What book(s) are you currently reading?

[skate323k137]

I still dick around my my two C64s from time to time though mostly using them as synthesizers.

Nice. I don't have two C64's, but I do have one C128

I also have a BMC64 by chance, I was gifted an 'empty' C64 case+keyboard during a project, and when I was done I turned it into a BMC64.

 

[Lagduf]

That’s dope lol. The 128 is coil machine. I still want an Amiga but I dunno if that will pan out, no space for another retro computer. Then again I’d also like one of the new 8 or 16 but computers coming out like the C65 or X-16.

Maybe I should bump the retro computer thread

 

[Average Joe]

Bumping this thread since I've been making an effort to read more books instead of heaps of Manga before bed every night.

Just finished reading book 11 of the Dresden Files "Turn Coat", but sadly the next volume "Changes" was only available through audiobook from my local library so I had to settle on listening to that. Which isn't an issue really since James Marsters does the narration for the series and at this point he has gotten quite good at doing it, but I do prefer to read it in book form as that was the entire point of all this.

Luckily, my town library is fantastic and has a fairly massive selection of all kinds of books so I went after work yesterday looking for a random read.

Ended up picking this up in the "New Additions" section of the library:

Book review of The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

Star Trek meets Indiana Jones in Yume Kitasei’s fast-paced, anti-colonial space heist, The Stardust Grail.

www.bookpage.com

I didn't do anything other than do a few quick review reads before checking it out and only read a few chapters last night, so it's still too early to say much about it.

 

[Taiso]

Currently reading The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis. It's not really a book but a transcription of a series of lectures he did arguing in favor of universal principles. Essentially, the argument is that if we don't accept the existence of universal moral values (Truth, as it were), then we will ostensibly abolish our own meaningful existence. He doesn't argue in favor of any SPECIFIC principles, or even the existence of God although he was a very devout Christian. He's not evangelizing here. He's more arguing that you have to accept, whatever they are, that universal moral Truth exists and that arguments to the counter are couched in emotion and insecurity stratified by pseudo intellectual 'debunkers'. I agree, wholly, with this thesis. He even states, correctly I believe, that arguing for subjective reality is, in and of itself, an objective and universal principle. If one didn't believe in the self evidence of it, they wouldn't argue in its favor and thus, whether they know it or not, they are arguing for a universal principle. If all reality was subjective, once a person reasons it through, they would become indecisive to the point of inability to function. These debunking pedagogues, absent the ability to replace that which has been debunked with something else of equal substance, have not only 'killed' (lol) God but the very concept of 'Man' itself.

 

[yagamikun]

Currently reading The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis.

Good book. Also enjoyed Mere Christianity as a sister piece. I'm an atheist, but CS Lewis has a way to break through and speak to everyone in his very well thought out works.

Currently, I'm reading every arch in the Jojo's manga - currently on Diamond is Unbreakable.

Also reading Factfulness by Hans Rosling - The core of the book is we need to follow data rather than our own feelings based on what we see - as we all live in our own subjective realities. The sub-title of the work is "Ten reasons we're wrong about the world, and why things are better than you think." Basically, we're conditioned by the media to think things are much worse than they are. Not saying there isn't some shit in the world and in our country, but with a broad world-view and the facts show how much progress we've actually made as a civilization, especially in the last 100 years. Excellent read.

 

[Taiso]

I believe that spirituality and faith have a secular utility. 'Fear of God leads to wisdom.'

I've never demanded anyone recognize my faith as 'real' or 'True.' I believe it but no one else has to for me to coexist with them. You have Free Will. Exercise it.

C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton are two of the great Christian philosophers of the modern era that have much more broad and universal appeal than some might think. I think Lewis, especially, just wanted to live in a sane world that made sense, a 'live and let live' world and 'treat others as you would be treated' kind of guy. He warned us about a lot of what is happening right now.

 

[fake]

I read Paul Scheer's book last month. It was quick and funny. I'd recommend it if you're a HDTGM fan.

I also finished Idoru by William Gibson, which is a sequel-ish to Virtual Light. I liked it a lot. Not quite on par with Neuromancer / Sprawl trilogy or Pattern Recognition, but still very good.

Today I finished The Sands of Mars. Definitely the weakest I've read of Arthur C. Clarke, but all the others have been SSS tier: 2001, Rama, and Childhood's End.

 

[HornheaDD]

Ive been reading Worm by John C McCrae. Its a huge book, 1.7 million words evidently. Weird thing is, it was never released as a book. The guy wrote it as a web serial, and people have created e-books out of it, and as I literally just found out right now, a fan Audiobook. Some of the narrators are great, but some are definitely not.

