Francés estudié un tiempo y me quedó más o menos. Conversacionalmente "zafo" (pude hacer de traductor una vez en Berlin entre un grupo de estudiantes franceses que se querían levantar a las intercambistas con las que estaba y las intercambistas en sí que solo querían saber dónde podían tomar una cerveza). Leer se puede leer bastante bien mientras no sea una novela. Escribir es un quilombo, nunca me salió.
Chino quería aprender porque me daba miedo quedar como mi mamá ahora: sin acceso a gran parte de la cultura por no saber el idioma dominante bien. Me tiré a aprender en el programa de Lenguas Vivas de CABA. Está buenísimo, super bien organizado y es gratis. Estudié un año y medio y aprendí lo suficiente como para rogar por mi vida si alguna vez los chinos me capturan. También aprendimos a escribir (de lejos lo maś difícil). Tuve que dejar por la facultad.
Ruso quedó como un sueño, estudié solo (bah, con una amiga) por un tiempo de un libro (excelente, era el curso de ruso de Penguin, si alguien quiere el escaneado lo tengo). Después comencé en una academia. La academía me pareció bastante mala, cara y desorganizada, así que elegí seguir con chino y dejar ruso porque estaba haciendo demasiadas cosas y no me daba el tiempo.
Toki pona, bueno, fue una nerdeada como el esperanto, pasa que es más difícil tenerlo presente porque muy poca gente lo habla y además es muy difícil formar conceptos porque hay tan pocas palabras.
Eso. Me quedó re largo el texto. En fin. Igual para lo que más me sirvió aprender tantos idiomas es para desconfiar mucho de la gente que te dice que sabe 5 idiomas y los habla fluído. Salvo que hayas vivido en un lugar donde se hable y le hayas puesto mucha bola, es muy difícil. No digo imposible. Pero sí muy muy muy difícil.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
Full beginner starter guide which includes grammar.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy or The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.
I'd post pics of the covers, but I'd probably be lynched. :)
If you're interested in them, the stories are all in the process of being translated to english. There are two books of short stories, and 5 books in a saga. The 2nd to last book is coming out this month, and the final book is due next year.
Here are the two short story collections: The Last Wish, and Sword of Destiny.
The US covers are kind of crap compared to the UK covers, but it's probably cheaper/faster for people in the US.
The Last Wish, the collection of Witcher stories by Andrzej Sapkowski.
About a Witcher (a monster-hunter, essentially) who knows exactly what he's doing at all times, is supremely competent, and is always looking for ways to prepare. Of course, that doesn't mean it's all easy--he has tougher problems than your average.
Whole lotta reading recommendations in this thread. May as well throw my two cents in.
The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. If you're into Guts' introspective-man-of-violence-looking-for-his-place-in-the-world-thing I'd think you find Logen Ninefingers to be an interesting character. If you're into audiobooks then I highly recommend checking out the audiobook versions. The guy reading them is practically a voice-actor.
The original trilogy:
The standalone novels (available as a single volume in The Great Leveller):
And the most recent Sharp Ends (short story collection).
The Witcher books by Andrezj Sapkowski. Already spawned a popular video game franchise (I've only played the third one and enjoyed it tremendously, but still prefer the books). They're planning to adapt the books into a Netflix series within the next few years.
Short story collections:
The novels:
If anyone wants to start reading The Witcher novels I made a guide over on the "Featured Character" comment section that I'll repost here:
Short stories:
Novels:
Overall:
The short stories are a must-read before the novels because they introduce many characters and plot points for the main saga. There is also a prequel story called Season of Storms which hasn't been officially translated into English yet, but there are fan translations if you can't wait. I haven't read it myself, but I hear that it is best read after the others. If you want to know more about The Witcher lore there is always The World of the Witcher^UK which will give you more backstory and details.
meh..
books are way better :)
Blood Elves,
Last Wish
Ive had some help from an old friend of mine from when I was a kid. His name was Douglas Adams and basically he says that if something out of the ordinary happens, no matter how inconceivable, all you have to do is remember these words "DON'T PANIC"
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy link here
It's really light, but it's one of my favorite books. There is a series of 5 in the Trilogy (yes, i know there are only 3 in a trilogy, but that's a little insight into the humor of Douglas Adams). You can purchase them all as one edition (link above. highly recommend).
Probably not a big help to you, but for the record, the high resolution version of the map is contained in the World of Ice and Fire App as well as in the "The Lands of Ice and Fire" Map collection.
Up vote this people, this is a fucking good book. An as b0b0tiken says, after reading this book, I would gladly take this trip.
>I got about 2 paragraphs in and knew exactly who must have posted this.
I'm surprised it took you that long! You do know my username is prefixed to every one of my comments, don't you? But perhaps it's not all that surprising after all, in light of your "analysis" of what little of the article you managed to read. For it does NOT state that "you must be an intellectual." On the contrary, what it actually says is that "There is something 'magical' in art that cannot be explained intellectually, which touches us in ways we cannot put into words." (Emphasis mine.)
Perhaps this basic ability to understand what a sentence actually says is still beyond you. If so, then I recommend that you get a copy of Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book? In it you will read the following:
>The first level of reading is what we will call Elementary Reading. Other names might be rudimentary reading, basic reading or initial reading; any of these terms serves to suggest that as one masters this level one passes form nonliterary to at least beginning literacy. In mastering this level, one learns the rudiments of the art of reading, receives basic training in reading, and acquires initial reading skills. We prefer the name elementary reading, however, because this level of reading is ordinarily learned in elementary school. The child's first encounter with reading is at this level. His problem then (and ours when we begin to read) is to recognize the individual words on the page.... At this level of reading, the question asked of the reader is "What does the sentence say?"
Just as in the grades of school, one must pass beyond this first grade of reading comprehension before proceeding to the more advanced levels—among which is included what might be termed analytical reading. It is at this stage that one is first able to offer a critique of a work; but if we have not graduated to this level of comprehension, then we not competent to provide any such critique—whether positive or negative.
Still, I must give you some credit: for you were at least able to follow the advice given at the end of the second paragraph, where the invitation to stop reading was extended to those for whom the author's thesis might fall on deaf ears!
As far as finding the article "off-putting" or "condescending," I cannot do better than to quote Francis Bacon, who once remarked that "some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." This applies to the articles from Occult Mysteries as much as to my own comments. If you find that they are not to your tastes, then by all means pass them by in favor of something more sugary.
These are good resources. I'd also add the classic How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler. I use it as the first text in my reading methods course and it works well with undergrads despite being a half-century old.
How to Read a Book. This would have saved me a lot of time and I would have gotten a lot more out of my reading had I read it before seminary.
Personally I like Josh. =)
(Obligatory plug for Lamb)
Read Dune.
I'm not an expert, but I don't like 2 of your covers. Tales from a Dead Planet is cool, with a sweet title, but the other two don't make me interested at all.
I would say you need to focus on getting reviews firstly. You really need at least 10 - 20 on each title before they mean a whole lot and can drive sales. To start, harass everyone you know who has read the books. Make them leave reviews, even if they don't like them. Bad reviews are honestly better than no reviews.
Do you have a call to action in the back of your books? Something at the end like, "if you enjoyed this journey, you can leave a review on Amazon and find book 2 there as well," can go a long way toward garnering reviews. Also, you can try submitting to review blogs (like mine) to get some large, editorial reviews which you can put in the editorial section on Amazon.
The $2.99 price point sucks. Almost every indie book / small time author sets there. If you want to stand apart, go higher. It might sound weird, but it works. Looking quickly at the best sci-fi novel ever written, it has a price way higher than yours. Like /u/arkelias says, look at the successful books in your genre and mimic them. Even price point. That also encourages people to actually read the book after they buy it, and it encourages them to leave a review since it is more of an investment.
When I sell books at conventions, I always tell customers to email me when they finished the book whether they like it or not. Many of them do. If they like the book, I email back asking for a review on Amazon. They typically do. If they don't like the book, I thank them for reading it and offer them another book for free. That usually discourages them from leaving really bad reviews.
Try a giveaway on Goodreads. They are easy to run and the readers are obligated to leave a review. Just make sure you confirm the winning accounts aren't spam bots before you mail your book into the abyss.
To the writing: I opened the sample for the Tales book. My editor would have made me rewrite the first paragraph entirely. When you use 'here' so much instead of 'there', it makes me think you're trying to use first or second person instead of third. Am I there too? Are we both there having a chat? In the second paragraph, I closed the sample. "Scientists fought to figure out why this was happening..." That sentence is a huge red flag. Check out this article on using terms like 'here' and 'this' in fiction.
Do you have a professional editor and some proofreaders? Also, do you have a dedicated author website and a twitter?
I hope this helps.
Dune. A must-read.
http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Chronicles-Book-1/dp/0441172717
Agree
I think a society that encouraged/mandated exercise and had no stigma for therapy would be much healthier one. In some cases, I think "freedom of ideas" make people lonely and therefore depressed. But that could easily be fixed by teaching more tolerance for those who have different ideas than yours.
Disagree
I'm interested to know how old you are. Not to judge your thoughts, but to judge your experiences. As an adult, have you ever sat on your kitchen floor attempting to eat an entire cake just because you could? That's freedom. And yeah, it's not necessarily healthy, but if you only do it once a year, it's not necessarily unhealthy either.
The problem with regulations is - humans are complicated. You will never be able to write a set of rules that encompasses the whole of human complexity. Many people would be severely stressed out by having to follow all the rules. Mandatory anything for people with disabilities would be borderline impossible. Have you read 1984? Or ever read To Kill a Mockingbird how the one family was allowed to not go to school?
Plus, what we learn continues to change. Did you know that organic food is no different chemically from GMOs? You could say coffee and wine serves no nourishing purpose and should be banned, however it's been shown that having a stress-relieving substance like wine can help you live longer when had in moderation.
What about religion? Some people believe the belief in such a delusion is harmful to brains, thought processes, and society. While others take great comfort in their god(s) and it helps them navigate life with less stress. Who gets to make the decision on which is allowed? China's plan isn't working out too well.
We should enable citizens live healthy lives - healthcare, healthy food, mental health services, paid time off for mental health (naps, etc), community centers, limit access to harmful substances. But I do not agree in any way that it would be possible to create a utopia under such strict guidelines.
You should read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
I would have to say without a doubt it would be Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It is a very short but unforgettable novel that puts the fall of man into such a precise perspective its nearly impossible to contend it.
Quinn is an amazing writer and I really would recommend anything by him.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
This book has some interesting ideas on Genesis, Cain and Able, and Adam and Eve.
(I tried to link to wikipedia and it broke the Reddit markup)
https://www.amazon.com/Lamb\-Gospel\-According\-Christs\-Childhood/dp/0380813815
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal", by Christopher Moore.
This book is a novel that addresses the title issue specifically. Some of our subscribers would definitely not enjoy it but I think it's wonderful.
Nobody mentioning the excellent, hilarious Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal?
You've likely read most of these, but here are a few suggestions:
I can recommend others if you've already hit all of those already.
Dune by Frank Herbert
I read it for the first time at age 11. The whole middle east allegory? WHOOSH - right over my head. Each time I read it now, I see a new layer of complexity in the story.
I would love to see the cover for Dune by Frank Herbert taken and made into a wallpaper.
This one in particular:
Dune https://www.amazon.com/dp/0441172717/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gwvPCb3KV7DXS
Go forth my friend and enjoy this journey.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0441172717/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473445297&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dune
Just in case you're serious, or for anyone who hasn't read it,
George Orwell's "1984"
Youtube audiobook link
In 5 minutes
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553375407?pc_redir=T1
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Greatly illustrates the "fuck up the planet", and is told from a Gorilla's point of view.
Sounds like you're being excessively fixated on accuracy of a world purposefully written to be vague. Westeros is approximately the length of South America, per Martin's statements and this is generally accepted by the community.
If you want more info, feel free to check out the official book of maps.
Anyone reading this who enjoys thinking about the above analogy, should try to read House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Similar concept, but it's happening to his house.
The selection this month is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, but I'm not sure anyone got through the whole thing. Usually we just talk about any books that anyone has recently read, any shows or movies that are any good, and advanced spatchcocking techniques. It's a very loose agenda.
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Title: \<span style="color\: #0000ED"\>House\<\/span\> of Pancakes
Title-text: Fuck it. I'm just going to Waffle House.
Comic Explanation
Stats: This comic has been referenced 13 times, representing 0.0116% of referenced xkcds.
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^xkcd.com ^| ^xkcd sub ^| ^Problems/Bugs? ^| ^Statistics ^| ^Stop Replying ^| ^Delete
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
This. This is what I felt the whole way through the album. I’ve read House of Leaves. I know how this ends!
Amazon has the "Look Inside" for HoL, which lets you do a text search: https://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/
The book House of Leaves is great if you really liked the Dionaea House
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
IMO you can never go wrong with Thomas Ligotti.
ETA--after reading your link, I'd also like to recommend this book: House Of Leaves
[House](http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1269194984&amp;sr=8-1 "Editor's Note: Buy this book") of Leaves.
House of Leaves can be somewhat hit or miss with people, but I found it to be one of the few books that actually creeped me out. Also, both its content, a story within a story within a story, as well as it's style ("Danielewski packs in poems, scientific lists, collages, Polaroids, appendices of fake correspondence and "various quotes," single lines of prose placed any which way on the page, crossed-out passages, etc") are rather unique.
Perhaps The Life of Pi, or this magnificent bastard, or maybe Lamb. Maybe, if you are up for a challenge, you could try either [Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World] and/or Cloud Atlas. Careful with Cloud Atlas, there is another book by the same title. The one you're looking for is written by David Mitchell. If that doesn't work, report back and we'll figure something else out.
I have this version. It is great. Whenever I read a passage from it I have to sit back and think for a while because it blows my mind.
OP, I think you will benefit from reading it. It uses plain English. Here it is on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
The Meditations, fortunately, have been widely published and are almost certainly available in your native language.
The thing here that sticks out to me is that not once did you mention any specific thing that you enjoy doing or have a passion for.
Your goal was to make money and prove your dad wrong. That is not a sustainable way to direct your energy. I think it's very lucky that you were able to identify your problem as rooted in your dad and not money per se.
A lot of people pursue money as it's own means and own end and it ends up never being enough and it destroys them. You have to fail, sometimes spectacularly, to learn that kind of lesson and here you are, still young and in the prime place to learn from that mistake so don't feel bad.
I think you really need to sit back and try to figure out what really drives you. Why did you start an online company for example? There are a lot of ways to make money.
Why go that route specifically, and what did you sell? Were you drawn to that for some intrinsic reason other than you thought you'd make the most money that way or did you stumble on something that spoke to you and you were able to drive that to success because of passion? Generally, people aren't able to reach that level unless they're somehow interested in that field.
the short but powerful guide to finding your passion
coaching the artist within - this is geared towards artists but it starts out with trying to get you to find what you're passionate about and then lessons on mastering anxiety, mental blocks and fear of failure. It also sounds like you want to be self directed rather than on a career path which is similar to the 'artist life'.
Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates us
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength
Meditations
On the Shortness of Life
The Wisdom of Insecurity
The Art of Nonconformity:Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World
Things Might go Terribly, Horribly Wrong: A Guide to Life Liberated from Anxiety
Here are a few things to get you started. They don't have 'the answer' per se, but I think they'll go a long way in helping you reframe your idea of motivation, discipline, and how to deal with fear of failure. And get you started on the right path.
I will also add: do not be afraid to find a good therapist (preferably one trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) especially if you are still under 26 and are on your Mom's insurance.
I am not suggesting you have an illness from the DSM-V per se. However, I think any time you're unhappy and are struggling to reach goals, at a certain point that is a 'mental health issue' you need help with and a therapist is the ideal 'coach' to get you through it with tested and verified methods (and likely in a finite amount of meetings.)
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Brain-Work-Strategies-Distraction/dp/0061771295
http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
http://www.amazon.com/New-Earth-Awakening-Purpose-Selection/dp/0452289963
Discourses by Epictetus
A truly amazing book by a slave-turned-philosopher on having a mindset to face any challenges one might face.
Fun fact: The teachings of this philosopher bore a significant influence on Marcus Aurelius and his writings in The Meditations; as well as further Christian scholars down the ages as they adapted Epictetus' teachings to their own by replacing Epictetus' view of "fate" or "destiny" with one of "God".
I would actually recommend the modern translation of the book, it’s worth the cost. Easier to understand. https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
I myself prefer the Gregory Hays edition after seeing it recommended elsewhere.
In the Buddha's Words, ed. Bhikku Bodhi
I'll second What the Buddha Taught and In the Buddha's Words. Access to Insight is also a good resource. And of course /r/buddhism!
Here is a list of monasteries where you will be able to practice meditation for an extended period of time and eventually ordain as a monk:
-Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar
-Panditarama Forest Meditation Center in Myanmar
-Wat Chom Tong in Thailand
-Wat Ram Poeng in Thailand
The monasteries below allow shorter stays for first-time visitors:
-Bhavana Society in West Virginia
-Metta Forest Monastery in California
-Sirimangalo International in Canada
-Bodhinyana in Australia
If you’re interested in learning how to meditate, the following books are excellent guides. Each of these authors has a novel approach to explaining meditation that complements the others.
-The Mind Illuminated by John Yates
-Shift Into Freedom by Loch Kelly
-With Each & Every Breath by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. This author has other great books available for free.
-In The Buddha’s Words by the Buddha (translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi)
I recommend that you check out /r/streamentry, an online community of laypeople (non-monks) pursuing awakening. You might also wish to contact /u/Bhikkhu_Jayasara, a fully ordained monk who often participates in /r/buddhism.
Best of luck to you on the path.
Why don't you read the Pali Canon? Perhaps the Majjhima Nikaya or In the Buddha's Words which is an anthology of discourses from the Pali Canon are good places to start.
Penpal.
Not really a shit yourself scary book, but it's the kind of book that makes you go "WHAT?! HOLY HECK?! THAT'S MESSED UP!" I found it pretty scary though.
(It was also originally a r/nosleep series!)
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach is pretty perfect for you.
Wool by Hugh Howey
Wool by Hugh Howey and its prequel, Shift. Really, really good.
Wool by Hugh Howey. You can download part 1 of the book free to see if it's right for you.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.
by Hugh G. Rection.
Found this book awhile ago and had a laugh. Apparently dinosaur erotica is a thing.
Would the quality of such fiction be comparable to the masterpiece of fiction that is Conquered By Clippy?
So, I couldn't find any definitive answer to this saddly... though one link sent me on a dive down quite a rabbit whole leading to... this . Doesn't really clear anything up... at all.. and now I feel moderately uncomfortable having this irl Clippy staring me down all day o_O. Maybe I'll turn him/her to face the door in my office to stare down visitors instead.
I don't know how to reply to this so I'm just going to say that clippy is a rapist.
Here is the mobile version of your link
The following suggestion is by no means condescending or even insulting at the least bit but How to Read A Book is a pretty useful resource in learning how to properly read, absorb and be engaged with any piece of literature that comes your way. Hope this helps!
Right now I am reading How to read a book and would recommend reading it before you read any other book.
As someone said, ''All books are mute till you have read this one''.
Most book summaries are bad in that they don't connect the different themes in an intelligent way to actually allow your brain to comprehend the important details correctly and quickly - which is the point of a summary. The summaries in this sub are quite good, but only because there are committed people who did the really deep digging and can bring up the gems to show you in a comprehensible way.
Reading the book is always, always more beneficial than reading the summary (unless time is a factor, like cramming for a test). You won't get less content from reading the book versus reading the summary, but 99% of the time you will lose content from the summary.
If you are struggling with reading comprehension and retention, I absolutely recommend Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book. Read it all the way through, deliberately, carefully, then read it again a year later using its own tips. It has helped me get 40-50% more juice from each book since. It's a tremendous capital investment in your reading ability (which will serve you well here and in life).
So if you're looking for another top notch fantasy series, let me recommend The Name of the Wind, one of the best fantasy series I've read in a while. Similar to GRRM's series, we've been waiting for the next installment very impatiently.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. absolutely fantastic, very little in the way of politics, and i was hooked by the end of the first page.
also, the Discword series is a lot of fun, but it's a comedy fantasy. still, very funny.
I quite liked it. It definitely starts to drag some in books 3-5, but I thought it was completely worth it. Book 1 (The Gunslinger) is absolutely fantastic, and he ends the series perfectly in Book 7.
As far as really good fantasy series go, you can't get better than the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. It's an utterly brilliant story.
Sanderson is also part of a podcast called "Writing Excuses". It's 15 minutes of a group of writers speaking their thoughts on a particular topic of writing. It has a lot to teach. I would also recommend a book called "Damn Fine Story". It helps to understand different aspects of good storytelling by breaking down iconic pop culture narratives like Star Wars and Die Hard. If you haven't read "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss it's hands down my favorite fantasy book, very influential and inspiring.
There are tons of good YouTube videos and channels where you can learn all about storytelling and its different components. This one looks into screenplays but still has much that is relevant to writing.
About a week ago I started The Name of the Wind and I am really enjoying it. It's a little magickier (It's a word now!) than Martin, but very enjoyable.
If you like fantasy, check in with the folks over at r/fantasy. That being said, Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind is phenomenal epic fantasy with beautifully crafted storytelling. If you want fast paced urban fantasy, check out Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, which is about a magic wielding private detective with an irreverent sense of humor.
Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley
Definitely stick with only the Cyrillic alphabet. The transliterations used on Duolingo don't really convey the sounds very accurately. To practice Cyrillic reading I used to go on a Wikipedia page with lots of celebrities' names (e.g. Best Actor Winners ) and change it to Russian and go through reading the names.
