I was just wondering... Do you guys ever check books out at the library, or do you always buy them?

I've mostly just been checking out, because I don't really have the available cash to buy them... But once I get some money that can be spared, I'll start buying, and I'll buy some of the books I checked out from the library as well. I like collecting books and movies... The one thing I hate buying is video games and music CDs. I won't buy CDs... I also usually wait for movies to become cheaper, or for a special edition to come out before I buy them. I have the special edition of Boogey Nights, Terminator 2, Pulp Fiction, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, etc... I hate buying something and then another, better version of it comes out later >:(

ANYWAYS... I'm almost done reading "Chinese Takeout". Expect a review soon.

Hahaha. Mod factor 3. And no i wont use these mod "powers", thats just lame.

I normally buy my books, all of them, if i like the look of a book, i buy it and read it, even if its shitty, no use waisting the cash. Although, when i was younger i did rent a lot of books from the library and read them within days, i never ever needed to rent a book out longer than a week back then.

At 6/30/05 11:25 AM, Slightly_Crazy_Dude wrote:

JackOfShadows, are you constantly going around in clubs and just disagreeing with people for the fun of it?

No.

Thats all the sort of posts i see form you recently, whats wrong with you huh?

Well, seeing that I've posted in four clubs in the last two weeks, arguing with people in two of them (though it's 50% of the clubs I post in) can't count for that much.

I know people are entitled to their own opinions, but shit, if you must disagree with everyone, then dont post at all.

I'll try to be less provocative in the future.

Sorry for any misspelings, I'd drunk right now.

Greetings all, may I join?

I just finished Chinese Takeout, so time for my mediocre and helpless review.

Chinese Takeout

The book is about a struggling New York artist who makes his money by tiresomely attending art shows and trying to plug his art to the richest, greediest bastards he can find who are willing to give him a decent dime for his life's work. While he isn't doing that to make money, he is selling used books on the street with a few other book peddlers. Along his art-filled journey you are introduced to many quirky people involved in his life, and some new faces he meets along the way. Almost every character is uniqu, appealing, and full of life. The book gives you a great feeling about who these people are, and you will grow to love and hate certain characters.

One thing about the book is it's a bit repetitive at times, but it's curse of being repetitive is also it's power of using realism. We don't live life with excitement and fullfillment everyday, and this book makes sure people acknowledge that. Though many exciting things happen, it still shows the boring day-to-day life that most average people have. You do what you can, but you can only do so much. It usually gets repetitive when it talks about him selling books.

Lastly, I wouldn't call the book a thinker. It's relatively relaxed, and easy to comprehend. You might get confused at times with the vast amount of characters in the book, but the author usually clues you in to who they are and where you remember them from. It's a good book if you're interested in the art scene. If not, you may not appreciate/enjoy it that much, because the main focus of the book is the life of a struggling artist in the big city.

Rating - It's a good book. Not amazing, not anywhere near bad, just simply good. It will interest artsy people more than people uninterested in art.

(I've changed my ratings again. Since I suck with numbers, and don't like rating with numbers, I'll rate on a word scale... That seems better anyways, considering we are reading books, we should rate them with words.)

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I just picked up Breakfast of Champions, so that'll be the next thing I read.

At 6/30/05 08:43 PM, LeapOfFaith wrote: Greetings all, may I join?

Only if you, you know, read.

Wow Syko, I can't really picture you being the reader type.

At 6/30/05 11:05 PM, AngryToaster wrote: Wow Syko, I can't really picture you being the reader type.

I read everyday of my life, and I've been doing that for some time now... But I guess you aren't the only one who thought that. I started talking to one of my ex girlfriends again, and I mentioned something about reading and she was like "Ha ha, you don't look like a reader."

Just because I'm not bald, have glasses, badly dressed, and slightly over weight doesn't mean I can't read >:(

Plus I want to be a writer. A real writer. Not a "I'm a teenager with angst so I write in my spare time to express emotions nobody will ever understand." writer... A real writer who makes money. I've been doing free lance lately, and so far so good. I had an article purchased from me, and I've applied at some other jobs to write fiction stories for magazines, but I'm still waiting for their response. I also just sent in a poem I wrote tonight to a kids magazine, so let's hope that gets accepted... Even though if it does it's only paying $2. I don't mind much, because it will be in a published magazine, and that would be pretty kick ass.

It's my opinion that if you want to be a real, genuine, published writer... You need to read, or even read religiously.

