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 No.1192037[View All]

File: 1748382440294.jpeg (97.01 KB, 800x721, 800:721, how-do-i-use-this.jpeg) ImgOps Google

I've been feeling nostalgic, and I was hoping to dip in and chat for a day or two.

This is a typical icebreaker thread. I might not check in for a little while, because it's pretty late here, but I've got the day off tomorrow.

Post your top 5 books, and maybe a reason why they're in your top 5. And if you'd like, just stop in and say hi.

1. Okay wow this is actually a hard decision. I'm gonna put here: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. My all time favorite children's book. Dark, gritty, uplifting and intelligent. I cried, I yelled in disbelief, I felt sad when it was over. A group of newly sapient rats have to deal with the realities of a world in which they can suddenly plan ahead and foresse consequences. Where death used to mean very little, even losing a single member of the group becomes a cause for concern. Pratchett explores themes of anger, grief and the meaning of life from the beautiful lens of rat society. Which is very cute, but also so sad.

2. Happiness by Matthieu Ricard - A lovely look at what makes humans happy, with practical guides to try and increase happiness. No single book has contributed more to my wellbeing.

3. With each and Every Breath by Thanissaro Bhikkhu - A really interesting collection of buddhist meditation techniques and explanations for how they work. Both this book and Happiness are written from a relatively western perspective. I use these techniques all the time when stretching or meditating.

4. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. A fun and queer science fiction novel about an artificial ship intelligence that is transplanted against her will into a body and has to adjust to life on the surface of a planet, instead of life in a ship's computer. A heartrending tale that tackles themes of neurodivergence and queer love. I find it to be unbelievably poignant and accessible. It shocked me when what I thought was a frivolous and lighthearted book spoke to such a deep part of me.

5. I thought I had to include one book that wasn't frivolous, so I'm going to say The Sage Handbook of Counselling Psychology. Contributed to by my favorite professor at Uni, Mr. Colin Feltham. It's a handy guide that I use all the time. It's very well written, and gives a good overview of the various types of therapy that can be found in modern psychotherapy and pschology practices.

Bonus - what I'm reading right now.

Right now I'm reading Life and Death, the genderswapped version of the first twilight book by stephanie Meyers, and Unsouled, a progression fantasy book in the Cradle series (by Will Wight) (does anyone know what progression fantasy is? I just learned of this the other week).

Super curious how many people I know are still around, and would be up for a chat. Also to see what any of you have been reading, or what you like.
44 posts and 29 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.1195073

File: 1750962664735.jpg (148.77 KB, 1920x1080, 16:9, trixie31.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>>1194713
Making good progress. IMO the biggest difference between movie and book so far has been Wendy. She was so super annoying in the movie.

 No.1195203

File: 1751176105179.png (399.36 KB, 701x698, 701:698, twi182.png) ImgOps Google

I wrapped up "The Shining" tonight when I couldn't sleep.

All in all I like it a bit better than the movie and there are quite a few essential differences in the story.

I found it interesting that the ending of the book is pretty much the ending of the Doctor Sleep movie.

 No.1195223

>>1195203
I sometimes think back to a particular chapter where Jack Torrance looks at a yellow and black snowscooter or something of the like, and mentally compares it to an angry wasp buzzing around in his skull as a way of explaining the rages he gets when his alcoholism takes over.

One of my prime examples of books and movies being very, very different formats of storytelling, and why comparing the two directly is a little bit flawed in my mind.

 No.1195232

File: 1751198398896.png (457.22 KB, 755x527, 755:527, twi33.png) ImgOps Google

>>1195223
I liked the explanation why the Overlook was after Danny; wanting to use his 'shining' like a power source so it could become stronger and more alive, compared to just being a simple spooky house where you sometimes hear a whisper or a creaking floor.

 No.1195305

>>1195232
>>1195232
Can't say I remember that. But it's been a loooong time since I read the novel.

I mostly listen to audio books while drawing lately. Listening to some books I never read the entirety of when I was a kid that are very King-like.