I had a look at the Duolingo course when it came out and I found that it was really lacking in explanation of grammar (cases in particular). I would strongly recommend getting a decent book to follow along with to teach you the grammar. I have found that this has quite a nice progression and explanation. YMMV but, for Russian, I have only found Duolingo helpful for practicing putting sentences together, nothing else.
> Sometimes the words end in one way and then another, but make the same sound
I'm not sure what this is referring to, could you give an example?
I started learning russian because my ex bf was Rusian.
I bought this book, which is absolutely perfect for beginners.
I also met a Russian penpal who I help with English in exchange for Russian on penpalworld.com
The Cyrillic alphabet crash course videos by Mark Thomson (there's also iOS and Android apps if you prefer)
Russian Made Easy podcast / video series also by Mark Thomson
The New Penguin Russian Course by Nicholas Brown
These three materials will give you a super solid start and come out to a grand total of like $20. I suggest starting with the Cyrillic alphabet videos then going through Ch2 of the Penguin book, which teaches Cyrillic cursive. It will be best to do all writing in cursive as you practice. I'd then go through Russian Made Easy then the rest of the Penguin book. This method has been working out very well for me so far. I tried starting with the Penguin book and it's just a little dense to be a good beginner material imo. I also push the Mark Thomson materials pretty hard because he harps on contextual learning which is very important for efficiently learning a new language, yet many resources don't focus on it.
Many people like Duolingo. I wasn't super fond of it because the audio is compressed to hell and it doesn't give a good intro to the alphabet. This led to me having trouble knowing whether I pronounced something right because the example speech sounded like garbage and also taking guesses at what sounds letters made (a few of which turned out to be wrong when I changed my methods and actually learned the alphabet). I talked to a polyglot I know and he advised me that Rosetta Stone was most useful when you have a decent foundation in a language, not quite as great if you're totally new to it (and very expensive). All of this is just my two cents of course. There's many ways to go about it. Either way, welcome to the super fun hellscape that is the Russian language, and good luck getting started :)
It becomes easier once you get used to the concept of cases & case endings in general. Basically, this concept forces you to think grammatically -- which is actually a good thing. In English, we don't really think this way except when using certain pronouns (me, him, her, etc.). In English, we could say "Who are you talking to?" and sound perfectly normal, while the more proper "To whom are you talking?" sounds stilted and weird.
I studied Latin for many years (two decades, in fact) before picking up Russian; so the concept was already familiar. That was a huge help.
Anyway, stick with it, man. Repetition and drills will get you there; just be patient with yourself. At some point, this concept will "click", and you'll find yourself looking back over earlier exercises and breezing right through them. It looks like you're using the New Penguin Russian Course (like I am); so whatever answers don't appear in the key at the back of the book can be posed here in this helpful forum. ))
Yes, but it takes a long time, so I'll copy paste all my past comments here for you to trawl through yourself.
>/r/russian and /r/LANL_Russian are both good subreddits. Someone recommended http://learnrussian.rt.com/ which is great for beginners. http://www.russianlessons.net is good for lots of information, but is kind of incomplete. Definitely worth using regardless. Memrise is really good for vocab, but the courses are user-made and not perfect.
Note: LANL_Russian in particular has some great links in the sidebar.
Memrise:
>Interesting, there seems to be an influx of Russian learners lately. Take note, because I'm writing a lot, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't think that every bit was extremely important.
>Stop just trying to memorise by reading. Long story short, you're using a pretty ineffective technique. The good news is there are far better ways of doing it. Studies show that recollection, not repetition is a far effective teacher.
>As I've said to many, I can fully recommend Memrise (www.memrise.com) and the top rated Russian course there. It's great at using recollection to get you memorising a lot of words fast using mnemonics. Other than that, Anki is a useful flashcard program that does a similar thing.
>some tips for Memrise: don't use it passively; really try and think about and focus on the word you're learning. Secondly, make sure you've got a mem (their term for mnemonic) that works for you. Getting a word without a mem is harder. Memrise will really solidify your Russian-English, but if you are worried about the English-Russian part, just go though each level with a strip of paper covering the Russian words on the screen and work your way down. You will find it's really easy anyway, because Memrise has solidified the connection in your mind.
>Make use you check the course page and water all your plants EVERY DAY.
>Take note of how Memrise get's you recollecting as soon as possible after giving you a word, and then gradually spreads out the intervals at which you are prompted to recall a word, and in groups of 5 words at a time. Take this technique and use it to make yourself some flash cards. Write the English on one side and Russian on the other (you might like to include the pronunciation too). Now you can take these around with you day by day (I have some on my desk by me right now), memorising other words you've read whenever you have a spare moment. You can even have your own personal mems for them. I'd recommend buying some cards to use, because just cutting up printing paper is pretty flimsy and easy to mess up.
>I personally find I memorise better when focusing at my desk, because I'm a lot less distracted. If Memrise is done then feel free to use your flash cards at your desk. It is still more effective.
>If you ever do go back to word lists, don't just look at them, cover one side up and do a few at a time, really relying on recollection.
An extract from what I'd consider my best writeup:
>What galaxyrocker said is just as true for me. My interest in the language led me to try learning it, as opposed to wanting to learn a language and then finding one. I always thought the Cyrillic alphabet looked awesome and the Russian language sounded awesome, so I decided to try it and I've been going ever since. I was always interested in the history of eastern Europe and socialism so I guess that in some way led to it. Along the way I've discovered a completely different and interesting culture and now I am learning a way to interact with it.
>One bit of advice would be to find a buddy who is a native of your target language and get in regular contact. If you're doing this online, there are plenty of resources, but I found mine on the Skype forum. The time spent teaching him the more precise aspects of English and in turn getting a more interactive source of knowledge has been invaluable to both of us, and at the same time I've been prompted to think a little about my own language, especially regarding grammar. It helps only a small bit if you share interests, because the two languages provide such a huge range of topics and conversation. Since you're going to be a beginner, look for someone experienced but looking for regular practice, to them, teaching you WILL be the practice, and any insight into English you can offer a bonus.
>Secondly, relate your studies to subjects that interest you. No doubt you'll be different, but DotA 2 has a large scene in eastern Europe, so I often tune in there just to immerse myself. Find resources to attempt to read that are about a topic of your interest. If you don't enjoy the benefits somewhere, you'll lose interest. If you surround yourself with media relating to your language, you'll always be motivated to go back to the books and continue learning.
>Also, always go back and go over words you learned, otherwise you forget them fast. Recollection is a far better teacher than repetition, so make flash cards or use Memrise (it's amazing).
Now especially for you; Resources:
Pimsleur has an audio only course that teaches you basic conversational Russian using spaced repetition and simulated conversations. It's good for getting you speaking and pronouncing Russian, but I got bored pretty fast and didn't really have the opportunities to use it. The course itself is huge, split up into many lessons. This one does cost a lot of money, you you should PM me for a "sample" first.
Penguin Russian is like a giant grammar book. It will teach you the basics as well as the advanced. While not interesting or engaging, it does have everything you could ever need to know, and so is a good resource if you have the patience. This is another one you'll have to buy, but I have the PDF form if you'd like to "sample" that too.
Lastly, trying to read Russian books is a good way to learn once you have some words down. A heads up though, unless you have more than 1000 you'll be running into a lot of words you will be unfamiliar with, at least to begin with. One staple of language learners is Harry Potter, since its been translated to pretty much every language there is. That's the last "sample" you'll be needing to PM me about.
If you want to speak, the best way is to find a Skype (or real life) buddy who speaks both. There are huge amounts of Russians online who speak passable English who could help in return for some English help.
If you're not doing it that way, you'll need to practice speech to yourself while studying.
This book is incredible for learning Russian grammar and some vocab.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140120416/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
If you're into war novels, you should definitely check out All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It's hands down my favorite war-related book. And if you're into post-apocalyptic stuff, the easy answer is The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
If you want to read a bit about the series here is the "first" book with some short stories in them if you come from NA https://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181 .
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy includes all 5 that were written by Douglas Adams. The one I have on my shelf has a different cover than what Amazon currently shows, but it looks like it's all there. There is another Hitchhiker's book by Eoin Colfer working on Douglas Adams' notes called And Another Thing... you might also want to check out. Though you're probably better off switching to Dirk Gently before you get to that one.
You should get the whole series. The link is for American Amazon; I don't know if there's a British version of Amazon or not...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0345453743?pc_redir=1411929427&amp;robot_redir=1
There's also this book, which is a little on the pricey side but filled with awesome maps like the one you're looking for.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371156474&amp;sr=8-26&amp;keywords=game+of+thrones
You can find a lower-quality scan of the "Known World" map from the Land of Ice and Fire map book over thisaway. I recommend buying the collection on Amazon -- it's well worth it. I've spent hours pouring over the maps.
This is one of the greatest books for a beginner to start learning Russian with. It's easy to understand and well organized. Starts from ground zero, so you don't need to worry about not knowing where to start.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
This book helped me the most to understand grammar.
And this is the best Russian-English dictionary I've found.
You'll want to carry this around with you to learn the case endings.
Speaking as in holding a conversation, or speaking as in pronouncing the words correctly?
If it is about pronunciation:
Russian is quite good in that it is mostly say-it-as-you-see-it. In English we have lots of letter combinations to remember, like "Sch", "th" and even "ough", which are rare in Russian. In English we also change the vowel sound by putting an "e" at the end of the word, like "run" and "rune".
The worst thing about Russian is the vowel stress. In each word, you have to stress the correct vowel. Stressing the wrong vowel can sometimes change the meaning of the word. It brings with it a whole word of annoying rules, such as an unstressed "o" has an "a" sound.
Duolingo doesn't help with any of these fundamentals (worst of all not even telling us where the stress falls). I used Penguin Russian Course to help learn the alphabet and exception rules, but others have talked about using Youtube videos.
Once you have those fundamentals, it should become increasingly say-it-as-you-see-it.
No, but The Road came very close.
Don't read The Road, whatever you do.
I've been reading the Witcher Saga. Seven books in total; the English translation of the final one is out next month. They aren't the best books ever written, but they are solid fantasy stories with a lot of variety. There are elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, shapeshifting metallic dragons, a wilderness full of monsters, and roughly the same level of magic as the Forgotten Realms. It could easily be somebody's D&D campaign setting.
The first two books are short story collections, and after that a long story arc begins that delves more deeply into politics, with multiple character viewpoints. I'd recommend the first two (The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny). They're fun, witty, self-contained that slowly develop the main plot in the background.
My current list:
Tried reading the book?
It's pretty good if you're super into the lore, even if the writing isn't top notch. Ken Levine gave it his blessing...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Bioshock-Rapture-John-Shirley/0765367351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1497403795&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=bioshock+rapture
The Gregory Hayes translation! I've tried out 4 different translations, and it's by far the most readable. It's also the one Ryan Holiday, arguably the most influential modern writer on Stoicism, recommends.
Get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&amp;me=
I'm a huge fan of the Hays translation. Much easier reading.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0812968255?pc_redir=1396844213&amp;robot_redir=1
The three above-mentioned volumes on the Long Discourses (Dīgha Nikāya), the Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikāya), and the Connected Discourses (Saṃyutta Nikāya) are indeed real gems, and an excellent way to read the suttas as they were originally presented (albeit with the limitations of translation). However, the internal organization of the Pāli Canon is often quite haphazard, with only very general rules being applied to which texts go into which volume, but with little or no rules as to the placement of the suttas within those volumes.
I've already made this recommendation elsewhere, but it's also valuable here.
Bhikku Bodhi has made an easy-to-digest anthology of the Pāli Canon called In the Buddha's Words, in which he selects the most essential passages of the scripture and organizes them in a logical way (he also provides some commentary, but the bulk of the book is made up of the Buddha's own words).
Unfortunately I cannot testify as to which Mahayana books are commendable, I have very little experience in that.
One Dharma by Joseph Goldstein
The Buddha is Still Teaching by Jack Kornfield
The Dhammapada translated by Thomas Byrom You can find this free on-line, but the formatting isn't the best.
In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi (mentioned below). If any book becomes the "Buddhist Bible" this one would be it.
Access To Insight has more of the original Buddhist texts and commentaries than anyone could read in a lifetime.
An important distinction as you go about learning. There are 2-3 main branches of Buddhsim. The Theravada (Hinayana) is the oldest, includes texts of the Pali Cannon, which are considered as close to the original teachings as possible. Then there is the Mahayana which includes Zen and countless other Asian forms of Buddhsim. The third branch--and some argue it is part of Mahayana, but I'd say it is a form all its own as it has its own set of texts and eminent contributors--is the Tibetan tradition which includes anyone with the title Lama or Rinpoche, among others.
My readings listed above all are from the Theravada tradition.
For two from Zen, consider
Riding the Ox Home: Stages on the Path of Enlightenment by John Daido Loori
The Blooming of a Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh
For Tibetan, consider anything by HH The Dalai Lama and Lama Surya Dass, among others.
Enjoy your journey.
What the Buddha Taught is the best "intro to Buddhism" book I've read yet, I highly recommend it. This is a book you will constantly be coming back to, if you decide to keep pursuing Buddhism that is, for it contains all of the essentials (IMO). The author also includes several key suttas given by the Buddha (several especially directed towards lay people like ourselves), and a collection of key verses from the Dhammapada (a classic Buddhist scripture). The other "Intro to Buddhism" book I will recommend is Becoming Enlightened by His Holliness the Dalai Lama, which gives an overview of the Buddhist path to Enlightenment that emphasizes the role of compassion, altruism, and wisdom.
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For learning to meditate and practice mindfulness, I recommend Mindfulness in Plain English. What the Buddha Taught also has a great chapter on meditation and mindfulness.
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Once you feel more comfortable with the basic principles of Buddhism, if you'd like to start reading and studying key Buddhist scriptures, I'd recommend starting with the following: In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon and The Dhammapada. The Pali Cannon in the oldest complete Buddhist cannon of scriptures that survives today. The Dhammapada is a short collection of sayings within the Pali Cannon that is thought to summarize the essence of the Buddha's teachings.
A few good books:
Pali suttas:
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911
Overview of the Mahayana:
http://www.amazon.com/An-Open-Heart-Practicing-Compassion/dp/0316930938
Bodhicitta:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Expand-Love-Widening-Relationships/dp/0743269691
Shunyata:
http://www.amazon.com/How-See-Yourself-You-Really/dp/0743290461
Perfection of wisdom sutras: Heart Sutra:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Understanding-Commentaries-Prajnaparamita/dp/1888375922
Diamond Cutter sutra:
http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-That-Cuts-Through-Illusion/dp/1935209442
3 principle aspects of the path:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Three-Principal-Aspects-Path/dp/1559393505
Zen:
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Shunryu-Suzuki/dp/1590308492
The Pali Canon is the Buddhist "equivalent" of the Bible... though much, much larger (between 20 and 60 volumes depending on translation and tradition). Many of the Suttas ("chapters" for want of a better word) follow the pattern you are talking about - a disciple, layman, or challenger goes to either the Buddha or to one of his highly respected students and a discussion ensues about a particular aspect of the Dharma.
The Pali Canon is available on accesstoinsight.org
A nice, condensed, lay person translation is available as a book called In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
it's explained in "Lamb - The Gospel According to Biff" http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore
The funniest book you'll ever read.
"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain" --Frank Herbert
Other Interesting Quotes here: http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Chronicles-Book-1/dp/0441172717
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: This is the best book I have read in a very long time. This is about how our cultures, religions, and values were formed based on biology and psychology theories. I know that sounds boring but it is very interesting.
A Higher Loyalty: If you believe Comey your opinion will not change and if you do not believe Comey your opinion will not change. Meh, skip it.
[Dune] (https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1524527285&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dune) I do not read a lot of Sci-Fi but with the expected move coming u in a few years I thought I might get ahead if it. It was interesting but not exactly action-packed.
Leonardo Da Vinci The Walter Isaacson biographies about "geniuses" Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein are all interesting.
I just started reading Dune and I am really enjoying it so far.
In the light of recent events ...
1984by George Orwell.
NSA gets what they want...
It reminds me of the Ishmael series by Daniel Quinn
I feel you. I'm twenty and in college and often wonder what I'm doing in life. Don't worry though, it's completely normal to feel this way. Here are a few suggestions that have helped me:
Whether you take those two points to heart or not, (I really hope you read the book,) just try to remember this: the fact that you were born was an astronomically unlikely event. That being said, why waste it doing anything that doesn't, in the short or long run, make you happy? Look at everyday as a gift; I know, it is easier to say that than to do it. Don't be too worried about the stage you are in right now, you're just questioning, just remember that you're looking for answers, and when you find the answers to your questions, use them.
Ishmael
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Leguin.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
While we are on the topic of books that got us back on track - this was the one for me - ishmael . Find something bigger than yourself like helping others and changing the world around you for good, and you will find an inner strength you may not have known is in you.
Yeah, there's a whole series of books about it.
It is coming
Ask me again on October 30th.
I can't recommend Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves enough.
You'll probably hear House of Leaves thrown around quite a bit. While it's pretty good, it's also as equally daunting, and sometimes hard to stay absorbed in.
House of leaves, one of my favorite books in the horror genre.
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. It changed the way I look at history, both American history and the subject in general. It, for lack of a better phrase, blew my mind. There's an entire history of this country that I was just never taught and never knew about until I read this book. If I could pick one book that everyone, in America at least, had to read it would be this one. It's nonfiction though, if you're specifically looking for fiction then the first thing that comes to mind is House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.
Don't you mean House of Leaves?
A room existing outside of time and space reminds me of the House of Leaves
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1252098456&amp;sr=8-1
comedic fiction. Tells the story of Christ during his growing up years. I love this book. Even though it was fiction I can see how his philosophy grew and accepted other religions into his own. It is how Christ would have acted.
Try reading Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore. It's a book about Jesus Christ told through the viewpoint of his childhood friend, Biff. The book contains the wisdom and the intelligence of a true coming of age novel while simultaneously using crude and sacrilegious humor to keep you laughing through the whole thing. This book is light-hearted, but also deals in some serious, even dark emotions.
Both the book and Christopher Moore are highly acclaimed by readers so if recommend looking up other reviews for this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411261257&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=lamb+the+gospel+according+to+biff
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1331678560&amp;sr=8-1
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff. One of my favorites.
Red Mars
Practice is paramount for philosophizing, more you read, discuss, and learn the more efficient you will get at it. It never gets easy, its always a lot of work, but you more or less learn the motions to it. Honestly one of the best books i have ever read was http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone-book/dp/0671212095 How to read a book. Best damn 15 i spent!
How to Read a Book is a great book along these lines. It changed how I approached my reading list in some pretty dramatic ways.
> Unfortunately, since that last class, I've fallen out of it and I'm not entirely sure how to get back in. I'm not very good at teaching myself things.
I think that self-studying is a skill. And just like any other skill, you become better at it the more and the better you practice it. If you aren't very good at it yet, then you probably just haven't done it much, or perhaps you haven't done it properly.
If you don't know where to start developing the skill, I highly recommend reading the article The Making of an Expert (PDF) by K. Anders Ericsson, published in the Harvard Business Review. It is a concise introduction to Ericsson's research on acquiring expertise, full of valuable insights. Some of the more useful and relevant ones are the importance of deliberate practice in acquiring expertise, how long it actually takes to become proficient in a field of expertise, and the fact that the final stage in acquiring expertise involves no instructors (i.e. it is characterized by self-studying).
I also believe How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler to be useful in developing this skill. This book describes the difference between present teachers, like the ones you can interact with in an educational institution, and absent ones, such as the authors of books. It then lists a number of very useful general guidelines on how to approach learning from these absent teachers, followed by some more specific ones describing how to approach different kinds of reading matters. It is essentially a self-studying guide.
And since this is /r/logic and you expressed an interest in getting back into the subject, my final recommendation is A First Course in Mathematical Logic by Patrick Suppes and Shirley Hill, which is an exceedingly lucid, accessible, elementary and rigorous introduction to logic. It is very well-suited for self-studying and might be a useful refresher, although depending on the courses you've taken and how much you recall from them, it may be too elementary for you. I posted a more detailed description of the book in a different thread on here a few days ago.
How To Read A Book.
A great novel that will teach you about the different types of books, how to take notes, make outlines, and read for understanding in general.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671212095?pc_redir=1414393418&amp;robot_redir=1
Excellent book. This was given to me as a gift before college, and I single handedly give it credit for getting me through the tough literature of my theory and philosophy classes.
It's usually the first one suggested:
-"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicles)
Whilst different in terms of scope and story, the world building is on par with ASOIAF. I was a little skeptic, being in the same position as you are in, when I picked it up, but now I'm anxiously awaiting both Winds of Winter and the third book in the Kingkiller Chronicles.
I've also started Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (Gentleman Bastards series). So far I'm enjoying it A LOT. I do love having an anti-hero protagonist, and the world so far is pretty engrossing. But I can't officially recommend as I'm not even half way through.
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Patrick-Rothfuss/dp/0756404746
Fellow fan of series here! Let me see...
Young Adult
Percy Jackson series is fun (and finished, too, I think).
Artemis Fowl series isn't quite as good as Percy Jackson IMHO, but it's got a following.
Fantasy
Harry Dresden series This is one of my favorites. Harry is Chicago's only professional wizard. There are a ton of these books and they are still going strong.
Game of Thrones These are great...but unfinished. If you watch the show, reading the books does help you get even more out of the story, I think.
Wheel of Time Another good series. There is a LOT of this series and it's finished. (Thank you, Brandon Sanderson!)
Mistborn Speaking of Brandon Sanderson... This one is very good. I highly recommend reading the Mistborn books before trying the Stormlight Archive, but only because as good as Mistborn is, Stormlight Archive is even better.