Regardless, its a series called Parahumans, that has I believe 4 books in it so far. And to clarify the first book is 1.7 million words. It's a superhero type book, but its more about the drama and from what I'm gathering - the origin of the powers in their universe. The powers are all pretty interesting, but the cool thing is the usage of powers in the book are more practical, if that makes any sense. Hard to describe, but its not just "so he was strong and he punched a hole in the wall."

Im the type of person to read a chapter or two a night before bed, so I've been working on this one quite a while (and being distracted to go read other stuff here and there) and I'm only about 55% done with the first novel. Im enjoying it for sure.

Im hoping the guy eventually releases it and gets paid for it because it's evidently pretty well regarded.

 

[HornheaDD]

Childhood's End.

Absolutely my favorite Clarke book.

 

[Lagduf]

I finished the third Elric book (second half better than the first) and took a detour to William S. Burrough’s* Princess of Mars. From 1911 and the science fiction is pretty great, I’m enjoying this one more than I thought I would. I never saw the movie they made of this, John Carter.

*Edit: Edgar Rice Burroughs, please note I am an idiot.

 

[max 330 megafartz]

Reading Dexter Palmer’s Mary Toft; or The Rabbit Queen currently and loving it. I happened across Palmer’s other novel The Dream of Perpetual Motion at the library and found it super twisted and entertaining. Mary Toft is great so far and it’s nuts to know this is based off of a real historical hoax about some crazy lady shoving dead mutilated rabbits up her snatch

 

[SouthtownKid]

I finished the third Elric book

Third in what order? Some editions of Moorcock's work present the stories in publication order, and some present them in chronological order, which is drastically different.

If you get a chance, read his Von Bek stories. Another aspect of the eternal champion, but very different to a lot of the others. The von Beks are a German family in the 17th and 18th centuries, charged with guarding the holy grail after making a pact with Lucifer.

 

[SouthtownKid]

People fucking around on wikipedia again. Went to look up the Western literary canon, and found this:





Come on, man. Somebody go fix this.

 

[fake]

I finished the third Elric book (second half better than the first) and took a detour to William S. Burrough’s Princess of Mars. From 1911 and the science fiction is pretty great, I’m enjoying this one more than I thought I would. I never saw the movie they made of this, John Carter.

God damn, I'd love to read William S. Burrough's Princess of Mars. Unfortunately, all we got was Edgar Rice Burrough's Princess of Mars.

 

[Lagduf]

Third in what order? Some editions of Moorcock's work present the stories in publication order, and some present them in chronological order, which is drastically different.

If you get a chance, read his Von Bek stories. Another aspect of the eternal champion, but very different to a lot of the others. The von Beks are a German family in the 17th and 18th centuries, charged with guarding the holy grail after making a pact with Lucifer.

I have the following six books, based on the 1977 DAW paperbacks I believe. It is chronological order. I have read the first three. I copied this list from Wikipedia. The books appear to comprise of a lot of the Elric stories but not all. I think I've barely scratched the surface of the eternal champion stuff in what I've read, though I got a brief glimpse in to it in one story in the 2nd book.

• (I) Elric of Melniboné (1972)
• (II) The Sailor on the Seas of Fate(1976)
  • Book One: "Sailing To the Future"
  • Book Two: "Sailing To the Present" (revision of "The Lands Beyond the World")
  • Book Three: "Sailing To the Past" (revision of "The Jade Man's Eyes")
• (III) The Weird of the White Wolf
  • Prologue: "The Dream of Earl Aubec" (original title: "Master of Chaos") (May 1964)
  • Book One: "The Dreaming City" (June 1961)
  • Book Two: "While the Gods Laugh" (October 1961)
  • Book Three: "The Singing Citadel" (May 1967)
• (IV) The Vanishing Tower (original title: The Sleeping Sorceress) (1971)
  • Book One: "The Torment of the Last Lord"
  • Book Two: "To Snare the Pale Prince"
  • Book Three: "Three Heroes With a Single Aim"
• (V) The Bane of the Black Sword
  • Book One: "The Stealer of Souls" (February 1962)
  • Book Two: "Kings in Darkness" (August 1962)
  • Book Three: "The Flame Bringers" (alternative title: "The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams") (October 1962)
  • Epilogue: "To Rescue Tanelorn" (December 1962)
• (VI) Stormbringer
  • Book One: "Dead God's Homecoming" (June 1963)
  • Book Two: "Black Sword's Brothers" (October 1963)
  • Book Three: "Sad Giant's Shield" (February 1964)
  • Book Four: "Doomed Lord's Passing" (April 1964)

I thought Taiso and I talked about it in this thread, but maybe it was another thread in the war room, where we talked about how difficult it was to read works from an author like Moorcock where a lot of it is short stories, and especially where the author jumps around chronologically. Given the chance I'd prefer to read the works in their publication order, rather than a publisher's attempt to put them in chronological order.