 No.1195309

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>>1195305
Audiobooks are rather popular; honestly, I don't think I could focus on them - especially while doing something else.

I think I'll continue with some Jules Verne next.

 No.1195408

>>1195309
>>1195309
Eh, drawing and listening are two different parts of my brain. I've always had an easier time sitting still and listening to stuff if my hands are doing something.

 No.1195409

File: 1751450657951.jpg (2.33 MB, 1186x1800, 593:900, Night of the Living Apples.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>>1195309
If I could, I would love to make a radio-play audio-book of Dracula. I wonder why no one has thought of it so far.

And no, I don't mean the original radio-play of Dracula, I mean a faithful audio-book of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but a different voice for each journal entry or letter and ambiance sounds for what they're writing about.

 No.1195411

File: 1751463321396.gif (450.24 KB, 200x200, 1:1, Riddler.gif) ImgOps Google

Can someone help me with a small debate with a friend of mine around riddles.

His riddle: How do you find a corner in a circle room?

My guesses:
1. If the room is cylinder or dome in shape, you lie down, then the horizontal edge between the floor and walls become vertical, thus a corner.
2. If you have pursuers who trap you in the room, thus you are cornered.
3. Infinite corners.
4 (my prefered answer) A room is a room if it has a door, thus the corner of the door.

His answer: "Just draw a square in the room."

I told him that isn't really a riddle given it didn't have the subtle clues to indicate the answer.

So as proof, I tried to make a riddle using his logic.

My riddle: "There is a box with something inside it, what is it?"
The answer: "It is a box, with something inside it."

He couldn't guess the answer, but now I'm wondering if my riddle is actually decent, or is more of an observation than a riddle.

 No.1195412

File: 1751464450122.gif (1.18 MB, 432x242, 216:121, guard32.gif) ImgOps Google

>>1195411
You should both stop doing riddles!

Anyway, I think 2 is the nicest answer.

 No.1195414

>>1195412
Not a fan of riddles?

What runs around a farm, but never moves?

 No.1195415

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>>1195414
A fence.

 No.1195416

>>1195411
Yours is more of an anti-joke, while his is more of a non-answer.

 No.1195417

>>1195415
Correct! See? Not that hard.

>>1195416
An anti-joke? Didn't think there be such thing.

 No.1195418

>>1195417
Oh, anti-Jokes are Absolutely a thing. They usually run on either straight up just lying or foregoing the punchline for a more "realistic" (and thus often depressing) sentence.

Like "A man walks into a bar. His alcohol dependency is destroying his life."

 No.1195419

>>1195418
It sounds like the kind of joke an alien who understand the basics of human culture and society, but barelyunderstands jokes would say.

 No.1195854

File: 1752253502023.png (335.34 KB, 705x401, 705:401, twi48.png) ImgOps Google

In the 19th century they really loved the diary-style narrative in their stories. No matter if Jules Verne or Bram Stoker.

 No.1195995

File: 1752684705508.png (45.71 KB, 1000x563, 1000:563, cmc45.png) ImgOps Google

Is anyon else reading anything?

I consider reading another Jules Vener, 20,000 miles under the sea. Or I could continue with my endless chore in reading all of H.P. Lovecraft's stories.

 No.1195996

>>1195995
I mean, if audiobooks count

Like I may have mentioned, lately I listen to audiobooks while I draw. I am largely going through many of the books written by Dennis Jürgensen, a danish author who has done a lot of work in just about every genre, both for kids, YA and adults.

Lately, I am listening to what might be his biggest epic - a four-part novel called "Relief", which is essentialyl his take on Stephen King's "IT". At least, in the sense that it features people whose worst fears are made manifest.

The difference is they're all adults, and seemingly completely disconnected, and it's actually the awakening of something much more sinister that is sort of spreading a "fear-manifestation disease" that people who for one reason or another (implied to just be because they haves trong phobias) are particularly susceptible are experiencing.

