What are /r/bookclub's favorite Products & Services?

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Modern

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

> Winner of the Man Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature, Disgrace is set in post-apartheid South Africa, and tells the story of David Lurie, a twice divorced, 52-year-old professor of communications and Romantic Poetry at Cape Technical University. He considers himself happy until he sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter his complacency and leave him utterly disgraced.

>but I'd highly recommend getting a decent grammar book and learning English grammar properly.

Strunk & White - The Elements of Style. It's cheap (and probably available at damn near any library), you can probably read it in a day, and it will cover the bases for most things you'll need if you're not being explicitly tested on the fine details of the language. If OP is still in school, it's also very, very likely that at least one English teacher in their school has a copy.

You can read the original text by Strunk here for free, if you're seriously hard-up for cash. It is now nearly a century old, but it's still a fine reference.

General

Open Secrets by Alice Munro

She won the Noble Prize for Literature this year, and this book is considered one of her best, So I really want to read this one and I hope it will be great.

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien

> "The story of a young, lazy, and frequently drunk Irish college student who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dublin. When not in bed (where he seems to spend most of his time) or reading he is composing a mischief-filled novel about Dermot Trellis, a second-rate author whose characters ultimately rebel against him and seek vengeance." (goodreads)

Gutenberg

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (gutenberg link)

Doesn't really need a description. I'm probably in the minority of people who haven't read this. Shame on me.

General

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

> In Pale Fire Nabokov offers a cornucopia of deceptive pleasures: a 999-line poem by the reclusive genius John Shade; an adoring foreword and commentary by Shade's self-styled Boswell, Dr. Charles Kinbote; a darkly comic novel of suspense, literary idolatry and one-upmanship, and political intrigue.

Gutenberg

The Sorrows of Young Werther
By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

>For more than two centuries the very title of this book has evoked the sensitivity of youth, the suffering of the artist, the idea of a hero too full of love to live. When it was first published in Germany, in 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther created a sensation. Banned and condemned but embraced—especially by the young—it has continued to captivate.

>Here is the classic story of Werther, a young man “seeking the infinite” in an art he cannot master and a woman he cannot have—the prototype of the Romantic hero in a work that anticipated the Romantic Age. Here is a bold new look at a masterpiece that has changed lives and, like its beloved hero, will never grow old.

Gutenberg

The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesteron

> In a fantasy London, police hero Gregory Syme cannot reveal fellow poet Lucian Gregory is an anarchist. Elected undercover into the Central European Council of anarchists, Syme must avoid discovery and save the world from bombings by anarchists named after the days of the week.

As cliche and silly as it sounds, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a massive influence in my life. The thing is, though, it wasn't some massive "Oh shit, I've been doing everything wrong!" moment. It was insidious and subtle. I read it when I was in High School, and it sparked a deep interest in philosophy for me. Moreover, it built the foundations for my entire way of thinking. I didn't realize either of these things until I went back and reread what the book was actually about and how those ideas were demonstrated therein.

Anyone interested in a free copy of "Benito Cereno" can find it here on Project Gutenberg. The Piazza Tales is the only collection of short stories and novellas by Melville, including "Benito Cereno", "Batrleby, the Scrivener," and a few others.

I gave Moby Dick a shot over my Christmas downtime and really liked it until my schedule got hectic again and I had to put it down. I'm excited to get another stab at his beautiful, if somewhat long-winded, maritime rhetoric.

This episode was the BEST. So incredibly pretty.

Someone said recently that during this re-read they're finding it harder to sympathize with Bloom. I felt pretty bad for the poor guy during this.

I can't pay enough compliment to the dramatized audiobook. There was music in the background, it was read exceptionally well considering the repetition of words and the changing of voices between characters and narrator mid-sentence. Plus, lots of wonderful opera singing to boot.

I'd also like to re-iterate the last post in my comment-box which is a big thank-you to all those who have been contributing. The thoughts and insights have been invaluable making this is a great reading experience.

General

Manifesto - by Anonymous https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2910097-manifesto

I should say from the outset this has nothing to do with the internet group anonymous. It's basically an experimental stream-of-consciousness book. The book has no cover (it's just plain white), no title page, no chapters, no 'author', it's just an examination of how someone lives as they move across America.

Here's a nice review of the book

Another aspect that I never got my head around was the female-mother-death cosmology that was presented. Looking for more answers about what was in the samizdat, I came across this discussion on librarything which consolidates a lot of the information in the book regarding The Entertainment.

