I'm a passionate fan of most creative art forms, and most of all I love a good story, irrelevant of the format. I'm a big film buff, watch a lot of tv, listen to a lot of music and read a lot of comics. But in my opinion you can't beat a good book.
I've posted on here several times that I'm currently reading Stephen King's Insomnia and am absolutely loving it. I think what a book can give you that nothing else can is that deapth of story.
I'm also somewhat of a budding/trying writter and again nothing inspires me write like a book. I love the way a book gets you thinking. Gets those creative juices flowing.
I just felt I needed to post to champion books. For me the time you put into a book can be the most rewarding relaxation time spent.
Currently on Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. It's a quick read, so far and seems to be constructed around a fairly interesting conceit. The author appears to have built the story around what he describes as authentic vintage found photographs with strange subject matter and eccentric composition. Many appear to be classic, pre-Photoshop double exposure type images.
I'm about 1/3 into it at the moment and find myself wondering how the structure of the story would change if the photos were introduced in a different order. We'll see when I wrap it up if the conceit holds up, but so far, I'm both enjoying the story and the additional intellectual exercise.
Wrapped up Miss Peregrin's.... Pretty pleased with it overall. It went a number of different places that I really wasn't expecting (incredibly hard to describe without spoiling something). The photo element seemed to hold up well to the close of the book. Should be a sequel out next year. Will look forward to reading it when it arrives.
Decided to try once again with Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm close to half way through it but it's been quite the slog to get this far and it's only been by picking it up for a period and then putting it away until ready to dive in for more.
Decided to try once again with Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm close to half way through it but it's been quite the slog to get this far and it's only been by picking it up for a period and then putting it away until ready to dive in for more.
It was a little difficult to get through, but it did pick up at the end.
Decided to try once again with Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm close to half way through it but it's been quite the slog to get this far and it's only been by picking it up for a period and then putting it away until ready to dive in for more.
It was a little difficult to get through, but it did pick up at the end.
Bry
I will say that it does a wonderful job of reaffiming my distaste for the literary structure that brought us the Bronte's and Austen.
The Bayou Trilogy: Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do by Daniel Woodrell
The collected Rene Shade triology. After Winter's Bone I HAVE to read everything Woodrell writes. Also - I love to watch series like "Justified". Crime tales from the South rock my boat.
And Barack Obama chose it for his summer reading....
Decided to try once again with Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm close to half way through it but it's been quite the slog to get this far and it's only been by picking it up for a period and then putting it away until ready to dive in for more.
As Bryan said, it does pick up in the last third. I own the audio book version, and that lull isn’t as strong when “reading” it that way.
I started reading World War Z today. O…M…G! I’m about 20 pages in and the only reason I put my Kindle down is to watch my Sunday night non-cable television. I ‘m already immensely enjoying this book and I LOVE the way it’s being written. It makes it that much more real.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
I started reading World War Z today. O…M…G! I’m about 20 pages in and the only reason I put my Kindle down is to watch my Sunday night non-cable television. I ‘m already immensely enjoying this book and I LOVE the way it’s being written. It makes it that much more real.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Both are amazing books. Read World War Z earlier this year and was very very impressed. Sadly it looks like the movie is not gonna be like the novel. First read the first 3 Hitchhiker's books back when I was 10 or so and really enjoyed them. I had gotten the Infocom Hitchhikers computer game and loved the game so much I sought out the novels I have read all the novels in the series written by Adams. I own the last book that was written by someone else but haven't read it yet.
I started reading World War Z today. O…M…G! I’m about 20 pages in and the only reason I put my Kindle down is to watch my Sunday night non-cable television. I ‘m already immensely enjoying this book and I LOVE the way it’s being written. It makes it that much more real.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Both are amazing books. Read World War Z earlier this year and was very very impressed. Sadly it looks like the movie is not gonna be like the novel. First read the first 3 Hitchhiker's books back when I was 10 or so and really enjoyed them. I had gotten the Infocom Hitchhikers computer game and loved the game so much I sought out the novels I have read all the novels in the series written by Adams. I own the last book that was written by someone else but haven't read it yet.
How in the world did you play that game without reading the books first?
I started reading World War Z today. O…M…G! I’m about 20 pages in and the only reason I put my Kindle down is to watch my Sunday night non-cable television. I ‘m already immensely enjoying this book and I LOVE the way it’s being written. It makes it that much more real.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Both are amazing books. Read World War Z earlier this year and was very very impressed. Sadly it looks like the movie is not gonna be like the novel. First read the first 3 Hitchhiker's books back when I was 10 or so and really enjoyed them. I had gotten the Infocom Hitchhikers computer game and loved the game so much I sought out the novels I have read all the novels in the series written by Adams. I own the last book that was written by someone else but haven't read it yet.