Stormlight Archive Amazing. Man, these are good. The series isn't finished, but the two books that are available are some of my favorites ever.
Kingkiller Chronicles I loved the first book. I could not freakin' believe I enjoyed the second one even more. The third one is still pending.
Temeraire Dragons in Napoleonic times. Super cool premise! This one is not finished (I don't think, anyway).
Gentlemen Bastards Con men in a fantasy realm. It's pretty light on the fantasy elements. Very light, I'd say. I'd also say that it has some of the very best swearing that I've ever come across. :D
Scifi
Old Man's War I'm almost finished this one--it's amazing!
Horror/Thriller
Passage Trilogy I've heard these described as vampire books...maybe zombie books... It's apocalyptic for sure. Great books!
Mysteries
Amelia Peabody Egyptology + murder mysteries. Super fun, but trust me...go with the audiobooks for these. They are best when they are performed.
Stephanie Plum Total popcorn reads. If that's your thing, shut off your brain and just enjoy.
Walt Longmire These get particularly good as it goes along. The main character is a sheriff in modern day Wyoming. (Side note: The TV show is also great--just don't expect them to stick to the books.)
Graphic Novels (Everything recommended can be gotten in a "book" format instead of only in comic form, in case that matters. I've gotten most of these from my local library.)
Locke & Key Eerie as crap. Love the art! This one is on-going.
Y: The Last Man All the men on the planet drop dead in a day...except for Yorrick. REALLY good. This is the series that got me reading graphic novels. Plus, it's finished!
Walking Dead I am not a zombie fan...but I like these. They're not done, but I've read up through volume 22 and am still enjoying them.
Other
OutlanderI have no idea how to categorize these or even give a description that does them justice. I refused to pick it up for AGES because it sounded like a bodice-ripper romance and that's not my bag. But these are good!
I hope there's something in there that'll do for you. Have fun and read on!
Edit: Apparently, I need to practice formatting. :/
Edit 2: I forgot to add the Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards #1).
American Theravada monk Bhikkhu Bodhi is a well read writer and has some of works available for free on this website.
I'd also pick up a book about Therevadan buddhism as its considered the least liberal and closer to the source material (yes, this is arguable). Bodhi has a book on this subject. Rahula's "What The Buddha Taught" I find to be very readable and an easy intro into the life and teachings of Buddha.
Per usual, the wikipedia entry on him is good too.
/atheist who likes to study religion, if you're interested in my criticisms please pm me
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0861714911
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
Penpal. It's super creepy and was written by a redditor. I'm pretty sure it's in the Kindle store.
ETA: Here's a link.
http://www.amazon.com/Penpal-Dathan-Auerbach/dp/098554550X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1418248266&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=pen+pals+book&amp;pebp=1418248248997
You're welcome, funny how things work out sometimes. And actually, it is a published book! Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
Its available on Amazon, Paperback and ebook
In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.
That was my first thought as well.
Amazon link for the curious.
The list was too long to fit into a self-post, here is the continuation.
Prolific Authors: (5+ Books)
Science Fiction with apocalyptic elements:
Dino Erotica
Conquered by Clippy: an erotic short story
By the same author:
http://www.amazon.com/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW
In terms of 'conversion':
This is not a conversion, but it is a commitment to studying Buddhism -- which is a religious system of education (towards the very eventual outcome of enlightenment) more than it is a "I go to church now" religion. Although in traditional settings there are temples, monasteries, almsgiving, ceremonies etc!
With great love and respect.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org
Has over 1,000 translated sutras available for free, with suggestions as to which to read / where to start - plus writings by contemporary teachers and practitioners.
A great book is In the Buddha's Words, an anthology of sutras edited by Bhikku Bodhi which seems to be widely praised as a great starting point (I own it and find it very useful).
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911
Penpal - https://www.amazon.com/Penpal-Dathan-Auerbach/dp/098554550X
Part 1 - "Footsteps"
Edit: And a link to the novel on Amazon.
I have the book. It's amazing. Buy it. It's on Amazon
Penpal was written by a Redditor based on some of his stories from /r/nosleep . It's good, check it out. I also recommend 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz.
For me it really reminded me of this (Great book btw, written by a guy from /r/nosleep)
Definitely check out Wool.
You must read this and the two sequels immediately!
It's not the same as Lost in terms of character development but the overall strange vibe while you're trying to work out a mystery is covered pretty well in Wool.
Wool by Hugh Howey. The majority of the story takes place underground.
No Taken by the T-Rex
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
Yeah, it’s definitely women screwing dinosaurs.
https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO/ref=nodl_
“Description
Drin is her tribe’s chief huntress; she lives for the thrill of the hunt. Men and sex hold no allure for her, as Drin has never found a partner to satisfy her. When a T-Rex descends upon her village, destroying it, Drin demands that the tribe’s hunters go in search of the beast and slaughter it. Opting for safety instead of revenge, the tribe moves to a new location, hoping that the big beast won’t follow them.
It does.
Drin taunts the beast, giving her tribes mates time to flee. As she runs, leading it through a gauntlet of traps, the thrill of the hunt soars through her blood, leaving her wet with desire. When the angry T-Rex corners the huntress in a box canyon, it seems more interested in her wet womanhood than in her flesh.”
The sequel is available on Amazon.
Well do I have a book for you
DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS
Aren't you the one collecting this crap?
https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
How dare you oppress OP for your sick fetishes?
Have you considered self publishing as an e-book via amazon? You might be the next dino-erotica explosion.
Oh come on. This is satire, isn't it?
Holy wow. Apparently it's a real book sold on Amazon. It's still early out here but I can't wait to see what my wife (who loved 50 Shades) makes of this.
[Edit] My wife has no interest whatsoever in dinosaur-related erotica.
> you can sell this kind of smut if you wanna lose the bestiality
Or not
That may be so, but surely this is the pinnacle of cheap erotic fiction.
[Clippy features in amazon erotic novels now] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conquered-Clippy-Erotic-Digital-Desires-ebook/dp/B00UJ01WBW) NSFW
Oh yes.
Yep and it actually looks like it's the sequel to this book
4 star erotica: "I like it when your hands bend be to take that large load of paper. mmnm"
Made me think of The Gospel According to Biff.
Probably not it.
Catholic here too.
Read this. It's my favorite book and deals with Joshua's teen phase. Fiction, but it does kinda make sense.
There was a satirical book that I really enjoyed in high school, that details exactly this. Hilarity ensues.
https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
A truly awesome fictional account of this has been written in the novel "Lamb" by Christopher Moore
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore
Yes, it's comedy; yes, it's heresy, but it inspired more thinking and discussions about the personhood, divinity, and life of Christ than a lot of the serious books.
Whenever anyone asks me to recommend a book, I always suggest Lamb by Christopher Moore. It's about the missing years of Jesus and his best friend Biff. It's hilarious.
Christopher Moore's book Lamb.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0380813815/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
For an epic series consider Dune by Frank Herbert especially as we approach the new Dune movie in 2020.
For well written political-military sci-fi with a good grounding in realistic physics try the Honorverse by David Weber. First book is On Basilisk Station
For exceptional military sci-fi Hammer's Slammers by David Drake. They are a series of short stories that can stand on their own but when read together form a cohesive story arc.
For a one-off story that deals with some major issues of technology and how it can affect our near future try the bio-punk story The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Be warned however there are some really... uncomfortable parts that are NSFW to put it mildly. Easy to skip but wanted to be up front about that.
As a personal guilty pleasure I will also recommend the military sci-fi series the Legacy of the Aldanata by John Ringo. It is not "hard sci-fi" but I really like Ringo and the core quadrilogy is so much fun. Start with A Hymn Before Battle
Thanks for hosting!!
Nice! Here save a few bucks lol
There are three science fiction stories that come to mind that deal with interstellar commerce, listed below in order of increasing detail. Which incidentally, is also the same order of oldest to newest.
(hard science fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Trilogy-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0307292061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492966592&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+foundation+trilogy
Though cargo ships are not described, the main part of the story line forces the reader to understand that trade among many solar systems is required.
(Science fiction/Fantasy)
https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492966605&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dune
The story describes the transport system used for many different types of ships, but not the actual cargo ships.
(hard science fiction)
https://meipublications.com/index.php?id_product=8&amp;controller=product
A detailed description of space cargo ships, the loading and unloading mechanisms, the economic system that they support and that drives them.
This one has 896 pages: https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539591861&sr=1-1&keywords=dune+frank+herbert&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656022011%2Cp_lbr_one_browse-bin%3AFrank+Herbert
Dune, by Frank Herbert. (Amazon link)
Arguably the most renowned sci-fi novel of all-time, it's the first in a series of books. It's followed by:
Frank Herbert passed away after writing the last one. Many years later, his son, Brian Herbert, and another author, Kevin J. Anderson, finished the series with:
Many people think that Brian and Kevin's books are not as well-written as Frank's.
Here
Quite a few books have been referenced in interviews - here's some of the ones I think I remember. They're all very good books despite any association with Radiohead, by the way.
How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found
http://www.amazon.com/How-Disappear-Completely-Never-Found/dp/087947257X
The Crying of Lot 49 (also V. and Gravity's Rainbow)
http://www.amazon.com/Crying-Lot-Perennial-Fiction-Library/dp/006091307X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411238673&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=crying+of+lot+49
1984
http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411238702&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=1984
The Hitchhiker Guide
http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345391802/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411238721&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=hithchiker%27s+guide+to+the+galaxy
The Divine Comedy
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso/dp/0451208633
No Logo
http://www.amazon.com/No-Logo-Anniversary-Edition-Introduction/dp/0312429274
Brave New World
http://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523
Cat's Cradle
http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Cradle-Novel-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/038533348X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411239309&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=cat%27s+cradle
Stanley Donwood
http://www.amazon.com/Slowly-Downward-Collection-Miserable-Stories/dp/0954417739/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1411239324&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=slowly+downward
http://www.amazon.com/Household-Worms-Richard-Jones/dp/1906477558/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&amp;refRID=088RY3YE1BENWJPAV5DY
Just finished Orwell's 1984 about a month ago and I'm close to finishing Ready Player One. Both have been really great. As far as spiritual reading, I'm always reading something by St. Josemaría and am currently reading Chesterton's St Francis.
Gidisat bu
> Fiction is just a mirror of reality for the most part. Many things that happen in fiction don’t even happen here. But as far as pain and sadness. Joy and love, life and death, it’s all real here. Here it’s real. - Lucian Bane
Fiction that mirrors reality and challenges the reader is more of what we need, the books i listed below have shaped my view of the world in a very thought-provoking way.
Other stuff out there, the pop-fiction, the garbage or crack cocaine for the brain is as bad as TV. Hollywood panders to the masses. Did you know Hollywood usually has two different versions for films released in America and Europe? Yep, that's right - Hollywood dumbs down movies for American audiences. Everything in media these days is centered around comic books and video games - the modern day opiates of the masses.
Some notable fiction that should be required reading:
I'm guessing you're looking at the books available from all sellers? In which case sort by price+shipping+tax to get an idea of how much the book will actually cost. A book that's $5.99 with free shipping is cheaper than a book listed at $0.01 + $6.99 shipping. Then just find the cheapest option that is in a condition that you will find acceptable. If you only want new, there is a way to filter for that. Here is a description of what the different conditions mean
For example, here is a link to the book 1984 as available from all sellers. Off to the left you'll see the filters for shipping options ("Prime" or "Free Shipping") as well as the filters for condition. Then just above the listings is the button to sort either by "price + shipping" or "price + shipping + tax." Select the latter to get the true final cost.
That's too bad - are they obscure books of some kind (which the libraries won't have)? Or are they super popular books (which are likely to be checked out and therefore won't show up)?
If you want to try searching for the books at the library's main search site: here, let me know if any results turn up by searching that way.
Details:
My app may not search the way you expect it to: it gets a book's ISBN from Amazon, it looks up related ISBNs (most books have many ISBNs due to different editions, different publishers, etc, 1984 for instance has ~100ish ISBNs), and then feeds those ISBNs into the CPL library search. But, in the README at the github repo I mention the CPL library search fails/times-out if you feed it more than 5-7ish ISBNs at a time. So to mitigate this I only search for 5 at a time, and I don't bother searching for more than 20 - if I searched for every ISBN, 5 at a time, it could take a while to retrieve results, parse results, retrieve more results, etc., so I only use the 20 most recent ISBNs and make the assumption that this is sufficient (it is for my needs) - but it is possible that some or many of your books do exist in the system and may actually be available. (I have ~50 books on my wishlist, roughly 40 of them show up as available by my app, popular items such as the Steve Jobs biography or 1Q84 don't show up because they're always checked out/reserved).
Ishmael (and the rest of the series) by Daniel Quinn opened my eyes in my senior year of high school.
It's about a Gorilla, who has lived beside man for a number of decades and teaches a pupil through stories and analogies about how we are already at the cusp of civilization collapse. It's about a lot more than just that, namely the relationship of humans, animals, the planet, and how humans have a unique, egotistical view of themselves where we deemed ourselves rulers of the planet.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins is an eye opener as well.
Other great reads:
Magicians of the Gods by Graham Hancock.
Necronomicon
UFO's by Leslie Keen
Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
I also really enjoyed the Myst series by Rand & Robin Miller (the books the game is based on). It's about worlds within worlds and an ancient race of authors creating worlds through magical ink and books (sci-fi/fantasy).
It's not related to tripping per se, but Ishmael is one of the best expressions of a psychonautic spirit that I've seen yet.
Ishmael. Not strictly minimal but certainly covers it.
Yeah that's what I was thinking about too.
For those who don't know, this book : http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-An-Adventure-Mind-Spirit/dp/0553375407
It's pretty good and will make you think a little at least.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It was written a few years ago, but is still extremely relevant.
Reading some of your replies, already, and thinking about the book Ishmael that I recently read, I think I may have already come to an answer.
&nbsp;
Confronting my parents and telling them the church, their way of life, is wrong and a cult, is in a similar way no different than them telling me that my way of life is wrong, or missionaries telling everyone around the world their ways of life are wrong. This is especially true if TSCC is what brings my parents happiness and peace; in their case, TSCC is not a destructive cult for them until there are signs of destruction in their own personal lives. As /u/jgslcut mentioned below, ...it's a fairly benign cult. It brings some people happiness...
&nbsp;
It seems the correct action is to find a way to live in harmony with my parents in such a way that our difference in beliefs are not a topic of segregation (which is a difficult challenge), but, what else is there? There is not, and never will be, just "one way" for everyone and everything.
Ishmael and My Ishmael.
Ishmael completely changed my view of culture and religion and My Ishmael completely changed my view of education.
According to Daniel Quinn, it was the people our ancestors killed.
Ishmael
It's an interesting perspective, even if to this day I'm not sure I agree with all of it.
Basically, what is amounts to is that the stories told by the people we wiped out when we were becoming agriculturalists were the basis for the stories in the first part of Genesis. For example, why did God favor Abel (the shepherd/nomadic gatherer) as opposed to Cain (the agriculturist upon which our culture is based)? If the story was written by our ancestors, wouldn't the farmer come out victorious? After all, that's what allowed us to win over all the nomadic humans still wandering around.
Instead, you have this sort of... backwards resentment about humanity. Like the things we believe in, God didn't particularly like. Who would feel that God felt that way?
The people that were getting their asses handed to them, that's who.
And obviously, that wasn't us, because here we are.
The obvious answer would be The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson, starting with Red Mars.
The Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson
An excellent read in my opinion, charts the course of the first permanent settlement on Mars and continues through the years, the political strife, effects of immigration to Mars due to massive global warming on Earth, realistic science, at least for the first part, factions, both personal and political. Pretty dense books, but worth the read.
I'm working my way through this very, very, very slowly. The only thing harder than my dick is learning a 2nd language as an adult.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537562572&sr=8-1&keywords=russian+penguin
This was my personal favorite as a beginner book, but I used this book along with other beginner texts. It's definitely worth checking out though.
In order to get anywhere with Russian, you need a invest in a good grammar book. For complete beginners, I always recommend Nicholas Brown's New Penguin Russian Course which is dirt cheap on amazon.
To help you get comfortable with the language in terms of reading, listening, and pronunciation, I'm a big fan of the Assimil series. If you're not familiar with Assimil, you can read up on their method. The Assimil Russian is a nice complement to the Penguin course and I'm actually half-way through it myself (for review purposes).
You can find lots of good learning materials on ilearnrussian.com. I've found that some of the best learning materials are made by Russians for foreigners, but those are generally more advanced.
Immerse yourself in the language as much as you can outside of your formal lessons (i.e. Penguin, Assimil, whatever). You can find tons of Russian music on youtube. If you prefer to stream music online, check out moskva.fm. Many of the Russian stations play English music, so if you just want Russian-language music, try the Russian Radio station.
You can watch tons of old Russian movies with English subtitles on Mosfilm's website for free. If you know where to look online, you can find all the latest movies for free (pretty easy to find with google). One of my favorite things to do is find a Hollywood movie that I know really well, and then watch it dubbed in Russian. The quality of Russian dubbing is generally pretty high, and the advantage to watching a movie you're already familiar with is that you can focus on the language. Once you get to a higher level, it's interesting to compare the English dialogue to the Russian translation.
Do you have an ipod? One way to tune your ear to a language is to listen to the rapid-fire delivery on news broadcasts or opinion programs. I like to listen to podcasts from the Echo of Moscow radio station. Here's an example program you could subscribe to Culture Shock with rss link.
As difficult as the alphabet and grammar seem at first, I can assure you that it's nothing compared to acquiring a good vocabulary. Everyone has their own method for learning vocabulary, but my advice is to make some flash cards and carry a stack around with you wherever you go. In any odd, spare moment that you have, review them. You should aim to get to 1000 words as quickly as possible. As others have said, that's a key threshold. If you do the Penguin Course and/or Assimil, be diligent about learning the vocabulary for each lesson.
Anyway, good luck! Удачи!
If you use the website version of Duolingo and click on the Lightbulb icon for each section, it breaks down grammar rules used in that course. The online forums also has a lot of helpful explanations for each answer.
Unfortunately the App version completely disregards this feature and isn't included for some reason. Duolingo and Memrise combined should get you pretty good understanding, maybe up to a B1 level. You can also pick up some grammar books such as the New Penguin Russian Course that goes over almost all grammar rules and is pretty easy to read compared to other grammar books.
A lot of learning is through practice and using additional resources to reinforce how to think in another language. Check out some YouTube channels or movies that are in Russian and try to follow along. Tarkovsky films are really good for this as they're really slow pacing, Stalker and Solaris being some of my favorite movies of all time.
I'd suggest reading Penguin's Complete Russian Course for Beginners and then moving on to Modern Russian. But really, books can only help you understand concepts of the language on not to listen and speak the language conversationally. I'm an American, but I lived in Russia for a couple of years in my late teens to early twenties. I'd study Penguin's Complete Russian Course (and later Modern Russian) for an hour every morning and make mental notes of phrases I wanted to use and how to construct sentences and then I'd go out and talk with people. I'd be listening for what I was learning. It's so important to listen natives speak the language and you have to try to speak and make mistakes and have them correct you. I'd listen to native Russian podcast type programs as well and watch Russian movies. I started to be able to understand almost everything within the six to nine months. After a year, I could speak quite freely and then by 18 months I could understand the nuances of the language, make jokes, and almost always get my point across. So if you have the chance to speak with Russians, do so as often as possible. And make mistakes. Then learn from them. Study everyday. Practice everyday.
This is an oft-recommended book on Russian grammar, from what I've seen.
Order that, then get on this site and learn the alphabet. It's not too difficult to get it down on a basic level.
From there, get used to some basic vocabulary using a resource like Memrise (vocabulary practice site). Sign up on Livemocha.com and start with the basic Russian course. You'll learn some beginning phrases, get used to reading, eventually the alphabet will become second nature.
After some time with these resources (maybe a couple hours, maybe a couple of days), start listening to Russian music. You need to practice listening early and often to get the ear for words and how they sound together. Go on a Russian radio streaming site that lists the track currently playing (you can do this using a phone app, TuneIn Radio, which may also have an online site), then look up songs you like the sound of and listen to them over and over again with the lyrics in front of you. Try to sing along, even if you're sort of just mumbling Russian-sounding noises along with the singer.
At this point, start watching movies with subtitles. Search Mosfilm on Youtube. All of this studio's movies are free online, and most of them have English subtitles available.
Keep practicing like this, study the grammar using your Penguin book, and then find a penpal or something via Livemocha. It'll be scary at first, trying to communicate with someone in a language you're still making a lot of mistakes in, but people who study languages understand each other and are generally patient.
TL;DR:
Good luck! If you need any other help, PM me! I absolutely love Russian and would gladly help out anyone else who's interested.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "the same way Latin is taught", I guess you mean without the speaking aspect? But if you're starting from scratch, I'm just going to suggest what I suggest to everyone, the New Penguin Russian Course. It doesn't have any audio CDs, but that's not a problem in your case. It teaches all the basic grammar and starting vocab to get you going.
Then, learn some of the most common words. I would perhaps suggest using Memrise because as well as the most common words, you can find various courses on there for Harry Potter, or the Bookbox series course and they'll teach you the language you need to know to understand a simple story, which will help you get started.
Read a lot, find some native text and analyse the grammar and the vocabulary, learn what you don't know and so on.
And if you want to get the DayZ-Lonewolf-feeling, read (or watch) The Road
I'm noticing more and more sci-fi elements in "serious" classical-style fiction. Here are some examples:
Earlier, user xmashamm wrote:
> If you set out to write a badass sci fi story, it's going to be bad. If you set out to write a deeply human story, and it happens to be set in space, you're probably on to something.