I still don't know for sure what to think of it. Any ideas?

Thanks for creating the schedule!

Regarding the version to buy, did you also take a look at the Gerald J. Davis translation, which came out in 2011?

The popular Edith Grossman translation came out in 2003, according to the copyright.

Newer isn't of course better, but the Amazon reviews for the Davis version seem good. Of course it's a matter of personal preference. Some reviews say that the Davis version is a bit more true to the source and more readable because it doesn't use as many subordinate clauses like the Grossman version.

I just wondering if you had any thoughts regarding it?

For some reason I read M Train first and then read Just Kids a few months later. I wound up loving them both. If I had to pick one it would be Just Kids.

Edit: Here's the list by the way...

http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/patti-smiths-list-of-favorite-books.html

My first reading of the book I committed to reading it outloud the whole way through. It made it take a lot longer but it truly is beautiful.

I'd recommend doing the same at least for Sirens - or finding, say, the fully dramatized Irish radio version for that chapter. That version is nice especially because they tend to sing the songs Joyce used repeatedly as actual songs.

>"Home" We are mostly young in this bookclub. As we get older, we will be able to relate to this story more.

Your comment is interesting because I can understand why you wrote that, but I viewed it more as a young adult story. I really liked Home up until the main character has an outburst at his sister's house, but the end left me slightly flat. I thought the plot momentum would lead to something else I suppose.

With Saunders there seems to be a very interesting story arc that repeats. The reader is often welcomed into a pretty normal setting. Later the normal setting turns out to be quite abnormal and a character is thrust into a make or break decision that could have serious consequences. The story's outcome hangs in the balance.

I guess that type of set up is not necessarily uncommon but it did remind me of Vonnegut's illustrations of the common story arcs. I'm not really sure which diagram Saunder's stories fit into. Probably "From Bad to Worse" or "Which Way is Up?"

Saunders mentions Hemingway in the article as well:

"Hemingway’s writings informed Saunders’s early literary interests. He [Saunders] referred to his early writing as 'Hemingway imitations of me—Hemingway in Texas.'"

I find these literary connections interesting. And, IIRC, Maugham's Of Human Bondage is on Hemingway's list of great novels. So there does seem to be a Maugham --> Hemingway --> Saunders influence.

EDIT: Correction - It was a list of books Hemingway recommended to a young writer.

http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/ernest_hemingways_reading_list_for_a_young_writer_1934.html

I've heard that site recommended in /r/books pretty often. I took a look and sure enough, there's a Tom Jones list (http://www.vocabulary.com/lists/632806#view=notes).

The author didn't put in eleemosynary (related to charity to the poor), maybe his/her vocabulary is better than mine.

I wish there were a way to keep that as a shared list.

One thing that came up early in TJ that is an example of a usage I'm not familiar with is "ordinary" - at Dictionary.com:

> 13. Brit. a complete meal at a restaurant or inn with all courses included at one fixed price.

Brits, is ordinary used this way in Brit. today?

Anyway, I think vocabulary is a significant issue reading this book - really in any book.

If you get rid of the space between the ] and the ( it will make the title the link.

Last Night at the Lobster

would make:
Last Night at the Lobster

Nice. Enjoy your trip in Japan.

Last time I was there, I picked up Confessions of a Yakuza by Junichi Saga at the Narita airport bookstore (in the English section). It's a short read but really captivated me. I devoured it in a few sittings.

It's in also ebook form now: Amazon link.​

It's actually u/Earthsophagus's sub, I just part-time there. But I agree it's an amazing idea.

I'm trying to read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and MacIntyre's After Virtue with r/philosophybookclub, which will end in mid September. (BTW, if you're interested in character-study, Nicomachean Ethics is very relevant. IMO Aristotle shaped the character development and thought experiments of many writers, including Dante, TS Eliot, James Joyce. It's only very recently that "educated" people are no longer required to read Aristotle. Come chat with us if you think you might be interested.)

So anyway, I can start looking into Ovid mid September when I stop wrestling with Aristotle. (But I see that last DQ discussion is scheduled for 27th Sept, so let's aim to start in early October.)

As for translation -- I don't know, but I'll look into it and also ask around. I have the Loeb Latin/English side-by-side at home, but newer translations tend to be more readable. If you have any preference let me know.

I'm interested in this book club as well. The Art of War sounds like a great start. It's one that has been on my someday/maybe list for a couple years now. I'm happy to have an excuse to read it. So how long are we waiting?

