Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 12:41:58 GMT -5
I'm reading Boy Meets Boy because it was one of the Amazon monthly deals on my Kindle. I'm a third of the way through and it's unbearably twee, so I don't recommend it. It's been a while since I read it, but I enjoyed it in high school. I can see now I might find it unbearably twee. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 12:44:10 GMT -5
The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno. This and Hairstyles of the Damned feel like his least twee novels, but the mood of Boy Detective Fails is so fantastic because it is consistently depressing with glimmers of hope. It also works well at parodying the genre of child prodigy detective novels. I recommend reading it over his two other books that are a bit bigger.
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Hat
TI Forumite
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Post by Hat on Oct 23, 2013 12:52:25 GMT -5
Hat, really? I was under the impression that the biggest issue with organic food regs is that they're so lax, and all kinds of crap sneaks in under the organic label, so consumers don't really know what it means. (I've never tried to get a certification myself, though.) The USDA has a lot of regulations about whether/where you can put organic labels on food. Some of the allowable substances can be confusing, since there are quite a few allowed medications and there is a huge extensive list of what is allowed and what isn't. However, allowed medications have withdrawal periods. I don't really know anything about organic regulations for processing, though, just producing. For the organic cattle I've worked with, it's pretty much been "throw some chicken manure for fertilizer on the pastures and then let 'em roam." EDIT: There are definitely problems with the system, of course it can be improved, but I disagree with the concept that non-organic is out to get people. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 23, 2013 13:18:29 GMT -5
Kindof a pain in the ass not to be able to respond directly to people, huh? Even though the other place I hang out, Goodreads, works just like this and I never complain there? I FEAR CHANGE I started Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I'm about a quarter of the way in and it's great so far. I see why people call it the Mexican On The Road. There have been a lot of blowjobs so far, which is great except that I feel weird reading about blowjobs on the subway. We can quote people. That's pretty much like directly responding. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 23, 2013 13:23:33 GMT -5
I've just started House of Leaves. I'm excited; I've wanted to read this for a while. I'm almost finished with Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro. It's very good. And I'm about to read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, but that one's for a class.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 13:27:38 GMT -5
Oh, is it time for me to be an asshole about House of Leaves yet again? I disliked that book!
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 13:28:45 GMT -5
...I need to read Selfish Gene. Started to a couple months back, but suddenly realized I wasn't in a nonfiction mood. You'll have to lemme know how it goes.
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Post by cappadocius on Oct 23, 2013 13:55:55 GMT -5
...I need to read Selfish Gene. Started to a couple months back, but suddenly realized I wasn't in a nonfiction mood. You'll have to lemme know how it goes. If it goes the way it typically goes when folks read Selfish Gene, randomdude will find Dawkins to be an insufferable prick but will nevertheless find himself unable to avoid going on about memes for the next six months to a lifetime. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 14:03:19 GMT -5
As a guy who's read his God Delusion, I find that comment amusing and truthful!
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 14:45:34 GMT -5
Is it too late to nominate this? Looks pretty cool. |
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,634 
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Post by Dellarigg on Oct 23, 2013 15:55:09 GMT -5
Just started Horns by Joe Hill, and it's promising so far.
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randy's donuts
AV Clubber
Grant writing. Please, please chime in to distract me
Posts: 316 
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Post by randy's donuts on Oct 23, 2013 16:51:54 GMT -5
I am trying very hard to finish Snow Crash. I think I like it because it combines everything I'm nerdy about (archaeology! tech stuff! being kind of snotty!) in one sitting
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Post by usernametoolong on Oct 23, 2013 16:52:41 GMT -5
I'm still reading Lowlands, too, which is why we haven't done Book Club for it. It's sort of uninspiring to finish. But, Poll: for people who want to do the next Book Club, vote on which book we'll do next (or suggest a better choice): Donna Tartt, Goldfinch Dan Simmons: The Abominable (about Everest) Alice Munro, Dear Life Javier Marias, The Infatuations Also, when should we start the discussion? I was thinking we all try to read about 1/3 of the way in for next week, since people read at different speeds and some people have more going on this week than others do. I'll be happy to do bookclub, my vote would go to Javier Marias as I have it.i However, as it's so far not one of the books I was planning on reading next, I'm happy for it to be kept for later. As for what I'm reading at the moment, Bleeding Edge fell by the wayside (even if temporarily), and I'm reading as much of Emmanuel Carrere's Limonov as I can. It is truly fascinating, it's about the life of Edouard Limonov, look him up briefly on wikipedia to have an idea. I'll have more to say when I've finished, but it''s amazingly written, raises all sorts of question about accuracy and authorial voice in what is after all more or less a biography (I wish I'd read it before the FOC from a few weeks ago on the subject), but doesn't really present itself as such, it even won one of the most prestigious French fiction prizes when it was published. Even ignoring these considerations, it is a fascinating character and world. |
