Outside of a Dog, a Book is Man's Best Friend (The Book Thread)

[Susan1]

Of course I would be walking past a library shelf and pick up a mystery called "Crime and Punctuation"! ha ha

It's a new "deadly edits" series by Kaitlyn Dunnett. It looks like she writes a bunch of Scottish and historical stuff. This is set in the Catskills though. It's a hardback, so I'm not classifying it as a "cozy". Her second book in the series comes out in 2019, so I added her to my list to look for.

Finished this book today. No typos. There's even a section at the end (like where baking or cooking cozies put their recipes) of grammar hints!

 

[rfisher]

I figured that Barnes and Noble would go bankrupt at some point and it looks that point will come soon.

I wonder what will happen to my 1000+ ebooks.

I was wondering the same thing. Apparently you can use Calibre and convert them to other reader formats, but I've no idea how that happens. I guess I'll be buying a Kindle. Who would have ever figured Kobo would have a resurgence now that WalMart owns them.

 

[Prancer]

Apparently you can use Calibre and convert them to other reader formats, but I've no idea how that happens.

I have Calibre, but just the thought of converting all those books makes me tired. There are a lot I could do without, but there are a lot I would like to keep, too.

Ugh.

 

[Winnipeg]

Reading For WHom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway.

I decided to read it because the late John McCain referenced it and I respected him.

Just started it so we shall see..........

 

[hoptoad]

Someone here will probably appreciate this literary tweet:

https://twitter.com/OrkneyLibrary/status/1036624470121820161

 

[puglover]

I am developing a very bad habit of reading the first number of chapters of a book - getting bored somewhere in the middle with all the back and forth - and then skipping to the last four or so chapters for resolution. Not sure if this is just me getting old and more impatient or if there is really so much filler in my choice of books that I can really miss half of the book and not feel as though I have missed much at all. Any thoughts?

 

[emason]

It's the books. There is a lot of unsatisfying stuff out there, and time is too precious to waste on something that isn't working. I start and stop lots of books until I hit the rare jewel that holds in thrall for its entirety.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

For my East Germany fans: Forty Autumns by Nina Willner. It's about a true story a family separated by the wall. I'm only halfway through, but it's super powerful and provides some insight into what it was like as noose slowly tightened on the East Germans.

 

[Winnipeg]

For Whom the Bell Tolls is Tolling Away...............

 

[Japanfan]

I am developing a very bad habit of reading the first number of chapters of a book - getting bored somewhere in the middle with all the back and forth - and then skipping to the last four or so chapters for resolution. Not sure if this is just me getting old and more impatient or if there is really so much filler in my choice of books that I can really miss half of the book and not feel as though I have missed much at all. Any thoughts?

IDK.

If I'm not sure whether I want to read a book or not (i.e. not familiar with the author), I often make my choice at the very first few sentences. It's largely an intuitive choice, and works for the most part. When I've tried to push myself past the very beginning of a book I didn't like, I rarely change my mind.

I am the same with TV series. It drives Mr. Japanfan nuts, and he insists I at least watch at full episode. Again, I rarely change my mind.

I don't know what kind of books you are reading, but can't imagine that reading the end of a book you've only read half of would offer any resolution. Unless it was a formulaic murder mystery and you wanted to skip straight from the murder to find out who-dunnit.

 

[Winnipeg]

I usually, but not always, just stop a book about page 50 if I am not yet into it by then.

 

[made_in_canada]

Question for all you people who do e-readers. Can you gift someone specific e-books? My best friend just got a kindle and I want to give her some books but I can't see how to do it.

 

[missing]

I've done it.
Here's a link to Amazon's information about it.

 

[Cachoo]

I'm a fan of the "The Supersizers" series and of "The Great British Baking Show" and so I decided to pick up "Spectacles" by Sue Perkins as I have enjoyed her in both series. What I enjoy about reading the book is that I am familiar enough with her voice and cadence now to the point that I can sort of hear her narrating as I read. And she is funny and a good writer. (Now I just want some of those yummy bakes.)