How in the world did you play that game without reading the books first?
I think I was like 9 or so when I got the game. My mother got it for me cause she knew I loved the science fiction genre. I was about halfway through the game when I got the first book. By reading the book is how I learned I needed to make sure to get the babelfish in the game.
Okay, that makes sense. There's no way you could solve some of those puzzles without having read the books. Have you read Neil Gaiman’s Don’t Panic? There’s a revised version that goes up to Adams’ death and covers his other work. I need to pick that up at some point.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Stop after the fourth one. The fifth ruins everything.
Okay, that makes sense. There's no way you could solve some of those puzzles without having read the books. Have you read Neil Gaiman’s Don’t Panic? There’s a revised version that goes up to Adams’ death and covers his other work. I need to pick that up at some point.
Never read Don't Panic but have always wanted too. The puzzles in the Hitchhiker's Guide game were really tough. I ended up ordering the Infocom hint book and using it to finish the game. Wasn't until the Sci Fi channel hit the airwaves that I was able to see the Hitchiker's Guide BBC production. I remember being super excited for it and also being mad that it was 2 parts and each part aired on Sundays. So I had to wait a week before seeing the ending.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Stop after the fourth one. The fifth ruins everything.
The fifth book is Mostly Harmless right? I read that Adams wasn't happy with that book and had written an outline for book 6 that would correct the stuff he wasn't happy with . I think this outline is what was used to produce book 6. But it has been years since I read the fifth book.
How in the world did you play that game without reading the books first?
I think I was like 9 or so when I got the game. My mother got it for me cause she knew I loved the science fiction genre. I was about halfway through the game when I got the first book. By reading the book is how I learned I needed to make sure to get the babelfish in the game.
I was always stuck with not having first picked up the mail from the mail slot, though that babelfish vending machine vexed me for the longest time. (It was also one of the funniest problems in the game; I laughed a stitch at the ingeniousness of how it kept thwarting me.) I loved the game, but it was not as easy a play as was advertised; it was the only Infocom game I absolutely needed a cheat guide to get through.
The one thing I have to say about Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe: if you read the books, also listen to the radio show. Then go watch the BBC TV show. Then (if you must) watch the American movie. (I would not recommend the American comic book from DC.) Each one is equally funny, but each tells the story different and spins off in its own direction. There are similarities, they basically begin exactly the same, but go off in different storylines. No two are exactly the same. But all are funny. And of them all, the radio show is the best version.
How in the world did you play that game without reading the books first?
I think I was like 9 or so when I got the game. My mother got it for me cause she knew I loved the science fiction genre. I was about halfway through the game when I got the first book. By reading the book is how I learned I needed to make sure to get the babelfish in the game.
I was always stuck with not having first picked up the mail from the mail slot, though that babelfish vending machine vexed me for the longest time. (It was also one of the funniest problems in the game; I laughed a stitch at the ingeniousness of how it kept thwarting me.) I loved the game, but it was not as easy a play as was advertised; it was the only Infocom game I absolutely needed a cheat guide to get through.
The one thing I have to say about Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe: if you read the books, also listen to the radio show. Then go watch the BBC TV show. Then (if you must) watch the American movie. (I would not recommend the American comic book from DC.) Each one is equally funny, but each tells the story different and spins off in its own direction. There are similarities, they basically begin exactly the same, but go off in different storylines. No two are exactly the same. But all are funny. And of them all, the radio show is the best version.
The BBC radio version is the only version I have never experienced. I need to listen to it one time. Didn't it come first? Then after it the novel was written.
That Hitchhiker's game drove me crazy. I think I managed to get past that tricky opening puzzle that turned away so many players, but never got much past that. Text adventures always used to try my patience, anyway. I don't believe I ever finished a single one.
And if anyone's interested I've been trying to sell the cassette version of the radio play for a while now on eBay.
That Hitchhiker's game drove me crazy. I think I managed to get past that tricky opening puzzle that turned away so many players, but never got much past that. Text adventures always used to try my patience, anyway. I don't believe I ever finished a single one.
And if anyone's interested I've been trying to sell the cassette version of the radio play for a while now on eBay.
I think the only Infocom game I beat without a cheat guide was "Nort and Bert couldn't make heads or tails out of it". I had at least 8 of the Infocom text adventures on my old Apple computer.
I would bid on that item ,but I have nothing that plays cassette tapes anymore.