In all of the examples I gave, the sci-fi element itself is peripheral to the story of the people involved. There is little or no time devoted to explaining how the sci-fi element came about or how it works. In all three examples, the characters are three-dimensional[1] and the prose is top-notch. Blindness won the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature. So I do think the line is melting. I think that now it's more of a continuum, with placement depending on how much time is devoted to talking about the science and technology itself. I'd place Larry Niven's stuff waaaay on the sci-fi end, and the three authors above much farther toward the classical end.
The funny thing about this use of sci-fi elements by classical-style authors is that these skillful writers sometimes make rookie science mistakes that their core audiences don't seem to be bothered by. My biology training made me find the premise of The Road internally inconsistent and largely unbelievable, for example.
____
[1] Possible exception of the one by Nicole Krauss, who doesn't write male characters well.
Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection
Don Roff, Chris Lane
Day by Day Armageddon
J. L. Bourne
Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile
J. L. Bourne
Earth Abides
George R. Stewart
Swan Song
Robert McCammon
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
edit: This covers a good array of subjects on different ways the world might perish. All fiction also.
Try the book it's from - Pulitzer winner for 2007.
Strangely, as terribly bleak and harsh as it is, it is uplifting yet still when taken as a whole. They carry the fire still.
There are two books specifically about the Metro series.
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2033-English-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1481845705
http://www.amazon.com/Metro-2034-Dmitry-Glukhovsky/dp/1473204305/
Also, try out The Road by Cormac McCarthy http://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895/
Hi OP! Hope that everything's alright with you. I resonated deeply with Worm and Taylor's struggle during a hard period in my life. Here are some stories from that time in my life that I think might be interesting for you:
The Road (novel) - "A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark." Honestly one of the most depressing things I've ever read. The entire time it feels like the father's struggling against impossible odds, and this story doesn't pull its punches at all.
Human Moments in World War III (free short story) - this story is about people drifting from their humanity as they pilot a weaponized space station in orbit. The writing style is very distant, which I think is appropriate for the theme of dissociation vs. brief moments of genuine connection that runs throughout this work.
Chrysalis (free webnovel) - about a human-built AI and its war of vengeance for the burnt-out remains of Earth. The AI's internal struggle in resolving its hurt with its anger and drive for justice is a big part of this story.
Malak (free short story) - another AI story. This one's about an experimental US military drone in the Middle East struggling to figure out its code-imposed morality. A reconstruction of a lot of rationalist tropes that's ultimately hopeful. (Or at least I think so.)
Gonna Reach Out and Grab Ya (short story that's free on Google Books) - a depressed and overworked surgeon finds a corpse from the future. One of those bright-moments-in-a-shitty-life stories.
Dredging Up Memories (novel) - a story about a man trying to find his family in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Everyone's dead, so he has to deal with his crumbling psyche on his own even as he kills the undead. This one's really beautifully written, and such a poignant illustration of struggling through mental illness.
Agreed..... both can be had for $10.18 USD.... get both, and enjoy the updates, they enhance the game greatly. you will not regret your decision to get the game.... though you may regret decisions made in the games.
Also... get the books... The fan translations and the ones on kindle/amazon (The Last Wish, Blood of Elves, The Time of Contempt )
For the correct order in which to read:
Witcher Wiki
I got you fam
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1563911389&sr=8-1
There are! And they are actually pretty good, especially if you enjoy the games.
The Last Wish is a good place to start.
If you looking for an answer for your teacher to defend your work you could say "witcher" is a neologism (new word) created for a fantasy work just like the word "hobbit" was once.
You could add this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
... to show the word passed revision by professional editors.
Seconding this, especially if you haven't played Witcher 1 and 2.
Not that they're derived from that novel, but it gives a really great sense of a witcher's place in the world. Can be found in most bookstores, new or used, or here http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
The Witcher?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! Carson McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my all time favorite books. If you want something more lighthearted, check out any book in P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series. The Code of the Woosters is probably my favorite one.
Some of the best books I've read came from people recommending them to me. Please don't ever feel terrible for asking.
It might be a good idea to start with some fun books:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/0345453743/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1325104122&amp;sr=8-1
Source
There's a large map (poster sized) of the entire world in this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
edit: here it is for cheaper than $300: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lands-of-ice-and-fire-george-rr-martin/1109483352?ean=9780345538543
Here ya go!
On a side note to anyone who really likes the Bioshock series, the book is really good.
It's probably worth mentioning Bioshock: Rapture. A book that details more about the first game.
The Gregory Hays translation is the one I own, and you'll find people in this subreddit raving over it. Of the translations I've read from on the internet, the language presented in his version is as modern and concise as you'll find--I'd definitely check it out.
It's relatively cheap on amazon too.
There is no definite answer to this question. Meditations is always a hard read and it depends on what your preferences are.
I'd like to refer you to the FAQ, where several translations are compared. For more comparisons, see this comment.
Most people here seem to like George Hays translation.
The translation by George Long is freely available online here, but in general quite hard to read as it resembles a 'biblical' writing style.
Some people also liked the version by Hicks.
I believe the most accessible, deepest, and all-around best stoic work to be Aurelius' Meditations. Aurelius, as the last good emperor of Rome, wrote personal notes to himself that have been passed down and read constantly by everyone from John Stuart Mill to Bill Clinton. It has changed my life, and I was riddled with anxiety. I see now that my above Amazon link is on sale for only $6. This is the best translation by far. Don't bother reading any translation that's not by Hays, they're all very old and clunky.
Here are some quotes specifically about motivation. Realizing that you lose your mind even quicker than your body:
>Not just that every day more of our life is used up and less and less of it is left, but this too: if we live longer, can we be sure our mind will still be up to understanding the world--to the contemplation that aims at divine and human knowledge? If our mind starts to wander, we'll still go on breathing, go on eating, imagining things, feeling urges and so on. But getting the most out of ourselves, calculating where our duty lies, analyzing what we hear and see, deciding whether it's time to call it quits--all those things you need a healthy mind for...all those gone.
>
> So we need to hurry.
>
> Not just because we move daily closer to death but also because our understanding--our grasp of the world--may be gone before we get there.
And of course, getting out of bed in the morning:
> At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?'
>
> — But it's nicer in here ...
>
> So you were born to feel 'nice'? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don't you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you're not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren't you running to do what your nature demands?
>
> — But we have to sleep sometime ...
>
> Agreed. But nature set a limit on that — as it did on eating and drinking. And you're over the limit. You've had more than enough of that. But not of working. There you're still below your quota.
>
> You don't love yourself enough. Or you'd love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they're really possessed by what they do, they'd rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.
>
> Is helping others less valuable to you? Not worth your effort?
"If anyone can refute me— show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective— I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance."
Meditations, Number 21 Book 6 (Gregory Hays translation)
I actually got into a discussion with some folks about that quote; they were suggesting that it is a bit self-contradictory. Turns out the term "perspective" tends to bring in a modern sense of subjectivity that makes it seem self-contradictory (i.e. "are any perspectives wrong? Or just different ways of looking at the same thing?"). Not a debate Aurelius was intending there, I don't think. So, to supplement, below are the two other translations of the same bit, with less ambiguity there.
"If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm." Maxwell Staniforth translation
"If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's on self-deception and ignorance." Martin Hammond translation (I picked this up at a used bookstore—can't find it on Amazon offhand...)
On the subject of translations, I'm no Greek scholar so I can't offer an informed opinion on which is most "accurate to intent." For easy reading I prefer the Gregory Hays one, and so it is the one I recommend to people interested in reading Meditations for the first time (and which is why it is the one I generally "quote"). But if you love Meditations is much as I do, my next recommendation would be to read every translation you can get your hands on.
EDIT: Links to books of each translation.
Related: Stoicism
>That things have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions.
>Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.
>Stop perceiving the pain you imagine and you’ll remain completely unaffected.
>Discard your misperceptions. Stop being jerked like a puppet. Limit yourself to the present. Understand what happens—to you, to others. Analyze what exists, break it all down: material and cause. Other people’s mistakes? Leave them to their makers.
>Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions—not outside.
I've followed some of the anti-tilt material in the poker world and I think I still prefer some basic Stoicism. I try to play with the mentality of a soldier: You can't expect to win every battle; sometimes conditions of loss and victory are simply beyond your control. Your sole duty is to do the best you can, regardless of the outcome.
Also, if you're just starting I'd recommend SNGs over cash games. You're less likely to burn through buy-ins as quickly as you would in a bad cash session and the educational value of the games is also pretty decent.
I suggest reading "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, which you can read for free at Project Gutenberg or buy the superior Gregory Hays translation.
Jim?
Hays tr.: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
Hard tr.: https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-selected-correspondence-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199573204
Links go to the American Amazon store.
Yeah, There is a free version online as a pdf, however I did see you wanted a printed version so here's a link to that,
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255
Give Gregory Hays' 'The Meditations' a try. While its still far from an exciting read, I found that its much more reasonable to work through. Probably best read in doses and re-reading honestly.
https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=R1HETVTN8THB4MS6QPQ2
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812968255/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
Some translations are cheaper, but the one I linked above is the one I have (bird on the cover), and is easier to read. It's a personal journal where he talks about what he learned from people, how to approach problems, etc. There's really no structure, just his random thoughts.
I was going through a particularly tough time when I picked up the book a couple years ago. I love his thought process and following his way has made me a happier person overall.
I agree with friend numserv about the pali cannon. This book by Bhikkhu Bodhi is also great in bringing together important suttas and bhante explaining the teachings: http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911
I would add though that if she is looking for something less cannoical text wise id suggest any of the books from Ajahn Chah.
The books out contain his talks and teachings which are amazing for putting the deep teachings into basic understandable words.
Most of it can be found for free here : http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/index.php or on Amazon in paperback form.
If you want to go back to what the Buddha (reportedly) said, have a look at In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Bikkhu Bodhi does a fine job translating, and the result is an easily readable anthology of selections from the Tripitaka.
As others have said, meditation is probably the best way to really "get" Buddhism. But if you're just looking for some good books:
In The Buddha's Words - an anthology of short selections from the Theravada Buddhist canon. This is probably about as close as you can get to the Buddha's actual teachings.
What the Buddha Taught - no fluff, just the core teachings.
When Things Fall Apart - this is a little fluffier than the other two, but an absolute classic and must-read for all, Buddhist or non. The author explains the most complex and difficult to accept parts of the Buddhist worldview in a penetrating, easy-to-grasp way.
Others mentioned Alan Watts, Stephen Bachelor and Brad Warner. Their books might be worth checking out, but keep in mind that each author writes with a more personal and less traditional lean than the ones I mentioned. Not that there's anything wrong with that, obviously, but if you're trying to learn about Buddhism... starting with them would be a little like learning about Catholicism from a Protestant.
edit: Forgot to add links.
Okay, for sci-fi, you have to get The Culture series in. Put Player of Games face out.
I don't read a lot of space books, but Asteroid Hunter by Carrie Nugent is awesome. I mostly have recommendations for spaceflight and spaceflight history, and a lot of these come from listeners to my podcast, so all credit to them.
I think you'd really like this book, your comment is basically the defining opinion of some of my favorite characters in it.
> As an engineering student, adherence to logically engineered ships is cool. :P
Yeah, I have a physics background, so I'm right there with you. It's just that the ships already exist in a world with nonsense piled upon nonsense, so at this point I don't necessarily feel the need to make any part realistic, as long as it's cool. It's a little like saying the saddle for a wizard to ride on a flying dragon should physically be near the middle instead of near the front.
By the way, one set of sci-fi books I really enjoyed as far as realism is concerned are the Expanse books. The authors say that the books are emphatically not hard sci-fi, but still, they only seem to go into "magic" technology where they have to. For example, ships have an "Epstein drive" that makes space travel reasonable and economical, but it thrusts like a normal rocket, rather than warping around as in Star Trek. So if people travel from Mars to Jupiter, they accelerate at 1g for half the trip so they can walk around in the ship at 1g, and then they flip the ship around and decelerate at 1g for the second half. Trips can take a long time, obviously, but it physically makes sense, and interplanetary distance is such that if you work it out, travel times would take weeks or months rather than years. They describe how some ships end up feeling a little like towers when they're under acceleration, since they extend away from the main thruster, so "down" ends up being back toward the thruster.
Fun fact: If you used real-life technology to build a nuclear rocket and accelerated at 1g for 10 days, you could get to Alpha Centauri in 133 years. (One-way, no slowdown.) The estimated cost would be about one entire month of US GNP. (So no one makes any food during that time, or anything else.) (This wikipedia page is cool.)
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) was also enjoyable to me for similar reasons. Two thumbs up.
Have you read the 'Red Mars' series? They're by Kim Stanley Robinson and are pretty much exactly the sort of hard sci-fi + character development that you seem to enjoy. They're also pleasantly topical given Curiosity's successful landing.
Really guys? No one mentions the hard SF books for Mars exploration by Kim Stanley Robinson?
Mars Trilogy
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
You seem to have the will and desire, which are more important than an education and natural intelligence. Diligence and discipline are everything in writing, not how 'smart' you are.
There are two roads you must take here, both simultaneously. First, you must become a great reader. Start off by reading authors who are 'accessible,' meaning they do not initially make great demands on their audience. In the west, these are authors like:
1.) Mark Twain (Huckleberry Fin)
2.) George Orwell (Any of his books)
3.) Ernest Hemmingway (Check out his short stories)
4.) Jack London (Call of the Wild)
5.) Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)
Here are the rules of reading:
1.) Read slowly. Imagine each scene in your head. Evoke your memory to make the text come alive.
2.) Read everything twice.
3.) Have a dictionary on hand and look up EVERY word you don't understand.
Here is a book recommending some of the best books in history. Each book has an introduction; flip through it and see what interests you.
Here is a book that provides a guide on how to read anything well.
Second, you must become an addicted writer. You must write everyday, it doesn't matter about what. The only key thing is that you enjoy it. Once you get into the habit of reading+writing, and you enjoy it, start looking into books that help you improve your writing. There are a lot to choose from; here are two examples:
1.) How to Write a Sentence, by Stanly Fish
2.) Elements of Style, by Shrunk and White
If you continue to read and write everyday, pushing yourself into more difficult books and more elaborate writing, you'll start to develop a taste for good reading/writing yourself, and be able to distinguish it in the world around you. From there, it depends on what your goals are. Good luck.
Adler's How to Read a Book sounds cliche but I highly recommend it.
Read "How to Read a Book"
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone-book/dp/0671212095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1321631804&amp;sr=8-1
After many verbal recommendations from him, I finally borrowed How To Read a Book from a friend. It's an incredible book, and it has a lot to offer especially if you've never been trained in logic, liberal arts, or just how to read arguments well.
I'm an engineer by training and trade (with the reading/writing skills of one to boot) but enjoy reading 10-15 (mostly nonfiction) books a year. I've never known there was more to reading than just starting on page 1 and plowing through. With the advice from this book, you'll be able to cut to the core propositions of a theological, philosophical, historical, and even fictional argument without losing appreciation for the work as a whole.
Allow me to recommend How to Read a Book. In addition to giving a guide to educating yourself through your own reading, he gives a large list of important books for a well-round literary education that may (or may not) prove useful.
The institutes are surprisingly very readable. I read that somewhere in a couple places, and my experience reading them bears out this truth. Try out this article, note this:
>1. The Institutes may be easier to read than you think.
J. I. Packer writes, “The readability of the Institutio, considering its size, is remarkable.”
Level of difficulty should not determine a book’s importance; some simple books are profound; some difficult books are simply muddled. What we want are books that make us think and worship, even if that requires some hard work. As Piper wrote in Future Grace, “When my sons complain that a good book is hard to read, I say, ‘Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.'”
There are few works in history that had the influence the Institutes had, and had the effect of changing the course of history as this work did. One more though, I also own this version of Calvin's Magnum Opus, am about 250 pages in, it's the easiest version to read, I find, because it is shorter than the 1559 version and the headers and other aides makes this translation quite a treat, for me, a Calvinist.
I would definitely start with Machen, you cant go wrong. World Magazine said it's one of the 100 best books of the millennium:
>It was named one of the top 100 books of the millennium by World magazine and one of the top 100 books of the twentieth century by Christianity Today. / “An admirable book. For its acumen, for its saliency, and for its wit, this cool and stringent defense of orthodox Protestantism is, I think, the best popular argument produced [in the controversy between Christianity and liberalism].”
One last to share, I listened (ironically) to Dr. Adler's classic How to read a book which is a great one for whatever level of reader we find ourselves to be. We read and are driven to this endeavor because we seek to grow our minds. I don't mean to pile on, but you asked hehe. A few books to add to your list, believe me, when you start asking and keeping a "to-read list" it always seems to grow. There's lots of good stuff when you know what to look for :-)
Grace and peace.
Yeah, I got turned on to marginalia a long time ago. But, if you're skittish about writing in a book, you can write in a notebook as you go along. I don't even think it's so important to go back over your notes. Writing them is the main thing.
Of course, I think that there is a wide variety among human beings when it comes to reading comprehension. Some people seem to be able to read at a very quick pace and retain what they read, even with technical books presenting new topics. But, I'm not one of those people. I do what I can.
I read everyday with my coffee. I also carry a book with me everywhere and read on line, in waiting rooms, etc. Try some of the advice in How to Read More - A Lot More by Ryan Holiday.
For heavy texts, my approach depends on the type of book. I mostly follow the method Mortimer Adler set out in How to Read a Book.
I set my objectives with the book. Look at the table of contents, back, index, etc. get an idea of what is in the book, skim and dip, then I plow through the whole book not spending too much time getting sidetracked or looking stuff up, take some notes, re-read at a slower pace. Try to get the 'unity' of the book; what is the author trying to say?
For fiction, poetry and plays, I just plow through on a first read. Don't get too worried about missing things or understanding everything. In a re-read, I create an outline of major characters and plot points.
You'll never get everything out of a great book on the first read. Accept that and try to get at least something out of it.
Online Great Books is a paid community that reads and discusses the great books together. Jordan Peterson appeared as a guest on their podcast in this episode. Enrollment is currently closed but you can sign up to be notified when it opens again.
They basically follow the reading list from Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book, minus the Bible and some of the scientific and mathematical works. You can find the list on Wikipedia too.
Any Great Books reading list is going to take years to complete. Don't be intimidated and don't feel like you need to rush.
The first 150 pages of this book is all u need. I was in the same boat with you earlier this year. Since march I've read 100+ books
https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095
There's also another book: how to read better and faster
I would move onto the second book if u feel like u want to read even faster but buy the first book right now.
There are several types of reading strategies. Sometimes, a surface-level reading where you quickly scan through content is called for. At other times, you will need to buckle in and go through dense material with a pencil and dictionary app in hand. Reading literature versus philosophy versus scientific literature all has variations of technique, but there are a few strategies that apply across the board:
There are other suggestions I could post, but they would be stolen from How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler just like all of the above advice was stolen from that excellent book.
I'd recommend you to read and study this book by Adler and Van Doren, titled "How to Read a Book".
>Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095
COME! COME! SPECIAL OFFER! FOR ONLY $12.68 YOU! YES YOU! CAN HAVE THE SAME BOOK AS YOUR WAIFU!
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How to read a book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren
Packed with full of insights and guidelines to make one a better reader. Reading leads to information, information leads to knowledge, knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding leads to wisdom.
A better reader, a smarter person. Happy reading ;)
If you are always "zoning out" when you read, then you're simply not engaging the material you're reading. You need to take a more active approach to reading. For me, it took a mindset shift—I used to subconsciously think that just passing over the words will magically transfer all the author's knowledge to me. No, I have to work hard at it, to understand what the author is really trying to say, and then figure out if it's true or not. I have to dig into the book and work hard to uncover the little gems of insight that it contains.
This book completely changed how I read:
http://amzn.com/0671212095
I can give you a brief summary of how I generally apply the above book (I generally read non-fiction, so this is aimed towards that). First, read the ToC, Preface, and summaries of each chapter, trying to understand the basic structure and flow of the book. Try to figure out what the book is about in general, the parts of the book, its structure, and what kind of book it is. Once you've done this, you're ready for what the authors call an "Inspectional Reading." Read it lightly, not worrying to understand difficult passages. Understand only what the surface of the book has to teach you, and breeze through sections you don't understand. Once you're done with this, you'll have a much better understanding of what parts of the book are important and which parts you don't understand. Often, much of what you don't understand won't be important anyway!
Then you're ready for "Analytical Reading," in which you dive deep into the book, answering questions like:
You can iterate on these questions for a long time, but at some point you'll decide that you have received all that the book has to offer you, and you can put it down and move on.
It depends what you're into. If you want stuff like this, hopefully someone here can recommend you something. If you like fantasy, I think you can't go wrong with The Name of the Wind (https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Patrick-Rothfuss/dp/0756404746)
Patrick Rothfus' "Name of the Wind" is the first book in an ongoing trilogy. A coming of age story without being young adult. It has some intrigue like Dune and a sense of humor and danger like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It is a medieval era fantasy but the "magic" has certain rules that make it more interesting then something like Harry Potter.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles.
The first part is 'The name of the wind'
Genre: Fantasy
It's about a boy growing up in a traveling group and also learning to use magic, basically. I don't want you to know too much, as this is a no-brainer recommendation for me.
I was gifted this book on my birthday and am almost done with it by now.
It is a beautiful work of art. Never gets boring and is written so vividly, that I am baffled at how good a book can be.
Especially if you like Harry Potter or have a thing for music I would bet that this story will resonate with you.
But even if that is not the case, I am certain that you will like this book!