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Halfway in. I find the parts about his son and his friend boring and repetetive, but the parts about Immanuel Kant is quite interesting. I just hope it doesn't end with him being admitted to a mental hospital again. That would be to predictable.

Hey everyone. I'm new to the whole book club thing, but I've always loved reading, so I figured this would be a good way to read some good books, engage in lively discussion, and maybe get to know a few people.

Hard to pick a favorite author, but I've always been big on Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Some of my favorite books would be Stranger in a Strange Land, Of Mice and Men, Thinking, Fast and Slow, and the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The last three books I read were The Liars' Club by Mary Karr, Lamb by Christopher Moore, and Lying by Sam Harris. I'm currently reading On the Road and Blink, but I'll throw in the book club books, too.

As for the book I want someone to ask me about, I have two: The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, or The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Modern Book Submission Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance By Robert Pirsig

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy CR ... kind of long

Le Morte d'Arthur- Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and his Noble Knights of the Round Table by Thomas Malory

CR “Romance”, as in Arthurian Romance: courtly love, chivalry, courteous knights and cruel ladies, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Percival, King Arthur, Guinevere, Morgan le Fay... not necessarily lovey-dovey kind of “romance,” but Romance with a hat.

I teach Pride and Prejudice in community education every year (now online, recently finished this year's six week course), have almost completed writing a Pride and Prejudice novel, and did a 10-day tour in England researching the book, Austen and the P&P films. So I clearly have too much to say about it....(.but may limit my participation because of all the books I'm teaching and reading now).

I always use the Annotated Pride and Prejudice (David Shapard). The background information it contains (left page text, right page information, very readable) is incredibly helpful. I couldn't recommend the book more highly.
https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Pride-Prejudice-Jane-Austen/dp/0307950905

(Signs Preceding the End of the World)[https://www.amazon.com/Signs-Preceding-World-Yuri-Herrera/dp/1908276428] by Yuri Herrera

“Signs Preceding the End of the World is one of the most arresting novels to be published in Spanish in the last ten years. Yuri Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back.

Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the USA carrying a pair of secret messages – one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld.”

This is a good book for a companion to Shogun. William Adams inspiration for Blackthorne. The book is called Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan.

The big bad rona by La'Ron McDavis

Almond: A Novel by Won-pyung Sohn

Almond: A Novel

From Amazon:

This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you," and when to laugh.

Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, and they develop a surprising bond.

As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life at risk, Yunjae will have the chance to step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become the hero he never thought he would be.

r/thehemingwaylist

Here is an article that explains the list. http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/ernest_hemingways_reading_list_for_a_young_writer_1934.html

We started in January and are working our way through the list. We read a chapter a day and then have a discussion.

Gutenberg

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) by L. Frank Baum

Good story, I've seen the movie but never read the book. Now's as good a time as any :D Summary from Goodreads:

>Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and a host of other curious creatures come to life as they set out on an exciting quest down the Yellow Brick Road in search of the elusive Wizard. Reset in large, clear type and accompanied by 20 beautiful black-and-white illustrations. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must seek out the great wizard in order to return to Kansas.

General

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

I started reading it and it's funny.

> Portnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933-)] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful; as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neither fantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but rather in overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution, particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. 'The Puzzled Penis', Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) it is believed by Spielvogel that many of the symptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-child relationship

Someone shared this interesting article about object detection on Goodreads: https://www.hackerearth.com/blog/developers/introduction-to-object-detection/

So excited for this! Love that the book club has been continuing with trilogy books.

Anyone find any good prints? I have some beautiful hardcover editions for the Mistborn trilogy (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0765316889/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_VDRVX0ZKTZTM8JYYQR20) but it looks like Era 2 books just have mass market paperbacks?

If anyone else enjoys audiobooks, this version read by Mil Nicholson on LibriVox is excellent! I listened while doing some yardwork today, and her narration is superb.

https://librivox.org/bleak-house-by-charles-dickens-2/

A Gutenberg is an e-book in the public domain typically because the US copyright has expired. You can find out more information about the project and search for titles here.

Cool! That seems to be his most successful novel, critically. David Foster Wallace also listed it among his ten favorite novels.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It is available for free on project Gutenberg and as an audiobook on Librivox.

It's a nineteenth century book when the peoples of Europe were dealing with urbanization, industrialization, and the whole new value system that came with it. Also it is famous for being well written.

Here it is on a website. If you'd like a free download for an e-reader instead, you can find one here in a Melville short story collection (mentioned above). Enjoy!