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Post by Judkins Moaner on Oct 23, 2013 19:15:13 GMT -5
We can quote people. That's pretty much like directly responding. Seconded; the British Horror Films Forum where I'm now merely an occasional poster works like this, and it's gone very well, in my experience. Ninja: 1000 Years of the Shadow Warrior, by John Man, which I've already talked up over at that other place. Starts out rather uninvolving, but gets a lot more interesting as it goes along. Man explores the Koga region just east of Kyoto where the ninjas originated and finds a lot of cultural remnants of their glory days (starting out as peasant rebels against aristocratic tyranny during the Ashikaga Shogunates and later becoming a kind of Robin Hood legend for Tokugawa and postwar Japan). Engrossing postscript at the end looking at Hiroo Onoda (the Japanese officer who lived in the Philippine jungle for thirty years after the end of the war, refusing to believe Japan had surrendered), and how he typified in many ways the ninja ethos. I read this in preparation for a story submission, as some of the guys who published my last story are putting together a ninja anthology. I'm not all that sure I'm interested enough in the subject to do it justice, but I was glad I read it anyway. As for Dawkins, can't stand his public persona (and his nauseating treatment of female skeptics like Rebecca Watson), but I found The Selfish Gene very readable and informative, and I'm not a big in-depth science guy (though I'm trying to learn, much of it through RD's great rival Stephen Jay Gould). |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 23, 2013 22:20:12 GMT -5
We can quote people. That's pretty much like directly responding. Seconded; the British Horror Films Forum where I'm now merely an occasional poster works like this, and it's gone very well, in my experience. Ninja: 1000 Years of the Shadow Warrior, by John Man, which I've already talked up over at that other place. Starts out rather uninvolving, but gets a lot more interesting as it goes along. Man explores the Koga region just east of Kyoto where the ninjas originated and finds a lot of cultural remnants of their glory days (starting out as peasant rebels against aristocratic tyranny during the Ashikaga Shogunates and later becoming a kind of Robin Hood legend for Tokugawa and postwar Japan). Engrossing postscript at the end looking at Hiroo Onoda (the Japanese officer who lived in the Philippine jungle for thirty years after the end of the war, refusing to believe Japan had surrendered), and how he typified in many ways the ninja ethos. I read this in preparation for a story submission, as some of the guys who published my last story are putting together a ninja anthology. I'm not all that sure I'm interested enough in the subject to do it justice, but I was glad I read it anyway. As for Dawkins, can't stand his public persona (and his nauseating treatment of female skeptics like Rebecca Watson), but I found The Selfish Gene very readable and informative, and I'm not a big in-depth science guy (though I'm trying to learn, much of it through RD's great rival Stephen Jay Gould). I just read about the Rebecca Watson elevator incident on Wikipedia (I was previously only vaguely aware of what actually happened), and gah, that is really sexist. Dawkins falls for the old "but I can't be a sexist, because I would never make a woman wear a head scarf and I support many of my female friends in the atheist movement" fallacy. But, I also feel like Dawkins isn't even that bad in comparison with the sexism some other prominent members of the atheist movement (Christopher Hitchens said some pretty unambiguously sexist stuff back in the day) and especially the ingrained sexism of a large segment of the rank-and-file members. So yeah, the sexism, the frequent Islamaphobia (and the frequent failure to differentiate between the tolerant and intolerant people of all religions, and the intellectually dishonest cherry picking of the albeit plentiful violent/intolerant passages of religious texts) tend to make me shy away from the mainstream atheism movement. Granted, Dawkins isn't all bad, and he's got a few quotes refuting the annoyingly pervasive "but atheists can't possibly find any value in anything if they don't believe in God" sentiment that I really appreciate. |
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Post by Box of Cotton Swabs on Oct 24, 2013 1:32:56 GMT -5
Just started Horns by Joe Hill, and it's promising so far. I tore through that on a flight and a couple evenings during a trip last spring (after finishing NOS4A2 on the flight out… damn you Kindle!). I really liked the style and hold no optimism whatsoever about the upcoming movie. |
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Post by Clancy's Personal Researcher on Oct 24, 2013 9:10:37 GMT -5
Just finished up Volume 1 of Sandman. Intriguing, and I've heard the story and universe expands immensely in the following chapters. I enjoyed it very much.
