Jump to content

Book Club


ResettePlayer

Recommended Posts

So, though i've utterly run out of funds to grow my own collection of books (which may be a good thing :/ ), college has begun and i gladly can say that I have plenty of spare time to lounge in the massive university library, whether it be to type down my 3yo fanfic, or to read up.

6e042e1bfe664087bd9c5a2c77b857c5.0.jpg.428dbc9150fff1c751b0c2687fee1a5f.jpg

This is but a quarter of one of the library's three sections, dedicated to classification 640, which is Home Econ, which is useful considering there's a college for tourism, culinary arts and HrM in the campus.

fa60c893e6603d2671d8d25cbab6beb9.0.jpg.f0f2e76da280301641ecd43342b7f72f.jpg915a2ab87e3f7eb1460382ec91af72c0.0.jpg.757b15b3f10373d2386e92b37618020b.jpg

So far i've delved into the cookbooks first. Most of the stuff here is Applied Sciences and general references - i have yet to check the fiction section though.

Fun fact: the library will even accept requests from students to purchase specific books for them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished Baron Munchausen. Was kind of confused by the final page of the book. The rest was about conquering and then out of nowhere the author decided to burn the philosopher voltiere by saying he was alligned with **** and so the Baron beat him up and married a princess. Just- Weirdest final page I ever read.

Starting to read Portrait of Dorian Grey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Managed to snag Lord Brocktree much to my wallet's chagrin. For a children's book series full of vivid, violent battles, this one seems the most violent with a vivid description of the MC cracking the Big Bad's spine, and a following chapter dedicated to the Big Bad's last moments as he is left paralyzed on the beach and the tide draws closer amd closer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had the foresight to visit the library before the worst of last week's heatwave. Unfortunately, it looks like my branch has a thinner and thinner selection every time I (infrequently) check. In spite of this, however, I was lucky enough to find...
20190722_165235.thumb.jpg.671d46ac3760bf2be00ec449ba9225df.jpg
... the first three consecutive volumes of the Invader Zim comics! Otherwise I kinda just grabbed whatever. 

Anyway, verdicts:

Grand Theft Horse: Pretty alright. Based on a true story of a woman who stole a horse she co-owned, and the ensuing legal battle. 

Be Prepared: Pretty alright. About suffering through summer camp and the things kids think will bring them friends. Can relate to that second part.

Piper: Meh. There were little details and stuff I appreciated, and it wasn't bad! But I just don't understand why a story about the Pied Piper had to be a teenage romance. 

Gravity Falls: Lost Legends: Darned excellent as you might expect. Forgot just how deeply I love GF. Will probably binge watch now. Got a decent amount of chuckles out of this.

Spoiler

Referring to comics themselves:
20190722_165542.thumb.jpg.0ed3c70ceba6e5ec6ef414c1ed582c0f.jpg

Seeking Refuge: Kinda bad. Reads like the authors were using the graphic novel medium in an attempt to "reach kids" or whatever without actually trying to make a good book. Expository, unrewarding, didn't even make me feel that sorry for a Jewish kid during the Holocaust era, which should be easy.

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral: Very disappointing. You think Star Wars would make for great comics (strong visuals, universe to explore) but this just felt like a bunch of exposition and lore and stuff while remaining wholly lame. Not super bad, per se, but not good.

Spoiler

20190716_212934.thumb.jpg.05ac66a7ab94d4bb25ff3dd52356abe0.jpg Let me tell you about my MacGuffin, pathetic mortals!

20190722_165614.thumb.jpg.3e495fbb3543bbf35b0eecd9122cbeb0.jpg

Someone's plans were thwarted.

The comic had enough self awareness to have another character comment on this guy's cheesy villain outfit, so I'll give it a point for that.

Invader Zim: Maybe it's just my nostalgia talking, but these are good. Got several chortles out of me. I suppose I got extra enjoyment out of these as someone who pretends to be intelligent and reads a lot of critically acclaimed, compelling comics and these are just shamelessly--refreshingly--stupid. Plus the art and expressions are really well done.

Spoiler

20190722_165646.thumb.jpg.fb939b058d0e7ed16f3d04466790e844.jpg

That Indie Games book: Meh. Kinda just felt like a rather long article about the author raving about how great indie games are. Which is fine, but I felt like I got no (or very little) insight from it. It seems to have been written more for an audience who knows nothing or very little about indie games. Well now I just sound like a stuck-up pretentious fraud, but that's how it made me feel.