There's a book I plan on reading soon called Hollywood Gothic, that I think fills in some of the historical details you mentioned, but mostly focuses on the attempts adapt the novel to film.

it’s just the first. if you have a books a million or barnes and noble it’s definitely worth seeing in person. the inked blue pages are a beautiful royal blue and the cover has a satisfying shimmer to it—not to mention the beauty of the cover art: https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Deluxe-Frank-Herbert/dp/059309932X/ref=nodl_

The Gray House

When I finished reading i felt like it’s not a book, it’s something that is very much Alive. I felt weird for so many months after finishing it, like haven’t completely “left” it’s world and characters.

For me personally, there were a couple of books, that helped me to form healthy perspective about world and start working at my 100 percent every second!

First one - The Bible. This one is and always will be very helpful for every human being, no matter what he/she is going through! Hundreds of lessons, teachings, that modernpsychological books quote and interpret (However I strongly advise you to read it carefully aaand if you don't have experience in understanding religious teachings in a healthy way - seek advise from those, who do, don't rush too much when it comes toadoption of conclusions, because Bible is full of hyperbolized language, sometimes you don't have to take some words, meanings literally!).

Second one - Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins. Wonderfull book, rich in practical advices and information about neurolinguistic programming, mirror effect of neurons and your ability to learn, feel and achieve pretty much anything, that human being physically can! Very inspirational!

I am also a book author, who has recently published e-book ,,Study Smart'' on Amazon store! It is a book, that is all about helping you to get better at your everyday studies, all of the tips are very practical and will help you to improve not only at studying, but in your everyday life too and will be a beneficial additive to your process of becoming and being a top class student, and amazing human being! If you want, check it out by cklicking on this link : https://www.amazon.com/Study-smart-Tips-tricks-studying-ebook/dp/B08T9P687L

For me personally, there were a couple of books, that helped me to form healthy perspective about world and start working at my 100 percent every second!

First one - The Bible. This one is and always will be very helpful for every human being, no matter what he/she is going through! Hundreds of lessons, teachings, that modernpsychological books quote and interpret (However I strongly advise you to read it carefully aaand if you don't have experience in understanding religious teachings in a healthy way - seek advise from those, who do, don't rush too much when it comes toadoption of conclusions, because Bible is full of hyperbolized language, sometimes you don't have to take some words, meanings literally!).

Second one - Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins. Wonderfull book, rich in practical advices and information about neurolinguistic programming, mirror effect of neurons and your ability to learn, feel and achieve pretty much anything, that human being physically can! Very inspirational!

I am also a book author, who has recently published e-book ,,Study Smart'' on Amazon store! It is a book, that is all about helping you to get better at your everyday studies, all of the tips are very practical and will help you to improve not only at studying, but in your everyday life too and will be a beneficial additive to your process of becoming and being a top class student, and amazing human being! If you want, check it out by cklicking on this link : https://www.amazon.com/Study-smart-Tips-tricks-studying-ebook/dp/B08T9P687L

Try this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Burning-novel-Megha-Majumdar-ebook/dp/B07XN7GJYD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+burning&qid=1615964511&sr=8-1

I've found the really helpful app "EasyThesis" in the play store last week. Look here for lot of good tips to write a well-organised and convincing thesis and also how to find reliable sources:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.perpetuum.easythesis

For how to think about money I would consider The Millionaire Next Door. For standard financial planning and investments I would consider The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Tobias. For more advanced investing there are lots of other books like The Intelligent Investor or Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.

A biography of the early life of Teddy Roosevelt. From his beginning dealing with debilitating asthma, the death of his first wife, his time with the rough riders, up to the moment he became the youngest president of the United States.

I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance right now, and I would definitely recommend it if you're at all interested in philosophy. It's part philosophical discourse and part novel, so it's a really interesting read!

On Writing Well by William Zinsser is an excellent book about writing non-fiction of any sort. It's elegantly and lucidly written.

A Drifting Life by Tatsumi Yohsihiro is an autobiographical manga epic about a towering manga artist's life as a young man breaking into the industry.

Jokes is a book by a philosopher named Ted Cohen, passed away recently. It is assigned in a class I'm taking called "Philosophy of Humor."

Let Your Life Speak is a book by the wonderful Parker J. Palmer that's about living in accordance with and attentively to your true self. It's both heartfelt and practical.

The Moon and Sixpence is my first attempt to participate actively in this subreddit!

