Books and Literature

[IMJ]

Are there any TMNT fans here that have a passion for reading that resides outside of comic books? I've been a reader all my life - I remember loving it as a kid when I'd be reading and just disappeared into that "flow state" while reading books like "The Hobbit", "A Winkle In Time" and sci-fi material like "Voice of the Whirlwind" when I was young.

As I got older I found some enjoyment in actually letting good film adaptations sort of inform material I might like to read. A lot of people find more credibility in the other direction, but I'm a pretty authentic guy so I have no qualms about saying that Francis Ford Coppola encouraged me to read Bram Stoker's Dracula back in 1992, or that Fight Club made me a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan, or that Blade Runner was my catalyst to read "DADOES?"

I broke away from "fun reading" for a few years while doing my Master's Degree, but once I got back into it I became interested in acquiring true 1st editions and signed copies of fun books or by intriguing authors became something of a hobby for me.

These are 700+ Year Old Copies of "The Illiad" and the Odyssey" Under my Care
https://i.imgur.com/XN4WXGDm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dZm5aNam.jpg

I'm a big fan of hardcovers - for some reason I'm more inclined to read a hardcover than a paperback any day. It's a nonsense personal virtue, but there's something about the authenticity of a hard cover - especially a true 1st edition that is gratifying. I have a modest collection of "investment worthy" books as true 1sts, most of which I have later print readers of as well. Books multiply like Gremlins and appeal to hoarder-mentality, so it takes discipline to maintain a clean and streamlined library. Of course, hunting true 1st editions in the book world can be maddening. My personal grails - books that I'd love to own True 1sts of would be:

To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my favorite books of all-time)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
A Wrinkle In Time

My sort of impulsive recommendations would be:

Blink - a great book about rapid cognition, no psychology degree needed
Hughes - a biography of Howard Hughes
Red - Sammy Hagar's amazing biography
Altered Carbon - the 1st book is gripping and the world building is amazing
Choke - Palahniuk's ongoing, comedic evaluation of society at it's best (runner up would be Lullaby)

Two of my buddies joke when they see my "library" that they are surprised that I haven't picked up a true 1st edition of "The Bible" yet, signed by God. :lol: Probably won't ever find a copy of that one.....

[Barkworm]

Good thread idea although I think the majority of users here are not that much into literature.

I've also always loved reading and studied German and English literature at university (did my Master's thesis on Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man). I also focused on the Romantic movement out of which I enjoyed several novels and novellas - mostly German but Frankenstein is surely one of my favourites.

These days I don't get too much time to read apart from children's classics I read to my kids at bedtime (just finished a slightly abridged version of Alice in Wonderland with my 7 year old daughter). But there are always phases where I do read obsessively.

I've been reading Paul Auster's Sunset Park for a while now. I've enjoyed most of what I read of him although this one lacks the surrealism I liked about his other books. Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time finishing it.

To kill a Mockingbird is a great book that I've worked on with students in school. I still haven't read To set a Watchman which has been collecting dust in my bookshelf for years now. Have you read it?

I read Mark Lanegan's biography last year, shortly after he died. I'd definitely recommend it, though it's depressing to the core.

Another - albeit very short - book I enjoyed a lot last year was Claire Keegan's novel Small things like these . It deals with the Irish Magdalene Laundries where women who got pregnant out of wedlock were supposedly taken care of. The protagonist, a family father and coal merchant, finds out that the women are abused there and is conflicted about how to deal with this knowledge, fearing the influence of the Catholic church in Ireland.

[joe-eyeball]

I definitely am a fan of Cormac McCarthy’s work! And I have enjoyed biographical works about the founding fathers such as David McCullough’s stuff. And then tons of other books that really amounts to fluff I guess

[newfan]

I've enjoyed when I have gotten into a good story and it is something I have been meaning to do more often, just got to have that time dicipline, sometimes the days just pass and you don't get around to the extra things. I'm also trying to study (only short courses of interest) but it is a case of organising myself and remembering to start these things.

I still have a pile of Anne Rice books to get through that I inhereted some time back.

I also think hard covers are nicer, though if I have bought a series of books and they are in paperback then I like them to be the same, it's not like a big issue if they aren't, just I'd choose that in this case.

I know books can take space and pile up but I prefer to buy them than download onto my tablet, I have done that, but I like actual book. Guess it depends how often you buy them.

[IMJ]

I've also always loved reading and studied German and English literature at university (did my Master's thesis on Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man).

Wow! In the most succinct of descriptions - what were you contending? What was the thesis?

I also focused on the Romantic movement out of which I enjoyed several novels and novellas - mostly German but Frankenstein is surely one of my favourites.

So I love Dracula. Love it. It's brilliantly written and most people who haven't read it wouldn't understand when I say that book is possibly the earliest form of "viral-reality storytelling" to come along. Incredibly novel idea for how that story is presented. But the point there is that Dracula was so good that afterwards I wanted to read Frankenstein. I have two copies of Frankenstein here - one regular publication and another that was bound into a "Classics of Horror" leatherbound compilation, but after decades I still haven't managed to read it. And I should.....