 

So that's it! The library haul! I go now to return the bounty, and maybe find something else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been reading Earthsea, and because I'm not going to bother to write a full review, I'm just going to rank the ones I've read so far.

4-The Farthest Shore. It's still great, but I just prefer the small scale character dramas of the other books rather than the big epic quest Farthest Shore gives us.

3-A Wizard of Earthsea. I have only 4 slots to rank these. It's really hard to do these books justice, this does not deserve to be near the bottom of any list. It's a masterpiece (same with Farthest Shore).

2-Tehanu.

1-The Tombs of Atuan. Earthsea has lovecraft-esc dark gods now. I love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This isn't a review or anything, I'm simply running out of Earthsea to read and ran out of Tolkein a long time ago.

I need good fantasy books. And not just run of the mill fantasy stories about quests and dark lords and dragons, fantasy books that include the reason I like the genre.

A constant feeling of melancholy and longing. If you've read Lord of the Rings you should know what I mean (seriously, I spent hours as a child gazing over the maps at the end of the book and wondering what lied to the east before I found out about the Silnarillion).

Or just whimsical Hobbit-esc fun adventures, I'm a sucker for those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Raspberry Shake said:

I need good fantasy books.

Don't we all, buddy. Don't we all. 

The Fantasy Subreddit has a crap ton of recommendations, so much so that I say "I'll get to those" and never do. However! I obtained a secondhand copy of The Name of the Wind  by Patrick Rothfuss and I'll read it after finishing these other three books I'm working on. I'll tell you if it's any good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished the audiobook version of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Being a novel (rather than nonfiction), I may have enjoyed it more as a written book, but it lent itself quite well to audio. Being narrated by several different characters, a variety of voice actors were brought on. The guy who read out the Frederick Fairly section receives all of my praise for making that part 100x funnier than my simple silent reading would have accomplished.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got so little time for my interests now thanks to joining an extracurricular organization (which has a sweet tuition discount) so I've read very little and painted even less.

But I did manage to finish The Scarlet Pimpernel and I can say it was a great read with nice characters imo, balancing both mystery, suspense, romance and action excellently. Well, what did I expect of the book which spawned the "superhero-in-disguise" trope?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently reading Geromino Stilton in the Land of Fantasy. I read it's sequel a year ago but this is the first Geromino Stilton book I own. It's another library garbage book I got from their recycling bin.

I love the Geromino Stilton books. Great Italian literature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, minespatch said:

Currently reading Geromino Stilton in the Land of Fantasy. I read it's sequel a year ago but this is the first Geromino Stilton book I own. It's another library garbage book I got from their recycling bin.

I love the Geromino Stilton books. Great Italian literature.

These ones are a hit in elementary days until today! IF you owned even one issue of these you were literally the coolest kid in class. The elementary library was chock-full of these too...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, GetNerfedOn said:

These ones are a hit in elementary days until today! IF you owned even one issue of these you were literally the coolest kid in class. The elementary library was chock-full of these too...

I know this sounds weird but can you post a page from the Italian version? The way the American Schoolastic version does the book seems odd:3329-2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, minespatch said:

I know this sounds weird but can you post a page from the Italian version? The way the American Schoolastic version does the book seems odd:3329-2.jpg

No, ours here in the Philippines are also English version... also, searched online and could only find English or Chinese pages, sorry :/

Though, those quirky words that appear every now and then were one of the things which captured our young hearts seeking for fun,warmth and adventure :D 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 on another note...

After much searching around in the library i have decided that the first books i shall borrow are as follows:

- Life of Pi. I read it when i was fourteen because I love details about surviving and innovation against all odds. Now i'll reread it for the interfaith discourse xD

- Sherlock Holmes' complete adventures. Because i need to properly read Valley of Fear, the Final problem, etc. etc. all over again.

- The Prince, because i need to discuss Machiavelli anf his discourses in our Science sub, which turns out to be more related to Philosophy.

- A complete and extensive guide to cheese. Despite only having access to mere processed cheeses like Quickmelt and Eden and low-quality Parmesans and Mozzarellas and Cheddars, cheese and its subculture fascinates me as a whole. Not just the entire melt-cheese-amd-drown-every-foodstuff-in-it kinda thing, no, proper cheese appreciation - all those entire rituals ppl have with the perfect matches of Gran Padano and wine.

