EPTUnrelated note: I'm 4th on Liquibet? Hahaha oh wow I wonder how long I can keep this guess work up.
I want to be well read
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Ryot
Canada316 Posts
Unrelated note: I'm 4th on Liquibet? Hahaha oh wow I wonder how long I can keep this guess work up. | ||
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DamageControL
United States4222 Posts
About a world that receives night only once every few hundred year, and what happens to them | ||
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Servolisk
United States5241 Posts
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skyglow1
New Zealand3962 Posts
On August 19 2008 11:26 DamageControL wrote: Nightfall by Isaac Asimov About a world that receives night only once every few hundred year, and what happens to them Shit I totally forgot that I even read this book a couple years ago until I read your description. Thumbs up from me too on this one! | ||
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crabapple
United States397 Posts
don't subvocalize, take in lots of words at once, don't reread, and learn to register concepts by looking at words like a picture, instead of "reading to yourself". seriously, after reading a good book on speed reading, the way the teach you to read in school basically conditions you not to unleash full reading potential, and in the long run, discourage reading period. if education wasn't run by the state, we would have better curricula. one size does not fit all, and leave shit to the free market,big gov. i recommend TRIPLE YOUR READING SPEED by Wade E. Cutler (and yes, you can do way more than triple... thats just what you end up with doing moderate to minimum) | ||
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Deleted User 3420
24492 Posts
On August 19 2008 11:26 Servolisk wrote: What is the gain from being well read? :O in those threads where people talk about books you can be like "yeah I read that one too" or "yeah that book was awesome" | ||
GHOSTCLAW
United States17042 Posts
You're going to get a different list of favorite books from everyone. Personally, at the top of my list are the foundation trilogy, ender's game, and Fahrenheit 451. | ||
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crabapple
United States397 Posts
what govenrment is supposed to be. freedom at the highest regards. the dangers that the goverment they designed was intended to protect against: (papal rule and bloodshed when mixing church and state, despite how much they believed in God, the banks getting control of currency and robbing the entire nation first by inflation then deflation, why gold and silver are to be legal tender and "bills of credit" were opposed, etc.) the founding fathers writings and intentions will give the reader an understanding of freedom, how to protect it, how people can live more prosperously and will impart a richer "well-read-ness" than a lot of books out there. | ||
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crabapple
United States397 Posts
but just in case, if it is simply fun ur looking for, dream catcher by stephen king is awesome... one of the few books i read twice. and its almost a thousand pages. if you watched the movie, don't let it ruin the book for u. DON QUIXOTE is hilarious and a classic. the satire CANDIDE by voltaire is like the colbert report of voltaire's century. (these two are fun and supplemental for "well-read-ness") THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION may be a little dry, but if ur into our origins, evolution vs creation vs whtaever else me be out there, it's important to have a sober view on the theories. especially evolution, touting itself as the unequivocal truth by a lot of people. | ||
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Motiva
United States1774 Posts
There is just far too many books to give you a list and say: "you are an accomplished reader" What are your specific tastes? I would recommend The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien -- most people have read The Hobbit / LOTR, Hurin is 1 of the primary stories taken out of The Silmarillion (his life's work) and turned into a narrative. It is much more mature and dark than any of his other works. Good developed and dark fantasy at it's finest. Origin of Species as mentioned above is a fine read if you're quite serious. The Stranger by Albert Camus is a mother fucking classic. It's essentially about how life is absurd. lol. Music for Torching by A. M. Holmes is a very entertaining and interesting read. It's essentially about a husband and wife w/ kids who live vain lives that they're sick of and don't know what to do as they spiral out of control. My descriptions aren't dead on and this is just what I could come up with in 2 minutes. More information on your taste? | ||
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Ryot
Canada316 Posts
But I'm going to go book shopping sometime so I figured I'd get a list going from recommendations and descriptions. | ||
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Dark.Carnival
United States5095 Posts
A Song of Fire and Ice series - George R. R. Martin Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan Lord of the Rings triology + The Hobbit and if you're willing, like Motiva mentioned, the sotries out of The Silmarillion are good. - J.R.R Tolkein Stephen King books are good reads; specifically for myself I like the Dark Tower series. John Grisham books are also good if you enjoy trial/lawyer/legal things. Redwall series by Brian Jaques(i might've spelt this wrong) are good books too, though a bit pegged for a younger audiance i still enjoy reading them myself. i could go on and on but i think i'll stop there. most of the books i mentioned are fantasy novels, and if you want descriptions just wikipedia them, it gives a good enough overview of them. | ||
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crabapple
United States397 Posts
read MERE CHRISTIANITY by CS Lewis. most all of C Lewis' books rock. chronicles or narnia would be the more christian allegory type like tolkein's LOTR. MERE CHRISTIANITY is more the sober, logical, and philosophical analysis of his conclusions. best case for christianity i've read to date. and even if ur not christian, or even hate it (CS Lewis was an agreesive athiest before becoming christian so he has lots of strong athiestic arguments tackled in his book as well) you will love it's honest and clear logic that starts from scratch. indeed, one of my favorite points about it was that it didn't postulate right off the bat by assuming everything about the bible was true. [if our ability to reason itself is just a perception and instinct, then reasoning itself has no merit.] paraphrased from memory. great book. recommended for all philosophers and logicians. | ||
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YPang
United States4024 Posts
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DamageControL
United States4222 Posts
On August 19 2008 11:26 Servolisk wrote: What is the gain from being well read? :O I'm not sure, i think reading should be done for readings sake | ||
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demonic_phate
United States442 Posts
On August 19 2008 12:14 Ryot wrote: I'm not even sure on my tastes tbh. I'm ashamed to admit that I've done very little reading in my life aside from high school English class. But I liked all the stuff I read there (To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, various Shakespeare works). But I'm going to go book shopping sometime so I figured I'd get a list going from recommendations and descriptions. ugh... I couldnt stand reading Catcher in the Rye. It starts off alright but later on I just wanted to shoot myself... Sadly it was 3 am and I had a really bad case of insomnia. That and the fact that I had nothing better to do forced me to continue on and force myself to read. I will never forgive him for not banging the whore :/ | ||
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Polemarch
Canada1564 Posts
How the Mind Works OR The Blank Slate - both by Steven Pinker Describes human nature (e.g. why guys tend to care more about looks than women) from an evolutionary psychology perspective. Guns, Germs & Steel - Jared Diamond Won the Pulitzer prize. A multi-disciplinary scientist answers the question "Why was Europe able to develop faster and colonize the rest of the world, rather than vice versa?" with a profound, non-racist theory and lots of supporting evidence. The Third Chimpanzee - Jared Diamond Explores the main theme of how humans are different from the rest of the animal kingdom (the answer is not very much). Covers everything from anthropology (Neanderthals vs Homo Sapiens, etc.) to language in animals to extra-terrestrial life. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey A great book on personal development on how to accomplish more both individually and with others. It's pretty much applicable to everybody. I could recommend a lot more, but all four of these blew my mind. | ||
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BlackStar
Netherlands3029 Posts
It would be like reading a book on how to build a steam engine. It's going to provide you with partially wrong data about something obsolete. | ||
NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
I enjoyed 'The Long Walk' - it's disturbing as hell, but an interesting change from some of Stephen King's more formulaic (sp?) works. The ending is annoyingly ambiguous, but it's worth dealing with for the core of the book itself. Thanks for the other recommendations - I need to get back into reading and stop buying trashy novelisations of horror movies (the selection of books here is a bit limited at times.) | ||
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