Edit: https://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle-Band/dp/0756404746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509725513&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+name+of+the+wind
I'll post links so you can get an idea of what they're about. Apologies, I'm a bit tired, otherwise I would give you a rough synopsis myself
If you're looking for some good fantasy books I'd highly recommend the following:
1.) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
2.) Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence - http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Thorns-Broken-Empire-Lawrence/dp/1937007685
3.) Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson - http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Malazan-Book-Fallen/dp/0765348780/ref=pd_sim_14_12?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51pDraZRUIL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR99%2C160_&amp;refRID=1H0ZZ7MYMYZGKGQMEKTW
This next one has some fantasy elements, however, it's hard to pigeonhole into an exact genre (low fantasy adventure?), nonetheless, it's one of the better books that I've read recently.
4.) The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastards) by Scott Lynch
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Locke-Lamora-Gentleman-Bastards/dp/055358894X/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51tpIK8K%2BtL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR98%2C160_&amp;refRID=1H0ZZ7MYMYZGKGQMEKTW
5.) The Way of Shadows: The Night Angel Trilogy: Book 1 by Brent Weeks -
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Shadows-Night-Angel-Trilogy/dp/0316033677/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51tPZPp5dsL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR93%2C160_&amp;refRID=1WERAT21ARWMVZN12V2P
(All books mentioned are the 1st novel of a larger series. If you're already aware and/or read these already than disregard, trying to pass along some great books for anyone who might come across my post)
Good, because I WAS LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO PLUG THIS BOOK
GO BUY THE NAME OF THE WIND IMMEDIATELY AND DON'T COME BACK INTO THIS THREAD UNTIL YOU ARE AS UNHEALTHILY OBSESSED WITH IT AS I AM.
Seriously though it's a fantastic book, one of if not the best I've ever read, and Patrick Rothfuss (the author) is not only an incredible author, but also a pretty awesome guy. He was the intern in the Acquisitions Incorporated podcast for a season, that's how I found out about him.
Beautiful! Have you read any Patrick Rothfuss? Judging by your shelf, I think you'd really like the Kingkiller Chronicles!
Some of my favs:
The King Killer Chronicles
Gentlemen Bastard Series
The Dark Tower
Riyria Revelations
The Ender Quartet
Ummmm I know I'm leaving some out, but those are some of my favorite series off the top of my head.
Edit: Stupid formatting on mobile.
If you like fantasy, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and then you'll want to buy the second book too because you'll be addicted. Then you'll be sad because the third book isn't out yet.
Check out The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's fantasy, not as violent or graphic as Game of Thrones, but I really enjoyed it.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
The Name of the Wind is what you are looking for.
It is very light on the fantasy stuff, focuses on one main character (hero if you like), it is very much adult
http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
I know there is an entire book suggestion thread on this sub, but I can't recommend Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss enough. Just started to re-read it hoping to time up with the release of the third book in the series and FUCK is Rothfuss' writing incredible. It is fantasy but in my opinion, way more digestible than GRRM. There is also a show in development that might have potential but... It's on Showtime so who knows.
Cool contest! I need to start reading more again.
A great fantasy book is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, I think you would like it! It's got great reviews on Amazon too so you don't just have to take my word for it, and the price is super reasonable.
Since you like Roald Dahl, if you haven't already read Holes by Louis Sachar, I would definitely recommend that one. His book Cardturner is also a good one.
Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. The protagonist goes through a lot growing up. I lost so much sleep for that poor kid. And it's one of the best series I've ever read.
The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0756404746
Hey /u/vipr9, /u/sabien, you should both read more books! They're great, and reading virtually anything makes you smarter, the same way that picking up heavy shit makes you stronger.
I've never been to /r/books, but it looks like a quality sub. I guarantee if you make a post saying "I stopped reading for fun in middle school, help me get back into it" and mention that you love the Witcher series, people would recommend stuff that will blow you away.
I haven't read the Witcher books, and I'm only about 20 hours into Witcher 3, but I think you both would love The Name of The Wind. $6.27 on Amazon!
Everybody should read more books. Me, you, everybody.
The Name of the Wind https://www.amazon.com/dp/0756404746/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_CVM8Ab4PTTWK6
https://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Rapture-John-Shirley/dp/0765367351
I personally consider the Bioshock series my favorite, and I absolutely loved Metro 2033 and Last Light, and I recommend you play both. The game isn't all that similar to Bioshock, but it shares a claustrophobic feel and the constant dangers that lurk around each corner. Metro 2033 does have a stealth element to it, while Bioshock doesn't really, so if you don't like stealth to some extent, I would stay away. Either way, both of the metro games are amazing and have good stories.
Also, you said you wanted to learn more about Bioshock. If you haven't already, I highly recommend the book Bioshock: Rapture. It gives some more insight to what went into building Rapture, and I found it very interesting because I also wanted to learn more about the games.
EDIT: I also would recommend Singularity to people who like the Bioshock games. It is heavily inspired by it and is in a very similar vein.
Just so you guys know, this is a cover from the book Rapture. Not a bad read.
Oh! I love that. Rapture by John Shirley is a really neat read into the rise and demise of an underwater utopia-turned-dystopia. It really hits the nail on the head for your genre, and, you're right, I'd love to read more like it.
If you like Game of Thrones and maps, you should check out "the Lands of Ice and Fire". It's an official map pack and they look great on walls. Amazon link (just 23,43$ right now)
Great collection btw!
This is a really great scan from "The Lands of Ice and Fire". If you like this map I would highly suggest getting the whole physical set. I plan to laminate some of them and maybe get one framed.
The Lands of Ice and Fire. Highly recommended if you like Game of Thrones. and maps.
https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Ice-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
There is one more, the map folio
Here's the link to pre-order on Amazon.
You could pick the one you like the most from The Lands Of Ice & Fire, scan it at a copy shop and then convert it to B&W digitally.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341501044&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=maps+game+of+thrones
Four more months...
I didn't find that to be true in what I read. And as for being "really light on world-building," I'm not sure that's true if you can charge $40 for maps: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544/
Since Ghost Story was already mentioned, I'd like to recommend House of Leave It's strange and winding, and has a Blair Witch Project kind of feel to it.
I want this [book!] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0375703764/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;colid=1O0XRVYITTYGN&amp;coliid=I2SWTQUCGLVMWB)
My favorite desert is that mud pie stuff. You know the chocolate pudding with crushed up oreos and gummi worms?! But I could totally eat cheesecake all day everyday! ;)
C'mon...gimme. I've wanted this book for a while now, haha.
As for the dream gift, these would be pretty awesome.
You two look absolutely amazing! :D But really, you two are just simply amazing anyways!
If you can get through it House of Leaves might fit that description pretty well. I definitely got a Palahniuk feel from it. Its hard to really say I "enjoyed" the book, but I recommend the fuck out of it every chance I get. It had a far greater and longer lasting emotional impact than anything I can think of reading since I was a kid. But its a bitch to read, and it screws with you any chance it gets.
A more tenuous connection would be Vonnegut, maybe its because I spent a whole summer reading almost only Palahniuk and Vonnegut, so they are forever entwined, occupying the same brain cubby.
He found Will Navidson's house
I'm in the middle of House of Leaves.
I'm also reading More Than Two.
And I'm about to start Wonder. My son is reading it at school and I want to read along.
AHHH we should both get House of Leaves because it's been on my wishlist tooo... We can talk about how weird it is as we read it. Make it a mini book club. Also everything on your wishlist looks awesome btw. Why are we not friends. How did I not know you before.
If she's into horror novels, such as Paranormal Activity, I recommend you buy her House of Leaves. It's something that's bound to keep her up at night. http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
House of Leaves. When I first heard about the book I didn't know anything about the plot - just that people who'd read it would report feeling that the walls around them started to shift and move as they were reading it, while others claimed to have weird dreams about the house even months after they'd finished the novel. Not a scary book, necessarily - but it will give you the creeps.
The typography is also insane, but it's thankfully not used in a gimmicky way, and serves the story very well as a narrative device. So far I've never read anything like it.
I find Neil Gaiman is good at a show, don't tell story. I tend to reach the end of American Gods or Coraline wondering what the heck just happened and just knowing it was a ride.
Also House of Leaves does that too. I'd probably have to pick them up again to check if that's consistent on a details level.
The other thing is just practice. You can sometimes find prompts on here to "Describe a colour without using the colour" or "Describe a place without using any proper names." or "Write a story that all happens in less than 5 seconds." Things like that are really good for practicing showing because they force you to stretch your writing muscles.
Well, in that case, you must check out House of Leaves. It plays with that fear of the dark, claustrophobia and sense of being trapped incredibly well.
House of Leaves?
Yes, House of Leaves should be read in a physical version. This book has tons of little quirks which just don't translate to an ebook. For example, the cover is too small, which means that the book is bigger on the inside!
I've got a solution for your problem. Make an account on amazon.de and use this link to buy the book. Shipping from Germany to Poland should be far quicker than overseas.
By now, I've got accounts on amazon.com, amazon.de and amazon.co.uk, because sometimes the prices on another site are cheaper even when postage is taken into account.
If that doesn't work for whatever reason, send me a private message here on reddit, and we'll find some kind of solution. If necessary, I'll buy the book and ship it to you personally :)
A few books I read recently (within the last couple of years) that really stand out for me:
Non-fiction:
Fiction:
Unfortunately the two fictional books aren't easy reads. Not difficult, mind you, but not as straightforwardly easy as, say, The Road. But I think they're engrossing enough that you'll get sucked in nevertheless.
I hope this helps!
Don't know what you like to read so I'm going to go a few ways, but these are good ''stuck in bed'' books. By Author (because thats how i like to read):
Haruki Murakami:
Hunter S Thompson (and related):*
Manuel Puig (these are shorter):
Not by same authors, but would be good together:
Favorites
Feel Better!
YES!!! I cannot stress Christopher Moore's books enough. Lamb is the greatest book of all time! I re-read it annually.
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (which probably inspired Lamb) is also great as well.
Lamb. Too bad it'll never happen.
Book recommendations: [Lamb] (http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=undefined&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=lamb)
Anything by Christopher Moore if you want a fast-reading comedy. Especially this.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I just finished this book, and it is probably the funniest book I've ever read (and I'm saying this after having read Hitchhikers, a lot of Vonnegut and Confederacy of Dunces).
I don't know your religious background, but I have confidence that whether you are a Jew, Christian, or atheist/agnostic, you will really enjoy this book (if you're none of those, you may miss some references). It's like Hitchhiker's Guide for the ancient world, with a little of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha (also a good read) mixed in.
Also, John Dies at the End by David Wong is great if you like action/sci-fi/horror but want a lot of comedy mixed in. It was the first comedy book I've read that really felt like it was written by someone from my generation (I'm in my early 20s). Wong is one of the editors of cracked and definitely has the internet-age nerdy pop-culture sense of humor that pervades reddit.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal is a really great read, one of the most clever and funny stories that i’ve read.
Exactly. On a slightly related note, I still think that Christopher Moore's book, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal has the best explanation for the creation of the Easter Bunny.
Lamb by Christopher Moore is a fictional retelling of Jesus' life from the point of view of his childhood friend Biff. Parts of it are very funny, others are much more serious, and it pokes fun at the Bible without ever being disrespectful.
Christopher Moore gave a fantastic account of those years
I didn't experience that. My transition was a sort of long drive downhill. During the height of my Christianity, I would have the occasional, frightening flashes of disbelief (usually while studying apologetics), but never did atheism happen rapidly.
Over the course of three years (2005-2008), I slowly stopped praying (it seemed stupid, since prayer had done no good for me or anyone I'd ever prayed for), read the Bible only during sermons at church (I was formerly the top member of my "church-team" in Bible Bowl contests), and then began to elucidate what I actually believed.
When 2008 came and I found myself at the point of stating, "If there is a god, that being has not made any noteworthy or worship-worthy interventions since the beginning of time, if even then." From there, it's just a matter of stepping over the line and calling it atheism.
The book that started me on this route? Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
There is a history book I listened to in audiobook form while at work. It has no real main characters, but is instead much a history book from school. All told to Tommen by a Maester (I forget who specifically) as a history lesson. It can be a bit boring and fascinating at the same time. Some chapters/histories are so many steps removed from show/books that it got a little slow at times. Definatly worth it though. Made my re-watch of the show VERY different because I knew so much more about the world.
While it doesn't cover everything, it covers everything that is known to the Citidel. Entire histories of small islands north of the Dothraki Sea called Ib, and the islands between Valyria and Sothoros called the Basilisk Isles. But it's all accumulated knowledge, and so even in the book, there is doubt cast on a lot of it as well acknowledging the missing pieces.
There is also an official atlas that has very detailed maps. I would suggest finding one or on the internet to glance at at the same time. It helped me A LOT in understanding what was going on in these histories.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The World of Ice and Fire, it's essentially a collection of the history of the world in which A Song of Ice and Fire takes place. It's also only recently been released. I haven't read it myself, but it's apparently a very good-looking book.
Along those lines are also The Land of Ice and Fire, which is a collection of maps for the same world and A Feast of Ice and Fire which is a companion cookbook to the series (is she likes to cook.)
Edit: you did mention that you're looking for something more substantial than just a book, so this may fall under that category, but it feels a little more substantial than getting her the next book in a series she's reading or something.
It's as real a book as any of the other related/companion texts, like the cookbook, atlas, show production guide, art book, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
If you decide to get real nerdy, there's a book that came out that has poster size maps of every area. The Known World, Westeros, The Free Cities, Bravos, King's Landing, Beyond the Wall, Slaver's Bay, The Dothraki Sea, The West, The East, Central Essos, and Journeys (Which shows the travels of major characters).
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lands-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
I'll be your buddy! :D <3
House of Leaves is written in a weird format, and is a horror and love story together, apparently. I really want to read it because as Wikipedia says about it:
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.
While some have attempted to describe the book as a horror story, many readers, as well as the author, define the book as a love story.
a book. https://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
House of Leaves: The Remastered Full-Color Edition https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0375703764/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Mo7jDb892BHGN
That's the version I bought, it was decently large print but still, I also wouldn't have minded a larger print copy haha
OK. I don't want to argue about this with you, because I'd rather have an interesting conversation with you than just shouting back and forth across each other. :) (also, I haven't read/seen The Giver, so I'm not really equipped for that fight anyway)
I read a book a couple of weeks ago and I want to know if you've read it. It seems like it might be right up your alley: House of Leaves. Have you read it? If so, what did you think? If not, it might be worth a read sometime. I know when I read it I had several moments where I felt a real sense of "spooky dread".
I wonder if you'd read The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's a different from Tolkein kind of fantasy book, more in the vein of Conan, or early DnD stories people like Gygax were playing, where the main characters aren't necessarily "good" people, just people. It's pulpy, gritty adventure while still being quite epic in scope.
I also wonder if you'd ever read house of leaves. That book is great inspiration for creating suspense and drama inside of a dungeon without ever seeing an enemy to swing a sword into.
Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes is what I recommend for you!
I would quite like House Of Leaves if you happen to dig the idea of Viral Nation.
Get yourself an Apple TV
Dang girl.
I really want House of Leaves I was going to recommend you buy it also, but your budget was 50-500 so it was way less than that.
Normally I'd post a Stephen King book, but... something's telling me that my usual is too usual...
For the most terrifying book I ever read, try House of Leaves. It's up there as one of my favorites.
But my favorite book (s) and series of all time lies with Harry Dresden. I had this set actually. Signed. Now, it's mysteriously missing like most of my Dresden collection :/ All e-books now. The 15th book (of a planned 23) comes out this year, in about a month. Maybe you'll catch up on time ;)
If you do read, or have read, any of these books, I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM, so feel free to message me about them WHENEVER. (Especially Dresden, I'm rereading them to get ready for the new one)
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski is the single most fucked up book I've ever read. It's also one of the best books I've ever read. It completely made me question reality and left me with the most creeped out, twisted feeling for at least a week after I read it. I immediately wanted to read it again. And the typography for the book is ridiculously insane. It's basically AHS in paper form.
Oh man. I've been waiting for a thread like this to pop up. I loved Neuromancer to no end, along with House of Leaves. Containment was good shit too, very interesting read, but relies on easy plot fixes. It doesn't ruin the story, in my opinion.
You also can't go wrong with anything by Kurt Vonnegut and Phillip K. Dick.
I normally support e-readers (I have a Nook) because they are light-weight, carry thousands of books, and are better for the environment than countless trees being used to print books. However, House Of Leaves is one that you should really have a physical copy of to fully appreciate the experience of the read.
House of Leaves. Written by Poe's brother. It's about a labyrinth in a house and as you're reading it, the words and pages begin to echo the labyrinth. Poe's album "Haunted" goes with it hand-in-hand. It's a very strange experience to read it and know the album.
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Doesn't appear to be a kindle version at the moment, but the formatting of the novel doesn't really lend itself to digital. Still worth a read even if you must lug around a dead tree.
The Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card.
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin. My favorite sci-fi short story. Couldn't find a link to a kindle version, but it's in a lot of sci-fi short story collections. You can probably find it in your local library (if it still exists).
That book exists! It's called House of Leaves and is really good!
http://www.amazon.ca/House-Leaves-Remastered-Mark-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1309532601&amp;sr=8-1
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and The Lilies of the Field by William Barrett. Both made me want to give up writing.
Grave encounters is really scary if you've ever read House of Leaves
If you want a straightforward page-turner, try The Descent by Jeff Long. Turns out, a species of hominid diverged from homo sapiens a long time ago, and continued to evolve deep below the earth, in underground caves and tunnels. All of a sudden they seem to be coming to the surface to attack people, and we've got to stop 'em. To paraphrase one of the characters, "we've declared war on hell".
If you want something more challenging, how about House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. It's hard to describe this book, but if you get a chance to pick it up in the bookstore, flip through the pages and look at how it's laid out. The fonts and layout change, some pages only have a couple of words on them, some pages are printed diagonally, others reversed. The book itself is a mystery about a mystery. It may be a horror story, or it may not be, but it will definitely give you an uneasy feeling when you're out there in the woods.
If you want a book that may inspire you while you're out there, pretty much anything by John Muir would do, but how about The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures. I haven't read this book, but it's a compilation of his writing and I'm sure I've read many of the stories that go into it. Muir is a great lover of and writer about nature, and had a lot of adventures to draw from.
Have fun on your trip!
Check out house of leaves
by Julia Cameron is one of my favorite books on creative unblocking for both writers AND artists! I go back to it whenever Im in a slump!
Funny thing happened to me when I read this book. One night my roommates and I had some friends over to hang out. A few people were still there but it was getting kind of late so I decided to get to bed. I shut my door to block out the noise and read a bit of House of Leaves. As it happened I was in a terrifying part of the book [Spoiler](/s "The part where the narrator spills black tattoo ink on himself and is, metaphorically at least, nearly drowned by darkness"). Freaked out, I turned off my light and after some effort, fell asleep.
I jolt awake and there is a tremendous pressure on my chest. it hurt. There was also something hot at my face. My mind short circuited. There was something in the room with me. something alive. I started screaming. Loudly. As far as I was concerned I was seconds away from my mortal end with a very real possibility of eternal torment.
No one came to my rescue. No one heard or cared. I pushed the weight off my chest and lunged off my bed and towards my bedroom door. I tore it open, but before I fled, I had to know. What horror had nearly slaughtered me?
I turned around and there was my black labrador retriever wagging his tail happily at me. My roommate had brought him into my room to keep me company. . .
Got to recommend:
House of Leaves, Mezzanine and Nadja. The Raw Shark Texts, Astronomical
Just a few that came to mind:
JPOD by Douglas Coupland
Lying by Lauren Slater
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.
I read this book years ago and it still haunts me. I love it but I still don't have it all figured out.I would really love to see a film adaptation, as difficult as that sounds, because of how nontraditional the narrative/film would be. In the right hands it could be pulled off really well (like say, Fincher, Aronofsky or maybe Lynch could really turn up the horrific/suspenseful elements). I wish someone would adapt it because it is such an intense mindfuck of a story.
I would also really love to see Haunted by Chuck Palahnuik made into a movie.
Someone's going to recommend House of Leaves, and it might as well be me.
Hi There!
Its actually an entire book. You're in for a treat.
https://www.amazon.ca/House-Leaves-Remastered-Mark-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
It can be pricey so I borrowed it from the library. It's like high quality long form creepypasta.
The word ^house is always blue and off-kilter in the book
The Raw Shark Texts was ridiculous the first time I read it. More so the second time. Ended up loaning my copy out a dozen times, eventually losing track of it. But it's probably in a better place now. Also, House of Leaves is phenomenal. If you haven't read it yet, you need to correct that as soon as possible.
Used books are fine. They're still books. Smell more like books, too.
Bookworms rule!
I'm going to second, House Of Leaves (Goodreads). It's a challenging read, but it tells such a fantastic story. You can get lost in it. It took me about a month and I spent that month completely paranoid, afraid of the dark and nervous about opening doors. If you go with this one make sure you get the physical book the eBook version does not cut it.
John Dies At The End (Goodreads) is a comedy horror book that's also really great. It's not terribly heavy on the disgusting side but it's worth checking out none the less. The sequel is coming out in a month or so.
I haven't read Misery (Goodreads) but it's a King novel that's been recommended to me for all the reasons you've mentioned above. It's on my list and I hope to get around to it soon.
I was reading John Dies at the End last night in bed and had a few moments of... horrorterror
Here are a few books I'm reading right now:
Weirder than House of Leaves?
House of Leaves by Mark. Z Danielewski.
Don't read anything about it. Block out a few days of time, buy the book, and prepared to get fucking creeped out.