- A cookbook on seafood because fish is absolutely my worst ingredient, ever. I just don't know what to mix to makee fishy tastes taste good. I do make a killer garlic shrimp tho.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, minespatch said:

@Pop Guy Are you familiar with the Geromino Stilton books?

 

Sure! Here in Italy Geronimo Stilton is very famous!
As a child I often read it, unfortunately modern books are less beautiful than old ones.
I think almost all the children of my generation have read Geronimo Stilton's books. They are light and fun books, with a pedagocical intent and a touch of adventure and dementia.
"Che fifa sul kilimangiaro" I think it was one of the most entertaining books of the whole saga!

image.thumb.png.8e37cf2b58df040d989529d04628c78b.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pop Guy said:

As a child I often read it, unfortunately modern books are less beautiful than old ones.

How does the pages in your book compare to the English version I posted above? Something tells me that Scholastic butchered the translation.5bfe2c4bc698b_Arielthoncdiscord.png.5510791e124c2132fa82ba92b8d32585.png

Also, I hate how the cartoon removes his glasses. I felt they were a nice touch to his character in the books, emphasizing his love as a book reader(including being a publisher).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox. It's a book about one of the real-life instances of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes) using similar analytical methods to get an innocent convict out of prison.

The book was alright, but it felt a bit... fluffy? Extra details and contextual information is essential, but a lot of extra things were unnecessarily expanded upon. The book was pretty average in size, even smaller with the pictures and index type stuff removed, so the fluff may have seemed necessary. I mean, it would probably be better just to read a biography of Conan Doyle if you like the extra stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Father was kind enough to buy me a copy of My Hero Acadamea. So it was nice to see what was left and what was changed in the manga to the Anime. Including the cameos from DC and Marvel comics.

I'm going to try finishing Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand before finally reading the Book of Mormon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Big Bad Wolf sale arrived in Cebu once more, and I just had to go thereal anf injure m wallet some more.

 

However, i did manage to snag, among other things:

- How to Land an Airbus by James May

- Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

- and Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.

Starting on Farewell to arms first, and its been idyllic descriptions of off-battle wartime interactions which i strangely enjoy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh man, i miss this thread?! i'm a big fan of books too.

I'm a sucker for anything involving grimdark future, like 1984 for example, written by George Orwell. Heck, anything written by George Orwell.

I also have a collection of books on how to be a much better human being by Dale Carnegie. I love him so much, he written so many things that help me in life, and also help me help other in life.

Sadly, a lot of books that is accessible elsewhere are censored here, the government are very aggressive when it come to sensitive topics. Personally? i wish i can leave this stupid country so i can enjoy a place where i'm not going to get lynch by having different opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, DarithD said:

grimdark future

I think the word you're looking for is "dystopian". "Grimdark" typically refers to genre fiction that's excessive in it's grimness, like Warhammer 40,000.

Have you read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? It's in a similar vein.

5 hours ago, DarithD said:

Dale Carnegie

I've read How to Win Friends and Influence People. Honestly, I think I'm due for a reread.

5 hours ago, DarithD said:

leave this stupid country

Oh shoot, sorry to hear that! I hope you can get out of there quickly and safely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ResettePlayer said:

I think the word you're looking for is "dystopian". "Grimdark" typically refers to genre fiction that's excessive in it's grimness, like Warhammer 40,000.

Have you read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? It's in a similar vein.

I've read How to Win Friends and Influence People. Honestly, I think I'm due for a reread.

Oh shoot, sorry to hear that! I hope you can get out of there quickly and safely.

Yes i have read Brave New World, it's a lovely read, and a very terrifying one too.

Dale Carnegie is great, yet he often recycle some topics on his other books, or maybe it just my copy. I'm not sure.

I'm sorry for the outburst, i'm not a big fan of the government, they are what Animal Farm represent. Kick out the colonizer, and we ended up with worst.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I understood you here share emotions after reading books and advise each other various books?

I loved to read, but at the moment rarely read because my books-this is now the textbooks of physics and mathematics. But I have many favorite works, but it is Russian literature(although I have read and foreign).

At the moment I want to say that the most difficult book to read was the work of Lev Tolstoy (" War and peace") This 4 volume descriptions love, war Russians and French, betrayal, torture and happy ending.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Please be aware that the content of this thread may be outdated and no longer applicable.

×
  • Create New...