 

[Winnipeg]

Stopped the book For Whom the Bell Tolls and somehow feel this was an egregious act. I may have to finish it.

 

[Japanfan]

Stopped the book For Whom the Bell Tolls and somehow feel this was an egregious act. I may have to finish it.

From what little I've read of Hemingway, I love his lean 'less is more' writing style. But that said, I've not read much of him and doubt I'll read anymore in this lifetime.

It's okay not to read the classics, it really is.

I read 'Crime and Punishment' and 'War and Peace' as a young person because I thought I should. Can't say I have any desire to reread either, although I do recall loving 'Anna Karenina' very much.

'Dante's Inferno' and 'Paradise Lost' are also not on my bucket list.

 

[MacMadame]

We read Hemmingway in school. It was okay but didn't make me seek out anything else he'd written.

 

[quartz]

From what little I've read of Hemingway, I love his lean 'less is more' writing style. But that said, I've not read much of him and doubt I'll read anymore in this lifetime.

It's okay not to read the classics, it really is.

I read 'Crime and Punishment' and 'War and Peace' as a young person because I thought I should. Can't say I have any desire to reread either, although I do recall loving 'Anna Karenina' very much.

'Dante's Inferno' and 'Paradise Lost' are also not on my bucket list.

The more anyone ever tells me I should, the more likely I am to not. Life is too short to read someone else’s book list.

 

[Kasey]

Life is too short to read someone else’s book list.

I want this on a T-shirt!!

 

[missing]

This is a really interesting article about a Scottish bookstore available for renting for a week or two.

 

[Japanfan]

Life is too short to read someone else’s book list.

I have actually found Amazon lists to be very useful in terms of providing me with interesting titles.

 

[quartz]

I have actually found Amazon lists to be very useful in terms of providing me with interesting titles.

Amazon is too messed up for me as I use my ipad at the bookstore to look up stuff for customers I can’t find on our system - so I get all kinds of suggestions that are definitely NOT in my wheelhouse.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

For my college Dystopian Lit class, I'm reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. I am completely out of my element. I have zero idea what is going on. I just read a summary. I still have no idea what's going on.

It's very cyberpunk, and therefore tech heavy, with lots of slang that the reader must infer from the context, which I normally don't have a problem with, but since it's all slang about computer stuff, I, uh, got nothing. Thank goodness I presented last week...

 

[Prancer]

For my college Dystopian Lit class, I'm reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. I am completely out of my element. I have zero idea what is going on. I just read a summary. I still have no idea what's going on.

If it's any consolation, my husband read it and thought it was very weird and hard to follow.

 

[Japanfan]

For my college Dystopian Lit class, I'm reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. I am completely out of my element. I have zero idea what is going on. I just read a summary. I still have no idea what's going on.

It's very cyberpunk, and therefore tech heavy, with lots of slang that the reader must infer from the context, which I normally don't have a problem with, but since it's all slang about computer stuff, I, uh, got nothing. Thank goodness I presented last week...

I love dystopian lit but have not read this work. And from what you say, I won't be adding the title to my 'to read' list.

 

[Susan1]

I just put myself on the library hold list for Janet Evanovich's next book, which doesn't even come out till November. I am #167. And Ambush by James Patterson (Michael Bennett series), which comes out in October. I am #118. Patterson's Juror #3 is out, but it's in the fast read books now. I am #81 on the reserve list. If I see it on the fast read shelf, I'll get it sooner.

 

[MacMadame]

If it's any consolation, my husband read it and thought it was very weird and hard to follow.

And for more consolation, a colleague gave me this book years ago and I still haven't read it and I think I sold it when we moved.

 

[Winnipeg]

I want this on a T-shirt!!

ITA

LIfe is too short to read anyone else's book list

 

[puglover]

I haven't quite finished it but I am enjoying Robert Galbraith (JKRowling's) new book Lethal White. It is a continuation of the series of Corcoran - the ex British soldier with the leg amputation, turned private investigator. It is quite wordy but she can really pick words, so it has kept my interest.

 

[Prancer]

The Atlantic has a new web page devoted to books.