At 6/30/05 03:45 PM, DirtySyko wrote: I was just wondering... Do you guys ever check books out at the library, or do you always buy them?

I used to check them out of the library all the time, but then I lost my library card and decided to buy them. That and the fact they never had any discworld books there, as they were always out.

DS, ive always wanted to be a writer, of oreferably Sci Fi or Fantasy books, thats all im really good at in terms of writing. My imagination runs wild everyday with concepts of good writing material. But the truth is, im a no good bum, who drinks too much and reads alot. And this new mod position hasnt exactly helped me in my time to read either.

i read a book called varjak paw (its a kiddy book) but i enjoyed it and found it had some unintentional? adult humour in it

At 7/2/05 11:26 AM, _simba_ wrote: i read a book called varjak paw (its a kiddy book) but i enjoyed it and found it had some unintentional? adult humour in it

whoops! didnt finish the reveiw ok...what it is are some mesopotanian blue cats who live in this 'contessas' house. varjak is the youngest there and is intruiged by these stories his grandad says. one day the contessa dies and this evil man is to take over.on grandpa knows that he is bad and sets varjak of on an adventure and he has to try and find a monster (or in other words a dog) and on the strreets (where no mesopatian blues have been) he finds two freinds named holly and tam. they are trying to survive in the streets whilst two cat gangs have a bitter fued and is all lost for varjak? he also has these dreams about that dude in his grandads story which teach him about 'the way' which is a martial art for cats and they have things like slow time and shadow walking.there are also mysterious vanishings. and when tam is captured varjak has to split loyalties. in case your wondering why i read this, its because i like cats and it won the smarties award yes the sweet and also it won gold prize

At 7/2/05 11:07 AM, Slightly_Crazy_Dude wrote: DS, ive always wanted to be a writer, of oreferably Sci Fi or Fantasy books, thats all im really good at in terms of writing. My imagination runs wild everyday with concepts of good writing material. But the truth is, im a no good bum, who drinks too much and reads alot. And this new mod position hasnt exactly helped me in my time to read either.

Fool, haven't you heard of Charles Bukowsky? He made his living being a bum alcoholic :)

At 6/30/05 11:25 AM, Slightly_Crazy_Dude wrote: Awesome, this club has truelly been given a breathe of fresh air. Nice to see new members joining, especially an oldschool NG veteran like Ben, coming in to discuss things.
JackOfShadows, are you constantly going around in clubs and just disagreeing with people for the fun of it? Thats all the sort of posts i see form you recently, whats wrong with you huh?

'NG veteran'? Far from. I'm still a noob at heart. Thanks for the sentiment though. I haven't seen you around in ages. On the other hand, that can probably be attributed to the fact that I never set foot in General anymore. These days, I only post here -- even though I've only made two posts here so far -- and in the two of the three threads you see below in my BBS sig that aren't locked. Even then, I can't even find the time to post anymore. I'm going to be busy all summer with a two-week crash course in filmmaking, I actually am spending much more of my time reading, I'm taking a road trip in a month and a half which I still need to plan for, I'm filling out something like twenty application forms just to get everything sorted out for my post-secondary and I'm trying to find enough time in all this to not neglect my girlfriend. It's a fine balance. And judging by how many posts were made here in my short two-day absence, I can already see that I'm going to have a hard time keeping up. Doesn't help that I'm a slow reader either. But seriously, no worries about Jack. I don't mind. In fact, it's kind of refreshing to see someone stand up against preconceived notions of the worth of literature based simply on the author's reputation. If he doesn't like it, it's all good. I've made my points and he's made his, so unless a duel to the death is in order, it's probably best to just let sleeping dogs lie. At least he's read the damn thing.

At 7/1/05 12:01 AM, DirtySyko wrote: Plus I want to be a writer. A real writer. Not a "I'm a teenager with angst so I write in my spare time to express emotions nobody will ever understand." writer... A real writer who makes money.
It's my opinion that if you want to be a real, genuine, published writer... You need to read, or even read religiously.

