Have I told you guys how much I love library sales?
Because I really, really love library sales. :heart:

Iltu - Oh nice! :P What a good find!! I love finding gift cards after they've been lost for a while :yes:

Colors - Aw well thanks! That's so nice of you to say! :P I'm glad you decided to come join us here :yes:

:lol: Yea I often get a long with people better when they are geeky or when I find out they like firefly! :P lol That guy has sme funny quotes :XD

Kat - indeed, I know a few people that don't read well (my mom included) but they still try and do get through books :yes: Just takes em a little longer!

Also I don't ski jump myself but it's always fun watching them on the winter Olympics! :P

Heh, I can't ski jump either, I'd end up as the next Eddie the Eagle. I just follow the sport as much as I can with the coverage on UK TV.

Good library sale finds! I've been meaning to read Island since I read Brave New World. 'Say it with Quilts' is amusing me far more than it should. XD

*looked up Eddie* lol! Well I'd much rather end up like him then come to a crashing painful finish which is what would be bound to happen if I tried :XD

Knerd - I totally didn't see your post there :oops: But! I love library sales too! A few years ago I went to one and got a bunch of vintage math and trig books! :P And some fantasy novels too :lol:

Knerd, I loved reading Interpreter of Maladies! :ninja: Definitely an awesome short story.

I've never read any of Huxley's work, though I've been meaning to for the longest time... Maybe if I finish my modest little list of reading material I'll mosey on over to the library and take a gander. :ninja:

*adds Facade's link*

And give Huxley a shot if you ever get the chance. Most people have read Brave New World, but he has a lot of other great essay collections too. :yes:

Originally Posted by colorsbold

@Iltu: Okay, I am going to give you a scary, Godlike power over my existence... Pick a Faulkner book for me to read? :sweat:
Whatever you pick shall be in my 42-Book-Challenge, come hell or high water or Harold Camping's Apocalypse.


Heeeey guys. I think that people who read books are super-super nice in general. There are a couple of threads on Menewsha that I really like... Whenever I see people from 50 Book Challenge or the Doctor Who thread around Menewsha, I get all excited and feel at ease. Even in really, really intense argumentative threads, seeing you lot around cheers me up. Thought I'd say. :glomp:



I think that what people like frequently indicates how awesome I will think they are. Books definitely rank.

Does this make me mean? Do you guys ever like or dislike people based on books/writing/geekiness/knowledge of the show Firefly?

John Waters has good ideas about books and how they indicate whether you should sleep with people. I think books also indicate whether you should talk to people, give them cookies or let them petsit for you. :yes:

Ooooh, what an honor! I really hope I don't choose poorly. :oops: I pick The Sound and the Fury for you. I found it a really difficult read, myself, but I loved it. :drool: Seriously one of my favorite books ever!

And aw, shucks! :hug:

I don't really like or dislike people based on what books they like, but I totally understand what you mean! If I meet someone who has an interest in books/Disney movies/Supernatural/travel/other things I think are rad as hell, I immediately think they're awesome and I want to talk to them more. It's WAY easier to make friends that way.

If someone gets on my nerves and I find out they don't like a book or author I love, it definitely helps push the 'How-Much-I-Like-This-Person' meter away from 'Nothing Against You, You Just Get A Bit Annoying At Times' and towards 'I Flat Out Don't Like You And Don't Have A Desire To Speak To You.' :P Similarly, if a person is at 'I'm Not Sure What To Think Of You Yet,' on the meter and I find out they love something I love, they are propelled to the 'We Ought To Be Friends!'mark. Judgmental, perhaps, and it has backfired on me a few times, but for the most part it works out!

Originally Posted by Knerd

Have I told you guys how much I love library sales?
Because I really, really love library sales. :heart:

Library sales are the most wonderful things! Looks like you got a good selection there, too. :)
The big annual library book sale is starting the day I graduate, so my best friend and I are going on the second day. I'm so exited!

lol. People who read are awesome, it doesn't necessarily matter what they read.. As long as they read! XD

I've never read any of Huxley's essays, just some of his other novels. I particularly enjoyed Antic Hay.

Packing books to read while I'm visiting home, woo.

I don't really know who Huxley is :sweat: But! I will go look him up! Ooo! Dinner's ready! *runs off*

Car'a'Carn: :lol: Distracted, much?

Papillon- Agreed! :D
...Except people think they're better than others because they read, or people who are snotty or pretentious about what they read. :gonk: But roughly 99% of readers I know aren't like that. :lol:

Kitami - :lol: You would be too for mashed potatoes roast beef and gravy! :P Yummy stuff!!


I'm halfway through Atlas shrugged! :P

Congrats Car, that's a long read! I want to give it a try sometime. Do you like it?

Atlas Shrugged is a great read. I believe it's one of those novels that everyone should pick up at least once in their life. I don't agree with Ayn Rand and I don't support most of her economic theory, but experiencing her work is a great way to expand your own ideals and start thinking about your relationship to capitalism. I hope you enjoy it! :yes:

Sounds like cool beans! I really need to remember to pick it up sometime.
I want to read it in part because it would be a great book to expand my horizons and have under my belt, and in part because I love the title. Ugh, the implications of the title! It's marvelous.

