Which book are you currently reading?

[photonrider]

How are the prisons in Canada?

Google is your friend.

The point being if you grew up with books as only textbooks (or the only source of escape in a prison library) then books should most often than not bring to the surface those distasteful memories when thereafter handled.

If you grew up with books as friends, as sources of pleasure, no doubt one would look at them somewhat differently.

I do agree with your original post of some books being physically inconvenient to handle - or rather the one in your pic; it looked unbalanced and rough, as well as visually bland.

But we can't judge a book by its cover, right?

 

[Team THRT Drift]

So far so good, very intriguing set of circumstances. Old book BTW but I am enjoying it so far.

View attachment 282264

Love Grisham.

You should read The Pelican Brief after this.

And The Brethren...


And The Firm.

And The Litigators...




Oooh!

And The Chamber!

 

[W3H5]

Re: awkward books.
I got my hands on a copy of Driving The Game, the GT4 'how it's made' breakdown and couldn't even fit it in my backpack for the journey home. It was so awkward it didn't even properly fit in my bookshelf! Well worth the £4 I paid for it though. I loved that book.

 

[photonrider]

Try lifting a copy of the Maclopedia, or Cousteau's Almanac.
Actually if one puts them together you have a fair sized card table. Or bench.

Some ancient books passed through my hands recently; they were tiny.
Well, people were tiny, too.

 

[W3H5]

Having spent time in China I've dealt with a lot of text on scrolls; collectors items, village inventories and relics that my family there have stored away. There's nothing more awkward than a scroll but for some reason they are the most charming things. Very elegant to behold, but not so much to read. Not that I could read them anyway, they weren't even in simplified Chinese!

 

[photonrider]

I guess that's what we were talking about: the sensuality of holding a book. A well bound book is a pleasure to hold. Ancient scrolls - that's something else altogether.
Whoa. I wouldn't touch them even with kid gloves on. I'll probably break something.
Yes, elegant to behold; the evocation almost of immortality to see such things survive, and the whole concept of what was . . .

Old books by people like Caxton, Heidelberg, and other early printers are near priceless.
Even though books - books that were printed and circulated en masse, anyway, came about just a few hundred years ago . . they are already becoming artifacts.
But it was books printed by the dozen and distributed to the public that shaped public knowledge and reality after that - and that also stopped the handwritten ones from continuing with their mutilated translations, dropped paras, and embroidered additions, from one copy to another.

 

[W3H5]

Thinking about book, can you imagine what we've lost to time and tragedy what with book burnings and the fragile nature of paper and canvas? I makes me weep inside to even get my head around the facts of history that will never be known because of the loss of recorded word in books.

 

[photonrider]

The Library.
Alexandria.
Worst thing to have happened to our progress in many disciplines.
How many centuries has it set us back?
We can only guess.
We might have gone to the Moon sooner.

The library was created by Ptolemy I Soter, who was a Macedonian general and the successor of Alexander the Great.[2] Most of the books were kept as papyrus scrolls, and though it is unknown how many such scrolls were housed at any given time, their combined value was incalculable.

The library is famous for having been burned resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books, and has become a symbol of the destruction of cultural knowledge. A few sources differ on who is responsible for the destruction and when it occurred. Although there is a mythology of the burning of the Library at Alexandria, the library may have suffered several fires or acts of destruction over many years. Possible occasions for the partial or complete destruction of the Library of Alexandria include a fire set by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, an attack by Aurelian in the AD 270s, and the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in AD 391.

After the main library was fully destroyed, ancient scholars used a "daughter library" in a temple known as the Serapeum, located in another part of the city. According to Socrates of Constantinople, Coptic Pope Theophilus destroyed the Serapeum in AD 391.
- Wiki

 

[roamer2629]

Just saw this thread. I am as much a racer as a reader believe it or not. Also usually read more than one book at a time. Right now it's "Discourse on Free Will" a discussion between Erasmus and Luther, and "Reality is broken: How games Makes us Better and How they Can Change the World" by Jane McGonigal. I worked as an English Instructor for many years so I try to avoid translations as much as possible, reading books in English and in Spanish.
Don't shed a tear over Alexandria: As much a tragedy as it may have been, most of the really interesting stuff never left Heliopolis, and most of us wouldn't believe a word of it could we read them today. And in fact you can.

 

[photonrider]

Just saw this thread. I am as much a racer as a reader believe it or not. Also usually read more than one book at a time. Right now it's "Discourse on Free Will" a discussion between Erasmus and Luther, and "Reality is broken: How games Makes us Better and How they Can Change the World" by Jane McGonigal. I worked as an English Instructor for many years so I try to avoid translations as much as possible, reading books in English and in Spanish.
Don't shed a tear over Alexandria: As much a tragedy as it may have been, most of the really interesting stuff never left Heliopolis, and most of us wouldn't believe a word of it could we read them today. And in fact you can.

While discourse between Erasmus and others is no stranger to me, McGonical's take on Video-gaming is, and sounds interesting; informed opinions are always interesting - until it becomes true - then it is no longer an opinion but fact.