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Oct 24, 2013 10:11:42 GMT -5
But, Poll: for people who want to do the next Book Club, vote on which book we'll do next (or suggest a better choice): You know you could create an actual poll, if you wanted. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 24, 2013 12:37:21 GMT -5
Just finished up Volume 1 of Sandman. Intriguing, and I've heard the story and universe expands immensely in the following chapters. I enjoyed it very much. If you enjoyed Volume 1 then you're in luck, because most of what's to come is even better. Volume 1 is a bit uneven, although the story in Hell, "24 Hours", and the one at the end with Death are all really cool. Volume 2 is where it starts to get really awesome. |
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Post by K. Thrace on Oct 24, 2013 13:16:24 GMT -5
Is it too late to nominate this? Looks pretty cool. Hahahahahaha..maybe as an alternative or as a supplement! People can choose that book or the Munro book (yes, I think Munro is what we should do, Munro got the most votes). |
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Post by SensitiveSethPutnam on Oct 24, 2013 13:26:22 GMT -5
Been chipping away at House Of Leaves for months now, I will finish this fucking thing before I die.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Oct 24, 2013 14:46:04 GMT -5
I'm still sitting on Tale of Two Cities. I really don't have any good quiet time at home with a toddler running around and I'm self-conscious about busting out my book/kindle during lunch at the office. During the summer I had been walking down to the park close to work with my lunch and gotten some enjoyable reading done, but the return of cold weather put an end to that.
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Post by drunkneildiamond on Oct 24, 2013 15:16:37 GMT -5
I just got Hollywood Said No! by Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, and Brian Posehn from the library. I'm about 70 pages in and it's been giving me some much needed laughs.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 24, 2013 15:34:15 GMT -5
I'm still sitting on Tale of Two Cities. I really don't have any good quiet time at home with a toddler running around and I'm self-conscious about busting out my book/kindle during lunch at the office. During the summer I had been walking down to the park close to work with my lunch and gotten some enjoyable reading done, but the return of cold weather put an end to that. Why the fuck are you self-conscious about Kindling during lunch? Fuck everyone, read books. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Oct 24, 2013 15:36:03 GMT -5
I'm still sitting on Tale of Two Cities. I really don't have any good quiet time at home with a toddler running around and I'm self-conscious about busting out my book/kindle during lunch at the office. During the summer I had been walking down to the park close to work with my lunch and gotten some enjoyable reading done, but the return of cold weather put an end to that. Why the fuck are you self-conscious about Kindling during lunch? Fuck everyone, read books. First off, in my short years of real world work experience I've found my fellow engineers to be surprisingly anti-intellectual. Second off, if I'm honest, the bigger problem is that if I'm stuck at my desk I'm too easily distracted by dumb internet stuff to get any constructive reading done. |
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Post by drunkneildiamond on Oct 24, 2013 15:36:49 GMT -5
I'm still sitting on Tale of Two Cities. I really don't have any good quiet time at home with a toddler running around and I'm self-conscious about busting out my book/kindle during lunch at the office. During the summer I had been walking down to the park close to work with my lunch and gotten some enjoyable reading done, but the return of cold weather put an end to that. Fuck everyone, read books. I really feel like I should make business cards with this on it. |
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Post by Opera_Punk on Oct 24, 2013 17:25:40 GMT -5
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson currently. I'm finding it quite wonderful.
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Oct 24, 2013 17:40:22 GMT -5
Granted, Dawkins isn't all bad, and he's got a few quotes refuting the annoyingly pervasive "but atheists can't possibly find any value in anything if they don't believe in God" sentiment that I really appreciate. I had an atheist philosophy professor who wasn't fond of Dawkins because religion clearly wasn't his field of expertise, that is there were better atheist authors more familiar with the literature around the philosophy of religion, he was kind of a populist interloper. I prefer to think of atheism in this town as 'discussing the merits of John Toland's Christianity Not Mysterious' and less that appalling Watson affair. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 24, 2013 22:30:58 GMT -5
Granted, Dawkins isn't all bad, and he's got a few quotes refuting the annoyingly pervasive "but atheists can't possibly find any value in anything if they don't believe in God" sentiment that I really appreciate. I had an atheist philosophy professor who wasn't fond of Dawkins because religion clearly wasn't his field of expertise, that is there were better atheist authors more familiar with the literature around the philosophy of religion, he was kind of a populist interloper. I prefer to think of atheism in this town as 'discussing the merits of John Toland's Christianity Not Mysterious' and less that appalling Watson affair. Yeah, that's another thing I've gotten the impression of with Dawkins, that beyond the surface level of "violent shit happens at God's command, and there are a lot of intolerant rules", he doesn't really seem to know his shit when it comes to religion. I guess I was more referring to a sort of populist-leaning quote I'd read. So yeah, I'll tend to respect a geneticist's opinion on genetics a bit more than his opinion on metaphysics, so luckily for me, the Dawkins I'm reading is on genetics. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 25, 2013 7:45:55 GMT -5
Yeah, well said.
Also, arguing about religion is a sucker game. Discussing it is occasionally cool, but that's not what Dawkins does.
I'm still getting the hang of this shit and I failed to quote two different people in the same post, WHATEVER - MNCYGUY that is a valid excuse; I have the same problem. I have to go somewhere else if I want to read during lunch.
And yeah, my fellow programmers are also useless around any book conversation that isn't about Game of Thrones. Well, I got lucky during my recent Neal Stephenson & William Gibson reads, of course.
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