Ditto. Of course, I've done the teen angst thing -- you should be able to find a link to my old blog in my NG profile -- but it really wouldn't have been that interesting had I not tried to spice it up with various allusions and references to stuff I was reading, watching or listening to at the time. I mean, had I been, oh, uneducated, no one would have read it. And how else does one get educated? You read. Of course, you're going a different route with your writing than I am. I plan on writing a good original screenplay that I might someday be able to turn into a great independent film. If that works out -- and JackOfShadows is going to laugh at me for this -- it's kind of a dream of mine to one day write the screenplay for a film adaptation of "The Catcher In The Rye" once J.D. Salinger drops dead (because he's not willing to relinquish the rights to the book just yet). Pipe dream, perhaps, but I'm taking steps in the right direction. But yes, you're right. The more you read, the better your writing will be. One of the many reasons I'm trying to get back into the habit. It improves your vocabulary a massive amount too, doesn't it? Most of my friends wouldn't even be able to spell 'eschatological', much less know what it means. Oh, and of course, since I'm going into film, I'm also trying to watch as much as I possibly can. So far, in 2005, I've watched one movie for every two days. That's 91 films since New Year's. And yes, I've been counting.

At 7/2/05 02:41 PM, DirtySyko wrote: Fool, haven't you heard of Charles Bukowsky? He made his living being a bum alcoholic :)

Bukowski? I love that guy. Last February, I was busying myself with reading his collection of poetry from 1974-1977 in "Love is a Dog From Hell". (Er, bad breakup at the time.) But no, he's great. Irreverent old bugger and I still prefer Keats over him, but he still has the ability to surprise when you least expect it. He's pretty crude but I still remember being touched by a few of his poems just because he's such a master of juxtaposition. Only he could get away with saying the female pudenda looks "like a flower in the rain" and who can deny the sheer force behind lines such as the following taken from his "Bee's 5th": '[S]he sat in a green chair and / I sat in a red chair / and after that / we never made love / again' (ll. 48-52). When I have the time, I'd love to try and find even more of his work, especially from the few years when -- and this is something that I've only heard about and therefore have no proof of -- he was supposedly dating Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, the woman whom my girlfriend was apparently named after. I've tried 'Googling' for it -- God bless neologism -- but thus far, I've turned up nothing so I'm not even sure it actually happened. Anyone here know anything about this? If someone would even be able to tell me which years they were supposedly seeing each other, that would be information enough to allow me to track down some of his poetry from those years. Maybe if I finally got around to reading his biography. Oh, screw it. I've got enough on my plate as it is.

At 6/30/05 09:04 PM, DirtySyko wrote: I just picked up Breakfast of Champions, so that'll be the next thing I read.

I read that, but didn't like it as much as his other works. Still a good book, and one worth reading. However, it would be more of like a book to get from the library, read it once, and not buy.

Okay I just finished The Shining by Stephen King. I am sure you have all heard about this story, either from the movie or the book itself.

This is one of the best works by Stephen King that I have read (and I have read a lot of them: Dark Tower, The Stand, 'Salem's Lot, Desperation) and deservers all the praise it receives. The basic background of the story is about the Torrance family and their recent run of bad luck. This causes the father to take a job looking after a three story hotel in the middle of nowhere for an entire winter. Once the snow storms begin to settle in the hotel's history of bloodshed comes to life. Danny Torrance is the 5 year old son of both Jack and Wendy Torrance and he has a strange gift, which one person calls 'The Shining.'

I don’t want to give away too much of the story, so I will quit there with the summary. Anyway, what makes The Shining truly disturbing is the fact that the killer, Jack, is just like a normal person. But once the hotel gets a hold of him, and cabin fever is induced, he changes from a father willing to do anything for his family to a monster who only thinks for himself. The only major draw back to this book (not for me, but I can see this being a problem for some other readers) is the fact that it takes to about page 300 to actually get into some of the action and more suspenseful parts. However, for people who enjoy the development of a story I would recommend this to you. This is because King really goes into detail about the family’s past and makes you understand their inner workings more.

Score:
4 out of 5

I just finished And The There Were Non By Agatha Christie
If you ask me that is one of the best mystery novels there is.
I don't know though, someone that could come up with a book like that has to have a twisted mind...

At 7/2/05 08:35 PM, HelpingHand wrote: I just finished And The There Were Non By Agatha Christie

That was good one, I did not see the end coming. I saw a list a games at E3 and there making a PC game based off the book. I guess you have to find clues, and find the killer, even though I know who it is. It would be cool if you could sneak around as the killer and poison the tea, and stuff.

At 7/2/05 08:35 PM, HelpingHand wrote: I just finished And The There Were Non By Agatha Christie

I hope I'm thinking about the same story as you.

I've only seen the movie, but since it is an old Russian movie I'm sure it's very close to the book. I raelly loved that poem about the little negroes. Man, it was awesome.