These days I don't get too much time to read apart from children's classics I read to my kids at bedtime (just finished a slightly abridged version of Alice in Wonderland with my 7 year old daughter). But there are always phases where I do read obsessively.

A Wrinkle In Time, man! OR, even better pick them up a copy of Shel Silverstein's "A Light In The Attic". They'll read it to you!

To kill a Mockingbird is a great book that I've worked on with students in school. I still haven't read To set a Watchman which has been collecting dust in my bookshelf for years now. Have you read it?

As soon as I read your reply I turned to my left and snapped this picture....
https://i.imgur.com/bN2gXOQm.jpg

And exactly like you, I bought it upon release and I've been meaning to get to it. In the meantime it sits next to it's sister publication and some Lovecraft... :lol: Oddest. Pairing. Ever. :)

I read Mark Lanegan's biography last year, shortly after he died. I'd definitely recommend it, though it's depressing to the core.

Wow man, the timing of this thread and you saying that is uncanny. It was just last week I went on a "Screaming Trees" fit. I've been digging into deeper grunge lately (Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Sonic Youth and Mudhoney - the really deep, deep grunge stuff) and I've been playing more Screaming Trees now than I did back in '92. Just serendipity that you would mention this now.

Another - albeit very short - book I enjoyed a lot last year was Claire Keegan's novel Small things like these . It deals with the Irish Magdalene Laundries where women who got pregnant out of wedlock were supposedly taken care of. The protagonist, a family father and coal merchant, finds out that the women are abused there and is conflicted about how to deal with this knowledge, fearing the influence of the Catholic church in Ireland.

In some ways this is very interesting to me as an Irish American guy. I always dig-in for books involving my heritage - I look again just to my left and I've got "Hibernian Nights" and "True Irish Ghost Stories" here on the shelf just above a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Ireland".

But with that said, what you've described, for some reason, generated memories of "The Scarlet Letter" which I don't need to read again. :lol:

I definitely am a fan of Cormac McCarthy’s work! And I have enjoyed biographical works about the founding fathers such as David McCullough’s stuff. And then tons of other books that really amounts to fluff I guess

You can see my copy of "The Road" in the picture above. But oh man - dreary and depressing..... -oof- gut punch.
Also, again turned to my bookshelf here and snapped this one for you!

https://i.imgur.com/w483jxqm.jpg

II know books can take space and pile up but I prefer to buy them than download onto my tablet, I have done that, but I like actual book. Guess it depends how often you buy them.

In so many ways my bookshelves are begging to go digital. But there's just something about holding a book that doesn't translate well for me into a tablet. It's probably psychological - like if I didn't collect true first edition books then I probably would just say "screw it" and become a digital book guy too....

[Barkworm]

Wow! In the most succinct of descriptions - what were you contending? What was the thesis?
It's been more than 15 years so the details are really fuzzy. :lol: Basically, I was showing where the idea of a Great Chain of Being came from historically and compared it to similar concepts, mainly Leibniz ' Theodicy.


So I love Dracula. Love it. It's brilliantly written and most people who haven't read it wouldn't understand when I say that book is possibly the earliest form of "viral-reality storytelling" to come along. Incredibly novel idea for how that story is presented. But the point there is that Dracula was so good that afterwards I wanted to read Frankenstein. I have two copies of Frankenstein here - one regular publication and another that was bound into a "Classics of Horror" leatherbound compilation, but after decades I still haven't managed to read it. And I should.....

Funny story about Dracula: I borrowed it from a relative when I still lived at my mom's place, never got to read it and my relative forgot about it. Yesterday, my family and I were visiting my mom and there it was where I left it in - I don't know - 2007? I meant to take it with me to either read it or finally give it back but I forgot again... :lol:

A Wrinkle In Time, man! OR, even better pick them up a copy of Shel Silverstein's "A Light In The Attic". They'll read it to you!
A Wrinkle in Time sounds intriguing, I'll keep it in mind for later since it seems like it might be too complicated for them for now (the 7 year old is my oldest).
It looks like A light in the attic didn't get a German translation so that's out of the question for now. But thanks for the recommendations!

As soon as I read your reply I turned to my left and snapped this picture....
https://i.imgur.com/bN2gXOQm.jpg

And exactly like you, I bought it upon release and I've been meaning to get to it. In the meantime it sits next to it's sister publication and some Lovecraft... :lol: Oddest. Pairing. Ever. :)

That picture reminds me of how my wife and I have been meaning to get glass-doored bookshelves since forever but we never get to it. If you're allergic to dust mite, open book shelves can be a bit of a problem, especially when you have loads of books...


Wow man, the timing of this thread and you saying that is uncanny. It was just last week I went on a "Screaming Trees" fit. I've been digging into deeper grunge lately (Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Sonic Youth and Mudhoney - the really deep, deep grunge stuff) and I've been playing more Screaming Trees now than I did back in '92. Just serendipity that you would mention this now. There's no artist I have more albums of than Mark Lanegan, be it his Solo work, Screaming trees, several features and of course maybe my favourite album of all time Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age. The biography is really good, he didn't have a ghost writer and he could write!