I'm reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's part of Barnes and Noble's leather bound classics collection. This volume collects all five volumes in one leather bound hardcover collection. It's pretty awesome so far.
Stop after the fourth one. The fifth ruins everything.
Really? That's a bit disappointing. I may read it though just because it's all part of the same book. Thanks for the warning though.
The sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book that is written by Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing..., isn't that bad considering it's another guy writing from an Adams outline. You can definitely tell it's writing that's inspired by Adams rather than, you know, by Adams, but it's a decent read. I do think I enjoyed it better than Mostly Harmless, which I like to pretend never happened.
I didn't know that Gaiman did an updated version of Don't Panic... I'll have to track that down!
As far as other Douglas Adams works go, you really need to check out Last Chance to See if you haven't yet. Adams accompanies a biologist to all of these exotic places in the hopes of catching glimpses of some incredibly endangered species. It's part wildlife documentary, part travelog, and because it's Adams, it's all entertaining.
I'm picking my way through Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It's slow going because I'm busy with my FINAL TWO CLASSES OF GRAD SCHOOL(!!!), but I'm enjoying every bit of it that I do get the chance to read. Don't know how the hell they went and made a movie out of this, even if it was handled by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski sibs. Looking forward to eventually watching the attempt, though.
But the book itself - yeah, it's good. So very, very good. Each segment has been brilliantly constructed, and every time I find a connection between them, it feels like a discovery.
The sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book that is written by Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing..., isn't that bad considering it's another guy writing from an Adams outline. You can definitely tell it's writing that's inspired by Adams rather than, you know, by Adams, but it's a decent read. I do think I enjoyed it better than Mostly Harmless, which I like to pretend never happened.
I didn't know that Gaiman did an updated version of Don't Panic... I'll have to track that down!
As far as other Douglas Adams works go, you really need to check out Last Chance to See if you haven't yet. Adams accompanies a biologist to all of these exotic places in the hopes of catching glimpses of some incredibly endangered species. It's part wildlife documentary, part travelog, and because it's Adams, it's all entertaining.
I also enjoyed the Douglas Adams "Salmon of Doubt" book and his Dirk Gently novels.
Comments
I've posted on here several times that I'm currently reading Stephen King's Insomnia and am absolutely loving it. I think what a book can give you that nothing else can is that deapth of story.
I'm also somewhat of a budding/trying writter and again nothing inspires me write like a book. I love the way a book gets you thinking. Gets those creative juices flowing.
I just felt I needed to post to champion books. For me the time you put into a book can be the most rewarding relaxation time spent.
Just as good ten years later.
Bry
The collected Rene Shade triology. After Winter's Bone I HAVE to read everything Woodrell writes. Also - I love to watch series like "Justified". Crime tales from the South rock my boat.
And Barack Obama chose it for his summer reading....
The fifth book is Mostly Harmless right? I read that Adams wasn't happy with that book and had written an outline for book 6 that would correct the stuff he wasn't happy with . I think this outline is what was used to produce book 6. But it has been years since I read the fifth book.
The one thing I have to say about Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe: if you read the books, also listen to the radio show. Then go watch the BBC TV show. Then (if you must) watch the American movie. (I would not recommend the American comic book from DC.) Each one is equally funny, but each tells the story different and spins off in its own direction. There are similarities, they basically begin exactly the same, but go off in different storylines. No two are exactly the same. But all are funny. And of them all, the radio show is the best version.
And if anyone's interested I've been trying to sell the cassette version of the radio play for a while now on eBay.
ebay.com/itm/110979070559?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
I think the only Infocom game I beat without a cheat guide was "Nort and Bert couldn't make heads or tails out of it". I had at least 8 of the Infocom text adventures on my old Apple computer.
I would bid on that item ,but I have nothing that plays cassette tapes anymore.
Yes, the BBC radio show came first.
About 8 years ago I found a site that had a version of the Hitchhiker's game you could play in your browser.
One of my cars still has a cassette deck in it. But it doesn't work.
I didn't know that Gaiman did an updated version of Don't Panic... I'll have to track that down!
As far as other Douglas Adams works go, you really need to check out Last Chance to See if you haven't yet. Adams accompanies a biologist to all of these exotic places in the hopes of catching glimpses of some incredibly endangered species. It's part wildlife documentary, part travelog, and because it's Adams, it's all entertaining.
But the book itself - yeah, it's good. So very, very good. Each segment has been brilliantly constructed, and every time I find a connection between them, it feels like a discovery.
I also enjoyed the Douglas Adams "Salmon of Doubt" book and his Dirk Gently novels.