Search results

I read this monster tome some years ago. It makes for a great eye-opening, and mouth-opening, read. Though Zinn, in the edition I read, treats the story about Miss Polly Baker as fact. Benjamin Franklin admitted that he wrote it as a hoax. Some of Zinn's descriptions of working conditions in the...

Augh! I spill much ink while reading. A 200 page book usually ends up as 5-6 pages of notes, thoughts, and summary. I also write an Amazon review for every book I read, more so I can go back and revisit my thoughts on a book. Keeps the text fresh.

I've ordered off Amazon UK (as well as Amazon Japan) numerous times and never had a problem. The shipping takes a little longer. As for the costs, just convert the shipping rate to $$$s on one of the many currency exchange sites lurking on the web.

When your library stack begins to resemble your personal bookshelf. "I didn't know I had that." Or if you've read every book that comes up in conversation.

Reading Judas by Elaine Pagels and Karen King. Found it at a small independent bookshop near a friend's house. I always feel obliged to buy something in those cute little places.

Quality. Sometimes books require a second reader immediately or soon after the first eye scan. My latest book I read through twice before forming a definite opinion on it. If I want to read for quantity only then I read manga. :D

Probably Difficult Loves by Italo Calvino. It includes numerous stories about bizarre expressions of love. My favorite story involves a man who revisits his home town for the first time in years. Since he left he started wearing glasses, so no one recognizes him. When he realizes this he takes...

I finished Paul Bowles Collected Stories 1939 - 1977. Good creepy stuff about colliding cultures (or better: europeans getting lost in other cultures). I'm in grad school so I also finished half of a technical book (not exactly pleasure reading, but interesting nonetheless). I've also managed to...

Well, that clinches it. I've heard nothing but mediocre things about Rice's books, and this thread pretty much helped me decide to never read a book of hers. But there's plenty more to read anyway. :D

Just received a つじあやの (ayano tsuji) CD in the mail today. She plays ukelele (because her hands are apparently too small for guitar) and can really sing (unlike some other JPOP acts). Nice songs, good mood. Fun stuff. But unfortunately the price comes with a nice tariff.

I tried reading Henry Miller a while back and I just couldn't get into it. I think it was Tropic of Capricorn. It opened up with a reference to itchy armpits. For some reason the page just wouldn't turn. I pulled and pulled but it resisted. So I put it down. Then I sold it. I think I had a...

I have a few hundred. I'm trying to control myself. At one time in my life I had a book buying problem akin to heroin addiction. One day I looked around and saw piles of books I paid full price for but hadn't read. Some of them had receipts in them that were ten years old. That moment I realized...

The 1984 that actually came out in 1984 was incredible. John Hurt as Winston and Richard Burton in one of his last roles. Very faithful to Orwell and subsequently miserably depressing. But a good good cinema book melding. I would not vote for Lord of the Rings. Though both the movies and the...

Oh yes. I used to keep a list of books read year by year. My goal was at least 20 books a year (but I usually read far more). Now I write Amazon reviews for nearly everything I read. This serves as a good mnemonic as well as a record of what I've actually read. Plus, if I want to review my...

Take it to a dealer. If they say it's worthless but offer you money for it anyway, then you have a real treasure. :p

My hardest read so far was Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. But most philosophy spews turgid prose. On the fiction side, Thomas Pynchon and Nabokov reign as my biggest challenges so far.

Definitely American Aurora by Richard Rosenfeld at 1012 long pages with small type. Fascinating stuff, though. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer stands at a close second. How did I make it through those long long books?

I'm in the exact same boat. Book buying can become a heroin-like addiction. Then suddenly you have dozens of books and no time. It's wasteful and frustrating. One thing that helped was thinking that time spent buying books detracts from time reading books. And if I have unread books at home...

It completely depends on the author. An e-mail or letter to Salman Rushdie or Kurt Vonnegut will likely go unanswered. But lesser known or up and coming authors probably revel in each letter. I've contacted a number of authors, and most of my inquiries went unanswered. But it's always worth a...

I haven't read any Dan Brown, and from what I've heard I won't - I've heard exactly what you said above: all of his books are the same. So, I won't vote, but thought I'd put in some indirect support.