I haven't read in at least three days. Somehow, it seems like too much to me. On the other hand, I've finally started an old story of mine anew. Basicaly, I deleted the original text and wrote another beggining. I might even post it here for you to review.

I am currently reading "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club). So far it is really good. And I will have a review on it when I finish. I dunno how quickly I will be able to read it though, because I am now currently working full time with disabled children.

Also, my mom bought the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini for my sister, but she didn't want to take it to her summer camp so I took it. Can any of you tell me about it and if it is any good?

I have read some really good books in the past month. Now all the books I look at seem dull... Anyone know of some new, or old books, that are really great?

I don't know what makes you a member of a club, since I am new here, but I'd like to become a member here. 8)

At 7/3/05 09:40 PM, HelpingHand wrote: I have read some really good books in the past month. Now all the books I look at seem dull... Anyone know of some new, or old books, that are really great?

I don't know what makes you a member of a club, since I am new here, but I'd like to become a member here. 8)

If you haven't read Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold you should really pick it up. Great haunting book..I couldn't put it down.

I'm also new, so..I don't know really how things work on clubs around here so if someone could inform me that would be so great.. :)

Right now I'm reading Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (summer reading book). It's pretty good so far, simple language and clearly a product of Latino culture. It's a story about a young boy growing up in New Mexico who is starting to become a man and has to choose between becoming a Luna (a farmer-priest type, a la his mother's side) or a man of the llano, a vaquero like the Marez side of his family (his father's side). And then an old curandera (women who collects herbs and such to create cures) arrives, and many other things happen. It's really quite interesting, especially when it describes the boy's dreams, and I'm only about half way done, so it seems pretty good so far.

Anyways to the person who asked about good books (not sure if you have read these or not) but books I have always enjoyed are A Farewell To Arms (simple language, set during WWI, basically is an outline of Hemingways life with Frederic Henry as his alter ego I guess you could call it, and if you're into "stream-of-consciousness" writing, then this is for you), Of Mice and Men, and Heart of Darkness, just to name a few.

At 7/4/05 04:47 AM, HailHail1997 wrote: Right now I'm reading Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (summer reading book). :
Anyways to the person who asked about good books (not sure if you have read these or not) but books I have always enjoyed are A Farewell To Arms (simple language, set during WWI, basically is an outline of Hemingways life with Frederic Henry as his alter ego I guess you could call it, and if you're into "stream-of-consciousness" writing, then this is for you), Of Mice and Men, and Heart of Darkness, just to name a few.

Yea I was the one who asked. Thanks! I have read only one of the books you listed, but I plan on looking into the rest of them! 8)

BTW- Happy 4th of July everyone. ( I hope that's not considered spaming...)

At 7/4/05 11:40 AM, HelpingHand wrote:

At 7/4/05 04:47 AM, HailHail1997 wrote: Right now I'm reading Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (summer reading book). :
Anyways to the person who asked about good books (not sure if you have read these or not) but books I have always enjoyed are A Farewell To Arms (simple language, set during WWI, basically is an outline of Hemingways life with Frederic Henry as his alter ego I guess you could call it, and if you're into "stream-of-consciousness" writing, then this is for you), Of Mice and Men, and Heart of Darkness, just to name a few.

Yea I was the one who asked. Thanks! I have read only one of the books you listed, but I plan on looking into the rest of them! 8)

Yup no problem, those were kind of just off the top of my head really late in the morning, I could probably think of some better ones though...just curious, but which one did you read and what did you think of it?

BTW- Happy 4th of July everyone. ( I hope that's not considered spaming...)

Same to you : )

At 7/4/05 11:40 AM, HelpingHand wrote:

BTW- Happy 4th of July everyone. ( I hope that's not considered spaming...)

Yeah, happy Independance Day, you fat Imperialist Pigs.

Anyway, can you tell us what genres you like? Or at least which books you've enjoyed? That will help us recommend a book.

Anyway, you all might like the Fantastic Fiction site. It offers a lot of information on a lot of authors and the books they have written.

I have finished reading Paint your dragon by Tom Holt.

It was a spectacular failure. It dragged in the middle to the point where I found it difficult to finish the rest of the book. I found the jokes that wer epalce din the book to be rather un-funny and about a quarter way through the book I found that i couldn't give a rats ass about what happened to st Geroge, the dragon or any of the other characters.