It's quite exciting, actually. Has some really interesting ideas of how to interpret certain traumas and phobias

 No.1196013

File: 1752691541132.png (30.53 KB, 1000x511, 1000:511, MTG-Karlach-Fury-of-Avernu….png) ImgOps Google

>>1195996
you're great ancestors didn't have thousands of years of oral story tradition for audio books not to count!
(i say this as somebody who also does audio books alot too)

oooh! this sounds fun! i'd be down for more IT-esque horror!

 No.1196021

>>1196013
>>1196013
Too bad its Danish and you wouldnt understand any of it!

 No.1196028

File: 1752726810438.png (104.79 KB, 820x593, 820:593, what is that stupid word.png) ImgOps Google

In no particular order:

>Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I'm a sucker for good worldbuilding, and Tolkien is the master at it.
>Neuromancer by William Gibson
The perfect cyberpunk novel
>Fear and Loathing in Last Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
I watched and really enjoyed the movie, and was inspired to read the book, which I enjoyed even more, and now Hunter S Thompson is one of my favorite authors. I was debating between this or Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.
>Programming the 6502 by Rodnay Zaks
An invaluable book for learning the ins and outs of the 6502 instruction set, not just for developing stuff to be run on 6502-based platforms, but also for developing my 6502 emulator.
>This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible by Charles E. Cobb Jr.
A very enlightening look into the history of civil rights in the US, both through violent and nonviolent protests.


I'm currently reading House of Leaves, and I'm enjoying it so far.

 No.1196212

File: 1753201061850.png (776.9 KB, 1280x720, 16:9, twi263.png) ImgOps Google

I read one of my old childrens books from when I was little.

Anyone else still got books from when they were young?

 No.1196218

>>1196212
>>1196212
I have a decent chunk of em. Specifically some that my dad used to read to me, though some of the lean closer to early YA.

The main example would be the danish "Freddy and the Monsters" books. A series of books about a young horror fan names Freddy who discovers that the Universal Monster figures at the local wax museum are actually real and just pretend to be wax Figure by day, and goes on wacky adventures with them.

I've since met the writer twice as an adult and had him sign the first book for me. Same copy my dad read way back when.

 No.1196241

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>>1196218
That's pretty cool. You should read one of them again to see if they were as good as you remember.

 No.1196303

>>1196241
>>1196241
I did. Or rather, I listened to t C he audio book.

They're basically like episodes of a Saturday morning cartoon. Very slapstick and very funny.

 No.1196307

File: 1753257335537.png (363.59 KB, 1141x711, 1141:711, twi41.png) ImgOps Google

>>1196303
Speaking of audio books, I have some old records at home with fairy tales. They came with picture books so you could read along. I loved them as a child.

 No.1196315

>>1196307
>>1196307
Aww, that's nice. I remember books like that, though I think mine were licensed.

 No.1196432

File: 1753363475670.png (374.14 KB, 839x781, 839:781, twi93.png) ImgOps Google

>>1196315
I guess most are, unless they are about really old stories. Like, I had audio "books" about Robin Hood or Moby Dick. Of course, they were very much compressed.

 No.1197051

File: 1754203884679.jpg (44.45 KB, 918x521, 918:521, dash462.JPG) ImgOps Exif Google

I've decided to read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". Gotta finish that Jules Verne compilation book at some point.

 No.1197052

>>1197051
>>1197051
Hitting the classics, huh?

 No.1197064

>>1197052
Gotta read them at some point!

 No.1197067

>>1197064
>>1197064
Yeah, I suppose I oughta.

Ever since I got into actually listening to some audio books, I have been adding various Lovecraft stories myself. They are, after all, highly influential in a genre I adore, yet I only know the various adaptations.

 No.1197103

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>>1197067
I still have to finish my book with all the Lovecraft stories, too. There's so many!

 No.1197104

>>1197103
A long time ago I have read the HP Lovecraft collection.
Maybe some day I could reread it...