The fact that you just saw this thread is reflective of the vast amount of unexplored territory for many on GTPlanet. 👍

 

[MoLiEG]

I, Robot.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Roy Keane-The Second Half

If you don't know who Roy Keane is he's an ex footballing legend who played for Nottingham Forest, Man United, Celtic and Ireland, he released an autobiography over a decade ago and this is his second covering his acrimonious split from Man United, his retirement and his move to football management and TV punditry...

 

[roamer2629]

While discourse between Erasmus and others is no stranger to me, McGonical's take on Video-gaming is, and sounds interesting; informed opinions are always interesting - until it becomes true - then it is no longer an opinion but fact.

The fact that you just saw this thread is reflective of the vast amount of unexplored territory for many on GTPlanet. 👍

I found the first half of the book very interesting, but her efforts to extend the reaches of her logic to real life problems seemed a bit too optimistic. Of course only my opinion. Otherwise the book is well written and she's got the right credentials so anybody interested in what makes us flock to video games by the millions should give it a try.

 

[analog]

I'm thinking of rereading Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola by Kinky Friedman.

 

[Northstar]

I'm still making my way through the Jack Ryan series, currently I'm reading Clear and Present Danger.

 

[wvmgmidget]

Cry the Beloved Country for AP Lit

 

[W3H5]

I, Robot.

One of my favourites ever. It's so easy to pick up and read any story without having to read before or after it. I love that book. It's simple and pure and was what first got me started on Asimov's other works.

 

[roamer2629]

One of my favourites ever. It's so easy to pick up and read any story without having to read before or after it. I love that book. It's simple and pure and was what first got me started on Asimov's other works.

And a great example of the lengths of corruption a book might have to suffer from it's movie: Great Book, very common movie...

 

[JR98]

I've started reading the For Dummies series. Very intriguing

 

[W3H5]

And a great example of the lengths of corruption a book might have to suffer from it's movie: Great Book, very common movie...

Agreed, although a do like the movie. I see it as a new short story portrayed in film but kept the within the world that Asimov created.

If you ever chance upon the Foundation series (the original Asimov written books) you'll see where Lucas stole the idea for Star Wars from, although the Foundation books aren't amazing in themselves.

 

[BobK]

I, Robot.

After you're finished be sure to check out Asimov's sequel The Rest of the Robots. If a collection of short stories can properly be said to have a sequel.

 

[MoLiEG]

One of my favourites ever. It's so easy to pick up and read any story without having to read before or after it. I love that book. It's simple and pure and was what first got me started on Asimov's other works.

That's exactly why I've enjoyed it so far. It's very simple and very fascinating at the same time. It's a wonderful book

After you're finished be sure to check out Asimov's sequel The Rest of the Robots. If a collection of short stories can properly be said to have a sequel.

I'll check on them after I finish the current one, that's for sure Thanks for the advise!

 

[photonrider]

I'm still making my way through the Jack Ryan series, currently I'm reading Clear and Present Danger.

I remember my Jack Ryan addiction - from maybe ten years ago, and after. Pretty much enjoyed everyone of them; I love how Clancy gets very technical about weapons systems, field operations, etc.

 

[photonrider]

Reading Blink - The power of thinking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.

Strange book - about the power of the adaptive unconscious, and, in opposition, analysis paralysis.
Basically its how we know stuff even before we know we know stuff.

It's akin to meeting someone and taking a dislike (or liking) to them on sight, without any reason whatsoever - and later finding out your first impressions were right.
Or the uneasy feeling you have about a decision you made - and later found out your unreasonable misgivings actually had some basis.

More to investigate.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Really interesting so far. Almost immediately, I felt like I knew Wallace. It really makes me want to revisit Infinite Jest just to visit his mind again.

 

[roamer2629]

Done with Erasmus Vs. Luther. On with this

 

[photonrider]

^
I want that book. Right now.

Any book on Time interests me.

 

[roamer2629]

^
I want that book. Right now.

Any book on Time interests me.

Old edition. Bought it at a 2nd hand bookstore here in Buenos Aires (Books are a lot more expensive here so I rarely buy new ones). Very informative, a bit hard if, like me, have a really poor understanding of math. But it's written in such a way that you can actually skip those chapters and go straight to the ones that interest you (I simply won't do that).
Just checked, available at amazon.

 

[F1GTR]

I'm currently bouncing between these three:

Dune - Frank Herbert
Tried reading this a few years ago and got sidetracked about a third of the way in. Enjoying it a lot more this time.

Capital in the 21st Century - Thomas Piketty
Really interesting analysis of the economic trajectory of the world over the 21st century. Incredibly well researched.

A Guide for the Perplexed - Werner Herzog/Paul Cronin
Herzog has lead such an interesting life so far. There's some good advice amongst all his anecdotes. I also read it in his voice.

 

[roamer2629]

Hey good choices I would gladly read all three of them 👍