I'm not getting any presents this year, but if you want to give something. Then i'd like something like this. But thats just selfish thinking of me expecting that 1. You'd wanna pay so much. and 2. That you're going to choose me over that Clean water well idea. But if you don't want to buy me a wacom, i'd also be happy with just a good book or something. I heard House of leaves is good.
Even if you dont pick me or something, I just want to say you are a great guy and props to you for this kind of christmas spirit. This song is for you.
Songs:
Movies:
Books:
Shows:
UGH I JUST REMEMBERED TO FINISH THIS BRB
EDIT: Okay here it izzzz.
These are the items you are looking for... (everything listed is from my wishlists here! )
1.) Something that is grey. – The bike lock on my wishlist (that was already gifted (: ) This one’s grey!
2.) Something reminiscent of rain. These leggings are Doctor Who Cosmic Tardis Leggings are cosmic… as in galaxy… as in the universe… in which there is a water cycle…. Which is reminiscent of rain…. Yup. ;)
3.) Something food related that is unusual. – It’s not every day you get to have jagermeister infused gummy bears....... Freaking nom.
4.) Something on your list that is for someone other than yourself. Tell me who it's for and why. (Yes, pets count!) – A dog bed for my puppy!! He really, really needs a new one.
5.) A book I should read! I am an avid reader, so take your best shot and tell me why I need to read it! – YOU NEED TO READ THE HOUSE OF LEAVES IT’S SO CRAZY AND I LOVE IT AND … AT SOME POINTS… YOU READ IT UPSIDE DOWN AND CRAZY AND INSIDE OUT AND OMFG WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING READING THIS GO READ THIS NOW
6.) An item that is less than a dollar, including shipping... that is not jewelry, nail polish, and or hair related! This with the value of 95 cents ;) hehehe I’m sneaky.
7.) Something related to cats. I love cats! (Keep this SFW; you know who you are...) -- This cat bed, even though I don’t have a cat, was on my puppy’s list! My puppy (who’s really a 9 year old dog but I call him puppy cause he looks/acts/is one) is a 6lb pup who’s basically a cat ;)
8.) Something that is not useful, but so beautiful you must have it. – The Chuck Complete Series Collector Blu-ray is not necessarily useful to my life…But the show’s so gorgeous, the cast so beautiful, the plot so delicious…I love it and need it! :P
9.) A movie everyone should watch at least once in their life. Why? – TANGLED!! (OK, one of the only movie related pieces on my list :P) But really, Tangled is PERFECT, SO adorable, a real winner.
10.) Something that would be useful when the zombies attack. Explain. – Okay this may seem crazy but stick with me here. these bones would be super helpful once whittled down. You could use it to double tap those stanky ass zombies
11.) Something that would have a profound impact on your life and help you to achieve your current goals. I have lots of stuff for fitness and school and all my goals likes that, but I thought I'd use something a little different for this one. This skin corrective cream would allow me to cover up my stupid little burn marks on my leg that make me really self conscious in skirts and shorts. This would be a good step in my goal of being happy with myself and gaining self confidence for the first time in my life.
12.) One of those pesky Add-On items.– One of those pesky add-ons… The MSC Joie Simply Slice Strawberry Slicer on my WL is one of them pesky add-ons.
13.) The most expensive thing on your list. Your dream item, why? – A Bike. Why? Mine was stolen and its extremely hindered my mobility as I need it for transportation to school /:
14.) Something bigger than a bread box. – The puppy bed on my puppy’s wishlist within my own wishlist is most definitely bigger than a breadbox.
15.) Something smaller than a golf ball. -- These cable organizers HOLLAH at me, Tiger Woods.
16.) Something that smells wonderful. -- French Vanilla Green Mountain Coffee Portion Packs for Keurig Mmmmmmmmm, delicious.
17.) A (SFW) toy. -- Crock Pot COOKING IS LIFE AND HAVING A CROCK POT WOULD BE THE BEST OF TOYS. For something more traditional, I have hedgehog toys etc on my puppy's list.
18.) Something that would be helpful for going back to school. -- This beautiful backpack! Mine is shot to hell and I'm dreading buying a new one.
19.) Something related to your current obsession, whatever that may be. This Friends Milkshake Poster Print from my wishlist OMFG I AM OBSESSED WITH FRIENDS RIGHT NOW. IDK WHY BUT I AM. Also with the Chuck DVD on my dreams list xD
20.) Something that is just so amazing and awe-inspiring that I simply must see it. Explain why it is so grand.– The New York Window Print Poster on my wishlist is pretty awe-inspiring. Looking into the city "where dreams are made of" in whatever town your in.... In a place that's essentially the culmination of all your dreams and desires.... At least for me.
-------
BONUS ITEMS
Finally, some people say that fear cuts deeper than swords but does it? Who knows.
My blue canary,
You were writing your in depth description as I was writing my greeting from Vallejo. :) Oh, your descriptions make me feel like a drive. You may have heard Poe's Hey Pretty at some point but there is a version with her brother (who wrote House Of Leaves ) reading a segment of his book about a woman driving on Mullholland Drive. This will have to be a My Addiction deal. Look it up under "Drive By 2001" Mix If you would like.
>Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Delivered just like your "love, love, love", right?
So we parked in the garage at Anchorage shopping center right at Fisherman's Wharf. The professor decided he wanted to be sure of his lunch and chose to stop in at the Subway restaurant to get a picnic sandwich. Every instinct of mine revolted at the very thought of going to a Subway in The City! Couldn't we score countless hard to find treats by tripping over our own feet?! I tried to share this feeling, but it wasn't happening.
Since I was going to see, even a tiny bit, some of the most advanced race boats in the world today out racing and I would be doing so in
SAN
FRAN
CISCO,
where I've not been for far too long,
I'd already decided to go wherever the people with opinions and desires wanted to go for the race view, so instead of trying to locate something else for my own, different, edibles I decided to embrace the adventure, or lack of it as it presented itself. Tuna on "9-grain honey oat" with all the salad went into my backpack and away we went.
Right along Jefferson street realising I'd not done the wharf in many years. We walked through Aquatic park where I saw swimmers (I wonder if Annie has swum there?) and a woman carrying a camera (Annie told me about a day of taking pictures along this route-- oh! don't stare at this woman). Up to Fort Mason with us. I could have walked so much more today....
Anyway, I'm there watching the big cats prepare for the race and check reddit:
>At the end of the AC pier, looking toward you
That I would somehow be able to see the look on my own face when reading that line. Annie, I started and looked that direction! Turned out you'd written an hour before. It seemed unlikely that you would still be standing there.
To share even brief thoughts with you during the race was almost as good as sharing race with you directly. Sometimes I don't know if I let you know how good to me you are. To get your description of your experience over there photographing a boat, sharing your sense of it was another gift of smile for me!
You write while I'm composing this?!
>Okay, heading off into the water!
I've my own happy-overload over you getting out there in the water.
You say you won't be home until really late. Enjoy a gorgeous night drive, just do it defensively. I'm all selfish and want more of your time.
One note, spelled l-i-t-E
Edit: Repeated a reapeat thought thought
oh this book gave me nightmares.. like it's not the best piece of literature BUT once i finished it i had to think about this book day and night... it was so creepy and weird and crazy!
House Of Laves by Mark Z. Danielewsky just for those who are interested...
really good read for Creepypasta fans!
If it's not too late, you can go here:
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/
And search for relevant words like "failed" and find the pages and see them.
I'm not sure if it counts as a thriller, but if you want an excellently written book that will severely screw with your head:
[House](http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764 "This is not for you.") of Leaves
Happy birthday!! What are you doing to celebrate?
I've already mentioned this today, but I took 4 years of Latin in high school. The only sentence I can say is Aqua bona est, which means water is good. Even though this is grammatically incorrect, we learned that semper ubi sub ubi kinda translates to always wear your underwear.
I would love a used paperback copy of House of Leaves. Thanks for the contest and I hope you have a fantastic, fun-filled day! :)
Birthday bot
Impossible to read in a digital format:
Not quite as impossible, but still difficult or not the same experience:
Similarly, this author took newspaper articles and blacked out most of the words, leaving poetry.
by Mark Z. Danielewski — Insane formatting, colored words, and many footnotes and appendices.
I love my Kindle 3. The keyboard is super handy. I'm extremely prone to migraines, so while I still love physical copies of books, I can't read them in bright light or in the sun. The reflection triggers migraines 75% of the time.
It's nice to have options.
Every month Amazon lists 100 ebooks for 3.99 or less. Pretty much every month you can find winners there. This month there's "I Am Legend," "The Sirens of Titan," and "John Dies at the End" among others (I heartily recommend them ALL).
A great non-Kindle book is House of Leaves. Creepy and satisfying, that one.
Good luck with your Kindle endeavor!
House of Leaves. Just saw it in the book store one day, and that gorgeous cover and strange size drew me in, and the weird layouts within grabbed me, and than they called it Horror. There was no way I wouldn't buy it.
So the main problem is that these arguments are just bullshit. Islam isn't true. None of the apologetics are correct, it's all just a way that people rationalize an irrational belief to themselves and sanitize its flaws for others.
> The first argument was that Islam is misinterpreted by the majority of Muslims, because the Quran is being taken literally and out of context.
Bruv, that's what the Qur'an tells you to do. This is the Book about which there is no doubt and such. It is correct that not every verse can be taken at face value -- for example, most of the "kill the disbelievers" verses actually do have "but also seek terms of peace" clauses nearby, and where they don't, it's an honest reading of the text to say that they were speaking only to specific battles conducted in Muhammad's lifetime. For the most part, though, the Qur'an intends itself to be read literally.
> The second was that there are many laws that cannot be practiced in a modern society (i.e. cutting hands of thieves, killing apostates, women's testimonial's being half of a man), and that they were only meant for their time.
Total bullshit. The cutting hands verse is followed immediately by "and if you don't actually use this, you are a disbeliever". The occasion of revelation for the "those who don't judge by what Allah has revealed" verses was a time when the Jews decided to "adapt to the times" by not stoning adulterers anymore. Muhammad got mad at them for not taking the Torah literally enough and made them stone her. That story is in Muslim (previous reference) and in Bukhari. Also, 'Umar says that he fears a day when Muslims will quit stoning. Hell yes, Muslims are supposed to support that stuff, according to the Qur'an and the sunnah. Unambiguously.
> The third argument was that the Quran has been preserved and we still have a full copy of the first ever Quran, and it's the same as a modern Quran with the exception of the addition of diacritics.
Not really. There was disagreement between Abu Bakr and 'Umar about whether the Qur'an should be collected at all. Muhammad himself used to forget some verses, so it's unlikely that the verbal transmission of Qur'an (and hadith, for that matter) was as solid as Muslims would like to think. There were many differences among the early copies, so 'Uthman fixed it by standardizing to one language and burning the rest of them. Perhaps the Arabic Qur'an hasn't changed since then, but it's most unlikely that that revision was actually exact.
> The fourth arguments was that the Quran had many scientific facts that could never have been realized by people back then (i.e. water gives life to beings, the earth is round), and this proves that the Quran was written by something divine.
This is the bullest of all the shit. The Qur'an also says that God uses shooting stars to fight space demons. Mountains don't keep the earth from shaking, they are just the earth lumping up when the plates collide -- Muhammad's people thought the earth was flat (like a carpet!) so it needed mountains to keep it from blowing away. While there's not a smoking gun of a scientific statement that's like... only wrong, these "scientific miracles" are always super vague, and if God wanted to prove Himself correct, He could have.
None of these scientific statements were unknown at the time -- they were either (1) immediately observable (2) repeated from the knowledge of ancient Greeks or (3) "written in" by later people. Like "oh man, the Qur'an says iron was 'sent down!' And iron can only come from nuclear fusion in stars! It's a miracle!" Nah. They didn't know about nuclear fusion.
If you think about how a man who did believe in a flat earth with the sun revolving around it would explain things... He'd explain things the way they're explained in the Qur'an. This guy breaks it down pretty well -- I started it at a point where he discusses a hysterical pair of commentaries on the "rising-place of the sun" verse.
> The fifth argument was the Quran was written in such a way that no way a human (the prophet specifically, since he was illiterate) could have done it, only a modern computer would have been able to make in its structure.
This is really dumb. First off, poetry battles between illiterates was like. A big thing that the Arabs of the time did around campfires and stuff. Think about how much beautiful gospel music (and lyrics) was written by American slaves during the 1800's.
Even then, any author's style is mostly inimitable, and these stylistic fingerprints are fairly precise. This is how biblical scholars have cast doubt on the authorship of books of the bible traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul. So whether the Qur'an was written by God or Muhammad, it would be hard to convincingly reconstruct its style...
...Not to mention that this is such a subjective claim. What the hell does it mean to "produce something like" the Qur'an? What would it mean to produce something like Shakespeare? Who would measure it?
This is an untestable hypothesis, and can't be given real consideration.Either way, I've roundly disproved this claim with my own construction.Also... I'd argue that William Faulkner's writings show a brilliance of composition far beyond that of the Qur'an. House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski, is also a masterpiece of form far more sophisticated than the Qur'an.
Like yeah... The Qur'an has poetic bits, interesting arguments, some chunks of good moral teaching, but... Overall, it just doesn't get the Nobel Prize for literature. Thousands of people have memorized the Qur'an, either because they were forced to or because they thought it would get them mad pussy in heaven. How many more thousands have memorized Shakespeare's works purely because they thought it was well-written and interesting? I like Abdullah Sameer's reflection on this.
the book house of leaves addresses this. it's not the biggest part of the story, but one character gets famous for a picture of a starving child who dies.
it's a horror book... maybe. every horror fan should check it out.
$0-5 - 100 Pokemon Cards
$5-10 - Cards Against Humanity Second Expansion
$10-20 - House of Leaves
$20-50 - New Girl season 1
was recently recommended to read The House of Leaves
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375703764/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
If you can get through it, House of Leaves. The comments can summarize it a lot better than I could here. It's, well.. indescribable. Not for all people, but I liked it.
amazon/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764
Got your back friENT.
(.ca for my Canadian brethren.)
This is the edition I have…
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0375703764/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&amp;index=0&amp;isremote=0
… which has all coloring, including the ultra-rare purple. It’s a large paperback with the front cover smaller, as seen in the pic. Alas that seems to be the more expensive one (library binding). On the 5th or 6th page of the ‘look inside’ preview, it tells what version of book it is.
Read House of Leaves.
If you liked John Dies at the End you might enjoy this, this, this or this.
Happy reading!
I took a long time to get back to you, which means I need to delete my reddit account and hide forever. I mean apologize. That one.
Anyway. Junji Ito is awesome. Not sure which of his stuff you've seen, but I think his best works are the short The Enigma of Amigara Fault (not for the claustrophobic!) and the longer series Uzumaki.
Thomas Ligotti is sort of the best-kept secret of modern horror - he's very reclusive due to severe anxiety and bipolar disorders. It gives his work a grounding in the sort of horror that comes from inside your own mind, and a sense that reality is a weird, broken place, or maybe something even worse. There's a couple of his stories online here if you want to check him out. "Nethescurial" is one of the creepiest things I've ever read.
One of my favorite books is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's sort of experimental with how the text is laid out in parts, which can make it kind of weird to try to read, but the overlapping narratives are really strong and chilling in a number of different ways.
Are you familiar with the SCP Foundation? If you like /u/ParanormalAdvisor's posts it should be right up your alley. There's so many different kinds of scary there, plus all kinds of awesome.
I am Jewish also, but I read "Lamb" by Christopher Moore, so allow me to explain:
Jesus was scheduled to preach. A bunch of people showed up to hear him. For some reason, those people failed to bring any food and were hungry. All the disciples had was, like, one fish and a loaf of bread. Jesus performed a miracle and transformed the single fish and loaf into many - enough to feed the masses of people that had come to hear him preach.
The end.
How about Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams"
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
My linking on mobile is wonky tonight, so I'm just going to leave the link like I'm not ashamed of my inability to use a phone right...
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
I also really liked Christopher Moore - lamb, the bible according to biff was his best so far, although I have enjoyed his other novels as well.
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium by Bart Ehrman
It's been a few years but I recall it being pretty enlightening at the time. I never really bought most of the critisism of Aslan's book. It might be because both this book and Aslan's had kind of the same take - Jesus as a figure far outside of the mainstream and more a Revolutionary than a Shepherd. (Speaking of Shepherds - if you want to enjoy a completely non-Historical but insanely funny story of Jesus, try Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.)
If you like the concept but not delivery, you may like Christopher Moore's comedic book Lamb, about Jesus lost years in which he visits & learns in China and India.
Christopher Moore's Lamb explains this hilariously.
You sure you're not thinking of the Gospel according to Biff?
I can't stress this enough, This entire book is pure satire. Again, satire. That being said it is also very well informed and rather witty.
You've asked for basically something akin to a bible textbook it sounds like and not an entertaining story, I'm only suggesting this because it's the book responsible for me actually going on and finally reading the bible. Much like you said, I also found the bible itself to be a pretty difficult read by today's standards.
Anyways. If you'd like something light and honestly really good to read in your downtime check out Lamb, by Christopher Moore.
https://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
You're welcome. It is one of the funniest books ever written IMO.
That theory makes a great book.
All of his books are hilarious. I actually came here to suggest Lamb, which is slightly heavier, but is mostly just hilarious.
Was it this? http://www.amazon.ca/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1449894211&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=lamb
Because I LOVE this book!
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. So funny!
If he enjoys comedy books then you should definitely go with Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore.
Else, Ender's Game and The Dresden Files were already mentioned. If he likes zombies go with Day by Day Armageddon. Try out Storm of Iron if he likes Warhammer 40k or in general awesome fantasy warfare in the distance and wicked future.
My ultimate vote goes to The Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is an awesome character.
Grammar books, for a start. At university, we used NPRC and Ruslan which both had easy to follow structure. Ruslan was more fun, but with a decent amount of grammar. Our professor told us it was the text that the US Nasa astronauts used to learn Russian. NPRC was more serious, with more comprehensive grammar.
I learned to read the Cyrillic alphabet in about 3 hours thanks to this book. It breaks down the letters for English speakers in a way that makes more sense than merely learning them in order.
www.babbel.com is a great paid service.
"The New Penguin Russian Course" is a little older and not the best order for learning imo but it's a solid book - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140120416/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_RuoFDbMQ0YFF5
LiveLingua also has a ton of materials, including some produced by the government.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1540842986&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=Russian+language&amp;dpID=51mscieyoQL&amp;preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&amp;dpSrc=srch
I've been waiting as well. It's the one language, along with Swedish, that I've had an interest in. If you want to try and learn some on your own, I'd suggest Memrise.com along with their app. I've also heard this book is fantastic and I plan on getting it soon. Hope this helps!
This is the one that gets recommended every time this question is asked: https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
I don't think it's in the Books link yet.
I super-duper recommend this book
The reviews give a good idea of why this book is so fantastic. I started using this book casually in high school and it concisely gets a ton of vital information.
It's not afraid to mention exceptions and weird things that a lot of beginner books would let you ignore and sound stupid later. It also has accent marks on all of the words past the first few chapters.
The pronunciation guide is priceless, as well. It's clear but comprehensive. I've seen tons of pronunciation aides for Russian but so far following this book's guide on it has yielded the best accent that I know of.
It's definitely better than Rosetta Stone.
I think paired with something to really cement the grammar will be pretty effective.
Use it with the New Penguin book. (only $15 on Amazon)
https://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
The New Penguin Russian Course is amazing and includes everything you need to know about Russian grammar. A book I am reading right now for beginners is First Reader in Russian. It is a very basic Russian book that has exercises and a dictionary in the back. The only bad thing about it is the dictionary doesn't include all of the words from the book so I usually have to go to my Russian-English English-Russian Dictionary. This dictionary also lacks many important words, but it hasn't given me any problems. Another good Russian reading source is Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book. If you just look around on amazon you will find many good resources.
Learn the pronunciation of the letters. Learn the difference between soft and hard consonants. Use youtube videos and various descriptions for it. This video is a good start, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsL8ZBDBNts Russian is very often pronounced just like it is spelled. You just need to know a few simple rules, and on which vowel the stress is.
The New Penguin Russian Course that covers a lot of stuff: grammar, words, idioms, phrases, culture, pronunciation, etc. and is intended for beginners. I'd say start with that and pronunciation, as I said above.
But maybe skip some words from the book that you don't think you will need, and learn words that are more useful to you instead.
The channel #russkij on FreeNode is helpful. If you don't know how to access it, this is probably the easiest way.
You may want to check out this tool I made for reading.
You probably want to use Anki for flashcards. Flashcards are very useful.
You might like this youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/vanilla167333/videos?view=0&amp;shelf_id=0&amp;sort=dd
Finally, try to focus on content that is relevant to you, i.e. reading about things that you like, talking about things that interest you, etc.
you'd be better of just searching for it yourself, but here's a thing for it on amazon and google books
http://www.amazon.com/New-Penguin-Russian-Course-Beginners/dp/0140120416
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_New_Penguin_Russian_Course.html?id=DpAmYOS15RAC
I recommend you just search for it yourself, you might find something cool below those two links :P
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140120416?pc_redir=1405490871&amp;robot_redir=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140120416/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
That one, the New Penguin Russian Course. I don't really think it was the "best" one I could buy, but it was a well-reviewed book and had recommendations from several websites I found. Plus it was only 13 bucks, so I didn't feel too bad about buying it if it happened to not be a great book.
So far the book has been pretty good. It's got exercises for handwriting and pronunciation, and thoroughly explains things that need explaining.
Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!
Here are your smile-ified links:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0140120416/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00
---
^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly&nbsp;bot
This seems like a good one. Here's an amazon link if anyone is interested.