I did read a few Shadows over Innsmouth collection books not too long ago.

Sometimes the derivative works are more interesting even than the original.

 No.1197109

File: 1754402573264.png (740.82 KB, 1280x720, 16:9, twi14.png) ImgOps Google

>>1197104
I don't doubt that, there's a lot you can do with all the stories and ideas he came up with.

 No.1197138

Total agreement about The Amazing Maurice.  Best thing Terry Pratchett ever wrote.  The CGI movie was an unspeakable degradation.

 No.1197262

File: 1754767945881.png (374.14 KB, 839x781, 839:781, twi93.png) ImgOps Google

>>1197138
Oh wow, long time no see!

I never even heard of that story to be honest. I think Pratchett was never that big a thing here.

 No.1197296

omg it's rose hiii rose :3
hope you are doing well!

I haven't been reading much fiction lately, mostly history and marxist-leninist theory...currently reading the wretched of the earth by frantz fanon. I don't know that I have a "top 5" at any level, anyway.

edit: I'm like 3 months late to this thread and she purrobably won't see my reply lol! that's ok, it happens

 No.1197297

>>1197296
>marxist-leninist theory
no offense but you could be reading better theory than near the bottom of the barrel for communism or socialism

 No.1197299

>>1197297
well, if you've got suggestions, I'm open to them. my win condition is universal liberation and I'm willing to give anything that has a shot at getting us there a fair shake.

 No.1197303

>>1197299
if communism is specifically what you're interested in anything under anarcho-communism, council communism, some forms of left communism, classical marxism, anything under the libertarian marxist or autonomist umbrella, eurocommunism, workerism, etc. if socialism is what you want your options are even wider. just ideally anything that isn't what arguably ruined leftism in multiple ways with it's approach as well intentioned as it may have been.  

 No.1197309

>>1197303
mm. I think you may have a bit of an unfairly negative impression of marxism-leninism, or maybe I just view it as a broader umbrella than you do ("scientific socialism" is probably a more descriptive term). For context, this time a year ago I was still pretty allergic to "tankies", and if you put a gun to my head, I'm still probably an anarcho-communist in my heart of hearts. Regardless, I think Fanon (and decolonial theory writ large) would likely be worth reading even if I was like, a post-left anarchist or something. I do want to look more into the situationist international sometime though, and bordiga is also on the agenda sometime. And yes, even trotsky

 No.1197313

>>1197309
well scientific socialism is a separate thing more in line with plain marxism which i think is more redeemable. you probably do see it in a broader umbrella. to me it is too authoritarian in it's core concept to be ideal. i wouldn't say that there are no distinctions to be made between it and stalinism but since stalin developed it there aren't many differences. it kind of gives leninism and marxism a bad name (not that i'm the biggest fan of either). i'm open to be proven wrong but everything i've seen about it both in practice and ideology makes me steer clear.

 No.1197318

>>1197313
yeah when I say "marxist-leninist" I mean it in a "marxist and leninist" way rather than a "stalin's sparknotes on marx and lenin" way. I guess real diehard MLs would call that revisionism or whatever, idk, kinda idc tbh lol. not like I'm married to lenin or even marx for that matter, anyway. I treat reading theory the same as I treat reading any other kind of philosophy; not as dogma but as a toolkit for interpreting and interacting with reality, and a set of building blocks for potential future toolkits

 No.1197320

>>1197318
that's fair enough then i guess. take away the good ideas and leave the bad ones and such.

 No.1197706

File: 1755500007950.png (457.22 KB, 755x527, 755:527, twi33.png) ImgOps Google

I finished reading "Five Weeks in a Balloon." Those old 19th century books are partially pretty hard to read.

Moby Dick was the worst offender for me so far.

 No.1197876

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>>1194222
>>1194268
I finally ordered the series at a local book store. Should get them in two or three weeks.

 No.1197886

>>1197876
Then you can educate us on Gurgi!

 No.1197892

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>>1197886
I remember his comic relief in the Disney movie.


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