In some ways this is very interesting to me as an Irish American guy. I always dig-in for books involving my heritage - I look again just to my left and I've got "Hibernian Nights" and "True Irish Ghost Stories" here on the shelf just above a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Ireland".

But with that said, what you've described, for some reason, generated memories of "The Scarlet Letter" which I don't need to read again. :lol:

The historical part is not the focus though, it's more about the protagonist's inner conflict to do the right thing.

[newfan]

Once my children were past little kid books and then things like Roald Dhal and David Walliams, I went on to read a lot of tween/teen books them. Some of what I got through was the Disney Villain series, The Wizards of Once, Scarlet and Ivy and 3 of the Tales from the Haunted Mansion books.

I've been thinking about ordering a crime/mysetery type story for myself, there are plenty out there.

[Barkworm]

Once my children were past little kid books and then things like Roald Dhal and David Walliams, I went on to read a lot of tween/teen books them. Some of what I got through was the Disney Villain series, The Wizards of Once, Scarlet and Ivy and 3 of the Tales from the Haunted Mansion books.

How long did they let you read to them? I'm asking because I love reading to the kids at bedtime but since my oldest started to learn reading last September and she's making progress fast, it feels like she'll let me do this for another year at most and then old Daddy will be too embarrassing...

[newfan]

How long did they let you read to them? I'm asking because I love reading to the kids at bedtime but since my oldest started to learn reading last September and she's making progress fast, it feels like she'll let me do this for another year at most and then old Daddy will be too embarrassing...

It's something I've loved to do also and went on until quite recently, I think my eldest was 11 or possibly 12 or nearing 12, both children have been readers for some time but still liked to share a story that we can all get into, my daughter prefers just to have her own books to read to herself now, though she'll still tell me all about what's happening.
We never did get volume 4 of the Haunted Mansion series so I'm still going to buy that, my son and I will likely take turns reading it out if we share it.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Good thread idea although I think the majority of users here are not that much into literature.

He’s right. I’m more of a comics person myself. :lol:

Since I was a kid, books just made me feel bored. That’s why I absolutely hated reading assignments and would stop every 5 minutes to do something fun, so it would take me forever to complete the book.

But I can spend hours reading large graphic novels nonstop.

[Andrew NDB]

I've read all the Dune books from Frank Herbert and all of the new ones from his son and Kevin J. Anderson. A lot of Arthur C. Clarke, particularly all of the 2001-3001 novels. John Fowles' The Magus. In the 90s/2000s a lot of Star Wars, Wing Commander, Aliens, Predator and Battletech novels. The Leaves of October by Don Sakers was amazing. For a while I read a lot of vampire novels like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anno Dracula, The Dracula Tapes, and all of the Anne Rice vampire books up until Memnoch the Devil.

Not a lot for a few years now. Mostly I buy them with the intent of reading them later, then never doing so.

[IMJ]

I've read all the Dune books from Frank Herbert and all of the new ones from his son and Kevin J. Anderson. A lot of Arthur C. Clarke, particularly all of the 2001-3001 novels. John Fowles' The Magus. In the 90s/2000s a lot of Star Wars, Wing Commander, Aliens, Predator and Battletech novels. The Leaves of October by Don Sakers was amazing. For a while I read a lot of vampire novels like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anno Dracula, The Dracula Tapes, and all of the Anne Rice vampire books up until Memnoch the Devil.

Not a lot for a few years now. Mostly I buy them with the intent of reading them later, then never doing so.

The newest Dune movie was another Denis Villeneuve masterpiece on film. It really made me want to read the books, but that's a huge undertaking that I'm nowhere near doing right now. I'd love to......

[Bahamut810]

I used to read years ago, not so much anymore (past Manga and Comics). YEars ago I was a big 'banned' book and political reader. 1984, Animal Farm, A Clockwork Orange and all that.

[IMJ]

I used to read years ago, not so much anymore (past Manga and Comics). YEars ago I was a big 'banned' book and political reader. 1984, Animal Farm, A Clockwork Orange and all that.

It cracks me up when I go into Barnes 'n Noble and they have a table with a sign that says "banned books". There's just this oxymoron, exploitative irony there. The books were "banned". For sale. On a dedicated, marketed table. At Barnes 'n Noble.

[Cowabung-Gal]

I used to read years ago, not so much anymore (past Manga and Comics). YEars ago I was a big 'banned' book and political reader. 1984, Animal Farm, A Clockwork Orange and all that.

Of course “1984” is under the “banned” category. It’s a prophecy. And our dear friends in the government wouldn’t want us to catch on…

[Prowler]

I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, per se, but I like books, yes.

Some of my favourites:

1984 by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Os Maias by Eça de Queirós (Portuguese novel)
SS General by Sven Hassel
A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Bought some books for Christmas last year that I haven't read yet.