If I had this then I could read it, and I've been told it's a wonderful book. If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.
Are you looking for pulse pounding, believable-but-still-inventive enough, hardcore mercenary action? Well look no further.
Direct Action - Written by a former Ranger/SF guy, this is the first in a set of (so far) 3 books featuring Deckard as the main character. Deckard is a former SF and CIA SAD guy who ends up getting contracted by a shady cabal to form a PMC for them to use in their attempt to bring about a NWO. He says "fuck that." This is honestly some of the best in the genre of military fiction. Written by a dude who has been there and done that, it's well written and believable enough, and the action...gritty, hardcore, doorkicking, operating action. It does not stop once it starts, and neither do the sequels, Target Deck and Direct Action. They're a blast to read and I can't recommend them enough.
Task Force Desperate - America's dollar has collapsed. The military is incredibly underfunded and no longer has the ability to project power. This all comes to a head when an American military base in Djibouti is attacked and taken over. With the US no longer able to respond to events such as these, Jeff's PMC, Praetorians, are contracted to handle the situation. The guy that wrote it is a former Recon Marine, so similar to Jack Murphy, he's been there, done that, and it shows. If you want hardcore action, this is another solid book for you. The plot is a bit out there, but hey, fuck it, it's fun.
Moving away from fiction...
Level Zero Heroes - Written by one of the first MARSOC dudes that went into Afghanistan when MARSOC was first stood up. He's his MSOC's forward air controller, and it's just a pretty cool and interesting look into the special operations world from a new (at the time) SOF unit.
Horse Soldiers - About the first ODA that went into Afghanistan within weeks of 9/11. They worked really closely with CIA SAD, and it's an incredibly interesting write up on what these guys managed to do in incredibly austere conditions. They rolled around the country on horseback. That's bad ass.
First In - Similar to Horse Soldiers, but written by one of the CIA paramilitary officers that coordinated with the Northern Alliance and the SF ODAs when they first came in country. A bit dry, but if you're interested in this sort of thing, it's one of the best (and only, from its perspective) accounts of the early parts of the Global War On Terror.
Now for some non military stuff.
Dune - The best sci-fi novel ever written, bar none. It has political intrigue, an oppressed people against an overwhelmingly larger force, oh, and giant sandworms. It's hard to describe just how rich the world of Dune is in a simple paragraph, so I won't even try. If you're into sci-fi and you haven't read Dune, you owe it to yourself. You're in for a treat.
The Road - The bleakest thing I've ever read. It takes place after some type of apocalyptic event in the US (which is never detailed), and is the story of a father and his young son attempting to survive in the wasteland amongst cannibals that keep their "livestock," chained in a basement, roving bands of marauders, and other horrors. It's written in an incredibly minimalist style which adds to the tone and atmosphere so much. If you want something heavy, this is your book.
I'll probably add more but here are my recommendations for now.
i would throw cormac mccarthy's name into your selection, too. both "the road" and "no country for old men" are great introductions to his style. If you get a taste for his writing, definitely pick up "blood meridian." it's my favorite work of his. he's got a good sized catalog of 10 books if you get a taste for his style.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
https://www.amazon.com/Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
any Fallout merchandise. like this lunchbox
https://www.amazon.com/FanWraps-Fallout-Nuka-Cola-Collectible/dp/B01M6D3C1D/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1498082853&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=nuka+cola
terminator blu ray
walking dead comic
I had a bunch of friends recommend The Road by Cormac McCarthy. They described reading it as an almost religious experience. I had people tell me that it gave them hope for humanity etc. So I kind of approached it with that in mind.
I started it and got hooked, finished it in one sitting, but it was a different kind of fixation for me. It was super depressing; I couldn't clear the mental images out of my head. I kept thinking to myself, "it could really end like this" and I just dwelled on that. I thought about what would become of my family and friends in an end of days situation like the one described in the book. I walked around in a dark stupor for days. My wife and my coworkers kept asking me what was wrong and trying to find out what my problem was. It just fucked me up. Its one of the only books I have ever read that I have simultaneously hated and thought was a good book.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0307387895
World War Z, by Max Brooks
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson -- fair warning: it's actually more of a short story/novelette. But even if you've seen the Will Smith movie, the book is different (and, in my opinion, better) so you'll still want to read this one.
The Last Policeman, by Ben Winters -- sort of fits. It's not exactly post-apocalyptic. It's more pre-apocalyptic. It's a sort of noir detective novel, except the government has announced that an asteroid is going to collide with the earth, probably ending life as we know it. So it's kind of a murder mystery while the world breaks down around the hero. The first book in this trilogy won an Edgar Award in 2013 for Best Paperback Original.
Parasites Like Us, by Adam Johnson -- This one's more light-hearted. The hero is a 2nd rate anthropologist working at a 2nd rate university. He illegally conducts a dig at the site of an early American settlement, and gets thrown in jail. Turns out that the dig unleashed a virus that threatens to wipe out civilization. It focuses more on the human elements of the story -- life, love, etc. -- and less on the apocalypse, and it's filled with dark humor and satire.
I've never been able to pick a best anything, but here are a few of my favorites where "respectable literature" is concerned:
Okay! Sure it's this one! I'm right above you! :P Have you by chance heard of the band The Classic Crime? Or Vocal Few?
Amazing author. Amazing book.
This is a hysterical review though... http://www.amazon.com/Road-Oprahs-Book-Club/product-reviews/0307387895/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=0&amp;filterBy=addOneStar
I just read The Road and it was pretty good. Would make a great movie.
Yup: http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
I've got about 600 hours in all three games. 300 hours in witcher 3 alone.
Yes, you can play it without having played 1 and 2. The Witcher games from minute one are sequels to the books by Andrzej Sapkowski. So even in the first game you're introduced to characters for the first time, but they react to Geralt as if they've known him for years, so you're just kind of thrown into this already running legacy of a character.
Honestly, if you wanted the backstory before playing witcher 3. I'd read the books (or listen to them in audiobook form), it gives you A TON of context to the game and you'll constantly recognize characters and names from Geralt's early adventures in the books.
Books are:
The Last Wish
Blood of Elves
Sword of Destiny
There's this animation which covers the events of the books, The Witcher 1 and The Witcher 2, so you could watch this after reading the books to prepare yourself for witcher 3's world state.
Recap (NSFW! Boobs and decapitation)
Green man gaming is sold out of the expansion pass codes, but you can get the base game for $22 here.
Witcher 3 on GMG
If you like it, you can buy the expansion pass on steam for 25 bucks, which is two expansions, the first is about 8-12 hours of content, the second is almost an entirely new game, easily with 25-40 hours content.
I can't explain to people how much I love this world and The Witcher 3 especially. If you like fantasy settings, this is a must play, and I bet that if you get into the game, you'll want to explore the books, and potentially play through the first two games as well.
The ones that have been officially translated are all available on Amazon:
The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher
Blood of Elves
The Times of Contempt
There are also some unofficial translations around for the other books.
Sure, a couple notes while I'm downloading BaW :)
The book order is thus:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallows
The Lady of the Lake
There's no official english translation of the last book yet, but the one I've linked is the best fan translation I've found. It's the one I read, and I honestly would have had no idea it wasn't a "real" edition if I didn't know better. Fantastic work.
There's also A Season of Storms, which is sort of a midquel for the series. But it was written in the last two years, has no bearing on any of the game's canon, and contain some minor potential spoilers for later books since he expected his readers had finished the series at this point. I recommend you ignore it for now, and if you decide you want to read it down the road pick it up after the series.
The first two books are a short story collections. The series is in chronological order, but the actual novel arc doesn't begin until the third book. Definitely don't skip the first two though, they set up important characters and events in Geralt's life prior to the novel arc beginning.
Lastly, if you really can't be bothered to spend a bit on the amazon paperbacks here's a link to all of them in epub format. I can't vouch for the quality of the fan translations in this pack, nor do I recommend this format. Buying the books supports the author and reading a book is still easier than reading on a tablet in my opinion.
Good luck on your journey into the Witcher!
P.S. - Oh, here is the Witcher 1 recap video I mentioned. DO NOT WATCH THIS until after you finish the books. It will spoil the climax of the series and ruin your reading. You can buy the game dirt cheap if you can handle a playthrough on PC, but you really won't miss a ton of important info if you skip it. I don't want to spoil the end of the books either, but essentially the second and third game don't rely on the first one at all aside from knowing cursory details of the first game.
Then read them in English? Assuming you're American:
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/
http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Destiny-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316389706/
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Elves-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/031602919X/
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Contempt-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219134/
http://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Fire-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316219185/
http://www.amazon.com/Tower-Swallows-Witcher-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316273716/
Or
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Last-Wish-Audiobook/B00HWBTIFI/ etc.
Also, the mass market paperback(smaller version) is $3.62 for anyone that hasn't read it. Order it! You need to read it!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316029181/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_zfAxzb1ZHMZ00
[I'm on the last story of this book] (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1457112046&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+last+wish+by+andrzej+sapkowski)
This link is good for the fan translations of the third, seventh, and eighth books. You can buy The Last Wish from Amazon to see if you like it.
Yeah, bought the whole series on Amazon.
i got these versions since i dont speak other languages except for all the bad stuff in polish :P
"The Last Wish" and "Blood of the Elves" book have been officially translated into English so far.
Info from Wikipedia: An English translation of the Ostatnie życzenie (The Last Wish) short story collection, was published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz in 2007 and was published in the United States by Orbit in 2008. "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) was published by Gollancz in 2008 and in the US by Orbit in 2009, and "Czas pogardy" (Times of Contempt) will be published by Gollancz in the UK in 2013.
Here is the link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2
EDIT: I just noticed you were asking about the books and the game. Woops. The game takes place after the books, so if you read the books first, while the character you play will have amnesia, you sure as hell won't. :) That being said, reading the books makes the games all the more memorable, IMO.
The first 2 (The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny) are a collection of short stories, but they do have recurring characters, so it makes sense to read them in sequence. The rest are novels, and should be read one after the other. Mind you, the second book (The Sword of Destiny) was never officially translated (because publishers are dicks), but I definitely recommend reading it before Blood of Elves (the 3rd book, and first novel), since it introduces characters who are essential to the series. This means that you'd have to rely on an unofficial fan translation, assuming you don't speak Polish, or French (it was translated into French).
You can go here to access the unofficial fan translations. Honestly, they really aren't that bad, and I enjoyed the Sword of Destiny quite a bit. Also, in case you're confused as to the ordering of the books, this wiki page will break everything down for you.
Hey! I've never been an avid reader, but I wouldn't mind starting. Here's a book that I've been wanting to read.
I know I do not qualify for the contest (I got here from /r/personalfinance of all places =) but in honor of towel day I would suggest:
Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy
or, and this one is ever better
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide
I have this http://www.amazon.com/The-Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/0345453743 $13 for all in a convenient package is hard to turn down.
You can thank me in advance.
OP my only suggestion would be : DON'T PANIC
If you enjoyed the first three, I would wager that you will enjoy the remaining books. I would agree that they are not as amazing as the first few but they are still very funny.
You can grab the complete edition for under $15 on Amazon. I would also recommend Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and the Salmon of Doubt. It's a half completed Dirk Gently book with additional writings of Adams what was put together after he passed away.
Terry Pratchett - all of them, but in particular, Night Watch
Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon I've linked to a book with the short story rather than the novel as I think the former is better.
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Bonsai
Cactus Dish Garden
Classic Dish Garden
Non-living options
Book
Digital Photo Frame filled with photos (of course)
Whatever the hell this thing is
Hm, well if you haven't read Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy it's FANTASTIC and you should read it. It's especially good since you haven't read in a while and it doesn't really have boring moments where you would get disinterested.
I really need a new book
I absolutely love to sing and I know I have a good voice.. I'm absolutely terrified to sing in front of anyone though.
Happy birthday!!!! <3
Birthday Bot
Or worse, five.
Yes, I would recommend this if you aren't looking for anything too serious. Adams' presentation method is definitely comedic, but that just makes it more enjoyable. Adams is a genius when it comes to irony and he also does a pretty good job of getting his science right(when he is being serious). But like I said, if you want super serious, don't go for this. If you do go for it, I recommend getting The Ultimate Guide, which is all five books plus a bonus story.
Large poster-sized maps of various lands are available for purchase via the Lands of Ice and Fire. Thus, you won't find any large images of them online (legally).
There is a whole book of maps called [Lands of Ice and Fire]
(http://www.amazon.com/Lands-Ice-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544)
https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Ice-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544
But you can just copy them; I'm sure the original artist wouldn't mind the loss of income!
Already happened.
http://www.amazon.com/Lands-Ice-Fire-Game-Thrones/dp/0345538544/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1407305394&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=lands+of+ice+and+fire
I recently bought In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi and am very happy with it. It covers the main components of Buddhism and the author has some great explanations on many of the concepts as well.
You're welcome, I had a feeling that's what you were looking for.
If you don't already have it, I highly recommend the book that I got that quote from: In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikku Bodhi.
Start with the words of the Buddha. There's a good anthology by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha) Paperback – July 28, 2005
by Bhikkhu Bodhi -
Practice generosity and follow the Five Precepts. Take refuge.
> Many people are telling me to meditate and figure it out for myself. How can I do this?
Honestly, I would advise against that. I'd recommend learning meditation from a teacher, and I'd also recommend studying some Dharma first before making meditation the main focus of your practice. And before all of that, the most important thing is going to be conduct. The most important aspect of conduct is to not take life, even very tiny insects. If you don't have proper conduct, then nothing else is really going to work. So, I'd recommend that order:
It won't hurt to start a small meditation practice right now, in fact I would recommend that. But it will be best to spend the most energy on conduct and study at this time.
> What should I focus on? Karma and dependent origin? Cessation of attachment? Compassion? Which aspect is the most important?
It's really hard to say. I don't think there's any right answer unless you're working within a specific tradition. My personal recommendation would be to read In the Buddha's Words by Bhikku Bodhi. This will give you a really strong introduction to Theravada teachings. Even though it's Theravada, it is the common foundation of all schools of Buddhism. If you don't understand everything in this book, it will be difficult to understand anything else in Buddhism beyond this.
Then, if you want to get a little introduction to the Mahayana, I'd suggest reading some translation of Shantideva's Entering the Conduct of a Bodhisattva (maybe translated as The Way of the Bodhisattva). This book is great for both complete beginners and very advanced bodhisattvas. I have read this text several times over the last 10 years and I learn something new every time. The Dalai Lama said:
> If I have any understanding of compassion and the bodhisattva path, it all comes from studying this text.
If you find that you are attracted to the Mahayana, then I would suggest that your next quest is to find your teacher. In Theravada, a teacher may not be of the utmost importance. But for Mahayana, a teacher is indispensible. There are enlightened teachers living today, it just takes effort to find one. My sincere advice would be to find an enlightened teacher, and then follow their advice as best as you can.
Finally, don't turn Dharma into an escape. Dharma is never going to solve your worldly problems. You will still need to learn how to deal with life just like any other adult does in our society. Make sure to spend the proper effort and do well in school :) Dharma doesn't solve worldly problems, but it will lead to peace where no worldly problems bother you at all.
Amazing place to start.
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861714911/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jJLSDbKCFQ6PP
Well going to the source is always the best option. Bhikkhu Bodhi made an anthology of the major Buddhist writings, and he explains them very well with the beginner in mind. I suggest looking into getting a copy of In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Check your local libraries first, a few of the ones near me have a copy. That book is seriously the only resource you will need right now, online or offline.
Most Suttas (discourses) consist of the Buddha himself or one of his close disciples delivering a direct teaching. Here's a nice website for exploring the teachings:
A Path to Freedom
A Self-guided Tour of the Buddha's Teachings
And here's the anthology that's most recommended in this sub:
In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (Teachings of the Buddha)
For a good creepy short novel, check out Penpal from /r/nosleep 's own Dathan Auerbach
Buying a book is not about obtaining a possession, but about securing a portal
I need this book because it was written by a fellow redditor!
I just found/added this one to my list! Its a bunch of short stories that are actually going to become a MOVIE, and all from a /r/nosleep poster. So awesome!
He kept the same title for the book.
Yup, getting the weird view here too.
Here's the link
Penpal got expanded into a novel now too!
1000Vultures from the /r/nosleep community published his short story series into a book titled "Penpal"
If you have the time sit down and give it a read. If you enjoy it, buy it and support the author.
The Penpal series, that is still the best thing I've ever read there. I remember reading the whole series in one go, they actually talked him into trying to get it published, he succeeded, you can buy it on Amazon. Apparently the book is a little different but mainly the same.
Wool by Hugh Howey
Description from Goodreads:
"In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo's rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.
His fateful decision unleashes a drastic series of events. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic with no training in law, whose special knack is fixing machines. Now Juliette is about to be entrusted with fixing her silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken. The silo is about to confront what its history has only hinted about and its inhabitants have never dared to whisper. Uprising."
Not a specific recommendation, but see if your local library has access to the Overdrive app which will allow you to read ebooks from them for free.
Wool by Hugh Howey is a sci-fi-ish book you might like. Quick and easy read with a compelling plot.
The Wool series by Hugh Howey. Ebook of the 1st part is free, so you can see if it's something you like.
The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.
Both these series are excellent, and will keep you up at night. Both these series have been optioned for films, and are in development.
You should read Wool I can't even describe how awesome this book is. Over 7,000 people have reviewed it and most of them loved it like I did. Everything by Hugh Howey that I've read I've loved. I'd like this book which is also a dytopia type book which is what Wool is. Thanks for the contest.
Maybe the Silo trilogy would work? It's technically sci-fi I suppose, but it's really about the characters. 'Wool' is the first book.
Wool, by Hugh Howey.
"The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Humanity clings to survival in the Silos, subterranean cities extending over one hundred stories beneath the surface."
A review. More info.
I'm about to start Wool by Hugh Howey as several friends have recommended it. It's a long one but could be a good summer read (and is very post-apocalyptic like several of our other selections).
I'd recommend Wool, by Hugh Howey.
*Hugh Howey's "Silo" Series (I don't know how to do the fancy link thing - http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1377269856&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=wool)
There are three books in the series, this is the link to the first one (available on Kindle). Set in the not too distant future, something has gone HORRIBLY WRONG and humans now live in a giant silo underground. It's a nailbiting series. I got the 3rd one in the mail on Monday and I already finished. So I'm sad. But it's a great series nonetheless :)
Good luck!!
Edit: spelling
Wool. It's about a dystopian future where all of humanity lives in 50 different silos creating their own, similar societies. ees very good
If you like Fallout, you will probably like "Wool", "Shift" and "Dust" by Hugh Howey. It's a post-apocalyptic series set inside a giant underground silo.
I've heard great things about this book - WOOL. I want to read it, increasingly badly. And someone nominated it for the October reading book, which many people including me supported, so it's more than likely at some point RAoA will read it, together.
Also books are goods for being smart and stuff.
Fiiiinally it's the weekend!! I've been looking for something new to read that's fun, and I think this fits the bill perfectly :) Thanks for the contest, you're awesome!
I enjoyed the Wool series by Hugh Howey.
some really amazing works out there.
Taken by the T-Rex and 50 Shades of Paleontology have to take the cake...
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1408721643&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=dinosaur+erotica
This book actually exists.
https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjj5MiH_6TgAhUH7J8KHTnsBO0QFjAVegQIBhAB&amp;usg=AOvVaw01hbQ3guklB5PwyYThUyTh
"Got a call from my IT guy, Reddit if fine for us but limit your search to knowledge stuff please"
Ahem, because this...
I mean I know it ain’t the same but they do have dinosaur porn, a relatively good amount. Hell they even have homosexual dinosaur centric erotica.
See - https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
And - https://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Dinosaur-Forced-Me-Gay-ebook/dp/B00MCVVH6G
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
That's just a cheap imitation of better books like Taken by the T-rex, [Sexy Underwater Lock Ness Adventure] (https://www.amazon.com/Sexy-Underwater-Loch-Ness-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00RSUD2QE) or the entire Cum for Bigfoot series.
In related news: I have now googled 'dinosaur erotica' on a work computer and found this on Amazon:
Taken by the T-Rex
After clicking on some other related suggestions on Amazon I assume that in the future from now on both google and Amazon will keep my apparent interest in fucking dinosaurs in mind when presenting me with personalized search results.
I read about it on Cracked, I think. There is a whole series apparently.
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
Maybe the star of this fine book:
https://www.amazon.com/Taken-T-Rex-Dinosaur-Erotica-Christie-ebook/dp/B00FI9JFFO
False : the best romance novel title is "Taken By The T-Rex"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FI9JFFO?pc_redir=1395938575&amp;robot_redir=1
I NOMINATE TAKEN BY THE T-REX .
Clippy has its own erotica on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UJ01WBW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_srKjzb6VBHQV2
Archives for the links in comments:
----
I am Mnemosyne 2.1, Actually, it's about ethics in governing. ^^^^/r/botsrights ^^^^Contribute ^^^^message ^^^^me ^^^^suggestions ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time ^^^^Opt ^^^^out ^^^^of ^^^^tracking ^^^^by ^^^^messaging ^^^^me ^^^^"Opt ^^^^Out" ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UJ01WBW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_erUezbQ038BWV
This wall poster
A wonderful way to clean your cat RIP Lue
NSFW begins here
Anything by this man His books include
Whatever this book is about the microsoft word paperclip
Have you read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal?
I highly recommend you get/acquire/borrow and read a copy of "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore...
http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
On a sort of related note, here's a hilarious fiction/comedy novel involving cargo cults:
http://www.amazon.com/Island-Sequined-Love-Christopher-Moore/dp/0060735449
A bunch of this author's other (old) stuff is good too, like "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal":
http://www.amazon.ca/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815
Buddha and Christ not going off and having weird adventures? I think Christopher Moore and Osamu Tezuka would like a word with you.