I'll for sure check out what you've recommended because it sounds awesome.

EDIT: It looks like I should have dug deeper and maybe picked up one of the following reprints:

Beginning in 2008, Del Rey Books reprinted the Elric material as a series of six illustrated books: The Stealer of Souls, To Rescue Tanelorn, The Sleeping Sorceress, Duke Elric, Elric in the Dream Realms, and Elric: Swords and Roses. This series arranged the stories in the sequence they were originally published, along with related fiction and nonfiction material. The version of Stormbringerfeatured in this collection restored all the original material missing since the 1977 DAW edition – which had formed the basis for all later editions – as well as Moorcock's preferred versions of all the revised material in an attempt to produce a definitive text. These volumes present the evolution of the character through early juvenile stories, early fanzine musings by Moorcock, some Elric stories, some others introducing the reader to the wider "Eternal Champion" theme, stories of other heroes who coexist with Elric in the realm of Melniboné, unpublished prologues, installments of Moorcock's essay "Aspects of Fantasy", a 1970s screenplay, a reader's guide, notes from an Elric series that never developed, contemporary reviews, and appreciation essays by other writers.

In August 2012, Victor Gollancz Ltd. announced their intention to republish all of Michael Moorcock's back catalogue, including all the Elric stories, presented in internal chronological order along with previously unpublished material, in both print and e-book formats. The Elric stories were published in seven volumes in 2014–15: Elric of Melniboné and Other Stories, Elric: The Fortress of the Pearl, Elric: The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress, Elric: The Revenge of the Rose, Elric: Stormbringer!, and Elric: The Moonbeam Roads.

 

[Lagduf]

God damn, I'd love to read William S. Burrough's Princess of Mars. Unfortunately, all we got was Edgar Rice Burrough's Princess of Mars.

LMAO, did I really type that...?

Fuck it, I'm not changing it.

 

[Lagduf]

People fucking around on wikipedia again. Went to look up the Western literary canon, and found this:

View attachment 77296

View attachment 77297

Come on, man. Somebody go fix this.

I mean, delete the entire article of "Western Canon" that sounds entirely like pseudo-intellectual nonsense at best and White Supremacist at worst. It sounds like the kind of argument an idiot makes on the internet.

 

[Taiso]

I always prefer publication order over chronological order.

The Del Rey collections with cover art by John Picacio are the ones I recommend. The most recent releases are pretty solid too, especially the audio. I'm finishing up Stormbringer right now from the newest release and I'm enjoying it.

George R.R. Martin either ripped off or was inspired by Elric when it comes to the Targaryens and their dragons. Source: me.

 

[Lagduf]

So Keanu Reeves wrote a book with China Mieville, called The Book of Elsewhere.

Purchased. LOL.

 

[prof]

So Keanu Reeves wrote a book with China Mieville, called The Book of Elsewhere.

Purchased. LOL.

He wrote a comic book series a few years back called Brzrkr that was really popular. I didn't read it though.

 

[Taiso]

BRZRKR is still having stuff coming out for it now. People los their shit about Keanu crowdfunding it with BOOM studios.

 

[Lagduf]

As in lost their shit with excitement or lost their shit that they chose to crowdfund?

 

[Taiso]

As in lost their shit with excitement or lost their shit that they chose to crowdfund?

That he chose to crowdfund. Because he has money, they thpught he shouldn't be relying on the audience to help get it published.

It's clear that those people are poor and don't understand how making money works.

My roommate once criticized a former friend of mine for paying half down on a Jaguar when his Peloton stocks boomed. Then he took his wife out on the town and they spent ten thousand dollars giving their money away to people just to feel good about it while disguising it as 'being kind'.

Then his Peloton stocks took a shit. 1.3 million down the drain.

This is a dude that came from nothing. Rednecks that were poor all their lives. He felt as though he'd escaped that lifestyle with his pseudo-intellectualism, arrogance, 'intelligence' and progressivism.

Poverty mindset.

 

[ggallegos1]

I haven't read a book in a while, only had time for audiobooks on long hikes or flights due to travel and school.

I think the last book I read was either Lone Survivor (it was ok) or Just Mercy (much better). I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and another book about mental health stigmas on deck for a LOT of travel in the near future

 

[HornheaDD]

I haven't read a book in a while, only had time for audiobooks on long hikes or flights due to travel and school.

I think the last book I read was either Lone Survivor (it was ok) or Just Mercy (much better). I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and another book about mental health stigmas on deck for a LOT of travel in the near future

My bro in law swears by audiobooks, but I just can't get into them. I find it difficult to concentrate on either the book, or what I'm doing when trying to listen to them. And if I try to focus on the book, I get easily distracted. Physically reading a book is better for me. Wish I could get into them tho, I'd be SO much further along my to-do list.