These are established and recognized classics. Why not go with current Nobel Prize or Nat. Book Award winner? I.E: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson; The Good Lord Bird by James McBride; Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

I'm in Chapter 2, the blaming of the English wasn't in the first chapter. Going through it pretty slow, since I'm also reading Dubliners and So Good They Can't Ignore You. Two chapters a day sounds nice, but it is hard to put aside an hour or so for reading.

That makes a lot of sense! Even that last bit - "materialist philosophy which claims to protect individuals and groups, but at the cost of their freedom" - seems apropos. I could totally see the whale representing the "death and rebirth" of the town, too.

Here's something that perplexed me about Mrs. Eszter: she spends the whole novel plotting, maneuvering, manipulating people so she can take control of the town, and her motivations do seem pretty evil in that they're selfish and power-seeking, but… at the end it almost seemed like the results of her actions weren't that bad. I mean, during the whole story it was emphasized that people were afraid, reluctant to take any action, and the town had fallen into disarray. What about the sidewalks that were covered in trash, for instance? Things were in sorry shape and nobody wanted to do anything about it until Mrs. Eszter took over, then some of the last scenes were of people finally getting out and cleaning up their yards and homes. It's almost as if she's using her evil powers for good, haha.

More on Mrs. Eszter: I wished, when I got to the bit about the painting in the courthouse, that I was more familiar with the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu, because I suspect Mrs. Eszter was following strategies from that book the whole time.

I hope we do some Rossetti, now or later. I'd forgotten how much I liked "Goblin Market" until you quoted it to me the other day.

I found this book I've been meaning to mention to you: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had. I've got a library copy now. Not sure how useful it is and I'm still trying to decide whether I need to own it, but it's got some good curricula: Fiction, Autobiography, Drama, Poetry, History, and Science. Its tips on how to absorb and analyze information have really been working for me with To the Lighthouse, and I plan to use them for Metamorphoses. A couple weird things, like for autobiography, Mein Kampf makes the list (side-eyeing that one), but I can already see how I'd switch the lists around to suit myself.

I'm a long time Redditor, but using this account to include my own book - online as of yesterday. I hope this is allowed - I need some feedback, so if anyone is interested I'd greatly appreciate ;-)

Half Past Monday
By M Erpenbeck

>After marrying his med school sweetheart, Dr. Dominic Rivera thought his life was perfect. But his wife, Clarissa, has dark secrets, and the consequences of her past trauma have been buried all these years. When current events push her over the edge, the confident doctor’s life completely falls apart.

>Dominic would do anything to change what happened. His only chance lies in an old inventor friend’s scribbles, stored away in a forgotten attic. This tool will let him change his wife’s history—but at what cost? Even though he only has time to alter one moment, the repercussions follow him back to the present. He saves his wife, unknowingly at the expense of others.

>A single day can alter who a person becomes. When a young boy sees his mother killed, his own path turns dark. Back in the present, Dominic is thrilled when everything seems to be right again. He gradually notices small differences, ones that are seemingly unconnected. But when his daughter is kidnapped, Dominic realizes the gravity of what he has done. Lost among the dusty roads of a ghost town, he must prove himself innocent and find his little girl—before it’s too late.

I'd really be interested in anthropology, science, and bestsellers as you mentioned. I'm also getting into science fiction. I'm really open to new genres as long as its not too long (under 400-500) and I can get most of what we read from the library.

Lately I've read When Breathe Becomes Air, The Killer of Little Shepherds, and Branded Beauty. All 3 are non fiction, two semi-biographical. Parts of Metro 2033, based on the video game.

I'm really interested in reading Visual Anthropolgy: Photo as a Research Methos. But understand if its not everyone's cup of tea. :)

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

I read this on Kindle on through their Lending Library (it might still be on there) and loved it. It's a great look inside kitchens and Bourdain is a good writer.

Edit: inserted title and author

This is a bit of an oldie, but I cannot recommend highly enough The Ear, The Eye, and the Arm.

It's a bit low on the YA side (I'd say 8-10 years), but it's a fascinating story in a work that's well built and very similar to our own. It also focuses on an area of the Earth that I don't read many science fiction / fantasy stories centered around.

I have been scrounging different subreddits of the same topic to see what others have recommended as well and this was one they mentioned. My gf won't watch anything suspenseful or scary without me with her. After reading more on it, as well as reviews, this is not one I feel comfortable recommending to her as she has a difficult time sleeping as is sometimes. I appreciate the recommendation though, it looks like an awesome book, I added it to my wishlist on Amazon. Once I finish The Broken Eye(Lightbringer Series) I think I will pick this one up.