Iltu - I do! I love retro novels with alternate futuristic outcomes. I dunno if that's the way to describe Atlas Shrugged but something like that! :)
It is a pretty darn good title! It really grabs you and makes you want to know what it's about. Well it did for me anyway :lol:

Knerd - So far I am really enjoying it! I like the different dynamics of all the characters involved and it definitely lends a different perspective on things.

Hey Carn, do you read a lot of utopian/dystopian fiction? Because I also really like "retro novels with alternate futuristic outcomes" and would love to swap recommendations!

The ones that comes to my mind right now are:

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (or just about anything by Bradbury, really)
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Dune by Frank Herbert
Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein
The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
Jennifer Government by Max Berry (Cherry Flavored Antacid will love you forever if you read this :heart: )
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Sky Doll by Alessandro Barbucci
Watchmen by Alan Moore

I don't but I think it's more because I don't know of many books of that type, like Atlas Shrugged is the only one I've come across in a while. Ooo Please do!! :eager: Thank you! I'll see if I can remember any other titles I've read like that :yes: I think I'll try and see if I can get samples of these on my kindle later tonight.

@Iltu: The Sound and the Fury it is, then! I found this annotated version that I can read online, which hopefully will help my poor brain from sputtering and dying. I know that the narrative's a tad temporally mixed. :P


I finished the entirety of The Belgariad, guys! Wheee! :boogie:

That's five books. Lots of sexist characterizations of females, but I tried to be patient with it... The ending paragraphs were whimsical, at least! I was hoping for a little more whimsy through the series, but what can you do? There were a great many Epic Fantasy Battles... also, the author seems to have an affection for gruesome descriptions of violence against animals/monsters/people in the name of glory/duty/fate/sacrifice/religion. Graaaaaaah. I have a very vivid process of mental illustration, so... :|

I missed following heavily involved stories, so I am glad to have read it.


Now a bit of a rest. Anyone ever heard of Female Chauvinist Pigs? Feminism. It goes there.

Ooh! I HEAR TALK ABOUT AYN RAND'S ATLAS SHRUGGED! :eager:

I actually had to write a comparative analysis of two works by the same author for a class this year, and I chose Rand's Atlas Shrugged and Anthem.

I never got to finish Atlas Shrugged, though I read the first ~400 pages and I genuinely enjoyed what I read. Though the research I compiled regarding her and the ultra conservative following she attracted peeved me a bit. Definitely a sketchy lady, with a slew of misplaced morals... :lol:

But yeah, Anthem is a quick read and very similar to Atlas. I one day plan on picking Atlas Shrugged back up and reading it the whole way through, because I enjoyed what I read regardless of the undertones within the work that I personally disagree with entirely. :ninja:

Hmm may as well post my last 12 months worth of books:

What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
The Art of Friendship - Roger Horchow and Sally Horchow
The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene
Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William D. Danko, Ph.D.
The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason
The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss
The Knack - Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham
The Toyota Way - Jeffrey Liker
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Re-imagine! - Tom Peters
Anyone Can Do It - Duncan Bannatyne
Eat That Frog! - Brian Tracy
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki
The Wal-Mart Effect - Charles Fishman
How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis
Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt - Harvey Mackay
Yes! - Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini
The Snowball - Alice Schroeder

Hoping to find time for 15-20 books over the next 12 months.

Would you guys think less of me if I lowered my challenge from 75 books to 50? I'm so far behind and I don't think there's any feasible way for me to read 75 books this year. :no: Unless I become a hermit this summer, which I don't want to do!

Knerd- I really need to read more Bradbury! I think we've talked about the Martian Chronicles before- that or I've seen you talking about them and made a mental note to read them, at least. I do love Fahrenheit 451, though.

Colors- Good luck to you! I hope I have chosen well for you and you don't come ranting at my poor selection later. :lol: Also, good plan. Just 'a tad' is a bit of an understatement. :lol: I don't think I'd have gotten through it without my teacher guiding our class until we got a feel for the narrative style. And we had a really nice sheet that detailed all the sudden time skips in the first two sections of the book. :P Obviously I don't speak for everyone and plenty of people have gotten through it just fine without help, but goodness me I'd have had no idea what was going on without some explanation!
And Congrats on finishing The Belgaraid!

Inso- Good luck with your reading!
Did you enjoy Freakonomics? I'd like to pick it up sometime.

Iltu: 50 books is still a ton!

Freakonomics was good, but a lot of the sections seemed like they went into their "proof" for too long. I'd have preferred more interesting scenarios, and less time spent trying to prove their hypothesis.

Originally Posted by Facade

But yeah, Anthem is a quick read and very similar to Atlas.

I hate Anthem.

Have you ever heard of the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin? It's the same general idea as Anthem, contains many of the same themes and character types, has a more fully developed plot and storyline and was published 16 years before Rand's work. There's actually a lot of scholarly argument that Rand stole ideas straight from Zamyatin and only managed to get published because of her fame.

Pick it up if you ever stumble across a copy. I have the feeling that you would like it even more. :yes:


And I've added your list to the front page, Inso! Welcome aboard the Reading Railroad.