What started out as looking promising turned into a wallowing cess pit of poor jokes and strange ideas that left me feeling cold.

a miserable 3/10. It would be lower but its obvious that Tom Holt has the ability to write but he seemingly lost the plot round aboiut page 63.

Next to read on my list is " The Seven Basic Plots: why we Tell Stories" which is a book that outlines the seven different plot lines that almost all stories fall into, and goes into why the human psyche seems to only make up these seven basic plots and why humans are so easily addicted to a good story.

Fun eh?

Bough a couple of new books today. The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, by Anne McCaffrey and one of the 'newer' Tolkien books, Lost Tales part 1. (Highly reccomended by SCD, visit the Tolkien Club for more info.)

But I'm still ploughing through the Two Towers and hopefully, I'll be finished before the month is out.

*Note: Alot of my free time is being taken up by my job, so I don't get to read as much as I would like. However, whenever I have some free time at home I am going to write reviews for books that I have read this year. Here is the first one:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (P. 453)

Catch-22 follows the Yossarian, a bombardier who breaks all boarders in order to save himself from the chances of war. Each of his efforts is purely understandable because at this very moment thousands of people he hasn’t even met are trying to kill him. The problem is that Colonel Cathcart keeps on raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service before any men actually do complete the service. The only way that Yossarian and the men can get out of combat is through what is known as Catch-22: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous missions, but if he makes the necessary request to be relieved of such missions then the very act of requesting to be removed proves that he is in fact sane.

A bitterly funny book that centers around an excellent cast of characters, who even have their own chapters to further their development. As a read one cannot help but take most of these characters into their heart and actually find themselves caring about what happens to them.

It should also be stated that the book is not in linearl form. The author gives you pieces of the story through a colorful cast of characters, as each chapter is essentially dedicated to one character of the book and explains them in thorough detail.

A book that many readers will come to love, Catch-22 not only will make you laugh throughout most of the book, but also make you sad and reflective at others.

I recommend this book for any reader and it should be at very least picked up at the library. Catch-22 is a wonderful book, and is one of the best pieces of writing that I have ever read.

At 7/2/05 02:41 PM, DirtySyko wrote:
Fool, haven't you heard of Charles Bukowsky? He made his living being a bum alcoholic :)

Me googles Charles Bukowwsky.

At 7/2/05 06:05 PM, biteme2514 wrote:
'NG veteran'? Far from. I'm still a noob at heart. Thanks for the sentiment though. I haven't seen you around in ages. On the other hand, that can probably be attributed to the fact that I never set foot in General anymore. These days, I only post here -- even though I've only made two posts here so far -- and in the two of the three threads you see below in my BBS sig that aren't locked.

You were an NG veteren in my eyes, even when i joined the OCP way back in yonder years, i kinda looked up to you, because of your post count level etc.. but meh, i see people for what i think of them, i cant change that, youre a NG VET and thats it, no arguments sir :D Im glad a person such as yourself who puts so much emphasis and knowledge in your posts would post here in our lowly Book Club.

Sword of Truth; The Wizards First Rule, by Terry Goodkind.

I was wary of reading this book considering its the first of 5 and possibly more, and im already stuck in between reading 2 other saga's of books. But overall i enjoyed this book heartilly. Its the story of a young man, whos father is murdered and hes trying to find out what happened, who did it and trying to deal with it at the same time. This book is fantasy in its purest form. The book describes how a young Richard Cypher grows from being a lowly woods guide to one of the most powerful men in the entire land. I felt great following the story of him through the adventures he took, to destroy the man, he thinks killed his father.

Terry Goodkind unravels this book well, at first its slow, very slow, but its enough to keep you pulled in, immersed in the power struggle thats going on in his lands. He developes the characters amazingly, the main characters always suprise you with their growth and insight. Truelly remarkable reading. One part, the main character Richard Cypher, is captured by a woman who specialises in pain, in breaking the will of men. The detail is unbeleivable, i have never heard pain being described so realistically, and pain i could only imagine is described so vividly, im shit scared of finding it true. Overall, i enjoyed this book immensly, and i look forward to getting th erest of the saga soon.

Read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Good book.

And Kurt Vonegut is classic. Same with Asimov.

And just finished Dune: Machine Crusade. Pretty good book. Would recomend it to yall who like the Dune books. And btw, Dune is best science fiction series ever. Nuff said.

And about to read Shadow of a Giant, story of Bean, that Ender Wiggin crap. Hope its as good as the rest of those books were.

God, I love books : / Feel so nerdy for saying that but it true.