The Folio Society are a great resource for hardbound, high-quality editions of famous texts. Here is no exception, the 1980 Folio Society edition is quite pretty.

Tim Powers writes in a lot of different genres (spy, steampunk, horror, sf, etc) and often mixes them up. Some people think his stuff is odd or strange, but he has a cult following.

His pirate novel, "On Strangers Tides," is one of his early and most well-known books (and some of it was used for one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, but it doesn't really have a resemblance to Powers' superior novel).

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers on Amazon.com

I've listened to an interesting book about that topic. Pretty much the whole story of Porsche from the founding of the company till 2012 (including the merger). I never knew how connected the two companies were from the very beginning.
However I've not found an English translation.

Here is the German version.

<strong>The Landscape of Man</strong> by Geoffrey and Susan Jellicoe.

I've been trying to work my way through this book for a while now; it's one of those books that are supposed to be majorly influential in one's career in landscape architecture and environmental planning. I'm not sure I understand why, though, as it's all material I already learned. I could see the book being useful as a "textbook" for landscape architecture history classes, but I probably won't go through it again once finished.

The Black Prism is the first in a fantasy series where one of the main characters is an overweight, anxious kid who gets thrown into a world beyond his understanding. The storyline isn't finished yet, but it's still a good read.

Reading the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, it was a redditor's recommendation and I'm enjoying it a lot!

Recently finished;

Self Discipline in 10 Days, it really helped me in many ways.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, I love the creativity with characters and places and everything, just like Stardust, although I didn't like the appearance of characters in this one (I read the comic book) it was a bit too colourful and freaky.

Surviving the Evacuation Book 2 Gotta love a good old zombie apocalypse story.

Modern Submission

Dusk and Other Stories by James Salter

I love reading these threads for all the great nominations. Probably won't participate due to my immersion in David Foster Wallace right now, but I hope to be back soon. Nominating this book as a small tribute to the author and a reminder to myself to read Salter again soon.

Edit: more readable copy of the essay is here. I left in the stuff below about finding giveaway essays in Amazon because I've found often with classics you can find interesting analysis in the kindle previews.

Yeah, you find the book on Amazon, then get to the page for the kindle edition. When you're there, the "Look Inside" picture on the left has distinctive look, with a little tab that says "kindle edition" - not sure if this link will work.

THen click on the "look inside" and poke around. On the kindle edition, instead of giving you a sample of the text, they often give you just "front matter." Which they do in this case, and it's the essay.

It's an irritating thing in a lot of cases, for example if you're trying to see how they have notes set up on a Shakespeare edition, you typically can't - all the "Look Inside" lets you do is see essays at the beginning of the book. But there are some good essays on things like Blake or Homer or Tolstoy books.

More about kindle that might be of interest to a bookish lot of people...

I've also found so far with kindle books, if I buy something it turns out I don't like the internal formatting (with a lot of poetry for example) they just give me my money back if I go to "Manage your content and devices" and do a return.

More about Anna Karenina - if anyone wants to discuss the essay or anything else about Anna K, it's still fine to do so in this sub, just create a new post with Anna Karenina in the title

Romance

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

An incredibly real and touching look into the lives of two couples. Crossing to Safety is about friendship, marriage, and love.

Modern Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

From an Amazon customer review: Everything I Never Told You is a story of secrets, of love, of longing, of lies, of race, of identity, and knowledge. The story begins with the death of Lydia, daughter of Marilyn and James, which is told in the first sentence and slowly revealed through the book. Why she did it drives the narrative, and yet, this story is bigger, grander than this central mystery. Marilyn wanted to defy society's narrow vision of her life and become a doctor, while James is trying to overcome humble beginnings and a society judging him based on his race. Together, they conventions, marry and create a family. Nathan, oldest son on his way to Harvard, Lydia, the middle sister and favorite one, and Hannah, truly growing up invisible. Together, Ng has created a complex, complicated family that rings so true on every page.

Here is a reasonably priced one, and if you care about "definitive" volumes it's the one to get.

freefall by joseph stiglitz - a great read if you want to understand the economic crisis

Quick note for UK book clubbers:

Crime and Punishment is available in the Penguin Popular Classics imprint, and it sells at £2. You can find it on Amazon here, but it should be available at this price everywhere.

Excellent. I've already started Swann's Way, but I need to pick up the pace a little if I want to be finished in time for discussion start. For reference, I'm reading out of this version.

Freedom By Jonathan Franzen