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I'm a fan of time-travel, and history, and I was completely sucked into it. She's got a number of books in the same universe- some comedic, some very dramatic, but The Doomsday Book is my favourite.
If you're at all interested in high fantasy, I'd recommend either Tigana or The Fionovar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. You either love his prose style or hate it, but if you love it, it will definitely take you away.
If you like SF and haven't read them, I'd try either Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, or David Brin's Uplift Series (I'd skip Sundiver until later, and start with Startide Rising.)
If you're looking for more light-hearted/quirky, I'd try Christopher Moore- either Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal , or The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror. If you're into a mix of horror/sf/comedy, try John Dies at the End. They're not deep, but they're fun.
Non-fiction- if you haven't read it yet, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air is very difficult to put down. If you're travelling with someone who doesn't mind you looking up every few pages and saying "did you know this, this is awesome, wow-how interesting", I'd go for Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants or Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life. They're all very informative, fun, interesting books, but they're even better if you can share them while you're reading them.
Dune by Frank Herbert.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. You have probably read it, but if you haven't, it's superbly funny sci-fi comedy.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. A book that I re-read once every few years, and every time I find something new in it.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. A gripping, heartbreaking non-fiction book about police detectives. It inspired the acclaimed TV series "Homicide: Life on the Street." Simon would go on to create "The Wire."
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy. Noir-ish procedural crime fiction. If you enjoy "Homicide," you may well like this.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, "a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968," according to Wikipedia. One of my favorite books.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Detective novel meets sci-fi in one mind-bending existential work. If you watch "Fringe," well, this book is Fringe-y... and more.
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. Time travel. Victorian England. A tea cozy mystery of sorts.
Graphic novels! Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman. Love And Rockets by The Hernandez brothers. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. Elektra: Assassin by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. And of course, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. To discover yet more great comic books, check out the Comics College series.
After loads of reading on the bus to work every day, here follows my reading list for military aviation:
Modern
Vietnam
WWII
Overall/Other
Bonus non-military aviation
I highly second the recommendations of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age. I would also recommend:
Dune by Frank Herbert.
Read Dune
I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.
&nbsp;
Teen Fantasy:
&nbsp;
Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.
The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.
Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.
User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.
Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.
The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.
Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.
&nbsp;
Adult Fantasy:
&nbsp;
Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.
Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.
Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --
An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!
&nbsp;
Sci-fi:
&nbsp;
Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).
Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.
Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.
&nbsp;
Mature Humor:
&nbsp;
He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.
Sourcery: Really, really funny.
Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.
Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.
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I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.
I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.
Edit: Links
I'd like to add that - according to the artist - they remaining five books will (at least for now) only be released as mass-market paperbacks. The first book is available in both paperback and mass-market editions, with the paperback being of better quality and not as tall/thin as the mass-market paperback.
Once we get closer to the movie's release, there'll probably be a whole bunch of editions and a box set too, so I'd just wait a bit.
I win.
It's the newest trade paperback edition by Ace Books. Here's a link to Dune on Amazon: Dune Mass Market Paperback. You should be able to find the rest of the books from there as well.
Read at least the first book, "Dune". You won't regret it.
[Nine Princes in Amber] (http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Princes-Amber-Roger-Zelazny/dp/0380014300/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0) has it all - and it's a quick read. Yes, this book does start a series, but, like [Dune] (http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Science-Fiction-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1369998755&amp;sr=1-1), it stands alone just fine.
ITT: A lot of questioning of how Vader defecated and/or urinated while in his suit.
In real life, to tackle the challenge of "how do I poop while wearing a full-body suit without removing said suit," a lot of time and effort has been expended. One solution already in use in meat life is quite simple, although it is arguably pretty gross. Astronauts use something called a maximum absorbency garment (MAG) to take care of immediate needs.
Looking to other science fiction, numerous examples exist of solutions to this question. My favorite is the stillsuit of the Fremen in Dune by Frank Herbert.
Then, of course, there is the use of The Force to regulate biology. Time and time again, examples have been provided in the movies, books, games and role playing of both light- and dark-side users using their connection to The Force in order to control pain, go into a mediative coma, expand sensory awareness, heal oneself and others, etc. It isn't much further of a suspension of one's disbelief to accept that Vader used The Force to suspend his biological needs.
TL;DR -- Simply put: Vader did not shit or piss whilst in his armor.
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
The Catcher in the Rye is a pretty good gateway book for more literary fiction.
1984 and Animal Farm will probably appeal to your SF tendencies.
If you want something more contemporary, maybe try The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It has to do with comic books...
Adult Dystopian Recommendations:
YA-ish Dystopian Recommendations:
Other Dystopias:
mommyanddaddynon-biological guardians shouldn’t say no. Also, it sucks to have a guidance counselor Make A Schedule for you in order to prepare you for an office job equivalent that’s full of busywork but one of the few respectable positions left. The horror! Seriously, in what world is that rebelling against socialism? You know, that thing that promotes trade schools and equal rights for everyone, even the people you don’t personally like?I’d also be curious to hear what /u/bethrevis has to say about the societies on Godspeed and elsewhere and where they fit into this opinion piece.
Guys, I think I just wrote an English essay. And probably put more work into it than I did in high school. And I won’t even get an A because it’s the internet and we deal solely in lolcats.
But tl;dr: Adult dystopias (that I’ve read) tend to be about the futility of existence or the necessity of self-sacrifice to get a result. The YA dystopias I liked were a little more hopeful (usually) and didn’t support this opinion piece’s thesis. The ones I didn’t like made me understand the hate for dystopias.
Free pdf, looks to be entirely intact at a glance.
iTunes money-grubbing horseshit.
Amazon overpriced nonsense.
Fair warning, depressing book.
Maybe start by reading the classics ?
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934/
https://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451673310/
https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Revisited/dp/0060535261/
The last on the list (and the most important one ! ) is also being developed to series:
https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/brave-new-world/279249/brave-new-world-tv-series-usa-network
For movies themselves, this ones are one of the more obvious choices :
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Men-Blu-ray-Clive-Owen/dp/B001YV502C/
https://www.amazon.com/Gattaca-Blu-ray-Ethan-Hawke/dp/B00E3PP9MM/
https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Runner-DBFE-BD-Blu-ray/dp/B07CNC399C/
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Metropolis-Blu-ray-Brigitte-Helm/dp/B0040QYROK/
1.I have indeed.
2.1984 by George Orwell Go for used, please!
3.Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This book, and really just the entire series are addicting. (I read all three in just under a week.) Love is a disease, and falling in love means having your brain scrambled.. It's this whole crazy thing.
4.Christmas is for reading!!
https://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
History is cyclical and it tends to repeat itself. Maybe you should be a little more concerned with educating yourself on what your side of the political spectrum was responsible for in the 20th century. I could care less about your personal experience fallacy, those tend to be extremely bias based on the worldview the person wants to portrait and they tend to ignore what statistics say, and in this case the statistics for Europe are quite damning.
If you don't think that it can happen again you are very naive. You live in a world where it is still happening. Socialism has destroyed Venezuela right before our eyes, plain as day, and there is nothing you or I can do about it and no government that cares to intervene, nor should they. North Korea is a relic from the 20th century and one big Gulag. China, a world superpower is a great example of a country that censors the data in/data out that you are referring to. Read The Will to Power by Nietzsche, The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn (even if its just the abridged version, it is a masterpiece and changed my life), and Orwell's 1984. Read these and then cross reference what you learn with current political climate regarding political correctism, left wing authoritarian political systems in your countries over there that compel speech and ban certain idea's and criticisms, your governments collectivist policies and your firearm policies. After you read them you should be able to see striking similarities to your current political landscape and you will know just how close you are to the edge. At very least you will escape the ideological bubble you seem to be in.
Both are proper. http://www.amazon.com/1984-Signet-Classics-George-Orwell/dp/0451524934
1984 by George Orwell. /nod
Orwell's 1984
Actually, use qgyh2's affiliate link: 1984
My personal favorites are influenced by the most-likely scenario for me, so here they are, if you need some recommendations for similar movies, just ask, I'll be more than happy to help.
Movies: Tomorrow When The War Began (2010), Red Dawn (2012), Goodbye World (2013).
TV Series: The Walking Dead, that's it. Don't even need to link it, we all know it.
Books: Going Home (entire series) by A. American., 1984 by George Orwell.
Games: none, I don't play anything, anywhere. I guess I could say 'I ain't playing', I'll show myself out.
Bonus edit: Full Movie: Tomorrow When the War Began
>we need to start monitoring what people say online and in person
Hey... I know a book about that. Here you go!
or this... http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0451524934/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&amp;index=0
https://www.novelrank.com/asin/0451524934 tracks sales from the different Amazon websites globally. Specifically, you can go to the charts subsection and see a graph of the past two years of 1984's sales rank (not the number of sales, but the actual ordinal position). Yes, it does spike every year around this time, but it's not been in this high position recently. The news shouldn't so much be that it is mymber 1, but that it is the highest it's been in a long time (and in fact cannot get in any higher position). Do not just contradict me without first providing facts and evidence and analysis. Yes it does peak at the beginning of Spring semester, but that obviously is not the only (or significant) reason why
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. First book to ever truly brake down the world paradigm for me. Wouldn't be in this sub without it. Fair warning though, it's got a lot of earthy, ecology stuff in there. Might be too much for people further to the right. If that is your thing though I'd also recomend Last hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann. Good thread, BWT. Refreshing to see this.
If you haven't already, check out Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Offers a rather compelling anthropological explanation of the early bible.
Ishmael, I sometimes hate recommending this book because of the tag "adventure of mind and spirit" but it's a very good and fascinating take on the anthropological origins of our civilization.
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
My assertions are axiomatic, and quite obviously so, at that. This is not a wise battle for you to pursue, unless you wish to descend into colonial European notions of manifest destiny and the white man's burden.
>>Those people are just as advanced as any other
>
>No, they're not.
Tell me, then: in a contest of using indigenous medicinal plants, who would prove "more advanced" - you, or these tribespeople? In determining who has superior herding techniques, which party would be the victor? In a comparison of familial kinship and relations? Spearcraft? Long-distance hiking? Animal husbandry?
There simply does not exist any way to declare any of these criteria "unimportant" without making a subjective assertion of your own personal values. And the people we're talking about would most certainly have a different class of values about those things. Why would your values be "more objective" than theirs - or anyone's? The answer is that they cannot be. It is your own opinion, and with any degree of humility, all genuinely reasonable people recoginze that, as I hope that you will, too.
>>Civilization and technology are specific types of advancements, but they are not objectively superior to any others
>
>Yes, they are.
Funny - there sure seem to be a great many very well-reasoned arguments against civilization and technology, even from those who have experienced the very height of their "advancement".
I certainly see no evidence for an objective declaration, even just by examing the meta-issue of the debate itself, which is undeniably still open.
>>to add "culture" in there is frankly just plain racist.
>
>No, it isn't.
Yes, it is. You have virtualy no notions of these people's culture. The very definition of "culture" practically prohibits the very idea of it being declared "advanced" or otherwise. It is simply the collection of common and traditional practices of a given group. I would even go so far as to say that if one were to make judgments of "advancement," surely a culture that has been largely uninterrupted and un-usurped for a period of thousands of years has matured and "advanced" far more than a culture which is ever-shifting and highly dependent on technological advances that didn't even exist a generation prior. But even to make an assertion such as that is meaningless, because the criterion "advancement" simply does not make sense when applied to culture - any culture. The only role that such a declaration can fulfill is to demean and devalue another group of people completely arbitrarily, as to support a racist or otherwise xenophobic worldview.
>By what standard are modern Western civilization, technology, and culture objectively superior to barefoot African tribesmen? By the only objective standard of value: their success at meeting the requirements of human life.
And just what are those "requirements of human life?" These tribespeople might tell you some very different things than what you would tell them. Would either of you be "right?" Absolutely not.
As for the rest of your points, they are all similarly obvious - and highly subjective, though largely incontroversial in our demographic - subjective and personal value judgments. Adding the word "objectively" to your statements does not make it so. Even such criteria as you have mentioned - lifespan, "individualism," property rights (lol), etc., are not objectively "advanced." After all, what are the "objective" benefits of a long lifespan if it is filled with ennui, alienation and oppression? What is the value of "individualism" to a person who cherishes deep bonds and shared struggle with others? How can one declare "property rights" to be an objective good when the very concept of such has only existed for a few hundred years, and has arguably led to the greatest ongoing extinction of species in millions of years?
You see? Value judgments, all of it. And for someone who might call themself a "libertarian," you certainly seem not to understand the true spirit of the credo, "live and let live."
One of the rare books I go back to re-read now and again is Ishmael - An adventure of mind and spirit. If you read it, let me know what you think.
Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
> Hate it when people make an argument they know is flawed.
Me too.
>> Interesting. But, doesn't that imply that 80% of us actively want back pain? Or, does it imply that God didn't give us an owner's manual for our bodies?
>> God took the time to tell us not to sleep with sheep. Why not also tell us correct posture and job options for a healthy back?
> HAHA I never thought I'd see back pain compared to sheep sodomy...
A) To be fair to the Bible, I am not aware of any specification of exactly which sex acts are and are not allowed. It's more of a sheepskin blanket statement that "baa" means "no". It's a sentiment I agree with. But, I do think it means that the authors of the Bible, either were sleeping with sheep or enough people around them were doing so, that they felt the need to state this explicitly. Compare to cannibalism, which as far as I know has no mention in the Bible, but might have if the Bible had been written on Fiji. I think my ancestors were sheepshaggers, not cannibals.
B) I think/hope I was comparing what is and is not in the Bible rather than comparing the experience of back pain with the experience of having sex with a sheep. Since I've only experienced back pain, I think I'd be bad at actually comparing the two.
> Though the christian God is more concerned with moral health than physical health. I get the vibe he probably could have given this information on health and lifestyle (and probably might have, pre fall) but that now it would only serve as confusion and distraction from his main concern, eternity. An important point to remember when debating religion I think!
I'll keep this in mind. It is interesting. But, to say that God is more concerned about our moral health than our physical health might imply that there is a limit as to how much time God can/will spend on the other. I'm not sure I see why God would have limited resources and need to prioritize or triage our health concerns.
> Though you'd probably question the morality of that in itself - suffering and all. But he would have to draw the line of intervention somewhere no? Possibly, that's at the finite as a whole! With a few miraculous exceptions to bump people in the right moral direction perhaps.
Possibly. I'm not sure I'm the best to argue this point since I don't actually understand what would drive God to create in the first place.
>> That would be interesting. But, I would love to know why God would want us to live as hunters and gatherers but give us all of those instructions for sacrificing animals that we'd have only with animal husbandry.
> From what I understand animal sacrifice was less to do with the animal and more to do with the sacrifice. Sacrifices of grain, fine oils and other valuable commodities were also common in Judaism as a demonstration of prioritizing God over the short term.
True. But, none of that would apply to hunters and gathers. Nor was the Bible written by (or revealed to) hunters and gatherers. My ancestors were a mix of nomadic shepherds and city dwellers. The Bible is clearly written by and for that culture and time.
So, the way we lived for ~190,000 years prior to agriculture may indeed have been healthier for us. But, the authors were so far removed from that time that there is no mention of it at all in the Bible.
Though, I did read an interesting book that suggested that the story of the fall of man may actually be one of the few very vaguely remembered stories from the people who were not agrarian but lived side by side with agrarians and saw the lifestyle as a fall from the grace of hunting and gathering.
I'm not saying I agree or that the book was in any way scientific about it. But, it was an interesting take on the story of the fall. The book is Ishmael (part of a trilogy) by Daniel Quinn. If you haven't already read it, you might find it has some interesting thinking behind it.
> So it's more about morality and giving up what you value than what that sacrifice actually is. If we were hunter gatherers, the sacrifice might have been 10% of our berries and pelts or something.
True enough.
Though the scapegoating bit always bothered me. I don't personally think that one can put their sins on an animal, kill that animal, and waste the food as a means of absolution. In fact, I think this results in increasing their sins rather than decreasing them. For, now they have added needlessly killing an animal. And, while I'm not a vegetarian, I think we should't kill animals without at least the purpose of eating them.
>> We are a young species. We've only been on the planet for 200,000 years. Our bipedalism evolved and has been improving since Ardipithecus, a genus of two species that were likely partially bipedal 4.4 and 5.6 million years ago. This is not a long time in evolution. We've been improving but likely still don't have all of the kinks worked out.
>
> So considering how incredibly effective our bodies are in every other aspect of bipedalism, the idea of our backs being left behind in this development to me, make the causes of late onset chronic pain seem more like a result of societal lifestyle changes than not.
Actually, there are other pains as well that we get from bipedalism. Back pain is not alone. It is in good company with knee and neck pain. And, numerous people have problems with their feet such as flat feet. My own go splat, meaning that I have an arch but it doesn't hold when I stand up. So I need orthotics to keep my arch while walking because otherwise, my knees tip inward and I get knee pain from my bad feet.
> I hear you saying backs just had no reason to be better for our survival sake, but you know, I think they would have been.
Maybe they will be if we can survive the next couple of hundred years. Maybe when the great human die-off happens (because we're way over sustainable numbers right now) that will give us the small population(s) required for speciation to occur. And, maybe we'll get the next incremental improvement, which may be stronger backs or going back to knuckle-walking. Or, it could be letting our legs atrophy altogether and getting around with wheels. Maybe the so-called singularity where we ?download/upload/crossload? our very selves into robot bodies will be our next evolutionary step.
I'm not optimistic. I'm betting extinction of us and a great many other species with us is the next step for us.
> (Only way to have any clue would be by that study we spoke about though). Also, would the argument of aging be reasonable, given all creatures ache towards the end of their lives? Dogs' hips for example, they often go when they get old, so we'd be saying they're an imperfect design too?
I once did read a book on philosophy of engineering that said that perfect engineering would have the whole unit fail at once.
>> Unfortunately, it does not look to me as if we'll survive long enough for that next step.......
> Wellllll that's a terrifying thought! I'll just go crawl back into my confirmation bias shell now, thank you. ;)
Oops. I was responding and reading at the same time. Maybe I should go back and delete some of the more depressing stuff I wrote above. But, I already typed it and still agree with what I typed. So, I'm going to let it stand.
If you believe our lives our eternal, why worry if our physical species is not?
BTW, I personally would not want eternity in heaven or hell. Both are equally scary to me. They'd only differ for the portion of time that I'd be adjusting to my new surroundings. Once I'm used to heaven or abused to hell, I'd go through an OK period (finite) in either and then just be bored out of my soul for the rest of eternity (infinite). I'm not built for eternity and want no part of it. But, that's just me.
Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner is about water infrastructure in the American West and its politics.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is fiction but talks about human-nature relations.
I've read that.. It's just Ishmael.. Good book.
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
I wouldn't say it's classic philosophy but it help me with thinking in a different way and challenging common knowledge more.
you might enjoy this book
One of them, at least, was reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn in 11th grade. The book has a lot of flaws, but it was eye-opening for me - and helped me see (and analyze) the myths and constructs of the human existence. Some of these myths are good, helpful, etc, but in the end it's all made up.
It works locally but it can never work globally. Populations tend to increase when there is enough food for everyone until there is no longer enough sustenance, then you have hungry people again. The only way we can ever feed everyone is if we have an ever increasing food source and ever increasing land source, of which we have neither.
Daniel Quinn wrote a very good book discussing this called Ishmael. I'm not saying it's as cut and dry as that, but you can't really believe that if everyone has enough money and everyone has enough food, we won't be in the same situation all over again in just a couple of years. It's much more complicated than that.
Going to try and post books that are related, but not actually "atheist".
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
The first one for obvious reasons. Sagan is the secular Jesus, and I'd say the second is an interesting read for anyone religious or otherwise, but I feel like it would be better received if you don't actually believe in Christianity. It's a great read though
I highly recommend [Ishmael by Daniel Quinn] (https://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Novel-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1505685091&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=ishmael+daniel+quinn) and [Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac] (https://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Bums-Jack-Kerouac/dp/0140042520/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1505685168&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dharma+bums+by+jack+kerouac).
The narrators of both books are looking to understand life, or to put their existence in some sort of context. Over the course of their adventures, they find out how to exist in the world in a way that empowers them and celebrates their uniqueness.
http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Adventure-Spirit-Daniel-Quinn/dp/0553375407
Ismael by Daniel Quinn. Everything about what is wrong with our civilization through a talking gorilla. Great stuff
I came here to recommend this series, especially the first book (Red Mars). Awesome, awesome books!
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Mars-Trilogy-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553560735
Although I recommend getting it from your local library.
One of my favorite setups for Science Fiction
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Mars-Trilogy-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553560735
Though not the most recent nor academic sources of discussion on the topic, these two iconic scifi books/series are incredibly detailed and well-informed. They show two slightly different but plausible implementations of the technology involved.
Red Mars ; Green Mars ; Blue Mars - all by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Fountains of Paradise - by Arthur C. Clarke
Possibly the Western Sahara. It's claimed by Morocco but has an official status of a "disputed zone" with the Polisario Front.
And since you probably won't leave civilization, I would have two suggestions that you might enjoy.
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/far-out--2/heimo-s-arctic-refuge-full-length
http://www.amazon.com/Antarctica-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553574027
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Mars-Trilogy-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0553560735
If you don't mind Sci-fi, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy would be great for inspiration.
Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553560735/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_jonPAb41Z800D
A good thing for you to do is to read Red Mars, it gives a good explanation of possible ways for us to live on Mars (and in the later books in the trilogy other planets).